All of "this" could have been so easily avoided.. That's what really hurts

If our soldiers were followed by truck loads of food, medical supplies, school supplies,satellite dishes, tvs, radios,etc...to be GIVEN to the Iraqi people, there would have been a real welcome for us.

If we had started HIRING ALL THE IRAQI men that wanted to work, instead of giving out cushy no-bid contracts to KBR etc, they would have had no need to fight us..

These same people have been "building" for thousands of years..They KNOW how to do it.. Give them the technology and equipment they need, pay them a living wage (for Iraq, if would have been a pittance compared to what we are spending now), and turn them loose..

Probably a lot of the baathists would have even renounced their ties to Saddam, if they had been treated better.. The fact that they mostly turned tail and ran (just like 91) shows that they were not really interested in fighting us..

For what we have wasted , we could have BOUGHT their hearts and minds...by just being decent top them..

We could have given each family in Iraq some cash, and helped them get back on their feet, and said.. sayonara :(..(wrong war, but..)

They would have sold us all the oil we needed...if they saw us as true liberators...

they were building hospitals and schools...where did all the reconstruction money go? Their salaries were part of the pentagon budget.

That wouldn't have lined the pockets of Halliburton nor given
control of the Iraqi Oil fields to US interests.

Better for us to treat them like children, take away any dignity,
become true Ugly Americans so that we can sustain a war and keep
(indefinitely) 150,000 troops plus armor and planes and ships in
the region... all to better to launch the next phase of the war
on "terror" (get it? wink wink).

Must stick with the PNAC program here.

the lack of proper prewar planning for the postwar, when the invasion was optional, is what will sway undecideds. we all know that prior planning prevents poor performance. and we all know that if this optional war is so right, then it should be paid for NOW. Not put on the national credit card. let shrub et al run that by their base.

wage peace ----it's cheaper.
wage peace ----it creates lives.

You better be careful or you will become an "Enemy Combatant"

What you see is more than likely in line with what this administration wanted.

Does the phrase " Remember the Main " ring a bell ?

...(and remain) U.S. political and military control of an oil rich state in the Middle East. Period. The scenario you describe is way too logical to fit that vision, and besides, it might have left us with Iraqi friends, but not the vassels the U.S. needs.

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