Oh, yes he did…

| June 17, 2014

Colin Kahl writes in Politico that “No, Obama Didn’t Lose Iraq“. Of course, Mr. Kahl tries to explain how much the Obama Administration tried to hammer out a status of forces agreement (SOFA) with the Maliki Administration. But all you need to know about Mr. Kahl’s explanation is this;

Here are the facts.

As the senior Pentagon official responsible for Iraq policy during the first three years of the Obama administration, I….

Obama “losing Iraq” happened this year, so Mr. Kahl is irrelevant. He wasn’t working at the White House in January when Fallujah fell to al Qaeda. I’m a little cautious about using the term “losing [anywhere]” when talking to Democrats because when the Republicans blamed Democrats for “losing China” in the 40s, we got the Vietnam War from them in the 60s to prove they are the “national security party”.

But back to Fallujah. What did the Obama Administration do when Fallujah fell? No, it’s not just you, I missed their reaction, too. They talked about giving the Iraqis weapons and some intelligence assistance, but it never really happened – in the six-freaking-months since Fallujah fell. It should have been a hint that bad times were ahead for the Iraqi government, and that they needed help now. But here we are six months later and Obama tells us how they’re going to work on the problem this past weekend…while he’s golfing in Palm Springs hoping the problem will go away.

Foreign policy is hard, national security is hard…it’s not like you can pay off the various sides with taxpayer money, like you can with domestic policy.

There should have been a plan waiting for this weekend, one where the president turns to his National Security Advisor and says “Activate Operation Unfuck”, you know like those presidents on “24” or in Tom Clancy novels do, not “Activate Palm Springs Resort Weekend While I Try To Forget About The Number of Lives That Are Lost While I Golf”.

This Administration had a plan for shoving Obamacare down our throats. They had a plan to screw vets out of our healthcare. They had a plan to destroy the Defense Department, but their only plan in Iraq, and now Afghanistan, was no plan at all – it was a rush for the exits while making empty promises.

So, yeah, Colin Kahl, explain that. If the Obama Administration had launched drones or cruise missiles or fighters at al Qaeda back in January, we wouldn’t be having this discussion today. No, I wouldn’t have liked it, mainly because the Obama Administration failed to adequately negotiate with the Maliki regime four years ago, but at least Mosul and Tikrit wouldn’t be in the “win” column for al Qaeda, which will only encourage them, regardless of how the next few weeks work out.

By the way, in case you missed it, yesterday, the Obama Administration said they’d send 100 Marines and soldiers to reinforce security at the Green Zone in Baghdad, but late last night, it grew to 275 pacs;

Statement by the Press Secretary on the War Powers Resolution Report for Iraq

Today, consistent with the War Powers Resolution, the President transmitted a report notifying the Congress that up to approximately 275 U.S. military personnel are deploying to Iraq to provide support and security for U.S. personnel and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. The personnel will provide assistance to the Department of State in connection with the temporary relocation of some staff from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad to the U.S. Consulates General in Basra and Erbil and to the Iraq Support Unit in Amman. These U.S. military personnel are entering Iraq with the consent of the Government of Iraq. The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad remains open, and a substantial majority of the U.S. Embassy presence in Iraq will remain in place and the embassy will be fully equipped to carry out its national security mission.

Category: Terror War

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Ex-344MP

F**king great. All that work winning hearts and minds…for nothing. All those troops we lost……for nothing.

I’ll say it again f**king great.

P.s. Good morning TaH.

Airman596

Why not just leave our embassy rather than put Americans at risk for an Iraqi government that will inevitably fail? Obama’s speeches aren’t going to stop an army. 275 men is too small a force. Either deploy a significant number of troops with a clear mission and achievable goals or get out of Iraq.

Ex-344MP

Why would we leave a compound we just spent millions on to “refurbish”.

Stupid current goverment.

And on another note, people wonder why there is an under current of revolution fermenting in this country.

Sparks

Ex=344MP…While I understand your point, no facility is worth the loss of one American life if it can be avoided. Right now, it can be avoided by evacuating the Embassy and then do whatever talking or fighting or lending aid to Maliki we choose to do. Don’t wait until it is overrun and we have Tehran 1979 all over again.

Ex-344MP

Thank you for reading between the lines Sparks and understanding where I was going.

TBH, I’m emotionally drained over this. I have friends who are contractors there and also some of my former terps, who I am friends with and are here in the states, have family in Baghdad.

Not to mention the relationship I had with the some of the IP’S we were training. Not all people there are evil. Some actually worked to change the country.

Sparks

Ex-344MP…I hope I read you correctly. I know what you say is true. I know there are Iraqis who liked us and our freedoms and wanted a nation like ours. I do feel for them. There is a lot of things going around in my mind too. I wish I could tell the loyal in Iraq to all move to the other side of the country while we take care of the evil ones once and for all. But that is not possible. I do believe we have to defend American lives first there. Who knows, maybe if Obama does the best thing and evacuates our Embassy it could be like Saigon in my day. Thousands of refuges seeking safety and asylum wanting to come with us. I just don’t want another Tehran and seeing America held hostage under Obama. ISIS kills for fun as well as religion. They are like the VC in that respect. They “teach” hard and terrible lessons to the people to keep them in subjection. There is a sadness in me for many there. We have a lot of opportunities right now to do a lot of things right however that widow is closing as we type.

Ex-344MP

We be on the same page Sparks, just expressing it differently.

Ex-344MP

On another note. I think I may start a Sparks fan club. Your way more eloquent than I am. Lol.

Sparks

Ex-344MP…Sir I learned more about good writing by reading and following TAH than anything in years. There are people here like Jonn, Hondo, VOV, E4Y and so many others who’s eloquence and ability to write succinctly make me pale and want to not post after them sometimes. There are some VERY smart and well spoken, well educated and well thought out folks here. Far above me in abilities. I have learned a tremendous amount from reading them.

3/17 Air Cav

EX—–I feel your pain, I understand totally. The lasting memory I have of my war, is the huey leaving the top of the embassy, in Saigon.

I asked myself, just like your asking yourself now. For what?

You and your guys did your best, just like we did in SE Asia 40+ years ago.

Take Care and be proud of what you did!

Steve

Poetrooper

Sparks, as I said in a comment in another article, that embassy is the largest in the world occupying an area the size of the Vatican City, more than a hundred acres. Supposedly it is the largest and most advanced intelligence gathering center we have in the Mideast with every imaginable advanced technology that involves.

To abandon it to this rabble would signal a huge defeat for America, on the scale of the fall of Corregidor. Worse, it’s going to require more than just a Marine embassy detachment to defend such a huge facility but I don’t see any acceptable alternative to immediate reinforcement.

Unlike Corregidor, we do have the air assets to pound hell out of any ISIL assaulting force but we could still find ourselves in a siege situation.

This loser in chief has led us down a very dangerous path with his hope and change bullshit.

Airman596

If we should keep the embassy, the Obama administration should tell the American people what our mission is, why that mission is worth risking American lives, and deploy a significant number of troops to accomplish that mission. I am not necessarily against defending our embassy. However, I don’t want to see Americans killed and wounded in an vain effort to salvage Obama’s credibility. I would rather suffer a defeat and keep those Americans safe than risk the consequences of the President’s incompetence. Once Obama is gone, hopefully the American people will elect a competent President to pick up the pieces.

FatCircles0311

Thing cost over $1 billion to create. It’s not an embassy. it’s much more than that, and you simply don’t just leave it. They’ll have to blow it up if it might fall into the hands of the enemy.

It’s a national security outpost in enemy territory. We can’t afford to simply abandon it let alone the enemy to get their hands of the stuff inside of it.

Airman596

Like I said before, I am not necessarily against defending our embassy. I do not have faith in the Obama administration to make the right decisions. Those poor decisions will get Americans killed and wounded. If we should keep the embassy, the President needs to do more than deploy 275 men while giving gutless speeches that suggest we’re not serious.

A Proud Infidel®™

I’m sure that B. Hussein 0bama’s speechwriters are prepping the Royal Teleprompter for another press conference that will take place as soon as he gets back from the golf course!

2/17 Air Cav

The sudden departure of Iraqi soldiers from their posts opened the hardware store for ISIS. From stingers to rifles, from vests to vehicles, US-supplied goodies are now in the hands of the bad guys. Shocking as it may be, the terrorists don’t give a rat’s ass what Barack “18-holes” Obama says.

Ex-344MP

Yea, I just love seeing those people using the equipment we “sold” to the Iraqi Army. It’s almost as good as seeing the IA, NP, and IP uniforms scattered about in the ranks of these people.

I think I’m going to be sick. While we were waiting for 1114 ‘ s and MRAPS, we were giving the IA 1114’s. Now these people have them, tanks, he’ll I even saw a 155 being towed by an MRAP.

So good of us to arm thier insurgency.

F**king stupid. Now I know how some vets felt after Saigon.

GDContractor

All that shit we “sold” them has electronic fuel injection courtesy of onboard computers, including the MRAPS and the Ford pickups (and I have seen pictures of Toyotas). A few EMP weapons would turn them into roadside statues.

I wondered at the time why we were supplying them with modern vehicles they didn’t have a chance in hell of properly maintaining or troubleshooting. Now I see the wisdom in it. A mechanical distributor, coil, spark plug, and carburetor isn’t very sexy, but a goat herder can keep it running.

Sparks

GDContractor…”A mechanical distributor, coil, spark plug, and carburetor isn’t very sexy, but a goat herder can keep it running.” You bet and they can weld a mount for a twin fifty on it in a hurry! I like your idea very much. Tell our Embassy and troops that on a given signal, planned ahead of time, turn everything OFF. Then hit the country with an EMP device. Shut down those aspects of the enemies abilities and we could be miles ahead in the game and they could truly be back in the 7th century technology wise. Great Idea GDContractor, great idea! I think I’ll send a heads up advice email to the White House and the DoD and see what comes of it. You think I’ll get a real response or an Obama ballcap and DoD coffee mug?

GDContractor

Sparks, I am gratified by your support.

Before you take this to the White House, I think it would be best if we gather some good intel (Pictures from cliffs and shit).

If we do this, we only have one chance, and we must do it right!

Call our man Bernath in Florida and have him gas up his airship. I’ll send Chevy out to meet him and they can fly to LA and pick up Ron White. From there they can crash in the Persian Gulf (Chevy’s Compass Call Experience will be invaluable…Captain John Arens can recover them in the USNS Redstone, his wife said he can come), and Ron White can swim into Iraq, climb a cliff, rappel down the other side of it, and snap some pictures with his Kodak Brownie. (PH2, stand by for photo processing please Ma’am.) (Anyone have a harness with straps and shit?)

After that, we’ll send Ron White to the Oval Office with the photos… he’s been there before probably more times than we know about (black ops—the black felt tip marker ya know). Ron will convince the CinC to EMP the hell out of them, just like he did with Kennedy!

Okay, as soon as I get this info put in a PowerPoint presentation, we roll.

I can’t promise you a ball cap, but by God, by the time we are done you will have earned one!

Consider my next question very carefully: Are you in?

Sparks

GDContractor…I am all in! The right team with the right stuff! Obama can’t say no to that. It’s sheer genius! Just the way Obama thinks. If we could get Phil Monkress and All-Points Logistics for ground support and cover it’s a solid go for deployment. I say we call it “Operation Fuck Up By The Numbers”. Call signs, “Hollywood and Honorary MCPO NOT”.

GDContractor

Phil Monkress is a no-go. Did you forget about his ankle bracelet?

Actually, maybe would could EMP it….

Let me get back to you! Powerpoint is giving me fits right now! (trying like hell to animate a slide, it will improve our chances if I can just get the letters to bounce!)

Ex-344MP

I can help you with the PowerPoint presentation. I did enough of them when I was there.

Can I also suggest we send in some SF guys we have here on TaH. Hell, we have enough SEALS to form at least 3 teams.

I’m down with the EMP’s, but why waste those when you can get the same result and make a grid square a radio active no go zone using something like the Lance battlefield nukes? I know they are in storage still after we deactivated. 10 megatons. Enough for a smoking crater and EMP blast wave out to 5 clicks.

Delilah T.

What I said last night – 275 instead of 100 – and I found some speculation that it may increase to more than that.

And Ban-ki Moon is really helpful with this statement: Iraq should have one government and Iraqis should be able to live harmoniously, UN’s Ban Ki-Moon says (twitter-pating)

We should be getting those people out now, not building a presence. The Idiot in the Oval Office has NO idea how ruthless are the hijadi. He is SO DUMB, he scares me.

Delilah T.

Here’s the article speculating on MORE than 275 troops.

http://news.msn.com/world/more-us-troops-to-iraq-special-forces-considered

Scroll down the page to where it says ‘special forces’.

Three anonymous WH officials used those words. They will probably be muzzled or fired.

Sparks

Delilah T…Thanks for the article. From it, “Separately, three U.S. officials said the White House was considering sending a contingent of special forces soldiers to Iraq. Their limited mission — which has not yet been approved — would focus on training and advising beleaguered Iraqi troops, many of whom have fled their posts across the nation’s north and west as the al-Qaida-inspired insurgency has advanced…”

If these Iraqis fled their posts, why does Obama think Special Forces will instill in them anything we didn’t before? That does not make sense which is in keeping with the current Obama thinking. What are they really going to do? “Okay guys, we know it was rough and you guys all tossed your weapons, but here’s some more and remember all those tactics we taught you…just get out there and go to work again defending your country…okay? You guys got this now?” As the Iraqi troops look on in their fresh goat herding outfits, holding a new M-4, thinking, “As soon as the coach here leaves, I’m dropping this weapon too and going back to goat screwing Thursdays. To hell with this crap again.” But out loud, “Thank you, thank you, yes, yes we will fight to the death! We want freedom Iraq, freedom Iraq!!!” As they blip off a clip or two in usual celebratory fashion and the SF troops have to shout “No, no you ass clowns…you’re gonna give our position away, hold your fire, hold your fire!”

The Other Whitey

Aha! The HMFIC of the UN says, “Can’t we all just get along?”

That’s gonna solve all the problems in the Middle East. Ban Ki Moon is right! They should all get along! Just like all Koreans live in such harmony, sharing their peninsula with their neighbors! Seriously, I wonder if the irony of what he says is lost on this guy.

Tell me again why the majority of the UN’s funding comes from American taxpayers…

Hondo

It doesn’t anymore, Other Whitey. The US share of the UN’s budget has been 22% since 2000.

Hondo

Follow-up: the above is the standard UN budget. Peacekeeping ins funded separately. The US paid just under 28.4% of UN Peacekeeping costs in 2013.

The Other Whitey

I stand corrected.

rb325th

I am constantly hearing in my head the barking moonbats of the left parroting what Gen. Powell stated.. If you break it, you have to fix it. Well Obama through his absolutely abysmall foreign policy has allowed the entire middle east to regress even further into a shit hole of extremism.
He broke it, but there is no way that moron can fix this. He hasn’t got any balls at all, and that is why we have the mess we see today. Something I fear the world is going to be feeling the repercussions of for decades to come. Those extremist are not going to just stay in Iraq and Syria… hell, we have had US Citizens fighting on their side over there.

David

To Colin Powell: Why?

you piss us off to where we have to break it, not only will we not fix it, we will have generations unborn huddling in fear over how we broke it and walked away. Try that for a foreign policy and see how much they screw with us

Pam

So much for “no boots on the ground”.

jonp

That was Syria

Ex-344MP

But, but, the Commander in Chief said the same thing the other day in reference to Iraq.

jonp

I don’t recall Moochelle saying anything like that. She is wrapped up in jamming “healthy lunches” down the throats of kids whether they want them or not.

Ex-344MP

Lol. Thanx for the laugh jonp.

MCPO NYC USN Ret.

This is what we know:

1. SOFA was not aggressively pursued because the WH did not want it because they had no idea what is was (or the benefits) and they ignored pleas from Pentagon.

2. The alarm about the fall of Irag was out in Sep and Oct 2013.

3. It is all over as indicated by friendly chatter from the field.

The End …

USMCE8Ret

There it is again:

“…the U.S. Embassy presence in Iraq will remain in place and the embassy will be fully equipped to carry out its national security mission.”

I always thought it was for diplomacy and such?

Sparks

USMCE8Ret…I think we’re on the same page here. First the U.S. Embassy’s mission is diplomacy not national security. Security is provided to Embassies to keep them safe, period. Obama has this backwards again. I believe in Obama’s small, ill informed mind the Embassy in Baghdad is command central for the next AO in Iraq. I am worn saying it and you all are worn hearing it, please Obama, evacuate the Embassy now. If you want to leave a security detail with appropriate air support okay. Personally I don’t think there’s a building in Iraq worth one soldier’s or Marine’s life. ISISI is going to move forward in Iraq. The force we left behind will toss their weapons and head back to the family goat herd most rikki-tic. You can train them, you can give them state of the art weapons. But you cannot open their hearts and give or teach them courage. The deserve the country THEY are willing to fight and die for and no more. We did our part and then some. We lost way too many there trying to help them be free. Problem was, they didn’t want freedom as much as we wanted them to want their freedom.

Jacobite

“They deserve the country THEY are willing to fight and die for and no more.”

Nothing more needs to be said then that right there.

Like I said before, our reaction to what’s going on should be to pull out and wait for the ISIS to take the embassy, then turn it into a smoking crater.

Sparks

“Today, consistent with the War Powers Resolution, the President transmitted a report notifying the Congress that up to approximately 275 U.S. military personnel are deploying to Iraq to provide support and security for U.S. personnel and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.”

So Obama talks to Congress about this ahead of time, you know to look good. But he couldn’t manage to NOT break the law and pull off the Bergdahl swap all on his own. One thing he has going for him, he certainly can pick and choose when he’ll notify Congress and when he won’t. But then again, when you’re the Emperor and not a president it’s okay. What did Mel Brooks say, “It’s good to be king!”.

Redacted1775

“Foreign policy is hard, national security is hard…”-but it’s harder when you’re stupid.

Sparks

Redacted1775…Amen and Amen!

Ex-344MP

Ain’t that the truth.

OldSoldier54

Yep.

Pinto Nag

Obama is the best thing that ever happened in the War on Terror.

For the terrorists.

2/17 Air Cav

“Today, consistent with the War Powers Resolution, the President transmitted a report notifying….”

Today, inconsistent with the US Constitution, the President declared the Defense of Marriage Act to be unconstitutional….”

Today, inconsistent with the US Constitution, the President stated that he will not enforce certain laws….”

Today, inconsistent with the Constitution, the President directed certain members of his cabinet to promulgate regulation in place of law duly passed by Congress….”

Today, inconsistent with Federal law, the President unilaterally directed that five terrorists be freed from Gitmo….”

There are many, many more but I don’t want to waste the day doing this.

UpNorth

Waste a day? You’d be wasting at least a month, if not much longer, if you were to really go to town on what this regime has done.

2/17 Air Cav

There are indeed many and most would qualify for impeachment but there’s a problem with that: Bonehead. Now, I understand that impeachment by the House and conviction by the Senate are two separate matters. Still, I like to think of all the time impeachment would eat up, time The Emperor and his lackies might not otherwise spend in making Kruschev sound like a soothsaying genius.

Green Thumb

I am beginning to think that anyone elected in the next election will be better than Obummer.

Only two more years, folks.

Suck it up!

Delilah T.

Nixon got elected because he promised to get us out of Vietnam. Then he was fired for corruption (Watergate, etc.)in his administration.

What goes around comes around.

Still, I have a VERY bad feeling about this.

3/17 Air Cav

Bottom line……The Iraq troops are shitty with no motivation. You can teach them tactics and doctrine. Supply them with the best weapons in the world. Still, at the end of the day they are still shitty and unmotivated.

The situation in Iraq is taking on all the markings of South Vietnam. When the North Vietnamese marched up Highway 1 to Saigon. Plenty of U.S. Weapons to pick up along the way. Never fired and only dropped once.

War is cruel and ugly. However, if your going to fight, finish the job. Which we did not do in Vietnam and now Iraq

Basic Understanding

The bottom line is you’re wrong. The war in Vietnam wasn’t a Sectarian civil war. These sects have been fighting for centuries, the North vs. South battle in Vietnam doesn’t have the same history.
Your idea of “finishing the job” what would that have entailed? Just picking one side and slaughtering the other? That’s what it would take to get the fighting to stop. Perhaps if Maliki could have set the Sectarian differences aside and run the country under the guise of “one people”. We wouldn’t be watching all of Northern Iraq fall to lunatic extremists.

Here’s all you really need to know: Maliki = Shiite, ISIS = Sunni. Maliki, being a hardline Shiite has marginalized the Sunni population in the North. ISIS invades the countries north and the Sunni Iraqi soldiers lay down arms. The only people with their shit together in that country are the Kurds in the south.

Once ISIS reaches Baghdad, real fighting will commence. Why? Because Baghdad is Shiite. Most experts say that ISIS will stop short of Baghdad because they will not take that city. The resistance will be too much.

Quit comparing this situation to Vietnam. I know it’s all you have to compare it to, but just stop reducing a complex situation to “it’s just Vietnam all over again”.

3/17 Air Cav

You miss my point. Shitty, unmotivated troops. Who are given the means to succeed.

I could car less what sect is fighting who.

Carry on

Delilah T.

The Kurds are in the north, NOT the south.

And unless you understand the brutality that the Viet Cong used on Vietnamese who were unable to get the hell out of Viet Nam, you don’t know what you’re talking about, BU. They were just as bad as the Shi’ites, maybe worse.

3/17 Air Cav

BU……I guess I’m just a babe in the woods on this “complex situation” tell me more.

Since you say Vietnam is the only war I can compare this to. Tell me which war you experienced that you can compare it to?

Ex-344MP

Your not wrong about Malaki BU, but you are wrong about Nam.

As far as the Kurds go. They are in the Northern part of Iraq. If you look at a map of the area, you’ll notice ISIS has for the most part stayed clear of them.

Baghdad is another story, and unless you’ve been there and seen the actual demographics of Sunni, Shia, Christian, and Other religions, you have no clue.

I have seen those, at least up until I left Baghdad in 2009. What I can tell you, from studying those demographics, is that the Iranian backed Shiites, under the control of Muqtada Al Sadr and other clerics, were pushing the Sunni and other religious groups out of East Baghdad and across the Tigris. This excludes Karradah, only because it is the “Rich” area of the city and houses not only the University, but other cultural places.

So while I agree that it will be a fight, if they get there, it won’t last long as the Sunni control the west side of the Tigris. To be honest, everything of worth with the exception of Karradah, is on the west side anyways.

Ex-344MP

Ohhhhh and BU, please do not pick a fight with our brothers from the Vietnam era. The ship they went through over there pales in comparison to those in Iraq. Hell, I would go so far as to say the only Modern Conflict that even comes close to Vietnam would be A-Stan.

After Iraq collapsed, we went in and picked up the pieces. The people in Nam never got the chance to do that as they were still fighting right up until they got pulled out.

Yea, the terrorist groups are good at kidnapping and beheading, but those little North Vietnam bast arms were way worse. They kept the soldier alive while torturing the crap out of them for years. I won’t specify the types of torture used, you can read about it, but it was possibly the most inhumane type of torture you’ve ever read about.

Imagine fighting a Uniformed Army and an insurgency at the same time. Then you have an inkling of what Vietnam was.

3/17 Air Cav

EX…..thanks little brother. Personally I feared capture more than anything.

Ex-344MP

Believe me I did too Cav, but I also knew the chances of that happening were small compared to the guys in Nam. The only way you got captured after the initial push into Iraq was if you were stupid enough to leave the FOBs. Or if they started a complex attack and over an you, bit the chances of that happening were slim to none. Most complex attacks only involved up words of maybe, and I am stretching it here, 30 fighters. Most complex attacks I am familiar with only involved 5-10 fighters. You can’t capture people from a platoon with those numbers, the Land Owner wouldn’t have allowed it. Land Owner being the Unit in charge of a sector of the city, usually an Active Army unit, such as the 3rd Cav. That’s alot of people. You know that.

I forgot to add women in my earlier post, and I am sorry for that. Alot of women served in Nam, and thank god that none were captured, at least to my knowledge. I can’t even begin to imagine what those little bastards would have done to them.

Jacobite

“Your idea of “finishing the job” what would that have entailed? Just picking one side and slaughtering the other?”

Ummm, yes actually. 🙂

3/17 Air Cav

Actually, not a bad idea. The problem would be figuring who was the other side. (Smile)

B Woodman

How about BOTH “other sides”? Then we can be “equal opportunity”, and won’t be accused of “choosing sides”.
I.E., a glass parking lot from orbit. About as equal as I can think of. Alas, our mom jeans jellyfish Bodaprez. . . . .. . .

Hondo

Well, “Basic Understanding” – your screen name is quite appropriate. Your understanding of the situation in either Iraq or Vietnam appears to be at the “basic or elementary” level only.

1. As others have noted, you appear to be somewhat confused concerning Iraq’s demographic makeup. One example of this confustion: the Kurds are in the northern portion of present-day Iraq, not the southern part as you stay above.

2. Most sources say that Baghdad and its environs are mixed Sunni/Shia, and have been for centuries. They are likely now majority Shia, but not overwhelmingly.

3. Historically, the Vietnam conflict was as much the continuation of an internecine North/South conflict extending through multiple centuries as it was an ideological one. This dates to at least the 1500s with the establishment of the Lê dynasty. That internecine regional rivalry and/or discord continued past the fall of South Vietnam.

4. At least the early portions of the Vietnam conflict also had a substantial religious component. Specifically, the Catholic population essentially migrated South during the year after the Geneva Agreements of 1954, becoming the main supporters of the Diem regime. Since the Catholic Church was seen as a vestige of colonialism by the Vietnamese Communists, arguably this continued past the loss of South Vietnam in 1975.

Recommend you do a bit more homework before spouting off here in the future. Doing so will reduce the ignorance factor of any future comments you may elect to make.

3/17 Air Cav

HONDO…….you and ExPH-2 are the best I’ve ever seen at telling someone to “Piss Up a Rope” in a eloquent manner.

Well Done!

OWB

Living through this once was too much. Doing it a second time is intolerable.

Above and beyond the treasure of lives and blood lost, it has now come to this: we left so many arms and vehicles behind that the terrorists may now be the second best equipped group in the world for waging war. Thanks to us giving them the means with which to conquer the world, it is now our moral obligation to stop them.

So much for us getting out of the Middle East.

RM3(SS)

As president dither and do nothing fiddles on the golf course and his royal majesties speech writers pen epics about how it’s all Bush’s fault. To paraphrase Moochele “I am ashamed of my country”.

FatCircles0311

lol @ the “best” comment regarding that article is the Libtard meme of lets-build-us-infrastructure!

Forever a Libtard. Ignore threats to continue to live in fantasy land.

Delilah T.

This news just cropped up:

http://news.msn.com/world/militants-lay-siege-to-iraqs-largest-oil-refinery

If they want it so that they can usel it, I think it should be bombed out of existence. That scene in ‘Road Warrior’, where the refugees pull out of their desert refinery and the biker gangs roll in and everything goes ‘BOOOM!!!!’ comes to mind.

But that’s just me.

Is it going to boil down to getting control of that ‘precious juice’ and nothing else? If so, it’s not worth one single American life.