You two certainly don’t know how to evaluate strategically important events. But, hey, that’s ok. Keep your heads down in the trenches and let the smart guys discuss the issues that are above your pay grade.

Wake up one of these days.

I am setting expectations low, very low. That way if things go even so-so, General Petraeus and his efforts will look good by comparison. Some of you are setting expectations so high that you are either trying to make him look bad or you don’t know what the frack you are doing!

MB4 and JGocht, you remind me of the hypochondriac who was always sure he was just about to die, until the day finally came. The epitaph on his tombstone was, “See!”

My father is 95 years old and even has a girl friend, so don’t worry about me.

But Iraq doesn’t have to be perfect. It just needs to be no longer our problem

That sound good. Let’s make it not our problem right now.

and that will happen when the Iraqis can take care of their own problems.

Whoops. You would have to say that.

Frankly, so far the Iraqi government seems to be working better than our own.

If you actually believe that, maybe you should move there. House prices are probably a whole lot cheaper. Go for it!

Frankly, so far the Iraqi government seems to be working better than our own. AQI is desperate, Sadr’s at least overtly giving up on armed rebellion, which means he sees much more chance for success by playing politics, much of the milestone legislation that Congress has been calling for has in fact been passed, including de-Baathification and oil revenue sharing, and the Sunnis have rejoined the national government.

But don’t worry: it’s a big country with a troubled past and violent factions. You’ll be able to find support for your pessimism for some time to come yet.

theregoestheneighborhood on April 18, 2008 at 2:47 AM

You sound like the five o’clock follies in RVN.

Point being, when he finally died, that didn’t prove he was right all along. It just proved he was wrong about being about to die every day until the very end.

You’re both convinced that Iraq will be a disaster, and you’ll always find reason to believe it, because there will always be some bad new somewhere. But Iraq doesn’t have to be perfect. It just needs to be no longer our problem, and that will happen when the Iraqis can take care of their own problems.

That day will not be determined by a complete lack of violence from AQI. That day will be determined when the Iraqi government is able to take care of the violence themselves.

Frankly, so far the Iraqi government seems to be working better than our own. AQI is desperate, Sadr’s at least overtly giving up on armed rebellion, which means he sees much more chance for success by playing politics, much of the milestone legislation that Congress has been calling for has in fact been passed, including de-Baathification and oil revenue sharing, and the Sunnis have rejoined the national government.

But don’t worry: it’s a big country with a troubled past and violent factions. You’ll be able to find support for your pessimism for some time to come yet.

You and MB4 are set in your pessimism

major john on April 18, 2008 at 12:57 AM

We hear and we forget, we see and we remember, we do and we understand.

Uh, wrong. I’m down here at Basrah – you have mistated what did occur, what is occuring now, and I believe that you are wrong about the future.

You and MB4 are set in your pessimism

major john on April 18, 2008 at 12:57 AM

So again this is a fairly courageous decision, a fairly sudden decision, one that came after some months of preparing a more deliberate approach, and is still very much playing out, it is far too soon to say that Basra has succeeded or has failed either. It is safe to say that Basra is going to continue for months actually and it is a tough nut to crack but the fact is that the Prime Minister has taken it on and his forces are grappling with that particular issue.
- General Petraeus

Keep kicking A$$ and bringing Freedom major john,while the
“war is lost” crowd keep whinnying and making bumper stickers.

Baxter Greene on April 18, 2008 at 1:37 AM

It looks like a majority of your fellow Americans are part of your ““war is lost” crowd [that] keep[s] whinnying and making bumper stickers”, as you so ineloquently put it.

Friday, April 18, 2008; Page A07

Moreover, while Bush remains committed to keeping more than 100,000 U.S. troops in Iraq through the rest of his presidency, 56 percent of Americans say the United States should withdraw its military forces to avoid further casualties. This has been the majority view since January 2007.

Which side will the U.S. military(militia?) fight for then?

“screw the dirty little ‘other’” was something of a characteristic of the Left in the West. Maybe I missed something?

major john on April 18, 2008 at 12:57 AM

I do believe that you have missed a lot, including that it is you who is accusing others of “screw the dirty little ‘other’”, as you so ineloquently put it, which is a “characteristic of the left”.

Call me a wet blanket; Maliki’s troops get their arse kicked in Basra, until we intervened with our force

Uh, wrong. I’m down here at Basrah – you have mistated what did occur, what is occuring now, and I believe that you are wrong about the future.

You and MB4 are set in your pessimism, so I don’t believe that I shall change your minds with actual observations from the scene – but the “aw @#$% ‘em” school of thought isn’t mine. I thought the “this hard so I wanna quit” and “screw the dirty little ‘other’” was something of a characteristic of the Left in the West. Maybe I missed something?

I hope he’s wildly successful, just for that remark.

Now They Have Turned to the Tribes
Micheal Totten
April 17, 2008
http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/2008/04/now-they-have-t.php

Marine Captain Quintin Jones, commanding officer at Outpost Delta in the city of Karmah, told me he works with tribal authorities as well as the mayor every day and can’t get much done if he doesn’t.

MJT: How compatible is tribal law with a democratic system? Are they merging the two systems, or basically still using the old-world authoritarian model?

Captain Jones: The way to approach it is, there is still a need for the tribal way of life, but we’re trying to make it more democratic at the same time. They’re parallel. The true part is run by the democratic process. If you look at countries like Bahrain or Dubai – the UAE – they still have a strong tribal base, but they’re somewhat democratic in their governance and the way they approach things. You can’t move forward or progress as a country if you’re stuck in the tribal way of life.

Zelsdorf Ragshaft my good person… are you some kind of flyin’ fairy conjured out of a clever Englishwoman’s fertile mind?

I ask this with all due respect for the good lady who has made millions; perhaps billions?

My question remains; are you actually a character in one of her novels, I’ve not read?
Do you wish in your “heart of heart’s too be?

Or…you just funnin’ all of us?

The Generals in this fight were in Nam, fool.

Zelsdorf Ragshaft on April 17, 2008 at 7:45 PM

Most were not. General Petraeus never served in RVN.

So ask not for whom the bell tolls, as it tolls for thee.

We lost 53,000 58,200 plus about 2,000 MIA GI souls in Vietnam

J_Gocht on April 17, 2008 at 8:30 PM

“…The Generals in this fight were in Nam, fool. Zelsdorf Ragshaft on April 17, 2008 at 7:45 PM”

Not quite ZR baby… that was daddy George H. W. Bush; this one is a baby Bush!

Remember General Colin Powell…He was in Vietnam and “Operation Iragi Freedom”?

BTW: If any of them were…? They didn’t learn “Jack Dump”…!

The cost of this sorry war in Iraq is going to be thousands even millions of times our losing “slit trench” exercise in Vietnam; due to the lifelong debt we owe the brave and wounded!

All for no military, political or moral reason whatever!
Do you “get it” yet…?

I’m thinking seriously about having an “Early Times”…!

J_Gocht on April 17, 2008 at 8:11 PM

Drink it, relax, and enjoy. See you tomorrow.

I don’t give a military damn!

So, first you boldly claim to know the governing principles which determines the side that wins wars.

Then, when I ask you to apply these governing principles to predict the winner in this situation you merely claim that you don’t give a military damn. Is it possible that your principles lack sufficient sophistication?

I hope this is my last question – what time did you start drinking this evening? :)

Heckler and Kochs, “blink”!

I don’t give a military damn!

J_Gocht on April 17, 2008 at 8:00 PM

Do you “get it” yet; blink…?

Do you “get it” yet?

J_Gocht on April 17, 2008 at 7:50 PM

Get what? Are you actually suggesting that a foreign invader has never prevailed?

Give the Sunni enough gilt and they’ll kick AQ arse.

And what about Sunni and Shite? Are you implying that they will have a stable existence? Are you implying that AQI is the only threat towards peace in Iraq? Can you please try to put a bit more thought into your answer?