Democratic Republic of the Congo

[sixdogsmom]

Thank you Diane; this came to mind after I watched just a snatch of The Killing Fields last night. I just couldn't stomach it. We were not defeated in Viet Nam; we left an unwinnable situation just like we now have in Iraq IMO.

Bingo Wilma, you get the stuffed chicken! I certainly do think the little man wanted to stride into Iraq and gather the flaming glory. He was convinced that it would be quick and easy, just like John McCain thought and is quoted as saying.

[Wilma]

I, too, feel that we were not defeated in Viet Nam.  Neither did we win.  We left them to their own devices and isn't the whole country now Communist?

[frawin]

I have been waiting on you girls to blame George W. for Vietnam also.
Frank

[Wilma]

So you got us, Frank.  But he hasn't succeeded in getting us more oil either, has he?  Maybe his real reason was that he thought he was protecting us from terrorism.

[frawin]

Wilma, the we don't need more oil we need more conservation.

[Catwoman]

From where I'm sitting, it appears that W sent us over there to keep the war there instead of here in our laps.  I also suspect that we went there not so much for the oil but more for the tacticle advantage that having a presence over there would give us...Iraq is a great place, centrally located, for a staging area for any events that would come up.  If we did indeed go over there for the oil, why is there no more oil flowing from that region than there is?  If we only went over there for the oil, shouldn't we be in much better shape as far as our ability to get at fossil fuels?  I agree, W has dropped the ball a number of times.  However, I still have respect for the office of the Presidency...no matter what kind of smear was brought onto it in the past by those who viewed it as their own personal play pit.

[frawin]

I agree with you and agree with you that George W. is the President and deserves the respect that goes with that office. I know President Bush is a very religious person and I am equally sure that he agonizes over the situation in Iraq as much as we do. 
I am equally sure that the oil had nothing to do with, what would we gain in regard to oil by going into Iraq.
Frank

[sixdogsmom]

Frank, I have given respect to the office all I am going to. The little man has dropped the ball over and over and it is time he sat on the bench. I personally do not think that he wanted to go in there for oil, but to gain the glory that his old man didn't collect during the Gulf war. Iraq is strategically located sure, and has some oil and it would be to the advantage of big oil for the US to have a strong foothold in the middle east. I do have to question the actual religious nature of a man who has been reported to say the things he has.

I voted for GW, and am deeply ashamed to say that I did. He has turned out to be the exact opposite of everything he seemed to be. I will give him one thing though; he is not a philanderer, I don't think his mama would let him.

[Teresa]

Speaking of oil.. wasn't Clinton the one who started all this oil problem?

[momof 2boys]

My question is why the Middle East? Why go in and rescue Kuwait from Iraq? Why go in and free the Iraqis from Hussein's tyrany?  I don't buy the whole it was because of Weapons of mass destruction excuse, because it was proven that there was truly not enough information about the matter to justify an invasion.  I feel that you are right SDM that maybe it was to finish the first President Bush's job. 

What I want to know is why do we go in and attempt to free some from oppression and ignore other areas.  The attrocities that are happening now and have been for a very long time in places like Sudan and the Congo seem to be far worse than those that the Iraqi people faced.  Yet we ignore them. 

Now, don't get me wrong.  I don't believe that it is our job to rescue the world.  I know we have our own problems and feel we must take care of our own first and foremost.  Don't even get me started on that.  I just am curious as to why and how we choose to help those that we do.