Kerrey says U.S. mustn't look weak in Iraq

[BigBadBrian]

Kerrey says U.S. mustn't look weak in Iraq
BY JAKE THOMPSON
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU


Withdrawing troops too soon would hand terrorists a victory, says Nebraska's former Sen. Bob Kerrey.Such a retreat, Kerrey says, would hand radical Islamic terrorists a substantial victory and enable them to destroy the fledgling democracy in Iraq.

In an article published Tuesday and in an interview, Kerrey said terrorists would gain safe haven from which to launch further attacks on American citizens like those of Sept. 11, 2001.

Kerrey said that if the United States shows weakness in Iraq, it will "pay a terrible price."

"The forces of al-Qaida have demonstrated a tremendous capacity, and they'll use that capacity if we withdraw from the playing field," said Kerrey, a former two-term U.S. senator.

In the interview, Kerrey also had a message for fellow Democrats: "Just because George Bush said it doesn't mean it's wrong."

He also disputed those who say democracy cannot be imposed by force. He said the United States did so with success in Japan, Germany and Bosnia.

Kerrey's points on Iraq echo arguments made by President Bush for continuing the U.S. military presence there. They are close to the views of another solitary lawmaker, Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, who calls himself an independent Democrat and has vigorously backed the Bush administration's Iraq strategy.

Kerrey was the author of a 1998 congressional act calling for the liberation of Iraq and was a member of the bipartisam commission that investigated the 9/11 attacks.

In the article for the Wall Street Journal, Kerrey said American liberals need to face what he calls truths. The demand for self-government remains strong in Iraq, despite U.S. mistakes and the violence fostered by Sunni insurgents, Shiite militias and al-Qaida to disrupt it.

Kerrey said al-Qaida has abducted and murdered those essential to democracy: teachers, aid workers, private contractors, police officers and those who cooperate with the Iraqi government.

"With these facts on the scales, what does your conscience tell you to do?" Kerrey wrote. "If the answer is nothing, that it is not our responsibility or that this is all about oil, then no wonder today we Democrats are not trusted with the reins of power."

Concessions won't work with al-Qaida or other foreign fighters causing havoc in Iraq, he said.

"The key question for Congress is whether or not Iraq has become the primary battleground against the same radical Islamists who declared war on the U.S. in the 1990s, and who have carried out a series of terrorist operations including 9/11. The answer is emphatically, 'Yes.'"

Kerrey, who has flirted with running for the Senate again if Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., retires, said U.S. troops could be reduced - over time - in Iraq.

But he called on Bush and the Democratic Congress to declare a bipartisan commitment to use the military to root out any terrorist sanctuary in the world.

Kerrey, a Vietnam War veteran, said that would send a signal to the world that the U.S. government is united and committed to continuing the larger war against terrorism.

Kerrey was the author of the 1998 Iraq Liberation Act, which was approved by Congress and called for supporting groups in Iraq to overthrow Saddam.

If those groups had driven Saddam from power, he said, the violence between the Sunnis, Shiites and those tied to al-Qaida still might have erupted in Iraq.

"The very people who want us out (of Iraq) now would want us in," he said.

Many Democrats in recent weeks have taken to the House and Senate floors decrying the 2003 invasion and calling for swift withdrawal of U.S. troops. They argue that the U.S. presence is worsening the strife between religious and ethnic groups within Iraq.

Now president of the New School University in New York City, Kerrey said that knowing what we know now - that Saddam did not have chemical, biological or nuclear weapons - the United States could have waited longer before invading Iraq.

But that war, he said, is over.

Now the war to stabilize Iraq must continue. And the United States should send a strong signal to the Iraqi people.

"We're not going to abandon them. There may be limits to what we're willing to do. But we are their ally," Kerrey said.
Link (http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=2388827)

[hideyoursheep]

Originally posted by BigBadBrian
Kerrey says U.S. mustn't look weak in Iraq
BY JAKE THOMPSON
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU


Withdrawing troops too soon would hand terrorists a victory, says Nebraska's former Sen. Bob Kerrey.Such a retreat, Kerrey says, would hand radical Islamic terrorists a substantial victory and enable them to destroy the fledgling democracy in Iraq.

So fucking what? Let the Persians handle it. It's closer to their govt. in operations than any "democracy" this douchebag claims is there.





























[/B][/QUOTE]

[Hardrock69]

So far our policy is that of a weak pussy.

You wanna wage war?

CARPET BOMB THE FUCK OUT OF EVERYONE IN THE COUNTRY!!!

REMEMBER DRESDEN?

BERLIN?

Were we worried about killing innocent people?

FUCK NO!

KILL THEM ALL...LET ALLAH SORT THEM OUT!!!
:mad:

[ODShowtime]

Originally posted by BigBadBrian
Kerrey says U.S. mustn't look weak in Iraq

Kerrey said al-Qaida has abducted and murdered those essential to democracy: teachers, aid workers, private contractors, police officers and those who cooperate with the Iraqi government.

"With these facts on the scales, what does your conscience tell you to do?" Kerrey wrote.

These are very good points. And I agree that we cannot afford to be seen as weak in Iraq.

If we can draw the distinction between al qaeda operations and inspirations, and those of iraqi factions, we need to do all we can to isolate the two and I think we're having some success with that.

We need more international involvement. Everyone in the world knows what will happen if we we leave now, and yet none of our allies are stepping up to the plate.

Why is it so outlandish to have UN peacekeepers around?

Why can't some friendly muslim nations with soldiers who speak arabic and know the customs come in and help?


It's bullshit. And bbb, it's at least partly gw's fault for being such a dick.

[knuckleboner]

true, we encouraged successful democracies in germany and japan, but the difference was that both were relatively homogenous countries.

we definitely didn't force democracy on yugoslavia. but we DID do it for bosnia. see the difference?

democracy for the republic of shi'a? definitely easier than for the country of "iraq..."

[hideyoursheep]

Originally posted by ODShowtime
Why can't some friendly muslim nations with soldiers who speak arabic and know the customs come in and help?

They would be accused of trying to "undermine the newly formed government of Iraq" and a covert war will be waged upon them.

(see also Iran)

And the others Bush has refused to speak with, calling them the axis of evil and such.

No huge oil contracts for his "base" should any other Arab nations get involved...

Understand now?

[vh rides again]

the people of iraq want democracy, the terrorist countrys are sending in the terrorists to fight us troops.

i say the us troops couldnt be in a better place , we just need a different strategy there.

we need a draft and dump a few million troops over there kill em all and get the fuck out.
fuck this shit, how long in my life am i going to have to live in a terrorist world.

i would start with bombing the fuck out of iran and pakistan, then head on over to syria. or let isreal kick the shit out of them.

put all iraqs troops on the borders and let the usa troops clean up the country.
we need to close our borders. its fucking rediculous any way you look at it.

this problem isnt gonna go away, and theres no stopping terrorists.

before anyone blasts me for my solution, whats yours? wish it away?

[hideyoursheep]

Originally posted by vh rides again
the people of iraq want democracy, the terrorist countrys are sending in the terrorists to fight us troops.

i say the us troops couldnt be in a better place , we just need a different strategy there.

we need a draft and dump a few million troops over there kill em all and get the fuck out.
fuck this shit, how long in my life am i going to have to live in a terrorist world.

i would start with bombing the fuck out of iran and pakistan, then head on over to syria. or let isreal kick the shit out of them.

put all iraqs troops on the borders and let the usa troops clean up the country.
we need to close our borders. its fucking rediculous any way you look at it.

this problem isnt gonna go away, and theres no stopping terrorists.

before anyone blasts me for my solution, whats yours? wish it away?

The enlistmen age limit is now 42. Get going if you so believe this is "worth it". No bullshit. Just do it.

That's my solution..wishing more people would go rather than beat their gums about how to uh, "win".

[vh rides again]

Originally posted by hideyoursheep
The enlistmen age limit is now 42. Get going if you so believe this is "worth it". No bullshit. Just do it.

That's my solution..wishing more people would go rather than beat their gums about how to uh, "win". believe me, if it did happen and i could go, i would be there. at the moment, im an undesireable for recruitment, and its not because of flat feet.

i truly believe that in my lifetime that i am going to witness nuclear weapons being used either in a terrorist attack, or from the united states using them against someone.

in my mind thats a terrible thought, but if theres another 9-11, its going to happen. im sure that it was heavily discussed after 9-11, and thank god it didnt happen.

shit is going to hit the fan sooner or later.

all these countrys that these nuts come from need to hunt them down and dispose of them, if they wont do it someone is going to have to do it.
its not going away on its own, ever. its not gonna end in iraq.

[blueturk]

Originally posted by ODShowtime


We need more international involvement. Everyone in the world knows what will happen if we we leave now, and yet none of our allies are stepping up to the plate.



Which allies are we talking about here? The laughable "coalition" that sent what meager number of troops to Iraq that they could muster ( Estonia?! ) or Dubya's business partners in the Middle East? Bush's imperial presidency has effectively alienated any substantial allies we may have had. Bush destroyed the the outpouring of goodwill towards America after 9/11 with his nonsensical and personally driven "war", and I honestly don't think he gives a fuck.

"It's bad in Iraq. Does that help?" --George W. Bush, after being asked by a reporter whether he's in denial about Iraq, Washington, D.C., Dec. 7, 2006

[knuckleboner]

Originally posted by vh rides again
the people of iraq want democracy, the terrorist countrys are sending in the terrorists to fight us troops.



not really. iraq is a made up country, drawn on a map by britain. the "iraqis" are really groups of shiites, sunnis and kurds. and there are plenty from each group that would currently rather be in power, themselves, and don't care about the others.

it's not just foreign fighters bombing iraqi schools and markets. there is definitely internal instability and real civil war concerns.

[hideyoursheep]

Originally posted by vh rides again
believe me, if it did happen and i could go, i would be there. at the moment, im an undesireable for recruitment, and its not because of flat feet.

i truly believe that in my lifetime that i am going to witness nuclear weapons being used either in a terrorist attack, or from the united states using them against someone.

in my mind thats a terrible thought, but if theres another 9-11, its going to happen. im sure that it was heavily discussed after 9-11, and thank god it didnt happen.

shit is going to hit the fan sooner or later.

all these countrys that these nuts come from need to hunt them down and dispose of them, if they wont do it someone is going to have to do it.
its not going away on its own, ever. its not gonna end in iraq.
It won't end there because it never started there to begin with. All UBL really wanted was for the US to leave Saudi after ODS. That and he was outraged his army (Al-Qaida) wasn't used and paid for by the Saudis in our stead. I'm not for a second saying he's right in what he does, but should we just stop trying to protect our "intrests" (oil) in such lands that provoke such animosity. It's always going to be a religious war to them-that's their call-to-arms for indiscriminately killing us "infidels". Leaving them to their own devices is the only way. I guarantee it gets quiet in the west once we leave. they can claim victory all they want, we all know they will never stand and fight, and if they did, game over. They know it and so do we. Enough with the pride of "declaring" victory. Nothing there worthy of American lives in my opinion.

[Cult of Roth]

You can't beat an insurgency without resorting to harsh methods.

You can't resort to harsh methods without losing the support of your allies, the international community, even your own people.

...wait a minute

We've already lost all of that! It's fight or flee, and if leaving Iraq makes us look weak, and that's not an option, then why the hell aren't we taking the fight to them?

Carpet-bomb 'em. Glass the whole fuckin' country! Either that or get the fuck out, because there will be an insurgency as long as there is a single US soldier in Iraq, or all of them are dead.

[Nickdfresh]

Bob said all that when Bush's penis was in his mouth?

Yeah, um I think the failed strategy, growing sectarian violence, and the failure of the surge is making us look "weak" already....

[vh rides again]

Originally posted by hideyoursheep
It won't end there because it never started there to begin with. All UBL really wanted was for the US to leave Saudi after ODS. That and he was outraged his army (Al-Qaida) wasn't used and paid for by the Saudis in our stead. I'm not for a second saying he's right in what he does, but should we just stop trying to protect our "intrests" (oil) in such lands that provoke such animosity. It's always going to be a religious war to them-that's their call-to-arms for indiscriminately killing us "infidels". Leaving them to their own devices is the only way. I guarantee it gets quiet in the west once we leave. they can claim victory all they want, we all know they will never stand and fight, and if they did, game over. They know it and so do we. Enough with the pride of "declaring" victory. Nothing there worthy of American lives in my opinion.

this is a sad fact, but theres oil there, and that is worth us lives, if need be.
this world will crumble without it.

no oil, = war

[hideyoursheep]

Originally posted by vh rides again
this is a sad fact, but theres oil there, and that is worth us lives, if need be.
this world will crumble without it.

no oil, = war

If those bastards at the oil companies weren't so goddamed greedy with their severance packages and price gouging, shutting down production making a false "shortage" for their own benefit, who knows how much the US would actually have to depend on Arab oil...

And by the way, who do the Arabs sell to if we use alternative energy? They would beg for buisness.

No, oil doesn't equal war. That's a NeoCon decision that's fucking the rest of us. If oil was a reason to invade any country, we'd better think twice about who the "evildoers" really are.

Next time you fill up your SUV, remember who's really paying for it!

[vh rides again]

Originally posted by hideyoursheep
If those bastards at the oil companies weren't so goddamed greedy with their severance packages and price gouging, shutting down production making a false "shortage" for their own benefit, who knows how much the US would actually have to depend on Arab oil...

And by the way, who do the Arabs sell to if we use alternative energy? They would beg for buisness.

No, oil doesn't equal war. That's a NeoCon decision that's fucking the rest of us. If oil was a reason to invade any country, we'd better think twice about who the "evildoers" really are.

Next time you fill up your SUV, remember who's really paying for it! yeah the oil companies are raping us no doubt.

i dont know what your thinking but, oil means everything. nothing happens without it. you would be eating bread and water, very quikly if it wasnt there. companies would crumble, and it would be all out war.

im not dumb enough to own an suv . i have been riding my bike to work the past month and a half, im paying them bastards 8 bucks a week for my personal use.
ive never owned a big ass truck either.

some of my employees have these fucking dodge monster fucking trucks that shake our parking lot when they come in to work.

they are always bitching about raises, and i just look at that gas guzzling monster sitting outside and i know why they are broke. not to mention the 45,000 dollar price tag.

last year i had to stop letting my employees take the work vans home because the price of gas was just taking too much out of us.

4 years ago i was paying about 400 dollars a week in gas bills, im paying 3 times that now without anyone having personell use on them.

but believe me, if anything ever happens to that oil, it would be hell on earth.

[hideyoursheep]

Originally posted by vh rides again
im not dumb enough to own an suv . i have been riding my bike to work the past month and a half, im paying them bastards 8 bucks a week for my personal use.
ive never owned a big ass truck either.

some of my employees have these fucking dodge monster fucking trucks that shake our parking lot when they come in to work.

It was a general statement to those who don't feel like men without something huge and rumbly to drive, you obviously know the type. :cool:

Regardless of what you may think would happen without oil, it's totally wrong to invade anyone's country to get a grip on their natural resources. If we ever broke them off, or vice-versa, you'd bet your ass there would be motivation to move to alternatives, but oil will always be around, no matter who you prefer to buy it from.

[ODShowtime]

Originally posted by hideyoursheep
No huge oil contracts for his "base" should any other Arab nations get involved...

Understand now?

Yeah, I just didn't feel like going that far into a rant.

That is the reason why other nations aren't even considering helping us. Because of gw&friends' greed.

[hideyoursheep]

Originally posted by ODShowtime
Yeah, I just didn't feel like going that far into a rant.



Understandable...:sleepy:

It's always the same old. Sometimes I swing, other times I duck.:drive:

[hideyoursheep]

Originally posted by Nickdfresh
Yeah, um I think the failed strategy, growing sectarian violence, and the failure of the surge is making us look "weak" already.... :cry: