Rear axle tube bent in collision, how to bend back?

I've been saying for over a year we need to get out and just depose whatever tyrant takes over every 5-10 years.

When they no longer honor their commitment to supply unlimited cheap oil we just install a new despot.

Is this what we've come to as a country? Bury your head in the sand and hope it all goes away?

It doesn't strike people like you that it may be a bad idea to give terrorists a victory, thus proving to them that their tactics are good and that they should repeat them as much as possible?

Did shrinking and covering your face with your hands in submission when the bully came your way EVER WORK for you Earle? Of course not, Did you not learn anything from that?

And Pres Bush would have excercised his second veto if Congress had stopped it.

Wow Earle, almost a whole week has gone by, and we're still in Iraq? Damn Democrats. Whatever happened to cut and run?

And you wonder why much of the world hates us?

Of course the Republican leadership would never allow the Dem's plans to be brough forth on the floors of Congress. Murtha's service was the only reason why he was allowed to speak. And you are typically mischaracterizing what he said.

Many Republicans now agree that to restore Iraq into a single soveriegn nation is going to be militarily and politically impossible, unless we commit 4X as many troops as we have there now. and the best way to bring this matter to a close is to restore the region to pre-WWI conditions, with three soveriegn states made up of Kurds, Sunnis and Shiites, a plan most recently brought up by Joe Biden, IIRC. We can keep all the "finish the job" goals by encouraging this to happen, eliminate the inter-faith violence, and establish a military base in the Kurd region (which is still US-friendly) from which we can continue the real war on terror without continuing to paint target rings on our troops.

What everyone's waiting for is the conclusion of the Baker commission on Iraq which is supposed to be released tomorrow. I'd be surprised if this wasn't mentioned.

Before I decided to get a somewhat practical science education I was a history major and I cannot remember the policy of appeasement EVER working to establish a lasting peace anytime in human history. As I recall it only led to further aggression.

There is only one method that has ever worked to ensure lasting peace.

The Romans called it "Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum."

A slightly different way of saying it.

I would rather they would be our friends but in any case they should fear our wrath.

Payback's a bi%*# and drives a Jeep..

The problem with that plan is only two of the three regions have any natural resources and the group without any resources (besides sand) is where the terrorists are all located.

The Kurds, Sunni, and Shiites have hated one another for over a thousand years and nothing we could do will ever change that.

Worse thing is that there aren't all that many Jeeps there, the terrorists prefer Toyota mini pickups.

I like the trucks the contractors drive in Iraq:

Troy

billy ray wrote:

The problem with your way of thinking, is that we are not hurting the "terrorists" by what we are doing in Iraq. We are just helping them to inflame their thousand year old rivalries into civil war. You have to learn to cut your losses in life, or you're screwed. Maybe you don't remember Vietnam.

Earle

What exactly is the problem if the "terrorists" get stuck with a big chunk of sand, and the rest get all the natural resources? It sounds like a good idea to me. They can make tourist souvenirs out of it, and sell them to all the European tourists that are sure to come, once the hostilities die down. They can make housing out of it, and they can eat it for all I care. Maybe if we told our "friends" the Saudis to stop funding them, they might even calm down to the point, where all the other groups in the region could live in peace with them.

Now don't get me wrong. I had nothing against bombing the sh*t out of a few million Arabs and Muslims for what they did to New York, but the point where we got hung up, was trying to help them establish a "democratic" country afterwards. This of course refers to both Afghanistan and Iraq. Maybe these folks didn't want a democratic form of government, or to be our friends. Maybe all they wanted was to be left to kill each other in peace. People in Washington act like they never read the Tar Baby story.

Exactly, which is why our "war on terror" in Iraq had degraded into a civil war with US troops as collateral targets.

Which is why we want to get the **** out of there, right now, and why we elected a Democrat-controlled congress. I believe that voting Democrat, was perceived as the way to get out of Iraq. If the voters find out different, they will just vote Republican next time.

The people who voted Republic, just thought that the "terrorists" hadn't been punished enough. While this is a legitimate viewpoint, we were running out of ways to punish them, not being a nation willing to use nukes again.

Saludos,

Earle

That was our policy regarding Mexico at the turn of the 20th Century. As a result, Mexico never established good governance. We now pay the price for our actions then.

-- msosborn at msosborn dot com

You are correct, many Republicans do subscribe to this nonsense.

First off, the Sunni would be left with a rump state that has zero resources; no way to farm, industrialize, anything. Share the oil wealth? We're right back where we are today.

Second, Turkey would NEVER allow in independent Kurdish state. There is a large Kurdish population within Turkey that has agitated for separation since the end of the Ottoman Empire. An independent Kurdistan would end Turkey as it is currently configured.

Third, Iran would dominate and control any Shia state in Iraq; in effect, turning Shia Iraq into Lebanon Jr. Muqtada Sadr is the major force agitating in Baghdad (vs Sistani) and is supported entirely by Iran.

So there you have it; pie in the sky, as always, completely inedible.

There is but one solution to the middle-east; Muslims must stop Islamists. We have only one choice to make, kill them all or support those, such as Sistani, who would bring a degree of secularism to the middle-east.

I don't think we're ready to kill them all, so it's pretty much out of our hands. We can help, but we are dependent upon the Muslims.

-- msosborn at msosborn dot com

There are things in this world that one cannot fix. Sometimes you just have to accept that.

Earle

No way there can be pro-level cameras anywhere outside the US!!!

I even saw one with credits at the end for Anderson Cooper. Fox News has lots of knowledgeable TV people, too...