Does anyone else....

[JoeChalupa]

see the absolute irony in the following statement made by Bush today?

"For a political candidate to jump to conclusions without knowing the facts is not a person you want as your commander in chief,” Bush said.

Just wondering.

[Clandestino]

what conclusions did bush jump to?

[Yonivore]

See the absolute irony in the following statement made by Bush today?
Nope.

[Marcus Bryant]

As a president you have to make real time decisions without the benefit of sitting around at home in your underwear and seeing the world through 20/20 hindsight.

[JohnnyMarzetti]

That quote alone should seal the election. I wondered if he was talking about himself. It would be tailor made for a campaign ad. His own words would bury him.
I'm completely astonished how half the people of this great nation can totally deny or choose to ignore reality. Not opinions, not perspectives, but the undeniable reality of the facts. Spooky!

Now, I'll just tip-toe back into the masses because I'm sure there's plenty of shrub worshippers armed with flame-throwers just itching to turn me into ashes. :devil

[Marcus Bryant]

I'm sorry, but I cannot take anyone who uses the term "shrub" seriously. Also, it would help if you made an actual point when you post. But you did manage to string together eight sentences. You should ask your teacher for a gold star.

[Hook Dem]

^^^ :lol :lol :lol :lol ^^^

[JoeChalupa]

I too find it hard to take someone seriously when they use terms like "demoncrat" or "twit" or other childish terminology.

But then again I do realize that this is just a forum and I like to have some fun so I guess it doesn't really matter.

Damn, I'm sounding like John Kerry. :lol

[Marcus Bryant]

"Twit" has been around for a while Joe. But I know, you're just...here.

[Useruser666]

I'm sorry but I don't feel Bush jumped to conclusions on the war in Iraq. There was intellegence that Saddam had WMD at that time. There was evedence he had ties to terrorists. Even if neither of those are absolutely true now, Bush acted on the information he was given at the time. Info he was told as being accurate.

People complain constantly about the reasons for going to war in Iraq. Maybe there are no WMD. Maybe Hussain didn't have ties to terroists. No matter if those two reasons are true or false, the world is a better place without Saddam Hussain in power. Don't even try to rationalize that. Saddam could not be allowed to maintain power in Iraq. He is too dangerous a person to be allowed even the slightest chance to use his power freely. Sanctions or not, he would no doubtedly begin working towards what ever nefarious plans that are simmering in his mind. His goals are not good for the world or even the people of his own country. Proof of that need only be found in any of the mass graves that reside in Iraq now. Saddam could not be allowed to continue, nor could his legacy through his sons, be released upon the world.

Was this war about oil? Simple answer: YES! You're damn right it was about oil. Is that a bad thing? NO! Maybe no one else sees this, but the WORLD runs on oil. Everything is dependent upon oil and it's related products. What does this have to do with Saddam? Saddam destablized the heart of the oil producing region. But you say, "Look at it now!" Of course it's in chaos now. If you expected differetly then you have no patience, and no determination. Instead of being an area destined to be filled with petty struggles and pseudo wars for eternity, Iraq now has a chance to be the starting point of freedom. This is just the starting point of much greater things to come. These are things that may not happen overnight, but with plenty of time, they will bring peace and prosperity back to an abused and neglected place.

Why do we have to be the ones to do all the work? Two reasons. Number one, we need the oil! Big surprise?! Many people in the us have apparently forgotton that fact. They forget that the car they drove to work this morning, runs on gas. It's tires made partially of petroleum products. It's interior fabrics made of synthetic petroleum fibers. Those same peopl complain about high gas prices and then want to do nothing about them. How many of those walk to work? Carpool? How many try alternate means of transportation? I doubt it is even more than 10% They blame the war in Iraq for high gas prices and an unstable economy. What they don't have is the vision to see why we're doing what we are right now. How a democratic Iraq, along with Afghanistan, will lead to more stable relations with those people that do supply us with that oil we depend on. This is a long road to travel, but we can't turn back now.

The second reason is no more surprising than the first. We, the USA, are the only country that can make a difference in the world. We are the "stable parent" so to speak. We have the power, people, and resources to bail out other countries who have fallen into dissaray. We provide troops, money, and whatever else is needed when some one comes calling. The US also has to do a lot of the dirty work too. This gets us critisized too. No one likes some of the things the US has done, yet they all know it needed doing. Those people denouce what the US does in their loudest voice, and secretly give us praise in the depths of their thoughts. Being the big kid on the block is not easy. Every once in a while you have knock some one in line if they go to far. In a power vacum there is always chaos and disorder. We need to fill that void locally in Iraq as we have in the world. Without a single entity leading the way, Iraq will shatter into many pieces. The US, in time, will bring peace and prosperity to a place that has not seen such things for a long, long time.

[CommanderMcBragg]

I do think Saddam was a threat but not the "imminent" threat that Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld led us to believe he was.
Are we better off that is no longer in power? Well of course.
But the world would be a better place if many other world leaders were taken out but that doesn't mean we should attack all those countries either.
You young folk sure seem to like war when you are sitting in the comfort of your own home.
I just think Bush jumped the gun on this one. There are people being killed by the thousands in other parts of the world that Bush doesn't seem to care about. Where is his compassionate conservatism when it comes to those?

[Useruser666]

I do think Saddam was a threat but not the "imminent" threat that Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld led us to believe he was.
Are we better off that is no longer in power? Well of course.
But the world would be a better place if many other world leaders were taken out but that doesn't mean we should attack all those countries either.
You young folk sure seem to like war when you are sitting in the comfort of your own home.
I just think Bush jumped the gun on this one. There are people being killed by the thousands in other parts of the world that Bush doesn't seem to care about. Where is his compassionate conservatism when it comes to those?]

As I said there is more than one reason. We don't depend on Africa for oil. How many African nations have WMD? The hot bed of political/religous conflicts is the Middle East. That needs to be worked on first.

[Clandestino]

We get a fair amount of our oil from African nations..

Estimated Crude and Products Imports
to the U.S. from Leading Supplier Countries
May 2003
% of Imports Supplied
1 Saudi Arabia 17.8%
2 Canada 16.5%
3 Venezuela 12.8%
4 Mexico 12.0%
5 Nigeria 7.5%
6 United Kingdom 4.1%
7 Algeria 2.9%
8 Angola 2.8%
9 Norway 2.4%
10 Virgin Islands* 2.0%

http://api-ec.api.org/filelibrary/May03imp.pdf

[CosmicCowboy]

For being an advocate of the party that calls itself the "democratic party" I find it somewhat unbelievable that you can see no benefit in replacing a despotic terroristic dictator and helping to create a truly democratic country squarely in the middle of the Islamic hotbed that the middle east has become...

Do you not see ANY benefit in this? Do you not think that the very existence of a neighbor state that promotes equal rights for all (including WOMEN!) will have a PROFOUND effect on the future of the entire region? We are talking about a region of the world that in the twentieth century was still promoting clitoral circumcision of female infants as standard practice!

Of COURSE this democratic transition will not happen overnight and without setbacks...there are many intrinsic problems in creating a truly democratic regime in the region...many of these problems were created by the Europeans re-division of the Turkish empire after WWI...but I truly have faith that these obstacles can be overcome...

but the EXAMPLE we set can have far reaching effects of historic proportions...

and I still believe that WMD's or not, it was and still is the right thing to do.

[mouse]

After reading some of the Bush lovers posts? I know now Kerry is the answer. You guys are brian washed for sure. And to pull out the Grammer smack card is cheesy,
many voters out there can't even spell GOP

[JoeChalupa]

I'd say that helping out in Sudan is "the right thing to do".

Helping spread democracy is a good thing.

[Clandestino]

After reading some of the Bush lovers posts? I know now Kerry is the answer. You guys are brian washed for sure. And to pull out the Grammer smack card is cheesy,
many voters out there can't even spell GOP

this is the typical kerry supporter response..."all people who think bush is better than kerry is:
a. brainwashed
b. retarded
c. a sheep
d. fill in your own blank...

but that is pure fiction. what is true is that most supporters of kerry don't even like him or even support his policies... most don't even know his policies."

i had voted democrat up until this election. when john kerry was nominated i did my research and compared him to bush and figured out there is no way someone could honestly believe he is better than bush.

[Useruser666]

We get a fair amount of our oil from African nations..

Estimated Crude and Products Imports
to the U.S. from Leading Supplier Countries
May 2003
% of Imports Supplied
1 Saudi Arabia 17.8%
2 Canada 16.5%
3 Venezuela 12.8%
4 Mexico 12.0%
5 Nigeria 7.5%
6 United Kingdom 4.1%
7 Algeria 2.9%
8 Angola 2.8%
9 Norway 2.4%
10 Virgin Islands* 2.0%

http://api-ec.api.org/filelibrary/May03imp.pdf

True, but there total combined is not greater than that of Mexico by very much. Saudi Arabia is #1, Kuwait #2, and Iraq is #3 in ability to produce oil and oil resources. That is why we rescued #1 and #2 from #3. That is why we toppled #3 and are now trying to stablize it.

[mouse]

Joe put the news on They found where the Bombs went,

Thanks to BUSH the enemy has them

[Clandestino]

True, but there total combined is not greater than that of Mexico by very much. Saudi Arabia is #1, Kuwait #2, and Iraq is #3 in ability to produce oil and oil resources. That is why we rescued #1 and #2 from #3. That is why we toppled #3 and are now trying to stablize it.

you're mistaken. anyone of these countries causes oil prices to rise. even unrest in iraq causes prices to rise when they are not even a top 10 supplier. when problems in nigeria arose a few months ago prices also shot up. do a little more research...

[Useruser666]

you're mistaken. anyone of these countries causes oil prices to rise. even unrest in iraq causes prices to rise when they are not even a top 10 supplier. when problems in nigeria arose a few months ago prices also shot up. do a little more research...

Well I guess my original point was that a more stable Mid-East would be a benefit to oil and gas prices here.