General Needs Until Nov. to Assess Iraq

WASHINGTON (AP) - For months September has been cast as a pivotal time for determining the course of the war in Iraq, yet a top general now says a solid judgment on the U.S. troop buildup there may not come until November.

Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno told reporters after a Senate hearing Thursday that he would need beyond September to tell if improvements in Iraq represent long-term trends.

“In order to do a good assessment I need at least until November,” said Odierno, a deputy to Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. military commander in Iraq.

Petraeus and other officials testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and briefed reporters on Thursday. Making strides toward security and political goals could take more time than first thought, they warned.

And when November gets here it’ll be January, and come January it’ll be June and next thing you know it’s November of ’08 and it won’t really matter because it’ll be someone else’s problem in January of ’09 and Bush will go back to Crawford laughing his ass off because he really did force America to stay the course after all…

If the administration put as much effort into winning the conflict in Iraq as they do thinking up excuses for it, or looking for justification that just aren’t there, and for more reasons to stay in Iraq, we’d likely be bringing our troops home to a victory parade…

“If there is one word, I would use to sum up the atmosphere in Iraq - on the streets, in the countryside, in the neighborhoods and at the national level - that word would be ‘fear,’” Crocker said. “For Iraq to move forward at any level, that fear is going to have to be replaced with some level of trust and confidence and that is what the effort at the national level is about.”

The only way you’ll ever dissuade the fear in the Iraqi people is for them to see their leadership, not the USA, the Iraqi leadership itself, to actually step up to the plate and LEAD, not sit back and cower in fear…

Iraq has been a land ruled by fear for generations, no one had the BALLS to step forward and challenge Saddam, no one will have the BALLS to stand up and challenge al-Qaida or the Muslim faith, and if you are still around in 50 years, take a look at Iraq and see if it’s not still in a state of civil war, and if it’s not, is it because someone rose to the occasion and became another strongman dictator, much in the mold of Saddam, and the Iraqis, being the mostly spineless people that they are, have they welcomed the domination once again??

You can’t GIVE the Iraqis their freedom, if they aren’t ALL willing to muster the courage to stand and fight al-Qaida and whatever else it is that holds them down, and in some cases be willing to die so that others may have that freedom, freedom itself means very little to them, freedom is NOT a gift, freedom must be earned…

Some people just aren’t very forceful, and followers of Sharia law are the ones I am referencing, how many FREE nations can you name that are ruled by hard line Sharia law?? Islam itself is held in place by fear, submit or die, that’s pretty fearful, mess up and we’ll beat you, stone you or cut your head off?? Free will at it’s very best, don’t you agree??

The Bush administration has tried to minimize the importance of the progress report due in September, trying to make clear it is not the final judgment. Beyond that, the administration is saying U.S. forces will play a role in Iraq through the end of Bush’s presidency, in January 2009.

Like no one saw that coming??

Of course we’re going to be in Iraq through the end of the Bush presidency, whoever the next president is will need to pull OUR troops out of Iraq and bring them home to fight the coming war with the Mexicans and the cartels and terrorists that the Bush administration has let into the USA, that’s how we’ll get out of Iraq, when OUR situation at home becomes so dire that we have battles in OUR streets, and it will be interesting to see who offers to save us…

Hell of an exit strategy huh??

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General Needs Until Nov. to Assess Iraq

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