Some rare and welcome good news from Iraq: U.S. military leaders say they’ve made major gains against al-Qaida in Iraq in recent months, crippling the terrorist group’s ability to function. The White House is rightly wary of declaring “mission accomplished,” considering its past experience. Still, Bush administration officials often point to al-Qaida in Iraq as America’s deadliest enemy there and as justification for continuing the war. If that reason no longer applies, it could give new ammunition to those arguing for a major troop withdrawal.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
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56 Comments
Don’t even try it. Until you bring the last American military person home from the sandbox.
Who is exactly stating that al-Qaida is crippled? If it is anyone connected to Bush and Cheney, then their opinion of the Iraq war is just that – their opinion.
Republicans can blame Bush and Cheney for the 70% of the American voters to tend not to believe one word either man says. They brought this on themselves by their mistruths in the past.
And I wonder who many Americans believe congress? What’s their poll rating?
From the article linked in the header, a certain Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal is a major proponent of such a declaration concerning AQI.
It appears there are split opinions on this, even within officials in the know.
And if this Lt. Gen. is wrong, I’m sure we’ll know soon enough. Could AQI be regrouping somewhere else?
Iraq was never about Al-Quida, if we wanted Al-Quida we’d have followed them into Pakistan, or gotten their leaders at Tora Bora, instead of detouring to Iraq.Iraq wasn’t even about Saddam, or we could have left shortly after his capture.Iraq was about getting your foot in the door, and the getting control of the oil.Oil companies should be footing the bill for Iraq.
“Oil companies should be footing the bill for Iraq.”
………. and they should be more industrious in finding effecient alternative energy sources
You have to love the quandry the media has The administration in.
Every day the media does little more than report every ounce of bad news they can about the war.
The huge victory we had in toppling the Saddam regime and declaration of mission accomplished for doing so has been rubbed into the face of Bush so much it is not even funny. Regardless of the true context of that statement.
Now we can’t even say we are being victorious anymore because if something changes the next day it will be used against the administration.
What a sham.
Do we have victory in Japan, South Korea, Germany, or Kosovo yet?
If so, let’s bring all those troops home.
How many hundreds of troops die each month in Germany, Japan, Kosovo, and South Korea?
None? Why not. Oh that’s right. Because we DO HAVE VICTORY in those countries.
For some reason, we chose to occupy AFTER victory, not before.
Bush likes to do it the other way around.
According to a recent CSPAN show, somebody said that economy-sage Alan Greenspan opined that the Iraq invasion was motivated by oil.
Iraq is sitting on trillions of dollars worth of oil. I think getting a slice of that, such as a trillion dollars, would motivate some people to try to capture it. Such as people with oil-industry backgrounds. Of course, Dick Cheney has no oil-industry background, and he never held meeting with oil-industry people whose discussion contents were secrefied from the American people, and the Bush family has no oil-industry background, so Iraqi oil wasn’t on their minds.
On the Turks amassing an army to invade Kurdistan, they’re not interested in capturing some of the world’s richest oil fields. Why would they be.
What if they can’t beat the Kurds, but Kurds decide to work with Turks and pipe Kurdistan oil through Turkey to the Black Sea, with Turkey getting a reallly nice cut of the profit? Aha! If it happens, you heard it here on the little hinterland WEBlog long before the mainstream media reports it.
Any just what is victory? By going into Iraq as we did, we practically opened the door with a welcome sign for Al Qaida. Basically the country is in chaos. 2,000,000 refugees (according to npr this a.m.) and many of them children who have not been in school for almost 4 years. And that’s definitely not good news.
What’s victory? There will be no victory in Iraq for years and years if ever now.
We are so focused on the war we forget about the every day Iraq citizen whose life has been in turmoil for years now. BEsides our own soldiers, I feel a deep regret for them and all any of you do is fight about who’s right and who’s wrong and who has the upper hand – repubs or dems. I’d say neither.
I’m just tired of all the posturing and blaming. We had no business entering Iraq when we did in the first place and the game plan sucked then and it still does.
Them’s my 2 cents.
priceless.
Supreme Court Gives Gore’s Nobel to Bush
Stunning Reversal for Former Veep
Just days after former Vice President Al Gore received the Nobel
Peace Prize for his efforts on global warming, the United States
Supreme Court handed Mr. Gore a stunning reversal, stripping him of
his Nobel and awarding it to President George W. Bush instead.
For Mr. Gore, who basked in the adulation of the Nobel committee and
the world, the high court’s decision to give his prize to President
Bush was a cruel twist of fate, to say the least.
But in a 5-4 decision, the justices made it clear that they had taken
the unprecedented step of stripping Mr. Gore of his Nobel because
President Bush deserved it more.
“It is true that Al Gore has done a lot of talking about global
warming,” wrote Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the majority.
“But President Bush has actually helped create global warming.”
Even as Mr. Gore was being stripped of his Nobel, he received strong
words of support from Democratic presidential candidate Hillary
Clinton, who said that the former vice president’s Nobel win “shows
that he is devoting his life to the right thing and should definitely
stay the course.”
In an interview with reporters in Iowa, Sen. Clinton said that “Al
Gore should remain dedicated to the cause of global climate change,
at least through November of 2008.”
Sen. Clinton suggested that Mr. Gore could further research the
source of global warming by immediately boarding a rocket ship to the
sun.
Did people forget that the only reason al-qaida is over there, is because we invaded Iraq to begin with. The Iraq War, along with Iran, and Syria were planned way before 9-11 and consquently have nothing to do with the al-qaida terrorists. We basically attracted al-qaida to Iraq, it might have been like killing two birds with one stone, or hell in this case, for the neo-cons it was like killing 5 birds with one stone, so its no wonder, why we’re still over there. Oil, attract terrorists to kill, profit from re-building, open american businesses over there, create more tensions for further reasoning to invade neighbooring countries. I think this adminstration has our countries priorites completly Back-ASSWARDS. China, and North Korea, are more of a threat to us, than the middle-east.
Meaning that the terrorists are a threat, but they should be dealt with quietly, because for one reason, they are not a country, you can’t ivade terrorism, you have to deal with them differently than past enemies. Plus they are more like pests than major threats, the terrorists don’t have missles that can reach the u.s. like a couple asian countries do.
Any group of armed thugs can call themselves al Qaeda and Bush will jump on that as a justification to prove he was right.
As for what is victory, I will stick with the definition Bush first gave us: Victory is a free and peaceful Iraq that is an ally in the war on terror and a stabilizing force in the region.
Now show of hands: Who thinks we’re going to get that victory with a few thousand more volunteers?
Just in time we win over al Queda.
Turkey is about ready to stop our supply route to supply Iraq.
The US is about ready to put soldiers on the Turk/Kurd border to stop Turkey from invading Iraq to stop the Kurds from killing their troops.
Just in time we win over al Queda.
I think it isn’t anything we’re doing, but rather, the factions that are in Iraq are tired of AlQaida and are finally working WITH the US troops to get them out.
This could very well be what turns the war completely around. Which is good for us…but make no mistake. Victory in Iraq means the Iraqis want us there and take the reigns. And even if we do get victory, Bush will still have been just as wrong for starting this war.
Max I agree with you we shouldn’t have troops in Germany, japan Italy, and dozens of other countries. You immedently save taxpayers Billions of dollars, and free up 100,000 troops for other jobs than waiting for the Soviets to invade, Korea harder to leave as N Korea is a possible threat but then is 20,000 troops their enough to make a difference.
Victory in Iraq means the Iraqis want us there and take the reigns.Posted by: political_mom
I am not sure just what “victory” is or will be. The one you list would be okay but…
But it should probably start with, “Once upon a time…”
How many hundreds of troops die each month in Germany, Japan, Kosovo, and South Korea?
None? Why not. Oh that’s right. Because we DO HAVE VICTORY in those countries.
For some reason, we chose to occupy AFTER victory, not before.
Bush likes to do it the other way around.
Posted by: leftcoaster | October 16, 2007 at 03:32 PM
How many Americans died in those countries? See if the expert leftcoaster can answer that question.
Tell me Dems, oh please tell me, why oh why have the Liberal Socialist Democrats chosen the year 2007 to bring up the genocide in Turkey that happend in the year 1915?
Did the Dems not have the votes when they held the majority in Congress for 40 years in the 20th Century?
Did the Dems just “discover” this massacre of 1.5 million humans now?
Have the Dems been campaigning on human rights in Turkey for years, most recently during the 2006 elections?
OR, just MAYBE, just PERFUKCING PERHAPS, the Dems have discovered a way to disrupt the war in Iraq WITHOUT HAVING TO DEFUND THE WAR?
A backhanded, COWARDLEY way to stop all military supplies going to/from Turkey?
To H*LL with relations with Turkey, a long-time American ally.
Turkey, by the way, was one country in the 1960’s that allowed American missiles to be based on their territory to defend the US from the Soviet Union during the height of the cold war. Or y’all forget that? JFK agreed to remove the missiles from Turkey in exchange for the removal of missiles from Cuba. No small trade, considering the nukes from Cuba could have hit targets in the US in less then 10 minutes.
Screw Turkey. The Dems care only about f-ing with Iraq in a cowardly indirect fashion to make Bush look bad. And to H with Iraq and Americans fighting there too.
Politics is more important.
Brag about your Democratic party now!
Poor Max, can’t distinguish between dying during an invasion, and dying during an occupation. Guess you’re just as dead either way, huh?
And Phantom can’t understand the difference between invasion, control, and occupation.
Phantom, just tell your Dems to keep their promise and have them surrender in Iraq now!
J R sings…
“He wasn’t holdin’ nothin’ back.
He let ‘em have it all”
And he said “this ones for Turkey! as he finished off his scrawl.”
Chill out max, just take a few more Limbaugh whites!
Chill out?
Ya Repuke, I know you could give a crap about 1.5 million dead in Turkey in 1915.
But, you and your Dems, go ahead, take a stand now! You late futhermuckers, take a stand now! For all the good that will do.
And look those Turks living today in the eye, and call them murderers! I dare ya.
I know some Turks here. Nice people. Very bright, and hard working. Highly educated PhD’s. Doing some brilliant work in genetics to benefit American agriculture.
What have you done to benefit America lately, Repuke?
No, JR, this one’s for America.
I know you can’t comprehend that.
Stand in line with your fellow Democrat’s condeming actions from centuries ago. What’s next – condemning the Crusades?
Oh, and tell your Dem buddies when they are done judging the rest of the world, to get around to passing the budget for the United States of America (Los Estados Unidos for spanish Dems), that budget was DUE 2 WEEKS AGO!
Point you out as a evil piece of sh!t.
Thats a good start wouldnt you say
Max is new since I been gone.
Is he always like this?
Turkey trouble was coming anyway there Max.
The Kurds in Iraq are essentially a nation unto themselves now. Of course, TUrkey aint gonna sit still for that.
This among the many reasona bushs handlers KNEW we were going into Iraq never to leave.
How ya feel about that Max?
The Army would have no idea who to surrender to. Would it be to the Shiites? To the Sunnis? To Al-Quida? To Saddam Dead Enders? I know we could just invite all of them to the surrender party, and let them fight it out!
Turkey trouble was coming anyway?
You Dem’s sure did a lot to help, didn’t they?
And yes JR, I’m always a pain in the ass for any Liberals who can’t support their view.
I have not seen one rational defense of the Dem’s action against Turkey for example.
You proud of your Dems for that?
Did you even know that was an issue for your Dems until this week?
Phantom, your Democratic Party will just have our troops turn their backsides to Iraq and fly away!
There is no official handover to anyone in Iraq. You Dems will just run as fast as you can!
It’s mildly underhanded and sneaky.
You know, the kinda stuff cons practice as a matter of routine?
And you didn’t answer my question. Are you in favor of a permanent US presence in Iraq?
I like you a little bit Max. You remind me of me earlier days.I had stuff that would make you wet your pants.
Are presence is the problem, Max, so if we withdraw things will only get better. If we stay, things can only get worse.
That blows a hole in the bottom of your “Conquest Boat” and that’s too bad, but that’s the way things are in reality.
When are the democrats going to pass a resolution against Spain for all the Aztecs they killed?
Now nathan shows himself as a Holocaust denier………….I always knew that gun nuts like him supported genocide.
The US Military will have to go back in history a ways, Dems are good at looking back several years, but the Military will have to go back to the 1942 playbook for surrender.
Philippines 1942. FDR, a DEMOCRAT, decided to abandon US troops in the Philippines – all 11,000 US Troops.
This was the greatest surrender in US History.
The Bataan death march killed 1/3 of them.
2,000 of them were rescued 2 years later.
9,000 didn’t make it.
Hopefully the new Dem President’s strategy for retreat in 2009 works out better then FDR’s approach in 1942.
Joe? Gotta give you kudos too. I’m glad you are getting it.
I think and hope most of America is starting to get it.And though many here see me as a left wing bomb-thrower, let me help out a bit.911 Osama the badguy. Remember? bush doesn’t. he “doesn’t worry about him too much anymore”(The BOGEY man Bin Laden , having done his job in allowing bush to do what he wanted, is somehow no longer relevant! Hey that BOGEY man might be useful yet again! If you catch the BOGEY man you can’t use him anymore)Other posters mentioned partioning Iraq. Absolutely! Brilliant! SPOT ON! Iraq is a made up nation. Made up in the sense that old empires drew lines on a map and made it a nation. Then as now, the whole point was to create an unstable state. Create a nation perpetually at war with itself, and then you can pick and choose who controls that nation! Just as the United States chose Saddam Hussein when it was convenient to our foreign policy re Iran! The smart move would be to allow Iraq to now divide democratically among the unfriendly factions. But that would not create an unstable state. And I think I have shown one reason why the unstable state needs to be maintained.Folks? If you are waiting for the Iraq “war” to be over I would suggest you not hold your breath. The unstable state I mentioned before is only the first step. What is next is to justify the presence of US troops in perpetuity. The purposely ordered unstable state is part of it. More justification comes from the very deaths of US troops. Every soldier that dies is more proof that the war is not over! Every soldier that dies adds to the “in for a penny in for a pound” ideal! We must not fail! To do so dishonors the fallen! And so the war becomes the justification for the continuation of the war. The bush administration knows this. Hence our construction of permanent bases there.
What is really perverse in all of this is that we cannot simply leave. Just as our prosecution of this “war” aids and abets the training of terrorists, so would our leaving only strengthen their determination.Hope? I don’t know. Not with the current administraton anyway. They made the war. They like the war. They need the war. We shouldn’t have entered yet we can’t leave.Answers? I don’t have any. Iraq is a big fat mess made by folks who wanted to create a big fat mess. It will never be over and that was known and understood by bush and Rumsfeld. Bush Sr. and Clinton managed to keep Iraq in a box. bush jr.has put us in the box.In the end, public opinion will end our involvement in Iraq. I only hope that it really is the “pottery barn rule” as Colin Powell suggested. I only hope that all the war and death and strife in Iraq will end up where it belongs: in the account and historical judgement of george bush.
Posted by: J R | August 12, 2005 at 11:28 PM
HOO BOy was I wordy back then!
We ALL were.
You don’t want to talk about the things the Japanese did to American troops.
Abu Garad! Laughable in comparison.
How would you like to dig your own grave?
How about hauling gasoline to your own gravesite?
Then stand there and have the gasoline poured on you, burning to death, and falling into your own grave, what would that be like?
Or starving to death in the hull of a ship, turning into vampires to get enough moisture to survive, what would that be like?
Thank you, FDR.
What is permanent?
Iraq, we’ll be there for 20 years.
We’ve been elsewhere (noted previously) much longer.
In the long run, we need to get out of the mideast, after becoming Energy Independent.
Face it, we wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t for their oil. (Go back several generations of Presidents if you want to play the partisan game)
Make America strong and independent, then we can leave all kinds of places where we should not be.
Beacon of Freedom, yes. Policeman of the world, no. There to help prevent genocides, along with the rest of the world, yes.
Occupier of other countries? Nope, not in the long run.
There’s my two bits, JR. (You ain’t so bad yourself when you dig deeper then the pot shots)
Why Max you DO have a good idea or two!
20 years Max? That aint the aim. I can go get you a post from….someone who thinks alot like you. Also from 2 years ago.
Such folk and the folks who made this mess see us in Iraq essentially forever. At the inside, a nation like bush wants there is not possible for at least 50 years.
Creating terrorists all the while.
Hey Capn I’ll get with ya soon.
Turkey was stating they would invade northern Iraq back during Clinton years, as I recall, if the Kurds tried to establish an autonomous state.They might not like the congressional resolution condemning their genocide, but with or without it, there was no way they would sit idley by while separatist attacked them from Iraq. Bush has led to the destabilization of the entire mid-east, chips will continue to fall for quite some time.Let the neighboring states reclaim their territiories in Iraq and the Iraq problem will disappear.
So Phantom, your plan is for our Congress to condemn Turkey for massacres one hundred years ago, but sit back and do nothing when they repeat it all over again.
In fact, it appears you want to ENCOURAGE more death of innocent women and children in northern Iraq.
What a wonderful plan my man. Who’da thunk it?
If Israel an America can invade to ‘protect’ themselves then you’d have to be a hypocrit to deny the same right to Turkey. The U.S invades pre-emptively, Turkey is under attack.
WE cannot under ANY circumstances declare victory before Hillary is in power.
I don’t care what it means for family separation for our troops.
I don’t care if you have to create another war with Turkey – we absolutely CANNOT have republicans show a victory.
The victory will be in ending bush’s foolishness. Won’t happen while he’s in office, rest assured.
I would suggest the Iraq Kurds drive off the rebel Kurds, or invite them in to their communites having renounced turkey separationism. Or, the U.S. under the ‘pottery barn’ claim of ownership address the kurdish separationist.
Though it’s not America’s role to separate the Kurds from the Whey, or to keep them together for that matter.
Turkey will see it’s end by Thanksgiving.
Turkey may end up charging us more for their help, but hey, we can always find the money (or print it) for the Iraq war.
We may not have victory in Iraq, but the WEBLOG is ours.
Hey Solly, send me your email address, I lost it somehow!
Big We We News to email you about!
BP, I’ll copy you on what I send Solly. Unreal! No big surprise I guess. Fewer on the list then I expected. Still, the same one we thought are there.
IK,
Email me real soon. I got the list. It’s far-reaching. Includes many we thunk of. They got us fooled big time.