Leaving Iraq, Honorably

C

Cypress

Will work for Scooby snacks
"Leaving Iraq, Honorably"

by Senator Chuck Hagel (R-Nebraska)


There will be no victory or defeat for the United States in Iraq. These terms do not reflect the reality of what is going to happen there. The future of Iraq was always going to be determined by the Iraqis -- not the Americans.

Iraq is not a prize to be won or lost. It is part of the ongoing global struggle against instability, brutality, intolerance, extremism and terrorism. There will be no military victory or military solution for Iraq. Former secretary of state Henry Kissinger made this point last weekend.

The time for more U.S. troops in Iraq has passed. We do not have more troops to send and, even if we did, they would not bring a resolution to Iraq. Militaries are built to fight and win wars, not bind together failing nations. We are once again learning a very hard lesson in foreign affairs: America cannot impose a democracy on any nation -- regardless of our noble purpose.

We have misunderstood, misread, misplanned and mismanaged our honorable intentions in Iraq with an arrogant self-delusion reminiscent of Vietnam. Honorable intentions are not policies and plans. Iraq belongs to the 25 million Iraqis who live there. They will decide their fate and form of government.



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/24/AR2006112401104.html
 
klaatu said:
Excellent statement ... and who could argue against it?
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Lot's of people. I'm constantly debating people who think we need to send far more troops to iraq to allegedly overwhelm the insurgents and militias:


CHUCK HAGEL: "The time for more U.S. troops in Iraq has passed. We do not have more troops to send and, even if we did, they would not bring a resolution to Iraq. Militaries are built to fight and win wars, not bind together failing nations. We are once again learning a very hard lesson in foreign affairs: America cannot impose a democracy on any nation -- regardless of our noble purpose."
 
Damocles said:
Personally I think it is too late for that. The sectarian violence has escalated too far...
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Unless we had a draft, and were prepared to send a couple hundred thousand more troops, there's nothing we can do.

sending an additional 20 thousand troops won't fundamentally change anything. We simply don't have the manpower or resources to send more than maybe 20 thousand more.
 
Hagel has finnally faced the truth.

I wish the rest of America would join him.

Iraq is NOT ours to "win" it is only the Iraqis who can solve this now.
 
Iraq was never ours to win. Seriously... I hate undeclared politicised war, it always leads us into foolishness.
 
there is no honorable exit from Iraq. We cannon gain back the honor we lost invading/occupying by leaving. But we dishonor ourselves more the longer we stay.
 
uscitizen said:
there is no honorable exit from Iraq. We cannon gain back the honor we lost invading/occupying by leaving. But we dishonor ourselves more the longer we stay.
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the american military did an honorable job. They walked over the iraqi army, removed saddam hussein, and provided as much security as they could with the limited amount of resources that Bush gave them. And they did so largely without complaining and bitching.

The dishonor belongs to Bush and his cabal of NeoCons and their naive and incompetent strategy of nation-building.
 
The Military has done what it was asked to do with the VERY limmited resources they were given!

THEY ASKED FOR MUCH MORE!

Then Bush fired the people who asked for what they KNEW it would take to do the job!
 
Cypress said:
the american military did an honorable job. They walked over the iraqi army, removed saddam hussein, and provided as much security as they could with the limited amount of resources that Bush gave them. And they did so largely without complaining and bitching.

The dishonor belongs to Bush and his cabal of NeoCons and their naive and incompetent strategy of nation-building.
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Yes Cypress, I am speaking of our country as a whole. I am not picking on the individual soldiers at all. Our "leadership" has sucked.
 
I suspect that the longer we stay in Iraq the longer it will take to settle down in the ME.
Yep I say a scheduled pullout of all personnel and equipment over a 6 mos period with a promise that if violence escaltes the pullout will slowdown or reverse. If things remain quiet then that means the Iraqi people want us to leave. Why hang around and train and equip insurgents ?
 
uscitizen said:
I suspect that the longer we stay in Iraq the longer it will take to settle down in the ME.
Yep I say a scheduled pullout of all personnel and equipment over a 6 mos period with a promise that if violence escaltes the pullout will slowdown or reverse. If things remain quiet then that means the Iraqi people want us to leave. Why hang around and train and equip insurgents ?
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I think we've done irreparable damage. I definitely think that the violence will increase if we leave as its increasing while we are staying. We've completely destabilized a country and now there is a power struggle that will ensue with or without us. We are damned if we do and damned if we don't.

I say we don't. Lets pack it up, focus on securing our ports 'n borders, and call it a lesson learned. It sounds harsh but the situation we are in is harsh. Its time to face reality and be look at the situation for what it is:

We've created a mess we can't fix.
 
There were several chances to get out of there with honor intact. At each point, instead, we were "sold" on stay the course... *sigh*... And this person promised no Nation Building...
 
Damocles said:
There were several chances to get out of there with honor intact. At each point, instead, we were "sold" on stay the course... *sigh*... And this person promised no Nation Building...
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This is why pride is a sin. Is honor really that important when chosing between the well being and financial health of your people? History has already been decided on the Iraq war: we were in the wrong the minute we stepped in there and its been a downward spiral ever since. I'm so tired of these idealogues using pride and honor as an excuse to stay in Iraq. The damage has been done. Its time to salvage our wasted resources.
 
Never believe what a politician says always look at their record.
Yepper LadyT, Pride goeth before a fall. Or something like that.
 
uscitizen said:
Never believe what a politician says always look at their record.
Yepper LadyT, Pride goeth before a fall. Or something like that.
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I guess I'm just more concerned about practicality than the ideology of "winning a war on terror" that Bush effin' started.
 
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