Posted on 03/13/2006 5:49:15 PM PST by SandRat
WASHINGTON, March 13, 2006 – Terrorists in Iraq resort to using improvised explosive devices because they lack the ability to engage in conventional military operations, President Bush said here today.
"After the terrorists were defeated in battles in Fallujah and Tal Afar, they saw they could not confront Iraqi or American forces in pitched battles and survive, and so they turned to IEDs, a weapon that allows them to attack from a safe distance without having to face our forces in battle," Bush said during a speech at George Washington University's Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.
The president also made the point that the "principal victims" of these roadside bomb attacks are innocent Iraqis. "The terrorists and insurgents have used IEDs to kill Iraqi children playing in the streets, shoppers at Iraqi malls and Iraqis lining up at police and army recruiting stations," he said.
Bush said a Defense Department organization called the IED Joint Center of Excellence was established to deal specifically with the IED issue in a three-pronged approach.
"The first part of our plan is targeting and eliminating the terrorists and bomb makers," he said. "Across Iraq, we're on the hunt for the enemy, capturing and killing the terrorists before they strike, uncovering and disarming their weapons before they go off and rooting out and destroying bomb-making cells so they can't produce more weapons."
The second part of the plan involves specialized training so that U.S. troops can identify and clear IEDs before they explode. Nearly half of all IEDs found in Iraq are now disabled before they can be detonated, he said, and in the past 18 months, the casualty rate per IED attack has been reduced by 50 percent.
The third leg of the plan is to develop new technologies to defeat the IED threat.
The president called out Iran for supplying the components for some of the most powerful IEDs used in Iraq. Tehran, he said, has been responsible for at least some increasingly lethal anti-coalition attacks by providing terrorists with the capabilities to build improvised bombs.
"Coalition forces have seized IEDs and components that were clearly produced in Iran," Bush said. "Such actions, along with Iran's support for terrorism and its pursuit of nuclear weapons, are increasingly isolating Iran."
Bush also spoke about the importance of spreading democracy around the globe and he praised the Iraqi security forces for their improved performance.
Democracy replaces resentment with hope and its spread not only helps people in other countries, but also is also vital to U.S. national security, he said.
"On September the 11th, 2001, we saw that problems originating in a failed and oppressive state 7,000 miles away could bring murder and destruction to our country," he said. "We saw that dictatorships shelter terrorists, feed resentment and radicalism, and threaten the security of free nations."
The Iraqi security forces are stepping up in a big way to quell sectarian violence, especially following the bombing of the Shiite Golden Mosque in Samarra Feb. 22, he said.
"After the Samarra bombings, it was the Iraqi security forces, not coalition forces, that restored order," he said. "Having Iraqi forces in the lead has been critical to preventing violence from spinning out of control."
Bush said the Iraqi security forces play an essential role in ensuring a free and prosperous Iraq.
"From the outset, Iraqi forces understood that if they failed to stand for national unity, the country would slip into anarchy," he said. "And so they've stood their ground and defended their democracy and brought their nation through one of its most difficult moments since liberation."
The difference is that calling a Muslim a coward cuts to the heart of his manhood, and make them insane.
The Minutemen knew they had to abide by such tactics until such a time when they could match The British in the field with equal forces.
Al Queda will never have the numbers to do so because when they'd rather blow themselves up than fight.
The whole asymetrical war concept has a serious flaw, it supposes that suicide bombings and IEDs will be enough to cause us to lose. When we "lose" Al Queda believes that they will be allowed to take over when we leave.
That won't ever happen.
"After the terrorists were defeated in battles in Fallujah and Tal Afar, they saw they could not confront Iraqi or American forces in pitched battles and survive, and so they turned to IEDs, a weapon that allows them to attack from a safe distance without having to face our forces in battle," Bush said during a speech at George Washington University's Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.
I can't believe I'm reading this, and I can't believe he managed to keep a straight face while he said this. I guess I missed all that news about terrorists waging war with aircraft carriers, Predator drones, guided missiles, Stealth aircraft, cluster bombs, depleted-uranium munitions, night-vision capability, etc.
Good heavens -- this is the height of either idiocy or hypocrisy.
I'll give it a week before some left-wing putz pronounces a document as false.
Go figure ... Those cowardly, cheating terrorists using car bombs, suicide bombers, IEDs. They should come out in the open and fight like men.
Who could have predicted that they would stoop to this?
/sarcasm
the President can't be serious - we are now reduced to calling out in frustration "come out here and fight like a man!"??? Give the enemy some credit, of course he's going to fight to his strength.
Maybe we should give up our vastly superior firepower and issue veryone dueling pistols - just to make it a fair fight / sarc ...
I disagree - despicable, craven cowards is a far too kind and generous an epithet for those who kidnap civilians torture and murder their prisoners, and otherwise violate the bounds of humanity.
Uhm... Calling a muslim a coward IS a strategic move.
They generally cannot STAND being called cowards (even though they are) so they stand up and fight (and are slaughtered).
From the documents I've seen, US fighting forces have been quite successful in defeating muslim fighters by telling them (via loudspeaker) that they were worthless cowards. Brings them out spraying and praying every time.
The C-in-C is just doing a larger version of the loudspeaker thing.
That's all true, but the *primary* flaw to asymetrical warfare is that it can't defend territory (e.g. Mecca). That's why whatever is left of the Taliban is hiding in Afghan caves right now rather than running the country from Kabul or Kandahar.
When you can't defend ground you wind up hiding and running (e.g. Hussein being caught in a spider hole). You depend upon the locals not ratting you out (lest you wind up like Khalid Shiekh Muhamed in Pakistan).
Chris Plant (WMAL-Washington, D.C.) says the anti IED program was in development for 10 months and was considered 90% effective against IEDs
Topics:
IED neutralizer secret given to enemy.
Reporting is getting soldiers killed.
US press is aiding enemy.
Publishing national security secrets, when does it become treason?
It's called baiting your opponent; goading your enemy into behaving more foolishly.
That's not "frustration," that's genius.
Duh is right.
What am I supposed to do now?
The assholes calling themselves Democrats are now supposed to get my vote and support?
I am thinking more and more about fleeing into the mountains.
Are you in Iraq?
There's more than one way to behave foolishly (grin). If the insurgents suddenly equate their IEDs with being cowards such that IED attacks are reduced, then Bush Wins Again TM
Thanks for the ping!
ping
Terrorists Can't "Face Our Forces in Battle," So They Use IEDs...As well as EIDs...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.