Most Bullflop Liberal criticism of the war

[Silicon]

This has to be in the running:


U.S. Deck of Most-Wanted Cards Falls Short


http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040825/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/iraq_deck_of_cards_1


Come on, people. The cards were so that military personel could recognize Saddam's top brass. They weren't a catch-all for every threat in Iraq.



That is one BS argument against the war.

[Mr Manifesto]

I don't think it's an argument against the war per se, so much as a criticism of the Bush administration's unpreparedness for Iraq. The point being, they were caught with their pants down when al-Sadr started rallying against the CotW, they didn't count on continued insurgency, they seemed to think that once the dictatorship was decapitated Iraq would welcome them with open arms... Stuff like that.

[corplinx]

Originally posted by Mr Manifesto
The point being, they were caught with their pants down when al-Sadr started rallying against the CotW, they didn't count on continued insurgency, they seemed to think that once the dictatorship was decapitated Iraq would welcome them with open arms... Stuff like that.

Thats a nice conjecture. I suspect it was more of situation where you couldn't predict certain events. Al Sadr was a wild card. The Zarkawi was a wild card. That one general who went into hiding coordinating attacks was a wild card.

I guess "caught with the pants down" sounds much better than "couldn't plan for all contingincies in an unpredictable environment" to someone with a very negative Bush bias.

For the record, I never heard it said that the ruling Sunni's would welcome us with open arms.

[a_unique_person]

I think this quote is what the criticism is about.



Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz suggested in June that hopes may have been too high about the benefits of capturing the top Iraqi leaders.

"If you want to see what might have been underestimated, I think there was probably too great a willingness to believe that once we got the 55 people on the black list, the rest of those killers would stop fighting," he told the House Armed Services Committee.



They really had no idea what the post invasion Iraq would be like, having some fairy tale fantasy in their heads about how easy it would be once the Saddam leadership was out the way.

Perhaps instead of a deck of cards, they might have tried something like Risk or Diplomacy instead.

[Mr Manifesto]

Originally posted by corplinx

For the record, I never heard it said that the ruling Sunni's would welcome us with open arms.

JIM LEHER: Do you expect the invasion, if it comes, to be welcomed by the majority of the civilian population of Iraq?

DONALD RUMSFELD: There is no question but that they would be welcomed, go back to Afghanistan, the people were in the streets playing music, cheering, flying kites, and doing all the things that the Taliban and the al-Qaeda would not let them do.

PBS News Hour 20 Feb 2003 Citation (http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=1765)

Now, that's not exactly saying 'the ruling Sunni's will welcome us with open arms', but it paints a picture which is rather different to what's occuring in Iraq at the moment, doesn't it?

[Dorian Gray]

Too bad Bush decided to play solitaire with his deck of cards.

[billydkid]

Originally posted by Silicon
This has to be in the running:


U.S. Deck of Most-Wanted Cards Falls Short


http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040825/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/iraq_deck_of_cards_1


Come on, people. The cards were so that military personel could recognize Saddam's top brass. They weren't a catch-all for every threat in Iraq.



That is one BS argument against the war.

It ain't just lefties who think the war was a real, real bad idea. Go check out Lew Rockwells website.

[TillEulenspiegel]

Originally posted by corplinx
Thats a nice conjecture. I suspect it was more of situation where you couldn't predict certain events. Al Sadr was a wild card. The Zarkawi was a wild card. That one general who went into hiding coordinating attacks was a wild card.

I guess "caught with the pants down" sounds much better than "couldn't plan for all contingincies in an unpredictable environment" to someone with a very negative Bush bias.


Jesus Christ corpse when are you going to stop being an apologist for the moron in the white-house and face reality.

Wars may be won in the will but if an idiot is in charge of the forces what chance then?

The war was ill planed, ill timed , ill conceived , contrived and the "Commander in chief" dis regarded the advise of professional soldiers that had spent their lifetime engaged in the doctrine and activity of warfare. Professional warriors plan for situations that are variable, this enterprise that cost almost a thousand American soldiers their life ( not mentioning collateral damage) and will coast billions was a clusterfuk from the get go. So do us all a favor and take the phantom of your admiration for GII and keep it in your shirt pocket next to your heart and let it trouble us no more with it's inanities.

[merphie]

I am no military person, but it seems there were unprepared. Maybe someone who served could better explain the situation. It could be due to something we are not aware of.

The political spin is nothing new.

[Mr Manifesto]

Bush admits Iraq 'miscalculations' (http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200408/s1186675.htm)

The paper quotes Mr Bush as saying, during a 30-minute interview, that he made "a miscalculation of what the conditions would be" in post-war Iraq.

Which means, after you pare down the spin-speak, "I was caught with my pants down."

[a_unique_person]

Originally posted by merphie
I am no military person, but it seems there were unprepared. Maybe someone who served could better explain the situation. It could be due to something we are not aware of.

The political spin is nothing new.

Colin Powell knew exactly what was going to happen, which is why they deliberately kept him out of the loop. Reminds me of my sister in law who wouldn't take along her mechanic brother when she was buying a second hand car, because he was 'too critical'. Of course, she ended up buying the biggest heap of rubbish I have ever seen. It was nice and shiny, and burned a pint of oil a day.

[merphie]

Originally posted by Mr Manifesto
Bush admits Iraq 'miscalculations' (http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200408/s1186675.htm)

Which means, after you pare down the spin-speak, "I was caught with my pants down."

To blame him alone is not correct. Where was the military in this? Did they not try anything?