We're framing the debate about Iraq all wrong

[LuckyTheDog]

First off, it isn't a "war." The war was that thing we won in the first 3 weeks of this adventure. Saddam is gone. His army was defeated and the regime is out of business.

What we have now (and have had for 4-plus years) is an occupation.

You can't actually "win" or "lose" an occupation in the sense that you can "win" or "lose" a war.

You can run an occupation well and achieve something useful. OR, you can screw it up and run the risk of chaos as others rush in to fill the power vacuum and/or exploit the resentment of the population of the occupied country. Bush did the latter, hence the results we've seen.

Ending our occupation of Iraq would not be a "surrender" (to whom would we be surrendering?). It would ne a policy change based on the idea that doing the same old thing and expecting a different result is insane.

[hippiechick]

1. And really, what we had those first 3 weeks ...

... was an invasion. There was almost NO resistance.

[Raven]

2. I think you're right. In fact,

I think I heard Sen. Durbin say something like that last night when he was trying to get a word in edgewise with Tweety.

[LuckyTheDog]

5. Well then

Durbin is a smart guy!

[Philosoraptor]

3. The Imaginary War on terror.

We are all in a deep, hypnotic slumber, except a few highly alarmed individuals.

[Botany]

4. We are occupying a hostile nation that is in civil war

As for as win or lose .... we can win every battle and still we will lose this
war.

[msongs]

6. dems should quit saying war - only say Republican Party occupation of Iraq nt

[LuckyTheDog]

10. Spread the word! (nt)

[GDAEx2]

7. and the spiel about the insurgents "waiting it out"

if a timetable is set should be countered with the fact that waiting it out is an option regardless.
Think about it. All the insurgents have to do now is lay low, let things calm down and wait for the occupiers to leave.
Its got nothing to do with a timetable.

The trouble is that there is no intention by the (mis)administration of ending the occupation.
Makes for a nice counter argument though.



:loveya:

Take care of one another sisters and brothers.

[Rydz777]

8. Exactly

I agree completely with you. We easily won the three-weeks war. Then Bush decided to reconstruct Iraq into his own image of perfection and that required occupation - and so we got the present disaster. This is the same Bush who - after the occupation began - heard the words "Shiite" and "Sunni" for the first time in his life, and was clueless as to what they meant.

[LuckyTheDog]

9. Incompetence

Thy name is Bush.