"If the war had gone extremely well, you wouldn't have this controversy"

[BurtWorm]

"There's a daisy chain that stems from the fact that no weapons of mass destruction have been found," said Richard N. Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations.

"Iraq was at core a war of choice, and extraordinarily expensive by every measure - human life, impact on our military, dollars, diplomatically," said Mr. Haass, a former senior State Department official under President Bush. "If this war was widely judged to have been necessary along the lines of Afghanistan after 9/11, I don't believe you would have this controversy. If the war had gone extremely well, you wouldn't have this controversy."


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/23/politics/23strategy.ready.html?ei=5094&en=02541192f263d1a0&hp=&ex=1130040000&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print


The way the war was sold--I don't care if it went well and cost less--it should never have happened and deserves all the controversy it's gotten. It's the dishonest way the war was sold and forced through that was the problem. If bureaucrats like Richard Haas don't see that campaigns for war like the one the Bushists waged with Iraq--not just the wars themselves, as evil as they are--are the problem, we're going to keep having these wars. There's something fundamentally wrong with a system that makes it easy for a corrupt, illegitimate administration to make war as it pleases. It's a chilling thought that if it had gone well, they would have gotten away with it. But it's probably true that they would have.

[against all enemies]

1. And if pigs could fly...

[acmavm]

2. Even if Iraq would have become the 52nd state, when word got out

about the lies and deception would still have made it in the eyes of the world THE most corrupt and cynical action ever taken by one nation against another.

[deadparrot]

3. The war would never have gone "extremely well."

That's what these idiots don't understand. By simply invading, we created a new generation of terrorists. Finding WMDs wouldn't have changed the deadly insurgency, the civilian outrage, etc.

:banghead:

[phiddle]

4. It could NOT have gone well,

given the false pretenses, the lack of wide international support, the lack of planning and the incompetence of those involved.

[SmokingJacket]

Or as my mother used to say, If my uncle had boobs

he'd be my aunt.

[LynnTheDem]

18. LOL!!!

Lovin' it! :rofl:

[greatauntoftriplets]

5. This deluded dupe thinks the Afghan war went well????

So why have so many warlords and Taliban members been elected to the Parliament so recently?

The Iraq war/invasion/whatever (there has been debate over terminology on DU recently so I am covering my bases) has been a mistake and a trainwreck waiting to happen from the time the thought formed in the mind of some bloodthirsty (read money-hungry) neocon who has never been under fire.

[Fovea]

6. And if peeing in a light socket was a good idea

you wouldn't need urinals, or light bulbs...

[knowbody0]

7. sending the military into bagdad

unprotected from "WMD's" should be proof THEY never believed in them.

[LynnTheDem]

19. EXACTLY! And you're one of the very few I've seen say that.

That and bush's ignoring THREE TIMES the IAEA telling him he must secure the yellowcake at Tuwaitha.

Yeah SURE bush was concerned about "WMD". My ass.

[tularetom]

8. "If it went well" was never a possibility

given the false premise on which it was based and the keystone kop management of the process. The only way it would have been a success was if the troops had been brought home immediately after the fall of Saddam. When bush was goaded by the neocons into turning it into a dick measuring contest it was doomed to failure.

[wtmusic]

11. and so many knew it beforehand

Killing 100K people for a vague or nonexistent reason will never sit well, especially with the families of those killed.

This seems to be a hard concept for some to grasp.

[WiseButAngrySara]

9. I am in complete agreement with you on this one. What do you define as

"extremely well?" One death is too many for an illegal war that was justified with lies. What do you say to the first or last person who dies? His argument is based on faulty logic, like Cindy Sheehan has so eloquently pointed out the logical fallacies of B* remark that 'we have to continue the war, so the ones who have died will not have died in vain...' They have ALL died in vain in this war, as there was no justification for it.

[gratuitous]

10. Haass is, in a word, delusional

This war wasn't going to go well, "extremely" or otherwise. Millions of us knew it, and marched in the streets to tell this administration exactly that. The only way the invasion could have gone well would have been to hit lottery odds. Let's face it, if you buy a lottery ticket, you're not going to win the whole thing. Theoretically, it's possible, but it's just flat not going to happen. Even if you clap your hands real hard and believe with all your might that fairies exist. Try getting a loan from the bank based on your lottery ticket and your firm belief, and you'll see what I mean.

Haass is an idiot.

[applegrove]

12. If the delusions had been true - oh boy - it would have been fun - a

virtual cakewalk.:sarcasm:

[Marr]

13. And if corporate America hadn't *wanted* the war, their media outlets

would've investigated the administration's excuses for invading Iraq.

[EstimatedProphet]

14. Absolutely agree

There is something wrong if the people don't understand that making war simply because we want to is wrong, and that it is acceptable to conquer a country so long as it is relatively easy.

[formercia]

15. If Fearless Leader hadn't stolen the election in 2000

we wouldn't be here either, and I would be a happy camper.

[Cha]

16. Imo, that's why it didn't

go so well, because it was based on lies and more lies from all the WHIGs, the corporate m$m media and little judy judy judy and they outed a CIA agent and Brewster Jennings to top it off.

[LynnTheDem]

17. Agreed BurtWorm BUT IF the Iraqis had greeted us w flowers & chocs

then the majority of Americans would have patted themselves on the backs and the steaming pile of bushit would have been swept away.

That's exactly what bush & Cabal were counting on.

[flyarm]

20. these jerks just remain so delusional!! they are now choking

on their freaking kool aide!:spray: :spray: :spray: :spray: :spray: :spray: :spray: :spray:

fly

[goodboy]

21. OK, so if I rob a bank and accidentally shoot a customer who turns

out to be a murderer and a rapist...

I'm a hero, and all is forgiven?

[Nay]

22. "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride."

[nookiemonster]

23. It failed by design.

Widespread chaos. Makes looting alot easier when no one is paying attention.

[UTUSN]

24. A Wingnut Said This Recently: That This Was Not the First or Only War

that was started by us under false pretenses, that there was the Mexican War and the Spanish-American War, but that it was needed for that kind of war to "go well, and this one (Iraq) isn't going well."

So that's the criterion, eh: End justifies the means.