Rumsfeld's arrogance on display

[Frederik]

"He then warned that Iraqis had to "be darned careful about making a lot of changes just to be putting in their friend or to be putting in someone else from their tribe or from their ethnic group."

"This is too serious a business over there," he said on the program "Fox News Sunday," "and the United States has got too much invested and too much committed and too many lives at stake for people to be careless about that."

The defense secretary allowed that Iraqis should "put in who you want - it's your country and your sovereignty" - but then repeated that they should "be darned careful that you don't cause undue turbulence and weakness in the security forces, because it's the security forces of Iraq that are going to defeat that insurgency." "

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/20/politics/20cnd-policy.html?ex=1111986000&en=8c55cf05cb45e4b5&ei=5070

I'm confused - that country belongs to whom?

[wryter2000]

1. Just some more untidiness

Wars are untidy, I guess

[illflem]

2. How about Rumey blaming the Iraq insurgency

on Turkey yesterday?
He said the reason the insurgents got as strong as they did was because Turkey wouldn't let our troops cross their territory.

[cliss]

5. You read that too?

(shakes head). Man, I couldn't believe that.

Just picture RumsFinished, for a minute. He's sitting in his easy chair, smoking his pipe. As the smoke rings float up to the ceiling, RumsFool ponders what he's done and how it's turned out.

Suddenly, he chokes on his smoke ring. His brown teeth clamp down on the pipe. He realizes everything has been shot to shit.

Who to blame? Why Turkey, of course.

[applegrove]

7. If turkey had let him in - there would have been a whole pile of

dead Shiites (or Sunnis) I cannot remember who. That didn't happen because Turkey did not let Rummy in. That is what he means. He missed out on a chance for a whole pile of dead Sunnis... or a pile of dead someones...

Purdy!

[applegrove]

8. If turkey had let him in - there would have been a whole pile of

dead Shiites (or Sunnis) I cannot remember who. That didn't happen because Turkey did not let Rummy in. That is what he means. He missed out on a chance for a whole pile of dead Sunnis... or a pile of dead someones...

Purdy!

[triguy46]

3. People continue to buy the same failed logic...

The public in general and politicians against the wall in particular are always marching out the "We have too much invested to (fill in the blank). As any professor of business should point out, this flies directly in the face of the concept of sunk costs. Sunk costs are those things (money, lives, effort) expended in some project/war/etc that are already spent. You will never get them back. They're gone, kaput, finished. Staying longer, spending more will not return the money/lives/resources, you will only spend more and those will become sunk costs.

What I'm trying to say is that in the truth vacuum of Iraq, the lack of any real exit strategy only leaves the "we've spent too much" argument for rummy.

[Godai Kyoko]

4. know when to hold em,

and when to fold em
Know when to walk away
and know when to run.
And never count your winnings
till the deal is done.

[Wilms]

6. kick n/t

[crikkett]

9. ick. I mean, kick.

:wtf:

[diamond14]

10. just crazy stuff going on...who put these MADMEN in charge of OUR country?

:nuke:

[Wilms]

11. .