Candidate-Veteran Blasts Bush on Iraq

You've got to be kidding.

That's what you chose to comment on? Pay no attention to:

"Well, I didn't cut and run, Mr. President. Like so many others, I proudly fought and sacrificed," Duckworth said. "My helicopter was shot down long after you proclaimed 'mission accomplished.'"

That's a pretty strong statement. And I doubt you can find a factual error there.

Now, don't get me wrong, I see what you're getting at. However, I'm sure most who opposed this war - myself included - wouldn't be able to point to any "simple answer" at this point. We're 5 years in and a lot of things have happened since then that have further complicated an already incredibly complicated situation.

Solid answers and long term solutions don't fit into clever soundbites. False hope and empty promises do though.

I tell you one thing, I'm sure most people would be more comfortable knowing their representative who's dealing with a situation like war actually has first hand knowledge of what it's like first hand.

BTW, I have no background on this candidate or her platform and don't think that makes any difference. Right is right.

Do you want to propose a timetable then, Rigbee?

Thanks for phrasing that all for me Ryan :)

Please don't get me wrong. I admire this lady for what she has given to our country. The focus of my original post was about stereotypes and those who fit in them.

If you complain about something without offering something better, you've added exactly nothing. And if you don't have enough information to come up with something better, maybe you don't have enough information to judge what is being done.

As Ardith says below,

Other people don't have access to classified data necessary to create a time table

Perhaps if they were in a position to access that data, they would understand that what we're doing now is appropriate. I try not to criticize things of which I'm ignorant.

She didn't detail her whole plan here, so she must not have a plan at all? I see. Interesting conclusion.

Could it be that a person who was actually there is more qualified to assess how well this war is going than Bush? I think so.

She offered nothing. I can't make up stuff for her, sorry.

And do you also think a cashier is better qualified to decide policy than a store manager?

We're not talking about a cashier vs a store manager. We're talking about someone with war experience in a particular war vs someone with absolutely no war experience at all. Even people in Bush's own party, and many generals who served in Iraq, have been saying that Bush's administration has no idea what it's doing. Why does the fact that he's President suddenly make him more qualified to manage a war, despite his obvious lack of qualifications and the fact that he's screwing it up so badly? Sounds like blind faith to me.

And like I said, she doesn't have to detail a full plan at every event she speaks at. Does Bush tell the press his full plan at ever press conference? Do you accuse him of not having a plan when he doesn't? This is seriuosly flawed logic here.

President suddenly make him more qualified to manage a war

Just to emphasise the point... every oil company he was ever involved with went bankrupt. ;p

And do you also think a cashier is better qualified to decide policy than a store manager?

Absolutely not, Rigbee, not anymore than I think someone who was born on third base, thinking he hit a triple, running a war when he has absolutely no experience in the art of war. Bush could have surrounded himself with people who knew how to prosecute a war..... instead we get Rumsfeld and Cheney. Ironic that those who have never seen war, and in fact went out of their way to avoid it, are now leading us down a never ending sand pit... and taking the country's treasure with them. I don't know if Duckworth has a plan for Iraq, but I know our current leadership doesn't. At the very least she knows how to fly a helicopter into combat. In my book that makes her infinitely more qualified than the silver spoon now running things....

As I see it, I don't believe we should have been there in the first place. It's a good thing Saddam is out of power, but he wasn't a threat at the time. As for the statement "don't complain if you don't have a solution", well, I don't believe in that. I may know there is a problem with food at a restaurant if I get food poisoning, but I may not know exactly how to fix it.

Rigbee,

If you complain about something without offering something better, you've added exactly nothing.

Are you saying criticism standing on its own is valueless? That's absurd. Sure, a person who never does anything but bitch and moan is not being constructive. But she is doing something. She's running for Congress. And in her words (taken from the article), "We need a Congress that will ask the tough questions and work together for solutions rather than attacking the patriotism of those who disagree," and, "It is time to encourage Iraqi leaders to take control of their own county and make the tough choices that will stop the civil war and stabilize the country." You either believe her or you don't. But you can't claim that she is offering nothing. We elect leaders based on their principles and character, with the understanding that those principles and character traits will be applied to every decision that leader faces. That's the whole idea behind a Republic, as opposed to a pure democracy. Furthermore, she's not running for president, so she does not have to supply a complete strategy. Her job as congresswomen is to represent her district and to be a check and balance to the power of the Executive Branch. She feels the current congress, in particular the current Republican representing her district, is failing in this latter responsibility, and she promises to correct that.

And if you don't have enough information to come up with something better, maybe you don't have enough information to judge what is being done.

The only reason I'm not going to label this statement also as absurd, is because of your use of "maybe". But following your logic, most Americans shouldn't vote.

Ryan got it exactly right in his comments.

I always figured he was full of something....wasn't sure it would be "info" though ;)

heh - you're not alone there, Rukh.

;-)

I, of course, was assuming you were full of candy, or something equally not at all offensive.....so...no offense intended....yeah.... :P

Regardless of who made the mess, if you don't tell me how you plan to clean it up, I'm not going to hire you.

Rigbee, I've addressed this point of yours. She's running for Congress, not for President.

I think yours is an entirely reasonable perspective.