“THE WAR IS OVER AND WE WON:” Michael Yon just phoned from Baghdad, and reports that things are much better than he had expected, and he had expected things to be good. “There’s nothing going on. I’m with the 10th Mountain Division, and about half of the guys I’m with haven’t fired their weapons on this tour and they’ve been here eight months. And the place we’re at, South Baghdad, used to be one of the worst places in Iraq. And now there’s nothing going on. I’ve been walking my feet off and haven’t seen anything. I’ve been asking Iraqis, ‘do you think the violence will kick up again,’ but even the Iraqi journalists are sounding optimistic now and they’re usually dour.” There’s a little bit of violence here and there, but nothing that’s a threat to the general situation. Plus, not only the Iraqi Army, but even the National Police are well thought of by the populace. Training from U.S. toops has paid off, he says, in building a rapport.
He says the big problem everybody is talking about now is corruption. But hey, we have that here, too. He’ll be heading to Afghanistan next week. “Afghanistan is a bad situation, but on Iraq I can’t believe things have turned out so well.”
He thinks that Obama will be able to pull troops out, and send some to Afghanistan, without creating problems in Iraq. Michael will be reporting from Afghanistan soon, and sending back video, so stay tuned. Things aren’t going swimmingly there.
Confederate Yankee – “We can declare victory because President Bush wouldn’t quit on his troops. If Barack Obama had his way, a triumphant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi would have had a chance to have made the same claim over the Caliphate of Iraq.”
Yup. I miss him already.
Funny Kate, I do too! Wonder how long it will take for Americans to feel the same.
“Peace In Iraq
Glenn Reynolds;
“THE WAR IS OVER AND WE WON:” Michael Yon just phoned from Baghdad”
+++
That would be “peace in Baghdad” [at least since Monday] —
31 Killed by Triple Bombing in Baghdad — 3 bombings in the largely Shiite neighborhood of Kasrah in mostly Sunni Adhamiya on Monday, killing 31 and wounding 71. There are lots of reasons for such an attack, but it is in part aimed at scaring Shiites living in Adhamiya into leaving; i.e. it was aimed in part at further ethnic cleansing of the capital. Most mixed neighborhoods in Baghdad have increasingly become monochrome in the past couple of years.
http://www.juancole.com/2008/11/31-killed-by-triple-bombing-in-baghdad.html
WOnder how long the “peace” will last after the US is gone and/or the Sunnis pay-offs are cut?
Do you also miss his $3 trillion bailout which lost the election for the Republicans? Or his new improved Medicare entitlement? Or his new support of a bailout for the car companies?
What about his appeasement of Iran? of Putin?
I despise Obama and his people, but we wouldn’t be in this mess if not for the unprincipled conservatives.
Bush, don’t let the bailout hit you on the way out.
It also looks like the final draft of the US withdrawal and support plan has been agreed to by the US and Iraq. Which means that the last (non support) US troops will be out of Iraq by the end of 2011 (and maybe even earlier – depending on conditions on the ground).
The second set of provincial elections are coming up and the second set of national elections are coming up in 2010.
And this glorious victory only took several hundred thousand deaths and the pending bankruptcy of the United States. Wonderful. Just don’t ask about the weapons of mass destruction.
http://communities.canada.com/ottawacitizen/blogs/katzenjammer/archive/2008/11/15/quot-the-war-is-over-and-we-won-quot.aspx
From day one, fewer people were being killed in Iraq under the American ‘occupation’ than under Saddam. As for the monetary cost, what price do you put on global security? Personally, I place a pretty high value on it, and fighting the jihadi over there instead of here was a very good idea.
Just watch Barry O! take all the credit for Bush’s hard work. And watch the ‘news’ media buy that lie 110%.
WMD? How many tons of yellowcake did they find?
RE: lberia…WOnder how long the “peace” will last after the US is gone and/or the Sunnis pay-offs are cut?
Perhaps you could tell us lberia. What do you think (hope?) would happpen? I think the war is almost over but I doubt that the US is leaving Iraq anytime soon. There is still plenty of work to do there. If Pres-elect Obama and the Dems have any brains at all there will be no repeat of Viet Nam. Too bad for you and yours lberia. Better “luck” next time. /sarc
Re: Dan Gardner…We won.
Who is we? Yes, Pres.Bush and his allies there have won the Iraq War Dan, but Canada was not involved. We are still at war and according to Yon, we are not winning.
For all the self-congratulating that goes on among Liberals over Chretien’s decision not to go to Iraq, there’s precious little discussion of the death/injury rate of the Aussies in Iraq vs Canadians in Afghanistan….
“I despise Obama and his people, but we wouldn’t be in this mess if not for the unprincipled conservatives.”
The bailout would not have been necessary, had it not started as a Democrat initiative with America’s worst president*, carter, and bullied through to its current rotten state by clinton & janet reno.
But don’t let the facts stand in the way of a good rant, eh?
mhb23re
at gmail d0t calm
* this title may be eclipsed within the next 4 years of Maobama’s 1st term
“For all the self-congratulating that goes on among Liberals over Chretien’s decision not to go to Iraq, there’s precious little discussion of the death/injury rate of the Aussies in Iraq vs Canadians in Afghanistan….”
Nail on head. In fact that’s a nice thought-experiment that I use with my (many) Bush-hating acquaintances, and they’re pretty uncomfortable about it. Canada has lost 100 soldiers as a result of Chretien’s decision to keep us out of Iraq (he didn’t really “decide” that, but that’s a different story). The Australians lost, what, 0 soldiers by their decision to join the coalition? I ask my acquaintances to explain to me why it was worse for the Australians to suffer so little loss in Iraq and better for Canada to suffer so much in Afghanistan. Cue their BDS at about that moment.
Wow, I can’t believe there are still people out there hoping the US will lose in Iraq at this late date. You would think they would start shifting their position to a new lie such as “There would be no victory without Democrats” or some such thing. But okay, if you want to remain defeatist, you do so at your own peril. By the way things are going in Iraq, if the US pulled its forces out of there entirely, violence would pick up, but the Iraqis themselves are much stronger than they were, and very likely could handle the problem themselves. Unlikely they’ll have to.
So far as the mortgage crisis goes, if it weren’t for the Democrats there would be no mortgage crisis. We have them to thank for that. President Bush even tried to regulate the industry and was unsuccessful because the Democrats who created the mess wouldn’t cooperate, and there is much video evidence to corroborate this. We can thank President Carter, President Clinton and Janet Reno, Barney Frank and Chris Dodd for the state the market is in today.
Despite what all these Liberals are saying, President Bush will be remembered for his resolve and achieving victory in Iraq.
Dan Gardner:
I guess you must have missed the story about tons and tons of yellowcake being shipped from Iraq to Canada for use in our nuclear reactors.
Here’s a link to the July 5 Associated Press story, just in case you missed it.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25546334/
As of March, 2008, the number of Australian military lost in Iraq is ‘2’.
Remember, Chretien’s decisions were/are never about Canada, never about what is good for others, never based on any ethical principles. Never. His decisions refer only to himself, his own financial power, his own agenda of power.
In the world of the MSM its still the green zone. Don’t expect this to show up in the Media unlerss Obama gets credit, or uses it for pulling out.
“Despite what all these Liberals are saying, President Bush will be remembered for his resolve and achieving victory in Iraq.”
Posted by: CanuckInMI
Haha. President Bush will be remembered as the President who ignored warnings and allowed 9/11 to happen; he will be remembered as the President who started a war with the WMD lie; he will be remembered as the President who allowed US personnel to commit human rights abuses in the name of “security”; and finally, he will be rememebered as the President who was in charge when the greatest financial meltdown since the great depression occured. All of these things happened on HIS watch, and history won’t forget, even though you right whingers wiggle and squirm and blame every Democrat back to FDR.
Iberia:
1) When raped, always blame the victim.
2) In case you missed the news, stockpiles for the WMD’s ended up in Canada in July.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25546334/
3) Khalid Shaik Mohammad revealed there was a plot to bring down some huge builiding in Los Angeles … after he was waterboarded. Apparently, that building is still standing.
4) The housing bubble was caused by lack of oversight.
Despite their rhetoric against Wall Street, a majority of Democats voted for the $700 billion bailout bill, while a majority of Republican voted AGAINST it.
Who were the Democrats trying to protect while sticking the taxpayers with the bill?
Just curious, but would the Dan Gardner posting here be the same Dan Gardner that writes the liberal/left slanted opinion pieces in columns syndicated to the Ottawa Citizen and lots of small town newspapers?
I’ll drink to that.
Hey set you free, you must mean “when caught raping, always blame the victim.” A good motto for right whinger to live by.
No, Iberia, I mean your statement that Bush knew it was coming is equivalent to blaming the rape victim for the rape.
See, the US was the victim of the attack.
There have been many cases in history where the rapist said in court something like ‘she asked for it.’
Is that not what your jihadist friends also say … that the US not only asked for it, but deserved it?
Rape is not a question that can be resolved politically.
Unless you have statistics that can prove that rapes decrease with an increased involvement of the state in individual’s lives, it is a totally specious argument.
So, I’m guessing you believe the 3,000 innocents, mostly secretaries and support staff, asked for it somehow. Correct?
mhb wrote:
“I despise Obama and his people, but we wouldn’t be in this mess if not for the unprincipled conservatives.”
The bailout would not have been necessary, had it not started as a Democrat initiative with America’s worst president*, carter, and bullied through to its current rotten state by clinton & janet reno.
But don’t let the facts stand in the way of a good rant, eh?”
How was it a rant? I was responding to Kate’s regard for Bush.
Yes, I know the Democrats possess the lion’s share of blame for the housing credit crisis — nothing in my post disputes that. But, the bailout is NOT and COULD NEVER BE “necessary.” Nothing can necessitate government intervention, which many conservatives keep making immoral excuses for.
You do NOT solve a problem caused by heavy and vicious government intervention with MORE government intervention. You do the tough, unpopular thing and let the well-run financial firms buy up the badly-run ones and then life goes on. You do NOT submit to gangland whining about how “thousands will lose their jobs.” What has now happened is that the problem has been exacerbated and guess what? NOBODY’s lending!
Moreover, when you cave in to such corporate welfare pressures, you give the Right a bad name. Bush does not even have the usual excuse of the measure being politically popular: it wasn’t. He did it because he has NO understanding of economic principles.
In any case, you are free to disagree with me and call my posts “rants.” Just don’t complain when the Left exploit your compromises in order to march you more quickly into a deepening slavery.
“So, I’m guessing you believe the 3,000 innocents, mostly secretaries and support staff, asked for it somehow. Correct?”
Bush was negligent. Period.
So, America deserved to be raped.
You’ve made your position perfectly clear.
“set you free” must stand for your opinion on personal accountability, or your grip on logic. The buck stops with Bush. Just like a captain is ultimately responsible for his ship. It has nothing to do with “America deserving to be raped.”
“We have won in Iraq”. Must be nice to live in a dream world. As soon as the US pulls enough troops out of there , all hell will probably break loose and that sorry assed excuse they call a army will fall apart. The Shiites,Kurds and sunni all hate each other and the only reason there has been a semblance of peace is because they have been kept separated. All 3 hate infidels
. The enemy has infinate patience and see the war over a period of a lifetime and their sons lifetime. We will be a blip in their history, and their future will not include Democracy .
All wars are political. Our politicans should study the last thousand years to see what the future has in store. These people may be uneducated but the are certainly not stupid. They know they can wait it out and that time is on their side.
set you free, yes, the non existent yellow cake was shipped here through montreal for disposal. that got zero play in the u.s. media.
To assert that GWB had eight months to prepare for 9/11 is to deny the facts. Aside from removing keyboard letters, door knobs, and other souvenirs from the White House, Democrats made sure that the transfer of power went as slowly and painfully as possible. Appointments in the Defense and State Depts dragged on far into the following year! Top NSC special assistant for intelligence programs, Mary Sturtevant had been on the job only eight weeks before the 9/11 attacks. Sen. Carl Levin personally, and for apparent partisan purposes, held up the confirmation hearings of Bush’s appointees who were to design the U.S. antiterrorism strategy – Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith, Assist. Sec. of Defense for Intern. Security Programs J.D. Crouch and Assist. Sec. of Defense for Intern. Security Affairs Peter W. Rodman – refusing to allow them to take office until LATE JULY 2001. While Levin was holding up their appointments, the incoming Pentagon policy team had no legal or political authority to do their vital jobs. Is it clear why Bush is now helping the new administration take over as seamlessly as possible? Stop with the blather. Pfui!
“W” is a little too compassionate and not conservative enough for my taste. It is clear his first intent was to safeguard the country NO MATTER WHAT. Regardless of his immigration strategy and the bailout, if he was allowed to run again, I’d vote for him again. That way I’d still be around to read blogs and laugh at left wing, groupthink trolls. He is a principled man, and I admire him deeply.
Off topic, is it me or is Michele O on prozac?