Reply #35: "how one makes Iraq a success"

[welshTerrier2]

that's the first problem right there ... bush is NEVER going to "make Iraq a success" ... there's probably not much worth discussing past that difference ... i do NOT believe bush will EVER make Iraq a success and i do NOT think we should remain in Iraq another day pretending he can or even wants to ... if you believe otherwise, as Kerry seems to, he is placing his faith in bush ...

but let's get beyond that point ...

you talked about the "political realities" in the Senate ... Kerry has now offered 3 specific dates in his policy proposals ... without rehashing the previous points i've made that i think his "floating dates" are unjustified, now it seems he will no longer provide any date certain ... before it was OK to do it and now he's back to, what, benchmarks again? now it's even more vague than benchmarks ... when "stuff gets kinda better which hopefully happens kinda soon" we should withdraw? when is that going to happen? in a year? two? three? too vague for my tastes, sorry ... and he even cites Gen. Casey's stupid plan for the end of 2007? has he already thrown in the towel on his 7/07 plan that came after he threw in the towel on his 12/06 plan that came after he threw in the towel on his 5/06 plan??? push 'em back, push 'em back, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back ...

and, you've stated we are all on the same page here ... judging from the reactions to my post, it's hard to see how you've drawn that conclusion ... i was on Kerry's page in April; he walked off and changed the terms and i sure don't agree with his floating deadlines now ...

you also said: "What part of 'get the troops out as soon as possible' is not in there?" ... quite honestly, i'm not sure why you're even asking me this ... everybody on the planet uses that exact same theme ... bush wants to bring the troops home as soon as possible ... well, he says he does ... same with cheney and rumsfeld and all of them ... the words mean nothing ... as soon as possible??? that establishes a "condition" without clarifying the requirements of meeting that condition ... yeah, everyone wants the occupation to end soon ... does it look like anything can possibly end soon to you??? the place is a cauldron of death ... what am i missing here?

the bottom line is not "Senatorial limitations"; the bottom line is that Kerry is now saying that "success" is the objective ... yeah, it would be very nice if Iraq could have a stable government and a rebuilt infrastructure and an end to the civil war and they could all live happily ever after ... pull the troops out now and use the money to start rebuilding Iraq's infrastructure ... keeping the troops there while a civil war rages is totally insane and calling for diplomacy and an end to the occupation "as soon as possible" is just not a reasonable position anymore ... Iraq is DONE and it's time someone in the Senate stood up and said so and started giving voice to the way many of us feel ...