[TOUGH STOUGH]

I don't like the sound of this, but I am willing to wait and see.

I will also be offering up some prayers for our military men and their families.

[PISANO]

The "DECISION" is his and his alone. I pray to GOD it is the CORRECT one for our troops and for the success of this war. He is my C-in-C and I back his play. I, on the other hand would make a terrible politician because it would NOT have been my call.

[Edit35]

Once the slanted US media stops scrutinizing Fallujah so damn close, out Marines will be more effective.

We should keep the city surrounded so the foreign fighters and Iraqi insurgents can't escape, or more cant arrive. We should bleed the enemy dry of fuel, food, and ammo.

Maybe then our special forces could inch closer and closer, and pick off fighters one by one at 2,000 yards.

[goodnesswins]

Any of you yahoos reading the other threads about the SNIPERS....OUR snipers????

[txhurl]

Good God, I turn my back for 30 minutes to enjoy some Cab and now this.....?

[swheats]

Let me see if I'm understanding this:

President Bush stood on a mound of rubble in Ground Zero and told those who had done the dirty deed they would be hearing from us soon.
And he delivered.

He went on t.v. numerous times and told the American public and the world what he thought would be best and that the world should rally with him to accomplish the mission.
Many accepted call.

He stood before the United Nations and told them to either put up or be replaced as a body or become as the League of Nations. (In light of what we know now regarding those he spoke too on the Council)
And they acted.

He gave Saddam 48 hours to decide his fate or U.S. would come in after him.
And we did.

Why would I begin to doubt the President now and to believe an upstart like AlSadyr would not be put down, by any means necessary.

We might have missed bin Laden. The jury's still out concerning his were abouts or his state of health.
But as the president as said he's not leading any parades.

As Drudge always says he's goes where the "stink" is and this one stinks to high heaven. All the critics would love to know Bush is micromanaging.

[beavus]

Bush is right. We should be pulling punches in the war on terror.

[Stew Padasso]

America's new leader:

[doug9732]

Mr. Bush makes a big mistake.

[Kay Soze]

We still have not learned that when politicians run wars based on political priorities we lose our men and then the nation.

Now it’s another Vietnam.

[RichardW]

This is exactly how LBJ used to wage war in Vietnam. Take the planning from the military and run it out of the White House basement. Bush is going wobbley. Terrible move.

[Cinnamon Girl]

NOT ANOTHER JENIN! Please.

[Hop A Long Cassidy]

Drudge says this decision was passed down from Bush, and not a military decision of how to wage war or eliminate the bad boys holed up in the city. His headline:

BUSH MAKES THE CALL: NO FULL-SCALE FALLUJAH OFFENSIVE

So, it looks like its VietNam all over again.

I say that even though our Marines could do a great job without a full scale attack, this decision reflects a growing weakness on the part of our administration. And, thus it signals a time for a change in strategy.

I believe its now time to declare Victory and:

PARTITION, PARTITION, PARTITION

That means Turkey would be sleighted, but they didn't support us on going in to Iraq. Also, they still can enforce their borders. Many Kurds in Turkey may want to emigrate to a Kurdish state and that should bring more stability to Turkey. No one in their right mind would attack Turkey.

So, the Kurds get their own country, and it should include U.S. bases in the North. Also, the western deserts should remain under direct U.S. military observation and control. The U.S. should retain air rights to provide protection (and allow and protect U.S. and Kurd civilian flights). The Kurds get the oil that's in their region.

The Shite's would get their country, their oil and port facilities. If they want a Muslim controlled country... if they want to integrate with Iran... have at it. However, if they want our protection, their elected government can hire us at a dedicated royalty from their oil to protect them. Shites: Remember what happened to Kuwait.

But, the Sunni's get the big prize.

YOU WANT HIM, YOU GOT HIM

You get Saddam back after a hair cut and a shave. Or, we could give him back to the Kurds or the Shites to prosecute.

Although the Sunni's may have more military depth than the other two ethnic groups (the WMD's are still hidden somewhere I'm sure), the Shites and the Kurds will have the oil -- and U.S. protection if they want to buy it. Also, the Shites have the majority -- which guarantees instability with the other two groups if they stay consolidated.

We can not force a Yugoslavian multi-ethnic solution without a Tito or a Saddam.

The alternatives to this are not good. It is now apparent that the Iraqi's will not pull together a united government in our lifetime. We have no obligation to spend billions of hard earned tax payer dollars (indebtedness really) to help them do what they are not willing to do, nor should we allow our soldiers, who have performed so ably, be put needlessly in harm's way. They did their job.

If we continue on our current path there is no end in sight to our military expenditures for this operation, no end in sight to the loss of American lives, and more importantly, there is no hope for a stable Iraq. The most likely conclusion that we can reach at this point is there will be a deterioriation into chaos and genocide between the Sunni's, Shites and Kurds after we leave Iraq. And, maybe also between different groups of Shites.

At present, Bush wants to stay there forever. That's not in the cards. Right now we can get out with our heads held high. Later, it might be a Vietnam exit. Particularly if Kerry gets elected.

Bush would need to announce this before the election and take the wind out of the sails of his opponents. No one cares about the WMD's except the press and maybe 10 percent of the extreme left wing voters. Saddam broke the agreements after Kuwait war, so we went in to enforce the deal we all had agreed to. Case closed.

This could be Bush's "November Surprise". Let's hope he goes for it.

Let's set up the exit plan now by PARTITIONING.


Hoppy

[hosepipe]

Holy lyndon Banes Johnson BATMAN...

[MissAmericanPie]

I sure hope this report is bogus. Given Bush's plan to flee Iraq leaving the job unfinished, again, when a majority of Americans want us to stay and finish it, I believe will harm us greatly in the long run. We have been seen as weak in a very mean world where we have no allies.

Politics and war don't mix when they refuse to allow our troops to win. They train our troops, tell them they eat guts for breakfast, ship them over and then tell them to win hearts and minds.

If Patton had been around in Alexander the Great's time, Alexander wouldn't have been so great, but Patton didn't play politics, his undoing. If politics had been left out of the equation in Nam it would have been won in a heart beat, now this.

I hope the report is bogus for all our sakes.

[Swanks]

Imagine for a sec. an enemy of 2000 in an open field, vs. embedded in city buildings. Who, in their right mind, would (not) attack, but send in 'patrols' among the 2000 troops to 'police' their behavior.

Worse, add into the mix the enemy's countrymen; to 'fight' along side them. Not only do our guys have to worry about bullets from the front, but bullets from the rear.

Now, ADD to this nightmare, the REAL situation: 2000 enemies embedded in buildings, behiand walls, underground, vs. in that open field.

This is a castastrophie; designed by Pentagon and State Dep't wanna-be field generals. And Bush is stupid enough to follow them and put our guys in harm's way.

[dalebert]

From what I saw on the news our guys are doing a great job taking them out without an offensive. They are doing a bang up job.

[MEGoody]

"NO FULL SCALE FALLUJAH OFFENSIVE"

Booooooooo!

[nmh]

Why in the world are we allowing these folks to intimidate to such an extent where we do NOT do what needs to be done?

[nmh]

Why in the world are we allowing these folks to intimidate to such an extent where we do NOT do what needs to be done?