Did anyone not notice this statement? I think this shows how ignorant this general is. Is he saying that Al Qaeda in Iraq (which by the way wasn't there before we invaded) is sponsored by Iran? Or what about the Sunni-on-Sunni, Sunni-on-Shia and Shia-on-Shia infighting going on across the country? I agree with him though that one of the biggest mistakes we've made was to disarm Iraq (by disbanding its military). He doesn't admit it but that's what started the insurgency. As to oil, the only ME country that supplies us with oil of any significant quantity is Saudi Arabia. It has been suggested that we could stop relying on Saudi oil if we made 1/3 of our vehicles diesel-powered. I imagine similar if not bigger savings would be achieved if pickup and SUV owners who don't need these vehicles (which is the vast majority) switched to driving cars instead.

As to Pakistan, once Musharaf is out of power all bets are off. I'm afraid a firm pressure from the West may not be enough to keep the radicals there under control. Pakistan is a much bigger threat than Iran because in the tribal regions it is a safe haven for Al Qaeda and the Taliban and unlike Iran Pakistan is nuclear-armed. Iran is our enemy only because of our own stupidity. We installed the brutal Shah that was corrupt and oppressed the people. We shouldn't have been surprised when he and the country were overrun by the Islamic revolution that persists to this day. Also stupid was Bush's total refusal to talk to Iran, even when the reformists within Iran's government reached out to us a few years ago. Bush ignored it and the reformists were ridiculed and side-lined, leading to the election of radical Ahmadinejad and his hardcore anti-US and anti-Israel attitudes. It will take a change in leadership in both countries for the relationship to improve. War with Iran would be beyond stupid. Not only do we not have money for it (we don't even have money for Iraq), but our military is already overstretched and given the size of Iran and its armed forces Iraq would seem like a walk in the park in comparison. Furthermore our invasion would turn the Iranian population against us and unite them behind the clerical regime that they currently don't like very much. It is time for us to stop thinking that invading other countries that have done us no harm can win hearts and minds in the Muslim world because it does the exact opposite and it only strengthens the radicals, making the war on terror all that tougher to fight.

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I wasn't talking about the candidates themselves. I was talking about their supporters. But you don't have to twist either of their positions to hear them say plainly that they want out of Iraq. The assumption has to be that they think this will be a positive experience. Wheras the general, and I, clearly believe it will be catastrophic.

- Peter.

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Well yes right now for example.

The German officer core didn't want to attack the Soviet Union, they were correct.

They didn't want to attack France, again another correct corse of action.

The Luftwaffe wanted to continue attacks on the RAF air fields, and factories, along with radar relay stations. The politicians in charge wanted to bomb London. Again the Luftwaffe was correct.

Churchill and FDR were well versed on military matters and didn't usualy overrule there Generals for politcal reasons.

The military had largely been able to conduct every war without undue press influance up to Vietnam. We lost Vietnam because of this. When politics gets involved people lose sight of the goals. Therefor during times of war the press needs to fall in line, like they did up to Korea.

Without the burden of politics the military is able to make very clear and accurite judgement calls. When politics starts deciding military matters countries get into trouble.

For example:
Everytime one of our soliders does something that could be wrong the press goes nuts, giving power to the enemy.
Everytime the media makes undue reports over casulties.
Everytime a politician talks about pulling out.
Britians failure to build up a proper fighting force prior to 1939.
Stalins purges of his officer core in the 1930's.

During times of war the media should be restricted to positive stories, and shouldn't report casulties or anything that could give aid to the enemy. IE an acceptable report would be "American soliders attack XX city, excellent progress the enemy flee's" Similer to WW2 vintage news reels.

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The insurgents we are fighting now in Iraq are largely being trained and equiped in Syria and Iran. The insurgents themselves come from all over the middle east. I beleive the profile is about the same as college students in the West, ie somewhat educated, young, etc.

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Right, which seems pretty close to the opposite of what you said before. Obama wants out of Iraq so that we can get back to fighting the real war on terror. I don't know what Clinton's reasons are.

I'm not denying that Iran is looking out after its Shia allies in Iraq. But who's equipping the Sunni insurgents and Al-Qaeda? Clearly not Iran as that would be self-defeating.

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Invading Iran?

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I guess I didn't read General Cash as making a military statement. He seems to be more about politics than about military strategy. His points aren't comparable to the German officers' view that invading the Soviet Union would be a military debacle. So, we should just trust our leaders? Sounds scary to me.

I don't understand your question.

Actually it lookslike the Sunni insurgents and AQiI are at the end of their ropes. The Surge has worked and the people in Iraq are now getting behind their government and helping put down the insurgents esp Al-Qaeda. The issue now becomes the Iranian backed Shia who for the time being have been falling in line. I think that they would stay that way until the week before we cut and run. Then they will come out and create a Shia satellite state or Iran.

What we need to do is to continue the surge tactics and make sure that the people in Iraq get the breathing room they need to get their collective acts together. While I do think that disbanding the Iraqi Army was a mistake it was done we have to move on. Actually I thnik the whole stupid invasion was a mistake -- we could have worked with Saddam like we did in the 1970's the real threats were and are Saudi Arabia and Iran...

The USA should and must take a page out the French play book. EVERYTHING they do is for the aggrandizement and benefit of France. We seem to be the only contry who goes into these things with an idealistic and altruistic mind. You had better believe that if France could not work with Saddam (as they were very happily doing) they would have invaded and simply annexed the oil fields leaving the rest of the country to rot.

The USA should get something straight... either we play for keeps or we should go home. If we are going to enforce a Pax-Americana, we need to be willing to do so. If not then I am all for becoming isolationist, cutting our ties to Europe, China, etc and living within our means. This implies no more cheap DVD players and expensive oil (expensive environmentally and cost wise as we exploit Alaska and the coasts) Close the borders and build the SDI missle shield!

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There is no real "war on terror". The whole point of the generals thesis is that this is a civilizational clash that has to be persued to the fullest. If that means being in Iraq for the next 50 to 100 years so be it. If it means war with Iran instead of or in addition to being in Iraq then so be it. But to pretend that you can just run away and play traffic cop every time a "terrorist" pops up someplace is to fatally misunderstand the situation. Terrorism is simply the tactic used by our opponents as it's the most effective one at present. As such the term "war on terror" is as misleading and silly as the term "war on blitzkrieg" would have been in 1940.

- Peter.

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1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S

How about something in the middle, like most countries are doing, i.e. not being isolationist but at the same time not policing the world and mostly minding our own business. I'd be for that.

The Sunni insurgents are mostly on our side for the time being because part of the surge involves paying them to keep security in their neighborhoods. I agree Al Qaeda isn't doing too well in Iraq because most of Iraq, including former insurgents have turned against it. That kind of flies in the face of the war supporters' argument that we need to stay there to keep fighting Al Qaeda. As far as Iraq being a Shia satellite state of Iran, it kind of already is, isn't it? I agree we should have continued dealing with Saddam diplomatically. Removing him has greatly strengthened Iran, precisely not what we wanted.

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Do you really think that radical Islam will permit this?

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Agreed. And any politician advocates running away and playing traffic cop will be wrong, IMHO, but I am not aware of anyone who has made that argument.

Me too.Why would "radical Islam" be in any position to prohibit it?