tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12796551.post116603296489509451..comments2023-11-05T06:59:04.593-05:00Comments on Pen and Sword: Dubya Down on IraqJeff Huberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14146644937683409726noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12796551.post-1166465055443695092006-12-18T13:04:00.000-05:002006-12-18T13:04:00.000-05:00Mandt: Yes, he should serve. Give him the proconsu...Mandt: Yes, he should serve. Give him the proconsul of Baghdad position after the impeachment , with armed guards outside to prevent escape. Hoho, the decider in action. <BR/><BR/>ecclonenine: The problem is that you dont have the forces to do a really massive surge. As rangeragainstwar points out, the ratio of shooters to support in the army is almost 1:10, wich means that a "surge" of 20000 means max 2500 active combat-duty soldiers. To take on Sadr? I think not. So I think quite simply the president is trying for a holding action and accepts current US casualties as rational. Good for the weapon, drug and oil industry, hey? <BR/><BR/>Also, you might take into consideration that Afghanistan is producing 90% of the worlds heroin these days. Where does it get smuggled through, you may well ask. Your CIA isnt exactly spotless in that department from the past, it is after all the worlds second largest industry, and completely invisible.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12796551.post-1166391492029498022006-12-17T16:38:00.000-05:002006-12-17T16:38:00.000-05:00"Dubya Down on Iraq" Ah, I'll be the first in line..."Dubya Down on Iraq" Ah, I'll be the first in line to buy him a drink!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12796551.post-1166201523172895852006-12-15T11:52:00.000-05:002006-12-15T11:52:00.000-05:00And the beat goes on, as we watch the numbers beg...And the beat goes on, as we watch the numbers begin to get bigger and bigger... from yesterday's MercuryNews (http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/16241756.htm):<BR/><BR/>"While some key decisions haven't been made yet, the senior officials said the emerging strategy includes:<BR/><BR/>[ ... ]<BR/><BR/>_A possible short-term surge of as many as 40,000 more American troops to try to secure Baghdad, along with a permanent increase in the size of the U.S. Army and the Marine Corps, which are badly strained by deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan."ecclOneNinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16928321852904604122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12796551.post-1166127197503423672006-12-14T15:13:00.000-05:002006-12-14T15:13:00.000-05:00The sound you hear is the annoying white noise of ...The sound you hear is the annoying white noise of public desensitization. Slowly ratcheting up the numbers... Originally all the chatter was about a "temporary" 20,000 increase in troops for a "surge." <BR/><BR/>Then yesterday we hear from the LA Times that Army officials believed they could recruit "at least" an extra 20,000 soldiers "a year." And from the same article we get "one officer" throwing out the 40,000 number. Then a new sound bite to "double down." <BR/><BR/>Today, McCain widens the spread on his original lottery pick, eeking the high end up with his rigorous strategic analysis calling for an additional 15,000 to 30,000 troops.<BR/><BR/>After a few more weeks of people throwing numbers around, each one competing for the spotlight by using ever bigger numbers (40, 60, 100,000?), most being clueless or with obvious agendas, the public again becomes dull to it all.<BR/><BR/>Then Bush steps up to the plate in January (after he's done all that thunkin' over the holidays), and announces a troop increase markedly less than the high-end numbers being tossed around at that time, and there's no shock; there's even some relief. The public is numb, the press has already shot its wad, and declaring an additional permanent troop increase of say 30,000 won't raise an eyebrow, as media focus will be on the crisis du jour. I'm surprised they aren't so arrogantly tacky as to suggest numbers that make a smaller psychological impression -- the old pricing gimmick: 29,999 for instance.<BR/><BR/>Again, ymb is not the swiftest current in the river, but he knows some things very well; how to use cover, and how to manipulate being two of his notable skills.ecclOneNinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16928321852904604122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12796551.post-1166074137855660202006-12-14T00:28:00.000-05:002006-12-14T00:28:00.000-05:00And btw, I`d like to recommend http://www.guardian...And btw, I`d like to recommend http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1971749,00.html on the overall score-sheet of the Administration. To quote the opening:<BR/><BR/>"What an amazing bloody catastrophe. The Bush administration's policy towards the Middle East over the five years since 9/11 is culminating in a multiple train crash. Never in the field of human conflict was so little achieved by so great a country at such vast expense. In every vital area of the wider Middle East, American policy over the last five years has taken a bad situation and made it worse.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12796551.post-1166057976358243052006-12-13T19:59:00.000-05:002006-12-13T19:59:00.000-05:00Agreed, fallenmonk. If the US tries to take on Sad...Agreed, fallenmonk. If the US tries to take on Sadr, its going to be a threeway hell on earth. Sadr propably has some connections among the sunni-clans of Fallujah since the Sadr-brigades sent forces to their aid during the fighting. Only good thing is it might stop some of the ethnic cleansing for a time, since everybody will gang up on the Centre. With the Saudis on the Sunni-side turning against the US, it looks like worst-case scenario.<BR/><BR/>And concerning you getting cut off by OPEC we Norwegians do not look forward to coming under "protective custody" of the US along with Venezuela. Theres plenty of horrible shit to come before were rid of the Bushman yet.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12796551.post-1166051947540236112006-12-13T18:19:00.000-05:002006-12-13T18:19:00.000-05:00After gas prices soar when we're cut off by OPEC a...After gas prices soar when we're cut off by OPEC and the dollar collapses do you guys think the Second Civil War is more likely to break along racial or cultural lines?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12796551.post-1166044895262078422006-12-13T16:21:00.000-05:002006-12-13T16:21:00.000-05:00This is absolutely insane. We haven't got the dept...This is absolutely insane. We haven't got the depth of force to "double down" and they are seriously misunderestimating the strength behind Sadr. It is a pretty good guess to think he has at least a 100+K available to him and all of these are trigger pullers.<BR/>This will make the previous four years look like a walk in the park.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12796551.post-1166041218097852142006-12-13T15:20:00.000-05:002006-12-13T15:20:00.000-05:00Killing al Sadr would be an error on the scale of ...Killing al Sadr would be an error on the scale of disbanding the Iraqi army. Maybe worse.<BR/><BR/>It's beginning to look like Iraq is the central front for the war of Sunni vs. Shia on a regional scale. Witness Saudi Arabia's recent gyrations, and the quitting of their US Ambassador, and the supposed "riot act" they read to Cheney. Of course Iran supports the Shia side.<BR/><BR/>All of this strikes me as a bit too much like the old Great Game days of WWI. This means we (and our children) will be living with the consequences of this monumental blunder for 50+ years.<BR/><BR/>Maybe we can all move to that NASA lunar base and start fresh.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12796551.post-1166040824969459672006-12-13T15:13:00.000-05:002006-12-13T15:13:00.000-05:00Yep, pretty funny.Yep, pretty funny.Jeff Huberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14146644937683409726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12796551.post-1166036062489788292006-12-13T13:54:00.000-05:002006-12-13T13:54:00.000-05:00Great post, thanks. Don't know if you've seen this...Great post, thanks. Don't know if you've seen this David Letterman clip with Our Fearless Leader in it, but its pretty funny--<BR/>www.minor-ripper.blogspot.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com