Famed War Correspondent Joe Galloway Calls for U.S. Pullout After Iraq Elections

Editor & Publisher ^ | Jan 14 05 | Editor & Publisher

[churchillbuff]

YORK In his latest column for Knight Ridder newspapers, famed war correspondent Joseph L. Galloway, a Bronze Star winner, calls for the United States, following Iraqi elections on Jan. 30, to "declare victory and begin leaving."

He joins the rather small band of commentators or editorialists advocating withdrawal.

Last month, in a USA Today column, founder Al Neuharth called for the United States to leave Iraq "sooner rather than later."

Galloway, co-author of "We Were Soldiers Once... and Young," won a Bronze Star in Vietnam after saving the lives of several soldiers and has covered nearly every major conflict since, including the current one.

In his current column he writes that if we stay the course in Iraq "we're likely doomed to an even bloodier and more costly defeat in a country divided along ethnic and religious fault lines and headed toward civil war. ...

"The problem is that there is no way we can win -- defeat the insurgents and install a stable, democratic, friendly government -- and bad things are going to happen anyway. There is no way Americans are willing to pay the price even of stalemate, never mind an unattainable victory. ...

"Why can't we win? Because we charged in with false premises and bogus assumptions. Because for every insurgent we kill, two or three more join the cause. Because even our advertised victories -- like Fallujah, where we apparently had to destroy the city in order to save it, or Samarra or Ramadi -- only turned the entire Sunni population against the United States and its Iraqi allies. ...

"If we learned nothing else from the bitter history of Vietnam it should be that there are places and people who won't accept change and won't quit fighting until even the most powerful nation and army in the world wearies of the killing and dying. ...

"As we approach the second anniversary of our invasion of Iraq we need to be discussing and debating what we are gaining, if anything, from this war and what we are losing."

[ALOHA RONNIE]

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...Thank you for your interest, my friend.

...Won't you come join us and sign our U.S. 7th Cavalry Petition for President BUSH to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to lifetime lifesaving Hero RICK RESCORLA?

...Our fellow Battle of IA DRANG-1965 Brother RICK RESCORLA turned to gray dust after his saving 1,000's of lives,

...just before World Trade Center Tower II came crashing down on him on 9/11/2001.

...You can access his Battle of IA DRANG-1965/World Trade Center Story and Petition on the Home Page of Lt. Gen. Moore & Galloway's IA DRANG website...

http://www.lzxray.com


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[Calpernia]

>>>Do you think the US Constitution will replace the Koran?

Hasn't the US Gov already tried retranslating the koran?

The koran already has multiple translations.

The US Gov has a translation.

Strategy.

[Calpernia]

I sent the URL out to my email list.

[PhilDragoo]

Petition-signing dittos. Can't imagine why our president hasn't done this. Now time to get this done since the campaigning is over.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

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Please thank your Hero Soldier son for protecting us and making us the...

...HOME OF THE BRAVE.

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[nopardons]

And after all this,he wants us to now pull out of Iraq?

[nopardons]

AMEN!

[nopardons]

BRAVO,BRAVO,BRAVO!

[ALOHA RONNIE]

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...Realizing that I can't really speak for him myself,

...I don't think JOE GALLOWAY agrees with Defense Secretary RUMSFELD's current handling of the Iraq War, nor the Secretary's present and future plans for changing the size and shape of our Military Forces in order to adapt to their future missions in our new Century, the LIBERTY Century.

...GALLOWAY sided against RUMSFELD on behalf of former U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Senseki when the General stated to Congress that we would need at least a quarter of a million Troops in Iraq to get the job done right. This General is now retired.

...Agree with him or not, JOE feels what he feels very deeply. Part of that was shown at the end of "WE WERE SOLDIERS" with actor Barry Pepper tearfully portraying him while trying to type up our IA DRANG Battle Story.

For it really is,

'WE WERE SOLDIERS ONCE...

...and YOUNG'..

...as JOE so wonderfully put it in his Bestselling Book that the Movie "WE WERE SOLDIERS" is based on.


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[af_vet_rr]

Do you really think free elections in Iraq will convert all Muslims? Do you think the US Constitution will replace the Koran? These people hate us - always have, always will. As long a Israel and Muslims are both in the Middle East, nothing will change.

I apologize in advance for rambling so much, in answer to your comments/question
If you mean conversion of Muslims in Iraq to supporting a true representative government/democracy - I don't think they need conversion. They need time. We did something that is very rare in history, and we did it so fast, that I don't think many of them are ready or understand this. We took them from a brutal dictatorship to a benevolent occupation and are going into elections to make them free, in the span of a couple of years. It's almost traumatic in some ways. We have to give them some time to get their feet under them, and President Bush and the others know this. You can't just take out Saddam and say "your free". We have to buy them enough time to realize what the alternatives are - something potentially as bad as Saddam or worse - rule by fanatical Saudis and Iranians.

Does the US Constitution need to replace the Koran? That's like asking if the US Consitution should replace the Bible. Of course it shouldn't replace the Koran or the Bible. As a matter of fact, it would be hard to push the US Constitution as it is, on a newly free country, because the Constitution is so unique, that there almost have to be ideal conditions for it to work in a new country. That's why we are setting up a slightly different government in Iraq (if you get a chance, read up on it, it's very interesting how much it differs from our nation).

In regards to the issue of Israel, which is a very good point you bring up, Arafat's passing is one step towards peace. Let's not forget he was an Egyptian soldier, that fought against Israel. As time goes by, and more of his generation pass on, your going to have a change in attitude. Your going to reach a point where the palestinians are going to realize they are going to have to accept the state of Israel. The Jews have been kicked around for thousands of years, and they've always outlasted their enemies. They aren't looking for a Moses to lead them anywhere either, they are staying put. At a national level, those nations that border Israel have finally accepted that. At the personal level, it's going to take another decade or two, but at some point parents will be tired of watching their children die, and the pride of sending their kid off to blow themselves up will evaporate.

I guess I could sum up all my views by saying this: There are 25 million people in Iraq. If the majority did not freedom and did not want us there, we would not be there. Our troops could not survive very long under those conditions. It's bad when we lose half a dozen troops a day. Multiply that by a thousand. It doesn't matter how well-trained or how high-tech our troops are, 150,000 vs 25 million is no contest, if the 25 million wanted us gone. This has been proven throughout history, most recently with Afghanistanis holding out and driving out the Soviets in the '80s and the Soviets driving the Germans out in the '40s.

I'll also say this: If we can build true democracies in Iraq and in Afghanistan, then that is going to be a buffer to Saudi Arabia and to Iran, and it's also going to set an example to others in the region. It's going to remove a large pool of potential fanaticals as well. Most of those blowing themselves up for allah are bored, young, and unemployed, much like the beginnings of the National Socialist Party in Germany (I'm not invoking Godwin's Law, this is one of those times where a comparison is appropriate).

There's also the unspoken idea that we are fighting an active war against radical Islam right this very moment, in Iraq and Afghanistan, because of the fact that many of those we kill or capture are foreigners. I would rather have us fight them in Iraqi or Afghanistan now, than in the US twenty years from now.

[Darkwolf377]

You know, I completely forgot about the "pausers" in the Afghanistan war. Funny they havne't reminded us about their push for THAT fantastic tactic.

[okie01]

The RATS think this is 1975 not 2005. They are in for the surprise of their political lives.

Imagine you were an Iraqi, reading, watching and listening to the American media. Getting pumped full of defeatism like this, or ODing on the bloviations of Teddy and other Democrat losers.

If it didn't infuriate you, it would sure make you feel hopeless.

[Casloy]

What a jerk. First of all, 60 percent of the population who are Shiite want us to stay and are very enthusiastic about gaining power through the ballot box. The 20 percent Sunni (and their sometimes allies, the foreign terrorists) don't want the elections because it spells certain rejection of their power obtained through the barrel of a gun. Pulling out after the elections is precisely what we want to do, no one argues we want out of here. But NOT until this country is able to defend it's new found and extremely fragile democracy. If we pull out and leave this country to the insurgents we will send the very clear message we don't stay and fight. If we want to embolden the terrorists that is precisely the way to do it. If we think our casualties are too high now, just wait till we have to fight the big one because we convince the Arab world we are quitters and weak.

[jim35]

Galloway is a good guy. He's just one of those Vietnam vets who learned all the wrong lessons from a badly run war, and now applies those lessons to a completely different place, and different circumstances.

[T-Bird45]

Thanks for the Realcities link on Galloway.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

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.."Our war against Terrorism in Iraq...

...is about finally freeing the women of the Middle East so that they can teach their children the high prices paid for their waging war...

...so that they will be less inclined to do so in the future"

...stated...

...FoX News Channel Foreign Affairs Expert MONSOUR IJAZ on the FoX News Channel

...and then repeated by...

...Freeper "ALOHA RONNIE" Guyer to KFI Radio Reporter Laura Ingram at Freerepublic's 'God Bless America' Freep Rally in support of our Troops then entering Iraq ...outside the Academy Awards Show's Kodak Theater in Hollywood CA on March 23, 2003



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[ALOHA RONNIE]

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Actually,

...we Freepers were heartily demonstrating outside the 2003 Academy Awards in Support of our Troops then bringing Freedom to Iraq. Troops being spearheaded by 9/11 Casualty RICK RESCORLA's U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment of Battle of IA DRANG-1965 Fame.

Amazing, simply amazing in GOD's Plan.

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[The Wizard]

who cares

[MeekOneGOP]

Great post there on #46, Southack. Thanks.

Famed War Correspondent Joe Galloway
Calls for U.S. Pullout After Iraq Elections

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Excerpt of Southack's post:

Southack On Iraq: The Great Poker Surprise

For Iraq, we have a beautiful thing going; the press thinks that we're losing, the armchair ankle-biters think that we're losing, and the terrorists think that we're losing.  All that you have to do is to ask them about the impending Iraqi elections and they all exclaim that there will be too much violence to hold them.  They're wrong.

What we're losing in Iraq are 1 to 2 Americans per day.

What we've gotten in exchange are the deaths of more than 100,000 jihadis, the vast waste of pro-jihadis funds, the cut-off of Saudi jihadist funds, Hussein in jail, Hussein's money cut off from the Palestinians, control of Pakistani nukes, the end of Egypt's, Lybia's, and Iraq's WMD programs, a strategic base from which to next strike any of Lebanon, Syria, or more likely: Iran...as well as a perfect roach motel in which jihadis come from all over to check in, but they don't check out alive.

Attacks in Iraq are down from 98 per day to 46 per day. Elections are coming up, and more than 120,000 Iraqi soldiers have now graduated from U.S. training.

We're flowing more oil out of Iraq right now than what Hussein managed to do pre-war. We've got more electricity over there, more teachers, more doctors, and better staffed local hospitals for the natives.

It's a thing of beauty.

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