Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim in CT
"What exactly was Bush "right" about? "
He saved 1.2 million lives in Africa, with his single-handed pushingh for massive AIDS funding. Does that count for anything? In a fair world, Bush gets the Nobel Peace Prize for that. I believe that he also did a better job of preventing further Al Queda attacks after 09/11 (on Obama's watch, some attacks have been avoided only because bombs didn't go off, and the Fort Hood guy was obviously successful).
"onto Iraq based on shoddy, manufactured "evidence"'
Many, many countries (and the U.N.) felt the evidence was compelling. Back then, very few folks spoke out against the war in Iraq, not until it became politically popular.
"that accomplished literally nothing of value for the long-term safety of the American people?"
Wrong, absolutely false. You need to re-think where you get your news from. I was there. I saw villages being re-built, I saw schools, roads, mosques, and hospitals being built. I spent 48 hours in a village where my entire company were treated like royalty, because these folks could not contain their joy at how much better their futures looked, thanks to us. I still get birthday cards from some of those people.
Johnny, you won't hear this on MSNBC, but Iraq is a much better place today than it was under Saddam. Many folks there know they have us to thank for it. Some of those people will keep that in mind when Al Queda tries to recruit them.
In my opinion, you have been absolutely duped by whoever you listen to.
"he helped progress this country to a point where Americans are forced to live in a Police state where granny will get diddled while trying to get on a plane because her fake hip set of a metal detector."
OK, Johnny. So if there was an airline that didn't have any security apparatus in place...you would fly on that airline?
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I can't believe I'm about to say this but... I can definitely appreciate all of your responses and see your side of it. I'm not going to go point-by-point because I think our difference of opinion comes down to philosophical differences.
You were there and able to see it in person so your perspective is definitely much different than mine. There is no denying that all my knowledge is based on my research of other people's accounts, sifting through information (and mis-information) and piecing together my own opinion.
Is the world a better place because of some of Bush's actions? Sure. I'll buy that. Are the lives of Iraqis better today than they were ten years ago because of the US invasion? Definitely, even though they are now burning US flags and calling for the US to get out of their country.
What I don't agree with is that the US is better off and safer today thanks to the US invasion of Iraq. As demonstrated last week, we should have been focused on Afghanistan and Pakistan. One thing Saddam did extremely effectively is maintaining control of the populace. He ruled with an iron fist and squashed any kind of extremism that had the potential for threatening his rule. The al Qaeda movement is exactly the group of radicals that Saddam would not allow in his country. The only major terrorist in Iraq was Saddam because he would not have allowed a group like al Qaeda to operate autonomously.
The Iraq war will easily surpass $1trillion dollars of primary costs and many estimate that it already far exceeds that number when you take secondary costs into consideration.
With regards to Africa and funding AIDS funding (and many people will call me a heartless bastard, which I'm fine with), my opinion is that it is not our responsibility. 3/4 of that entire continent is anarchy. The societies there are incapable of living with any kind of civility. On the other hand, we have veterans who sacrificed their lives for this country who are now homeless and sleep with their head on a bench in Boston Common, kids who don't know where their next meal is coming from, an education system that loses more and more funding every year and an infrastructure system that is crumbling apart. When we have things fixed here, then I'll consider it ok to send money to Africa. Until then, let them deal with their own self-inflicted problems.