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OK, they studied and handed in their semester group project. Now it is time for the military and the commmander-in-chief to give them their individual final exams. Then we need to post their grades for all of America to see, since we paid their tuition.
I doubt they know enough about Iraq and the Islamo-Nazis to pass.
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That means he was in Congress when they defunded the Lon Nol government in Cambodia, which ushered in the Pol Pot government ~ genocide on a massive scale was conducted.
Not being satisfied Lee would have also been around when Congress defunded the Republic of Viet Nam military, which ushered in the North Vietnamese Army ~ genocide on a massive scale was conducted.
Not only do I wonder why Baker would sit down with a psycho-sociopath like Lee Hamilton, I also wonder why Hamilton hasn't taken the opportunity for Seppuku.
A high school drop out could have come up with similar or better. The presentation to congress would look like this.
Congressman : "While Mr. Jamal Smith we would like to hear a brief summary of the strategy you have put together."
Jamal Smith : "We be needing more troops man, or we goin to be needing more souljas to show those A-rabbs somethin".
The way out of Iraq is through Teheran.
That's the exit82 Group Report in it's entirety.
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Iraq Surrender Group PING.
If in 5 years, Iran is a nuclear power, militias and warlords and puppets of Syria and Iran are running Iraq and Lebanon, terrorist groups are able to operate out of mideast countries, and global terrorism persists, then we will have failed.
If in 5 years, Iraq is a democratic country that no longer tolerates terrorism within its borders and preents being used in any way to support terrorism, and the terrorist groups can no longer get support, then we have won.
If there is to be a regional calculus, it must consider victory in Iraq to be intimately tied to removing Iran's other threats to us and keeping Syria on a leash to quit meddling in Iraq and Lebanon.
The fact that we find the work of standing up Iraq exceedingly difficult does not stop it from being possible and worthwhile.
if The closest this author comes to advancing a solution, and one has to pick it out of the unending criticisms, is to suggest that more troops be inserted. Unfortunately that is simply not possible. The Baker commission was informed by the joint chiefs that there are no more troops to put into Iraq. General Abazaid has recently so testified:
Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, a possible presidential candidate who has called for more troops in Iraq, accused Abizaid of simply supporting the status quo.
McCain asked whether the general really believes U.S. troop strength is sufficient to accomplish his aims.
The general acknowledged the military could send 20,000 more troops to help stabilize Baghdad, but said he is not prepared to recommend such a commitment.
Such a move would achieve only "a temporary effect," he said, and further strain an already stretched military.
"The ability to sustain that commitment is simply not something that we have right now, with the size of the Army and the Marine Corps," he said.
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/11/15/senate.abizaid/
So there are not three options: 1) insert more troops 2) "stay the course"-continue unchanged 3) withdraw troops and make diplomatic overtures.
We cannot insert more troops as we do not have more troops. That leaves option 2). The voters are just repudiated this course in the last election and the Republicans are busily wiping their fingerprints off this war. Staying the course is simply not viable politically on either side of the aisle.
You can call James Baker what you will but you simply cannot persuasively call him stupid. These guys are well aware of these realities and wrote the only report they could write because the only remaining option is 3).