Jan 25 2007
In This To Win
While Congress cries “uncle” to al Qaeda and whines “make it stop!” about a war they barely understand from their overstuffed chairs in DC, our heroic military is going all out to win this thing.
Mortar blasts thundered across central Baghdad on Wednesday as Iraqi and US forces fought insurgents in a Sunni bastion, after US President George W Bush pleaded for public support for his new security plan.
Iraqi and US troops backed by Apache helicopter gunships kicked off “Operation Tomahawk Strike 11” on Haifa Street, Iraq’s defence ministry said.
The Sunni Arab bastion was the site of three previous battles this month including one on January 9 that involved 1 000 US and Iraqi troops and in which Iraqi defence sources said 50 insurgents were killed.
On Wednesday, a steady barrage of machine-gun and mortar fire echoed for around three hours, followed by a lull and then sporadic fire by both light and heavy weapons.
America is not the home scared and the whining. It is the home of The Free and The Brave! And no spineless politician will ever remove that trait from this land. Time to clean house. If Democrats want to surrender – start by stepping down and showing how serious you are. If you want to lose, give up your seats, set an example. Give up your power first as a demonstration of how it is a good thing to succumb to the opposition.
that our soldiers would never lose on the field of battle is a foregone conclusion, however, stick a fork in us–we are finished. old bin was right. given time, the political class of the US would wilt. we have. now the game is viet nam ala 73-75.
as long as the political leaders/generals of terrorism and radical islam etc of iran, syria, sudan, hamas, hezzbollah and al sadr are alive we have no hope of winning. there is a reason cruise missiles were invented.
AJ
Why is it that those who support the President seek to ignore the fact that victory or failure in Iraq is not in our hands. It’s in the hands of a very corrupt and very incompetent Iraqi governement. If they fail to live up to their end of the bargain, then what? Do we the US send in more troops, do we spend more of our treasure in lives and money to prop up a regime that is not worth the sacrifices?
How long do we give the Iraqis to figure it out, to do their part in securing THEIR OWN country? Six months, Six Years, Six light years, how long?
President Bush did not heed the wise words of Collin Powell before beginning this adventure, “You break it you own it”.
When even the President figures out that the Iraq government is not going to work and do it’s job, then what? I personally like Biden’s “Three Little Iraq” plan, but lets not talk about alternatives to the President’s leadership shall we.
These were the questions we faced post-WWII against the Nazi Werewolves. What’s new?
And how long did it take to squash the Nazi Werewolves? Ten years! What’s new?
Lurker
So how long would you prop up the losers that pass for a government in Iraq? How many more lives are you willing to sacrifice ?
That’s reality, and no amount of “Stay the Course”, the Sky is falling or other slogans will change that reality.
“i like Biden???”
sure.
but can you find an emptier suit??
So the generals said to stay the course, and the President did. The dems said the President lied, he wasn’t listening to the generals. So they came up with a new plan, someone to execute it, who said we need more troops, and they pass a non-binding resolution to come home. The only conclusion to draw is they want to loose. When politics trumps Nation, then you can say you are not a patriot. The real war is in Afghanistan, so lets leave Iraq and fight in Afghanistan. Even a girl can figure out that is a stupid idea. And these guys run this country, holy cow!
“It’s in the hands of a very corrupt and very incompetent Iraqi governement”
Some people say this is Vietnam all over again. It sure is, because I’m hearing the same arguments today that I heard with regard to Vietnam. It’s Vietnam flashback time, with John Kerry once again leading the charge.
We can win in Iraq, because we in fact hold all the power cards. But we won’t win if our adversaries are convinced we will quit.
Steve_LA,
The government in Iraq was freely elected.You are giving them a shorter learning curve than our Founding Fathers had.
Colin Powell’s “break it, own it” two bit wisdom doesn’t apply because we didn’ break anything. And you are conviently ignoring the jihadist, Iranian and Syrian outside involvement.
Tri-partitioning Iraq is a blueprint for a ME regional war. Further, the borders would have to look like a jig saw puzzel and would result in endless micro skirmishes. Who would get the oil? What would Turkey do with the Kurds?
Bush’s new plan is not just “staying the course” it is adapting to different circumstances. To pull out is to invite catastrophy.
I have no idea how many Americans died because Walter Cronkite,
The NYTs, Jane Fonda, Ramsey Clark, John Kerry and their friends, along with members of the US Congress, kept telling the enemy that they could win in Vietnam. The American military did not lose in Vietnam, the American left sold out the American military. Now, we see the same thing again, in Iraq and Afghanistan American soldiers are dying, not because they don’t have the military skills to win, but because the American leftist terrorist supporters in America keep assuring the terrorists they can win. Sen Hagel, and other Republicans, standing with the Democrats to assure the terrorists that they will win. I never expected John Kerry and his friends to defend America, but to see Sen Hagel and others standing with
those who will not support America or it’s military heroes is sickening.
Pagar,
Agree.
Bush was clear that this is not “open ended” and he is clearly applying pressure on the Shia dominated government to reign in the militias to let the government work.
Steve_La
Lets play what if.
Suppose your state by whatever reason for example a biological attack lost your entire police force, both local and state.
How long do you think it would take to rebuild that capability?
You are talking about a country that was ruled by a dictator who kept his main army at the level of cannon fodder so they could not take him down.
You have scores being settled and a major religious site of one of the players being hit to incite the violence.
We have the first government of Iraq. Their will be different follow ons to the first draft that we now have.
You have so little faith in the outcome.
This ain’t a poptart that the toaster can throw up in a minute.
You are too short fused.
The biggest problem the dems have is there is so little time to lose this war. That is why they have stepped up their retoric. When, not if, we win in Iraq that will be the death knell for the dem party. They will not win the presidency in 2008. They see this clearly. Just like they saw Bush’s response to the war on terror on Sept ll, 2001. It was disastrous for the dem party.
They have weaved and sashayed back and forth for the last 6 years because they cannot grasp the golden ring and come up with a plan to win this war. So now they are saying there is no war. Perfect. Hiding their heads in the sand with their butts sticking up in the air to be screwed is not the answer.
The only thing the dems can agree on is whatever Bush wants they want the opposite. Witness at the end of last year they wanted more troops in Iraq. In fact they have said this for the last two years. They said this because the generals said they didn’t need any more troops and Bush listened to them. Now the generals say they want more troops and Bush again listened to them and the dems are firmly against sending more troops. It is fine to see the dems standing firmly for once. They have waffled so much you wonder if they can stand at all. It’s too bad they let politics trump country. Heaven help us if ANY democrat wins the presidency because non of them
acknowledge there is a war on terror as shown by the dem candidates at the SOTU.
Steve:
Iraqis die every day fighting for their country and some of them die just because they are in the wrong place at the wrong time. We made a promise to these people and if we just abandon them no one will ever trust us again.
It took ten years to give Japan back their government. Is there corruption in Iraq, no doubt there is. There is also corruption at the UN but I don’t hear the Democrats calling for us to pull out of the UN.
The truth is when we began our own country corruption almost brought down the first Congress before the Revolution was even won. They had to start over, more than once.
If we leave that country the terrorists will have won, the innocent will suffer and die and our word will be meaningless. For the life of me I do not know why any American would want that.
Steve’s gone missing.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Steve’s gone missing.
I suspect he just didn’t have a snappy comeback for Terrye’s excellent rebuttal.
Boys….
How about I’m at work where I can’t log in and post?
To your points, OK I’ll buy, give the Iraqis some time, but how much time you want to give them? Is it as long as Dear Leader Bush says, or do the people of this country and their elected representatives get a say?
One other question in reply. When is it time to cut your losses, when do you know you have a lousy hand and putting more chips in the pot is just dumb?
In Iraq, that clock has 6 months on it more or less in my book.
Same Dims but a different war. Don’t we still have troops in the former Yugoslavia; maybe we should withdraw them before we leave Iraq? Oh yeah I forgot, that was the Clinton war.
Everson.
It’s not a matter of if we pull out a substantial amount of our forces in Iraq, it’s when.
Any Democratic President will do it as the first thing they do after taking office.
Any Republican running for office will not be able to run on a platform backing President Bush’s war if things do not turn around by August or September of this year.
It’s that simple. The war will be over by January 2009 one way or the other, probably more like January 2008.
Steve-LA,
” When is it time to cut your losses” – not when you are on the verge of winning.
” or do the people of this country and their elected representatives get a say” – They did and Bush was elected to the job that conducts foreign policy and defends the nation.
” It’s not a matter of if we pull out a substantial amount of our forces in Iraq, it’s when” – No argument with that.
Finally, why can’t you acknowledge that Iraq is part of the global war against the jihadists? And if we fail there, the enemy will be much stronger.
Macker,
Platitudes pure and simple.
The question remains, how long are willing to stick it out in Iraq if things do not improve? It’s really a simple question and needs no slogans to explain.