I'm glad we've found a point of agreement. That one hit you where it hurts huh? In the wallet. See that's the thing here, we're dumping billions into attacking Iraq but spending far less on taking care of American citizens here in the states. I mean it would seem they will not even address the basic areas of concern. For some reason we have a crusade on our hands to crush Iraq. It's being waged at great expense to the American people for no reason except that we'd like a regime change. How can anyone say with a straight face that the current admistration has made this war with Iraq a priority because they are trying to "protect Americans from the threat of terrorism" when they aren't even taking the most basic precautions on our own soil? None of this adds up.

This is what you believe in Pat? Crushing Iraq is the first step we should take to protect ourselves? Not a single supporter of this war has come up with a justifiable reason for us to be there that's not based on speculation or the fact that Saddam is an evil dictator that does harm to his own people. These comparisons with Hitler that are being tossed about are absurd. Hitler and Germany were truely a force to be reckoned with in their day. They had a potent military machine, sat in a dangerously strategic position at the heart of Europe, and were led by a man who had designs and a well thought out plan to execute a rapid shift in power in the European theatre. Saddam has none of this going for him. He is in a weak position with hardly a military force to speak of. Calling his Republican Guard "Elite" is a joke. He's basically a two bit dictator that happens to have control of a large supply of oil. Most of his troops have little loyalty to him and will fold when confronted.

" The only reason I figure why we would do this is for a safety factor at the start of the war? Anyone else know why we would not just take a base in Iraq early and establish it as headquarters? I'm all ears on this on this one. Too me this is just pissing away money on nothing."

The reason they want to use Turkey as a staging area is based on the style of attack they have planned. They are using a strategy called "shock warfare" where the speed of the attack is vital. If they can't use Turkey the next alternative location will force them to use an area where they'll have to cross a couple hundred miles of desert which will drastically slow down their ability to secure  the current objectives. Does that sort of answer that?

                                                             Reg