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 ...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1737103/posts
Please read this: This is a POSITIVE story about what we are accomplishing in Iraq..and it doesn't involve us doing the killing.
Yes, much better to sit and cower at home, waiting for the terrorists to come here and murder 300,000 or even 3 million American civilians... (/sarc)
Sometimes I wonder what the DemonRats response would have been if the events of 9/11 been different. If the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania had instead, gone on to crash into the White House killing the President and his family or into the Congress killing hundreds of Congressmen. Would that have caused the Liberal DemonRat morons to get the message that this war with radical Islam is a war for our very survival?
We should have done the same thing in Vietnam. We never gave it a chance though. Johnson (to look "strong" with the American electorate) set up the "Gulf of Tonkin" resolution, which committed American fighting troops as opposed to just providing the "advisors" we had up to that point. From 1964 through 1968, we wound up with "half a million" military personnel in Vietnam, to fight FOR THEIR FREEDOM!
We have got to stop FIGHTING for other people's freedoms, if THEY ARE NOT WILLING to fight MORE of it, for themselves. That my friend, is the lesson of Vietnam.
That, unfortunately, is the lesson that we are quickly trying to come to grips with now in Iraq.
AND.... the Baker commission has a 'laser' beam understanding of this precise fact.
Not only had some of these countries more experience with western style democracy they did not worship an anti democratic hate filled religion. In addition, neither the Germans nor the Japanese planted roadside and suicide bombs to kill our servicemen and engage in a civil war between religious factions while we were trying to help them achieve freedom and democracy.
The American people have an amazingly heavy appetite for sponsoring or arranging genocide. This usually takes place under the leadership of the Democratic party.
The military will always do its job. But, it's the civilian leadership (specifically the President), who has to sell it to the American people. That wasn't being done and the voters have spoken. Make no mistake, last Tuesday the voters rejected what the President was selling.
That's just great. We lead them half way, then just walk away.
BOY, isn't that a recipe for helping to create a friendly, democratic nation?
Didn't we try that before?
I would never question the will of the troops.
You sir are cut and run conservative.. The war in Iraq is about bringing the war over there than here.......
Espcially some cut run conservatives likes to support genocide....
With the total absence of any real border controls, gratis GWB, that may well happen. Just maybe those troops could be more effectively used to defend the homeland. In any event, you just witnessed that the American people have no patience for a war that is going no where. If you believe that they will tolerate a war in Iraq that will go on for 5 to 10 years with American GIs being murdered each and every day, you are crazy. We must recognize reality.
I know what a war entails. I've been in one. Have you?
Human rights????
In America???
Where have you been? We are the largest exporter of babies to the garbage can.
Two border patrol agents just got 11 and 12 years for shooting a drug smuggler in the rear.
I homeschool my kids because I don't think they should have to go through metal detectors before getting "indoctrinated".
My taxes are funding Planned Parenthood's lawsuit against the government for the abortion cases.
There are threats to pull 501c away from churches for speaking out against sin.
The world has condemned us of being inhuman in the midst of what we thought was extremely human.
We send billions and billions to counties all over the world and for what? So they can attack us with our own weaponry?
The best way to spread democracy is by example. But what is our example? Not looking good right now. The world looks at America and sees what? They see us not being able to control our borders from an influx of people "excaping" another democracy.
The best thing we could do right now is bring our troops home. Increase military funding for arms build-up and missle defense systems. Close ALL the borders. Remove ourselves from the U.N. Release ourselves from all treaties that would require us to loose part of our sovergnty. Stop ALL funds going to other nations. Drill OUR own oil. Advance the alternative fuel research. Keep that technology secret.
We need to go back to the beginning and look how it was done to start. Federal gov needs to be rolled back. State gov needs to take on the roll it had from the start. New deal has to be eliminated. ALL welfare is to come from chartity.
Its kinda like Christianity. Everyone hates that one guy that always is trying to get everyone else to convert. Every conversation ends up to be an evangelizing event. After a while the pusher is looked upon as being arrogant. Of course he doesn't think so himself. To him, he has the solution to everyone elses problem, whether they think they have one or not. How can they not convert! He says to himself. He is left to make excuses to himself for the rejection, misquoting scripture, trying to make it fit his situation. "If they don't recieve the prophet, shake the dust off your feet" kind of thing.
On the other hand, we all have known or met that one person who is the embodiment of integrity. He walks around with a gentle and humble spirit yet his stature demands respect. The kind of guy that people look at and say to themselves, "When I get older, I'd like to be like him." Intelligent but not cocky. Never an "I told you so" but more of a "I'm so sorry that happened to you". You can really see Christ in that persons walk in life. When people see a man like that, they will desire what he has. They will ask him about what he has. He will not be shy or overwhelming to them when he tells them his story. They will hunger. He will feed.
That is the America I dream of. One that can stand tall in her faith in God. The envy of the world because God has put His blessing on her. An America that can stand before God unblemished. Fully repented of her sins. Fully repented of her haughty and proud self that brought her to the point where she thought she could influence the world----without her God.
You are right...I got his title mixed up..thanks for correcting it.
Afghan, huh? That is another country that a lot of people either did give up on...or want to give up on.
I saw what the Taliban did to those people...especially the women...and it would break my heart if we let it go back to the Taliban.
Luckily, we got Afghanistan to a point that international forces have been taking over some areas from the US troops..which doesn't mean we have given up on getting Bin Ladin or Zawahiri, which the dems keep accusing us of.
I think the nation was called Vietnam... We just left them high and dry...
I think you're right!
jon carry, is that you?
Any democracy that isn't totalitarian and militaristic will be weak in the face of the strong triumphalism of Islam and its more extreme militant fundamentalism.
We run the great risk of reenacting the Weimar Republic in Baghdad. Indeed our stated aim of secularizing the Arab world works like propaganda for the fundamentalists. If democracy were ever to truly take hold in the Islamic world, it could easily become the catalyst for the destruction of Israel.
Regardless of what we are trained to believe ideologically, freedom is only meaningful in the context of a relatively peaceful society. Thus, no matter how much one, suckled at the teat of our own democratic triumphalism, may hiss at me for my heterodox statements: the fact remains it doesn't mater that Bagdadeans are free to vote today if they are not free of being blown up tomorrow. One has to have a stable liberal[in the classic sense] society BEFORE one can have a liberal democracy (and even then it's still a throw of the dice if it will stay 'liberal').
And, incidentally, neither post WWII Germany or Japan work as test cases against my theme. Because in the example of the former the society was relatively liberal and the threat of the soviets proved to be a great stabilizing element. As for Japan, the tradition of societal obedience to the Emperor meant that once he declared surrender there was no psychological grounds for resisting the occupation.
For all these reasons Bush is wrong. I still voted for the republicans [for that matter I voted for him both times], but only because I couldn't stand to see the dems win. That sentiment can only energize so many voters though.
-"U.S. soldiers, automatic rifles buckled to their body armor, filed into a community center in a dangerous Shiite neighborhood of north Baghdad Saturday and for a few hours became social workers, cops on the beat and referees between feuding tribesmen."
Sorry, but this is not "positive". it's commendable that our troops are engaging in this type of activity, but this is not Paris, Bastogne, nor Berlin after WWII.
This is an entirely different culture. Yes, these people are human beings, and I wish for them to have peace and harmony. But, our campaign is with their "LEADERS" be it the good guys or the bad guys, our military should not be engaged in "meals on wheels" efforts - it's long past that now. Up to this point, their 'leaders' have failed to deliver!
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.