Slashdot Mirror

How the United States should react if Iraq acquired WMD. "The first line of defense...should be a clear and classical statement of deterrence--if they do acquire WMD, their weapons will be unusable because any attempt to use them will bring national obliteration." Condoleeza Rice, US National Security Advisor
January/February 2000 issue of Foreign Affairs
2/1/2000
We are greatly concerned about any possible linkup between terrorists and regimes that have or seek weapons of mass destruction...In the case of Saddam Hussein, we've got a dictator who is clearly pursuing and already possesses some of these weapons.. A regime that hates America and everything we stand for must never be permitted to threaten America with weapons of mass destruction. Dick Cheney, Vice President
Detroit, Fund-Raiser
6/20/2002
Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. Dick Cheney, Vice President
Speech to VFW National Convention
8/26/2002
There is already a mountain of evidence that Saddam Hussein is gathering weapons for the purpose of using them. And adding additional information is like adding a foot to Mount Everest. Ari Fleischer, Press Secretary
Response to Question From Press
9/6/2002
We don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud Condoleeza Rice, US National Security Advisor
CNN Late Edition
9/8/2002
Right now, Iraq is expanding and improving facilities that were used for the production of biological weapons. George W. Bush, President
Speech to UN General Assembly
9/12/2002
Iraq has stockpiled biological and chemical weapons, and is rebuilding the facilities used to make more of those weapons. We have sources that tell us that Saddam Hussein recently authorized Iraqi field commanders to use chemical weapons -- the very weapons the dictator tells us he does not have George W. Bush, President
Radio Address
10/5/2002
The Iraqi regime . . . possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons. We know that the regime has produced thousands of tons of chemical agents, including mustard gas, sarin nerve gas, VX nerve gas. George W. Bush, President
Cincinnati, Ohio Speech
10/7/2002
And surveillance photos reveal that the regime is rebuilding facilities that it had used to produce chemical and biological weapons. George W. Bush, President
Cincinnati, Ohio Speech
10/7/2002

Gee, you knock my socks off ...

Your response is rather silly given the subject.
We are talking about real persons and their lives.
Or what is left of it.

It seems talking about some fancy hardware is
sufficient to get/keep some of you going.

The need or urgency for the existence of this
hardware is very much self created.

Any how, keep going and enjoy...

http://lunaville.org

Regards

Who said Afghanistan and Iraq were messes?

Afghanistan

That's actually an AP wire article, BTW, in case you are questioning the source.

Afghanistan is so peaceful we lost 4 soldiers there in October, and the total is up to 142 so far.

And everything is just peachy in Iraq too?

You also repeat the myth that the CIA provided aid and training to Osama bin Laden and his cohorts. But this is not true, both the CIA and Osama himself agree.

I guess MSNBC and The BBC are just lying then.

Terrorists blow things up and kill about 1/10th the number of Americans who die in highway deaths each year, but in doing do they stiffen our resolve and so never get anywhere near to changing our fundamental America values.

But dissidents and domestic trouble-makers can cause real problems for a regime that calls questioning its mistakes tantamount to aiding America's enemies.

Today is Memorial Day. I hope that all Americans will take time today to reflect on the costs of freedom and the American men and women in our armed forces who have paid for our freedoms with their service, their wounds, and their lives.

On this Memorial Day, let's really support our troops by following the advice of so many retired officers and men by insisting that "Robert S." Rumsfeld and his band of incompetent chicken-hawks resign -- or be fired.

The Bush administration claimed to know exactly where the WMDs were hidden. It was just a matter of going in and getting them. But now that we've gone in, they are nowhere to be found. If that's not lying, then it's certainly unbelievably gross incompetence, and the result is the same.

I think, leaving Saddam Hussein alone despite his not living up to the cease-fire agreement of 1991, would've done a lot more damage to our credibility.

This is a false choice -- it was not a matter of either doing a unilateral invasion, or doing nothing. We could have continued to contain Saddam, continued inspections, and verified that WMDs were or were not there. If we had verified that WMDs did exist, we'd have few problems getting support for war. If we had verified that they did not exist, we'd have avoided the whole mess we are in now.

Future and present villains see, that we come after word-breakers.

Actually, they see that our military is completely tied down in Iraq and Afghanistan, so there is little the USA can do for the forseeable future about other countries. Do you think North Korea is worried about us invading them now?

This is foolish. The most damaging act of Al Quaeda -- the 9/11 attack -- happened before the supposed "duplicity" was exposed

You missed the point. I said "will use", not "did use". Obviously, W's Iraq invasion didn't cause the 9/11. But that doesn't mean that his invasion didn't encourage the radicalization of hundreds or thousands of more terrorists.

"Jeremi and I" don't despise the president, so much as despise the damage he has done to our country's position in the world. The USA used to be a beacon of hope, a model for other countries to look up to. Now it is practically a rogue nation, a country that even our allies dislike and fear, rather than respect. Being hated the world over does not make us safer.

make that 592.

sigh...

A few points.

First, we're up to 591 now.

Second, America's large-scale deployment lasted from 1965-1973. So the 56,000 casualties were spread out over eight years. While I'm glad that we're only losing around 600 troops a year rather than 7000, "It's not as bad as Vietnam, so it must be okay" doesn't strike me as a healthy perspective.

We could easily, permanently end the situation in Iraq. Sweep 500,000 troops through the country, shooting everyone they encounter. Or simply nuke it.

Whatever justification for the war in Iraq you accept, killing the whole population is not going to win it. The Iraqi people will not be "free" and Iraq will be producing no oil, if it is a nuclear waste land. The 500,000 troops thing is just silly too. Any country is ruled through individual fear. Iraq is no different. The military is always massively out numbered by the civilian population. If US troops start killing everyone, the whole population (20 million plus) would turn on them and slaughter them. If everyone is certain they are going to die they will fight. As it is the majority is scared of getting killed and so does nothing.

But I take your point, EMP weapons are not going to be much use against guerillas since they are unlikely to be using much electronics. However they are very useful in covert inforamtion warfare, such as knocking out TV transmitters etc. in neutral countries to impede the spread of information. Nowdays the US military is as interested in "managing" what its civilian population knows about a war as it is what the enemy does.

Iraq Coalition Casualty Count
Afghanistan US Fatalities

We could easily, permanently end the situation in Iraq. Sweep 500,000 troops through the country, shooting everyone they encounter. Or simply nuke it.

Whatever justification for the war in Iraq you accept, killing the whole population is not going to win it. The Iraqi people will not be "free" and Iraq will be producing no oil, if it is a nuclear waste land. The 500,000 troops thing is just silly too. Any country is ruled through individual fear. Iraq is no different. The military is always massively out numbered by the civilian population. If US troops start killing everyone, the whole population (20 million plus) would turn on them and slaughter them. If everyone is certain they are going to die they will fight. As it is the majority is scared of getting killed and so does nothing.

But I take your point, EMP weapons are not going to be much use against guerillas since they are unlikely to be using much electronics. However they are very useful in covert inforamtion warfare, such as knocking out TV transmitters etc. in neutral countries to impede the spread of information. Nowdays the US military is as interested in "managing" what its civilian population knows about a war as it is what the enemy does.

Iraq Coalition Casualty Count
Afghanistan US Fatalities

Sort of like the purpose behind Iraq Coalition Casuality Count. Check out thier methodology. It would be nice to have a collection or reliable sources all together from public (read=verifiable) information.

Sort of like the purpose behind Iraq Coalition Casuality Count. Check out thier methodology. It would be nice to have a collection or reliable sources all together from public (read=verifiable) information.