No, we should not have messed with Saddam. The United States had Saddam very well contained, with the no fly zones in the northern and southern portions of the country mainly to protect the Kurds and the citizens in the Basra region. In the 1998 bombings (Operation Desert Fox), Saddam panicked because of the huge effect the operation had. As a result, he ended up killing some of his top advisors, which was a sure sign that he was no where near as powerful as he was. He would probably have ended up like Castro, one of those assholes who can't do [censored] but is just a pain in the [censored]. Afghanistan was the more important target with the people who plotted the 9/11 attacks, and that is where the major fighting should be. Sure Saddam was an evil person, and the world's better off without him, but I don't think he was worth the casualties of our Troops.
The only thing I can really say is, there are easier and more cost efficient ways to remove a dictator.
A bullet to the forehead from half a mile away is one of them. Or, like we attempted to do with Fidel Castro, poison his cigars. There are ways to remove a dictator that are not quite so long term like this war.
Jacob Wrote:A bullet to the forehead from half a mile away is one of them. Or, like we attempted to do with Fidel Castro, poison his cigars. There are ways to remove a dictator that are not quite so long term like this war.
That’s the REAL issue though. Iraq is screwed as it is, but I think that’s why they didn’t just assassinate Saddam. It would have caused chaos. Who’d have taken power? His cousin, “Chemical Ali”? Or his psychotic sons?
Either way, there’d have been BIG problems.
Leave him in = Problems in the long term
Assassinate him = Problems with a successor or maybe a civil war. (The States would have went in eventually to “Stabilize” They’d have a lot of the current issues as an end result)
War/Invasion = Exactly what we have now. A corrupt civilian government with insurgents and terrorists along with innocent deaths and military causalities.
It’s a double-edged sword. Damned if you do or if you don’t.
Hey kids! Heres one!
Instead of being the nice guy to the world and worrying about a dictator's rights, lets not warn them that we are coming! Hurray!
Instead of giving him a warning and time to get away, lets just drop a bomb on each building that he or his sons are residing in. I mean, thats how the war started, with bombs being dropped on his house and stuff, bombs that can bury themselves several feet into fortified bunkers. If we didn't give him a warning and had used the element of surprise, he and his family, and cabinet, could have been sent from this Earth in a matter of one second.
Hurray for war technology!
Zack Wrote:Hey kids! Heres one!
Instead of being the nice guy to the world and worrying about a dictator's rights, lets not warn them that we are coming! Hurray!
Instead of giving him a warning and time to get away, lets just drop a bomb on each building that he or his sons are residing in. I mean, thats how the war started, with bombs being dropped on his house and stuff, bombs that can bury themselves several feet into fortified bunkers. If we didn't give him a warning and had used the element of surprise, he and his family, and cabinet, could have been sent from this Earth in a matter of one second.
Hurray for war technology!
Paging all civil rights advocates!
ie) The people that complained he wasn’t treated fair while on trial for CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY!
People are stupid. They are never pleased.
"Stop the bloodshed! Why don't you do anything?"
After:
"You didn't stop it right!"
David Wrote:Zack Wrote:Hey kids! Heres one!
Instead of being the nice guy to the world and worrying about a dictator's rights, lets not warn them that we are coming! Hurray!
Instead of giving him a warning and time to get away, lets just drop a bomb on each building that he or his sons are residing in. I mean, thats how the war started, with bombs being dropped on his house and stuff, bombs that can bury themselves several feet into fortified bunkers. If we didn't give him a warning and had used the element of surprise, he and his family, and cabinet, could have been sent from this Earth in a matter of one second.
Hurray for war technology!
Paging all civil rights advocates!
ie) The people that complained he wasn’t treated fair while on trial for CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY!
People are stupid. They are never pleased.
"Stop the bloodshed! Why don't you do anything?"
After:
"You didn't stop it right!"
Exactly.
I love how people say they want the troops out of Iraq. That's a great thing, considering the death toll. But what are you going to say after a pull out when the country finally goes to [censored]? Bush will be gone so you can't blame him. Regardless... You pull out, the "patriots" of Iraq won't takeover, and the states will still be mixed into it all, and have soldiers dying. What? You'll go there as diplomats? Canada had a diplomat in Afghanistan... He was killed. You won't leave because then you'll get flak for not doing anything and letter the country get even worse. The Democrats know this and they're just saying what will get them elected! Our last Liberal prime minister said things too. First, to get elected, he said we'd pull out of Afghanistan. His first term, he EXTENDED the mission. Second thing that sticks out in my mind... He said he'd never approve a bill on same sex marriage. THEN when his back was against the wall, before a crucial vote he gets the thing approved, and stays in for a bit longer until he's implicated in a scandal with his predecessor; Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. Then our new Conservative PM said he'd review marriage the bill, but has done ZIP. It's all politics and winning votes.
You're stuck in Iraq, unless you can pull off something amazing. That's the bottom line.
It may sound cold hearted, but I care more about American lives than Iraqi.