Buckdog

I'd be curious to know when these people deserted. If it was during the invasion itself then I can see desertion on the basis of not being able to support the action. However, now the US and its allies have an obligation to the people of Iraq since they took into their hands the responsibility for their protection and long-term prosperity. The job in Iraq now is to rebuild the country into a liberal democracy with guaranteed universal human rights. If these people deserted while that was going on that I am hardly symapthetic to them. That just reflects selfishness rather than caring for the welfare of the people they committed to protect by invading.

The invasion was based on the lies of the dishonest bunch of the NeoConMen. It was a calculated effort to advance their twisted world view in the moment of the great patriotic surge to bring those of whom cowardly attacked the U.S. to justice, among many other precieved reasons.

Those deliberate lies give, in my mind, all the rights to those individuals whom feel cheated and whom can't justify to kill another human based on these lies, excellent reason to stop doing so. That there might be some cowards among the deserters is a moot point.

the US and its allies have an obligation to the people of Iraq since they took into their hands the responsibility for their protection and long-term prosperity.

You know I completely agree with that. I did not support the initial invasion which turned out, as I said at the time, to be based on lies however I did support staying to help rebuild once we had invaded.

The trouble with that is that we bungled it beyond any fiasco I could have dreamed up in my wildest and most paranoid fantasy.

The reality is that the Iraqi people (the broader majority) CANNOT function within a "liberal democracy". It is not nor was it ever going to work. By attempting to force the issue we have created our own personal US-backed killing field.

Another unfortunate reality is that we do not have sufficient forces to insure "peace & stability" in Iraq nor is there the slightest hope in h@ll of "winning the hearts & minds" of the Iraqi people at this late date. In the months post-invasion, with great care & effort and via the commitment of sufficient resources, maybe. Could have happened.

No, we tried to do it discount-shopper style. You get what you pay for.

What we are accomplishing in Iraq now is building upon the already overwhelming hatred much of the ME already feels for us. By sending in additional numbers of not-enough but symbolically important troops Bush is succeeding in one thing: he is becoming a "uniter, not a divider". He is uniting the Iraqi people against us.

There is every likelihood various sects and factions will put aside their quarrels with each other long enough to unite against "the Great Satan". Matter of fact, some "reaching across the board" is already occurring.

And we're embedding these troops with them and planning to house them in their neighborhoods. How do you suppose that is going to play out?

I hope I'm wrong about this, I really do but based on the situation as I see it, I can't fault anyone for deserting what may very well be our own version of a suicide mission.

Yup, Mama is telling like it is!