The BBC on the presidential candidates and their antiwar-ness

[MrSoundAndVision]

This is from a BBC news report from Monday, Novemeber 3, 2003"

"At the moment, though, Mr Bush shows no signs of weakening. "Our will and resolve are unshakeable," White House spokesman Trent Duffy said.

When spokesmen talk about "unshakeable will", you know things are not going well.

But the opposition Democrats do not seem to be capitalising much on the presidential problems.

The only one of them to vote against the congressional resolution approving the war, Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich, has called for withdrawal.

"This disastrous mission must be ended before any more lives are lost... it is time to bring our troops home," he said.

The other candidates are floundering around, criticising the administration without daring to call for withdrawal."

Right on BBC.

[xJlM]

1. BBC is much better than American media

Although that's not saying much, I do appreciate having somewhere to go to find the stories which won't ever run in America.

[MrSoundAndVision]

3. I agree

Try http://www.wsws.org for some truly insightful news. They only have maybe 6 stories a day, but they are in depth, and usually right on the mark. For example, did you know that there was a coordinated campaign last week in three so called liberal media outlets (NYTimes,LA Times, Boston Globe I think) in which all three papers' senior foreign affairs correspondents wrote essentially the same story, that Iraq was no Vietnam, and certainly worth fighting and whatnot. They have quotes and break it down, it's clearly a coordinated propoganda campaign. Oh,

KUCINICH FOR PRESIDENT! http://www.kucinich.us

[michaelbmoore]

17. Better Broadcasting Corporation!

[Larkspur]

2. Withdrawing the troops would create a power vaccum that would allow

Al Queda to take over. Iraq hosting Al Queda would be worse than Afghanistan.

[MrSoundAndVision]

4. Well let's get that vacuum bag and

international hipster the U.N. in their to help us out. They could really 'clean house.'

Please don't just echo what the media says here in my thread, at least pretend you came up with it yourself, I don't know, try some new analogies.

[BushGone04]

6. The analogy may have been stale, but the point is valid

We just can't pull our troops out at this point. We broke Iraq, we bought it. It's unfortunate, and we certainly need more UN involvement than this administration seems inclined to seek, but pulling our troops out is simply not an option at this point in time.

[Upfront]

10. We broke Viet Nam

but we didn't own it. The commie hordes are not over running us today. Hmmmmmm Terrorists are the latest reason we went to war, and they don't have a thing to do with Iraq, except our presence draws them. The problem is we are not going to win and why send more good Americans to die. The next President will get us out even if he has to say Bush made a mistake going there. I don't pretend to know any thing but it sure looks like another Nam to me. Wait till the draft starts, and it will.

[peaceandjustice]

12. where will the UN troops come from?

Can you cite an example of a UN mission where the U.S. didn't disproportionately carry the burden of troop committment? If not, than "UN in" is not the same as "U.S. out".

[caledesi]

5. I agree. Unfortunately, we can't just cut and run. nt

[goodhue]

7. please

Think for yourself lately? Don't believe the hype. The Kucinich exit strategy involves getting the UN in before the US gets out, so there would be no vacuum as you suggest. Plus you ignore that the continued US presence serves as a ongoing rallying point for not only al qaeda but many iraqis including the fedayin and other militants. The longer the US is in Iraq the more terrorist attacks there will be. Black hawk down indeed. The US military presence is not a peaceful one and Al Qaeda benefits by the US militaries continued presence.

The exit strategy is really very simple and is vacuum free.

1) The President must go to the UN and announce the US intention to hand over all administrative and security responsibilities to the UN. The UN would help Iraqis move quickly toward self-determination.

2) The UN, not the US, will administer Iraq’s oil revenues. It will be necessary to renounce clearly and unequivocally any interest in controlling Iraq’s oil resources.

3) The UN will administer contracts to repair Iraq. War profiteering will no longer be practiced by the White House. It will be necessary to suspend all reconstruction contracts and close the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority, because of the suspicion caused by the sweetheart deals that the Administration has given to large American corporations. In its place, the UN would help Iraqis administer funds to employ Iraqis to repair the damage from the invasion.

http://www.kucinich.us/statements.htm#100903

[genius]

15. YOu sound like Bush. Let's turn the contract authority over to the U. N.

and then they'll bring in their troops. Why are our trooops better than theirs?

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[George_Bonanza]

11. Do not abandon Iraq period

I don't care how someone does it, do not just say "Oh well" and let Iraq go mob rule or something. Handing over the majority of the administrative duties to an international body would do a lot to boost the credibility of the occupation (as something internationally executed instead of just America), and quell strong anti-Americanism in Iraq. It's a lot harder to be anti-world than anti-American. I do not agree that America should withdraw a 100%, but they should admit failure and let the UN take over. The U.S. should remain a vital part of the rebuilding process, hopefully led by John Kerry by 2004 and beyond.

[snoochie]

13. Proportion of UN troops, hell

If we can get ANY troops out of Iraq, that will be best for Iraq AND for the US.

I'm so tired of this 'cut and run' nonsense.

We're occupying that country. When has that EVER worked out for the best?

Kucinich is the ONLY candidate advocating the QUICKEST possible turnover, of even SOME of our troops.

Saying 'well we can't get them all out so we may as well be there for years' is nuts.

:crazy:

[genius]

14. Clearly the BBC has a better grasp on things

than the American news media.

[xJlM]

16. Other than DU,...

I don't even visit any American news websites. What for? So I can get my blood pressure up through reading lies and obvious propaganda? That's like reading Ann Coulter, or listening to the vulgar Pigboy.