Obama Death Squads

Translation "I cannot give credit to decisions made by a President from the other party...."

 

The 'intelligence' gleaned from the war in Iraq is that we could have paid Saddam $100 billion to go into quiet retirement in Switzerland, saved hundreds of thousands of lives and still had $900 billion left over to buy 401Ks and electric cars.

 

Ain't hindsight grand?

 

Plenty of folks were predicting the same in the spring of 2003.

 

I agree ... but it's (almost) always the case that someone's predicting something. But only with hindsight do we know they were right (or wrong). Twill ever thus be ...

 

Do you not think that some predictions are more reasonable than others? More accurate? Better founded on the truths of human nature and recent history?

 

The prediction of Afghanistan being a quagmire was certainly accurate.

Time will tell on Iraq. It's still a work in progress. I think that war gave us a needed presence in the Middle East with the added bonus of eliminating a major world tyrant.

 

Yes, I'm a crazy ass Democrat and I question the value of ground wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that come with a price tag of 236,000 lives and $3 trillion-plus.

 

Of course they are ... but very unreasonable predictions come true sometimes, and reasonable ones falter. Given Saddam's history, the unreasonable prediction was that he could be bought off (IMO). The reasonable prediction was that he'd hang on with everything he had (and could possibly get). I am not debating the wisdom of the invasion, mind you. I am simply saying that only in hindsight does Saddam's (relatively easy) defeat become obvious. Subsequent developments? They were even less predictable.

 

That any war is going to be expensive, deadly and won't go to plan strikes you as "unpredictable?"

 

Iran is still a problem but I do not think it's as big a one as it would be without our presence in Iran.

I also think that the oil market would be a bigger issue than it is now.

 

We had a presence in the Middle East. In Saudi Arabia. That presence is one of the reasons bin Laden gave for attacking us.