So I've been having a back and forth DEBATE with a Republican

He's always been a diehard Republican, and I always ARGUED BITTELY with him. We bounced back discussion board messages (Our classes have them on the internet) and one time like 4 months ago he actually challenged me to a fight. That's how fired up he was to defend Bush. Being a diplomat I solved it by saying, "Come on, it's just politics, lets be gentleman."

Get this, here is the post he put up TODAY:
I tell you Shane, you know I was an avid supporter of
the war effort and defender of the administration and I
still am. However, there was no excuse for using that
bad intelligence, especially when Colin Powell refused
to mention the Niger/Uranium in his speech because he
said it was unverifiable.

What is really bothering me even more is that there are
150,000 heavy combat troops in Iraq who are supposed to
be playing peace officers. That is ridiculous. There
is no way 150,000 troops can maintain order, root out
remnants of the Ba'ath Party, find weapons of mass
destruction, and rebuild the infrastructure and find
Sadaam.

More and more everyday Sadaam (because I believe he is
still alive) appears to have outsmarted Rumsfeld and the
Pentagon. It appears that Sadaam purposely laid in wait
for the U.S. to destroy his army and once the forces
pulled out waged orchestrated, low intensity attacks on
U.S. soldiers.

The problem is that if we pull out without capturing
Hussein we risk the possibility of him coming back into
power and if that is the case then what was the point of
the war????

I watched Rumsfeld get grilled by the Senate Armed
Services Committee and every response from him was "I'll
have to check", or "I don't know". WHAT???????? He
should know everything. Rumsfeld has really
disappointed me because he is being stubborn in
insisting that U.S. forces can accomplish all those
tasks with only 150,000 troops. Not possible. 150,000
troops plus air power was enough to win the war but not
to maintain postwar order.

What really is bothering me is that because of the low
number of forces U.S. soldiers have become targets for
snipers and pot shots. They are dying everyday.

On top of all of this the Rumsfeld and Co. at the
Pentagon want to go into Iran??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME???
Based on what intelligence???? I'm sure Iran is
building nukes but because of the lack of credibility
the Defense Department seems to be having they have no
business even proposing that we go into any other
country. This kind of back and forth bickering is
making the Administration look bad.

Furthermore, I think it is shady how Rice made Tenet
take the blame for the State of the Union snafu. The
President as you well know, is briefed by the National
Security Council every Monday, so if Tenet told him the
intelligence was bad the final decision was on G.W. not
to put that in his speech.

The guy who is being treated unfairly in all of this is
Colin Powell. I think C.P. did the right thing by
forcing the Administration to go to the Security Council
(especially now when Rumsfeld and Co. seem to have
problems justifying the war) and build a coalition and
then he didn't use faulty intelligence. But the problem
here is that you have RACISTS, yes, RACISTS like Newt
Gingrich who wants to try and blame the State Department
for the Administration's current credibility problem.
WHAT?????

Gingrich told Tony Snow that he used an "L.A. Times
article" as the basis of his attack on Powell. ARE YOU
KIDDING ME??????? I think the State Department has
performed admirably in going to the U.N. and trying to
get support from the Security Council when they knew
they wouldn't. Just imagine if we DIDN'T go to the U.N.
and just attacked Iraq last July or September???? Then
you have a snake in the grass in Pat Robertson doing the
same thing.

I am a conservative and a Republican but I won't hide
behind the title Republican. I mean when you are wrong
you are wrong and the Pentagon and the DOD seems to be
losing credibility every time a U.S. soldier gets
capped. Rumsfeld and CO. have mismanaged the postwar
effort and have accomplished none of the tasks they
based the war on. They basically left 150,000 troops
there with no air support to fight a guerilla/urban war.

So they better rethink this situation fast because if it
keeps going like this G.W. may really have a problem
getting re-elected despite the weak Democratic
candidates. But until they correct it I can't defend
Rumsfeld and the Pentagon's actions in Postwar Iraq.

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What's he going to say when the economy really collapses?

but this is one more in that wonderful DRIP, DRIP, DRIP... pealing away.

Now this guy will stay home in 2004

blinders off!

You must have been very pleasantly surprised, Shane!?


I take issue with his saying "problem getting re-elected" when bush was only appointed!

And I believe the Dems have Strong Candidates!

Stronger than bush could ever dream of being. :kick:

for full conversions to occur....

There is pain in the RNC base, the real
base... not the nut jobs...

Slowy they are realizing that bush conned them
He is no Conservative and slowly they are
learning this.

Give it time...

drip, drip, drip

Actually there are some real Republicans still around. They may come out of the woodwork and take their party back. That would be good for this country.

the dark side. Refreshing.

So how much of what Powell said has been verified by our experience on the ground in Iraq?

Just wondering.

must be pulling your chain.

As long as I've known him for a year and a half he's been a BIGTIME Bush supporter. Actually, he's interning for the Ohio Republican Party right now. What's funny is, he used their computers to post that.

It is usually better to just shut up, flip them the bird, and go read a book .....

But I guess THIS post refutes that expeditious and satisfying retort ....

THIS post proves: ... Not ALL GOP are mindless idiotic sheep ....

Well I wish I knew a Republican or two like that. Maybe there's hope for the future of this country after all!!! Thanks for the great post.