Comments on: Top General To Ask For Pause In Drawdown

Official Says Petraeus Wants "Period Of Assessment" To Study Effects Of Troop Cuts

[excoachken]

Once again Petraeus comes through with a political statement for the Cowardly Cowboy. Just when does the 2012 Pretaeus Presidential campaign officially begin?

[tulcak]

donbl1, and chris matthews should get along famously... you guys think everything should be run like a business and that we are all salespersons selling ourselves to the highes bidder... what a sad, sick world you live in. the iraq war is not a business, people die there everyday and the rest live in fear and horrible conditions... but, i guess to you, they are not really "people"... they''re arabs or muslims or islamists or whatever... there are many things that should not be run like a business - government is one, so is health care, education, infrastructure, nation building, energy utilites, child care, marriages, relationships, well, the list is endless... even businesses should not be run like a business (at least not they way we''ve come to define what business is)... the ultimate purpose of a business should not be profit, but, what can the business provide for the people and the country. business never used to be selfish, until raygunomics covered us with its shadow...

[taotxzen]

Afghanistan mission close to failing - US

Injection of troops and aid has not brought stability says intelligence chief

After six years of US-led military support and billions of pounds in aid, security in Afghanistan is "deteriorating" and President Hamid Karzai''s government controls less than a third of the country, America''s top intelligence official has admitted.

Mike McConnell testified in Washington that Karzai controls about 30% of Afghanistan and the Taliban 10%, and the remainder is under tribal control.

The Afghan government angrily denied the US director of national intelligence''s assessment yesterday, insisting it controlled "over 360" of the country''s 365 districts. "This is far from the facts and we completely deny it," said the defence ministry.

But the gloomy comments echoed even more strongly worded recent reports by thinktanks, including one headed by the former Nato commander General James Jones, which concluded that "urgent changes" were required now to "prevent Afghanistan becoming a failed state".

[taotxzen]

McCain''s Iraq Fantasia

Posted by Joe Klein, TIME.com

John McCain continues to fight a different war in Iraq than...the U.S. military. It is a simple war of good v. evil, us v. Al Qaeda. There are aspects of truth to what he says--we''ve had good success this past year in the fight against the local branch of Al Qaeda, which the military calls Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). But we''ve had that success mostly because Iraq''s Sunni population turned on the terrorists and sent them packing.

Which brings us to today''s edition. The political news was: McCain takes a roundhouse swing at Obama; Obama counterpunches elegantly. But what caught my Iraq-obsessed eye was this statement from McCain:
"And my friends, if we left, they (al-Qaida) wouldn''t be establishing a base," McCain said Wednesday. "They''d be taking a country, and I''m not going to allow that to happen, my friends. I will not surrender. I will not surrender to al-Qaida."

(cont)

[taotxzen]

(cont)

They''''d be taking a country? Last time I checked, Iraq has a Shi''''ite majority. McCain thinks the Shi''''ites--the Mahdi Army, the Badr Corps (and yes, the Iranians)--would allow a small group of Sunni extremists to take over? In fact, as noted above, the vast majority of indigenous Iraqi Sunnis aren''''t too thrilled about the AQI presence in their country, either. (The usual caveats apply: AQI is barbaric, dastardly and intent on violating the Qu''''ran by engaging in the annihilation of innocents. We can''''t get rid of them fast enough.)

The sadness here is that McCain knows better. He knows the complexities of the world, and the region. But I suspect he''''s overplaying his Iraq hand in order to win favor with the wingnuts in his party. That is extremely unfortunate: As McCain should know better than anyone, it is extremely dishonorable for politicians to play bloody-shirt games when the nation is at war.

[donbl1]

Probably makes sense to pause until the remaining troops have all been repositioned in Iraq and "fine tuning" of their responsibilities has been completed.

Same thing happens in business when reorganizing.

[tulcak]

jwind11, so you let bush do your thinking for you? you''d made a good communist or nazi... don''t think just agree and shut up. surprise, surprise, surprise, the extra troops are going to stay!! bush and mccain never intend to bring any troops home, they''ll just keep fooling you dumbas*es like jwind11... yes fuhrer whatever you want, here, tap my phone - don''t bother with a warrant, tell us lies, because we will believe your lies over any truths the democrats tell us, we believe you about global warming because we hate Al Gore even though 95% of the world''s scientists are raising the alarm... you are stupid, and you definitely are not an American... Live free or die!!!

[glossypan]

$275,000,000 per DAY for the occupation of Iraq.
We borrow that money from China and the Muslim OPEC nations.
Not only has it destroyed our economy, owing hundreds of billions of dollars to the Chinese and Saudis is a threat to our national security.
John Mccain = Four More Years of
Eternal War - Borrow & Spend

[jwind11]

no one on here is getting the information that only the military and the president get about iraq, so you aren''t qualified for your idiotic opinions

[mbcsmith]

Ah yes, another 6-month pause for reflection by Betrayus.

So, the way works is we do things for a year, year and a half, and then we stop and evaluate?

We''''re surrounded by marching morons and this General is their leader.


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Posted by Nancy_Naive at 05:31 AM : Mar 01, 2008


Moron.org and George Soros have a very dangerous view of America''s future. Socialism and weak national defense are their goals. One world order.

As for this moron.org poster calling our ranking general in Iraq a traitor just shows America what useless pieces of shiite LIBS really are.

[mbcsmith]

Democracy? Constitutional Goverbnment?


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Posted by glossypan at 08:20 AM : Mar 01, 2008

Kill al-quida and security for America.

[glossypan]

American People: Less Involvement In Iraq!
** ** ** **
Bush / Cheney / McCain: Sit On It & Spin!
We Are The Deciders! We Will Do As We Please!
** ** ** **
Result: MORE troops in Iraq. MORE money spent.
====================
Democracy? Constitutional Goverbnment?

[mcvet]

The problem we have is one of Incompetence folks. Not that I''m saying the General is Incompetent, he''s trying to make Chicken Salad. The Incompetence is putting our military in a situation where the General must attempt to make Chicken Salad. We can continue to dance this dance of failure or we can do something about it. Vote DEMOCRATIC this fall!! Sieg Heil Bush

[blondienewsp]

If we want our troops home, we need to elect one of the Democratic candidates. i have a family member leaving this week for Iraq. It is his platoons second tour over there. This isn''t a surge, it''s the destruction of our soldiers, physically, mentally, and death. Gen Betray us, who made you God?

[nearl4511]

Patraed again, I am afraid.

Well. Not surprised. This was the view from the top all along. I feel for the soldiers and their families who are being asked to extend tours, double back, and sacrifice again without commesurate compensation. Politicians do not seem willing to face up to the responsibility to make the harder decisions to help them (like really consider a draft, or provide extra pay or benefits relative to sacrifice).

This situation isn''t going to change soon (but maybe before 100 years!)

[skyk-2009]

Of all the embarrassing events in our nations history THIS has to rank right up there with the biggest. Yet another failure, yet another delay, yet another Mission Accomplished (well not quite). Can anyone out there tell me ONCE, just once during the 6 years we''ve been slogging through this mess that ANYTHING has happened as we were told it would? I can''t think of ONE time that Bush and his Administration have told us the truth about this "War" or our involvement in it. NOT ONCE.

[ontheleft]

''Instead of calling it an escalation''
Posted by incog-nito at 02:21 AM

I wouldn''t call it an escalation either. It''s more like being bogged down and holding steady with no end in sight.

One of the main reasons for the decrease in violence is not the ''surge'' but the construction of fences and barriers to separate the Sunnis and the Shias in volatile areas of Iraq.

No relief is in sight until there is a political solution, and we know from the news reports that there is minimal progress in that direction.

[incog-nito]

If the "surge" really worked, shouldn''t more U.S. be coming home by now? I mean that was the idea, wasn''t it? Instead of calling it an escalation, they used the word "surge" to sell it to the public as a temporary increase in troops, to be followed by a gradual drawdown and eventual redeployment.

Bottom line, the surge is a failure. It did not bring about the stability desired, and that''s why the troops are still there, and will be there a long time. Call it what it really is, and escalation. Think Vietnam.

[ajaxtheleast]

Why doesn''t somebody introduce this ******
to the Choking Game. I believe he''d love it.

[jerr11]

This General Betrayus have been giving away free money (American Taxpayers money) to the sunni warlords and islamist hoodlums to buy the peace in Iraq.

Great strategy!

If you can''t fight ''em, buy ''em. With taxpayers dollars of course.

And they tell us the "Surge" is working!

Of course it is!

It''s Bush''s spending "Splurge," with American taxpayers money.

Meanwhile back in the US of A.

Gas at $4 a gallon.

Homeowners losing their homes.

Poor kids have no health insurance.

And the folks in Katrina are still living in the streets.

This Bush white house has its priorities right!

Look after these islamist hoodlums!

And forget those poor losers in New Orleans!