Based on this, should the US expect to budget $80 billion per year for on-going military support in the Mideast for the next decade? Less dependency on crude oil might help to defuse the militant attitude of the arab muslims.

As most of you will remember the three main reasons we went into Iraq were: 1) Oil 2) To have a military base in the middle East 3) To intimidate enemies of Israel. This was the real neocon agenda. All the other reasons were post hoc rationalizations. Mr. McConnell is merely reaffirming the original motives by indicating we will need to stay. That was the idea in the first place, and if the Iraqi government had it better together, we would not have our excuse to stay. I would really like to hear from each of the Democrats, including Mr. Edwards how they differ with Mr. McConnell on this issue. For me it could be the defining issue. I suspect that if one looks at convergence of thinking, that Mrs. Clinton would have the greatest degree of conguency with the neocon position as she has still failed to distance herself from her vote of support for the Iraq war. GB

Just when you thought the fun was over, Larry Craig says he's reconsidering his resignation.

Senator Mc Connell is nuts...why should we be in the region? The countries in the region are sovereign countries,not our back yard... If we left the region, Al Qaeda would have no reason to do anything..If I am not mistaken Al Qaeda started when we refused to leave the region after the First Gulf War..

Hey Mitch the U.S. already has a long term deployment in the Middle East it`s called Israel.

Senator NoChin had three daughters.

When are they enlisting?

We needed to be reminded that we cannot be the police force for the world. They don't want us to do that. (Or as we put it in the days the US was in Viet Nam, We cannot be the World's Policeman.")

McConnel, by saying that we need to have a forward military presence permanently in the Middle East to prevent attacks from there has done that.

Check. One more item off the list before America can withdraw in shame from Iraq. Now his usefulness is over in the flow of history. Why does it have to repeat itself so closely? Don't we ever learn?

Oh btw, Larry "wide stance" Craig now says he intends to stay in Congress.

hahahahahaha You repugs are whack.

Mark Foley's mentor Mitchell says what????

If we realy need that Senator, then why don't you go over there on the front line and show us how it's done?

He's from Mars...

Does this mean too that we have to go around and say, we are superior, give us your women too?

No end in sight - and no limit to Republican lunacy.

Try and make sense of this:

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He said he hoped the politically charged debate in Congress over Iraq would not lead to an outcome in which "we just bring all the troops back home and thereby expose us once again to the kind of attacks we"ve had here" in the United States or attacks such as the one on the Navy ship USS Cole in 2000.
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We had attacks here because we didn't have forces in the ME?

Which plane is this nut McConnell on?

The moron does not understand that our presence in Arab territory is what got us into trouble in the first place. It is really hard for these arrogant sons of bitches to understand that not all countries want, or welcome our presence.

http://www.light-to-dark.com/senate_republicans_visit_iraq.html

regards
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