Posted on 11/29/2006 9:48:42 AM PST by jamese777
In N.H., says Bush must admit that to regain trust
BEDFORD, N.H. -- Former House speaker Newt Gingrich told a New Hampshire audience yesterday that unless the Bush administration admits that the war in Iraq is a "failure," it will never develop a strategy to leave the country successfully.
Gingrich, who has been laying the groundwork for a presidential run, said the Bush administration needs to plan a "third stage" in Iraq, following the military takeover stage and the recent democracy-building stage. But he says a third stage can come about only if officials admit they must change course.
"If the military, White House, and State Department continue to avoid the word 'failure,' how can you bring about a third stage?" Gingrich said.
Gingrich was in New Hampshire for three campaign-style events Monday night and yesterday. While the former speaker has expressed interest in a presidential run, he said yesterday that he is more interested in injecting ideas in to the 2008 campaign than in putting his name on the ballot. He said he will not seriously entertain a presidential campaign until September.
Gingrich, who served on a key Pentagon board that advised Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld in the runup to the Iraq war, was eager to distance himself from the Bush administration's handling of the war.
He said a show of contrition by the White House would help the president regain the trust of the American people and avoid a quick pullout, which would be disastrous.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
In light of the recently signed defense agreement between Iran and the Iraqi government, I should have said in my previous post that soon after we leave Iraq will probably be allied with Iran and possibly even Syria AGAINST the US and Israel, our only real friend in the ME region.
BS. It is not fundamentalist dominated. The UIA holds only 128 of the 275 seats. The UIA is a coaltion of factions including secular types. The Kurds [who are Sunni] and Sunni Arabs hold close to 100 seats in the Council of Representatives. Read the Constitution. There are safeguards against religious persecution. Women can vote and hold public office. To compare Iraq with Iran is nonsense. I lived two years in Iran during the fall of the Shah and the hijacking of the Revoution by Khomeini. Iran has an islamic fundamentalist government, Iraq does not.
Well another of the GOP hopefuls "Jumps the Shark."
So far on my list of candidates to reject:
1. McCain
2. Guliani
3. Gingrich
4. Allen
Is there a potentialy acceptable conservtive candidate out there anywhere?
My ideal candidate will:
1. Pursue victory in Iraq/WOT aggressively.
2. Use the veto pen on Congressional overspending.
3. Protect our borders.
4. Not try to lie to me about Islam being a religion of peace.
5. Abortion, taxes, and Social Security reform should not even need reaffirmation.
Quote: "Your post is not just BS but ignorance AND BS."
And now, deep thoughts. . . .
Maybe Rick Santourm?
Takes one to know one, I guess.
Deep thoughts were not necessary to deal with your post.
Actually, we do have the will and stomach to win wars-if they are run by competent leadership. We have had none of that with this administration. Also, our military was not designed for the nation-building business. Reagan and Bush Senior both understood this.
Excellent, then you didn't have to stretch beyond your capabilities, happy to help.
Is there *anyone* FReepers like these days???
If Jesus Christ himself said that the Iraq War was a failure, I honestly think some FReepers would call him a RINO.
134 posts before this one devolved into hysterics. More Jiffy-Pop and Dr. Pepper, Gargon!
Besides Newit being an idiot with this comment
If it's a failure how can we leave successfully?
I consult to the local and state GOP and candidates often. They rarely take my advice. They are too busy taking the advice of consultants who seldom leave the beltway. They are too busy having consultants in the beltway do their TV ads, literature, yard signs, etc. Those consultants occasionally go to fly-over-zone to preach to us. But they almost never listen to anyone except other beltway (both R and D)consultants. and yes, many consulting firms have both an R partner and a D partner and try to be "fair and balanced".
For the life of me, I can not figure out why they ignore your pearls of wisdom. The War on Drugs, the War on Crime, and the War on Poverty have been stunningly successful. The United States is now Drug free, Crime free, and Poverty free. Basic rights and dignity have been preserved for all Americans during the aforementioned "Wars on". When I received my jury summons last month, they asked all 200 of us if we knew or were in any way related to anyone that had been convicted of a Drug possession crime. The eight of us that remained were excused for lack of a quorum. Go figure.
He could have used better words
Then why did we lose the war in Korea? OK, maybe it could be argued that we didn't lose in Korea, but no one can say we won either. Ike was a well experienced General of the Army who ran the Allies' operations in the European theater for the last couple of years before VE Day, and he must have known that you don't go into a war unless you intend to win it. We now know that Stalin would not have risked nuclear war with the US over Korea because of our ability before ICBMs were perfected to virtually destroy his nation with long range SAC bombers carrying nuclear bombs, while his much inferior strategic bomber fleet lacked that same capability. And I believe that both Truman and Ike knew that even back then but decided to cave in to public demands to bring the boys home.
I still contend that our losses, yes losses, of at least two wars, that is if you include the probable pull out of Iraq, were in Viet Nam and will be in Iraq the result of the public's strong aversion to casualties and the consequent pressure on political leadership to get out of Dodge one way or the other as quickly as possible.
I am also of the opinion that the next two years will see us throw Iraq to the wolves along with our own self interests in that region because we can't take the heat so we'll get out of the kitchen instead. I hope I'm wrong and that Bush will stand fast as he has so often said he will. Actually that last part is more than just a hope, I believe Bush is dead serious when he says he won't cut and run. But the new peacenik controlled Congress will hold the purse strings, and Bush can't continue the fight without funding no matter how much he may want to.
"That is not even remotely true."
2004
Detroit murders 384
Chicago 448Total 832
2004
US Iraq 846.
Chicago is a quagmire, time to call it a failure and reploy.
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