Doctor Zero on May 26, 2008 at 12:47 AM

Doug Feith’s book,based on his extensive memos and notes at the time of the pre-liberation of Iraq,substantiates the fact that plenty of post-invasion scenarios were discussed in depth. Timmerman’s Shadow Warriors also makes that claim.

Saboteurs within the entrenched careerist establishment at State and in the Pentagon, jealous of maintaining their own power, put out the message that there was no post-war planning. That was the narrative that the media preferred to establish and promote. Currently, no major newspaper has reviewed Feith’s book. Why not?

Nah, I think I’ll just keep trying to pour it on. MB4’s of the world still preaching the Bad News aside, of course.

Let’s see now. We won the War in Iraq initially: killed Uday and Qusay, captured and then killed Saddam Hussein, and killed Zarcawi. Now, we’re on the edge of winning the Occupation, as well. Yet President Bush is still languishing in low poll numbers, and no credit whatsoever is given to him for either victory.

ericdondero on May 25, 2008 at 8:32 AM

This is exactly the situation that troubles me so much about our current political situation. Granted that President Bush has done an extremely poor job of making the case that he deserves such credit – nothing about Dubya puzzles me more than his disappearing act, post-2004 – I’m always surprised to hear intelligent people ranting about how terrible he’s been. No credit at all for the security of the nation, post 9/11, or the remarkable recovery of the economy after that devastating blow… would anyone have believed, in the days immediately after 9/11, that we’d get to 2008 without another major terror attack? Would anyone in the winter of 2001 have been willing to accept a President Al Gore holding endless talks with the Taliban, and perhaps sending a sternly worded letter to them? Would the Bush Administration have gained anything, either domestically or internationally, by backing down from Saddam’s endless Security Council violations, and would any sane (i.e. non-nutroots) critc of Bush’s really have preferred the security situation of a healthy and wealthy Saddam financing terror worldwide, and maybe getting closer to those weapons of mass destruction in tandem with Iran?

Bush has made plenty of mistakes, but in the big strategic picture, the best possible moves have been made, given the intelligence and resources available. I personally think the biggest single blunder was allowing so much of the Iraqi Army to trot on home as we rolled up to Baghdad, providing manpower, military training, and weapons for the insurgency, and a runner-up was failing to sanitize the Iranian border (with extensive cross-border air strikes as needed) to keep them out of it. I hope our strategists have absorbed those lessons… extending superior humanitarian and diplomatic considerations to a brutal enemy only prolongs the brutality.

Even conservatives often accuse the Bush Administration of a certain blindness to the way things would play out in Iraq, but I wonder if perhaps some in the Administration were not, in fact, eerily prescient. In the face of a hostile media and domestic political opposition that has persuaded itself to relish defeat, against a diffuse enemy united by ideology, but smart enough not to demand direct confrontations with an irresistable U.S. military… working against a political clock that ticks in weeks and months, while the enemy thinks in generations and millenia… I wonder if some of the people planning the big show in 2001-2003 didn’t realize they would only get one shot at resolving the War On Terror without unspeakable levels of bloodshed. Afghanistan was always too small to send the necessary message to the global jihad. It had to be Iraq or Iran, and one must remember the causus belli for action against Iraq was vastly stronger in 2003, despite the fasionable tendency for the global Left to pretend Cheney and Rumsfeld were the Lucy Ramirez and Dan Rather of their day. I am very, very glad that our one shot looks to be working out at last.

Holmes on May 25, 2008 at 11:11 PM

Agreed………

MB4

Why don’t you enlighten us with your extensive intellect and wisdom on what an Al Qaeda terrorist would look like when they are standing next to you before the bomb went off…………

I think it was ex, could have been ex and active duty, maybe.

MB4 on May 25, 2008 at 12:50 AM

You’re quoting from memory? And your memory is unclear?

You lose the argument by default.

Squiggy on May 25, 2008 at 7:27 AM

It is of the highest importance in the art of detection to be able to recognize out of a number of facts which are incidental and which vital, otherwise your energy and attention must be dissipated instead of being concentrated.

I think it was ex, could have been ex and active duty, maybe.
MB4 on May 25, 2008 at 12:50 AM

You’re quoting from memory? And your memory is unclear?
You lose the argument by default.
Squiggy on May 25, 2008 at 7:27 AM

97% of unclear memory is incorrect 83% of the time.

Indy, we are the “Parliament of Whores“

Entelechy on May 25, 2008 at 2:52 PM

And the voters are the pimps.

Indy Conservative on May 25, 2008 at 1:15 PM

Of course, because we live in country where people cry foul when we declare any sort of victory but elect politician who say the war is “lost.”

terryannonline on May 25, 2008 at 1:47 PM

We live in a country where voters are idiots.

We live in a country where voters are idiots.

We live in a country where voters are idiots.

Three times for the idiots.

Indy Conservative on May 25, 2008 at 1:15 PM

Of course, because we live in country where people cry foul when we declare any sort of victory but elect politician who say the war is “lost.”

, I’ll file this in the Lies/Damn Lies/Statistics category…

Nozzle on May 25, 2008 at 10:54 AM

Al Gore does the very same thing when he sees information that questions Global Warming.

I post the link and I got my nickname only?

I swear to Allah, it wasn’t my story….

Let me try again:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080525/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq&printer=1;_ylt=AshtMW9sxu_koCbjkpgXExkUewgF

US military downplays remarks on al-Qaida’s demise

By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer 37 minutes ago

The U.S. military distanced itself Sunday from remarks declaring al-Qaida in Iraq close to defeat, saying the terror network is “off-balance and on the run,” but remains a very lethal threat.

However, Rear Adm. Patrick Driscoll, a military spokesman, said violence has dropped some 70 percent since a U.S. troop buildup began nearly a year ago.

Underscoring the continuing dangers, a roadside bomb targeted a patrol of U.S.-allied Sunni Arab fighters near a mosque in northern Baghdad Sunday, killing one of the so-called Awakening Council members and wounding three others, a police official said.

Driscoll was responding to a question about comments made Saturday by U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, who said Iraqi forces have made important progress in confronting extremists.

“You are not going to hear me say that al-Qaida is defeated, but they’ve never been closer to defeat than they are now,” Crocker said, speaking in Arabic to reporters during a visit to the Shiite holy city of Najaf.

Driscoll said the number of attacks in the past week had “decreased to the level not seen since March 2004,” due to recent military operations against Shiite militias in Baghdad’s Sadr City and the southern city of Basra, as well as Sunni insurgents in the northern city of Mosul.

But he warned al-Qaida in Iraq maintains the ability to stage suicide bombings and other deadly attacks.

“They certainly are off-balance and on the run,” Driscoll said during a news conference in the U.S.-protected Green Zone in Baghdad. But, he added, the group “remains a very lethal threat.”

The U.S. military has been cautious in touting recent security gains amid fears that al-Qaida and other insurgents are trying to regroup after suffering setbacks from military operations as well as a Sunni revolt against the terror network.

Sunni tribal leaders who have joined forces with the Americans have frequently been targeted by suspected insurgents trying to derail the movement that has been credited as a key reason for the sharp decline in violence over the past year.

The other factors include a troop buildup of some 30,000 additional American forces, which is currently being reduced, and a fragile cease-fire order by anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

In the past two months, Iraqi forces have launched three major operations: cracking down on Shiite militiamen in Basra and on al-Qaida in Iraq militants in the northern city of Mosul, and deploying in the Baghdad Shiite militia stronghold of Sadr City.

Thousands of Iraqi forces moved into Sadr City last week, imposing control for the first time in years, and the deployment has occurred with little violence so far.

But over the past several days violence has broken out in other Shiite districts of Baghdad as Iraqi forces move against militias there, including the powerful Mahdi Army loyal to anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Clashes broke out before midnight Saturday between Shiite gunmen and U.S.-Iraqi troops in the Amin area in eastern Baghdad, killing two civilians and wounding three others, including a 4-year-old boy, according to police and hospital officials.

The officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to release the information. The U.S. military said American troops targeted Shiite gunmen after observing them moving weapons into vehicles late Saturday in the area, wounding one of the militants.

Al-Sadr’s supporters accused Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Saturday of seeking to eliminate their movement and warned that “dark clouds” hang over a truce that has so far held in Sadr City.

Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mohammed al-Askari, meanwhile, said security forces had released 251 detainees captured during operations in Mosul and surrounding areas, but 1,030 remained in custody.

He said some 2,000 al-Qaida and other Sunni insurgent fighters were believed to have been in the city before the sweep was launched. He said most of the militants who managed to flee the offensive in Ninevah province, of which Mosul is the capital, were being pursued in other provinces.

“Now they are in a confused situation,” he said at a joint news conference with Driscoll. “We will not allow them to reorganize themselves.”

___

Associated Press writer Bushra Juhi contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press.

those without the means to escape. Annar on May 25, 2008 at 11:55 AM

You’re close. Remember the taxpayers (you and me) pay them to stay. A bird in the hand…

This is terrible news. We’ve almost won the war. Not a good sound byte at all for the Dhimmis.

I figured it up the other day: If we added up the killed and wounded in Democrat wars in this century, it would be about 1,600,000 Americans — enough to fill the city of Detroit.
- Bob Dole

MB4 on May 24, 2008 at 11:40 PM

Out of date. Under the inspired leadership of a Democratic administration the population of Detroit is under 950,000 poor souls; those without the means to escape.

In a recent survey 37% of ex Army Officers said that Iran had gained the most from our Iraq war, 21% said China and only 20% said the U.S. We are in effect making war against ourselves.

MB4 on May 25, 2008 at 12:21 AM

Care to enlighten us as to the date of this recent survey? Conducted by whom? Questions asked? Without such information, I’ll file this in the Lies/Damn Lies/Statistics category…

We need to end this war in Iraq so we can go after Al Qaeda! /Obama

WisCon on May 24, 2008 at 8:42 PM

Heh.

John Kerry and Eric Watada are ex Army officers. I doubt they would say anything good about our efforts, the facts be damned.

Gwillie on May 25, 2008 at 8:34 AM

Great call. It’s a volunteer military; they can’t all be the best and the brightest.

China? Can’t wait for the tortured logic on that one.

We need to end this war in Iraq so we can go after Al Qaeda! /Obama

WisCon on May 24, 2008 at 8:42 PM

I can hardly wait for Imam Obama’s talk directly to the enemy mission to Waziristan.

In a recent survey 37% of ex Army Officers said that Iran had gained the most from our Iraq war, 21% said China and only 20% said the U.S. We are in effect making war against ourselves.

MB4 on May 25, 2008 at 12:21 AM

John Kerry and Eric Watada are ex Army officers. I doubt they would say anything good about our efforts, the facts be damned.

Mission has been accomplished two times over. (Three if you count Afghanistan.)

Just goes to show ya, you can defeat Saddam Hussein, Al Qaeda, and every murderous Islamic Tyrant in the world, but you can’t defeat the American liberal media.

It’s a losing battle folks.

Eric Dondero, Publisher
Libertarian Republican blog

Gee, I wish I was lucky enough to speak Arabic (or farsi or pashto or whatever) so I could uncover those lies. All I can do is speak English and uncover all those demorat lies you (and your totally non-conservative allies in the media) keep feeding me.

I’m laughing so hard I swallowed my dentures.

I’m gonna sue your ass.

It’s impractical to say the least unless we can manufacture oil out of thin air.

Spirit of 1776 on May 24, 2008 at 11:13 PM

Or drill for it.

And if you are lucky like me and you know foreign languages, then you will uncover the lies the U.S. media, the politicians and the Military are feeding you.

Indy Conservative on May 24, 2008 at 8:31 PM

Gee, I wish I was lucky enough to speak Arabic (or farsi or pashto or whatever) so I could uncover those lies. All I can do is speak English and uncover all those demorat lies you (and your totally non-conservative allies in the media) keep feeding me.

I think it was ex, could have been ex and active duty, maybe.

MB4 on May 25, 2008 at 12:50 AM

You’re quoting from memory? And your memory is unclear?

You lose the argument by default.

I think with that post, you have officially become the poster child for self-parody.

Professor Blather on May 25, 2008 at 1:02 AM

BTW, Mr. Hater Grumpy do you even know what a parody is? That was a odd choice of words, with or without the ’self’ in front of it for the comment of mine that you referenced, and especially with your being a professor.