Save Darfur!!

[User Name]

Last I checked, it was both the lefties, the righties and quite a few folks in the middle that feel the same about this debacle.

With all due respect, Rick, honestly, the only reason it's a "debacle" and a "quagmire" is because the media portrays it to be.

Is it taking longer than we would like? Of course. But, did anyone REALLY think it was going to be a walk in the park? It's war. There are people out there who don't want us to win and are doing anything to hurt our troops. It's hard to fight a war against people who are not following the Geneva convention.

We ARE winning over there. We overthrew a tyrannical dictator. We removed his government. We captured/killed a great percentage of his high-level people. The Iraqis have had several free elections. MOST of the country is very safe - safer than many of the cities in the USA.

Granted, we are having difficulties with the insurgents. But, they're not wearing uniforms - we can't just go killing people at random. You have to admit, for a war, especially a guerilla war where the enemy is not following the rules of war, we have kept the casualty count down to a minimum - on both sides. It could be a LOT, LOT, LOT worse. We COULD have gone in there with a scorched earth policy. It would've been quicker, but the death count would've been exponentially higher.

Actually, we won the "war" - it's the rebuilding that we're having trouble with. The people we're fighting over there are more interested in killing people (both Americans and Iraqis) than they are at overturning the government. If it truly were a "civil war", it would also be fought (debated) within their elected officials. That's not happening.

I'll also admit that the Iraqi forces are not at the level we need them to be. But, for the first year or two of rebuiling, we weren't 100% sure whom we could trust in their military and their police. Many (most) of the bad guys have been weeded out. They are improving considerably.

So, the "quagmire", "debacle", and all these other labels are simple propoganda by those who are anti-Bush and anti-America. It's really too bad that a large number of people are sheepishly parroting these catch phrases.

 

[autumnbaby9]

So, the "quagmire", "debacle", and all these other labels are simple propoganda by those who are anti-Bush and anti-America.

I am so sick of being considered anti-american because I do not agree with Bush or the "debacle" that the Iraq war has become. Since when did Bush or Iraq become "America"

Our entire country was founded on the idea that we do not have to like our government or what they are doing. And if we don't like them we have the right to talk against them and their policies.

I realize you do not agree with my political view points (Bleeding liberal that I am ) but that does not make me anyless Pro-American. We all have the right to believe what we want without others calling us anti-American or even worst a Terrorist supporter.

 

[magicmato]

Yeah, there's no plan. Nice try. Plans have to change when they aren't working. The enemy's job is to make sure of that. Do you REALLY think there was no plan in Iraq?!? Do you REALLY think that the "plan" in Darfur will go perfectly?!? Get your head out of the sand! And, the rest of the world, led by Hollywood and the lefties ARE calling us bullies for supporting the current government in Iraq against their enemies.

Funny, yet the military has complained that they did not have enough time to properly prepare and plan for the war. Bush's advisors have admitted that they did not and do not have a plan for how to end the problems in Iraq, when they invaded and now.

As for the rest of the stuff you are spewing, you really should try and not attack other posters. I don't think you know me well enough to label me a 'leftie' or state how I have my head in the sand just because I disagree with you. Amazingly we are all allowed opinions and believe it or not, you may not be the one who is right, despite what your friends tell you.

 

[JennyMominRI]

So, the "quagmire", "debacle", and all these other labels are simple propoganda by those who are anti-Bush and anti-America. It's really too bad that a large number of people are sheepishly parroting these catch phrases.

Considering the fact that I served this country and am a medically retired 100% diasbled Marine,I don't appreciate the assumption that i'm unamerican because I dont support Bush or this war..Not only doed that make me *Unamerican* but it makes my very dear friend who is on active duty in the Navy right now, Anti-American,since he disagrees with Bush and with this war.

 

[magicmato]

MOST of the country is very safe - safer than many of the cities in the USA.

So you are planning to vacation there, when?

I find it amazing that you actually seem to believe that anywhere in Iraq is very safe. Really, it just is unbelievable. Oddly, our country and the UN disagree with your assessment, considering that we have broadened the Iraqi refugee program. One would think since it is so safe there now, that we would not need to admit refugees, nor hand out that much money for resettlement programs, wouldn't you?

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration plans to allow about 7,000 Iraqi refugees to settle in the United States over the next year, a huge expansion of a program at a time when this country is facing international pressure to help some of the millions of refugees who have fled their battle-torn nation.

The United States has allowed only 463 Iraq refugees into the country since the war began. A senior State Department official described the expanded program on condition of anonymity ahead of a formal announcement later Wednesday.

The administration also plans to pledge $18 million for a worldwide resettlement and relief program. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has asked for $60 million from nations around the world.

Some 3.8 million Iraqis have fled their country since the war began in March 2003.

 

[Oreo Cookie]

i made these avatars to explain my position with Darfur. if you view them enough will be said.

these are avatars made by me to raise awareness and educate people about Darfur - a terrible genocide. I know some of these images are gruesome, but they are real and they are happening and they expose the true meaning of the war so I didn't censor them. I put the ones that talk about rape in url so if you don't want to watch don't click. they all advertise www.savedarfur.org, they are trying to get as many people as possible to join the cause, you can also donate relief supplies through world vision.


http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j38/prettyinpinkpuffin/savedarfur-animate.gif
talks about the true story in Darfur I heard on the news, it made me so mad i put it into an avatar.

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j38/prettyinpinkpuffin/dirfi-animate.gif
quotes and pictures from darfur

I think it is incredibly sad that the OP started this thread to bring awareness, and hopefully support through the savedarfur.org website, and the thread has turned into a debate about Iraq. Iraq deserves to be debated, but I say start another thread, and let his one be dedicated to spreading awareness on the genocide in Darfur.

 

[magicmato]

I think it is incredibly sad that the OP started this thread to bring awareness, and hopefully support through the savedarfur.org website, and the thread has turned into a debate about Iraq. Iraq deserves to be debated, but I say start another thread, and let his one be dedicated to spreading awareness on the genocide in Darfur.

It breaks my heart what these people are going through. If that makes me a "bleeding heart" then I say amen to that. I would rather be that than someone who can learn and research the issue and say that it is not our problem.

 

[magicmato]

Thought it would help to get us back on topic to post a small blurb I just read about what is happening in Darfur. I apologize, I was wrong about how many people was killed. The total is not 300,000. It is 400,000. At least 400,000 people murdered in 3 years. This comes from savedarfur.org.

Darfur has been embroiled in a deadly conflict for over three years. At least 400,000 people have been killed; more than 2 million innocent civilians have been forced to flee their homes and now live in displaced-persons camps in Sudan or in refugee camps in neighboring Chad; and more than 3.5 million men, women, and children are completely reliant on international aid for survival. Not since the Rwandan genocide of 1994 has the world seen such a calculated campaign of displacement, starvation, rape, and mass slaughter.

Since early 2003, Sudanese armed forces and Sudanese government-backed militia known as “Janjaweed” have been fighting two rebel groups in Darfur, the Sudanese Liberation Army/Movement (SLA/SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). The stated political aim of the rebels has been to compel the government of Sudan to address underdevelopment and the political marginalization of the region. In response, the Sudanese government’s regular armed forces and the Janjaweed – largely composed of fighters of Arab nomadic background – have targeted civilian populations and ethnic group from which the rebels primarily draw their support – the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa.

 

[beachblanket]

let his one be dedicated to spreading awareness on the genocide in Darfur.

Awareness is fine (and already there amongst those discussing this here). What we are debating is a response -- particularly the military element -- and that is impossible to do without referencing our existing military obligations.

 

[RickinNYC]

So, the "quagmire", "debacle", and all these other labels are simple propoganda by those who are anti-Bush and anti-America. It's really too bad that a large number of people are sheepishly parroting these catch phrases.

To even state that anyone who is against the Iraq war is anti-America is quite honestly, absolutley ridiculous and downright offensive. I'll be sure to share that lovely concept with my Dad, who served more than 25 years in the military, my brother, who served 10, and my good friend who is still in the military, all of whom are very conservative, staunch Republicans and they have the same sentiments I do about Iraq.