Stop WMD programs...done. Kill Saddam...Done...establish elections...done....Surge to eliminate all violence....done. Yes, we can leave. We could have left when The Child declared "Mission Accomplished". EXCEPT the mission was to Occupy Iraq, and then the entire Mid-East per the PNAC/Cheney Doctrine. The real Mission will be accomplished in 2033 when Iraq is voted in as the 51st State, by a Democratic Congress. Then the National Guard can replace our Troops at last.
"make the GOP candidates and members of Congress tell voters why we have to stay"
With all respect Steve, it will be "Make the Dem candidates explain why they were chicken and said we lost Iraq when we didn't". You forget the GOP owns the Media.
No T2 wants to forget what Democrats said in the last year and have been saying almost since this started. Steve's more concerned with the polls moving more in the right direction for W and America. He understands how big a microphone this president will have as the numbers become more positive for the president. This president has been having his way with this Congress even with his pitfully low 24% approval.
Get him back into the mid to upper 40's and Democrats won't be sitting very pretty. 2008 will become another lost opportunity and there will be a Republican in the WH for another eight years. More SCOTUS appointments, more Republican judges. The momentum has shifted, the PEW poll is just a beginning. Good news is coming more often, even your allies in the MSM can't suppress it.
Solar powered street lights have been installed and turned on in Baghdad. They are fast becoming a thriving city, with a thriving nightlife. Still there is some dangerous spots, but east LA/Philly/DC has some spots too.
The death rate in Iraq is now less than half that of South Africa. Our losses in Iraq will be much lower for the second month in a row. The numbers are changing for the better, just not for the Democrats, but, for Americans they will be better.
Posted by peter at November 28, 2007 08:01 PMI see pants-pissing peter has been sniffing gas fumes again. yeah, whistle past that graveyard
Posted by Gay Veteran at November 29, 2007 09:31 AM"Bush and al-Maliki agree to negotiate a permanent bilateral agreement giving us a permanent presence and bases in that country."
Well, that WAS the original plan, after all.
Posted by Shirin at November 29, 2007 10:13 AMWow, Peter, what great news! I will call my family in Baghdad right away to tell them how wonderful everything is now there. They will be surprised - and no doubt delighted - to hear it.
And in the mean time, I am going to celebrate by buying you a one-way ticket to Baghdad. Why, I'll even make arrangements for you to stay in one of our family homes. Several of them have been empty for awhile now since their inhabitants have left for higher ground (so to speak), so you will even have a choice. And I am sure the servants will be glad to have someone there to give them something to do - and pay them, of course.
Posted by Shirin at November 29, 2007 10:17 AMI thought your family was in Mosul. I am trying to put a trip together to Iraq.
More great news...BAGHDAD, Nov 27 (KUNA -- Leading Shiite cleric in Iraq Ali Sistani Tuesday banned the killing of Iraqis, particularly the Sunnis, and urged the Shiites to protect their brother Sunnis.
Great, Peter. Enjoy the Green Zone, and be sure to wear your flak jacket and helmet any time you go outside.
And by the way, Ayat Ullah Sistani has "banned the killing of Iraqis" at least a hundred times already, so this is hardly a big breakthrough.
Posted by Shirin at November 29, 2007 07:11 PMOh yeah, Peter. My family in Baghdad thanks you very much for your report about how great things are in Baghdad now. They really thought things were still pretty bad there, what with hearing bombs and gunfire, and the Americans barreling down the streets, often on the wrong side of the street, and running over anything or anyone that doesn't get out of the way fast enough, but what do they know?
Posted by Shirin at November 29, 2007 07:17 PMOk Shirin, things are awful for YOUR family. How come those people returning from Syria are saying that Syrian TV shows things are much better for their return. The Syrians are no friend of W's are they? There's no Foxnews/ABC/CBS/NBC in Syria misrepresenting the facts on the ground. Syrian TV says things are better, take it for what its worth. 11 buses at a time are returning Iraqi's to their homes.
Posted by peter at November 29, 2007 08:50 PMPeter, you need better sources of information than whatever propaganda channels you are watching. All that business about Iraqis flooding back to Baghdad to enjoy the newly gold-paved streets suddenly flowing with milk and honey is pure propaganda hype.
I know how inconvenient and annoying facts can be, but as usual, the facts contradict the hype. Here are a few:
Fact: Syria and Jordan have become so overburdened with the millions of Iraqi refugees that they have stopped renewing their visas, which has forced many of them to return to Iraq.
Fact: Large numbers of Iraqi refugees in Syria and Lebanon have been forced to return to Iraq because they have run out of money and can no longer afford to stay there.
Fact: Syrian TV is 100% state-run. The Syrian government wants the refugees to leave the country. It is hardly surprising, then, that in addition to other, more forceful methods they are using, the Syrian government is broadcasting propaganda intended to encourage Iraqi refugees to return to their homes in Iraq.
Fact: The number of returns to Baghdad peaked in October, with an average of around fifty per day returning. That means approximately 1550 Iraqis returned in all of October. Compare that to the estimate of 50,000 per month leaving their homes (the UN puts the number of Iraqis who were internally displaced in October at 28,017, and that does not include the ones who left the country, or who left their homes but did not get counted by the UN).
Fact: Since the October peak of around 50 per day, the number of Iraqi refugees returning to Baghdad has greatly declined.
Fact: Many of the Iraqis who do return to Baghdad are still afraid to go back to their homes, and make other arrangements such as staying with relatives or friends in other parts of the country.
Fact: The Iraqi government is using very aggressive incentives and heavy P.R. programs to induce more people to return. They are paying for transportation, and the Displacement Ministry is offering rewards of around $800 to internally displaced families who can provide evidence they have returned to their homes.
Fact: A UN survey of Iraqis crossing the Syrian border back into Iraq found that only 14% were returning because they heard that security had improved. 46% were returning because they had run out of money and could not afford to stay any longer, 25% were returning because the Syrian government had refused to renew their visas, and 15% were not refugees.
Fact: Officials from the Ministry of displacement and Migration (imagine a country needing to have such a ministry!) admitted that they were counting all Iraqis crossing the border, not just refugees who were returning. Sattar Nowruz, a spokesman for the Ministry told Damien Cave of the New York Times “We didn’t ask them if they were displaced and neither did the Interior Ministry". Therefore, the supposed count of "returnees" included all Iraqis entering Syria, of which, according to the survey cited above, around 15% were not refugees returning to Iraq.
Fact: Some Iraqi officials admitted that the numbers of returnees were being intentionally exaggerated in order to make it look like The Surge™ is succeeding, and to make Maliki look good.
Sorry, Peter, I know your mind is made up and you do not like to be confused with facts, but what can I do? The facts are as they are.
Shirin, If I could apologize for my country's actions I would. The fact that Iraqi's are refugees sickens me!
Let's take peter from his home and make him live in another country while his country is being destroyed and it's people are murdered!
What would Jesus do peter?
Posted by Seven of Six at November 30, 2007 06:42 AMSeven, thank you for your kind sentiments. You know, there are ways that Americans can help Iraqi refugees to manage in this terrible situation until they can be safely repatriated. As a matter of fact, I will be traveling to Syria this coming spring, and one of the things I hope to do there is to look into setting up a way for Americans to "adopt" an Iraqi refugee family in the manner of organizations like Save the Children. I don't know how far I will get with it, but a few Americans have expressed an interest in this method of helping, which allows them to know personally about the people to whom they are contributing, and learn about their progress and fate.
As for Peter, my offer of a one-way ticket to Baghdad and a nice Iraqi house to live in for free outside the Green Zone. There are lots of empty houses in Baghdad these days, so finding a nice one in a good neighborhood would not be difficult.
Posted by Shirin at November 30, 2007 09:33 AMPS Seven, I cannot and will not support efforts to resettle Iraqi refugees, and in particular I do not support efforts to bring them to the United States, although in the latter case I make an exception for the collaborators, traitors, and others whose lives are in danger in Iraq because they worked for the invaders. They have no place in Iraq, and the United States owes them big time.
What I DO support is efforts to provide for the needs and comfort of the refugees pending their safe return to Iraq, and reparations sufficient to allow them to rebuild their lives. ALL of this should be paid by the United States government and the individuals and corporations who are responsible for creating the problem and who have profited from it, but we all know how likely THAT outcome will be.
Posted by Shirin at November 30, 2007 09:54 AMShirin, I would like to help if I can, too. Can I get on your email list?
Posted by iamcoyote at November 30, 2007 10:02 AMSure thing, Coyote. You can e-mail me at JustSomeoneToo@gmail.com, and please identify yourself.
Posted by Shirin at November 30, 2007 11:48 AM