How has your opinion changed since the beginning of the war?

Iraq Forum

If nothing else, the Bush adminstration has certainly stirred things up. Americans are more aware of what is happening in the rest of the world, and why. Generally, we're still in the dark, because as a culture perhaps we are on autopilot, seeing nothing else than the road directly in front of us. Perhaps a revolution of sorts has begun.

Since the Iraq war started, how has your opinion on all of these things evolved?

And, if you're willing to share, how have you changed as a person? This goes for everyone living outside of America as well.

Sometimes life is excruciatingly simple: As long as there are American boots on Iraqi soil, I will support the effort 100%. And George W. Bush and Dick Cheney will command this effort until January of 2009. The vitriol of the leftist mainstream media and shrill liberal politicians will have absolutely no effect on this good work in progress.

Curley, coming from people I know whose boots have been on Iraqi soil, it is not going well over there. It is much worse there now than it was before the invasion. But I think that happens when you see a car vanish in an explosion right before you.

Hey, Blues, you know nothing about our troops and even less about their deeds. But I guess that comes from not wanting to know.

If anything, the war has given me more reason to doubt the Bush administration. Such poor management of such an event and the questionable reasons for instigating it cause some serious doubts in my mind. Sorry, not cause. Magnifies.

I think the soldiers outlook on Iraq has certainly changed. 72% want out within the year, 52% want out within in 6 months, 29% want out now.

My opinion has changed in the sense that I've seen the administration be exposed time and time again as an ineffective, flaccid, ideologically bankrupt, self-serving, power hungry, inept cash cow and I have grown more weary and disappointed of our leaders. More and more people are realizing that in droves, as evident in the polls, thankfully.

I have spoken to many Marines; most agree that the whole thing is a debacle. Some just don’t care about the politics and want to shoot people. None think that they are doing this for a greater good. Again, that’s amongst the 10 or so Marines I know or have met briefly in the past few years. Recent polls within the military seem to support what I have already come to know.

I don't expect those with their heels dug into the manure that the administration expels on a daily basis to even open their eyes a crack to see things in a different light, which speaks volumes to the ability of the administration to coerce fear, hate, and willingness to give away unalienable freedoms with a "thank you sir, may I have another."

-HECK!

The only view I have that has changed about this war is that many people, who supported this, have now done an about face and made this strictly a political issue, when in fact it has been a global issue for 30 years. The left just spin everything into a political attack and convenientley forget the history behind it. My opinion has not changed about the fact that actors and musicians should remain actors and musicians and stay out of politics.
That the Democratic party that I once supported is basically dead in the water and have resorted to witch hunting becasue of no clear solutions that are recongnisable.

My opinion of the network news stations has changed dramatically and I rarely watch them as most are just witch hunting for Bush and Cheney. (Waist of time an effort on their part).

The only exposure many get is through a left slanted media. Therefore, you can't always believe everything you read as an equal "good and bad" story. They never show the good that is happening. If you ask the troops, this is what disturbs them the most. The fact that we get a completely different view of the news and never the good things they are doing with and for the Iraqi people.
Shamefully bias news coverage that undermines their efforts.

As for the troops, 99% do not want to "quit". Which is different than being in a land where people are shooting at you. Nobody wants to be in that position. Unless of coarse you are one gung ho dude. Whe I was in Vietnam, I wnated to come home too.

What you need to do is get information from those cities in Iraq that are now doing 1,000% better than before the war. If you think that those Iraqis want pre-war Saddam back, you are sadly mistaken. Unfortunatley that news never gets to your desktop and that is truly a shame.

All things considered, the whole region will be better off when the dust settles, with the exception of Iran, who wants the whole region to itself under islamic rule and has thumbed it's nose at the world.

My opinion of islam has changed as I learn more about it and its followers. Before the war, I knew that they were violent. Now I know why.
For obvious reasons.

My biggest fear about my son going to this war was that he would be treated as we were coming back from Vietnam and I swore I would do everything in my power to not let that happen. Unfortunatley I am only one person and he and many others are now feeling the same affects from the democrats and lefties.
What a shame to treat our young soldiers the way we have. They are all heros and get treated like no mind common criminals.
At times our people here in the US embarass me to no end.

Can't view it from here, they blocked it. I will check it out tonight when I get home.

USA1- please refrain from calling other members an 'idiot'. Take it to the Flamer's Ward or PM.

Edit- thank you for changing your post.

-HECK!

Why is it that the pro-Bush camp in this thread managed to squak about 'left' this and 'left' that throughout their posts. Blaming the 'leftist' media and the like. Meanwhile has anyone not in the Bush camp in this thread pointed a finger at the right wingers? Interesting. I think the word for today might be scapegoat.

-HECK!

I was semi-patriotic when this war began. But I had an open mind. I refuse to accept any idea as truth until promises have been kept. I know that as president of the United States, there's only 'so much' George Bush can do to make the rest of the world safer. I really wanted to believe that his actions for at least 60% making the world a better place. Now I'm not so sure.

I will compare this to OJ Simpson. Most people were skeptical about his "innocense". But he had some faithful, maybe naieve supporters. I was one of them. All these years later it has become painfully obvious that he did in fact murder his ex-wife, as he's made no attempt to find the real killer.

Bush's legacy isn't written in stone, but he doesn't seem too concerned about it.

Saying left or leftie is to me the same as you saying Pro-Bush or pro-war which has nothing to do about anybody's feeling of supporting our country, military or otherwise.
What you really mean is Patriot, not pro-bush or pro-war.
I will accept that but not the rhetorical pro-Bush, Pro-war load.

I will refrain from using left or leftie label and will substitue Liberal instead. That is a much truer description.

http://www.independent.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00105/front090306_105250a.jpg

These guys were signatures to the Project for the New American Century, or advocates and architechs of the war in Iraq, Richard Pearle, Francis Fu.kuyama, today front page of the Independant newspaper in the UK, saying what Bush cannot say - Iraq was a mistake.

Let me paraphrase for some people here... "those liberals will try anything!"

But wait, they are conservatives saying that. Whhaaaaaaaaaaaaa?



-HECK!

All the war in Iraq teaches other countries is it's better to have a nuclear weapon because then no one can push you around. You'll never see the US push around India.

In a nuclear war, it's they launch, we launce, they're dead, we're crippled. Open season.

-HECK!

Once upon a time Britain owned the seas, and Germany wasn't even a blip on the radar, but they decided to challenge Britain and in a game of one-up'smanship caused a warr, and at the end of the war another nation became the most powerful.

That's one reason why a crazy nation might condone attacking the US...

All these conflicts in the ME are just the expression of more global oppositions, rivalries and fights aimed at securing natural resources. The US and China are the leading players and what we are witnessing is just a beginning. For the US is at an all-time high dependence about foreign oil - exactly as China .... And this dependence is not about to decrease ... and here again ... as China.

The bomb doesn't prevent war. It may not be used in a war but it just fuels the fire for war. If war starts, and a country is already losing--badly, what would stop them from firing a nuke?

What if the American army had gone into Iraq and badly lost? Worse than Vietnam. And another nation, who wanted to capitalize on America's failure, attacked us on out soil. Losing badly, we give multiple warnings for those nations to step off before we do something drastic. Is the a-bomb obsolete because of the mutual threat, or is it always in the closet ready to be dusted off? I feel pretty safe with the bomb being in our posession, as we've held onto it the longest so far, but once everyone's got it, that doesn't take away the money, power, and ego festivities going on. Technology doesn't replace human nature, it just speeds it up and makes it hit harder.

It's a nuclear stalemate. Whoever hits us gets hit back. Cancels each other out. Despite American being hated by all these countries, they know they need us. Deep down, they know because if their needs match our own self-interests then we will defend their land for them (see Iran vs. Iraq, Afghanistan vs. USSR).

-HECK!

Hmm that's realpolitik you are playing here Heck
But hey - it is sadly true. Our western countries have always been good at playing tricky games and resorting to double langage. The bad thing with geopolitics is that studying it would rather drive you cynical. I think that the remedy to that is to hold onto moral values as individuals.

This situation you are describing is insame because it means that tensions, hatred will keep growing. Defending interests worldwide has never been so important for global players like the US and emerging ones such as China. And this is the ferment of wars.

Winston Churchill: "Usually USA do the right way... after they have tried all the other ways."

Welcome back, Vepsu/FIN.

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First time what has been done, exactly?

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Man this thread is dead. Given the timespan between then and now I wonder if there's any positions that has changed?