#65851 by Bob Malo on 4/23 at 4:19 pm
(Unregistered commenter)

We have already won this war three times! 

We won when the Bush administration demanded that the weapons inspectors be allowed back in Iraq.  Hussein relented and after months of research they announced that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq but they wanted to remain in the country to ensure that Iraq remained weapons free.  Bush would have none of that.  With the mid term elections approaching he had to keep the news focused on Iraq so he pulled out the weapons inspectors and invaded. 

We then won a second time when our victorious troops took control of Baghdad and the rest of the country.  Finally, we won a third time when Hussein was found a brought to justice.

How many times must we win this war?  We now have a huge sectarian conflagration that has its roots that are 1000 years old that will never be solved by our military.  We freed the Iraqi people from their dictator, ensured that the weapons inspectors were correct: there were no WMD in Iraq, and are now caught in the crossfire of a huge civil war that is the Iraqi’s problem not ours.  We gave them a foundation of democracy and they responded by viscously murdering each other.  Now is the time to declare victory and get out.  Harry Reid is a master of the obvious and you are nothing more than defeatists who are apparently incapable of understanding that we already have achieved victory in Iraq.

That would be hilarious if not so off the wall.

That “huge sectarian conflagration”—_CIVIL WAR_—was caused by Bush, et al.  The US has the responsibility of having destroyed IRaq’s stabilitiy and governmental infrastructure.  Let someone break into your house, beat you up, rape your wife, and kill your children.  And then set up camp and occupy your house.

That is Iraq.  But it is not democracy, or anything near becoming democracy. 

The US has increased the number of its enemies—and that is an undermining of national security, and that is a violation of the oath Bush took on 1/21/2001.

Should I mention that torture is a war crime—and a _loss_ for the country which committed it?

The illegal invasion and occupation of a non-threatening sovereign nation is a crime against humanity.  That is a loss for the perpetrator.

This war was lost before it began.

#65312 by gogogeo on 4/20 at 12:40 pm
(Unregistered commenter)

“Reid never voted “for the war”. He voted to allow Bush to use force in the event it was necessary. He mistakenly thought Bush was a reasonable person and would show proper restraint; allowing weapons inspectors to finish their jobs. Only Congress has the authority to declare war, and they have NOT done so.”

Absolutely correct.  Bush was required by Congress to follow a sequence of steps.  That included, before using force, which was—only if necessary—to be the last resort, returning to Congress for permission to do so.

He ignored all but the use of force, including the requirement that he first get permission from Congress to do so.

And what did the Republican-controlled Congress do about it?  Nothing—except defend his violation of the Constitution, Federal laws, and international law.  Exactly as they _ex post fato_ enacted an unconstitutional law in order to give his commission of the war crime of torture the false appearance of legality.

The war was lost before it began—as is obvious to those who know the consistent results of Western interventions in “Iraq”.  Even though the Brits cobbled together the “country” of “Iraq,” they were nonetheless driven out—and the puppet gov’t the installed was overthrown.

The same will happen with the US.

Thinking in conventional terms, the Bush-Cheney goals and methods in Iraq are highly unlikely to result in “victory,” “success” or similar concepts.

However, it may be possible to achieve some kind of reasonably positive outcome if new thinking is utilized.

A new kinds of operational method, based on emerging discoveries could be very helpful. “Soft power” approaches can also be effective.

However, people other than the Bush-Cheney gang will need to lead the way on these. Take a look at:

“Unconventional Human Intelligence Support: Navy SEAL’s report”

PopulistAmerica.com
January 7, 2007

http://www.populistamerica.com/unconventional_human_intelligence_support

seems to me reid voted for this war,now he has buyers regret. bush seems to have a no refund/no return policy. all sales are final. take it up with the better business bureau.

There will always be loss in war. That’s what it ends in: one side winning, and another losing. The “‘extreme violence’ in Iraq lately” is a way of trying to justify why Senator Reid would only now say that the war is lost. According to antiwar.com, the latest number of total official number of casualties stands at 24,645. It has taken over four years to think that the war is lost? If Senator Reid was really the odd guy out at the White House, you really gotta wonder what the others were saying. It’s too late; there has already been so much loss.

The war is not lost, because it has spoken volumes with atrocities, violence, torture… and that’s what war is. What is lost is tens of thousands of human lives, and even more have been affected. What is lost is the personalization of these individuals. The increasing dissociation and dehumanization of the wounded and killed and affected only helps to keep the war going.

So it appears that life has been lost, and with it, humanity.

Dear Senator Reid,

The invasion war in Iraq was lost since the very first day but not now. We all have only and sole avenue to resolve this dirty war is to impeach Bush/Cheney and their whole lawless administration.

Hopefully,