Iraq Panel Report Gets Varied Reaction

Lawmakers, White House And Troops React With Praise, Criticism And Skepticism

(CBS/AP)  Nearby buildings have been leveled by rocket or tank fire, and others are riddled with bullet holes. The neighborhood has electricity for only a few hours a day, and most streets are barricaded with barbed wire and blast walls.

"It's like holding a child's hand. How long can you hold onto his hand before he does something on his own?" Johnson said. "How much longer do we have to get shot at or blown up?"

The panel recommended the U.S. reduce political, military or economic support if the Iraqi government cannot make substantial progress toward national reconciliation and that American forces shift to a training role.

1st Lt. Gerard Dow said he agreed with the commission's assessment that the situation in Iraq was "grave and disappointing."

"In Iraq, we try to win the hearts and minds of population," said Dow, 32, of Chicago. "They want Americans out of here. They blame us for all their problems. They look at us as the terrorists and then they turn around and help the terrorists who are trying to kill us."

Dow trained Iraqi soldiers in Ramadi and in the north during his first assignment in Iraq. He doubts that U.S. forces will be able to hand over the fighting by early next year as the commission recommends.

"The Iraqi Army is getting there," he said. "But they are still not where they need to be, and I doubt they will be by then. Too many times, they are in a selfish state of mind. Too often they are along for the ride while we do the work for them."

He said the largely Shiite soldiers sometimes loot homes, fail to follow orders and openly acknowledge that they don't trust the Sunni population.

"They are only going to do the right thing if someone's watching and they know they will be punished if they don't," he said. "That's not every soldier. I have met some great guys, but it is a lot of them. They don't care — and this is their country."

Asked if he was frustrated with the situation in Ramadi, he replied: "That doesn't cover it."

"U.S. soldiers are dying trying to help people who don't want their help," he said. "That makes you angry."

Dow said elders at a nearby mosque broadcast messages saying Americans are the cause of all the problems in Ramadi, the capital of restive Sunni-dominated Anbar province, 70 miles west of Baghdad.

The soldiers here also welcomed news that Robert Gates had been named to replace Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. Gates told a Senate committee Tuesday that "all options are on the table" about how to resolve the Iraq crisis.

"Yes, please! All of us want to change what we're doing, because we're not doing very much," said Staff Sgt. Rony Theodore, 33, of Brooklyn, N.Y.

Wiacik also hoped for change.

"We're just sitting around not making any progress. It's annoying. You're not motivated to help anybody," he said, adding his contract was up in 2008 and he did not plan to re-enlist.

"I don't want to live my life like this," he said.

FIRST OF ALL, to bring our "men & women" in uniform safely home from "Ooola Boola land" (aka, Afghanee & Irakee), someone is going to HAVE TO STAND UP TO Halliburton, and all of the various contractors, and say, "We want to end this conflict, to you are going to have to stop making money off of the the blood of our troopers". Then, and only then will the withdrawal start.
Nuff Said,
YN1 MIKE GALINDO, USN, P.D.R.L.
22-year Canoe Club career (which
included "18-months in-country"
Chula Vista, California

[antoniof123]

I am just wondering how long it is going to take this time for the American people so tell there congress to stop funing the war so we can get out? Look how long it took before in Viet Nam. Of course in the process it helped bring down the President because he too was a criminal. I guess if the role model you choose is a crook then you must be one too.

[bluestardad]

Now did anyone really expect these BOZOS to come up with anything that even resembled the will of the people of America? They are a smoke screen for the worst President this country has ever known, Dicktater!

[adian1-2009]

The report from the Wise Men Group is nothing new. We should not have expected more, since old politicians hardly get rid of political agendas and examine a situation objectively. The Wise Report is equivalent to the Latin poet's "Parturient montes . . .". The essence of the report is "it has been going wrong and worsening and course should be changed". Well, that we knew. And Senator Reid finds it a big step forward! The report is flawed since it departs from the premise that Iraq is a compact nation. It is not. Iraq, a country created after the Great War by special design convenient to the British, is made up of not less than three disparate regions. Iraq has been trying to become a country, a nation, since the 20's. The attack and invasion pulled back Iraq's political and institutional development to square one. So, any future steps to end the war of aggression upon Iraq should not rest on the premise that Iraq is one nation, at least not yet. Going into this misadventure by the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld Tri-Entry, with the help of the federal legislative bodies, Republicans and Democrats, was a huge mistake and an abusive use of military power. They went there looking for wool and ended up shorn! Now we do not know how to fix what we broke. Not even with the advice of our Wise Group of Politicians. To sum up: we went there because of politicians, and we go around getting advice from politicians or ex-politicians.

[patriotic9]

We are not even thinking about OSAMA BEEN FORGOTTEN.Didn't we start this war to capture him DEAD OR ALIVE.And what about NORTH KOREA who herself was clamining to build NUKES and BUSH ADMINISTRATION was calling her claim BLUFFING since it was so far from the MIDDLE EAST,invading there would not help the 2nd coming of Christ.Now North Korea has built the NUKES which they will definately sell to OSAMA BEEN FORGOTTEN as they built for making money (who was allowed to secape from TORA BORA while bush was saving troops fro Iraq invasion,read the book THE AMERICAN SOLDIER).Some people on Fox News Channel call it a success of this administration,that we have not been attacked since 9/11.It seems like OBL is not as stupid as Bush administration.They have first trapped us in Iraq and Afghanistan,remove their worst enemy Saddam without firing a bullet,made us financially and militarily weak and seems like they'll attack us when all of our National Guard will be serving as International Guard in Iraq and Afghanistan and we'll be bankrupt with trillions in debt.Truce offered from OSAMA BEEN FORGOTTEN was a sign that they are ready to strike us again.According to the RADICAL SUNNI ISLAM,it's a part of their JIHAD rule to offer a truce to the enemy before attacking them with full force.

[patriotic9]

continued
According to Shia Radical Islam,their final twelfth Imam named Imam Mehdi,will kill all the UNBELIEVERS and will form an Islamic Empire.The only obstacle in their plan was a Secular Saddam in Iraq who was the worst enemies of the RADICAL ISLAM and RADICAL MUSLIMS.He had killed his own people who wanted to establish a RADICAL ISLAMIC STATE.Islamic Radicals didn't have to spend a single penny to remove SADDAM and he was removed by the the US TAX PAYERS money and tens of thousands of US soldier's lives(the death toll of just 3 thousands US soldiers is a flat lie like WMDs,check out the Jill Carrol story on www.csmonitor.com and islamist website monitor#17 on www.memri.org).Now IRAN in the EAST to LEBANON in the WEST is very close to become an ISLAMIC EMPIRE ruled under those AYATOLLAHs who call us the GREATEST SATAN.Those people who are calling for US troops pull out are not considering the situation when those AYATOLLAHs will get access to all the OIL of the MIDDLE EAST,we'll be thrown back to the stone age.The killing of a CHRISTIAN leader in LEBANON is the sign of execution of IMAM MEHDI's SECOND COMING.Why people are blaming Bush.All he did was interpreted from BIBLE to help the second coming of CHRIST.It's the failure of RADICAL CHRISTIANITY,not of BUSH,REPUBLICANS or United States the constitution of which separates CHRUCH from STATE.

[patriotic9]

alphaa10
It is the second time the Islamic Radicals have used their NON-SENSE CHRISTIAN RADICAL BROTHERS from United States for achieving their goal and this time is worse then the first time when OSAMA BEEN FORGOTTEN had got WEAPONS,MILITARY TRAINING and MONEY from the STUPID REAGAN ADMINISTRATION which he had ultimately used against United States on 9/11.Keep on believing"One nation under GOD"and "In GOD we trust".All the policies based on the commands of GOD,BIBLE and CHRISTIANITY have been failed.When Jeanin gerafallo had warned before the start of this war"If United States sends her troops in the middle of Arabia,United States will be doomed",all the RADICAL CONSERVATIVES who by the way are still in the satate of Denial were making fun of her.
If Europeans from different European countries were not brought into Palestine after WWII to occupy the land of Palestinian people by force when the Palestinians had nothing to do with the CRIMES comited by HITLER on the name of a RACIST and UNJUST GOD,and the UNITED STATES didn't take Oil in cheaper prices from Arabs and support their enemies who were brought in their Palestinian land,we would not see that day.

[alphaa10-2009]

End Game in Iraq----

Days ago, Bush met with Iraqi Shiite Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, intimately associated with the Iranian-supported Badr Brigade, who flew to Washington to marginalize his rival in Iraq, PM Nouri al-Maliki. Bush, by meeting with al-Hakim, leaves unsaid that al-Hakim also may open proxy negotiations with Iran over the future of Iraq, and the manner of US withdrawal.

Beyond another snub to al-Maliki, the Bush-al-Hakim meeting legitimizes al-Maliki rivals who want US troops to leave Iraq now. In effect, Bush, having opposed a measured pullout, opened talks with those who want a total and
immediate pullout. The end game, of course, leaves Iran substantially in control of Iraq-- a situation far worse and more destabilizing than when Saddam was in power.

[alphaa10-2009]

End Game in Iraq-- 1
With his only hope political damage control, Bush now plays to negotiate a receivership to the war he began. This, in fact, is a fire-sale, as Iranian elements sense Bush is more than eager to do business, provided sufficient political assurances.

In marked contrast to the politician who wanted to "stay the course", Bush now will pay almost any cost. While Bush once may have wished to stay on in Iraq, Alamo-style, and entrench Americans indefinitely (if only to avoid the appearance of defeat), Baker and almost everyone else pulling levers have served notice the game is virtually over.

However, even as the Iranians see regional dominance in their grasp, we would do well to reconsider how we end the American misadventure in Iraq. A lasting solution to Iraq is not merely to substitute the Iranians for the British and other great powers after WWI. If Iraq is not truly a nation, but a political amalgam of warring and disparate political and religious factions, there is the viable alternative of partitioning Iraq.

[alphaa10-2009]

End Game in Iraq-- 2
Partitioning the country is plausible, simply because partitioning Iraq allows all sides to win something. Partitioning is also stable, since warring factions are not forced to compete for power in the same territory. The violence stops, and there is no longer the issue of US withdrawal from Iraq, because there is no Iraq. The Sunnis join Jordan and/or Syria, the Shia join Iran and the Kurds have no sponsor but us and a lot of diplomacy-- for example, letting Turkish Kurds migrate safely to the south to join Kurds in North Iraq (the Turks might buy in, if only to depopulate the Kurdish rebellion in south Turkey).

But the process demands a comparatively honest broker, one not identified with the US or UK or regional players like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Iran or Turkey. After his unilateralist invasion, how ironic Bush might find the UN useful, after all. Kissinger observed the best agreements, even with enemies, can be relied upon to work when they express mutual interest.

[alphaa10-2009]

End Game in Iraq-- 3
In the same sense of mutual interest, partitioning resolved successfully the vicious civil war which issued India and Pakistan. In that model, lines are drawn and refugees allowed to pass to their home sector. In 1947, there was no effective officialdom to safeguard passage, and groups of refugees of opposite religions set upon each other with massive carnage. Obviously, US forces-- already in place, and under auspices of the UN-- might shepherd the respective groups.

The UN has successful experience with this work. Effective UN partition of the Balkans also demonstrates comparative stability after several bloody years without the UN presence, and there are other examples showing an international or regional body can defuse tensions in a way that allows lasting healing to occur. Of course, the UN itself does not do the healing, but promotes conditions to allow healing to occur.

Yes, Iran and its Iraqi Shia would get something out of it, but so would the Saudis and their Sunnis in secured protection. The end point being, regional resolution of a regional problem. As more than one diplomat has counseled, regional resolution is not only the most logical but most lasting.

[alphaa10-2009]

End Game in Iraq-- 4
The Baker-Hamilton report brings a disturbing assessment of Iraq because it begins with a fallacy-- the Bush presumption Iraq is one nation, and that America must not leave Iraq until it can defend and govern itself. That fallacy ignores the fact Iraq never has been a nation. More than ever, people living in Iraq show their sectarian allegiances, proving Iraq is a fragile political composite made for the convenience of Europeans after WWI.

Meanwhile, Iraqi self-government, order and stability will not wait for Iraqis to sort out sectarian differences. The Baker-Hamilton report notes collapse of even basic government services. Again and again, the report cites sectarianism or its collateral effects-- corruption at every level and weak judiciary and police functions.

Iraqi government is paralyzed with sectarian turf battles involving the very people supposed to provide stability. Ministries lack equipment, training and even a clear sense of mission. Besides the Iraqi army, some 205,000 uniformed, armed Iraqi ministry police, local police and national police are suspected of working with sectarian elements. As one frightening indicator, six Sunnis were recently burned to death in public by Sadr elements, while Iraqi army units nearby gazed impassively.

[alphaa10-2009]

End Game in Iraq-- 5
The Baker-Hamilton report recognizes every sect and national group has a claim and counterclaim, some favoring a nominal national union, but only to the extent it realizes sectarian agenda. Shia and Kurdish groups display no common sense of an Iraq beyond their respective borders. Sunni want a federal state, but only provided they share in oil income from Kurdish or Shia territory. There is no national sense of what it means to be Iraqi, nor great willingness to compromise for that vision. While extreme dictatorial pressure from Saddam terrorized restive Kurds and Shia into obedience for decades, the concept of Iraq probably will not survive Saddam.

Today, some 1.6 million Iraqis are displaced, and 1.8 million Iraqis already have emigrated to Jordan, Syria, Iran and other areas. Effectively, the self-partitioning of 18 million Iraqis already has begun. The Baker-Hamilton report nods to all the familiar nostrums-- better and stronger police and army functions, better training, building up the social infrastructure, but these cannot build a nation where no national bonds and no Iraqi national identity exist, in the first place.

[alphaa10-2009]

End Game in Iraq-- 6
More ominously, the Baker-Hamilton report notes an acute need for more money, more time and more effort by the US-- all with a simultaneous and graphic downturn in US congressional support. Even in the fantasy that price were no object, and rebuilding Iraqi might somehow be accomplished, congress has served notice it has American domestic crises and cities to rebuild. As if in confirmation, the American treasury has been found plundered by foreign misadventures and irresponsbilities. In the 2006 election, congress declares Bush folly, deceit and ineptitude no longer need burden the American taxpayer or the American soldier.

When all the money and vain ambition is exhausted, the realists enter, and Iraq may change radically at their hands. Every neighbor of Iraq has a stake in the outcome, with Iran mattering most of all. As the Baker-Hamilton report admits, the outcome of Iraq leans heavily on support from even people Bush does not like. If Bush cannot create an Iraq in his own image, let the respective nations of Iraq recover their own.

[randalds]

I have no problem with seeing Bush impeached gdmoore2, as long as it comes with a long prison sentence too. However it must be done in such away as to prevent Cheney from coming to power. Bush is an ignorant moron and puppet, but Cheney is the puppet master pulling his strings and is a genuinely evil, evil, evil man.

[gdmoore2]

If Bush will not pull out, then impeach him. Plain and simple. God knows there are enough grounds.

[feelfree1]

Sunshine_2,

That is my plan. Please don't blame 'frankly6' for the multiple postings. 'frankly6' only reposted it once, in apparent agreement.

I reposted it only where I felt that it was relevant, and once when it was spammed away by 'Bushblows1', but your disapproval is noted.

[sunshine_2]

frankly6

?? Your Getting To Be Like Bushrocks1 Posting your 4 Point Plan 100 times... But Just like Bushrocks1... I only need to read it once to understand it. Please have a bit of respect for the bloggers here and don't become another "spammer".

[firststate]

The neocons wanted to militarize and confront hostile nations. Extremists Christians wanted to fulfill the prophesies for the Second Coming of Christ. These with Bush%u2019s resentment of Saddam for trying kill 41 created an imperfect storm, creating a case for invasion. The foundations for the case were carefully selected bits of intelligence with the desired impact. The need for the urgency of invading - the sham case for war could neither last long nor stand much scrutiny.
Having embarked upon war, the Yale Yell Leader returned to the fore. He proves the dangers of giving into zeal and believing his and his administration%u2019s own lies. Like any extremist operation, once convinced that they are fighting for all that is Good or Holy, the converse has to be true and detractors must be Bad or Evil. Many, including clueless, not curious George become delusional and cannot see reality. When a shock like the elections force a glance of reality, they get it now and want to review new options, meaning stall until their delusions can adjust to block the offending reality again. Bush%u2019s delusions are safely back in control. What the ISG & Bush seem to forget is that our men and women are getting killed too regularly and too often while they complain about the place settings at tea.
Rummy said you go to war with the army you have, maybe Iraq should take over their country with the 100's of thousands of security forces we%u2019ve trained.

[fascistusa]

Welcome my Friend to The End.

Democracy is Dead.

Lady Liberty has been raped.

Superman ate a pound of Kryptonite and he Died Tonight.

Welcome to The FASCIST Rule-of-the-Rich Neo-Con American Slave State.