U.S. Snipers Firing on Ambulances in Fallujah

Actually, it IS pretty courageous of Latham.

It could well be a vote loser - despite majority disapproval of the decision to go to war sans UN before the troops went in, it is moot whether or not the majority will now support their being there now that they ARE there - (a position I do not comprehend, logically, but there it is.)

Despite ongoing revelations suggesting the Oz government influenced the type of intelligence it received from its intelligence organizations before the war, it is a dangerous political move to announce a withdrawal, and is one of the things that might well be engineered to help cause Latham to lose, such is the whim and unpredictable nature of the electorate in such matters - particularly if the government is "lucky" enough to have another terrorist attack on Australia just prior to the election. (I am not suggesting that the government had anything to do with it, but September 11th and Bali, and what turned out to be totally erroneous allegations made against a group of asylum seekers in a ship - which ought probably to have resulted in universal condemnation and probably resignation of the Prime Minister and some other government ministers - turned out to be election winners for the conservatives in Australlia at the last federal election.)

Latham - the current leader of the opposition - has been against this war from the beginning - as have most people in the Labor Party. He is continuing a principled stand. You may disagree with it, but it is ridiculous chest-beating to call a move which may help lose a leader an election cowardice.

As much as I hate the war in Iraq it will be much worse to just pull out before we have repaired the damage both politicle and actual. We destroyed the infrastrucure of Iraq and allowed the thugs and crooks to take over the government there. Bush wants out by June because he wants the killing of US soilders to end before the election. He and his government screwed up royally. No WMD's found and his government has allowed the Al Queda organization to rebuild it self. Noone can fault the soilders over there. When you are shot at you shoot back. Put the blame where it belongs. ON Bush and his bunch of warmongering idiots. This could only be done by people who were too cowardly to fight when they had the chance as Bush and most of his government did during the Vietnaum war. Its easy to send someone else to fight your wars when you are too old to go. Bush and Cheney were too cowardly to face the committee on 9/11 by themselves. When I am told by some on this site I owe them loyality just because they are the president and vice president I get sick to my stomach.

Well that's your opinion and of course you are entitled to it. In my opinion it is a fact. Hmm...that sounds a little strange.


Actually this time we were very careful NOT to destroy the power plants and bridges and roads and the rest of the infrastructure. As a result, when Major Combat Operations were over the country was in pretty much the same shape physically as before the war started. And now it's better than that.

Tarantulas,

How can "justified" and any other value-laden descriptors or adjectives be called "facts"?

Rabel, I don't think we can repair the damage, both political and actual.

In the US it might help an awakening to what? (hard for even me to imagine reconciliation) to change administrations? but the next guy will have a big messo.
If the guy is Bush, a grande messo.

Messo, possibly some participle of the italian mettere but misused by me on purpose.

To clarify to anyone on a2k who doesn't understand my manytimes obscure posts, I am not really keen on anyone invading anybody. Humans really tend to connect with their families, their neighborhoods, their villages, their whole batch of acres. As history has occurred, they gather together in citystates and even countries, but in many ways connect to the RIGHT THERE, excluding some of us who are fairly urban and world sophisticates.

Most people right on the land don't like invaders and some in cities don't either (cities being land too...)

I don't understand the military disconnect from this primordial view. People don't like to be invaded, even if they somewhat agree with you.
Nobody ever seems to get this.

And so it is happening again.

If they don't like to be invaded, how much more would they(us) not like bombs?

Does no one in the entire military establishment of anywhere understand human hearts?