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Son of a VET Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined: 07 Aug 2004 Posts: 791 Location: TN
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noc PO1
Joined: 24 Aug 2004 Posts: 492 Location: Dublin, CA
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Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 2:59 pm Post subject: |
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The report shows that "delay, defer, wasn't an option," Cheney told a town-hall style meeting.
Great point here. |
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homesteader PO3
Joined: 17 Sep 2004 Posts: 294 Location: wisconsin
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Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 3:35 pm Post subject: |
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Let's assume for a moment that Saddam did not have stockpiles of WMDs in 2003. If that were true Saddam was the most foolish of men. Remember the old commercial "It's not nice to fool with mother nature".
Without WMDs Saddam was behaving and sounding like he had them. His goons were playing shell games and hide-and-seek with everyone who was trying to get the truth. He convinced everyone to include other Arab leaders and his own troops, even Kerry and Edwards that he had them. Protective gear was found on the front lines, and on and on.
After 9/11 Saddam should have figured out it was "not smart to play cute with a wounded superpower." Instead he carried on with his games and ended up in a spider hole. What a price to pay just to maintain the illusion that he had WMDs.
Cheney is right. If Saddam did not have them, he sure played his cards wrong.
Lesson: Don't mess with us! |
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Dimsdale Captain
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 527 Location: Massachusetts: the belly of the beast
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Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 4:04 pm Post subject: |
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Kerry and Edwards continually inply that they "woulda' done it different" if they had been in charge.
Unfortunately for them, neither their comments or their votes, based on the same information the President had available to him, back up that claim. Their protestations and criticisms are all based on hindsight. Well, hindsight in 2003 said Saddam had WMDs, and would make them available to the terrorists if he had the chance.
The President had to act on available intel, at that time, and assuming the worst case scenario. To do less would have been a betrayal of his oath to protect the United States.
Kerry would have talked and talked and talked, before he finally he went through the predictable cycle of appeasement and blocked inspections that didn't work before. Saddam would still be dictator, and Ghaddafi would still have the WMDs that nobody knew he had, possibly available to the highest bidder.
Kerry would have, and would, make the world less safe, and weaken the US in the process. _________________ Everytime he had a choice, Kerry chose to side with communists rather than the United States. |
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jataylor11 Vice Admiral
Joined: 10 Aug 2004 Posts: 856 Location: Woodbridge, Virginia
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Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 4:27 pm Post subject: |
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Another Kerry Flip-flop (or logic lapse)
12 years of circumventing UN sanctions is a RUSH to war
versus
4 months and 3 scratches result in a RUSH to leave Vietnam
4 months in Vietnam 30 years ago is sufficient to lead a nation in war
versus
3 years of stellar leadership |
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jimlarsen Seaman
Joined: 15 Aug 2004 Posts: 197 Location: St. Petersburg, FL
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Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 5:09 pm Post subject: |
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I wish the Bush campaign would point out just how absurd waiting would have been. In my opinion, some of the reasons are:
1. Inspectors were made to wait hours to get into a facility, allowing time for banned materials to be moved.
2. Saddam was firing missiles at our recon planes.
3. Iraq was a potential haven for terrorists.
4. France and Russia were getting rich off the oil for food program while Saddam diverted some of the money and materials to his weapons programs.
5. Saddam was confidant that he was safe because the UN had done nothing about his non-compliance. This gave us the advantage of surprise at the time of the attack. That advantage would have eroded if we had rattled our sabers for a few months before attacking. |
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msindependent Vice Admiral
Joined: 26 Aug 2004 Posts: 891 Location: Colorado
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Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 5:16 pm Post subject: |
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Everybody and their dog thought that Saddam had them. So, everybody was wrong? I doubt it. I'm a bit concerned about where they are now. I hope they are buried and not in Syria. |
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Anker-Klanker Admiral
Joined: 04 Sep 2004 Posts: 1033 Location: Richardson, TX
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Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 5:17 pm Post subject: |
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Quote: | Without WMDs Saddam was behaving and sounding like he had them. His goons were playing shell games and hide-and-seek with everyone who was trying to get the truth. He convinced everyone to include other Arab leaders and his own troops, even Kerry and Edwards that he had them. Protective gear was found on the front lines, and on and on.
After 9/11 Saddam should have figured out it was "not smart to play cute with a wounded superpower." Instead he carried on with his games and ended up in a spider hole. What a price to pay just to maintain the illusion that he had WMDs.
Cheney is right. If Saddam did not have them, he sure played his cards wrong. |
Actually there's a lot of perverted logic in this thesis.
Saddam was the bad boy in almost the whole Arab world. The Iranians sure didn't like him; the Saudis were wary of him, etc. Remember Saddam's regime was supposed to be secular, instead of Islamist (it had to be to control the opposing Islamic factions, and the Kurds). So Saddam needed real military power - even if bluff - to protect himself from his Arab foes. I've read that even UBL disdained him (but tolerated him as long as they shared a common enemy, meaning us).
On the other side of this strategy game by Saddam, he was being assured by France, Russia, and China that they would not allow the US to do anything to Saddam via the UN route. What, of course, no one in this mess counted on was that Bush would by-pass the UN.
I think it really is very logical how Saddam got himself into a corner. His strategy wasn't even all that bad. It just had one weak point: George Walker Bush! |
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