Well General Sanchez the commander of the USA forces in Iraq can tell you what is wrong.

These segways are from a speech he made now he is retired... See for yourself...

http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=118622&title=now-you-tell-us

and read the Washington Post coverage

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/13/AR2007101300426.html

and the Australian

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22585048-15084,00.html

Guess what? Our troups are in harms way due to the all the way with the USA policy of Howard, Downer and Co. Well General Sanchez paints a very bleak picture.. and so he should ... he has finally gotten around to telling the truth.

I wonder when Little Johnnie Howard our Commander in Chief will tell us the truth? Hmmm It could take forever! Come on Johnnie please tell the truth just once before we lose any other soldiers to this huge mistake... Our serviceman deserve to hear the truth!

Foxy~

You're doing the right thing by educating yourself via opinions from the people directly involved. They are the ones in the know. You, me, EasyTimes and everyone else are a product of our enviornment, beliefs (religious or not), upbringing, personal agenda and what they get their info from.

Read stuff from everyone. Find books on what happened before the war...just before, to way before. There's doco's around. Read about the people on the street to the ones in office.

In forums like this you'll get opinion. And mostly passionate opinion based on personal agenda.

My opinion (for what it's worth) is that Iraq was an illegal invasion. The yanks bypassed global law to invade for reasons only known to them. They blackmailed 'allies' into the war through trade 'negotiations'. It seems that the invasion is for resource security (oil). Saddam was never a threat to the West. He wasn't a good man either, but neither are the leaders of many nations. If it's not about resource security then why not invade Zimbabwe, North Korea, most South American nations, Iran, Syria, Lebabnon?....they apparently are in desparate need of help. Iraq is positioned perfectly for muscling other ME countries.

Basic summary. All the best in your learning.

EasyTimes had the best explanation.
I think the US is doing the best it can against many evil odds. Saddam was bad for the world and for his people. I dont think it was much about oil. The USA will have huge "hidden" technological stores.
Its about doing what is right against dictorships and evil governments.
The good guys are the US, England and Australia...any of the Bible based nations.
The baddies are Russia (still) and China and North Korea and anywhere the demon powers have established evil governments that persecute others. LIGHT and darkness is what the war on earth's about. God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit and the Christ-believers...and the other side including all of the eastern religions who, if you look closely, do an ongoing dance with evil spirits in their worhip of false gods..e.g. the fat Buddha. Its not complex whats happening.
Steel...you ought to take that hate to Jesus, man...its bad.

Easytimes, I can't let that go without comment either.

I find it rather hilarious that you make the comment "people don't like the Iraq war because they have no grasp on international politics"
Then you go and make a horrendous number of glaringly stupid errors - and the fact that Gibo's quick to line up to support you with lines like 'the bible based nations are the good guys' doesn't do you any favours for intelligent discussion.

Steel uses some colourful language to point out that it's a lie, but perhaps I should make things a little clearer for you:

Hussein ran a fairly secular regime - yes, he was a Sunni dictator, however Sharia law was not in place, plus he didn't allow Muslim groups much influence.
Essentially, he controlled the country through a secular regime.

If you had the slightest understanding of international politics (this is why I find your 'ignorance' accusations so funny) you'd be aware that Iraq is in the heart of the area that Al Qaeda would like as a muslim caliphate.

Hussein was an enemy of Al Qaeda. Yes, he was an enemy of the west, but because he refused to relinquish any control by instituting sharia, he was indeed an opponent.

What's more, Al Qaeda really had no presence in Iraq before the invasion. Saddam's iron fist kept them out, while Al Qaeda largely operated out of the northern regions of pakistan, with links to the Taliban and other militant groups throughout the mid-east and North Africa.

This invasion wasn't about terrorism. It wasn't entirely about oil as some on the far left indicate, though oil certainly played a large part.

Foxy, there's much more to this - don't fall for tripe from either those with a one-eyed hatred for America, or for US apologists or new-age christian fundamentalist missionaries.

"The USA will have huge "hidden" technological stores.
Its about doing what is right against dictorships and evil governments.
The good guys are the US, England and Australia...any of the Bible based nations. "

Ahahahahahahahahhahahhhahahahahahahahahaha

How do you breathe with your head up there?.

Hidden technologies eh?. Saving for a rainy day?. Arnie's gonna come through in the end? lol. Egypt was in the bible. Are they a goodie, or a baddie?. So was Persia...your thoughts on that?. Actually, don't bother.

Few, if any of us have moral vision that is 20-20. If we are sure we are right, we may be less likely to explore alternatives or to develop a plan B should plan A go astray. We may be so convinced of the merits of our cause that we neglect the effort to convince others. We may be so insistent about achieving the right goals that we fail to select the right means. History is filled with enterprises that have failed despite firm beliefs of those who launched them. From what I have read - President Bush's core convictions led America from 9/11 to the invasion of Iraq and prolonged the occupation of a country that had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks. This move seems to have widened the split between Muslims and the United States, given new life to Al Qaeda, and made far more difficult the challenge of defeating international terror.