Posted on 09/30/2005 5:03:44 PM PDT by jscottdavis_for_48th_district
"Sunni Arab opposition to Iraq's draft constitution has increased the potential for instability and called into question U.S. hopes for substantial troop cuts next spring, the top U.S. Commander in Iraq said Friday (General George Casey)." _______
In my opinion, we should expect to be in Iraq a long time. I believe that we need to establish permanent bases there as we did in Japan and Germany after World War II. There would be many benefits to this strategy.
Also, I advise President Bush to stay the course until the job is completed.
Respectfully submitted, J. Scott Davis Veteran: U.S. Navy & Persian Gulf War
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
One irritating thing about this is that its not us that wanted a constitution that would make Shiite law supreme but we are gonna pay for it.
But the lesson is that commanders should follow president Bush's lead and take the position that we will have the levels needed to do the job rather than promising reductions.
Keep in mind that we are in Iraq to make the Middle East a safer place, fight terrorism, and free the world of Hussein's criminal regime. You can't put a price on freedom.
The top brass will make a decision after the elections. I still expect them to start cutting troops in the Spring.
General Casey, in a hearing this week, said the next 75 days is going to be very important. He would not commit whether there would be a draw down in '06, but left the door open, nor would he say what events would be necessary to have a draw down. Obviously, the strength of Iraqi forces is the primary determinant.
In my opinion, we should divert all Iraq war spending into my personal savings account.
Also, I advise President Bush to stay the course until the job is completed.
Respectfully submitted, Frank Jr. Veteran: No, but I am pretty old.
I want all the troops to come home safely. Their dedication and courage in defense of our freedom is to be commended.
Although we need to be realistic. They have been fighting in the Middle East for thousands of years.
"Indeed, violence in Iraq has increased as Sunni insurgents strike at Shiites and try to undermine the October voting on the proposed constitution. At least 200 people have been killed in the past five days, including 13 U.S. service members."
OK. Why as usual, don't they provide any references as who determined these attacks where initiated by Sunni OR by Abu Mussab el-Zarqawi, who has promised all along brutal attacks on Shiite and Sunni alike would take place mostly in the capital.
If they can't come up with better reporting. Then I can't hold to their viewpoints, not that I could with the two sources based on years of horseshiet spin.
Cutbacks, hell, how about a massive buildup for the assualt on Iran.
Sunni opposition to the draft is increasing the instability in the region.
You are correct! Until we kill or capture Abu Mussab el-Zarqawi, the instability will remain.
A build-up for an all out assault on Iran? I've been for that since Iran held our hostages some 25 years ago.
"Respectfully submitted, J. Scott Davis Veteran: U.S. Navy & Persian Gulf War"
Respectfully submitted, Douglas Niedermeyer, Sergeant at Arms
Casey commented on that as well. He said 90% are expected to vote in the election. He also said the opposition by the Sunni's could end up being a bad thing or a good thing. If the Sunni's decide to participate in the process, it could end up being a good thing.
Exactly correct. This has been my position since long before the war began. We must maintain a decisive military presence in the region for as long as oil is important to our economy.
"Although we need to be realistic. They have been fighting in the Middle East for thousands of years."
We are not in Iraq to stop them from fighting each other. We are there now to prevent more 9/11s.
Why did you add the double quotes when you posted this article?
It leaves the wrong impression...and it's incorrect.
"You are correct! Until we kill or capture Abu Mussab el-Zarqawi, the instability will remain."
IMHO, I believe if we nail him and show his body with a few holes in the head whatever, to the world to see, we and the Iraqis shall still have a little problem removing all his current mid and higher ups, as well as those Saddamist most likely still being financed by Izzit Ibrahim el-Douri and his army Intel and remaining Fedeeyan etc., not to meantion various Sunni Islamist groups fighting on religious grounds, and of course the various elements of the Shiite groups with ties to Iranian influences. I don't think they are all just going to go away. They must be searched out and either captured or killed as has been the standard practice. So it is imperivitive we keep building up the Iraqi forces to finish the job, so we can get out, leaving a small footprint in the way of ground/air logistic and continued training, spook shops both military wise as well as CIA, and contingents of in house advisors both from a commercial as well as a political viewpoint. But surely things are going well in a lot of respects. It will be interesting to see if there is a stark drop off of suicide bombers in mostly the capital once most of the North Central Al Anbar towns along the Euphrates in the Qaim area (current Marine/Iraqi ops) wind down. Of course we have not heard much about any ops taken place within the Bibil province (triangle of death) area south of Baghdad recently. Perhaps the Iraqi are doing a 24/7 coverage to the extent they finally are paralizing the Ali Babba effort in this area. Guess time will tell.
Troop withdrawal is a pipedream. This war will take many years to complete. We still need to fix Syria,Iran and SA.
Besides ,talk of withdrawal helps our enemy(the terrorist and the liberals)
Well, I hope the Sunnis participate in the election.
Abu Mussab el-Zarqawi is trying to rally up a civil war in Iraq by attacking the various factions somewhat more than our troops.
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