‘I don’t even know who Petraeus and Crocker are.’
‘I don’t even know who Petraeus and Crocker are.’
The Washington Post writes that “few Iraqis paid much attention” to the testimonies of Gen. David Petraeus and Amb. Ryan Crocker:
“The Americans have hundreds of meetings and testimonies like this, and what has it done for the Iraqi people? Nothing,” said Allah Sadiq, 49, a carpenter in the capital’s Karrada district. “So why do we care? We just want all the foreigners to leave and stop causing disasters for our country.”
“I don’t even know who Petraeus and Crocker are,” said 31-year old shop owner Yasser Kadhoum al-Khafaji. “I think these sorts of things are more important for Americans than they are for Iraqis.” Most Iraqis interviewed “were more concerned about a day-long curfew” that shut down much of Baghdad. Among other grievances cited: “blocked sewage drains, militias attacking residents in the street, a dysfunctional government and frequent electricity outages.”
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Americans are now saying the same thing…
April 13th, 2008 at 9:58 amFive years of killing and carnage and nothing to show for it but blocked sewage drains, disfunctioning electrical system and Iraqis who want us out. I would personally like to see George Bush crawl on his hands and knees back to Crawford and never show his face in public again.
April 13th, 2008 at 10:00 amGeneral Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker were assigned to their current positions precisely because they were in 100% lock-step agreement with President Bush. The assessments they give, while arguably their own, are still exactly what Bush would say to do. Since Bush is known to exercise poor judgment, it is reasonable to conclude that the people he picks to repeat his opinions have equally poor judgment. We should not treat anything these two men say about Iraq as having validity since, like Bush, they feel our troops should be in Iraq in the first place.
April 13th, 2008 at 10:02 amIt seems like many Americans aren’t paying much attention either.
From Frank Rich, in todays NY Times: quoting the Senator from Ohio….
“The truth of the matter,” Mr. Voinovich said, is that “we haven’t sacrificed one darn bit in this war, not one. Never been asked to pay for a dime, except for the people that we lost.”
This is how the war planners wanted it, of course. No new taxes, no draft, no photos of coffins, no inconveniences that might compel voters to ask tough questions. This strategy would have worked if the war had been the promised cakewalk. But now it has backfired. A home front that has not been asked to invest directly in a war, that has subcontracted it to a relatively small group of volunteers, can hardly be expected to feel it has a stake in the outcome five stalemated years on.”
The “stake” that has finally come home to roost is ECONOMIC. Al Qada’s strategy has always been to Lure America into asymetric warfare fought in a Muslim country, that would Bankrupt us, like they believe they did to the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.
Americans ARE paying attention to the costs of energy and transportation….and the shrinking value of their currency. The Democrats task is to connect this COST to Bush and the Iraq War.
April 13th, 2008 at 10:11 amI would personally like to see George Bush crawl on his hands and knees back to Crawford…
Can we add “with his pants around his ankles” to that? Please?
April 13th, 2008 at 10:14 amAnd while Petreaus and Crocker twiddle (from Raw Story):
Iraq: Mass grave found south of Baghdad
Iraqi Troops Find 14 More Bodies in Mass Graves South of Baghdad
Iraqi soldiers acting on tips from detained Shiite militiamen found 14 bodies Saturday that had been buried in a field south of Baghdad, officials said.
It was the second discovery this week of mass graves in the area, raising to 44 the number of bodies located by Iraqi troops.
Twelve bodies found Saturday had been dumped in one grave about 500 yards away from the local office of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s movement, while two others were buried together in a nearby area on the western outskirts of Mahmoudiya, a city spokesman said.
The spokesman, Ather Kamil, said the bodies were found after members of al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army militia were detained and confessed to killing and burying dozens of Sunnis as well as some Shiites killed for criminal purposes.
The grisly discoveries came two days after the Iraqi troops found the remains of 30 people believed to have been killed more than a year ago in three abandoned houses elsewhere in the area.
April 13th, 2008 at 10:17 amMost Iraqis dont give a damn what Crocker and Petraeus says. And Crocker and Petraeus dont give a damn what Iraqis says
April 13th, 2008 at 10:21 amYears into this nonsense and still most Americans can not place Iraq on an unlabelled map of the world and don’t even bother asking that Shia/Sunni deal…. Quick name someone other than al-Sadr or al-Maliki. Why should we be suprised that the Iraqi citizenry have more pressing and immediate concerns?
April 13th, 2008 at 10:29 amdbadass Says:
April 13th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Quick name someone other than al-Sadr or al-Maliki.
Or Ahmed Chalabi (who hasn’t left the scene yet, and is still hard at work helping his friends in Iran.) Another name Americans should get to know and loathe.
April 13th, 2008 at 10:32 amOf course, most Iraqis don’t know, nor do they care, about Petraeus and Crocker. It seems their lives are focused mostly on surviving this catastrophe that has hit their country.
April 13th, 2008 at 10:32 amPetraeus and Crocker are simply two appointed puppets – not even Americans believe what they say.
When I hear of the few Iraqis who say they want the troops to stay there, I question whether they are Iraqis who are killing Americans in revenge for what we have done to them.
Wayne A. Schneider Says:
April 13th, 2008 at 10:32 am
dbadass Says:
April 13th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Quick name someone other than al-Sadr or al-Maliki.
Or Ahmed Chalabi (who hasn’t left the scene yet, and is still hard at work helping his friends in Iran.) Another name Americans should get to know and loathe.
—–
April 13th, 2008 at 10:37 amIndeed
His should proabably be the name we recognize the most and are be the most concerned and alarmed by.
“I don’t even know who Petraeus and Crocker are.”
When things head south in Iraq (as they inevitably will), GDumbya will be quoted as saying this.
April 13th, 2008 at 10:55 amWayne A. Schneider Says:
April 13th, 2008 at 10:14 am
I would personally like to see George Bush crawl on his hands and knees back to Crawford…
Can we add “with his pants around his ankles” to that? Please?
Through a cactus patch or 2.
April 13th, 2008 at 11:02 amWhat Sideshow Bob experienced in the Cape Fear episode comes to mind
April 13th, 2008 at 11:22 amPetraeus & Crocker are the Bush Regime Punch & Judy. When the sewer is backing up and the lights are out and your neighbors are taking pot shots at your kids, who can remember the names of sock puppets?
April 13th, 2008 at 11:24 amSteven Hadley’s on Steffi’s show, showing America how much of a enabler of war criminals he is.
Hadley’s on, to talk about – wait for it – China’s record of human rights violations in regard to Tibet.
He’s also throwing out highly-questionable figures regarding Iraqi reconstruction funds.
The figures he cites seems to directly conflict Crocker and Petreaus’ testimonies in the Senate and House.
April 13th, 2008 at 11:25 ambarfly Says:
April 13th, 2008 at 11:25 am
He’s also throwing out highly-questionable figures regarding Iraqi reconstruction funds.
The figures he cites seems to directly conflict Crocker and Petreaus’ testimonies in the Senate and House.
I have no doubt that this is because more people will be listening to Steffi’s show than listened to their testimony. They won’t hear what Petraeus and Crocker actually said (however trutghful it may have been), they’ll hear Hadley putting the finishing touches on his bright shining lie. And that’s what they’ll remember.
April 13th, 2008 at 11:30 amFree Tibet? How about Free Iraq? or Afganistan?
April 13th, 2008 at 11:31 amHadley on Steffi’s show
I wish he had been asked about Iraq’s recent $850 million purchase of shoddy military equipment from Serbia. Apparently, even with all the money we are flushing down the Iraq rat-hole, the Iraqi army is not properly equipped so they are buying goods from Serbia without our knowledge and approval.
I am sure that Little Stevie would have had something st-o-o-o-o-pid to say about this latest incident in the Iraq disaster that is GDumbya’s legacy to us all.
April 13th, 2008 at 11:37 amNow, the same folks who were ragging on Obama for speaking “black,” are saying he speaks like an elitist. They are literally writing McCain’s campaign rhetoric for him, and it is so scattershot, so illogical, so over the top, it’s clear Obama has them all, all the real elite, scared shitless. Having Torie Clark on to handicap Hillary and Obama, is like the RNC’s wet dream. There is no weak talking point that they won’t bolster, no failure they won’t embrace, in order to axe Obama.
April 13th, 2008 at 11:44 amI wish he had been asked about Iraq’s recent $850 million purchase of shoddy military equipment from Serbia. Apparently, even with all the money we are flushing down the Iraq rat-hole, the Iraqi army is not properly equipped so they are buying goods from Serbia without our knowledge and approval.
Remember the “arms supplier” run by a twenty-two-year-old? The one with a masseuse for a VP, who got no-bid contracts to supply near-worthless ammo to coalition forces?
I think that’s the one they’re talking about.
April 13th, 2008 at 11:47 amWhat’s up with this crawl-on-knees stuff? GWB’s appropriate fate is clear: WAR CRIMES TRIALS IN THE HAGUE.
No question about it.
Why don’t they ask Hadley how with 60% of Iraqis approving of attacks on US there, this is anything but a forcible occupation?
SOURCE
April 13th, 2008 at 12:04 pmA big difference between smell of broken & blocked sewage pipes and smell of Democracy…
April 13th, 2008 at 12:05 pmHadley looks like Cheney’s illegitimate love child.
April 13th, 2008 at 12:06 pmWell, it’s not like it’s done much for us, either.
April 13th, 2008 at 12:08 pmjb Says:
April 13th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Free Tibet? How about Free Iraq? or Afganistan?
Add Karma Recommend (1) |
Free America…
April 13th, 2008 at 1:14 pmI wish I didn’t know who Petraus and Crocker are, but sadly I do. Willing pawns for the Idiot-in-chief and his illegal and immoral war.
April 13th, 2008 at 1:51 pm‘I don’t even know who Petraeus and Crocker are.’
April 13th, 2008 at 2:38 pmDon’t worry… we know who they are and What they are… they are War Criminals!
April 13th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
For the iraqui people, Crook and Pertraeus are occupyiers, invaders, murderes, theives! FREE IRAQ NOW!
April 13th, 2008 at 2:44 pmAnd we have had a backed up sewage issues in this country for 7 1/2 years thanks to the pollution of the Bush Administration.
April 13th, 2008 at 3:29 pmThis Iraqi simply misspoke. Right?
April 13th, 2008 at 4:41 pmThe Iraqis could care less who Half-Crocked and Betray-us are and simply want us to stop destroying THEIR COUNTRY. We all know who they are: Bush’s lackeys.
April 13th, 2008 at 5:09 pmFrom TIME magazine, April 10, 2008:
At his supermarket in Baghdad, Samir Abdul Karim says, “American troops should stay in Iraq for the time being because the country can’t function on its own right now. If they leave; Iraq will fall into chaos and that would be no good for the American reputation.” …
Osama Hazim al-Shimari, a Baghdad street merchant, says: “John McCain will be better for Iraq because he’s the only one who has a logical view… What do you think will happen to Iraq if America withdraws its forces? I support McCain not because he’ll bring good things to Iraq, but at least what he says about withdrawing troops is honest.” Kurdish legislator Bukhari Abdallah Khudur is of the same opinion because the Iraqi government is so fragile. Says Khudur: “Iraqis still do not know how to rule themselves. So any quick withdrawal of American troops from Iraq will lead to a complete collapse. If the Americans leave, what is going to keep the country stable? Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Syria could all enter… That is why I support John McCain.”
…
Sana Abdul Rahman, a middle school teacher, is a little more hopeful, but desperately so: “Republican, Democrat, black, female; any person who comes to Iraq and makes it stable, I swear to God, I will die for him, give him a big kiss in front of millions and thank him. To the Americans, I say: Please keep your promises to us. We are very tired.”
A Baghdad View of the US Election
April 13th, 2008 at 5:16 pmThursday, Apr. 10, 2008 By ABIGAIL HAUSLOHNER/BAGHDAD
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1729791,00.html
Zed Lefflin Says:
“/2 of the students do not attend because there parents are to scared to send them to school. And those that go are under the protection of armed guards of Police posse’s”
…and your source is?
April 13th, 2008 at 5:54 pmThat’s right, neoclowns don’t worry about facts, they think if they pull something out of their sphincter, it must be true. Guess that’s what you get from watching too much faux snooze
Exley Says:
From TIME magazine, April 10, 2008:
At his supermarket in Baghdad, Samir Abdul Karim says, “American troops should stay in Iraq for the time being because the country can’t function on its own right now…”
April 13th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
___________________
On the other hand, Ex-lax, we could also pull this quote from the same article…
“A retired police officer, who declined to be named, is quite bitter: “This American talk of democracy and freedom brought nothing but disaster to our country. We believed American promises and we dreamed of a better future. Now I wish we had Saddam back so we could live in peace.”
No… wait… Ex-lax MUST be right… he found THREE good quotes and I only found one BAD one. ***Sniff… sniff***
Wonder if Time managed to ask any of the “Eight million people*… in urgent need of emergency aid; that figure includes over two million who are displaced within the country, and more than two million refugees.”
*http://www.perspectives.com/forums/view_topic.php?id=150524&forum_id=71
Or any of the multiple hundreds of thousands killed… oh, my bad… they’re ALREADY dead. But if they were alive, they’d be so PRO-American, huh, Ex-lax?
April 13th, 2008 at 11:05 pmZed Lefflin Says:
http://district299.typepad.com/ district299/ 2007/ 06/ how_many_childr.html
“The highly unofficial inside scoop on Chicago schools — all day, every day.”
ROFLMAO
Wow, the UNOFFICAL BLOG of chicago’s schools, that’s the credible source you provide? Now, THAT’S impressive. What a pillock.
April 14th, 2008 at 8:02 am