Godless Mom in the Bible Belt

Yup. I don't get it either. Pretty damned depressing, isn't it?

"So, can someone tell me again why we went into Iraq?"

Well, according to the Bush administration, at first it was because of those pesky WMDs, as you noted. Of course, after it became obscenely obvious that WMDs were not a threat to U.S. security, the answer quickly changed to the fact that we simply want to bring democracy to Iraq. Because Iraq is one of the members of "the axis of evil," not that we're too concerned about the other two, apparently. So the answer now is basically that Bush just has a really big heart and wants to help out. Oh, and it doesn't hurt to keep bringing up 9/11 (not that Iraq had anything to do with it, hey, it's still the Middle East). And if you want to question his motives (and really, who wouldn't?), then you are un-American, and that's where the discussion ends.

Oh yeah, I forgot....Thanks. :/

Oil Maybe?
I just don't understand why any of the media isn't looking at the "oil factor" as the motivation. It also seems to me that any non-military, humanitarian efforts to rebuild infrastructure and generally improve the quality of life for the people in all middle eastern countries (and the rest of the world for that matter) are better options than the current military course. Of course with the support of other countries. Isn't it better to win the hearts and minds of the people instead of clubbing them over the head? And they have plenty of reason not to trust Americans.
My father told me that in the fifties Iran had overthrown the Shah and elected (democratically) a leader for the people. This leader was going to nationalize their oil fields, so of course the US via the CIA overthrew the new government and restored the Shah and we all know what happened later. The US has a long history of alterior motives in the Middle East surrounding Oil. But I am rambling again. I agree, we should have finished the job properly in Afghanistan. If we had and a democracy thrived in that country, then it might have naturally spread to other countries. Who knows?

I rest my case! As I pontificate in my blog, on a daily basis, the Bush administration's thoughts and actions are a hotbed of contradiction!

A long time ago, I read a SciFi short story which included the idea that anyone who WANTED to be president should be the last person to be allowed to be president. Everyone's info was fed into a computer and then the computer calculated who would be the best president. You served your term to the best of your ability and then you went back to your old life.

I think that's a good idea.

That definitely sounds better than our current system. Jevanking is right, we are at the mercy of a bunch of greedy scoundrels. I have a really hard time putting it behind me though, as long as people are dying it is at the front of my mind.

I wish I knew the true reason we are in Iraq. Can't believe that the real reason is any of the reasons that the government has given. Probably OIL. It's all too depressing to think about.

Hey! This here sounds like commie speak!

Just do what the other Bush supporters do. Do not think about it, have another beer, and watch NASCAR on TV. Then find something else to blame on Clinton, even if he has not been the president for almost 6 years.

Hey, stumbled across your blog, thought I'd leave a comment.

First, Clinton is mentioned so much, because he shirked his duties as President. Instead of having the nation's interests at heart, he chose to focus on his . . . own . . . interests.

*ahem*

Yes, I'm speaking of the Monica Lewinsky scandal. White House reports show that Clinton, himself, wanted to invade Iraq, but his staff thought it unwise given all the attention that was being given to the scandal. So, because of his indiscretion in the Oval Office, and because there was fear that such an invasion might be viewed as a diversionary tactic, we didn't invade Iraq during his Presidency.

Another reason Clinton's name is mentioned so often is because it was his economic policies that created the economic fallout that we're currently still pulling outselves out of.

Everyone blames Bush for the current economy, but Bush inherited the problem from Clinton. In fact, if you look at the stock market and the economy before Bush took office, you'll see that it was already starting its downward trend and would have "popped" even if Gore had taken office.

It took Reagan and Bush Sr. 12 years to straighten out the economy and it took Clinton less than 8 to screw it all up again.

As for "why we're in Iraq" . . . who knows anymore. Without actually being in on the meetings, we'll probably never know the real reason.

My theory? We're there to act as a stabilizing force in the region. Look at what we did in Europe after World War II. We built bases, essentially fortifying our position there. Why? Because we knew that if war ever broke out again, we didn't want to be caught with our pants down. We didn't want another D-Day invasion.

Well, Europe has stabilized. The Cold War is over. Where's the next hotspot? The middle east. So we're entrenching ourselves with the hope that we can finally provide stabilization, but also with the understanding that should things blow up, we're already there, familiar with the region and we can strike quickly and decisively.

And finally . . . if it's all about oil, then why haven't gas prices come down? I mean, if it's about oil, shouldn't we be getting tens of thousands of barrels from Iraq every day? But we're not.

I'm not saying we weren't lied too about the WMD's. But lets be honest. Americans tend to be fickle and have a short attention span. Do you really think Bush would have received the amount of initial support that he did if he simply stated, "We're going to war to free people from an oppressive regime; to act as a stabilizing force in the region, both now and in the future; and because it's the right thing to do."

No way. We still wanted revenge for 9/11. We wanted someone's head on a stake. So, the administration used that to their benefit.

Opportunistic? You betcha, but at least they were willing to do something, as opposed to shirking their responsibilities to the American people.