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Do you have a TV nearby?

edited September 2007 in Politics
Then why aren't you watching C-SPAN right now?

Comments

  • Then why aren't you watching C-SPAN right now?
    Don't have cable.
    Plus, the remotes all the way on the other side of my bed.
  • What's going on? >.>
  • What am I watching? Sounds like getting out of Iraq or something? Sheesh! You make me think 9-11v2.0 or something!
  • General Petraeus, commander of the forces in Iraq, is giving his report on the surge's effectiveness in Iraq. Today could very much determine our involvement in Iraq for the next few years.
  • So far the "surge" did nothing to make the Iraqis feel safer and people are moving to "keep from being ethnically cleansed". I'm joining a call so keep me up to date on people not wanting to be 'cleansed'!
  • "It is easier to be a cop on the beat in [I forget the town] that it was before"
  • Troop surge summary (I'm typing as I watch. I may make mistakes.):

    "Overall our tactical officers see improvements in our security environment."
    Civilian casualties have declined by 45% since last November.
    Ethnosectarian deaths have declined by 55% since December, and by some 80% in Baghdad since December.
    Troops have found and cleared 44% more weapons caches already this year than in all of 2006.
    Suicide bombings and car attacks have declined to only 90 this past month.
    Troops have killed or captured 121 key insurgency leaders and 2,500 rank-and-file soldiers.

    Apparently, Petraeus thinks things are going well.

    Do you ever wonder what would have happened if some super-advanced society had intervened in the United States civil war? Would it have prolonged the war? Would we be better off?
  • edited September 2007
    What irks me about the hearings is that the guy was what, unanimously approved for the job several months back? What do the democrats do before he shows up? They start tarring and feathering him calling him a mouthpiece for the administration etc...

    That tells me that they saw an advance copy of his report and saw that it was not what they wanted to hear. Rather than talk to him they decided to ruin his reputation.

    If the first thing you do when having a debate is punch the other guy in the nose you have broadcast the fact that you have already lost the debate.

    It sounds to my ears like the "Surge" is working and should be allowed to continue working.

    Civil War and aliens? Depends on how smart they were and how deceptive the Americans were in their dealings. I can't give a cut and dried answer on that one because if the aliens were smart enough than they would see through the maneuvering of the parties involved.

    If you are trying to draw a parallel with Iraq there is none. Those folks (who have the power) are just as smart as we are. we as in 'those in charge over there'
    Post edited by HMTKSteve on
  • edited September 2007
    Those folks (who have the power) are just as smart as we are.
    As smart as you? Yes. As smart as me? No.
    Post edited by Andrew on
  • This article just blew me away.
    Anti-war Senate Democrats bluntly told Iraq commander General David Petraeus Tuesday his troop surge strategy was an abject failure in its prime objective -- forging an Iraqi political settlement.
    I must be living in some other land because I can not recall the goal of the Surge to be "forging an Iraqi political settlement". I always thought the goal of the Surge was to kill the bad guys??!!??
  • edited September 2007
    John Warner asked him point blank, "Is the War making us safer?" Petraeus couldn't answer. That's it in a nutshell. Maybe it is like Vietnam.

    From George Will: By Bush's Own Standard, the Surge Has Failed.

    Unless the real reason is to ask for more and more time so he can eventually hand off the problem to someone else?
    Post edited by HungryJoe on
  • Thank you Joe for those two excellent articles. I can honestly say here that the surge has failed. Not because of the troops but because of the lack of will on the part of the Iraqis. The best way forward is not to attack GWB and Petraeus but to instead focus on the real problem, the Iraqis themselves.

    It is time for a "time table" to be declared. The time table should not be directed at GWB but at the Iraqi government. It should be clear and to the point, "get your shit together, you have six months and then we leave."
  • I <3 George Will.
  • This is what some actual soldiers think about the war. Two of the soldiers who wrote this article are now dead.

    What about Admiral William J. Fallon, General Petraeus' boss? He and other people in the Pentagon are writing a report that's going to be very critical of the Petraeus report. Unfortunately, we won't get that report until the beginning of next year.
  • Joe, I echo the soldiers view in the first article. On the military side of things we are the best. Never the less the best shovel in the world is not going to be a very good tool if you use it to hammer tacks into a wall!
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