Man blames lack of support at home for Iraq problems. My reply. [View All]

[Shipwack]

Salon has an article in their "WarRoom" that discusses Condileezza Rice's comparison of Iraq war critics to those who would have been willing to let the South keep slaves if it meant an end to the American Civil War. In the discussion, one person posting as "joe" keeps posting defending her words. At one point he said:

Iraq would be in better shape if we were only fighting the insurgents and not the added fifth columnists here and in Europe.

I wonder how much better things would have gone in Iraq if there was support at home.

I replied that he was 100% correct... At least about one thing.

Things would be going much better with better support from home. If only...

... Rumsfeld had listened to General Shinseki and went in with enough troops to maintain order instead of openly mocking his general and trying to do it on the cheap.

... the Administration had given authorization to the HumVee armor manufacturer to ramp up production so our troops would have safer vehicles.

...Rumsfeld had given orders to station troops at weapon stockpiles instead of having them guard the Oil Ministry, then insurgents wouldn't have been able to drive away with several semi-trailers full of military explosives, which are probably being put to use in IEDs.

... the budget for research into head injuries from explosives (such as IEDs) hadn't been cut so our troops would have better treatment for one of the most common injuries suffered.

... the Veteran's Administration budget wasn't being cut at a time when we have more soldiers needing help with their injuries incurred while serving in the military.

... Cheney's old (and future?) employer Haliburton wasn't allowed to defraud the government with impunity, overcharging and providing insufficient services to our troops.

... Army, Marine, and National Guard units weren't being sent back to Iraq for second, third, and fourth tours of duty.

... President Bush proved that the war in Iraq was important enough for 2600+ men to have died for by having his daughters enlist and go serve in Iraq. I know, I know, it's unfair to ask him to make that sacrifice without asking Cheney to send his daughter Mary, but the Pentagon has made it abundantly clear that it is more important to keep gays out of the military than to let them help fight the "war on terror".

Yep, if we had more support for the troops at home... Hmmm... let me rephrase that.

If this Republican administration actually supported our troops, things would be better in Iraq.