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1 posted on 07/14/2003 6:30:01 AM PDT by bedolido
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To: bedolido
From USATODAY? Wow. Great find, thanks for posting it.
2 posted on 07/14/2003 6:38:14 AM PDT by EllaMinnow
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To: bedolido
I polled my wife on recent events. She is an interesting test case, because she barely pays attention to politics, and we pretty much don't talk about it much.

Question One: Do you know where President Bush was this past week?

Answer: In Africa.

#2: What was he doing there?

A: Fighting AIDS.

Any other stories this week in Washington?

A: Something about building nukes. Some chemical.

What about it?

Trying to determine if uranium was used to create a weapon in Iraq.

What was the significance of the story?

Nothing. It's stupid.

So, if there are more folks out there like my wife, regular, non policial types, then the White House is fine. It's a Beltway story, with legs because a liberal press latched on to it.

3 posted on 07/14/2003 6:38:36 AM PDT by Huck
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To: All
Aww man! Enough of the fundraiser posts!!!
Only YOU can make fundraiser posts go away. Please contribute!

4 posted on 07/14/2003 6:38:58 AM PDT by Support Free Republic (Your support keeps Free Republic going strong!)
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To: bedolido
During Rumsfelds "Beat The Press" appearance he almost let slip the we have found WMD in Iraq.

Be patient the hammer is being raised.

5 posted on 07/14/2003 6:40:48 AM PDT by Semper Paratus
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To: bedolido
"Their shrill criticisms of the Iraq operation and more the president's assertions that Saddam Hussein and his weapons of mass destruction presented a clear and present danger to the security of the United Sates and its people, could bounce back on them."

This is exactly what I was thinking this morning as I was watching FOX interview the daily whiners against Bush. "OK, they're almost running at full speed now. Let the rope out a little farther . . . A little more . . ."
7 posted on 07/14/2003 6:41:46 AM PDT by Lee'sGhost (Crom!)
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To: bedolido
Funny; this might be the first time then that their idiotic comments come back to haunt them. The press almost always gives the rats a free ride.
12 posted on 07/14/2003 6:45:02 AM PDT by Pharmboy (Dems lie 'cause they have to...)
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To: bedolido
Good post.
14 posted on 07/14/2003 6:45:32 AM PDT by ChadGore (Kakkate Koi!)
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To: bedolido
Democrats are banking on those majorities to eventually turn on the war...

And dishonor the men and women who have given their lives in this war just as the democrats did with Veitnam. The very worst thing we can do now is to pull out. It would be a slap in the face and honor of the brave people who have fought so far.

The negative press they are generating will certainly boomerang on them if common Iraqi people begin to show real courage in taking control of their country from the thugs who ran it under Saddam.

16 posted on 07/14/2003 6:47:17 AM PDT by Tom Bombadil
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To: bedolido
Democrats should be cautious in their public statements on Iraq, no matter how badly they think the war's aftermath is going.

Here is what the editor of The New Republic had to say in a recent editorial in the Wall Street Journal:

If the Democratic Party intends to run against a popular war, its leaders might wish to recall the lesson of a Democrat who ran against an unpopular war. He lost 49 states.

The full article can be found here:

The Neo-McGovernites ^

21 posted on 07/14/2003 6:53:06 AM PDT by TroutStalker
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To: bedolido
no matter how badly they think the war's aftermath is going.

Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2003 1:45 PM

Subject: Open Current Events Letter From A U.S. Army Major In Iraq

It has been a while since I have written to my friends at First Lutheran Church about what's really going on here in Iraq. The news you watch on TV is exaggerated, sensationalized and selective. Good news doesn't sell.

The stuff you don't hear about on CNN? Let's start with Electrical Power production in Iraq. The day after the war was declared over, there was nearly 0 power being generated in Iraq; 45 days later, in a partnership between the Army, the Iraqi people and some private companies, there are now 3200 mega watts (Mw) of power produced daily, or 1/3 of the total national potential. Downed power lines ( big stuff, 400 Kilovolt (Kv) and 132 Kv) are being repaired and are now about 70% complete.

Then there is water purification.

In central Iraq between Baghdad and Mosul, home of the 4th Infantry Division, water treatment was spotty at best. The facilities existed, but the controls were never implemented. Simple chemicals like Chlorine for purification and Alum (Aluminum Sulfate) for sediment settling (the Tigris River is about as clear as the Mississippi River) were in very short supply. Or not used at all. And when chlorine was used, it was metered by guessing.

So some people got pool water to drink and some people got water with lots of little things floating around in it. We are slowly but surely solving that. Contracts for repairs to facilities [that are only 50% or less operational ] are being let. Chemicals are being delivered, although we don't have the metering problem solved yet (... but again, it's only been 45 days).

How about oil and fuel?

Well the war was all about oil wasn't it? You bet it was. It was all about oil for the Iraqi people ! They have no other income. They produce nothing else. Oil is 95% of the Iraqi GNP. For this nation to survive, it MUST sell oil.

The Refinery at Bayji is at 75% of capacity in producing gasoline. The crude oil pipeline between Kirkuk (Oil Central) and Bayji will be repaired by tomorrow (2 June). LPG, what all Iraqi's use to cook and heat with, is at 103% of normal production. And WE, the US ARMY, are insuring it is being distributed FAIRLY to ALL Iraqi's.

You have to remember that only 3 months ago, ALL these things were used by the Sadam regime as weapons against the population to keep them in line. If your town misbehaved, gasoline shipments stopped .. LPG pipelines and trucks stopped .. water was turned off .. power was turned off.

Now, until exports start again, every drop of gasoline produced goes to the Iraqi people. Crude oil production is being stored and the country is at 75% capacity right now. They need to export or stop pumping soon, ... so thank the UN for that delay.

ALL LPG goes to the Iraqi people EVERYWHERE. And water is being purified as best it can be, but at least it's running all the time to everyone.

Are we still getting shot at? Yep. Are American Soldiers still dying? Yep, about 1 a day from my outfit, the 4th Infantry Division, most in accidents. But dead is dead.

If we are doing all this for the Iraqis, why are they shooting at us?

The general Iraqi population isn't shooting at us. There are still bad guys, who won't let go of the old regime. They are Ba'ath party members (read Nazi Party, but not as nice) who have known nothing but .. and supported nothing but .. the regime all of their lives. These are the thugs for the regime that caused many to disappear in the night. They have no other skills. At least the Nazis had jobs and a semblance of a national infrastructure that they could go back to after the war, .. as plumbers, managers, engineers, etc. These people have no skills .. but terror. They are simply applying their skills. But we are applying ours. There is no Christian way to say this .. but they must be eliminated and we are doing so with all the efficiency we can muster.

Our troops are shot at literally everyday by small arms and Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs). We respond and 100% of the time, the Ba'ath party guys come out with the short end of the stick.

The most amazing thing to me is that they don't realize that if they stopped shooting at us, we would focus on .. fixing things more quickly .. and then leave back to the land of the Big PX. And the more they shoot at us, the longer we will have to stay.

Lastly, all of you please realize that 90% of the damage you see on TV was caused by Iraqi's, NOT by us and not by the war. Sure we took out a few bridges from military necessity, we took out a few power and phone lines to disrupt communications, sure we drilled a few palaces and government headquarters buildings with 2000 lb. laser guided bombs (I work 100 yards from where two hit the Tikrit Palace), he had plenty to spare. But, ANY damage you see to schools, hospitals, power generation facilities, refineries, pipelines, was ALL caused either by .. the Iraqi Army in its death throes .. or from much of the Iraqi civilians looting the places.

Could we have prevented it? Nope.

We can and do it now, but 45 days ago the average soldier was fighting for his own survival .. and trying to get to his objectives as fast as possible. He was lucky to know what town he was in much less be informed enough to know .. who owned what .. or have the power to stop a 1,000 people from looting and burning a building by himself.

The United States and our Allies, especially Great Britain, are doing a very noble thing here. We stuck our necks out on the world's chopping block to free an entire people from the grip of a horrible terror that was beyond belief.

I've already talked the weapons of mass destruction thing to death, .. bottom line, who cares? This country was one big conventional weapons ammo dump anyway. We have probably destroyed more ground weapons and ammo in the last 30 days than the US Army has ever fired in the last 30 years (Remember, this is a country the size of Texas), so drop the WMD argument as the reason we came here ... if we find them GREAT.. if we don't, SO WHAT?

I'm living in a "guest palace" on a 500 acre palace compound with 20 palaces with like facilities built in half a dozen towns all over Iraq that were built for one man. Drive down the street and out into the country side 5 miles away, like I have, and see all the families of 10 or more, all living in mud huts and herding the two dozen sheep on which their very existence depends, ...then tell me why you think we are here.

WMD ? ...important .. have to find 'em wherever they may be (.. in Syria?), but not OUR real motivator. Don't let it be yours either.

Respectfully,

(name deleted) 4th Infantry Division

25 posted on 07/14/2003 7:01:55 AM PDT by xzins
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To: bedolido
IMHO, some of the best commentary in favor of going after Saddam and the Saddam-ites
has come from former Clinton Administration official Kenneth Pollack.
28 posted on 07/14/2003 7:16:25 AM PDT by VOA
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To: bedolido
Like moths driven to a flame, they have viciously attacked the White House's admission that the president's statement, made in last January's State of the Union speech, that Iraq was trying to buy uranium in Africa was based on false intelligence.

Huh? When did the White House ever say that the president's statement was based on false intelligence? Can't the media read? Geez mon.

32 posted on 07/14/2003 7:27:28 AM PDT by PMCarey
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To: bedolido
Right now the Dems have the look of a football team that's down 63-0 right after half-time and they realize their only chance is to go for the Hail Mary pass on offense, sacks on every defensive play, and eye gouges all the time. Will they play dirty. Of course they will, and more so than usual this time.
33 posted on 07/14/2003 7:30:17 AM PDT by KarlInOhio (Paranoia is when you realize that tin foil hats just focus the mind control beams.)
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