Amen, Marshall.

As an added bonus, he didn't mention the current administration! Maybe now the discussion can stay on the issue he mentions without getting into a _issing match between bashers and apologists.

I like the concisness of this LTTE by Mr. White.

The last few lines, "....It's time to start pulling our troops out and letting the Iraqis find their own way.

We may not like the results, but Iraqis will do a better job of figuring out what is best for their country than we have."

The problem is that far too many may not like the results of the Iraqis finding their own way because it may not fit in with the way some in the US want! That is why, until Congress holds the Executive branch accountable, US troops will stay in Iraq; and the bodycount continues to rise.

What a sad thought.

Shalom

marshall,
pointless military exercise? which would be harder to smuggle from the middle east? heroin or a few sarin filled artillery shells? think of the wmd's like jimmy hoffa, just because you can't find them doesn't mean they(he) didn't exist.
and as for the occupation. i wonder what europe would look like today if we had just kicked hitlers butt and left.think the soviets would have left too? doubt it.
it amazes me how little concern the left has for people around the world these days. sure, they'll stand with socialist dictators in the form of "human shields", but won't afford the same protection for the innocent people of darfur.
just keep in mind friend, one day, your children or grandchildren may need some of these people to fight for you.will they? i wouldn't.

Great editorial. Beginning to look more like Vietnam every day--those arguing for the war think it is not patriotic to support it. I think the real Patriots are the ones trying to bring the troops home.

lilbean, I do not find the war in Iraq to be an example of caring for the people. There were many countries around the world who were suffering and dying in much greater numbers than the people in Iraq. We chose to ignore them and wage war on Iraq.

We now call the war we are waging a war for Iraqi freedom. They have less and are in more danger than before we arrived. So they got to vote...big deal. They probably had the same kind of choices we did. Those in power have shown that they use the same strategy as Saddam. Kill those who oppose you.

How we can get out of the mess we started, no one has a clue. It seems obvious to me that our presence helps some of their problems and causes some of the others. It is a lose/lose situation. And we can thank our leaders for putting us here.

I don't buy the Hilter/German connection. We knew the enemy then. We are fighting a war on terrorism which is not a man and not a country. When you kill one terrorist you create many more. When you kill one leader, there is a replacement ready to take over.

lilbean, The war with Hitler was not an unprovoked invasion. It was a worldwide effort to stop a him from trying to take over the world. And as for the Darfur situation, I haven't seen too many people on the right intervening to help out. And they're the ones in charge.

Mark:

Darfur? Are people there under stess?

JDR,
I believe a few of them are.

Wow, what a turn. From Iraq to WWII Germany to Darfur and Viet Nam thrown in for good measure! What a world wide discussion!

Shalom

I totally disagree with headline on LTE!

Keeping Troops in Iraq keeps the money flowing to KBR, division of Halliburton. You gotta feed those soldiers and more---all at those low, low, no bid prices. If only it could be like the old New York Carpet World, "Sale ends Midnight Saturday".

carol,
by far more people are murdered in the US daily than are in iraq.look it up.
now, imagine there is a group of people who have been taught since birth that you are evil and must die. how do you fight this? you remove the teachers of hate. you show the people that there is a better way. you change the ideology. ask your grandfather if he ever would have imagined a black woman could run for president when he was young.the ideology has changed.
and as far as killing terrorist makes more? thats just crap. by that reasoning, maybe we should destroy our own cities as not to give them the chance?? and why haven't the million plus muslims in the ny/nj area taken over large parts of those cities??
the war on terrorism is far from over. but we know now that terrorist won't be getting any help from the likes of saddam or kadhfi.
the ideology is changing.

Lilbean,
At the risk of lecturing and sounding like Mr. 'Know-it-all' Produce, I would like to point out one minor detail that you seem to overlook.

You no doubt know how many (2300+) U.S. Soldiers have died, and that many (18,000) have had life changing (loss of limbs, mental illness,incapacity) injuries. But do you KNOW how many Iraqis have died since the begining of hostilities? Look it up on the internet and you will be amazed. Many times more than our injured and dead soldiers added to the deaths on September 11th. Some who post here would have you believe that every Iraqi that died was a savage or a terrorist, but it is NOT the truth. Behind every dead face is a family. Do you think they "LOVE" us after two wars that have decimated their people.

We should be focusing on stabilizing that country and getting out! The only other option is to begin the draft, put more troops in and rebuild that country's infrastructure where they can once again have electricity and running water. As Colin Powell so aptly put it, while he argued AGAINST going into Iraq: "You break it, you own it"

(If you drafted the Bush twins, we'd be out of Iraq so fast your head would spin!)

LilBean:

You rail at "the left" for not affording same protection for the innocent people of Darfur ... but "The conflict began in February 2003" ... and who's been in charge since then? Not them looser lefties.

.. and just to check: in 2004, the USA had a population count of 293,655,404, with 16,137 murders. http://davecoop.net/2004.htm Iraq has an estmated population of 28,807,000.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq

To match the USA rate, they'd need 1583 murders annually - that's 4 a day. It's fair to conclude you're wrong.

BACK ON THREAD - I think with Zarqawi dead and the critical Iraqi Government posts filled, AMERICA needs to jump on this opportunity and get the hell out - or at least agressively start the process. It'll take months to actually leave, and will send one heck of a good message to those insurgents fighting exclusively to rid their country of the American Occupation.

There is no war in Iraq that ended in 2003, what remains is a systematic process of elimination of terroists. The worst part is over and you liberals want to pull out now do you will have your Vietnam sequel. You and your colleagues have villified this president, he has no incentive to listen to your shrill diatribe. George Bush will finish the job, and this bothers you folks to no end. When Zarqawi was eliminated your first two words were "Damn it" followed by "yeah well you haven't found Osama."

Please keep posting, this is better entertainment than paying admission for entering a comedy club.

So, if "George Bush will finish the job...." Does this mean that on the 3rd Tuesday in January 2009 that American military forces will no longer be in Iraq or Afghanistan Southern Patriot?

I am sure that there are close to 200,000 family's who would sure like to know for certain, not to mention their soldier family member!

Shalom

Southern Patriot,
Do you wear a white robe and hood? You are exemplary in carrying water for Georgie boy and I think you deserve a promotion in your militia.

Darryl,

I know you are being sarcastic but I believe we will see a major withdrawal before the next presidential election.

yd, I wish that I could share your optimism. However, for a major withdrawal to occur, we will have to see some major stability taking place. That IS NOT happening. If a major withdrawal happens, it will not be because it it the right thing to do; rather, it will be done for sole political reasons. However, with a Democrat controlled Congress, it could happen for ALL of the right reasons. Then Rep. Murtha would be right!!

Shalom