[Ken Carman]

If we withdraw from Iraq - we can expect far worse tribal chaos and Islamic terrorism than in Mogadishu or Lebanon.

We can expect this anyway.

If we withdraw from Iraq - we will alienate moderate arabs in the Middle East - who could never again believe in any American assurances of support for reform and would have to retreat into the shadows—or find themselves at the mercy of fascist killers.

We are doing this anyway.

If we withdraw from Iraq – the enemy will swell their ranks as they hype their defeat of the American infidels. Recruitment will accelerate across the globe.

This is happening anyway

If we withdraw from Iraq - any strategy of hitting terrorists hard abroad would be discredited and replaced by a return to the pre-9/11 tactics of a few cruise missiles and writs.

Same. Bush's prison scandals, and the fact we skewed towards Iraq rather than finding and bringing to trial those who actually attacked us: especially the tall guy, has done that anyway... if not more so.

We must remember that the enemy has an eighth-century agenda of gender apartheid, religious intolerance, and theocracy.

Sounds like where we're headed right here in the good old US of A. Goodie. We can be locked in even more bloody battles inspired by theocrats and not so fun Fundies.

We only fool ourselves if we think that peace is the natural order of things and that it follows organically from the cessation of hostilities

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Neither "peace" or "war" are natural or unnatural. They just are. What the hell is it with "natural" on this site? Never really defined and always used as a positive. "Natural" is neither always good, bad or something to admire. It just is. Indeed, on this planet, we have been locked into a period that might be viewed as "unnatural." Both climate and upheavals of a "natural" sort (earthquakes, volcanos...(hell include meteors hitting if you wish) on a larger scale have been plentiful over the history of this planet. But we have been living in a rather peaceful period: temps about right (so far)... etc. I hope that's not what some mean when they promote "natural" as "good," and therefore "unnatural" as "bad."

We must finish this task regardless of how ugly and bloody it gets.

And when will that begin? Certainly not with these guys in control. We could have taken out the Taliban totally... nope, back and just as bad. We could have cut the literal head off the gang that attacked us. Nah, let's hand it over to handjobs-Warlords who are in bed with Binny boy. Yup, I'm impressed... not.

We risk losing more in the future then we have already lost to this point. Though we continue to sacrifice dearly, the peace of mind that we have been able to thwart any terrorist effort within the United States since 9/11 is proof that something is working.

Yes, Bush hasn't handed another load of cash over to a group like the Taliban that gives support to those who want to attack us like he did when they visited him in Texas previous to 9/11.

(Don't like that link to paying off the Taliban who buddied up with Binny? How about the Cato Institute?)

Obviously many of us can agree that this is not due to the diligence of our government to protect our borders and secure the homeland.

Yes, or our ports. Once again, with this gang of Keystone Cops at the wheel...

Development towards bringing peace to the Middle East hinges on continued American resolve in Iraq as well as our ability to address the situation in Palestine.

Yes to the second, no to the first. As long as we're there there's an endless supply of occupation inspired folks willing to turn the ME even more bloody. WHEEEE! Isn't this fun? Creating more chaos to win elections by scaring people into submission. Hopefully that has ended in its affect, of course they have just started to ramp up the "they're going to attack us again" ganda'. Never guess what? If they do, then it only proves that it hasn't been a success and makes one wonder even more if such predictions that have been used, over and over again, mean they did have something to do with it either by omission or actual payola.

There has not been any other world leader who has stepped up to combat these issues outside of their own Country..

George Bush would have "stepped up" if he had insisted on completely funding the troops, gone to at least a few funerals, made sure wounded vets were taken care of, taken the heat for the pictures of coffins coming back instead of having the taking of such pictures banned, given them the right resources and not fired every general who dared to disagree with his based Neo-Con assessments. But, as usual, he cowered and refused to take responsibilty for his own failures. And like every bully he let his underlings destroy a woman's work and the terrorist fighting CIA front B&J company because her husband didn't regurgitate his lies as truths.

Of course the administration must account to the American people for the way this war has been waged as well as the false pre-tenses that initiated this conflict in the first place

Please tell me when we are really going to insist on that. I'm waiting. I'm still waiting.

The administration must also be held account for the manipulation of executive powers which have only led to the increased distrust of the federal government.

Thank you, but I'm still waiting. This isn't going to be another "blame Bill Clinton" moment, is it?

We must try and repair the wounds that we have caused with our allies around the world, as well as encourage them to increase their presence in the Iraq conflict.

Good luck with that one. In this case the passengers, disgusted, have left the ship leaving it to the rats... and I don't mean the soldiers.



The rest is kind of blather, to be honest, but only because of the problems with what was typed before.

Now, after all that, I actually think just pulling out may not be a great solution, to put it as gently as I can. Yes, it would cause problems. A suggestion has been made recently that we should pull back and man the borders. (Or woman if you wish. Hey, an army of Lesbians! Damn, that would be a tough bunch of roughnecks! Certainly more effective than all those pansies who think even having a Gay in their unit means they won't be able to do their duty. Jeez, whata buncha wimpy losers they are.) ... Refuse entry to all who shouldn't be there. Kick out the corrupt Blackwater/Halliburton types. Any nation that relies on pay as you go armies of mercenaries, and no bid contract creeps who enrich those who send them there, has a :rolleyes:severe morality problem. Let Iraqis, after 5 years, step up to the plate. If it all goes south, maybe we could step back in. Maybe not.