Are you ashamed of the US invasion of Iraq?

[thx1138]

http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=U0RswZOzhCc

[thx1138]

Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, whose false claims that Saddam had biological weapons aided Bush's invasion, has died http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/ibn-al-shaykh-al-libi-whose-false-claim

[hippifried]

I didn't support it. I didn't give the order to invade.

I don't have any shame anyway.

[thx1138]

That's a relief. But bush was right about one thing: Saddam WAS a danger but not militarily. He started pricing his crude in EUROS and not dollars. If he had not been swatted down other OPEC members may have followed suit eventully leading to the downfall of the dollar as the world's premier currency. Can't have that now can we? Now Venezuela and Iran are off the dollar. Others are talking about oil pricing by a basket of currencies or SDR's.

[hippifried]

The petrodollar already ruined the currency. Propping that up was the chief reasoning behind the Nixon shock of '71 that unpegged everything.

[MarkD]

I have served four tours there and can say I am not embaressed in the least bit by what we have done and continue to do.

What I am embaressed of is the politicians in this country trying to fight a politically correct war and making some of the most honorable men I have ever met in my life out as a bunch of mindless, murrderous thugs.

[chefmike]

So you voted for McCain? I'm guessing that you didn't vote for President Obama.

I'm a vet. No shame here. I also happen to be a vet who voted for Obama.

The idiotic thread title notwithstanding( we've come to expect no less of thxtinfoil), I'm one of the many current and former military who thinks the BushInc. folly was(and still remains) reprehensible and can't wait to see us leave Iraq.

[arnie666]

Iam most ashamed of my own country for taking us into the war in Iraq. And being complicit in giving Bush assistance in persuading his own people and leaders that the going into Iraq was the right thing to do.

People who say the UK was a puppy dog in this instance are very wrong if you know the character of Tony Blair. It was an exercise in his personal vanity to have Britain at the forfront of this 'spectacular'. Ie overthrowing a murderous dictator (which saddam was) and protect this country from WMD's (which was a lie). The Iraq war wasn't illegal, that is just a lie used by the left and other muppets but was strategically, tactically, and politically insane.

Then to crown things off once we had occupied Iraq with the Americans Blair allowed senior British Army officers to be dictated too by a bunch of incompetent yanks who had no clue about how to successfully occupy a country .We the British have much more experience, due to our colonial history . It was also insane to completely dismantle the residing Iraqi law enforcemen, government infrastructure and it's military.For example when the British first occupied it's section of Germany after WW2 , we kept under our control elements of the German Army and certain administrators to help us in Governing it. What with this and sending in our personnel with inaqdequate equipment he is personally responsible for needless deaths .

[Cuchulain]

Arnie, you agree that the wmd baloney was a lie, but you also say the war wasn't illegal. If the Bush/Cheney gang lied to the American people and Congress in order to get backing to attack Iraq, how is that not illegal?

There seems to be a hell of a lot of info that indicates that is exactly what they did. Most recently, journalist Bob Windrem and former UN Weapon's Inspector Charles Duelfer accused Cheney of demanding the waterboarding of 'a high-ranking Iraqi, who was an intelligence officer for Saddam Hussein' to get him to admit an Iraq-Al Qaeda link. Duelfer did not agree to Cheney's suggestion, calling it "reprehensible", because
'He believed the rationale for the order was political.'

(Of course, the real bombshell dropped by Windrem and Duelfer is that Cheney wanted to use torture not to stop an immanent threat, but to back up their own lies.) http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/node/28176/print The web is full of links to the story.

I'll have to respectfully disagree with my friend chefmike. The American people bear the ultimate responsibility for what our govt does. We let this happen.

[Ben]

Back in Iraq, Jack!

http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/08/08/back-in-iraq-jack/

[buttslinger]

The first Iraqi War was perfection, what was the American deathcount, three?
Obama is going to top that. Those cruise missiles have expiration dates, and the jet pilots are on the payroll anyway, so why not put the fear of Allah into some of these ISIS cocksuckers. Is there any country in the world that will be upset if we off some of those ski-masked pricks? If that stupid ass George W had left Saddam Hussein live, he would never have let those thugs get so strong. Time to clean up yet one more of his goddam messes.

[Ben]

The U.S. Airstrikes in Northern Iraq Are All About Oil:

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/119035/us-attack-islamic-militants-all-about-iraqs-oil

[broncofan]

I am not ashamed of the U.S. invasion of Iraq because I don't believe I had any power to prevent it. I also tend not to feel shame for decisions I don't personally make. In the first election I ever voted in, I cast a vote for Al Gore. I attended numerous protests of the Iraq War before it became obvious it was a disaster. It's awful that it's the course our leaders chose and that the damage to the Middle East has been so grave. Clearly I wish Bush had chosen another course.

[Ben]

I'm not in absolute agreement w/ Ron Paul. But he does make some good points.

Ron Paul: What Have We Accomplished In Iraq?
http://www.fitsnews.com/2014/08/18/ron-paul-accomplished-iraq/

[Ben]

I am not ashamed of the U.S. invasion of Iraq because I don't believe I had any power to prevent it. I also tend not to feel shame for decisions I don't personally make. In the first election I ever voted in, I cast a vote for Al Gore. I attended numerous protests of the Iraq War before it became obvious it was a disaster. It's awful that it's the course our leaders chose and that the damage to the Middle East has been so grave. Clearly I wish Bush had chosen another course.

Seems strange that people in a democratic society feel powerless. Oh, that's right. We don't live in a democracy. We live in a plutocracy -- ha ha! :)
It's true: you and I didn't make the final decision. I mean, the ultimate decision was made by Bush... and Congress went along with him. (But there is some debate whether Bush or Cheney was the de facto President. Cheney did have a lot of power in the Bush administration.)
Actually, we don't elect leaders. We elect representatives. They serve us. We pay their salaries.
I mean, being a politician should be simple administrative work. They, our elected representatives, should merely institute policies that we want.
Public policy should reflect public opinion... and thus you'd have a democracy. But of course it doesn't work that way and therefore we've a stark democratic deficit.
The likes of Bush, Cheney, Blair should be prosecuted for the crime against peace, for war crimes.
Most people are unaware of the KELLOGG-BRIAND PACT.... Here's the link.... We, well, outlawed war back in 1928: https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Kellogg-Briand_Pact.html

[Ben]

How the US Policy on Syria is Backfiring
Fear of ISIS:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/08/18/fear-of-isis/

[Ben]

We know all too much about the cruelty of Isis – but all too little about who they are:

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/middle-east-crisis-we-know-all-too-much-about-the-cruelty-of-isis--but-all-too-little-about-who-they-are-9681873.html

[Ben]

Security services close to identifying jihadi killer of James Foley:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/24/security-services-close-identifying-jihadi-isis-killer-james-foley

[Ben]

FBI: No credible threats to US from Islamic State:

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_268812/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=jU5ebPrQ

Dan Rather to Pundits Calling for War: Send Your Own Kids or ‘Don’t Even Talk to Me’

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/dan-rather-to-pundits-calling-for-war-send-your-own-kids-or-dont-even-talk-to-me/

[Ben]

What to Do About ISIS:

http://warisacrime.org/content/what-do-about-isis

[Ben]

Just Say No:

http://www.commondreams.org/views/2014/09/06/just-say-no


How America Made ISIS:

http://www.commondreams.org/views/2014/09/02/how-america-made-isis

[omnifarious]

I am ashamed at how much innocent blood has been shed.

[Ben]

While World Watches ISIS, Boko Haram Declares Its Own Caliphate in Nigeria:

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/missing-nigeria-schoolgirls/while-world-watches-isis-boko-haram-declares-its-own-caliphate-n202556

[Prospero]

Ben - why don't you post some eloquent arguments of your own occasionally instead of a never ending flow of already published arguments?

[buttslinger]

Obama's black half sees no sense in invading Iraq again ala Dick Cheney while Detroit is turning into a ghost town.

Everyone backed Cheney politically when he invaded because they thought it would be a cakewalk like the first time, but Cheney's boys fucked it up like they fucked up everything they went through.

Even though Obama hates to take his Nobel Peace Prize back to the Middle East for a third time, I think this is his chance to take on the role of being a wartime President, after Obamacare, ala FDR.

Probably take ten years off his life.