Al Qaeda Reinvents the Banzai Charge

Perhaps your evalution is correct. Let us hope it is correct. For whatever reasons I appear to have been changing my mind a lot lately on the final outcome. And certainly I do not use the L/MSM as any guide. I run various scenarios around and present what if's. Perhaps my recent what if's appear to negative in nature. For I surely have championed much of what you write, independent of our recent interchanges. One thing for sure. I always in the back of my mind have the Russians as a player. But that can truely start confusing specifics regarding the current political environment in Iraq, then again perhaps not. It depends on how deep one wants to play their what ifs.
Lastly, I do hope we shall be able to maintain bases for our military to stay, in total safety and continue to work closely with them. And hopefully SOCOM will be aloud to participate in the background. I have not given up hope on the outcome. I would prefere to stay optimistic based available information. And not just on knee jerk changes.

U.S. fatalities in Iraq have fallen each month from 3.1 per day in October 2005 down to .92 per day this month.

Iraqi voter turnout has gone from 60% in January of 2005 up to 70% in December of 2005.

The Iraqi population has boomed from 24 million in 2003 to 27 million today.

These are hard statistics...and they point to an optimistic future for Iraq.

These statistics are not subjective. They are not editorialized or spun. Iraq is past the worst.

Pause

Think about that fact for a moment; Iraq is past the worst. That alone shows that Iraq is going to be getting better every month from here on out, per the available statistics.

This is not an arbitrary or subjective conclusion. This is what the facts on the ground point out. A falling U.S. fatality rate. A rising Iraqi population and voter turnout.

France failed. Russia failed. Iran failed. The left-wing failed.

Iraq is getting better.

" Iraq is getting better."
I hopefully have not indicated that I do not believe Iraq is much better off on the whole then a year back. Much is coming into place as planned. I have not meant to negate all the hard work and sacrifices military have made, with much success.
And part of the reason we see many fewer US casualties in the way of walking/riding over IED's is the fact we are destroying al Qaeda/local's abilities to make them, plant them, and of course there are far fewer now willing to even plant them. So yes, I do not want to sound negative on all we have been able to accomplish.
And I have not been negative on the many accomplishments our military have achieved. None of my recent writings indicate I would have thought otherwise. I am speaking only about the future political/governmental environment in Iraq. I must seperate the political from the military mission. Because we are dealing with to different areas of concern. On one hand the military issues continue to prove our plan is working just rosey by all indications, and the other is that the political issues are lagging in pre-conceived American wishes. Perhaps some of us forget that the original intent was to work with the majority of Shia to hammer out a political solution. Then as things changed, the Sunni got back into the picture. For the obviouse reasons. From the onset, way back in Bremmers days, it soon was recognized that dealing with the Shia was not so easy as first was expected to be. We saw many divisions, we do not have to go into, for they where discussed endless times at this site, with a number of conclusions being drawn up for all to recognize.
As the political spectrum in Iraq changed, the shift between the US supporting the Shia majority wavered for many reasons we can discuss in some detail. As the Sunni came on board, we now see many more players that some extent have a say in what could happen. Often seeing what appears to be the kurds playing a wild card, and acting as abitrator between opposing factions, to some degree. So I have been directing my negative responses at the political process. Whether we have seen five thousand new schools erected in Iraq, or say some fifty brand new water treatment facilities paid for and designed and fabricated by the US Army Corps of Engineers for instance has little to do with how the Iraqi governement has operated or the elective processes. For all these good things would have happened simply because the US and coalition forces willed them to happened with their own monies and physical resources.
So again. I am concentrating only on the current political issues and not all the other things happening in Iraq, when I tend to go negative. Don't know how else to put it.

"Without Red States, the Dems lose. Winning only Blue States gives the Dems the same thing that they earned in 2000 and 2004, losses."

Have you noticed how the Republican Party of Ohio has kind of blown up from the inside lately? That was the closest state in 2004---135,000 votes. I don't have a good grasp on the entirety of the states, but in 2000, the margin of victory was also very tiny---that time in Florida.

In addition, remember the Vietnam era. The existence of an unpopular war---if Iraq indeed turns into that by 11/2008---causes people to change their voting patterns.

I'm not saying Hillary will definitely win. I think there's something unsettling about her to those "undecided", "swing voters", "middle-of-the-road voters". And of course, there is still a chance that we conservatives will break through somehow and expose part of the reality of Hillary.

But I do think her election is a very real possibility.

Part of it may have to do with how Bush behaves between now and then. He won't run, but his party will. Did you hear the latest? Apparently our government is considering putting a Hong Kong company in charge of checking cargoes in our ports for nuclear material? Am I going crazy or are they?

"Whether we have seen five thousand new schools erected in Iraq, or say some fifty brand new water treatment facilities paid for and designed and fabricated by the US Army Corps of Engineers for instance has little to do with how the Iraqi governement has operated or the elective processes. For all these good things would have happened simply because the US and coalition forces willed them to happened with their own monies and physical resources."

By the way, did you hear about the story that was on the front page of the USA Today a few days ago? Apparently, the US has announced that it is not going to spend any more money on reconstruction---is turning fat over to the Iraqis.

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