True or false, or..? Part of the reasoning behind invading Iraq,was......?

Question

Part of the reasoning behind invading Iraq, Paul said, was "to have another excuse to keep the military industrial complex going."
While several of his 2008 rivals spent the sixth anniversary of 9/11 in congressional panels debating the future of U.S. involvement in Iraq, Texas Rep. Ron Paul, Republican presidential candidate, declared at a policy forum that the United States has "dug a hole for [itself]" in Iraq

Thanks Jimmy J Wow an impressive 25% best answers :) A thinking man (is that sexist?)
No I dont think I am looking for someone to agree with me, just want to see the extent that readers think that the military machine needs to have an active enemy (evil empire, evil axis etc etc ), and the extent to which it fuels actions. The information you gave was new to me. Thanks .

Answer 1

You have to ask yourself why we are spending more money than ever on weapons designed during and for a cold war that ended what, 15 years ago? I'm not saying we shouldn't upgrade and invest in new technology, but its mighty funny to me that we need a large fleet of nuclear submarines when China couldn't catch up to us in 20 years, new F-22s when our current fleet is unmatched anywhere, and missile defense when not one adversary can reach us with a missile armed with more than a conventional warhead.

This isn't a big conspiracy or anything, it's simple. People want jobs. Congressmen who bring jobs to their districts get reelected. A good way to bring jobs is to authorize and fund big ticket defense projects. A small arms or body armor factory employs a few dozen or few hundred at most. Plane and ship factories employ thousands. Gee, I wonder why they keep getting approved while our ground troops keep getting shafted, despite their equipment costing less. Hmmm....

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Jimmy J says: "It is truly amazing how people who are completely clueless like Chance20_m chime in with fabricated facts or baseless observations that are devoid of substance."

Which fact is fabricated Jimmy J? You talk about the J-10 being equal or better than the F-16, but provide no proof. My own research, referenced below, shows no evidence that it is "equal to" the most current F-16 upgrade, much less "better".

Baseless observations? Military pork barrel politics are so much part of the accepted political landscape that no credible person denies them. look at how congress fought tooth and nail to derail the BRAC process whenever it threatened their district. What about the F-22, which was design to fight Soviets, not terrorist? If fighting the GWOT is our main concern, why not build more A-10 "Warthogs", which are dedicated ground support rather than more fighters? Hmm? Why build Seawolf subs when neither Russia nor China have near the capability we do?

You see, my references come from conservative, liberal, AND neutral sources. You on the other hand provided no sources, and made an ad hominem attack. You need to learn a little more about your country and how your tax dollars are being misspent before you attack others.

Answer 2

You're not looking for an answer, you're simply looking for someone to agree with you.

I agree with Ron Paul when he says that that we've dug ourselves into a hole in Iraq; however, on the whole, Ron Paul has no solutions, just a lot of bizarre ideas that won't work.

It is truly amazing how people who are completely clueless like Chance20_m chime in with fabricated facts or baseless observations that are devoid of substance. China has been using their new found wealth to purchase technology from Russia. The Chinese J-10 fighter is equal to or better than our current F-16. Check out the 2 destroyers they purchased from Russia that they have armed with nuclear tipped "sunburn" missiles. There are reports that China is going to sell the J-10s to Syria and Iran.

Answer 3

Though I don't agree with Paul on a lot of things, I don't think he could be more right on this one. Just about everything the Republicans do has either the primary or incidental effect of expanding the military-industrial complex and making it more powerful. Maybe today we should call it the military-industrial-OIL complex.

Answer 4

The 'military industrial complex' is more effect than cause. You have a nation that needs to defend itself. It's a capitalist nation. It buys weapons, by preference, from domestic suppliers.

That's all it takes to have a 'military industrial complex,' no collusion, no conspiracy, just a capitalist nation that's not willing to neglect it's own defense, or depend on foreign suplliers for it's military needs.

Answer 5

There are so many stories about why we invaded Iraq etc. What you may believe could be different than the other persons. Lot of propaganda out there too, so the answer you may want or may find will always be different.

Answer 6

The M/I complex must have wars to keep the profits rolling.

Answer 7

yes but that it actually a good thing. Our economy depends on a war every 20 years

Answer 8

In pc language && returns actual best while each are actual, wherein as || returns actual if any of them is correct. Its Truth desk is one million acts as True & zero acts as False For AND zero && zero = zero zero && one million = zero one million && zero = zero one million && one million = one million For OR zero || zero = zero zero || one million = zero one million || zero = zero one million || one million = one million