Who said the following quotes?

[SpeedRacer 1]

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[There was a question about] deployment. It must be in the national interests. It must be in our vital interest whether we ever send troops. The mission must be clear. Soldiers must understand why we’re going. The force must be strong enough so that the mission can be accomplished. And the exit strategy needs to be well-defined. I’m concerned that we’re overdeployed around the world. You see, I think the mission has somewhat become fuzzy. Should I be fortunate enough to earn your confidence, the mission of the United States military will be to be prepared and ready to fight and win war, and therefore prevent war from happening in the first place. There may be some moments when we use our troops as peacekeepers, but not often.


Somalia started off as a humanitarian mission then changed into a nation-building mission and that’s where the mission went wrong. The mission was changed. And as a result, our nation paid a price, and so I don’t think our troops ought to be used for what’s called nation building. I think our troops ought to be used to fight and win war. I think our troops ought to be used to help overthrow a dictator when it’s in our best interests. But in this case, it was a nation-building exercise.

I don’t want to try to put our troops in all places at all times. I don’t want to be the world’s policeman. I want to be the world’s peacemaker by having a military of high morale and a military that’s well-equipped.

I believe the role of the military is to fight and win war and, therefore, prevent war from happening. And so I take my responsibility seriously. And it starts with making sure we rebuild our military. Morale in today’s military is low. We’re having trouble meeting recruiting goals. Some of our troops are not well-equipped. I believe we’re overextended in too many places. I want to rebuild the military power. It starts with a billion dollar pay raise for the men and women who wear the uniform to make sure our troops are well-housed and well-equipped; bonus plans to keep some of our high-skilled folks in the services; and a commander in chief who clearly sets the mission.

A generation shaped by Vietnam must remember the lessons of Vietnam. When America uses force in the world, the cause must be just, the goal must be clear, and the victory must be overwhelming.
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[NCclimber 0]

Bush - during the 2000 campaign?

[SpeedRacer 1]

ding ding ding!

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[Iceburner 0]

my personal opinion is that the orriginal mission was clear...it was when the American media started giving a biased opinion on the war which then made the military change their strategy because the politicians that run the wars wanted to be in the favor of the public to futher their campaign. When funding for the war takes so damn long to get due to political issues, then yes, the troops wont have the best equipment, which will lower moral, etc. IMO the media lost the war in Vietnam, and is causing us to "lose" the war in Iraq.

[SpeedRacer 1]

yeah. that's it. it's the media's fault.

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[shropshire 0]

<>

Care to explain it then? Because it certainly wasn't made clear to us.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[livendive 8]

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my personal opinion is that the orriginal mission was clear...

Which one was that? Find and destroy the WMDs that we knew existed (and knew where they were)?

Blues,
Dave

"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

[billvon 3,132]

>the orriginal mission was clear...

What was it?

[NCclimber 0]

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>the orriginal mission was clear...

What was it?

Secure the oil fields.

Duh

[ryoder 1,590]

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>the orriginal mission was clear...

What was it?

To overthrow Saddam. Problem was, there were no plans after that, because Dick and Rummy thought they knew more about fighting wars than the Pentagon.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[rushmc 23]

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my personal opinion is that the orriginal mission was clear...it was when the American media started giving a biased opinion on the war which then made the military change their strategy because the politicians that run the wars wanted to be in the favor of the public to futher their campaign. When funding for the war takes so damn long to get due to political issues, then yes, the troops wont have the best equipment, which will lower moral, etc. IMO the media lost the war in Vietnam, and is causing us to "lose" the war in Iraq.

ding ding sing!!!!

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[JohnRich 4]

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my personal opinion is that the orriginal mission was clear...it was when the American media started giving a biased opinion on the war which then made the military change their strategy because the politicians that run the wars wanted to be in the favor of the public...

Yep, this goes right along with my statement in the other thread about how we're now a nation of pussies who no longer have the guts and gumption to win a war.

What we should do is go in, kick ass, win, and get out. In the case of Iraq, it should have ended when Saddam was captured.

But instead, the media whines about innocents being killed in crossfire, buildings being damaged collaterally, reduction in food, water, electric and sewer systems, museums being looted, government being destroyed, blah blah blah. Well no shit, this is war. Those things happen. And the American public feels bad about that, and wants to help...

So now we can't just win a war any more. Now we have to not only defeat the enemy, but then we have to undertake a humanitarian mission to feed and house the population, a construction program to rebuild their infrastructure, a security program to guard their valuables, and a political program to install a new government. And we're suddenly supposed to educate their children too, and provide free medical care for all. That is where everything goes awry...

And then when everything is going awry, because we've bitten off more than we should chew, the public sentiment starts to turn again. Now they're tired of the money and lives being spent trying to be nice. Now they're back to "fuck 'em all" - abandon the effort, pull out, and let chaos reign. Because Americans don't have the will to stay the course and do the right thing - we want miracles to happen in 6 months, and not a day more.

And anyone who tried to do the right thing, but couldn't achieve it in that 6 month period, is now deemed incompetent and criminal.

I now return you to your regular programming...

[shropshire 0]

The word processor is mightier than the cruise missile?

poppycock. The mission was ill conceived and remains that way.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[shropshire 0]

There should never have been a war in Iraq... You/We would have saved countless lives and $/£millions. It made no sense then and makes none now.
We paying for a fools errand.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[rushmc 23]

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The word processor is mightier than the cruise missile?

poppycock. The mission was ill conceived and remains that way.

You are wrong

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[rushmc 23]

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There should never have been a war in Iraq... You/We would have saved countless lives and $/£millions. It made no sense then and makes none now.
We paying for a fools errand.

You are wrong again

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[SpeedRacer 1]

fucking media. How unpatriotic of them.

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[Stumpy 284]

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There should never have been a war in Iraq... You/We would have saved countless lives and $/£millions. It made no sense then and makes none now.
We paying for a fools errand.

You are wrong again

And when you no longer have logic, reason or evidence on your side, denial will pull you through

Never try to eat more than you can lift

[shropshire 0]

Nope. I don't believe that I am.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[rushmc 23]

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Nope. I don't believe that I am.

And that is OK. We disagree.

But I see there are those that say your opinion is more grounded than others (or mine) because they agree with you. Now that is funny!!! Calling others opinions denial. what a hoot. No one can possibly have a opionion other than theirs because they are so dammed informed?? They are more intelligent

Oh shit, I needed that

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[billvon 3,132]

>But I see there are those that say your opinion is more grounded
>than others (or mine) because they agree with you.

You are wrong

[jakee 1,611]

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So now we can't just win a war any more. Now we have to not only defeat the enemy, but then we have to undertake a humanitarian mission to feed and house the population, a construction program to rebuild their infrastructure, a security program to guard their valuables, and a political program to install a new government. And we're suddenly supposed to educate their children too, and provide free medical care for all. That is where everything goes awry...

Oh John, you really are the best!!

For years it's been all about those pussified liberal bitches who want to cut and run from Iraq before the job was done, now it's the fault of all those pussified liberal bitches that were there trying to do an un-neccesary job in the first place!

If I could just live in your mind for a week, just to see what it's like

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[freethefly 6]

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the media whines about innocents being killed in crossfire, buildings being damaged collaterally, reduction in food, water, electric and sewer systems, museums being looted, government being destroyed, blah blah blah.

All such trivial rants of the media. Blah, blah, blah... dead babies, starving children... all trivial. They should buck-up and quit being such pussies and die like... well, I just don't know... fill us in John.

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In the case of Iraq, it should have ended when Saddam was captured.

It should had never started in the first place. We should had finished the job in Afghanistan. Now, look at the mess that Afghanistan is in. An ineffective puppet government. Heroin production is at an all time high. The Taliban is quickly gaining strength. Osama Bin laden is doing as he pleases.

John, you're all gung-ho for war! I'm sure that the army would love to have you providing your unwavering support on the ground in Iraq. Why not do the patriotic thing and go join today?

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And anyone who tried to do the right thing, but couldn't achieve it in that 6 month period, is now deemed incompetent and criminal.

Yup! Invading a country that poised no threat is always the right thing to do. Hell, while we are at it, we should invade Mexico! Why stop there? We can then jump right over to Cuba and give them a good old American style ass kicking. Shit, we'll only just be getting warmed up and should extend our ass kicking boot to South America. Lots of countries down there that could use a can of whupass.
Yup, we need to just quite being pussies and start the ass kicking campaign. We'll show the world that even if you are not threatening us that you can still expect a good ol fashion American style ass kicking.
And some people wonder why we are so hated.

"...And once you're gone, you can't come back
When you're out of the blue and into the black."
Neil Young

[rushmc 23]

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>But I see there are those that say your opinion is more grounded
>than others (or mine) because they agree with you.

You are wrong

Got me!!

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[kelpdiver 2]

I was fine with the mission to dump Saddam, but I'm struggling to understand how the media is losing Iraq and lost Vietnam.

Is it naivity or stupidity that thinks either are winnable operations?

Nation building doesn't work very well when the country is not united in what they want.

OTOH, Vietnam was fairly united in wanting colonials out, and had the support of the Commies as a cold war battleground. Considering the effort, the level of bombing and deforrestation done, what the hell would have changed this reality? How is it any different from the Colonies in the 1770s?