Comments on: McCain and Lieberman Express Support For Sending More Troops to Iraq

By: Think Progress » Lieberman Endorses Escalation In Iraq, Surprised Rumsfeld Didn’t Suggest It In Memo

Sun, 03 Dec 2006 16:30:46 +0000

[...] Less than a month ago, Lieberman was significantly less committed to escalation in Iraq, saying only that “I think we have to be open to that as a way to succeed.” [...]

By: Cebus Apella » links for 2006-11-12

Cebus Apella » links for 2006-11-12 — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 03:08:13 +0000

[...] Yeah, chaos over there would be bad. (tags: war iraq stupidity america!) [...]

By: Joshua Price

Joshua Price — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 01:43:34 +0000

How about we see a McCain/Lieberman presidential ticket

By: Joshua Price

Joshua Price — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 01:42:33 +0000

I think most of you people dont see the bigger picture. If we leave Iraq, the region will become a huge terror haven and we will definetely get attacked again. I think we need more troops to squash the insurgency. Strength in numbers is the name of this game. When we fought Iraq in 1991, we had half a million troops in the region. In this war we sent not even a third of that number. I dont understand why we didnt do that in the beggining of this war. We would not have the problems we have now. We need to reverse this mistake and send many more troops in order to kill the enemy. I believe that this war is not about Shiites and Sunni’s not liking eachother. They got along fine under Saddams regime. Many Muslims get along in this and many other western nations. I think that people have to realize that it is the terrorists and fanatical Muslims that are causing the problems. Lets just wait and see what happens after they hand Saddam.

By: Think Progress » General Abizaid Smacks Down McCain’s Plan To Send More U.S. Troops To Iraq

Wed, 15 Nov 2006 18:43:52 +0000

[...] McCain has repeatedly said that he would like to see another 20,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. As General Abizaid explained, McCain’s plan runs counter towards our goal in Iraq — specifically, the Iraqis taking responsibility for their own country. Abizaid said, “It is easy for the Iraqis to rely upon to us do this work. I believe that more American forces prevent the Iraqis from doing more, from taking more responsibility for their own future.” [...]

By: kathleen

kathleen — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 04:08:20 +0000

Did I hear you correctly? Did you say that both Liebermann and McCain are encouraging their children and grand children to join the military so that they can serve in Iraq?

By: kathleen

kathleen — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 04:06:01 +0000

Did I hear you say that both Liebermann and McCain are encouraging their children and grand children to join the military so that they can serve in Iraq?

By: Tom D.

Tom D. — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 19:00:07 +0000

The Majority of Americans may say ” get out of Iraq… now” but most may reconsider this where they to seriously think about it. Going to Iraq to topple Hussein was the RIGHT thing to do. If Gore was elected in 2000, OR if 9/11 had happened on Clintons watch… BOTH Gore and Clinton would have done the same! Yes…what has transpired since the topple is a BAD situation. Basically we were jumped by terrorist insurgents, and now we MUST fight back.

I feel better with McCains position, and would hope that Lieberman joins him for the 2008 campaign.

By: Macdaddy

Macdaddy — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 16:50:46 +0000

I never said that civilian casualties were of “no consequence.” I said that these casualties were inevitable. They should be avoided whenever possible but unfortunately, they cannot be altogether eliminated. If you, and others, are so willing to pull out now, what was your stance earlier? I hope you haven’t changed your mind. But of course you can afford that luxury, you aren’t the one out there fighting. As far as my country being “evil” I think you misstate this. My “country” is founded upon a concept, not an administration. As long as “We the people” exist there is hope for change. Again, it takes balls to make these changes. We must be able to separate our political thinking from our military thinking to some extent when it comes to the issue of retreating. This does require some degree of intelligence so bear with me. I am not attempting to address the political arena here, just the military side. Number 1. Our Military is fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Number 2. They are dying in numbers that are unacceptable considering the gains they are making. Number 3. There is no “politically” acceptable strategy to gain conclusion. Number 4. We have done this before. OK, I will assume that you know something about strategy and tactics. If not, then pick up a book titled, “On War” by Carl Von Clausewitz and read a little about it. Wars are an extension of politics. Wars are fought by the military not the politicians. Politics end when the fighting begins and resurface at, or are a cause of, the conclusion of hostilities. This is mistake number one we have made, and are still making. We all know from VN that the ground commanders should be allowed to fight and win our wars, not those in Washington. But it is us, the nonsupporting, loudmouthed, VOTING, civilians who influence their decisions. Instead of whining and crying about deserting our brave soldiers in Iraq and pulling them out before they can win, you should be pushing for more authority to be given to the soldiers fighting the “real time” war over there. A simple look at the situation will show that we are outnumbered. Read the chapter on Force space ratios about this.

When a war is fought, target assessment is essential for victory. This is why infrastructure is taken out. These achievements limit the enemies ability to resist. Part of these targets are the supply systems themselves. In a partisan, or insurgent, war, which is what we are fighting, the enemy gets it’s supplies from where? Yes, the civilian population, in part. Does this mean we must kill civilians? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. If you are transporting explosives, food, or ammunition to our enemies, then you deserve to be treated as an enemy. If you die, then good. If your children die in the crossfire, then maybe you should have done something about it sooner. Before this is disputed, consider: if you want democracy, then YOU have to do something to get it. Surprise! You wake up one morning and a war is going on in your country. You have a sniper shooting from your bedroom window. What do you think is going to happen to your house in the next few minutes? Get out! Become a refugee, get your family to safety, return and fight for your own freedom! When roadside bombs repeatedly go off on on a street beside your village and you warn no one or try to stop it, guess what is going to happen? I know, the solution is to let our soldiers die in great numbers so you can drive your SUV with a “clear conscience.” Here is the deal….get with the program or prepare to be overrun!

I could go on and on about this but as anyone can see, the job isn’t getting done over there. It’s past time it started.

By: Abdalonymus

Abdalonymus — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 05:15:49 +0000

Macdaddy (#189)

If civilian casualties are of no consequence to you (and clearly you have no conscience whatsoever about the 650,000 innocents murdered by your evil country in Iraq already), then why pussyfoot around with such half-measures? Why not just withdraw your troops and nuke Iraq out of existence (using neutron weapons, of course, to preserve the oilwells to keep your SUVs running and simultaneously gaining another block of lebensraum for Eretz Israel)? After all, the Iraqis are, as Menachim Begin put it, like all Arabs, no better than “human excrement”, right?

By: big dave from queens

big dave from queens — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 04:16:29 +0000

Wow, an extreme position held by EIGHT PERCENT of americans is deemed moderate by the right wing media. And Meet The Conservatives Timmeh Russert didn’t have the 92% position represented on his show.

hmmmmm.

By: tim

tim — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 03:16:49 +0000

More troops in IRAQ???

Where did I put my tar and feathers! Support the Troops, get them out of IRAQ now!
Screw you McCain and Leiberman. Watch out for more “manufactured terrorism”, Mossad agents posing as Al Qaeda.

By: Macdaddy

Macdaddy — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 02:28:33 +0000

If we pull out now, we lose. America cannot afford another “compromise” like VN. If we stay, we must win, at all costs. The only way to do that is to increase the number of troops we have there. The enemy has done this and we have to do the same. We must also allow our troops to use more firepower. Yes, this will mean more civilian deaths, but unfortunately that is the only way to win. We have to bring America’s strength to bear on our enemies. It is how we fight wars and how we win them. It is a big mess over there but we must, at all costs, support our troops. Having them die in vain is not the way to do this. Bush should have replaced Rummy with Colon Powell. His doctrine would not have resulted in this mess in the first place. We will never leave the middle east, we can’t now, that is a fact. If we abandon Iraq, we must also abandon Afghanistan. If we don’t, the insurgents will simply come there and fight us. If we leave both places, the terrorists will attack us here at home. It is obvious what we must do, someone just has to have the balls to do it.

By: atiilla the stockbroker

atiilla the stockbroker — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 23:27:19 +0000

There is no such thing as Al Quaeda. In Arabic, Al Quaeda means “the toilet”. Most big bad “terrorists” would probably think up a better name. #175 thinks they are going to “hit us soon”…..when did they ever “hit us” before?

Der Fuehrer says,”be afraid. Be very afraid. Al Quaeda is out to get you. Now let me see your papers.”

By: MikeB

MikeB — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 22:31:33 +0000

Maybe Lieberman has a sex scandal in his closet that someone will dig up before Jan. 20, and we can be rid of the bum before he can even draw that dagger out to stab Democrats in the back.

By: linus

linus — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 22:24:55 +0000

Lieberman and McCain are both cheerleaders for the Neoconservative agenda, and both of them regularly change their allegiences. They are both crying out for more of the same in Iraq and you can well believe that it is for their benefit.

I lose my groceries when I hear the lieing rats doing nothing but kissing pappa Bush’s ass. Dubya has been reduced to a sock puppet, while the Iraq Study Group gets ready to call for more troops for…Syria and Iran? We are in for a rough ride folks, unless our Democratic majority can hold these idiotic ideologues at bay.

The people have spoken, and our representatives have relayed our wishes, but if the Bush administration has heard it, they sure don’t act like it. No more complacency!…The people will be heard, not only in America, but throughout the world.

By: Carl Street

Carl Street — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 21:09:32 +0000

Let’s see, both parties have lied repeatedly for at least the last 60 years. And you idiots keep voting for them on the hope that somehow this time it will be different. I guess old P.T. Barnum was right, there IS a sucker born every minute!

No WONDER they lie to you — they KNOW you are idiots!

By: MikeB

MikeB — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 19:59:30 +0000

Reply to #4:

I don’t think it would significantly improve things even if the GOP got their “50,000 extra.” As it is, once the Democratic-controlled Senate goes to do the sensible thing (withdraw), Lieberman’s probably gonna switch parties(he’s already hinting at this), force a tie with a party-line vote, and Cheney will break the tie. Ipso facto, GOP control of the Senate once again. Lieberman can join Benedict Arnold and Vidkun Quisling.

By: J McGinnis

J McGinnis — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 19:28:49 +0000

I don’t believe that Al Quida, Iran and other militant Islamic groups are out to get us. We provoked them by stepping on their turf and involving ourselves tight with Israel. Until this (Palestine & Israel) is resolved, we will continue to be a target. The government refuse to see the obvious.

By: Sol

Sol — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 18:37:39 +0000

There’s National Guard and Reservists in their 50’s and 60’s over in Iraq. If these maggot bastard politicians want more troops in Iraq I suggest they send themselves. They’re not too old to get shot at.