Situation in Iraq

[Andy]

Winning in Iraq

Gen. David Petraeus and his deputies sharply prioritized the threats we face in Iraq: Al Qaeda is No. 1, and Iran's Shia proxies are No. 2. Our troops hunt them relentlessly. And we don't face our enemies alone: Iraq's security forces have begun to pick up their share of the fight.

The Iraqis are taking back their country as planned.

Al Qaeda lost the support of Iraq's Sunni Arabs. The fanatics over-reached: They murdered popular sheiks, kidnapped tribal women for forced marriages, tried to outlaw any form of joy and (perhaps most fatally, given Iraqi habits) banned smoking.

Al Qaeda is losing support, and is becoming more scarce. A clear sign we are winning.

Al Qaeda has been pushed right across Anbar, from the once Wild West to the province's eastern fringes. The terrorists are still dug in elsewhere, from the Diyala River Valley to a few Baghdad neighborhoods - but, to quote that senior officer again, "our forces have been taking out their leaders faster than they can find qualified replacements."

The terrorist elements are in retreat, not advance.

 

[bododie]

Andy? Why do you want to screw up Dawkinsrock and Mr. Shaman's day?

 

[Andy]

Al Qaeda is not the only group losing in Iraq.

Muqtada al-Sadr fled back to Iran again, trailed by his senior deputies. Mookie's No. 2 even moved his family to Iran. Why? Though he's been weak in the past, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is now green-lighting Iraqi operations against the Jaish al Mahdi, the Mookster's "Mahdi Army."

Mahdi Army is the Iraqi militia trying to destabilize the Iraqi government.

The Iraqi Police Tactical Support Unit in Nasiriyah came under attack by Mahdi Army elements accustomed to intimidating their enemies. Supported by a brave (and tiny) U.S. advisory team, the police commandos fought them off. Instead of a walkover, the militia thugs hit a wall - and got hammered by airstrikes, for good measure. Then the Iraqi police counter-attacked. The Mahdi Army force begged for negotiations.

Local Iraqi police forces fight to protect their country.

Back in Iraq, Jarred by the calm

Abu Nawas Park — I didn’t recognize that, either. By the time I had left the country in August 2006, the two-mile stretch of riverside park was a grim, spooky, deserted place, a symbol for the dying city that Baghdad had become.

These days, the same park is filled with people: families with children, women in jeans, women walking alone.

A sure sign we're losing the war... right?

In the 24 months that her sons were gone, Ms. Salman said she rarely ventured outside. The exception, she said, was when she saw American soldiers.

“Oh, I love them,” Ms. Salman said, brightening in her darkened house. “I always knew I was safe with them.”

An Iraqi woman talking about the evil civilian murdering American soldiers who protected her neighborhood.

Are there problems in Iraq? Yes of course. We'd be foolish to think all the issues would be sorted out in a 60 second AP sound bite. Yet where would Ireland be if the people fighting for peace, had bowed to the whine pathetic idiotic fools nay saying the whole process? And we shouldn't either. You can see the good we are doing in Iraq. Let's not drop the ball when we have the lead and are nearing the final minutes of the game.

 

[Andy]

Andy? Why do you want to screw up Dawkinsrock and Mr. Shaman's day?

Everyone needs a goal in life.

 

[pocketfullofshells]

yea its going so great, even the PM is saying its time for us to leave

So now why again is the Republican party crying we are waving the white flag if we start a pull out over 16 months, letting the Iraq army take over as the PM has stated?

 

[foggedinn]

We were always in a position of overwelming military dominance in Iraq. From the beginning our force commanders have made clear to anyone willing to listen that there is no such thing as a military victory in Iraq.

Still, to this very hour and minute, those claiming that we are "winning" cite the military accomplishments of our troops and the Iraqi security forces to add credence to that claim. We continue to prosecute an aggressive military campaign.

It's my belief that the true nature of the war the U.S. is in is economic in nature. To continue to outspend our enemies by many thousands to one in the persuit of our aggressive military campaign, is handing them victory on a silver platter.

I have no faith that the recent 700 billion rescue/bailout plan will do anything more than delay our slide into economic chaos. If our ecomonic decline continues as I expect it to, "cut and run" will no longer be an option. We will simply be forced by economic realities to abandon them in place.

As successfull as we have been in killing off the leadership of the people we're fighting, our force commander may be looking for any 15 year our with an AK-47 to hand his sword to.

 

[Andy]

yea its going so great, even the PM is saying its time for us to leave

So now why again is the Republican party crying we are waving the white flag if we start a pull out over 16 months, letting the Iraq army take over as the PM has stated?

Ugh...

The PM of Iraq NEVER said it was time for us to leave. Did you actually read the quote? And just as importantly, did you read the CONTEXT of the quote?

See, this is why you need to start being more careful about the crap you let the media feed you with headlines and short 60 second sound bites.

The PM of Iraq was being accused by our government of not being up to snuff, so to speak. There was calls by people (democrats) that the new government couldn't handle it, and wasn't doing enough to make progress.

The PM said, we (the government of Iraq) can handle it, we are making advances, we can fill in the gaps as multinational forces leave. You can leave at any time.

He did NOT say, please leave. Leave now. Go soon, or anything of the sort. And the only reason he said this, was to build confidence that him and his government were doing their part.

Now, that said, do you not understand WE ARE LEAVING...? Do you not know that our current troop levels in Iraq are lower than they were prior to the surge? We *ARE* leaving.

What we are against... is telling all of our enemies the exact time which would be best to attack American forces because we're pulling out. That... is PLAIN STUPID. It's a bit like the first Iraq war, I could hardly believe it, but I watched as a reporter on CNN international news, pointed out the exact location of American forces on the air!

I have no problem with us being out of Iraq in 16 months, or 10, or even 2! I have problem with telling every terrorist, or Iran funded militia organization, that in March 2009, our forces will be in the most vulnerable position to be attacked. Any military tactician knows the two most risky times for troops, is when you just arrive, and when you are pulling out. Here's a great idea! Let's advertise the exact moment that is best to attack us! Yay brilliant.

By the way, about that General who says we can't win in Afghanistan... did you read that quote? The General didn't say we can't achieve our goal. He was saying that we can't completely wipe out every single militia member, in every single cave, in the entire country. The goal is to decimate militia and Taliban groups until the level is manageable so the Afghan military can take over. They are also hoping to get the Taliban to open communication for a cease fire, and then isolate them into irrelevance.

In other words, they removed the quote from context, put it into a headline and 60 second sound bite, and totally misconstrued the meaning. Again... stop letting other people think for you.

It's almost like you hear what you want to hear, and then don't bother to investigate further.

 

[Andy]

We were always in a position of overwelming military dominance in Iraq. From the beginning our force commanders have made clear to anyone willing to listen that there is no such thing as a military victory in Iraq.

Still, to this very hour and minute, those claiming that we are "winning" cite the military accomplishments of our troops and the Iraqi security forces to add credence to that claim. We continue to prosecute an aggressive military campaign.

It's my belief that the true nature of the war the U.S. is in is economic in nature. To continue to outspend our enemies by many thousands to one in the persuit of our aggressive military campaign, is handing them victory on a silver platter.

I have no faith that the recent 700 billion rescue/bailout plan will do anything more than delay our slide into economic chaos. If our ecomonic decline continues as I expect it to, "cut and run" will no longer be an option. We will simply be forced by economic realities to abandon them in place.

As successfull as we have been in killing off the leadership of the people we're fighting, our force commander may be looking for any 15 year our with an AK-47 to hand his sword to.

What? lol
A: our economy and our government over spending, are not exactly connected.

The cost of our military campaign in both Iraq and Afghanistan, are mere fractions of the budget. If we had not pass farms subsidies and a million other over spending bills, our government would have a positive cash flow, even with war costs.

B: Our economy was hindered by bad government policies, completely detached from anything military related.

The policy of supporting, even pushing, subprime loans through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, plus a policy change on general accounting practices, both led us to our current slow down. Not even remotely related to war or military.

C: Our economy is on the upturn thus far. It has increased since the last two quarters.

So I'm not exactly sure what any of your post was meant to say, but it is not supported by evidence.

 

[Pandora]

do you not understand WE ARE LEAVING...? Do you not know that our current troop levels in Iraq are lower than they were prior to the surge? We *ARE* leaving.

Andy we have to leave early enough that it looks like we failed and lost for it to be meaningful. We are in danger of winning and that is not good!

 

[Dawkinsrocks]

Andy has taken a propaganda laxative and look what came out.

Keep believing Andy, and remember those cowboys were really badly treated badly by those horrid Indians and the Yanks discovered that Enigma machine in WW2 and cracked the code.

Oh and all the other crap that you lot swallow so gullibly.

Iraq and Afghanistan are chaotic.

There is no plan for an end to the war.

There was never a plan for what the US would do when they got to Baghdad.

Apart from steal as much oil as possible

 

[Stalin]

The facts are..

In 2003, the grandson of Hitler's US banker and his clique performed the war crime of invading a sovereign nation without just cause.

Since then, the patriots of Iraq, aided by volunteers opposed to the fiat of George Bush and his cabal have fought heroically to remove the invader.

I will be a long struggle, but the Iraqis will eventually emerge victorious against the Republican Swine and their lickspittle puppets in Baghdad.

I am sure that all Americans would resist such an invasion of their homeland.

Comrade Stalin of Gori - Destroyer of the Hitlerite filth.