Posted on 08/13/2006 10:40:35 AM PDT by Dubya
Kinda like Bush's approval ratings: When he's in decline, you'll see 20 stories a day touting it, but when his numbers are going up, you won't see anything about them for 20 days.
BTW, you write about it as though you've been in Iraq recently. If so, keep your head down, buddy, and God speed! We're all behind you 110 percent, are praying frequently for you and along with most Americans, don't believe a thing we see in the MSM!
Sure looks like it to me.
New order given out last week states that they cannot pursue any Iraqis that runs away, unless they are shooting at our troops......once he throws down his weapon and runs he is now an unarmed civilian.
That is crazy and demoralizing.
At last count we were spending one billion American dollars a week on bringing democracy to Iraqi.
This is not the reason we went into Iraqi in the first place.
The moral of our troops in many places is beginning to sag...........and so is mine!
It seems to have placed the cart before the horse in Iraq because it failed to realize that the US had to establish a monopoly on the use of force first, before establishing a new Iraqi government.
I don't think that meant sending 500K troops to Iraq because more troops don't imply that it's easier to find more bad guys.
The problem was and has been the PC-belief induced failure to apply ruthless COIN (and conventional) ops against the Sunni insurgents and al Sadr's Shiite militias.
Grab insurgent, introduce to Mr. Field Telephone, grab his buddies, and (when you've worked way as far up that cell as you can), place against wall and shoot. Rinse and repeat as necessary.
Instead we had the same failed 'catch and release' policies we use here against illegal aliens and criminals applied against utterly ruthless killers in Iraq.
And the Bush admin seems to think it has an infinitude of time to work in Iraq and can't explain how it thinks it's going to achieve it's goals to the American people, primarily because I think they don't know how they are going to achieve them. Maybe the Iraqi Army is not yet up too securing Baghdad. Well, tough noogies, it has to be done anyway, and we've now frittered away another 6 months doing nothing effective.
It is one of the reasons, I remember CinC saying, "the Iraqi people are capable of taking care of themselves," though it may take a while since its been 50 years since any sembelance of freedom has been there.
The moral of our troops in many places is beginning to sag...........and so is mine!
Then you're buying into the LameStream Media's version of events. Do you remember Bush at the military base in WV a couple months back? (I can't remember the name of it.) The video was posted here...he got a standing ovation or two when the military wife stood up and told him what she sees on TV is very different from what her husband tells her is happening in Iraq. From what she said, the bad stuff is overemphasized and most good news is ignored.
I agree the Iraqi army has to start taking the bull by the horns, though. Time for them to start whacking more bad guys, and I think they are doing that, slowly but surely.
I have read email from some of the troops at the front.
They have long hours of duty, come home bone tired, many with out proper air conditioning. One small unit in a room with six or seven guys. Most of the time their food is canned rations.
When their tour is over many times they get extended.
I voted for Bush two times, and support the war........but now I am weary and tired and want our troops home.
I suggest you read McCullough's book "1776", or any other history of warfare. If we gave up when some or most of the troops morale was low, we'd still be subjects of the Queen, or speaking French or German.
Victory is the only option, and it isn't done by backing out.
Don't get me wrong, I want the troops home too. I don't think they should come home just for the sake of coming home, though. Or else you'll see "Red Dawn" in our streets, replacing the Soviets with Islamofacists.
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