I could be wrong about this, and am entirely open to being corrected but...?

Question

I find lately that I have become extremely frustrated with the war in Iraq. Now, I can honestly say I don't have all of the information, my feelings are based just on what I've read/heard. It seems to me now that we entered this war with false intel, and things have gone downhill since then. It seems to be a situation that we are losing control of. Then I think of the situation with Iran, and with North Korea, and I become so frustrated that are troops are all in this deterorating situation in Iraq. Everyone knows how thinly spread our troops are, and I'm worried either Iran or North Korea will think this is a great time to start something (like they have done already). I am enlisting in the near future, so please don't say I'm unpatriotic, or anything like that. I think so much has been wasted on a war that nobody understands anymore, or maybe nobody ever really understood. Does anybody else feel this way? BTW, please don't call me a puppet or war monger either. Any input?

I'm really looking for information and opinions here, not name calling and put downs. Thanks.

I'm enlisting in the Navy. Thanks for all of the answers so far!

Answer 1

Yeah, you have a point. There were a least three reasons given for the war in Iraq

1. Link to Bin Laden and 9/11 well there was none so they moved to...
2. WMDs well their were none so we moved on to
3. Free the Iraqi people. I guess this is still kinda true but freedom apparently means that your house might explode.

If you look at clips before the war Cheney said "I believe that we will be greeted as liberators" and Rumsfeld said in reference to WMDS "We know where they are, they are in the area around Baghdad and Tikrit." 2 falsehoods right there. Caught red-handed.

And oh boy are you right. Our Army right now is not that big. This many people are being used? Oh it's gonna be draft time if and when Iran gets anything started.

BTW thanks for enlisting. You are a better American than at least 93% of the others who never put on any other uniform. Never ever forget that!

At this rate if you are in love with this war (in Iraq) and haven't worn a uniform or are not in one right now I don't wanna hear it.

Answer 2

You are frustrated because all you hear is negativity from the media. I would suggest finding a pen pal that is serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. This would give you a more realistic first-hand account from a perspective you won't find in the media (for the most part). The citizens of those countries are thankful for the help they are receiving now, and for the glimmer of hope we've provided for their generation.

Some of the answers here talk about people not taking heed of past history, and I'd say that is exactly why we are in the current war, and shouldn't have avoided it.

The United States was attacked or threatened many times during the last administration and they decided to ignore it (see the area about the Middle East in the source link.) We GAVE North Korea nuclear help as part of a failed appeasement strategy, and look where that got us..... Clinton's do-nothing policies got us here, despite the volumes of revisionist history the Democrat's party machine pumps out by the minute.

Like it or not; it is important for people to realize that sometimes you have to take a stand against people making threats against you. Can anyone deny that we have been under constant threats from Iran, North Korea, Iraq, Syria and countless other countries, or the "religious" groups within them?

Like it or not; we are a country that was built on Christianity, and to ignore the humanitarian abuses being perpetrated in those countries would simply not be the right thing to do, and completely at odds with what our country stands for.

People who get caught up in the details ignore the basic fact that if you were under daily threat from a dictator who was murdering his own people in the streets, then you'd hope and pray for someone to do the right thing. We are doing the right thing and I'm proud of that.

Answer 3

A lot of people feel that way, even many conservatives.

What a lot of people fail to realize is that the reason for the war changed halfway through.

Now, perhaps, it is time for us to pull out of Iraq and let them slaughter each other. The problem with that is that the area would become even more unstable.

Is it about money? Of course it is. Every war has been about money. If we don't have some control over the middle east, gas prices will go up which will cause everything you buy to go up exponentially and have a detrimental impact on our economy.

Are there alternatives? Sure, but the solutions are way off in the future. Even if we switched to hybrid and/or electric automobiles today, it wouldn't be immediate. What would people do with the millions of cars in the US? How many could even afford a new car (keep in mind the old gas one would have zero value). What about freight transportation? The list goes on.

Thanks for your future service. Good luck.

Answer 4

1) The intel was not false. Erroneous perhaps, but everyone was saying the same thing. They all believed it. (Clinton Kerry, Kennedy, France, Germany, Russia) We took so long to actually go in there the weapons could have been evacuated to anywhere prior to our arrival. There was no element of surprise whatsoever.

2) Going on what you hear will certainly give you that down trodden feeling since most of the press and half our elected officials only want you to hear the bad news. Add to that the fact that 'if it bleed it leads' and you have the recipe for a major mind job...

3) Our troops are not that thinly spread, and if it weren't for the Clinton military budget cuts there might have been even more to spread.

4) If the shiite really hits the fan, we always have the big ones.

This nation may be demoralized and constantly bombarded with only the bad news, but we are not as weak as our enemies (both within and without) would have you believe.

PS: Thanks for offering your service to US. I believe you will see a different world when you see the world with your own eyes. God bless you!

Answer 5

You are getting one side of the spin. That's why you feel this way.

Check this site....

http://www.mnf-iraq.com/

This is what is really happening, here. No spin, just the facts.

We didn't go to war in Iraq JUST for WMD. That was a selling point, but it wasn't the only reason. I never thought we should have sold the war that way and think that it is one of the many mistakes made during this war.

Our military is stretched but not broken. We have the ability to fight where we need to fight. What we lack, as a Nation, is the will.

Answer 6

I hate any war. Period. I understand that sometimes it is nescesary to do this and at the time the dissision could've been fine.. but now... I wish america would just retreat. but to bush that doesnt seem to be an option, while often retreat is the best military option available... but bush has to prove something. He cannot take the risk that the population of iraq will make due on their own. or make their own mistakes... they have to learn now how to live together and only they can do that. America can teach them nothing in this respect, because they will not take your word for it. I would suggest some dubai diplomats... arabic intervention. Not christian or atheist intervention, and I also think that even without help they should now solve their own problems. We have taken away their dictator and tiran, we have even tried to set up the basics for policing the area.... but actual bureaucratic infrastructure is something only they themselves can make. My opinion: Get the hell out of there before north korea and Iran may join forces with iraq because iraq will ask them to do so..... they might choose to drive america out. To them this doesnt feel like help anymore, but like occupation... so... get out and retreat is the best option. Then if they ASK for help again, it can be freely given, but not today... Hope this sheds some light on the subject for you. I am not military personnel, and I am not even american, but I think the entire world is watching for signs that bush might decide to retreat... frienly greetz from holland.. :) (apology for some misspelled words... the spell check took ages without doing anything....)

Answer 7

I am just as frustrated as you over the war in Iraq. To me it's just a fight over oil. Remember that before 9/11 president Bush and his family were friends with Osama. The war is useless because Iraq doesn't want our help anyway, and if the president wants to fix things for a country ours should come first. We have plenty of problems here in the US that need to be helped before go in more debt to help anyone else. I'm not unpatriotic, but I am tired of my family fighting in a war that was not neccessary. The whole point of what it was supposed to be for isn't what's happening.

Answer 8

That you for putting it in such a manner.
I will never question your patriotism.

It's bad enough t have to deal with a big forest fire , but when all these little brush fires start up, yes, it is frustrating.
Goodluck.

PS: Navy, Army, ???

Answer 9

We seem to always enter into wars without really understanding our foes. We don't study history, we think they want what we have and we're usually trying to make a buck by it. The result we get stuck like we are now.

Answer 10

I think Bush was the puppet! Maby Bush daddy was pulling his strings ya know!

I cant comment on the war in Iraq because i really REALLY dont know what the hell is going on with it!