Ten ways to argue about the war

How to talk back to die-hard war supporters.

By Michael Schwartz

Dec. 06, 2005 | I often receive e-mails -- pro and con -- about my postings on the war in Iraq, and I try to respond to any substantive questions or critiques offered. But when I received an e-mail titled "10 Questions," in response to a TomDispatch commentary detailing the arguments for immediate withdrawal, I must admit my heart sank -- the questions were familiar, but the answers were complex and I was in no mood to spend the time needed to respond properly.

After a couple of days, however, I began to warm to the idea of writing short but pointed responses to these common criticisms of antiwar positions because, I realized, they are the bread and butter of daily Iraq discourse in our country. When the war comes up in the media or in casual conversation, these are the issues raised by those who think we have to "stay the course" -- and among those who oppose the war, these are the lurking, unspoken questions that haunt our discussions. So here are my best brief answers to these key issues in the crucial, ongoing debate over Iraq.

"I read your article on withdrawal of American troops," my correspondent began, "and questioned the lack of discussion of the following..." (His comments are in bold.)

1. Nothing was mentioned about improvements in Iraq (elections, water and energy, schools). No Saddam to fear! Water and energy delivery as well as schools are worse off than before the U.S. invasion. Ditto for the state of hospitals (and medical supplies), highways and oil production. Elections are a positive change, but the elected government does not have more than a semblance of actual sovereignty, and therefore the Iraqi people have no power to make real choices about their future. One critical example: The Shiite/Kurdish political coalition now in power ran on a platform whose primary promise was that, if elected, they would set and enforce a timetable for American withdrawal. As soon as they took power, they reneged on this promise (apparently under pressure from the United States). They have also proved quite incapable of fulfilling their other campaign promises about restoring services and rebuilding the country; and for that reason (as well as others), their constituents (primarily the Shiites) are becoming ever more disillusioned. In the most recent polls, Shiite Iraqis now are about 70 percent in favor of U.S. withdrawal.

more…
http://salon.com/opinion/feature/2005/12/06/tomdispatch/

And somehow, people saw through it that time.

And where is Bin Laden? Didn't he actually have something to do with 9/11? We can tell that Bush is very concerned about Bin Laden, owing to how he toured the US promoting Social Security privatization in order to catch him. Know them by their fruits.

I clicked on the "Salon Day Pass" link and watched the ad, but when I clicked on the "Enter Salon" link after the ad was finished, it took me to the "Real Rhapsody" registration page! this happened several times in two different browers - all ad blocking was turned off. :shrug: