Did you think Iraq would get this bad?

[edhopper]

Look I was against the Iraq invasion from the start. I new they were lying about WMDs and that Commander CukooBananas was all swagger and no horse.
I did not think this war had a chance to bring "democracy" to the mid-east.
I also new that the conflict between the three groups in Iraq was probable. But I did not think it would be so f**ked up that we would be looking into the abyss after 3 years, 2200 American lives, 10s of thousands of Iraqi lives and close to 1/2 a trillion dollars.
I am just curious, in hindsight, did others here think it would be this bad.

Any thoughts or comments?

[mtnester]

1. Anyone who has a passing interest in religions and human nature

really could have predicted it would get this bad.

So yeah, I was pretty sure it would.

[HamdenRice]

2. I thought it would be much worse sooner...so did the admin.

Despite the "sweets and flowers" and cakewalk talk, even the administration was leaking the possibility that the Iraqi Army would take up guerilla tactics and house to house fighting right away, and that American casualties might be in the 10,000 range in the first weeks. That's actually what I expected.

[whathappened]

3. right on target

there is no way the idiot and his gang are going to change something over there that has been around as long as the world has , they have there god and we have a god here if we choose , we are fighting a endless war for nothing , all we had to do was drop a dime and order some black gold , not us we had as always stolen everything we want , so fuck these asshats , i,m digging in for what is to come

[ScreamingMeemie]

4. I was sick at the thought of what would happen once we became

a presence there. We are so full of ourselves thinking that our ideology can replace theirs and that the "mission" could be accomplished. I use the term we loosely. I signed the "not in my name" petition.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

5. Before we illegally invaded, I would say "we are going to stir up a

hornets' nest if we do this."

So, yeah, I thought it would be bad. Although, sadly, I didn't think the American people would sit by idly and watch their young men and women in uniform being led to slaughter for three years. MKJ

[izzie]

6. Yes and the whole Middle East could do the same.

Bush with his stick in the ant hole has made them all mad. Any one with half a mind could see this coming. It has been a mess since I was in high school in the 50's.With Bush fall in the polls and his base worried about his power and getting their way I see him doing more foolish things. And with 3 years to do it in.

[The2ndWheel]

7. Nah

Who could've seen that imperial corporate state terrorism would go this way? I mean, the imperial corporate state terrorism that founded this country...well, founded this country. Killing savages for freedom is what we do.

Throw in some religion, and the timeless art of human and non-human resource extraction for profit, and you've got a new frontier for civilization to work its magic.

What do you mean it's going bad?

[catmandu57]

8. Oh yeah

it's well on the way to living up to my predictions of civil war leading to regional war, leading to global war. Yes, it's as bad as I thought and will only get worse with time, and there's not a damn thing we can do about it now.
We need to get out and let events unfold.

[slor]

9. We had experts in this kind of stuff...

that said it would. But most importantly, one must keep in mind, if dubya is involved, plan for failure. It really is that simple.

[mnmoderatedem]

Yes but what bothers me most

is that after it became obvious that invading was a mistake, much of the American public soured on the war, and realized it was a huge blunder. Now, though things are actually getting worse, it seems that a certain acceptance has set in among the sheeple. I don't hear a lot of outrage or distaste any more...

[raccoon]

10. I was against it, totally, from the get-go. I see no difference

between the US invasion of Iraq and Germany's invasion of Poland in 1939.

I am/was ashamed and disgusted that the US attacked Iraq.

I hadn't thought ahead to think how bad it would get one way or the other. But I believe a lot of * supporters, and people who still believe the corporate media hos, thought it would be a nice, quick little way like Gulf War Part I.

Surprise!!!!

[deutsey]

11. Yes, based on knowing the history of Iraq going back to British

imperial efforts in the area.

[babylonsister]

12. Yes, I did, after no WMDs were found. How could anyone

think they'd be successful with so many religious factions involved. Does no one learn anything from history? Just look at the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, and how long that's been going on with no end in sight.
This admin either didn't have a clue or doesn't care.
It's past time to get our soldiers out of there.

[FloridaPat]

13. Why would anyone think it would be better than Afghanistan?

Afghanistan is a mess. The "legitimate" government controls Kabul and the pipeline and that's it. We are still over there fighting the Taliban or al Qaeda or whoever. I even pointed that out in the letters I wrote my congress people. If that is how they run things, how could Iraq be better? Then there was Vietnam. We have the same thing we had in Vietnam, just a lot done a lot faster. Everywhere the US goes it's a mess. Which may be the whole point of bring in troops - which has been said by authors. Our intent is to destabilize an area so they will spend their money on our troops and not on themselves.

[leeroysphitz]

14. Duh!!!

Sorry to be flippant but just what the hell did people think we were SHOUTING about during the run up to this war?

[AlCzervik]

15. yes, my bil is from Iran, he warned me before the war started that

civil war would happen there eventually and he was right.

[robbedvoter]

16. Like Yougoslavia, Iraq was in a temporary balance before we shocked & awed

them. Not a perfect situation for them - it was a dictatorship, to be sure, but for us, the best of possible scenarios for that part of the world. Then W happened and it all went to shit.


Peter Galbraith - former U.S. diplomat: January 2003 the President invited three members of the Iraqi opposition to join him to watch the Super Bowl. In the course of the conversation the Iraqis realized that the President was not aware that there was a difference between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. He looked at them and said, "You mean...they're not, you know, there, there's this difference. What is it about?"
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/12/8/215257/257

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

17. 'Murka lost the "war" when the first GI crossed the border.

"Shock and Awe" and "Smart" bombs make for jolly video games but, in real life, wars are not won based on body counts and bomb tonnage.

The geniuses in the Pentagon, CIA, Congress, and the White House have learned nothing from Vietnam, South Africa, Palestine, and any number of other places where modern imperialism has got it's ass whipped by the people.

[Solly Mack]

18. Most definitely

you don't shake a hornet's nest without getting stung and people who have absolutely no sense of hornet history and know next to nothing about hornets are the last people who should ever shake a hornet's nest.

[OneBlueSky]

19. yes . . . and it's going to get worse . . . n/t

.

[DuaneBidoux]

20. Virtually every expert on Iraq knew it would get this bad and I listened