(Sen. Carl) Levin: Progress isn't reason enough to postpone troop withdrawal

[sabra]

Source: Detriot Free Press

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Carl Levin says even if Iraqi leaders make political progress before a September report is due and violence continues to decline, it wouldn’t be enough to convince him not to push for a withdrawal of American troops.

With Congress ready to take a month off beginning at the end of this week, Levin spoke to reporters about highlights from the first seven months of the year and discussed his belief that a growing number of Republicans are unwilling to blindly support President George W. Bush’s Iraq war policy.

The Detroit Democrat, who serves as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Iraqi leaders may return from their own recess and make enough political progress toward benchmarks to convince Bush to continue a policy that saw him send tens of thousands more troops to Iraq.

“That’s not enough for me,” said Levin, who is expected to renew a push for timetables to begin withdrawing troops when Congress returns to Washington, D.C. in September.

Read more: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070801/NEWS07/70801034

[kenny blankenship]

1. It's not political progress in any case--so it's not progress at all, just more * masturbation

Know how much Petraeus' Splurge is accomplishing in the Iraqi political landscape? Nouri Al-Maliki, the Prime Minister and our good "ally" in charge wants General Petraeus gone--relieved of his command in Iraq. Why? Probably because Petraeus is arming the Sunni militia with whom the Shia militias plan to have a fight to the finish after we leave. Also, Petraeus always complains too much about the Iraqi Interior Ministry Police, aka the Shia "death squads". The Government Police are the death squads that ethnically cleansed Baghdad. The Prime Minister is pissed at our top General for suppressing Al-Qaida, which if it is not the largest threat to him is surely his most rabid foe. He hates Petraeus because the arms which Petraeus is dishing out to local Sunni militia will eventually be turned on his Shia militia and uniformed forces.

That's the character of the government that American taxpayers are wasting their money on and destroying their currency for, and that's the character of the government that American kids are dying to provide "stability" for.

The fundamental problem in Iraq, which is completely unaffected by how many troops we put into the country or how many villages you bomb, is that the two main groups in the country are unwilling and unable to share political power and petroleum wealth. They have some scores to settle. You can't change that by "hunting Al-Qaida-In-Mesopotamia". It has absolutely nothing to do with Al-Qaida. They won't consider their scores settled or the disposition of power in Iraq finalized until we leave, and they have it out and decide things the Iraqi Way. The US can leave now or you can leave later, but you will not change their minds about any of the foregoing. Meanwhile we are killing more of them and killing ourselves and hemorrhaging billions, going on trillions of dollars. Continued US intervention in Iraq is pointless and stupid.

You feel guilty about Iraq? You should. You want to "do something for those poor people?" Get OUT. Get out and get ready to pay some huge fucking war reparations.

[MessiahRp]

2. Pretty hard to make progress when the Sunni bloc quits the cabinet

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070801/ts_nm/iraq_dc

Of course I'm sure they'll try to spin that too.

Rp

[sabra]

3. Tony Snow: That's democracy @ work

:sarcasm:

[Miss Chybil]

4. Progress is all the more reason to come home! If they all start singing Kumbaya,

bring the troops home. If they keep blowing shit up, bring the troops home. Bottom line, bring the troops home!