Hello everyone, hope no one (that remembers me) missed me! And hi to the newer members. I know there are probably dozens of threads about Iraq, and well, I've been busy and lazy lately so I'm too lazy to re-read them all. Anyway, if this thread is shut down because of that, thats fine. But yeah.
Anyway,
here's a post I made on another forum regarding Iraq. This is why I believe the war began.
Dragonis Dragonis:
France can't stand us because they, along with Germany and the others, are a bunch of liberalist tools who wouldn't even fight if it was their own asses on the line.
Germany and Russia certainly have the military might to help, but they won't because they're useless, run by useless leaders.
I believe, so far, the war has been a success.
Well, in the sense that the war has brought more freedom to Iraqi's, sure, it's been a success.
Militarily, it's been a disaster. Hell, even the CIA says that it will get worse. The United States has been trying to fight an unconventional war, using conventional means, just like Vietnam. Guerilla Warfare works, and the only way countries are going to be able to beat it is if they start to conform to it. It's the same with Terrorism. Terrorism is nothing more than the next stage of warfare.
The US cannot fight & win against the Iraqi's because they don't follow the rules of engagement. So instead America labels them as 'terrorists', effectively cancelling out the Geneva Convention, not to mention the media blackout of the area, so there goes any hope of finding human rights abuses. But does it matter? If you want to have a successful military campaign in a situation such as Iraq, you're going to need to be able to kill anyone you want. I know if I was a soldier, I'd want that, it sure would make me feel safer, knowing I could protect myself at ANY time and not have fear of a military hearing or international tribunal.
As for pre-War Iraq, well, first, it is because of the USA that Saddam is in power. The CIA helped the coup d'etat which put the Ba'ath party in power in Iraq in 1963. Saddam was a high member of the party then, and was Vice President now that the Ba'ath party was in power. He came into power in 1968 when Ahmed Bakr died. During the Iraq-Iran war, the US supplied Iraq (and later Iran as well) with money and weaponry to fight each other, hoping to destabalize each nation. Some of the weapons provided to the Iraqi's were:
Bacillus Anthracis (Anthrax)
Clostridium Botulinum
Histoplasma Capsulatum
Brucella Meltensis
Clostridium PerfringensThat's just the Biological/Chemical weapons sold. The US also sold $1.5 Billion worth of computer technology used in conventional and NBC weapons systems.
Even the issue regarding the treatment of the Kurds is well, defacto. The US, and other nations could have done something about that before, but why not wait until it can help you? In 1973-75 during the Iraq-Iran conflicts, the US government supported a Kurdish rebellion.
$1:
To destabilize Iraq during a border dispute with Iran, US supports Kurdish rebels with $16 million in arms, promising to back them in their struggle for autonomy. When Iran and Iraq reach an agreement in 1975 and seal off their border, Iraq proceeds to violently suppress the Kurdish rebellion. US ends support for Kurds and denies them refuge. Henry Kissinger, architect of the ploy, explained, "covert action should not be confused with missionary work."
Of course, thats not at all different from the work the CIA and the US has done in other countries, such as Afghanistan, Cambodia, Chile, Argentina, Guatemala, and Indonesia.
Then of course, there is the philosophical question. Why is it that when Osama bin Laden kills 3,000 civilians, it is a terrorist act, but when an American bomber "accidentally" blows up a school or kills 5,000 civilians in a residential district, it is "collateral"?
Also, as for France and Russia being "liberalist tools" or "useless" well, I'd expect more from someone that reads Bill O'Reilly. France and Russia both had extremely lucrative oil contracts in Iraq. The last thing that they want is for Saddam to be removed and an American puppet government in place. Economically, going against the war is the best thing to do. But that doesn't matter much now that American oil companies and Haliburton have contracts for just about everything in Iraq. Funny though, Haliburton, with Cheney and all. Also, it's such a nice company to use to represent a nation:
$1:
From WWII to Vietnam, Afghanistan and now Iraq, Halliburton has a seemingly magical ability to turn a profit from suffering.
But whatever. Also, for Russia and Germany's Army sizes.. Well, Russia has the second largest army in the world, so yes, they'd make a good choice. But why not try and get China on with their 2,810,000 armed personnel? Oh, wait, I know.
It's because this war isn't about Liberty, or Freedom. It's about China. China is the real enemy. China's economy has been growing rapidly for several years now, and compare that to America's economic slump, well, it makes sense. Ever since the government switched the economy from the Soviet planned style, to a market oriented version in 1978, there have been great advances.
$1:
The result has been a quadrupling of GDP since 1978.
From 1995 to 2002, in less then a decade China's total trade has doubled from $300Billion to $600Billion. In 2003 China was ranked as having the second largest economy in the world, behind the US.
Not only is China the largest nation in the world in terms of total population (1,298,847,624. That's 1.298 Billion, FYI) it also has the largest army (See above). Hell, their military manpower (availability) alone (379,524,688) allows them to field an army that is 100 Million men larger then the USA's total population (293,027,571).
It is estimated by some that the ICBM capabilities of China will equal those of the US within 30 years. In addition, China & Russia held joint military exercises in 2003, the first in three decades. That keeps people up at night.
Anyway, to tie it all together, the reason Iraq is about China is well, oil. Oil keeps the American economy and military machine going. The only area that has a higher budget then the Military in the United States is the Department of Energy (They get somewhere around $500 Billion). China remains dependant on Hydro-Electric power. Hell, they literally moved an entire city of 1.13 Million people for the
Three Gorges Dam Project.
Dragonis Dragonis:
Germany and Russia certainly have the military might to help, but they won't because they're useless, run by useless leaders.
Also, back to Germany. I think it's foolish for Americans to attack Germany's stance on this war. So what if they aren't politically supporting the war or militarily. The first place wounded American soldiers go (besides field hospitals) is Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. Just FYI.
Despite the small number of American deaths (Around 3,000) there are over 9,000 wounded so far.
Anyway, yeah, Iraq blows.
FYI: NBC= Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical.
