Impeachment is not good enough. We should explore the possibility of a treason trial. Let's see...treason during wartime...capital punishment???...Hmmm...

As a Vietnam Veteran I emphasize with the comments made by the soldiers. Debating an issue does not lower moral, but continuing aimlessly does. As far as I am concerned our Armed Forces have done everything that was asked of them. They deserve our thanks regardless of your personal thoughts of the correctness of the war. The only true solution to Iraq lies with the people of Iraq. We can not "give" them democracy. Continuing our presence in Iraq will only exacerbate the situation. I have a feeling that a lot of people who look at removing our troops as retreating have never been in an armed conflict themselves. Support our troops by exercising our patriotic duty to question failed policies of our civilian leadership.

Look, the invasion was so obviously stupid that I was furious. I tried to take action, i wrote my congressman and senators. I participated with a church group who thought the whole thing was ignorant and proposed ways of raising action against it. People marched in mass numbers protesting this war. All of which was ignored. I found an old letters I wrote in fall of 2002 and spring 2003 talking about what would happen if we invaded. And guess what, I was right. Amazing.. and I'm a nobody. However.. part of what I said was the problem was that it was an unecessary trap. Once in, you CAN'T leave until it's stable, which could be never. You can't have another Iran or WORSE. Saddam was many bad things, but he was a stablizing force in the region, he was under control... he was a stalinist dictator who Al Queda hated and wanted to see overthrown. We did them a favor by ousting him, and.. actually made like worse for those in Iraq. Bush SR knew this, wrote of it in him Memoirs... it's why Bush Sr did NOT oust him in 1991! Do you know that any subversive behavior was met with death, that meant Al Queda. Notice that a lot of those "most wanted" were women? Notice that one of Saddams cabinet was a Christian? Women have actually lost rights since the invation, Christianity is difficult to practice openly, and the Sunis and the Shias want to kill each other.. which was predictable. Any time you have cultures that hate each other.. you're going to have turmoil. Lets look at Yugoslavia. So many groups help together by a totalitarian state, but when that collapsed, they went into chaos, that eneded up breaking the small country into what.. is it 6 smaller countries? It didn't take a genius to see this happening. And again... if we leave Iraq now... what will happen? The country will fall and we'll have something MUCH worse than Saddam. Our best interest was not going in in the first place, but now, we have no option but to stay. Damn it Neo Cons

IMPEACHBUSH.ORG NOW!!!!

an op ed piece in yesterdays ny times told of an american general in vietnam in 1967 who knew the situation was hopeless and only spoke anonymously until recently to protect others. he spoke of " destroying a single division three times". How can we allow such a crime to be commited again while we wait for for sanity to prevail

As a neighbor to the north of most if not all of you, I have been busy trying to keep up with all of the rhetoric that bandies back and forth in the guise of meaningful dialogue. Here are some of my conclusions (albeit from an outsiders point of view) - The war in Iraq is wrong and once having served your "search warrant" for WMD, the US should have left. Since when do the police restore a residence after having conducted a search warrant? Secondly, I believe it was stated that the invasion was not for "regime change" purposes. What a lie that appears to be! Iraq is like being chased by a dog in heat - you run you get bit, you stop and you get screwed! I may not approve and I certainly do not understand all the angles, but in a small defense of your embattled president, at least he did something. It may not have been the right thing to do, but at least he took action when he felt action was required. How many politicians sit around and wait for the popular vote to swing their way before acting. (I was told that your president conducted his own informal public opinion poll before deciding to cowboy up and invade a sovereign nation. I feel deeply for all who must deal with the future decisions and consequences of the past few years. May peace guide your thoughts. I wish all of you great success in this ordeal. My hears goes out to all those who are serving and have served. There are no easy or kind solutions. You have the voice of a vote. I encourage everyone (myself included) to seek a balanced set of facts and go from there. Much information has been hidden and distorted. Please do not take the easy way out and let the media decide for you. God bless. Merry Christmas to all of you. g

Enough is enough Nancy. Impeach the lying little coward now.

Bush is just delaying his speech hoping people will forget about the Baker-Hamilton report, at which time he will give yet another version of his sick "stay-the-course" policy. I'd say impeach him, but then we'd get Cheney. Can we impeach them both? To think that every day more dedicated American soldiers die, all for Bush's ego.

WMD? The UN inspection teams showed they didn't exist before Bush called them incompetent and told them to get out or get bombed. Thats reality. No matter, one can't change the past. My only suggestion - put Bush in a corner and don't let him do anything until our new president takes the oath of office. What frightens me is the number of people who voted for him.

All we want is for Bush to provide some leadership for our soldiers who are being killed everyday. Why do we need all of these studies, meetings, speeches, and cute sound bites. This is not what our soldiers need, they can get that anywhere. Be a man and lead the troops Bush, or could anyone step up to the plate and help our troops? I would think that if you voted for Bush you may have a sense of obligation to help either our brave troops, the wounded who have come home, or the families who have lost a loved one. I could care less about Bush's legacy, why is he so concerned with it at this time? Why even question it?

Everything, I mean every act from this White House, is political. There is no one in leadership in this administration that gives two cents for how their acts, legal or illegal, affect the citizens of this country. Like Tom in Virginia, I, too, wrote letters, called my representatives, and protested on street corners before this illegal war began. None of those actions, or the millions who protested and marched, had any effect. The Bush-Cheney duo had their so-called valid excuse for the war after 9-11. (Never mind most of those extremists were Saudis, the Bush family's friends.) "Now we can scare everybody with Iraq and grab all that oil!" was probably heard in the White House just days after 9-11. None of the reasons for invading Iraq made sense to me and even then I knew, absolutely KNEW, we'd be in "deep doo-doo" for that invasion. I've never liked saying "I told you so", particularly when so many lives have been lost and so many, many others have been maimed for life because of the "worst president ever".

As a Canadian, I find it interesting that you are slowing waking up to the reality that Bush is and always was inept at governing. Where were you in 2004 when he was reelected. Stop complaining and make sure you don't scew up again in 2008. The whole world knew how bad Bush was for the U.S. Why didn't you?

How MANY examples of incompetence, arrogance, denial, parades of the King's Clothes do we need to tolerate before the people rise up and DEMAND impeachment proceedings? I don't care Nancy Pelosi says, the American people have a right to justice. This self-proclaimed leader is an albatross. How about everybody with a computer sending 10 emails to various congressional leaders and demand impeachment proceedings be the first order of business of the new Congress in January? Isn't there some fail-safe procedure that requires the Commander-in-Chief to be physically and mentally capable of performing the job for us to allow him to continue? He has proven time and again that he is not! . WRITE EMAILS TO CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS AND DEMAND IMPEACHMENT PROCEEDINGS IMMEDIATELY !! Please! . It's time the American Family puts its arms around him and does an intervention to prevent him from continuing to hurt himself --- and the remainder of the PLANET!

95% of this thread is whining lefty Bush-bashers who have nothing constructive to offer. There's no doubt that Iraq is a mess. Does quickly withdrawing our troops solve the problem? Heck no! Need I remind people of Somalia in '93? After we got our nose bloodied by the skinnies, Slick Willy withdrew the troops which emboldened the likes of Bin Laden. The same thing will happen if we pack up and leave Iraq.

It seems as if we have two choices. 1)The way forward, 2) Salvage and go home. Death and destruction is enevatable either way. However, on #2 American's are not in the middle. :-) You can't build upon the current situation because our military are sitting targets. The way we are fighting now we don't know who is the enemy. Organize-Recognize-Plan-Attack Terrorism (Polically - Financially - Militarily). We should pick the where-when-how we are going to fight. Right now it's the other side with this advantage. I do have one question for Bush. Why is Iraq so important on terror say verses Iran, Russia, North Korea, Europe,...? However, to answer this question he would need to know if we're in Iraq today for terror, nation building, WMD...? Give or troops the best chance for victory (not probable) or bring them home!!!

I just think that it's terribly unfair that our young men are going to another country to fight for freedom that they do not have right here in America. Many of them did not choose to go to war. They chose to get an education instead. But who really cares about our men and women who are sacfricing their lives every day, certainly not our present congressmen. Many of these young men went to war and died before they ever had a chance to live. It is just not fair to families, tax payers who bring children into this world, raise them and send them off to die. I believe in fighting for my country when it becomes necessary. However, I do not believe in sacrificing lives for person reasons, whether it be revenge, oil, status whatever, it is just not fair to ask our men and women to give up or put their futures, their lives on hold while the older folks make plans to fight a war. I am all for bringing our men home so that they can't start living the futures we as a country owe to them. My prayer is always with the soldiers and their families especially during the holidays. I am sure it is especially hard on them. Please let these soldiers out of their prison, or nightmare, whatever you wish to call it.(the war)They need to be able to get on with the business of living.

Donkey: I think things might be going bad in Iraq. Elephant: We can't cut & run, we must stay the course, they might have WMD's, don't forget Al'Queda and don't negotiate with them. Donkey: You stubborn Donkey (jackass).

This is actually worse than you think. The people behind this see what is happening as a great success. They would have game theoried this out. They will probably bomb Iran next and drum up an excuse to seize the easiest oil. Well, you can't call this the United States of America anymore.The miserables run this country now and it is time to leave.

I'll bet the house rent that Bush does little more than rearrange the deck chairs on the Titantic. He'll speak emphatically about how it is this country's goal to win the war. It's all very sad because even more will die because of this Administration's idiocy.

Let me start by first saying I belong to neither party. With that said, we cannot just leave Iraq. Was Bush wrong for invading? Of course. Is he a liar? Of course, but even if we impeach him we cannot just leave right now. What would be the point? What did we gain in invading Iraq? Everyone thought it was for the oil, but gasoline prices are still through the roof. (Did you see that trick the Republicans did? Prices were lowering everyday up until the elections and now it is goingback up. Sorry it did not work.) Was it to fight terrorism? More soldiers have died or been injured than the 9/11 attack. Was it to get rid of Saddam? (By the way I thought he had less than 30 days to live, that was like 45 days ago.) I say we apologize to Saddam and give him his country back. First of all, geography showss you that Iraq being a Shia state as opposed t oSunni gives Iran and Syria a clear passage to trade arms which will eventually lead to the collapse of Israel. The one good thing before we invaded was that Iraq and Iran did not like each other and Iran could not get the necessary materials from Syria to build the bombs as it is doing now. Was this ever thought of by anyone besides Colin Powell who said not to attack? We as a country are worse off than before the war, but it is not fair to the millions and millions of innocent Iraqi people who will be worse off if we leave without a solution. I say we impeach the President, apologize and work out a way that we can give the country back to the Sunnis, because an Iraqi controlled by the Shia, will be the end of the world as we know it, and Israel will suffer.

It is unfortunate that we don't have the same swift system of impeachment as Canada. Remember last year when the PM was ousted in a vote of No Confidence by their Parliment? That was over him misappropriating a mere $3,000,000. Not the billions of dollars this admin has wasted, or the 3000+ US deaths, or the 650K + Iraqi deaths. All while our own people are still living in trailers due to Katrina and Rita - many in Bush's own state. I can aonly hope that at some point, we are able to pass an anti-dynastic law barring the election of people within 2 generations of eachother. Think of how much better we'd all be without the Bushes.

Interesting discussion. For my part, I am also one of those that was against the invasion of Iraq and I believe that this president has lied to us uncessingly. I don't believe that making that statement indicates a lack of support for our troops. I also would like to think that everyone posting here is taking active steps: to make sure their government representatives know their opinions. Other than that what can the average person do? Well, I believe that it has been stated before although it seems to be unpaletable to people in the US: go green. Terrorism is like cancer -- if you starve it, it dies. Where are these insurgents getting their funding? From Syria and Iran. Where are they getting their funding? From the sale of oil. The US has traditionally propped up regimes that sell us oil cheaply causing the desparity that fuels discontent in these Middle Eastern countries. Currently, the US receives 20% of it's oil from the Middle East. But we are the major users on this planet. Just think what would happen if you cut your consumption by 20%? So tell your governor you want tax breaks for installing solar energy on you property instead of giving tax breaks to the big oil companies like Bush and the previous Congress did. Trade in your SUV. Get behind bio-fuels. Convert your house to natural gas or propane (all produced in this hemisphere). Starve the money machine that is killing so many people.

Not confronting Iraq would have been neglegent in a post 911 world. Pro-active determination of Iraq's weapons capability was at the least prudent. Taking Sadam out of power silenced a major proponent of anti-american ideas and gave the us a foothold in the region. If we were not in Irag within reach of Syria and Iran we would have already had another 911. The Iraq war is a component of a much larger picture. The struggle to thwart religious fanaticism will take decades. We have just begun, get used to it. You can't hide from terror, you can only fight from the moral high ground.

Chimpy McFlightsuit will not change his policy because he isn't wrong, has never been wrong, ignores facts he doesn't want to hear, lashes out at dissenting voices and still keeps on trying, and forever failing, to outdo, be tougher than, more manly, a 'better' President THAN 41 to satisfy all those sociopathic, insecurity issues he has with his Dad. Remember his statement several years ago that he can't recall a single mistake, and his recent statement that the 'only' way out is by winning, whatever that might mean. He can't change his inner 'Stay the Course' methodology because he simply cannot accept that his Iraq FUBAR is wrong; his mental map, his inner man cannot accept his failure or that his decisions and acts caused this failure. He is like a rat trapped in a psychological maze, not knowing how to get out, running the same track and not even seeing a flashing EXIT sign; he cannot even accept that Baker's Commission report gave him a 'Get out of Jail Free Card because he can't and won't accept that he needs that card. If Dubbya had not trashed so much of what I hold close about my country: my Constitutional freedoms as an American, my innate moral sense of right and wrong, my faith in the American political system and the one man, one vote concept and did it for divisive partisan politics and money, gave our tax dollars to his sponsors [essentially stealing from my children and grandchildren], deliberately putting incompetents in office because of ideology and making public policy based on ideology, deliberately transhing our environment,and lying to us damn near every time he opened his mouth, I could maybe pity the dumb bastard for being so stupid to get sucked into an NeoCon ideological concept[creating a functioning democratic government in Iraq - by Force](He really is stupid) and accepting their guidance because he couldn't and didn't understand the consequences and still refuses to admit his failures as President.. BS! !NO, I couldn't, Not even!! NOT EVER. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. If all his deeds and misdeeds is still not enough to impeach him and Cheney for "High Crimes and Misdemeanors" then I hope that whoever gets him a BJ also makes sure that he also gets good whisky and drugs.

You know, it's hard work being a president. He understands, I say, un-der-stands that we're all very concerned about Iraq and his senseless policy of continuing to shove an endlessly reforming line of lives of innocents, both our troops and civilians, into the maw of a bloodthirsty Iraq system. Its hard work peddling the idea of putting more lives at risk to honor those already killed. Enough! Enough long long ago.

See the pathetic neocons in this thread cling to their delusions. There is nothing "lefty" about recognizing that Iraq is a mess. A mess created not by the "liberal media" but rather the most incompetent president this country has ever seen. Its obvious that Bush is incapable of changing his Crusader mentality. Congress needs to step in and either cut funding or impeach this loser.

It is important to remember it isn't just liberals bashing Bush anymore. It would be incredibly naive to think so. This war is stupid -- as is the adminstration that brought it to us.

Impeach the CRIMINAL !

In all the twenty or so speeches, we have never heard a clear plan beyond the initial "shock and awe" of the initial invasion. No real plan. Why do we think this next speech will be any different? How are we so arrogant to think we can force stability on this false country, called Iraq for less than a century, scarred by thousands of years of war? Yes, we have removed a dangerous dictator from power, but with him went the only thing that kept Iraq semi-stable, and that's fear. We have liberated Iraq, all right. Now all the factions are free to wage war.

Just amazing is the tone for this! People are seriously sick of what's been happening lately. Glad to see it. I was amazed when Bush was re-elected. Seems like there's hope for better when electing our next president. Iraq will split in three sooner or later. Chargers beat Bears in Superbowl.

On the news today an interview with some of our trops ivulged that they" were not sure who they were supposed to be fighting" Well Bush doesn't seem to know either, or else he and Cheney are both living in lala land. The old saying "we have met the enemy and it's us" just abut tells the story on the overall Bush policy. Iraq and Iran and all the rest of the muslum world are so divided in thier religious beleifs that there will never be a peace in that part of the world. These people don't know the meaning of democracy, and none of them really want to know. In their own words the Iraq people want us out of there because our presence is just fueling the fires of revolt. We can't tell them what to believe and no one else can either. I see the situatiion like putting the Pope in alliance with Charles Wesley and Martin Luther. The US should get it's troops the hell out of that part of the world, and take the billions of dollars of equiptment with them otherwise we will be blamed for "arming the terroprist's" who will wind up with it anyway. I believe that if the US goes home and takes all of iit's stuff with them the entire area will settle down and one of the religious sects there will take charge and go on about thier buisness."Cheney said not to long ago that if we leave"they will come after us" I really don't think so. If Bush would put as much emphasis on protecting this great country from with in , and get us an army we would be far better off. This country has no buisness trying to shove our ideals down other peoples throat when it's very obvious they don't want it. Bush you've listened to Cheney long enough to get our country in a hell of a hole, now listen to the people who live in this country (They key word here is listen) and put our country back together again. Frank Seeley

Bush is a lame duck President. Folks are simply counting the days until he and his croonies are out of office. He damaged America's image and should be charged with war crimes for his acts in Iraq.

Speeches, speeches, and more speeches. Talk, talk, and more talk. Where's the action? Oh, getting advice, pretending to listen to it, pretending to heed it, then doing exactly what he wanted to in the first place, except changing the words used so that the people will become confused and not realize they've been duped. I got it now. There doesn't need to be a date set for any speeches; he will do it whenever he pleases. And to think that this country actually voted him back into office in 2004. Yes, every single solitary one of you who voted for that person who calls himself "president" or whatever nickname he chooses to make it seem that he's better than all of us, you didn't even bother to LOOK let alone SEE the forest for the trees then. You were so very happy that he had four more years! Weren't you?

Cincy...I remember the cause and effect you are talking about....we pulled out of Somalia in 93', it "emboldened the likes of Bin Laden." who promptly ordered 9/11....oh wait, that was 8 years later...well not so promptly....What will "embolden" terrorists and our enemies more, to deplete our armed forces in a war of attrition in Iraq, or to get out strong and ready to defend OUR Country?? Let the different sects have it out. When it is all over, we can go in and try to help pick up the pieces. It is not our fight, not our job to police a civil war. Granted we have the guilt for starting it(Thanks dubya and friends), but we can not finish it without endangering the defense of our home. Iran and N. Korea have already taken advantage of our weakness. I don't know about you, but I would rather defend our homeland than offend someone else's.

Very shortly, now, if it hasn't already happened, the number of dead Americans in Iraq will surpass the number of dead Americans in the twin towers, the Pentagon, and Flight 93. The tired old refrain, "If we don't fight them there, we will fight them at home," will then be meaningless. These are our children we are sending to die. Bring them home now, and do some real national security planning.

On the news today an interview with some of our trops divulged that they" were not sure who they were supposed to be fighting" Well Bush doesn't seem to know either, or else he and Cheney are both living in lala land. The old saying "we have met the enemy and it's us" just abut tells the story on the overall Bush policy. Iraq and Iran and all the rest of the muslum world are so divided in thier religious beleifs that there will never be a peace in that part of the world. These people don't know the meaning of democracy, and none of them really want to know. In their own words the Iraq people want us out of there because our presence is just fueling the fires of revolt. We can't tell them what to believe and no one else can either. I see the situatiion like putting the Pope in alliance with Charles Wesley and Martin Luther. The US should get it's troops the hell out of that part of the world, and take the billions of dollars of equiptment with them otherwise we will be blamed for "arming the terrorist's" who will wind up with it anyway. I believe that if the US goes home and takes all of it's stuff with them the entire area will settle down and one of the religious sects there will take charge and go on about thier buisness."Cheney said not to long ago that if we leave"they" will come after us" He never did say who "they" were. I really don't think so. If Bush would put as much emphasis on protecting this great country from with in , and get us an army we would be far better off. This country has no buisness trying to shove our ideals down other peoples throat when it's very obvious they don't want it. Bush you've listened to Cheney long enough to get our country in a hell of a hole, now listen to the people who live in this country (They key word here is listen) and put our country back together again. Frank Seeley

My heart goes out to the soldiers and their families and friends; this war was thrust upon them yet, to a man and woman, they accept their responsibility and serve their countries honorably and bravely. What of Bush, though? Where was he when it was his turn to serve? For him, his military career was just a nuisance and a joke, something that got in the way of his hollow-headed fratboy partying. He showed up for duty when he felt like it and, like everything else he's done in his adult life, he was a failure as a soldier. His disdain for his military commitment is an example of the contempt and indifference he feels for the men and women fighting his disgraceful war in Iraq. Bush is a heroically incompetent President, and if his message to the American people is still "stay the course" or "we will prevail" it will likely cost him his presidency. Bush will be the last person to know, but the history books will put him in his very own category - the worst president ever.

THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION IS WRONG.AND NEEDS TOBE IMPEACHED FOR WAR CRIMES,MURDER,AND HATRED AGAINST HUMUNITY.AND MR.BUSH NEEDS TOBE ON TRIAL FOR THE MURDERS OF 600.OOOO.00 IRAQIUS PEOPLE.AND BE SENTENCED TO HANG.WHAT'S GOOD FOR THE GOOSE,IS ALSO GOOD FOR THE GANDERR.........RIGHT...........NOW IF MR.SADDAM CAN HANG FOR 150 PEOPLE LIFES.THEN HOW MUCH MORE SHOULD THIS APLY TO MR.BUSH?

cincy [[95% of this thread is whining lefty Bush-bashers who have nothing constructive to offer. There's no doubt that Iraq is a mess. Does quickly withdrawing our troops solve the problem? Heck no! Need I remind people of Somalia in '93? After we got our nose bloodied by the skinnies, Slick Willy withdrew the troops which emboldened the likes of Bin Laden. The same thing will happen if we pack up and leave Iraq.]] ----- That all is a load of rubbish. The extremists in the Middle East got the idea that the US would always back down thanks to Saint Ronnie Raygun, who instantly pulled US troops out of Lebanon after the deadly bombing of US troop quarters there. As for Bin Laden, he's what the CIA calls "blow back," which is spy talk for "creating a Frankenstein Monster." Bin Laden was on "our side" fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan. Once he saw that a great superpower like the USSR could be driven out of Muslim lands by the use of extreme violence, he figured that the remaining superpower, the US, could be driven out as well. Bin Laden is totally evil and extremely dangerous, but Bush, with his mixture of ignorance, incompetence, and arrogance, has done far more damage to the world. Bush has destroyed Iraq. The middle class, the doctors, and the engineers are fleeing to other countries. Iraqi society has disintegrated. Iraq is a dead country and Bush is the one who killed it. Bush was warned that an invasion of Iraq would open "the gates of Hell" in the Middle East, and that warning has been proven all too true. Bush lit the fuse in Iraq to see what would happen and now the entire Middle East is on the verge of bursting into flames. The fault is his alone. It is certainly not the fault of Bush's victims, the unfortunate people of Iraq.

IMPEACHBUSH.ORG NOW!!!! This sums up all your previous comments; can we all make a decision, be the deciders, they are criminals and they work for us!!!!

This tragic mess was not a mistake or a miscalculation. It wasn't caused by ignorance or ideology. It is very simple. It's about the price of oil and how that price is effected by supply and demand. When you wipe out the oil producing capacity of a top 5 OPEC nation, the price goes up (as we've all seen). The primary benefactor will be Saudi Arabia. The same Saudi Arabia that sells us most of our Oil and, in return, invests much of that money in our war industries. It is very simple stuff. But the media will no acknowledge it for whatever reason. In the end it's always about the money.

someone said "The struggle to thwart religious fanaticism will take decades. We have just begun, get used to it. You can't hide from terror, you can only fight from the moral high ground. " that makes me laugh. war against religious fanaticism has been raging for thousands of years. remember the Crusades? if Jesus did exist he was killed for being a religious fanatic, plain and simple. Problem is that there is no moral high ground when all of our interests in the region involve oil. Our creation of Israel post WW2 because we needed tons of oil for our new superpower status, why do we invade and oust Iraq but not our good, oil producing dictators in UAE and the cruel Saudi kings? Oh ya, oil. Moral high ground, such a thing does not exist. Relgious extremism will never end until religion ends, and they only way to stop violent extremism is not through bombing a country back the stone age...

Bush is now frantically seeking advice on what to do with Iraq. He should have done this exercise TWO years ago. His delay caused the lives of many Americans and Iraquis. Should'nt he be charged in Geneva's World Court with crimes against humanity?

It's very interesting that persons coming to advise Bush on IRAQ that have supported his FAILED POLICY are called "EXPERTS". The folks with alternate ideas are labeled as non-starters. Looks like the "WAY FORWARD" is to dig a DEEPER HOLE by sending more troops.

A bucket of blood for a barrel of oil? When will the new Democrats start talking impeachment?

I campaigned for Gore and the Dems in 2000 and did it again (for Kerry) in 2004. I worked for a friend who ran for the US House in Nov but lost as we only had 10 weeks to campaign (after our Dem candidate resigned from her campaign). We gathered quite a few votes for such a brief campaign. It was quite amazing. My whole family has been involved in the Democratic Party. An ancestor of mine was James Cox's campaign secretary in 1920. In 2004, 56+ million people voted for Kerry-Edwards. We only lost due to some shady practices in my state and a number of others. We also lost due to the dirty campaign tactics by Rove against Kerry's service in 'Nam. Much, if not all of it, was untrue, and most people seemed to read right through the lies. However, many people did not, especially those people susceptible to such stuff, namely the right-wing neo con "Christians". And, as in 2000, we had a key state with the Secty of State (who controls the state dept of elections) also be the leader of the campaign to re-elect Bush. Blackwell lost in his bid for Gov. of Ohio and was soundly trounced. People have reached the end of their wits with this idiot we call a president. Many who were with Bush in 2004 here in Ohio, were booted out in 2006. There is no way forward with this war in Iraq as long as the US is involved. We are the pariah, the untouchable, the one whom no one can respect or enjoy being around. Our only saving grace has been that the world mostly sees the good people of the US being just that... good people who have had the last two presidential elections stolen from them. I cannot speak to conspiracies, but the whole electoral process in the US is broken. Hopefully, there is now enough anger amongst us good people, to cause serious change here. We are supposed to be the example that others are to live by, when we can't seem to get a free and fair election for the President of the US. Some 3rd word countries seemingly have freer elections than what we did in 2000 and 2004. That is just woefully shameful and plain wrong. My family & I support a soldier in the Rangers. He has been in Afghanistan and Iraq a number of times. I hope and pray for his eventual safe return to a peaceful life with his new bride. I know a local Dem leader who had a flag in his yard for every soldier killed in Iraq. He ran out of room. I don't want this war to escalate to something akin to 'Nam. We need to end our involvement soon, to stop the killing. We need to allow the Iraqi people and the Middle East the ability to forge their own futures. We cannot force people with our military to become democratic. It just doesn't work if there are a sizable number of people who oppose it. They need to HAVE to want democracy. They need to HAVE to want peace. Without their involvement, there will NOT be peace in Iraq. Don't claim the Dems have no plans. We've had the plans (read any Dem candidate's campaign speech, read the Joe Biden speech of Nov 2005 and many others), but we've not had the control to see them become reality. Don't blame the Dems for not having the answer when the Bush camp and the whole Republican Congress has not allowed those solutions to see the light of day. Don't blame many Dems in Congress for siding with the Adminstration in going to war in Iraq when you did as much and led the way and may have known the truth to the matter. Don't try to put the blame on the Dems for something the Repubs have botched and mis-managed so badly that the only recourse now is to exit. Don't blame the Dems for Bush's idiotic mantra of "stay the course". Don't blame the Dems for all the horrific acts performed by the CIA and others under contract. You can blame the Dems for only one thing: that we have not spoken up as a unified body of patriots to unseat our tyrranical meglomaniac of a president. If you are amongst the last bastion of single digit supporters of Bush (which could occur by this time next year or sooner), I pity you for your blind support and avoidance of the truth and fact. I don't care if you're conservative, liberal or libertarian. You need to see the facts. Our president lied to us and many thousands of people (mostly innocent, although God doesn't distinguish) have perished. This is not only legally wrong, but is a sign of moral corruption. All for what? Some bloody oil to power our cars and trucks? For revenge? For proving that he is better than his daddy? For profit? Let's become the peacemakers by backing out and then later helping them to succeed via diplomacy, discussion, monetary support and compassion... "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

Hey Cincy: Big darn deal about Somalia! Yes, we all know we lost some helicopters and some people in Somalia. We also know that Somalia is now in the hands of radical Islam. We also know that we LEFT Somalia in 1993 (and yes, in somewhat defeat). My question to you is, "How many times have those Somalians come over here and produced terror on 'our soil'" None in 13 years. So stop with the argument that we will have another Somalia on our hands. So what! Let those savages kill each other over there and they won't come over here (as has been proven over these last 13 years). Almost makes Somalia sound somewhat successful, now, doesn't it?

I just find it interesting how the Administration and the Media (the lap dog of the Bush Administration) continues to refer to Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other countries as "moderate" Arab countries? Are they serious? These countries are far from moderate, far more facist (rightist) than most countries. Also, I'm not even talking about the human rights problems that each have, the executions which occur, the sham elections, the military punishments, the human rights abuses against women and children, the violent abuses against people of other religions, etc. Should I go on? If you're going to compare Shiite against the "moderate" Sunni governments, at least be honest with the American people. The only difference, one is Shiite and the other is Sunni. That's the only difference. Further, if anyone should be punished severely for this debacle it should be the media. They went fully hand-in-fist with this Administration, and continue to do so. They practically giggle when Bush comments about their ties and suits--like little girls with crushes. It all makes me so sick and angry.

The elections of 2000 and 2004 must have been stolen by Bush. I can't beleive the American people are that stupid to elect Bush the first time much less the second time. I agree that IMPEACHMENT won't change the the fact that we are bogged down in Iraq and nobody knows what to do about it. But Bush needs to be investigated and IMPEACHED, if found guilty and he probaly should spend the rest of his days in a cell.

In the end, it's always about the money, not about taking the morally correct action. Our actions in the world since 2000 have been appalling. Our govt. believes we are the most powerful country in the world and that everyone else should bow to clean our feet. How ludicrous is that? Islam is a peaceful religion. So is Christianity. So is Judism. And, all other mainstream religions. They have been misconstrued and misinterpreted over the years to serve our own desires, our own greedy "wants". There is no reason to believe that an entire religion is violent solely due to the actions of a relative few. Christians have many reasons to be ashamed of their past actions. So do the others. No one is perfect or above corruption. The terrorists are no better than those who left Europe to fight in the Crusades in the Middle East. They've all been horribly mis-guided by their own selfish interests believing that their quest is the holy one that is backed by God. The God I know cannot condone someone killing another person in His name. No excuses. About the only instance I can see that *may* be plausible, is in the personal defense of yourself or of someone who cannot defend themselves and your actions are not meant to actually kill, but to protect. I cannot extrapolate this to a country-sized issue, but you get the point. Isn't our goal in life to live as close to the life of our great prophets, or Christ, or Muhammad, or Buddah? You can't do this by being a warring person, a liar, a cheat, a truly violent person. Our leaders have put this country in a very dangerous position. They have destroyed Iraq and can't put it back together again. They can't speak with others in the region to create a lasting peace. They have no clue as to how to live, eat, breathe diplomacy and compassion. How can you do those things if you're fighting, destroying and killing? Our new US Congress has a huge task ahead of it. Don't expect miracles, but DO expect sanity and a group of leaders who WILL hold the Bush Administration responsible. DO expect some battles between Bush and Congress, even with some Republicans joining the Dems. DO expect and DEMAND compassion for our "enemies" and a helping hand to anyone who needs assistance. DO expect change and a hope for a saner, safer and more peaceful world after Nov 4, 2008. The world needs us to change, folks. We need us to change. We can't continue to let us all down. We don't want to become another Roman Empire.

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