‘The condition there is worse than I expected,’
By on Jul 19th, 2006 at 4:51 pm
‘The condition there is worse than I expected,’
according to Rep. Gil Gutknecht (R-MN), who just returned from a visit to Iraq. “Baghdad is worse today than it was three years ago,†he said. Gutknecht was critical of some of the “spin†from Bush administration officials. “We learned it’s not safe to go anywhere outside of the Green Zone any part of the day.†He added, “What I think we need to do more is withdraw more Americans.†(via The Swamp)
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Withdraw all of the troops
July 19th, 2006 at 5:02 pmwhat exactly does america want in Iraq
no WMD
no Saddam
american troops are hiding all day long in their bases
Americans support and arm the militias
Good job Sunnis and Shias have not joined forces together and attack americans
Thats why America arms the militias
what a shit of a nation … Never ever will i forgive you
July 19th, 2006 at 5:05 pmdid he get a chance to meet up with Mr. Bodman. Apparently Bodman knows where the “in” spots are in Bahgdad.
July 19th, 2006 at 5:05 pmYes, lets surrender now. Why don’t we all convert to Islam and get it over with. Those of you who didn’t believe in organized religion before, well I don’t know how our new leaders will take to that. Somehow, I think you’ll be losing your heads over it. Why fight any war? Just give up now. Bring ‘em home!
July 19th, 2006 at 5:06 pmWell someone is lying.
July 19th, 2006 at 5:06 pmI’m sure the Democrats will clarify the discrepancy twixt the differing opinions…
“The situation seems far more stable than when I was here two or three years ago,†he said in an interview in the fortified Green Zone. “The security seems better, people are more relaxed. There is an optimism, at least among the people I talked to
July 19th, 2006 at 5:07 pmRandy
Miss that R?
July 19th, 2006 at 5:09 pmpsst, Randy, I heard that there are Islamic mosques already on US soil. I know it freaks me out too. That must mean that there a muslim here too. Don’t look but I think there is one behind you. I am so scared. Can you give me a neck rub?
July 19th, 2006 at 5:11 pmHey Randy…….BOO!
July 19th, 2006 at 5:13 pmAw, Pharm, now you went and scared it away.
July 19th, 2006 at 5:17 pmyes, i agree completely with randy…she sounds hot; or is she a he? well, no matter…
as i have said before, we must kill the towel-heads, convert them to christianity, and take all their oil.
kisses,
ann
July 19th, 2006 at 5:19 pmYes, lets surrender now. Why don’t we all convert to Islam and get it over with. Those of you who didn’t believe in organized religion before, well I don’t know how our new leaders will take to that. Somehow, I think you’ll be losing your heads over it. Why fight any war? Just give up now. Bring ‘em home!
Comment by Randy — July 19, 2006 @ 5:06 pm
What a fallacious argument. For one, starting to withdraw is not surrendering. It is called a strategic retreat but I forget that strategy is one thing you and this current administration does NOT have. Secondly, it’s insipid and fearmongering to suggest that if we don’t fight them there then we’ll have to fight them here. You argue like a 2 year old whining for a candy bar.
July 19th, 2006 at 5:20 pmSecrecy ruling by judge on Blair-Bush talk
The public must be prevented from learning the contents of a conversation between Tony Blair and President George Bush about the conduct of the war in Iraq – crucial evidence in a forthcoming official secrets trial – an Old Bailey judge ruled yesterday.
Any discussion of an already partially leaked document – in which Mr Bush purportedly said in April 2004 that he wanted to bomb the Arabic satellite TV station al-Jazeera, and Mr Blair expressed concern about US military tactics in the Iraqi city of Falluja – must be heard behind closed doors, Mr Justice Aikens ruled. He also banned the public and the media from hearing the prosecution’s arguments on the grounds of national security.
SOURCE
July 19th, 2006 at 5:20 pmhi, everyone!
i’m baaacckkk….think progress expurged my note from last night :(
anyways, had a great weekend with ken lay and michelle malkin…yummy!!! richard perle showed up too! he has such dreamy eyes…
i see the boys at think progress hasn’t come up with anything relevant to say about the israel thing…nice job :)
kisses,
ann
July 19th, 2006 at 5:21 pmRandy, Reagan withdrew from Lebanon.
July 19th, 2006 at 5:23 pmAmerica still plan to steal the Oil – behind the green door
July 19th, 2006 at 5:25 pmin the meantime, while fearmongers like Randy keep blabbering against “surrender” and hyperventilate over the perceived Islamic threat, ordinary, innocent Iraqis are paying the occupation of their country with their lives.
Even the LA Times finds it hard to ignore reality:
The toll, which is mostly of civilians but probably also includes some security forces and insurgents, is daunting: Proportionately, it is equivalent to 570,000 Americans being killed nationwide in the last three years.
War’s Iraqi Death Toll Tops 50,000
Randy, what did those 50,000 Iraqis (women and children included) ever do to you?
July 19th, 2006 at 5:25 pmFor those who understand:
Two men from Wonderland came this day,
And shared quite opposite views,
And both were intensely commented upon:
Both right, both wrong, both news.
And we’ve gotten a glimpse of Wonderland,
But who’s Jeckyl, and who’s Hyde?
We’ll cheer on the news we want to hear,
Always blaming the other side.
And I?
I have traveled the other side of the looking-glass,
Down the rabbit’s hole,
Past the March-hare’s madness,
And drank from the Devil’s bowl.
Below the depths of Wonderland,
The lonely darkness calls,
And beckons my soul to dwell therein,
In labyrinthical halls.
I long to return to the darkness,
The Never-Never Land of night;
To leave behind the looking-glass,
Forever banished from its sight.
But the chess game moves ever onward,
And I, a lowly pawn,
Have slain the Black Knight with a double-edged sword,
And condemned myself to the dawn.
Again, for those who understand, I ask you to think Peace. It couldn’t hurt, and it just might help.
July 19th, 2006 at 5:27 pmWhere Are Bush’s Critics Now?
When Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert unleashed his navy and air force on Lebanon, accusing that tiny nation of an “act of war,” the last pillar of Bush’s Middle East policy collapsed.
July 19th, 2006 at 5:28 pmoh, leave randi alone! those 50,000 whatevers were born in iraq…they were NOT christians, and, were quite godless.
as we all know, the value of, say, two children in nazareth, is worth 500 dead lebanese. do the math! likewise, the value of 50,000 iraqis is worth way less than 2000 americans.
kisses,
ann
July 19th, 2006 at 5:29 pm“Palestinians were offered land in 1948. They turned it down. Too bad.”
The latest bigotry and immorality served up by Ed Schultz and the DLC.
July 19th, 2006 at 5:32 pmThe palestinians were offered their own land in 1948.
July 19th, 2006 at 5:33 pmIsrael and her paid and pro-bono agents here appear determined to expand the Iraq war into Syria and Iran, and have America fight and finish all of Israel’s enemies.
That Tel Aviv is maneuvering us to fight its wars is understandable. That Americans are ignorant of, or complicit in this, is deplorable.
Already, Bush is ranting about Syria being behind the Hezbollah capture of the Israeli soldiers. But where is the proof?
Who is whispering in his ear? The same people who told him Iraq was maybe months away from an atom bomb, that an invasion would be a “cakewalk,” that he would be Churchill, that U.S. troops would be greeted with candy and flowers, that democracy would break out across the region, that Palestinians and Israelis would then sit down and make peace?
How much must America pay for the education of this man?
HA HA HA HA HA
July 19th, 2006 at 5:34 pmI’ll offer my usual odds of $20.00 to a glass of warm pee that GG won’t get the nomination for Secretary of Energy any time soon.
July 19th, 2006 at 5:34 pmRandy,
Are you a wee bit afraid and scared? So pulling out of Iraq will lead to America being taken over by Muslims ?
July 19th, 2006 at 5:35 pm#23
Whatever we paid when the fool was in public school was too damn much or not near enough depending on your perspective. At any rate we didn’t get our money’e worth or he didn’t get worth from our money.
July 19th, 2006 at 5:37 pmBy American soldiers cowering and hiding in Iraq
You are all playing into the hands of Iran, China and Russia to stay bogged down
July 19th, 2006 at 5:38 pmBush will slowly work this out he’s been had Hook line and sinker
the character assassination of the left is truly sickening!
just look at what these firedoglake people linked to! some contrived collection of our precious commander-in-chief.
don’t click on the video, it is simply more left-wing propaganda.
July 19th, 2006 at 5:40 pmGil tells the truth, too bad we are still going to vote your ass out in Nov. Too little, too late, Gil. See you at polls.
July 19th, 2006 at 5:51 pmDont forget folks that the precedent of “cut & run” was invented by Republicans.
We did so in Vietnam, but claimed that it was peace with honor. We did so in Lebanon, shortly after the second worst president ever said we could not be forced to leave Lebanon.
These people set these precedents, then blame it on the dems.
July 19th, 2006 at 6:47 pmSomebody’s lying here. Who is it? First I read, life in Bagdad is beautiful and now I’m reading that it really sucks. Who’s telling the truth? /sarc on
July 19th, 2006 at 7:39 pmThe situation only appears more relaxed because of all the dead and missing Iraqis.
July 19th, 2006 at 7:42 pmYes, lets surrender now. Why don’t we all convert to Islam and get it over with. Those of you who didn’t believe in organized religion before, well I don’t know how our new leaders will take to that. Somehow, I think you’ll be losing your heads over it. Why fight any war? Just give up now. Bring ‘em home!
Comment by Randy — July 19, 2006 @ 5:06 pm’
For those of you in the cheap seats (Randy, listen up!) we are not fighting a war in Iraq! The President of the United States declared in the summer of 2003 that “all combat operations in Iraq had ended”. We are engaged in a brutal occupation of a sovereign nation. Our brave men and women have successfully completed every mission they were tasked with in Iraq (except the one that was not possible to complete because there never were in WMDs) and it’s time to bring them home! The Iraqi government is never going to have any amount of legitimacy while we are there and our presence has directly contributed to more hostility in the Middle East as we are seeing currently in Lebanon. It’s time for us to come up with a new plan for peace in the middle east that does not involve Democracy reinforced at the barrel of a gun (which NEVER works and never will). Unfortunately, our current group of chickenhawk cowards in the Executive branch will never utilize the only possible skill that could extricate us all (including Israel, Lebanon, Syria, etc) from this nightmare we are in now: diplomacy.
July 19th, 2006 at 8:01 pmWhatever happened to the campaign to call this thing that we’re currently in the Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism?
July 19th, 2006 at 8:21 pmI guarantee that Rep. Gutknecht is going to find a horse’s head in his bed when he gets home.
July 19th, 2006 at 8:22 pm#35
actually, the TRUTH is that gutknecht is a piece of horse-dung and his polsters told him that he had better change his stance on iraq…now!
he is running against a guy named tim walz who is quite good: for universal health care, education, ending the occupation of iraq, and, worst of all for gutfornothingnick–a 20-something year army reservist/trainer/teacher….
gil will be selling himself on the corner the first week of november…that is where the epiphany comes from/.
July 19th, 2006 at 8:31 pmJames,
I don’t know anything about Gutknecht. I always wonder, though, whenever a Republican goes off book like this, whether GOP operatives inflict their own brand of Omerta on them.
July 19th, 2006 at 9:07 pmRepublican congressmen are notoriously unreliable sources; I prefer to listen to…uh…to…
Look! A terrorist!
July 19th, 2006 at 9:43 pmGutknecht already received his calls from Rove and Norquist telling him to “get back on script this instant.” Gutknecht was also one of Gingrich’s class of 1994 that included neocon-demolished promises like: “THE FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY ACT” and the
July 19th, 2006 at 10:06 pm. . . THE PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY ACT” They also called for “he end of government that is too big, too intrusive, and too easy with the public’s money” and promised to leave after 12 years. See ya Gil!
July 19th, 2006 at 10:08 pmI have a test for anyone who thinks things are going good for us anywhere in the Middle East. Get in a car with U.S. State Dept displayed on the side in Isreal (it will work there) and drive east. Will you take bets on how far you will get?
July 19th, 2006 at 11:28 pmthank him???? he has the blood of thousands on his hands by supporting the bush crime family for years! the best way gil nutnick can be ‘thanked’ is with his early retirement on november 7th or so…
he is the worst sort of hybrid of the conservative and the neo-conservative.
July 19th, 2006 at 11:30 pm[...] Quote from an apolitical loved one, upon “shock and awe.” [...]
July 20th, 2006 at 12:19 amIraq is getting worse daily, but the press is distracted by the war in Lebanon now!
July 20th, 2006 at 1:48 amFew Americans are capable of empathy and most don’t care. The “leadership” certainly doesn’t care. Very few really want any sort or form of peace. People that call themselves Christians in this country are liars. Jesus said, “You have heard it said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’,. But I say to you, ‘whoever looks at a woman to lust after her in his heart has already committed adultry with her.’†In addition Jesus says, “You have heard it said, ‘You shall not commit murder’, but I say to you, ‘whoever is even angry with a brother or sister is liable to judgement.’â€
Moral decay starts at the top and has reached all the way through the courts, legislature and the press, which is in bed with those that they are to report on. They all reflect the true nature of the American people. To lye, cheat and steal without getting caught are the greatest attributes a person can have that “make it” in this country, and the rest of the population emulate them as demigods. The people don’t even care about honest elections and stand for nothing, while the people of Mexico are showing what it really takes to be a democracy.
Any knowledge of history shows that the US has been a corrupt nation bent on the overthrow of legitimate democracies or countries fighting for it over the last 108 years. The country also sets up dictatorships and disposes of them when it suits them. Now, the government of special interests are eating into the freedoms and liberties of the people which are showing that they clearly don’t care.
This nations is finished as a form of democracy and it’s demagogery is obvious to everyone around the world now. A quote from Thomas Jefferson “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” is where this country is today.
July 20th, 2006 at 9:24 amHe is facing Command Master Sergeant Tim Walz in a race that is extremely competitive. His Iraq position is one of the central issues. Don’t be suprised to see him have a bunch of other sudden revelations.
July 20th, 2006 at 6:59 pm