If you were President......?

In Iraq, I would make a giant military base in the desert, far away from their cities. I would withdraw all troops from the urban areas. Then, if any battles start, or chaos in general, I'd send a pulverizing attack to stop everybody. It will be hard for them to start a civil war if they can't have any battles.

Iran - man, that's tough. I'd just talk to them. The alternative is to NOT talk to them, and that completely removes any chance that you could reach a compromise.

I would divide the country into 3 sections. The kurds in the north, and the Shii and Sunni in the east and west, giving each an equal share of the land. I'd have a neutral zone called Baghdad, where the three "states" could come to talk collectively about their particular issues that face the country. Each would have their own police, and their own militia. No standing army.

I'd force the UN to take an active role in the peace process of the middle east, with the threat of removing the UN building out of the country of the US.

I'd remove the US military from the "green" zone, to an isolated area outside of any major city in Iraq, with a free fire zone 10 miles around the base. If you enter the free zone, you are shot. No questions asked. There is one road in and the same road out. Bomb detection devices are safely located away from the base for all vehicle and pedestrian traffic entering and leaving the base.

I would create a government committee of dems republicans, and independents, to live there on the base to directly be there and see the issues, first hand. I'd slowly remove the majority of military personnel from Iraq.

As far as Iran, I'd take a couple of Stealth fighters, and drop a few bombs down the tubes of the nuclear reactors that they are building, and continue to do so, till they abandoned that policy and came to the table to talk. I would deny any involvement in the bombings.

Love the question!

First, a humble caveat. I don't have access, and neither do you, to the coruncopia of knowledge that the president does. That being said, I can only go by what I do know are empirical facts, knowing full well that I only see part of the bigger picture.

Iraq - I would not, for starters, cave in to popular opinion or political pressure as Commander In Chief. The big picture, as I understand it, is that Iraq is a wealthy nation in regards to its natural resources. This wealth needs to be controlled by the Iraqi government and no one else. And since terrorists continue to make attacks on both US soldiers and the Iraqi people, I believe that US presence is still required there.

The Iraqi government is still too weak to keep insurgents and outside threats at bay.

So, why should we care about their problems keeping control of their resources? Because those resources can be used to fund ways to kill Americans as in 9/11.

(I do not wear a tinfoil hat, claiming that 9/11 was an inside job, and don't take anyone who claims that seriously whatsoever.)

The Iraq region needs to be stabilized before we can safely (in the big picture) withdraw.

Iran: Muslim fundamentalists want to kill or convert Jews and Christians, and by extension/association, the American people. This is what the Qu'ran dictates, and that's what the fundamentalists believe. Any practitioner of Islam who doesn't believe likewise has not read his Qu'ran. (Not that Islam is the only religion with lukewarm followers who pick and choose what to practice out of their holy book.)

So, I take issue with a nation who does not hide the fact that they want Americans dead. Therefore, I would do whatever it takes to destroy the enemy before they destroy us. You can't negotiate with a nation whose religious ideology is to kill you.

As commander in chief, I would give Iran a call, letting them know that I'm sending (note the present tense) a carrier group stacked to the brim with nuclear weapons to their area. And I would tell Iran that if they don't box up and deliver all of their nuclear weapons grade material to the warships when they arrive, that I will order them to destroy a city every hour until it is delivered.

Of course, they won't, and after the first city is destroyed, they will declare war on us. And then we wipe them off the face of the earth. Jihad this!

If Drew Blood were president...........

1. Flat Tax of 12%. PERIOD.

2. Close all foreign military bases (use carrier task forces)

3. Cut off all non-medical foreign aid (save $80 billion per year)

4. Legalize drugs, then tax them (save $250 billion a year)

5. Limit welfare to 3 years, put money into adult education

6. Slowly withdrawl from Iraq over the next 6 months

7. Iran - secretly blow up their nuke program!

(everybody will think they accidently blew it up themselves)

8. Limits on campaign contributions to keep things fair.

9. Elections decided by popular vote, not electoral

9. Deport ALL illegals who have been here less than 15 years.

10. Legalize gay marriage (gonna happen eventually anyway)

I would move all of troops to the borders of Iraq to prevent Iran and other countries from interfering in the region, and allow the Iraqis to solve their own problems. I would allow the international community to deal with Iran, as they are still years away from acquiring a nuclear weapon, and they are no threat to the US even if they have one. Israel has nukes...Let them protect themselves.

First off, I would start taking care of the people of America. I would not worry about what other countries are doing and help out when asked (not take intuitive to try to save the whole world). I would spend my time reviewing Social Security, VA Hospitals, Schools (all of them), Energy options, Environmental reform, medical, jobs, Mortgage Industry-Foreclosure rates! then I would take a serious look at the amount of money people are getting for sitting on their hands around me (Gov. Personnel) and start reviews for pay cuts so that the American Family is not paying for them to do nothing. Sounds to me that the White House needs a complete overhaul to enhance options and implement productive solutions for the American people. Well that I what I would do.

I would maintain our presence in Iraq while we trained the Iraqi forces to take over, after which we would support them in trade for military/police tactical supplies. I would negotiate with Iran, with the understanding any Iranians caught supplying Iraqi insurgents with aid would be executed as terrorists.

I would pull the troops out and let them sort it out themselves. as for Iran and every other country that wants to go nuclear, I'd let them. MAD mutually assured destruction is as valid today as it was 20 years ago.

Pull out, kick the illegals out of our country, and use the troops to patrol our borders.

I would have George Bush and his crowd up on charges of war crimes and up on charges for his crimes against the American peoples for his violations of the American Constitution and the destruction of their image throughout the world.