Troops Cheer Call For Iraq Withdrawal

Governor's Call For U.S. Withdrawal From Iraq Greeted With Standing Ovation At National Guard Conference

(AP)  A call by Puerto Rico's governor for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq earned a standing ovation from a conference of more than 4,000 National Guardsmen.

Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila said Saturday that the U.S. administration has "no new strategy and no signs of success" and that prolonging the war would needlessly put guardsmen in harm's way.

"The war in Iraq has fractured the political will of the United States and the world," he said at the opening of the 129th National Guard Association general conference. "Clearly, a new war strategy is required and urgently."

Acevedo said sending more troops to Iraq would be a costly blunder.

"By increasing the number of National Guard and reserve troops, we put our soldiers in danger for the umpteenth time since the beginning of the global war on terrorism," said the governor, adding U.S. territories and states need Guard reserves in the event of natural disasters and domestic disturbances.

Acevedo, a Democrat, has called on Washington to withdraw troops from Iraq in the past, but has not been a vocal critic of the war.

Col. David Carrion Baralt, the Guard's top official in the U.S. Caribbean territory, said Acevedo received a standing ovation.

"Maybe the (officers) were not expecting those kinds of comments, but having a dialogue is the point of conferences like these," Carrion said by phone.

The nonpartisan National Guard Association represents nearly 45,000 current and former Air and Army National Guard officers and petitions Congress for resources.

About 1,800 Puerto Rican guardsmen are stationed overseas. It was not immediately clear how many were deployed in Iraq.

"The daily death toll of Americans and their allies has caused irreparable anguish here in Puerto Rico, and throughout the country. The same could be said for the people of Iraq," Acevedo said.

[cdfoxtrot]

I''d like to see the moron-in-chief give one of his smirk-filled speeches with this crowd as the backdrop.

[incog-nito]

There is a reason why they are called the U.S. National Guard, not the Iraqi National Guard.

[condumism]

GOP Terrorists will soon start name calling of all Puerto Ricans, saying that Puerto Rico will never gain statehood because they are a rogue island that has no respect for the USA, of whatever.

[missingamerica]

Hah. I''ll bet "the decider" will soon issue an "executive order" that details how both Guardsmen and active service members are expected to react to any conceivable political remark.

[tenielsen-2009]

why are we there in the first place.let other countrys get there people killed,not us,u.s.

[ioweign]

GOP Terrorists will soon start name calling of all Puerto Ricans, saying that Puerto Rico will never gain statehood because they are a rogue island that has no respect for the USA, of whatever.
Posted by ConDumism at 01:00 PM : Aug 26, 2007




Wow, do you think that will work for states to secede out of the "United States" too.

I heard Vermont is looking at ways to secede,

[gkc99]

No doubt Darth Cheney will impugne the courage of Puerto Ricans, while he excuses his own 5 deferments. Mitt Romney will question their patriotism as his own 5 sons avoid service. George Bushit will "decide" that Puerto Rico won''t get some of his tax breaks, as he dodges questions about the military service of his new son-in-law. Rush ******** will mock their accent, retired Marines who flew desks at Fort Ord will have bumper stickers calling for invasion of Puerto Rico "after we''re done with France," and American Legionnaires will enter into drunken rants fueled by cheap booze as to how the leetle brown spicanos don''t even spik EEngleesh.

[klifton2-2009]

Good for them. At least they have the $balls$ to stand up to Bush and his criminal nonsense!

[flreason]

"There is a reason why they are called the U.S. National Guard, not the Iraqi National Guard."

Posted by incog-nito at 12:53 PM : Aug 26, 2007

You hit the nail on the head (oh, that it were the administrations)! Our multiple deployments of National Guard troops to Iraq leaves us vulnerable at home. They should be deployed overseas only in national emergencies - not as regular troops by an administration unwilling to ask voters for tax and standing troop increases. After four years, the Commander-in-Chief should have the guts to ask Americans to sacrifice if this war is truly in our self-interest. If he won''t do that, then it is time to begin drawing down our troops - especially the National Guard.

[lawyertom1]

ibsteve. The rules are different for guardspersons, esp. when they are not in uniform. If the Shrub tries to so react, he will cut off two U.S. Senators, no small oopps. But, then, what does he care? He only fears criticism. Typical of the psychologically impaired.

-----------------

Hah. I''''ll bet "the decider" will soon issue an "executive order" that details how both Guardsmen and active service members are expected to react to any conceivable political remark.
Posted by ibsteve2u

[whatithink-2009]

The GOP tried to fashion itself as the party that supports the troops. I think the troops are figuring out that they don''t need this type of support (endless wars, endless tours, endless bloodshed).

[seven-pesos]

never a war the south couldn''t lose.

jefferson davis lost his,
johnson lost his
bush will lose his.

the south has lost every war they started.

idiot southern creeps are only good for sunday afternoon parades

in their tight-butt uniforms.

ha,ha,ha.

war, division, arrogance, phony christian creeps, crooked republican snakes...

nothing good comes out of the south!

[searingtruth]

"The greatest persuader is the ever encroaching power of truth."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com

[seven-pesos]

watch out, folks!

if those southerners get their way

they''''ll elect another creep just like bush.

that''''s the way of the south.

war, hate, christian creeps, republican snakes...

nothing good comes out of the south.

[asor1-2009]

seven-pesos, you''re a bit of a radical, but you are funny as he11 and as honest as the day is long. Thanks for a good post during these dreadful "war" strewn days.

[seven-pesos]

bush says:" we can''t lose. we got gawd on our side."

ha,ha,ha,

well kizz my azz!

the south has lost every war they ever started.

bush''s war will be no different.

war, hate, christian freaks, republican snakes...

nothing good comes out of the south!

[euge005]

gkc99 has hit the target precisely. Any foe of the GOP can expect their honesty, personal honor, intelligence, gender preference, patriotism and hair style to be bashed. The tactic draws unwanted attention away from their failures and the massive contract corruption, thieft of the Iraqi oil, etc. The judge and prosecutor stacking we see is to avoid any endictments. If there was any justice in this country, which there isn''t if you cannot buy it, Chaney would have a room in the supermax for life.

[seven-pesos]

in the south you cannot be a non-believer and be elected to public office.

the church will not allow it.

and we all know who controls politics in the south.

evangelist snakes and christian creeps...

bush''s kind of people.

nothing good comes out of the south.

[sharncedar]

Just because the rich treat soldiers as if they were expendable doesn''t mean soldiers really are stupid. This Iraq war is a long education about the evils of concentrating too much power in the hands of a few, the evils of globalization.

The one thing about soldiers is while they are not stupid, they are not long on book learning. Anyone with a little more book learning could see Bushler and Pelosini for who they are by historical analogue. And learn to hate them in an academic sense. But when you learn to hate standing over your buddies empty boots, your hate is not academic.

I''m interested to see what these soldiers are going to do. As the betrayal handed to them really sinks in, as they realize that New York bankers say the word "patriotism" like a curse, that their kids weren''t serving they were attending the nation''s spoiled and privileged schools and laughing deeply and long at the dying soldiers, I''m curious to see where that goes. What will be the actions from men accustomed to killing?

Should be fun. I''m arguing in favor of keeping it organized, keeping it within a structure of laws. Like the execution of Saddam, justice handed out with a semblance of leagality is more frightening than chaos, so let''s try to convince these killers we''ve created to work within the law. More effective that way, and fewer will escape justice.

[likeitis5050]

I wonder if the emperor''s people have allowed the little guy to see this latest bit of reality. It''s a full time job keeping the little emperor unaware of how things really exist outside the castle. Such devotion needs to be acknowledged.

[seven-pesos]

they kicked that cheerleading, ******* creep, bush, out of the north...

so bush moved to the south and became a big man.

rednecks, reborns, war makers, christian creeps, arrogant slave state republican snakes...

bush''s kind of people!

yep, the south elected bush, the south supports bush, the south loves bush.

war, hate, slimy christian hypocrite creeps!

nothing good comes out of the south!

[j-whitman]

SharnCedar,,, We are all for keeping within the confines of our laws, however a topic rarely mentioned is --
-- All during the runnup for the war & even now Congressmen with the duty & " Need To Know" that had the T.S. clearences were prevented from obtaining access to do thier job,,, Guess by who ???? --- George W. Bush

[iceman_1960]

"I''d like to see the moron-in-chief give one of his smirk-filled speeches with this crowd as the backdrop."
- Posted by cdfoxtrot at 12:50 PM : Aug 26, 2007

That will never happen.

The man who talks endlessly about (other people''s) bravery and courage, doesn''t have the guts to face jeers and catcalls, much less bullets and bombs.

He ought to make a few speeches in the Bronx. They have the kind of cheer he deserves.

[iceman_1960]

"Go back to selling your womens back-sides you hispoano[sic]-drug dealers."
- Posted by darkmeat4 at 03:40 PM : Aug 26, 2007

Puerto Rico isn''t that far away.

Why don''t you go there and tell them in person ?

[j-whitman]

SharnCedar,,, Part 2, -- Neo-cons have waged war on the CIA since the end of WW2 for failing to develope intel around thier policies.

Notice after 9/11 our White House blamed both FBI & CIA for failing ---- But observe, White House releases another report attacking the CIA
--- Yet, Who failed to pass intell the CIA & FBI needed ????? ---- Bush''s NSA ---
---- We torture & hold people indefinately without Habeaus Corpus - Just to get that exact intel the NSA witheld...
... Who''s the director of the CIA now ??? The same NSA director who witheld Al Queda intel he should have gone to GITMO with a Bag over his head.

[seven-pesos]

who is bush''s base?...those redneck, reborn, christian evangelist snakes.

where is bush''s base?... deep down in that dark, evil south.

what is bush''s base?... republican, christian, bible thumping, war making, flag waving, poor, superstitious and uneducated.

well, there you have it, folks!

nothing good comes out of the south.

[smirk5]

Having the GOP support you as a troop means never having to come home again.

[micma-2009]

Oh no! The troops don''t support the troops.

[j-whitman]

The GOP has not once in our history been good for our National Security.... They continue to develop intel around thier policies.

[roach9703]

Impeach Bush,Cheney? That''s the ONLY answer.

[seven-pesos]

southerners hope to elect another faith professing, conservative republican.

the south hopes to win the all time loser''s award.

jefferson davis lost his war...
johnson lost his war...
bush will lose his war...

if the south can lose just one more war,

they will beat the french for most wars lost, ever!

ha,ha,ha.

those idiot southern republican christian creeps ought to stay in church and out of politics

the south can''t be depended upon to do the right thing for america.

[j-whitman]

roach9703,,,, Impeachment is too slow - Senate dems still need 9 repub votes & a lot more for 2 impeachment requires 2/3 of the Senate & dems have trouble now with getting 9
--- This entire White House & CIA director should be chaned & imprisoned for the Safety & Good of our Country

[heartlight3]

Does anyone know, or can anyone find out how many of the 30,000 troops sent over in the surge have been killed or injured? I would like to know the answer to that question.

[seven-pesos]

just think, evangelist & christians...

with all the money your beloved prez, bush, has spent on the war,

y''all could have built a church on every street corner in america

ha,ha,ha.

come to think of it...i''d rather have the war.

war, hate, republican snakes, christian creeps...

nothing good comes out of the south.

[gkc99]

"The man who talks endlessly about (other people''''s) bravery and courage, doesn''''t have the guts to face jeers and catcalls, much less bullets and bombs."--Posted by Iceman_1960


Bushit is a craven coward, not just shown by his disgraceful behavior during the Vietnam war, which he ardently supported, but did everything he could to personally avoid, but during all his campaign stops and phony "town meetings" where he would have his thugs evict anyone from the meeting that even had on a T-shirt questioning the lies that the "Great Decider" had spouted. For example, in Oregon, three elementary school teachers were forced to leave a supposedly public gathering at the county fair grounds in Medford by Bushit thugs. And in Jacksonville, Oregon, Bushit had cops open fire on unarmed demonstrators with small explosives and tear gas because some dared to ask him questions when he wanted to go stuff his face in some local bistro.

This is what the "patriotic", born-again evangelist neocons, who are always spouting like they own America, have brought to the White House.

[oldsailor3]

seven-pesos

Nothing good comes out of the south?

How about the Dixie Chicks?

are you ready to make nice?

[likeitis5050]

while the approval ratings were at 51% and all those who thought Bush was devine were busy yelling insults at those who knew better, he was busy rearranging laws and executive privilege to prevent any attempt to oust him or any he considers part of his posse. By the time the truth started sinking in he had pretty much secured his authority not only for the remainder of office, but after leaving. It will be a long time before any one will be able to reverse all the damage he''s done and we may never live to see him or his pay the consequences of what they have done. Everyone hated Carter for what he did to allow Nixon to skate...at least Carter didn''t conspire to set things up long before there was any reason to pardon. Bush has been in pre-emptive mode since day one. That''s what happens when the majority fall asleep at the wheel and then refuse to believe they are going the wrong way on a one way street.

[seven-pesos]

not one southern state will vote for hillary.

the south prefers upstanding, christian , faith professing republicans

and top notch leadership like george bush, jr.

the south would like to find another prez like george bush. jr.

the southern states are considering drafting rush limbaugh to be the republican candidate.

he has all the qualifications...

fat, bigoted, republican, christian, drug user, demogogue.

oh well, that''s the south for you, folks!

[toldyouso21]

Whoops, somebody is going to get in trouble for not telling those "TROOPS" not to respond in any way towards the idea that they do NOT support Bush''s eternal war of error on Terra. lmao.

[toldyouso21]

OMG!!!! WHERE OH WHERE IS THE GOP REBUTTAL FOR THIS ARTICLE? Hold onto your butts Elvis--the neo cons have left the building!!!!!! RLMAO.

[iceman_1960]

"Does anyone know, or can anyone find out how many of the 30,000 troops sent over in the surge have been killed or injured? I would like to know the answer to that question."
- Posted by heartlight3 at 05:09 PM : Aug 26, 2007

The Surge began in January 2007. Overall 725 American troops have been killed in January, but I''m not sure how many of those were in the Surge -- probably most of them.

There are some websites that track killed and wounded by area and time frame.

The following website has tables like that:

http://icasualties.org/oif/US_chart.aspx

Also the main Wikipedia article on the Surge has a great wealth of external links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War_troop_surge_of_2007

The answer must be in those sources.

[iceman_1960]

"Does anyone know, or can anyone find out how many of the 30,000 troops sent over in the surge have been killed or injured? I would like to know the answer to that question."
- Posted by heartlight3 at 05:09 PM : Aug 26, 2007

The Surge began in January 2007. Overall 725 American troops have been killed in January, but I''m not sure how many of those were in the Surge -- probably most of them.

There are some websites that track killed and wounded by area and time frame.

The following website has tables like that:

http://icasualties.org/oif/US_chart.aspx

Also the main Wikipedia article on the Surge has a great wealth of external links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War_troop_surge_of_2007

The answer must be in those sources.

[iceman_1960]

Obviously that should have been SINCE:

"The Surge began in January 2007. Overall 725 American troops have been killed **since** January, but I''m not sure how many of those were in the Surge -- probably most of them."

[seven-pesos]

bush says:" we can''t lose. we got gawd on our side."

ha,ha,ha,

well kizz my azz!

the south has lost every war they ever started.

bush''s war will be no different.

war, hate, christian freaks, republican snakes...

nothing good comes out of the south!

[peterbaldwin-2009]

CBS is standing tall with the reality based coverage of problems in Basra and here in this article.

Meanwhile CNN is taking up permanent residence in doonebury''s "Bush bubble" with a comical report (with a straight face) of a recycled Allawi saddling up to ride into Baghdad to get the oil law written by big Oil passed over the Iraqi people''s dead bodies, while conveniently forgetting to mention these big stories. They have got to be on the take.

[iopian]

I would suggest that all the South-bashers commenting here get out of their mom''s basements a little more often. Maybe take a bus, other than the little yellow one you rode to school as kids, and come see for yourselves the ludicrous straw-man image you have created of southerners. From the level of intellect of these comments it should be apparent why we in the South are a little hestitant to elect Presidents from the pool of people of the northern states.

I also find it amusing that types of people as yourself with a few years at a community college at best or possibly those still working towards their GED can deride the intelligence of someone that has earned an undergraduate degree in History from Yale and an MBA from Harvard. Not to mention getting elected to be Governor of Texas, with an economy as large as France, and President of the United States twice.

Idiots.

[seven-pesos]

southerners hope to elect another faith professing, conservative republican.

the south hopes to win the all time loser''s award.

jefferson davis lost his war...
johnson lost his war...
bush will lose his war...

if the south can lose just one more war,

they will beat the french for most wars lost, ever!

ha,ha,ha.

those idiot southern republican christian creeps ought to stay in church and out of politics

the south can''t be depended upon to do the right thing for america.

[Krazcarl]

I support our troops period thier putting there lives on the line not drinking soda and writing blogs'' People that have no ambition love to tell others how to act. As for the south lived in Ga. for 25 years from Maine so as yankee as you can get and found some of the finest people I''ve ever known period the war was over a 150 years age let it go the south has.

[skyk-2009]

I also find it amusing that types of people as yourself with a few years at a community college at best or possibly those still working towards their GED can deride the intelligence of someone that has earned an undergraduate degree in History from Yale and an MBA from Harvard. Not to mention getting elected to be Governor of Texas, with an economy as large as France, and President of the United States twice.

Idiots.
Posted by IOpian at 08:31 PM : Aug 26, 2007

ROFLMAO Who do you think you''re kidding there Klan man? I was born in the South and Live in the South. EVERYTHING they say is true and can''t be defended. Southern Fascist win by hate and division, always have. This is the first time the nation has had to put up with Southern Fied Fascism and they NOW know what it''s all about. The can see, as the entire world does, that FASCIST from the south haven''t changed one bit... sure they have put on clean clothes and pretend to have changed but under it all it''s the same "I''m superior" Klan Attitude, which by the way you PROVE with your post. I seriously doubt you will EVER see another Southern Fascist lead this nation, at least not in the near future. I do not count LBJ or Clinton in that mix by the way because THEY were NOT southern Fascist. Pat Robertson, George Bush, James Kennedy and all the rest of the fake "Family Values" sub human creatures...they are the "equal but different" southern nazi''s.

[j-whitman]

crzmeat,,, Georgia is also growing a hell of a lot more liberal than they were 25 years ago, & still have a way to go, but they are getting there... It''s a beautiful state.