Warning: main(/home/b4v/public_html/wp-content/themes/blixed/above.php) [function.main]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/b4v/public_html/wp-content/themes/blixed/single.php on line 5
Warning: main() [function.include]: Failed opening '/home/b4v/public_html/wp-content/themes/blixed/above.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/lib/php:/usr/local/lib/php') in /home/b4v/public_html/wp-content/themes/blixed/single.php on line 5
The Headline the Left Hates to See
April 15th, 2008 at 11:47pm Mark Noonan
This will just get them all kinds of upset:
Basra residents welcome Iraq army crackdown
BASRA, Iraq (AFP) — Three weeks after Iraqi troops swarmed into the southern city of Basra to take on armed militiamen who had overrun the streets, many residents say they feel safer and that their lives have improved.
The fierce fighting which marked the first week of Operation Sawlat al-Fursan (Charge of the Knights) has given way to slower, more focused house-by-house searches by Iraqi troops, which led on Monday to the freeing of an abducted British journalist.
Residents say the streets have been cleared of gunmen, markets have reopened, basic services have been resumed and a measure of normality has returned to the oil-rich city.
The port of Umm Qasr is in the hands of the Iraqi forces who wrested control of the facility from Shiite militiamen, and according to the British military it is operational once again.
Yep, the Sadr militia really kicked a** and took names, let me tell you!
Entry Filed under: War on Terror
12 Comments
1. Dennis | April 16th, 2008 at 3:32 am
You can’t speak for the opposition, Mark. You don’t give anyone else the respect of having their own convictions.
As for me, I’m happy for any sign of progress in Iraq. It’s just that every time they (or we) make one step forward, there are two steps back. What, about sixty people killed by car bombs in Baquba and Ramadi yesterday? And the State Dept. telling employees they may be forced into involuntary servitude in Iraq next year?
After six years there’s no end in sight - and despite various figures in the current Bush admin’s alarmist preachments in the 90s to Clinton about exit strategies when we went into Bosnia, this war is far more open-ended.
No consistency there, Mark. We liberals are all about making change for the better - but it has to happen with coherence and some prior idea of just what we are getting into. And after six years the Bush program still has neither.
2. Pain | April 16th, 2008 at 8:04 am
The headline the Right Fears Most
“Iraqi government votes for US toops to leave their country, al Maliki to speak to his nation tonight at 8 PM.”
3. Bigfoot | April 16th, 2008 at 9:38 am
What, about sixty people killed by car bombs in Baquba and Ramadi yesterday?
Don’t worry about Mark not mentioning this. The MSM will gladly tell us about any negative developments, as they usually do.
We liberals are all about making change for the better - but it has to happen with coherence and some prior idea of just what we are getting into.
Coherence? I don’t see any coherence to liberal demands to that we cut and run from Iraq, which seems to be their only alternative to the “Bush program”. Obama, for one, talks of “ending the war” by withdrawing our troops, as if doing so would immediately cause all the terrorists (the people we charitably call insurgents) to stop their violence, if he thinks at all of any consequences.
Yes, we can say that Bush and company did not think carefully going in, and how we carried out the war afterwards. There are plenty of lessons to be learned, that’s for sure. One of them is that we should think VERY carefully about how and when we leave.
4. Joe | April 16th, 2008 at 10:35 am
that we cut and run from Iraq
—Nice bumpersticker comment. Since you like bumpersticker comments, I guess you are all for “More of the Same”.
Yes, we can say that Bush and company did not think carefully going in, and how we carried out the war afterwards.
— I had to reread that comment Bigfoot. Wow. Now… if only others on this site and those on the GOP side would at least ADMIT to this perhaps some sort of change for the better can happen. You know… first step to fixing a problem is admitting there IS a problem.
Good for you for admitting that.
By the way… I believe both Dem candidates have claimed they will begin a drawdown immediately, and not just pull everyone out immediately. That is a HUGE difference that those on the GOP side refuse to recognize. It is just easier saying Dems will pull everyone out right away regardless if that is truly what they are saying or not.
5. Diana Powe | April 16th, 2008 at 10:44 am
There is something highly ironic about the fact that many, if not most, Republicans (including Senator McCain) now, well after the fact, say that the Bush Administration “did not think carefully going in, and how we carried out the war afterwards” but somehow believe that the same Bush Administration must have perfect foresight in predicting what will happen in Iraq if we set a timetable for withdrawal and stick to it. When exactly did they get smarter?
6. Joe | April 16th, 2008 at 10:54 am
Diana, the whole Bush Administration must have stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night. That would have made him smarter.
7. Diana Powe | April 16th, 2008 at 11:35 am
Then there’s headlines like this:
8. charles odell | April 16th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Today the front page of the New York Times carried a headline about another company of Iraqi soldiers fleeing Sadr City in the face of Shiite militias. Once again this rased the question of how much of the Iraqi army is willing to fight when called on by the country they are supposed to be serving.
President Bush’s punchlilne has long been “As they stand up, we will stand down.” Stories like the one I just cited raise the question of if these bozos are ever going to stand up and function.
In an case, we can look with confidence to years of custodial peacekeeping duties for our army, which is a real one. It will have a small but steady stream of casulties as it does for Iraq what the Iraqis can’t be bothered to do for themselves.
It’s smelling more like Vietnam all the time. But don’t worry, Mark, I’m sure you can put a phony spin on the problem that will make things seem peachy as hell.
9. charles odell | April 16th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
One of the few good things about the War in Iraq is the relatively low number of dead and injured soldiers and Marines that we have suffered in it. Four thousand dead is four thousand too many, of course, but the fact remains that it is easier to take than the 58,000 we suffered in Vietnam. The 13 or 14 thousand serious injuries our men have endured is one big improvement over the 250,000 or so they had in Vietnam.
I attribute this to two factors: Improved battlefield medicine and the fact that the Iraqi insurgents just don’t have the muscle of the Viet Cong and the NVA. Thank God for that.
It goes without saying that none of that justifies George Bush lying us into a war that we have not been able to win or end.
10. Greenspace | April 16th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
“company of Iraqi soldiers fleeing Sadr City in the face of Shiite militias”
I do not believe they are fleeing because they are afraid, they are fleeing because they don’t want to kill fellow Iraqis. Conservatives just wont admit this is a civil war and can not be won militarily.
11. bongoman | April 16th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Exactly - the neocon architects of this insane occupation are incapable of distinguishing between military and political victories it seems.
In their minds, they can only see military solutions.
The soldiers fled ’cause there are religious dictates about Shia’s killing Shia’s.
Remember that less than 2 per cent of violence in Iraq is connected with Al Qaeda! Two percent!
The rest is sectarian violence and Iraqi’s fighting the occupying force.
So don’t believe this hype about Iraq being the “central front in the WoT”.
And as Juan Cole points out, the Sunni guerillas behind the recent attacks in Baquba, Baghdad, Ramadi and Mosul are completely unconnected with Iran.
The fact remains that Al-Maliki and his al Dawa and ISCI backers have far more allegiance to Iran than the fiercely nationalist Sadr.
And as for recent moves to ban groups with active militas from participating in the political process, it ignores the fact that al Maliki has militias too. Sadr is not alone on this.
Ah, the joys of building an empire!
Worst President ever - shame on you Bush.
12. LiberalNitemare | April 16th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
These posts provide an interesting example of liberal schizophrenia.
On one hand, the liberals desparately want US troops out of Iraq. The reasons vary, support of the troops, ending the suffering, my pet goat, etc. The goal is often stated and common to the many themes they present.
On the other hand, any claim of military success that might contribute to actually bringing troops home, is met with a terrorist cheerleading session where every coalition success is met with competing claims of insurgent victories.
I have to conclude that liberals dont want the troops to come home. Liberals want the troops to come home defeated.