Will W meet Cindy Sheehan

[kellychaos]

Two big problems that I have always had with this war that probably would have lessened the problems that they have now:

1) If they had been clear on why they had originally occupied the country rather than muddy it with tales of WMD and being opportunistic in jumping in shortly after the 9/11 mania and trying to draw connections to Iraq, I might have been more supportive. Many people, to this day, think that 9/11 is the reason we invaded Iraq simply because it was easier for the administration to get everybody on the bandwagon by blurring the lines. Did the Bush administration believe that Iraq had WMD's? The previous administration certainly did, as is evident by their own Hillary Clinton signing off on the occupation as the majority of the Senate did. I don't think that it's a partisan thing so much as it is a weakness in intelligence organization. That was and still is the problem that needs to be addressed.

2) If they had made the troop commitment from the beginning, then the borders wouldn't have become the seive it ultimately became and perhaps we would have been able to not only secure the borders but also some of the in-country weapons stockpiles.

That's all spilled milk now, though, and what we are left with is a country whom we keep promising autonomy to yet extending the deadline ... unfair to them and our own soldiers. Are the demographics of those that oppose us going to change because we are there? Are the borders going to become any more secure even with the low commitment of troops which have not proven sufficiently capable? Not their fault, of course. They simply don't have adequate numbers of soldiers. Their police, or any position of authority for that matter, are going to remain targets after we leave no matter how long we stay. And just how much training do they need?

What kind of timetable are you guys talking about ... keeping in mind that we've been in South Korea for over 50 years and their northern border consists of a DMZ, guarded 24-7 with only a signed armistice.