When in England at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of 'empire building' by George Bush.
He answered by saying, "Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in
return is enough to bury those that did not return."
Then there was a conference in France where a number of international engineers were taking part, including French and American. During a break one of the French engineers came back into the room saying "Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intended to do, bomb them?"
A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: "Our carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a day, they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen
helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and from their flight deck.. We have eleven such ships; how many does France have?"
the Iraq war was quite simply a war about oil, nothing less..nothing more, there was no weapons of mass destruction, the country was more stable and more secure when Saddam Hussein was in charge, there are alot of countries thats leaders/dictators are more suppressive to its people than Iraq was, and America does not want to know or help them..Burma for instance not to mention alot of places in Africa, and If America was so scared because he had WMD...why are they not invading North Korea? But regardless of the global politics, its people like us who are on the front line fighting for our friends and the man to our side
anyway heres me, Served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v703/jdbecks/Picture137.jpg)
I would like to comment on your statements but won't as this is a thread to <S> all who have served (Vietnam 67-68)
wiki pedia
According to the then President of the United States George W. Bush and then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair, the reasons for the invasion were "to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), to end Saddam Hussein's support for terrorism, and to free the Iraqi people."[16] According to Blair, the trigger was Iraq's failure to take a "final opportunity" to disarm itself of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons that U.S. and coalition officials called an immediate and intolerable threat to world peace.[17] Although some remnants of pre-1991 production were found after the end of the war, U.S. government spokespeople confirmed that these were not the weapons for which the U.S. went to war.[18][19] In 2005, the Central Intelligence Agency released a report saying that no weapons of mass destruction had been found in Iraq.[20]
[edit] Yellowcake from Niger
The Bush Administration asserted that the Hussein government had sought to purchase yellowcake uranium from Niger.[77] On March 7, 2003, the U.S. submitted intelligence documents as evidence to the IAEA. These documents were dismissed by the IAEA as forgeries, with the concurrence in that judgment of outside experts. At the time, a U.S. official claimed that the evidence was submitted to the IAEA without knowledge of its provenance, and characterized any mistakes as "more likely due to incompetence not malice".
[edit] Unmanned Iraqi drones
In October, 2002, a few days before the U.S. Senate vote on the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution, about 75 senators were told in closed session that Saddam Hussein had the means of delivering biological and chemical weapons of mass destruction by unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) drones that could be launched from ships off the Atlantic coast to attack U.S. eastern seaboard cities. Colin Powell suggested in his presentation to the United Nations that UAVs were transported out of Iraq and could be launched against the U.S. In fact, Iraq had no offensive UAV fleet or any capability of putting UAVs on ships.[78] Iraq's UAV fleet consisted of less than a handful of outdated Czech training drones.[79] At the time, there was a vigorous dispute within the intelligence community as to whether the CIA's conclusions about Iraq's UAV fleet were accurate. The U.S. Air Force agency denied outright that Iraq possessed any offensive UAV capability.[80]
[edit] Human rights
As evidence supporting U.S. and British claims about Iraqi WMDs and links to terrorism weakened, some claim supporters of the invasion have increasingly shifted their justification to the human rights violations of the Hussein government.[81] Leading human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch have argued, however, that they believe human rights concerns were never a central justification for the invasion, nor do they believe that military intervention was justifiable on humanitarian grounds, most significantly because "the killing in Iraq at the time was not of the exceptional nature that would justify such intervention."[82] Many supporters of the war, however, claim from the start human rights concerns were among the reasons given for the invasion, and that the threat of weapons of mass destruction was emphasized at the United Nations, since this dealt with Iraq flouting UN resolutions. They further claim human rights groups that oppose the war have no objective standard regarding when to invade a country
"President Bush's Cabinet agreed in April 2001 that 'Iraq remains
a destabilising influence to the flow of oil to international markets
from the Middle East' and because this is an unacceptable risk to
the US 'military intervention' is necessary."[1]
after Iraq the 2nd largest supplier of Oil said they would trade oil in Euros
...I hear stupid college students who no grasp of how the world is...
just a very very quick google.
I would like to comment on your statements but won't as this is a thread to <S> all who have served (Vietnam 67-68)
I think you're missing the point. And do us a favor and don't put your political viewpoints to a thread about remembrance. To be quite honest, you have some nerve being English and talking about us being land grabbers. When did the Queen give up Hong Kong again? We have no colony's or whatever you call them.
<S> You a better man then me.
My Uncle John Courtney (Us Army AirCorp..... Pacific Theater, WWII) This is the only photo I have of any of my family that served............
(http://www.candidz.com/snapshotz/images.php/i2220_UncleJohnUSAF1.jpg)
well said. :salute to all you service men and women.
He answered by saying, "Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in
return is enough to bury those that did not return.
my polital views were posted in reference to someone posting before me about quoting bush, I never claimed to be a better man than anyone else..take your angry attitude elsewhere,
A great big :salute to all that have, or continue to serve.
More selfeshly, a :salute to
James Lumpkins.
Lance Corporal of Marines.
God speed devildog.
See Rule #4
You know, even if any of you did fight in the war, you guys are sort of hijacking a thread to show love, support and respect to the our Armed Forces members and the families of. I respect everyones opinion on the war(s), but please dont railroad a simple and much desrved salute for personal opinions, or known facts, about the reasons our men and women have fought and died for. You have every right to state your point, but i just please ask that you dont do it in this thread please. Lets just spend this weekend being thankful for those who have answered the call for any war for any reason. Thanks :salute
I gotta call BS. The point is that you live in a free country means you shouldn't die for expressing your views. That's why it's free.
:salute
Ren
USAF '71-'75
Thomas Jefferson Quote
"God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed.
The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain
quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. ...
And what country can preserve its liberties, if it's rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of
resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few
lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
It is its natural manure."
my polital views were posted in reference to someone posting before me about quoting bush, I never claimed to be a better man than anyone else..take your angry attitude elsewhere,
:salute to all our brothers and sisters past and present that give their all for us. i dont think that i can say thank you enough for everything!
(http://www.coolholidaygraphics.com/memorialday/glittergraphics/memorialdayglitters11.gif)