An Ol’ Broad’s Ramblings
Archive for Iraq
News From Miss Heather
My little brother is in the Oregon National Guard and will go active duty in April and to Iraq in June or July. Luckily he doesn’t burn to a crisp in daylight like I do.
Well, it’s different now, but I still think we can’t leave until the job’s done–can’t create a vacuum for Iran/Syria/Al-Qaeda/etc–and I feel kinda bad that my brother is a much better person than I am. He’s under strict orders to pass along the addresses of buddies in his unit who don’t get packages/letters from home for whatever reason so I can “adopt” them (he has two other sisters who will keep him in Blistex and magazines, not to mention our mother). Maybe I can be a little less useless.
Keep your head down and your powder dry! God watch over you!
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A Reminder To Those On The Left
I’m like a lot of folks in that I think the war in Iraq took a wrong turn somewhere along the way. We won, then, things went downhill. I wonder if it would have been different if those who wanted to rewrite their own history would have stood up for our troops, and our country, instead of giving in to their BDS?
Isn’t it odd that those who swear to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States are so embroiled in their own hatred for the POTUS that they’d rather see the U.S. destroyed, rather than admit Bush was right initially? Just wondering.
And yes, I do think we should have finished the job in Afghanistan first! That doesn’t change the fact that we went. We can play the ‘what ifs’ game all day long, but Americans don’t quit. Well, REAL Americans don’t!
So, now that there has been serious improvements in Iraq, are the nay sayers going to do another about face, and claim credit? You know, “the war is lost” Reid types?
Thanks for the video, Connie. 
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Dhimmicrat: Fecklessness Required?
I was right last night. I knew I was confused for a darn good reason! B. Hussein Obama was NOT even in the Senate when the vote was called for the Iraq war. What a loser!!
From Ed Driscoll.com:
What is it with Democratic presidential candidates and hyperbole?
- Al Gore inventing the Internet and cleaning up Love Canal.
- John Kerry reliving Apocalypse Now.
- Hillary’s non-existent Tuzla sniper fire.
And now this, from tonight’s debate/interview/conversation/forum/thing:
Obama said the most gut-wrenching decision of his life was to vote against the Iraq War. McCain said it was when he declined an offer to leave a prison camp in Vietnam.
As Dan Riehl writes, “Obama didn’t vote against the Iraq War. He wasn’t even in the Senate! Am I missing something here? Did he somehow qualify this to make it true? Or was it simply made up?”
True–but he made a very personal decision–even if it didn’t count for the record. And it’s seared–seared–into his memory!
Uh….yeah. Right!
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Odd
Iraq’s Interior Minister Thanks U.S. Troops for Liberating Iraq
A top Iraqi official visited wounded American troops at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., Tuesday to thank them for their part in ending Saddam Hussein’s rule in his country.
“We have come … to express our gratitude and appreciation for the sacrifices made by these great warriors, soldiers, in freeing the Iraqi people and in helping us in Iraq recover from tyranny and dictatorship,” Jawad Karim al-Bolani, Iraq’s minister of the interior, said through a translator to a handful of journalists in the lobby of the medical center.
“We also want to express our gratitude to the families of all these great men and women and express how important their sacrifices are for our nation,” he added.
Don’cha find it just a wee bit interesting that this Iraqi officials could take time to visit wounded U.S. troops, to thank them for their sacrifice, but a candidate for the POTUS can’t? Curious.
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Conveniently Forgotten
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Grant Them Peace
US soldiers ‘found dead in Iraq’
The bodies of two US soldiers missing in Iraq for more than a year have been found, their families have told the Associated Press news agency.
Spc Alex Jimenez and Pte Byron Fouty were seized in an ambush in May 2007 in an area south of Baghdad.
The body of a third soldier, Pte Joseph Anzack Jr, was found in the Euphrates river a short time after the attack.
The Islamic State of Iraq, a group that includes al-Qaeda in Iraq, had released a video saying it killed all three men.
The parent’s of Spc Jimenez, 25, of Massachusetts, and Pte Fouty, 19, of Michigan, said uniformed military officials had visited their homes to inform them of their sons’ deaths.
The Pentagon usually waits 24 hours after notifying soldiers’ next of kin before making a public announcement.
Many prayers with the families of these fine young men.
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There Are Lies, and Then, There Are LIES
How many, on the left AND right, will pay attention to the WHOLE report?
‘Bush Lied’? If Only It Were That Simple.
But dive into Rockefeller’s report, in search of where exactly President Bush lied about what his intelligence agencies were telling him about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein, and you may be surprised by what you find.
On Iraq’s nuclear weapons program? The president’s statements “were generally substantiated by intelligence community estimates.”
On biological weapons, production capability and those infamous mobile laboratories? The president’s statements “were substantiated by intelligence information.”
On chemical weapons, then? “Substantiated by intelligence information.”
On weapons of mass destruction overall (a separate section of the intelligence committee report)? “Generally substantiated by intelligence information.” Delivery vehicles such as ballistic missiles? “Generally substantiated by available intelligence.” Unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to deliver WMDs? “Generally substantiated by intelligence information.”
(…)
But statements regarding Iraq’s support for terrorist groups other than al-Qaeda “were substantiated by intelligence information.” Statements that Iraq provided safe haven for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and other terrorists with ties to al-Qaeda “were substantiated by the intelligence assessments,”“were substantiated by intelligence information.” The report is left to complain about “implications” and statements that “left the impression” that those contacts led to substantive Iraqi cooperation. and statements regarding Iraq’s contacts with al-Qaeda
(…)
After all, it was not Bush, but Rockefeller, who said in October 2002: “There has been some debate over how ‘imminent’ a threat Iraq poses. I do believe Iraq poses an imminent threat. I also believe after September 11, that question is increasingly outdated. . . . To insist on further evidence could put some of our fellow Americans at risk. Can we afford to take that chance? I do not think we can.”
Rockefeller was reminded of that statement by the committee’s vice chairman, Sen. Christopher S. Bond (R-Mo.), who with three other Republican senators filed a minority dissent that includes many other such statements from Democratic senators who had access to the intelligence reports that Bush read. The dissenters assert that they were cut out of the report’s preparation, allowing for a great deal of skewing and partisanship, but that even so, “the reports essentially validate what we have been saying all along: that policymakers’ statements were substantiated by the intelligence.”
(…)
But the phony “Bush lied” story line distracts from the biggest prewar failure: the fact that so much of the intelligence upon which Bush and Rockefeller and everyone else relied turned out to be tragically, catastrophically wrong.
Since we’ve gone into Iraq, many of our brave soldiers have died. Do not trivialize their deaths by continuing the push of the “Bush lied” BS. I’m not a big Bush supporter. He’s not even in the list of my top 100 favorite people right now, but give the man some credit for using the SAME intelligence reports that all those shouting the loudest about the “lies” read, which included Bill Clinton, the left’s almost favorite president. At least Bush did SOMETHING. Clinton did NOTHING. And if B. Hussein sits in the Oval Office, you can pretty much guaran-damn-tee there will be NO “line drawn in the sand”. A serving of tea and crumpets will be his answer.
H/T: ‘Okie’ on the Lam
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An Offer From Michael Yon
I wonder if any of them will take him up on his offer?
An Open Offer to U.S. Senators
Whatever we do in Iraq from here forward, we must strive to make better decisions than those made between 2003 and 2006. And one way to achieve that is by making certain that our civilian leaders are fully informed. All three candidates for President are extremely intelligent, but that doesn’t mean that all three are tracking the truth on the ground in Iraq. Anyone who wants to be President of the United States needs to see Iraq without the distorting lenses of the media or partisan politics. I would be honored to visit Iraq with Senator Obama, Senator Clinton, Senator McCain or any of their Senate colleagues.
I hereby offer to accompany any Senator to Iraq, whether they are pro-or anti-war, Democrat or Republican. I will make this offer personally to a few select Senators as well. Our conversations during the visit would be on- or off-record, as they wish. Touring Iraq with me, as well as briefings by U.S. officers and meetings with Iraqis, would provide an accurate and nuanced account of the progress and challenges ahead, so that the Senators might have a highly informed perspective on this most critical issue. Our civilian leaders need to make decisions based on the best information available. The only way to learn what is really going on in Iraq is to go there and listen to our ground commanders, who know what they are doing. Generals Petraeus and Odierno have years of experience in Iraq, and vast knowledge of our efforts there. But the young soldiers who have done multiple tours in Iraq also have unique and invaluable perspectives as well. These young soldiers have personally witnessed the trajectory of the war shift dramatically, and can articulate those changes in concrete and specific terms. It doesn’t matter if a soldier is only twenty-something. If he or she spent two or three years in the war, that person is likely to have valuable insights. The best way to understand what is really going on is to listen closely to a wide range of service members who have done multiple tours in Iraq. Some will be negative, some will be positive, but overall I am certain that the vast majority of multi-tour Iraq veterans will testify that there has been great progress, and now there is hope. Combat veterans don’t tolerate happy talk or wishful thinking. They’ll tell you the raw truth as they see it.
John McFeingold probably would. I think even the Shrilldebeast would consider it, although, no doubt, she’d have to dodge the sniper fire. B. Hussein? Well…..only if it would garner him some votes, and as long as he was totally surrounded by a large contingent of Marines. I’m afraid his opportunity for any respect from me is long past. He could join the military today, and I’d still consider him a “piece of……..work”.
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Self Destructing
I have worked in or with every Congress since 1970 and it is now clear that Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi continue to preside over the worst Congress in living memory. This is particularly true in the most serious area a legislator must tackle: national security. No intelligence bill has been passed, now for the second straight year. The FISA reform bill, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, continues to be bottled up. And the prospect of a Defense Authorization bill becoming law is also bleak. On the most important duty they are sworn to do — provide for the common defense — the Democratic leadership is AWOL.
Occasionally, it’s a good thing when those who are the “law makers” do nothing. This isn’t one of those times! The Dhimmis were voted into office, with the idea they’d actually do something concerning our national security, which is what their job actually entails. They have done NOTHING to ensure the security of this nation! Is it truly their intent to destroy one of the greatest nations history has ever known? With a B. Hussein, they will ensure such a destruction. Leadership is non existent!
As the Vice Chairman of the Committee, Senator Bond, and his colleagues Burr, Chambliss and Hatch have noted, the report — highly politicized as it is — concludes “Statements by the President, Vice President, Secretary of State and the National Security Adviser regarding a possible Iraq1 nuclear weapons programs were generally substantiated by intelligence community estimates”, (p.15); “statements in the major speeches analyzed regarding Iraqi ballistic missiles were generally supported by available intelligence”(p. 57); “intelligence reporting highlights more than a decade of contacts between the Iraqi Government and al-Qa’ida based on shared anti-US goals and Bin laden’s interest in unconventional weapons…” (p. 63); “statements…regarding Iraq’s support for terrorist groups…were substantiated by intelligence information”, (p.71); and “statements that Iraq provided safe haven for …al-Zarqawi and other al-Qa’ida-related terrorists…and regarding Iraq’s contacts with al-Qa’ida…were substantiated by intelligence estimates”, (p.71).
But the report, despite stating the obvious that intelligence conclusions prior to the liberation of Iraq were flawed, spends considerable time denouncing the idea that Saddam Hussein had any connection to either terrorism or terrorist groups, especially al-Qa’ida. The report concludes that Saddam never “considered using terrorist groups to attack the United States.”
Obviously, this morning’s headlines were very misleading. Even I was sucked in. That pisses me off.
When the Senate report actually substantiates the the previous intelligence reports, why spend so much time denouncing it? BDS! Plain and simple. The Dhimmi led Senate would rather see the destruction of the Republican president, than Islamofascism. Even if Saddam wasn’t plotting against the U.S. directly, on our soil, he evidently supported hits on our people.
According to documents revealed after the initial liberation of Iraq, and compiled by the Institute for Defense Analysis recently, and summarized by Eli Lake in the New York Post, “In the same year, Saddam ordered his intelligence service to ‘form a group to start hunting Americans present on Arab soil; especially Somalia.’ At the time, Al Qaeda was working with warlords against American forces there. Saddam’s intelligence services maintained extensive support networks for a wide range of Palestinian Arab terrorist organizations, including but not limited to Hamas. Among the other Palestinian groups Saddam supported at the time was Force 17, the private army loyal to Yasser Arafat.”
Saddam is no longer, personally, a threat to the U.S. in Somalia, an aid to Hamas, or any other terrorist organization that seeks the destruction of Western civilization. THAT mission IS accomplished!
Read the rest of the column for yourself.
Personally, if this current batch of weasels are allowed to rewrite even more history, the future of our nation is seriously in the tank!
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The Snake in the Palm Trees
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