Iraqi Democracy

[OperaTenor]

Hi TM,

I knew I liked you! If you find yourself with nothing better to do, Read through all of the old Barracks threads that have to do with the Bush/PNAC administration and the war. It'll be like deja vu all over again!

Speaking of deja vu, you double-posted!

[barfle]

Originally posted by Haggis:
Barf,

"BTW, Iraq is getting close to being as expensive as VietNam was."

In what way?

Dollars.

I couldn't find a link, but in yesterday's Northern Virginia Journal, an article by Derrick Z. Jackson starts off with

It is $80 billion and halfway home to Vietnam. The fresh $80 billion just requsted by President Bush pushes the war costs of Iraq and the amazing shrinking asterisk of Afghanistan (Osama been where?) past the $300 billion mark.

The extimated cost of Vietnam in current dollars was $584 billion, according to the Congressional Research Office. Iraq has already cost more in current dollars than either the Civil War or World War I. It is about to pass tthe Korean war. We are on pace to pass Vietnam in two or three years.

[haggis]

here's a Iraqi election and roadside Improvised Explosive Device blog post by Neil Prakash, a 1st Lt of an Armor Platoon in Iraq.

The language is kind of harsh, as we used to say,

"The reader will kindly forgive any tendency to rough language, good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."


armor geddon

[OperaTenor]

My favorite was:

"...off like a prom dress."

[haggis]

""...off like a prom dress."

Yeah, I have to admit to a bit of a chuckle there myself.....ahhhhh, the days of youth

[Trumpetmaster]

Originally posted by OperaTenor:
Hi TM,

I knew I liked you! If you find yourself with nothing better to do, Read through all of the old Barracks threads that have to do with the Bush/PNAC administration and the war. It'll be like deja vu all over again!

Speaking of deja vu, you double-posted!

OT,
Will do.
tks,
TM

[haggis]

From the Wall Street Journal today.

Fun With the Taliban

"A senior U.S. Marine Corps general who said it was 'fun to shoot some people' should have chosen his words more carefully but will not be disciplined," Reuters reports:

”Lt. Gen. James Mattis, who led troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, made the comments at a conference Tuesday in San Diego.

"Actually it's quite fun to fight 'em, you know. It's a hell of a hoot. It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right up front with you, I like brawling," said Mattis.

"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil," Mattis said during a panel discussion. "You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them."

We guess we have to agree, reluctantly, that "fun to shoot them" is slightly over the top (though doubtless true). But damned if he hasn't got the rest of this exactly right. Susan Sontag might not have agreed, but guys who slap women around are cowardly and contemptible, and good for Mattis for saying so. The National Organization of Women should give him a medal.”

He’s got my vote if he runs for any office!