Election pictures courtesy of the Marine PAO
BARWANA, Iraq- Iraqi voters stand in line and wait to enter the polling center during Parliamentary Elections here today. Haditha, Haqlaniyah and Barwana were cleared of insurgents by Iraqi Army forces and Regimental Combat Team - 2 during Operation Rivergate in October. (Official U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Michael R. McMaugh 2nd Marine Division Combat Camera)
posted by wretchardthecat at 12/15/2005 12:33:00 PM
127 Comments:
John Kerry:
JFK2 suggests if Dems regain the house, he thinks they should bring
"Articles of Impeachment against the president."
handler insists that he was,
"Just Kidding"
May GOd bless every one of those folks standing in that line and all the others in Iraq.
=
On another matter, John Kerry is a preppy dope...it's that simple.
It being Christmas-time, what I need to know is: was he speaking from Cambodia?
Of course the greatest triumph of the day is that we showed the rest of the world that we are not like the terrorists by passing the
Ill Treatment of Prisoners Bill tm.
Just ask John McCain.
I sure do not see many women in that USMC photo, seems like a bunch of guys in desert tan and earth tone garments. At least they left the AK's at home.
And notice, there is not one turban in the bunch.
Wonder what ole' ash would make of that? These guys do not meet his dress code for Mohammedans.
OUR LOVE GOES TO DEMOCRATIC IRAQ!
Top Ten Kos Kidz Reactions to Today’s Elections In Iraq .
Pajamas/Malkin
McCain-Bush Anti-Torture Deal Allows Use of C-Span
by Scott Ott
(2005-12-15) — The White House has reportedly agreed to support Sen. John McCain’s anti-torture legislation, after the former POW added an amendment allowing U.S. agents to interrogate suspected terrorists using a controversial technique involving prolonged exposure to C-Span.
Iowahawk Correspondent Abu Musab Al-ZarqawiSenior VP, Al-Qaeda In Iraq.
9:25 CSTYozup, haters? Awwwyeahhh, the Zarkman's comin' at ya from B-town, and me and the Q Crew be all up in this bish.
Infidel who runs this blog says all y'alls over in Satanland got some big hard-on about this Iraqi election shit, and asked me if I would jack his hit counter with a little local Q Crew flava.
Normally Zarkman would tell the tell the punkass bitch to go suck it. But the choads at Pajamas Media are passin' out the Haterade, so somebody's gotta give you the Team Z POV.
Look at the lines! Can you imagine the courage it must take to stand bunched in lines, outside, waiting patiently, anywhere in Iraq? I see this as such a bold human declaration of freedom. (Contrast with the acid nitpicking of the anti-Bush media - uggh - disgusting).
Thank you coalition soldiers! Iraqi soldiers!
Iraqi people
our brethren in freedom!
Iowahawk
Anyhoo, I was trolling the Pajama Infidel site and saw the thing about this 105-year old dude going to vote, so I dialled the two Saudi donkey boys to go stop him.
Guess what?
The stupid f'ers had their freaking cell phones on vibrate.
Well, gee, far be it from Zarkman to interrupt a jihadi in the throws of donkey passion WHILE PEOPLE ARE VOTING ALL OVER THE DAMN PLACE.
So I told Tariq to hit the remote donkey 'splode button, and let Allah sort out who gets to paradise.
My money's on the donkey.
10:35 CST
Alright, the donkey boys are taken care of, but that still leave the old dude voter. So I grabbed a couple of the French recruits...
Israel Fears It Is Zarqawi's Next Target:
"It would be a cardinal error for Israel to conclude that after the U.S. war in Iraq, the region to Israel's east is moving in the direction of greater stability and, therefore, Israel can take the risk of conceding its strategic assets in the West Bank," claims Ambassador Dore Gold in a new policy paper just published by Israel's Institute for Contemporary Affairs.
The paper, 'Zarqawi and Israel: Is There a New Jihadi Threat Destabilizing the Eastern Front?' is co-authored with Lt. Colonel Jonathan D. Halevi, a former advisor to the Policy Planning Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"Up until now, Iran has used the Shiite Hizballah and Sunni Palestinian groups like Islamic Jihad and Hamas in order to wage a proxy war against Israel," Dore and Halevi conclude.
Israel Fears
"if this anti-torture legislation backfires"
Correction:
"When"
Really happy to hear the third elections are going so well in Iraq, the bush haters probably would be unhappy, given they were not happy about the last 2 elections.
March on to freedom guys, enjoy it and remember those those paid the ultimate price for your freedom.
HK Vol,
The sad thing going on in this country is the turning over to the judiciary the responsibilities of Congress and the CIC.
This latest feelgood travesty of McCain's being a foremost example.
...the man talked about various constitutional rights due these murderous outlaw terrorists as though they have all the rights of U.S. citizens in good standing.
Favorite moment of today came when Bush was posing for pictures with the Iraqi ex-pats. While making his remarks, Bush said (quote from memory), "These Iraqi citizens also expressed their concern about some of the rhetoric they hear in Washington about us leaving before we finished the job. Well, we're not leaving. America will stay in Iraq until the job is done."
After Bush said this, the Iraqi standing to his left started nodding his head, and with the earnest innocence of one who has never had the privilege of becoming cynical said, "Yes, thank you!"
Apropos of other untold stories, Drudge's bold, underlined, red headline right now:
Paper: Feds Eavesdrop On Americans Without Court-Approved Warrants
Was REALLY BIG NEWS - on BBS' (bulletin board services) ... about twenty years ago.
Was CONFIRMED for the PARANOID among us way back in the day, JAWS has been swimming the Web for years.
Why is it news now? You're not paranoid if they really are after you?
Ah, it's amusing.
Tony,
Funny to you who have not yet been beamed, perhaps.
As of 2200 Pacific standard time, CNN has NO headlines and NO stories relating to Iraqi elections!
What, me biased?
Looks like the Democrats lost another national election. Time to move the goalposts.
Someone mentioned that we should have a victory parade. Good idea. I went to the one for Desert Storm in D.C. Quite unlike anything I had ever attended before.
But I think we should have the parade in Iraq. Instead of just slipping out the back door quietly, let units that are rotated out march proudly to the airplanes, surrounded by cheering Iraqis.
Let there be a formal transfer ceremony as each hands responsibility over to Iraqi units. Let the New Iraqi Army share in the pride.
Let the parades show two things overwhelmingly:
1. We are leaving.
2. We won.
Yes, I know we won't all leave, and not all at once, but a few victory parades will be what people will recall - like the way they recall the helicopters departing the U.S. Embassy in Saigon.
And yes, the terrorists will take this as an opportunity to strike. And when we still stop them, that will send a big message as well, just as the peaceful elections yesterday did.
And just to P.O. certain people, hang a big "Mission Accomplished" banner at the airport. In fact, try to use the same one used on the carrier.
As I have sid before, most people don't remember facts about history; they recall general "feelings."
We need to make that a feeling of triumph.
exactly, rwe
That is why, when the Iraqis have settled on their Ministers, Mr Bush should go to Baghdad and congratulate them.
Leaders should lead, from the front
I think we should have the parade in Iraq. Instead of just slipping out the back door quietly, let units that are rotated out march proudly to the airplanes, surrounded by cheering Iraqis.
rwe -- from your lips to Rove's ears.
And I bet we'd have no trouble arranging "cheering Iraqis," for multiple reasons, but all visually effective. :-)
doug,
the Constitution does not say citizens, residents, et al. It extends ours Rights to the World.
If we held to those ideals, and promoted them, everywhere, our Revolution of Liberty and Personal Responsibility would spread even quicker.
That Mr McCain, he is sooo smoooth that he convinced Mr Bush to change his mind. No staying the course on inhumane treatment, whatever that may come to mean.
As to Mr McCain leaving the Senate, his plan, I think, is to move into the White House, Jan '09.
other democratic elections in the middle east have occured!
In egypt the muslim brotherhood went from 18 seats to 88 out of 465 in the "parliment" and now calls for a democratic election on the "cancer" of israel
In "palestine" hamas as crushed fatah in local elections, hamas is running on the platform of destruction of the state of israel...
at 1st glance people may be concerned...
i am not...
With the people's backing also come responsiblity..
If hamas or the brotherhood take power and start a war against israel they too will have to take the responsiblity of the destruction of their countries, the beauty of the muslim brotherhood and hamas is their absolute honesty at their wanting to murder the jewish state...
Personally I love an enemy that wont lie... currently the world is taken in my the lies of the current arab/islamic world and it's so called "wanting peace" it's time that the leaders that take BILLIONS of usa aid and then use that money to fund suicide bombers families & the bombers be held accountable.
Let's see the egyptians and palestinians thrive in a world where they get no western aid. Let's see them be a part of the world's infrastructure (and it's benefits) while advocating mass genocide against Israel ( a full member of the UN)
Funny thing is that once this happens, it is an act of war according to the UN and Israel will have every right to completely destroy these "rouge" states..
Pork,
But wouldn't that violate their rights granted by our Constitution?
Peace, Love, ...and Pork.
jsallison saw that concertina wire and started getting all excited about a party.
We know all about them eeeeevil Amerikans.
It ain't US abusing those poor Palistinians, doug.
All we have to do is have the Congress get serious and Declare War. But we will not do that, then EVERYONE would know what was up. Can't have that. Then there could be a real War on Terror. One in which the Goal of bringing terrorists to justice or death is fulfilled. Where there are offensive operations against the enemy on a continueing basis, in the Heartland of the enemy.
But we do not do that, because we are not at War.
Terrorists or Drug Dealers, which have killed more US citizens in the last five years?
But FARC is not a terror group with international reach?
Nor is MS-13?
Or has the word War become so devalued, the Consequences of it have lost their meaning.
Never ending Wars that can not be "Won" or if they can be, it is at some undeterminable time in the future, while the definition of Victory always remains unclear, but rest assured it will be complete.
desert rat wrote:
"And notice, there is not one turban in the bunch.
Wonder what ole' ash would make of that? These guys do not meet his dress code for Mohammedans."
Rat, I think you had a reading comprehension problem a few threads back. I simply replied to ledger's 'foreign gangs in LA' post that one way to combat foreign gangs was to hire members from the ethnic group in question into the police force. I gave the Canadian Mounties wearing turbins as an example. Canada has had problems with Sikh terrorists - ever heard of a plane coming down in Lockerbie? Anyway, I've never asserted that muslims wear turbins but I do suggest that if you live in a muliticultural society having members from the various ethnic groups in your police force is helpful in combatting gangs within those ethnic groups.
War, Hell!
Half the country ain't even ready to embrace "Victory!"
"Only a Democratic Senate can force the administration to develop
a real strategy for *success* in Iraq and to work with our allies
to ensure real security for America in the face of international terrorism."
-Harry Reid
Now isn't this just special?
NYT uses front page paranoia story to promote one of their writer’s new books.
Hey Doug,
That beam thing looks like a television! O no!
The beam things are coming!
The beam things are coming!
Everyone to get from seat!
Ash's comments re: multi-cultural police force.
It makes a certain amount of sense that a police force should strive to be proportionally representative of the ethnic make up of the population they serve, but it is not imperative; nor does it guarantee a better police force. The whole LAPD Rampart scandal a few years back was telling in a number of ways. Due to hiring quotas mandated by affirmative action and the continual "dumbing down" of recruit curriculum, it was quite easy for somebody with a questionable background who may or may not have ties to local gangs to become a police officer in order to put a badge of legitimacy on their criminal enterprises so to speak. In this case, it wasn't that officers were being corrupted so much as it was corrupted individuals were becoming officers. In this situation it is not hard to see how things quickly escalated into the numerous scandals that plagued (and continue to plague to an extent) the Rampart Division and the LAPD in general. Chief Bratton has done much to reverse the trend and restore legitmacy to the beleaguered force, much to the chagrin of the PC crowd.
Not sure what my point is--maybe it's simply "so what if Mounties can wear turbans?"
jrod,
A worthwhile point indeed.
A point for substance over Shinola.
irod, mandating an ethnic makeup equal to the population is certainly PC and it certainly suggests that problems like you raise are probably going to occur. On the other hand, take, for example our operations in Iraq, it would be folly to try to proceed without binging Iraqis into the military and policing mix.
Reject, Reject, Reject
Akef: Egyptians must vote on 1979 treaty
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
CAIRO: The leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood called for the country's peace treaty with Israel to be submitted to a referendum and described the Jewish state as a "cancer" in the region. "I declared that we will not recognize Israel which is an alien entity in the region. And we expect the demise of this cancer soon," Mohammad Mehdi Akef told the state-owned English language Ahram Weekly in an interview published Thursday.
Egypt became the first Arab country to establish diplomatic relations with Israel when it signed a peace treaty in 1979.
But Islamists opposed to the treaty assassinated president Anwar Sadat in 1981 for signing the Camp David accord.
Akef stopped short of demanding the peace treaty be scrapped butsuggested it should be submitted to a popular vote. "That is for the people to decide ... If I had the power I would put it to the people," he said.
The banned but tolerated Brotherhood won 20 percent of the seats in the 454-strong Parliament in month-long elections that wrapped up last week, making it the largest opposition bloc in the house.
Following the unprecedented electoral gains, the United States hinted it might open channels of communication with the Brotherhood,which continues to be anxious about U.S. support for Israel.
"The Muslim Brothers do not recognize Israel. 70 million Egyptians, 300 million citizens in the Arab world and 1.5 billion Muslims across the world do not recognize Israel," Akef said in another interview with the London-based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat published on Sunday.
Most Egyptians are opposed to the development of stronger ties with Israel, particularly because of its continued occupation of the Palestinian territories.
Professional unions have expelled members for visiting the Jewish state and the Culture Ministry maintains a ban on Israeli participation at international events it hosts such as the Cairo book fair and cinema festival. Agriculture remains the only sector that has seen close cooperation between Egypt and Israel, with a regular exchange of visits by officials and experts.
Egypt withdrew its ambassador from Tel Aviv in 2000 in protest at Israel's handling of the Palestinian intifada or uprising and appointed a new envoy only a few months ago. Founded by Hassan al-Banna in 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood is the largest Islamic movement in Egypt.
The group was banned in 1954 after a failed a attempt on the life of then president Gamal Abdel-Nasser, who brutally suppressed the Brotherhood. The movement, which renounced violence in the 1970s, says it wants to establish a moderate Islamist state in Egypt and has in recent months tried to assuage concerns of the country's Coptic Christian minority over its agenda. - AFP
In the western world are convicted murderers allowed to run for office?
ash
I seem to have misunderstood your fixation on turbans in uniform.
The LAPD does use ethnic policemen in it's Force. The are ethnic Mexicans, Blacks, Chinese, Vietnamese & White folk fighting crime daily.
The ones in uniform wear the same uniform. Uniformity is important in uniforms. If the Dept saw a need for a hat regulation modification, I'm sure they would implement one.
As to Lockerbie, we are either discussing different events, or you are all wrong.
"... The crash of Pan Am Flight 103 remains Britain's largest mass murder. One man has been convicted of the crime. He is Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, a 49-year-old Libyan, who was given a life sentence for planting a bomb on the plane.
Relatives of the victims criticised the verdict, describing al Megrahi as "the joker in the pack" of a game of international politics allegedly leading to the door of the Libyan leader, Colonel Gaddafi. Conspiracy theorists are convinced that other Arab nations were involved in the crime. Accusations have been levelled at the late militant Palestinian guerrilla leader, Abu Nidal. Many people conclude that the terrorist leaders who masterminded the crime remain unnamed and unpunished. ...."
From the BBC
Not a Sikh in the bunch. Sikh terrorists... Religious persecution is in India's history. But I have not seen recent reports of Sikh terrorists.
It's too bad Tookie is takin' a dirt nap. Based on the support he had right up to zero hour I'd say he had as good as shot as any to run for gov in '06. although not a murder, being a crack smokin' hooker kisser gets you elected mayor of DC. And being convicted of assault with fireplace impliments helped Buddy Cianci's re-election campaign. I reckon anything is possible.
Ash wrote: "Canada has had problems with Sikh terrorists - ever heard of a plane coming down in Lockerbie?"
Huh? Libyan intelligence agents were convicted for that bombing. What's that got to do with Sikhs?
Rat, my apologies for writing without fact checking on the Lockerbie thing. It was an Air India flight that the Canadian government felt was caused by Sikh terrorists operating from Vancouver Canada
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_India_Flight_182
The problem with bringing Sikh's into the Canadian police force was that a good Sikh always needed to wear his Turban and the Turban violated the uniform code of the mounties. There was much gnashing of teeth and court cases as well, I believe, when they finally allowed the Sikh officers to wear their turbans. There was a related problem with Sikh kids whom wanted to bring their cermonial daggers to school, but weapons and school are not considered a good mix. In Canada, unlike France, there is more tolerance toward various groups expressing their ethnicity in public schools.
In Toronto there have been problems with Asian gangs shaking down propietors in China town. Many of the recent immigrants felt uncomfortable dealing with the police. They found using asian policemen whom could speak the language helped deal with the situation.
I'd be the first to agree that an effective Police must be able to swim in the population, at least as well as a Revolutionary.
If there were such issues in LA, the Dept would deal with it, in a similar manner. The PC Czars would see to it. It is, after all, just a modification of the hat that is to be worn.
Daggers in school? When I went to high school there were belted sheathed folding knives galore and many of us had firearms in our trucks.
Times have changed with all the new "zero tolerance" weapons policies, but not for the better, if viewed by outcomes.
There is more school violence now, than there was 'back in the day'.
Just to stay on topic:
In San Francisco there is more tolerance for cross dressers than in Biloxi.
And nearby in Missourri, Sen Ashcroft was cheated out of his Senate seat when a small plane crash killed his opponent.
Allowing him to enforce Marshall Law under Bushitler.
Which of course brings US back to Iraq and the Force structure we should be utilizing, there.
Post Victory
Without language skills and Civil Affairs or, as Mr Roggio has taken to call it, non kinetic operations experience, the normal trooper is not the presence the US needs, long term, in Iraq.
There needs to be a Police effort in Iraq, to combat the aQ terrorists. The Iraqis, with US assistance are best suited for that tasking, not the soldiers of the 4th ID or 1st Cav.
Mr Rummy has said as much, towo or three threads ago.
We have had three years to get ready for this moment and the needs have been apparent for just as long, if we are not ready there is a problem with the Federals.
Just as the Propaganda War is not the DoD's domain, The Constabulary Force needed in Iraq should not be US combat troops.
Special Force trainers and advisors, by all means, should be employeed. But the Iraqis have their own tanks, now. Better that they are used, as required, in Iraq.
Speaking of colors, the more I look at that picture, the more it looks like a pic that has been colorized with a paint filter in photoshop.
Nice effect, still looks altered.
You think they tried to exagerate the drabness?
The trees in the background arn't all that green, but that could be dust covering the foilage, if along the roadway, especially a dirt or gravel one.
I don't see one pink shirt in the bunch. Waiting for aQ eye on the straight guy.
Looks Tropical, probably a subliminal promotion for the travel industry.
---
Hate torture? Consider boot camp .
HOLD THE PRESSES. I've discovered that the use of torture by the U.S. government is far more pervasive than previously believed.
There are major facilities all over the country where thousands of men and women who have not committed any crime are held for prolonged periods while subjected to physical and psychological coercion that violates every tenet of the Geneva Convention.
- Max Boot
whit
quite a read.
More aptly titled
The "Destabilzation of Jordan",
I think.
The Arab street already is a little cocky, in Iraq.
Lebanon, some cockiness there,
Paris though, that is where the Arab street has shown the most machisimo.
How is the street outside of Syndey doing. Are the Beaches still cocky zones?
The Iranian President felt the aura, and no one could blink.
He is a REAL Fundamentalist.
But Iran is not a State Sponsor of Terror, or we'd be at War with them.
But they are members in good standing of the
Axis of Evil.
Excellent essay Baron.
Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) are of course where Osama Bin Laden is known to be holed up. The Pakistani army has ceded some of this territory to certain tribal bands to maintain ‘security’. It stands to reason that the Pakistani government has a debt of honor to uphold in regards to these tribes and it is doubtful that there are any elements there that would have a problem with al Qaeda enough to rat them out.
Nonetheless, it sounds like an intricately stacked house of cards waiting to get blown over, the unwitting participants waiting to see what hand they’d be dealt.
Al Fin,
Just like the CIA and the US State Department are in a potentially deadly game of brinksmanship… the Clintonista’s will use lies, leaks, and subterfuge to support their own shadow government. It is high time for a night of the long knives to make the US government whole again.
Just read Barons last comment… touché.
crap! how do you delete a post?
From Frontpage Mag:
"Today we are confronted with a stateless threat that does not have at the strategic level targetable entities: no capitals, no economic base, no military formations or installations," states a new Pentagon briefing paper I've obtained. "Yet political Islam wages an ideological battle against the non-Islamic world at the tactical, operational and strategic level. The West's response is focused at the tactical and operation level, leaving the strategic level -- Islam -- unaddressed."
So far the conclusions of intelligence analysts assigned to the project, who include both private contractors and career military officials, contradict the commonly held notion that Islam is a peaceful religion hijacked or distorted by terrorists. They've found that the terrorists for the most part are following a war-fighting doctrine articulated through Muhammad in the Quran, elaborated on in the hadiths, codified in Islamic or sharia law, and reinforced by recent interpretations or fatwahs.
"Islam is an ideological engine of war (Jihad)," concludes the sensitive Pentagon briefing paper. And "no one is looking for its off switch."
Why? One major reason, the briefing states, is government-wide "indecision [over] whether Islam is radical or being radicalized."
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=20539
Whether or not Islam is fundamentally flawed seems to me to be the $64,000 question. It's nice to know that we are at least thinking about it.
annoy mouse,
There's still some garbage cans on the posting page.
Don't throw away anything valuable.
"There is government-wide indecision [over] whether the Bay Area is Liberal or becoming more radical.
A key Pentagon intelligence agency involved in political analysis is delving into back issues of the Holy Chronicle and Berkeley Barb.
Although Rome was not built in a day, intelligence experts still expect a Christian Fundamentalist revival to occur there before year end.
Once these experts are up to speed, they will inform the General Populace that Nancy Pelosi is a Progressive ."
When it becomes a War
Real War, not a super charged War on Drugs
The language, which we discussed just a few posts ago, has been devalued.
The Constitution has been devalued
and we are not at War.
I understand it takes some getting used to, but US actions speak much louder than any words.
The Mohammedan Wars are still a one sided affair. The Brass does not want to engage in a Clash of Civilizations, they do not even listen to VP Cheney when he says the "War" will last for decades.
They do not want to face the reality that they have placed their faith in a Armored Ground Force, only to be blitzed by unconventional War, on a World wide scale. The type War the Generals always wants to ignore.
Remember the Insurgency in Iraq was considered "without military signifigence" early on.
Frist changed his vote as a procedural matter:
Allows them to bring it back to the floor later.
(but at this rate Spector will be speaking for Soros next time around)
...bring back the Gorelick Wall.
It served us so well.
But the Police will continue to search "selected" backpacks on the NYC subway, regardless.
No bombs yet!
Did the NSA break the Law?
Would they do it again?
How about the CIA or the FBI?
Wasn't Gorelick's Wall just an interpretation issue? The "new" AG can issue a new opinion and the Feds would operate under it.
The US Army violated provisions of the Panama Canal Treaty in 1981 & 82, it broke the Law. Doubt the General even knew, but the job got done, regardless of the Treaty requirements, which were disregarded in the pursuit of Misson Accomplishment.
Desert_rat,
If actions need to be taken against Iran or SYria, those will be more conventional in nature. At least initially. And CHina and North Korea are also possibilities that need to be considered. So the Pentagon is correct to not completely restructure everything.
Let's see;
McCain's "only make nice nice" on captives has been sanctioned, and the PATRIOT Act is obviously not needed any longer since it was voted down.....
WE MUST HAVE WON THE WAR ON TERROR!
Its time to go to Disneyland!
I've always favored a secret CIA plot to "discover" a Nuke "smuggled over the border by AlQueda."
---
...but that would require rolling back the meanings of "secret," and "intelligence" agency, and even higher order concepts like "our side."
Lacking that, I guess we just wait and hope for Pearl Harbor II.
sammy,
I just would not have felt right going to Disneyland before they passed a
Terrorist Bill of Rights.
Thank G_d they did it before Xmas.
Helo
I agree that the Armored component is required, but the unconventional or counter insurgency work has always gotten short sheeted in the Army.
The vaunted Special Forces were taken from foreign troop training, which had been their specialty and assigned smash and grab raids early in the Occupation.
The training of Iraqis was left to less qualified troops, with poor results, early on.
North Korea is not tank country, the topo's that I saw had the place VERY mountainous with steep ravines & canyons. The plains south of Seoul, you could manuver down there, but the North looked almost vertical.
sammy
now you are getting it.
judge the Federals by their true actions and inactions, not the rhetoric and the picture's focus becomes a bit more clear.
There really is not a War.
Who took out those Twin Towers anyway?
Not anyone in Iraq, today.
I think we must at least prepare ourselves for the possibility that the sneering egomania of our elite is a feature, not a bug, of the peace and success of Pax Americana.
If we do pull it off, if we are successful in providing the world with a stabilizing ethic, I'm afraid that included in the purchase price will be, to our chagrin, the eternal insufferability of the protected.
I'm with Dan. When that happens, sanity's hope will wax and wane with our ability to keep them distracted.
"the sneering egomania of our elite is a feature, not a bug"
---
The problem is that the law evolves and never has snapped back to the original feature set.
Those in favor of a
"Living Constitution"
Are Gonna Get Us Killed!
whit said...
Porkrinds: (9:54)
The Arabs are putting a lot of hope into the Iranian nuclear program. Prediction: The Arab street gets cocky again.
actually the way i read it, the arab street will wet it's pants if iran gets the nukes...
look at recent history, iran vrs the arabs "iraq"
remember perisans are not arabs... nor do they love or even like each other..
Israel can and will defend herself, iran does know that, however iran could strike saudia arabia and they could do nothing...
yes if i was the arab world, the thought that iran wanted to rule them thru a supreme mullah would piss me off...
How was your year 2005? I hope better than Abu Musab al-Zarqawi of al Qaeda in Iraq. He threaten democracy and voters in Iraq with violence and death, and Iraqis voted three times in elections in 2005. Most recently 11,000,000 Iraqis [about a 70% turnout] voted to elect their legislature.
In January 2005 a video of Zarqawi was shown [see How was your year 2005? I hope better than Abu Musab al-Zarqawi of al Qaeda in Iraq. He threaten democracy and voters in Iraq with violence and death, and Iraqis voted three times in elections in 2005. Most recently 11,000,000 Iraqis [about a 70% turnout] voted to elect their legislature.
In January 2005 a video of Zarqawi was shown [see “Democracy a lie”] where he said:
• "We have declared a bitter war against democracy and all those who seek to enact it"
• "Democracy is also based on the right to choose your religion … against the rule of God."
• "For all these issues, we declared war against, and whoever helps promote this and all those candidates, as well as the voters, are also part of this, and are considered enemies of God,"
I vote in every election and am proud to go to the polling station, but I have no confidence that I would have the courage to vote if threatened with violence. Particularly, if after voting my finger was marked with indelible purple ink. What has happened in Iraq is profound.
Consistent with his comments made early in 2004, Zarqawi must be feeling low. [see http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0402/19/se.01.html] In an intercepted letter Zarqawi wrote:
• "How can we fight their cousins and their sons, under what pretext, after the Americans pull back?"
• "Democracy is coming, and there will be no excuse thereafter for the attacks."
Where were you on Iraqi Election Day December 16, 2005? A momentous occasion that will be honored as a most important historic event.
Gene Felder
Views From Laguna
www.FelderLaguna.Blogspot.com
From Gene's site:
"The Washington Post may get an argument from U.S. servicemen who've endured the waterboard as part of training to resist interrogation --
proof that, if practiced properly, it does no lasting physical harm.”
“Last week ABC News reported that 11 of 12 captured al Qaeda kingpins who have talked only did so after being waterboarded.
This would appear to contradict so many glib suggestions, such as those in an open letter yesterday from Congressmen calling themselves the New Democrat Coalition, that such techniques ‘just plain don't work’."
A VERY Sobering look at Iraq.
. Iraq from somebody that's spent a lot of time there .
---
Hewitt:
HH: Now I'm going to introduce you to one of the few Americans I know who spent a year inside Baghdad with the occupation, and knows the new Iraqi constitution upside and down, John Agresto.
Hi, John.
Wretchard,
John gives out his e-mail at the end of that piece. (!)
Heck of a resource.
Bolton Speech: Download DW_A0003.wav
Atlas Shrugs
Regular readers know how relentlessly I advocated for his confirmation. I have an unabashed admiration for Mr. John Bolton.
But I was unaware of his passionate Zionism.
Having heard him speak, I was shaken by his moral clarity, honesty,brilliance and forthrightness.
You become inured to the doublespeak, , the moral equivocation, the bullshit you are force fed on a daily diet by listening to politicians, statesmen, world leaders. So when someone speaks straight, honest, to the point - it is so disconcerting and wonderful.
That was Bolton.
Freedom has no greater friend or activist.
Listen to the whole speech. It runs about 30 minutes. There is not a wasted word.
The Ahmadinejad Doctrine .
What is he doing? It's obvious to me. He is calling his fellow Jew haters out of the closet.
The Ahmadinejad Doctrine. Just as President Bush declared a "Bush Doctrine" stating plainly that there would be no distinction between terrorists and those who harbor them, Ahmadinejad is stating his judenrein plainly and telling the world you are either with him or against him. Basically, he is opening the door to all the jew hating closet dwellers to come out of the closet. Their day has come. No more shame. Just as Hitler did. And, if you recall, al large part of the world embraced Hitler for it (including Teddy "not to worry I can swim" Kennedy's father - Ambassador to England at the time).
- Atlas
doug
Many of the people described in this article from the American Conservative just walked across the US border, swimming was not required.
The article
End of the Rainbow
" South Central Los Angeles ushers in a new era of racial tension—this time between blacks and Hispanics. "
The decline of Wookie's 'Crips' and the rise of cross border gangs.
Criminal gangs with International Reach operating in Compton and Watts.
The article mentions a Salvadoran gang, I assume it's MS-13, as well as Mexican gangs.
There is a network from Havana to Caracas running to the FARC cocaine shipments through Salvador, Nicaragua and Mexico. Right up into the heart of LA.
The network has begun to cooperate with Mohammedan settlers in the three borders region of South America.
The oil industry infrastructure in Panama and Mexico is extremely vulnerable to accident or attack.
That infrastructure is a US lifeline. If the Panama pipeline was destroyed or crippled the results would be analogous to Katrina and the refineries going off line.
An entire flank exposed to growing infiltration and subversion, while the Border remains undefended.
It was just more showtime, whit.
Accentuates the reality that there is no war. Either in Law or Action.
Even with Mr Bush at the helm the reality is, as aristides link examples, there is of yet, no real War, no Clash of Civilizations.
At least not acknowledged by the Government. Borders are left undefended while organized crime in the US no longer immigrates from Italy.
whit
the public does not write the Rules of Engagement.
They do not decide on Operational Tactics
The public does not lead. If the public is adrift, it is because of the lack of leadership.
Four years after the Pearl Harbor attacks the Public knew well who the Enemy was or had been.
Today the enemy is like the fog.
A network of Criminals spread across the Globe. But for a few celeb Terrorists, unknown and unmolested.
Four years after 9-11 the US is not acting aggresively in the pursuit of Justice for that Event. Let alone the USS Cole or the Marine dead in Beirut.
Mr Morales, the leading contender in the race for the Bolivian Presidency will legalize and industrialize cocca leaf production when or if elected. (FOX News)
Funded by Mr Chavez from Venezuala Mr Morales says his movement is a nightmare for US.
But the South Americans would never act in concert with the Iranians in antiUS actions.
Nah, it'd never happen.
Maybe this will mitigate the McCain Terrorist Bill of Rights a little:
There have been numerous experiments that demonstrate the effects of a tryptophan-free diet on brain function in humans. Within about four hours, brain serotonin levels drop like a rock. Lacking the inhibitory regulation of serotonin, the brain becomes incapable of modulation. The individual possessor of such a brain rapidly becomes angry, depressed, and impulsive -- incapable of controlling his emotions.
The last thing a captured terrorist, intent on withholding information and resistant to interrogation, wants is to be uncontrollably impulsive. Such an individual would be putty in the hands of a skilled interrogator.
To The Point News
Wow, Bush declared that he had absolute power today on the radio. Apparently some guy named Yoo gave him a permission slip for dictatorship.
Federal agents visited a freshman at U. CONN yesterday because he checked out from his university library a copy of The Federalist Papers which is apparently some Al Qaida inspired propaganda that treasonously tries to claim that our President does not have absolute power.
Hilary Clinton was just on CNN and she enthusiastically backed Bush’s claim to absolute power – she said that she is totally Yoo-phoric and she admitted that she had urged Bill Clinton to do the same thing when he was in power but he was too much of a wimp to do it.
She laid out her agenda for her first term and it basically all comes down to this:
Okalahoma City changed everything.
Much as George W thought his father wussed out with Saddam, Hilary is embarrassed by the laxism showed towards the wingnut nation after the bombing of that day care center at the Murray Federal Building. In 2009, all that will change when she declares the War on Wingnuts and demands absolute power to execute the crusade. Her Axis of Evil will start with James Dobson, Head-Rush Limbaugh and that Assrocket freak. And it will get dirty; the Right will not take it seriously until they see some of their blood and teeth on the floor. Across the nation, architects will be busy drawing up “Malkin Camps”, detention centers for anyone thought to harbor latent wingnut tendencies. President Clinton II will institute a policy of “rendition” where suspected wingnuts from heavily red states will be “rendered” to either Berkeley or Vermont for waterboarding sessions and forced imbibitions of large quantities of tofu soda through a funnel. Anyone convicted of wingnuttyness will be required to wear a scarlet “W” on their chests and will be organized into work camps that will shovel sand in the Mojave Dessert.
At the end of the interview she thanked George W, and said that not only had he made all this possible, but he made it down right patriotic too!
Kevin,
Still full of it.
---
'Rat,
Scary stuff indeed, reminds me of your descriptions of gunfights on the freeway down there, but of course LA is much worse already.
Reminds me that the stupid LA times piece I posted that said county had a 30% increase in gang violence blamed it all on understaffed Sheriffs Dept.
Fine,
But how about the stuff you cite?
No way, Jose.
Soon we'll have to provide a safe haven in some Midwestern state for the Black Gangs who will be getting out if they have any brains.
If we were looking back on all this happening during FDR's time, how much contempt would we have?
...a lot more than some stupid concerns about detention camps.
Enough of the public likes to win that tougher ROE's would have made for smoother sailing all the way through, w/a lot more respect on the other side.
Same for the border, gangs, welfare, hospitals, bank accounts, drivers licenses, free babies, job and language preferences, and etc.
There will be hell to pay when the inevitable occurs.
Oil would (will) be so easy to hit.
Pain sensitivity.
In laboratory animals, the TRP depletion method confirms data obtained by using serotonergic antagonists: a reduction of pain perception threshold. The acute administration of a TRP-free amino acid mixture as well as the chronic administration of food deficient in TRP causes an increase in pain sensitivity in laboratory animals. Together, these findings confirm the hypothesis that 5-HT is implicated in sensitivity to painful stimuli (3).
big bad brave terrorists scared by a little tickle?
too bad if a tickle is like a punch to your nuts, it aint torture!
ha ha ha hah a ahhaa haha h
Jeez,
CAIR had me convinced they were already so SENSITIVE in their "natural" state!
The inhumanity!
Sexual behavior.
It has been well known since the middle of 1960s that the pharmacological reduction of serotonergic activity induces compulsive sexual activity in laboratory animals. It has been demonstrated that a TRP-free diet produced a significant increase in male-to-male mounting behavior both in rats and rabbits. These results clearly demonstrate that 5-HT plays an inhibitory role in sexual behavior. Interestingly, food deficient in TRP, such as corn, may have aphrodisiac properties.
yep no corn on the cob, no creamed corn, no tacos, no popcorn for the terrorists when growing up...
maybe this will bring world peace? corn for the palestinians/islamic terrorists? make them want to have normal sex more and less male to male mounting?
Bill Roggio reports that anedotally the Sunni went big for the former Iraqi PM Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite candidate.
" LtCol Starling, the Operations Officer of Regimental Combat Team - 2, the unit in charge of western Anbar province, met with a very senior tribal leader the day after election and reported Sunnis voted overwhelmingly for Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite candidate. Another U.S. source well in tune with the populace in Anbar province reported the same information. ..."
Desert rat: Interesting news! It seems that Allawi has the reputation of being a man who got things done, good things.
Remember Allawi? He was the guy John Kerry dismissed as a Bush puppet.
And now the news is that the most of the Sunnis did not vote the last two times because they opposed democracy, but rather because they we afraid of being killed by the foriegn and Sunni insurgents.
Now add that Sunni voting for a Shiite to the basic Sunni belief that the leader of Islam should be chosen by "the people"....
Maybe there will indeed be a new Caliphate - a democratic one.
As for the complaint that "America destablized the Middle East..."
Oh boy, maybe we really did, big time!
rwe
praise be to allah, if we have.
that was the plan, after all.
meanwhile in that other democracy called palestine..
An extended-range Palestinian Qassam missile strikes the edge of Mediterranean port town of Ashkelon’s industrial estate Sunday for the second time in three days
December 15, 2005, 3:34 PM (GMT+02:00)
No casualties or damage. It was fired from the ruins of the evacuated Israeli village of Dugit at the northern tip of the Gaza Strip.
This was the 20th Palestinian cross-border missile firing from Gaza in a week. Their range has increased from 8km to an estimated 11km.
all at usa & eu taxpayers expense.. make me proud to know that america is funding such a beautiful democracy in the middle east!
more from that experiment called democracy..
Abbas Approves Grants to
Shahid's Families
By Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook, December 6, 2005
The Palestinian Authority yesterday revealed a new law that allocates money to family members of shahids, or 'martyrs.' A shahid is the highest honor attainable to a Muslim, and signifies a death for Allah. The Palestinian Authority regularly labels suicide terrorists as 'shahids.'
Under the new law, the families of these terrorists will receive monthly payments.
The president has authorized the implementation of the financial clause of the Care of the Families of Shahids draft law
"...The fifth clause of the draft law includes granting a monthly allowance to the family of every shahid, taken from the general budget of the [Palestinian] National Authority… The sum of the allowance is estimated to be $250, but if the shahid was married [at the time of death], another $50 are to be added to the sum mentioned above, and if the shahid had children, [an additional sum of] $15 will be allocated to each of them. In addition, if the shahid had a [living] father or mother, a sum of $25 will be allocated to each of them. If the shahid had brothers, whom he had been taking care of, each of them will be allocated [a sum of] $15... The transfer of the allowances to the families of the shahids is expected to be carried out by the Institute for the Care of the Families of Shahids, through special [bank] accounts [opened] for the eligible people... [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, December 5, 2005]
aint democracy a great thing?
personally i do... honest murdering palestinians will finally be seen in the world as the honest murdering thug society that they are...
question is, will the world continue to fund 1/2 of their budget? will the world demand concessions from israel to "help" the peace process when the palestinians are electing a government bent on going to full war?
hey rinds, pass the tabasco.
Just three years ago each of the honored dead's families were getting Oil for Fraud checks for $25,000 USD. The allowance that democracy pays is a pittance compared to a tyrant's bounty.
desert rat said...
hey rinds, pass the tabasco.
Just three years ago each of the honored dead's families were getting Oil for Fraud checks for $25,000 USD. The allowance that democracy pays is a pittance compared to a tyrant's bounty.
true, but that was stolen arab oil money... this is funded by the eu & american tax payers cash...
but you do have a point, no more iraqi cash funding murderers, cool.. thanks prez bush from a democrat!
money in fungible.
There is now less money in the terrorist pot, it really doesn't matter how the monies get there.
Whether from French oil purchases or Russian kickbacks. I think the total funding available for International Terror is down, overall. Even factoring in US dollars for peace payments that become misdirected, because money is fungible.
We have not, to my knowledge, even assasinated one Golden Chain's links. But that may just be a lack of knowledge and reporting, not a lack of action.
If we ever get serious about the Mohammedans, well then a few papmered heads could roll.
Until then we just kill the disaffected youth of the ME that migrate to Iraq to kill US, doing a favor to their Countries of Origin.
But not advancing the WoT in a cost effective manner or getting US any closer to Osama and the Doctor
dave h
no one has ever had an adequate reason for failing to take Osama.
The fear of both the action and consequences of the action keep US impotent in regards Osama. In Pakistan or Iran or wherever else Mr Goss knows where he is.
That is where to fight the War on Terror.
Bringing in the mental defects from the KSA and having US & Iraqi Forces kill them in Iraq for $180 BILLION per year is not cost effective.
If the War is not against Islam, and read aristides link to learn FOR SURE that it is not, yet.
Then the "WAR" is against Osama.
If it were REALLY against States that "Support" terrorists, the US would be at War with Iran and Syria, today.
Obviously the US is at War with neither.
The "terrorists" that are infiltrating Iraq, that are coming "because" of US, are killing children because the US is there, not out of ill will towards the Iraq Federalists are the "reason" we stay?
These few thousand Arabs dictate US foreign policy?
They are better left to the Iraqis to deal with. They will do a better job than US troops ever could, or have.
Read Bill Roggio or any currently embedded reporter, the Iraqis are carrying the fight, we could not hold a town, to include Baghdad until they did.
Read the stories from last summer about "route irish" and contrast them to current stories, the difference is Iraqi patroling, not greater US presence.
If Islam is not the target and Osama is unimportant, what's the point?
We must have won, already.
If the "War" is agains Zarqawi, and he moves his operation to Syria or Jordan, does the US Military follow?
Or are we only at "war" with them in Iraq?
So far we have not followed either the aQI infrastructure or the Iraqi Baathist infrastructure into Syria or Jordan. Nor have we pursued aQ operatives into Pakistan
So we are not really in a Global War with aQ, just one within the geography of Iraq and Afghanistan, but we cross no other border in pursuit of the enemy.
Not very "Global" at all
Proven by Performance not Rhetoric
CNN reports that Israeli PM Sharon has suffered a mild stroke.
While he had some difficulty speaking, initially, he recovered quickly.
Hoe does this effect the upcoming Israeli elections?
If at all.
Who, knows?
Yoni will guess on Hewitt show, no doubt.
---
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/
Atlas Shrugs Peaceloving Palestinians Dancing In the Streets ... VIDEO HERE Celebrating Sharon Stroke UGH
They are dancing in the streets in Hamastan.
Handing out candy to the children.
Shooting their guns in the air (a favorite Palio celebratory gesture) Animals..........
Go ahead, Spielberg, kiss their ass, you self hating shmuck.
Can I join? That fat bastard could not make his peace with this world soon enough.
sharon is an was smart..
tactics vrs strategy
short term pain for long term gain..
give the dogs, opps palestinians their land...
let the burn, rape, loot, mutilate & murder their way to failure.
sharon took a gamble and is winning his bet, in years to come when the arabs of the west bank and gaza completely destroy it into a dessert, they will leave, then israel will retake what was and is theirs, the lands of historic israel..
the arab world has been given a curse, oil wealth, once it is gone they will return to the sand they so much worship....
patience....
what does not build or create will starve... and noone will come to their aid....
Don't be a fool. It's no tactic and no strategy. The Bolshevik mofos (with help from the CIA) have him by the balls for corruption and nepotism. Instead of resigning and doing the honorable thing, he continues. To save his skin he breaks up the Likud party and joins Peres and the other leftist tics for yet another round of idiotic political and territorial concessions. It's plain disgraceful.
/spit
mika, we disagree on this issue, however i do not question or doubt the true quality of your position...
I got a bowl of soup for you ANYTIME!
regards
pfa..
Pork,
"If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy."
Literally true in the case here.
Anyway, all you need do is follow the chronology of events. It's very clear to see when Sharon does his 180 degrees about, and why.
i dont doubt the issue of jerusalem, forgetting it aint the problem...
let's be blunt... since the mistake of turning the temple mount over the custody of jew hating murderers, ALL israeli governments have caved into the powers of the world.
Personally the concept that Jews should not be allowed to control the TEMPLE mount makes me ill.
Pork,
It's largely a self imposed "concept". People need realize this and tear away these mental shackles. In 2000, I thought sharon finally smart enough to perceive this and do just that.
Dan,
Same general point above applies to your post. The perception is, Iranian oil is indispensable. It is not. Iran can VERY easily be brought to heel and in very short order. Turn the lights and the cash spigot off, and the regime collapses within days. The only question in my mind concerns Iraq. Is their oil infrastructure ready to take on the short term slack.
Dan,
Seems like when we have the Nukes, they can always wonder if we'd *really* use them.
Not so w/Israel.
One real threat, one maybe.
And the bastards'll end up with them anyway!
...at this rate.
Remarks by the Vice President at a Rally for the Troops:
You're meeting every challenge with focus and great effectiveness, above all with honor. And I want you to know especially at Christmastime how much you mean to America. This is a season for counting our blessings. Americans realize how fortunate we are to have people like you wearing the uniform of our country.
Thank you once again for serving far from home at an hour of great need. You reflect immense credit on the uniform you wear and the cause you serve. And I want to thank you for what you've done for us. Semper Fi.
Vice President Remarks
dan
There is no evidence I've seen that would show that the Battle of Iraq has stopped an attack on the US mainland.
Imaginative imagery to be sure, but no name of an attacker that shelved the plans for a Chivago strike to go to Baghdad, instead.
The cells that have been rolled up in Lodi, CA and Buffalo, NY and Florida were not inbound from Iraq or KSA, they were already here.
The open border to the South, infiltrated by thousands per night, allows easy access to domestic targets.
If there was a REAL threat to US from foreign fighters, we'd close that access point, but we do not.
So there must not be a real threat.
As Mr Bush reinterated last night, we have a challenge with radical Mohammedans that are Stateless.
While we have put the fly trap up in Iraq, the quality of the flies captured or killed there, are in a word, cannon fodder.
Mr Bush still will not level with the US Public, or does not want to acknowledge the threat of terror supporting States to US.
Unless the War is against Islam, which we are told repeatedly and again last night it is not, if it is not against the Terror States or Iran, Syria and Sudan, then it must be against Osama and the Doctor and theri minions.
Why do we not prosecute the War against the Real enemy.
In Iraq we are beginnning to beat a dead horse. It may feel good, but won't get US to the finish line any quicker.
The President was wrong when he said it is his way or defeat. His way has not been as productive as it COULD have been. The US Military was ill prepared, by design, to fight the Insurgents, in Iraq or anywhere else. Still is.
Mr Bush and the rest of Washington have confused the Battle of Iraq for the WoT. While they are connected, they are not synonomous, you wouldn't know it from Mr Bush's rhetoric though.
Nor the recent Senate votes. Both on the Patriot Act and the Senate vote to make '06 a year of 'transition' in Iraq. Only 8, as I recall, Senators voted to not change course in Iraq.
Mr Roggio is leaving Iraq, but gives US this final view
"... Lt. Col. Starling explained the importance of the shift from large scale combat operations to reconstruction efforts, and the push for Iraqi Army to take greater responsibility in providing from the planning and execution of missions in their battlespace. ..."
With the pacification of Western Anbar large scale combat operations in Iraq ARE OVER. see above quote
Reconstruction and maintainence is now the key to Victory, the Iraqis will have to do this work or it can't be done. See 'route irish' fron May 2001 thru September 2005 for confirmation of US inability to secure an Iraq cityscape.
Proof is in the pudding, as they say.
May 2002 not '01
Hamas Celebrates Landslide Election Win By ALI DARAGHMEH, Associated Press Writer
Fri Dec 16, 4:54 PM ET
NABLUS, West Bank - Hamas supporters on Friday celebrated a landslide election victory in major West Bank towns, the strongest sign yet of the Islamic militant group's growing political appeal ahead of Jan. 25 parliamentary elections.
Israel responded with concern, saying a Palestinian government dominated by Hamas — which calls for Israel's destruction and has killed hundreds of Israelis in attacks — would not be a partner for peace.
The results stunned officials from Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party, whose internal disarray developed into a split this week when a group of young-guard leaders broke away.
Thousands of Hamas supporters joined victory marches after Friday prayers. In Jenin, where Hamas won a majority of local council seats, marchers chanted, "To Jerusalem we march, martyrs by the millions!" and held up copies of the Quran.
"We didn't think for a moment that Hamas would win so many votes," said Issam Abu Baker, Fatah's chief in the Nablus region. "The earth shook under our feet, and this will have an effect on the parliament."
"There is no evidence I've seen that would show that the Battle of Iraq has stopped an attack on the US mainland."
---
There is also no reasonable argument that can be made that actions and plans in SA, Pakistan, Syria, and etc have not been changed radically by our presence in Iraq.
" His way has not been as productive as it COULD have been."
---
Well, duh! ;-)
Your gonna love this, 'Rat.
Can a book deal be far behind?
Dr. Germ Freed .
BAGHDAD, Iraq - About 24 top former officials in Saddam Hussein’s regime, including a biological weapons expert known as “Dr. Germ,” have been released from jail, while a militant group released a video Monday of what it said was the killing of an American hostage.
An Iraqi lawyer said the 24 or 25 officials from Saddam’s government were released from jail without charges, and some have already left the country.
“The release was an American-Iraqi decision and in line with an Iraqi government ruling made in December 2004, but hasn’t been enforced until after the elections in an attempt to ease the political pressure in Iraq,” said the lawyer, Badee Izzat Aref.
And you thought there was a concern about terrorists and WMD.
Wasn't that why there WAS and invasion. Now Dr Germ is out and about.
You are right the cause and effects of the invasion upon the enemy are unknowables. But the arguement that by keeping large Combat Elements fighting "foreigners" in Iraq makes Chicago, or NYC subways safer is not provable and does not stand up to logical analysis.
Those Elements were ineffective in the counter insurgency fight, why would their continued presence in Iraq add to security levels in Larado, Texas?
Terror Sponser State Anxiety?
---
IRANIAN PRESIDENT BANS WESTERN MUSIC.. .
Could this be the begining of the Revolution?
d'Rat,
One can't be at two places at the same time.
The presence of US troops in Iraq now adds to the Jihadi insecurity level in Isfahan, Iran. (See Doug's post above). The Jihadis are losing the fight in holding their strongholds, one by one. They will try and concentrate their fighters to defend these strongholds. But once the first one goes, the rest will fall like dominos, simply because there'll be less and less fighters to defend them.
In Iraq the fight has been against the Sunni Insurgents, they, not the Jihadist created the Insurgency and IED casualties.
If the Sunni Insurection is moderated, the Jihadist element, estimated to be under 5,000 individuals, can be destroyed by the Iraqis. The US does not have a good track record in Iraq of containing, clearing & holding an area without Iraq assistance. Now, more than ever, the Iraqis are in the Lead, so says Mr Bush, confirmed by Mr Roggio.
160,000 or even 100,000 troops are not the answer to Iraq's US assistance needs. About 10,000 advisors and air support is all that is really needed now. The Operations in Iraq are now in the "non kinetic" stage.
El Salvador was contained and eventually won with 54 US troops, a few contracters and a bunch of willing Salvadorans. Iraq though larger in scale is no different in scope.
US imports a large quanity of oil, for the most part that oil does not originate in the Middle East, but in Mexico and Venezuela. The oil that is extracted in Alaska is, for the most part, refined on the Gulf Coast. The oil transits Panama by pipeline.
There are no US troops in Panama, Mexico or Venezuela to secure that infrastructure.
The US Army has discarded counter insurgency doctrine, much like when the Navy discarded guns on fighter jets, they were deemed unneeded in "modern warfare". Saw "Duke" Cunningham on History Channel discussing his 'dog fight', he says he needed guns.
The US needs counter insurgency capability. Our Iraq experience shows that it is sorely lacking.
From the next post, it sounds like we may need it for larges areas of So. America.
160,000 or even 100,000 troops are not the answer to Iraq's US assistance needs.
Fair enough. But it seems to me you're implying that the war is over. I don't think it is. Not by a long shot. The battle for Iraq is largely over, true. But there are other battlegrounds that are still to be fought. Iran, Syria, Hizballahland, and other Jihadi strongholds come immediately to mind. How do you suppose one should tackle these challenges? With just a "counter insurgency force"and no real army on the ground?
mika
from the air, land and sea, if there was a war, but there is not.
there should be, but the US is not at War with Iran or Syria or even Hezzbollah. We could be, but we are not, and that's a fact.
When we are at war with those guys, we can go back. But do not hold your breath for a US vs Iran War. You'll turn blue.
"Pakistanis now hold a more favorable opinion of the U.S. than at any time since 9/11"
Long a stronghold for Islamic extremists and the world's second-most populous Muslim nation, Pakistanis now hold a more favorable opinion of the U.S. than at any time since 9/11, while support for al Qaeda in its home base has dropped to its lowest level since then.
"Our friends the Pakistanis" — Opinion Journal .
. Flares into Darkness
Sikhs were the major force behind British Indian Army. Sikhs were the backbone of British Rule in India. During WWII over 500,000 Sikh served over 83000 Sikhs were killed. All of them wore turbans. No one had problem with turbans in those days. Sikhs are a brave martial race. All through world they serve in police and military. Sikh has earned the right to wear turbans, by sacrificing great deal through both world wars. They fought in conflict which was not even their.
Sikhs were the major force behind British Indian Army. Sikhs were the backbone of British Rule in India. During WWII over 500,000 Sikh served over 83000 Sikhs were killed. All of them wore turbans. No one had problem with turbans in those days. Sikhs are a brave martial race. All through world they serve in police and military. Sikh has earned the right to wear turbans, by sacrificing great deal through both world wars. They fought in conflict which was not even their.
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