Jobu, If WMD had been found, you and all like you would have found some other reason to bitch.
Slef E. (The *E* stands for STFU.) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joel Perry" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "'RollTideFan-The University of Alabama Athletics Discussion List'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, April 01, 2004 7:23 AM Subject: RE: [RollTideFan] NON Tide - "Was the war in Iraq worth it?" : Nice Hallmark card you present here. Touches on all the right emotions.... : : And what this man says may be true, I'm not there and according to him, he : is. He comments on how much better things are in general and that all the : violence is concentrated in a small area. Does that make the rest of the : country appear safer then? The violence of 911 was concentrated to an area : of a few city blocks, but I don't know if the remainder if the US is safer : now. : : Assuming he's correct in all he says, I can find only one underlying thread : to his comments that makes me take a second look. Here's the quote needed to : discuss: "Folks, take a deep breath, they're better off over there now than : they were before.". : : Ok. Fine THEY are better off than before. WTF????? I thought we were going : to war to find WMD. Isn't that what Dubya told us? Isn't that what Powell : repeated on TV many times? Wasn't the threat of nuclear, biological and : chemical weapons the reasons we loaded up CNN, Fox and PBS to cover the : invasion and to record the discovery of stock piles of WMD???? We were told : that Saddam had all these weapons and they were pointed towards us and hence : the greatest military in the world took on an army whose most advanced : weapons involved a potato gun and a modified Toyota pick-up. : : And we beat the daylights out of them. Good for us. And the liberation : began. I'm sorry, the occupation began. After searching high and low (and : under coffee tables), no WMD were found. So, for damage control the spin : goes that Saddam was a bad man and should have been removed because of the : way he treats his people. Excuse me, that is a little different than the US : being threaten by nuclear weapons. : : I could give a rat's arse about how much better off they are. I'm not : in-sensitive, I just don't care. The war was not about making them all Ward : and June Cleaver. The war was to stop a dictator from using his WMD to kill : us. We spent billions of dollars to destroy the country and prolly twice as : much to re-build it. Oh, THAT makes sense. So all these folks can live a : better life. : : Touching. But what about the millions of people in this country (Legally) : who don't have enough to eat, clothes to wear and soccer balls to play : with???? I wonder how much good could have been done in this country with : $200 billion? : : So, according to John Matthews, the war was worth it because the people of : Iraq are out from under the terrible ruler Saddam. Then, if that is the : pre-requisite for invading the countries of the world, I think Time magazine : or one like it has ranked the world's worst rulers with respect to how the : people of the country are treated. I better get a copy so I can send it to : the next Prez. No need in wasting valuable time and energy trying to figure : out where to invade next when the list has already been compiled. : : I think one of the rulers towards the top lives in Africa. Will the embedded : reporters need to get their passports renewed first??? : : And if John does indeed like being pro-active instead of re-active, tell him : that North Korea is on Line 1 and the clock is ticking........ : : -----Original Message----- : From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On : Behalf Of Tim Boozer : Sent: Wednesday, March 31, 2004 5:26 PM : To: RollTideFan-The University of Alabama Athletics Discussion List : Subject: [RollTideFan] NON Tide - "Was the war in Iraq worth it?" : : >From the Orlando Sentinel... : : : : FRIDAY FORUM : Today's topic: Was the war in Iraq worth it? : : By John Matthews | My Word : Posted March 26, 2004 : : Was the war in Iraq worth it? : : It depends on whom you ask. : : I'm a soldier, not a politician. This is from my perspective as someone who : spent the last 12 months with his boots on the ground in Iraq. : : If you were to ask an American soldier's parent or family member who has : lost a son, daughter, father or sister over there, then of course the war : was not worth it. I can't imagine their pain and sorrow. My heart goes out : to them. : : If you were to ask an Iraqi parent or other family member who has gained : back a son, daughter, father or sister from having to serve and die under : Saddam's army or "service" his henchmen's wants and perversions, and now has : their family whole again with a chance to live and pursue happiness, then, : of course, the war was worth it. : : Wars are like that. You don't win a war. What I'd hope you'd understand is : that this isn't about winning. It's about doing what is right. : : This war was worth it. I was a truck battalion XO and had more that 1,500 : brave and competent soldiers traveling the entire north/south highways in : Iraq. Think of driving from Miami to Savannah every day, every week for a : year, with 40 pounds of gear and 130-degree heat during the summer. : : You feel and see everything in these convoys. Good and bad. Recently I : traveled to an orphanage in Nasiriyah, the Iraqi town where Jessica Lynch's : team were ambushed. It is a different town now. I traded cigars with some of : the local police force, played patty-cake with the kids, showed off pictures : of my family to the local teens who insisted that I allow them to marry my : teenage daughter. We played a game of soccer (soldiers against kids; we : lost). : : Folks, take a deep breath, they're better off over there now than they were : before. Sorry to burst your bubble, but it is the truth. : : Their newfound freedom shows and multiplies every day. Shops are selling us : colas, ice, flags and other items. Families get to keep their crops, herds, : water and electricity instead of Saddam taking a percentage. We've got their : electric and sewage running decades better than it used to. The insurgents : blow it up to promote "instability." Kids are going to new schools and : playing soccer instead of throwing rocks at convoys or learning how to turn : a coke can into an improvised explosive device. They are interested in us : and we are interested in them. Bottom line, rubber meeting the road and all : that . . . honest. : : That Miami-to-Savannah trip I mentioned earlier: Most of the ambushes are : occurring only in an area the size of Jacksonville. The media -- and : therefore, YOU -- are focusing on the tree instead of the forest. : : >From what I've seen in the papers and on cable, you'd think that we've made : no progress over there at all and blame politicians. But this isn't politics : to those Iraqi survivors or my soldiers. : : We have made progress by leaps and bounds. There are setbacks and : finger-pointing at levels way above my pay grade, but in the end Iraq is : better off. The Iraqi minister of tourism isn't getting too many calls, but : it'll happen. If "Friday Forum" is still around in 10 years, look for my : letter. : : The Middle East has been given a wake-up call: We'll bring the fight to you, : to protect our freedom and our way of life. : : Give me proactive over re-active any day of the week. I don't want to be : sitting in my office building in Orlando saying, "Hey, that plane's flying : kind of low . . . ." : : John Matthews, a major in the Army Reserves, lives in Clermont. : : : ______________________________________________________ : RollTideFan - The University of Alabama Athletics Discussion List : : "Welcome to RollTideFan! Wear a cup!" : : To join or leave the list or to make changes to your subscription visit : http://listinfo.rolltidefan.net : : : ______________________________________________________ : RollTideFan - The University of Alabama Athletics Discussion List : : "Welcome to RollTideFan! Wear a cup!" : : To join or leave the list or to make changes to your subscription visit http://listinfo.rolltidefan.net ______________________________________________________ RollTideFan - The University of Alabama Athletics Discussion List "Welcome to RollTideFan! Wear a cup!" To join or leave the list or to make changes to your subscription visit http://listinfo.rolltidefan.net