Did we rush to war without a good plan, like senator John Kerry said ?
541943
Without a good plan?  No.  It was far worse than that.\n\nWe actually HAD a plan - a very long document drawn up by the military describing the resistance we would face, the time we would need and the levels of troops we would require to win.\n\nBush and his political buddies rushed to war willfully ignoring the plan.  They disregarded it completely.  In fact, they did everything they could to excoriate the writers of the plan in the press.  Why did they refuse to follow the plan the experts had drawn up?  Because it wasn't convenient to their political ideology.\n\nDisgusting.  They willfully ignored evidence and killed American soldiers.  They should be imprisoned for life.
869135
I think it partially a coincidence.  There has been talk of strategy for several months now.  Support for the war is dwindling.  Its a constant attack, its not getting much better.   And, anticipating a dem win, they probably figured, they need one really soon.\n\nI think its a combination of things forcing the issue.
1155113
Nope. it's fun being the president because you can stir up a hornet's nest and then run like hell when they attack. Same thing with LBJ and Vietnam. He charged into the war blinded by his own agendas and when it came time to run for office, he spilt. The war will have to continue when the next president steps in. America is too deep into it now. I think now it's a matter of sticking it out until the end or tucking tail and running from it.
361855
Poor Job.\n\nNo, we shouldn't have went into Iraq in the first place.
804393
Not necessarily the ill advised invasion, but the handling of the whole damn thing is the reason for the civil war in Iraq. We should have never gone there in the first place as the invasion was based on a lie. However if we had made better decisions after we got there maybe we could have thwarted the civil war. The Generals have said since the beginning that we should have had more people and we should have disarmed everyone and secured the borders from outside influences, hind sight is better then foresight, but I think Rumsfeld was told there was a problem from the beginning.
841864
his point was that if you run for president and you're a total moron, you'll get your troops stuck in iraq, blow the biggest budget surplus in history, and lose more americans in the "nucular" war on "ter'r" than we lost in the 9/11 disaster.\n\ni'm not saying that democrats are better than republicans, i'm saying that ANYONE is better than the republicans in office now. there are better republicans than the ones in power now.\n\ni tend to put more stock in the words of a vietnam vet than in the man who didnt bother showing up for his duties to protect oklahoma.
642473
No. We had a choice between having a recovering economy with Kerry, or a worse economy and a moron for a President.
835306
Just because he did not take time out of his busy day to visit you on the playground and ask for your ideas about Iraq does not mean he did not have a plan!\n\nSometimes you libs say such rediculous things, it's amazing you are smart enough to use a keyboard!
934619
Kerry Has certainly made his mistakes. But Bush and Cheney are in way over their heads. They blundered into Iraq not because of terrorism but because of Hussein. (They had to cover up for bin laden some how.) The military is not prepared to fight guerrillas. We have the most powerful military in the world, but as it was proved in Vietnam, if we're not fighting another army, we cannot win. We didn't have the organization to take Iraq when we started, and now we don't have the will. The Bush administration is trying desperately to cover up for what will be 8 bungled years. They achieved nothing except to destroy the United State's reputation in the eyes of the world.
957698
He said something about if you study hard you do good but if you don't you get stuck in Iraq. What he was supposed to say is if you study hard you do good but if you don't you get us stuck in a war in Iraq. That's not the exact words but that's what he said.\nIt was supposed to be a joke on Bush. He later apologized to the troops, not to Bush I don't think. I hate it that Kerry stuck his foot in his mouth (but it happens); I like him.
20221
The trap that Kerry got into was based on semantics. He voted to authorize the US to go to war with Iraq if we could not otherwise use diplomacy and the use of sanctions to make Saddam Hussein allow inspectors back in Iraq.\n  When it came to voting for the $87 billion to fund the war initially he voted against one form of the bill and for another form of the bill. He was explaining a complex process in a short sound byte that was taken out of context by his opponents. He was in no way wishy washy about his vote. Both his vote for the authorization to go to war and his vote against the first bill to authorize $87 billion dollars were clear.\n   The intelligence and assumptions he was working with for his first vote for the war was not only flawed but totally baseless. The President didn't try to verify the sources and instead hyped up whatever would persuade the American people and Congress to allow him to go to war. \n    There are two ways to make an argument:\n    1. Get the facts and support your case with them.\n     2. Make a case and get the facts to support your case, which is what a college debater does. But a college debater is not dealing in life and death issues that will cause 32,000 Iraqi and American deaths. \n     The next time a President asks us to send our men and women to war for his policies will be very difficult because the American people have lost trust in their Commander-In-Chief and do not want to volunteer their sons and daughters to die for something that is not founded on strong evidence.\n      We will probably need to go back to the draft in the future to supply the troop levels we will need to fight Iran, Iraq, North Korea, and Syria. \n      That is unless we get back into the world community and use diplomacy to isolate these countries. We were doing fine in Iraq using sanctions until Mr. Bush and the Neocons decided to upset the apple cart and create a phony war.
807190
From what I was hearing on talk radio (right wing) last night, Kerry's mouth was the October surprise and will keep the republicans in their congressional seats.\nBasically he was campaigning for the Republicans with that stupid remark............................\nPart of that comment included something about studying and "getting smart".  Huh!!!!!!!?????????????\nYou do not GET SMART...you either............ARE SMART or you are not smart.\nEducation makes you educated........not SMART.\nHow did he ever get in the senate????
1003929
Kerry in 2004 wasn't about to pull the troops home immediately, that seems like a relatively cooperative platform.\n\nJohn McCain in 2000 was basically pure Republican economically and pure Democrat socially, with one or two exceptions.
4790
Nope, i think that other people (Dick Cheney, Condoleeza Rice etc.) are trying to do it for him, but unfortunately they suck too!!!  If maybe he had a plan BEFORE invading a country i would have more faith...then again, probably not!
886410
If there is an iron clad agenda to kill our enemy, and to discourage, forever more, the insurgents from entering Iraq, then I say yes.  This would require a serious ratcheting up of our activities, it would require the use of bigger and meaner weapons and ordinance, it would require border crossings to get to the real bad guys.  If this is our game plan, then I say yes.\n\nIf the purpose of sending more troops is to expand patrols and police action, then I say NOT.  We don't need more of the same bull sh it, we need a policy that will destroy the enemy, and let them know, we finally mean business.\n\nSorry, libs, your pacification program has been put back on the shelf!
831893
Draft is a dirty word the liberals like to float and try to get their way. You see, after watching the hearings, all I can say is that if the democrats push and get us pulling out without full completion, then we better be ready for the payback. they like to blame all the insurgent and infighting on our actions and by being there. \n\nThey only think of pull out, cut and run and if we do that, we will, within about a year or less, begin to have attacks on our streets, and of course, that gives the liberals ammunition to say " Bush did it", when it was their policy all along.\n\nWe cant let Congress or opinion polls run the war on terror like we did Viet Nam. Over 54000 people died cause we had on and off bombing of the north, and a bunch of fat head politicians trying to run the show from DC.\n\n\nEvery war we have ever fought, has left troops in a foreign country. Germany, France, Italy, Turkey, Korea and Japan, so why not Iraq as a normal tour of duty??\n\nBut before we do anything, lets give the military and the people there a fighting chance to be democratic and have freedoms like we enjoy. We already got rid of the dictator and killer they had running the show.\n\nGive the leaders the tools, get in there, do the job, then get out.
392076
Because they were scared to death about what John Kerry could do to our nation, or what his lack of action could do to our nation, at least.