Post by Ironside on Apr 8, 2006 6:59:24 GMT -6
Staying the Course in Iraq
By: Ironside (12/5/05)
When President Bush made a “Plan for Victory” (Iraq War) speech, at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland he again gave us nothing new. His plan for victory is simply the status quo; “stay the course.” I can’t even come close to understanding how staying the course is a “plan for victory" in Iraq. Bush has been saying he’s going to “stay the course” since the “end of major combat.” In the early months after invading Iraq and after his announcement to the “end of major combat”, the United States was losing on average one soldier a day. Today, that average has increased to more than three soldiers a day dying in Iraq. Staying the course only means things are going to continue to deteriorate in Iraq.
Bush said he refuses to “cut and run” on the Iraqi people, the way he did on the combat soldiers of the Vietnam War. During the Vietnam War, President Bush used family influence to enlist in the National Guard. George Bush was able to catapult about five hundred names, to get to the top of the list, of inductees. But during his speech in Annapolis President Bush sent a message to our troops; as long as he's president, the troops can’t come home until the mission, whatever that is, is completed!
President Bush also said that he refused to set an “artificial time table” to start a withdrawal of our troops from Iraq. Many politicians from both sides of the isle and many of the American People have wanted some sort of time table for a withdrawal. Bush instead chose to continue his rhetoric about the progress in Iraq, saying that there are 120 battalions of Iraqi police and security, but in reality there are only 33 that can lead, and that’s only if they have American support. Actually, there’s only one battalion of Iraqi troops that could lead without the support of American troops. With President Bush refusing to set a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. Troops from Iraq and his committing to keep our troops there until Iraq is capable of defending themselves without any support, he's telling us he's willing to stay in Iraq for another 5, 10, 25 or 50 years, or longer, if that's what it takes. Now, almost three years into the invasion and occupation of Iraq, this war has cost American taxpayers up to 400 billion dollars and the lives of more than 2,000 of our brave men and women serving in the armed forces of the United States Military.
President Bush used selected intelligence and half-truths to make his case for war with Iraq. Today the quagmire only deepens. Has Bush learned from his mistakes of half-truths? (Link)
Apparently not!
Not only is this Administration lying to the American People, they are lying to the Iraqi people. It’s been reported on CNN and MSNBC that some Iraqi reporters are being paid by the United States Military to run “feel good” stories about the progress in Iraq, written by the United States Military. It’s also being reported that the stories being published are exaggerated, bogus or just simply propaganda. On MSNBC’s “Hardball with Chris Matthews” it was reported that these contracts with the reporters are valued at anywhere from $20 million to $100 million over the next five years. A reporter printing stories that were actually written by the U.S. Military would earn $200 a month.
Is this the truth and democracy the Bush Administration wants to use to conquer the insurgency in Iraq? With this story out, as it was inevitably to be, the United States' already damaged credibility take’s yet another hit. I fail to see how this is any way helps to win the peace in Iraq. How can we ever win the peace in a Muslim country when they can’t trust us? How can we continue to stay the course, when staying the course means higher body counts a day, of American soldier's dying in Iraq? Does staying the course include torture as we witnessed in Abu Ghraib, attacks on Iraqi civilians using white phosphorus as was done in Fallujah and the spreading of propaganda? Isn’t it seriously time for a new direction and a real plan for victory in Iraq and not the status quo to “stay the course”?
LINK
By: Ironside (12/5/05)
When President Bush made a “Plan for Victory” (Iraq War) speech, at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland he again gave us nothing new. His plan for victory is simply the status quo; “stay the course.” I can’t even come close to understanding how staying the course is a “plan for victory" in Iraq. Bush has been saying he’s going to “stay the course” since the “end of major combat.” In the early months after invading Iraq and after his announcement to the “end of major combat”, the United States was losing on average one soldier a day. Today, that average has increased to more than three soldiers a day dying in Iraq. Staying the course only means things are going to continue to deteriorate in Iraq.
Bush said he refuses to “cut and run” on the Iraqi people, the way he did on the combat soldiers of the Vietnam War. During the Vietnam War, President Bush used family influence to enlist in the National Guard. George Bush was able to catapult about five hundred names, to get to the top of the list, of inductees. But during his speech in Annapolis President Bush sent a message to our troops; as long as he's president, the troops can’t come home until the mission, whatever that is, is completed!
President Bush also said that he refused to set an “artificial time table” to start a withdrawal of our troops from Iraq. Many politicians from both sides of the isle and many of the American People have wanted some sort of time table for a withdrawal. Bush instead chose to continue his rhetoric about the progress in Iraq, saying that there are 120 battalions of Iraqi police and security, but in reality there are only 33 that can lead, and that’s only if they have American support. Actually, there’s only one battalion of Iraqi troops that could lead without the support of American troops. With President Bush refusing to set a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. Troops from Iraq and his committing to keep our troops there until Iraq is capable of defending themselves without any support, he's telling us he's willing to stay in Iraq for another 5, 10, 25 or 50 years, or longer, if that's what it takes. Now, almost three years into the invasion and occupation of Iraq, this war has cost American taxpayers up to 400 billion dollars and the lives of more than 2,000 of our brave men and women serving in the armed forces of the United States Military.
President Bush used selected intelligence and half-truths to make his case for war with Iraq. Today the quagmire only deepens. Has Bush learned from his mistakes of half-truths? (Link)
Apparently not!
Not only is this Administration lying to the American People, they are lying to the Iraqi people. It’s been reported on CNN and MSNBC that some Iraqi reporters are being paid by the United States Military to run “feel good” stories about the progress in Iraq, written by the United States Military. It’s also being reported that the stories being published are exaggerated, bogus or just simply propaganda. On MSNBC’s “Hardball with Chris Matthews” it was reported that these contracts with the reporters are valued at anywhere from $20 million to $100 million over the next five years. A reporter printing stories that were actually written by the U.S. Military would earn $200 a month.
Is this the truth and democracy the Bush Administration wants to use to conquer the insurgency in Iraq? With this story out, as it was inevitably to be, the United States' already damaged credibility take’s yet another hit. I fail to see how this is any way helps to win the peace in Iraq. How can we ever win the peace in a Muslim country when they can’t trust us? How can we continue to stay the course, when staying the course means higher body counts a day, of American soldier's dying in Iraq? Does staying the course include torture as we witnessed in Abu Ghraib, attacks on Iraqi civilians using white phosphorus as was done in Fallujah and the spreading of propaganda? Isn’t it seriously time for a new direction and a real plan for victory in Iraq and not the status quo to “stay the course”?
LINK