PREVIEW: Iraqis unmoved by Obama's anti-war rhetoric

SP4: Now here is Arab logic!Jul 18th, 2008 - 15:18:51

'He has an advantage in the presidential race after the big policy failure of US President George W Bush,' al-Shahbandar said. 'Any troop withdrawal, however, should come after careful consideration.''

...this f--king haj declares Bush policy a failure but then bucks the withdrawl of US forces, the centerpiece of Bush foreign policy, who seem to be protecting his ass just fine.

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LuJul 19th, 2008 - 11:43:42

What point is M&C trying to make by posting the 2006 New York Post article by Ellen Knickmeyer 'American Soldiers in Iraq'. To be considered legitimate, M&C should be posting, as current, 2008 articles NOT 2006 articles. Proofing is ALSO part of posting news releases. COME ON GET YOUR HEADS IN GEAR.

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Welcome to SP4's inanitiesJul 19th, 2008 - 14:58:25

Obama left himself plenty of wiggle room when he indicated his own timeline. His mistake was in answering the late Tim Russert's question as to timeframe, instead of stating that even future Presidents don't set timeframes for the benefit of reporters. I admired Russert's dogged style, but refusing to set a firm timeframe would have been appropriate for any candidate. McCain committed the opposite error in having NO timeframe, and Bush's latest position undercuts McCain's.

Iraq is stuck between policies - their people want us out; and are afraid of what would happen when we left. Listen to Petraeus:

ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gGZxIqKa2mxpVtJzQuGVbbReDIrwD920V2I00

BAGHDAD (AP) — Senior leaders of al-Qaida may be diverting fighters from the war in Iraq to the Afghan frontier area, the top American commander in Iraq told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Gen. David Petraeus also said al-Qaida may be reconsidering Iraq as its highest priority war front.

The other main source of violence over the past year — Shiite militia extremists — also has been curbed. Petraeus said that whether leaders of those Shiite groups, who fled in many cases to Iran, end up returning to fight for control of such Baghdad sections as Sadr City will be a critical bellwether.

'This will be very important because it will be an indicator of whether Iran intends to start a new chapter in its relationship with Iraq, or not,' he said.

Petraeus said his information about a possible shift in al-Qaida resources away from Iraq was based on human intelligence, meaning informants. If confirmed, it could have profound implications not only for Iraq, where terrorist and insurgent violence has been on a steep decline, but also for Afghanistan, where militants crossing the border from Pakistan are a growing threat to the government in Kabul.

'There are unsubstantiated rumors and reflections that perhaps some foreign fighters originally intended for Iraq may have gone to the FATA,' he said, referring to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan, where extremists have a secure staging ground for movements into neighboring Afghanistan.

'We do think that there is some assessment ongoing as to the continued viability of al-Qaida's fight in Iraq,' he said. 'They're not going to abandon Iraq, they're not going to write it off. None of that. But what they certainly may do is start to provide some of those resources that would have come to Iraq to Pakistan, possibly Afghanistan.'

Petraeus said that until now, communications from senior leaders of al-Qaida to their lieutenants in Iraq have made clear that Iraq is its highest priority for establishing an Islamic state within reach of the West.

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