If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Top 10 Myths of the Iraq War & Why They Are Not So…..
Quote
Top 10 Myths of the Iraq War & Why They Are Not So…..
Here is an excellent run down of the Myths that are circulating about the War In Iraq along with why they are not true:
January 28, 2007: Top 10 Myths of the Iraq War. In no particular order. There are more, but ten is a manageable number.
1-No Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). Several hundred chemical weapons were found, and Saddam had all his WMD scientists and technicians ready. Just end the sanctions and add money, and the weapons would be back in production within a year. At the time of the invasion, all intelligence agencies, world-wide, believed Saddam still had a functioning WMD program. Saddam had shut them down because of the cost, but created the illusion that the program was still operating in order to fool the Iranians. The Iranians wanted revenge on Saddam because of the Iraq invasion of Iran in 1980, and the eight year war that followed.
2-The 2003 Invasion was Illegal. Only according to some in the UN. By that standard, the invasion of Kosovo and bombing of Serbia in 1999 was also illegal. Saddam was already at war with the U.S. and Britain, because Iraq had not carried out the terms of the 1991 ceasefire, and was trying to shoot down coalition aircraft patrolling the no-fly zone.
3-Sanctions were working. The sanctions worked for Saddam, not for Iraq. Saddam used the sanctions as an excuse to punish the Shia majority for their 1991 uprising, and help prevent a new one. The “Oil For Food” program was corrupted with the help of bribed UN officials, and mass media outlets that believed Iraqi propaganda. Saddam was waiting out the sanctions, and bribing France, Russia and China, with promises of oil contracts and debt repayments, to convince the UN to lift the sanctions.
4-Overthrowing Saddam Only Helped Iran. Of course, and this was supposed to make Iran more approachable and open to negotiations. With the Iraqi “threat” gone, it was believed that Iran might lose its radical ways and behave. Iran got worse as a supporter of terrorism and developer of WMD. Irans clerical dictatorship did not want a democracy next door. The ancient struggle between the Iranians and Arabs was brought to the surface, and the UN became more active in dealing with problems caused by pro-terrorist government of Iran. As a result of this, the Iranian police state has faced more internal dissent. From inside Iran, Iraq does not look like an Iranian victory.
5-The Invasion Was a Failure. Saddam’s police state was overthrown and a democracy established, which was the objective of the operation. Peace did not ensue because Saddam’s supporters, the Sunni Arab minority, were not willing to deal with majority rule, and war crimes trials. A terror campaign followed. Few expected the Sunni Arabs to be so stupid. There’s a lesson to be learned there.
6-The Invasion Helped Al Qaeda. Compared to what? Al Qaeda was a growing movement before 2003, and before 2001. But after the Iraq invasion, and especially the Sunni Arab terrorism, al Qaeda fell in popularity throughout the Moslem world. Arab countries cracked down on al Qaeda operations more than ever before. Without the Iraq invasion, al Qaeda would still have safe havens all over the Arab world.
7-Iraq Is In A State of Civil War. Then so was Britain when the IRA was active, and so is Spain today because ETA is still active. Both IRA and ETA are terrorist organizations based on ethnic identity. India also has tribal separatist rebels who are quite active. That’s not considered a civil war. This is all about partisans playing with labels for political ends, not accurately describing a terror campaign.
8-Iraqis Were Better Off Under Saddam. Most Iraqis disagree. Check election results and opinion polls. Reporters tend to ask Iraqi Sunni Arabs this question, but they were the only ones who benefited from Saddams rule.
9-The Iraq War Caused Islamic Terrorism to Increase in Europe. The Moslem unrest in Europe was there before 2001, and 2003. Interviews of Islamic radicals in Europe reveals that the hatred is not motivated by Iraq, but by daily encounters with hostile natives. Blaming Islamic terrorism on Iraq is another attempt to avoid dealing with a homegrown problem.
10- The War in Iraq is Lost. By what measure? Saddam and his Baath party are out of power. There is a democratically elected government. Part of the Sunni Arab minority continues to support terror attacks, in an attempt to restore the Sunni Arab dictatorship. In response, extremist Shia Arabs formed vigilante death squads to expel all Sunni Arabs. Given the history of democracy in the Middle East, Iraq is working through its problems. Otherwise, one is to believe that the Arabs are incapable of democracy and only a tyrant like Saddam can make Iraqi “work.” If democracy were easy, the Arab states would all have it. There are problems, and solutions have to be found and implemented. That takes time, but Americans have, since the 18th century, grown weary of wars after three years. If the war goes on longer, the politicians have to scramble to survive the bad press and opinion polls. Opposition politicians take advantage of the situation, but this has nothing to do with Iraq, and everything to do with local politics in the United States.
Source: Strategy Page
RIGHT ON …RIGHT ON!! And thanks for adding that addition above Darryl, I just emailed that to everyone I know in the states.
A Soldier on the ground’s Commentary on Iraq
Following the article I sent about Bush’s national address and
troop increase, I thought it was a good idea to let you all know what
the perspective is over here. I’m tired of hearing the media’s skewed
version,
the politicians squabbling over what they read in a report, and
the average ill-informed American ranting about things he knows NOTHING about!
I’ve been over here a couple of months now, and I’ve learned
more about this country than a year’s worth of watching CNN. I’ve sat in
mission briefs with Colonels, talked with village elders, had tea with
Sheiks, played with the kids. And I agree with the President. We need
more troops and we need to take greater action.
There are 3 major factions here. The Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds.
The Shiites are in the majority, but Saddam was a Sunni, so he kept the
Shiites in check. Everyone hates the Kurds, who are Christian and in the
vast minority. The Kurds received the brunt of Saddam’s murderous
tyranny. Now that Saddam is gone, the Shiites have taken control of
Baghdad. The largely peaceful Sunnis are now the victims of radical
Shiite terrorism. So the young Sunni men, who can no longer go to work
and support their families, do what all young men would do. They join
the Sunni militia and battle the Shiites. And thus the country sits on
the brink of civil war.
But this war is between them. They largely do not concern
themselves with the U.S. troops. The insurgents who battle the Coalition
Forces are from outside the country. And the biggest problem down here
isn’t the insurgents. Its the politicia! ns. The local politicians. Even
though the country is controlled by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki,
downtown Baghdad is controlled by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
The Shiites follow al-Sadr and thus the Prime Minister does what al-Sadr
says. Think of it as if a warlord controlled New York and blackmailed
the President into diplomatic immunity.
When 1st Cav (mainly 2/5 Cav) came here in 2004, they took
downtown Baghdad (known as Sadr City) by force. It cost many lives, but
after a year, we held an iron grip on the largest insurge! nt bree ding
ground in Iraq. The insurgents were afraid of the Horse People, and
rightfully so. But when 1st Cav left, al-Sadr influenced the Prime
Minister to kick out the Coalition forces from that area of Baghdad. He
said the Iraqi military forces could hold the city. But all that
happened was al-Sadr regained control of his city, and it is now a
heavily guarded fortress. A place where insurgents and terr orists can
train and stockpile arms. And we cannot go back in because the Prime
Minister won’t let us. Our hands are tied.
So where does al-Sadr get his backing? From Iran and Syria. Iran
supplies him with money and Syria supplies the terrorists. The
insurgents that battle the Coalition Forces are from Syria, Somalia and
dozens of other places outside of Iraq. Iraq is literally a terrorist
breeding ground. They have terrorist and sniper schools here. Why not?
They train by teaching them to attack the military forces here. And they
have an endless supply of these training tools. They have factories in
Sadr City to build bombs. Both Iran and Syria have openly proclaimed
their number one goal in life is to destroy the great Western Devil and
the little Western Devil (America and Britain). Iran wants to control
Iraq to further this purpose. Al-Sadr ! will ge t to “run” the country
and live like a king, but in reality Iran will pull the puppet strings.
Iran will have access to thousands of radical Shiites who will do
whatever al-Sadr tells them to. And Iraq will be used as a breeding
ground for terrorism. Terrorism that will be targeted directly
at America and Britain. The Iraq Study Group advis! ed we s hould let
Iran and Syria help with rebuilding? Bravo to President Bush for
striking that idea down and vowing to keep those two countries out of
Iraq
So how do the Iraqi people feel about everything? Of course they
don’t want the Americans here. But they would far rather have us here
than the Iranians. My platoon visited an average Sunni village on a
patrol a few days ago. Their only source of income was to farm, as they
could not go to the city to work for fear of violence. Many of the young
m en had already run off to join the militia for no other reason than to
feed their families. They had no school or hospital near them and the
community was dying. The village elder’s granddaughter was very sick and
I was able to treat her. Afterwards he invited me and my Platoon Leader
to sit in his house and have tea with him, and we talked about the
situation.
The people want peace. The Shiites kill the Sunnis because
al-Sadr tells them to do so. The Sunnis fight back because they have no
choice. They are glad Saddam is dead (Sunni or not), but do not want to
replace him with another dictator in a politician’s clothes (which is
what al-Sadr will become). And they especially don’t want Iran in
charge. Many innocent Iraqis will die if this happens. These are the
words that came out of the elder’s mouth:
“We do not want America here, and America does not want to be
here. But you cannot leave because the militias control the country.
America must use the might of its giant army and sweep through, root out
and destroy the militias. Then Iraq can be free and you can leave.”
What appears to have happened within our diplomatic community,
is that Prime Minister finally realizes that his days are numbered. If
al-Sadr remains, he will be kicked to the curb. So hopefully he is about
to allow us to reenter Sadr City, root out and destroy the enemy. A
dramatic troop increase will allow us to do this. And the Horse People
are back and ready to finish what they started over 2 years ago.
If leave now, it will be a failure for democracy. Iran will
control Iraq and the end result will be more terrorist attacks on
America. The American people don’t want soldiers dying over here, but
its better than American
civilians dying over there. Do NOT forget 9/11. They will do it
again. The moment we loosen our grip on the noose, they will do it
again. And the only way to root out the evil here is to stop beating
around the bush, increase troops and destroy the insurgents once and for
all. The Iraqi government cannot do this on their own. The Iraqi
security forces are inadequate for this task. We are the only ones who
can stop al-Sadr.
Feel free to share this with whomever wants a real soldier’s
opinion about the war.
SPC “Doc” Shurley
2/5 Cav, 1st CB
I posted this because of the ignorance of the average American that thinks they are well informed because they watch the news each and every day. The media tells you only what the liberals want you to hear. I hope this enlightened many. Noone wants Americans dying over there. But those Americans chose to be soldiers, and sometimes soldiers die. -Darryl
a beuatiful and astute summation of the truth behind the truth
Biggest myth? MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
Good job! the liberals will be crying “not fair using facts to win an argument!”
The Iraq war was beneficial to some and injurious to others. For the anti-terrorists, they feel good for US cracking the Al Qaeda network in Iraq. For Muslims, the Iraq war was an attack against their religion. It is your choice, you have to select which is right.
My addition to the myths Bush connect saddam with 9/11 which he didn’t.
Liberals support our troops- Calling them Nazis, cold blooded murders, terrorist, dumb and that is from our elected officals
If we leave not Muslim terrorist will leave us alone.
There is only one person who is the sole cause of Muslim terrorism in the world and that is bin laden.
saddam was a good guy.
Agreed. Nicely done.
Yes! you have your facts straight!!!
shouldn’t you be grazing in the meadow with the rest of the sheep?
this isn’t a question.
They’ll probably just call you names for throwing facts around like that.
OOrah!
nicely done
now give it a minute, before the whirlwind of lunatics blows this question up..