Iraq 5 year mark

The five year mark approaches for the start of the most important war of our time. Nary a word is spoken, however, by our Presidential hopefuls. The Democrats have resorted to their old tricks and all the Republicans have to do is sit back and enjoy the show and Clinton and Obama duke it out.

I think that 5 years is a long time to be tied up in a place where feelings of our presence (by the locals) are so misplaced. Then again, a lot of people who don't want us there probably are reallyh locals anyway. I'm sure there are thousands of people form Iran, Syria, and other asshole countries, who are there solely to make our lives a living hell as we try to get some semblance of sanity in the region.

On one hand, people there deserve a life without being blown to bits by a group (any group) of people Allah bent on spreading their defunct religion to all corners of the earth. Juxtaposed is the fact that we have been there a long time, it is getting harder to control the fanatical assholes who like to blow themselves and women, children, and Americans up in an attempt to spread the "religion of peace".

Should we pack up and leave, another mess left for someone else to figure out, or worse, leave it for another insane dictator to sweep in and claim the spoils? Or do we stick it out because, quite simply, fuck those guys. Why should the fanatic muslims and other despots have free reign to bug the world whenever they feel like it, most of the time with no ill effects from the world? Now that I think about it, they are usually hailed by the lunatic left.

/shake head

I have reposted an old internet email that has floated around for some time. I have changed the values in the email to reflect current losses and added my sources for good measure. I did not put the pictures in the post because most of those people infuriate me just to see them.

There were 69 combat related killings in Iraq January and February, 2008.
In New Orleans, now dubbed the murder capitol of the U.S., had 28 murders in the months of January and February. That's just one American city, about 40% as deadly as the entire war-torn country of Iraq.

Some claim that President Bush shouldn't have started this war, basically taking the position that Saddam only killed his own people so it really isn't any of our business. They also call it "illegal" based on the premise that we should have given Saddam another chance to comply with U.N. weapons inspectors- even though he blew them off more than a dozen times before.

Here are some interesting tidbits about past presidents and wars/conflicts they brought the U.S. into.

FDR led us into World War II. Germany never attacked us; Japan did. From 1941- 1945, 450,000 lives were lost, an average of 112,500 per year. We've lost 3990 U.S. soldiers in Iraq, to date, since the war started.

Truman finished that war and started one in Korea although North Korea never attacked us .
From 1950-1953, 55,000 lives were lost- an average of 18,334 per year.

John F. Kennedy started the Vietnam conflict in 1962. Vietnam never attacked us.

Johnson turned Vietnam into a quagmire (if you can stand to read that word now). From 1965-1975, 58,000 lives were lost- an average of 5,800 per year.

Clinton went to war in Bosnia without UN or French consent (where was the liberal outcry then?). Bosnia never attacked us. He was offered Osama bin Laden's head on a platter three times by Sudan and did nothing. Osama has attacked us on multiple occasions.

In the years since terrorists attacked us, President Bush has liberated two countries, crushed the Taliban, crippled al-Qaida and captured a terrorist who slaughtered 300,000 of his own people. Bush also put nuclear inspectors in Libya, Iran, and North Korea without firing a shot.

The Democrats are complaining about how long the war is taking. Since we are talking about time lines, let's take a look at some important ones that have slipped under the couch cushions.

It took less time to take Iraq than it took Janet Reno to take the Branch Davidian compound.
That was a 51-day operation..

We've been looking for evidence for chemical weapons in Iraq for less time than it took Hillary Clinton to find the Rose Law Firm billing records. Hard to find those kinds of things when people keep dying...

It took less time for the 3rd Infantry Division and the Marines to destroy the Medina Republican Guard than it took Ted Kennedy to call the police after his Oldsmobile sank at Chappaquiddick.

It took less time to take Iraq than it took to count the votes in Florida.

Here is a great dialogue of Senator John Glenn (the astronaut, remember?) on the Senate Floor, January 26, 2004

Many people do not understand why the military personnel do what they do for a living. I spent 20 years riding submarines and I still don't know why I did it a lot of the time. Well, that's not true, I know exactly why I did it, but always asked myself why I KEPT doing it despite all the bullshit. But many people share John Kerry's retarded remark he made about the military, that we are all, basically, a bunch of dumbasses that couldn't do anything else in life.

Here is an exchange between Senator John Glenn and Senator Howard Metzenbaum.


Senator Metzenbaum (speaking to Senator Glenn):

How can you run for Senate when you've never held a real job?

Senator Glenn (D-Ohio):

I served 23 years in the United States Marine Corps. I served through two wars. I flew 149 missions. My plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire on 12 different occasions. I was in the space program. It wasn't my checkbook, Howard; it was my life on the line. It was not a nine-to-five job, where I took time off to take the daily cash receipts to the bank.

I ask you to go with me, as I went the other day, to a veteran's hospital and look those men, with their mangled bodies, in the eye, and tell THEM they didn't hold a job!

You go with me to the Space Program at NASA and go, as I have gone, to the widows and Orphans
of Ed White, Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee and you look those kids in the eye and tell them
that their DADS didn't hold a job.

You go with me on Memorial Day and you stand in Arlington National Cemetery , where I have more friends buried than I'd like to remember, and you watch those waving flags. You stand there, and you think about this nation, and you tell ME that those people didn't have a job?

What about you?

Glenn asks Metzenbaum about his 'job' status as a slam. For those who don't know, or remember, during W.W.II, SENATOR Howard Metzenbaum was an attorney representing the Communist Party in the USA.

Gotta love this country sometimes.