Raymond, I understand and sympathize with your sentiments, however the urge to turn Iraq into a glass desert would — a tactical win without risking our troops — be a profound strategic mistake. This pyrrhic smackdown would only serve to radicalize the rest of the world’s muslims, and cost us more unnecessary death & destruction in the long run, what with the millions living amongst the Western “heathen” nations.

This is the track that Russia took in fighting in Afghanistan and Chechnya with dismal results. If Bush had tried to fight as you suggest, I’m sure that the majority of our officer and NCO corp would have vehemently withdrawn support for the CINC. It is this kind of “kill ‘em all and let God sort ‘em” mentality that got Lt. William Calley and others court-martialed.

Instead of dealing with a muslim population that is 2 – 5% radicalized, we’d be dealing with 50% or more. How could we ever neutralize that? Granted that the relative few is bent on total subjugation or destruction of the world.

No, my friend, while it is indeed frustrating to see our guys and gals taking mortal hits on a daily basis, Dubya’s basic game plan is correct. The only way to win this war is to dig in, triangulate and eliminate the onesies-twosies radicals hiding amongst the general population in Iraq. That by necesscity means having to get in close enough to expose ourselves to their attacks. Rather than the zero-sum game that it appears, we are killing more of them faster than they can kill us.

The jihaii’s desperation is remarkably similar to the moonbat crowd. The further sKerry falls behind, the shriller the DNC and lefty 527s get. Likewise, the terrorists, by attacking innocent civilians and/or hiding behind women and children are not winning the hearts and minds of the very people they’re seeking to dominate.

On the flipside, our resolve is weakened, not by the coalition of the unwilling rather it is by the malfeasance of antiwar crowd and sKerry. As a nation, we gave Old-Europe & the UN their chance to provide constructive support, but the lack of it won’t ever stop us from going forward.

However, domestically, the sKerry, Teddy — his Sith Master — and the federation of BAMN’ers undermines our resoluteness by recklessly sowing fear, uncertainty and doubt into the political lanscape. For that sKerry and Kennedy need to be banished into political exile, but that’s up to Massachusetts voters.

Enough is enough Mr. President. COME ON! What is it going to take? You could have at least beat up Kofi Annan when you stood next to him at that UN photo op? Is there ANY fight left in the American people? Are you the harbinger of a new nation of spineless, yellow backed, week kneed panzies? You have these savages running around Iraq beheading American citizens in the name of their cult and YOU DO NOTHING!

For God’s sake man, pull everyone back. Pull the contractors out for now. START THIS THING BACK UP GEORGE! Fight the war man!! WIN THE WAR!!!

How many black eyes is the US going to have to take before you guys wake up and start doing your job? QUIT APPEASING these practitioners of this awful religious cult? It doesn’t take a blind man to see that we are fighting pure and unadulterated evil. Tell the UN to either do what they were formed to do or cut their funding and kick them out of our country? Can you at least do that?

Grow a spine Mr. President. I am losing faith in you and I am losing it FAST!!!!! You paid attention when we told you to stay away from that stupid weapons ban, so listen to us now. America is SCREAMING FOR VENGEANCE. You must act. I have already taken the Bush-Cheney stickers off of my vehicles. If you want me to put them back on, then give me a reason to be proud of you again.

If we don’t start leveling some Iraqi cities soon, I’m just going to stay home and watch the poll results come in as if I am watching Monday Night Football. John Kerry is capitalizing on your inaction. You now seem as soft and unwilling as he is. Are you a man or just another RINO?

DO YOUR JOB MR. PRESIDENT!!!!!!!!!!!!! Win the war.

Raymond Coleman
Tampa, FL

“Savagery” is, I admit, an imprecise word. I’ll come back to it in a minute. For now, I’ll replace it with “immorality.” My point is twofold. On the one hand, an American soldier doing his job (which also means killing the enemy) in a just war is NOT therefore guilty of immorality (which is what pacifists claim). On the other hand, there are moral rules governing killing in warfare that no soldier can violate without therefore becoming guilty of immorality, e.g., raping civilian women. That, by the way, is the sort of thing I had in mind when I used the word “savagery.” I wasn’t thinking of the fighting spirit, which, provided the cause is just, is NOT immoral.

Adrian

We don’t need slow progress when we can achieve a quick decisive victory. What we need is the erasure of some terrorist dens and staging areas posing as Iraqi cities and a VERY HIGH enemy bodycount achieved in a very short time.

As for President Bush now being a politician, that is true. Was I the only one wanting President Bush to turn towards Kofi Annan at the UN an punch him in his grill, then standing over his unconscious carcass telling him and the UN to descend into Hades and that the US was kicking them out of NYC and cutting their funding?

Maybe I was just dreaming.

Because the liberal minded are more open to change, the Democrats have a very good record supporting social change; womens suffrage, black civil rights, gay rights, etc.
While the conservatives are resistant to change and therefore Republicans have a poor record on social changes.

If you are a conservative black worker you have to decide which is more important to you, your social values, your civil rights, or your economic needs. Since the Democratic party satisfies two out of three of these interests for you, it would make logical sense to vote Democratic. But if you give much more weight to your conservative values due to religious beliefs, etc. then Republican candidates would make more sense for you.

This is a logical way to approach your vote by just plugging in YOUR economic and social interests. But don’t leave out the ‘Candidate’ factor. If one seems to have better leadership skills and is moderate in the economic and social issues, the ‘gut’ feel could outweigh the logical approach.

I will definitely get there.

As far as your argument goes, I’ll quote Arsenio Hall, who in 1992 said on his show “The Republicans say ‘we’re the party of Lincoln’. Excuse me, that was ONE HUNRED and THIRTY YEARS AGO!”. This is in response to the National Convention of that year. So the thinking of this stripe is, that the Republican solidarity with the Black voter is a thing long in the past.

My guess is, the low Black turnout means that they are just as non-plussed in their choices as we are (whites, Hispanics, etc)

And just to correct the record made by another poster, DEMOCRATS created the “Jim Crow” laws. Just like they sought to perpetuate the slavery institution, formed the Ku Klux Klan under Nathan Bedford Forest, created the literacy tests and poll taxes, physically raised the confederate flag over the SC state capitol (Sen. Fritz Hollings), elected an admitted Klan member (Sen. Robert Byrd) as the President of the US Senate Pro Tempore, allows its House members to racially segregate in exclusive caucuses and claim to want racial unity and created the poverty inducing and hope draining social welfare system (FDR) that has imprisoned Blacks.

The GOP was formed because it OPPOSED slavery. It was born in a split from the Wig Party who also supported slavery.

The GOP was created in direct opposition to the ONE MAJOR FALL BACK POSITION that ill-educated blacks use as their main weapon in making excuses for failure.

You’ve got me thinking. Interesting, but I think savagery is a strong term for us to even interject into a debate about PROFESSIONAL American military forces. I know you haven’t done that so don’t interpret that as an indictment or putting words in your mouth. I simply want to be clear that to win a war, soldiers MUST be allowed to do what they are trained to do, otherwise they lose morale, make mistakes, second guess their purpose, and lose faith in their commanders. A recipe for disaster.

Fighting IS savagery. You must be relentless with those who threaten who and what you are. Now Adrain, if you are saying that tactical action should not be “savage” in nature, then I respectfully disagree.

It is very clear however that your heart is in the correct place. Someone has to be there for end game balance and decompression of the force.