Vote McCain?
BigJon wrote an interesting response to one of my posts. He enthusiastically endorsed John McCain. This was rather curious. What were his reasons for supporting John McCain? (I have talked about my problems with John McCain - here, here and here) Here’s BigJon’s response -
Thanks, and I believe as I am sure most would, that McCain will alter , but not raise taxes. Also, I believe that Obama will continue to excite the young, the minorities and the poor, but still is intent on living in the past. I dont care if he voted against the war. This is now the second longest war in our history. And we are winning. And I want to know if pulling our troops out now, as Obama says, will help and if so, how??? And why would Obama claim he would take the fight to Pakistan, our ally, but not continue the course in Iraq, our former enemy. And now an important country to help change.
That’s BigJon’s thoughts - What are yours?
Well BigJon,
Pakistan is not our ally in any real sense. Do you remember Osama Bin Laden? Contary to the McCain/Bush press briefings, Osama started this mess, not Saddam. Bin Laden is almost certainly living in Pakistan with the assistance/knowledge of Pakastani military. Funding ,resources and personnel for the 9/11 attacks came from the Afghan/Pakistan border, not Iraq. Culturally, pre-war Iraq was a lot more similar to us than Pakistan is now… So George Bush’s decision to make Pakistan an “ally” has only weakened our position.
On “we are winning”- The daily carnage is down from the unbelievable levels of a year ago, so somehow you have equated this situation with winning. But please listen to your guy, McCain. He’s actually right. To win will take a hundred years. The colonial method of controlling uppity countries is way out of fashion. Let’s see… France is out of Algeria, the UK is out of India, we are out of South East Asia, the Italians are out of everywhere… do you get the point? Even if we attain some type of military stalemate ( which we will define as victory!), in the long run everyone wants self-determination. And when the day comes that the indigenous population kicks us out, we will have spent a fortune in live and money ( and positive karma), with nothing to show for it. To answer your last question, how will it help to leave? 1) It will save us a ton of money. 2) It will restore our morality. 3) It’s always best to face inevitable sooner rather than later 4) It will force us to address the real issue - our lack of a energy policy. Imagine Saddam Hussien’s Iraq in a different way: as a small African country with no natural resources. Would we have cared about Saddam’s brutality to his own people. No. Would we have invaded. No. Now imagine our America in a different way: as a rich country with independent access to energy (not from the middle east).Would we care about Iraq, Iran, Israel, Palastine, Syria, etc. No!
Weapons of Mass Destruction, Islam vs. Christianity, Global War on Terror, the Crazy Iranians, yada yada yada… YOU ARE BEING PLAYED. If and when we address our energy problems, all of these concepts will be thrown into the garbage pail of history.
I think Oscar got it on point. With Iran meeting with Iraq this past week makes an interesting situation. We have no real control over Iraq’s government They are elected officials which Bush keeps reminding us. Now what would happen if the 2 governments decided to join together. What would Bush/McCain do besides have a hissy fit?? As he keeps reminding us that there are no conditions we are pushing the Iraqi government to meet. So what would happen? Would Bush/McCain demand that Maliki step down? If Iran is our enemy and the two decide to mingle what would the US do? Our guys would be in the middle of a huge mess and wouldn’t be able to tell who was who. If we get out and still work with them then we have a chance of helping to keep the calm. Al Sadr wants us out and it is only because of his cease fire that things have settled down. The Iraqi government hasn’t done a thing.
I forgot to ask is Al-Qaeda in Iran?
BigJon,
One more thing… Obama just won Vermont. A state not known for ” the young, the minorities and the poor”
WINNING THE WAR?
I’m dumbstruck.
(like most of the country.)
Absolutely unbelievable how many people can rationalize the unacceptable.
M-
Al Qaeda is in Pakistan as far as we know. The guys that we chased out of Afghanistan are now in Pakistan.
I was just wondering because they weren’t in Iraq either McCain claimed and talked of bombing Iran he might use that excuse to go in and evade. He would do it in a heartbeat and continue on with Bush/Cheney tactics.