Iraq Pullout

[bolverk]

Well now, seems that the time line for our troop pullout of Iraq will be determined very soon. In fact, the Iraqi Parliament will be voting on the issue very soon. Of course Congress wants their say in the process, however, this is clearly an Executive Branch function in which they get no say. But, I am sure they will find a way to twist what ever happens.

Here is your source

[subdjoe]

The much maligned surge worked and is working, even Barry admits that it is having the desired effect (he still doesn't support it, but he likes the results). Things there are improving even that doesn't get the front page news that it should. The Iraqi government is starting to be able to work, same for its military.

If you rely on the media and the left you would get the impression that our troops make Pol Pot look like a bunch of UNICF workers. Here are some pics that don't make it into the public view:

news.webshots.com/album/454590914ydpNrC?vhost=news

And some commentary about the MSM code of silence about things going well there:

www.nypost.com/seven/05202008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/success_in_iraq__a_media_blackout_111606.htm

The left reminds me of a bunch of kids looking at a fruit tree. They see the blossoms have started to produce fruit and they want the fruit NOW. It doesn't matter that it won't be ripe for another month or more. They want what they want NOW and thinks that constitutes a natural law.

Again, did we make mistakes? Yes, we did. Should we have gone into Iraq? Maybe, maybe not. I'm sure that we could have gotten an assine to take out SH. But that would not have solved the problems in that country, his sons would have taken over. Or thrown their own civil war.

But things are getting to the point where we can think about starting the process of pulling out slowly. I'm sure that as with Germany, Japan, and Korea, we will maintain a presence there for some time.

[Len]

I like the above post, but have problems with being in Germany, Japan, and Korea.
Now that we are "committed" to Iraq, I suppose we "have" to stay there, but not really.
Businesses should have dealings there, but our government can best lead all of them, by simply being a great example and minding our own bee's wax.

[bolverk]

Like it or not len, the world is a small place. And, we were minding our own business.

What I really find ironic is this photo:



Well, it is not full size, but it is a young Iraqi boy with a sign that reads, "Thank you very much Mr. Bush." At least someone appreciates what we have done for Iraq.

[Mink]

As long as we are getting out of Iraq is what counts.....Madman Hussein has been long gone and that was the reason we were there, right? Does Bush/Cheney get to take the flowers home....the ones that they (Iraqis) greeted us with?

[harpman1]

It worked.

We gave war a chance and it worked.
It's still a world governed(not solely of course)by the aggressive use of force.
We had it, used it, had some morons(abu graib), killed a bunch of jihadis, showed the oppressed the meaning of American freedom, took losses, learned a lot, taught a million young volunteers what it means to have to earn your freedom.
By golly, all in all a pretty good day's work.

And now, as ONLY the U.S. ever does, we will leave them to face the future with a new friend.
The biggest, baddest, most powerful nation on Earth will be on their team, so long as they do not fall back to darkness.
The entire Middle East has seen what we will do if we decide to. They may not do the next right thing, but they can never say it was a surprise.

May 1st 2003 a group of sailors welcomed a guest to their ship. Having themselves participated in the destruction of Iraq's military, and being professionals, they could see that organized resistance had ended. That had been their mission, and now they were days from home.
Their mission was accomplished, so they made & hung a banner proclaiming that fact on their ship, to welcome their guest.
They were right & proud then, as we should be now.

Thank you to the brave Americans that did the work.
Thank you President George W. Bush.

Mission Accomplished.

[bolverk]

It is nice to have been right this whole time. All of us who supported removing Saddam knew we could not leave that country early, as all the humanitarian progressives claimed. Now, Iraqis can take care of themselves and live in freedom. That was our goal, and though the road was long and filled with peril, it was a goal accomplished.

Congratulations to our troops, you did a great job. Congratulations to the members of congress who had the fortitude not only to vote for this war, but stuck by your decision after you made it. Congratulations to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney for taking the slings and arrows, as you knew you would, and freeing a nation.

And to all the nay sayers, this is the cost of freedom, like it or not. It always has been, and it always will be.

[The Big Dog]

Iraq... we will likely be there with a presence of some form for decades.

Germany... in fact all of Western Europe we should have pulled out after the Soviet Union fell and made the Euros work to defend themselves, which they largely do not now. With the resurgence of a quasi imperialistic Russia I am afraid we'll never get out of Western Europe.

Korea... so long as that country remains partioned one way or the other, we will be there.

Japan... they can defend themselves, quite well actually but they too rely heavily on us. The reasons we reamain there are Korea and Taiwan. Either of those two states fall and the Japanese will become very, very nervous.