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 ...
They need to learn from the Romanians.
Romania Vows Not to 'Abandon' Iraq
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1737155/posts
Romania has no intentions of withdrawing its troops from the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq, President Traian Basescu said Saturday, vowing to stay "because it's a dishonor to leave your allies."
In an interview with The Associated Press, Basescu said he empathized with mounting calls to withdraw the country's 608 non-combat personnel in Iraq, including impassioned pleas from the families of those serving.
But "Romania's honor is greater than its feelings," he said.
Okay, I agree that we did not find WMD's but hell the UN gave Sadamm over 12 years to discard them. But my question is we are there what in the hell is wrong trying to give a country of tyranny democracy? It's so simple why are our parties fighting about this and that?
I must be friggen retarded. Oh excuse me according to public schools I am exceptional. I would have hated seeing today's society with all of the news footage and blogs of WWII we would all be speaking German. Sorry I am on a rant I just do not see what is wrong with the US and our Allies giving a dictatorship a chance to control their country...
A slight edit should fix this:
No U.S. troops ANYWHERE where their is a civil war going on except on the borders of the USA.
The world sez we are war mongers and thugs, then we should leave and take care of our own. Our media as well as the foreign press undermine our troops at every turn. They spill their blood on foreign shores and then are spit on and called murderers and criminals.
Why should we risk these brave men and women's lives when we have our own problems at home.
Bring 'em home. All of them, and now.
**Forget democracy and bring home troops, Bush will hear **
It's Pelosi's fault, right? No I mean left. LOL!
There have been 2288 KIA's in 3 years 8 months....however, my friend, your point is well taken and EXACTLY RIGHT!!
I hope that in the UK even liberals have more sense and understand the stakes at the war on terror -- although clearly France, Spain and Italy doesn't understand. Once leftists took over in Spain and Italy, the first thing they did was to pull out their troops from Iraq and abandon the War on Terror.
I don't understand this patrol business either. In a country of 25 million people, they can't find enough guys to patrol their own streets? I find this very hard to believe.
You would not have gotten any of the great Generals such as Patton, McArthur, Ike, etc to except such restrictive conditions of war. They knew better. They would have resigned their commissioned till the civilian leadership wised up to reality of war. But then again their civilian leaders weren't P.C. dolts that had been taught by Marxist educators in our post WW2 universities either. That came immediately after WW2 and ruined us in Korea, Nam. and Gulf War One. Kinder Gentler War Limiting Civilian Causalities what an insane policy. We've been there done that what three times now? So you tell me who won those wars?
The Iraqi people's lives are going through a 180° compared to what they've lived through previously under Saddam Hussein. It's just starting to take it's first baby steps and cannot be expected to go it alone yet. They still need all of the help and guidance we can muster if they are to survive as a free nation.
They must purchase their own freedom themselves otherwise it will mean nothing to them. The men who fought for this nations freedom nearly froze to death at Valley Forge and only one nation {yet to be reborn before the world again} helped and saw us through. They were the sons of Israel. They funded Washington at the winter Valley Forge when our nation was broke and turned that war to a win.
On day one, President Bush told the nation this would be a long ugly war but so many have conveniently forgotten that speech.
The man has turned it from being a war to a mandate on nation building in a nation where three tribes hate each others guts and have done so for thousands of years. Are they gonna stop because he's George Bush? War is not for building a nation war is PUNISHING a nation AND It's PEOPLE so they don't go there again. Ask Japan and Germany.
Every day someone pipes up and insists we should have just gone in and blanketed Iraq with bombs forgetting or are uneducated to the fact it's not the Iraqi people we are at war with and never was, it's against the terrorists who infiltrated Iraq from other countries and also the power hungry madman Saddam Hussein.
Uh huh yea right. That is Cultural Marxism at it's best. It's pure PC dribble. The Germans weren't the enemy either right? How about the Japanese of whom we nuked two major cities? They weren't the enemy either now were they? Good grief if this nation gets in a World War we are done for. The P.C. shills will be screaming and yelling save the poor innocents while ours are being slaughtered. Wanna call me cut and run? Look in the mirror. I got news for you. Read up on war. Read up on our own Civil War and you show me where we spared even our own brothers we fought against.
With the P.C. Kinder Gentler War PC crap we will forever be the laughing stock of the M.E. terrorist as they see it as weakness. North Korea exploited it, North Vietnam exploited it, Saddam did several times and the man still lives because Bush wanted to hold civics classes in Iraq. Only a mad man would not be angry at our policy in Iraq. How much more PC do you want our leader and Generals to be then?
War is hell. It is hell to the soldiers it is hell to the ones they kill. It is a punish by one nation upon the people of another. It has been such ever since. The Bible even says this is what war is. Look at the commands GOD gave Joshua. Kinder and Gentler war for the enemy? I don't think so. It knows no innocents. Until our leaders can come to terms with this reality and absolute concept war demands for victory they need to think long and hard before asking any United States Service Member to go there again.
"Forget democracy and bring home troops, Bush will hear "
I'm glad George Washington is asleep and can't hear this.
AMEN! Blackbird.
Really. Now name one that wasn't totally decimated, either on the battlefield or via economic collapse (Cold War). Defeat was the lost objective here. Blackbird.
Know the difference between Japan and Iraq? Decimation. Not this time though, we need to Nation Build. A losing strategy right out of the gate. Blackbird.
We must recognize reality.
I think you just did! Blackbird.
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