"I sometimes get emails asking me to propose solutions or make suggestions. Fine. Today’s lesson: don’t rape, don’t torture, don’t kill and get out while you can- while it still looks like you have a choice… Chaos? Civil war? Bloodshed? We
And then there is this - more murdering thugs employed by the murderous thugs in DC. But bush will have the Iraqis carry on with the torture so there won’t be an outcry then. And there’s a reminder of the “glorious” vietnam war sham:
[size=150][b]Operation Phoenix Rises from the Ashes of history
Death squads didn
And this:
Mr. Rumsfeld also warned that investigators had more pictures, and even videos, of a “sadistic, cruel and inhuman” nature. “It’s going to get still more terrible, I’m afraid,” Mr. Rumsfeld said.
[quote=“Washington Post”]
[color=red][b]Dissension Grows In Senior Ranks On War Strategy
U.S. May Be Winning Battles in Iraq But Losing the War, Some Officers Say
[/color][/b]
By Thomas E. Ricks
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, May 9, 2004
Deep divisions are emerging at the top of the U.S. military over the course of the occupation of Iraq, with some senior officers beginning to say that the United States faces the prospect of casualties for years without achieving its goal of establishing a free and democratic Iraq.
Their major worry is that the United States is prevailing militarily but failing to win the support of the Iraqi people. That view is far from universal, but it is spreading and being voiced publicly for the first time.
Army Maj. Gen. Charles H. Swannack Jr., the commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, who spent much of the year in western Iraq, said he believes that at the tactical level at which fighting occurs, the U.S. military is still winning. But when asked whether he believes the United States is losing, he said, “I think strategically, we are.”
Oh dear. More gloom and doom. The US has totally botched Iraq. Remember the constitution that was not er that was signed, the civil war that was supposed to break out but didn’t break out, the famine and refugee crisis that er didn’t happen, the link up between Shias and Sunnis that er did not happen, the spark in Fallujah that was going to bring the whole mess crumbling down and then Sadr and his Shia rebellion that was going to light the whole country? Now, we have the torture and abuse of prisoners and I expect that it will last just so long before the next “crisis” arises. Really, people, it is so patently obvious that most of you just want this effort to suffer to make Bush look bad not for any moral or principles reasons but just because you dislike Bush. Do any of you think that failure of the US forces in Iraq will be good for the Iraqi people that some of you claim to be so concerned about? I think that we will just keep soldiering on and with it will come that success.
In WWII, there was a big fight between the military, the public and the polititians. The military and public wanted to go after the Japanese first and the administration wanted to hit the Germans first. The administration won. Many in the military said it was because of the perceived control the British had over FDR.
If everyone in the military and administration were agreed on what to do in Iraq, then I’d be worried.
Besides as far as all this goes, I am convinced that with Saddam and sons gone, we have already won. We are winning another war which is to reshape Iraq but we already won WON yeah! the fight against Saddam and Sons. Now we are in rebuild mode. The fact that we beat Hitler was real even if it took us 60 years to make Germany a civilized country at peace with its neighbors and then during reunification, even this was not a foregone conclusion when Kohl and his administration refused for weeks to officially recognize Poland’s western border.
"The neoconservatives had ulterior motives too: almost all were fervent believers in the state of Israel and, as a prominent Turkish official told me last week, “they didn’t want Saddam’s rockets falling on Tel Aviv.” At the very least, they were hoping to intimidate the Palestinians into accepting Ariel Sharon’s vision of a “state” without sovereignty.
Abu Ghraib made a mockery of American idealism. It made all the baser motives
We lost when we crossed the border without international sanction. The rest has been just trying to get the NeoCon Reich dreamers to admit that their dreams of world domination are insane.
Yes, Fred, I am sure you are right, we are winning the hearts and souls of the Iraqi people and arabs around the world and our actions will do wonders to bring peace and stability to the world.
An American civilian who had gone to Iraq to look for work was captured last month by Islamic militants and beheaded, his family and American officials said, in an execution that was videotaped and briefly posted on a Web site today. In the tape, which is of poor quality, masked men who claim to have ties to Al Qaeda say the execution is vengeance for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers in Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad.
. . . the masked men push the seated man to the floor, saw off his head as he screams and then hold it aloft, according to Reuters. The tape was briefly made public on a Web site linked to Islamic militants . . . The victim himself speaks on the videotape shortly before he is killed. “My name is Nick Berg, my father’s name is Michael . . . I have a brother and sister, David and Sarah,” says the man . . . In a statement read before the beheading, the captors said the civilian’s death would be revenge for the reported abuses suffered by Iraqi captives at the hands of American soldiers in the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad.
Oh dear Revenge in the Muslim/Arab World:
That must be why they beheaded Daniel Pearl was because of the abuse of Iraqi prisoners. NO? Oh then Israel’s abuse of the Palestinians etc. Sorry this stuff don’t cut no sympathy with me anymore. Since WWII the Arabs have been whining about the unfairness of life and since 1970s they have been blowing things up or killing people. That is going to have to come to an end but please do continue blaming yourselves and the West for Arab violence. Remember to do the same the next time you are mugged, someone you know is raped, etc. etc. It’s all about root causes and defending ourselves will only make them angrier. Right?
And in yet another set back for the US administration: (Greek Chorus: Doom Doom Doom Gloom Gloom Gloom. Disaster is set to fall upon us. OH no Oh dear oH Tragedy of life)
Iraqi general urges support of US troops
Posted: Sunday, May 16, 4:05pm EDT
A former Saddam Hussein-era general appointed by the Americans to lead an Iraqi security force in the rebellious Sunni stronghold of Fallujah urged tribal elders and sheiks Sunday to support US efforts to stabilize Iraq.
Retired Maj. Gen. Mohammed Abdul-Latif rose to prominence after nearly monthlong battles last month between the Marines monthlong battles in April between the Marines and insurgents hunkered down in Fallujah’s neighborhoods.
“We can make them (Americans) use their rifles against us or we can make them build our country, it’s your choice,” Latif told a gathering of more than 40 sheiks, city council members and imams in an eastern Fallujah suburb.
The siege of this city of 200,000 people, located about 40 miles west of Baghdad, was lifted when top Marine officers announced the creation of the Fallujah Brigade - a force made exclusively of former Iraqi army officers.
The Marines withdrew from Fallujah into the rural hinterland and far-flung suburbs, allowing the Iraqi force to take up positions and start patrols inside the city. The brigade is expected to number about 1,500 men, many of them conscripts or noncommissioned officers under Saddam.
It’s just a shame that JPB 111 or whatever number he is decided to disband the entire Iraqi army last year. Might have made life considerably easier.
Well:
From what I know, the Iraqi Army kind of melted away and was not really even around to disband. But during any war or any strategy for that matter (you could even be marketing shampoo or tooth paste) things change, something does not work out as planned. Then, you change your strategy.
Iraq is proving far more difficult and so the strategy has to change. We were supposed to be down to 90K troops by now. We are still at 140K. Obviously, that is a very major difference AND the reconstruction is not as easy or going as well as planned. So the strategy has to change.
I think that it is reassuring however that Kurdistan (20 percent of Iraq’s population) is stable and booming. Fallujah is now quiet. That could have been a disaster but now we have an innovative solution, an Iraqi general untainted by Saddam era atrocities has taken over the helm and if that is what is required to “pacify” the area then so be it. Now, we have more time to concentrate on the long-term problem of al Sadr and his Iranian connections. Time to deal with him and hopefully this too will go well and then 6 weeks to the transfer or power.
It would be very nice if things calm down then (though we should not give too much power to the UN) so we can get troop levels down to 90K. Let’s see what happens.
Duh. About time somebody figured that one out.
"Today, Fallouja is for all intents and purposes a rebel town, complete with banners proclaiming a great victory and insurgents integrated into the new Fallouja Brigade
But Fallujah is quiet and that is the main point and if we do not have to be responsible for security in the city or preferably in the region then that is what we wanted all along. The US never wanted to be in control of the day to day security of Iraq and that obviously has led to many problems in the short term. Rumsfeld, and this is open to debate, chose to send fewer troops and get out faster so that the Iraqis and not the US would be responsible for their own country. This is obviously not happening on target but I think that we should continue to pull ourselves out after dealing with the biggest threats to a unified Iraqi government (i.e. Sadr) but if this general who was responsible for much of the prewar information we had about Iraq and its defenses can help so much the better. These types of rehabilitated former leaders can be very useful and we should try to get more of them on board. And as to the oft stated claim that Bremer disbanded the army, that was not really true. It pretty much just “melted away.” So, let’s see how things pan out with Sadr, who is after all funded and supported by the Iranians who hardly have an interest in a stable democratic Iran.
The only thing that worries me about this is that it has really slowed or brought completely to a stop, reconstruction and that is what is needed to achieve overall stability, but hey, has anyone noticed how quiet much of the Sunni Triangle is now? That at least has got to count for something and if they post banners bragging about their victory over the US so what? It might be good for Arab root causes and all that wounded pride if they have something to save face. Why not? If it works and gets us out sooner, I am all for it.
Fred,
When you say “gets us out” do you mean “gets us out out” or “makes it look like we’re getting out out”?
Anyway, I thought you were planning on staying “in” for the next fifty years or so a la South Korea, Japan, Germany.
Maybe I’ve just answered my own question. You’re going to be “out-in” and just declare yourself “out” and anyone who questions that version of reality, well, “off with his head, the imbecile!”
It’s tough for me to keep up with neocolonialist-speak. It’s almost as convoluted as (may it RIP) commissar-speak. It’s the swings from “mushroom clouds over Manhattan!” to “that’s a complete non-issue” that leave me disoriented.
The above questions and comments are, of course, academic, since you’re not getting out of Iraq in our lifetime even if you wanted to. You’re trapped. There isn’t anything or anyone now who can fill the power vacuum you’ve created in the heart of the strategic Middle East with the occupation meter currently running at $6 billion give or take a month.
And to think you did this all out of noblesse oblige.
No Spook:
I mean that as in Germany, Japan and South Korea, we were never supposed to take over the day to day police and security operations, borders, etc. We were only supposed to main a strategic presence in the country to act as a counterweight but most of the troops were to be out of the day to day stuff. That is still our goal and perhaps one that we will achieve despite your handwringing. After all, while this is more difficult than many of us imagined, the total number of troops dead in combat is 546 after 1.2 years. The total cost has been US$50 billion for Iraq in the first year and probably a similar amount again this year.
Now, if the locals can take over security operations in Fallujah and other places and proclaim their victory, fine as long as the bombings stop and security improves. The US forces together with the new Iraqi force are conducting joint patrols in Fallujah even as we speak. Works for me. Let’s expand that idea.
Also, I do not think that it is a bad idea to get rid of al Sadr and the Iranian influence before June 30 to ensure that there are no problems later.
Unfortunately for our side, the Pentagon is now committed to troop levels at 135 K until next year. This should have been down to 90K by now with say 50K next year. So, yes, we are now officially behind schedule and we still have not discovered wmds so you got us on two counts. Is Iraq improving? I think that it is, but let’s see what happens after the new governing council takes over. Do we need help? Of course. Can we do it without support from other countries? I think so. Would be nice, however, to have say 30 to 40K peacekeeping forces from nations such as Morocco, Pakistan, India, etc. and we did believe that we would get 20K but we didn’t so color us wrong. AND those types of peacekeeping troops would pretty much be worthless in the kinds of situations that we are facing with insurgency. So… guess we had better concentrate on getting a real national force up and running and then… we can pull back and do the strategic thing.
Am I worried? Of course, but am I confident? Yes.
MOORE FILM at CANNES BRINGS DOWN HOUSE: LONGEST STANDING OVATION ‘IN HISTORY OF CANNES’ FOR BUSH BASH FILM:
20 mins standing ovation for FAHRENHEIT 9-11, yelling, screaming, cheering… ‘This is the longest standing ovation in the history of the festival! Unbelievable!’ declared Cannes stalwart Thierry Fremaux. Moore, raising fist, unable to speak over crowd, vows to fight… Controversial scene in film shows wounded American GI in Iraq talking about how Democrats must win election… Movie shows video of U.S. soldiers laughing as they place hoods over Iraqi detainees, with one of them grabbing a prisoner’s genitals through a blanket…