Comments Posted By B.Poster
Displaying 171 To 180 Of 397 Comments
"Ron Paul should not be invited to any more Republican debates..." I diagree. His contention is American foreign policy has played a role in why the terorists are attacking us. He is spot on. Our interference in Iran in the 1950s, the sanctions against Iraq, and the military bases we have built on land that the Arabs view as holy land have all played a role in why they would be motivated to attack us. This is undeniable. I think it is also undeniable that the inherent nature of Islam, as practicecd by our enemies, also plays a role here, as well.
This is a debate that we need to have. I'm sorry that the moderators shut down that portion of the debate by changing the subject. Ron Paul needs to participate in more of these debates so that this debate can be continued. I think it would be good for the American people for that debate to be continued. The American foreign policies that Dr. Paul brings up needs to be evaluated within their context. The inherent evil nature of the brand of Islam that is practiced by our enemies needs to be discussed. It seems to me that the evil nature of the brand of Islam that our enemies practice along with a variety of American foreign policy adventures that clearly seem to have been unjust and wrong have all combined to create a "perfect storm" of sorts. For pointing out how the sometimes less than perfect American foreign policy has influenced our enemies, within a group of die hard Republicans took courage on the part of Dr. Paul. I applaud him for doing so.
To Dr. Paul, I would say "hang in there." More Conservatives are with you than you realize. You alone have had the courage to stick to the traditional Conservative position on most areas. For this, you deserve a great deal of credit and I hope you get the nomination. Unfortunately I'm not holding my breath waiting for this to happen. I suspect the Repbulicans will try and shut you down. Do not be intimidated. While I do not agree with you on every thing, your stance for limited government is just what we need. Please continue to fight the good fight.
Watching the debates and watching the campaigns of all of the candidates makes for great theater. It is VERY entertaining, however, we CANNOT allow ourselves to become distracted. The enemies we are facing in Iraq and Afghanistan pose a major national security threat to the United States. This is going to be the case no matter who wins the Presidential race and it will continue to be the case no matter who controls Congress after the next election.
When Dr. Paul said, to roughly paraphrase, "we need to talk to our enemies," "we need to trade with them," etc. and goes on to point how we are now doing this with Vietnam and how we are now on friendly terms with this country who we once fought a long bloody war against, he articulately stated the exact foreign policy that most of the American people want. Most Americans will also agree with him, when he said the US should "avoid entangling alliances." What the so called "hawks" in the Republican party do not seem to grasp is Dr. Paul's stances with reagrds to American foreign policy are more in line with what the American people want than with what they want.
The challenge to the "hawks" is to formulate a foreign policy that has a chance to work and that will be accepted by the American people. The current polices in Iraq, especially, are unsustainable and they are probably unworkable. Even if we could maintain our force levels there or increase them, the American people will not support it. The "hawks" wo make up the so called "right" will need to find another policy. I have already suggested withdrawing from the Middle East and securing the homeland. Most Americans do not want our troops in the Middle East and their citizens do not seem to want our troops in their countries either. The sooner we are out of Iraq the better.
From what I saw last night, not only did Ron Paul win the debate, he should get the Republican party nomination. If the Repbublicans expect to win the next election, they will need to out flank the Democrats on the Iraq war and on impeachment. They should take the lead on getting US troops out of Iraq and on getting this President impeached.
Comment Posted By B.Poster On 16.05.2007 @ 14:56
NEWT INCHES CLOSER TO THE PRECIPICE
Newt can run, if he wants. If things continue as they are, no Republican has a chance to win. It is essentially a two person race between Barack Obama and Hilliary Clinton. In other words, who ever gets the Democratic nomination should coast to victory. Right now Hilliary Clinton and Barack Obama appear to be the front runners for the Democratic Party nomination. As things stand right now, Rudy Giuliana is the only Republican who has any chance at all of winning the Presidential election. Even his chance is a very slim one.
Comment Posted By B.Poster On 14.05.2007 @ 23:01
I don't see how the US can contain a "spill over" from an Iraqi Civil War. We either should decide which faction best represents our interest and support it or we should get out entirely. Personally I'm for getting out entirely. In any event, the American people are not going to support a continued large US troop presence in Iraq. Even if they would, the Iraqi governemnt will probably be asking us to leave soon.
I don't know what we can offer Iran, Turkey, or Syria. It is very likely that they would expect us to use whatever leverage we have with Israel to get the Israelis to sacrifice their interests. The bottom line is the Iraq invasion was poorly executed or it was bad policy from the beginning. It would be unethical for us to attempt to sacrifice Israeli interests because we made a mistake and now we need to save face.
Comment Posted By B.Poster On 14.05.2007 @ 09:14
Tom
I wish I could share your optimism that we will in fact win the war. Your analysis on the Shia I think is basiclly sound. The Sunnis have tried to exterminate them and the Americans have been either unable or wnwilling to provide them with basic security. This means they have had to turn to the militias and to Iran. The Shia are a little closer to Iran than I would like. If we can provide basic security to the Shia, we can probably draw them closer to us and less close to Iran.
Comment Posted By B.Poster On 13.05.2007 @ 22:15
Manning and Richard Bottoms:
Great posts!! I wanted to do the things both of you suggested from the very beginning. Islamic terrorists and the Conmmunists allies in Russia and China are an existential threat to our country. Many people just don't understand that. We need to fight this war to win or not fight it at all. If we choose not to fight at all, we might as well say hello to our new Islamic rulers. When we finally realize what is at stake, I think we will fight vigorously. I just pray that when we finally do realize that we are in a fight for the survival or our country it will not be to late to win.
Comment Posted By B.Poster On 13.05.2007 @ 19:16
Ricahrd
It is not Clinton's fault that GW Bush did not increase the size of the Armed Forces in 2003. There is no way this could be his fault. He was not in office at this time. I never remember blaming Bill Clinton for any of this. If I did, it never was my intention. We hve about 2,000,000 troops in the Army and the Reserves. About 160,000 are in Iraq and Afghanistan. We could get more troops, if we wanted them but we don't want to do it. Even if you are right and we could not get the troops even if we wanted to right now, the Democrats and Republicans should be working on enlarging the Armed Forces now. I don't see a serious effort by either party to propose a draft or to significantly increase the size of the military.
It seems to me that the best course of action would be to withdraw from Iraq and regroup for the next round that our enemies will force upon us whether we like it or not. I just hope and pray we have time to build up the necessary forces before our enemies bring the fight to us.
I think we should have immediately mobilized for war after the attacks of 911 then we could have all the troops we needed by now but this was not done. For this I blame GW Bush primarily, however, both Republicans and Democrats bear much blame. To me this is a non partisian issue. I simply want results. Our country faces an existential threat and I don't see either party making a serious effort to deal with this. The Democrats should immediately cut funding for Iraq.
This would force the President to bring all of our troops home. If things go as I think they will, this will give us some breathing room. We can build up our forces. We will make our stand on our home land. For this to work, better border security is a must. Also the Democrats should immediately begin impeachment hearings against the President, however, they should not allow the country to become distrated, as we face an existential threat that is every bit as dangerous as the enemies we faced during WWII.
Since this Commander has finally pointed out that we need more troops, this may give the Demorats and Republicans in Congress incentive to get the ball rolling and get these brave men and women all the resources they need.
Comment Posted By B.Poster On 14.05.2007 @ 20:49
I'm glad the Commander has asked for more troops. I'm not sure who the cadre of yes men and women were and are but in any event I'm glad the general is asking for more troops. I agree that GW Bush as well as the Republicans are finished, however, winning the war is more important. If having the Republicnas be finished is what it will take, then so be it. The military commanders need to be able to speak their mind on what they need. I'm glad he is speaking up. I hope more of them will speak up.
Comment Posted By B.Poster On 14.05.2007 @ 12:38
It is good that American troops will soon be out of Iraq. While Islamic terrorists do pose a threat to the US, they are not the most dangerous security threats to the US. The most dangerous security threats to the US are from Russia and China. Unfortunately the wars in Irq and Afghanistan seem to have caused us to lose sight of the most dangerous threats to the US. With American troops and military assets not tied up in Iraq we should focus more on the more dangerous threats of Russia and China.
Comment Posted By B.Poster On 11.05.2007 @ 13:44
"THE RICK MORAN SHOW" LIVE (UPDATE)
Rick
Hang in there!! You are one of the best bloggers on the internet. I have been reading your blog for about two years, I think. One mistake in two years, that is a very good track record!! I would like to do as well as you have. Please continue the excellent work!!
Comment Posted By B.Poster On 3.05.2007 @ 00:36
Richard Bottoms
I agree with every thing you wrote, however, I would add that we need to develop the billions of oil and gas reserves we have in our country that have not been developed. This combined with tougher mileage standards on automobiles would go a long way.
Comment Posted By B.Poster On 29.04.2007 @ 22:56
