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techumseh
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of the frozen North.
Apr 1999
time: 22:37
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quote:
Originally posted by lord of the mark
Their basic policy would be the same. Keep training Iraqi forces, and only execute a limited drawdown in 2006 if Iraqi forces are ready. and encourage the political process in Iraq, including negotiations with sunni arabs to weaken support for the insurgency. Which is right, as that is the correct path to win in Iraq.
I dont think the public, if they understood the strategy, and had it explained by someone they trusted, would oppose that. The problem is that the admin is bearing the baggage for past things - WMDs were not found, even though allied intel services and the US govt under Clinton thought they were there - this becomes "Bush Lied". They underemphasized broader strategic reasons for the war, so they were not taken as seriously as they should have been when they were emphasized later. They went in with too few troops, and didnt plan properly for the occupation. The CPA was largely run by political loyalists, rather than by professionals, which delayed reconstruction, and led to political gaffes in the critical first year. And when things went seriously bad in April of 2004, they didnt come clean on how bad it was, or really explain what they were doing about it. When they changed the regime on Iraq completely in 2004 - shifting control from DoD (bremer) to NSC (Negroponte) and later pushing Feith and Wolfowitz out, they pretended there was no change. They screwed up Abu Graib, and while they got rid of Feith, they kept Rumsfeld.
A Biden or Clinton has none of that baggage. And would be more articulate and maybe more honest about the war. And would, I presume, be less reluctant to fire the incompetent, than over loyal Bush. |
So putting the Democrats in charge would eliminate political baggage and clear the decks for a more vigorous pursuit of the SAME policies? That's exactly what I thought! 
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The Emperor Fabulous
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Apolyton's Resident Actor-in-Training
Aug 1999
time: 00:37
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quote:
BAGHDAD Al Qaida has deployed bombs laced with toxins in an attempt to increase the lethality of attacks in Iraq, coalition military sources said.
On Aug. 9, the U.S.-led coalition found a suspected chemicals factory in Mosul with 1,500 gallons of chemicals.
A statement by the Multi-National Force said the facility was used to develop the bombs mixed with toxins. The statement said Sunni insurgents succeeded in employing roadside bombs that contained toxic chemicals.
The MNF said coalition forces learned of the facility from suspected insurgents, Middle East Newsline reported. The statement said the investigation would continue.
Meanwhile, U.S. military sources said Iraq has killed a senior aide of Al Qaida network leader Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi.
The sources said Mohammed Saleh Sultan was killed in an ambush in Mosul on Aug. 12. The military said on Monday that Sultan, known as Abu Zubeir, was a leading operative in Al Qaida in Iraq.
Sultan was said to have held several senior positions in Al Qaida and was accused of directing the bombing attack of an Iraqi police station in Mosul in July in which five policemen were killed. Officials said he was wearing a suicide belt filled with metal pellets when he was killed.
Officials said Iraqi and U.S. forces have been particularly effective against Al Zarqawi cells in northern Iraq. They said that since June 2005 at least two Mosul cell commanders were killed.
"Abu Zubeir's death, as well as recent captures of terrorists in northern Iraq, is making a difference in coalition and Iraqi security forces efforts to disrupt terrorists operating in this part of the country," Col. Bill Buckner, a coalition spokesman, said.
In a letter written to Al Zarqawi and discovered in a raid on an Al Qaida safe house on July 27, an operative complained of the declining quality of the leadership. The letter, by somebody named Abu Zayd, also reported the mistreatment of foreign fighters.
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http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtr....045138889.html
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Imran Siddiqui
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The Potterverse
Jan 1970
time: 00:37
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quote:
the GOP may well nominate someone who will want to win in Iraq, but is quite distant from Bush, like McCain. |
If you lived through 1999-2000 and think the GOP will EVER nominate McCain, you are smoking crack. Even those like Hegel will be seen as 'traitors' by the base.
quote:
And then the problem with a quicker pull out is that it will symbolicaly be paraded as america(and uk) losing the war by all the now super radicalised madmen in the middle east. It will give them hope and recruits. So we have to stay untill Iraq can look after itself. |
And the US staying in Iraq gives them hope and recruits by showing the US as nothing more than an occupier. We should stay to clean up our own mess, but the American public will say screw that.
quote:
By the way, we are missing recruitment goals for the Army because those goals have been increased, due to a congressionally mandated expansion of the army. The number of brigades is already increasing, due to reorganization. The next rotation is expected to be almost entirely regular army, and very few reservists cause of this, even if there is no drawdown. |
Explain why reservists are subject to stop-loss measures then?
And I'd argue that Dems like Biden and Clinton while stating they want to stay on the ground would look for an exit plan when they got into office, and it would be far earlier than a Bush plan.
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Ramo
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Austin, Texas, USA
Oct 1999
time: 23:37
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Dear Leader's apparantly planning a major reducion in American presence in 2006 (probably to avert 1994 redux in the elections), under the delusion that Iraqi troops are prepared to take over the bulk of the defense by that time. But the Ministry of Defense is basically a joke. It's unable to even provide its troops with basic supplies, and has to rely on American support (there was an interesting Times article on that recently that I posted here). Indeed, an Iraqi audit recently turned up over a billion dollars in fraud, including half a billion that literally disappeared.
quote:
The Board of Supreme Audit, led by former Human Rights Minister Abdel Baset al-Turki, examined defense contracts that had been signed starting with the transfer of sovereignty June 28, 2004, through Feb. 28, 2005. The investigation's results, supported by bank statements, receipts and internal Defense Ministry memos, were delivered to al-Jaafari's office May 16.
Among the findings:
-Multimillion-dollar contracts were awarded to favored weapons suppliers without a bidding process and without the required approval from the prime minister's office. Investigators wrote that the chief procurer went "beyond his authority" in purchasing equipment.
-Senior Iraqi officials kept little or no record of major purchases, sometimes noting lucrative deals in "undated and unnumbered" memos. Nearly all purchases contained a clause - unusual in international contracting of this magnitude - that required the contract's full value to be paid up front in cash.
-Instead of buying directly from a foreign company or government, Iraqi arms procurers hired third-party companies to negotiate the contracts. When Iraqi leaders later complained about unfulfilled contracts, they discovered they had no recourse to demand a refund because the payments were made to Iraqi middlemen who vanished after receiving the millions. "The undertakings make no obligation ... toward the Iraqi Ministry of Defense," according to the report.
-The sole beneficiary on 43 of the 89 contracts was a former currency-exchange operator, Nair Mohamed al-Jumaili, whose name doesn't even appear on the contracts. At least $759 million in Iraqi money was deposited into his personal account at a bank in Baghdad, according to the report. Internal records incorrectly "indicated that the Ministry of Defense signed contracts with Poland, Arab countries, the United States and Europe, but we discovered that all contracts were signed and executed with Iraqi suppliers," the report said.
The contracts under scrutiny total $1.27 billion, nearly equal to the estimated $1.3 billion allocated for the Defense Ministry's budget this year. The money came solely from Iraqi coffers, not from the training budget of the U.S. military or from NATO and foreign donations to Iraq's military.
"There's no rebuilding, no weapons, nothing," said retired Iraqi Lt. Gen. Abdul Aziz al-Yaseri, who worked in the Defense Ministry at the height of the alleged corruption. "There are no real contracts, even. They just signed papers and took the money." |
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/12360839.htm
The Constitution process is being derailed. The fundamental questions of Islamism and federalism still haven't been addressed. Hakim has raised the spectre of a Shia superprovince, which (along with the Kurdish superprovince) would deny the Sunni Arabs a share of the country's oil wealth - and extend the insurgency indefinitely. Because SCIRI controls 11 out of 13 of the Southern provincial gov't's, a Shia superprovince would mean they would be able to dominate the gov't, whereas in all of Iraq, their power would be considerably diluted (interestingly enough, Sy Hersh in an article a couple months ago asserted that in the provincial elections, there was considerable pro-SCIRI, anti-Da'wa ballot stuffing). The Iraqi Parliament just gave the Constitution delegates a week extension to compromise, but the problems might be too intractible to resolve in such short a time. This whole timeline for the Constitution has been absurdly compressed, and really serves no purpose other than giving Shrub yet another chance to say "the tide is turning" to the American public.
In summary, we're ****ed.
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lord of the mark
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FUKCOV - Former United Kingdom Colony of Virginia
Dec 2000
time: 00:37
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quote:
Originally posted by Ramo
Dear Leader's apparantly planning a major reducion in American presence in 2006 (probably to avert 1994 redux in the elections), under the delusion that Iraqi troops are prepared to take over the bulk of the defense by that time.
LOTM - 20,000 or so troops - there are likely to be enough Iraqi troops trained to make that feasible, from what Ive read.
But the Ministry of Defense is basically a joke. It's unable to even provide its troops with basic supplies, and has to rely on American support (there was an interesting Times article on that recently that I posted here).
LOTM - I read that article - what was interesting is how the Iraqi troops are persevering despite logistical problems. Oh, and this is a third world, country, there are going to be problems, and corruption. Especially with a new government.
Indeed, an Iraqi audit recently turned up over a billion dollars in fraud, including half a billion that literally disappeared.
LOTM - like i said, theres gonna be corruption.
The Constitution process is being derailed.
LOTM - the incorporation of the Sunnis has complicated things, but is still very hopeful. We will see what happens in a week.
The fundamental questions of Islamism and federalism still haven't been addressed. Hakim has raised the spectre of a Shia superprovince, which (along with the Kurdish superprovince) would deny the Sunni Arabs a share of the country's oil wealth - and extend the insurgency indefinitely.
LOTM - but Jaafari distanced himself from that proposal.
Because SCIRI controls 11 out of 13 of the Southern provincial gov't's, a Shia superprovince would mean they would be able to dominate the gov't, whereas in all of Iraq, their power would be considerably diluted (interestingly enough, Sy Hersh in an article a couple months ago asserted that in the provincial elections, there was considerable pro-SCIRI, anti-Da'wa ballot stuffing).
LOTM - Hersh again. From what ive read, theres disillusionment with SCIRI, which is why theyre so eager to get a constitution through, since if they dont theyd have to face new elections.
The Iraqi Parliament just gave the Constitution delegates a week extension to compromise, but the problems might be too intractible to resolve in such short a time. This whole timeline for the Constitution has been absurdly compressed, and really serves no purpose other than giving Shrub yet another chance to say "the tide is turning" to the American public.
LOTM - Im not sure. It also leads to the next election, which is likely to be the first with massive Sunni Arab participation. I can see arguments for delay, but also good arguments against delay.
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17-08-2005 02:36
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