The Iraq War: great war, or THE GREATEST war?
547731
Not sure how you define a war as 'great' - least tragic would seem a better category.\n\nIn terms of size/effort etc etc it wouldn't even make the top 10 in history.\n\nPeace out
141801
Yes.\nIt cost thousands of lives,hundreds of billions of dollars,\nand lowered the standing of the U.S. in the international\ncommunity. Even when the war ends there will be a cost-the\npeace of mind of many who served,suffering from post-traumatic stress.\n All of this to confiscate Weapons of Mass Destruction that\nnever existed.\n Invading Iraq was a colossal mistake.
423649
No. Has anyone else seen the picture of Donald Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam Hussein? The Iraq war is just a smoke screen to take Americans mind off the real problems that we are facing - terrorism, substandard public schools, poverty, etc.
1085530
It may be viewed as a Crusade, although the battle is not in the Holy Land (aka Jerusalem). \n\nLest I mistake your question for purely rhetorical value, our involvement in Iraq is based upon:\n\n1. The assumption that Iraq had WMDs\n2. The assumption that Saddam Hussein was funding anti-American and anti-Israeli terrorism\n3. The assumption that Saddam posed a threat to stability in the region\n4. The belief that Saddam had committed crimes against humanity\n\nThere has been no evidence found of the first assumption, although credible evidence indicates that the U.S. provided chemical weapons to Iraq during its war against Iran, the latter of which was considered an enemy to the U.S.\n\nThere has been little evidence found of the second assumption, which makes sense given that Saddam was a secular person of Sunni descent, and the radical theology underpinning Al-Qaeda has far more support among Shi'ites than Sunnis (although terrorists represent only a small, radical fringe of Islam, and there are terrorist groups with chiefly Sunni members). The terrorist attacks on American troops are mostly opportunistic by pre-existing groups or precipitated by new groups that have sprung up in response to the invasion.\n\nThe third assumption is debatably true. Saddam's armies invaded Kuwait in 1991 and fired missiles into Israel in 1992. \n\nThe fourth assumption (I labeled it a belief) has strong evidence behind it, and currently forms the basis of the ongoing trial.\n\nThe motivation for the United States has nothing to do with religion, although it is an unfortunate coincidence that a mostly-Christian nation has invaded two mostly-Islamic nations, as this adds fuel to the fire of radical beliefs that hold that the United States is the enemy of Islam.\n\nThe next president elected will be a Democrat (since the GOP is out of political capital at this point), and will probably close out the current operations (since there's little public support behind them). Hopefully, whoever is in office next will be able to gain more credibility and provide a more effective diplomacy so the military solution is not resorted to.
996547
Intelligence and restraint.\n\nFather Bush led the First Gulf War to free Kuwait. He did not go alone but sought the help of allies from all over the world.  Once the war was concluded, we left.  Our economy was intact. No priceless Iraqui treasures were looted. They didn't hate us for invading their country. The conduct of this war shows leadership, with intelligence and restraint. \n\nNow, George W. has us in a non-winnable war.  There is no end in sight. We spend billions which is destroying our economy, not to mention wasting the lives of our men and women and those of Iraqi civilians. Iraqis and the world hate us.  This is the legacy of George W. Bush -- poverty, hatred and death. \n\nThat's the difference.
577967
Bush has had the fortitude to stand up to the world and to call Saddam's hand as well as expose the French, Germans and Russians as greedy cowards.\n\nNot one of the greatest, though.  No Reagan or Nixon.
627675
I wholeheartedly agree with your skepticism.  There is no purpose to the war that we are fighting.  It is a quagmire, and the one who got us there in the first place is too proud to admit that.  \n\nSadly, in George Bush Sr's Memiors, he specificially said that it was a bad idea to invade Iraq because something like this would happen.
316210
This is kind of a wierd wording.  Any person with an ounce of compassion will say "I would like the war never to have begun."  I think it should have ended long ago.  In fact if you want to get into it that deeply, I don't think it should haev begun in the first place.  Don't get me wrong, I'm glad Saddam is out of power and I totally support our troops.  They are over there precisely so I can complain about them being over there all I want.  I think the US has gone a little far though.  Maybe it's just that the governments goal are not being successfully conveyed to the public through the media.  I don't really know.  I disagree with the war, but I see no real way to end it.\n\nSimply put, the war in Iraq should have already been ended.
529138
It isn't a preemptive war, it's a continuation of the 1991 war. Iraq surrendered back then and since had not lived up to their promises. So the U.S. and its allies are there now to fix things.\n\nTo call the U.S. responsible for car bombings is just stupid. Most of the bombers aren't from Iraq. They are from other countries that see this as a way to kill Americans and defeat democracy.
434099
The Iraq War will clearly be the defining event of the Bush presidency, regardless of how things turn out in the Middle East. He has staked virtually his entire administration on Iraq.\n\nThe other key policy will be the budget deficit, which increased dramatically during this administration. Bush squandered a $5.6 Trillion surplus on tax cuts.
156573
First, your question is flawed by assuming the war is for oil.\n\nSecond, I have done two tours in Iraq. The vast majority of Iraqis love Americans. The kids love us and want to shake our hands. The adults love us and regularly invite us to dinner and special occasions. They love us when we build schools. They love us when we build roads. They love us when we rid villages of insurgents.\n\nDon't believe what the liberal media is spinning. They have an agenda just like you.
1055735
Whe the Iraqi government takes over Iraq.  We pulled out of Somalia prematurely, and conditions got worse than they were before we went in.  We pulled out of Vietnam prematurely, and conditions got worse than they were when we went in.  There is no time limit for war.
147907
In my opinion, Iraq isn't involved in a civil war. It's involved in a US-induced revolution.
1098151
the war in Iraq is a pre-emptive strike
194479
NO. I have friends and family who are in Iraq in the military and my father in law just got back from Iraq as a civilian bomb dog handler. Each of them has told me how saddened and sickened they are by the media portrayal of only negative things from the war. Each of them has told me about how they can see positive changes in Iraq and how much better the living conditions are over there now and how they have started schools and brought order back in many places. I don't think that is a waste of time. It is hard for us who have people we love over there and I am sure we would like to see them all come home safely and not have to be at war -- but the efforts made my our troops in Iraq are not a waste of time.
719397
The USA does not go to war because of a difference in ideology. It is because of economic and defensive strategies. The war in Iraq was as much about protecting oil reserves as it was protecting US citizens from the big bad terrorists. Every country seeks to advance its financial and political interests. The US just has more resources to do it than any other nations. It follows in a long line of historical examples where a nation has gone to war on the pretence of making a better world where the actual aim was betterment of their own nation, for example the crusades, where ultimately it was just a land grab as opposed to enlightening the world to the "joys of christianity". It is, was and always will be a major issue facing the world, as nations jostle for position in the global hierarchy.
1099886
'fraid so. our brave american 'heros' will be slaughtered & for what? iraq was better off before we went in. saddams crimes are out of our juristiction. iraq had nothing to do with 911 nor did they have wmd. what they did have was oil that they were wanting to sell on the open market. rather than have the competition, its easier to bs the usa into stealing their oil & selling it to ourselves at inflated prices. so what if we sacrifice a few hundred thousand lives, profits are up. theyll probly reinstate the draft.