GOP Congressman and Iraq Vet: Trump’s Comments On Saddam Are ‘Absolutely Absurd’

[kevindavis007]

Iraq War veteran and Republican Rep. Steve Russell told CNN’s Jake Tapper Monday that Donald Trump‘s statements about Saddam Hussein demonstrate “a complete lack of understanding about foreign policy.”


Russell was reacting to comments Trump made during Sunday’s State of the Union, when the Republican presidential candidate argued the Middle East would be better off “100 percent” if Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi were still in power. “Right now, they’re far worse than they were ever under Saddam Hussein and Ghadafi,” Trump said, calling the current state of foreign affairs a “catastrophe.”


Read More: http://www.mediaite.com/online/gop-congressman-and-iraq-vet-trumps-comments-on-saddam-are-absolutely-absurd/

[kevindavis007]

Fact: 2008 Iraq was pacified, it was the early withdraw of our troops that caused this mess. 

[Oceander]

Utterly stupid viz. Iraq.  Any truth viz. Libya exists simply because the US created a vacuum which disaster inevitably filled.

[sinkspur]

Trump talking about the Middle East is like me talking metaphysics.

Listeners quickly figure out neither of us know what we're talking about and we sound galactically stupid.

[Formerly Once-Ler]

Trump talking about the Middle East is like me talking metaphysics.

Listeners quickly figure out neither of us know what we're talking about and we sound galactically stupid.

I think it is possible that many Trump supporters ( excepting, of course, the fine and honorable Trump supporters on this forum) are just as ignorant of foreign policy as Trump.  I'd be interested to hear what Rush and the rest of TALKe thinks about this.

[EdinVA]

Since WWII we have "lost" every war we have been in because the American people will not, do not, fight to win, we think nothing of sending someone else kids/fathers/mothers to war as long as it does not interfere with our reality TV shows.  We went into Afghanistan halfheartedly with no plan to reconstitute any form of social/governmental direction or control and once we decapitate the existing government, as bad as it was, we drew down and went into Iraq and abandoned our responsibilities in Afghanistan.  We have abandoned true international and military knowledge and experience with academic feel good armchair philosophy that has accomplished nothing but getting people killed and maimed.  Then we decided that Assad and Qaddafi had to go and we have a major global problem on our hands.

This all occurred under both mainstream Republican and Democratic leadership and everyone's hands are dirty so it is time to stop blaming and find a solution.  Given the weak kneed attitude of the American people, any more military intervention in the area either needs to be overwhelming or a withdrawal.  Anything else will accomplish nothing.

So, I my view, Trump is right.  We started the fight but did not finish it.  Either fight to win and fight with overwhelming force, or stay home and change the channel....

[jmyrlefuller]

Since WWII we have "lost" every war we have been in because the American people will not, do not, fight to win, we think nothing of sending someone else kids/fathers/mothers to war as long as it does not interfere with our reality TV shows.  We went into Afghanistan halfheartedly with no plan to reconstitute any form of social/governmental direction or control and once we decapitate the existing government, as bad as it was, we drew down and went into Iraq and abandoned our responsibilities in Afghanistan.  We have abandoned true international and military knowledge and experience with academic feel good armchair philosophy that has accomplished nothing but getting people killed and maimed.  Then we decided that Assad and Qaddafi had to go and we have a major global problem on our hands.

This all occurred under both mainstream Republican and Democratic leadership and everyone's hands are dirty so it is time to stop blaming and find a solution.  Given the weak kneed attitude of the American people, any more military intervention in the area either needs to be overwhelming or a withdrawal.  Anything else will accomplish nothing.

So, I my view, Trump is right.  We started the fight but did not finish it.  Either fight to win and fight with overwhelming force, or stay home and change the channel....

The last time we won a war was 1945. That was before the modern food stamp program, Medicare, Medicaid, and the rest of the Great Society.

We've gone to deficit-financing national defense to deficit-financing personal poverty.

[DCPatriot]

Fact: 2008 Iraq was pacified, it was the early withdraw of our troops that caused this mess.

"There you go again"....Ronald Reagan

Since you selectively pasted from the link...I will address only what you pasted.

"Pacified" simply means that you're keeping peace with force of military.  It's not a real 'peace'.   The proof is that as soon as we left, the bad guys came out to play again...with new scores to settle.

Put your chips behind Saddam's replacements and you're a dead man walking.

To say that Iraq and Libya were more secured and controlled under Saddam and Gaddafi is a fact.

And you're much smarter than you've displayed here, kevindavis.   

A little intellectual honesty, please?

[MBB1984]

Trump is spot on.  We removed two tyrants only to have them replaced them with Muslim terrorists.  We spent trillions of dollars and thousands of lives on peoples too ignorant to understand or desire a democratic republic.  More havoc ensued and migration of Muslims into Europe has erupted because of these actions.  Thousands of Christians have been killed in Iraq where they were relatively safe under Saddam Hussein.  Iran has become much more powerful.  Benghazi.  The list goes on and on and on.  We cannot afford to serve as the world's policeman.  Furthermore, we are incompetent when we try to serve as the world's policeman.

[DCPatriot]

Trump is spot on.  We removed two tyrants only to have them replaced them with Muslim terrorists.  We spent trillions of dollars and thousands of lives on peoples too ignorant to understand or desire a democratic republic.  More havoc ensued and migration of Muslims into Europe has erupted because of these actions.  Thousands of Christians have been killed in Iraq where they were relatively safe under Saddam Hussein.  Iran has become much more powerful.  Benghazi.  The list goes on and on and on.  We cannot afford to serve as the world's policeman.  Furthermore, we are incompetent when we try to serve as the world's policeman.

 

Either go in with the intent of destroying things and killing everybody that needs killing...or stay the hell out. 

You cannot rehabilitate....you cannot erase a thousand years of tribalism from their DNA.

[Longiron]

Trump is spot on.  We removed two tyrants only to have them replaced them with Muslim terrorists.  We spent trillions of dollars and thousands of lives on peoples too ignorant to understand or desire a democratic republic.  More havoc ensued and migration of Muslims into Europe has erupted because of these actions.  Thousands of Christians have been killed in Iraq where they were relatively safe under Saddam Hussein.  Iran has become much more powerful.  Benghazi.  The list goes on and on and on.  We cannot afford to serve as the world's policeman.  Furthermore, we are incompetent when we try to serve as the world's policeman.