Higgly Posted September 16, 2006 Report Share Posted September 16, 2006 So the US Military is mired in a real mess in Iraq. The latest from these guys is that they are giving up on their previous strategy to conquer the whole country and have decided to conquer Baghdad instead. They are going to build a moat (yes, that's right, a moat) around the whole city so they can keep out the insurgents. Hard to believe that the US is retreating into a siege mentality, but there you have it. I thinnk it's time to give credit where credit is due. Whose idea was this? And who was pushing this idea? I have a few ideas, but I hope other s will chine in as well. Firstly, as to whose idea this was.... The idea of invading and conquering Iraq was first presented in a paper written by Paul Wolfowitz (now head of the World Bank!) in a paper he wrote for Benjanmin Netanyahu (Bibi!) who was part of a consultancy group (headed by Richard Perle) that Bibi (!) had hired. Both Wolfowitz and Perle have strong ties to the Israeli Likud party, and in their youths were part of a 'kitchen' group that advocated taking a strong hand with Arab states in the Middle East in favour of Israel. But these guys did not do it on etheir own. They had lots of help. There were a lot opf people, including a number up here in Canada, who pushed, and pushed hard, for the invasion of Iraq. I am going to add a few here, I leave to other posters to search their memories and add others who pushed for the invasion of Iraq. Edward Greenspan - Editor in Chief, Globe and Mail Margaret Wente, columnist, Globe and Mail John Ibbitson, columnist, Globe and Mail Marcus Gee, columnist, Globe and Mail Janice Stein, Harrowston Chair of Conflict Management, , founding Director of the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto There is a very long list here. Do you know any? It's time to name names. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolyNewbie Posted September 16, 2006 Report Share Posted September 16, 2006 Excellent Post. I wish I could add a name. Check out HawksCafe for some interesting stuff along this line. Who profits from Afganistan ? What role did Canada play in 911 ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Higgly Posted September 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2006 I wish I could add a name. There are so many! Here is another... Noah Feldman, general gadfly, lawyer and neocon about town (i.e, inside the Beltway). This guy came up to Canada (so few of them bothered!) and testified (on CPAC no less) before a Parliamentary committee on why Canada should support the invasion of Iraq. Here's another. Ann Coulter. Neocon celebré. Her book "How to Talk to a Liberal, If You Must" sold a lot of copies. She has money if anyone wants to sue her. Looking for a Canadian? Barbara Frums' son - what's his name Frum. Coined the phrase 'Axis of Evil'. When his wife made the dumb ass mistake of saying so, he got canned. That's when he suddenly decided to take an interest in Canadian politics. All of W's speech writers need to understand the first rule of working for W. He may be an undereducated moron, but he can afford to buy YOU, so you had better be prepared to shut yer mouth about who is writing his speeches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Higgly Posted September 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2006 Holy cow. No other ideas? Here's one - Michael Ignatieff. Yes folks, the guy who has spent his whole professional life living in the USA and the UK has suddenly decided he would make a good candidate for Prime Minster. He would like us all to know that he supports the war in Iraq. Jackass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Higgly Posted September 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2006 Am I the only one who was paying attention? Barbara Amiel, wife of Lord Conrad Black. Lord Conrad Black, accused felon. Kenneth Whyte, formerly Editor, the National Toast, formerly Editor, Macleans. Now unemployed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Higgly Posted September 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2006 Oh wait. I have a picture of Rummy shaking hands with Saddam. Where is it... rummage, rummage... Oh yes. Here it is Rummy shakes hands with Saddam In fact, I do believe there is a video clip as well.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Higgly Posted September 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2006 How could we miss this one? Good old Harpie. Yes ladies and germs, our very own Prime Minister published an op-ed piece in the New York Times supporting the invasion of Iraq... before it actually happened ! Yowza! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrustyKidd Posted September 17, 2006 Report Share Posted September 17, 2006 duplicate post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrustyKidd Posted September 17, 2006 Report Share Posted September 17, 2006 Of course this entire thread is based on one premise - that of Iraq being a simple money making venture. Good luck and, thank you for proving yourselves as black and white thinkers. Leftists good, right wingers bad. Got it. He may be an undereducated moron, Definitely got it. More educated than Kerry who was the left's front runner. You have your baby sitter do your research for you? In fact, I do believe there is a video clip as well.... Of Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam much like Rosevelt buddying up with Stalin. Oh, and add my name to the list of people who support and, supported the invasion. So far, the losses of life arre far below what Saddam caused in his twenty five some odd years of rule. The invasion has saved lives so if you have a problem with that, I don't know where it might lie unless of course, you are just anti Bush puppets. Anyhow, been fun but there is zip for substance in this thread aside from lefties just ranting so go for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Higgly Posted September 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2006 Roosevelt shook hands with Stalin after the war was over and before the iron curtain came down. Only Churchill saw what was coming. The Russians had just suffered monumental losses in repelling the Nazis - we're talking millions of dead here. The Russians sufffered the highest mortality of any identifiable group during the second world war - estimates go as high as 20 million. The Eastern front is what really won the war. If Hitler had stuck to his original game plan, Europe would now be speaking German. The US dragged its feet getting into the war and were damned glad it was over. Not surprised that Roosevelt would want to shake hands with old Uncle Joe. By the way, this is no defense of Stalin. He was the worst butcher of the 20th century. Worse than Hitler. Much worse than Hitler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrustyKidd Posted September 17, 2006 Report Share Posted September 17, 2006 Roosevelt shook hands with Stalin after the war was over and before the iron curtain came down. Even more similar. Friends, then enemies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Higgly Posted September 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2006 Even more similar. Friends, then enemies. Not sure I get your drift. Are you saying Roosevelt and Stalin were similar? Roosevelt = New Deal. Stalin = sending millions of men to the front unarmed, most not even equipped with a knife or a decent pair of shoes. Press reports talk of Russian soldiers charging half naked at the German lines. Cannon fodder. Is this what you are saying? Here is a parapharse (I do not have the book handy to quote exactly) of a book I read on what this was like for a Russian soldier. You go out to try to find some food to feed your family one day and as you are walking along the street a truck pulls up and three big guys get out, pick you up, and toss you in the back of the truck. At the start of the war, you would have wondered what was going on but later on, you would have known exactly. You are being press-ganged into the war on the Eastern Front. In the back of the truck is a bunch of guys just like you; you might recognize one or two from your neighbourhood. There are also a couple of guys with guns pointed at you. They order you to sit down on the floor of the truck. If you knew what was really going to happen you would have tried to overpower them and take their guns. At one point the truck stops and the three goons get out and kidnap another guy. He resists. They kill him. The other guys in the back of ther truck tell you this is the fourth time they have seen men killed like this. The truck does not take you to an armory where you can get a uniform, a weapon, and some training. It drives for 48 hours straight to the front. The truck stops occasionally for fuel. You are not fed. At the front, you are ordered off the truck. One guy doesn't want to go. He is shot. There is a huge amount of noise, smoke and confusion. Dead men are everywhere. You are near a river bank. You are ordered to get on a boat 50 meters away. You start running to the boat. Men are being shot by the enemy on the other side of the river and are dropping around you before you get to the boat. You make it to the boat. It starts across the river. You are protected behind the superstructure of the boat but bullets are flying all around the boat and shells are throwing up huge plumes of water. A boat 30 meters away from you is hit by a shell and men are sent flying and screaming into the air. The boat sinks. Your boat arrives at the other shore. You are ordered to leave the boat. Men run out to the other side of the superstructure and are hit by bullets from the enemy. Some men refuse to leave the boat. They are shot. You make it off the boat and climb over a pile of bodies on the shore. There is an earthen embankment ahead. You realize that if you can make it there, you will be safe. You run a zig-zag pattern and while others are being hit around you, you make it. You look around at the men who have made it with you. None of them has a weapon. You look behind you at other earthen embankments to your rear. You see men there with weapons who are firing at the enemy. You are ordered over the embankement Some men refuse. They are shot. You realize that your only hope is to make it to the German line and get a weapon. You run screaming and howling, barehanded, at the enemy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrustyKidd Posted September 17, 2006 Report Share Posted September 17, 2006 Not sure I get your drift. Are you saying Roosevelt and Stalin were similar? I am showing how all people deal with bad guys when they are our friends or teamed up to defeat a greater enemy. Responding to this hubris to be exact; Oh wait. I have a picture of Rummy shaking hands with Saddam. Where is it... rummage, rummage...Oh yes. Here it is Rummy shakes hands with Saddam In fact, I do believe there is a video clip as well.... Also, thanks for that glimpse into the life of a Russian soldier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Dog Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 Ties to GOP Trumped Know-How Among Staff Sent to Rebuild Iraq After the fall of Saddam Hussein's government in April 2003, the opportunity to participate in the U.S.-led effort to reconstruct Iraq attracted all manner of Americans -- restless professionals, Arabic-speaking academics, development specialists and war-zone adventurers. But before they could go to Baghdad, they had to get past Jim O'Beirne's office in the Pentagon.To pass muster with O'Beirne, a political appointee who screens prospective political appointees for Defense Department posts, applicants didn't need to be experts in the Middle East or in post-conflict reconstruction. What seemed most important was loyalty to the Bush administration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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