1) Where those 20% similar to the “coalition of the willing?”
2) No, Bush is not willing to take a “hit”. The brave men and women are taking, and will continue to take the “hit”. Statements like this really pi$$ me off!
3) Exley, I know you are a supporter of the illegal occupation (which is fine), but you must admit that 2007 for the year saw an increase in fatalities (not including the ones that never officially died “in Iraq), and acer as07b52 battery,acer as07b71 battery the surge started last February. Why the sudden 180? Wasn’t it you that felt our troops should come home, that you couldn’t lead the horse to the “democracy” water?

The question is, what will happen when they leave? I thought the object was to give the Iraqi government time to get their act together and take care of themselves. I did not know that we were adopting Iraq and would have to be responsible for them forever. This is worse than child support.

We have a growing problem in Pakistan where the Taliban and Al Qaeda are rebuilding, posing a new threat to our country. Pakistan has nukes and they are the new Afghanistan serving as a hotbed of extremism. So what do we do? We are now spread so thin that invading Pakistan poses a huge problem so in hindsight our invasion of Iraq may turn out to be the single biggest blunder in our history.

We can debate the surge until we are blue in the face but it is a moot point because the war on terror has been derailed by Iraq and our troops are being pushed to their breaking point. We need new leadership with competency that will not fire anyone that disagrees with them and probably some help from God to undo this horrible mess.

In my opinion Bush should not be impeached, but instead impaled on a large sharp fence post as a warning to future Presidents that think they are dictators who answer to no one.

Comment by CaptainMantastic — February 11, 2008 @ 2:35 pm

May 9th 2007: From the Iraqi Government……

144 lawmakers signed onto a legislative petition calling on the United States to set a timetable for withdrawal, according to Nassar Al-Rubaie, a spokesman for the Al Sadr movement, the nationalist Shia group that sponsored the petition.

It’s a hugely significant development. Lawmakers demanding an end to the occupation now have the upper hand in the Iraqi legislature for the first time; previous attempts at a similar resolution fell just short of the 138 votes needed to pass (there are 275 members of the Iraqi parliament, but many have fled the country’s civil conflict, and at times it’s been difficult to arrive at a quorum).

From the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs – Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)

Iraq: Violence-related deaths drop ‘remarkably’, say authorities and UN”

These idiots poin tot the drop in violence as a reuslt of the surge. The vilence-Related deaths dropped remarkably a full month before the surege even started and 3-4 month before it was in place. They also re classified what VIolence-related death meant with the nonsense that those shot in the back verses the front where non related and no longer counted.

I just want to know why the republicans cut and ran on Terry Shivo. Why aren’t you still fighting to keep her alive. You are all doing the exact same thing in Iraq, just denying a faiure does not make it a success!

Comment by katy — February 11, 2008 @ 5:24 pm

Wondered what happened to ya… ;)

Just to be clear, I agree with you 100% about Shuster. His words were badly chosen but I do see a trend on MSNBC and CNN to pander to the right when they should be doing everything in their power to counter the lies that Fox spreads under the cover of news.

They should pack up the likes of morning joe, tucker and the rest and bring in people like Rachel Maddow and yes even Shuster to provide a serious counter weight to the lies of the murdoch propaganda machine.

Comment by CaptainMantastic

When did you ever hear me defend Hillary’s vote to allow your murderous leader to invade a defenseless third world country?

I just voted for Barak Obama last Tuesday because he, like I, knew that Iraq was no threat, and the war of choice by your monstrous demon of a leader would be a disaster.

Hillary made a huge mistake when she gave your bloodthirsty Bushgod authorization to kill hundreds of thousands of innocent people, just to make cravens like you feel safer.

However, it wasn’t Hillary who did the dirty deed, was it? No, It was GEORGE W. BUSH who was in charge of the whole fricking mess. You make me sick with your constant attempts at obfuscation. You redneck dumbasses have been wrong 100% every step of the way, and you still want people to listen to you.

Go away, you stupid, scared child. You immature dipsticks had your chance. Now, your party of fear and loathing is going down for good.

The Republicans will join their Federalist predecessors on the scrap heap of history. Thank you George W. Bush.

Comment by CaptainMantastic — February 11, 2008 @ 7:13 pm

You’re tool.

You keep raising the Hillary thing, as if she hadn’t been lied to constantly and repeatedly, like the rest of America was lied to, constantly and repeatedly. Defending Bushco’s lies by raising the victims of those lies is a typical republican framing trick, but only works on idiots, like you. you cam quote all the victims of Bush’s lies all day; it still just shows you as a sucker, and bush as a liar.

Comment by CaptainMantastic — February 11, 2008 @ 6:21 pm

Ah, there’s that flexibility that I’d heard so much about!

Okay, Cap’n, you’ve earned back your benefit of the doubt. You’ll still get abuse from many of the posters here, but I’ll give you the respect due you. Thanks for a vigorous debate.

I wonder if the idiot troll Captain knows that a large majority of the peple in Iraq and the Iraqi Parliament want us the hell out of their country.

I wonder if he cares? It is an inconvenient truth that they no longer want us there. They don’t feel that our leaving will give them an “uncertain future”. They know that our staying will give them an “uncertain future”.

Don’t these trolls think that the people in Iraq know what is best for themselves and that they deserve to be heard?

Comment by CaptainMantastic

With what, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles? Don’t project your foolishness on the rest of us, you sad, pathetic coward. While you were simultaneously beating your chest and wetting your panties, too scared by the lies of your bloodthirsty wargods to think for yourself, some of us were listening to weapns inspectors Scott Ritter and Hans Blix. We knew that Iraq was not a threat.

If you could use that knot of reptilian ganglia, which substitutes for a mind, for anything but instinctive “fight or flight” response, perhaps you would not have called for the death of thousands of American soldiers to quell your abject terror of an non-existant threat.

I think Iraq wants us out……and the U.S. needs our military and our money here at home. Only defense contractors want to continue bleeding U.S. funds for their selfish reasons.

Comment by CaptainMantastic — February 11, 2008 @ 5:39 pm

Why do you keep assuming my positions? I neither said we DO need it now nor that we DON’T need it now.

I said it is a reasonable issue to discuss, given the state of our military. (You’ve probably already seen the latest post here, right?) and that Republicans refuse to even address it.

Here is our disagreement: I think it’s a course that needs to be discussed. If it’s decided that it’s not needed at the moment but may be in the future, either near or distant, then so be it. But that decision needs to be based on considering the realistic possibility that a draft could help secure this nation’s military needs. Republicans refuse to even acknowledge that the possibility exists. And you see this as a reasonable response to a stressed military.

I think it’s reasonable to discuss it seriously, you don’t. That’s how I see our differences.

Comment by TheRadicalRightisRadicallyWrong @ 12:27 pm

didn’t mean to leave you hanging… had errends to run…

want to be clear that i do not absolve schuster of his poor judgement
in using a completely inappropriate choice or words…
i DO agree with his argument, that chelsea, at her age, and in her role
as fundraiser, should be obliged to answer certain questions…

i made a comment yesterday (not here) that i thought maybe schuster has been getting a bit more cocky in light of his fame lately, and his mouth ran away with his brain right then… just my opinion…
i think he does great work and am expecially thankful that he has been
so dogged to get the facts and answers and to report it all…
and i think he has paid for that… too bad for us.

i really don’t watch much of msnbc except for olbermann…
“fox it up” – don’t doubt it, i hear CNN is in that boat also…

whenever i watch keith o. i have to wonder what the congress people
are thinking about it… now that they know that WE know…

and still…

Comment by CaptainMantastic — February 11, 2008 @ 5:04 pm

What I’m saying is the same thing I said at 4:14:

I never said “it could not be done without a draft”.

Comment by ralph the wonder llama — February 11, 2008 @ 4:14 pm

Which was a variation of what I said two hours earlier:

If the nation needs men to defend her, the able-bodied men of the nation should be willing to do so.

Comment by ralph the wonder llama — February 11, 2008 @ 2:13 pm

which was all a part of making the basic point:

Republicans don’t take seriously their obligation to the military or to the nation… Why do Republicans avoid talk of a draft if the security needs of our nation demand it?

Comment by ralph the wonder llama — February 11, 2008 @ 2:13 pm

At no time in the course of this discussion did I ever say that I think “we require a draft now”. Yet you have made that assumption repeatedly. It makes me think that you don’t really read what I write. Or at least, you don’t read it very closely.

Comment by CaptainMantastic

In other words, never.

Color me surprised…

I guess they don’t need pastry chefs then.

Comment by CaptainMantastic — February 11, 2008 @ 4:17 pm

Jeezus effin’ Christ, Cap’n can you point out ONE instance of me saying that I think “we require a draft now”?

You’re wearing out that benefit of the doubt, Cap’n.