Should Bush debate Ahmadinejad?

[Inmate Trump]

I'm no fan of Bush but he shoudln't debate Ahmadinejad.  That's pretty absurd.

[DanielX]

How about Tony Blair instead of Bush? A better speaker of English, and better able to garner global opinion in his favor.

Or perhaps double-team Bush and Blair against Ahmadjinad and Kim Jong-Il?

[Michael Z]

How about Tony Blair instead of Bush? A better speaker of English, and better able to garner global opinion in his favor.

Or perhaps double-team Bush and Blair against Ahmadjinad and Kim Jong-Il?

Excellent idea. Throw Bin Laden into the equation as well. Let them slug it out on some remote little island so we can all get on with our lives without these dunces playing their silly power games.

[dazzleman]

How about Tony Blair instead of Bush? A better speaker of English, and better able to garner global opinion in his favor.

Or perhaps double-team Bush and Blair against Ahmadjinad and Kim Jong-Il?

Excellent idea. Throw Bin Laden into the equation as well. Let them slug it out on some remote little island so we can all get on with our lives without these dunces playing their silly power games.

Mike, are you really implying moral equivalency between Bush and Blair, on the one hand, and those two other freaks?

[Michael Z]

How about Tony Blair instead of Bush? A better speaker of English, and better able to garner global opinion in his favor.

Or perhaps double-team Bush and Blair against Ahmadjinad and Kim Jong-Il?

Excellent idea. Throw Bin Laden into the equation as well. Let them slug it out on some remote little island so we can all get on with our lives without these dunces playing their silly power games.

Mike, are you really implying moral equivalency between Bush and Blair, on the one hand, and those two other freaks?

'Course not, but if that's what it takes to stop them from bickering then so be it.

Said with tongue firmly in cheek, I hasten to add. Still, international geopolitics does sometimes strike me as a playground fight of sorts. It's enough to make you wish they'd just shake hands and make up so we can get on with our lives without having to constantly worry whether the apocalypse is upon us or not.

[kashifsakhan]

It would be funny to watch, but it would not go over well for the US on the international scene.  It is too easy for Iran to play the victim, and all this would do is place the victim right next to his attacker.  Even if it was Ronald Reagan on that stage, there is no way the US would win in the opinion polls afterwards.

I agree.

[David S]

I would be in favor of having them resolve their differences with dueling pistols. Taking the Iraq situation as an example, we would have at most two dead guys assuming they managed to shoot each other. Instead we have over  2500 dead American soldiers, and 40,000 dead Iraqi civilians.
Dueling also solves the language problem. (Bang is universally understood)  More important yet, it would encourage leaders to resolve their diffferences peacefully since they would be putting their own necks on the line instead of someone else's. Far less costly in economic terms too.

[??????????]

40k Dead Iraqi citizens DavidS? I see you've joined liberal lala land in making up random numbers.

[Tender Branson]

40k Dead Iraqi citizens DavidS? I see you've joined liberal lala land in making up random numbers.

Thats not far away from the reality I think. Just look, each month about 2000 dead bodies are registered by Baghdad morgues alone. Now we are in year 4 of this conflict. I would say 25.000 civilians and the same number of policemen + terrorists were killed in the last 3.5 years of US-Occupation. The number could even be higher

[??????????]

40k Dead Iraqi citizens DavidS? I see you've joined liberal lala land in making up random numbers.

Thats not far away from the reality I think. Just look, each month about 2000 dead bodies are registered by Baghdad morgues alone. Now we are in year 4 of this conflict. I would say 25.000 civilians and the same number of policemen + terrorists were killed in the last 3.5 years of US-Occupation. The number could even be higher

How many German/French/Italian/Soviet civilians died to free Europe of tyranny? Unfortunately high civilian casualities are a result of freeing a oppressed people and I don't feel that negates the goal of said mission.

[David S]

40k Dead Iraqi citizens DavidS? I see you've joined liberal lala land in making up random numbers.

http://www.iraqbodycount.net/

Puts the number between 41K and 45k. Bush himself said about 30,000 a year ago when he was asked about iraqi casualties. That was in agreement with the referenced site at that time. But the numbers have grown since then as more people have been killed.

Now what is your number and the source?

[??????????]

Now what is your number and the source?

Freedom. No matter the cost. I know what you spineless foreign policy wimps think but I'm no longer concerned about you people. History will make you and your hippie ilk irrelevant.

[David S]

Now what is your number and the source?

Freedom. No matter the cost. I know what you spineless foreign policy wimps think but I'm no longer concerned about you people. History will make you and your hippie ilk irrelevant.

Since you are unable to make an intelligent argument let me put it in words you understand:
  f --- you.

[??????????]

Now what is your number and the source?

Freedom. No matter the cost. I know what you spineless foreign policy wimps think but I'm no longer concerned about you people. History will make you and your hippie ilk irrelevant.

Since you are unable to make an intelligent argument let me put it in words you understand:
  f --- you.

What's your solution to the Iraqi situation? Cut and run?

[Conan]

No to debate.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

What's your solution to the Iraqi situation? Cut and run?

Why should we allow the Iraqis to fight to the last American?  We should only hold their hands so much.  We can't keep the Iraqi Civil War from going full scale on our own forever.  The Iraquis have to be willing as well, but so far they've been more willing to let this continue than to face the real problems themselves.

That said, I think we are still at the point that the managed chaos that is in Iraq today is better than the unmanaged chaos that would result were we to leave now, but at some point either it will be clear that the Iraqis will never do enough to avoid a Civil War, in which case we should leave and let them enjoy their War, or it will be clear that they are doing enough to avoid a Civil War, in which case we should leave because our job there is done.

[kashifsakhan]

Now what is your number and the source?

Freedom. No matter the cost. I know what you spineless foreign policy wimps think but I'm no longer concerned about you people. History will make you and your hippie ilk irrelevant.

I wonder if you'd have the same feelings if you were in downtown Baghdad under heavy-fire.

[??????????]

Now what is your number and the source?

Freedom. No matter the cost. I know what you spineless foreign policy wimps think but I'm no longer concerned about you people. History will make you and your hippie ilk irrelevant.

I wonder if you'd have the same feelings if you were in downtown Baghdad under heavy-fire.

How do you think the people in downtown Dresden felt? Or in London?

[kashifsakhan]

Now what is your number and the source?

Freedom. No matter the cost. I know what you spineless foreign policy wimps think but I'm no longer concerned about you people. History will make you and your hippie ilk irrelevant.

I wonder if you'd have the same feelings if you were in downtown Baghdad under heavy-fire.

How do you think the people in downtown Dresden felt? Or in London?

They probably felt the same way you would feel if you were being shot at. They'd probably want it to end, believe me, at the moment, the only thing you care about is the gun fire stopping, u dont even think about freedom or what the cost of the war is or who's right and who's wrong!

[??????????]

Now what is your number and the source?

Freedom. No matter the cost. I know what you spineless foreign policy wimps think but I'm no longer concerned about you people. History will make you and your hippie ilk irrelevant.

I wonder if you'd have the same feelings if you were in downtown Baghdad under heavy-fire.

How do you think the people in downtown Dresden felt? Or in London?

They probably felt the same way you would feel if you were being shot at. They'd probably want it to end, believe me, at the moment, the only thing you care about is the gun fire stopping, u dont even think about freedom or what the cost of the war is or who's right and who's wrong!

True. But in the long run, like I said, do you think it will be worth it? And my answer to that is without a doubt.

[they don't love you like i love you]

Why would it be worth it? So Iraq can keep electing Islamists to power?

[David S]

Now what is your number and the source?

Freedom. No matter the cost. I know what you spineless foreign policy wimps think but I'm no longer concerned about you people. History will make you and your hippie ilk irrelevant.

Since you are unable to make an intelligent argument let me put it in words you understand:
  f --- you.

What's your solution to the Iraqi situation? Cut and run?

Lets start from the beginning. I said 40,000 Iraqi's civilians were killed. You questioned the number so I posted the source and asked what you thought the number should be. You responded with a personal attack against me. I responded in kind.

OK now you're back to the fundamental question; what should be done with the Iraqi situation? Of course the best solution would be not going there in the first place. But we can't change history so at this point that is not a possible option. My answer is that the Iraqi mess cannot be solved by us. The Iraqi's will never have faith in a government that they feel was created by the USA.

Lets say the situation was reversed. Assume for a moment that an Islamic nation attacked us and defeated our military. (I know, no Islamic nation has the power to do that, but this is just hypothetical to illustrate a point.)
Suppose they defeated our military, ousted our congress, put George W in prison for war crimes and then created a government here modeled after their own, an Islamic theocracy. Then they put American citizens in prison camps and tortured them and conducted searches of our homes without warrants, and siphoned off our resources for their benefit. And of course they claim to do it all for our own good. Now if that happened would you be willing to join a resistance group to fight them? I would and I suspect you would too. So why do we expect them to behave differently than we would? The US cannot force Democracy on people who did not want it. In my opinion the only way their situation can be resolved is for Iraqi's to resolve it. That means we leave as quickly as is safely possible and let the Iraqi's fix their own country. I suspect it will be bloody at first but then its bloody now and there is little hope of a resolution with us there.

[Tender Branson]

David, that´s what i wanted to say too yesterday, but i had to go help building my sisters house ...