US offers amnesty in secret talks (* pardoning troop-killers)

[jefferson_dem]

http://images.thetimes.co.uk/TGD/picture/0,,354941,00.jpg

US offers amnesty in secret talks
From James Hider in Baghdad

Policy is reversed as October becomes the deadliest month this year for US troops

AMERICAN forces are negotiating an amnesty with Sunni insurgents in Iraq to try to defuse the nascent civil war and pave the way for disarmament of Shia militias, The Times has learnt.

The tactic marks a dramatic reversal of policy by the US military, which blocked attempts to pardon insurgents with American blood on their hands after handing over sovereignty to a secular Iraqi Government in June 2004.

The U-turn comes amid the bloodiest fighting for two years and growing domestic opposition to the war as Americans prepare to vote in crucial midterm elections.

Even as President Bush convened emergency talks with his generals and national security advisers to review strategy in Iraq, commanders on the ground were negotiating a peace deal. Observers expect leaders of the Sunni insurgency to join a peace conference early next month.

<SNIP>

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2417143,00.html

[Nolo_Contendre]

1. You can have your country back

if you let us leave.

signed,
Dumbass in charge.

[hobbit709]

2. They don't want amnesty

they want us to get the fuck out!

[wholetruth00]

3. Bush was against negotiating with terrorists before he was for it.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

10. there's a little poster out west if i recall.

it says: "Wanted: To Negotiate WIth"

[Straight Shooter]

12. "U-turn" is Republican for "flip-flop" when bush does it. n/t

[physioex]

They have a long history of negotiating with terrorists.....

Remember Raygun and Weapons for Hostages.......

[Aviation Pro]

4. If that....

...little fucking simian negotiates an amnesty deal with the insurgency then I believe there will be a mutiny of the U.S. Armed Forces.

[Webster Green]

5. He might even lose the freepers...

I know he will lose some of them.

[dos pelos]

6. peace deal better than retreat under fire,or Dienbenpeu

It is going badly.My personal opinion is that casualty figures are being covered up.There is an election soon.I note a news report that Bush has purchased 98,000 acres for a ranch in Paraguay.Fall back position I guess.

[Barrett808]

7. Welcome to DU, dos pelos!

:hi:

[dos pelos]

9. thankyou

I'll try to mind my manners,fit in and all that.But I drink nobodys kool aid.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

11. are you suggesting

that most DU members are kool aid drinkers. I guess my experience has been otherwise.

[dos pelos]

16. I suggest that I will form my own opinions independently

[bemildred]

17. Second that.

:hi:

[Why Syzygy]

18. What did Paraguay

ever do to him? :D Is there a link for the news story?

Welcome to DU. I'm pretty sure most DUers form their own opinions. Mavericks, the whole lot of us.

[Festivito]

19. Do a DU search on Paraguay. Article links will be inside.

Paraguay is a country with an underclass accustomed to a brutal dictator. It also has a large US military base and South America is ripe for wars to satisfy the military industrial complex.

And I also hope two hairs keeps posting independently.

[journalist3072]

8. Didn't they almost go down this road like a few months ago?

Remember it came to light a few months ago that the Iraq government was considering providing amnesty to the insurgents, while our troops were still there?

Sounds like the same proposal to me.

[bemildred]

13. Bush calls summit amid Pentagon exit reports

---

US officials also held talks in Amman, Jordan, last week with insurgent leaders, including the Islamic Army in Iraq, one of the main Sunni militias.

The talks were described as "feeler" discussions. The US officials explored ways of persuading the Sunni groups to stop attacks on coalition forces and to end a cycle of increasingly bloody sectarian clashes with the majority Shia groups.

The exit strategy bears a striking resemblance to options favoured by the Iraq Study Group, co-chaired by former US secretary of state James Baker, due to publish its recommendations in months. They are expected to include alternatives to the "stay the course" strategy.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20627308-2,00.html

[upi402]

14. oh boy, Republicans really support our troops...

:sarcasm:

[IndianaGreen]

15. It's not for the US to pardon anyone, if anything, Iraqis should be

pardoning us for the criminal and illegal invasion of their country.

[Gin]

20. Isn't amnesty something that is offered once the troops leave?

G

[primavera]

21. I was kind of wondering about that myself

I mean, KKKarl is out this week shouting about how we're at war and troops don't pause in the middle of battles to Morandize each other. Well, if we're at war, our opponents aren't criminals in need of amnesty; rather, they're opposing forces who have as much right under law to kill us as we have to kill them. As far as I know, there is no law that says that only one party in a war is allowed to fight and the other side is required by law to simply lay down and graciously allow themselves to be killed. So, if we are, in fact, as KKKarl says so vehemently, at war, where's the crime in killing US troops?

[warrens]

22. Have the FRetards been alerted?

I see heads es-sploding. Many heads.