Is the surge working?

[Xavier_Onassis]

Never forget that the longer the US is in Iraq, the richer people who make Hummers, body armor, and all manner of war materiel will become. Also, the guys who run Blackwater and outfit them.

Is there any market at all ,in the US for a tank or an anti-bomb vehicle?

What possible use is a tank in defending the USA here at home? Neither the Mexicans nor the Canadians are any sort of threat, and tanks do not float.

[Rich]

>>We're asking the Iraqis to do it much faster.  And I believe we need to keep "asking", more emphatically perhaps, but not cross the line to "demanding"<<

I think one of the problems contributing to the Iraqi governments inability to get it's shit together is pressure from the outside. Iran is pressuring them, and if Iran ever gets serious abut flexing it's muscles against the fledgling democracy in Iraq, Iraq is in trouble. If America took a strong, united stance with Iraq and against Iran, it would probably be easier to stabilize Iraq. But with leftist America constantly attacking America, Bush, the military, and threatening to retreat, Iraq must consider what will happen if we ever do allow the left to frce us to cut and run. Can you blame the Iraqi government for hedging it's beats when the American left is ready to throw them to the wolves for political gain?

[sirs]

>>We're asking the Iraqis to do it much faster.  And I believe we need to keep "asking", more emphatically perhaps, but not cross the line to "demanding"<<

Can you blame the Iraqi government for hedging it's beats when the American left is ready to throw them to the wolves for political gain?

Being that they've seen us do that once before, I too can consider their hesistancy.  That said, we've been in this FAR longer and with much more seriousness than Gulf War I.  And Bush has shown how steadfast (the left would call it arrogance, stubborness, and even idicocy) he has been in trying to help facilitate the transition.  You would think that'd be plenty for the Iraqi government, compared to the 1st go around.  If they think they can just wait things out, come Novermber, they may have waited too long

[Xavier_Onassis]

If America took a strong, united stance with Iraq and against Iran, it would probably be easier to stabilize Iraq. But with leftist America constantly attacking America, Bush, the military, and threatening to retreat, Iraq must consider what will happen if we ever do allow the left to force us to cut and run. Can you blame the Iraqi government for hedging it's beats when the American left is ready to throw them to the wolves for political gain?
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Yeah, sure. If the US would just whomp them Iranians real good, they'd just pack up and leave the neighborhood, maybe they'd move to some Pacific atolls or Antarctica.

The Iraqi government is not hedging any bets at all. They are just refusing to do ANYTHING decisive, and the peple of Iraq, who still are not getting regular electricity and running water, consider them to be entirely incompetent.

The left simply maintains that we have deposed Saddam and there is no WMD problem, so five years are enough. What happens now is the fault of Juniorbush for invading on false pretenses in the first place.

[Rich]

>>You would think that'd be plenty for the Iraqi government, compared to the 1st go around.  If they think they can just wait things out, come November, they may have waited too long.<<

But remember, we ensighted the Kurds to rise up against Saddam and did nothing to help. Now we've got candidates for the presidency (whom everyone says is going to win) coming right out and saying they'll cut and run six months after they are elected. Do we really have that much credibility? Our history doesn't instill much hope.

You would think the Iraqi government has had plenty of time, but remember, this is something totally new to them. They face death everytime they leave their home. In this instance, I'm inclined to cut them a break. they've come a long way. How long did it take Japan to change old traditions?

[Xavier_Onassis]

How long did it take Japan to change old traditions?

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Japan still has most of their old traditions. Only the political aspect changed, when Hirohito basically gave a speech to the people and said that from then on he would be a figurehead with no political clout.He yielded his power to the US Occupation troops and asked the people to obey them, and most of them did. But it took from 1945 to 1949 for Japan to become a parliamentary democracy.
Of course, there were almost no men between the ages of 17 and 60 in Japan: the war wiped them out. So Japan was basically a nation run by women and old men (no one paid much attention to the young men).

Iraq now and Japan in 1945 are very different countries and cultures.