[Rhodes22-list] Wally's reply- not on WMD

Thu Jun 9 10:36:59 EDT 2005

Wally,

Yesterday I got the opportunity to "de-brief" a
helicopter pilot just returned from Iraq.  I had a
jumpseater on my flight from DC to Memphis who was
meeting a former co-worker for a "meet&greet" with our
chief pilot to get on the short list for a pilot job
interview.  The jumpseater introduced me to his friend
who belonged to a Guard unit from NY that had been
activated.  She was home on medical leave because of a
broken foot (not combat related).

Here was her take on Iraq.  A lot of positive progress
is being made that isn't being reported by the MSM. 
The military is putting a great deal of efforts
turning the Iraqi kids to our side, schools, soccer
fields, etc.  She felt most of the adults were happy
we were there and more than happy that Saddam is gone,
but, many are wary and cautious after 30 years of
oppression.  Insurgency is a huge problem and the bad
guys are difficult to identify because people are
scared to turn them in, not that the average Iraqi
supports the insurgents.  Here, we'd call the cops if
we thought our neighbor was engaged in illegal
activity.  There, they and their family are killed if
they rat the bad guys out.  Most are not Iraqi's but
jihadists from other countries.  It will continue to
be a problem for some time.  She felt good about her
duty there and supported the war but expressed that
morale was fading amongst the troops because of the
long and extended deployments.  I asked her
specifically what her take was on WMD and she gave me
this question and answer.  "Captain, haven't you ever
made a decision in the jet based on the information
you had at the time and realized later there were
other options? Bush made a decision on the intel he
was given, the CIA and everybody got it wrong".  For
the most part, she was upbeat and proud of her service
and thought she and her unit were having a positive
impact.

Some people don't support the war because they just
don't like war.  Who does?  Most of the non-supporters
just hate W.  Regardless, we're stuck with this thing
and it would be a horrible tragedy for the Iraqi
people for us to abandon them at this point.  We did
that once. We've had a huge military presence in the
Middle East and Europe for a long time and now those
assets will continue to move to Iraq. W is a lameduck
now and I've lost interest in the WMD issue, just as I
have with where Slick Willy went with his pecker. No
matter who the next President is (my current money is
on Hillary) we're in this for a good long while. 

Brad 

--- Wally Buck <tnrhodey at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Ed,
> 
> Thanks for changing the sugject line but my post was
> not about "WMDs". 
> Perhaps you should have changed it to "Cuba is not
> Iraq".
> 
> The funny thing is I have never questioned that Iraq
> had "WMDs". I have 
> questioned what level of threat Iraq was to our
> National Security and our 
> motives for attacking when we did. This is very hard
> for many to understand.
> 
> You are correct that the nukes were not in Cuba. I
> apologize for the error. 
> The USSR was building the missle pads and facilities
> to store and launch 
> Russian nukes in Cuba. The Soviets also had bombers
> based in Cuba. There was 
> a real threat to our National Security. Also note
> that this was settled with 
> out a war. This was my point. Not much to compare
> with Iraq.
> 
> I do understand that WMDs involve gas, biological,
> and other means. I am 
> quite sure that stuff is missing as you say. This
> problem is not limited to 
> Iraq. Again this was not the point of my post. The
> situation in Cuba then 
> and Iraq now is quite different. To say differently
> is to ignore history.
> 
> Wally
> 
> 
> >From: "ed kroposki" <ekroposki at charter.net>
> >Reply-To: The Rhodes 22 mail list
> <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> >To: "'The Rhodes 22 mail list'"
> <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> >Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Wally's reply on WMD
> >Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2005 11:18:21 -0400
> >
> >Wally,
> >	WMD's not only include nuc's but other things,
> such as gas, bio, et
> >al.  The issue was preventing them getting nuc's,
> not that they already had
> >them.  The same issue now next door in Iran. 
> Furthermore, nuclear is not
> >limited to bomb explosives but also bomb results,
> ie, dirty explosives that
> >contaminate.
> >	There was a complaint issued by the U.N.
> inspectors recently about
> >missing nuclear stuff in Iraq that has gone missing
> since the start of the
> >war.  If there was not problem, why are the U.N.
> inspectors complaining
> >about missing nuclear stuff now?
> >	I really do not want to be stirring Steve up, but
> your last comment
> >was not accurate. Humpf.
> >
> >Ed K
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org
> >[mailto:rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org] On
> Behalf Of Wally Buck
> >Sent: Wednesday, June 08, 2005 8:02 AM
> >To: rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org
> >Subject: RE: [Rhodes22-list] Sappy Comment on D-Day
> >
> >Mark,
> >
> >Steve is forgetting that there were actually nukes
> in Cuba and we had the
> >pictures to prove it. To compare this to the
> situation Iraq is simply not
> >logical. Ignoring facts is a problem for some!
> >
> >Wally
> >
> > >From: "Mark Kaynor" <mkaynor at gmail.com>
> > >Reply-To: The Rhodes 22 mail list
> <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> > >To: "'The Rhodes 22 mail list'"
> <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> > >Subject: RE: [Rhodes22-list] Sappy Comment on
> D-Day
> > >Date: Tue, 7 Jun 2005 16:08:04 -0400
> > >
> > >Hey Steve,
> > >Didn't you just love it when JFK had an affair
> with Marilyn Monroe?:-)
> > >Being unfaithful to his wife in the White
> House!!!  I have never heard of
> > >such an abuse of power:-) Mark
> > >
> > >-----Original Message-----
> > >From: rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org
> > >[mailto:rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org] On
> Behalf Of Steve
> > >Sent: Tuesday, June 07, 2005 3:55 PM
> > >To: The Rhodes 22 mail list
> > >Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Sappy Comment on
> D-Day
> > >
> > >Hey Slim
> > >Didn't you just love it when JFK nearly took us
> to war over nukes in
> > >Cuba:-)
> > >Taking this country to war over something like
> weapon of mass
> > >distruction!!!
> > >I have never heard of such an abuse of power:-)
> Steve
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >--- Steve <rhodes2282 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > > I was wondering if someone would notice
> that:-) Steve
> > > >
> > > > PS- Slim - this is top secret so don't tell
> anyone but there are a few
> > > > Dems I like:-)
> > > >
> > > > --- Slim <salm at mn.rr.com> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > It is not what the
> > > > > > government can do for you but what you can
> do
> > > > for
> > > > > your
> > > > > > country and your fellow man!!!!!!!!
> > > > > > Steve
> > > > >
> > > > > Those are (almost) the exact words of a
> famous
> > > > quote
> > > > > by a famous Democrat
> > > > > named John F. Kennedy.  I believe it went
> like
> > > > this:
> > > > >
> > > > > "Osk (NE accent) not what your country can
> do for you, but what you
> > > > > can do for your country."
> > > > >
> > > > >
> __________________________________________________
> > > > > Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help?
> > > > > www.rhodes22.org/list
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
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