MAKE SURE YOUR YOU ARE CURRENTLY REGISTERED
AND ACTUALLY VOTE
DOUBLE CHECK YOUR VOTER CARD TODAY!
I was out walking my precinct yesterday with doorhangers and reminders. What were you doing?
9/26/04 CENTCOM Leader : War in Iraq Moving in the Right Direction,
http://www.dod.mil/news/Sep2004/n09262004_2004092602.html
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 26, 2004 – As January elections loom in Iraq, Army Gen. John Abizaid, head of U.S. Central Command, said today the country is headed in the right direction.
"We are in fact moving in the direction that will allow Iraq to emerge as a democratic and representational state. I think that our military activities there have moved it ahead in a positive manner," Abizaid told host Tim Russert on "Meet the Press." "It's a tough fight, it's a hard fight. But we shouldn't lose heart because there are difficult times. We know that there will be fighting through the elections."
Insurgent resistance continues to plague coalition and Iraqi troops, Abizaid said. He was asked about a Turkish journalist's report that all Iraqis near Mosul, including the children, are involved in or supporting the resistance. Abizaid responded that if that was true, Iraqi forces would not number 100,000, nor would that number be climbing.
"If everybody in Iraq was in the resistance, Prime Minister Allawi would not be trying to lead his nation forward to a better future. If everybody in Iraq happened to be part of the resistance, they wouldn't be volunteering for the armed forces," Abizaid aid. "There's more people that are coming forward to fight for the future of Iraq than are fighting against it."
While the resistance continues, Abizaid said he thinks there are fewer than 1,000 foreign fighters in Iraq, adding that the primary problem in Iraq is former regime elements fighting against the government. He said those elements are trying everything in their power to upend the election process.
"Yes, there is a resistance. Yes, it is hard," the general noted. "But the truth of the matter is that Iraqis and Americans and other members of the coalition will face that resistance together (and) will, through a series of political, economic and military means, figure out a way to defeat it and will move on to allow the elections to take place and a constitutional government to emerge."
Abizaid said that regardless of the insurgency situation, he and his commanders feel sure they can provide stability for the January elections. "Commanders in the field are confident about the military mission, they're confident about our ability to have an election period that is fair and relatively stable," he said.
Abizaid also commented on statements that it's possible only a portion of Iraq, maybe three-fourths of the country, would be stable enough to hold elections. He replied that no election is perfect and that to have most of the country to vote was the goal.
"That the election will be able to be held in the vast majority of the country under good circumstances is our goal. But right now, considering that 25,000 more Iraqi forces will join the effort, between now and the late-January elections, that election will be able to be held," Abizaid said. "We'll have to fight our way through the elections with a lot of violence between now and then."
He noted that Iraqi forces will most likely take the lead on securing elections in the stable areas, while U.S. troops would probably handle the hotspots.
The CENTCOM commander said Americans need to brace themselves for a long war in the Middle East and Central Asia, though not necessarily one that requires huge numbers of American troops. But the war will be long because the battle being waged is between extremists and moderates.
"It'll be a long process. It'll be a difficult process. But it'll be one that can be successfully fought not only at home, but in the international community and with the peoples of the region to set the standards for good government and the standards for a moderate lifestyle," he said.
Nearly 25% 0f Troops in Iraq are Non US Troops - Kerry wrong again!
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/iraq/foreigntroops.html
In addition to the United States, which has more than 130,000 troops in Iraq, many other countries have sent military personnel. The number of non-American coalition troops is more than 40,000, though numbers fluctuate.
United Kingdom: 9,000 soldiers
Italy: 3,000 soldiers, some serving as police and engineers
Poland: 2,400 soldiers
Ukraine: 1,600 soldiers
Netherlands: 1,100 soldiers plus a logistics team, a field hospital, military police and 200 engineers
Japan: 1,100 soldiers assigned to reconstruction
Australia: 800 soldiers
Romania: 700 soldiers plus 149 de-mining specialists, military police and "special intelligence" members
South Korea: 600 military engineers and medics
Bulgaria: 480 soldiers plus chemical warfare experts
Thailand: 440 soldiers assigned to humanitarian missions
Denmark: 420 soldiers including medics and military police
El Salvador: 360 soldiers
Hungary: 300 soldiers
Norway: 179 soldiers, mostly engineers and mine clearers
Mongolia: 160 soldiers involved in peacekeeping
Azerbaijan: 150 soldiers taking part in law enforcement and protection of historic monuments
Portugal: 125 soldiers functioning as police officers
Latvia: 120 soldiers
Lithuania: 115 soldiers
Slovakia: 102 soldiers
Czech Republic: 80 soldiers, serving as police
Philippines: 80 soldiers plus police and medics
Albania: 70 non-combat troops
Georgia: 70 soldiers
New Zealand: 60 army engineers assigned to reconstruction (expected to leave in Sept. 2004)
Moldova: 50 soldiers including de-mining specialists and medics
Macedonia: 35 soldiers
Estonia: 30 soldiers
Kazakhstan: 30 soldiers (expected to leave end of May 2004)
Spain withdrew its troops from Iraq following the election of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero on March 14. Honduras and the Dominican Republic quickly followed suit. The three countries combined had nearly 2,000 troops in Iraq. Nicaragua withdrew its 115 troops at the end of March 2004 for economic reasons.
Countries that provide non-military support include: Kuwait and Qatar, which have hosted the U.S. Central Command and the invasion force; Ethiopia and Eritrea, which have given use of bases or ports; and Turkey, which has given permission for airspace use. Others countries have opted to give political support: Angola, Costa Rica, Colombia, Iceland, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Mongolia, Palau, Panama, Rwanda, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Uganda and Uzbekistan.
In early April 2004, the Bush administration indicated it was negotiating with another 50 countries that had expressed interest in providing peacekeeping troops.
FOREIGN WORKERS
The exact number of foreign workers in Iraq is hard to gauge, but it's at least 30,000. Many work for companies that have contracts with the American military to provide support or to rebuild the country. Others work for aid agencies.
Companies with U.S. Department of Defence contracts:
Kellogg, Brown and Root
Washington Group International
Fluor Intercontinental
Perini Corporation
Vinnell Corporation
CSC DynCorp International
Companies with U.S. Agency for International Development contracts:
International Resources Group
Air Force Augmentation Program
Stevedoring Services of America
Creative Associates International
Research Triangle Institute
Abt Associates
Skylink Air and Logistics Support
Bearing Point Inc.
Bechtel (including subcontractors from the UK, Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, Kuwait, Switzerland)
Non-governmental organizations with USAID grants:
United Nation's Children's Fund (UNICEF)
World Health Organization (WHO)
Mercy Corps
International Relief and Development Incorporated
Agriculture Co-operative Development International
Volunteers in Overseas Co-operative Assistance
Co-operative Housing Foundation
Save the Children Federation
Iraqi Nursing Association
Except the last one,,,, and the next one.
where do you find complacency? every one i talk with sees this as a very important election... i went to a homeschool picnic last Friday, and i was amazed at all the people i saw wearing Bush t-shirts... who's complacent?
bump
Texas Early Voting:
BULL... Bill'ary Clinton won't allow that to happen..
What malfeance Bill'ary has planned for Bush's second term is the thing of worry.. greasing the way with slime for election 2008 NOW that could happen.. Unless the Pajama People can show how a democracy really does suck.. and so do democrats.. Because democrats are really only being honestly for a real democracy which is rebellion against THIS REPUBLIC and extremely seditious....
THAT is the fact that must being broadcasted.. and highlighted that makeing this country a democracy is sedition and treason.. since more than half this country already BELEIVES the U.S. is a democracy when it isn't.. America NEEDS some cold water in the face.. There must be a way to pull this rug from under the democrats feet.. If any can do it, the Pajama and Bunny Slipper'd folk can..
We repeat the polls we like to each other, and dismiss the polls we don't like as frauds. For instance, we loved Rasmussen in 2000 when he had Dubya with a big lead; we hate him now since he gives the President a statistically insignificant lead.
In early August, I suggested that we might be too optimistic. I feel better about our chances now now than I was when I wrote that, but this race is still in great danger. The consequences of a Kerry win are too dire for even a moment's complacency.
As others on this thread have said, I wish folks would put a sock in the "Kerry is toast" 
stuff.
We can lose the election if Jimmie Karter and the UN observers are allowed to do in Florida what DemocRATs have been doing for eons in Cook County!
YES! I agree! Get out the vote and stop the RATs in their tracks forever!
Over-optimism and complacency killed the cat. Remember Gov. Dewey!
The 2000 election is a perfect example of why EVERY vote counts.
agreed
So can being demoralized...I think portraying Kerry's defeat as inevitable is as useful as anything else we could do.
You bet you can lose - especially if the dimocrap voter fraud gets even worse than it was last election.
I know more than a few people who havent voted in years. These people told me they will be voting this year for George Bush. Kerry scares them that much.
You are absolutely dead on. I don't see how Kerry can stop the hemorrhage, but I'm working like he's ahead and pulling away! In fact, I'm doing a lot less FR time, because I'm not going to preach to the choir anymore.
Watch your mouth!