Iraq

[bobbyR]

What would you do if you were president right now?

[Geezer38]

I would be in favour of removing all troops from Iraq and the Middle East and the rest of the world too; stop supporting Isreal's policies, and stop meddling in the affairs of other countries. Then if the U.N. decided that peacekeeping forces were needed in Iraq or elsewhere, to stabilize that country, then supply a U.N. command with minimal troops for that peacekeeping effort.

[bobbyR]

It doesn't matter to you that presence of American troops in the vast majority of places where American troops are placed is actually requested by the host nation?

Then if the U.N. decided that peacekeeping forces were needed in Iraq or elsewhere, to stabilize that country, then supply a U.N. command with minimal troops for that peacekeeping effort.


Yea, because the UN has such an impressive peacekeeping record. :eyes

[Zan de Man]

Tell us about the UN peacekeeping record then Bobby. Gie us a rundown of all the UN peacekeeping missions since 1948 and tell us whether, in your opinion, they have been successes or failures. I think it's time we had more to go on than lazy polemic.

And none of your options appeals to me. I believe we need to change our approach dramatically. The Iraqis will never trust us and, increasingly, the mainstream Iraqi citizen will want to see us dead.

A presence is needed and will be for some time, but the sooner we can hand over to a respected force, including Arabic speakers, the better.

[bobbyR]

How is that polemic? You get too much mileage out of that term. The UN has done a horrible job of peace keeping on the African continent. The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda are the most notable examples. This is not a polemic attack on the UN. The UN's intentions have been noble, but their results have not been matched by their intentions.

[bobbyR]

A presence is needed and will be for some time, but the sooner we can hand over to a respected force, including Arabic speakers, the better.

That's exactly what Bush is aiming to do at the end of next month.

[Fredfredson]

That's exactly what Bush is aiming to do at the end of next month.

WRONG.

Bush just said that after the handover the current troops will remainand remain under US Command.

So nothing changes as far as the Iraqis go, or for our troops either.

F
:pooter

[bobbyR]

That's not true. Iraqis will be in control of their country. They will administrate as they see fit. Our troops will remain for security purposes. And I would imagine if the Iraqi interim government wants our troops to leave, they will ask, and we will oblige. But they won't do that because they understand that our presence is necessary for security. Folks who are giddy about bashing the war effort will call it an occupation, but if that's the definition of occupation, then we also occupy Germany, South Korea, and many other places where the host nation doesn't want our troops to leave.

[Jayne B]

You don't get out much, do you, bobby?

Did you watch Bush's speech on Fox last night? Read any of the myriad articles about the new draft US resolution on Iraq that was presented to the Security Council today?

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I didn't think so.

[Zan de Man]

Let's have a detailed analysis of the success and failure of these missions.

AFRICA
Congo July 1960–June 1964
Angola Dec. 1988–May 1991
Namibia April 1989–March 1990
Angola May 1991–Feb. 1995
Somalia April 1992–March 1993
Mozambique Dec. 1992–Dec. 1994
Somalia March 1993–March 1995
Rwanda/Uganda June 1993–Sept. 1994
Liberia Sept. 1993–Sept. 1997
Rwanda Oct. 1993–March 1996
Chad/Libya May–June 1994
Angola Feb. 1995–June 1997
Angola June 1997–Feb. 1999
Sierra Leone July 1998–Oct. 1999
Central African Republic April 1998–Feb. 2000
MIDEAST
Middle East—1st UN
Emergency Force Nov. 1956–June 1967
Lebanon June–Dec. 1958
Yemen July 1963–Sept. 1964
Middle East—2nd UN
Emergency Force Oct. 1973–July 1979
Iran/Iraq Aug. 1988–Feb. 1991
AMERICAS
Dominican Republic May 1965–Oct. 1966
Central America
Observer Group Nov. 1989–Jan. 1992
El Salvador July 1991–April 1995
Haiti Sept. 1993–June 1996
Haiti July 1996–July 1997
Guatemala Jan.–May 1997
Haiti Aug.–Nov. 1997
Haiti Dec. 1997–March 2000
ASIA
West New Guinea Oct. 1962–April 1963
India/Pakistan Sept. 1965–March 1966
Afghanistan/Pakistan May 1988–March 1990
Cambodia Oct. 1991–March 1992
Cambodia March 1992–Sept. 1993
Tajikistan Dec. 1994–May 2000
East Timor Oct. 1999–May 2002
EUROPE
Former Yugoslavia Feb. 1992–March 1995
Croatia March 1995–Jan. 1996
Former Yugoslavia
Rep. of Macedonia March 1995–Feb. 1999
Bosnia & Herzegovina Dec. 1995–Dec. 2002
Croatia Jan. 1996–Jan. 1998
Croatia Jan. 1998–Oct. 1998
AFRICA
Western Sahara April 1991–present
Sierra Leone Oct. 1999–present
Democratic Republic
of the Congo Nov. 1999–present
Ethiopia and Eritrea July 2000–present
Côte d'Ivoire May 2003–present
Liberia Oct. 2003–present
ASIA
India/Pakistan Jan. 1949–present
East Timor May 2002–present
EUROPE
Cyprus March 1964–present
Georgia Aug. 1993–present
Kosovo June 1999–present
MIDDLE EAST
Middle East May 1948–present
Golan Heights June 1974–present
Lebanon March 1978–present
Iraq/Kuwait April 1991–present

[adaminthemiddle]

I voted stay the course, just because you didn't put in any adequate options.

Personally, I think the best thing to do, and what we might end up doing, is another Nixon-like "peace with honor." God I hate that phrase. But is there any other solution?

they will ask, and we will oblige

Yes, that's what the U.S. does. It asks for the popular opinion and goes with that. What you request is what we do. Give me a break.

[Neko]

If I was President we wouldn't be in this bloody awful mess to start with.

[Diemos3211]

The Romans did that whole "invited by the host country" thing too. It's how they got involved in the Punic wars and was how they initially began building their empire. It's no wonder that people get nervous about it.

[Keptin_Kat]

I think we need our troops to be taken out of places other than Iraq first, take Afghanistan for example. Then instead of this headstrong president bullcrap, we can get our allies back, and have a bit of cover fire to take our troops out of Iraq.


:wife NO DRAFT! :wife

[ninjalooter1701]

We will be in Iraq until the Iraqis decide that we are wanted, at which point we will depart.

[GeneralPatton]

One bomb for each country out of line, turn them into sandboxes or parking lots :moon

[Thornton]

Nah, I couldn't vote for any of the choices.

Can stay of the same course, it's not working.

Can't send in more troops unless they are allowed to search and destroy ALL insurgents and terrorist and those that help them and hide them. But, that won't happen, so we'd just have more soldiers getting killed and none of teh BS stopped.

Can't just pull our troops all out now. That'd just give the place back to the insurgents and Saddam followers. Then all our dead soldiers would be gone in vain. We have to do something different.

Can't just microwave the place. Lots of innocent people would die that only want democracy.

It's a tough call and I'm glad I don't have to be theone making it.