Mark Browne wrote:

Slinging rocks, when you don't know the full story is being
irresponsible. Slinging rocks and finding fault while not offering
workable alternatives is equally irresponsible.

Any moron can blame Bush for everything from the Iraq war, to the
economy, to the spreading of AIDS in Africa. But unless you can
elaborate the steps in which you can realistically correct these
problems, then you have no business weighing in on the situation. As a
manager I once knew said, "we don't need more problems, we need
solutions".

While some seem suprised that things would turn out the way they did, I have
been consitantly predicting that things would happen pretty much the way
they did.

One could chalk that up to "chicken little" pessimism.



Before the war started, while it was still possible to manage costs, I was
saying that we would have to pay large costs if we marched into a needless
war. I listed financal costs, requirements for long term comitments, loss
of life, failure of the Iraqis to embrace our vision for them, and possible
myhem while our forces are engaged. Fortunately, the last item has not come
to pass yet, but it is a very real possibility.

It will be a dark day in American history, when we back our of a just
cause because we're afraid of the costs. The former soviet union lost
the cold war, simply becasue they could not keep up with our technology,
from a finacial standpoint. They couldn't afford the war any more.

War is not cheap, war is not pretty, war in not fun. But sometimes war
is necessary. I believe that now is one of those times. The terrorists
belive (as you do evidently) that Americans will not go the long road,
becasue of financial worries. All they have to do to win this war, is to
outlast our resolve. Should we prove them right? What would the effect
of that do to our security in the long run?


Much of the current problems had been demonstrated in Vietnam. If you take
the time to look for the parralells and lessons of history it is very easy
to predict a protracted resistance.


We can draw similar parallels to Hitler and WW2. What do you think our
world would be like today, if we didn't get involved because we did'nt
want to invest the money?

After the war started, it was easy to see you it would go and the problems
that seem to have cought the administration by suprize. The costs were
already clear to anybody willing to do the math.

Once again, the cost should be secondary to the necessity.

Knowegable generals were
already predicting the need for large number of forces to pacify the
population. The best the right could come up with was to claim were were all
wrong, and that the leadership had some sort of special knowlge not
available to the general population.

We haven't been there for even 7 months yet. How many other major wars
have we ever won in as short of time? I think many of you guys are far
too impatient.

Hey, let's see. I've got a grand total of $1000 dollars back in lump sum
payments. I'm also paying about $800 a year less in federal taxes. That
means that I have more money than I had before. I'm not about to
complain. Better in my pocket, than the government's.

So your common sense can be bought for a few peices of silver; why am I not
suprized?

Nothing to do with common sense. I just feel that I am a better judge of
what to do with MY money, than the government is.

Dave