Durka-Durka-Muhammed-Jihad!!
Ah yes, the inevitable quagmire that the U.S. was supposed to be sucked into in Iraq:
U.S. Commanders See Possible Cut in Troops in IraqThe main thrust of why I'm posting about this isn't the troop reduction - plans are always made for one reason or another and if this happens soon, great - it's about how there isn't much attention being paid to how the terrorist attacks have dropped since the January 2005 elections.
WASHINGTON, April 10 - Two years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, the American-led military campaign in Iraq is making enough progress in fighting insurgents and training Iraqi security forces to allow the Pentagon to plan for significant troop reductions by early next year, senior commanders and Pentagon officials say.
Senior American officers are wary of declaring success too soon against an insurgency they say still has perhaps 12,000 to 20,000 hard-core fighters, plentiful financing and the ability to change tactics quickly to carry out deadly attacks. But there is a consensus emerging among these top officers and other senior defense officials about several positive developing trends, although each carries a cautionary note.
Attacks on allied forces have dropped to 30 to 40 a day, down from an average daily peak of 140 in the prelude to the Jan. 30 elections but still roughly at the levels of a year ago. Only about half the attacks cause casualties or damage, but on average one or more Americans die in Iraq every day, often from roadside bombs. Thirty-six American troops died there in March, the lowest monthly death toll since 21 died in February 2004.
Not much to report, huh?
No, not since everyone left-of-center was convinced that Iraq would become another [tired cliche alert] quagmire and that we'd never make any progress in Iraq.
Surprisingly, this story comes from The New York Times where quagmire was THE buzzword two years ago.
And while there are still attacks happening and killing U.S. troops on the ground, you'd think that someone would take notice of the decrease in Islamo-psycho attacks....but if it isn't bleeding, it isn't leading.
Freedom - 1, Quagmire - 0
Well, see? There ya go. Some people will call just about anything a "quagmire".
Really. D
Read more in Quaqmire for Table 2....
Rob@L&R said:
Well, since it has been 60 years since we defeated Germany and Japan in WWII, I guess we can pull
Read more in Quaqmire for Table 2....
scroff said:
Well, you ARE the Robot Space Monkey Overlord...
Read more in Quaqmire for Table 2....In reality we could debate these points all day, and we won't know who's 'right' until it's al
Read more in Quaqmire for Table 2....
scroff said:
better to fight the fight using military instead of airliners and innocent passengers
Read more in Quaqmire for Table 2....You're right - it *would* have been over sooner if not for the insurgency: we would have by now r
Read more in Quaqmire for Table 2....
Comments on Quaqmire for Table 2....
Good points, but I think we also need to remember that we were told two years ago that the whole thing would be over in less than six months, Iraqi oil would pay for most of it, and the total cost would be less than ~ $20 billion, and that there would be no US casualties. So I think that, although we may be past the 'quagmire', we were stuck in it for a time. (I think of 'quagmire' as a civilian equivalent to 'cluster-fuck'... which it certainly was, and may still be.) Then there's the whole question of what will be left when we leave...
Probably what's happening is the terrorists that were attacking the US troops are preparing for an amphibious assault on Savannah.
It has to end someday, one way or another. The problem is that we could have achieved the same results without all the death and destruction... the problem is that President Bush, Inc. was full of malarkey when he took us to war and the Congress was too spineless and the US population too bloodthirsty to stop him. The problem is that when it does end people in the US will go on about their lives, watching 'reality TV' while the Iraqis will not forget.
We didn't need to go to war, but people are already forgetting that. We lit the house on fire to kill the termites, all we can do now is wait for it to burn out and hope for the best.
In my mind, one American dead a day is one American too many...
|| Posted by scroff, April 11, 2005 10:08 AM ||You're right - it *would* have been over sooner if not for the insurgency: we would have by now reduced troop levels and the oil production would have been far more 'ramped up' by now.
And for your opinion that there wasn't a need to go to war - possibly, but the (pardon the pun) damage is done and the only path forward is to deal with everything that's here now instead of would of, could of, should of....
As for one dead American is too many, while I cannot agree with that in this situation, you're right.
In this situation, as crude and non-feeling as some might perceive it: a pound of prevention now is worth a pound of cure down the road, i.e., better to fight the fight using military instead of airliners and innocent passengers....
|| Posted by Mad Mikey, April 11, 2005 10:21 AM ||better to fight the fight using military instead of airliners and innocent passengers
That's if you believe the War in Iraq will have any curtailing effect on terrorism.
In reality we could debate these points all day, and we won't know who's 'right' until it's all over and done.
|| Posted by scroff, April 11, 2005 01:33 PM ||In reality we could debate these points all day, and we won't know who's 'right' until it's all over and done.
You're right, so let's just assume *I'm* right and call it even...;)
|| Posted by Mad Mikey, April 11, 2005 03:10 PM ||Well, you ARE the Robot Space Monkey Overlord...
|| Posted by scroff, April 11, 2005 06:22 PM ||Well, since it has been 60 years since we defeated Germany and Japan in WWII, I guess we can pull our troops out of at least one of THOSE quagmires any time now, right?
|| Posted by Rob@L&R, April 12, 2005 05:27 AM ||Well, see? There ya go. Some people will call just about anything a "quagmire".
Really. Duh.
|| Posted by scroff, April 12, 2005 07:42 PM ||