Originally Posted by burkleymh

The trouble with our "wars" is that they become politized, the media adds their $.02, and we end up never following through with what needs to be done. The 1991 Iraq war should have brought Saddam down if we followed through, but the bleeding hearts crying over the "road of death" out of Kuwait brought about a political end to the war instead of a military end. The Kurds thought (and was most likely promised) they would have our help. It cost them thousands of lives. The UN was supposed to oversee the sanctions on Saddam, but instead went to bed with him. Saddam should have been captured and brought to trial in 1991. We did not have enough troops to secure Iraq this time, and we still don't. We had a misguided belief that with Saddam's fall and capture, the country would embrace freedom. We STILL do not understand the influence the many different Islamic mullahs and imans have on the public opinion and the political process. I STILL do not hear ANYONE talking about getting the religious leaders to speak out against the bombings. Until they unite their voices and speak out against the indiscriminant killings, NOTHING'S GOING TO CHANGE.