There is FAR more to this Iraq mess than meets the eye, there are agendas on both the US and UK side that are unhealthy for a peacful planet !!!
And as for Afganistan, that seems to have petered out to inaction since they got their teeth into Saddam instead !!
Vietnam was an unmitigated disaster, Granada was another, and the way things are going Iraq is going to be another.
One cannot compare Hitler with Saddam, they are nbot even in the same game, let alone league !
Saddam and the Iraq people posed no threat to the west, other than sitting on stockpiles of oil that our countries want. He Never had WOMD and that is the ruse with which we were duped !
If you think its OK for our leaders to lie to us so that they can stay in control, then you vote for them :o)
Personally I would rather have a leader I can trust !
LOL GToad - It was very late and I was (am ) sicker than a dog so I guess I got carried away. I don't say much about politics but put my 2 cents worth in every now and again, just to balance out the whole discussion.
Tim - My political views are much different than yours, but when I hear you espouse your views I honestly listen and concider them. Why? Because I respect your mind and your heart. You have been a real friend to me and many here. (Now when Dax started with his political post I will have to admit genuine irritation).
Discussion is good. I have strong convictions which I do not shy away from, but am always open to here others and modify mine.
Double strength condoms? Do they make them out of Kevlar?
I did not mean to aquate the situation to Hitlers Germany. And this war was never against the Iraqi people. By the way I once met the most incredibly beautiful woman from Iraq. She was well educated and spoke perfect English with a distinct Brittish accent. ...........Saddem may not have been able to take over the world. But the extremist muslims sure will if we let them. And that what this is really about. Not oil. Thats what Chechnya is about and Kosova and the West Bank/Isreal. That is behind many of the worlds hot spots today. Of course in the west it has become politically incorrect to say this so I dont know how we can win. One thing I like about the Russians is they dont seem to have a problem calling it like it is. They know they have a muslim problem and are not afraid to speak of it. They are not PC like the rest of us and I hope they don't become that way. The only reason Russia does not support our efforts in Iraq is because the war disturbed their contracts with Iraq. The same thing with FRance. .....My fingers are tired..
That group has estimated that Iraq owes its member countries $42 billion with the largest portions of that debt held by Russia, Japan, France and Germany. Estimates put Iraq's total foreign debt at around $120 billion.
What is the most interesting part of this, which should not be too surprising is:
The United States is looking to both the 184-nation IMF and its sister lending agency, the World Bank, to provide loans covering a significant portion of the cost of rebuilding Iraq's wartorn economy.
Looks like everyone will be paying at least part of the bill on this.
"Estimates put Iraq's total foreign debt at around $120 billion."
Once Mr Bush hands them his bill for "freeing them" you can quadrupple that and add 4 times as much again !!
The UK is still in debt to the US for WW2 !! And it will be over 100 years before Iraq can even hope to see their debt to the US fall, Im sure some arrangement can be come to regarding a few million gallons of oil to set againt the debt ;o)) *synical grin*
The United States is looking to both the 184-nation IMF and its sister lending agency, the World Bank, to provide loans covering a significant portion of the cost of rebuilding Iraq's wartorn economy."
And in so doing reduces Iraq as a country to working for the US to pay back what they have caused them to owe them :o)
I vote we bomb somewhere thats got money already next time ;o)) That way we can just hand then an ivoice at the end of the war, and collect the due amount in 30 days :o))
Thank you Ens, I have strong opinions also, but I would never fall out with Anyone here over them, they are my opinions, and if I cannot agree with others opinions about any subject then we wil have to agree to differ on those points, it wont ever make me quit here, or dislike anyone for their opinions, I just accept that not everyone thinks alike, and I too read ALL that is said, and some of what has been said I partially agree with, but there is much that I can never agree with, to expect everyone to agree on all points at all times would be terribly nieve of me, which I am certainbly not :o)
"Scott- You're endless source of statistics and information. How do you come up with this stuff so fast. You're a master surfer!"
If he is as good at finding good women as he is at finding stat`s he should do better than all of us put together :o)))
Saudi will never be "attacked" they willingly give up their oil for financial gain, its only the countries that dont want to divvy up that wil incurr the aggression to get their oil out from under them !!
Siberia has all the oil huh !!
I wonder if Natash`s Mum would mind me drilling in her back garden ? ;o)))
Not neccesarily. My pickiness has netted me very little in that regard. However, I've always felt "How can you be too picky with the rest of your life"?
No absolute answers for that, but just my general stance.