Video: Bush quotes Iraq the Model
posted at 6:01 pm on March 28, 2007 by Allahpundit
It’s a passage from their Journal op-ed of March 7th; no reaction yet at ITM. I’m sure the fact that he didn’t name them was no oversight. If they’re not armed to the teeth yet, they should be.
Bad, bad doings meanwhile in Tal Afar, a town featured on “60 Minutes” a year ago as proof of progress in Iraq. Jihadis detonated two truck bombs yesterday, killing 63 people; Iraqi police responded by going on a rampage overnight and executing approximately 50 Sunni men in retaliation. The Iraqi Army has detained 18 of them. Whether they end up being punished probably depends on which IA unit is holding them. There are rumors swirling that one or more parts of this story are false, but Bob Owens has done some good work in trying to confirm it. He’s confident that it’s true, unfortunately.
WaPo‘s got a story out today about an Iraq memo prepared for Bush by retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey. It’s grim so naturally he’s taking heat for it on some blogs, but read through it and you’ll see it’s not as dark as WaPo makes it sound. Bottom line: he thinks we can still stabilize Iraq, that the Sunni “awakening” against AQ is real, and that there aren’t enough superlatives in Webster’s to properly describe the conduct of U.S. military operations. We’ve got less than 36 months at the outside to get it done, though, and the strain will be tremendous:
In total, enemy insurgents or armed sectarian militias (SCIRI, JAM, Pesh Merga, AQI, 1920’s Brigade, et. al.) probably exceed 100,000 armed fighters. These non-government armed bands are in some ways more capable of independent operations than the regularly constituted [Iraqi army]. They do not depend fundamentally on foreign support for their operations. [Perhaps, but... -- ed.] Most of their money, explosives, and leadership are generated inside Iraq. The majority of the Iraqi population (Sunni and Shia) support armed attacks on American forces. Although we have arrested 120,000 insurgents (hold 27,000) and killed some huge number of enemy combatants (perhaps 20,000+) — the armed insurgents, militias, and Al Qaeda in Iraq without fail apparently re-generate both leadership cadres and foot soldiers. Their sophistication, numbers, and lethality go up— not down— as they incur these staggering battle losses…
We will be forced to call up as many as nine National Guard combat brigades for an involuntary second combat tour this coming year. (Dr Chu at DOD has termed this as “no big deal.”) Many believe that this second round of involuntary call-ups will topple the weakened National Guard structure— which is so central to US domestic security. The National Guard Bureau has argued for a call up of only 12 months instead of 18 months. This misses the point—DOD will without fail be forced to also extend these National Guard brigades in combat at the last minute given the continuation of the current emergency situation.
He expects the insurgency to last for another decade.
It’s still too early to gauge the success of the surge but that won’t stop Gallup from taking a meaningless poll. I leave you with our quote of the day, as discovered by Rick Moran while he was trolling the blog that brings you Pretty Vicious Rants and Important Action Alerts regularly in the service of people-powered politics:
[Hillary] is for the war in Iraq – she voted for it, she has always refused to say she was wrong for doing so, and she would keep US troops in Iraq if elected. Her use of al-Qa’eda to justify keeping troops in Iraq is nothing more than a cynical play on the American public’s paranoia about al-Qa’eda, not a sincere strategy to defeat al-Qa’eda (or if it is, she’s beyond stupid, something I don’t believe.)
Hillary’s a pro-war candidate. And if Democrats nominate her, they will be nominating a pro-war candidate. And then the war will be a fully American war, not just a Republican one.
Related Posts:
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
Comment pages: « Previous 1 2
To be fair, “attacking” a reservoir is massive undertaking…It’s not exactly like you are putting cyan!de into Aunt Esther’s lemonade. Any adulteration involves a massive volume of chemicals and an equally complex means to mix those chemicals into a fairly substantial volume of water.
JFKY on May 16, 2013 at 2:00 PM
Obama said today that he does NOT support an Independet Counsel being appointed for ANY of the scandals….
The bottom line is if Holder des not call for an Independent Counsel it will NOT HAPPEN, they will be able to get away with all of it, & there is nothing anyone can do about it.
easyt65 on May 16, 2013 at 2:01 PM
:) not yours as in ‘you voted for him’ :), of course not… ‘your preezy’ (and mine too, I suspect, but then I’m in denial :) as in your (and our) collective curse…but only for 2 more years or so…I’m looking fwd to the last two lame duck years of his preezydency…
jimver on May 16, 2013 at 2:04 PM
I think Jon Stewart needs to add to that skit decrying government incompetence highlighted on the Internet a day or two ago.
This is the stuff government needs to be worrying about. Not people wearing “Don’t Tread on Me” shirts.
WTH is going on in this administration.
BuckeyeSam on May 16, 2013 at 2:05 PM
Obama’s administration / term in office so far:
FAILURE & SCANDAL!
easyt65 on May 16, 2013 at 2:09 PM
Brat, great find. Thanks.
Schadenfreude on May 16, 2013 at 2:10 PM
INCOMPETENCE is the hallmark of this administration. Starting in the Oval Office.
GarandFan on May 16, 2013 at 2:10 PM
Only credible option: crowdsource.
Names, photos, known acquaintences and known addresses.
Time to take your lumps with the rest of them, US Marshalls.
socalcon on May 16, 2013 at 2:12 PM
I hope and pray, most earnestly, that the last years are mired in controversy and scandal….and a painful inability to accomplish much of anything, I prepare for a “good” 2014.
JFKY on May 16, 2013 at 2:13 PM
Well why not? It’s not like they were planning on praying the rosary in front of a Planned Parenthood Clinic or something terroristy like that.
Lily on May 16, 2013 at 2:14 PM
Hmmm, scandal has been a feature of many a president’s second term, even if it boiled over from the first.
Maybe a president should only serve one term. That makes for more than enough potential scandal.
hawkeye54 on May 16, 2013 at 2:15 PM
{facepalm}
socalcon on May 16, 2013 at 2:16 PM
I didn’t know about the IG REPORT…(of course, knowing about what the IRS was doing is another story…)
easyt65 on May 16, 2013 at 2:18 PM
hawkeye54 on May 16, 2013 at 2:15 PM
MAYBE we just shouldn’t elect inexperienced Communist-tutored (Frank Marshall Davis) hate-spewing racist Communist-based Black Liberation theology pastor-mentored (Wright), Socialist Ideologist-quoting (Saul Alinsky) Community Organizers as President, especially one who plans to put a scndal-plagued Eric Holder in charge of the DOJ & a tax cheat in charge of the Treasury?! Just saying…
easyt65 on May 16, 2013 at 2:21 PM
Same here…methinks we are getting a preview of how his last two tears in office will look like…good news is that by then his political capital would have been spent and exhausted, so that his lame duck years will be even lamer…all these scandals will take a toll which makes me really optimistic about 2014…
jimver on May 16, 2013 at 2:29 PM
No we shouldn’t have. But Barry was the perfect stooge at the perfect time for this job. His election was carefully coordinated by a crafty organization and abetted by the LSM. It was certainly an effort he could have never have hoped to coordinate on his own.
A mastermind he is not.
hawkeye54 on May 16, 2013 at 2:30 PM
And don’t they perform daily water test/analysis anyways? you’d think that a basic test would reveal the chemicals that are not supposed to be in there, especially if they are in lethal quantities…it’s not quite the Middle Age with the Borgias or the Medicis poisoning the water wells of their enemies :)…
jimver on May 16, 2013 at 2:37 PM
Probably placed them in a munitions factory…no one would ever look there…
right2bright on May 16, 2013 at 2:51 PM
government is good for you! let’s make it bigger!!
Sachiko on May 16, 2013 at 3:22 PM
Isn’t keeping track of terrorists racist or something?
We’ll have to wait till they join a tea party. Then they’ll find them for sure.
PattyJ on May 16, 2013 at 4:17 PM
Which name: their original one, or the one they use in the WPP?
Or the false one they are going to use once they get fake documents?
AesopFan on May 16, 2013 at 4:21 PM
It’s all a conspiracy to deny Hillary her turn at the wheel. Dirty Mysogynysts.
abobo on May 16, 2013 at 5:47 PM
The problem is that any highly-public “attack” would close smaller/on-site reservoirs until they could be tested, drained, cleaned, tested again, verified, etc. Then the equipment. Then the distribution system (the comical part is realizing where the water from the flushed lines would go.)
The country re-elected Obama. It’s not a stretch that many or most of them would think one gallon of ________ in a 100 million gallon tank would kill them.
rogerb on May 16, 2013 at 8:46 PM
There are two ways to go after a reservoir.
First is the water, but that hasn’t been treated yet so you are unlikely to do much there.
Second is the dam, which is an earthen dike for the Quabbin Reservoir.
I have a t-shirt around here someplace that says: ‘There is no problem that can’t be solved with the suitable application of high explosives.’
ajacksonian on May 16, 2013 at 9:06 PM
“Man arrested at Boise Bench home on terrorism charges…
BOISE — Federal agents have arrested 30-year-old Fazliddin Kurbanov, who was living at a Boise Bench home, as part of a federal terrorism investigation.
The U.S. Attorney says federal terrorism charges were filed Thursday afternoon in Boise and Salt Lake City, Utah.
Kurbanov is an Uzbekistan national and is legally in the United States.
Kurbanov has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Boise on three counts; one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, one count of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and one count of possessing an unregistered destructive device.
A federal grand jury in Salt Lake City also returned an indictment charging Kurbanov with one count of distribution of information relating to explosives, destructive devices, and weapons of mass destruction.
Government officials say this arrest was the culmination of an investigation by the FBI’s Salt Lake Division, which covers Idaho and Utah; and Joint Terrorism Task Forces in Idaho and Utah, which include a number of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.
Federal agents have been closely monitoring Kurbanov’s activities for any potential threat….
KTVB has learned that Kurbanov has a police record here in Idaho. He was pulled over for traffic violations in three different Idaho counties over the past two years.”
http://www.ktvb.com/news/FBI-conducts-investigation-on-Boise-bench-207753341.html
workingclass artist on May 16, 2013 at 9:08 PM
Large amounts of ricin can be fairly easily made, radioactive isotopes in even modest amounts can be detected, and botulin is extremely toxic in small amounts. The entire reservoir need not be made highly lethal; detections of toxicity need only be high enough to close down the reservoir for some time and cause fear or even panic. That’s what terror is about.
Of course, these foreign Muslims from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore were trespassing in the middle of the night only for the purposes of making observations of the water supply for their “education and career interests” , and they are not (as the media is making a point of) known to be connected to criminal groups. So nothing to worry about, move along unless you’re a greasy racist Islamophobe.
Chessplayer on May 17, 2013 at 11:21 AM
The picture in the caption is priceless and says it all!
rjoco1 on May 17, 2013 at 11:28 AM
Comment pages: « Previous 1 2