We take freedom for granted

Wait, wasn't this war about weapons of mass destruction?

Freedom isn't free. Pay your taxes.

This whole fight them over there so we don't have to fight them over here theory is totally flawed. Iraq had been disarmed and was very weak militarily before the invasion. There were still weapons inspectors in the country asking for more time when Bush decided to invade. Before we invaded there was no Al Qaeda in Iraq, and there had been zero suicide bombing before the invasion. So ask yourself if we are helping keep us safer by being there or inspiring more terrorism.

There are many countries in the world that are not free, like one of our allies Saudi Arabia. Where they hold public beheading of women who commit adultery or other smaller "crimes". 9 of the 11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia and statistics show that the largest percentage of foreign fighters attacking American troops in Iraq are Saudis as well. Yet neocons are constantly blaming Iran for supporting the insurgency. Yet we do not invade Saudi Arabia? We are actually protecting them because of our ties with their oil supplies. Way before 911 Bush and Cheney had plans to obtain access to the oil fields in Iraq. Not to mention they have been spying on Americans sense before 911. Many people are ignorant to these facts.

If we are fighting a war against radical Islam why has Bush said he is not interested in getting Osama bin Laden, the man they claimed was the biggest threat to our county and the so called mastermind behind 911(Evidence of this is still debatable).

You can't fight a war against an ideology, you fight wars against nations. We have yet to invade Pakistan the county many believe is harboring Al Qaeda. The policies of Bush's administration have been misguided and tend to expand the power of the Executive branch and weakening the civil rights of people rather that protect our county from enemies of our nation.
The hypocrisy is evident and the values of the neocons has proven not be patriotic or constitutional.
Didn't Bush swear to uphold the constitution? Yet he has been part of a concerted effort to destroy it. In Germany Hitler came to power slowly with the consent of misguided people which mirrors what it happing in our country today!

We don't really know what it is like to liv in a true Democracy...if we did then the President wouldn't continue this war when the people have made it so overwhelmingly clear that we want our troops out!

You don't strike me as the kind of fella who is paying attention to what is going on in the world.

Support Peace...Freedom will follow.

First og all; This is an International website, so to say 'we' without mentioning where you are from is just dum... Are you from USA?

And; USA, or wherever you're from, is not the only liberated country in the world - FAR from it...

This mentality of fight them over there before we must fight them here is just bull. Iraq was never a threat to the USA, they had no desire to attack us. They actually disliked the Talaban and kept them out of Iraq.
Now that we've "Liberated" them, by having them "democratically" elect their government we were asked to go and because we don't like their ideas, we continue to stay. They are not and never have been a threat to us and definitely are not now.
Just think of all the good we could do for our own with the treasure and lives being spent and wasted over there.
Ask yourself, would you go and die for this cause?

True we are very lucky to be liberated...but I think you are generally misinformed about reasons we are in this war...or lack thereof.

The reason(s) for being in this war change more often than my socks.
WMD's,terrorism,democracy,freedom.......etc. When those reasons didn't work anymore it can always be said " you don't support the troops".
By staying in Iraq Bush can continue to declare that our troops are being hurt and killed by weapons which came from Iran.
Here we go again, by keeping our troops in Iraq we have a reason (read excuse) to attack Iran.
Will you let this happen again. How do you suppose we will pay for all this?
It's all being done with borrowed money. Have you contributed to the war? Tell me how we'll pay?
FPK

You sound like you have a lot of fear issues that you haven't looked at. It seems that when we feel we have to have big, guns...big, big trucks and SUVs.... we must be frightened ... scared .. even terrified and feel we must have big, big protection. Sad. People in power who deliberately use fear to gain more power and control over their own people and use it to threaten other countries are what scare me. We have that kind of administration in power right now. There is not one country in this world who is not fearful of the kind of military power we have (and I don't mean troops). Stockpiles of nukes and huge warships, and a huge air force with which to drop tons of lethal shit at a moment's notice. There is not one country on the planet insane enough to even attempt to attack this country or any country that we think is important. (I'm not talking about terrorists, I'm talking governments.) We have a mainstream media that isn't questioning our war mongering, war baiting, war profiteering administration. A
media that isn't challenging them seriously on any of the issues that threaten the world and ultimately threaten our country. Ignorance isn't bliss, it's dangerous.

I agree that we in the US take our freedom for granted, and that most oppressed populations wish to be "liberated." Unfortunately, we did not liberate the Iraqis. They are now victims of a tyranny worse than than that of Saddam Hussein. They once led "normal" (if constricted) lives, but now live in constant fear and without the amenities of everyday life to which they had been accustomed - I don't think many Iraqis are sending "Thank You" notes our way! We were sold a bill of goods on this war, and the result is a nightmarish situation with no end in sight. I pity the poor Iraqis facing an uncertain and undoubtedly dangerous future because of our arrogance - and our national willingness to cave in to fear and manipulation.

WE ARE NOT LIBERATORS, WE ARE TERRORIST INVADERS.

Just because someone leads you to the kool-aid, doesn't mean you have to drink it sir.

Two words for you; Noam Chompsky. He has written many books based on what our government has done in other nations. Believe him or not, America is not a liberator of other countries--we are a controller of other governments.

So you might feel that because we are the big dog we can do just that--ok, feel that way, but don't kid yourself by thinking we go into countries out of the goodness of our hearts to "liberate" them. That idea is just plain silly.

Lately when I hear the phrase, "God Bless America", I ask myself, why would He?

Under the Bush Administration and all it's puppet handlers, we have become war criminals. A mind-set such as yours: "get them before they get us" is so deranged. Old Georgie and Dickie are chafing at the bit to now attack Iran for reasons that are even more flimsy and felonious than the rational for attacking Iraq. We could be on the brink of World War III, not because of Iran but because of the stupefying evil nonsense that blows out of Washington, D.C.

Pakistan has had nuclear weapons capabilities for some time now. Pakistan is the home base of al-Quaeda. China and Russia also possess far and beyond any crude saber rattleing Iran can produce.

There's never been a precise estimate of Iraqi citizens killed since our 2003 invasion. Remember, we're not talking about insurgents or Iraqi military; I mean babies, tiny tots, pregnant mothers, grandparents, etc. Our government vehemently disputed one of the original independent estimates. Why should anyone bother anymore?

In the meantime, PLEASE FOR GOD'S SAKE, can you answer me why our troops are still getting maimed, murdered and mentally destroyed after more than 4 1/2 years?? What have we accomplished in the midst of what most agree is a Civil War?

Have you done your homework re: just what the Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis have at stake?

Lastly, if a foreign power set foot on U.S. soil and started warfare, what would you do? Would you gladly align yourself with their side, or would you take a weapon and fight with every fiber you have to defend your country?

Just a rhetorical question. . . .

liberation? If you think this war is about liberation, you are a true victim of media brainwashing. Where is the 'liberation' of poor non-oil-producing nations like Sudan, Myanmar, Timor, Haiti... should I continue? This war is about nothing other than family vendettas and profiteering through awarding of massive government contracts. That's it. No WMD's, no 'spreading of democracy' (UGH- I can't believe people actually buy that B.S.). When we lift a single finger to help the genocide victims of Darfur, then MAYBE your expressed opinion will take on a shred of validity.

you got one thing right:

we dont know what its like.

you got one thing wrong:

fighting them over there is not helping over here

We are living under a dictatorship now in the USA, you have no rights any more only priveldges the government grants you. You assume that you have rights because you still do what you want to do, but it is only an illusion by The Patriot Acts, The Military Commissions Act, The Real Idea Act, and many presidential directives and declarations all citizen rights are gone to the citizens of the USA.
I still cannot understand how anyone can believe the Iraq war has anything to do with Terrorism or the 9-11 attacks in general, it is a lie, and just because it has been pronounced hundreds of times by evil men doesn't make it true, try doing some research the truths all over the World, and can be found through thousands of websites and newspapers from around the World!

So, since we are the only truly "liberated" nation I suppose I can be expecting my delivery of cuban cigars any day now. Meanwhile, I will be planting a crop of marijuana in the front yard. When did congress revive habeus corpus, I must have missed that?

I would hope that you have read the responses to your opinion and that, by now, you have taken the initiative to research whether other countries are "liberated", and honestly examined whether or not you know enough facts to consider your opinion educated. As an American, I feel I can justifiably state that we as a culture are fat and lazy, willing to accept Bush's rhetoric and, what have now proven to be, lies about Iraq rather than make the effort to educate ourselves....easier to watch a little tv news and hoist a beer while defending our liberated butts. It would be easy to be sarcastic here, but instead, I respectfully invite you to search out news on the BBC, english version of AlJazeera, NPR. That would be a good start.

It is a common misconception that everyone who is oppressed wants to be liberated by the USA. Many of the insurgents who were in danger under Saddam's government are now shooting at us. Why?, because the Quran instructs them to kill any infidels that invade a state of Islam. Next time we "liberate" a country, lets make sure they won't show their appreciation by killing us.

This guy clearly doesn't have any idea what he's talking about. Take the fight to them? These people were starving to death, practically helpless.

If the people of Iraq were happy with their "liberation" then that would make this SOMEWHAT ok, but the people HATE us and want us gone. Isn't that a clue?

I am so sick of people saying they have "pride in their country and in being and American". What about PRIDE FOR HUMANITY AS A WHOLE??? No matter what country you are from!

Let's see. In order to liberate a country, you first bomb the crap out if it, then you destroy their public utilities and administration, then you kill as many people as possible, then wreck their economy, and finally ask why they're so pissed off at you. And all the time, you never found out if they really wanted to be "liberated."

The only people that truly have freedom in America are the ones who can afford it.

two words:

PATRIOT ACT

so really, how free is "free"?

Well you certainly got in all the Republican talking points i.e. fight them over there so we don't have to fight them here i.e. terrorists, we're liberating them because they were living under a dictatorship etc. but I didn't hear you mention WMD's. You see that's the "legal" reason the Bush Administration presented to the world for invading Iraq. He and Cheney claimed Saddam had WMDs. Well he didn't, did he? So as lame an excuse as that was to invade Iraq, the moment we found no WMDs our "legal" reason for being there expired.
If Bush is so concerned about spreading democracy why not invade N. Korea, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Pakistan, Kurdistan or China?? One of two reasons, either they have no oil (N. Korea) or we do business with them (everyone else). Yes my friend we do HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS of dollars of business with dictatorships in the same way the Reagan Adminstration did business with Saddam in the 1980's.
Saddams one big mistake was that he told the US govt. he wasn't going to sell us any oil, and the oil he was going to sell to other countries, would be transacted in Euros not dollars. If you don't understand the significance of that I suggest you google "petrodollar". When we discovered that, like any junkie, we broke international law to ensure we would still get our fix of oil. Thats the predominant reason we invaded Iraq and the reason Bush is so crazy about stabilizing the situation. You see oil companies don't like political instability and things like insurgents because they blow up their investments. If we can't pacifiy Iraq, Iran probably will and they will have access to Iraqs oil. Of course, none of this would have happend if Bush had simply minded his own business but when you've got your head up your ass, you tend to do stupid things.

I'm sorry Jeff, but you're completely wrong on Iraq. The "war" in Iraq is illegal and unconstitutional. The US Constitution REQUIRES that Congress declare war, which we haven't done since WWII. Ironically, WWII is the last military conflict we were actually successfull in. If you think it's our job to police the world and spread our ideas about "peace and freedom" through the barrel of a gun, then you're agreeing with the administration who has put this nation 9 trillion dollars in debt. We are borrowing 3 billion dollars A DAY from foreign governments and our economy and dollar are falling apart. We need to STOP policing the world, and trying to maintain an empire that we cannot manage and cannot afford. We have US soldiers in 130 nations of the world and that is NEVER what the founding fathers intended. We need to bring our troops home, prevent nation-building, stop policing the globe, stop spending billions of dollars overseas, and stay out of other nation's domestic affairs. We failed miserably in Vietnam and pulled out of there and the "bloodbath" which was supposed to occur never happened. The communists never took over the south. And today, Vietnam is a democratic nation with free markets who trade with. This whole "war on terrorism" is just the 2nd Cold War. And its just as bogus.

We have a much better record of fighting people on our own turf. Besides, the fact that we are active in the middle east means more of those people have a reason to be angry at us. Our presence is making more enemies faster than we can kill them.

i agree with 'zombies love brains' except, who said the founding fathers were that smart. they had no idea we would have troops in over 100 countries, women would vote and slaves would be free .

chromehelmet, I do see your point. I'm sure the founding fathers had NO IDEA America would become the way it is and I guess we're not really sure what they would think if they were around today. But based on some of the advice they left us such as "that which governs best governs least" and "avoid entangling alliances" and don't "go looking for idealogical monsters to destroy across the world" and much more, we can see that their vision of America as a free nation who would promote freedom through good example and avoid getting involved in the affairs of foreign nations has been grossly distorted. And of course, you're also right about women and slaves. It was most definately a different time and unfortunately, ideas were very different on some basic things we see today as racism and sexism. I guess in the end, I look at the Constitution itself as the source of our destiny. It's actually a very wise document and everything it says, while it may be written in fancier ways, can be applied to our world today. Maybe they weren't all-knowing or didn't have all the answers, but the founders were definately onto something. It's like the idea of freedom was always there you know? They certainly didn't invent. Freedom is there and it exists and its the inalienable right of all living creatures whether or not a certain government is suppressing it. Thanks for the comments though, I wish people would spend more time looking closely at the founders and their ideas and words, it can truly be inspiring.

Is it truely liberating to force your beleifs and social structure on another culture or religious group. We haven't liberated these people, our intentions going over there were not to liberate the Iraqi people. We went over there because our interest was to keep oil prices down. Yes we took advantage of the fact that Iraq was lead by a dictator that felt killing his people for not agreeing with him and so we did some good by getting rid of him. However we need to pull ourselves out of Iraq soon or we are no better than Sadam. Remove our military force and send in ambassadors to help them with government issues.

Liberators? Are you kidding me? This guy needs to get his nose out of the TV; brainwashed is too mild a term!

Take freedom for granted? Yes, the American people do, that's why less than 50% of voters voted in the last major election; and that's why we, I said WE, now live under a pseudo dictatorship and have lost so many of our civil rights.

Iraq was never a threat to this country; God these people are blind! Halliburton needed Iraq'a oil, period!

i agree with what you say about liberating an oppressed people- there's no question that Hussein took horrible care of the Iraqi public. However, I disagree with your statements that made it sound like if we hadn't attacked, the US would have been a victim- there were no weapons programs. Containment and cooperation with the UN worked during the '90s, and it could have kept working- the US mission in Iraq would have been much more successful and legitimate if the government had waited for a UN mandate.

How do we take freedom for granted if in the end we aren't free at all.

Wow its miss teen South Carolina's brother!

"Iraq...ummmm.......I don't know......"

This guy should have just stopped right there before babbling on about complete nonsense.

We liberated the people of Iraq by invading their country, destablizing their government, and starting a civil war?

This dude is a moron.

One of the most ignorant videos I've seen in a while, no offense.

When did Iraq ever attack us?

I have questions.
With all the responses to your video posting your opinion about the Iraq war, and most being negative. Have you read any of these responses?
Have you done any research into issues they have with your opinion?
Have you ever watch any Youtube video by "Hometown Bagdad"?
Do you really, truly believe we, the U.S. government, is there to liberate the Iraqi people?
Finally, Do you really care about the Iraqi people? I mean, really?

You're a tool. We don't have "liberation" in this country. There are many other countries that experience greater freedoms than our own.