Re: "When a government takes the country to war on lies and misinformation,"
On that note, what exactly is the "mission" in Iraq? I thought is was to remove Sadam, which I thought we did.
Excellent question. Removing Saddam was a big part of it. The catch phrase was "regime change". You're right; we did that fast. There was never any doubt. If that's all it was, we'd have been home a long time ago, and almost 2,000 kids would still be alive.
However, that was the easy part. The other part was to "restore democracy". The theory was that if we could get a democracy established in a Muslim country in the Middle East, and get it to work, it would serve as an example for the rest of the Middle East and beyond. The idea was that once folks saw how great Iraq had become, they would want to be like them. That would solve all our problems.
In the beginning, our administration had a very simplistic view of how this would work. We would removed Saddam, and the grateful Iraqis would throng to the streets bearing flowers for our troops, laughing and dancing with joy that the benevolent United States had liberated them. Think of France in WWII as we tossed out the Germans and you'll have a fairly accurate picture of the way Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Cheney and others thought it would be. It was to be such a happy scene that our boys would be home in no time, all of them. Heck, the administration didn't even bother with body armor or armor plating; they weren't going to need it.
There were folks outside the administration who were predicting that it would take more troops, more money and more time than the administration was projecting. They were ignored -- at least one general was fired for saying so. There were folks who were predicting that our actions would inflame the Muslim world, creating even more recruits to terrorism. They were ignored. They were also wrong -- it has become much, much worse than they predicted.
Even though this administration was elected on a platform that included strong opposition to "nation building", they abandoned their own principles and waded into a task to rebuild Iraq in a new image. They were going to have a new Constitution, free elections, a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage (some of you may be too young to remember that campaign phrase from Herbert Hoover, just before the Great Depression). They thought it would be easy. They expected Iraqi oil money to pay for it.
None of the above, with the exception of a couple of sarcastic exaggerations, is my idea. It was all reported at the time. There were Congressional hearings. There were news conferences. Mostly, I watched C-Span where there is no political commentary and no explanations -- just a camera pointed at the speaker, listen to what he says and make up your own mind. Therefore, I wasn't influenced by CNN or Fox News or any other flavor. I just listened, and what I'm writing here is what I heard and saw.
Well, of course, it hasn't worked out very well for the administration. It has cost us vastly more money than they projected, yet they stubbornly hold on to their tax cuts and throw the Nation further into debt. It has taken much more time than was predicted. Almost all of their excuses, starting with WMD, have turned out to be empty. Not only was Saddam not the threat they said he was, it looks like there's a possibility he may win his trial! Instead of flowers and smiles, we are greeted every day with roadside bombs. Almost as many troops have been killed as the number lost in 9/11. Tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis have already been killed. The insurgents are still pouring into the country. Instead of helping us win the war on terrorism, there are more terrorist recruits than ever. We have really ticked them off with our desecration of Muslim ideals, in the Abu Graib prison, in Guantanamo Bay, and in the general attitudes of many of our troops regarding "towel heads". We have violated our own principles by pre-emptively invading a nation that had not directly harmed us. The Constitution they developed is looking like it will foster a religious government similar to the Ayatollahs in Iran, and that Iran will have a great deal of influence in the "new" Iraq. This will likely lead to a lessening of Democracy after we pull out.
In other words, the entire gig is one massive SNAFU.
I do NOT advocate pulling out at this moment. I think we have to do something to pull this iron out of the fire, and retrieve as much benefit from the sacrifices of our young lives as possible.
I believe that the people running this war have less of a clue how to do that than we do. At the very least, EVERYONE involved in starting this war and running it in such a piss-poor manner must GO. Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Perle, Rice, Cheney, Liddy, Rove, ALL must be fired immediately. Bush must then reach out to members of both parties who can help him retrieve something. There are capable people on both sides who have been shut out by this administration, while they depend on their cronies and old hacks. If Bush does this NOW, he may save his legacy, and actually appear to finally be a President who takes decisive action on his own.
If he does not do it, I can see no other hope than Impeachment and removal from office. It is absolutely apparent that these people have totally screwed up this war, and must go. Then, we can devote ourselves into turning the situation around. I believe that good, intelligent people, even from the Republican party, can do the job once they get rid of these assholes.
I am NOT a yellow dog Democrat. I am NOT a far-left liberal. I can support a Republican team that has the best interests of the Nation at heart instead of some vague, undeclared agenda of their own. My entire premise is that these people have screwed up; that they have been screwing up with the possible exception of 9/11 and Afghanistan (and I worry that they're screwing that up), and they must be replaced. When the coach keeps losing, you fire the coach and get a new one.
Personally, I'd throw a "Ferrikhan" at you. 
I think he is at the opposite fringe as Duke. I'd think you would have a hard time painting either of them as mainstream.
