Twelve Conditions for Re-invading Iraq

[chefmike]

Twelve Conditions for Re-invading Iraq


Folks, all indicators suggest that it's going to happen anyway--the Decider wants to be the Decided--so we might as well lay down some markers in advance. I submit the following as conditions (in no particular order) that need to be agreed upon before Bush starts sending in more troops:

1) At least one of the Bush twins needs to sign up for military service.

They are able-bodied, and they apparently have some discretionary time on their hands. It doesn't matter whether they get stateside or some paper-pushing detail, as long as they volunteer to serve their country in a time of war. The larger point is that President Bush needs to be able to explain and convince one of his own family members that his mission in Iraq is absolutely noble and necessary before he will have any credibility with other parents and family members (deeds, not words). Come January, can he really look the American public in the eye (through the TV camera lens) and avoid the issue about whether Jenna and Barbara will be gallivanting in Argentina while more of their peers are being shot and maimed in Iraq at their Daddy's behest? Advance memo to the press: Will somebody please ask the President a direct question about whether he has asked his own family to share in the national sacrifice? Note to Bill O'Reilly: Please ask Jenna and Barbara Bush: Yes or no, do you want victory in Iraq? Follow-up: What are you going to do about it?

2) Pay as you go.

No more deficit spending to pay for this calamity, no more gluttonous giveaways to the rich. If this war is so damn important for future generations, then stop mortgaging their future to pay for it. What will this mean for Bush? Read Pappy Bush's lips: taxes. That would be a bitter pill to swallow for Junior. But Pappy was man enough to make that call. Suck it up, Junior. It's your war: put your money where your mouth is.

3) Cut, cut, cut domestic oil consumption.

Engage in an all-out national campaign to reduce our reliance on foreign oil so that we can stop sponsoring both sides of this conflict. In fact, send all of the Hummers on our streets over to Iraq (after retrofitting them with the proper armor, of course--shouldn't take too much pimping, though).

4) Cut the PR crap. Don't call it, for instance, Shock and Awe, Part II.

5) No more no-bid contracts. Better yet: no Halliburton contracts.

6) Lose the pretense that we are supported by a "Coalition of the Willing."

7) Support the troops by giving them proper and sufficient equipment.

Support the vets by giving them proper and sufficient medical care and educational opportunities.

9) Honor and acknowledge the dead.

The public should understand the full costs of this war, and mourn accordingly. At the very least, release the pictures of the caskets. That doesn't diminish the dignity or gravity of the deaths of these fallen soldiers. Sweeping them under the rug, as it were, is a national shame.

10) Repudiate all long-term designs on the U.S. military bases in Iraq--and on Iraqi oil.

Make it crystal clear that our ultimate goal is not simply "troop reduction" but to extricate ourselves from Iraq altogether.

11) Establish an Executive Branch moratorium on all golfing, hunting, and celebrity bicycling junkets during a time of war. (That shouldn't be such a HUGE personal sacrifice, would it?)

12) Finally, give us not just a frat-boy pep talk about the importance of achieving victory, but give us a clear exit strategy (déjà vu all over again).

Envisioning victory in advance is not as important, this time around, as being able to identify what will constitute failure. Let's at least insist on a firm timetable for this second go-around: the 2008 elections. Leaving Iraq and losing Iraq should be on George W. Bush's clock, and no one else's.

[Kurdy M]

Damn!!

[Ben]

This may happen --

The Case for Staying out of Iraq:

[Ben]

Tony Blair rejects 'bizarre' claims that invasion of Iraq caused the crisis:

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/...air-iraq-essay

Tony Blair: west must intervene in Iraq:

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/...litary-options

[ohiodick]

There is NO Conditions for Re-invading Iraq, none not a single one. Played that game for 15 years, and this is what we got. Its time to let THEM figure it out, never should have been there in the first place. It is their country let them work it out.

[Turlington]

There is NO Conditions for Re-invading Iraq, none not a single one. Played that game for 15 years, and this is what we got. Its time to let THEM figure it out, never should have been there in the first place. It is their country let them work it out.

THANK YOU!

[martin48]

Just need to tie these two to a cruise missile and fire it at the rebels. Wont stop them but I would be a lot happier

[buttslinger]

One good thing came out of Bush being President, at least the Republican voters learned their lesson and would never put another CLOWN in office......


Why the Hell doesn't the US bring back the Manhattan Project Scientists to build a car that runs on high fructose corn syrup? We send billions of dollars to the Middle East and Russia for oil and then spend billions of dollars on aircraft carriers and tanks. Corrupt Bastards.

[trish]

The Manhatten Project scientists are all dead, or at death's door. The U.S. university system is failing. The vertiginous drop in State and Federal funding has rocketed tuition to prohibitive costs. Universities are now top-heavy with expensive administrative staffs (and coaching staffs). The number of tenured positions has dropped precipitously. Most Ph.D.s seeking university employment will spend their professional lives in adjunct positions. We'll have to get our "Manhatten" scientists (as we did prior to WWII) from the immigrant population. Oh, I forgot, we hate immigrants now.

But we actually do run cars on corn. It's not as efficient as cane. In fact we shouldn't be doing it. It drives up the price of corn, farmers are growing corn to meet the high demand (and to scarf up the money), and they're not rotating their crops. Instead they're using chemical fertilizers and nicotinoids like there's no tomorrow. They may be right. There may be no tomorrow.

We send billions of dollars to the Middle East and Russia for oil and then spend billions of dollars on aircraft carriers and tanks.

Carriers and tanks that the military said they don't want, just to refine your point.

I'm throwing my two cents in with ohiodick,

There is NO Conditions for Re-invading Iraq, none not a single one. Played that game for 15 years, and this is what we got. Its time to let THEM figure it out, never should have been there in the first place. It is their country let them work it out.

BTW. Love the pic of those past republican hopefuls. The amazing thing is that the republican ground troops still think these clowns represent the pinnacle of human intellectual thought!

[sukumvit boy]

Republican intellectuals ?