"Crawling out of Iraq with our tails between our legs? " nope, doesn't have to be like that, but with a big european russian chinese etc fist up yr arse, thats for sure... friends, thats what they're for, right? and america's made soooo many friends in those last 6 years...
yeah - good one - what a great comparison. but really - the problem with you americans is that after the trauma of being attacked on your own land a majority really believed that you have to defend your freedom in IRAQ - and your brutal government perfectly understood how to exploit that circumstance. of course it's great that s.h. and his system is gone now - but a government that controls the most powerful army in the world but is too arrogant to really estimate how tough this mission is going to be simply is ridiculous - nothing else. the iraqwar was planned long before W became pres. - so there would have been time enough to make a GOOD plan. just like in trading - they only had a strategy to enter. they had and have no plan for stop or exit. but at least they are no flip floppers - once wrong - always wrong - stay the course. good luck anyway!
The US majority actually believed that we should have defended Austria's freedom from the Nazis. What was Austria's role in WWII? Nice union that Austria had with the Nazis. http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/austria.htm Interesting. Hitler was born on April 20, 1889, at Braunau-am-Inn, Austria.
you are right. but austria, as well as the rest of europe, has learned its lesson - long ago. usa still has to - obviously. you don't compare the liberation of europe with the war for oil in iraq - do you? why don't you liberate north k., zimbabwe, iran, saudi arabia and many other countries which are far away from freedom and democracy? yes - austria has a dark point in its history - no doubt. what about your country? the genocide, the slavery, vietnam, iraq, chile, middle america, hiroshima, etc. today there are most likely more nazis in the us than in europe - now it's your turn. thank you.
It's not a war for oil. Oil is a commodity. The world is awash in oil with known reserves of 2 trillion barrels. Known reserves are now double that of 25 years ago. I don't think there should be a contest to see what country has the worst record for human rights. People in power are crap throughout history. What is it with men and their dominion over people? Is it testosterone as some believe. Women can be frightening bitches, but they have never played much other than a supporting role. Joseph Stalin for example. What was going through his mind? How could he have done this? : ......Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union, set in motion events designed to cause a famine in the Ukraine to destroy the people there seeking independence from his rule. As a result, an estimated 7,000,000 persons perished in this farming area, known as the breadbasket of Europe, with the people deprived of the food they had grown with their own hands..... .....Saddam Hussein borrowed from Stalinism. He had his security people trained in Eastern Europe, particularly East Germany. Then he brought them back to Iraq and he taught them how to use the tribal linkage to eliminate people. So whereas they used Stalinist methods to discover people who were opposed to the regime, after that came the tribal factor, when Saddam said "Don't get rid of Abdullah, get rid of his whole family, because one member of his family might assassinate us." And that made it a perfect system for Iraq. It is practically foolproof. Do we know whether or not Saddam has actually studied Stalin's tactics? There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Saddam studied Stalin. Stalin is his hero. Stalin came from a humble background. Stalin was brought up by his mother. Stalin used thugs. Stalin used the security service. Stalin hated his army. And so does Saddam Hussein. Saddam Hussein models himself after Stalin more than any other man in history. He has a full library of books about Stalin. He reads about him, and when he was a young man -- even before he attained any measure of power -- he used to wander around the offices of the Ba'ath Party telling people "Wait until I take over this country. I will make a Stalinist state out of it yet." People used to laugh him off. They shouldn't have. It was a very serious proposition indeed........
that's true and maybe one of the greatest problems ever. decent people no longer go into politics i think (if they ever did...) - why should they anyway? it's a dirty job - and it's about pol. parties and lobbies and their shit. somebody with a working brain and a vision can do much better in almost any other business.
Most definitely can do better than politics. What attracts people to politics in a democracy? Is it the spotlight, fame, publicity, celebrity status? Why would anyone want to run for election, reelection? Why interrupt an established career and enter politics? The good BSers can make a nearly lifetime career out of it though. Is it a sense of belonging to the party, I'm finally somebody now? Some want to do good, but politics interferes with that. Is it a sense of power that they can screw over the people and call it doing good? Somebody's got to do it though.
vanity (of course), naivety (sometimes maybe) and eagerness of power (for sure). in the us especially i think it's more than anywhere else simply business - the current gov. is the best example for it. it's sad but true - somebody who already has made it elsewhere (and has beside his job a good private life and/or is probably publicly known and has a good image so far) and then decides to become politician is simply a complete idiot - because with few exceptions such a person can only lose.