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Bush: A Major Strategic Victory in Iraq

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  • Bush: A Major Strategic Victory in Iraq

    From BBC America:

    Bush speech hails Iraq 'victory'

    Mr Bush welcomed co-operation between US troops and Sunni Arabs


    President George W Bush has delivered a speech to mark the fifth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq.
    Speaking at the Pentagon, Mr Bush said "removing Saddam Hussein from power was the right decision".

    And he went on to say that the recent "surge" of US troops to Iraq has brought about "a major strategic victory in the broader war on terror".

    The speech comes amid criticism in the US of the war, with some opponents pointing to its high cost.

    In his speech, Mr Bush dismissed what he called "exaggerated estimates".

    He said: "The costs are necessary when we consider the cost of a strategic victory for our enemies in Iraq."

    New allies

    Mr Bush argued that fighting Islamic militants in Iraq helped to prevent attacks on targets in the US.

    "The terrorists who murder the innocent in the streets of Baghdad want to murder the innocent in the streets of American cities," he said.

    "Defeating this enemy in Iraq will make it less likely we will face this enemy here at home."

    He also made the case that by working with Sunni Arabs from so-called Awakening Councils to defeat al-Qaeda, the US was successfully driving a wedge between militants and the Arab mainstream.

    "In Iraq," he said, "we are witnessing the first large-scale Arab uprising against Osama Bin Laden. And the significance of this development cannot be overstated."

    Campaign issue

    As he spoke, 32 people were arrested protesting in front of the Internal Revenue Service building in Washington.

    The protesters were trying to draw attention to taxpayers' money funding the war.

    "We wanted to put our bodies between the money and what that money goes to fund - the war, the occupation, the bombs," said Frida Berrigan from the War Resisters League.

    Protesters were arrested in front of Washington's IRS building. Anti-war protests have also been planned for other American cities including New York, Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

    Estimates of what the war has cost Americans vary considerably. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates $600bn (£300bn) has been spent on the war so far, including this year's appropriations.

    Nobel-prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz calculates that the war will cost $3 trillion (£1.5 trillion) once health care for veterans and future economic losses are considered.

    On the presidential election campaign trail, Democratic Party front-runner Barack Obama criticised the Bush administration's motives for launching the war.

    "There was a president for whom ideology over-rode pragmatism and there were too many politicians in Washington who spent too little time reading the intelligence reports and too much time reading public opinion," he said in a speech at the Fort Bragg military base in North Carolina.

    Both he and his rival for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton, have pledged to end the war.

    On Monday, Mrs Clinton said the war may cost the US $1 trillion - money which could provide health care to 47m uninsured Americans, make university education affordable and solve the growing housing crisis.

    Only the expected Republican Party nominee, John McCain, has continued to support the US policy in Iraq.
    Bush's phrase: "The terrorists who murder the innocent in the streets of Baghdad want to murder the innocent in the streets of American cities," shows he's still trying to convince Americans that Iraq was behind 9/11. Saddam had neither the capiblity nor the desire to murder innocents in the streets of America.
    Last edited by Zkribbler; March 19, 2008, 15:17.

  • #2
    Our president has made an excellent call on this. Out strategic victory in Iraq makes the Battle of Midway look like a mere skirmish. A final, glorious victory against the godless, un-American terrorists will be achieved in due course.

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by Zkribbler
      Bush's phrase: "The terrorists who murder the innocent in the streets of Baghdad want to murder the innocent in the streets of American cities," shows he's still trying to convince Americans that Iraq was behind 9/11.
      No, he's (consistently) arguing in favour of the fly paper strategy. I thought you'd be able to see past your hatred long enough to realise this.

      Comment


      • #4
        WE'LL DEFEAT THEM BY CREATING MORE OF THEM AND MAKING THEM STRONGER!
        Try http://wordforge.net/index.php for discussion and debate.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Winston

          No, he's (consistently) arguing in favour of the fly paper strategy. I thought you'd be able to see past your hatred long enough to realise this.
          No, he's saying it's okay to murder stupid furrin' darkies but not Amerkin white folks. And most 'merkin darkies.
          I'm consitently stupid- Japher
          I think that opinion in the United States is decidedly different from the rest of the world because we have a free press -- by free, I mean a virgorously presented right wing point of view on the air and available to all.- Ned

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Oerdin
            WE'LL DEFEAT THEM BY CREATING MORE OF THEM AND MAKING THEM STRONGER!
            IT'S PART OF THE GRAND STRATEGIC PLAN. DO NOT QUESTION IT.

            Comment


            • #7
              Strange how within 60 years the American definition of victory has changed...
              "Ceterum censeo Ben esse expellendum."

              Comment


              • #8
                At least America has a point of reference about victory.
                Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.
                "Hating America is something best left to Mobius. He is an expert Yank hater.
                He also hates Texans and Australians, he does diversify." ~ Braindead

                Comment


                • #9
                  Is this part of the Declare Victory and Go Home plan?
                  Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. - Ben Franklin
                  Iain Banks missed deadline due to Civ | The eyes are the groin of the head. - Dwight Schrute.
                  One more turn .... One more turn .... | WWTSD

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Next time I saw we invade Texas and fight the terrorists there.
                    Christianity: The belief that a cosmic Jewish Zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree...

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Nuking it from orbit is the only way to be sure.
                      Try http://wordforge.net/index.php for discussion and debate.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Yeah, invade Texas. It's been tried.
                        Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.
                        "Hating America is something best left to Mobius. He is an expert Yank hater.
                        He also hates Texans and Australians, he does diversify." ~ Braindead

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Oerdin
                          Nuking it from orbit is the only way to be sure.


                          That is one frigging brilliant phrase! How did you come up with that!?

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by SlowwHand
                            Yeah, invade Texas. It's been tried.
                            BTW Sloww, I owe you one. In the Philippines there're these ever-present "tricycles" hauling folks around. Each has a reglious saying painted on the back. But on my last visit, I saw one with "Don't Mess with Texas." I grabbed for my camera, but the tricycle got away before I could get the pic.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Z, did it have a shotgun/rifle rack in the back?
                              Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. - Ben Franklin
                              Iain Banks missed deadline due to Civ | The eyes are the groin of the head. - Dwight Schrute.
                              One more turn .... One more turn .... | WWTSD

                              Comment

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