Is Obama finished?

[ezmoney]

Originally Posted by Kjakk

Well, we will have to agree to disagree because I see little to no correlation. In my opinion the terrorist threat to ordinary US citizens is and has been extremely overblown. A couple of people got lucky on 9/11, and we were lazy. To say that the best answer to preventing these types of events in the future is to kill all our enemies first, is a ridiculous and naive suggestion.

A couple of people got lucky and 3000 of our people were very unlucky.

If we aren't suuposed to kill our enemies what do you suggest?? Bore them to death with diplomacy. What do you suggest that we should do??

[John]

Originally Posted by LARRY

We have experts who deal with this sort of thing.

They call them "think tanks"

And they get paid alot of money to...think.

Think tanks in the United States play an important role in forming both foreign and domestic policy. Typically, an issue such as national missile defense will be debated within and among think tanks and the results of these debates will influence government policy makers. Think tanks in the United States generally receive funding from private donors, and members of private organizations. Think tanks may feel more free to propose and debate controversial ideas than people within government.

Although think tanks span the political spectrum, liberal critics charge that conservative think tanks are far more prevalent than their progressive counterparts. In an annual survey, the liberal media watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) lists the 25 think tanks most often cited in the mainstream media. Their data for 2006 show that the most-cited think tank was the Brookings Institution, followed by the Council on Foreign Relations, the Heritage Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Of these top five, the FAIR regards the first two as centrist and the next three as conservative. Regarding media citations of think tanks more generally, the FAIR found 45% to be centrist, 40% conservative or center-right, and 16% progressive or center-left.

Not exactly - I used to work for one of those. Think tanks are full of many brilliant, talented, strategic-foresighted individuals. The good/bad side is many of the principle fellows are comprised of former political appointees. And, no, they don't get paid a lot of money. Think tanks are not McKinseys, Bain, or BCG type strategic consultancies - they fulfill their own strategic objectives, which are rarely profit. Think tanks have their purpose, and they're a necessity in our contemporary society, but your perception of them is skewed.

[LARRY]

Interesting.

Who besides the Joint Chiefs and the military predicts the future of situations like Iraq?

[John]

Originally Posted by LARRY

Well, who besides the Joint Chiefs and the military predicts the future of situations like Iraq?

Ever heard of contingency planning? Our government has dozens of scenarios for dealing with everything from Iraq to Canada - some come from think tanks, some from the archives, some from special interests, some from academia, and others from existing administrations.

[LARRY]

Wow, that's great.

I guess these folks have figured out how to leave Iraq if they have to?

[John]

Originally Posted by LARRY

Wow, that's great.

I guess these folks have figured out how to leave Iraq if they have to?

They have exit strategies, yes. However, those will never be announced since then it provides too much of a defined timeline for those inciting chaos to wait. Unfortunately, our country, like all civilized societies, has no way to mitigate guerrilla warfare since we have to play by a different set of rules.

[apk919]

Originally Posted by LARRY

Wow, that's great.

I guess these folks have figured out how to leave Iraq if they have to?

Yes, as well as how to nuke Iran, if they have to.

[NomisR]

Originally Posted by LARRY

Wow, that's great.

I guess these folks have figured out how to leave Iraq if they have to?

Well, it makes so much more sense like Obama said to just withdraw from Iraq immediately as soon as he enters office, and if Iran ever decides to invade a vulerable Iraq, we'll just go right back in at full force. That'll be soooooo much cheaper than just staying there that's for sure!

[LARRY]

Originally Posted by John

They have exit strategies, yes. However, those will never be announced since then it provides too much of a defined timeline for those inciting chaos to wait. Unfortunately, our country, like all civilized societies, has no way to mitigate guerrilla warfare since we have to play by a different set of rules.

So street fighting with Iraqis who want us to leave their country will only end up with thousands of more dead American soldiers, and very little else.

Doesn't sound like a very good plan.

[apk919]

Originally Posted by LARRY

So street fighting with Iraqis who want us to leave their country will only end up with thousands of more dead American soldiers, and very little else.

Doesn't sound like a very good plan.

On the other hand, street fighting with foreign jihadists who've come to Iraq to in order to impose a worldwide caliphate on the rest of us, and are killed at about a 10:1 ratio, is a good plan.

[LARRY]

It's not a good plan at all.

Not one more American soldier should die in that mess.

[apk919]

Originally Posted by LARRY

It's not a good plan at all.

Not one more American soldier should die in that mess.

Sorry, I think you're wrong. And so do the majority of those who serve, regardless of PBS propaganda.

You seem to think that if we left the rest of the world alone, they'd all be nice to us. You are incredibly naive.

There's almost no piracy on the world's oceans today... shipments of oil and gas, raw materials, finished products, etc. traverse the world's oceans in ships that have almost no ability to defend themselves. Why is that? Because everyone is playing nice? NO! Because the U.S. Navy guarantees the safe passage of merchant ships with destroyers, submarines and aircraft carriers. And not because said vessels will pull up along side the pirates and ask them nicely to desist... it's because they will blow the offending scoundrels out of the water.

That's just one example of what it takes to give you the freedom that you so carelessly take for granted. American power gives you the luxury of bleating on about world peace, global warming, imperialism, moral relativism, etc. Without it, you'd be spending a lot more of your time on your knees...

[LARRY]

I DON'T TAKE FREEDOM FOR GRANTED AND I AM MORE PATRIOTIC THAN YOU ARE.

This war was created by the Bush administration to find someone to attack for 911.

We should not have gone there in the first place and I am not alone in this belief. everyone knows the weapons of mass destruction did not exist.

Our troops are facing roadside bombs instead.

Believe what you want but this "war" is idiotic and we are losing American lives every day.

This is not the way to "protect" America.

In the paper today it says that Obama will beat McCain.

Get rid of this Republican conservative nonsense.

Finally, someone with brains and someone with heart.

[fitfan]

the 9/11 threat was never in iraq... going there was for other reasons... but it does keep the light off the regions where the counter terrorism activity is taking place...

leaving iraq, and stopping the counter terr. c. programs have little to do with each other. and one will not overly effect the other. in general i agree with the latter, but not the former.

[LARRY]

We can continue to fight terrorism, but not on the ground in Iraq.

An Iraqi nutjob wakes up in the morning in Iraq and calls his buddies.

"Let's go terrorize Americans today...they're right down the street. Bring your rocket propelled grenades."

Just another fun Sunday for Americans in harms way in Iraq.

[apk919]

Originally Posted by LARRY

I DON'T TAKE FREEDOM FOR GRANTED AND I AM MORE PATRIOTIC THAN YOU ARE.

This war was created by the Bush administration to find someone to attack for 911.

Wrong.

Originally Posted by LARRY

We should not have gone there in the first place and I am not alone in this belief. everyone knows the weapons of mass destruction did not exist.

Wrong again.

Originally Posted by LARRY

Our troops are facing roadside bombs instead.

That in itself is not a reason to stop a war. If the Nazis or the Japanese used roadside bombs, would you have demanded we "leave" WWII?

Originally Posted by LARRY

Believe what you want but this "war" is idiotic and we are losing American lives every day.

That happens every day no matter what. Soldiers also die in training missions in the US. Shall we stop training soldiers?

Originally Posted by LARRY

This is not the way to "protect" America.

Your opinion... nothing more.

Originally Posted by LARRY

In the paper today it says that Obama will beat McCain.

Since it's printed in a "paper", it must be true!

Originally Posted by LARRY

Get rid of this Republican conservative nonsense.

Finally, someone with brains and someone with heart.

Is he smart? He hasn't said anything that proves his intelligence yet...

Originally Posted by LARRY

We can continue to fight terrorism, but not on the ground in Iraq.

Wrong again.

Originally Posted by LARRY

An Iraqi nutjob wakes up in the morning in Iraq and calls his buddies.

"Let's go terrorize Americans today...they're right down the street. Bring your rocket propelled grenades."

Just another fun Sunday for Americans in harms way in Iraq.

Is this just another one of your anti-American fantasies?

[RENDERMAN]

I will make a simple prediction for the elections "He who best dominates the war, dominates the election" also I think this is a bad time to be a liberal...

[ivan1]

wow I go on vacation for a few days and look what happens...

[LARRY]

Originally Posted by LARRY

We can continue to fight terrorism, but not on the ground in Iraq.

An Iraqi nutjob wakes up in the morning in Iraq and calls his buddies.

"Let's go terrorize Americans today...they're right down the street. Bring your rocket propelled grenades."

Just another fun Sunday for Americans in harms way in Iraq.

Right.

[NMRJock]

You finally found somebody that agrees with you!