DescentBB

Anonymous: "That's the way war is. I've never really understood the idea that any American government, any American elected official is responsible for protecting civilians who are not Americans. My experience working against bin Laden was there was multiple occasions when we did not take advantage of an opportunity to solve the problem because we were afraid of killing a civilian, we were afraid of hitting a mosque with shrapnel, we were afraid of disrupting sales of arms overseas. Very seldom in my career have I ever heard anyone ask what happens if we don't do this.

My own opinion is we should err on the side of protecting Americans first. And if we make a mistake in that kind of action, I think the American people will accept that. It's â?? this is a matter of survival. This is not a nuisance anymore. No one wants to be bloodthirsty, but we're at a position in this war where we've cornered ourselves in many ways, to the point where only the military option is available to us. And if we don't use that, and we continue to pursue the policies we are pursuing, then it's a very dicey situation for Americaâ?¦that the war in Iraq was bin Laden's dream come true."

This guy's got his head on straight, at least he appears to. He's right, it's us or them and I'm all about us.

B-

Yea, and it's wierd too because the only thing I heard about his forthcoming book was spun in the headline as "CIA official exposes Bush Administration" so when I read this excerpt I'm pleasantly surprised.

It sounds like he's just telling the truth without particularly trying to help either political party. Plenty of blame to go around on this deal to keep anyone with integrity from trying to politicize it...

I could be wrong though, one paragraph isn't enough to be sure.

Here ya go, Will.. afaik this is the complete interview. I just cut/Pasted the above portion because it jumped out at me.

http://msnbc.msn.com/ID/5279743/

B-

I may have to buy that book!
The whole read I was asking 'but what is this "gift" to bin Laden you talk about in our invasion of Iraq'.
All he offered is, our invasion validates the al Queda message that america is a conquerer of islamic lands.

Well call me naive but...

If we actually succeed in leaving Iraq soveriegn and free of a dictator with some form of democracy in place then that al Queda 'message' will evaporate into thin air and the seeds of peace will have sprouted in the desert!

Of course I'm betting on politicians to stay the course and do what's right in spite of the political heat and possible losses they will face at the hands of their political opponents who will snatch personal victory from any setbacks to the current plan.

A bit of a long shot in this election year I admit but I'm an optimist.

If we actually succeed in leaving Iraq soveriegn and free of a dictator with some form of democracy in place then that al Queda 'message' will evaporate into thin air and the seeds of peace will have sprouted in the desert!

This, IMO, is what has made "staying the course" such an important thing to accomplish -- the only way to counter the message that "the US wants to conquer Muslims" is to give Muslims control over their own destinies that they didn't have before. The only way to counter the message that "America lies to you!" is to hold to the promises we've made.

Al Qaeda's message will begin to fall on deaf ears as Iraqis begin to live out their dreams. They can keep talking, but it's our actions (in light of our words) that will determine the eventual course of history.

I hope there are only a very few people who actually want to pull out of Iraq now. I am often alarmed by what I hear on the news about how many people want to leave Iraq, how can people be that stupid? If we should have gone or not is the question they are asking, even if it is irrelevant this late in the game. What matters now is finishing the job the right way. If we succeed then the ends will justify the means.

Krom, these are frequently the idiots who did 0 research and supported the war, then when things get rough, they want to pull out.

Hell, I was adamently against but we've got to stay the course here until we've at least got some elections going

Iraq won't be conquered until McDonalds opens a fast food joint there.