7 million Iraqi soldiers....? I don't usually get into these threads but I think this estimate is in the realms of fantasy. Currently, try 375,000 combat troops ( many maybe of questionable loyalty ) plus up to 100,000 of the dedicated Republican Guard. Half-a-milion is still a lot, but it ain't seven million.... http://www.guardian.co.uk/Print/0,3858,4547818.html
So, if they did not do it, who did. You should never underestimate these groups. In England, the irish are seen as rather thick. Irish jokes are a bit of a national past time. But from experiance, i know this to be far from the truth. Far from being stupid,they formed the best terror group in the world. Underestimating these people is a big mistake.
Knight...is there such a thing as a "good" war? I don't think anyone will be able to fully comprehend the events of 9-11. It is surely a day that will forever be etched into the minds of anyone who was old enough to remember it. I remember it so vividly because it happened the day after my birthday. I woke up just when the second tower was hit. Knight, I don't think that any amount of research will ever be able to fully explain how such an attack was carried out. All I do know is that it's something that I know I will never forget, something that nobody will ever be able to forget. It definately has changed the way I view the world...
Bish: And what happened (correct me if I'm wrong) is that the IRA became so thoroughly infiltrated with informers that they couldn't sneeze without Downing St. knowing about it. Same thing happened with these Arab terrorist groups. US--and especially Mossad--operatives had gotten into all of them. Word is that they were (and are) amazingly easy to infiltrate. The Mossad has demonstrated its ability to actually organize their own "arab terror" groups, over and over again (the Achille Lauro incident was an example of one such group. They're in the press again, having been caught organizing Palestinians in Gaza.) So, then, with such extensive and effective intelligence systems between the US and Israel, it's amazing indeed that the CIA, or any of America's multi-billion $$$ spy network didn't have a clue of 9-11.
But some people say that American intel. had prior knowledge and dismissed it as "un-supported". I remember watching the news a few days after 9-11 and hearing something about Osama Bin Laden warning the US that something would happen, but no action was taken. The only thing I have to say to that is WHY? Why was there no action taken, why didn't US intel look into the threat more? Granted, even if they did do something about it, 9-11 still could have happened... Even now everything is automatically linked to terrorism or the Al-Queda(sp?). When news first spread about the Columbia, I guarantee you all that people were wondering if it was linked to terrorists in one way or another. And that is something that will happen always because of the impact of 9-11. Again, seems to me like Bush is looking for a fight.... Il Duce
I actually saw that on the news but I even dobt 7 million, im sure though they have the capability of like 1-3, cause they start soildiers at about age 12 and they even have a womens army.
With total air, armor, naval, satellite, technological, and nuclear superiority, how many infantrymen they have is really pretty academic. What would they do with 100 million men? Any war with them would be a total roll-over. US press is just shamelessly trying to make it look like some kind of a contest. I still believe we're not going in, though. Russia has joined the French-German concept of a renewed inspection program and Blix says Iraq has shown positive signs of cooperation (or some such silly phrase) and things just may work out. More puppet theater. Sure, we mobilized all those troops for nothing, but, if we had never intended on invasion--since the very beginning--we would have to commit troops eventually anyway. Bush still gets to stomp around, get his funding, tighten home security, and make plans for the next puppet show (Korea, probably.) And the beauty of the whole plan is that the upcoming phoney war is justified by the current one. It's our quest to pursue terrorism all over the world. Did you know that when there's a terrorist act anywhere--WE show up? If a restaurant blows up in Zambia, we're the ones that go down and determine whether or not this was part of the "World Terror Network." (The "Axis of Evil" no longer cuts it. And the legendary Al-Quaida is being woven into a larger, more sinister, world-wide organization of wrongdoers. So, they should really start thinking of a catchy name for them. Like T.H.R.U.S.H., or something.) [ 09. February 2003, 11:44 PM: Message edited by: Knight Templar ]
I agree Knight. Again, it's almost as if everything negative that happens now is firstly assumed to be linked with one terrorist organization or the other. I don't know, seems like a bunch of bull to me. The constant pressure on the UN to support America on the invasion of Iraq, seems to me, to be useless. I have this feeling that Bush will keep trying until the UN finally agrees. Korea...the next big war. Could it be just a relapse of the Korean war but with bigger and "better" weapons? I don't know. I doubt it will get to that, but there is always the possibility. What do you guys think? Il Duce
North Korea is definately a bigger threat than Iraq. North Korea has openly admitted to having weapons of mass destruction, and they would use them if provoked. Iraq is willing (to some extent) cooperate, while North korea is just lurking, and possibly preparing for a war. Meanwhile, the US and Europe don't seem prepared to do anything about it. I do hope that the Iraq situation is solved peacefully without any bloodshed, but it seems that the US and UK are intent on going to war. The USA are also claiming that Iraq has links to al-Qaeda. That makes no sense in my mind. If im not mistaken Saddam Hussein condemed the attacks that occured on 9-11. If Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, they would of used them by now. Jet
2 out of 5 Gulf War vets are on disability, suffering from injuries sustained by "Gulf War Syndrome." Most agree now, that this has to do with the use of depleted uranium shells. Anyone thinking of fighting for the US should take note of the fact that the gvmnt treats its veterans like CRAP! http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=30664
We keep coming back to 9-11 (as well we should.) The most bizarre sidelight to the events is still that only 1 Israeli died in the WTC explosions. Also, that Israel's Secret Service cancelled a speech Sharon had scheduled to give in NY on that day. People should continue looking into this stuff: http://www.americanfreepress.net/09_26_01/Sharon_Trip_to_New_York_Cancel/sharon_trip_to_new_york_cancel.html
I really doubt that 2 out of 5 vets were in the M-1 abrahms tank. 2 out of 5 means our total frontline strength which is hard to believe. I for one do not agree that the government treats its vets any worse than other countries. War is hell and all soldiers around the world know what they may face in the line of duty. Again, you are falling for consipiracy theory crap. So far that is your calling so no surprise.
Pz: I'm not talking about tank crews. The exploding shells scattered material all over the place, where it was often inhaled. Do you think Agent Orange was a lunatic fringe conspiracy plot?
Again, I agree with Jet (seems to be happening alot as of late...) North Korea is a big threat. I'm not sure what will happen. I'd imagine that when the US/UN invade there will be many North Koreans claiming that they (Americans) are re-living the Korean War. This could pose a huge problem for American troops. Hell, it could cause a rebellion among Koreans and therefore lead to an advantage for the Koreans. Since I'm only 17 I can't really say what it was like during the Korean war, all I know about it I get from books that I have read. Still I don't think it requires any great deal of knowledge to realize that the situation with Korea and the United States is a great threat to everyone. I think that Iraq is "co-operating" to a certain extent. If they didn't want to co-operate then they wouldn't have let things get as far as they have. Still, I don't think that they are telling the whole truth. It's common knowledge that Iraq has bombs, big deal, everyone does now. What types of bombs are a different story. Again, I don't think either of the wars will lead to WWIII. There aren't that many opposing countries. Right now you have America and it's allies against one or two countries, specifically Iraq and Korea. I was at a discussion at the University and this was the main point: YES there will be a war with Iraq, YES it will last for a while, but NO it won't develop into another World War for this particular reason: There are not enough countries that are enemies with one another. It's something to think about.... Il Duce
No war with Iraq and no war with Korea. It's all a lot of posturing. The one thing Iraq and Korea have in common is that they can't fight back. I mean... these countries have no military advantages at all over the US. These are modern, industrial countries with huge, densely populated cities. They are aware, more than anyone, that our air superiority and weapons systems could smash their economies without our soldiers ever setting foot in their country. This is all about posturing, kicking around these crippled countries to make an example to the others. China just tested their first MIRV warhead last week. Where was all the big talk when that happened? Who honestly sees Iraq as a threat to American security? They have no strategic weapons systems at all, an army that doesn't want to fight, and a military machine badly damaged from two large wars and a 12-year embargo. Now, Bush has the nerve to say that we'll be waging a war for the Iraqi people. The Iraqi people? Huh? That's a big step from the "sponsors of terrorism" label they've had to wear for the last year and a half.
There is an article with a long list of statistics at http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0210/S00176.htm about the very large numbers of gulf war vets that have died post war. Also, www.hackworth.com has some more "readable" info on it, but for some reason I can't get to it right now.