Is the occupation over?

Was the war itself just?

Was the occupation effective under Rumsfeld (the economist Defense Secretary)?

Has reconstuction been completed?

Why is Iran so powerful in the region now?

How many Iraqi refugees are still in exiled limbo?

How many Iraqi’s are still dying?

Has reconciliation taken place?

Why are the Blackwaters, Triple Canopys and Khaki tyoe mercenary contractors still required in Iraq at an exobinate amount of taxpayers funds?

Why hasn’t the President withdrawn our troops?

Why do Republicans want to stay in Iraq for 100 years?

Where are the WMD of the “smoking gun in the form of a nuclear cloud at?

Where is Osama? Al Qaida?

If Bush would have listened to Gen Shinseki(sp?) would we have had these troubles?

If it is a “winner” then why will troops be in a country the size of Califonia after the President leaves office? And why has it taken so long?

How many American lives does it cost for the Oil Companies to call it a “Win”.?

My quess is that they would pumping a lot more oil and making a lot more money. In short, Bush would have been more successful to leave Saddam in power.

Is there no limit these evil bastards will go to?

They have tried every which way to make this illegal act WE did into a positive political gain. I have asked this question for 4 years… What is success in Iraq? What is winning?

WE, US have lost monetarily, our minds and our credibility.

Part of that 79 billion they have in the bank came from our pocketbooks when we bought gasoline. Does that make more sense?

How do their deaths figure in “the hope of a self-governing democracy of an Arab world in the Middle East”?

If that was the goal for this war, why did Bush choose Iraq? Why not Kuwait? Q’atr? Saudi Arabia? Why aren’t there self-governing democracies there?

But hey, if Republicans want to run on that platform in November, I’m all for it!

the rest of what you wrote, yes… but the part I quote above doesn’t make any sense to me.

And that is the way it will be until we are gone and they are forced into a position where they have to start making some compromises. We can’t do it for them and we have no right to dictate to them. It’s time for us to leave and let them work it out for themselves. I would have said that we should pay them some reparations for the damage we have caused, but after seeing how rich they have gotten off the high price of gasoline we are paying, I think they have already been paid.

I can’t believe that Cornyn said that. We invaded Iraq and are currently occupying it by force. And somehow this comes down to “negotiations between two sovereign powers”. I have news for you Mr. Cornyn, Iraq will not be sovereign until the US stops occupying their country. This is why they want a timetable for us to leave. We are an occupying force.

And all along I thought he was the 10/6 price tag in the hat!

¶ AIO

hey there toaster! I was going to say that’s a bit harsh, but given that McCain seems to have what might be described as a predominantly ‘reptilian brain’ I;d say you aren;t projecting your fears all that much.

The elections planned for this fall are in jeopardy and how I wonder how are they going to be run anyway when Sunni and Shia militias control their respective Baghdad ghettos?

Who the hell would want to go against the wishes of their local militia on whom Ahmad Q Public currently depends? It would surely either be “vote this way”, or no voting at all.

As we’ve seen Al Sadr has strength in Basra and the Iraqi forces had to rely on US support to end up with a stalemate at best.

The Iraqi ‘government’ is nothing more than a bureaucracy with offices and budgets, but without the political or physical authority to do anything more than to provide for their own survival.