Iraq: Open your eyes, your mind and celebrate

Read THIS

For purposes of this discussion, I dont care which side of the issue you are on... I dont care whether you think it's about blood and oil or making Halliburton rich. For that is not the point of this piece.

The point of this piece is that the war in Iraq is won. There is no Iraqi organized insurgency that should bring it back to 'quagmire' status. There is no civil war.. there are only pockets of thug-killers.

There is only some externally led pockets of resistance. In almost EVERY neighborhood, the citizens of that neighborhood will turn them in to the first IA or coalition soldier they meet. Unfortunately, the enemy will sometimes use this to create the latest 'atrocity'.. so when you read of those, you might want to keep following those stories.

Some of you wont realize the good news because the media evidence is hard to come by... you have to actually 'read between the lines' of MSM reporting to understand it. For example; the news that the Marines want to leave Iraq for Afghanistan.

The point is that the US military has proved itself flexible, compassionate, intelligent {please! dont fall back on anecdotes.. think of the BIG picture}.

That the US had to resort to Plan Z is not the point. {Nor is it that Plan Z should have been Plan A... it actually WAS Plan A. The US just didnt give it the time or resources to work.}

That Al Quaeda actually defeated itself is not the point either.. though perhaps it is the only way things could have worked out the way they have.

The point IS that the war could still be lost, but only the Iraqi's can lose it.

The point is that when the next poll of Iraqis, across the entire spectrum of Sunni -including Baathist, Shiite, and Kurd, is held.. the majority of each and the majority overall will show they dont want the US to leave anytime soon.. but they want the US out of their areas in about 18 months.

After they have a firm grip on their security.

Brits and Americans should be proud of the performance of their militaries. As proud as their militaries are of themselves.

Please dont rely on what is written, even by those who were in Iraq as late as early this year. The change is mindboggling.

Michael Yon has been embedded with US and Brit forces many times over the last years and here's what he says:

Please read the whole piece.. Yon is not just saying things arent as most are led to believe, he's so disturbed by the misleading and missing reporting of the actual facts that he is giving away his workproduct to Newsprint organizations so that a balanced voice can be heard.

And believe me... he's not a cheerleader. He's had some REALLY unkind things to say in the last few years, especially about the desk-warriors in the Pentagon and Central Command.

 

- Ted Rall

 

Al Qaeda on the Run

Read Michael Yon

Brings the interesting likelihood that there'll be some instances of AQI guy running toward a US army patrol to save himself.

more...

Which more than explains Bin Laden's gloomy tape.

In fact, the Iraqi unemployment rate in 'turned areas' outside Baghdad is dropping drastically... to as low as 20% rather than the typical 50 %.

It wont be long though until there's going to be a quiet settling of accounts among the Iraqi's on the causes of reconstruction being held up. Because those guys who sabotaged infrastructure wont have been able to keep their mouths shut, they'll be disappeared.

Too bad there's so little effort to bring western media to account for the sabotage they have done.
In fact, still are.... as some rag thought it important to interview Iraqis about the finding of a shark 160 miles inside Iraq until they found someone who thinks it's a plot by the US to kill their children.

Or just outright lying: Time Magazine
Note they 'corrected' the quote about how much of Baghdad security would be in the hands of the Iraqi's but they still have the fictitious '20 headless bodies found..' in their lede.

THAT is a lie... everyone says it's a lie and never happened. But let's face it...

 

RE: Al Qaeda on the Run

Right after we bring them all home from Korea and Germany...

Convenient you forget why the Iraqis didnt trust us in the FIRST place.
Well, here's a reminder... we won the war once before, we bugged out and handed it to the diplomats.

heh!

 

If you take us out of Korea and Germany, that gives me no interesting places to go to. No offense, Don, but I am not a fan of San Antonio. I spent a part of my childhood at Brooks AFB, and did not enjoy the return trip to Lackland for Basic training or school.

 

Wanna address what I said... wanna poll the Iraqis on what they want want to ask the soldiers, even those dont think they should be there in the first place?

LOSS of Infrastructure?!!! What infrastructure? What 'infrastructure' was destroyed was done in the Gulf War..... how much did Saddam rebuild?
How many palaces did Saddam build under the oversight of your 'world body of diplomacy'? What happened to that money? Who sabotaged the infrastructure?

Talk about twisting... you didnt address WHY Iraqis didnt trust us, but you know, dont you.

Are you SO tied up in the meme?

Just asking.

 

We have TOO many still in Europe and Korea.

I'm not talking about those needed for staged operational centers. I'm talking about regular infantry and armor troops.

'Interesting places to go' I think that's still a part of why we have so many there.
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Speaking of...

Don.. and you Paulians.. read up on 'Law of the Sea Treaty'. That's where I'm going next.

 

So you DO know what you are saying! But I know what you ARENT saying! And, I bet, so do you.. you are misleading these chillun!

Tell em how much power the REST of Iraq got, Don? Unless Saddam was hanging around those parts...

Huh... huh?

There was NO real loss of generating capacity due to this war.. there WERE lots of worn out equipment and sabotaged transmission lines.

The FIRST baathists back on the job, by the way, were utilities guys... and that happened quick.

Now do you want to tell these chillun WHY there are still shortages? Will you couch it in terms of capacity vs usage.

Or you gonna go on on another tangent about that great civil war going on... Dont forget those 20 decapitited bodies and GI's running atround with skulls on their heads.