SteveK, Thank you for you sincere and honest reply.

I actually agree with much of what you say. However, my issue was with Bush being vindicated. I don't believe he will.

Iraq was a mistake from the start. I would feel this way, even if we had gone in, trounced there butts, and been out in record time. It has done nothing but detract from the issue of terrorism, caused ill will and mis-trust (not only abroad, but at home as well).

Iraq, to my knowledge, was not involved with any of the terrorist actions against us that you mentioned. Going after those that would see our country and our allies harmed should have been first and foremost, period.

Although there has not been any terrorist attacks on American soil since 9/11, I cannot think of one policy put into place by this administration that would truly stop one. The open border and detracting from Afghanistan is proof positive to me that it is not the intention of the administration to actually fight a war on terror.

I have always been of the belief that you finish what you start, and there is still a part of me that believes this about Iraq. However, I do not feel this administration is NOT the one to do it.

Well said fl1...you pretty much made the same points that I would have.

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McFly ... pwned.

Commish... pwned & more pathetic by the day.

The only vindication or credit Bush will get down the road is that he was really the first President to actively tackle terrorism. And he deserves that. I appreciate your views and the maturity that you've shown and there are parts of it I agree with. As I said, had I known then what I now know, I would have probably gathered intelligence as to where Hussein was and fired a missile at him rather than a full invasion. But again, no one can see that far off into the future. I enjoyed the exchange.

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McFly ... pwned.

Commish... pwned & more pathetic by the day.

The title ought to read---------- US Soldier refuses obligation of duty and sent to stockade for 10 years!

Of course that has no relevance to the reason for the link I provided...therefore I shall edit it.

Then again, it appears it is too late to edit it.

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McFly ... pwned.

Commish... pwned & more pathetic by the day.

I guess if you ignore our Constitution, government representing the will of the people, our government structure, etc and just see Bush as a dictator who decides things on his own - yeah, that would make sense. But lying to the public about the reason is criminal under any system. Amazing how some people argue the Iraq war oblivious to this and don't see how it proves our points.

Isn't it obvious that they have to come up with "Bush bashing" because they really don't have anything else.

And this is where our difference of opinion grows. I don't see Bush as actively tackling terrorism, but rather USING terrorism as an excuse to invade Iraq, a means to an end shall we say. Actively tackling terrorism would have included closing our borders, fervently pursueing those that actually helped plan 9/11, a fairly open policy of how we are dealing with suspected terrorists, and using domestic policies to strengthen our resolve here at home. Those could include actively going after illegals and companies that hire them, actively going after visa overstays (weren't some of the hijackers visa overstays?), being more selective of the visa process. How about not running up a huge debt that is owned by foreign entities?

Thank you Steve for the exchange. It's nice having a civil exchange for a change.

I agree with you on some of your points. Again, the border issue is more about trying to capture votes for future elections. I also agree on going after companies that hire illegal's but again you are now getting into an area that politicians don't want to get into which is cheap labor. I remember McCain making that ridiculous assumption that legal citizens won't do specific type's of work which is bullshit. I don't think one can have an "open" policy on what they are doing with terrorist suspects. Because if you and I know about it then the ones still planning operations against our soldiers (& us) will know as well. As far as the debt that's another topic entirely.

I'm not talking about giving away classified/trade secrets. I am talking about expediting trials, those trials being more open, allowing greater access to lawyers, red cross, ect. We need to say to the world (and the people here at home), this is what we're doing to guarantee your safety. And we need to be beyond reproach in dealing with suspected terrorists. Some of the policies/and executive orders set in place by this administration have done nothing but breed ill will and mistrust. That does not help with national/international security.