posted on June 10, 2004 01:12:21 PM new
June 10, 2004
I don't know about you, but I'm tired of the steady drumbeat of bad news and defeatism from Iraq. The truth of the matter is that this has never been justified, and it's certainly not justified this week.
On Tuesday the United Nations Security Council unanimously passed a resolution supporting the end of the occupation of Iraq on June 30, transferring sovereignty to the Iraqi interim government, and authorizing the U.S.role providing security—a huge victory. This vote came on the heels of Monday's announcement that nine of the independent Iraqi militias agreed to disband. This is good news, but just part of a pattern of good news that simply hasn't been prominently reported.
The press coverage of Iraq reminds me of when I was a kid during World War II. The Allied campaign in Italy, for example, was going off the track, and everybody was wringing their hands that we were losing the war.
And after D-Day, sixty years ago this month, American forces were bogged down at the Battle of the Bulge during the winter of 1944. Remember the American general's famous response when the Nazis told him to surrender? One word: "Nuts." Sure, things were uncertain and messy, and there was plenty of talk about the gloomy state of the war.
The fact is, you see, that uncertainty and mess are unavoidable elements of war, but if that's all you hear, you begin to think the sky is falling. And that's what has been happening in Iraq. But as Fred Barnes of The Weekly Standard writes, "To share the Iraq-is-lost sentiment, one must ignore a spate of good news."
For example, while there is trouble in the Sunni Triangle, Victor Davis Hanson notes that in Kurdistan, the northern third of Iraq, "seven million people live under humane government with less than 300 American troops."
Add to that the interim government of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. It's a balance between the ethnic, regional, and tribal groups—a balance many thought would be impossible to achieve.
As the interim government takes control on June 30, Iraq gets a bill of rights, and the first Arab democracy in the Middle East will be born with elections seven months later.
Addressing the Iraqi people, Allawi said, "Targeting the multinational forces, led by the United States, to force them out of Iraq, would be a catastrophe for Iraq. . . "
And there's more. First, in Iran an emerging middle class is becoming increasingly restless and wants democracy. Pressures will build for democracy with our successes in Iraq. Second, apart from Spain, major terrorist attacks have been confined to the Middle East . Third, Libyahas discontinued its nuclear program.
To sum it up, when I had lunch with Ehud Olmert, Deputy Prime Minister of Israel, he told me that things were changing dramatically throughout the region precisely because of the U.S. presence in Iraq.
Will things continue to be uncertain and messy? Sure—this is war. As Hanson writes, "Anyone who thinks thousands of Islamic fascists and out-of-work Baathists won't want to stop the region's first consensual government is unhinged. But, again," he adds, "for all our mistakes of omission there was and is a plan—and it is now slowly coming to messy fruition."
But the big question is: Is our effort in Iraq morally justified? Indeed it is. And it's the front line of our war against terror.
[taken from townhall.com]
posted on June 10, 2004 01:34:45 PM new
It is good news the war is coming to an end... more than a year after major combat fighting ended... more than a year after Bush claimed "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED". A war which should not have happened in the first place.
World War II ended shortly after the US dropped two bombs on Japan. Good News, the war is over, but we had to kill over a million people in the process.
Re-defeat Bush
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June is Gay Pride Month
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Change is constant. The history of mankind is about change. One set of beliefs is pushed aside by a new set. The old order is swept away by the new. If people become attached to the old order, they see their best interest in defending it. They become the losers. They become the old order and in turn are vulnerable. People who belong to the new order are winners.
James A Belaco & Ralph C. Stayer
posted on June 10, 2004 01:59:15 PM new
Yes, and kerry's now saying he's going to pursue those darn terrorists wherever they're hiding...no matter the country. But...hey...no worry....I'm SURE all those Arab countries are going to welcome him into their country with open arms to capture those who wish to bring harm to us.
He's sure becoming a war-hawk in his campaign speeches.
Course we can't count on him holding that position .....when the wind turns so will his view of voting for the Iraq war, but voting against funding our soldiers.
Re-elect President Bush!!
posted on June 10, 2004 02:16:30 PM new
The war on terror is just as fruitless as the war on drugs.
How long have we been fighting the war on drugs? Where has it gotten us?
Re-defeat Bush
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June is Gay Pride Month
------------------------------
Change is constant. The history of mankind is about change. One set of beliefs is pushed aside by a new set. The old order is swept away by the new. If people become attached to the old order, they see their best interest in defending it. They become the losers. They become the old order and in turn are vulnerable. People who belong to the new order are winners.
James A Belaco & Ralph C. Stayer
posted on June 10, 2004 02:25:48 PM new
logansdad - Well you must be voting for Nader then...he's the only one saying he'll pull our troops out and who supports gay marriages. lol
kerry's saying he wants to send in 40,000 more troops. Guess some here must believe we won't loose any lives [ours or theirs] under a kerry administration - in Iraq.
And he's now admitting terrorists are a grave threat to our nation and he's gonna go get 'em.
posted on June 10, 2004 05:57:13 PM new
Democrat Backs Bush on 'Getting the Job Done' in Iraq
By Susan Jones
CNSNews.com Morning Editor
May 25, 2004
(CNSNews.com) - Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a Democrat and a member of the Armed Services Committee, has angered someof his fellow Democrats by urging people in both political parties to "pull together" to finish the job in Iraq.
"We have to stay united here as best we can to support our troops," Lieberman said in a CNN interview Monday night after listening to President Bush's speech. He called the U.S. war in Iraq "the test of our generation," and he said if the U.S doesn't win the war over there -- "we're going to face it much closer to home in the years ahead."
Lieberman urged Americans to avoid joining a "chorus of doubters" that is undermining American support for the war.
He also -- to the dismay of some Democrats -- defended President Bush, saying the president "did what he has to do in this speech...which is to shore up American support to remind the American people why we must win this battle against the terrorists and the Saddam loyalists."
Lieberman also noted that President Bush has done some of the things his critics, including Lieberman, asked him to do -- such as going to the United Nations, increasing the number of troops in Iraq, and expressing a willingness to send more troops to protect Iraq's fledgling democracy.
Lieberman told CNN's Paula Zahn that "democracy is not easy. It is sometimes messy, you know? But the folks in Iraq, thanks to the courage and skill of the American military, have options before them that they never would have dreamed they would have today, and that's because Saddam, that brutal dictator, is gone."
Lieberman said if the American people "don't lose their will, we're going to look back with real pride at what our troops have done and what we can do together for the Iraqis."
Many Democrat "talking heads" criticized President Bush for not breaking any new ground in his Monday night speech at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pa.
Sen. John F. Kerry, the Democratic presidential hopeful, issued a statement to that effect, saying, "The President laid out general principles tonight, most of which we've heard before."
As for grassroots reaction, postings on a Democratic National Committee website called "Kicking Ass" were highly critical of both Bush and Lieberman.
In the "Comments" section, one posting referred to Lieberman as a "new member of the Zell Miller Turncoat Club" because the senator praised Bush's speech and urged Americans to unite behind Bush.
Another posting suggested that "Someone out there start a petition to 'boot Lieberman'" from the Democrat Party.
"The Secret Service has announced it is doubling its protection for John Kerry. You can understand why — with two positions on every issue, he has twice as many people mad at him." —Jay Leno
posted on June 10, 2004 07:43:33 PM new
[strongly clapping for Lieberman]
A man with a backbone who supports what's in our country's best interest.... over his own political well-being [attacks from the lefties].....just like our President.
Some, like Lieberman, are able to see why it's important the terrorists see a more united America....rather than the whiners giving aid and comfort to our enemies which only gives more determination to them.
You make the term lefties sound so negative. Why is that?
True Americans do not exclude anybody. They recognize that everyone should have the same rights. Bigotry, intolerance and hatred are cancers of the mind.
posted on June 10, 2004 08:01:56 PM new
Conservatives have no choice who will be their Presidential Candidate, but I think the Liberals have to take a step back and realize that there are better men than John Kerry to take responsibility for this country. I honestly think John Kerry can't but I do think Edwards would have a good chance and also Lieberman. Soon the Democrats will convene and then I understand they will not nominate or elect their candidate until later because of campaign funding so maybe there will be time for someone to step forward for them and take charge.
posted on June 10, 2004 09:59:43 PM new
Libra - kerry has since changed his mind on that.....after taking a LOT of flack from his party. Many were having a fit....so he flip-flopped again.
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yeager asks: You make the term lefties sound so negative. Why is that?
Maybe it's the way *you* take it.....negatively.
There are many moderate dems....they're the more reasonable ones, imo. Great example is Lieberman and Zel Miller. You will notice I also call lefties 'left leaning' sometimes and make a distinction about the the ultra-liberals, socialists, etc. Just as some of the lefties refer to the righties as neocons, facists, nazi's, the religious right, sheep, Bush supporters, etc.
In you group of "righties", you forgot to mention religious bigots. You know, the ones who think their belief is the only correct one, and that everyone should follow that belief.
True Americans do not exclude anybody. They recognize that everyone should have the same rights. Bigotry, intolerance and hatred are cancers of the mind.
posted on June 11, 2004 01:56:31 AM new
I don't personally know any religious bigots, yeager.
But you sure appear to have problems with the word 'leftie' being used....but no problem with others using those terms to describe the 'righties' here. The double standard on your part it quite clearly noticable, I'd say.
posted on June 11, 2004 12:24:20 PM newYou make the term lefties sound so negative. Why is that?
Could it be because they are so negative? They cry "the current administration isn't doing enough for the people". Hell let the "PEOPLE" get off their butts and do something for themselves.
By the tenets of their own faiths, christians and muslims are all bigots.
Not all are bigots. Only the zealot radicals.
"The Secret Service has announced it is doubling its protection for John Kerry. You can understand why — with two positions on every issue, he has twice as many people mad at him." —Jay Leno
Great example is Lieberman and Zel Miller. You will notice I also call lefties 'left leaning' sometimes and make a distinction about the the ultra-liberals, socialists, etc. Just as some of the lefties refer to the righties as neocons, facists, nazi's, the religious right, sheep, Bush supporters, etc.