spinndrift

A sensible thread on a sensible topic.

Do you think it's right that we went into Iraq and should our troops still be there?

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Rev. Andy
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Goochie

No.

I think we should have llet gung-ho George go it alone.

simon

I dont think anyone could argue that saddam wasn't a very bad man. He was and I think eventually Iraq will be a better place for it.

The actual reasons we were sold for being there however turned out to be b.s and I dont like being mislead by my government.

Should we still be there? - we broke it, we've got to fix it I'm afraid

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JRHartley

nope..and nope...
let the Americans shovel up their own sh*t..

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Bigw2069

Yes, I think we had a responsibility to any citizen that was in danger from the dictatorship in Iraq, whether that be people miles away from WMD (If there ever were any) or Kurds on his front doorstep having gasses tested on them.

And we should still be there for the simple fact, we helped cause the mess so we should help clean it up.

IMHO

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roblatus

For me personally i think we had to get rid of Saddam Hussein. Now i accept that the old WMD issue was a load of rubbish but for me i am just glad that it is one less mad man in the world for us to worry about. I know that there are plenty of others and that we have probably made a few more because of our support of the US but the fact is that we should have got rid of Mr Hussein after the end of the first Gulf War. If we had invaded Iraq back then to get rid of him when we had a large level of support from a lot of other nations i am sure things would have been better by now than the current situation in Iraq is. However hindsight is a wonderful thing and now that we are there we need to stick it out. If we pull out now we risk a civil war in Iraq and possibly a wider conflict in the area. Also no matter what your view of the war is, right or wrong it is my belief that the boys and girls out there deserve our full support. They are doing their job, i am sure that some of them don't agree with being there but carry out their duties regardless in a profesional manner.

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Dr Zoidberg

The reasons stated at the time turned out to have been wrong and even on the grounds that they did use it was done prematurely.

There were perfectly valid reasons that could have been used at the time to help explain the need to attack , but those were hardly mentioned

All that aside though we have created quite an unstable situation there and it would be even worse both morally and from the point of view of security to just walk away before things have calmed down and there are sufficient local forces to remain in control.

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Alex

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heresmo

IMO our government was panicked into war and therefore with little or no regard for the outcome for a cultural society so different - i.e. it was naive in the extreme to assume that Iraqis would break out the champagne when western capitalist ways were imposed on them - and also with apparently little knowledge or respect of the interactions bubbling just beneath the surface there. I was against the war, but then, we might not be here now if the info had been correct.

Should we still be there? Unfortunately, we've made our bed and now have to lie in it. Considering what our troops are paid, their bravery and commitment is beyond my comprehension. I can only hope that Goodness puts forth a solution and gets our troops home soonest.

Mo

spinndrift

I agree with the view that we were lied to about the reasons - the truth should have been out in the open.

Personally I lost a friend out there in a helicopter crash, another is in the process of being discharged on medical grounds due to post traumatic stress (he had to dig up five week old bodies) and another has a re occuring dream involving someone he shot that leaves him in tears.

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lozgti

Its a right mess.Yes SH needed sorting.No one ever explains why Dusty Bin Laden bombs twin towers so everyone goes after Saddam?

Vietnam kind of situation.Never resolvable.UK would react in exactly the same way if some nutter popped over here to sort out Blair and rearrange our country..........Actually,there's a thought

Fluffmeister

Our Troops are there because our elected politician's told them to go.

I did my stint in the first gulf war and got injured then MD'd out of the Army, and even then, did we "really" have a reason to go in? What would have been said if Kuwait had no oil or rich prince's spending their millions on lavish western goods?

At the time, I was doing it because our job was in essence, to do as we where told.

On the second round, and this regime change I firmly believe that it's OIL fueled (pun intended). Saddam was / is EVIL without a shadow of doubt, but it's the Iraqi's country. Are we invading Zimbabwe? NO!, is Mugabe evil, IMO YES! We could have finished the job on the first war, but we where stopped short of Bagdad. We (US / UK) encouraged the Kurdish uprising and then deserted them and Saddam crushed the uprising without mercy, but WE encouraged it and then let them die.

I have got some really good mates over there at the moment, one of them on his 3rd tour in Basra and not overjoyed by it, our underfunded armed forces are stretched absolutley to the limit at the moment, don't forget we still have troops in Afghanistan. Just after the Iraqi surrender in "GW2" our guys where doing patrol's in Taxi's with sandbags around the sunroof and an M249 mounted on the top, because there are / where not enough armoured vehicles to go round.

We are IMHO to quick to jump into bed with the Americans on many many occaisions, however, if Tony Blair had not got the "ear" of George "dubbya", Iran would already be under an air campaign as a precourse to a land invasion, but again, it's the middle east and they have OIL.

It's a messy world out there, are we right to be there at the moment, I would say NO, but the troops have to do as they are told and they both deserve and need our support.

There are a good few countries out there who would describe events in this country and in the US, in light of their election "irregularities" that could command "regime" change, but they don't have the means to do it.

The only way to effect a change in the way things are going in Iraq has passed, it was the general election where the majority of people in the country re-elected the current government. BUT we made the mess over there, do we not owe it to the people of Iraq to see it through to a conclusion, after all how many people will be slaughtered should the country now be abandoned and saddam or some other lunatic find their way back into power.

In Summary, we started it, rightly or wrongly, we must finish it.

Fluff'

vRS19TD

I think we were right to get Saddam out but obviously people no longer want us there, hence the suicide bombings going on at the moment, so i say we should let them get on with it and pull our troops out.

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vRS19TD

I think we were right to get Saddam out but we're obviously not wanted there anymore, hence the suicide bombings going on, so i think we should just let them get on with it and get our troops out.

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Kentish

We did what we had to do, and will carry on until a way out is forged.

Biggest problem is reigning in Bush and his right wing pro Israeli hawks. At least by having some involvement means we have a greater chance of influencing his actions, if we are'nt invloved we have no say or chance.

Iraq and the current problems have been simmering for years, but now its public knowledge and worries. It was only a matter of time before violence broke out. Like a cancer its what you do to sort it out, not just knowing you have a problem but leaving it.

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Andy

Owner of a sense of humour.

lozgti

But why was Iraq sorted as a priority to other tormented countries? Mugabe would have been an easier job first as part of the 'lets make the world a better place'.

I agree totally with using your power to put an end to appalling situations BUT not when the true reason behind all of this is concern over oil and the suffering of people comes way down the list of political worries.That is not a just war

simon

I think Bush's "war on terror" is a bit of a joke seeing as American money was financing the IRA almost from day 1 .

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If it feels good....Do it! [IMG]

Kentish

Iran, Iraq and Syria all have a hatred of Israel, and Israel vice versa. Mugabe doe'nt give a fig about that arguement.

Do you not think that the US would have still have got stuck-in in Iraq if noises from Israel and the high ranking Jewish descendants at the top of the US power tree wee'nt ar strong and influencial as they are?

Bush is a muppet, who knows jack. However its the hawks and "System" ghosts behind that are the real threat and worry.

Yes they were interested in oil control, but also showing to the Arab world what they would do in defence of Israel.
It just helped that Hussein was a tirant who did'nt care how many of his own people he killed.

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Andy

Owner of a sense of humour.

Dr_Pepper

I think 99% of the Iraqi people are happier now and support what we are trying to do - give them a stable government. There are a tiny percentage though of total idiots that think they can take over power by causing instability. They can't, but sadly it takes time to get that into their tiny minds.

To answer the question, I think we were right to go in, and I think that it's right under the circumstances that we are still there.

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lozgti

Still doesn't answer the 'which country gets priority' point though.

And who actually is supplying all of these explosives used in daily bombings?

I think 99% is optimistic and there is more behind the scenes than 1% of Iraqi's.I do believe another country is involved in keeping the place unstable......