Originally Posted by
mundame
Au contraire, the Bush administration is negotiating hard to try to keep a large military presence active in Iraq indefinitely. It's been all over the news this week, because Maliki wants us entirely gone. Just yesterday the general who trains Iraqis said they are very behind and we need to be there training them "indefinitely."
So we want to be there in force forever (like McCain wants), but they want us out, out, out.
You wrote Au Contraire yet what follows doesn't come close to being contrary to what Avatar wrote. What he wrote was truth about the progress in Iraq and has nothing to do with your speculation. Having a Force or Training presence in Iraq has nothing to do with the army's operational strength. (shrug)
Originally Posted by
mundame
But those Iranian missiles and the rest........I'm afraid we may be underestimating their military capacity to take out the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf shipping.
Iran needs one thing. One thing to fix it. Israel. When the US removes it's hold on Israel, and let's Israel loose, Iran becomes a non-issue. There may, however, be 2nd and 3rd-order issues which would arrise, however - which is why the US tries to hold Israel back a bit.
“… the greatest detractor from high performance is fear: fear that you are not prepared, fear that you are in over your head, fear that you are not worthy, and ultimately, fear of failure. If you can eliminate that fear—not through arrogance or just wishing difficulties away, but through hard work and preparation—you will put yourself in an incredibly powerful position to take on the challenges you face" - Pete Carroll.