Hey man! PETREUS is the 'Surge Guy'

[Rosa Luxemburg]

Hey I remember him - the guy who tied up Iraq!

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1938404,00.html

Enough - the next strategy is to expand the CIA/other to seek out AlQ in Yemen, Pakistan, Somalia etc. I really don't think troops/drones are useful. So m'dears it's time for the troops to come home from Afghanistan.

[Dennis Donovan]

1. The "surge" was actually a big ol' bribe...

...to the Sunnis to stop shooting at us.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

2. free poppy seeds?

[Teaser]

6. bribes are better than the alternatives

.

[Luminous Animal]

3. The so-called success of the surge was a pack of lies fed to us by Bush's

flim-flam spokesgeneral Petraeus
New Military Numbers Contradict Petraeus on Surge's Progress
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/004215.php

Petraeus and the Myth of the Surge
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2010/06/petraeus-surge-afghanistan-iraq


There are dozens more but I've got to go.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

4. thanks

[robcon]

5. The surge was an enormous success.

He is a great choice.

[amborin]

7. huge sums $$$$$$ given to Sunni tribal elders....bribes....

[Rosa Luxemburg]

8. Are you saying that George W Bush bribed to make it look good?

[BrentWil]

11. That was only one part of the equation

However, I happened to be a part of the Sunni part. Why do you think supporting the tribal means the society works in, is bad? Foreign fighters had no respect for the cultural structure of Iraq and killed many tribal leaders. The US military had the bright idea of supporting how the society worked in this part of the country and it brought stability and made the people of Iraq better off. I see nothing wrong with that.

When I was over there the first time, I was in a Sunni area, in a city called Ramadi. I lost two Bradley fighting vehicles. THe second time I was in Iraq, I was also in a sunni area. The second the local shaq agreed to work with us, 1000s showed up for security jobs and the town came alive again. It was actually very nice to see. What we did in those areas gave control back to the people and improved the life's of the average person. If you are ever in that sort of situation, it is best to remember to work within the culture and not try to impose your values on it.

[MissDeeds]

9. Yes he is

And what does that tell us? More troops? More dead?

[Rosa Luxemburg]

10. Better not be