In photos: 'USA Iraq War Demonstration'
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By M&C News Mar 19, 2008, 19:45 GMT
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On the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the launch of the Iraq war, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are competing over who is best suited to lose it. Obama touts his judgment in opposing the war from the beginning. Clinton brags that she has “the knowledge and confidence to bring our troops home.” In speeches marking the fifth year of the war, both demonstrated just how determinedly out of touch the Democrats have become with Iraq war as it is, as opposed to how they wish it were.
Both promise to withdraw one or two U.S. combat brigades a month, with Obama specifying that at that pace “we can remove all of them in 16 months.” He stipulates that this will not be “a precipitous drawdown.” One trembles to think how he would define such a drawdown, since he is proposing removing the troops as quickly as believes would be logistically possible.
With our departure, Iraq would lose the most responsible and proficient security force in the country, the force that trains the Iraqi army by working with it closely in combat operations and that has put a lid on the civil war, making a return to a kind of normality possible in many parts of Iraq. It would be wonderful if Iraq were stable enough that it wouldn’t backslide with us gone, but no one in Iraq — not the U.S. command, not the Iraqi government — believes this to be the case.
No matter. Clinton and Obama ignore that, just as they ignore the progress that’s been made over the last year. Clinton says President Bush and John McCain “want to keep us tied to another country’s civil war, a war we cannot win.” Clinton seems unaware that we have succeeded in drastically diminishing Iraqi sectarian strife. She says by the summer “we’ll be right back at square one with 130,000 or more troops on the ground in Iraq.” But it’s not square one if those 130,000 troops are in an Iraq where the civil war has been tamped down, U.S. casualties are lower, and al-Qaeda is on the run.
Retailing the standard Democratic rationale for a drawdown, Obama says “fighting a war without end will not force the Iraqis to take responsibility for their own future.” This statement needs some unpacking. Obama is not really proposing to end the war, either, because even as we draw down, extremists will continue their attacks. It is only U.S. involvement he wants to end. All of us want Iraqis to take responsibility for their future, but it matters which Iraqis are doing so and how. Without us, the most dangerous armed elements in the country will be more likely take over. Obama apparently doesn’t care who ends up running the country, as long as they are Iraqis.
Obama resorts to the Democrats’ favorite fairy tale in promising that, after we leave, we will have “a counter-terrorism force to strike al Qaeda if it forms a base that the Iraqis cannot destroy.” He seems to have visions of al-Qaeda bulldozing a runway and stringing up barbed wire around an easily identifiable base. Instead, it infiltrates the population and neighborhoods. For now, American forces are the only ones proficient enough to push it out in counterinsurgency operations.
Hawking her own fantasy, Clinton says she’ll seek “to secure stability within Iraq as we bring our troops home, stability that will be key to a successful withdrawal for our troops.” With what forces will she do this? It’s a war, after all. Clinton says she’ll press the Iraqis to reconcile, but we’re already doing that. Many of the political issues we are pushing the Iraqis on are foundational and will take time to work out. It is more likely to happen — and there are initial signs of the ice breaking in the parliament — if the country is not sinking into a maelstrom of violence.
“Rather than fight a war that does not need to be fought, we need to start fighting the battles that need to be won on the central front in the war against al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan,” Obama says. He thus defines away the need to fight al-Qaeda in a strategically crucial country in the Arab heartland. Obama pledges more troops and resources to the fight in Afghanistan, which are needed. But Obama says that only withdrawing from Iraq will allow us to send two additional combat brigades to Afghanistan. This is ridiculous. Since Obama proposes withdrawing one or two combat brigades a month from Iraq, he would have the additional troops in theory in a matter of weeks.
Obama argues essentially that nothing bad would be happening in the world without the Iraq war. North Korea wouldn’t be pursuing nuclear weapons, even though it has been doing so for decades; the Taliban wouldn’t be a determined enemy in Afghanistan, even though it was always clear we’d have a long counterinsurgency fight there; al-Qaeda wouldn’t be in the Pakistani tribal areas, even though those areas have always been ungoverned and the Pakistani government has undertaken operations there in fits and starts unconnected to the Iraq war.
Clinton says the Bush-McCain approach is, “Don’t learn from your mistakes, repeat them.” But with the support of McCain, Bush radically changed course at the end of 2006, dumping General George Casey for General David Petraeus, sending more troops to the theater, and pursuing new tactics. It’s the Democrats who won’t learn from our experience since then, and who promise to make a new mistake in rapid withdrawal, one that would be catastrophic for Iraq and for our national-security interests.
I love it when neocon posters try to repeat the spin that took the USA to war.Not a single reason is given for this war,only that it needs to be won.I say;it didn't need to get started in the first place .It wa unfair and based on lies.Does it need to be won then ?I don't know.I even don(y understand how it can be won ?When does one declare victory in a quagmire where 70 percent og the population w
I love it when neocon posters try to repeat the spin that took the USA to war,as if nothing hazs changed .Not a single reason is given for continuing this war,only that it needs to be won.I say;it didn't need to get started in the first place .It wa unfair and based on lies.Does it need to be won then ?I don't know.I even don(y understand how it can be won ?When does one declare victory in a quagmire where 70 percent og the population wants you out immediately ?When the last insurgent is dead?That means 70 percent of the popûlation.When they become docile and stop resisting the occupation then?That will never happen .It didn't happen in Vietnam either .
An important law in history states that repeating your mistakes ober and over again hoping to produce a different result only leads to making a complete fool of yourself .THose that still defend this war should acknowledge that .The only result thus far is that Al Quaida has grown from defeat to defeat .Saddam an Bin Laden have always been ar odds ,the entire world knows that .In fact the best friends of Saddam used to be the republicans .In 1983 Rumsfeld wrote that Iraq and the USA pursued the same policy in the Middle East except for chemical weapons and another divergence that was deeemed to be minor ,irrelevant .Little did they care about Halabje or any crime of Saddam until he invaded Kuwait .Then suddenly all his previous crimes were thrown in the limelight .Pure hypocrisy of course .Rumsfeld used to be a close friend of the Baath regime until it no longer was convenient.And now the neocons suddenly developped a consience ?Not in a million years .After more than one million casualties they still want to impose their presence on the Iraqi people .It seems the Iraqi population has no right to their own future without the republican meddling .
The only result of such inhumane stubborn policy is to render the USA i,popular beyond even the present levels and have volunteers for the terrorist networks queue up for enrolment .
What the USA needs is a wiser president ,one that understand that gunboat policies lead nowhere .
On Sunday, Nancy Pelosi was asked on CNN whether she feared squandering the success of President Bush's 'surge' in Iraq with a hasty withdrawal. 'There haven't been gains, Wolf,' the House Speaker told anchor Wolf Blitzer. 'The gains have not produced the desired effect which is the reconciliation of Iraq. This is a failure. This is a failure.'
Yesterday, the Iraqi Parliament passed a budget, approved an amnesty for thousands of detainees and enacted a crucial law on provincial powers. Sunni lawmaker Adnan al-Dulaimi called it 'the greatest achievement possible for the Iraqi people.'
We'll assume Ms. Pelosi isn't actually disappointed by the latest good Iraq news. Yet the political calendar in Washington, with its noisome demands for benchmarks and timetables, is increasingly out of step with the strategic calendar in Baghdad. Getting them into line will be the great challenge of the Bush Administration's final months in office.
On Monday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates took a step in that direction by announcing that there would be a pause in troop reductions in Iraq once the five additional 'surge' brigades were withdrawn this summer. 'I think that the notion of a brief period of consolidation and evaluation probably does make sense,' said Mr. Gates on a visit to Baghdad, endorsing the recommendation of General David Petraeus.
Ryan Crocker, the U.S. Ambassador in Iraq, will also soon begin negotiating a 'status of forces' agreement with the Iraqi government to establish the parameters for a long-term security relationship. In a Washington Post op-ed yesterday, Mr. Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice noted that the U.S. has no fewer than 115 such agreements with other nations, covering everything from rules of engagement to how troops will get their mail.
'Nothing to be negotiated will mandate that we continue combat missions,' they wrote. 'Nothing will set troop levels. Nothing will commit the United States to join Iraq in a war against another country or provide other such security commitments.'
Such an agreement shouldn't be controversial, especially given that the government of Nouri al-Maliki doesn't plan to extend the U.N. resolutions that authorize the coalition's presence in Iraq beyond the end of this year. The next President will need an accord whatever he (or she) intends to do in Iraq. Yet both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are trying to make a campaign issue of this, demanding that any agreement be authorized by Congress. The Democratic rivals also seized on Mr. Gates's comments about a pause in U.S. troop reductions, with Mr. Obama warning of 'war without end.'
At this point in the Democratic primary season, even a declaration of surrender by al Qaeda in Iraq would probably be treated as further evidence of Bush Administration incompetence. Speaking of which, this week the Times of London published remarkable excerpts from letters by two al Qaeda chieftains in Iraq that were seized late last year in a U.S. military raid.
'The Americans and the apostates launched their campaigns against us and we found ourselves in a circle not being able to move, organize or conduct our operations,' wrote one terrorist 'emir.' The loss of Anbar Province, he added, had created 'panic, fear and an unwillingness to fight,' while the flow of foreign jihadis had dwindled as they lost faith that their 'martyrdom' would yield results. In a second letter, another al Qaeda leader complains how his force shrank to fewer than 20 fighters from 600.
What remains of al Qaeda has reportedly been driven north to Mosul, and may soon face an offensive by U.S. forces and an increasingly confident Iraqi Army. All the more reason, it seems to us, to make sure our forces in Iraq remain adequate to finish the job and not let al Qaeda slip away to fight another day -- as critics of the Administration constantly allege it did in Afghanistan.
So it's strange that some senior military brass -- including, we hear, Army Chief of Staff George Casey -- are pushing for faster troop drawdowns in the hopes of easing the strain that long and repeated deployments have imposed on soldiers and their families. Nobody wants to overburden the military, but we can think of nothing that would 'break' it more completely than losing a war. For evidence, look at what happened to military readiness and morale in the years after the fall of Saigon in 1975. The Army and Marines in Iraq have adapted from their earlier troubles to a counterinsurgency strategy that is working. General Petraeus should be given as long as he needs.
What is certain is that next January U.S. forces will still be deployed in Iraq in large numbers. Securing the conditions by which they can drive out al Qaeda and tame the Shiite militias, deter Syria and Iran, and guarantee Iraq's integrity and freedom would be a worthy legacy for this Administration, and a useful inheritance for the next.
'.Not a single reason is given for continuing this war'
Not turning over Iraq to al Qaeda terrorists or the miserable totalitarian iranian regime. Not destroying the world economy by turning over control of 82% of the worlds proven oil reserves to islamists. Not abandoning the people of the middle east to whomever is brutal enough to subjugate them at any given moment. Not allowing an oil wealth funded failed state in the geographic center of the middle east to spring up and be used to attack civilization. Defeating the disgusting ideology that attacked us on 9/11.
How's that for starters?
'Does it need to be won then ?I don't know'
The answer is yes. If you don't know why are you even bothering?
'I even don(y understand how it can be won ?'
Of course you do not. You haven't needed to understand such things. NATO has protected you and enabled you to be completely, blissfully, ungratefully ignorant of such matters. (That and you are a moron.)
'When does one declare victory in a quagmire where 70 percent og the population wants you out immediately '
Making up statistics again? Yup...
'An important law in history states that repeating your mistakes ober and over again hoping to produce a different result only leads to making a complete fool of yourself'
Sort of like you repeatedly venturing opinions on subjects that you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about?
'The only result thus far is that Al Quaida has grown from defeat to defeat'
Simply not true.
'the entire world knows that'
You are a nobody, tonny. You certainty do not speak for the entire world. Regardless, al Qaeda is there now and we are defeating them there now.
'Little did they care about Halabje or any crime of Saddam until he invaded Kuwait .'
Unlike the europeans we stopped trade with Saddam after Halabja. The oil was just too sweet for Chiraq and Schroeder to stop selling him weapons though.
'ure hypocrisy of course '
Sort of like a parasitic idiot trying to rationalize collaboration with islamist terrorists? You folks over there do love to collaborate.
'Rumsfeld used to be a close friend of the Baath regime until it no longer was convenient'
Until they started invading and gassing... Chiraq was a close friend after.
'.After more than one million casualties they still want to impose their presence on the Iraqi people .'
It is beyond pathetic that you would STILL claim that there have been a million people killed in Iraq. It is just idiotic.
'and have volunteers for the terrorist networks queue up for enrolment .'
I do not need your 'popularity' or approval. Your irrational moral evasions and equivalence sickens me. Go volunteer to become a human sacrifice for your terrorist pals. That ought to get Americas attention...
'What the USA needs is a wiser president'
We do not need advice from craven european appeasers who have wrecked their own societies and now want to give us advice on how to do the same.
Never mind half the dems voted for this soire', now, they want folks to believe they had nothing to do with it. Pelosi is now touting freedom for Tibet, an easy thing to do versus facing the hard work of freedom for the Iraqi people. Power allows you to pick your fights, or run away from them.
Talk, after all, is cheap.
Bush, for all the good it has done, got Saddam for his political enemies, who cried for it in the 90s. They pilloried his father for not getting Saddam, and now pillory Jr. for doing exactly that.
Al Queada is done in Iraq, short of a few last ditch magic moments.
The parties are dealing.
Iran has been stymied in undermining the formation of the government. The internal squabbles, for which the US is not to blame.
Libya, seeing what happened in Iraq, dealt itself out of the Nuclear arms race.
There is undeniable progress, regardless of the argument of whether it was worth it or not.
Now, the libnazis are being attacked i.e. Obama, by the same slime media they helped to create with the Bush character assasination.
Communiqué to The American People and others from the American Republic
It is quite apparent from the world events unfolding, and from the ones in the planning, that it is now time for those that are oppressed be set free.
Miracles are for believers of their faiths, and only that. Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, Krishna, or any other Savior will not come to save you from your sins or from your despair. Governments and big business are your Gods. They control and manipulate you into whatever they desire. And the ones that do not conform are cast out into homelessness and death. There are cures for disease as their are cures for mass corruption and evil. There are cures for Cancer and for Aids, and see how many people are dying each day for that selfish fix. Desire and pleasure are the two most exploited forms of emotions that control the majority of humans on this planet. Democracy has failed, Communism, Fascism, and Socialism have murdered great men and women over the ages. Greed and betrayal have also contributed to the deaths of the innocent. Religious wars are being fought for no logical reason. Masonic, Skull and Bones, and other Fraternal societies are carving up this planet for temporary control, only to be lost to another and another until one system that is greater is chosen and allowed to become the Truth for all who wish to be free and co-exist with the Planet and its indigenous creatures. You must protect and nurture the environment to keep you all alive. God did not wish for you to destroy the creation that took so long to create. Your Eden is here, you have built on top of it.
Your prejudice and ignorance will also be your undoing. You treat the African people like they are talking monkeys of the forest. They are Men and Women who are humans, not animals. You treat those that are different like outcasts without hope. You poison those that seek God with ritual and lies. You control those that are not fortunate and make slaves of them. You degrade women and treat them like second class humans. Your governments offer your people nothing more than your greed will allow. Europe, South America, China, USA, and other countries have failed their people. Punishing those that are responsible will not solve the problems that exist. You must replace them all without compromise, and in their places put those that are not afraid of Truth.
The internet is corrupt, with criminals raping those that are not aware. The media you depend on for information is corrupt. They censor from you the truth to keep you in the realm of those that are not aware. Your educated ones have no more power than the ones that die for Diamonds and gold in the forests of Africa.
The UN and Nato are only their for those who have the gold. The news media has mass manipulated you all into a frenzy of fear and mistrust of each other, with nowhere to hide. Your religions will not protect you, only God can with your commitment to the truth and only that. The War on Terror will never end as long as you all allow those that have the power of Man to rule your world. The ones that have the power of the truth are waiting to come forward and replace what is now.
A One World System of Government is the answer, with the ability to allow those that are religious to practice their faith without fear and prejudice. Government is there for the people and to have the ability to take care of you and provide for you a place to live a life of respect and freedom. Religion is there for those that need comfort and purpose.
You murdered your Christ as you have murdered others thru time. This time you cannot and will not murder what is destined to be.
It is the so called learned men and women of this planet that are destroying her. You must stop this madness or you will never know that beyond this tiny planet are others that are waiting to serve you with knowledge that will help you leave this home and visit others. Your Governments have secrets that are only known to
a few. We know this because some of us are from those Governments and Businesses that keep from you all the truth.
We have separated ourselves from those entities and have formed what we call The American Republic. We do not have or need a flashy website or large one page ads in the news, we are not on talk shows, or CNN. We are not the subject of many, but we are known by Governments around the world. They know that their existence was created by people like us who grew tired of government and mounted invasions either thru violence or reason to replace. But we were not careful and found that in order to rule, one must be just and true, and now we have what we have now on this planet. Presidents have been assassinated for less information of what we know and can do. We decided to begin our new order in the United States of America, because it has been responsible for so much of the worlds problems and corruption. By recreating a new world order within the same one that has failed so many, will no doubt send a message to the rest of the world that change for the better is possible. Money and other tools we have. We do not need to solicit for existence, for we have what we need. We ask that each of you prepare for change and be aware of what is coming. Soon your pain and fear will turn to joy and happiness, and all of you will now have dignity and purpose without the fear of failure. There will be more reward than not.
We are a Legion of many, who will live a life of peace, and have respect for all living things, while having considerations for those who are different, and look for ways to truly accommodate those who are slow in understanding.
We support the poor, helpless, and defenseless people. We support the freedom of Women, we support the sane treatment of animals and the environment, we support the freedom of religion and expression. We do not support ignorance, period.
We are a growing nation of people that encourage anyone or Nation anywhere to become part of the New American Republic!
Sincerely,
Judah Ben-Hur
Ambassador
The American Republic
American Mujahideen Army Council
Headquarters: United States of America
AAaaah those dreamers.Never bothered by the simple facts that Al Quaida has only managed to grow in Iraq since the invasion,not present before .As for the silly logics that the USA will not allow the oil to be conrolled by islamist fundamentalists...Iraq was a secular state before the invasion .
The oil belongs to Iraq ,nobody else ,right ?Any theory that EXXONN or whatever company has more rights than the Iraqi is just ridiculous .Period .
Yeah, the oil is controlled by whomever.....Exxon only buys it. We were getting all the oil they could pump before the invasion, so I suspect it was not THE issue. It is an issue though.
As for Al Qaeda, they still exist, but their utility is almost gone in Iraq. The Iraqi's are actually stepping up, and the government is standing up. Mistakes...lots of them, but we are hardly to blame for their dysfunctional internal behavior.
I am almost ready to vote for a dem just to see how they deal with this little mess they helped create...any suggestions...?
We DON'T have alot of time on our hands...we are trying to save democracy as our founding fathers and world war II vets roll in their graves!!
'Never bothered by the simple facts that Al Quaida has only managed to grow in Iraq since the invasion,not present before '
All the ore reason to kill them there.
'As for the silly logics that the USA will not allow the oil to be conrolled by islamist fundamentalists...Iraq was a secular state before the invasion '
Iran (That dirty country that you love to defend) isn't and Iran wants to control the oil provinces of Iraq as well as the strait of Hormuz.
'The oil belongs to Iraq ,nobody else ,right ?'
'Any theory that EXXONN or whatever company has more rights than the Iraqi is just ridiculous .Period .'
No one said that they did you fool.
Remarkable statement from SP4:the democrats and the Iraqi are to blame for the present situation in Iraq:The democrats first of course as they believed the lies that your all were told by the neocon cabale;SP4 says that you should not have listened to Bush,Chenay,Rumsfeld and a few more,is that right SP4 ?Did I understand your position correctly .I distinctly remember you were told at least twenty times that the democrats voted for the war on the basis of 'evidence' presented to them about the presence of Al Quaida in Iraq and the WMD of Sadam 'lies of course ,not even honest mistakes ).
As you keep ignoring all the posts that point your attention to the reasons why democrats went to war with Bush,we can only deduct that they should NOT have believed Bush,there is simply no other explanation for it,right ?
As for the Iraqi people sharing responsibility ,I'd simply say that your lack of understanding their problems is just the consequence of your stupidity .The rest of the world fully understands that the whole invasion was bungled by Rumsfeld with all the dire consequences .The vacuum left by the disbanding of the Iraqi army and police forces after the invasion ,the indifference of your military staff during the looting of the infrastructure and arsenals have lad to this situation .Many,many more mistakes were made ;they are already common knowledge to all but you .Two possible scenarios exist to help explain your total misunderstanding of these facts .The first is complete stupidity,the second is the first plus a twisted vision of the world due to the swallowing of neocon propaganda .Help me out if there is a third explanation.Don't feel afraid to invoke help for that,the task might appear to difficult for you.
'The rest of the world fully understands... '
You are a nobody tonny, you don't speak for the 'rest of the world'.
Forget about Iraq for the moment, folks. Let's do something real about Tibet.
The U.S. should stand up for Tibetans and show the world that we are the true leader of freedom and democracy. We at the very least should re-open the CIA military training camp for the Dalai Lama's resistance fighters at Camp Hale near Leadville, Colorado.
We can ask Japanese to financially support the Free Tibet operation. Dalai Lama loves Japanese people. He enthusiastically endorsed a Japanese spiritual movement, 'Aum Shinrikyo', in 1980's-1990's.
We can also ask Germany for some substantial support from Europe. Germans had deep connections with Tibet in 1930's and 1940's. Dalai Lama's tutor in 1940's was Heinrich Harrer, a member of the 'Schutzstaffel'. These people are closely linked together. We can form a huge coalition force for sure to change Tibet back to Shangri-La.
We can't wait for any longer. Have a passion. Share a Dream. Free Tibet!
'We can also ask Germany for some substantial support from Europe.'
The europeans are useless and only care about themselves.
Illegal war in Iraq! By the Centre for Human Rights Abuse (CHRA).
Do these people have jobs? or do they consider complaining their job?
I am gay and want to go on a date with SP4.
Interested big boy? *wink*wink*
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grow up.Mar 21st, 2008 - 03:29:02
Must be great to have all that time on your hands...
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