In Speech, Bush to Ask Americans and Allies for Teamwork on Iraq

Washington Post ^ | 9-7-03 | Mike Allen

[ambrose]

ping

[GraniteStateConservative]

The UN's oil-for-food program was re-started in March, dude. We SOUGHT PERMISSION to immediately end it. The UN gave us the middle finger. Australia, for example, has now sold a total of 1.2 million tons of wheat to Iraq through the program since March. The program doesn't actually end until November.

Whether Rumsfeld says so or not, we don't have the resources to police the borders of Iran and Syria and Saudi Arabia with Iraq and Pakistan with Afghanistan. Surely you don't need convincing of that. We also probably aren't seeking out the thousands of at-large Saddam loyalists, Ba'athist torturers, Republican Guards, and Saddam Fedayeen to the degree we'd like. It's a huge task to de-Baathize the country and we have to use some of our resources for guarding buildings and people and providing humanitarian relief and policing neighborhoods.

[Wait4Truth]

So, the President will say that the international community needs to come together to fight terrorism in Iraq. I think that's fine and I think it's correct. He will say this in his own style - calmly and in a presidential manner. If France and Germany then try to block everything and end up looking like petulant children, this only helps the President. It also shows the American public that the Dems are lying when they say that President Bush refuses to engage the international community. In spite of all the Bush-bashing by the usual suspects, I think this is the right course of action by the President.

[ARCADIA]

So, the President will say that the international community needs to come together to fight terrorism in Iraq.

To me it sounds like he is willing to yield control of Iraq in exchange for a few thousand troops of questionable value and politically expedient cover for himself. BTW, the fighting in Iraq is domestic, not international. If our allies want to help; they should keep their troops and fight terrorisim within their own borders. Saudi Arabia and its fellwo travelos should worry about sealing their own borders and leave the fighting/control in Iraq to us.

[sheltonmac]

...our low troop levels have us in a bind.

Our current situation will do nothing to boost recruitment of new troops. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a call for the draft in the near future.

[Michael81Dus]

Actually, the very most of the 70,000 (not 110,000) troops in Germany are in Iraq right now. There are so many down in Mid East that the Germans guard the US bases in Germany.

[Michael81Dus]

I know that the French and the Russians had contracts with Saddam. Please post evidence for your claim that Germany had contracts with Iraq.

[section9]

I'll see what I can dig up for you.

Now let's see what I.G. Farben has been up to lately....

Be Seeing You,

Chris