How many troops did Bush The First send over to Iraq - wasn't it like 600,000?

[Rabrrrrrr]

That's what memory tells me, anyway - it was a total insane huge amount.

Why didn't we do that again this time? Why don't we - if we're gonna keep the war up in Afghanistan - just stack our troops up like cordwood and flood the place?

Seemed to work really, really well in the first Iraq war.

The one thing that Bush the First did that I could agree with. I didn't agree with the war itself; but given the decision to go to war, I applauded Bush The First's willingness to send in everything we had and make sure it got finished.

[HopeHoops]

1. And, unlike his idiot son, he respected the UN.

He could have taken out Saddam very easily, but that wasn't what the UN approved. He took a lot of heat for ending the war when the mission was ACTUALLY accomplished, but I give him credit for respecting the world community. Other than that, he was an asshole.

Oh, and ALL of his sons are idiots. I assume the specific one the OP references is obvious, but that still needed to be stated.

[Rhiannon12866]

5. He made a statement on that in 1996, on the 5th anniversary of the "first" Gulf War...

He said that the reason that he didn't take out Saddam when he had the chance was that "it would have destabilized the region and turned the Arab world against us..." But I guess his son wasn't listening... :grr:

[HopeHoops]

6. The shrub was too drunk to listen.

He must be really upset now that he has to pay for his own booze.

[Rhiannon12866]

8. That explains it.

I heard on good authority that he used to have a few beers with the Marines who guard the White House... :beer:

[HopeHoops]

9. Oh, the light stuff.

Do you have any idea what taxpayers spent on the shrub's alcohol over eight years?

[Rhiannon12866]

12. No, this is something I have not heard.

But between what I heard about the WH guards, the pretzel incident and the way he looked and sounded, I never doubted that he used liquid courage to help him get through the day... x(

[applegrove]

2. Ignore me. I misread the OP.

[hippywife]

3. I don't remember now but it was no where close to that

amount.

Whatya know, my memory is better than I thought. 150k was sticking in my mind:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multinational_Force_-_Iraq

[hippywife]

7. Oops! I misread it, too.

[FlyingTiger]

4. We only stayed for a few days in the first Iraq war.

We did just as "really, really well" this time when it came to destroying the Iraqi military. Occupying the country and installing a new government is a completely different task - one the first Bush specifically decided to NOT do, in part because his Secretary of Defense, some guy named Richard Cheney, suggested that it would quickly become a "quagmire."

[S n o w b a l l]

10. I was thinking 400K

According to this, that's right:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_invasion_of_Iraq#Invasion_force

[S n o w b a l l]

13. Well, ooops, I misread it too....

:dunce:

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

11. Delete

[KG]

14. heh.