Gen. George Casey: Civil War Is ‘The Most Significant Threat Right Now’ In Iraq
By on Aug 8th, 2006 at 9:51 am
Gen. George Casey: Civil War Is ‘The Most Significant Threat Right Now’ In Iraq
In an interview with ABC News, Gen George Casey — the top U.S. commander in Iraq — said a civil war in Iraq “certainly is possible.” He described a potential civil war as “the most significant threat right now” in Iraq.
Casey adds his voice to a chorus of top generals — including CentCom commander John Abizaid and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Peter Pace — who warn that Iraq is in danger of sliding into civil war. Watch it:
[flv http://video.thinkprogress.org/2006/08/casey.320.240.flv]
Yesterday, President Bush dismissed the concerns expressed by Casey and other Generals. Bush said “You know, I hear people say, Well, civil war this, civil war that. The Iraqi people decided against civil war when they went to the ballot box.â€
Read the full transcript of ABC’s interview with Casey.
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Casey you librul pants wetter!! Don't you know that we're spreading democracy! They had purple fingers damn it! Stay the course!
August 8th, 2006 at 9:54 amIf you really believe that civil war is not already happening in Iraq, you must have your head shoved all the way up your ass.
August 8th, 2006 at 9:55 amHmmm. Heavily armed militias fighting each other within the borders of a country. Sounds like Civil War to me already.
Goper's Lament
August 8th, 2006 at 9:59 amI always appreciate a text in addition to the video. I plan to switch to high speed soon, but even then, I expect I will prefer text.
August 8th, 2006 at 10:06 amSorry, that comment should have been on the previous thread.
August 8th, 2006 at 10:06 amIt's a lie! Liar! Liar!
George says no civil War while wearing rose colored glasses!
He should fire Casey! Bastard!
August 8th, 2006 at 10:06 amThis really means the end of me watching videos via ThinkProgress as I will not be enabling Flash, upgrading it every two minutes to the version of the week - and I do not run Windows so Adobe does not give a damn about my system anyhow, not to mention running JavaScripts all over the place just to see a clip.
Judd, if you would be so kind to also post the link to the original video, even off-site, to make us flash haters happy, we would really appreciate it.
August 8th, 2006 at 10:06 amThere's little joy in being right when it comes to Iraq. Many on the left predicted no substantial WMD caches would be found, the troops would face a vicious insurgency and Iraq would probably break up or slide into civil war. So far, two of these predictions have come true. It looks like the 3rd is about to.
I wonder if any of the neo-con nut job lose a minute of sleep over what their warped ideologies have wrought.
August 8th, 2006 at 10:07 amWe'll considering offering multiple formats in the future. For a little while we are going to only be able to offer flash. My feeling is that this will work for more people, make the video to load faster and improve the video quality. In the meantime, everyone's views will be taken into consideration and we are going to try to make as many people happy as possible.
August 8th, 2006 at 10:10 amThey're just buying time. At this point it is in their interest to say it's "possible" because the truth is going to come out. It's their best option at this time. Covers their asses and buys time.
August 8th, 2006 at 10:12 amIt's just like George W. Bush to dismiss people who might actually know what they're talking about.
He should try something different -- the death toll is too high.
August 8th, 2006 at 10:14 am#2 I guess that explains the strange location of the Presidents cowboy hat.
August 8th, 2006 at 10:16 amThe flash seems to load faster than the previous versions, Judd. and can play it right from the link.
August 8th, 2006 at 10:20 amI for one Like it =)
Judd,
I think this would make a great video to put up on the site: very funny!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkDmKhRGBsE
Folks - it's a highlight reel of Lieberman and Bush, to the tune of "Kiss Me". Worth a watch for a few laughs.
August 8th, 2006 at 10:27 amRaddatz: There are a lot of people who say it's already a civil war now?
Casey: Yeah, I don't buy that. I mean, the levels of sectarian in Baghdad — sectarian violence in Baghdad are high. There's no question about it. While Baghdad is the center of the country, it's not the country. And if you take a 30-mile radius around Baghdad and draw a circle, 90 percent of the sectarian violence is in that circle. … the rest of the country, it's not there. And so, as you've said, they're all coming to Baghdad. This is where the fight is going to be. And this is where we'll have our success. Raddatz: Is there already civil war in Baghdad?
Casey: Again, I don't think so.
August 8th, 2006 at 10:33 amIt sure took long enough for the military to stop letting itself be used as a political cover for the administration, but it finally looks like military leaders have had all they're going to take of being human fodder for Bush's policy and planning failures.
August 8th, 2006 at 10:39 amI am glad that this site has not forgotten Iraq, as have many others, but I worry about it's silence on the issue of Israel's naked aggression against Lebanon.
August 8th, 2006 at 10:40 amGen. Casey, why do you hate America? You are either with Bu$h, or against him, and if you are against him, you are obviously weak and soft on terror. You sir, are a traitor.
August 8th, 2006 at 10:42 amIt appears to be CYA time for the military. They know it's out of control and at least realize that Americans will be killed because of it. bush/cheney need to delay the acknowledgement of another failure until they can get past the elections in November. The bush/cheney tactic will be to simply say it's not so and we're moving on to greater democracy for the wonderful world which now exists in Iraq. As long as the press and congress doesn't call them on it. . . they will have cover.
August 8th, 2006 at 10:42 amWHY are they saying its a POSSIBILITY???? IT'S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW - and has been for weeks (months) now.
August 8th, 2006 at 10:46 amIraqi civil war has already begun, U.S. troops say
BAGHDAD, Iraq - While American politicians and generals in Washington debate the possibility of civil war in Iraq, U.S. officers and enlisted men who patrol Baghdad daily say it has already begun.
Army troops in and around Baghdad interviewed in the last week cite a long list of evidence that the center of the nation is coming undone: Villages have been abandoned by Sunni and Shiite Muslims; Sunni insurgents have killed thousands of Shiites in car bombings and assassinations; Shiite militia death squads have tortured and killed hundreds, if not thousands, of Sunnis; and when night falls, neighborhoods become open battlegrounds.
August 8th, 2006 at 10:51 amDead right Southwest Bob!
August 8th, 2006 at 10:51 amThe Decider knows best...the generals should know that by now...just ask all the Decider apologists.
August 8th, 2006 at 10:52 amBush's detachment from reality extends to the piece of reality he interacts with daily and is personally responsible for.
This really isn't in dispute. We've got plenty of video evidence at this point.
August 8th, 2006 at 10:52 amHow long will it take before he ADMITS IT?
Exclusive: U.S. Plans Removal Of US. Troops In Event Of Iraq Civil War:
Iraq—Plans in Case of a Civil War
By Richard Wolffe and John Barry
08/06/06 "Newsweek" -- -- Aug. 14, 2006 issue - The Bush administration insists Iraq is a long way from civil war, but the contingency planning has already begun inside the White House and the Pentagon. President Bush will move U.S. troops out of Iraq if the country descends into civil war, according to one senior Bush aide who declined to be named while talking about internal strategy. "If there's a full-blown civil war, the president isn't going to allow our forces to be caught in the crossfire," the aide said. "But institutionally, the government of Iraq isn't breaking down. It's still a unity government."
August 8th, 2006 at 10:56 amGeneral Casey is obviously a traitor and has been influenced by the Arab loving, liberal media.
-The Great Deciderer
*Lampoon of G.W. Bush by GSD
August 8th, 2006 at 10:57 amDebating whether what is happening now in Iraq now is a civil war or not, is a moot point.
August 8th, 2006 at 10:57 amWhat is happening in Iraq is hell on earth and GWB and his gang of terrorists in suits is responsible for all of it.
As far as I am concerned, civil war is an oxymoron.
Ugh. Unuseable, proprietary, unsaveable flash! Not watching videos here anymore...
August 8th, 2006 at 11:02 amthe decider in chief seems to be on top of the situation. the generals better get with the program or risk the deciders scorn.
August 8th, 2006 at 11:03 amSo 90% of the fighting is happening in a 30k area surrounding Baghdad. Let's see. The population of Iraq is about 27,000,000. The population of Baghdad is around 7,000,000. So give or take, 1/4 of Iraqis are experiencing high levels of "sectarian violence" everyday but it shouldn't be called a civil war. What percentage do we need to get to? What percentage of Americans actually experienced the Civil War here on our soil? Polulation - 31,000,000: fought in war ~3,000,000: 10%.
August 8th, 2006 at 11:07 am#28.... The point to avoiding the harsh reality of a failed policy in everything coming from bush/cheney is to DEBATE an issue until the essential elements of the issue are lost or so hopelessly confused that either they are not challenged or the issue is not challenged. Look at global warming. . . or even better, WMD's in Iraq. Notice how many times, bush/cheney or their supports use the phrase, "Well, there is quite a bit of debate on this issue." Which really means "We're dead in the water on this issue, but not going to admit it."
August 8th, 2006 at 11:10 amWhen it's finally agreed on that there is a civil war in Iraq will the troops be redeployed to afghanistan or sent home? My guess is 30,000 troops will be sent to afghanistan.
August 8th, 2006 at 11:10 amBTW - where IS Cheney? - haven't heard word one from him in awhile...WTF?
August 8th, 2006 at 11:12 amBush and the cabal are a boil on the ass of democracy. How much longer do we have to put up with retard before congress takes action? I can only hope that the Dems can control one of the houses after November. Maybe then some heat will be applied to this worthless administration.
August 8th, 2006 at 11:13 am"Casey: the definitions of civil war are almost not useful here."
You don't like what you see? Change definitions!
You find out you are pregnant at an inconvenient time? Change definitions!
Sir, this is civil war, by any definition!
August 8th, 2006 at 11:14 am"It's up to the Generals on the ground in Iraq - after all they're the ones on the front lines seeing everything first hand - every day. I'm going to listen to what the Generals say!"
George W. Bush
Before the Generals admitted that the Civil War in Iraq was for real.
Casey had better watch his back.
August 8th, 2006 at 11:32 amStay the purple finger democracy course.
August 8th, 2006 at 11:53 amor just stop that shit.
The DoD, NSA, Neocon administraton and it's sycophants for war were planning for this situation. There was never any intent on performing anything but creating a point of operations of which the US, UK, Australia and Canada could operate out of. They are all in it together for big oil company control of energy. There is no concern for the loss of life, "democracy", national soverignty... The only thing that will get accomplished is building bases around oil pipelines and oil reserve locations and a central point of operations for the above agencies, neocons and neolibs to operate from like the biggest embassy on the planet.
August 8th, 2006 at 11:55 amKinda reminds me of the scene in Rising Sun, where the Japanese businessmen start sidling away from the perp.
August 8th, 2006 at 11:59 amThe military is real good at CYA, they do it all their professional careers. They know this dog don't hunt no more, just stinking up the place.
Kick the Bushites to the curb this Nov and in 2008.
#33 - Let's just hope the other 105,000 aren't sent to Iran.
August 8th, 2006 at 12:03 pmDidn't the person who likes to call himself the decider say that he will follow the advice of the generals in the field? Is this a case of "when the words come out of my mouth, I forget everything I say, because I don't really mean it in the first place? Hypocrisy anyone?
August 8th, 2006 at 12:15 pmWe have 2x but we need to get to 5x....Does the enemy have a brain? Does this look like a Civil War? Look it up in the Dictionary...but it doesnt look like our Civil War. -Rummy
WTF???
August 8th, 2006 at 12:22 pmHow many times does "W" need to hear from the men in uniform in order to GET IT? What an idiot. It's bad enough that our prez is clueless, however, he wears his incompetency proudly, like it's some sort of badge. Impeachment time.
August 8th, 2006 at 12:41 pmThis is what they were trying to do all along; start a war between Sunni and Shia that will spread throughout the region. When they are done killing each other, we will be there to help pick up the pieces. They have to accomplish this goal before Iran gets a nuke or else it won't work. Israel had to jump in because it wasn't going fast enough. Soon it will be the “rapture†and dead Muslims everywhere, then Cheney and the oil companies will jump in to take over the oil fields. Bush and the neocons are just playing dumb right now because we aren't at endgame yet. We have to have a region-wide conflict so we can sort out the good Muslims from the bad. After it's all over, we will be the most powerful and hated country in the world and our children will suffer the consequences. I weep for the fate of my country as we set the New Crusade into motion. We have killed ourselves. The black hole of our destruction has gotten it's hold on us. We will swirl the drain for quite awhile, but we will be sucked in eventually.
August 8th, 2006 at 12:42 pmAnd Iraqis love Casey's strategy.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-2303861,00.html
August 8th, 2006 at 12:50 pmThat traitorous General Casey is giving comfort to the enemy!
August 8th, 2006 at 1:01 pmHe thinks they were deciding against civil war when they voted? Was that on the ballot?
August 8th, 2006 at 1:28 pm[...] I won’t say it, but Iraq is now total shit [...]
August 8th, 2006 at 1:36 pmMaybe he's related to "Casey at the bat" - stands around and takes two strikes without swinging and then has to swing at the last pitch, which he misses. When is General Casey going to swing, miss, and be out of the political arena.
August 8th, 2006 at 2:12 pmFlash? Gah! No!
Flash is an atrocity, violating every design standard which made the web successful in the first place. The primary design goals that made the web work were accessibility through many software implementations written by many different groups, and an emphasis on user-controlled presentation. Flash’s explicit design goals are to break exactly these things.
And to compound the abomination of Flash with a reliance on the abomination of javascript is truly atrocious. I’ve never once seen anything done in javascript that I wanted to have happening on my computer, and I’m afraid that this incarnation of it is sadly consistent with that.
Please, please go back to the perfectly functional choice of using quicktime. Or if you have concerns about the small number of platforms for which a quicktime implementation is not available, use an even more universally available format like mpeg. But not Flash, not for anything, not ever.
August 8th, 2006 at 2:34 pmNotice that Mighty Aphrodite and exley have no comments on the generals assertion about civil war. Interesting how his assessment flies into the face of the Bush apologists and they are no where to provide a counterpoint or otherwise defame the general because he does not subscribed to their reality from thousands of miles from Baghdad.
August 8th, 2006 at 2:51 pmNotice that Mighty Aphrodite and exley have no comments on the generals assertion about civil war. Interesting how his assessment flies into the face of the Bush apologists and they are no where to provide a counterpoint or otherwise defame the general because he does not subscribed to their reality from thousands of miles from Baghdad.
Comment by NoMoreBush — August 8, 2006 @ 2:51 pm
Oh, I'm sure they are in contact with the talking point gurus to find a way to spin this as progressive misinterpretation and/or Clinton's fault.
August 8th, 2006 at 2:55 pm“PERVERSIONS TO THE IMPERIALIST AMERICAN PIGSâ€
.
(a short play about a civil war day in the life of a Baghdad family -Bashir, a young man, enters his family’s apartment and greets his father.)
Bashir: Greetings Father, Praise be to Allah.
August 8th, 2006 at 3:00 pmFather: Praise be to Allah.
Bashir: It’s hot in here. Did we have any electricity today?
Father: One hour, tops. May Allah rain perversions on the Imperialist American Pigs!
Bashir: That sucks. A thousand perversions to the Infidels.
Father: What did you do today?
Bashir: Praise be to Allah, I put out one roadside IED and helped prepare a suicider for a Mosque mission at evening prayers.
Father: Praise be to Allah, but did you stop by the Coalition Forces Outreach Center like your Mother asked you to?
Bashir: Yes, Papa I did.
Father: And did you tell them that death squads have harassing and threatening your Mother, sisters and our neighbors?
Bashir: Yes Papa I did. They said that they already knew and intended to step up patrols. They were very sympathetic.
Father: A thousand perversions to the Imperialist Occupiers.
Bashir: Praise be to Allah, a thousand perversions.
No More Bush, I am not sure what your are talking about. If you check again you will see I posted at 10:33 am (post#16) in which I provided some additional quotes from Gen. Casey's interview, which put TP's somewhat inaccurate depiction of the general's comments in some context.
August 8th, 2006 at 3:12 pm[...] go to source/story>>Think Progress » Gen. George Casey: Civil War Is ‘The Most Significant Threat Right Now’ In Iraq [...]
August 8th, 2006 at 3:18 pmwhich put TP’s somewhat inaccurate depiction of the general’s comments in some context.
Comment by exley — August 8, 2006 @ 3:12 pm
ThinkProgress first quoted Gen Casey (a civil war in Iraq “certainly is possibleâ€, a potential civil war is “the most significant threat right now†in Iraq") and then stated that Gen Casey has joined others who "warn that Iraq is in danger of sliding into civil war."
How is that inaccurate? Isn't that what Gen Casey said?
August 8th, 2006 at 3:54 pmGregor, You are correct. I should have said "incomplete," rather than "inaccurate." Yes, he certainly did say all of which you describe. But he also said neither Iraq nor Baghdad were currently in a civil war. And he also said, "There's been great progress over the last two years and you've been here enough where you've seen the situation ebb and flow just like it is now. We're ebbing right now. And we're going to come out of it just like we have in the other places. And if you think about how you felt, or I'll think about how I felt before Fallujah or before the elections in January. We're in a much better place than we were in both of those periods."
August 8th, 2006 at 4:07 pmHow long before we hear Condi and Rummy saying, "Nobody could have predicted a civil war."
August 8th, 2006 at 4:14 pmGen. Casey, DUH!
August 8th, 2006 at 4:30 pmBut he also said neither Iraq nor Baghdad were currently in a civil war.
Comment by exley — August 8, 2006 @ 4:07 pm
Nor was it ThinkProgress' contention, was it?
Gen Casey clearly said Iraq is not in a civil war right now, but that it is a distinct possibility -progress notwithstanding. And that is what ThinkProgress highlighted. Yes?
August 8th, 2006 at 5:33 pm[...] Think Progress [...]
August 8th, 2006 at 5:34 pm"What, me worry?"---Alfred E. Bush
August 8th, 2006 at 7:44 pmCivil War this, Civil War that... What's your definition for Civil War? Is it really that bad? It is so much better now..
August 8th, 2006 at 9:39 pmWe'll be greeted as liberators... I think the war will last six months at the most
August 8th, 2006 at 9:41 pmSorry Gen. Casey, but civil war already exists in Iraq, so open your damn eyes wide!
August 9th, 2006 at 2:51 amTHIS video seems to contradick RUMMYS statements infront of the WASHINGTON COMMITY a few days ago , RUMMY was asked if CIVEL WAR was coming to IRAQ he said NO, I DON'T KNOW , IMDONT THINK SO, NO.
August 9th, 2006 at 8:35 amDear Prog Friends, Allow me to congratulate you on the primary victory of progressive-extraordinaire, Ned Lamont. (I apologize for going off thread, but not finding any commentary - yet - on the Connecticut results - and noting Neds' opposition to the War in Iraq I thought I could send you a hearty congratulations here.)
On a sad note, please asscept my condolences on the demise of Cynthia McKinney's congressional campaign. Conspiracy theories just won't be the same.....
August 9th, 2006 at 11:38 amPerhaps we can prevent such conflicts from occuring in the first place if there wasn't poverty and economic strife tearing the country apart. If the US were to uphold its commitment to the U.N. Millennium Development Goals, perhaps the Iraqi people would be well-fed, well-educated, and have more resources at their disposal to deal with altercations. Education and a fair shot at life are powerful tools.
August 10th, 2006 at 4:38 pmIf we had utilized the Iraqi army instead of blanket firing them just because we could, there would be 200,000 less angry Iraqis with guns.
Not to mention the Al Qaqaa incident.
August 11th, 2006 at 9:00 amAstounding... and did anyone manage to pair this up yet with the Wolf Blitzer interview, where Bush dismissises the possibility of Civil War by citing Casey as one of the people "on the ground" who says it's not a real threat? It's in that part where Bush tells Blitzer that he prefers not to take Koffi Annan's view on the crisis, since someone like Casey has a different view. And here, it turns out, Bush is wrong about that too. (Get the part at the end of that interview, where Bush tells Blitzer to be quiet so he can keep talking... a favorite Bush technique in interviews he doesn't like.)
September 25th, 2006 at 7:32 pm