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GOP Rep. Tom Cotton: Iraq was a “just and noble war”

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I agree.

Was it perfectly fought? No.

But it wasn’t a mistake either.

Bitter Clinger on March 18, 2013 at 1:54 PM

Sorry but I did 3 tours in Iraq as a US Marine. Almost ten years ago today I sat in the Kuwaiti desert thinking it was a good idea. But the human toll – with regards to Americans – was horrific and lets not forget about the treasure we lost. And dont throw the statistics about deaths in the other wars at me. It gave the USA nothing, it didn’t protect our borders, and not one Marine or soldiers life was worth some half-a$$ Iraqi democracy.

MoreLiberty on March 18, 2013 at 1:56 PM

The freeing of millions from a brutal dictator is noble and just. Plenty of mistakes were made, and maybe the justifications some used weren’t just or noble, but freedom and self-determination will always be just and noble in my eyes.

Flange on March 18, 2013 at 1:58 PM

One can make the claim that it was necessary. Just and noble? That’s a bit much.

Mr. Arkadin on March 18, 2013 at 1:59 PM

Ask a Kurd.

tom daschle concerned on March 18, 2013 at 1:59 PM

I hope folks who were no where near it don’t get to pronounce it as a failure based on the idea that we were supposed to make it a western democracy. We did what we set out to do.

smoothsailing on March 18, 2013 at 2:06 PM

Ask a Kurd.

tom daschle concerned on March 18, 2013 at 1:59 PM

Spoken like a true liberal. Hey lets also ask Pakistan if they appreciate the billions we’ve “given” them over the years, or lets ask some welfare queen if she appreciate the welfare as opposed to working. It was none of our business and Iraqi “democracy” was not worth the life of an American.

MoreLiberty on March 18, 2013 at 2:07 PM

Shut up he said! What a jackoff.

tom daschle concerned on March 18, 2013 at 2:09 PM

Echoes of Ronald Reagan:

For too long, we have lived with the “Vietnam Syndrome.” Much of that syndrome has been created by the North Vietnamese aggressors who now threaten the peaceful people of Thailand. Over and over they told us for nearly 10 years that we were the aggressors bent on imperialistic conquests. They had a plan. It was to win in the field of propaganda here in America what they could not win on the field of battle in Vietnam. As the years dragged on, we were told that peace would come if we would simply stop interfering and go home. It is time we recognized that ours was, in truth, a noble cause. A small country newly free from colonial rule sought our help in establishing self-rule and the means of self-defense against a totalitarian neighbor bent on conquest. We dishonor the memory of 50,000 young Americans who died in that cause when we give way to feelings of guilt as if we were doing something shameful, and we have been shabby in our treatment of those who returned. They fought as well and as bravely as any Americans have ever fought in any war. They deserve our gratitude, our respect, and our continuing concern. There is a lesson for all of us in Vietnam. If we are forced to fight, we must have the means and the determination to prevail or we will not have what it takes to secure the peace. And while we are at it, let us tell those who fought in that war that we will never again ask young men to fight and possibly die in a war our government is afraid to let them win.

thebrokenrattle on March 18, 2013 at 2:09 PM

The Syrian civil war will move to Lebannon, then to Iraq, then Persian versus Arab.

Oil Can on March 18, 2013 at 2:10 PM

Spoken like a true liberal

Yes, because if there was one group of people who were totally gung ho about the Iraq war, it was liberals.

YYZ on March 18, 2013 at 2:12 PM

Iraq was a complete waste of time that gained the U.S. nothing except more debt, loss of good soldiers, created more big government at home, crippled the GOP and conservative movement, and to top it off got the most radical socialist / communist president elected ever. Nice work neo-cons…nice work…

William Eaton on March 18, 2013 at 2:12 PM

If by “just and noble” you mean “colossal waste of blood and treasure”, then yes I agree. Just and noble indeed.

If only our political class had spent more time at Barnes and Noble leafing through books on Islam, we would not be where we are now.

sartana on March 18, 2013 at 2:13 PM

Iraq was a “just and noble war”

yeah, but the nation building part was a colossal mess.

bannor on March 18, 2013 at 2:15 PM

Iraq was a complete waste of time that gained the U.S. nothing except more debt, loss of good soldiers, created more big government at home, crippled the GOP and conservative movement, and to top it off got the most radical socialist / communist president elected ever. Nice work neo-cons…nice work…

William Eaton on March 18, 2013 at 2:12 PM

The same logic could be applied to our fighting the Germans in WWII. Afterall, they didn’t attack us. So what if we ultimately toppled Hitler? All that happened was lots of debt and loss of good soldiers (many of whom were *GASP* drafted).

Bitter Clinger on March 18, 2013 at 2:22 PM

Sorry but I did 3 tours in Iraq as a US Marine. Almost ten years ago today I sat in the Kuwaiti desert thinking it was a good idea. But the human toll – with regards to Americans – was horrific and lets not forget about the treasure we lost. And dont throw the statistics about deaths in the other wars at me. It gave the USA nothing, it didn’t protect our borders, and not one Marine or soldiers life was worth some half-a$$ Iraqi democracy.

MoreLiberty on March 18, 2013 at 1:56 PM

if you see it as a war that intended to transform Baghdad into Richmond, Virginia then i agree w/ you it was a failure. but if it was intended to eliminate a threatening dictator and to put the heat on Iran and other state sponsors of terrorism, then i’d say it was a win. did we squander our victory? yes. but was the war itself worth fighting? Absolutely.

Steven McGregor on March 18, 2013 at 2:22 PM

Islam is a black hole.

Pouring anything into it but bombs from the air is a waste of effort.

If we had left Nazis lite in power in Germany, Fascists lite in Italy, and the Japanese War Party lite in power in Japan after WW II the results would be what we got in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A mere shuffling of the same deck of diseased cards.

Unless Islam is understood and rooted out of “Muslim” lands you do nothing but rotate the same set of Islamically flat tires.

Bomb from afar and promise a Harder Response to any further Islamic troublemakers.

The rest is Guaranteed Failure and Pure Folly.

profitsbeard on March 18, 2013 at 2:24 PM

it’s always easy to scoff at war, or any effort for that matter

Steven McGregor on March 18, 2013 at 2:25 PM

Steven McGregor on March 18, 2013 at 2:25 PM

We got nothing for this war only debt and dead bodies. If we go into the Middle East and I’m talking about Afganistan too, then you go in zero PC with a 16th Century mind set. We don’t care about your civilians and if you resist then it’s scorch earth. They are not your friends and they never will be. You are an infidel and nothing is going to change that.

Iran is still buidling the bomb even after we invaded Iraq and what is probably going to happen in Iran with some sort of Airborne raid and smash. Kill the people (the techs), take nukes, and destroy the equipment (probably should take out some water treatment and power generation too). That’s probably a war “worth it” than compared to Iraq.

Oil Can on March 18, 2013 at 2:40 PM

Iraq was a complete waste of time that gained the U.S. nothing except more debt, loss of good soldiers, created more big government at home, crippled the GOP and conservative movement, and to top it off got the most radical socialist / communist president elected ever. Nice work neo-cons…nice work…

William Eaton on March 18, 2013 at 2:12 PM

The same logic could be applied to our fighting the Germans in WWII. Afterall, they didn’t attack us. So what if we ultimately toppled Hitler? All that happened was lots of debt and loss of good soldiers (many of whom were *GASP* drafted).

Bitter Clinger on March 18, 2013 at 2:22 PM

You’re being silly. I don’t see anything logical in comparing the Iraq War Part II to stopping Nazi Germany from conquering the entire world, BC. One was a war of choice while the other was a war that had control of the world hanging in the balance.

One man was marching all over the face of the Earth while the other was contained in his backward and corrupt sandpit of a pathetic little kingdom.

And yes, Hitler did declare war on the US and had every intention on conquering the US. And he could have done it too if it weren’t for the US, the British Empire, and the Soviet Union banding together to stop him. Germans are good at fighting and making weapons. Iraqis? Not so much.

The loss of American youth; the $$$ lost; and the credibility the GOP enjoyed as the grown up party that was sensible, smart, and prudent was not worth the cost of the war.

And guess what else: We’re probably going to have Hillary Clinton as the next POTUS because the GOP brand is so badly damaged. Hell, we couldn’t even win after four years of Democrat economic mismanagement with the laziest, most arrogant and stupid president to date sitting in the Oval Office.

We could also very will have a stacked liberal SCOTUS because Dubya and the neoconservatives thought it wise to squander away the GOP’s credibility on a foolish war, more Big Government and crony capitalism.

Just and noble my a**.

Punchenko on March 18, 2013 at 3:16 PM

if you see it as a war that intended to transform Baghdad into Richmond, Virginia then i agree w/ you it was a failure. but if it was intended to eliminate a threatening dictator and to put the heat on Iran and other state sponsors of terrorism, then i’d say it was a win. did we squander our victory? yes. but was the war itself worth fighting? Absolutely.

Steven McGregor on March 18, 2013 at 2:22 PM

The only people Saddam could have threatened were his own. He was absolutely zero threat to the U.S. Just another tinpot, third world nothing dictator.

And no matter what, going into Iraq was guaranteed to increase Iran’s influence in the region. Saddam was a sadistic monster, but Iran was his enemy. Iran’s shiite clerics now call the shots in Iraq.

AngusMc on March 18, 2013 at 3:20 PM

I went to Iraq and fought for my fellow marines – not for apple pie, freedom, mom or democracy. Fighting for the sake of ‘democracy” isn’t really that noble. Just look towards Egypt were the Muslim brotherhood was elected.

MoreLiberty on March 18, 2013 at 3:21 PM

The same logic could be applied to our fighting the Germans in WWII. Afterall, they didn’t attack us. So what if we ultimately toppled Hitler? All that happened was lots of debt and loss of good soldiers (many of whom were *GASP* drafted).

Bitter Clinger on March 18, 2013 at 2:22 PM

Actually, though I realize that you are being sarcastic, the results of the WWII was a terrible loss. We broke an entire generation of Whites all over the world, instead of Hitler ruling Europe, the Soviets, dunk on the Jewish philosophy of Marxism, took those countries which I would not exactly call a “win”. Further, after we withdrew, those free Countries were divided by the idea of whether to adopt socialism or not, and eventually decided to do so, thus leading to the Cold War and the current mess. If fact, with Hitler ruling Europe, we might have well have been able to stop China from falling into Communism, saving millions of lives.

Frankly, we backed the wrong horse.

Bulletchaser on March 18, 2013 at 3:34 PM

Actually, though I realize that you are being sarcastic, the results of the WWII was a terrible loss. We broke an entire generation of Whites all over the world, instead of Hitler ruling Europe, the Soviets, dunk on the Jewish philosophy of Marxism, took those countries which I would not exactly call a “win”. Further, after we withdrew, those free Countries were divided by the idea of whether to adopt socialism or not, and eventually decided to do so, thus leading to the Cold War and the current mess. If fact, with Hitler ruling Europe, we might have well have been able to stop China from falling into Communism, saving millions of lives.

Frankly, we backed the wrong horse.

Bulletchaser on March 18, 2013 at 3:34 PM

Really? Whites? Jewish Marxism? Hitler preferable to Chinese communism?

Seven Seas on March 18, 2013 at 3:42 PM

Gents, I respectfully disagree.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcvgAMnMne0

Steven McGregor on March 18, 2013 at 3:48 PM

So you could say that Cotton is pickin’ foolishness?

<|-]

MelonCollie on March 18, 2013 at 4:01 PM

Frankly, we backed the wrong horse.

Bulletchaser on March 18, 2013 at 3:34 PM

I imagine many Americans were not happy about having to bail out Europe from Germany twice in 30 years, but that particular horse had paired itself with the Japanese.

After Pearl Harbor, short of them publicly condemning their former allies and renouncing all ties, our war of defense and counter-attack had to become another European liberation.

And as for Communism rising, wasn’t our fault. That’s Russia’s failing.

MelonCollie on March 18, 2013 at 4:06 PM

Actually, though I realize that you are being sarcastic, the results of the WWII was a terrible loss. We broke an entire generation of Whites all over the world, instead of Hitler ruling Europe, the Soviets, dunk on the Jewish philosophy of Marxism, took those countries which I would not exactly call a “win”. Further, after we withdrew, those free Countries were divided by the idea of whether to adopt socialism or not, and eventually decided to do so, thus leading to the Cold War and the current mess. If fact, with Hitler ruling Europe, we might have well have been able to stop China from falling into Communism, saving millions of lives.

Frankly, we backed the wrong horse.

Bulletchaser on March 18, 2013 at 3:34 PM

Wow. Everything wrong with Buchanan-style paleoconservatism in one post. Awesome.

thebrokenrattle on March 18, 2013 at 7:27 PM