Hussein was told by the UN to get rid of the stuff. He didn't get rid of it, and blaming the intelligence community for his efforts to hide it and string along the UN inspectors - well, I thought better of *you*, so I gues we're even in the disappointment tally.
As for the argument that I'm conflating skepticism about WMD with an insistence on withdrawal, this is exactly the argument being made by people such as Kerry, Kennedy, Murtha and others. If it's not your argment, fine. I never assumed you were a donkey in need of having that particular tail attached; last I heard you were a Green, politically. As for Shinseki being given the bum's rush - I realize this is a popular meme in the antiwar community, but it's not the case (http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/read.php?story_id_key=1388). He stepped down as Army CoS four months after his testimony to the Senate and retired on schedule.
I could understand your reaction if I were personally calling you out on this - but I'm not. Frankly, I'm puzzled as to why you're taking this personally, because you seem to indicate that my cynical comment about the WMD and some on the anti-war left doesn't apply to you at all.
I do however wonder how you can simultaneously think we didn't go in hard enough (with the quantity of troops Shinseki and others thought were needed) while maintaining that we have too many troops there and it's aggravating the Sunni/nationalist resistance. I'm willing to admit that mistakes were made due to political pressure, but overall this looks like a win. Especially if you're a Kurd or a Shiite Iraqi.
no subject
As for the argument that I'm conflating skepticism about WMD with an insistence on withdrawal, this is exactly the argument being made by people such as Kerry, Kennedy, Murtha and others. If it's not your argment, fine. I never assumed you were a donkey in need of having that particular tail attached; last I heard you were a Green, politically. As for Shinseki being given the bum's rush - I realize this is a popular meme in the antiwar community, but it's not the case (http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/read.php?story_id_key=1388). He stepped down as Army CoS four months after his testimony to the Senate and retired on schedule.
I could understand your reaction if I were personally calling you out on this - but I'm not. Frankly, I'm puzzled as to why you're taking this personally, because you seem to indicate that my cynical comment about the WMD and some on the anti-war left doesn't apply to you at all.
I do however wonder how you can simultaneously think we didn't go in hard enough (with the quantity of troops Shinseki and others thought were needed) while maintaining that we have too many troops there and it's aggravating the Sunni/nationalist resistance. I'm willing to admit that mistakes were made due to political pressure, but overall this looks like a win. Especially if you're a Kurd or a Shiite Iraqi.