Richard Clarke: "For as long as I'm alive, there will be Iraqis who hate us"

[sabra]

http://www.columbian.com/news/localNews/05082007news137160.cfm

Clarke: Time to undo Iraq mistake

Richard A. Clarke, former national security adviser to four presidents including President Bush, said the United States will deal with Iraqi "revenge­ terrorists" on American soil for the remainder of his years and for the lifespan of many who attended his Clark College appearance Monday evening.

"For as long as I'm alive, there will be Iraqis who hate us," Clarke told about 300 people gathered in the Gaiser Hall Student Center.

...

His recipe for recovery: Follow the 78 points of the bipartisan Baker-Hamilton report issued last December. Among them: Remove U.S. troops to Kuwait or Turkey, where smaller units could launch strikes "to do what's important for us, ­prevent terrorism in Iraq" rather than attempt to police a "shooting gallery."

Step two: Negotiate with Iraq's neighbors, including Iran and Syria.

"I used to negotiate with the real 'Evil Empire' - the Soviet Union. And every president negotiated," he said. He chided President Bush and Vice President Cheney for equating direct talks with lack of will.

[babylonsister]

1. And can anyone blame them? Look what we've done. nt

[sinkingfeeling]

2. For as long as our grandchildren and great grandchildren are alive, some Iraqis will hate us.

[blues90]

3. I don't blame them

If we got what we deserved then there would be terrorist attacks on our soil daily . Not that I wish this but we did allow our government to attack Iraq whether being sold on the idea or willing or by not doing enough to stop this attack . I include the senators who where in the national security commity who knew this was a lied into war and said nothing reguardless of their foolish oath or pact whatever you want to call it , it was selling out america to produce outright murder of american troops and innocent Iraqis .

[emulatorloo]

4. I don't deserve a terrorist attack, and neither does any living human being

Terrorism is unacceptable.

There is no justification for it.

--

[blues90]

6. Isn't that just what we have done to Iraq ?

most of the people at the time in 2003 supported this attack , never questioned it and still supported it even after they saw some of the effects . Some said one dead american was worth 1,000 dead Iraqis .

I don;t wish this on anyone but the point is we started this , Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 and had never done a thing to the USA .

So if karma applies at any level then it applies here as well .

No there is no way to terrorise just the people who supported this horrid attack on Iraq .

As long as americans can find it easy to sit back in the safety of america while others in Iraq die by the thousands then there is a huge problem .

[emulatorloo]

7. the bottom line for me is that terrorism is unacceptable -- there is no way to justify it

you and I will have to disagree on this I guess.

--

[pampango]

5. While there were probably Germans and Japanese who hated

us for decades after WWII, they were not that numerous. There will, of course, be some Iraqis will hate us. There already were "some" before the invasion. The key is that there will be more now, though how many remains to be seen. I imagine that in 1945 one would have had a hard time believing that Germans and Japanese would not view us as enemies after less than a generation.

There could well be terrorist attacks against us in the future, just as there were before Iraq. It is a very effective strategy, if not the most moral, and has been used against a variety of countries for a variety of reasons. It is a relatively low-tech and low-cost, other than in terms of human life, way of attacking someone with whom you are angry or frustrated.

It may gradually lose some of its political effectiveness. While it will always appeal to some who want to violently express their rage and alienation, the more politically calculating plotters will use it less often if it does not yield political successes. Kind of like, Bush being less likely to invade another country, since the Iraq invasion has blown up in his face.