It seems that the war was sold to the public on the WMD facts. Just because we havent found them dosent mean they wernt there or are there now.

The fact is we liberated a counrty from an evil dictator.

In my opinion it was worth going over there if the only reason was to prove a point that if you dont do what we say we will make you by force.

Comon people what really matters is our safety and maintaining our way of life and with countrys like Iraq seeing that they can get away with things makes them get bolder and the U.S. get unsafe.

We took care of a problem and sent a messege to the rest. If they dont put their tails between there legs this administration will put them into submission one way or another to make sure America is safe.

Sometimes the only thing that hits home is an ARSWOOPIN and when these other Countrys that dont like us see the kind of ARSWOOPIN we can lay down they know they better do what we think is best or be prepared to get there ARS WOOPED. I think they realize now that they are dealing with Bush and not Clinton.

This president has guts and guts go along way. I am behind him 100%

The anti-war , anti-capitalism, anti-America crowd and the ACLU and like minded lawyers have tried to cripple this country by making the perpetrators the victims and the world of terrorism saw us as vulnerable which we were. I am glad we have an administration that can stand up to the badgering from the left and go after the sick vermin in the world who want to kill us all.

How about this. Truth, integrity, instilling trust in people.

I want to be sure you understand this, my son is in the military, was in Afganistan. My dad lost his hand in Korea, I was in the Air Force. I am NOT a dove. In fact I alway felt that war with Iraq was going to happen. But I wanted him to prove his reasons were more than rumors.

Let me ask you this. If it had been a Democrat in office telling you all of this an then going to war. Would you have supported him the way you are supporting Mr Bush?

The turth is the same no matter what party you belong to.

Well said RichG.

Your Damn right, it wouldnt matter who was in Office.

By the way I was a Marine for a while myself. Many of my fellow Marines that I served with were over there as well.

The sad truth is that the world isnt fair. There are people starving and in poverty. We have it good here and most governments hate us for that because the people in their countries want what we have but these governments wont let them have it.

Rich

Lots of times we tend to have different opinions on fish issues, but this time I stand with you 1000%!


Cowlitzfisherman

I dont believe for a second that we were lied to about the WMD. Sadam had lots of time to hide that stuff or smuggle it to other countries.

The biggest thing is that he couldnt account for it and that is enough threat in itself.

The thing that is different about Bush is that he makes our Military proud to serve. They do not question there service. They know that the President is behind them and they genuinally feel that he cares about them.

Bush has proven that the United States comes first and foremost above all.

For all the liberals out there the sad truth is your going to have to endure Bush untill 2008. Id be willing to wager that bush is going to get re ellected without a doubt!

Even though everyone dosent agree with his policies I truely believe bush has made most people proud to be an American agian. That is something we had lost as a whole with the prior administration.

If Bush had mentioned that Iraq was in the same shape that Germany was in during the Hitler movement then he would have had world support to fix Saddam.

However, if our intellegence is so poor that we have now given up the search for MDS's then we should be worried about our current administration being honest.

Did we do the right thing? In retrospect yes, but that still does not let the Bush admin off of the hook for perpetuating and/or exagerating the truth.

It wouldn't matter which president was in office, we just can't have a president deciding to create war whenever the thought comes to mind.

It is crazy how all the Democrats are squawking the same parrot-speak..and all you followers are chirping the same tune...OH WHERE ARE THE WMDs? Luckily I was relaxing and fishing all weekend and only got to see that pathetic Carl Levin for a minute or two on Meet The Press...they get this mantra going and it spreads like a disease. Pretty soon the faithful start in and now somehow, like magic, Bush made it all up and lied ...blah blah blah..what a lame bunch of BS...

With all the justifying out there, the "all muslims want christians dead", the
"evil dictator", the "they support terrorists", I had forgotten we were there to find WMD's.

So, they haven't found any, aye?

Bw,
I wish the deomocrat in office would of took the bull by the horns.Alot of innocent americans would still be enjoying happy birthdays in this wonderfull country.

Hay there Grandpa, I am NOT a Democrat. I am just as hard on them. I have a real problem with any one who just votes a straight party ticket. There is a person where I work that hated everything that Bob Dole said I meen every time he opened his mouth this guy hated what he had to say. But he still voted for him because of his party. To me that is nothing short of wasting your vote.

I can still recall this scene, Adlea Stevenson (sp) sitting in front of some enlarged pictures at the UN security counsul.

You see this, this is Cuba, you see this, this is Soviet misseles in Cuba.

And this was done when we did NOT have hands down the BEST military in the world. It took a lot of nerve to tip our hand like that. But the whole country knew what the story was.

And that is what I am talking about. I was more that willing to go along with what Pres Bush had to say. All he had to do was convince me.

Somebody shoot me please, I have this masochistic bent to attempt to engage folks in meaningful debate. Ah well, one convert at a time. Some questions for Rich (who I usually agree with on fishing issues), CFM, Grandpa, & others.

1. Is it important that Tony Blair is dying a slow death over in Britain because his constituents are holding him to account for the WMD issue?

2. Does it matter at all that GW's and by extension the US' credibility suffers? This time we virtually went it alone, will it matter if next time (Iran, Syria, N. Korea) we go it totally alone?

3. I thought GW was all about reestablishing integrity in the White House or are we just debating what the definition of is is?

4. Sadaam Hussein did account for the WMD (at least in his mind). He said he had none and then provided a mountain of documentation about their destruction. We chose not to believe him.

5. I thought "revisionist history" was supposed to be only practiced by the left. Can any of you honestly say that the Administration was not selling this war as being vital for the security of the US because of Sadaam's WMD?

My concern is integrity and credibility. Once again, is it good that Hussein is out of power? Absolutely!! Can we all have perfect 20-20 hindsight? Why not, this is America!! But, on a deeper level I am concerned about the Machievellian nature of this Administration. It's an old arguement - Does the end justify the means? If you gain what you want at the expense of your credibility - have you gained anything at all?

Rich G

Way to go Richie! I served under Regan and Bush Sr. It is good to see that those on active duty can once again hold their head high and be proud to serve in the US Armed Forces. I felt sorry for guys still in under Clinton. Let's see, his war was what. Oh yea, Haiti. Man, talk about disgraceful! Glad I wasn't there for that one!!!

So, are you finding any fishies over there??

Absolutely! Trouble is.... you don't seem to understand what the gain was supposed to be.

Either Eddie is too optimistic, or I am too pessimistic.

I have YET to see an administration (dems or reps) during my adult life that the same arguments could not be applied. I refuse to wear blinders regarding my own party or the other one. My party sucks but the other one sucks more.

"The end justifies the means?" I think you are looking at this from the wrong perspective. If you seek truth and understanding of THIS war, you need to stop being so naive, and lower your ideals. (temporarily of course)

I think this war was fought for several reasons and getting rid of WMD's wasn't it. Here is why I think Bush made the decisions he did in the order of importance (at least in my mind.)

1) Oil control and oil prices. Wanna bet prices go much lower 6 months before the election?
2) Kick starting the economy so his chances of re-election improve.
3) Show of military strength in the Middle East, and pressuring Israel to work on the Palestinian situation, to make him look good.
4) To gain a loyal military following that John McCain had amassed during the last election.
5) Revenge for mocking his old man.

Nope... not one of those reasons makes it appear as though we were in imminent danger. What will the majority of voters think? His credibility with the voter is what counts. :p Because in the end, isn't that what it's all about? If we are fat and happy, he gets re-elected.

Well said Marsha, don't really like the fat part though.

Marsha, I agree with you in regards to the real reasons that GW fought this war. I think that there is one more (and one that I would agree with BTW) of saying to the terrorists, "We are mad as hell and not going to take it anymore". The question that I am asking is not necessarily germane to the American voters. I believe that the fact that we won this war (although with 43 dead after the military action was over, I'm not certain that we can declare it totally won) is enough for the voter. I am truly concerned about our standing in the world community. We can go it alone and we can do that for some time into the future - But (and it is a big but), history has taught us that there is only one inevetable result from being the world's superpower. Eventually, you aren't the superpower anymore. And unfortunately, when that time comes, is when the chickens come home to roost.

Maybe I'm too idealistic, certainly I've been accused of being naieve - but I do believe that there is an inherent good in doing the right thing. Being honest, having your word mean something, thinking through issues logically and long-term are all values that I prize highly.

I agree with you about the political parties, I have no idea which party you call yours but it really doesn't matter. They all have a different agenda than mine. They want to win and retain power, I want them to do the right thing. Very rarely do the stars align and both desires will coexist. Oh well - just another example of perfection not occuring here on this planet. But I am hopeful about the next place I call home.

Now, I really am getting pretty deep.

Steve, I have always been proud of what I did and my dad and son. No matter who is the pres, our military should always hold there heads high. We owe them everything....