THE PING
Posted on 06/28/2005 8:09:35 PM PDT by smoothsailing
'As Iraqis Stand Up, We Will Stand Down,' Bush Tells Nation
By John D. Banusiewicz
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, June 28, 2005
On the one-year anniversary of the transfer of sovereignty in Iraq to a transitional Iraqi government, President Bush tonight promised that U.S. forces would remain in Iraq until the job is complete, "but not one day longer."
In a nationally televised speech at Fort Bragg, N.C., the president cited progress in Iraq and emphasized that the best way to complete the mission is to help the Iraqi people build a free nation they can govern and defend themselves.
"The principal task of our military is to find and defeat the terrorists," he said. "And that is why we are on the offense. And as we pursue the terrorists, our military is helping to train Iraqi security forces so that they can defend their people and fight the enemy on their own. Our strategy can be summed up this way: As the Iraqis stand up, we will stand down."
More than 160,000 Iraqi security forces are now trained and equipped, Bush said. Some, he said, are capable of operating independently, and others now are experienced enough to plan and execute anti-terrorist operations with coalition support. Some units still are forming, the president said, and the task of training them continues with three new approaches.
"First, we are partnering coalition units with Iraqi units," he explained. "These coalition-Iraqi teams are conducting operations together in the field. These combined operations are giving Iraqis a chance to experience how the most professional armed forces in the world operate in combat."
The second approach has coalition transition teams living, working and fighting together with their Iraqi comrades, Bush said. "Under U.S. command, they're providing battlefield advice and assistance to Iraqi forces during combat operations. Between battles, they are assisting the Iraqis with important skills, such as urban combat and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance techniques."
The third approach involves working with the Iraqi ministries of interior and defense to improve their capabilities to coordinate anti-terrorist operations.
"We're helping them develop command-and-control structures," Bush said. "We're also providing them with civilian and military leadership training, so Iraq's new leaders can effectively manage their forces in the fight against terror."
Some 2,000 Iraqi security forces have died in the line of duty, the president pointed out. "Iraqi forces have fought bravely, helping to capture terrorists and insurgents in Najaf and Samarra, Fallujah and Mosul," he said. "And in the past month, Iraqi forces have led a major anti-terrorist campaign in Baghdad called Operation Lightning, which has led to the capture of hundreds of suspected insurgents. Like free people everywhere, Iraqis want to be defended by their own countrymen. And we are helping Iraqis assume those duties.
"The progress in the past year has been significant," he said, "and we have a clear path forward."
Acknowledging that the mission in Iraq is "difficult and dangerous," Bush said the mission also is clear. "We're hunting down the terrorists. We're helping Iraqis build a free nation that is an ally in the war on terror. We're advancing freedom in the broader Middle East. We are removing a source of violence and instability, and laying the foundation of peace for our children and our grandchildren."
Bush said that like all Americans, he sees "horrifying" images of the war. "And the suffering is real," he said.
"Some of the violence you see in Iraq is being carried out by ruthless killers who are converging on Iraq to fight the advance of peace and freedom," the president said. "Our military reports that we have killed or captured hundreds of foreign fighters in Iraq who have come from Saudi Arabia, and Syria, Iran, Egypt, Sudan, Yemen, Libya, and others. They are making common cause with criminal elements, Iraqi insurgents and remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime who want to restore the old order."
And the enemy, he said, is brutal.
"We see the nature of the enemy in terrorists who exploded car bombs along a busy shopping street in Baghdad, including one outside a mosque," he said. "We see the nature of the enemy in terrorists who sent a suicide bomber to a teaching hospital in Mosul. We see the nature of the enemy in terrorists who behead civilian hostages and broadcast their atrocities for the world to see."
But "savage acts of violence," Bush noted, have not brought the terrorists any closer to achieving their strategic objectives.
"The terrorists, both foreign and Iraqi, failed to stop the transfer of sovereignty," he said. "They failed to break our coalition and force a mass withdrawal by our allies. They failed to incite an Iraqi civil war. They failed to prevent free elections. They failed to stop the formation of a democratic Iraqi government that represents all of Iraq's diverse population, and they failed to stop Iraqis from signing up in large number with the police forces and the army to defend their new democracy."
Bush noted that Libya has abandoned its designs on nuclear and chemical weapons, and that steps toward freedom and democracy are taking place in the Middle East. "Our strategy to defend ourselves and spread freedom is working," he said. "The rise of freedom in this vital region will eliminate the conditions that feed radicalism and ideologies of murder, and make our nation safer."
Though much has been accomplished, much remains to be done, Bush said.
"We have more work to do, and there will be tough moments that test America's resolve," he said. "We're fighting against men with blind hatred and armed with lethal weapons, who are capable of any atrocity. They wear no uniform. They respect no laws of warfare or morality. They take innocent lives to create chaos for the cameras. They are trying to shake our will in Iraq, just as they tried to shake our will on Sept. 11, 2001.
"They will fail," he continued. "The terrorists do not understand America. The American people do not falter under threat. And we will not allow our future to be determined by car bombers and assassins."
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jun2005/20050628_1894.html
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Just what planet are you on? IF those links are valid?
Are you unaware that the Clinton Justice Department DID get a federal indictment against OBL which cited his connections to Iraq? Those links, and more, take you to dozens of articles the MSM wrote about OBL's growing relationship to Saddam. It's not what I wish to believe.
And regarding Mylroie, you are aware she was one of Clinton's terrorist czar's, aren't you? You seem so unaware of some real basic facts that perhaps you did not know that either.
Then why doesn't the Bush administration make those claims? After all of the things they said that turned out to be flimsy and false, the fact that they don't rely on those sources tells me that they are even less reliable. Mylroie's a quack and is rightfully ignored. It doesn't say much that you have to regurgitate the incompetence of the Clinton administration in order to hold onto a fantasy. Why should I believe you when I've been consistently correct thanks to people like Jude Wanniski, Gordon Prather, Juan Cole, and others who openly predicted before the war that no WMD would be found and have continued to be correct alot more than not. If they had been proven wrong, I wouldn't trust them. But because you believe the wrong sources, you will continue to be wrong and frustrated and I will continue to be correct.
You seem to miss the point.
The MSM and Democrats constantly tells us that there was no relationship between AQ/Iraq.
Dozens of those links, including the Senate Ingellince Committee Report and the 9/11 Committee report prove the MSM and Democrats are wrong.
Regarding WMD, you are aware, or perhaps not, that when Clinton signed the Iraqi Liberation Act, every Democrat of note took to the airwaves and claimed that Iraq and their WMD were a threat to the US. Kerry was advocating American boots on the ground.
If our intelligence was wrong, so be it; every single other country with an intelligence service thought Iraq had WMD too.
And you are aware, I presume, that many WMD hunters have said they believe WMD were transferred from Iraq to Syria before we arrived. Colin Powell even showed satellite footage at the UN of convoys of trucks leaving Iraq for the Syrian border.
You're making some progress. Keep up the good work.
I hope you're right, but at this point, I don't think the President or his closest military advisors have the guts to do the right thing by our troops in this regard. We're going to sacrifice American lives in order to protect a bunch of terrorist sympathizers.
The accomplishments of the Iraqi people for the next thousand years aren't worth the life of the least of the people we've lost over there.
I have no idea how any of that related to my post.
I think my point was the bad guys are going to know far in advance when we are winding down operations and preparing to pull out. It wont be a secret.
But...it was late, I was tired...and totally missed the point I guess. Sorry!
There were a lot of people who didn't believe WMD would be found, but nobody wanted to listen to them. I don't rely on what Clinton and the Democrats have to say, as they are liars too. And nobody believes that WMD were moved to Syria. That is science fiction.
If you want to complain about Islam and its inherent backwardness and insanity, I'm with you. I'm not some pacifist. That's the big problem of the world, how to deal with Islam and it's inability to produce successful societies. This war in Iraq does nothing to change the nature of Islam. That's why it is doomed to fail. Bush can't even bring himself to identify the problem - but he's not alone in that. If we attack Iran, then we are true idiots because we will have wiped out whatever pro-American feelings the Iranian people have.
Am I getting closer? Ha!
"Everyone except democrats."
Liberal Democrats don't understand because they are immature,shallow,selfish,self-important demagogues with excrement for brains , whose lust for power is greater than their love of our country.
No problem.
As far as not announcing a pull out date, it really doesn't matter since the terrorist, and everyone else will know way in advance anyway.
Couldn't be said better.
Thank you! ;-) They are also arrogant enough to think that a lot of us do not know what is true about them.
Anyway, have a wonderful one today.
No problem polly.
" I hope you're right, but at this point, I don't think the President or his closest military advisors have the guts to do the right thing by our troops in this regard. We're going to sacrifice American lives in order to protect a bunch of terrorist sympathizers."
I don't think it is a matter of lack of guts. We must remember General Mattis (commander of Marine ground forces in Iraq under 1MEF), wanted during that first Fallujah campaign back in April of 2003, to level the place if required. The IG and mayor/tribal leaders in Fallujah where hopping up and down that this would not be good, and give them time to find a political solution. So the Marines backed off, since at that point the IG (Bremmer's appointees) where supposedly allowed to call the shots.
If anything, it was a lack of guts on the IG's side not our side. Of course they finally came around and now see the wisdom in allowing us to go into Fallujah.
"The accomplishments of the Iraqi people for the next thousand years aren't worth the life of the least of the people we've lost over there."
How can one disagree with your sentiment on this. But let us remember Iraq is more then just freeing one country from tyranny. It is part of a strategy on fighting a global war on terrorism. We must be flexible in tour analysis. And make sure it includes all aspects of this conflict.
Ping to links in Post 3.
THE PING
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