"This thing (Iraq War), the wheels are coming off it."...

[whistle]

..."It's a race against time because by the end of this coming summer we can no longer sustain the presence we have now," said retired Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey"". Read on....

<snip>
In Iraq, No Clear Finish Line
Timing Is Muddy For U.S. Pullout

By Peter Baker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, August 12, 2005; Page A01

The Bush administration has sent seemingly conflicting signals in recent days over the duration of the U.S. deployment to Iraq, openly discussing contingency plans to withdraw as many as 30,000 of 138,000 troops by spring, then cautioning against expectations of any early pullout. Finally yesterday, President Bush dismissed talk of a drawdown as just "speculation and rumors" and warned against "withdrawing before the mission is complete."

If the public was left confused, it may be no more unsure than the administration itself, as some government officials involved in Iraq policy privately acknowledge.

The shifting scenarios reflect the uncertain nature of the mission and the ambiguity of what would constitute its successful completion. For all the clarity of Bush's vow to stay not one day longer than needed, the muddled reality is that no one can say exactly when that will be.

The events of the past week have brought home once again the difficulties confronting the president as he prosecutes what polls suggest is an increasingly unpopular war. With surging violence claiming more U.S. forces on the ground in Iraq and the angry mother of a dead soldier camping out near his ranch in Texas, Bush plainly cannot count on indefinite public patience.


<more>
<link> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/11/AR2005081101837.html?referrer=emailarticle

[Missy M]

1. I wish bush would define "mission is complete"!

[jeff30997]

4. I thought that the Mission was already Accomplished ?

May. 2, 2003

[Missy M]

5. I thought so too...

I guess in bushspeak the word accomplished means something other than finished or complete.

[jarnocan]

6. Chicken Hawk rules! and link to Zinn article

I love the chicken hawk , I started a thread for this but I'm so bad at that that I will just post the link here to Howard Zinn in the Uk Guardian about OUR occupation.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1547587,00.html

[Jensen]

2. Surprise, surprise....

snip

"The Bush administration has lost control of its public affairs management of this issue," said Christopher F. Gelpi, a Duke University scholar whose analyses of wartime public opinion have been studied in the White House. "They were so focused on this through 2004. . . . I don't know why they've slipped."


Maybe, just maybe can it be that all their lies are cathing up to this misadministration? I hope so!

[ClintonTyree]

3. Just how long does it take to train the Iraqis........

in the defense of their own country?

"Top Pentagon officials have made no secret in recent weeks of their eagerness to begin withdrawing some troops to ease the strain of lengthy deployments. At the same time, military commanders have cautioned against expecting that Iraq's new army and police forces will develop quickly enough to operate on their own within another year or two".

Let's see, we've been there 2+ years now and they're saying it will be at least another year or two before these people are trained? 4+ years to train a policeman or a soldier? :wtf:

The truth of the matter is that these Iraqis DON'T WANT the mantle of protecting their own country thrust upon them. They don't want to kill their fellow countrymen for a war they themselves did not start, and many don't believe in. They don't want to die in this fiasco for the same reasons. In their opinions, we broke it, we fix it. Many are joining the military and police just for work. Their hearts certainly ARE NOT behind this action, they just want jobs so they can "put food on their families". :eyes:

In my opinion, the Iraqis will never seriously take responsibility for their own protection until the country is completely rebuilt, the "insurgency" is defeated or repelled and things are already on an even, peaceful keel. This could be decades away at best.

The moment the U.S. starts to reduce troop numbers or quickly cuts and runs, this country is going to lapse into total chaos with civil war not only probable, but inevitable. Then the U.S. will HAVE to return so some sort of controlled chaos will return to this splintered country.

All because george bush had to settle an old score, he had to get his revenge. Damn him to hell!