American soldiers on the ground in the Middle East?
0 voters
Both parties have flip-flopped on this one. But here’s some particularly brazen hypocrisy:
www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jul/1 … ress-for-/
If they had simply not pulled out of Iraq in the first place…
washingtontimes.com/news/201 … ress-for-/
[quote]Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Sunday that Obama administration officials are doing “everything in our power” to fight terrorism, and blamed Congress for failing to support more troops on the ground.
[/quote]
It seems congress isn’t the only obstacle preventing Obama from supporting…I mean fighting isis.
[quote=“rowland”]Both parties have flip-flopped on this one. But here’s some particularly brazen hypocrisy:
washingtontimes.com/news/201 … ress-for-/
If they had simply not pulled out of Iraq in the first place…[/quote]
It’s a quagmire, stupid.
Life is a quagmire. Some handle it better than others.
Took us decades to get out of Japan. Looking at how Iraq turned out, it’s a good thing we didn’t rush it.
[quote=“rowland”]Life is a quagmire. Some handle it better than others.
Took us decades to get out of Japan. Looking at how Iraq turned out, it’s a good thing we didn’t rush it.[/quote]
I’m in Japan right now where I’ve lived part-time for the last seven years. Trust me. Japan isn’t Iraq.
[quote=“Winston Smith”][quote=“rowland”]Life is a quagmire. Some handle it better than others.
Took us decades to get out of Japan. Looking at how Iraq turned out, it’s a good thing we didn’t rush it.[/quote]
I’m in Japan right now where I’ve lived part-time for the last seven years. Trust me. Japan isn’t Iraq.[/quote]
And the US military is far from leaving.
[quote=“agentsmith”][quote=“Winston Smith”][quote=“rowland”]Life is a quagmire. Some handle it better than others.
Took us decades to get out of Japan. Looking at how Iraq turned out, it’s a good thing we didn’t rush it.[/quote]
I’m in Japan right now where I’ve lived part-time for the last seven years. Trust me. Japan isn’t Iraq.[/quote]
And the US military is far from leaving.[/quote]
If America had attacked Japan rather than the other way around, hung its emperor and destroyed the very fabric of Japanese life I doubt I would have lasted seven minutes in Japan, much less seven years. My retired Japanese army neighbor would have seen to that.
[quote=“rowland”]
If they had simply not pulled out of Iraq in the first place…[/quote]
If you’re talking about why George W. Bush negotiated the SOFA starting in January 2008, presented it to Congressional leaders in October, had it signed by Ryan Crocker on November 17th, and then signed it himself on December 14, 2008, the answer is the Iraqi government refused to let the Americans stay past December 31, 2011.
Though PM al-Maliki applied the utmost pressure ( a three-line whip, as we parliamentarians say- plus I’m sure more potent threats and bribes), the agreement only passed the Iraqi Parliament by 149 out of 275 (54%). Ninety MPs, mostly Shiite Dawaists (Maliki’s party)- abstained, fearful of getting torn apart by their constituents if they agreed to allow US forces to stay; many of the ones who supported it did so reluctantly, only with absolute assurances that the US would be gone in 3 years
So, if you’re asking why Obama didn’t unilaterally tear up the agreement that Bush made, and stayed in Iraq against the wishes of the Iraqi government, opposed by both Shia and Sunni, it’s because he’s neither totally ignorant of the situation nor batshit insane (Presidential faults which will be remedied if the Republicans win in November).
.
DP