And you?

BECAUSE WE ARE NOT ISLAMIC STATES RULED BY SHARIA. that is it.

So by this statement, Islamic extremists want to eradicate every society on the planet? That doesn’t seem to be the case, except for people that agree with your position making those assertions. Yes, it contributes to the fact that they hate us, but seriously, I can’t believe you people don’t think that ANYTHING we have done has pissed them off! How can you be so blind to that? It really doesn’t make sense to me to make this such a “cut and dry issue”, when it is clearly multi-faceted.

As far as the questions that I asked you, they were questions; which you answered. My point is, and it has been fact checked, is that it is known that we have made al Queda more of a presence in Iraq since we invaded. In fact, it has been said numerous times, that al Queda wasn’t in Iraq until we got there.

My statements that suggest that we need to go after the “real” perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks, focus on doing just that, instead of doing what we are currently doing… which is trying to stabilize a nation that we threw into turmoil.

James, again, you conclude that I have said that the troops have done “nothing”, when I even clarified that for you in my last comment. Please stop making grossly overstretched conclusions, because they simply denigrate your argument. We have had some wins. We have had some losses. However, the overall threat remains; and more importantly, grows with every day we spend in Iraq. A handful of al Queda targets is not going to solve the problem, and continuing to focus on them as the “success” is dangerously misrepresenting what we are doing, and what needs to be done.

We agree that these were bad men. I never suggested they weren’t. If they were part of planning 9/11, I’m glad we “got ‘em”. However, our focus has been, and continues to be on Iraq, which doesn’t have ties to 9/11. If we really want to get the rest of these guys, we should go after them; instead of waiting in Iraq for them to come to us.

We totally agree on the facts, James, I just think we come at it from different perspectives. You see it as we have gone in, and done our job, and have definitely taken care of business, so things are going according to plan. I see it as, we have gone in under false pretenses, managed to get a few of the bad guys (which is definitely good), yet have remained in a country that we threw into turmoil, and continue to create new enemies by sticking around. You yourself even indicated that at least one of those men was killed in Afghanistan… isn’t that clear enough for even you, that Iraq wasn’t the target, but al Queda was; wherever they were? Final point being, they are in Iraq because they came in after us. They are able to recruit more of them each day, because of the growing hatred for us in Iraq and the surrounding reason. Calling a campaign that creates more enemies a success is misguided at best.

Also, ask yourself, if these people see the west (i.e., US) as the problem, why do you think that is so? Could it be because of what we do with regards to the rest of the world? Could it be because we treat the rest of the world as if it owes us something, and we scoff at the thought of helping anyone that might need it? Could it be because we portray ourselves as the utmost greedy, selfish people on the planet, that will stop at nothing to have “it all”? Because I am not so naive as to believe that these things have had no impact on their views of us at all. If you are interested, I would be glad to point you to some resources that would illustrate how globalization works, as well as highlights some of the negative factors we have influencing the process (which have been in existence for a very long time).

thanks, duane, but i will pass on the globalization stuff. i work in a global capacity for a multinational so i am pretty familiar with it. plus i am pretty sure that your sources would only be ones that support your worldview. honestly, i could dig up a thousand sources that disagree with you. i have no desire to play the competing links game.

i have asked myself those questions. let me tell you the answer…BECAUSE WE ARE NOT ISLAMIC STATES RULED BY SHARIA. that is it. ask yourself this; if the west is so horrible, why do so many people from all over the world try to get into the us, australia and europe every year?

finally, let me respond to this:

Additionally, of the list of al Queda leaders that you have listed, how many came into power after 9/11? How many of them were inserted into Iraq after our presence became a threat? How many of them are in response to our military presence in the Middle East? My point, is that our actions are making things worse, because we are creating new enemies; rather than focusing on the initial ones we seemed so concerned with.

duane, please check your facts before you makes these statements. let us go through my list -

mohammed atef - al qaeda operations chief. killed in afghanistan in 2001. was indicted by a us grand jury for the african embassy bombings that took place in 1998. he’s been around for awhile. wikipedia here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Atef

khalid sheik mohammed - according to the 9/11 commission reports he was the principal architect of the 9/11 attacks. planned them, recruited the hijackers, secured the money. yup, he’s been around for a long time too. wikipedia here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khalid_Sheikh_Mohammed

ramzi binalshibh - long time al qaeda member. suspected of being the ‘20th hijacker.’ key to assisting ksm in planning the attacks. nope, he didn’t come out of the woodworks in iraq either. wikipedia here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramzi_Binalshibh

abu zubaydah - among other things is suspected of playing a key role in planning the thwarted ‘millennium attacks’ in the late 90’s. many claim he is the highest ranking al qaeda member alive and in custody. most likely took over as operations chief for al qaeda after the previously mentioned mohammed atef was killed by us bombs. wikipedia here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Zubaydah

and finally, mustafa al-hawsawi - he was the money man and financier behind 9/11. he didn’t really have anything to do with the war in iraq either. wikipedia here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustafa_al-Hawsawi

so yes, duane. when you make the statement that we have done nothing to target the ‘real’ perpetrators of 9/11. i believe that that is an disrespectful to the dedication of those that have put their lives on the line to bring these and other al qaeda operatives to justice for their role in the attacks.

Freedom has nothing to do with the issue - all mankind wants to be “free”. It’s in our nature.

Brainwashed fox news sheep. That’s what these dumbasses are.

Please point out contradictions.

As far as the surge jab, it was just that, a jab. But since you went there, it isn’t about “being right” and republicans “being wrong”; it is about doing what’s right, and stopping what is wrong. That has been the point all along. The man that is sitting there telling us that the troop surge is working is the SAME MAN that developed the strategy for overthrowing an insurgency; and strangely enough, he has consistently (since his appointment) gone completely against his own recommendations for the minimum requirements to overthrow an insurgency. Maybe he was wrong initially? Maybe, but is more likely that there isn’t as much “success” as he is reporting, and he is saying what he is so that we can “wait it out” a little longer.

Lack of real evidence makes that questionable to me, why not to you?

I don’t know so much about that surge, though…

Forgive my French, but I so not fucking surprised to see you say this. I was actually waiting for it. You’ve said on multiple times that we should listen to our Generals. Well, the General both parties put in charge of operations in Iraq has come back and said things are working. He’s made a request to send troops home… some now, a fuckton more later. Yet, because this doesn’t fit into your plan to make Bush or Republicans looks like they were right all along, you “question” it. You are so completely one sided and ignorant.

I don’t know so much about that surge, though…

Anyway, it looks like the ***SUCCESS OF THE SURGE*** will allow a draw down of troops next year.

If I wanted to hear your constant whining, I would go to your blog.