A SOLDIER'S PERSPECTIVE
THE WEB'S LEADING MILITARY BLOG SINCE 2004
Thanks to Tom Folan for sending this great OpEd to me:
‘War is just like boxing,” said Gen. George Patton. “When you get your opponent on the ropes, you must keep punching the hell out of him and not let him recover.”
Today in Iraq, the enemy is on the ropes. Our Air Force has pummeled Al Qaeda with 40,000 pounds of bombs. Soldiers and Marines have reduced northern Al Qaeda safe havens to rubble. Contractors are delivering tons of supplies and securing our diplomats. One-time insurgent strongholds are returning to peace.
One would expect aspiring political leaders not only to laud our troops for their great work – which all of them go through the motions of doing – but also to admit that a total pullout on a predetermined schedule might be just a tad premature.
Instead, the 2008 candidates for President on the Democratic side stubbornly deny the possible troop victory that’s finally in our sights in a grotesque swap for political victory.They’re basically rooting for our defeat over there – which has me rooting, harder than ever, for their defeat here.
Consider Sen. Hillary Clinton. At the most recent debate, she was asked if she’d reassessed her position that the next President will “have a war to end in Iraq,” in light of recent progress. Her robotic response: “I’m committed to withdraw our troops and to put the Iraqi government on notice that their time is running out.” She added, “There is no military solution.”But it’s precisely the declines in violence across Iraq that are finally allowing political gains to begin to kick in.
Sen. Clinton does not let the facts get in the way of a political argument. “I’m looking to bring our troops home, starting within 60 days of my becoming President,” she promises. This from the candidate whom many Democrats consider the “conservative” choice on Iraq.
For his part, Sen. Barack Obama always tells voters he wants to be as careful getting out as we were careless getting in. But he also promises speedy withdrawal, regardless of the dynamics on the ground.
Rather than cling to their pessimism with every fiber of their being, a clear-eyed potential commander in chief would admit that conditions have never looked so promising in Iraq.
Yes, there are the big official benchmarks, like abating violence and the Iraqi parliament’s passage of a bill easing restrictions on former members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party. While not perfect, it’s an undeniable step in the right direction.
There are the heartening facts that, last month, Iraq paid off its $467 million loan from the International Monetary Fund ahead of schedule – and that oil production has exceeded targets the last three months, with revenues now being shared by sectarian cooperation absent a national law requiring it.
Then there are these other vivid benchmarks that few Americans ever hear about: the Baghdad zoo recently opened new horse stables; the Mosul airport opened for commercial air service; the Baghdad Police Academy recently graduated 95 women; mixed marriage “reconciliation” couples are being paid a $1,500 cash incentive.
The good news we hear today was a long time coming, to be sure. But it’s especially galling that Democrats – who spent years demanding precisely these kinds of signs – are nonplussed now that they are emerging.
As a former soldier – one who, I’m proud to say, played a part in the capture of Saddam Hussein more than four years ago – I am sickened by the stubborn unwillingness to see good news from Iraq when it is beginning to stare all of us in the face.
This war will only conclude in victory if our leaders have the same fortitude our troops and contractors have had to see it through.
Next January, someone else will be responsible for the war effort. My vote this year will be for the one punching the enemy in the corner, not the one throwing in the towel.
Russell, U.S. Army (Ret.), is the founder and chairman of Vets for Victory. He is a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan.
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Tom Folan
Thank you C.J. for posting this from the N.Y. Daily News.
Senator Obama said recently that the U.S. can’t prevent a genocide in Iraq. My response to him is … “yes we can ! YES WE CAN.”
Respectfully,
Thomas Folan, Former Seaman, U.S.N.R.
Bessboro, Blackrock, County Cork, Ireland
CJ
So, Ken, if the war is lost, please tell me who won. As a Soldier, I’d really like to know who beat me…
It’s not easy being a loser.
ZSU
Ken Hoop’s ‘relatives’ are the the DC elected creeps who cut funding for Viet Nam after we won the Tet Offensive. Is Ken a member of Code Pink?
US Army Ret. Russel’s article, ‘Landing Punches’ needs to be read by every voting-age person.
thom folan
Ken Hoop – Thanks for your intelligent comments.
I am all for the draft. Bring it on.
SSgtJ
Well said, ZSU. Ken Hoops is starting to sound like our old friend “Critical NON Facts”.
Thom Folan, you may be right on that ‘draft’ thing. I think a little military service would be a good thing for ALL Americans. Might teach some of them a little thing about right and wrong, honor and respect, duty and responsibilty …
Thanks CJ, we really appreciate everything you do, not the least of which are these wonderful postings. OohRah
Ken Hoop
I was a Vietnam hawk too,when I was too young to know better.
If the criteria for “winning” in Vietnam was staying there until a successfully stable pro-American government was stood up, we wouldn’t be in Iraq. We’d still be in Vietnam.
SSgtJ
Ken, I don’t understand what you are trying to say. First of all, everyone on here knows that I am not a HAWK. I HATE WAR. I HATE ALL WAR. But I also know that sometimes, sometimes we have no choice.
Iraq is not Vietnam no matter how much the hard left wants to pretend it is. Are you saying that Iran and Iraq are just one big country that we are trying to divide? Are you saying that all they want in Iraq is to be left alone to govern themselves? The Sunni … the Shites … the Kurds … the Christians … the Iranians … the Turks … and yes Al Qaeda (unless you are claiming that there are NO Al Qaeda’s forces in Iraq)
Exactly what do YOU see happening if we pull out now?
sealpatriot
Everybody hates war. That’s exactly why it’s hypocritical to give the title “Anti-War” solely to the crowd who supports abandoning Iraq and relieving the U.S. Armed Forces of all duties that involve the objective of supporting Iraq during their time of difficulty. It is just one of those classic cases of “Close your eyes, and just swallow what you’re being fed”!
sue
Great Article!! Thanks Tom for sending it to CJ and thank you CJ for posting it. Important stuff!! I find Mr. Hoop’s comments most amusing though. I think if he read more than the type of link that he posted he would know that it is a fallacy of epic proportions. His first clue should be the line “regardless of a relentless US corporate media propaganda drive, fed by the Pentagon, to proclaim it a success”. This is ignorance and nothing more and Mr. Hoops endorsement of it says a lot for him. The “US corporate media” is hardly a friend of the Pentagon or the White House. Positive news is spread by the few papers and media outlets not controlled by the far left and milblogs not by the MSM.
The war is NOT lost, there HAS been tremendous progress and any Soldier or Marine who doesn’t have an ax to grind will tell you that. And I’m sure that if Mr. Hoops did a little research into conditions in Fallujah or Ar Ramadi, the two worst places in Iraq at one time, he might be quite surprised as to what he would find there now.
Is Iraq 100%?? NO. Is the United States 100%, NO. What people seem to forget in this “microwave society” of ours, is that a Constitution doesn’t just work overnight. A country isn’t just a working government overnight. It takes time, it takes effort, it takes a lot of hard work, sacrifices by its people, and tweaking in the process of making a Democracy work. Our own country was not perfect at the beginning. We are not perfect now. And the original Constitution that was written for OUR country, which every one points to as the pillar of how it should be, has been amended 27 times, and there are still more in the works. My point is that for Mr. Hoops and others like him to expect, or demand perfection from a fledgling Iraqi government instantaneously is a bit hypocritical at best.
Pulling out the troops now would be an incredible disaster for the people of Iraq. It would also be a slap in the face to every man and woman in the United States Military who have sacrificed to fight for and some given their lives to make Iraq a free nation, as well as every free Iraqi Citizen who made the effort under threat of death by Al Quaeda, to vote for what THEY wanted. Our Servicemen and women believe in the job they are doing. THEY know the progress being made. And they are trying to tell you. But you and those like you are way too busy sticking your fingers in your ears and saying La La La La La La so you don’t have to see how wrong you are to be bothered to listen to the truth.
Thomas Folan
Ken Hoop, Did you consider that the Iraqi people love the U.S. Armed Forces ?
The U.S. can’t possibly just pull out and betray these poor people. 45% of our enemies in Iraq are from our ally Saudi-Arabia. This is a global war. Let’s face it , we’re fighting Saudis , but few Iraqis. This is not a civil war as CNN, BBC, the N.Y. Times, N.Y. Post, N.Y. Daily News and London Times try to portray.
Please let me leave you with this from Robert Spencer at Human Events. I know it’s a very right wing magazine, but it sounds logical.
With another Republican presidential slugfest scheduled for Wednesday and the Democrats swinging away again on Thursday, I thought it might be a useful public service to provide some questions for the debate — after all, the folks at CNN and the Los Angeles Times have many important things to do, and there are some issues I think it’s very likely they’ll overlook. So here is a cribsheet they are welcome to use, free of charge, with a few questions I, for one, would like to see the candidates of both parties answer:
1. What would you do to deal with the national security aspect of immigration? With plans afoot to bring large groups of Iraqis, including Iraqi Muslims, into the United States, what kind of screening will you implement to ensure that we are not importing jihad terrorists into the country? Will you reevaluate immigration levels from Muslim countries based on recognition of the fact that there is no reliable way to distinguish a peaceful Muslim from a jihadist sympathizer or potential jihadist?
2. Forty percent of the foreign jihadists fighting against American troops in Iraq come from a putative ally of the United States, Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom is also one of the world’s leading bankrollers of terror. A Treasury Department official who tracks terror financing, Stuart Levey, recently remarked: “If I could somehow snap my fingers and cut off the funding from one country, it would be Saudi Arabia.†What will you do as President to work toward ending the absurd situation we find ourselves in today, of financing by means of oil revenue our own destruction by means of jihad terrorism? What steps would you take to put our relationship with Saudi Arabia on a more realistic footing than it is on today?
3. Some members of Congress are now considering opening hearings on the firing of the Pentagon’s sole expert on Islamic law, Major Stephen Coughlin. Apparently, a top aide to Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England, Hesham Islam, took exception to what Coughlin was telling Pentagon brass about the elements of Islam that jihadists use to recruit terrorists and justify acts of violence, and got Coughlin canned.
Continued
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Of course, we cannot defeat an enemy we do not understand, and haven’t studied. Moreover, there are also serious questions about England’s aide: terrorism expert Stephen Emerson has called Hesham Islam “an Islamist with a pro-Muslim Brotherhood bent who has brought in groups to the Pentagon who have been unindicted co-conspirators.â€
If that is true, it raises serious questions about the extent of jihadist infiltration within the highest levels of our defense apparatus.
If you are elected President, what will you do to root out possible Muslim Brotherhood operatives and other jihadist sympathizers from sensitive government positions? What kind of screening will you institute for Muslim military and intelligence officials in order to try to ensure their loyalty to the United States and their rejection of the jihad ideology and Islamic supremacism? And specifically, what will you do about Hesham Islam and Stephen Coughlin?
4. In the last week, Spanish officials thwarted a jihad attack on the transit system in Barcelona, arresting ten suspects. It has come to light that these terrorists planned their attacks at meetings inside a Barcelona mosque, where bombmaking materials were discovered. It also came to light last week that jihadists were recruiting for terrorist attacks in mosques in Montreal before 9/11.
These revelations follow a large number of other incidents in which jihadists used mosques to plot terrorist attacks and to recruit. As President, would you favor the monitoring of mosques in the United States in order to ensure that that kind of thing is not happening here? What other steps would you take? Would you call upon the Muslim community in America to institute comprehensive and transparent programs in mosques and Islamic schools, teaching against the jihad ideology and Islamic supremacism, and extolling the virtues of American pluralism, democracy, and the non-establishment of a state religion?
If we saw questions like those asked — and answered, fully and honestly — we might be on the way toward a comprehensive and sensible response to the jihad challenge both abroad and right here at home. But we aren’t even close to there yet, and one thing is certain: nothing like these questions will be asked of any of the candidates this week.
——————————————————————————–
Mr. Spencer is director of Jihad Watch and author of “The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades)” , “The Truth About Muhammad” and “Religion of Peace?” (all from Regnery — a HUMAN EVENTS sister company).
Ken Hoop
“”US corporate media” is hardly a friend of the Pentagon or the White House. Positive news is spread by the few papers and media outlets not controlled by the far left and milblogs not by the MSM.”
The Hell it isn’t, which is why it allowed Bush to lie us into the war in the first place. Sure,some of the fellow travelers like the NYT apologized after the fact while hiring dual loyalists like Kristol to continue the charade.
Ken Hoop
“Iraq is not Vietnam no matter how much the hard left wants to pretend it is. “
Could be worse when all is said and done. Buchanan, Paul Craig Roberts, Andrew Bacevich, by the way, are not “hard left”, merely conservatives
not owned by “the Lobby.”
Ken Hoop
sue
According to a Business Week/ LA Times Dec. 2007 poll, even the majority of military families do not support the war any longer. Pepe Ascobar in Asia Times outlines a planned 12-pronged insurgency and an al Sadr
militia contribution to anti-occupation. Members of the Sunni Awakening itself make clear they oppose America’s continuing occupation and the Shia government as composed and are only in a temporary alliance of convenience.Most Iraqis still approve of insurgent attacks on the occupier, as long as they do not endanger civilians.
Michael Scheuer, among a multitude of experts on jihad, say our continued presence in Iraq helps the jihad recruit and thus increases our danger at home. But you’re just the type of person who believed LBJ’s
fearmongering “if we don’t fight ‘em in Vietnam, we’ll be fighting them in Los Angleles.” News flash: as long as we give Israel carte blanche to oppress Palestinians we’ll always be hated and in retreat in the Mideast, a retreat which Richard Haas conceded recently.
Ken Hoop
Thoman Folan
I suggest AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE as an antidote to Human Events.
Comments on your list:
1. As Buchanan asserted McCain presidency means the jobs will never come home, the illegals will never leave, and the wars will never end.
I say “invade the world and invite the world” is a deservedly suicidal strategy–then again, I love the Nation not the Empire.
2.Tell “Levey” we should cut off aid to Saudi, Israel, Egypt et al
come home and develop our own energy self-sufficiency. Will “Levey”
and the other Islamophobes you mention deal?
CJ
“Michael Scheuer, among a multitude of experts on jihad, say our continued presence in Iraq helps the jihad recruit and thus increases our danger at home.”
So what was the jihadi excuse BEFORE we were in Iraq?! You people make me sick with your liberal blinders! Jihadis don’t need us in Iraq to recruit. It doesn’t help and it doesn’t hurt. Jihadis have waged war on us long before we were even thinking about Iraq.
sealpatriot
Ken Hoop, Halliburton and it’s counterparts Blackwater and KBR have lost money because of their involvement in Iraq. Which explains why so many of their stock holders are anti-Bush and anti-Military. Get your facts straight.
sue
You’re absolutely correct Mr Hoop or who ever you are, that there are people who believe America has the right to overthrow Democratically elected governments. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid et al made those intentions very clear about the Democratically elected Government of Iraq, not too long ago. And your assumption that Bush, or any one else knew about 911 and did nothing but allow it to happen is just the sickest most twisted piece of thinking I believe I have heard in a long time. I know that it is a popular theme with your type of people but you really should seek help for your delusions.
If you want to blame someone for being able to prevent 911 and didn’t, you should be pointing a finger at Bill Clinton. No one has more missed opportunities on his hands than Pinocchio.
sealpatriot
Also, U.S. agents stopped another Jet from being hijacked and used to conduct an attack on Los Angeles. So, I doubt that there was nothing done in response to the 9-11-01 attacks. Obviously, there was a lot done to respond to the attacks (other than fire fighters running into collapsing sky scrapers to save lives).
You know, it’s really funny how you make Mossadegh 1953 parallel to Iraq’s electoral history. May I remind you that Saddam’s Regime wasn’t elected! The last election in Iraq only had one name on the ballot so nobody had a choice and everyone had to vote.
Ken Hoop
So I take it you vociferously objected to the American tacit alliance with Iraq until he invaded Kuwait? The aid he was given in his war with Iran,which had a freer voting system than Iraq at the time?
Saddam’s crimes were ignored until Kuwait.
No you just approve of America throwing its weight around in the Mideast
in a bipartisan manner but always to protect the interests of
oiligarchs and Israelis.
I’ve advocated for non-intervention in the Mideast since 1970. No blood on my hands by any of the parties. And I also opposed Clinton’s interventions in the Mideast and Africa and his barbaric attack on Serbia.
CJ
Iraq was a “lesser of two evils” during that time. Of course, I was 10 years old when all that ended, so I don’t have firsthand knowledge the mess Jimmy Carter left Ronald Reagan with.
sealpatriot
No, I approve of the United States intervening in favor of it’s national security. At the same time, I find it pretty entertaining how you bring up oil and Israel. First off, the United States Military isn’t in Iraq for it’s crude oil. For a fact, the holders of Iraq’s oil field contracts are the Chinese, Russians, Viets, and the India. They are the one’s recieving revenue whenever Iraq pumps oil and exports it.
As far as Israel is concerned, why shouldn’t we help them? What ever happened to the “Take care of your friends” logic? Face it, the facts mount up, and what many Muslim terror organizations do to the Israelis is wrong. As are their claims to justify their actions. They state that the Jews invaded them and stole their land, but Jews in Israel have just as much of a right to exist there as the Muslims do.
Also, having looked at your most recent posts here, you obviously think that the reason why terrorists act the way they do is because we have intervened in the affairs of their homelands through foreign policy. Sure, I respect that response, and the logic behind it.
However, I must ask. What about the Algerians who were recently attacked in a market place in Algiers? How about the people in Timor, Indonesia? What foreign policy could have made them so deserving of such a horrible fate? The answer is nothing, the very concepts that are taught in Madrassas that breed new terrorists were developed in the Seventh Century, long before any Western Involvement in the Middle East, and long before the birth of the state of Israel.
CJ
Oooh, SealPat. I’m waiting with baited breath for the answer to that one!!
Ken Hoop
CJ
To an American imperialist, of course all Saddam’s atrocities committed when your ruling elite decided (correctly or not, from a strategic position-
but passive approvers of imperialism always put themselves in the
position of treating choices in this respect as the right ones, having ceded the elite the moral right to exercise such, in a pagan-worship kind of mode)
he was the “lesser of two evils” become moral write-offs.
Ken Hoop
Sealpatriot
” First off, the United States Military isn’t in Iraq for it’s crude oil. For a fact, the holders of Iraq’s oil field contracts are the Chinese, Russians, Viets, and the India”
Here’s another tacit example of pagan-empire worship…if the elite in
Washington (and New York and Tel Aviv) had planned it, it would have turned out “our way.” (Thanks to the unanticipated Iraqi resistance
and the compromises which have had to be made, it didn’t.)
” but Jews in Israel have just as much of a right to exist there as the Muslims do.
What this means for the past fifty years, is that a Brooklyn merchant
with absolutely no genetic ties to the land, who could not trace any family
to the Mideast for two centuries, has had the right to “return” and
force those have deeds to the land and can establish familiar ownership for the past several hundred years, off of it. Multitudes have, and no wonder the entire Moslem world despises American foreign policy. By the way, the Iraqi resistance in all its forms–the resistance which numbers about as well now as in 2003, also uses the Palestinian issue to motivate and recruit. Enjoy the fruits of creating national security issues when by staying out, cutting off aid to Israel and Egypt, and remaining on good terms with all parties America the nation, not the Empire,would have strengthened our national security.
sue
Wow, you really are a hate filled little bugger aren’t you!!
sealpatriot
Actually Ken, for more than 3 thousand and 5 hundred years before the 19th century there were far more Jews in the part of the Middle East that was once the Palestinian Mandate than any other type of people living there. Thus, that land belongs to Jews every bit as much as it does to Muslims and Christians who have had ancestors living there before the state of Israel was formed.
Also, the national security of this country hasn’t been compromised from intervening, nor has it increased the number of terrorists in the world, which is what many anti-military Americans want us to believe. For a fact, according to the United Nations Human Security Report part three; titled “Changing Face of War”, far less people from the Arabian Peninsula and the Persian Gulf are willing to participate in terror organizations.
Thus, the report draws the conclusion that there is 65 percent less warfare and violence in the world during the present decade when compared to the previous decade, and a sharp decline in terror recruiting goals being met is partly the cause of that result.
Also, the United States has been capturing and cracking down more terror cells than ever since the GWOT started. Do not get me wrong, as great as that is, there is still the issue of new terrorists forming. However, most people in the Middle East and the Horn of Africa believe that the terrorists are criminals and they want to fight them back. So that way they can get more power and control over their homelands rather than surrender it to the terrorists.
One of the reasons why the United States has captured and dismantled so many terror cells and operatives was because of the willingness to cooperate from the people of the countries the United States operates in. For the most part, there is a much larger group of people who have helped us fight the terrorists as opposed to joining them against us. One of the causes is the fact that the very teachings and activities that terrorists take part in go against the teachings of their religion (the teachings in their holy book that is).
Then there is the fact that terror activity is the cause as to why humanitarian aid can’t make it through to the people who really need it in those countries. Of course, one of the most important ones is the fact that the terror organizations are part of the reasons why the youth of those countries can’t get and education or be active in their country’s political issues. By all means, these are the reasons why many people in the Muslim community breath a sigh of relief when our troops come in with humanitarian aid along with combat support to help the people secure their neighborhoods when plagued by terror, insurgents, or any other cause of violent blood letting.
Overall, if you want to learn how Muslims help us and are trying to build a bridge between them and us over a wide chasm that has broadened over time and misunderstandings. Then go to the MNF-Iraq website along with CentCom’s official news site. They are a teasure trove of information that would educate people with a balanced and fair mind.
As for your comment on people who don’t have rights to live somewhere just because they lack genetic ties to the land is concerned. You could go on trying to get me angry all you want, but you’ll never be wise enough to get the very best of me. Your most recent statement is both the most offensive and the most ignorant one I have heard ever. I for one am an immigrant and have no genetic ties to this country, yet I am every bit as American as you are, this country is my home and the only land I really know and love.
Also, if it isn’t a person’s right to live somewhere for not having any genetic ties to the motherland, then what gives the Muslims the right to live there? What about the people they evicted, who inhabited that land long before they did?
What about the people of Constantinople? There weren’t any Muslims in the Middle East before the Ottoman Turks invaded them and turned it into Istanbul. What about the Jews from Jordan, Gaza, Israel, Southern Lebanon, and West Bank who were thrown out of their homes by the Muslims? Of who were eventually enslaved and forced to build the Zigaurat Towers and Hanging Gardens near the present Euphrates river and Shat Al Arab waterways. Then driven up North where they eventually ended up in Russia, and Poland, after being persecuted and committed democide against in what is modern day Kazhakstan and Turkmenistan.
Honestly, you could’ve pulled the last straw and got me aggravated with your statement, but you weren’t able to succeed in that. However, you could have done so with many other viewers and posters on this thread. I can’t force you to be more well behaved, I wouldn’t even if I could. Still if I can make one suggestion, try being more intelligent and polite in your posts. You know, so that way you don’t completely roughshod your integrity with your vitriolic and vociferous rants.
sealpatriot
” Here’s another tacit example of pagan-empire worship…if the elite in
Washington (and New York and Tel Aviv) had planned it, it would have turned out “our way.” (Thanks to the unanticipated Iraqi resistance
and the compromises which have had to be made, it didn’t.) ”
Actually, those were the countries who held Iraq’s oil contracts before Saddam was removed. We promised those countries that we’d let them keep those contracts and that our aid in Iraq overthrowing Saddam wouldn’t affect their business ties to the country.
Ken Hoop
Polls throughout the Islamic world ranging far afield from Palestine indicate the most objectionable thing about America to the marked majority of
Moslems is US support for Israeli oppression of Palestinians,and support of Israel even when it cluster bombs Lebanon. I suspect if you wish to improve relations , you should ameliorate that policy,which is regarded as hateful in the extreme.
Arabs far outnumbered Jews, by an average ration of at least three to one
in the Diaspora era, in the region about Joan Peters told purposeful lies
of the type you echo here-until the flood of 20th century European Jews occured.
Your status as an immigrant did not displace any American already here, not even by a square mile, when you became a citizen, so your “insult”
taken here is anomalous.
We promised the countries oil proceeds as bribery or as result of failed plans, which is it? Haliburton et al have reeked windfall profits while
corruption abounds not net losses.
Ken Hoop
I also note that the Zionist movement, needing manpower, purposely fostered anti-semitism in many lands where Jews were expelled ultimately to Palestine.
Finally, the concern about historical events which transpired long before
America was a power which acted in the regions discussed are superfluous,
and unwise particularly if utilized in conjunction with defending Empire-maintenence, i.e.continued intervention.
Some of the reasons are hinted at in the Johnson essay below,which
all should peruse.
http://mondediplo.com/2008/02/05military
SSgtJ
Here we go, Haliburton again! I thought Haliburton had already severed all of it’s operations in Iraq.
sealpatriot
No, my response is superfluous only because they prove that the reasons you had used to justify why Israel is hated are hypocritical. At the same time, the fact that Muslims outnumbered Jews in what was the Palestinian Mandate doesn’t change the fact that Jews have been living there for 3 thousand 7 hundred years. Obviously, the land that they were living in isn’t the cause for the irrational vitriol that Muslims have against Jews. Since the attacks on Jews didn’t start until Israel was recognized as it’s own state. Thus, if the Muslims had been doing this for land, then they were 3,640 years late.
So tell me, how’s it that for the 3 thousand 7 hundred years that Jews had been living in the land that is now known as Israel, that they had been pushing the Muslims around for so long before their nation was recognized as a state or even before they had a military? Also, when the terror organizations operating in Gaza and West Bank conduct attacks on civilians in Israel, how’s it illegal for the Israeli military to respond in defense? More over, is doing so in anyway related to Empire maintenance?
Also, in regards to Halliburton, when your net income as a company goes down almost 4 billion dollars then your profit is negative 4 billion dollars, which means they are in debt. Also, the alleged corruption that they are accused of in Iraq, which is the disappeared 5 billion dollars for Iraqi construction has been disproven. For a fact, even though that money had disappeared, it didn’t fall into the hands of contractors working with the coalition forces. It fell into the hands of former Iraqi government officials who tried to run off with it to Syria. Iraq is currently holding trials for the 3 thousand former officials who all tried to escape Iraq with nearly 20 billion dollars that was given to the government for reconstruction.
In addition to your claim that Israel evicted Muslims from their homes. Actually, as the borders were being drawn and Israel was about to be born, less than 1/6th of the Palestinian Mandate was given to the Jews (modern Israel). For the Jews living in Gaza, West Bank, and Southern Lebanon, they were evicted from their homes and that land was given to the Muslims. What was given to the Jews had no cities, buildings, or vegetation. Nobody lived there, and it was nothing but arid desert in all directions. So to say that the Israeli presence caused people to abandon their homes is absurd. As for IDF operating in Gaza and West Bank, the cause for their presence isn’t Jewish Empire maintenance, it is the violence of anti-semitism in those regions.
Plus, your exploitation in crass tactics to stifle debate is deplorable. The Muslims don’t fight the Jews because they want to. They get brainwashed into it. The kids are taught in the Madrassas to equate Jews to the devil. When they eventually grow up, they become the people we hear about in the news wo detonate themselves in open markets. Anti-semitism in your so called “Palestine” is the most obvious example of modern day empire maintenance at work.
sealpatriot
“We promised the countries oil proceeds as bribery or as result of failed plans, which is it?”
Neither.
CJ
You tell ‘em, Sealpatriot!! Truth overcomes ideology always.