Think Progress

Bush Ignored Warnings Of Iraqi Civil War

By Faiz Shakir on Feb 23rd, 2006 at 11:16 am

Bush Ignored Warnings Of Iraqi Civil War

With yesterday’s bombing of one of Shiite Islam’s holiest shrines in Iraq, the common consensus appears to be that Iraq is now on the verge of a full-blown civil war. Such an outcome has been predicted for years, and the Bush administration has done little to shift its strategy to address the persisting threat.

In September 2004, intelligence officials at the CIA warned that Iraq could dissolve into civil war over the next 18 months (18 months have now elapsed since the report was revealed). “White House spokesman Scott McClellan, and other White House spokesmen, called the intelligence assessment the work of ‘pessimists and naysayers’ after its outlines were disclosed by the New York Times. President Bush called the assessment a guess, which drew the consternation of many intelligence officials.”

The CIA wasn’t the only one warning the administration of a possible civil war. In fact, lawmakers and experts from across the spectrum have repeatedly tried to call the administration’s attention to the issue.

October 2002

Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE): I have not been very enamored with the way half this administration has gone about this effort without thoroughly going into what happens the day after Saddam is down. … The president said that, “What could be worse than Saddam?” Well, what could be worse than Saddam would be a major civil war in the region. [CNN Larry King Live, 10/9/02]

Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV): What plans do we have to prevent Iraq from breaking up and descending into civil war? [Congressional Record, S10006-10007, 10/7/02]

Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD): The end of Saddam Hussein could mean the start of a civil war. [Congressional Record, S10078, 10/8/02]


January 2004

CIA officers in Iraq are warning that the country may be on a path to civil war, current and former U.S. officials said Wednesday. [Knight-Ridder, 1/22/04]

February 2004

[Rep. Ike] Skelton also expressed concern about the Bush administration’s plans to turn “sovereignty” of Iraq over to interim Iraqi authorities July 1. He warned of the possibility of Iraq falling into civil war if U.S. troops create a vacuum by scaling back too swiftly. [Marine Corps Times, 2/16/04]

April 2004

Joseph Biden, an influential senator on US foreign policy, warned Sunday that Iraq could fall into civil war after the United States hands over power to Iraqis on June 30. … “We’re going to end up with worst of all worlds,” he said. “We’re going to end up with a civil war in Iraq if in fact we decide we can turn this over, including the bulk of the security, to the Iraqis between now and then.” [AFP, 4/5/04]

Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI): If we restore sovereignty to an entity created by the United States that doesn’t have the support of the Iraqi people and the international community then there could be even greater violence against our forces, including the possibility of civil war. [CNN, 4/10/04]

September 2004

A classified National Intelligence Estimate prepared for President Bush in late July spells out a dark assessment of prospects for Iraq… The estimate outlines three possibilities for Iraq through the end of 2005, with the worst case being developments that could lead to civil war, the officials said. [New York Times, 9/16/04]

December 2004

A classified cable sent by the Central Intelligence Agency’s station chief in Baghdad has warned that the situation in Iraq is deteriorating and may not rebound any time soon, according to government officials. [NYT, 12/7/04]

Prime Minister Ayad Allawi warned of the growing danger of sectarian civil war in the wake of Sunni insurgent attacks in Shiite holy cities on Sunday. [Lincoln Journal Star, 12/21/04]

Civil war and the possible establishment of a post-Saddam Iranian-style theocracy are among the future consequences that may be faced, [Sen. Chuck] Hagel said. [Lincoln Journal Star, 12/21/04]

May 2005

“It’s just political rhetoric to say we are not in a civil war. We’ve been in a civil war for a long time,” said Pat Lang, the former top Middle East intelligence official at the Pentagon. [Newsday, 5/12/05]

“I think we are really on the edge” of all-out civil war, said Noah Feldman, a New York University law professor who worked for the U.S. coalition in Iraq. [Newsday, 5/12/05]

July 2005

Iraq is slipping into all-out civil war, a Shia leader declared yesterday, as a devastating onslaught of suicide bombers slaughtered more than 150 people, most of them Shias, around the capital at the weekend. [London Times, 7/18/05]



132 Responses to “Bush Ignored Warnings Of Iraqi Civil War”

  1. Anonymous says:

    The consequences for the U.S.’s decision to unilaterally facilitate regime change are coming to fruition. We will now see just how much of a mistake the war was.

    Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rove and Rice are fully responsible.


  2. Godfry Daniel says:

    Raw Story is reporting that the military is denying that civil war is breaking out in Iraq. All those dead people are not really people you see, and those bombed out mosques were really just cardboard stage sets.


  3. Jesus Christ God of WAR says:

    Does anyone where really think Bush cares if there is civil war in Iraq?

    If ever the Horsemen were to Ride Out, it is now, and it is these guys (and gals) sitting in the saddles.


  4. Joe Bua says:

    On the verge? It’s been civil war for a while now.


  5. Clif says:

    Faiz you left out one comment thta is relevant, the one by Colon Powell, who said “You broke it you own it.”

    As we can see now it is definately broke, will bush “own” up?


  6. Mary says:

    it’s been going on at a low level, but it’s now exploding into a fullscale civil war


  7. trueblue says:

    Bush ignore multiple warnings??
    Surely you jest…!


  8. red says:

    Bush is gonna pay for this civil war with his balls

    It not everyday a US president wrecks the whole damn middle-east.


  9. Democrat Soldier says:

    “Nobody could have predicted the terrorists would use planes as bombs!”

    “Nobody could have predicted the levees would break!”

    How much longer until we hear: “Nobody could have predicted civil war in Iraq!”

    A few years from now: “Nobody could have predicted that the UAE would not secure our ports!”

    Why do the trolls still think that Pres. Bush was appointed by God? Does God hate America THAT much?!?!?

    I can’t wait until 2006 when the Republicans lose seats in the House & Senate, and again in 2008 when we have the chance to throw this fool out of the White House.


  10. Peter Christian says:

    Soon we will start hearing the old “we shouldn’t play the blame-game” saw. Soon we’ll hear, “the Democrats all-agreed-too/didn’t-stop-us/have-no-ideas-of-their-own/wanted-this-to-happen-all-along” (take your pick). Never any responsibility, never any accountability, never any truly adult behavior, not from a neo-con.


  11. Clif says:

    Trueblue he didn’t actually ignore them, it’s just he hasn’t had the time to view that particular DVD yet, but after the next vacation cutting brush, he’ll get right on it.


  12. Fatty bin Laden says:

    Who’s ever gonna hold Bush accountable? The Supreme Court? AHAHAHA!


  13. Jesus Christ God of WAR says:

    #8 – Bush is gonna pay for this civil war with his balls

    It not everyday a US president wrecks the whole damn middle-east.

    In the Not-So-Bizzarro World outside the US, indeed, this would be the case. But here in the US, who’s going to get the snippers to remove the aforementioned Balls of Bush? Certainly not the MSM. Certainly not the slavishly devoted ReichWingNuts. And apparently not the “go along to get along” Dems.

    Perhaps we need a revolution right here in the good ‘ol USA?

    BushCo have committed serious war crimes and yet they sit like vultures in their offices in Washington. How could We The People have let that happen???

    I’ll say it again (with proper spelling and a little more clarity):

    Does anyone here really think Bush cares if there is civil war in Iraq?

    If ever the Horsemen were to Ride Out, it is now, and it is these ReichWingNut bastards and bitches sitting in the saddles.


  14. crazy canuck says:

    Ignored, forgot, doesn’t recall, didn’t think, assumed, was not aware…


  15. Viktor says:

    Seems to me they’ve been at war with each other for a long time now.


  16. Dumb Fox says:

    I guess Bush heard that Iraq, erm, dodged a bullet.


  17. LC Liberal says:

    I’m just surprised it didn’t happen sooner. Of course W Bush ignored warnings of civil war. He was too busy going around the country saying how great everything is in Iraq.

    lcoliberal.blogspot.com


  18. David says:

    CIA warned that Iraq could dissolve into civil war over the next 18 months (18 months have now elapsed since the report was revealed).

    Credit where it’s due. Somebody at Langley nailed that one.


  19. dlet says:

    I think a big part of the reason that GW really wanted to go to war was that he really does want to be king. He is actually in control of a country(Iraq) right now with basically no oversight. He wants that also in the U.S. but he got it on the cheap by invading and occupying another country. Arrogance mixed with meglomania and a daddy complex has given rise to a disaster for this country, Iraq and who can foresee what else.


  20. trueblue says:

    I can’t wait until 2006 when the Republicans lose seats in the House & Senate, and again in 2008 when we have the chance to throw this fool out of the White House.

    Comment by Democrat Soldier

    Not if Diebold has anything to say about it!


  21. peg says:

    the Army War College Report Feb 2003 had its own warnings that were ignored or more likely it was used to do the opposite:

    http://billmon.org/archives/000205.html


  22. Zookeeper says:

    Georgie ignores that which he finds unpleasant. Just ask the on-going victims of Katrina and Rita, the people of Iraq, our troops, the elderly, the poor, the unemployed, etc.


  23. big papa says:

    If the seed is rotten, surely the fruit will be

    George W. Bush is a degenerate gambler at the crap table of life…

    Iraq was nothing more than a “game” for him (politically)…

    For L’il Dick it was ego and profit

    Now the fruits of their folly are slowly rotting

    …and the American taxpayers and innocent Iraqis will be the harvesters


  24. Granite State Destroyer says:

    “This is not a civil war. This is what freedom looks like, you know, a little untidy.”

    -Douchebag Crumbsfeld


  25. Briseadh na Faire says:

    sarcasm on

    C’mon everybody, this is old news. I mean, look a the dates of those quotes! We’ve already discussed this issue and we’re not going to go over the same ground again and again. I mean, Jesus Christ, this was predicted about 1,500 years ago! Anybody read the book of Revelations? Now go, sell all you have, give the money to Pat Robertson and await the rapture.


  26. Keith H. says:

    Of course they ignored warnings of potential civil war. I wouldn’t expect anything else from them.
    Take a wide look at everything they have done.
    Human lives, here in their own country, or anywhere in the world, do not matter to them. They don’t give a damn how many people they kill, or how many die in the future for their mistakes today.
    For them, money is the most important element. It is, their God.


  27. Antholog says:

    Iraq Civil War?…

    Very bad things going down in Iraq right now. After the bombing of a 1,200-year-old Shiite shrine, 47 people were shot to death after being dragged from buses and a major Sunni block has pulled out of the government. Meanwhile, the Bush administratio…


  28. Briseadh na Faire says:

    #24. This is not a civil war, this is democracy in action! Iraqis just have a different concept of stuffing the ballot box. They use left over munitions that we failed to secure, we use electronic voting machines and State-run voter registration purges. Both have the same net effect of eliminating the opposition party from participating in the upcoming election.


  29. Antagonist says:

    #9
    Stop rubbing your hands together in glee you little twit. The Democrats aren’t going to win squat in ‘06 or in ‘08. The majority of this country, which you’re not part of, nor will you ever understand, do not trust the Democrats with matters of national security–they’re weak! By the way, the UAE is not going to be securing our ports. They will be managing the loading and unloading of containers. Who are you going to blame for all of the bad things that happen in the world after Bush is gone?


  30. pete says:

  31. Antagonist says:

    #20
    Nice…
    Keep that voting machine conspiracy going, It will provide a handy explanation for you guys when you keep losing elections.


  32. Fatty bin Laden says:

    Yeah, we should definitely trust them republicans with security. After all, look how good they were preventing 9/11 (what was the name of that August 6, 2001 PDB again? Oh that’s right–“bin Ladin Determined to Strike in US”

    And don’t forget–the republicans were sure good at protecting US citizens during and after Katrina.

    Yessirree Bob, them republicans is the bee’s knees.


  33. Abby says:

    Many of us regard ourselves as mildly liberal or centrist politically, voice fairly pleasant sentiments about our poor children, contribute money to send poor kids to summer camp, feel benevolent. We’re not nazis; we’re nice people. We read sophisticated books. We go to church. We go to synagogue. Meanwhile, we put other people’s children into an economic and environmental death zone. We make it hard for them to get out. We strip the place bare of amenities. And we sit back and say to ourselves, “Well, I hope that they don’t kill each other off. But if they do, it’s not my fault.
    Jonathan Kozol, educator and author


  34. Gerald Gibson says:

    But but but … the neocons said that all we need to do is be Positive! Pump our chests out and repeat over and over that “freedom is on the march” and everything would be ok. Those stupid progressives are always complaining and gloomy. Why cant they just smile…SMILE! Be positive! Support king george! Pray everyday for the soldiers spanking those bad bad towel heads. Smile….SMILE! Be positive! Buy more stuff! Get bigger SUVs! Be positive! Smile …SMILE! And everything will work out…I mean George Bush is a freakin GENIUS! We can TRUST him to watch out for all of us stupid dirty peasents.


  35. Gerald Gibson says:

    Antagonist

    The majority of the people voted for Gore…stop dreaming.


  36. Briseadh na Faire says:

    #29, I agree, “the UAE is not going to be securing our ports.”

    Right now our security screening amounts to about 10% of all containers shipped in through our ports. UAE will be controlling the loading and unloading of containers, frequently at both ends. 90% of what is shipped under their management will not pass any security screening.

    “the UAE is not going to be securing our ports.”


  37. progressive and proud says:

    #31 What an obvious idiot diversion. Stupid troll.


  38. BearCountry says:

    I have to disagree with most everyone. I believe that ALL of the problems that pop up under this administration are deliberate. I don’t think that these are mistakes or that they (the whole crew) are so incompetent that they don’t expect these things to happen. They know that these things will happen and facilitate the occasion. The administration throws so many problems at us that we have to spend a great deal of time and energy fighting one problem while two others move toward destroying something good. By keeping the phoney war going they can keep deflecting any attempt to straighten the country out by invoking 9/11 and “terra.”

    Just look at the midnight taking of people, holding them without charges, no informing of family where the apprehended one is, not allowing lawyers, torture, death under torture, extraordinary rendition, and on and on. None of this would have been allowed prior to 9/11, now many people call for this and more. How are we now better than the regimes that we criticized for doing these very things? Supposedly we were not a nation that did such things; we did right thing when all others didn’t. Can we say that now?

    Unfortunately we have no opposition party leadership. There are a few that speak out, but none of the leadership has the gumption to back them up. Reid, Pelosi, and Emanuel, specifically, are nothing more than pawns of big corporations, as is the DLC. Everyone that is looking to 06 and 08 to be able to unseat the Repugs is living a fantasy. The Repugs control the voting machines, so the exit polls will always be “wrong.” Obviously the Repugs have to lie about their goals and most people don’t want them, but the Dims are not really trying wholeheartedly to unseat the Rethugs.


  39. Solitaire says:

    Yes, they are having a civil war. It’s been escalating, and now it’s really hard for Bush to hide it.
    Our military is now literally STUCK in a country in civil war between many factions most of whom hate us and want us out of the country. The Shia, the majority of the newly elected Iraqi government, expect to be handed many of our weapons and bases when we leave, so they want us out asap, they have a civil war to attend. The Sunni want us out because they have a civil war to attend and they don’t want us helping anybody but them, they certainly don’t want to be stopped. The Kurds will soon have their own country once the civil war starts between the Shia and the Sunni. Not much skin off their noses. They have experience in sealing their borders. They will end up with several large oil fields. The Baath party hates us ’cause we spoiled their Saddam regime and removed them from power. Killing our soldiers is just one of their goals. The outsiders called ‘Islamist radicals’ are attacking our soldiers almost exclusively. That will certainly escalate as we find enemies at almost every turn and try to retreat.
    Ladies and Gentlemen, we are nearing the apex of King George’s “war”. Prepare to be royally screwed.


  40. Dumb Fox says:

    Suggested new DHS threat levels:

    Low Risk

    Medium Risk

    High Risk

    What Bush ignored


  41. Terrytheturtle says:

    Stay the course = Don’t change horsemen in the middle of an apocalypse

    Untidy freedom = civil war

    War is peace….you know the rest

    Welcome to Munich in America


  42. Granite State Destroyer says:

    “Who are you going to blame for all of the bad things that happen in the world after Bush is gone?

    Comment by Antagonist — February 23, 2006 @ 12:04 pm”

    If the Democrats take a page from the Republican “Blame Bill Clinton” Playbook, we should be able to blame George W. Bush for every fuck-up in the nation for at least 5 years, going on six years.

    -GSD


  43. Bluestocking says:

    With all due respect…so what else is new? Anyone who’s even remotely perceptive has known for years that Bush is the King of Denial. In his mind, anything that doesn’t fit with his personal concept of how the world should be — no matter how illogical or unrealistic that concept might be — couldn’t possibly be true and is summarily rejected. To all appearances, Bush is incapable of distinguishing theory from practice — he thinks that what works on paper will automatically work in practice, but any mature adult with half a brain knows that real life often doesn’t work that way (although it certainly would be nice if it did).

    This one trait is Bush’s fatal flaw, and I believe that it lies at the heart of nearly every decision he makes — as well as the primary catalyst for every single mess that he’s gotten us ito thus far. When reports came in from other nations suggesting that al-Qaeda was planning a major terrorist attack, Bush didn’t take it seriously. When it came to the issue of Hussein and WMD, Bush only heard what he wanted to hear. He frequently pleads ignorance in the aftermath, but the truth is that he’s wantonly ignorant — he typically says that he didn’t know, but saying that he didn’t want to know would be closer to the truth.


  44. Jesus Christ God of WAR says:

    George Wank-off Bush just loves being King of Iraq and Supreme Dicktator of the former United States of America.

    This is why it won’t matter that there’s civil war in Iraq.


  45. Jay Randal says:

    HELLO the Civil War in Iraq has already begun! Sectarian violence is spreading all across Iraq now, since the shrine was blown up! Next the Kurds will join in by taking over Kirkuk! Bush and Cheney are responsible for mayhem in Iraq!


  46. mr ho says:

    I can here the Cries already.

    We Forgot that We Started a War Based on Lies
    We forgot that those were Lies and Went to war anyway
    We Forgot that you Warned us not to Start this war.
    We Forgot that Curveball was Debunked
    We Forgot that The World said NO!
    We Forgot that this is a Democracy
    –Signed the Bush Cabal

    And we are not Sorry We Forgot
    and We will Continue to Forget
    So we can repeat the Mistakes
    again and again and get away with it.
    Its a ‘System’ dont you see? –The PACMEN


  47. Democrat Soldier says:

    #29 – Wow! The trolls live!

    2006 will be when the Republicans lose seats. If it doesn’t happen, I’ll admit that my prediction was wrong. Will you do the same if I’m right? Admit that you were wrong? Or will you follow your fellow Republicans an not take responsibility for your statements/actions?

    2008 will be when Pres. Bush has to leave the White House. Consider how the country felt about the Democrats in 2000. Now consider how the American people will feel about the so-called party of “fiscal responsibility” cheating the LARGEST DEFICIT IN HISTORY! Consider how the American people will feel about the so-called party of “small government” INCREASING BIG-GOVERNMENT MORE THAN ANY PREVIOUS MODERN PRESIDENT!

    I don’t know if the Democrats will return to the majority party in 2006, but I feel pretty confident that they will reduce the number of Republican seats in the House and senate.

    History has proven: no single party has a lock on the majority party. Do your research: how many times since Republicans & democrats became the two-parties in the US has majority status changed hands?

    Don’t think your big-government, fiscally irresponsible, pro-corporate, anti-civil-rights, borrow & spend party will be the “golden calf” to which America bows to forever. Eventually, the Republican calumny and mendacity will be apparent and they will lose votes faster than they got/stole them.


  48. James says:

    Keep those quotes at the ready because the official line, of course, will be that no one could have anticipated the descent of Iraq into civil war and sectarian and ethnic violence. Just as no one could have anticipated the failure of the New Orleans levees or that terrorists might fly planes into buildings


  49. Hardy Haberman says:

    How many war crimes must the criminal Bush administration commit before the world rises up and demands justice?


  50. David says:

    Stay the course = Don’t change horsemen in the middle of an apocalypse

    Brilliant.


  51. big papa says:

    Who are you going to blame for all of the bad things that happen in the world after Bush is gone?

    Comment by Antagonist #29

    Antichrist,

    YOU!

    (who voted for these incompetent traitors Bushiva and L’il Dick)

    …you’re our neighbors, family members and “former” friends…

    …but we’ll NEVER let you live this “treason” down…


  52. Gerald Gibson says:

    38)

    In the past in America when things got this bad both parties were thrown out by a new reform party that both sides joined in on (except the extreme left and right) and the country was restored… look up the Republican-Democratic party or the Anti-Mason Party

    http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=844

    Also check out..

    http://www.politics1.com/parties.htm


  53. purvis ames says:

    Yo,#25
    The rapture isn’t in the Book of Revelations or anywhere else in the Bible for that matter.


  54. Democrat Soldier says:

    #42 – So true!

    If Democrats can blame Republican Presidents as much as the Republicans have blamed Democrat Presidents, we’ve got until 2014 to blame everything on Pres. Bush and his mishandling of everything from the economy to the wars to foreign policy to national security to his overuse of red ink in every budget since Pres. Clinton balanced it in the 90’s!!!

    Wow! I wonder how it will feel to Republicans when the shoe is on their feet and they have to deal with “Well, since Pres. Bush screwed everything up, the Democrats aren’t responsible!”

    Maybe some day, the Republicans will start to take personal responsibility for their actions, but you’ll understand if I don’t hold my breath waiting for that to happen.


  55. GMNotYet says:

    Can the Bush administration do anything right?


  56. Clif says:

    a war tacticaly and operationally “won” can still lead to stragetic “loss” if post conflict operations are poorly planned or executed .. from Reconstructing Iraq: Insights, Challenges, and Missions for Military Forces in a post-conflict senario, Conrad C. Crane and W. Andrew Terrill Feburary 2003 (US Army War College)

    Didn’t donald read this?


  57. Smedley says:

    I think by the sounds of America another Civil war is coming to them and you can bet your ass ill fly over there and shoot republicans like tins cans at a fair ground


  58. Smedley says:

    Bush bombed the Shrine in a covert operation anyway…None of the Muslim Religious Finatice would do such a thing


  59. Smedley says:

    The fact he blames in on Oustsider insurgents Just proves what Bush Aims to acheive


  60. big papa says:

    Didn’t donald read this?

    Comment by Clif #56

    Clif,

    You know Rummy…

    “There are different degrees of “strategic loss”..

    …that is to say that even losses may translate into victory…

    …given the right parameters and ideological trajectory”…


  61. Smedley says:

    At least one good thing came out of this shrine being blown up by a Bush covert operation …….YEE HAA seven american troops killed today YEE HAA


  62. TerrytheTurtle says:

    Gerald, I applaud your optimism, but I think that short of blood in the streets, neither party will abandon the corporate teat it has suckled for so long. The US is and has been for some time a defacto one-party state, based on corporate interests. Remember true representative democracy grew up in the early part of the 20th century in response to the corporate excesses of the late 19th century. Democracy and unbridled capitalism are opposed to each other in fact.


  63. Briseadh na Faire says:

    Yo #53,

    did you see the “sarcasm on” lead line? I have been advised to do that, so I won’t be mistaken for a troll.


  64. Evil Spaniard says:

    I bet the monday there was a PDB in the Prez desk titled “Holiest Shiite Golden Mosque about to be bombed REAL SOON”.


  65. katy says:

    ok smedley – you may have just lost whatever welcome you had…
    benefit of the doubt?


  66. katy says:

    just heard it again – a clip from randi rhodes on AirAmericaRadio:

    “how are you gonna tell your kids that they were over there fighting to restore iraq, apparently to the middle ages … and the president obviously thinks it’s an amazing event”

    the goddess of radio hits it again…


  67. War4Sale says:

    Virtually EVERYTHING that has happened since Bush invaded Iraq was accurately predicted by the “tinfoil-hat wearing left wing moonbats” that opposed the war.

    OTOH, virtually EVERYTHING that Team Bush and his “patriotic” supporters told us about Iraq has been completely wrong. If America learns something from this nightmare, then maybe all the lives and dollars wasted won’t be totally in vain.


  68. Terrytheturtle says:

  69. Granite State Destroyer says:

    Comment by Smedley — February 23, 2006 @ 12:55 pm

    What a Dicksmack you are Smedley.

    -GSD


  70. Briseadh na Faire says:

    A Shaman’s view:

    The sectarian violence will continue to grow and spread. As Kurds stake out their independence, Turkey will enter the fray, first against the Kurds within its borders, then in cross-border actions.

    We have already taken the steps to bring Iran and Syria into the battle with Russia, China and Europe on the opposing side. Saudia Arabia will explode in internal conflicts as their people throw off the ruling King and his royal family.

    Terrorists will infiltrate the U.S. striking at will, and the government will respond with martial law. Civil liberties will cease to exist. Novel weapons will be used against the civilian uprisings in the United States.

    The United States will fall as a world power. But the real power will still lay with the princely class who rules behind the scenes in secrecy and safety.

    Such is the Path we are on.


  71. John says:

    Well,there goes the argument that “if we pull-out of Iraq it will descend into civil war”. I guess we can leave now.


  72. kindness says:

    Smedley – you’re a troll. You aren’t the usual reichtwingnutz troll that we get here, but you are almost as bad.

    You repeat (ad nauseum) conspiracy theories most of us don’t agree with, and then on #61 you (hopefully sarcastically, but with you it’s hard to know) gloat about 7 more GI’s dying over there.

    I’m finding I don’t like you at all.


  73. bobcat_grad says:

    The majority of this country, which you’re not part of, nor will you ever understand, do not trust the Democrats with matters of national security–they’re weak!

    Comment by Antagonist

    And your proof of this is…..?

    Or is it just your opinion that has been reinforced by being plugged into FOX news too many hours of the day?


  74. Gregor Samsa says:

    Didn’t donald read this?
    Comment by Clif — February 23, 2006 @ 12:45 pm

    He was not “in the loop” on that one either.



  75. Antagonist says:

    #47
    You said-
    2006 will be when the Republicans lose seats. If it doesn’t happen, I’ll admit that my prediction was wrong. Will you do the same if I’m right? Admit that you were wrong? Or will you follow your fellow Republicans an not take responsibility for your statements/actions?

    I’ll blame it on Diebold just like you’re going to do when you lose.


  76. kindness says:

    Antagonist doesn’t read the paper I see. Hey guy, turn off Phaux Phnews and read a NEWSPAPER once in a while (the Washington Times doesn’t count).

    Even republican strategists are saying republicans are going to lose seats this time around.

    Guess you gotta keep up that Positive Can Do No Wrong facade you and your fearless Fuerher (except when it was HIS time to serve) put forth.


  77. Antagonist says:

    #71
    There goes the argument that Iraq is ready to stand on it’s own.


  78. Evil Spaniard says:

    The consequences at home: PTSD (not pretty).


  79. Antagonist says:

    #77
    The National Enquirer doesn’t count either. Pull your head out of the Democratic party’s ass and come up for air once in a while.


  80. Evil Spaniard says:

    #78 There goes “Freedom is on the march”.


  81. Pete Bogs says:

    Bush ignores everything outside that bubble…


  82. Jay Randal says:

    Demand for the Congress to IMPEACH Bush and Cheney immediately! The hearings need to start tomorrow!!!


  83. Jesus Christ God of WAR says:

    Maybe the MSM is starting to awake from it’s long self imposed slumber? Oh. Wait. This comes from England where their MSM might not be as enslaved to the ruling monarchy as we are in the USA.

    The bomb attack has enraged the majority Shia population, who regard the shrine in the same way that Roman Catholics view St Peter’s in Rome.

    In a number of respects civil war in Iraq has already begun. Many of the thousand bodies a month arriving in the morgues in Baghdad are of people killed for sectarian reasons. It is no longer safe for members of the three main communities ­ the Sunni and Shia Arabs and the Kurds ­ to visit each other’s parts of the country…

    [from: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0223-06.htm ]


  84. Smedley says:

    for all those against smedley laughing at 7 US troops today killed in Iraq

    Tough ? what i really feel so sorry for is the Innocent Iraqis killed by the British and Americans…they get my pity

    as for your US soldiers they are dogs of war they deserve to be shot …thats their job or game ..idiots they are

    They live by the sword they should die by the sword YEE HAA

    It would be different if it were an american citizen IN AMERICA that would be a shame

    also theres many things pissing me off and thats the cheap heroin for sale in the UK thats comes from American Afghanistan in the last three years you have destroyed a small society in ENgland with your sales of Heroin I have lost 5 school mates in 3 years due to the cheapness of this drug

    read this http://www.craigmurray.co.uk/

    you should be also aware that when the Lockerbie Jet came down Our police inspector witnessed fields of the stuff thanks to the CIA ……..

    Double standards as Usuall

    you see for goverments to manipulate peoples thinking patterns they first destabalise society …then the rich dont like middle class, poor hate the rich ,,crime goes up and then the Goverments can make speaches to the contrary and we suckers vote them in ………..its a vicious circle that should be stopped ………
    heres some friendly advice

    AMERICAS FOREIGN POLICY
    to stay on top of the world we must put other countries down

    we sell weapons to them
    we start wars for them
    we torture them
    we jail them
    we install dictators
    we install puppet goverments
    we commit assainations
    we invade countries illegally
    we spend money speading lies
    we steal
    we sell heroin
    we do covert operations like blowing up mosques
    in fact our foreign policy is to disrupt societies of foreign countries as to keep them from progress

    GROW UP THE WORLD KNOWS YOUR GAME

    I tell it how it is for most people in the UK the hard hitting truth learn to live with it…we see though the Bush admin and you can keep your view of looking at things with rose tinted spectacles get real


  85. Democrat Soldier says:

    #80

    http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/1/21/230131.shtml

    Oh, yeah! Newsmax is SO liberal! Can’t trust them for un-biased news now, can you?!?!?

    By the way, why don’t you pull your head out of the Neo-Con Republican Party’s a$$ and smell the reality. It would be a good thing to off-set the rose colored glasses you’ve got wleded to the sides of your head.


  86. kindness says:

    We do alot of things that may or may not be judged as good in other’s eyes. But you are an asshole all the way around smedley. You suck.

    Antagonist – I don’t read the Enquirer either. I read the SF Chronicle, Wall St Journal, Bee (hate that paper), Time magazine & Rolling Stone magazine, Smithsonian magazine.

    I read lots more throught the links we all find in blogs too. Have a good day now.


  87. Antagonist says:

    #85 Smedley
    If I were you, I’d strap a bomb on myself and get into a nice big group hug with your liberal buddies…


  88. Smedley says:

    no i would rather strap and bomb and blow up bush and co
    They have put the world back years

    you see both the republicans and democrats are playing the same old agem and that is

    10 years repub
    10 years democrat
    10 years repub
    10 years democrat
    10 years repub
    10 years democrat

    all the time things get worse
    and now my KIDS have to suffer the same old crap

    get a life see though goverments we all need a big change the UN is the way forward Possible


  89. Smedley says:

    what i forgot 60 years bullshit from democarats and republican s……..your life over and your children get the same 0ld shit

    THINK PROGRESS


  90. Abby says:

    #88, it takes courage to strap yourself to a bomb – a concept that seems to be well beyond your comprehension.


  91. Jules says:

    I guess the repulsive party has too many blogs to try to troll through today. They can only spare one for this thread.


  92. fly swatter says:

    I’d be affraid to tell the right to get into a big group hug Antagonist because as is their motto “right behind ya”,first the touching, then the spooning, then the reach arounds, and before you know it they’d be in a circle jerk. Getting hot Antagonist HAAAAAAhhaaaa….. get a mop loser !


  93. kindness says:

    I guess that both Smedley and Antagonist don’t seem to know that advocating violence WILL get you booted from this site.

    Sniff, sniff. I’d cry but I’m looking forward to it too much.


  94. Clif says:

    #94 Maybe we could convince antagonist to get IRI, MA, Seth, WW(or whatever he calls himself today), Tracy, Giacomo, together and give us all a free demostration so we would know how to do it properly, he wouldn’t want us to mess this up would he?


  95. Paul in LA says:

    “There is no more Iraq. There will be three territories.” — Henry F. Kissinger, early 2004, in Saudi Arabia

    The Bushoviks underdeployed, deployed up to 20,000 mercenaries with a full legal waiver on whatever they felt like doing, has been abducting thousands of innocent people and torturing their families and children, and committed several POGROMS on Iraqi cities, killing over 100,000 persons –

    yeah, that will cause a civil war.

    But the Bushoviks have also failed to write a single order guarding any of the conventional materiel in the country. This was the primary threat from an illegal invasion, as noted by VP Gore in Sep 02.

    Consequently, the Shitehouse and Air-Defense (Penta-) Gone admit to:

    • Giving away 280 tons of high-explosives to hostiles, suitable for blowing up our soldiers real good.
    • Giving away 650,000 pounds of ammunition to hostiles. Bremer, when he disbanded the army against expert advice, let them keep their AK-47s and such.
    • Giving away 450 shoulder-fired Stingers, suitable for shooting down airliners for the next thirty years.

    Damn, but that wasn’t enough for the Bushoviks. They burned the Koran-Torah Repository to the ground, something no Muslim would EVER do. They burned the National Library to the ground. They supplied forklifts (and a tank to knock down the front door) for Ahmed Chalabi’s gang to rape the National Museum.

    That and drove tanks through all the archaelogical digs, and sent out squads to home invasion rob and rape THOUSANDS of innocent Iraqis. Oohrah.

    But that wasn’t enough! No, they also poisoned the entire country with waste uranium, and somehow failed to repair the water and power after two years. Water and power, that is, that they ILLEGALLY bombed out in the first place.

    Well, they violated more than 15 major federal laws and treaties.

    Sheeler Rhode Island Resolution:
    http://www.carlsheeler.com/articles_impeachment_GA.asp

    273-page Conyers Report documenting 15 major federal crimes, with laws and evidence.

    http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/5769

    Invading an innocent country to commit GENOCIDE, in order to install fifteen airbases: treason, crimes against humanity, and violation of the UN charter, and the US Constitution.

    We don’t have the legal power yet to bust these cats, but FOR SURE we don’t have to listen to Bushlicker trolls about what the facts are. We KNOW the facts.


  96. mighty aphrodite says:

    ****THIS JUST IN***** “The Democrat Gazette” – proud sponsors of the Douglas/Lincoln debates & Future Soy Growers of America

    Dateline – March 4, 1861 – “With the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln today, more Southern states are expected to succede from the Union. In order to avoid an inevitably bloody and violent Civil War, (which will probably get underway when Union soldiers at Fort Sumter are attacked) we suggest the psuedo-President Lincoln:
    1.) forego that quaint notion of the UNITED States, federalism AND states rights.
    2.) realize the time is not right for the emancipation of slaves. Forego issuing Emancipation Proclamation – that mission cannot be accomplished (where have I seen those words before?)until there is a cessation of ALL hostilities ***Remember – the money could be better spent inagurating social welfare programs.
    3.) send his own sons off to fight.”


  97. The WB42 5:30 Report With Doug Krile says:

    Civil War…

    It was only a matter of time. It’s just too bad that we couldn’t get more of our people out of there before things really started melting down. Is it too late? Make sure you follow the link to the full post below. An amazing collection of quotati…


  98. Solitaire says:

    To Smedley who enjoys the deaths of Americans…
    The cheap heroin for sale in the UK is exactly what your friends bought, cheap stuff for cheap little brats that died and good riddance to them. They no doubt deserved it if they were friends with you. Who needs little bigot drug addicts running around a “small society” or any society? We’ll be sure to send you more cheap heroin so that maybe more of your friends can shoot up. Ok? Good luck.


  99. Smedley says:

    96# Thats even more scary than I ever thought – Paul in LA your an down to earth honest meaningful man


  100. Smedley says:

    99# your exactly the right wing troll I hate. I said they were school aqaintances not real friends and the problem is not cheap nasty heroin but very high grade and cheap as in 20 dollars a half gram on the streets …..this sort of drug destabalises society so more crime happens which is what goverments want in order to control peoples fear …I do not take any drugs personally altough I used to smoke pot for 15 years none stop, I stopped when my children were born as I realised i needed to get up every five minutes

    My Point is society does not need these type things imposed on us from goverments that are allegedly trying to stop this sort of thing

    Anyway back to the post I suspect American covert operations are involved in this Mosque being blown up


  101. Solitaire says:

    I am neither right wing nor a troll. I’m just like you. I just enjoy people dying, like you do. You are the one that cheered the death of American soldiers. Don’t you think we have a lot in common? I mean, you say you don’t REALLY have good friends that died from heroin, they are just sad little drug addicts dying on your block. You should be happy! More death to watch! I mean, they might not be American, but maybe they have American relatives, that should make you happier. And you get to call for the death of American soldiers in all of your fake outrage. Your addicts die, our soldiers die. Happy days are here again! Death and destruction to all, right?


  102. Marie says:

    Bush doesn’t care about his legacy — history won’t judge him until long after he is dead. I have paraphrased his very words.
    His dividing America and wreaking havoc around the world, the needless deaths of tens of thousands, and so on – it doesn’t matter. He goes blithely on his way, not fearful of consequences, nor of his reputation in history. He merely has to satisfy his friends, and they he, while he is here.


  103. Smedley says:

    102 your nutz ….I am saying if you live by the sword as in american soldier you must expect to die by the sword no soldier gets my pity

    I have feelings for Iraqi civilians
    I have feelings for American Civilians

    I have no feelings for dogs of war
    My Father was a military man and He cannot funtion without an order …. I Hate militaries they took my father away from me even to this day he shows hardly any human feelings or emmotions . I wish he had been a civilian he reminds me of the film American beauty …although never that bad


  104. Clif says:

    Smedley not all soldiers are mindless automats, I served in Desert Storm, but never gave the military my conscience or soul, I can understand that from the outside it may look they way you try to present it but generalizing all human beings who wear the uniform the way you do is not progressive, or caring as the post about your father shows.


  105. Solitaire says:

    Smedly, my father too was a military man. See? We have so much in common. And I have friends who died of drug/alcohol problems. The similarities are amazing. So when you call for the death of American soldiers and I call for the death of UK druggies, sounds about the same to me! You chose to blame kids in the military and I chose to blame kids on the needle.
    Hate rhetoric like yours is easily met, Smedly, with more hate rhetoric. Our soldiers are mostly kids (18 – 25) who joined the armed forces to get out of the house, get a college education, travel, some benefits. They didn’t expect to be thrown into this mess any more than your friends expected to die when they tried that drug. Rejoice at their death, if you will. Expect no sympathy if you do.


  106. Mary says:

    After Fallujah,the first incident in April 2003,when a group of “liberated” Iraqis were protesting the US military using their local school for headquarters and those misled youths opened fire,killing seventeen men,women and children, my first thought was we just lost this “war”.Since then,according to many sources,alot of the incindiary incidents have been instigation events carried out by black ops and “coalition” troops,probably as a strategy to draw out oposition response,but nevertheless,dirty deeds to provoke.After the second Fallujah event when the four “contractors” (mercenaries) were hung on the bridge,my first thought was what did those four do to evoke such a response?Sadir’s little army held their own after that one although I’m sure we could have used air support to qwell it.After the third Fallhjah incident,when we did use heavy air and ground attacks,displacing 200,000 people and killing an uncounted number of civillians and trashing the “City of Mosques” I was physically ill from the thought that this was being done in America’s name.I am referencing the Riverbend blog recounting incidents of US sabotage,of troops at a check point placing a timed device in a vehicle of an Iraqi farmer heading to market in Baghdad which the farmer discovered and removed.I am referencing the British special forces busted in Basra disguised as Arabs diving a car bomb. You remember that,when the British troops destroyed that jail to break out their homeys.I don’t believe for a minute that Iraqis are responsible for this bombing,they are proud of their heritage and would not willfully destroy a shrine.This is a tactic imposed by an unknown entity and we should not just lap it up.Can you say USS Liberty?Iraq is a crime in progress.


  107. Clif says:

    Mary what you post is Rumsfeld reasons for outsourcing part of the battle to Halliburton, so the UCMJ rules need not apply, Outsourcing to the private sector is one way to remove burdensome regulations that the US government agencies must follow. Al;so they do not have to report anything back through “official” channels.


  108. Solitaire says:

    Mary, I agree. And we in the US who opposed this war from jump have been dragged into it against our will. The blood on the hands of the soldiers is on our hands too, because we are the citizens. The evil on the head of Bush is on ours too, even though we fought as hard as we could to stop it, we are Americans and we are responsible for our government, just as the Afghans were responsibile for the Taliban and Bin Laden. It makes me sick that I, and all the people of the US, must bear the responsibility for the crime that is Iraq. For this humiliation, for this atrocity, BushCo must be held accountable. Even though he be chained and imprisoned, never will we be clean again. The Germans will have to live with the fact of Hitler forever and we will have to live with the fact of Bush forever.


  109. WaltTheMan says:

    Smedley,
    Have you considered a vasectomy and having your offspring neutered? The world would be a better place as weed affects ones DNA. How many defects would you introduce into the human gene pool if you not do otherwise? I presume that you stopped out of concern for your progeny because your parents did not.


  110. Smedley says:

    Surely that applies to Bush not me ……Hes far worse


  111. Clif says:

    Smedley your posts were VERY insensitive to many of us, and quite a few of the people who post here are veterans of the military


  112. Stephen says:

    Civil war is certainly a possibility, however each time these senators and other officials said that civil war is imminent it hasn’t materialized. It may still happen, however making the same preditiction over and over for several years until it happens to become correct does not make anyone particularly special. Even in July when “iraq is slipping into all out civil war” it didn’t happen, don’t give up yet…


  113. Mary says:

    113. Please read 107, this is the hopes of your ilk? That it will become an active civil war?I’m sick from all the death and destruction and I’m sure the Iraqis are even more sick of this BS.They would not wantonly destroy their heritage,it must be agitators of your ilk who are carring out these deeds.Now the sectarian divide is worse than ever, death squads trained and armed by the US are run amok and we are helpless here at home to do anything to prevent the slaughter of those innocents.Neocons rolled the dice and now some of them are jumping ship to cut their loses.When they stand in the light at the end of their lives may God be just.


  114. Clif says:

    Mary the Sunni’s don’t reconise the Imams that the Mosque was built to honor, they deny the family linage of the Shia line and that is the major rift between the two sides, Sunni terrorists blowing up that mosque is like Catholic northern Irish terrorist blowing up Westminister Abby.


  115. San Juan Peace Net Bulletin Blog » Blog Archive » Bush Ignored Warnings Of Iraqi Civil War says:

    [...] Think Progress » Bush Ignored Warnings Of Iraqi Civil War With yesterday’s bombing of one of Shiite Islam’s holiest shrines in Iraq, the common consensus appears to be that Iraq is now on the verge of a full-blown civil war. Such an outcome has been predicted for years, and the Bush administration has done little to shift its strategy to address the persisting threat. [...]


  116. Mary says:

    I disagree Clif,even bush blamed it on instigators,the dead guy and al Qiada.There has been speculation that the CIA has remained involved with that organization,that “The Base” was a front for Iran/Contra gun running and not some zealot Isalmic army.This is outright inflamatory activity and the masses are dying again.How do we rule?We rule by fear,look at Iraq tonight,locked down,they are afraid to leave their homes now because the enemy is everyone.


  117. Clif says:

    Mary; the insurgency can not defeat the US military but like Bin Laden they feel if they make the enviroment dangerous enough we will leave ( and a full blown civil war might be dangerous)and then they can upsert the sunni leadership and control all of Iraq as the Taliban did in Afganistan. There are cultural forces that might accept help at times but they have a goal the reestablishment of the caliphate, the Muslim equilvalent of the pope, which was broken up after WW1, and the idea of the caliphate is against what the International Free Trade Industrial Aristocracy that Bushco. represents.


  118. Jay Randal says:

    Bush is extremely desperate to get the UAE ports deal out of the press, so it is even probable one of our Black Op teams blew the shrine?! As likely as any other scenario that has been postulated who did it! Our Generals did blow up all the Mosques in Falluja, about a hundred of them, so why not this shrine for Dubya? Shias think U.S. did it!


  119. winbackcongress says:

    So who cares!!!! There a civil war delared in Iraq!
    American Troops are in harm’s way!!!!! So what if the President ignored warnings or not what the hell is the strategy NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


  120. Clif says:

    #120 bushes usual stragety cut brush at the ranch……


  121. Jericho says:

    Iraq is now on the verge of a full-blown civil war???? Was there a time that Iraq didn’t have civil war? Torture, oppression, extortion, genocide,… are these earmarks of a civil war? If not, maybe Bush isn’t the worst president of all time – but he is.


  122. Jay Randal says:

    Bush does not care about the Iraqi people > he only cares about getting the crude OIL! George claiming he invaded Iraq to create democracy is a very sinister LIE! The people of Iraq no longer have clean water, electricity is sparse, about 50% are unemployed, health care is non-existant, violence is eveywhere and crime is rampant! Look at Iraq and realize that America itself under King Bush is becoming another Iraq soon?!


  123. Mary says:

    Some country who does not like your leader comes over and drops 15,000 tons of explosives on your home and the homes of your neighbors and the markets killing your family and destroying everything you ever had.What would you do?I know the US cannot be defeated by a bunch of civilians with an arsenal of 350 metric tonnes of plastique.We have passed any point of reason because of this assinine policy of staying the course.And stealing as much as we can carry.If we left today it would remove the major catalyst of the insurgency.The people of Iraq would be able to work out their own differences.Those who were resentful of Saddams secular government are very similar to the Christian Right in this country,about ten percent of the population with sabotures who may cause some problems.However the Shia leaders are more tolerant than portrayed and it would not last very long.The notion that the leaders intend to recreate the calaphate is absurd,there would never be consensus,they are nationalistic give them some credit for having sense enough to take care of themselves.Maybe the “daddy” government has gotten to you but most people have their self preservation and the welfare of their country uppermost in their priorities.Many jobs created from cleaning up the mess we made.


  124. Progressaurus Rex says:

    APRIL FIRST IS IMPEACH THE FOOL DAY …
    get out and get heard, plan a rally or a march, put signs in your yard and on your car…

    IMPEACH THE FOOL ON APRIL FOOL’S DAY!

    a day of protest and civil disobedience

    pass it on!


  125. Monkey Nut Wrench says:

    Basically Most Americans are waiting for the wealth to come from stealing Iraqs oil wealth and possibly Irans too (( as in American Battle plans for Iran here http://www.craigmurray.co.uk/ archives/ 2006/ 02/ battle_plans_fo_1.html

    The democrats I think dont speak out against the war because monkey boy Bush might just manage to steal all the worlds oil reserves …therefore most say morgage paying americans , workers, fear for their future …and have hidden ajendas …If Bush pulls this steal off …and America becomes rich again the democatrats will look very foolish …I think and thats why they do not speak out



  126. Republican Whore » Civil War Brewing in Iraq says:

    [...] So much for Republican prowess in foreign policy. There is a nice summary of the events leading up to the civil war published by Think Progress that is well worth the read. [...]


  127. Leaving Only Footprints » Blog Archive » Civil War in Iraq says:

    [...] – For almost 3 years, Bush has ignored the warnings of Iraqi civil war from congressmen, the security committees, and the CIA. [...]


  128. Lesinokc says:

    I was against the war from the start. I knew that a bunch of gung ho onward Christian soldiers landing in the middle of islam…..couldn’t work.

    I’m enjoying seeing America, once gain, getting their butts handed to them by a bunch of people with the IQs of a peanut.

    It’s a religious war. I hope both sides kill each other off. God is laughing his ass off at the stupidity.


  129. The Virginia Progressive » You Can’t Make This Stuff Up says:

    [...] Now the insurgency in Iraq is exclusively Sunni-led. There are some members of Al-Qaeda directing traffic, but it’s mostly Sunni’s who fear that the Shi’a are going to take power in a democratically elected government due to their sheer numbers and start paying them back for all those years of torture. The U.S. was repeatedly warned that if it invaded Iraq, the biggest problem it would have deal with sectarian violence between the Sunni’s and Shi’a. [...]


  130. Saddam Hussein sentenced to death by hanging - Page 9 - Volconvo Debate Forums says:

    [...] Quote by: rmnunez Many take issue with the Bush administration, and particularly Rumsfeld’s planing for this intervention. With the best of planning, the occupation would have turned out badly. Well before the invasion, many predicted that the US would get bogged down in a guerilla war and that a civil war was likely. This was before Rumsfeld and his minions started screwing up. The mistake was invading in the first place. Prewar Assessment on Iraq Saw Chance of Strong Divisions Bush Ignored Warnings Of Iraqi Civil War How predictions for Iraq came true __________________ Rick All those who seek to destroy the liberties of a democratic nation ought to know that war is the surest and shortest means to accomplish it. – Alexis de Tocqueville [...]



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