"Jihad Bomb Kills 20 in Dodge City!"

[lurker]

"Jihad Bomb Kills 20 in Dodge City!" isn't a real headline BUT it could be true after we cut and run.

A letter to the HutchNews Editor.... from someone in the thick of things.

Why we're in Iraq

I grew up in Hutchinson and joined the military when I was 18. I am currently deployed overseas in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Now and then I read hutchnews.com to see how things are in my hometown.


Reading the opinion piece "Why are we there?" prompted a response because Dick Hogan spoke in generalities, insults and inaccuracies.

Here are some examples: Hogan cited a poll where, "50 percent of our unwilling to read populace still thinks Iraq possessed these forbidden fruits (WMD)." What company conducted the polls, and when were they held? Saying they were cited in a couple of newspapers does not give them credibility. Later, he insults these 50 percent by saying they are illiterate. What is the point of his argument? Are people unwilling or unable to read? As for his accuracy about WMDs, the military did find them in Iraq. Conduct a Google search and you will find numerous articles about this.

Hogan allowed his hatred to blind himself from one simple fact. The people we are fighting want to kill us and would prefer to do it on American soil. So here is the answer to his question: We are over there because the President decided to fight the enemy on their soil to prevent them from killing us. Based on his rhetoric, I don't think there is any chance of changing his opinion and that is fine. That is his right.

However, the next time he reads about an IED attack in Iraq, he should think about what it would be like if it occurred in his hometown.

JAMES G. GONZALES

Baghdad

Some call it "The Religion of Peace."

[wordsmythe]

As opposed to the right wing led by W "staying the course" and driving straight off a cliff?

[wordsmythe]

Even George's supporters are starting to realize they were wrong.

McCain chides administration for Iraq war rhetoric
Senator faults officials for portraying war as 'day at the beach'

Sen. John McCain said the American public should have been better prepared for a long fight.

(AP) -- Republican Sen. John McCain, a staunch defender of the Iraq war, on Tuesday faulted the Bush administration for misleading Americans into believing the conflict would be "some kind of day at the beach."

"I think one of the biggest mistakes we made was underestimating the size of the task and the sacrifices that would be required," McCain said. "Stuff happens, mission accomplished, last throes, a few dead-enders. I'm just more familiar with those statements than anyone else because it grieves me so much that we had not told the American people how tough and difficult this task would be."

Those phrases are closely associated with top members of the Bush administration, including the president.

Bush stood below a banner proclaiming "Mission Accomplished" on May 1, 2003 after the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime. The war has continued since then, with the death of more than 2,600 members of the U.S. military. Vice President Dick Cheney said last year that the Iraqi insurgency was "in its final throes."

McCain said that talk "has contributed enormously to the frustration that Americans feel today because they were led to believe this could be some kind of day at the beach, which many of us fully understood from the beginning would be a very, very difficult undertaking."

On Monday, McCain said at an appearance in suburban Cleveland that if U.S. troops announce a specific date to leave Iraq, insurgents will bide their time until they have an opportunity to act without interference.

"The chaos that would ensue would have direct implications for our national security," McCain said.

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Now I agree that we can't just pick a date and leave because we broke it so we bought it. This war was a waste of our efforts and time and I still believe that the Bushies did it for their own reasons and through nefarious means.

That being said it doesn't matter how we got in this mess it's up to us to clean it up. However, to clean up said mess you have to ADMIT you have a mess to clean up and this administration refuses to admit mistakes.

Watching W's press conference the other day it was obvious that he's getting tired of people questioning his "authoritye." But it's also evident that he's still not listening to the people who matter.

If he won't listen to the military and other advisers as to what needs to be done then the very best thing that can be done for the U.S. would be to bring our people home and let the civil war continue in Iraq and then deal with the aftermath.

Until W pulls his head out far enough to read his name on the back of his belt and let people who know what they are doing do their jobs we are going to see more and more people needlessly killed and Iraq further destabilized.

[Detector]

I'm at a loss at to where these people expected "a day at the beach." I remember quite well Bush saying, and saying very strongly, that if we choose to take on this task it will be a long and hard one. He repeatedly said he would not go to war UNLESS America had the will to see it to it's end.

Think most of these quotes are inaccurate or taken out of context like the

Bush stood below a banner proclaiming "Mission Accomplished" on May 1, 2003 after the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime. The war has continued since then, with the death of more than 2,600 members of the U.S. military. Vice President Dick Cheney said last year that the Iraqi insurgency was "in its final throes."

His claim to mission accomplished was in reference to removing Saddam which was indeed accurate.

If there was any misleading going on it was by those who didn't listen in the first place and are now looking to gain brownie points by blaming someone because they weren't paying attention. They now are falling for the Dem's "the majority thinks the war was a bad idea" spew and are backpedaling to make excuses why they first supported the war.

They're doing the now infamous Kerry flipflop and looking just as ridiculous in the process.

[Highwayman]

Can we trade McCain for Lieberman? Joe is only a little more liberal but he’s a whole lot more honest and trustworthy.

[wordsmythe]

Originally Posted by Detector

I'm at a loss at to where these people expected "a day at the beach."

These might have something to do with it but this is just a start.


on Feb. 20, a month before the invasion, Rumsfeld fielded a question about whether Americans would be greeted as liberators if they invaded Iraq.

"Do you expect the invasion, if it comes, to be welcomed by the majority of the civilian population of Iraq?" Jim Lehrer asked the defense secretary on PBS' "The News Hour."

"There is no question but that they would be welcomed," Rumsfeld replied, referring to American forces. "Go back to Afghanistan, the people were in the streets playing music, cheering, flying kites, and doing all the things that the Taliban and the al-Qaeda would not let them do."


“It is unknowable how long that conflict will last. It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months.”
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Feb. 7 2003

[Detector]

A day at the beach? Now just how does one get the idea it was expected to be a day on the beach from that?

Oh, now I see. The same way these people got the idea Bush was discouraged.

Bush acknowledged this week that he has been discouraged as well. "Frustrated?" he asked. "Sometimes I'm frustrated. Rarely surprised. Sometimes I'm happy. This is -- but war is not a time of joy. These aren't joyous times. These are challenging times and they're difficult times and they're straining the psyche of our country."

Now just how does one get discouraged out of frustrated?

[TexKan]

Now I don't know THAAT much about politics but the first thing that came to mind was - why didn't the liberals hear what I heard and have heard from GW. He never said it would be a walk in the park. He continues to say the war on terror will continue for probably ever. We are not going to wipe out the muslim extremeist, the arian nation, or the sick Koresh followers. There will always be a clear and present danger. This has been the case since the indian wars, the germans, the russians, etc........... Islam I don't believe are all extremeists. And GW has been pretty up front about the time frame.

On the other note I wanted to add that quoting Donald is not a Bush quote. Mission accomplished was about the removal of Saddam - that was the easy part for those who don't have the balls to see democracy to the end. We as a nation did that in VN............. I don't think the libs were payin attention - they are too busy tryin to bolster thier numbers by cryin that the sky is fallin. If we don't do what needs to be done - the sky will be fallin.............. OURS!! Let those that step up to the plate for thier country - do thier job. If you are over there and wanna come home - all ya gotta do is some ass slappin of your barracks buddy and you too can come home. I don't see lots of that goin on.

Good post Detector!!! Good idea HW!!!

[Highwayman]

The problem in Iraq is we didn’t finish the job in the first Gulf war. Thank you UN for limiting the battle to liberating Kuwait and stopping us 100 miles from Bagdad. When Saddam thumbed his nose at the UN over the weapons inspections no one wanted to go in and enforce those resolutions because it wouldn’t look good in the polls.

I submit it needed done years ago and putting it off hasn’t made it any easier.

[wordsmythe]

Telling people our troops would be greeted as liberators with song and dance might have had something to do with it. I can see how some people would make the translation to "day at the beach" level of thinking.

But I agree with Highway that the first Bush should have done what he said he was going to do when he encouraged the Iraqi people to rise up and then let them be slaughtered.

Woulda shoulda coulda is always nice to look back on.

Like we Woulda been better off staying out of Iraq
Once we were in it we Shoulda done it right
We coulda had a real strategy for the war and it's aftermath.

Instead we are in the mess we are in and the rpublicans are starting to see that there was almost half the country who weren't buying it and that number is going up.