Why are we losing the illegal war in Iraq?

Tony B

The American Armed Forces are designed for high tech warfare against other armies. But because American superiority in military hardware is so great no other nation on earth is prepared to seriously engage American main force strength. Because of a comparative force inferiority those who actively wish to oppose America - for political, economic, racial, religious or any other reasons must find a way to fight that negates American strength and enhances their own. The only practical way to do this is to engage in "irregular" or "asymmetrical" warfare. In Iraq this is working very well for the anti-American side partly because they have strong ideological inspiration and partly because the US will not - unlike the Russians now - indulge in the sort of slaughter that would "pacify" the country. History shows that brutal Imperial powers can do that - make a desolation and call it peace as the Roman historian said - however the US is culturally unable to adopt such a policy. Therefore the insurgents are doing well and are advanced along the path of destroying the political will to continue within the US - remember the end of the Vietnam involvement when political will was lost by the Americans.
It is hard to see any way in which the US can "win" decisively but if they occupy Iraq for over ten years they might eventually negotiate a withdrawal that is politically acceptable to both sides and which leads to a peace. Somehow I cannot see that happening right now.

All hat

Why do you characterize the war in Iraq as illegal? Shouldn't you call the cops in that case?

jack

You kind of make it sound like the soliders(American) are doing something wrong when you say illegal war.

Rich S

YOU EVER READ ABOUT SOME CRIME BEING COMMITTED AND ALL THESE PEOPLE STAND AROUND AND WATCH AND DO NOTHING?? THATS WHAT THE U.N. DOES. THE U.S. AND THE OTHER COALITION PARTNERS WERE THE ONLY ONES TO STAND UP AND ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS THUG AFTER HE IGNORED ALL SEVENTEEN RESOLUTIONS PASSED BY THE U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL PLUS TOSSING OUT THE INSPECTORS WHEN THINGS GOT A LITTLE TOO DICEY. THE MAN LOVED TO YANK THE WORLDS CHAIN. HE JUST HAPPEN TO FIND SOMEBODY WHO YANKED BACK---AND HARD. AND, BY THE WAY. WE ARE LOSING THIS WAR ONLY IN YOUR HEAD AND AS A DIRECT RESULT OF THE FEARS AND MISCALCULATIONS OF THE DOVES IN THIS COUNTRY. THEY ARE FLYING HIGH NOW BUT WILL SOONER OR LATER GET SHOT OUT OF THE SKY. BUT BY THEN IT WILL SURELY BE TOO LATE.

[?]

we're not losing...who ever said we were???

dr_law2003

Illegal by whose standards? There is no world government that exercises sovereignty over sovereign nations. By US standards, the war is legal. If you look at the National Security Strategy of the United States, which I doubt you have, you will see that in order to protect national security the US can use pre-emptive measures. That language has been in the National Security Strategy since Kennedy was president. Since the US is a sovereign nation, we do not need the permission or approval of other nations to conduct our business. By signing the UN Charter, the US did not give up its right to sovereignty, nor did the US agree to submit to a world governing body. There isn't a single nation on earth who did.

chris B

Actually we already won the war, that only lasted a week. It's the peace that we are losing so badly. Personally I think we need to take all the guns away from the Iraqi's so they stop shooting each other.

Athos

Not agreeing with something doesn't make it "illegal"

I Hate Liberals

Oh great your back. We're not loosing the war, Operation Iraqi Freedom is over, we won. We went in, took out there leader and military, and then took over the country and established a new government w/ its own Army; thats victory. Now we're staying too long and there becoming dependent on us for their Civil War. Its our time to leave, and their time to fight for their freedom like the Colonist did.

mei-lin

Who put you in charge of what's legal and illegal? Nobody, last time I checked.

DiamondDave

Again... this is NOT an illegal war. This military effort was approved by congress. It is also legit after the violations of the cease-fire agreement that ended the part known as 'Desert Storm'.

So stop with your typical liberal rhetoric. It has been shot down so many times, it is hard to keep count.

And we are FAR from losing in this effort in Iraq.

My Opinion...You Asked

Bush said we were losing...HaAAAA There will not be Victory in Iraq.

006

Ha, laws only matter if they are enforced. Think Bush is going to stand trial for crimes against humanity? Think again.

As to why things didn't go as planned, it's because of a lack of understanding of culture, which led to poor planning and poor execution. You can have the best trained army (team, whatever) in the world, but the most important thing in war (and many other things) is strategy.

Realistic Viewpoint

Because, the forces that be, here in America, (our own government) doesn't, and never DID, WANT to 'win' anything in Iraq, they merely wanted to destabilise the region as an excuse for even more war/s, (constant-warfare, ala 'Orwell')

I can-NOT believe that there are still some persons 'debating' the legality of the Iraq 'War'-!

Here are some research links, if You'd care to view them.

Iraq war was illegal and breached UN charter, says Annan

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1305709,00.html

Army chiefs feared Iraq war illegal just days before start

Â· Attorney-General forced to rewrite legal advice
Â· Specialist unit dedicated to spying on UN revealed

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12239,1158859,00.html

Links to Opinions on Legality of War Against Iraq

http://www.robincmiller.com/ir-legal.htm

2003 invasion of Iraq

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_invasion_of_Iraq

(see Legitimacy of the 2003 invasion of Iraq).[11]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legitimacy_of_the_2003_invasion_of_Iraq

David F

cuz Bush is a moron! gee..those degrees didn't help him at all!

Because Bush doesn't know what he's doing.

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