General Abizaid Smacks Down McCain’s Plan To Send More U.S. Troops To Iraq
General Abizaid Smacks Down McCain’s Plan To Send More U.S. Troops To Iraq
Today at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, CentCom commander Gen. John Abizaid rejected McCain’s calls for increased U.S. troop levels in Iraq, saying that he “met with every divisional commander, Gen. Casey, the core commander, Gen. Dempsey” and asked them if bringing “in more American troops now, [would] add considerably to our ability to achieve success in Iraq and they all said ‘no.’” Watch it:
McCain has repeatedly said that he would like to see another 20,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. As General Abizaid explained, McCain’s plan runs counter towards our goal in Iraq — specifically, the Iraqis taking responsibility for their own country. Abizaid said, “It is easy for the Iraqis to rely upon to us do this work. I believe that more American forces prevent the Iraqis from doing more, from taking more responsibility for their own future.”
Moreover, we do not have the troops to send. Any attempt to send more troops to Iraq would, “at the moment, threaten to break our nation’s all-volunteer Army and undermine our national security.”
Transcript:
MCCAIN: Did you note that General Zinny who opposed of the invasion now thinks that we should have more troops? Did you notice that General Batise, who was opposed to the conduct of this conflict also says that we may need tens and thousands of additional troops. I don’t understand General. When you have a part of Iraq that is not under our control and yet we still — as Al Anbar province is — I don’t know how many American lives have been sacrificed in Al Anbar province — but we still have enough and we will rely on the ability to train the Iraqi military when the Iraqi army hasn’t send the requested number of battalions into Baghdad.
ABIZAID: Senator McCain, I met with every divisional commander, General Casey, the core commander, General Dempsey, we all talked together. And I said, in your professional opinion, if we were to bring in more American Troops now, does it add considerably to our ability to achieve success in Iraq? And they all said no. And the reason is because we want the Iraqis to do more. It is easy for the Iraqis to rely upon to us do this work. I believe that more American forces prevent the Iraqis from doing more, from taking more responsibility for their own future.
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Back into your bamboo POW cage, brain-dead, washed-up TOOL.
November 15th, 2006 at 1:40 pmOh well, what do Abizaid and “every divisional commander, Gen. Casey, the core commander, Gen. Dempsey” know about it anyway?
November 15th, 2006 at 1:44 pmpoor mccain, you sold out your country. from someone who once respected you, you’ve lost your marbles looking to become next “king”, no go away.. and boooo friggggen hoooo
November 15th, 2006 at 1:46 pmNot from this post, but from his comments reported on CNN:
I remain optimistic that we can stabilize Iraq,” he said
November 15th, 2006 at 1:47 pmIt’s too bad that neither McCain nor Abizaid can admit the obvious: we’d be shipping 20,000 more over just to ship them out again, if we can keep them alive.
November 15th, 2006 at 1:56 pmYes, we can stablize Iraq, by getting our troops the hell out of their country.
November 15th, 2006 at 1:57 pmIs “stabilizing Iraq” worth 3,000 soldiers’ lives, 20,000 amputees and $600 billion in taxpayer money?
I mean, if stability is the goal, we should have left Saddam in charge.
November 15th, 2006 at 2:02 pmAbizaid said Iraq is the front on the war on terrorism because we are there. Okay, how about we choose to defeat them back in Afghanistan, their home turf.
November 15th, 2006 at 2:05 pm20k troops is nowhere near enough to do the job right. WHo the phouc does McCain think he is fooling.
We had 600,000 coalition troops in Desert Storm and that wasn’t enough to take Iraq according to Dick Cheney, who was Bush Sr. Secretary of Defense.
McCain is whacked.
The only way to get enough troops is to reinstate the draft.
How many of the Young Republicans will burn their draft card?
November 15th, 2006 at 2:05 pmShorter Abizaid:
When we stand up, the Iraqis stand down. When we stand down, the Iraqis stand up. Got it?
Shorter-still Abizaid:
Listen to John Murtha.
Shortest Abizaid:
You’re wrong.
November 15th, 2006 at 2:05 pmFrom a man who bans torture to one who supports it.. the McCain Bush tricks
November 15th, 2006 at 2:06 pmIt’ll be interesting to see if McCain changes his position after hearing from the generals. Never know from one day to the next whether we’re going to hear from the “reality-based” McCain or the Bush/Falwell kiss-up McCain.
November 15th, 2006 at 2:07 pmNow, who could have predicted that McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign could be short circuited by a general. You know, the boots on the ground guy?
November 15th, 2006 at 2:08 pmOn an unrelated note, the last few times I’ve seen McCain on TV he appears to be tired. Perhaps he is spending too much energy on his 2008 presidential bid.
November 15th, 2006 at 2:12 pmMcCain has obviously spent way too much time under the Arizona sun: He’s a blabbering idiot.
20k more soldiers and about another $400 billion for the sake of Shiite fundamentalist Islamic republic which is pro-Hezbollah and pro-Iranian ?
WTF?
November 15th, 2006 at 2:13 pmForget McCain in ‘08. He gets more like Dumbya every week.
November 15th, 2006 at 2:15 pmA US soldier today pleaded guilty to taking part in the rape of an Iraqi teenage girl and the murder of her family.Specialist James Barker, being tried at a military court in Kentucky, entered the plea to avoid the death penalty, his civilian lawyer, David Sheldon, said.
A criminal investigation into the killing of the family of four at their home in Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad, in March 2006, started in June.
Question
Why is it legal for the CIA to rape children in front of their fathers and kill members of their family
Question
November 15th, 2006 at 2:15 pmWhy are those at the top of the ladder like Saddam treated with dignity and respect while in captivity while the poor are held under water for 2.5 minutes until they are unconcious and then repeat the torture ??
I read an interesting book this week about Japan, written in 1966 by Pearl S. Buck and one thing that struck me is that she (and others, I’ve found) have considered the US occupation of Japan after WWII a success, in part because “The Japanese were not humiliated” and their infrastructure (the army, the Emperor) were kept intact.
You would think that a history major (W) would maybe have taken some clues from that situation.
Food for thought.
November 15th, 2006 at 2:18 pmAbizaid said they couldn’t sustain sending 20K more troops. Pretty much tells us as the violence escalates, there will be nothing we can do about it.
November 15th, 2006 at 2:19 pmAbizaid’s “smackdown” of McCain is juuuuuuust a bit more painful that Lynne Cheney’s of Wolf Blitzer. Wouldn’t you agree, BushCo?
November 15th, 2006 at 2:20 pmMcCain is more about McCain than anything else
http://docpolitic.digi-one.com
November 15th, 2006 at 2:26 pmCheeks McCain, slobbering in his own spittle.
Senator, after your performance in the ‘06 campaign, why would
anyone vote for you for anything again?
You sold out to the Christofascists, plain & simple.
That was torture for all of us to watch.
You couldn’t hold Murtha’s water, let alone carry it.
Go back to the desert.
November 15th, 2006 at 2:31 pmEat some Peyote.
Follow your conscious, not your ego.
Since when does the Right Wing Monopolist Oil and War profiteer party listen to the Generals and soldiers in the field?
November 15th, 2006 at 2:35 pmNYTimes headline :
“Gen. John Abizaid said more U.S. troops may be needed to help Iraq’s forces and prevent the turbulent nation from tearing itself apart.”
Uhh, so which one is it here folks????
November 15th, 2006 at 2:37 pmNastalgia for the good ‘ol days pretty much summarizes the devoid GOP delusion. All they want to do is go backward. Get Tent Lott back in leadership, lets teleport back to Ronnie and if at all possible lets live in the 50’s when everone has a stepford wife and patriarch made for a perfect black and white world.
Loathsome fake Americans one and all.
BTW, Mr Jowels, how did that b*tch slap feel?
November 15th, 2006 at 2:40 pmMcCain Prescription;
Lets put TWO bandades on that cancer, that oughta do it. What do mean we do not have two bandades??!!!
November 15th, 2006 at 2:42 pmThis is funny. TP is using this story as a smackdown of McCain. If you listen to his remarks in total, it is a smackdown of the liberal plan to begin withdrawing troops. Don’t hold your breath on the troop withdrawls.
November 15th, 2006 at 2:46 pmMcCain ideas have no public support. McCain is trying to show his bravdos approach is the one that will save us from skidding more in Iraq. McCain will not have any hope of being elected under this banner. However,some suggested that he says this so that he may distinguish himself from others in his pursuit of the presidency. Should the mission fails totally and Iraq got into civil war after we leave the country,then McCain will say….’I was the one who called for more troops’…although generals disagree with him totally and he got no support from the public on this issue,and he has no backing to his suggestion to correlate between more troops and more peace in Iraq.
November 15th, 2006 at 2:59 pmThis is funny. TP is using this story as a smackdown of McCain. If you listen to his remarks in total, it is a smackdown of the liberal plan to begin withdrawing troops. Don’t hold your breath on the troop withdrawls.
Comment by paul
How pathetic pauley takes glee in the death of Amrican soldiers and the bankruptcy of our treasury. Nothing really humorous at all Pauley but what is sad is your denial that what you call liberal plan represents AMERICAS PLAN = 70% want withrawal from Failure.
When did your last moral fiber die?
Why do you hate America and salue failure?
November 15th, 2006 at 3:03 pmMCCAIN IS AN IDIOT.
November 15th, 2006 at 3:05 pmdid mighty just post something?
November 15th, 2006 at 3:09 pmJohn Abizaid is the new George McClellan…
General John Abizaid General George McClellan Senator McCain just asked the CENTCOM Commander, General John Abizaid, why he opposed sending more American troops to Iraq. Abizaid’s reply: I met with every divisional commander, General Casey, the core …
November 15th, 2006 at 3:10 pmsonuvabeach that must hurt when a republican runs into reality!!!
November 15th, 2006 at 3:24 pm.
republican loon mccain is the big tough guy being held back by his friends all the while screaming about what he’d do if he wasn’t held back and could just get free, knowing full well his friends will never ‘turn him loose.’
November 15th, 2006 at 3:30 pm.
#28. There’s nothing funny about it. There’s also nothing funny about abandoning the people of Iraq to civil war, because we don’t want to follow through on our commitments. When your newly elected Democratic leadership drags it feet on troop withdrawl, will it be because they have lost all moral fiber, or perhaps, begun to recognize the serious consequences of a popular but hastily concieved plan to stop the bleeding in Iraq.
November 15th, 2006 at 3:33 pmdid mighty just post something?
Comment by DRxJ
I see some constipation on my screen – is that what you mean?
November 15th, 2006 at 3:37 pmEx-prisoner tells of torture at Gitmo
ANKARA: A German-born Turk, who was held for four years in the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, has alleged systematic torture in the hands of the US military, from beatings to being chained to a ceiling for days.
Murat Kurnaz, 24, who was released in August because of lack of evidence he was involved in terrorist activities, said he endured “many types of torture-from electric shocks to having one’s head submerged in water, (subjection to) hunger and thirst, or being shackled and suspended.â€
A burly man with long reddish hair and a thick beard stretching down to his belly, Kurnaz spoke, betraying no emotion, to Turkey’s CNN Turk television from his home in Bremen, northern Germany, in an interview aired here late on Monday. “They tell you ‘you are from al-Qaeda’ and when you say ‘no’ they give the (electric) current to your feet…. As you keep saying ‘no’ this goes on for two or three hours,†he said, adding he had several times lost consciousness.
He claimed he was once shackled to a ceiling for “four or five daysâ€. “They take you down in the mornings when a doctor comes to see whether you can endure more,†he said.
“They let you sit when the interrogator comes…. They take you down about three times a day so you do not die.â€
Kurnaz also alleged prisoners were locked up in cells into which frigid or hot air was pumped. “I saw several people die,†he said. “Sometimes I thought I could no longer stand it and would also die.â€
He claimed he was once left without food for 20 days and spoke of psychological abuse, including “religious insults†such as the Holy Qur’aan being kicked on the ground.
A Turkish citizen with permanent residency in Germany, Kurnaz was arrested after the September 11, 2001 attacks and turned over to US forces, who took him to a prison in the Afghan city of Kandahar before transferring him to Guantanamo in 2002.
November 15th, 2006 at 3:40 pmpaul #35
November 15th, 2006 at 3:42 pmYou’ve never cared about the 650,000+ innocent Iraqi civilians killed, many during the supposed “shock and awe”, many more during the white phosperous campaign. (you know, the campaign that literally burned the skin off, well bascially everyone).
Why the hell do you care about Iraqi citizens now?
There’s also nothing funny about abandoning the people of Iraq to civil war, -Paul
Yeah, because were doing such a bang up job of stopping now.
November 15th, 2006 at 3:43 pmI see some constipation on my screen – is that what you mean?
Comment by PatrioticLiberalChristian(PLC)
Well, it’s apparent that all her words are “bound up” randomly. So maybe a “spell check” enema followed by an overnight laxative of “english grammar” may help poor MA
November 15th, 2006 at 3:48 pmBut I highly doubt it!
Okay. You are comfortable with cherry picking Abizaid’s comments that no more troops are necessary, but unwilling to admit he believes that the situation can be stabilized and that no troops should currently be withdrawn.
November 15th, 2006 at 3:57 pm#30 MA
Chronically constipated Progs and Progettes WERE calling for more troops “to get the job done†– all of this insincerity, of course, to counter Rumsfeld. But the goal of Progs is NOT to defeat the enemy – the goal is political advancement. Victory is a dirty word to Progs…..
I don’t know why I’m explaining this to you, MA. But, what the heck. There was a time, right after the invasion, when more troops would have made sense. The invasion made no sense, but once we were in, it would have been much to our advantage to have enough troops to prevent the looting of government offices, museums, and especially ammo depots. Since we didn’t have enough people to guard the ammo, insurgents were able to gather up lots of explosives which they have since used to make lots and lots of IEDs and equip lots and lots of suicide bombers (or “suiciders”, as Dumbya would say).
Now, who among the “Progs” have you seen calling for more troops to be sent into Iraq in the last couple of years? It’s long past the point where it makes any sense to send in more.
November 15th, 2006 at 4:01 pmlil paul,
was that your response to my question (post #38)?
I’ll ask one more time:
WHY THE HELL DO YOU CARE ABOUT IRAQI CITIZENS….NOW?
November 15th, 2006 at 4:05 pmIf US leave Iraq, violence will escalate to a new hight. I mean, US broke Iraq and now you want US leave Iraq without fixing it ?
John Batiste, a retired Army general who called for Rumsfeld’s departure, saids that an early withdrawal from Iraq would be a “terribly naïve.†solution.
November 15th, 2006 at 4:07 pmDRxJ. I can honestly say I would rather live in post war Iraq than pre war Iraq. I value freedom. Freedom from terror, freedom of speech, the right to vote, freedom of religion. Those are not just rights reserved for priviledged westerners. They are also not easily attained. But, those of the rights of every human being. Apparently, you detest violence and death so much, you would rather live under the tyranny of Saddam or the repression of a fundamentalist Islamic state, then to live in freedom. I know you hate death and bloodshed, me too. But I believe there are some things worse than death.
P.S. I don’t belittle you, because I’m not afraid of the points you make.
November 15th, 2006 at 4:17 pmI can honestly say I would rather live in post war Iraq than pre war Iraq. I value freedom. Freedom from terror, freedom of speech, the right to vote, freedom of religion Paul
What are you talking about? There’s NO FREEDOM IN IRAQ FROM TERROR, NO FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR SPEECH, MORON.
You and your tired Bill O’reilly talking points need a laxative.
November 15th, 2006 at 4:25 pmpaul,
November 15th, 2006 at 4:29 pmthank you for your response.
Here’s where we will disagree.
Iraq, under Saddam, was no haven, that’s for sure…but there was freedom of religion. Judiasm was tolerated and accepted, just as Christianity was. Heck, try to attend any church in Iraq now.
women where highly respected and very well educated in pre-war Iraq. They were part of the govenment body, as well as able to attend any university. Now? It’s almost like a Taliban state of mind. Women in Post-Iraq are considered second class citizens. And attending universities now? YIKES!!! That’s not freedom.
Again, as I stated yesterday, you can’t force democracy on a people! They must choose from within
PS the lil paul was in regard to you not using a capitol P for your name, not for belittling purposes (I save those for JMH, MA, Happy Dude, to name a few)
When you are brutally murdered by “death squads” within your own home town based on your Religious and/or ethnic ties, you are not free AT ALL.
I actually feel sorry for poor Paul. Before Nov. 7, I would have felt more hate. ;)
November 15th, 2006 at 4:31 pmDRxJ. You make good points. I’ll ponder them over a six pack. See ya.
November 15th, 2006 at 4:34 pmAre you phoucing high? They don’t have the freedoms you are stating. You are phoucing whacked if you think that is the truth. phoucing moron.
November 15th, 2006 at 4:37 pmBut I believe there are some things worse than death.
Comment by paul
Sure, if you are the one making the choice. The innocent dead in Iraq had no choice. If the Iraqi people had risen up in revolution against Hussein and died, this would be the noble death you describe.
November 15th, 2006 at 4:45 pmPaul: “DRxJ. I can honestly say I would rather live in post war Iraq than pre war Iraq.”
Have you seen Iraq lately? Most of it isn’t there anymore and they’re missing over 600,000 of their citizens. But then there were never any suicide bombers in Iraq before the war.
November 15th, 2006 at 4:55 pmDavid Gagnon
Except, much of what is going on in Iraq now is civil war/sectarian violence that is NOT a chaos that the US caused, although we took the lid off it by removing Hussein. The violence is increasing with us there. It may decrease or increase if we are not there, which we won’t know unless we leave. Leaving, though, saves our men and women and allows the US to regroup, rethink, and replan should we decide to intervene again.
November 15th, 2006 at 4:57 pmAs I listened to the hearings today, I came away thinking that Bush&Co are planning on more of “staying the course.” Regardless of what they call it, it seems like continue doing more of the same for at least 4 more months and then make another evaluation.
November 15th, 2006 at 5:32 pmI feel like we’re in the movie “Groundhog Day.”
FYI:
Reichstag Fire Decree = 9/11 Patriot act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_Fire_Decree
If there is a God, he shall help us NOW.
Because WWIII will not only take out Republicans…
November 15th, 2006 at 5:33 pmMcCain knows Iraq is a lost cause and that we will be gone, defeated, before 2008. He then can campaign on the idea that “We lost, but if everyone would have listened to me and sent more troops we would have had a glorious victory!”
November 15th, 2006 at 7:29 pmTime for Abizaid to be retired…
…he’s a stay the course clone…
…wrapped in enigmatic Bushite talking points…
November 15th, 2006 at 7:49 pmWe as Progressives need to militate more aggressively for the peace movement. This IS a WAR for peace which needs to be taken to the ramparts!
Peaceful Progressives should not be afraid to get bloody as we battle to the end for a peaceful resolution of all conflicts!
We must unite around Mother Sheehan and other icons of Peace who scratch and claw for the return of the innocent children forced to fight in foreign lands. We must be united in the fight for withdrawing ALL of the innocent pawns from the fields of imperialist conflict, inclusive of those secret weather-controller stations which Mother Sheehan uncovered through her FOIA request.
We cannot be too passive in aggressively militating for non-confrontational conflict resolutions which do NOT involve armed forces.
Progressives MUST strike back hard, albeit non-confrontationally, in the long, seemingly endless war for peace. We must NOT give in to the neo-con terror factions who plot and plan against us with their domestic terrorism
We must take to the streets and root out those who resist our imposition of peace upon them. We must convince the reluctant of the anachronistic, retrograde nature of the 2nd Amendment, using law enforcement to collect all privately owned guns. Because only those with the potential for violence will be armed. and violence is the greatest threat against our war for peace.
All good, proud Progressives should rally around this standard.
November 15th, 2006 at 7:51 pmJumpwings, there are more guns per capita in Canada than here. As Canada has shown by example, it’s not necessarily the guns, it’s the people, and people are a lot less prone to violence if they don’t live in fear. We live in fear. There is no social safety net. Many citizens live on the edge of disaster, one major sickness away from bankruptcy. Citizens in Canada don’t live that way and, as a result are not as fearful, and as a result are not killing eachother like we do. That’s my opinion at least.
November 15th, 2006 at 7:58 pmSimple: we need more trainers for the Iraqi army (and see all the stories about the LACK of same); less of our troops taking the bullets as combat units. Start withdrawing the infantry, increase advisors. I wish it were that simple.
Frankly, I sadly believe that the chaos in Iraq will only continue to spin out of control, and there’s nothing we can do to stop or alleviate it. I feel so sorry for those among the Iraqi civilian population who are only trying to live, and trying to keep their kids alive. Saddam made their lives hell, and we’ve made it worse.
Is there a state between “hope” and “despair” that it’s possible to reach for the sake of all in relationship to this terrible war?
November 15th, 2006 at 10:06 pm#68 jumpwings
I’m sorry, was that a joke?
I just read it again. It was definitely a joke.
November 15th, 2006 at 11:29 pmTo PatrioticLiberalChristian(PLC) (#62)
You’re making a good point. For sure we don’t know the consequence of the withdrawal. Violence could go up, down, or stay the same.
My opinion is that the violence will go up since the US force will no longer be there to hunt the terrorist. Just my opinion. But your right, to a certain extend, Iraqis could be hold responsible for the surge of violence.
But it could be a better idea to redeploye US troops from Iraq to Afghanistan.
My point is…. The Situation in Iraq is very, very complex… No easy solution…
November 16th, 2006 at 12:53 am“Gen. John P. Abizaid, chief of the U.S. Central Command, said bolstering the training effort could require a further increase in the number of U.S. troops in Iraq,…”
Washington Post
““We need to put more American capacity into Iraqi units to make them more capable in their ability to confront the sectarian problem,†General Abizaid told the Senate Armed Services Committee. “It is possible that we might have to go up in troop levels in order to increase the number of forces that go into the Iraqi security forces, but I believe that’s only temporary.â€
New York Times
“General Abizaid Smacks Down McCain’s Plan To Send More U.S. Troops To Iraq”
November 16th, 2006 at 3:41 amThink Progress
Here’s what is planned:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1948748,00.html
And this is what struck me the most:
“You’ve got to remember, whatever the Democrats say, it’s Bush still calling the shots. He believes it’s a matter of political will. That’s what [Henry] Kissinger told him. And he’s going to stick with it,” a former senior administration official said. “He [Bush] is in a state of denial about Iraq. Nobody else is any more. But he is. But he knows he’s got less than a year, maybe six months, to make it work. If it fails, I expect the withdrawal process to begin next fall.”
and:
“The Iraq Study Group buys time for the president to have one last go. If the Democrats are smart, they’ll play along, and I think they will. But forget about bipartisanship. It’s all about who’s going to be in best shape to win the White House.
So more troops it will be and all the young servicemen and -women and Iraqi civilians have died and will die, however “ideas about imposing fully-fledged western democratic standards will be set aside” and althoughthe article says this will dismay neo-cons, it dismays me as well.
November 16th, 2006 at 5:11 amROTFL – Retards Only Together For Life. kiss my arab ass
November 16th, 2006 at 6:39 amJust what is the military objective in Iraq? Did anybody ask? Is it to bring peace and stability? If that’s the case, let’s turn the military loose on any large American city. The fact is that there is NO legitimate military objective, and why this isn’t being drilled by Congress is beyond me.
November 16th, 2006 at 7:05 amHate to say it, but the Abizaid testimonial isn’t much a gain for us of the left. He insist on no more troops AND no reduction. He’s not afraid to fight in Iraq, but he’s scared to death of the biggest Beltway battle of all time.
TP, HuffPo, ect. are only reporting the smackdown of McCain – without mentioning Abazaid’s simultaneous bitch-slap of the withdrawal idea. Of course CNN, NYT,ect. are only playing up that half. Playing it big.
November 16th, 2006 at 7:10 amGreen pleaded not guilty last week to civilian charges including murder and sexual assault. He was discharged from the Army for a “personality disorder” before the allegations became known, and prosecutors have yet to say if they will pursue the death penalty against him.
Barker described in vivid detail how he raped the 14-year-old with Cortez and Green before Green killed the girl, her younger sister and parents.
“Cortez pushed her to the ground. I went towards the top of her and kind of held her hands down while Cortez proceeded to lift her dress up,” he said. “Around that time I heard shots coming from a room next door.”
The defendants are accused of burning the girl’s body to conceal the crime.
Howard, Cortez and Spielman could face the death penalty if convicted. Cortez and Spielman are both being held in confinement and Howard is restricted to post.
November 16th, 2006 at 8:45 amtypical reasoning from a republican, send in more troops instead of getting the hell out.
November 16th, 2006 at 9:38 amcannon fodder for the iraqis.
[...] See also Think Progress, “General Abizaid Smacks Down McCain’s Plan To Send More U.S. Troops To Iraq.” [...]
November 16th, 2006 at 10:02 amGen. Abizaid hit the Senate committee circuit yesterday and did two things: 1) Deflated the Dems’ call for a phased troop withdrawal by asserting fewer troops=more violence and 2) Confirming publicly for the first time what Gen. Shinseki said years ago: That the biggest mistake in Iraq was not deploying more troops.
November 16th, 2006 at 11:56 amMcCain is totally uninformed about the Military situation in Iraq. The President of the United States has not kept the Senators informed about the attack on Iraq. Bushco lied to go in and then forget to tell the Senate what is going on. The Senators have been rubber stamping money for the attack on Iraq without any oversight. What is the main purpose of the Senate? I believe it is oversight of money bills. Shame on the Senators who voted in favour of even one single bill relative to the attack of Iraq.
A Senator is not aware that the USA military does not even have a 20,000 personel hedge in case of emergency? We already know that the attack made on Iraq has drained the National Guard back in the USA so that every one is as safe as a drowning rat if you get a storm.
McCain along with a mass of other Senators do not have the credentials to govern. McCain and other Senators are irresponsible beyond belief.
November 16th, 2006 at 12:37 pmIraq needs to pull itself up by its bootstraps. if welfare mothers in the US can do it, so can Iraqis.
November 16th, 2006 at 1:44 pmYou are right, JumpWings. The World Cant Wait is a good site for activism and Impeachment Central with information on Cindy Sheehan’s current and past activities for peace are at AfterDowningStreet.org
November 16th, 2006 at 2:13 pmThis is what we and the generals need to overcome:
http://www.rigorousintuition.ca/board/vie
wtopic.php?t=9179&sid=23b3b5c6e436b7ca711e10f4b944cd2f
I’m counting all those who are or have been directly employed by the current administration, or appointed to boards, staff, etc. Also including those involved under Reagan, as well as the two Bush, since the elder Bush was VP under Reagan:
Robert Gates
November 16th, 2006 at 2:17 pmAdmiral John Poindexter
Colin Powell
Porter Goss
Negroponte
Richard Armitage
Donald Rumsfeld
Dick Cheney
Michael Ledeen
Stephen Bryen
Richard Perle
Douglas Feith
Paul Wolfowitz
John Bolton
Andrew Card
Chertoff
Karl Rove
Paul Bremmer
Otto Reich
Elliott Abrams
Abizaid is a war criminal.
This masskiller must be prosecuted.
November 18th, 2006 at 11:19 amThe Iraq War has been an unintended gift from USA to the terrorists who are now emboldened more than ever. And, McCain doesn’t get it, and wants to prolong the agony of this mis-gotten WAR. We don’t have to read tea leaves to see REALITY here. We lost the Iraq War the day we started it. History will continue to be fruitful in supplying us the complete truth of how MIS-GOTTEN the WAR has been and will be FOREVER.
GOD BLess America, we need to correct her course. We will be able to be proud again when we can admit our fallacy and find the right path forward. (We know the Truth by the evidence for it)
November 18th, 2006 at 8:38 pm[...] MCCAIN: Did you note that General Zinny who opposed of the invasion now thinks that we should have more troops? Did you notice that General Batise, who was opposed to the conduct of this conflict also says that we may need tens and thousands of additional troops. I don’t understand General. When you have a part of Iraq that is not under our control and yet we still — as Al Anbar province is — I don’t know how many American lives have been sacrificed in Al Anbar province — but we still have enough and we will rely on the ability to train the Iraqi military when the Iraqi army hasn’t send the requested number of battalions into Baghdad. ABIZAID: Senator McCain, I met with every divisional commander, General Casey, the core commander, General Dempsey, we all talked together. And I said, in your professional opinion, if we were to bring in more American Troops now, does it add considerably to our ability to achieve success in Iraq? And they all said no. And the reason is because we want the Iraqis to do more. It is easy for the Iraqis to rely upon to us do this work. I believe that more American forces prevent the Iraqis from doing more, from taking more responsibility for their own future. http://thinkprogress.org/2006/11/15/…d-mccain-iraq/ Gee it sure sounds like General Abizaid the head of CENTCOM and the head of operations in Iraq says that stay the course is the best option, imagine that. [...]
November 20th, 2006 at 9:55 pm[...] Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is advocating sending up to 30,000 additional troops to Iraq. His plan is opposed by the military’s top generals and supported by just 12 percent of Americans. [...]
December 18th, 2006 at 10:26 am[...] Just weeks ago, CentCom commander Gen. John Abizaid told Congress “I met with every divisional commander, General Casey, the core commander, General Dempsey, we all talked together. And I said, in your professional opinion, if we were to bring in more American Troops now, does it add considerably to our ability to achieve success in Iraq? And they all said no.” [...]
January 3rd, 2007 at 10:02 am“How To Lose A Presidential Bid Before You Start One”, by John McCain.
January 3rd, 2007 at 11:43 am[...] Yeah, that’s right. Bush has claimed all along that he listens to his generals on the ground. The generals made it quite clear back in November that sending in more troops won’t help. So what does he do? Fire the generals and send in more troops. Makes perfect sense, doesn’t it? And what does “win the war” mean, anyway? “One thing is for certain: I will want to make sure the mission is clear and specific and can be accomplished,” Bush said Thursday. [...]
January 5th, 2007 at 9:44 am[...] Set to make the disastrous decision to escalate our presence in Iraq, the President is in need of a military commander to support his decision. While General Abizaid publicly opposed the surge in troop levels in Iraq, it would be surprising if Admiral Fallon is not more agreeable. [...]
January 5th, 2007 at 4:06 pmI think what nobody seems to be asking is why the much vaunted US Military, supposed to be able to take on the Soviets and the Chinese armies, fight a war on two fronts, which has a billion-dollars-a-day budget, most profession, best armed, best trained, blah blah blah cannot win a war against a frankly mediocre nation of less than 50m? Am I being totally naive here or have the Americans forgotten what an army is for – projecting your will on others, whether they like it or not? If you dont have the stomach to use your military, stop spending on it and bragging about it. Spend the money building back your economy, before you wake up one day and find the Chinese and Indians own you – and the rest of the world.
January 6th, 2007 at 7:54 amThere Is No Free Lunch And There Is No Free Surge
January 8th, 2007 at 5:52 pmwe shall very soon see the defeat of Bush in Iraq, they (Republicans) are all war criminals who control all the drugs that are sent out of Afghanistan. i used to serve in Afghanistan up until late August 2006. every plane that took off from Kandahar was full of Hero, you could smell it. Bush, D Rumsfield, Z Khalilzad are the top dealers. God Bless Americans and May God curse the Bush Admin
January 12th, 2007 at 8:56 amhow many more of our troops must die before we pull out of Iraq. we are killing, maiming, raping by hundreds every single day in Iraq. Bush you will be accountable,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
January 12th, 2007 at 9:00 am[...] I know Bush says he’ll do what he wants, and he will trot out as many generals as he can find to support his plan. But, I hope Congress remembers what so many Americans said was the main issue on their minds when they voted for change, and I hope they fight this man and his plan. Apart from all of the reasons WE SHOULDN’T BE THERE, we clearly don’t have the depth for this. Shouldn’t the generals be telling Bush that? Yes, they are. Then they find themselves retired. « GOP vows to be more evil in ‘07 [...]
January 16th, 2007 at 11:34 am[...] has responsibility for both Iraq and Afghanistan. He was relieving General John Abizaid, who had gone on record in November 2006 against an increase in troops. Abizaid told the Senate Armed Services Committee, [...]
February 21st, 2007 at 3:45 am[...] be some indication of things to come? Remember what the generals told BushCo’s next Great White Hope in [...]
March 5th, 2007 at 3:35 pm[...] [...]
April 8th, 2008 at 11:14 am