Canada Needs a crack Parachute Regiment to Hunt Down the bands of Tali

[jdobbin]

What a reckless post.

As laughable as saying Bush is Churchill?

[Argus]

Iraq is a "made in Israel" war!

Ah yes, it's all an international Jewish conspiracy. Bleh.

Americans, British and others are dying for the security of Israel and "Halliburton Oil".

So the Republicans invaded Iraq, despite the fact it has cost them terribly at the polls and will probably cost them control of both houses of congress and the White House - in order to please Haliburton Oil?

That was kind of dumb of them, don't you think? Or do you think?

[jbg]

What a reckless post.

As laughable as saying Bush is Churchill?

To avoid spamming, answer is here.

Iraq is a "made in Israel" war!

Ah yes, it's all an international Jewish conspiracy. Bleh.

Americans, British and others are dying for the security of Israel and "Halliburton Oil".

So the Republicans invaded Iraq, despite the fact it has cost them terribly at the polls and will probably cost them control of both houses of congress and the White House - in order to please Haliburton Oil?

That was kind of dumb of them, don't you think? Or do you think?

Good point. I think the GOP will lose the House, but not the Senate. Because of the way the House is elected, Republicans rarely find it friendly territory. This may account for the abysmal quality of the GOP House leadership. It's frankly been a race to the bottom since they took control in 1994. These are stupid people.

The Senate has been far more prone to switching back and forth. The Republicans controlled, during modern times, between 1952-6, 1980-86, and 1994 on. The House, I believe, was under Republican control only between 1952-3, and 1994 on.

[TravellingTimeMachineSalesman]

Did I commit the "original sin"? No, I am not opposed to combatting terrorism, nor Israel, not the Jewish people. What I have a problem with was invading Iraq with no "plan for victory", no sensible "exit strategy". Former Administrator Paul Bremer disbanded the Iraqi army, the police force and laid the ground work for an insurgency that is proving to be as difficult to put out as an oil fire on a windy day. Increasingly young American, British lives, and others are being lost each and every day while Al Queda in Iraq and other fanatics are increasing in strength and numbers. Where is the progress, the victory? It troubles me to see the faces, the flag draped "aluminum transfer cases" being shipped back home to grieving families. Why have we committed our forces to a conflict to which there is no end in sight? Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld, Vice President Dick Cheny are telling us we will stay the course "until victory is won". I wouldn't have a problem with staying in Iraq if this these lives that are being lost were making the world a safer place but its not! Our military forces are "dying the death of a thousand cuts" while the architects of this misadventure are making a fantastic rakeoff!!

[Argus]

Did I commit the "original sin"? No, I am not opposed to combatting terrorism, nor Israel, not the Jewish people. What I have a problem with was invading Iraq with no "plan for victory", no sensible "exit strategy". Former Administrator Paul Bremer disbanded the Iraqi army, the police force and laid the ground work for an insurgency that is proving to be as difficult to put out as an oil fire on a windy day.

I too am disappointed by the incompetence exhibited by US leaders in Iraq. But that doesn't mean the invasion was part of some kind of international Jewish conspiracy to protect Israel. Iraq was never any real threat to Israel.

[TravellingTimeMachineSalesman]

This has nothing to do with being Jewish! I am not against Jews nor do I have anything against anyone for being Jewish. If Iraq was invaded for WMDs and none were found, can someone here explain what the real reason the invasion was for, and all those lost lives were for? Somewhere in this wide broad universe is the truth and it certainly isn't in the White House or CNN!!

[M.Dancer]

Iraq was invaded for WMDs and none were found, can someone here explain what the real reason the invasion was for, and all those lost lives were for?

Ummmm....the other day I was going through my wife's purse looking for the subway tokens....I didn't find any, but the real reason was I went through her purse looking for subway tokens.......

[Rue]

Why hasn't Canada got a crack parachute regiment that can be sent into action along the Pakistan border with Afghanistan? The key problem being faced by NATO is the border where the Taliban and other 'jihadis' are infiltrating to kill NATO sodiers and innocent Afghan civilians with the full knowledge we can't cross the border to hit their staging areas and bases. If we are ever going to win and safely bring our service personnel home then we are going to have to 'escalate' this war and cripple the Taliban's ability to fight. Someone needs to tell the NATO commander that more troops are needed and that we have to seal the border soon!!

Pouring more troops in is a fool's game and of course is not the solution nor do you parachute in troops. You are missing the point. First of all the Canadian army was neglected for years and does not have the manpower or logistics ability. More to the point, no Canadian troops however well trained would be able to deal with the mountain range you are talking about and necessarily could not mount an effective campaign against people who know these mountain ranges like the back of their hand.

Fighting taliban in the mountains is a fool's game and suicide.

Parachute regiments are not what you need. Parachute regiments are antiquated. That is what was used in world war two or Korea. Parachute regiments are used in conventional wars.

The future is in small elite commando units of no more then 20 or so commandoes.

It is also not physically possible to seal the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan and there is a reason no army in the world has ever been able to win a war in Afghanistan. Ignoring this is insane.

[TravellingTimeMachineSalesman]

Fighting the Taliban in the mountains is no more foolhardy than sending over Leopard tanks! The Taliban and other 'jihadis' have got a priveliged sanctuary across the border which they can cross at will carrying weapons and other explosive materials which is being used to kill NATO servicemen and Afghan civilians. The border with Pakistan needs to be sealed off and these infiltrators killed or captured. NATO and Canada need to more "boots on the ground" to block the flow of men and material into the towns and cities in Afghanistan.

The US didn't do enough to shut down the Ho Chi Minh "pipeline" and the end result was they couldn't keep the VC and PAVN forces from fighting in South Vietnam. This is why Iraq is a wrong stragegy!!

[TravellingTimeMachineSalesman]

As Afghanistan is where we need to concentrate our resources, energies and manpower otherwise we run the risk of it becoming an "Alquedistan" where future Bin Ladens can train, plan and stage attacks on cities in Europe, and North America. We need to get some economic development, infastructure into this downtrodden nation ASAP before the Taliban win over more converts!

If we are going to begin to have any kind of success against the Taliban we will need to deprive them of manpower, supplies, intelligence, and hiding places. The mountains are where we need to start. Even the Soviet "spetznatz" hunter and killer teams found that out later in the war.

[Argus]

This has nothing to do with being Jewish! I am not against Jews nor do I have anything against anyone for being Jewish. If Iraq was invaded for WMDs and none were found, can someone here explain what the real reason the invasion was for, and all those lost lives were for? Somewhere in this wide broad universe is the truth and it certainly isn't in the White House or CNN!!

I have posted this before, but here goes.

My take is that it was an attempt to remake the politics of the middle east - the source of growing Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism. I think they figured if they could take out Iraq - a sort of secular (not really but...) country, and turn it into some variation of a working democracy, it would be an inspiration for all Arabs. Right now, the only opponents of Middle East dictators are islamists. But if people saw a well-off Iraq with a democracy, it might inspire them to go that route - and thus improve their lives, and thus reduce the desire for terrorism. That, in a nutshell, is what I think they were aiming for. We did see a certain affect in Lebanon, where the Lebananese were basically saying that if Iraqis could vote why couldn't they? It helped lead to more democracy in Lebanon.

Now if it weren't for all the fighting, if it had gone as the Americans had wanted. They'd be gone now. Iraq would be doing nicely, and the people in neighbouring Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia would be frowning as they loked over the fence, then looked at their own hostile, brutal dictatorship, and begun thinking maybe THAT was the route to go instead of a brutal Isalmist regime.

[jbg]

Now if it weren't for all the fighting, if it had gone as the Americans had wanted. They'd be gone now. Iraq would be doing nicely, and the people in neighbouring Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia would be frowning as they loked over the fence, then looked at their own hostile, brutal dictatorship, and begun thinking maybe THAT was the route to go instead of a brutal Isalmist regime.

It's too bad that enough people in Iraq (not saying they're even Iraqis) took the opportunity, instead of building a better nation, to settle scores.

[TravellingTimeMachineSalesman]

Removing Saddam Hussein from power was the equivalent of "taking out Ali Baba and leaving the 40 thieves". Had Administrator Paul Bremer not disbanded the Iraqi military, and police there would have been no insurgency today. The US should have had massive force from the beginning the borders would have been properly secured against infiltration by foreign 'jihadis'.

[TravellingTimeMachineSalesman]

Whats this I hear in the news that NATO is on the verge of losing southern Afghanistan to the Taliban? Seems we need to get into the mountains and start ambushing these "disciples of jihad" before they get to kill more NATO soldiers and Afghan civilians, I sure hope we can get on with delivering badly needed reconstruc- tion and humanitarian aid to the starving and poor before the Taliban get to recruit them as suicide bombers. Once again we cannot afford to allow Afghanistan to fall back into anarchy and extremism.

[TravellingTimeMachineSalesman]

Wondering when is NATO going to send some badly needed troops to southern Afghnaistan to confront the Taliban? I have nothing but deep admiration to the brave Canadians fighting and dying in southern Afghanistan while the US and NATO are dithering!!