I guess this makes perfect sense

[dilloduck]

We would have been better served, and the region would have been better served, if we had concentrated on rooting out islamic extremism and allowed Saddam to continue doing those things that he did well.....

You don't know that--the war isn't over yet. I didn't see any politicians from either side of the aisle do anything but scream for his head prior to the invasion.

You better go read those quotes by democrats again.

 

[maineman]

You don't know that--the war isn't over yet. I didn't see any politicians from either side of the aisle do anything but scream for his head prior to the invasion.

You better go read those quotes by democrats again.

you better go read mine.

I am not chained to anyone else's opinion about the war in Iraq. I do not speak for the DNC...I speak for myself as a veteran and a patriot.

Here is what I know:

there were no Iraqis amongst the 19 men who attacked us.

the attack was not planned or financed by Iraq

Saddam disliked AQ as much as we did

Saddam, as I have said before, did three things much better than we have done them.

We have spent a half a trillion dollars and suffered 30K dead and wounded

Our ports of entry and our borders are no safer than they were on 9/11

Our enemy, by our own calculation and admission, is just as strong as he was the day he attacked us.

Based upon all of that, I - me, myself, alone - have come to the conclusion that the misadventure in Iraq has not been in our national interest.

 

[dilloduck]

you better go read mine.

I am not chained to anyone else's opinion about the war in Iraq. I do not speak for the DNC...I speak for myself as a veteran and a patriot.

Here is what I know:

there were no Iraqis amongst the 19 men who attacked us.

the attack was not planned or financed by Iraq

Saddam disliked AQ as much as we did

Saddam, as I have said before, did three things much better than we have done them.

We have spent a half a trillion dollars and suffered 30K dead and wounded

Our ports of entry and our borders are no safer than they were on 9/11

Our enemy, by our own calculation and admission, is just as strong as he was the day he attacked us.

Based upon all of that, I - me, myself, alone - have come to the conclusion that the misadventure in Iraq has not been in our national interest.

I understand and you are not alone. There are many who share your opinion and think the appropriate course of action is to retreat. I think retreating now would be a disaster of even greater proportions than you claim we are in already. Continued insistence that Iraq was full of innocents prior to our invasion does not change the fact that Iraq is NOW full of threats to America.

 

[maineman]

I understand and you are not alone. There are many who share your opinion and think the appropriate course of action is to retreat. I think retreating now would be a disaster of even greater proportions than you claim we are in already. Continued insistence that Iraq was full of innocents prior to our invasion does not change the fact that Iraq is NOW full of threats to America.

busllshit. retreat...surrender.... thsoe are nonsensical words in this context. We had a military goal. We achieved it. What is left is politics, and, frankly, none of our business. We have nothing to retreat from... and we certainly would be surrendering to no one. We need to redeploy our assets in such a way as to maximize the force on the real enemy. FULL of threats to America? what a crock. AQ has a few franchise operations running in Iraq... maybe 10K troops....maybe even 20K..... still...just franchisees and that small number has 160K American troops held in place because of them while the real enemy is just as strong...while the real enemy holds outdoor, public, TELEVISED graduation ceremonies for 300 suicide bombers in plain daylight in Afghanistan and we are so obsessed with IRAQ that we hardly noticed.

 

[Alucard]

you better go read mine.

I am not chained to anyone else's opinion about the war in Iraq. I do not speak for the DNC...I speak for myself as a veteran and a patriot.

Here is what I know:

there were no Iraqis amongst the 19 men who attacked us.

the attack was not planned or financed by Iraq

Saddam disliked AQ as much as we did

Saddam, as I have said before, did three things much better than we have done them.

We have spent a half a trillion dollars and suffered 30K dead and wounded

Our ports of entry and our borders are no safer than they were on 9/11

Our enemy, by our own calculation and admission, is just as strong as he was the day he attacked us.

Based upon all of that, I - me, myself, alone - have come to the conclusion that the misadventure in Iraq has not been in our national interest.

Blah...Blah... Blah... same bullshit different day

You are so clueless its funny.

Our borders are huge and will never be totally secure under this administration or any other, but to say they are no more secure than before 9/11 is a bold faced lie ... Our port security is the best in the world and leaps and bounds beyond what it was before 9/11...

What a moron!

I suggest YOU(maineman) try boarding a Passenger Jet in the US or UK to test our security... I think you'll find it quite secure...

 

[RetiredGySgt]

Blah...Blah... Blah... same bullshit different day

You are so clueless its funny.

Our borders are huge and will never be totally secure under this administration or any other, but to say they are no more secure than before 9/11 is a bold faced lie ... Our port security is the best in the world and leaps and bounds beyond what it was before 9/11...

What a moron!

I suggest YOU(maineman) try boarding a Passenger Jet in the US or UK to test our security... I think you'll find it quite secure...

Well to be fair IF Maineman looks like an Arab, he IS perfectly safe boarding any aircraft in this country with just about anything he can secret on himself that wont set off a metal detector. Why? because we wouldn't want to actually search the most likely suspects for fear of offending Liberals like maineman.

 

[maineman]

Our borders are huge and will never be totally secure under this administration or any other, but to say they are no more secure than before 9/11 is a bold faced lie ... Our port security is the best in the world and leaps and bounds beyond what it was before 9/11...

What a moron!

I suggest YOU(maineman) try boarding a Passenger Jet in the US or UK to test our security... I think you'll find it quite secure...

Tell me what percentage of containers arriving at American ports are opened and inspected. Tell me what percentage of containers arriving at American ports are even scanned for radioactivity. And then provide me with a link to back up your claims.

I am not worried about Abdul boarding a plane....I am worried about Hafez, who has lived in NYC for ten years and works a regular job completely under the radar walking down to the docks and into a warehouse, walking out with a briefcase containing a small nuclear device that had just arrived in chest inside a box inside a container filled with five hundred similar boxes filled with five hundred similar chests headed for some sleepy import export company... and walking up to Times Square and setting it off at lunchtime. How are we prepared to stop HIM? And don't you think that the half a trillion dollars we have flushed down the shitter in Iraq could have been used to improve that level of preparedness?

 

[maineman]

but since you brought up passenger jets....

http://cbs2chicago.com/homepage/local_story_176224625.html

and how many pieces of cargo that travel in the baggage compartments of commercial airlines are Xrayed? How many packages on UPS or FEDEX cargo planes are?

 

[trobinett]

but since you brought up passenger jets....

http://cbs2chicago.com/homepage/local_story_176224625.html

and how many pieces of cargo that travel in the baggage compartments of commercial airlines are Xrayed? How many packages on UPS or FEDEX cargo planes are?

I have NO idea, do YOU?

 

[RetiredGySgt]

I have NO idea, do YOU?

I know that EVERY piece is subject to inspection. Every time I have flown since then I have had to wait for an official to clear my luggage to be sent to the back for loading on the plane. Sometimes they open it sometimes they do not, BUT they demand that you unlock every piece before they even decide if they will inspect or not. Two Lines, one to check in and one to wait while your baggage is cleared for boarding.

 

[maineman]

Amazing...who would have thought that RGS, who technically has me on "ignore" yet keeps replying to my posts, would miss the point?

I am not talking about checked baggage, I am talking about cargo. Clearly, RGS does not know the difference. surprise surprise.

so...for the folks who do not have me on ignore:

How much cargo, unconnected to any passenger, and flying along on most commercial flights, is X-rayed?

How much of the cargo of a chock full FEDEX or UPS transport jet is X-rayed?

 

[TheStripey1]

to boneheads

By JOHN HANNA, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 19 minutes ago

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - New military tactics in Iraq are working but the best way to honor U.S. soldiers is "by beginning to bring them home," Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton told war veterans Monday.

yep, the democrats want our troops home, safe and with their families while the right wingers, be they republican or libertarian, want them in harm's way... dying for no good reason at all...

IF you are so gung ho for the war, alpha, why don't you enlist and help out?

 

[TheStripey1]

no...the best way to honor them is to keep them in a country where they are dying and their deaths are not serving to make us any safer, but keep waving the pom poms because they are dying at a marginally slower rate.

yeah...that makes sense.

our own government says that our enemies are just as strong and capable as they were the day they attacked us..... 30K dead and wounded Americans later... a half a trillion dollars later...

yeah....let's keep them there for a long time, shall we? let's keep them there all summer dying in the streets of baghdad while the entire iraqi parliament takes a summer vacation.

yeah...that makes shitloads of sense.... if you have fallen down the rabbit hole and are talking to the cheshire cat, that is.

Excellent points, maineman, but I fear they will be lost on alpha et al...

 

[Bullypulpit]

Blah...Blah... Blah... same bullshit different day

You are so clueless its funny.

Our borders are huge and will never be totally secure under this administration or any other, but to say they are no more secure than before 9/11 is a bold faced lie ...<b>Our port security is the best in the world and leaps and bounds beyond what it was before 9/11</b>...

What a moron!

I suggest YOU(maineman) try boarding a Passenger Jet in the US or UK to test our security... I think you'll find it quite secure...

Care to provide some documentation supporting that assertion?

<blockquote>Ports and containers have long been a worry spot for security and anti-terrorism professionals. To date, security has mostly involved human intelligence and inspection of shipping manifests looking for suspicious cargo &#8211; both of which have very limited effectiveness. Most estimates say less than 6&#37; of the seven million containers bound for the U.S. are deemed &#8220;high risk&#8221; by officials and pulled out for detailed inspection. The reality is that the chances of dangerous cargo &#8211; from weapons to a &#8220;dirty bomb&#8221; &#8211; getting through are probably quite high. - <a href=http://www.scdigest.com/assets/NewsViews/05-08-04-1.cfm?cid=237&ctype=content>Supply Chain Digest</a></blockquote>

Hong Kong screens <b>100%</b> of the containers coming through its port with technology produced in San Diego, the US screens <b>less than 6%</b>. To implement such a program in the US would add an estimated $6.50 per container. Cheap compared to the consequences of failing to adequately screen the cargo coming into the US.

To call out port security "the best in the world" is laughably naive at best. At worst, that view represents the dangerously willful ignorance on the part of those who would follow, lemming like, the Bush administration wherever it should lead...even over a cliff.

 

[Alpha1]

yep, the democrats want our troops home, safe and with their families while the right wingers, be they republican or libertarian, want them in harm's way... dying for no good reason at all...

IF you are so gung ho for the war, alpha, why don't you enlist and help out?

Been there-done that, probably before you were born....now its your turn coward...have you served your country?

 

[Bullypulpit]

Been there-done that, probably before you were born....now its your turn coward...have you served your country?

Anything to add to the conversation beyond puerile name-calling? Any intellectual ammunition beyond the FOX Noise talking points? Didn't think so.

 

[Alucard]

Care to provide some documentation supporting that assertion?

<blockquote>Ports and containers have long been a worry spot for security and anti-terrorism professionals. To date, security has mostly involved human intelligence and inspection of shipping manifests looking for suspicious cargo &#8211; both of which have very limited effectiveness. Most estimates say less than 6&#37; of the seven million containers bound for the U.S. are deemed &#8220;high risk&#8221; by officials and pulled out for detailed inspection. The reality is that the chances of dangerous cargo &#8211; from weapons to a &#8220;dirty bomb&#8221; &#8211; getting through are probably quite high. - <a href=http://www.scdigest.com/assets/NewsViews/05-08-04-1.cfm?cid=237&ctype=content>Supply Chain Digest</a></blockquote>.

This is true... a dirty bomb or small nuke could easily transported in a container to the u.s.... However getting that package from the container into the hands of the terrorists would be close to impossible... We search over 500% more containers now than pre 9/11 and have had no increase in smuggling arrests as a result...

Hong Kong screens <b>100%</b> of the containers coming through its port with technology produced in San Diego, the US screens <b>less than 6%</b>. To implement such a program in the US would add an estimated $6.50 per container. Cheap compared to the consequences of failing to adequately screen the cargo coming into the US....

Hong Kong recieves less than 1/4of 1% of if import cargo than the US... Your comparing apples to oranges... Not to mention the fact that container seaching has been proven to be a waist of resources and manpower... Seraching clean containers looks good on paper but is not effective... We protect our ports from breach with itelligence... Since 9/11 we have increased the # of investigators in US Customs dramatically and the results have been very good to say the least... I see your link didnt include the fact that we do 90% of Japans Intell for them... Again Apples and Oranges... Not to mention the fact that Hong Kong is not a huge terrorist target ( at least in comparisom th the US)...

To call out port security "the best in the world" is laughably naive at best. At worst, that view represents the dangerously willful ignorance on the part of those who would follow, lemming like, the Bush administration wherever it should lead...even over a cliff.

Once agian your ignorance is magnified... Our port security is by far the best in the world...
In closing smartypants... Why would terrorist ship precious cargo that would most likely end up in the wrong hands and lead to their capture and death...When they can simply walk accross the border in Fort Kent Maine and be in Manhatten in Twelve hours...

Well to get to the point of this post MAINEMAN made the rediculous unfounded statement... "Our ports of entry and our borders are no safer than they were on 9/11"... which is far from true...

Now lets see if he has the balls to admit he was talking out his ass when he made the statement...

Go ahead MM... its ok... you can say it... we already know...

 

[maineman]

This is true... a dirty bomb or small nuke could easily transported in a container to the u.s.... However getting that package from the container into the hands of the terrorists would be close to impossible... We search over 500&#37; more containers now than pre 9/11 and have had no increase in smuggling arrests as a result...

In closing smartypants... Why would terrorist ship precious cargo that would most likely end up in the wrong hands and lead to their capture and death...When they can simply walk accross the border in Fort Kent Maine and be in Manhatten in Twelve hours...

Well to get to the point of this post MAINEMAN made the rediculous unfounded statement... "Our ports of entry and our borders are no safer than they were on 9/11"... which is far from true...

Now lets see if he has the balls to admit he was talking out his ass when he made the statement...

Go ahead MM... its ok... you can say it... we already know...

a 500% increase is a cool number, but pretty meaningless if you do not tell us what number was increased by 500% and if you do not tell us how many containers, therefore, still go uninspected.

and it seems interesting to suggest that a terrorist can, today, simply walk across the bridge at Fort Kent with a nuke on one hand, and then claim that our borders are safer than they were on 9/11 with the other hand.

Are you suggesting that prior to 9/11, the terrorist could have walked across the bridge naked and with a sign saying "I am carrying a nuke" and today he can't?

In that case, yeah, maybe our borders are "safer". By your admission, terrorists can just walk across a bridge with a nuke today, but it is good to know that, at least now, they have to be clothed. That gives me a real 'warm and fuzzy". LOL

 

[Alucard]

Answer the question... Were you talking out your ass?

 

[maineman]

Answer the question... Were you talking out your ass?

I did answer the question. is english your second language?

I notice you never bothered to answer the question about what percentage of containers entering America are inspected.

I notice you tap danced away from your own admission that our borders are so porous that a terrorist could walk across the bridge into Fort Kent and make it all the way to Manhattan unimpeded....

and you want to suggest that the half a trillion dollars we have flushed down the shitter in Iraq accomplishing LESS THAN NOTHING could not have been better spent here at home?