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Powell: If asked, U.S. will leave Iraq
Washington Post via Seattle Times ^ | May 15, 2004 | Glenn Kessler

Posted on 05/15/2004 3:11:06 AM PDT by snopercod

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Colin Powell emphatically said yesterday that if the incoming Iraqi interim government ordered the departure of foreign troops after June 30, they would pack up without protest, but emphasized he doubted such a request would be made.

(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...


TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: capitulation; copout; cutandrun; powell; selfrule; tailbetweenlegs
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Words fail me.
1 posted on 05/15/2004 3:11:06 AM PDT by snopercod
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To: snopercod

Think about it...This is not a promise, it is a warning.


2 posted on 05/15/2004 3:13:09 AM PDT by MEG33 (John Kerry's been AWOL for two decades on issues of National Security!)
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To: snopercod
Well, capitulation didn't take long after Powell was placed in charge: Bush Signs Order Giving State Lead Role in Iraq
3 posted on 05/15/2004 3:14:55 AM PDT by snopercod (It ain't over until I say it's over.)
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To: MEG33

Warning? Oh, you mean like stop yelling at me or I'm going to take my football and go home?


4 posted on 05/15/2004 3:16:32 AM PDT by snopercod (It ain't over until I say it's over.)
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To: snopercod

I pinged you to the old thread on this..some think the incoming government may play to the crowd and say they want us to leave, stirring up trouble for us...It is best if they have time to think about the results of playing that card...

I do not believe any of them think there will be enough security without us, especially enough security for the government officials.


5 posted on 05/15/2004 3:23:20 AM PDT by MEG33 (John Kerry's been AWOL for two decades on issues of National Security!)
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To: snopercod
Pension issue with the House of Saud again?
World bank offer? Wanting to look weak again?
or just cowering for the French and Germans.
Inquiring minds want to know NOW.
and want to know WHY the State Dept calls and demans LIBERATION to an "occupation"?


6 posted on 05/15/2004 3:32:01 AM PDT by Diogenesis (We do what we are meant to do)
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To: snopercod

State will take over many things Bremer was in charge of...The Coalition Provisional Authority under Bremer's direction will end with the turning over of sovereignty.

The military will not be under Powell...There are rebuilding contracts that also will be turned over to State, which suggested the Defense dept had more experience in procurement and wanted defense to do it in the beginning..This is what I gleaned from your link.


7 posted on 05/15/2004 3:35:51 AM PDT by MEG33 (John Kerry's been AWOL for two decades on issues of National Security!)
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To: Diogenesis

Did you read the link and what I said?


8 posted on 05/15/2004 3:39:12 AM PDT by MEG33 (John Kerry's been AWOL for two decades on issues of National Security!)
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To: MEG33

Okay, I think I feel better now.


9 posted on 05/15/2004 3:40:16 AM PDT by hershey
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To: Diogenesis

Do you think it will be harder to operate in Iraq at the invitation of the new government or as accupiers?...The Iraqi government will get a lesson in strategery.

Shall I be wildly popular asking the US to leave, appealing to nationalism, or shall I accept that I do not have trained armies, security forces, would have a civil war and I would die! Then there's all the money pouring in for rebuilding.

The question is asked in Congress all the time...we answered.


10 posted on 05/15/2004 3:47:37 AM PDT by MEG33 (John Kerry's been AWOL for two decades on issues of National Security!)
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To: snopercod
"Words fail me."

This is a story about absolutely nothing.

The words are a fantasy, like speculating about what we’d do if space aliens asked us to leave. Both have an equal chance of occurring, but speaking those words might make some Iraqi’s feel a little less “occupied”.

11 posted on 05/15/2004 3:48:53 AM PDT by elfman2
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To: snopercod

Do you honestly believe that the administration will allow the provisional government to ask us to leave?


12 posted on 05/15/2004 3:49:44 AM PDT by Non-Sequitur (Jefferson Davis - the first 'selected, not elected' president.)
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To: hershey

See also my answer above. It was a hypothetical question asked to try to challenge the turning over of sovereignty..it's a trick question "What are you going to do if they ask you to leave"...but I do think it is good for the Iraqis to think about it and realize the repercussions to them and their well being if they did ask.


13 posted on 05/15/2004 3:52:28 AM PDT by MEG33 (John Kerry's been AWOL for two decades on issues of National Security!)
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To: snopercod
"Well, capitulation didn't take long after Powell was placed in charge:"

Capitulation started in Fallujah, and the decision was not made by Marines .

”As Falluja goes, so goes central Iraq, as central Iraq goes, so goes the nation, " - Colonel John Coleman, chief of staff of 1st Marine Expeditionary Force (before the cease fire)”

14 posted on 05/15/2004 3:54:51 AM PDT by elfman2
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To: elfman2

I don't blame the Marines for wanting to go in...Let us see how many lives are lost with the decision made...If this does not work out we can still get them. Though it smarts to hear victory chants when you know what you could do to that city...What is the ultimate mission?


15 posted on 05/15/2004 4:00:08 AM PDT by MEG33 (John Kerry's been AWOL for two decades on issues of National Security!)
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To: snopercod

"Well, capitulation didn't take long after Powell was placed in charge"

Example number I don't know how many of us-I include myself here- failing to want to admit the truth.George Bush is in charge.


16 posted on 05/15/2004 4:06:52 AM PDT by John W
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To: snopercod
Words fail me.

Why? It seems imminently sensible to me.

Keep in mind that unless they're completely insane and suicidal, the Iraqi council *won't* be stupid enough to ask us to leave. They know that we're the only thing keeping the jihadists from mounting their heads on spikes.

But it's a very smart PR move to say that if we *are* asked to leave once the Iraqis are officially running their own country, we will. This reinforces the fact that they *are* running their country and aren't just a US puppet. And it deflects accusations that the US is going to be an "eternal occupier", since it underscores that we're there because the ruling Iraqis *want* us there (if even for their own protection), not because we force ourselves upon them. That'll take a lot of steam out of the jihadists' rhetoric as well.

It also serves as a reminder to the new Iraqi rulers that unless they want us there for eternity, they need to start getting a move on and training/deploying their own homegrown security forces, so that we *can* eventually leave, someday down the road.

17 posted on 05/15/2004 4:13:29 AM PDT by Ichneumon
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To: MEG33

Does anyone think this is Spain-lite behavior? "Go on home Great Satan!"...And we meekly slink away?


18 posted on 05/15/2004 4:13:58 AM PDT by lainde (Heads up...We're coming and we've got tongue blades!!)
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To: John W

Well it seems so many of my fellow FReepers missed this point but comepletely understandable I must add. A public statement..meant for all to hear...and now the fence sitters in Iraq , the INC, the council, and various groups as well as ordinary citizens are starting to panic.

Hardest thing to do is to think like an Arab and this statement was a classic.


19 posted on 05/15/2004 4:16:16 AM PDT by rrrod
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To: Non-Sequitur
Do you honestly believe that the administration will allow the provisional government to ask us to leave?

What will President Bush do if we are asked to leave? Fire the puppet government? How will that look?

No, I am convinced that President Bush intends to pull most U.S. forces out of Iraq prior to election time regardless.

20 posted on 05/15/2004 4:17:02 AM PDT by snopercod (It ain't over until I say it's over.)
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