Posted on 11/11/2006 5:38:22 PM PST by FairOpinion
A commission of experts appointed by President George W Bush will advise him to abandon his dream of cementing a new democratic system in Iraq and instead tackle the security crisis so that the withdrawal of American troops can begin.
The advice from the Iraq Study Group, a high-level bipartisan panel headed by James Baker, the former Republican secretary of state, will sideline the so-called Bush doctrine of spreading democracy in the Middle East. Mr Bush will meet the panel tomorrow and Tony Blair is expected to offer his views via a video-conference call on Tuesday.
Mr Gates is a member of the Iraq Study Group and has been a strong critic of his predecessor's handling of policy in Iraq and the use of pre-war intelligence. He will provide the White House with the political cover for changes that would have been unthinkable a few months ago.
The Baker panel, which has been charged with looking at all options for Iraq, is expected to recommend a phased US troop withdrawal, timed to accord with deadlines for Iraqi forces' taking responsibility for specific security zones.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
What? That's retarded, frankly. Our founders didn't believe that we have some responsibility to provide human rights to the planet. That's ridiculous. No one is entitled to human rights. NO ONE! If you are fortunate enough to be born in a country that offers them, well, bully for you. If not, well, it sucks to be you, then. Of course might makes right. We said we were right and Iraq was wrong and we settled it with our might. That's how history works. Hitler thought he was right and Poland was wrong. He used his might to show he was right. Then, we proved him wrong. It goes back and forth.
Rep. John Conyers already has a separate website in ARABIC for the Muslims to read..
The most inane part of this policy would be neglecting the fact that we need a military base in the Middle East from which to engage the War on Terror, the same way we needed bases in Europe to engage the Cold War.
Gates/Baker are out of touch with reality. In the Cold War mutual annihalation was enough to hold both sides. Hence we could do most of our posturing from Stateside but in the WOT that is totally irrelevent.
We have to stay in the Middle East and Central Asia to engage the enemy or else they will come to America to engage us.
Gates-Baker is SEC of STATE not SEC of DEF material.
Block the Nomination! XP
Don't let it through in this Congress and insist on 'hearings' in the next Congress just like the RATS did!
will advise him to abandon his dream of cementing a new democratic system in Iraq
I don't know of they are part of a Soros propaganda campaign or not...but, the negativism..and the rhetoric is just WAY too close to what we have listened to for months..
coming out of the mouth of Dean, Pelosi, Reid, CARL LEVIN..jon carry...and others.
That's a silly argument. If the Iraqis have control of the situation they need to answer. But they don't, and neither do we, and I think that is Titan's point. He is irritated with the situation and so are a lot of people. Back biting and incendiary attacks to wit "if you're not satisfied with the situation you must not care about Iraqis!" is merely burying your head in the sand. The situation is uncertain. And many of us conservatives are uneasy with the goals as they are currently set. That doesn't mean we wish Saddam was back, nor does it mean we think the Iraqis should fend for themselves. But something has gone wrong. I'm inclined to believe it was in the goals set and methods employed. If anything I believe Iraqi is not "occupied" enough at this stage.
The Kurds have already told us that they WANT the USA to build a permanent base in their "part" of Iraq...they know how important it is for us to be close.
NOT in Okinawa like Murtha wants....LOLOLOL
NOTHING has gone wrong. It's a hard fight and the instant-gratification crowd, conned by the MSM, don't have the stomach to fight. And if the Dems hadn't continued to embolden the terrorists, Iraq may well have already been very peaceful, but the Dems wanted another Vietnam.
It is remarkable, it's historical, that we won two wars and in the 5 years since we've been fighting the WoT, in Afghanistan and Iraq, we only lost 3000 soldiers, after 5 years we are just matching the number of victims of 9-11.
The choice is to fight them over there or sit here and let the terrorists come here and blow us up. In the next attack a lot more than 3000 people will be killed.
Its not 3000, its 30,000 casualties of which almost 3000 are dead.
Our military is much smaller now than when we had 100 million people during WW2, or even smaller than Rome's.
Also, the American people can stomach casualties, what they don't continue to support is our troops fighting and getting nowhere. Remember the Iraqi Constitution states NO LAW SHALL CONTRADICT ISLAM. We are fighting for an Iraqi Constitution that mandates islam! Freedom can not exsist with islam only under it.
Bush continues to handcuff our troops with KGC warfighting rules of engagement, and he continues to allow Iran and Syria to kill our troops without firing one single shot.
The people got feed up with that.
No Blood for Islam.
"If a nation of 300 million cannot handle 3000 casualties over the course of 3 years it isn't a serious military power."
So true. I lived through the Vietnam War era, as did many others here on FR. Girly men in the feckless government couldn't decide whether they were fighting a war or having a tea party; so they tied the hands of the military in P.C. fashion, the MSM refined their anti-any-war propaganda and the rest is history. So, the Vietnam War became years of slow, painful blood-letting played out in our living rooms on the boob tube in the corner that many have become totally addicted to over the years. Half of the American people have forgotten 9/11 and Al Qaeda. Now Al Qaeda in Iraq are happy campers, expecting Nancy Pelosi and her cohorts to keep their campaign promises - or else. The difference in WWII is that the American people didn't forget Pearl Harbor.
" I do wonder how many of them here belong to the Soros group we were warned about several months ago that were instructed to infiltrate and brainwash the members of republican forums."
I think you are right. The rethoric that is pretending to come from conservatives is exactly the same as the Dem propaganda. I think this infiltration is what won the Dems the majority. Divide and conquer is an ancient strategy and it's being employed, because it works, there are always useful idiots available to swallow that propaganda hook, line, and sinker.
No.
No, but the Spanish turned around and elected liberals to run their government, rather than face down terrorism. Look what that has gotten them... no further attacks, but they are selling their souls to the devil with gay marriage and other liberal agendas.
Iraq must assume responsibility for their own future and security. Period.
And if those 3000 soldier had been lost IN the war the public might still be 100% behind it all. But most of them have been lost after the wars. That is after the conventional part. It's not the numbers per se that are the problem, it's the constant drip which will wear down the American people. This isn't gonna end in 10 years or 30. Terrorism is a fact of modern geopolitics. It's a fact because it works, no one wants to admit this but it's never the less true. The IRA got what they wanted, so did the Algerians, the Israelis, and for the most part the Palestinians. It is a fact of modern geopolitics because it's as product of it. For terrorism to be defeated that reality needs to change. I don't see that happening by spreading democracy. The the modern democratic age produced terrorism. Indeed it's not ridiculous to say that the terrorist is the most democratic of all modern political criminals, because his targets ARE the people.
Just keep the troops out of the meat-grinder cities. Attack when enemies are massed.
No police work.
The American public (female voters) can not stomach a war greater than 2 years.
To do it correctly, move the Shiites out of Baghdad and then partition the country into three. Keep bases in the boonies.
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