Number one, I'm not a Chief - that title belongs to a Naval NCO. Number two, as far as NOT attacking a country that had No Al Quida ties, we did that after the first World Trade Center bombing, the USS Cole, the Khobar towers, the embassies in Kenya and the Sudan, and the Mogidishu ambush. Look what happened. Total span of time on those incidents was what, 7 years or so? We launched a few Tomahawks, but didn't really do anything decisive. Almost 4 years into GWOT, we haven't had any acts of terrorism against U.S. targets. Now, I grant you that "act of terrorism" will mean things to different people. To the typical civilian, an 82mm mortar slamming into a skylight above your bed, inches from the glass, might be considered an act of terrorism. To me, that's just part of my job. So, you statement begs the question, what is justification for a lot of money and shitload of blood? Perhaps a small raid by a few aircraft on U.S. warships at anchor in the harbor of a U.S. protectorate? Is that worth 700,000 KIA, and over 1 million wounded, not to mention about 5 years of severe hardship at home? There are some people you just can't be diplomatic with. A man who sees Stalin as a hero is one of them.
I'll pass on your belief to my buddies in D Co of the nonexistance of chemical weapons. Perhaps you'd like to check out what they found in Karbola. Granted, it wasn't a lot, but the presence of it says enough.
Iraq isn't a civil war. That's a new one though. Well, I take that back. There's a civil war that's been going on for a really long time. It's between the Kurds and Iraq and Turkey. Same thing is going on in Israel. Civil wars take place between organized forces, not independent cells. When was the last time you heard of the insurgents being the victim of a car bomb? I wouldn't consider mortaring a school an act of war. That is terrorism. If you think Iraq is a civil war, then you probably think that the gang crime in LA is also a civil war. The insurgency is really not much more than normal crime in America, just on a much more intense scale. I said the same thing about Mosul last year. If American criminals had access to RPGs and mortars, and it wasn't unsusal for over 50% of all homes to have a fully automatic AK-47, you'd see the same shit happening here. This is like Chicago in the twenties. You have to walk the streets to understand it. I'm not being arrogant about it - it's the truth. You can't create a truely informed opinion until you have talked to the average Joe - well, I guess it would be Average Mohammad over there. Sure, there are people that hate us - same way most criminals feel about the police. There are lot's that view us as a necessary nuiscance - just like lot's of people here view the police. Finally, there are those that love us. Most of these are the highly educated ones. They are smart enough to recognize that there is a future for Iraq that is a hell of a lot better than it was under Saddam. They know the power of that black gold under the sand. They help us find and kill those that try to stand in the way of that prosperity. That's the thing that kills me. I've had lots of time to talk with Iraqis of various back grounds and education levels - most Iraqis speak some degree of English. Even those that initially weren't sure if they liked us being there understood that if everyone pulled together they could be the richest country in the middle east. In Mosul, money is the most important thing. I explained to them about Alaska and the oil dividends that get paid out. There is hope over there, it just doesn't sell newspapers like car bombs and dead bodies do.