Is the price worth it?

[se0sea]

Based on the information that those Iraqi exiles gave to our government about mobile labs and WMDs,I thought someone had to do something and do it quick.The United States and Briton stepped up and Invaded and prevailed.

Ok,so no one found any of those things.YET! We did capture or kill most of the regime.We are making progress there.You have a few thousand fanatics that will be dealt with,and right now ARE being dealt with.I believe we cannot stop now.Yes I hate when hearing of a coalition soldier or a civilian thats there to help being killed.I hate that more than anything.I believe that they believe they`re there to do right.I always hear a soldier talk about being there to help the Iraqi people,and help free them is worth it.If they feel it is,then I feel it is.I go with their flow.

[Ironside]

Is the price worth it?
Fair question.
Great thread!

There's a lot of good that will come from liberating Iraq. But, at what cost? We were told that we were sending our troops into battle to protect us from CWMD and the thought of the next attack on America coming in the form of a "mushroom cloud."

Too many didn't realize this was a bait-n-switch. I wasn't one of the hoodwinked.

Now we are being told that our troops are dying to free the Iraqis. And even though Iraq has the worlds's second largest oil reserves, American taxpayers are going to flip the bill.

What's with that?

[Ironside]

I suppose, had we gone in and seen saran loaded warheads aimed at New York and Washington. Or had we found nuclear plants near construction. Or had we found chemical weapons of mass destruction, at all! All we found was that sent our troops into battle on shoody intelligence.

Maybe the bottom line and big picture of ridding the world of Saddam Hussein makes it worth it. I have a problem with sayimg our troops are dying in vain.

America has 130,000 troops in Iraq.
Britain has 9,500.
The next highest number of troops sent by one nation is 2,500.

kruser, it's time to start screaming. The ratio is unfair to American troops doing the bulk of the work!

[AndJusticeForAll]

Originally Posted by Ironside

Too many didn't realize this was a bait-n-switch. I wasn't one of the hoodwinked.

Well, I think educated people understood the difference between what is a hyperbolic pretext and what is not but given the above statement I must ask: if the WMD's were the bait as you say, what exactly is/was the switch?

In other words, what was the "real" reason for the war that you saw (as a result of not being hoodwinked ) and given this "real" reason, is the price worth it? Of course I'd assume you will say no but the "switch" interests me.

[kruser79]

I like to reserve certain jobs for myself. I never let the Little Woman shine my boots or polish brass for my uniform (she's offered, but I decline). If someone else does it and I find fault with it (I'm pretty anal about some things, my uniform is one of them), I find it difficult to explain why I'm redoing something she had just completed. But we have the wherewithall to provide the security needed while the government is being built and the country is being rebuilt. Would our friends the Brits be able to sustain 130,000 pairs of boots in the dust? Would any of our other allies be capable?

One of my colleagues was on a test that was being conducted in Canada. They got to know the Canadian military folks pretty well and often had interesting discussions. When they asked of the budget for the test, they gasped at the answer, almost choking on their coffee. They let it be known that what we pay on a single test wasn't too far off from their fiscal defense budget.

We have the numbers, we have the technology and (what I believe to be) the training. It may be smug and conceited to think so, but we have a working government that can be adapted to their lifestyle. If we want to be able to call the shots in how to help the Iraqis attain a democratic society, then we have to bring the ball to the playground.............

[BrianK]

The thread was started with what I've become accustomed to seeing in the media,the slanted biased pargraph of "The Facts". To everyones credit opinions expressed managed to set aside the slant.

The ending stating that there is no right or wrong opinion I think is correct. We base opinions on personal experiences. I have a tendency to apply things like school yard bulllies, religious fanatisizm, to what I know about the past & present. Not unlike a ballon partially filled with water. Push down on one side & the water transfers to another part & pops up again. An optomist would say apply pressure everywhere on the water & you cure the transfer. A pessimist looks at the the water as still being there but spread out able to do the same thing anytime no pressure is being applied.

I'm a pessimist. My opinion that we should be in Iraq is based on the idea of applying pressure so that when something pops up it can be identified and dealt with.

[Caldric]

If I had to answer today I would say it is not worth it.

But I think it is a bit premature yet to really answer. I will honestly say I was one of the gullible that thought the people of Iraq would welcome being free. I still think the majority of "average" Iraqi's are very grateful and are pleased. But unfortunately there is a few that do not think so.

If one of those Religious Leaders came out today and condemned these uprisings and riots, just one of them, and called for a stop to them and the people took to the streets in disgust of such things I would say it was well worth it. But they are not doing this and the people that are happy are way to afraid to do anything or speak out against the uprising because they know and we know there is no way to protect them. If just in one of those towns the people came out and started stoning these **** protestors and terrorist in the street or even spoke out against it I would say it was all worth it.

We can not trust the Iraq forces and I am sure our troops do not turn their back on them for long. The whole **** thing is a nightmare.