Posted on 12/13/2008 12:18:39 PM PST by flyfree
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has told US troops in Iraq that their mission there is in its "endgame".
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
...Let’s hope it’s not a loss or defeat...
Hundreds of billions invested, thousands of lives cost.
Key strategic terrain between Iran and Syria.
Critical to the GWOT where it serves as a $hit magnet.
At this point near stabilized, with casualties low.
Vital to our nation and the greater Western hemisphere because of its oil reserves.
Long term more promising to have a positive outcome than Afghanistan because in Iraq they do have something that can sustain an economy, oil. They did have some existing infrastructure, they did have a real functional bureaucracy and they are more world open and educated on average than in Afghanistan.
The consequences of failure include 26 million Iraqi’s that get thrown under the bus.
Iran gaining power in the region by spreading into Iraq’s south.
Shaken trust in that the US has the willpower to see anything through and a reluctance for commitment in the future. With this you’ll also see other middle eastern nations like Qatar, UAE, etc be more “accommodating” to Iran because they see them as the regional power house and our decline in influence.
But........ it sounded good during the elections.
Iran needs to be “surrounded” until it “gets religion”.
Engame? I thought we were in a “quagmire”?
The problem is that if you cut it short, if you pull the plug to early and the Iraqi's aren't ready yet, they will implode despite all the progress made. These sort of missions take years! We're still in the Balkans a decade later. It took Germany a good 7-10 years before they were ready to go. Korea, Japan.......... We're talking about creating systems and structures of self governance and security. A justice system, with police, army, air force, intelligence services, Parliament, all the ministries to run certain governmental functions, etc etc etc. The bureaucracy and operating systems to run a country and to get it in place to where they stick takes years to make happen, and we're leaving awfully early.
Take the training wheels off before the kid is ready to ride, and he'll get hurt. Obama will simply blame Bush, but the implications to us in terms of national security, for the future of Iraq, our reputation, our economic interests in that region long term......... all that is sacrificed for the short term goal of ending a war based on popular but distorted opinions. If Iraq collapses and Iran gains power, the stage is set for a war in the middle east of unimaginable magnitude in the future.
We still have troops in Germany and Japan.
True, but my source is bored and is essentially playing third string behind the Iraqi army and police in an area that used to be called 'the wild west'.
They all say they’re bored. My friend’s son, who got shot up, said he was bored.
How many of those troops have died in action recently?
The Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) portends victory. Iraq and U.S. as two sovereign, and coequal countries agreed on ways forward implementing U.N. principles and purposes. Iraqi pragmatic evaluations of conditions lead talks for disengagement: not U.S. election cycle driven timelines.
General Petraeus testified the surge would execute proven counterinsurgency tactics “to improve the security for the people of Iraq in order to give Iraqi leaders the time and space they need to come to grips with tough political issues”. Throughout 2008 Iraqi people and leaders experienced deliverance from lives dominated by assassins stalking them and their families. They witnessed national institution ascendance in providing personal and material security.
Persistence for Iraq representative government thwarted al Qaeda determination that Babylon becomes the Caliphate rallying point. In Iraq, U.S. earned credibility as a counter force to all horrid factions applying murderous coercion when striving to dominate African, Oriental, and Asian politics.
Invigorating new allies’ confrontational initiatives brings Global War on Terror victory by frustrating plans, breaking alliances, and fracturing jihadist organizations into ever less effective units. Without cities, countries or armies bin Laden, successor sociopath prophets, and tyrants they empower only dream of conquest as they suffer unnaturally shortened lives as pariahs.
Yet administration leaders Obama, Biden and Clinton voted for removing most troops by April 2008, and preventing this victory. Their behavior portends traditional ally abandonment. Their actions portend escaping commitment, and reviving self-congratulatory righteousness within elegant foreign policies redefining national interest, proportional response, multi-lateralism, re-deployment and exit strategy.
Yep I don’t trust them either...Obama, Biden and Clinton voted for removing most troops by April 2008, and preventing this victory. Their behavior portends traditional ally abandonment. Their actions portend escaping commitment, and reviving self-congratulatory righteousness within elegant foreign policies redefining national interest, proportional response, multi-lateralism, re-deployment and exit strategy.
...Sorry to sound so flippant, piper, but I’m with yer.
Huh?
Almost nothing is going on there these days. Our soldiers and marines have scarcely fired a shot in over a year in Iraq. It's over. We won.
Some mindless sectarian violence here and there will certainly continue, but that's just the way it's always been.
...”Improve the security for the people of Iraq”. “Tough political issues”. That should stay the focus. The US presidential election is over. Some folks here on FR want to continue the “war” for the presidency, to distract from this issue. We are, have been, and continue to be a world and a nation at war. I, for one, relish in a little peace time to placate myself until the next war...
Very good thread. Intelligent, incisive opinions, and, thought provoking.
Thanks.
More than 300 US troops died in Iraq in the last year, not all combat but mostly. That doesn't include the few thousand wounded.
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