As usual, he's not listening...
Military Planners Tell Bush Iraq War 'Cannot be Won'
By Staff and Wire Reports
Aug 5, 2005, 05:51
With American deaths climbing and public support falling, President Bush stubbornly says the U.S. will "stay the course" and American troops will remain in the dangerous, war-ravaged country, fighting a war that many military experts say cannot be won.
An AP-Ipsos poll taken early this week showed public support of Bush's handling of the war had dropped to 38 percent, the lowest since Bush ordered the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
But Bush, facing a grim and growing death toll, also said new threats of even more violence from al-Qaida's second-in-command would not intimidate the United States into retreat.
Yet while Bush remains stubbornly committed to the war, sources within the Pentagon say military planners tell the President the war cannot be won and the U.S. may have to look for a Vietnam-style withdrawal that will leave Iraq vulnerable to forces even more dangerous than the previous dictatorship of Saddam Hussein.
"Our present scenarios do not provide a successful outcome," admits a senior military planner. "We are not adequately equipped to prevail in this conflict."
At the same time Thursday, the U.S. military announced in Iraq that four more service members had been killed in action but the "official" military line is that American troops were making progress against insurgents.
"We will stay the course, we will complete the job in Iraq," Bush said in Texas as a videotape by Ayman al-Zawahri, al-Qaida's No.2, was broadcast around the world.
Al-Zawahri threatened more destruction in London after subway and bus bombings and said in the videotape that the United States would suffer tens of thousands of military dead if it did not withdraw from Iraq.
Bush said that kind of talk only showed why the United States must remain in Iraq.
"They're terrorists and they're killers and they will kill innocent people ... so they can impose their dark vision on the world," Bush said as he stood alongside Colombian President Alvaro Uribe who was visiting at Bush's ranch in Texas.
Al-Zawahri's threat was broadcast a day after the deadliest roadside bombing of U.S. troops in Iraq. The death of 14 Marines in that attack was a heavy loss to the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines based in the Cleveland suburb of Brook Park. More than 1,820 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the war in March 2003
Al-Zawahri said the cause was "aggression against Muslims," and he threatened: "If you don't leave today, certainly you will leave tomorrow, but after tens of thousands of dead and double the number of disabled and wounded."
Bush said if terrorists think they can prevail in the Middle East, "they must not have understood the nature of our country. ... As I have told the American people, people like Zawahri have an ideology that is dark, dim, backwards."
In Iraq, U.S. military spokesman Brig. Gen. Donald Alston defended operations in western Iraq, where there has been a rash of recent American deaths.
"We still have deaths. We still have suicide car bombs," he said. "But the numbers we see indicate (the insurgents) can't generate the same tempo, and I think that's because we've had some degree of effect in interdicting these forces."
Despite the deaths, he said the 13 car bombs reported in Iraq last week were the fewest in any week since April.
Still, there has been few obvious signs of progress in U.S.-led efforts to defeat the insurgency and to improve the Iraqi army and police so they can take over security responsibilities and allow the U.S. forces to leave.
And while the military tries to keep an optimistic public face the story told behind the scenes at the Pentagon is far less rosy.
"We're losing and we have no contingency plan in place to turn this conflict around," the senior military planner said. "At the present time, we are engaged in a no-win scenario."
The high recent death toll of American troops have dominated the news back home -- no help for the already-eroding public support for Bush's Iraq policy.
The AP-Ipsos poll found that only 38 percent of Americans approve of Bush's handling of Iraq, the low point so far. A year ago, the public was evenly divided on Iraq, and confidence in Bush's stance on the war and terrorism helped him to election victory.
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/p ... 7162.shtml
Military Planners Tell Dimwit War Can't Be Won
Moderator: Super Moderators
Military Planners Tell Dimwit War Can't Be Won
We must, indeed, all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately. B. Franklin
At this point...
Once again, like Vietnam, the polichickens have not let the military do their job. Rumsfeld screwed it up, he needs to resign, for the good of his country.
The military was not adequately prepared and did not have the men and material needed to win, Mr. Bush and his foolshish buddy Rumsfeld did not provide enough soldiers and didn't even equip the ones we had their well enough to do the job, hence American families of servicement bought them body armour.
If I can see it a lowly citizen, and our men in uniform can see it then why...Was it to keep the cost down, because the money went to Haliburton instead....?
Iraq has become a slaughter house,with our children just waiting around on the killing floor, for Al Caeda to come in and saw off their heads, and various body parts.... shame on you Rumsfeld, Shame on you Bush (exept for Mr. Bush is to dumb to feel ashamed) for what you have done to our children, and our military.....I say pull our soldiers out now....they don't even want us there...
The military was not adequately prepared and did not have the men and material needed to win, Mr. Bush and his foolshish buddy Rumsfeld did not provide enough soldiers and didn't even equip the ones we had their well enough to do the job, hence American families of servicement bought them body armour.
If I can see it a lowly citizen, and our men in uniform can see it then why...Was it to keep the cost down, because the money went to Haliburton instead....?
Iraq has become a slaughter house,with our children just waiting around on the killing floor, for Al Caeda to come in and saw off their heads, and various body parts.... shame on you Rumsfeld, Shame on you Bush (exept for Mr. Bush is to dumb to feel ashamed) for what you have done to our children, and our military.....I say pull our soldiers out now....they don't even want us there...
Rummy and company have consistently ignored the military's advice on this war. Why? Just arrogance, as we're told? To save money? I think not. Take a look at the growing mercinaries in our armed services who are making $100-150k/yr. It seems the aim may be to replace our armed forces with those who will do anything for a price. Ultimately, that force can be used against We the People in a way that our armed forces never could before. Bears some thought.
We must, indeed, all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately. B. Franklin
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Last Update: Saturday, August 13, 2005. 9:00pm (AEST)
Half-price Colombian fighters offered for Iraq
A US company operating out of Ecuador says it has signed up about 1,000 Colombian police and military staff to work as hired guns in Iraq, for less than half of their US counterparts' salaries.
Colombians "have been fighting terrorists for the past 41 years and are experts in their respective areas" such as explosives and guerrilla warfare, Epi Security and Investigation says on its website, iraqijobcenter.com.
The company based in the Ecuadoran city of Manta is run by American Jeffrey Shippy, who is in Baghdad, according to his Ecuadoran wife.
He works out of his home not far from the Manta air base Washington rented from the Ecuadoran Air Force to relocate some of the troops and planes it used to have in Panama.
The Colombian daily El Tiempo reported Friday that the Colombians would be paid $US2,500 to $US5,000 a month, roughly half what their US and British counterparts earn.
-AFP
oh. my. this is just like Bush isn't it? What makes a moron tick?
Last Update: Saturday, August 13, 2005. 9:00pm (AEST)
Half-price Colombian fighters offered for Iraq
A US company operating out of Ecuador says it has signed up about 1,000 Colombian police and military staff to work as hired guns in Iraq, for less than half of their US counterparts' salaries.
Colombians "have been fighting terrorists for the past 41 years and are experts in their respective areas" such as explosives and guerrilla warfare, Epi Security and Investigation says on its website, iraqijobcenter.com.
The company based in the Ecuadoran city of Manta is run by American Jeffrey Shippy, who is in Baghdad, according to his Ecuadoran wife.
He works out of his home not far from the Manta air base Washington rented from the Ecuadoran Air Force to relocate some of the troops and planes it used to have in Panama.
The Colombian daily El Tiempo reported Friday that the Colombians would be paid $US2,500 to $US5,000 a month, roughly half what their US and British counterparts earn.
-AFP
oh. my. this is just like Bush isn't it? What makes a moron tick?
Yes we do...
those from central and south America have an expression for Amerika...
they call it "casa de locos".. which means house of crazy people......
Those latin fighters going to Iraq means that Iraq is becoming a world war. Of course Al Caeda will retaliate by hiring terrorists in Columbia to discourage this kind of thing, with the result that the War is developing a momentum of it's own, which we may not be able to stop even if we withdraw....
they call it "casa de locos".. which means house of crazy people......
Those latin fighters going to Iraq means that Iraq is becoming a world war. Of course Al Caeda will retaliate by hiring terrorists in Columbia to discourage this kind of thing, with the result that the War is developing a momentum of it's own, which we may not be able to stop even if we withdraw....