Support More Troops?

[doilooklost]

That means WIN by all means necessary!!!!!

We have the greatest military in the world and this could already be over. I have to ask how will we know we have won? Who will sign the peace treaty? Who has to say we surrender? I had a son [USMC] in Iraq when it started and one begging to go now.

Ok now you guys can start ripping me apart. Have fun and enjoy yourself. Remember Jesus is the way.

[ImaPK]

As I said on another thread, if they would have let the Generals run the war from the beginning I doubt that it would be the mess it is now...you can not run a war in Iraq from Washington...they tried in Vietnam and it didn't work...they tried in Korea and it didn't work...the Generals are "in country" and they know the situation minute by minute if they were allowed to react in "real time" and not have to wait on "approval" from Washington...while I feel sorry for any "collateral damage" to civilians in Iraq I would trade 100 civilian lives if it meant saving ONE American soldier...let the Generals react in "real time" to a crisis and not make them wait "for permission" to go in and "seek out" the rebels hours or even days later ...in our own Civil War Jeb Stuart was the greatest weapon the South had because he would "hit and run" which is exactly what the rebels are doing in Iraq because they know that our soldiers have to wait on Washington to "give permission" for any retaliation...if there is any doubt that the Generals need to be in charge think back to Gulf WarI...Storming Norman and Powell took DAYS to win that because the "handcuffs" were never put on them and they did what the military is trained to do...WIN WARS...and yes, I voted NO in the poll...we don't need more troops over there, we just need Washington to get their "hands out of the pot" and let the military do their job unhampered...BTW, I'm a six year vet in at the end of Nam through 1980 so it's not like I don't know what I'm talking about...GET THE POLITICIANS OUT OF THE WAR or we will be fighting on our doorsteps in the future...ok now the target's on me

[Dr. Ron]

Imapk, you are so right in all that you have said. ROE should not have handcuffs on them.

We have already won the WAR in Iraq. Saddam is dead! Very dead! Mission Accomplished.

What we have not done yet and it will take a long time to do it, is win against Radical Islam..........actually Islam in all it's variations. We have been fighting them covertly for over 20 years. The Beriut bombings, and on and on...........and we let the countries continue to exist! We need to not bomb Iraq back to the stone age but Iran , Syria, ect..........get em all. Every one that says "death to Americans". Take them out! Send a few Seals and SF in and rid the world of this blight!

We have negotiated with them since the Carter days and they have become emboldened in their attacks. Bush is the first one to stand up against them. His dad started it, but then the Great Commander in Chief, Bill Clinton set us back 20 years. GB knows how to get the job done! Why don't we let him and the guys with the guns do what they have been trained to do. People like Boxtar or whoever, need to have to do a hard day's work sometime to understand real life.

Help me down off this soap box!!!!!!!!! And I have to admit I am disappointed at the poll. It should have been 100% behind the President and the military.

[sweetpea]

We do live in America,we don't always have to agree with you.I voted for President Bush,but I will always feel this war was somewhat personal for him.We should never have gone to war with Iraq until we had taken care of business and finished with Afghanistan. I am not a political type person,but I can have my thoughts and vote the way I want to.

EB,was there,he probably knows a lot more about the war than we do,I agree with him,just because we voted differently than you it doesn't mean we don't support our troops,The President is not always right.

[EagerBeaver]

Beaver, I honestly respect your opinion, so I have to ask why you have come to the conclusion you have.

Sorry it has taken me a couple days to get to this. Work has been hectic and as a result of the snowstorm I have not been home.

Anyway the reason I came to the conclusion that we don't need more troops, is that I personally saw a good number of American and Iraqi troops who were doing absolutely nothing with their time or had jobs that didn't even really translate to supporting the war effort -- they were brought over because they were "part of the unit" and therefore the Army deemed them necessary.

That's the glaring problem with the Army today. By deploying units comprised of 30-40 people instead of soldiers individually (like the Air Force does), the Army has depleted its manpower and it's putting a strain on the other services. Since when before the Iraq war have Air Force logistics troops have to double as convoy security to take up for a depleted Army???

These manpower problems are the reason fewer and fewer people are joining the military today, and thus the reason the Army and Air Force are lowering their standards and criteria for people entering the service (and their recruiting goals as well). They're hurting for people and it's simply because people at the top didn't think it through.

Simply put the military doesn't need more troops in Iraq. We need two things: to make better use of the people we have there already, and the Iraqi army to pull their heads out, realize they are responsible for their own well-being, and stop using the U.S. as a crutch.

That being said I was proud to have served in Operation Iraqi Freedom. I loved my time in service and am proud of what I did. But that doesn't mean that I can't have a differing opinion my President and the powers-that-be at the top. I want us to get done with our business in Iraq and bring everyone home safely. Not babysit a civil war.

Additional manpower isn't going to solve the problem. However, better utilizing the people there already and revamping the war strategy would help things out a bit.

And yes, I do believe that President Bush wanted to finish the job his dad never did. Now that Saddam's dead, he's stuck with a huge mess over there -- a mess that not even the smartest of us could figure out anytime soon. That's where our old friend the atomic bomb comes in.

[sweetpea]

Thank God for you,Eager Beaver and other young men and women that are willing to protect our country.My son has never been in the military forces.but he serves our country as a police officer. It is his choice,(not his parents). I told someone that he goes to war everyday.

[Dr. Ron]

60 put the right context on several things about the NEED for more troops in Iraq. However, the idea is that we are going to have to task the entire force for effeciency over the next few years.

I do not begin to think that everyone would agree with me nor even the president in all his decisions. But in time of war it is incumbent on all the citizens to BACK the president and the military. Many people in and out of the military were against using the atomic bomb in Japan during WWII. Many still think it was a bad decision. But, America supported and backed the war effort whether they agreed or not. In the past 60 years we have found that the Atomic bomb was the right decision.

I am still disappointed that more Americans do not take the time to inform themselves better. This war is not about a particular country. It is about terrorism from a religious group. And it reaches into many countries. The president made that abundantly clear in his speeches after 9/11.

When Not if we invade Iran which is the epicenter of this whole mess, we will need to already have extra troops in the area. We have a great air base in Iraq from which to strike. We will now have enough men and material to do the job well.

My son is being activated in May. He is anxious to go and defend freedom. He has a new born daughter. This is personal to all of us who have children in the military.......and are in the military. We need all the help we can get.

NO this was not a personal thing with the president. Contrary to some people , GB did not attack the towers! Nor did he orchestrate all the terrorist attacks of the last 20 years.

Think what you want .....have your opinion.......and I care not a whit if you agree with ME or not. But please back those that are in the military and the president . I can not say it more plainly. ......We are a nation at war! To forget that or to downplay it will lead to destruction in ways you cannot imagine.

[Dr. Ron]

Oops. I am still trying to get used to this computer. I meant EB! not 60. I don't even know how I did that.

Sorry EB!

[Joey]

Well, I can't say that I support the war the way we are doing it. It's hard to "win" a war when you fight against people who believe in scriptures like this:
Koran 9.29 "Fight those who do not believe in Allah...nor follow the religion of truth(Islam), out of those who have been given the Book(Koran), ..."
Koran 9.5 "...slay the idolaters wherever you find them...take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush..."
Koran 2.191 "And kill them wherever you find them, and drive them out from whence they drove you out, and persecution is severer than slaughter, and do not fight with them at the Sacred Mosque until they fight with you in it, but if they do fight you, then slay them; such is the recompense of the unbelievers."
These waring, selfish followers (taking what is not theirs in the name of religion) of a satanic influenced text (twisting fragments of the OT/NT like satan did with Christ in the desert) will continue to fight by any means (lying, plundering, murdering, etc) until the world has submitted to their faith or until they are wiped out.
So in that, I just believe that the prophecies of the last days are moving closer and that there is very little we can do except delay the inevitable. I'm not trying to be Mr. Negative here, and I appreciate what America is trying to do, but this Republican is not sure that the plan will work either way.
Let the people of the true God in heaven, who loves us all, pray that this outcome will be better than it appears to be headed.

[sweetpea]

Thank you Joey,you said it so well.

I know that the Islam religion may be the greatest reason for the war ,but I have also heard President Bush and others say all Muslims are not fighting against us,that Islam is a peaceful religion,so if this religion is what we are fighting against,why are some of them okay?
I still say we should never have gone to Iraq before Afghanistan was completely taken care of,and I still say it was somewhat personal for this war ever being declared,and I know President Bush didn't cause the tragedy on Sept.11,2001,and I am not sure if this war will ever end.

GOD have Mercy on us all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Kenya]

All I have to go by is my own personal experience. And what I know is that my life has not been threatened. My routine has not changed. I do not live in fear. We have not been attacked since 9-11 at that level of terrorism. Part of that I have to attribute to President Bush doing what he had to do to keep the war off the mainland. Wars usually last a long time. We are a nation of peope who want immediate gratification and like to complain and grumble. I stand the President and his decisions. The President has privileged information that we don't know about. If he believes we need to go forward, I back him on that. No, I don't think he is perfect. But he has had one of the toughest periods to be president in our history and I believe that he has handled it as well as "powers that be" would let him.

[TW]

Joey,

Your assessment of Islam is "dead on," It is a religion that is founded upon conversion by conquest. How anyone that reads the historical record can arrive at any other conclusion is beyond my understanding. It is not a religion of peace, their entire history has been one of convert or die.

The only thing in your post that I might disagree with is:

there is very little we can do except delay the inevitable.

The end will come in God's time, and there is nothing that we can do to advance or delay it.

sweetpea wrote:

but I am not sure if this war will ever end.

If we are to remain Christians this war will never end. It cannot!!! Islam is the sworn enemy of Christianity and will not stop it's attacks on Christians until every Christian is dead or converted. It does not matter who sits in the Oval Office, they cannot change this fact. We better face the truth, that the war is not against any particular country or government, but rather against the Islamic culture.

Do I support our troops? YES!
Do I support the war? YES!

EB has a valid point in we need to better utilize the troops "in country" now. Yet I have no problem with authorizing more if they are needed. I can love my enemy and still realize that he is my enemy. It is my duty as a Christian to defend the faith and my family, both biological and spiritual families. If I seem to be a hawk, I am as far as this "war" is concerned.


TW

[Joey]

The only thing in your post that I might disagree with is:

there is very little we can do except delay the inevitable.

Thanks for the kind comments TW, and maybe I should clarify what I meant above ....
As soon as our troops are out of the country, (in my opinion), the predominant religious mind-set will 'push through' any good we may have accomplished, because no true islamic country can understand democracy. It goes against their understanding that man is created in the image of God and therefore has certain inalienable rights. They do not buy into our methods of running government (because islam means "submission" - not freedom) and with the departure of the troops from the middle east, will come other, stronger waves of the 'religious activity' that is happening now. The religious sword of this islamic religion will come back in force, and (IMHO) ...that is just a matter of time. That's what I meant by "inevitable." I hope/wish I was wrong. I hate for our young men and women to fight in a war for a cause that the people we fight against and for, do not really understand. They probably think we want to take over their country when our plan & purpose is really quite noble.

[Dr. Ron]

Just so you will know, there are over 1,ooo,ooo christians living in Iraq! There is a great revival going on there and in Syria and Iran. Young people are turning to Christ and churches are beginning to grow in those areas. That is one reason the President is adamant that we stay and win.

Just so you will know , the prohibition against chaplains preaching Christ and praying in the name of Jesus has been defeated and they are doing some wonderful work there. My cousin was a 1st sgt and is a great bible teacher. He taught bible classes for 15 months in country to his troops and some Iraqis as well. He told me of miraculous encounters with the Lord by the troops and the people. There have been baptisimal services in the palace of Saddam! In his pool! Marines have given thier lives to the Lord in that compound!

Don't get all your news from CNN or even Fox! God is moving in that place.



Thank you Kenya, for your very well written words. They are very true indeed.

Joey, while you are correct in your statements about Islam, we are evangelizing a country that could not hear the gospel any other way.
We have an even more critical situation here in the US with the muslims than in Iraq. And it is only a matter of time until we will have to deal with it here............if prophecy is to be fullfilled.

I support GB and the military of this nation! Disagree with some things, yes, but stand behind them all the way!

[Joey]

Yes, I realize there is about 3% non-muslim in Iraq (most of that 3% is Christian), and I am thankful that our soldiers are having some effect on the people of Iraq (spreading the gospel or humanitarian) - but IMHO, I do not see us leaving Iraq with a stable govt. anytime soon. So for that reason, I support sending more help.
It would probably require our govt. stepping into their school systems(if we can call it that) and training a complete generation before the changes we want to take place could happen. That would take more time then the Dems are willing to give. Left up to most of them, they'd pull the rug out from under Iraq and jerk all of our troops home before the year is up.
Granted, I have not been there so I speak of that which I do not totally understand, but it seems to me that this quick fix road we are going down has no good end to it. Continued as the main stream politicians are headed, the situation will worsen in Iraq and that already struggling middle east country will have a very hard time recovering without civil wars and casting the blame on what we did to them.
I just sense another Vietnam outcome.
(deep breath and the Spirit's gentle reminder that God is in control and has a plan in all of this)
But there is still hope. And prayer. And I have to admit my own smallness in that I'm not seeing the whole picture from above the fabric of this giant quilt and there's more to it then the unraveled threads I see from below.