As I noted a few days ago when Muqtada al-Sadr returned to Iraq and we welcomed him like a statesman, our surrender is official and well underway. The only thing missing now is a slew of Black Hawk helicopters crashing in the desert.
U.S. Commanders Talking to Iraqi Militants About Cease-Fires
U.S. military commanders are talking with Iraqi militants about cease-fires and other arrangements to try to stop the violence, the No. 2 American commander said Thursday.
Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno said he has authorized commanders at all levels to reach out to militants, tribes, religious leaders and others in the country that has been gripped by violence from a range of fronts including insurgents, sectarian rivals and common criminals.
“We are talking about cease-fires, and maybe signing some things that say they won’t conduct operations against the government of Iraq or against coalition forces,” Odierno told Pentagon reporters in a video conference from Baghdad.
President Bush and his incompetence has reduced the greatest military in the world to asking the enemy to stop shooting at us. And they will, of course. It will buy them time, and means instead of looking to win the war, we now simply want to save face and get out.
How dare President Bush allow this to happen. We now are asking the savages who murder innocent people, who cut peoples heads off, who still have two of our troops, for leniency and mercy. A cease-fire helps only the savages who will use that time to rearm, celebrate and plan. It’s a pathetic move that will inspire and embolden the enemy worldwide. His cowardice should disgust every decent person on Earth and should outrage every Gold Star family in America.
Why is the Bush Presidency collapsing? What is going on up there?
I’ll say this much – this isn’t the Bush I supported.
It was almost exactly 1 year ago that I said here that the GOP would lose the House (Thought they were in control in the Senate last May) because Americans were starting to realize that Bush lied about wanting to win the “War on Terror”. He started the war but never wanted to win. I said then he did it to win the 02 and 04 elections. Most non lefty Republicans saw his words on winning the war as more left wing “Read my lips!” b*ll sh*t!
The first proof was when he did not build the wall in 02 – even though 92% (19) of the Muslim terrorists of 911 were illegal aliens! Later he made it crystal clear 2/10/06 when he supported the terrorists and condemened the Danes as trouble makers!
We lost the war because Bush like LBJ would not let us win it. As a former 5th Marine who was in Hue winter 67+68 I know first hand what really happened when the ChiCom and NVA reniged on the ceasfire agreement. LBJ held us back just as bush is now. Two liberal Texan Presidents. From different parties but both well to the left of most americans. But not to the left of the MSM/DNC.
Tammy,
As smart as you are, I can’t believe that you have this so wrong. This is happening because of our success and strength in the region. The groups that are being targeted are willing to talk, that should tell you something. AQI is not one of them, but other groups are. In every war that we have been in, we have talked to our foes about surrender or cease fires. While there have been mistakes in this war (as is in every war), this isn’t one of them. Your knee jerk reaction is understandable to a certain extent (emotional), but your overt dislike for the President…i.e. calling him a coward and incompetent (Have we been attacked since 9-11?) is uncalled for. Also, the reference to the Eagle Claw operation was equally uncalled for. Your “The Sky is Falling” scenario just doesn’t fit the facts…you want the military to do their job, let them do it! I suggest that you (like Laura Ingraham did) go to Iraq and see for yourself what is happening. I guarantee you that if the people signing agreements violate them, they will be dealt with….by the greatest military in the world. Semper Fi.
I think it is safe to say this is unlike ANY war that we have been in before. These particular foes have no interest in talking to us in hopes of working things out. They are bloodthirsty, soulless extremists whose primary goal is the complete and utter anihilation of America and Israel. Exactly how does one reason with individuals with that mindset? There is no common ground from which to build anything.
I don’t think anyone is questioning the ability of our brilliant military to defeat our enemies. But the rules of engagement–imposed by their superiors–have essentially tied their hands. They have not been permitted to “do their job”.
Al-Sadr isn’t still around because our military wasn’t up to the task of taking him out (which should have been done at the outset). They had their orders. That is just one example of the incompetence displayed by our Commander-in-Chief. Another recent example is the decision to invite AL-“No, no for Satan. No, no for America. No, no for the occupation. No, no for Israel”-SADR to make a “positive” contribution in dealing with the situation in Iraq. What sense does that make?? None. None at all. Yes, incompetent.
It’s not patriotic to leave our soldiers in Iraq to fight and die for a Shiite theocracy. Whether this president or the next withdraws from Iraq there will be dancing in the streets of Baghdad. Shiites and Sunnis alike will celebrate their “victory†over the occupiers. That’s the only “victory†that’s going to be won there. As soon as the aid money buyoffs run out the stooges who nominally run the country, whether it’s Maliki or another set of Iranian backed goons will start making public anti-American utterances in order to hang onto their phony baloney jobs or just to keep themselves from being strung up from lampposts. They’ll tear up any godawful hydrocarbon law forced down their throats by Cheney in a New York minute.
Why would they be so ungrateful? First of all because they’re Arabs and live in the ME. The US has been getting bad press in those parts for decades. Secondly because Bush 1 told them to overthrow Saddam in 1991 and then had coalition soldiers stand idly by, sometimes as Republican Guard troops moved right through their ranks to massacre them. Then we sanctioned the whole nation into the poorhouse for over a decade for Saddam’s sins. Now we’ve invaded, occupied and destroyed their country. We’ve arrested them without charges, locked them up without trial and tortured them. 4 million are displaced. 2 million outside the country. Hundreds of thousands have died. 53% in the last poll said they have a close friend or family member who has been killed or wounded by the violence. 69% say coalition troops make the security situation worse, not better. 71% say killing American soldiers is justifiable. 60% are unemployed with no way to feed their families. A majority say there may be a short term spike in violence once we leave but they still want us out.
Bush knows all that and it’s the reason he won’t withdraw. If he can just hang on til January ‘09 someone else, be it a Repub or Dem, (and there’s no way it’s going to be a Repub if we’re still in Iraq) will be left holding the bag, taking the blame for his latest failure as has been the case his whole life.
We had numerous opportunities to have a cease fire in WWII. We said, no deal. Unconditional surrender is the only satisfactory conclusion. Remember Ronald Reagan’s strategy in the Cold War: We Win, They Lose. It is crystal clear that George Bush has no intention of winning. Just like his father he will give up too soon and more Americans will have to die later because of his incompetence and cowardice.
Kevin–what planet have you been vacationing in?! I,and Tammy, were one of this President’s strongest supporters and I continued to defend him until just recently.But his actions of late have left me little choice but to change my view of President Bush. I will credit him till the day I die for having the guts to go into Iraq and confront an enemy that everyone knew was a threat but no one wanted to deal with face-to-face.
Bush 1 drove Saddam out of Kuwait but refused to finish him off and Clinton could only muster a half-assed attempt to kill Saddam with a couple of cruise missiles that missed by a country mile. As to your comment about the insurgents sitting at the peace table due to our strength…did you really write that with a straight face?! America is NOT in a position of strength in Iraq. We can’t even find our missing soldiers and the fact that they were captured in the first place suggests we don’t have as much control of events there as you might think.
What’s the first rule of war-time diplomacy?? DO IT FROM A POSITION OF STRENGTH! We have the greatest military in the world,bar none,but it is still a military that follows the orders of the Commander-in-chief.If the President caves into the insurgents then the military is obliged to follow his lead. WE ALL want to let the military do it’s job but that’s just it,they are NOT being allowed to use their full resources and so many of our troops are dying and some even captured due to incompetent leadership.
And your final comment on the vicious punishment the insurgents would receive if they violated the agreements…somehow I don’t think Al-Sadr and the insurgents are losing any sleep over that comment. I am now turning off the signal from Earth to Kevin.
Is that a note of derision I detect in the way General Odierno characterizes cease-fire agreements? “Maybe sign some things that say…”
A cease-fire could be a prelude to the “South Korea Model” which was talked about some more today. There were caveats by Tony Snow and General Odierno in that context about staying on by invitation of the Iraqi government. That won’t be for long if al-Sadr’s plans work out to fill the void after a US troop draw down.
Bush sees South Korea Model in Iraq
Tony Snow said when asked if troops would remain in Iraq for some 50 years, “…the war on terror is a long war. You get yourself into a position where you do have security in places like Baghdad and at the provincial level, and then you provide security as long as seems reasonable to the Iraqi people who are, after all, your hosts and the ones making the invitations.”
Odierno endorses longer stay in Iraq
“I think it’s a great idea. I think it would be very helpful to have a force here for a period of time to continue to help the Iraqis train and continue to build their capabilities, but that would be based on them asking us to stay.”
I think maybe Kevin was listening to Rush today. That’s turning into an embarrassment.
My, my, my…it seems some people don’t like what I said…I’ll get over it…there, I’m over it. First of all, I didn’t listen to Rush, but it sounds like he may agree with me…not bad company to be in! Secondly, I’ve been here on Earth..serving in the military, holding down a job…stuff like that…how about you? David, your lack of knowledge doesn’t surprise me, you don’t seem to know that Bush 41 couldn’t go into Baghdad, that wasn’t what the coalition agreed to…check it out, you might learn something.
You’re all over the place with your argument as well, “we can’t even find our soldiers” …ridiculous…we can’t find thousands of people in the USA that have disappeared due to nefarious reasons, but we should easily be able to find 3 people in Iraq…as for them being captured, I guess you haven’t read about POW’s in other conflicts…it’s the same thing. We are in a struggle that you don’t seem to understand, we can’t just bomb the place to smithereens and build them back up like we have in past conflicts…it would be much easier to do that, but that is not an option.
We have to deal with many factions that want totally different things for Iraq. As for the military doing their job, they have many tasks…not just shoot, bomb and kill…that’s why I suggested that Tammy go over and see for herself. I’m hoping that Al-Sadr and his group of less than merry men aren’t worried…it will make their dispatch from the land of the living that much easier! No hard feelings, let’s hope that you’re wrong.