Why can't our military, after sucking up over 600 billion $ a year win in Iraq?

Question

600 billion borrowed dollars a year for decades and our military can't subdue a few thousand guys in bathrobes and shower shoes. This needs some explaining. The Bush Junta doesn't want to talk about it, and in fear of being accused of being 'soft' on terrorism or accused of not 'supporting the troops' nobody else wants to bring up the subject either. Since I'm the town scold I'll bring it up. We borrow tons of money, give it to the military on a silver platter and nothing happens....except we have to borrow more money the next year for the same sub-par performance. Attack me and wave the flag all you want, but at least try to explain the unexplainable!

Answer 1

$17B a week for Iraq alone and that is just for our military deployment, that number does not include any of the diplomatic deployments or any of the private contracts (mercenary). The Answer to your question would be dependant on the politics of the situation, unfortunately corporations, special interest and politicians on both sides ether do not or are too incompetent to bring about a successful conclusion to what is going on in Iraq.

There truly needs to be an accounting brought to bare the truth of what is going on in Iraq. A serious question is who is profiting, Cheney seems to be making a mint as his family’s corporate affiliations have a large number of the contracts in Iraq, while the Bush family is profiting in a less direct role threw contacts in Saudi Arabia. Oh and after Bush is out of office he will be a corporate advisor for two companies that profit greatly from the war. As for the governing body in Iraq, these individuals have made there fortune on the misery of there people and continue to profit and there expense.

Do not blame the military, though there has not been the success that would be expected from the greatest army ever fielded. They lack the numbers to bring about victory from a military approach alone and there is an unwillingness of the political body to bring about a political victory.

Answer 2

If you would have listened to the President at the start of this war you would have heard him say that this is going to be a long difficult war. We have had a lot of success fighting in both Iraq and Afghanistan. If you think it is easy finding insurgents amongst a population that looks and dresses just like them you are an idiot. By the way moron the war is not costing $600 billion a year, that would be the entire defense budget. Even the liberal media is now admitting that we are doing well in Iraq.

Answer 3

First of all our military is not sucking up anything! They are doing what the leaders of our government are telling them what to do. If the military were to be left alone and could do this war old school. Handle this they way they did during WWI and WWII this war would have been over a long time ago. Just let the military go in and do their jobs. The government officials just need to leave them alone. I am a military spouse. I want this war to be over just as much as everyone else.

Answer 4

Find something else to whine about until your candya.$$ is in the sandbox! Most of you guys just shoot your mouths off without ever really thinking about the question you're asking.

How difficult would it be to "find" the badguys considering they dress like the "good guys"?

How many "good guys" are hiding the "bad guys" out of fear of having their families killed if they didn't help?

How long does it take to try and teach an entire nation's people to stand up for themselves (keep in mind they've lived with a corrupt government, police and sidewalk bullies for a few thousand years)?

Contemplate those three questions and get back to me.

Answer 5

Actually our army defeated the Iraqis in less than a month. It took 4 years of hard fighting to defeat the Axis. 70 years ago in ww2 we lost over 10,000 men a month, thats not the average, that was what we were losing. Do you think we could fight that war today?

Answer 6

If nothing happens, how have we average 1500 Al-Quieda deaths a mo since Jan.? This is not a war anymore. It is a cause. We are helping those people. As far as how much is being spent, I don't know the figures, but that money also goes to pay the military themselves. I know that a three paychecks come into my acct a month from my husband and daughter's father. It also is goin into rebuilding Iraq itself. It also goes into making the bases over there as comfortable and like home as they can. It also as many have pointed out goes into keeping our people safe, and with me being an army wife, that means alot to me, and it also means my daughter's daddy has a better chance to come home. If you can do it better without getting us attacked, then have at it, unless you are like most the others out there that are to chicken to do it, but want to run their mouths all day.

Answer 7

Let's be honest also, this isn't the convential war of having to fight a foreign military until they surrender. We are fighting a guerilla war - much like in Vietnam. The military has no way of knowing who is the enemy and who is the innocent civilian until they are attacked. We are trying to win the 'hearts and minds' of the civilian people and help to build a stable government in a very unstable region. Even with the best planning, this was an almost impossible task. The US military just isn't built for this type of fighting and 'nation-building'. They can't use an 'iron fist' type of fighting style because you would only create MORE insurgants. This is a tough job that I don't think the American people fully understand.

Personally I have been against the War in Iraq since the beginning. I think, unlike Afghanistan, we went in under faulty assurance from our President of an immenant WMD attack and links to the 9/11 attacks that has since proven to be false. That being said, I think that if we are in Iraq then our forces should be armed and equipped as best as they can...regardless of the cost. Nothing makes me more sick to my stomach when a soldier comes home in a casket because he didn't have the proper arming on his Humvee. No amount of money is too much in insuring the safety of our soldiers.

Answer 8

Wow!

People think we should have been even bigger terrorists than we were. I suppose because fewer people would want to kill us the more we show ourselves to be utterly inhuman, heartless, and brutal.

But then, your questions suggest you don't get it, either.

What does their attire have to do with anything?

Money alone doesn't "win" wars.

It amazes me that so many people answering are under the impression that we're "too PC." If we'd made any attempt to minimize the mass murder of civilian non-combatants (babies are this by definition, most of the other people we've murdered were also innocent of violence against us), a lot fewer Iraqis would hate us.

If we hadn't leapt in bed with every murdering, thieving, lying thug we could, that might have helped, as well.

Of course, people aren't throwing "bathrobes" at us. Since we didn't have enough soldiers to secure the place, they had to leave tons of ammo unprotected, and was quickly taken by the former soldiers we turned into the unemployed.

BushCo has never hesitated to slaughter non-combatants -- which is not only wrong, but illegal, and one of the reasons he's a War Criminal, and the main reason people are fighting us. So all of the people who are saying that we've been too nicey-poo have been drinking the Kool Aide served up by professional liars.

It's not unexplainable.

When massive amounts of money vanish, without accomplishing anything good, the word 'mismanagement' should spring to mind.

BushCo has always refused to listen to reason. They think that wishing makes it so.

Answer 9

Here is why....Would you fight Mike Tyson with your hands tied behind your back, or try to increase the size of the Panama Canal with a back hoe, or put a band-aid on an arterial bleed. No if you are a reasonable person you wouldn't do any of those things. That is what our military is being asked to do. Go get the bad guys but don't hurt anyone's feelings. This could have been over long ago if we would pull the kid gloves off. I blame all of our Government for this not just Bush. The Democrats will say well that is not our fault, but they signed on in the beginning as well.

Answer 10

because not only do we have to fight a war, but we have to be politically correct about it. Does the enemy try to only destroy buildings that there are American soldiers located at? NO! Not only do we have to fight them but we have to make sure that we don't hurt anybody else in the process. Now I know somebody's going to mention the civilian deaths. Just so you know, 80% of all civilian deaths are caused by the insurgency and they just happen to blame the U.S. troops. If we wanted to take the gloves off we could truly take over the country with an Iron fist, but we're actually trying to set up a government there as well.