Why do some think we can afford to lose in Iraq?

Answer 1

Because they still haven't figured out what is to be gained by staying there. They're too focused upon the fact that the Iranians want us to come home.... lol

Answer 2

We have already lost in Iraq, As a Viet Nam veteran I learned to accept things like this. The real shame is that we won the war and Bush lost us the peace. If we had gotten out after capturing Saddam as we said we would then we could have claimed victory, now the best we can hope for is to get our people out soon.

PS to Jade Yes, I do know friends who have been there and they say the same thing as I do. Our troops won the war and then we should have left. Bush has some vague idea that we can win the peace, we can't, only the Iraqi people can do that.

Answer 3

History repeats itself. The same statement was made about Vietnam. In fact, this whole Iraq war is so similar to a war we fought three decades ago. As with the Vietnamese, we have not given the Iraqi people reason enough to support our operations. So no matter what we think and say here in America, the ultimate outcome of this conflict will be what the Iraqi people say and do. The question is how many lives and money will be wasted before our leadership realizes this striking similar situation .

Answer 4

We declared victory several years ago. So what have we got to lose now? Democracy for a country that doesn't want one? More troops? I haven't figured out why we are still there other than killing the terrorists. And that part is fine with me.

Answer 5

A letter from someone who is there, From: Klascius, Chad A CPT MIL USA
Sent: Thursday, November 22, 2007 9:03 AM
Subject: Update from the desert (Chad's OCT-NOV update)

Hi again everyone,
Well I won't even pretend like I'm doing a good job with these
updates that were supposed to be monthly. In fact I've been so busy
lately that the past few months feel like a blur and I have no idea
when the last update went out. That being said its time for me to
come home in a few days!!!! Its been a long hard 15 months and I
cannot wait to see my family and friends again.
These past few months have been overwhelming successful and I am
so proud of my soldiers and all of their efforts. In the past year
we've captured or killed a total of 183 insurgents! We've also
seized 35 caches, found and destroyed 209 IEDs, and completely
defeated Al Qeada in Hawr Rajab. Additionally we've stood up an army
of 450 Concerned Local Citizens who we employ to protect their
neighborhoods and established a municipal government of 37 local
sheiks. We've fought some intense battles and received a lot of
media attention (see attached videos) and George W. Bush commented on
our success in Hawr Rajab during his televised speech on 2 Nov
07. We used to get into intense gunfights about once a week and I
usually averaged 3 injured soldiers per month. However, all of our
efforts have yielded overwhelming results in completely defeating the
insurgency in Hawr Rajab and we have not had a single bullet fired at
us in the past 60 days and not a single soldier injured in the past
70 days! We've also integrated the Iraqi Army into the area and
between the Iraqi Army and Concerned Local Citizens, our town of Hawr
Rajab is almost ready to be turned over to the Government of Iraq and
withdraw US Forces. Hawr Rajab has been designated by the Division
Commander as a "Model Community" that we are now seeing other
neighboring town trying to imitate as they attempt to work with
Americans, take control of their neighborhoods, expel Al Qaeda and
bring peace to their citizens. As the "Model Community" we are
seeing a lot of reconstruction of the schools, businesses and
increase in the quality of life for people. The same town that was a
war zone containing hundreds of Al Qaeda eight months ago is now
standing up its own local government and our soldiers are now playing
soccer in the streets with the local children!
Most importantly, my soldiers are now going home knowing that
they overwhelmingly succeeded in their mission in Iraq. That with
only 71 combat scouts they turned an Al Qaeda stronghold into a model
community and essentially won the war in Iraq inside our Area of
Operations. The soldiers of Apache troop will always remember the
men, women and children of Hawr Rajab who cheer for them to thank
them for bringing peace to the area and they will always carry with
them the fact that they have accomplished some good in this world.
Looking back at it all I feel honored to have led an elite unit of
airborne scouts into such a hostile combat area. I also feel blessed
with the progress we've made and I will never forget the sacrifices
of those who have fallen. Four of my soldiers will never return and
19 have been wounded in this past year. These men are the true
heroes who gave everything and died with honor fighting for what they
believed in and for their country. I also thank God for watching
over me, knowing that everyday my life lay in his hands and He to safely deliver me back to my family.
Finally, I just want to thank Selena, Tristan and Aidan for fighting
the war on terror on the homefront and enduring the past year without
their Daddy and Husband. Their sacrifices are significant and all of
the soldiers over here, myself included, would not have the
motivation or inspiration to fight without all of the love and
support from our families and friends. Thank you all for your
support and love and especially thank you Selena, I love you and will
be home soon!

Hope to see you all soon!
-Chad Klascius

Answer 6

We were on the verge of losing, but I think we've turned it around enough now that we can end up successful. Failure would have been a disaster. General Petreaus (sp) deserves whatever award can possibly be given.

Answer 7

What's with this simple win vs. loss mentality?

We already have lost thousands of lives and billions of dollars fighting a war in a region that cannot be expected to govern or rebuild itself.

Bush has already declared "victory." So we can make the argument that we've won. But we're still there, and the "war" looks like it will go on for another 20 years (or worse, spread to other countries) unless we yank the resources and bring the troops home. A lot of people consider having to make a choice like that to be having already lost.

Answer 8

THE LEFT DOESN'T WANT US TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN IRAQ. IF THINGS TURN OUT WELL THEY WILL NOT HAVE THAT AS AN ISSUE IN THEIR EFFORT TO SEIZE THE WHITE HOUSE.

Answer 9

A better question might be can we afford to "win" it? How many American and Iraqi lives and dollars would be needed for you to consider it a win? As soon as you can come up with those figures for us we can sit down and discuss the costs vs. gains in tems of sanity, justice, and fairness. Whatever number you may come up with, in my opinion, would be debatable to all those who have lost sons, daughters, mothers, and fathers.

Answer 10

what is losing??

what is winning?

the government has done nothing in 2 years to straighten out the situation itself becuase our army runs the country and they can sit there and blame every problem on us

untill we leave they will not take charge

look at what happend with Basra (the 2nd biggest city in Iraq) when the British retreated out of there last fall