In hindsight how do you feel about the U.S. (and 'allies') invading Iraq.

[Cujo]

The 'no what the fuck are you doing 'voices were drowned out in a hysterical paranoi over 9/11 WMD and general nuttiness.
That was 12 years ago the sane among us watched as the U.S. began the destruction of a once vibrant cosmopolitan basically secular country.
Admittedly Iraq had it's share of issues, (none of which affected the U.S. in any way)
But WTF?
Now 12 years later, looking at what has and is happening in the region how do you feel?
Personally I could see this coming all along and always thought, for MANY reasons, it was wrong and stupid if not outright evil.
What say you?

[DrB0b]

Is it only 12 years? Feels like forever.

[Boon Mee]

Hillary Clinton and a whole lota others voted for the I-Rak War and don't come back with some cockamammy bs it was because bush lied to them neither...they all had a look at the evidence.

[baldrick]

the invasion and removal of saddam was done ok

the rest of the nation building stuff should not have been organised by the dipsh1ts - it has been a clusterfcuk from the word go

[Horatio Hornblower]

Considering the fall of many countries now,its a relevant discussion.

[Black Heart]

Is this thread in response to Jeb Bush's "misunderstanding" the question.

[Storekeeper]

Personally I could see this coming all along and always thought, for MANY reasons, it was wrong and stupid if not outright evil.
What say you?

I'm guilty and willing to admit it. Didn't care about the WMD issue though I just saw Saddam as pure evil and thought we were freeing the people from an evil, despicable human rights abusing dictator. But, the USA sucks at nation building and made a bad situation worse.

[Loy Toy]

But, the USA sucks at nation building and made a bad situation worse.

Exactly and when you consider the loss of life (ongoing), waste of taxpayer's funds and brutality of it all Bush, Cheney and the rest of those wicked cronies have a lot to answer for.

A complete and utter failure.

[Cujo]

Hillary Clinton and a whole lota others voted for the I-Rak War and don't come back with some cockamammy bs it was because bush lied to them neither...they all had a look at the evidence.

What 'evidence'?

[Cujo]

the invasion and removal of saddam was done ok

How on earth do you determine that it was done 'ok'.
That it was done at all was insane.
It was a disastrous move. Why was it necessary in your mind?

[Norton]

the invasion and removal of saddam was done ok the rest of the nation building stuff should not have been organised by the dipsh1ts - it has been a clusterfcuk from the word go

Coalition banning experienced Ba'ath party members from holding government jobs was the biggest mistake. Result, a bunch of inexperienced new government administrators with no clue how to run a nation and a widening of the sectarian gap which to this day plagues Iraq.

[baldrick]

How on earth do you determine that it was done 'ok'.

the seppo military and others did the job quite well - it was the political manoeuvrings and corruption after that has really bought us to this point

afganistan has been fcuked up much the same way

[Black Heart]

I put this up before.

It's worth another look. Cheney called it 21 years ago.

[Norton]

Cheney called it 21 years ago.

He was right but should have listened to his wise advice back then.

[harrybarracuda]

Cheney called it 21 years ago.

He was right but should have listened to his wise advice back then.

He didn't have the fucking dollar signs in his eyes then though, did he?

[Boon Mee]

Cheney called it 21 years ago.

He was right but should have listened to his wise advice back then.

He didn't have the fucking dollar signs in his eyes then though, did he?

And he didn't have those so-called dollar signs in his thoughts after the only qualified company to do the job - Halliburton, was called in.

He's a Patriot. Something you'd not recognize obviously...

[Norton]

He's a Patriot.

Call him what you like but he was right on about invading Iraq. "A disaster".

[Boon Mee]

He's a Patriot.

Call him what you like but he was right on about invading Iraq. "A disaster".

You know, it's interesting how history seems to be re-written these days.

From HRC on down, the prevaling thought was to get rid of Saddam.

Then, when things turned to shit, oh no! It's all Dubya's responsibility.

[harrybarracuda]

Cheney called it 21 years ago.

He was right but should have listened to his wise advice back then.

He didn't have the fucking dollar signs in his eyes then though, did he?

And he didn't have those so-called dollar signs in his thoughts after the only qualified company to do the job - Halliburton, was called in.

He's a Patriot. Something you'd not recognize obviously...

Another traitor and in his case he has the blood of thousands of American service men and women on his hands (and some from that bloke he shot while hunting).

[Boon Mee]

Cheney called it 21 years ago.

He was right but should have listened to his wise advice back then.

He didn't have the fucking dollar signs in his eyes then though, did he?

And he didn't have those so-called dollar signs in his thoughts after the only qualified company to do the job - Halliburton, was called in.

He's a Patriot. Something you'd not recognize obviously...

Another traitor and in his case he has the blood of thousands of American service men and women on his hands (and some from that bloke he shot while hunting).

They're all traitors to your skewed mind, eh, Hairy?

From George Washington on down, any of them who went up against the tyrant is a traitor?

Was Gerry Adams a traitor?

[Norton]

From HRC on down, the prevaling thought was to get rid of Saddam.

Then, when things turned to shit, oh no! It's all Dubya's responsibility.

Not from my point of view. Was a team effort. Dubya, Congress, media and the public. Get rid of Saddam with no thought given to "what then". As said above. A cluster fuck.

[Boon Mee]

From HRC on down, the prevaling thought was to get rid of Saddam.

Then, when things turned to shit, oh no! It's all Dubya's responsibility.

Not from my point of view. Was a team effort. Dubya, Congress, media and the public. Get rid of Saddam with no thought given to "what then". As said above. A cluster fuck.

That's right, Norton, but when things started going south, everyone who used to be on the Good Ship Adios Saddam turned against Dubya.

[pseudolus]

turned against Dubya.

It wasn't Dubyas war. Anyone who holds anything against this moron is daft. Its like shouting at a barman for closing the bar, when all he had done was followed the orders of his owners and bosses.


Iraq nets handsome profit by dumping dollar for euro | Business | The Guardian

Sunday 16 February 2003 01.55 GMT

Iraq nets handsome profit by dumping dollar for euro

A bizarre political statement by Saddam Hussein has earned Iraq a windfall of hundreds of million of euros. In October 2000 Iraq insisted on dumping the US dollar - 'the currency of the enemy' - for the more multilateral euro.

The changeover was announced on almost exactly the same day that the euro reached its lowest ebb, buying just $0.82, and the G7 Finance Ministers were forced to bail out the currency. On Friday the euro had reached $1.08, up 30 per cent from that time.

Almost all of Iraq's oil exports under the United Nations oil-for-food programme have been paid in euros since 2001. Around 26 billion euros (£17.4bn) has been paid for 3.3 billion barrels of oil into an escrow account in New York.

The famous picture beloiw was taken on On May 1, 2003, the day that the US forced the broken IRaq to start trading in USD again.



Iraq OIl Trading in USD again? Check.
Warning to other countries not to threaten the PetroDollar? Check.
Need to set light to oil wells again and pretend Saddam did it? Nope - not this time.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

[Pound Hound]

And he didn't have those so-called dollar signs in his thoughts after the only qualified company to do the job - Halliburton, was called in.
He's a Patriot. Something you'd not recognize obviously...

damn dude....

you like that Chenny/Bush bukkake huh? feels good!

the only company qualified to do the job?

here is a quick story about a man who was secretary of defense... he thought that it would be cheaper for private companies to provide military logistics. something our military has done on its own for a very long time. He and some soon to retire generals lobbied real hard to convince the complex this was true. well as soon as the plan was adopted, this patriot guy... well he quit as secretary of defense! and seeing as he had never held a job outside of government, had no actual business experience... was immediately offered a job as CEO at a small company... a subsidiary of Kellogg Brown and Root... they were small company that provided logistical support for oil drilling. with a little tweaking and hiring those retiring generals we talked about, somehow became specialists in military logistics! amazing story!

gets better....

this same guy found a way to get around those pesky laws forbidding American companies to do business with Iran! he found out if he moves a smaller subsidiary to Dubai he can provide oil logistical support to companies drilling in Iran! What a patriot!

it gets even better!

this goofy young Texas governor asks him to help him find a vice president! after searching and interviewing people all over America he determines that he is the best man for the job! That "all hat no cattle" Texan guy agreed! Amazing story huh?

well within 2 years of taking office there were two wars and lo and behold this little logistics company went from #45 on the list of government contractors to #1! wow, talk about luck! did I mention this patriot guy set up a system for no bid contracts? so over 20 billion worth of construction jobs, did I mention Halliburton was not a construction company? and wound up building half ass shit for top dollar (see barracks where American soldier was electrocuted in the shower). Or contracts half fulfilled... sorry I digress....

did you hear that it cost $100 for bag of laundry? how about the $10 cans of coca cola for the troops he loves so much... or the delivery drivers getting paid $50 K a month (and Halliburton charged the government $100 K for the drivers time)

no dollar signs in his eyes Moon Bee? you cannot be that stupid can you?

this guys ran America over and filled his pockets the whole way!

Patriot? not so much....

tell us again about how you love nice hot dick chenny facials...
do you close your eyes or keep them open to see the joy on dicks face?

[wasabi]

How do I feel, Bitter .