Troop Reduction Is Possible, Bush Says

[Psycho4Bud]

AL ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq, Sept. 3 â?? President Bush made a surprise eight-hour visit to Iraq on Monday, emphasizing security gains, sectarian reconciliation and the possibility of a troop withdrawal, thus embracing and pre-empting this monthâ??s crucial Congressional hearings on his Iraq strategy.

His visit, with his commanders and senior Iraqi officials, had a clear political goal: to try to head off opponentsâ?? pressure for a withdrawal by hailing what he called recent successes in Iraq and by contending that only making Iraq stable would allow American forces to pull back.

Mr. Bushâ??s visit to Iraq â?? his third â?? was spent at this remote desert base in the restive Sunni province of Anbar, where he had summoned Iraqâ??s Shiite prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, and others to demonstrate that reconciliation among Iraqâ??s warring sectarian factions was at least conceivable, if not yet a fact.

After talks with Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top American commander in Iraq, and Ryan C. Crocker, the ambassador to Iraq, Mr. Bush said that they â??tell me that if the kind of success we are now seeing here continues it will be possible to maintain the same level of security with fewer American forces.â?�

Mr. Hadley, briefing reporters, recalled a military intelligence officerâ??s dire warning a year ago that Al Qaeda controlled the provincial capital, Ramadi, and other towns in the region. â??Anbar Province is lost,â?� he quoted the analyst as saying then. Mr. Hadley was apparently referring to Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the homegrown Sunni Arab extremist group that American intelligence agencies have concluded is foreign led. The extent of its links to Osama bin Ladenâ??s network is not clear.

On Monday, after meeting with some of the local Sunni leaders who only months ago led the struggle against the American presence in the region, Mr. Bush held up Anbar as a model of the progress that was possible.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/04/wo...ref=middleeast

And the dems said it couldn't be done........

Have a good one!:s4:

Psycho4Bud Reviewed by Psycho4Bud on 09-04-2007. Troop Reduction Is Possible, Bush Says AL ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq, Sept. 3 â?? President Bush made a surprise eight-hour visit to Iraq on Monday, emphasizing security gains, sectarian reconciliation and the possibility of a troop withdrawal, thus embracing and pre-empting this monthâ??s crucial Congressional hearings on his Iraq strategy. His visit, with his commanders and senior Iraqi officials, had a clear political goal: to try to head off opponentsâ?? pressure for a withdrawal by hailing what he called recent successes in Iraq Rating: 5

[eg420ne]

War, Its Fantastic [YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWCtfUgBtNw[/YOUTUBE]

[medicinal]

AL ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq, Sept. 3 â?? President Bush made a surprise eight-hour visit to Iraq on Monday, emphasizing security gains, sectarian reconciliation and the possibility of a troop withdrawal, thus embracing and pre-empting this monthâ??s crucial Congressional hearings on his Iraq strategy.

His visit, with his commanders and senior Iraqi officials, had a clear political goal: to try to head off opponentsâ?? pressure for a withdrawal by hailing what he called recent successes in Iraq and by contending that only making Iraq stable would allow American forces to pull back.

Mr. Bushâ??s visit to Iraq â?? his third â?? was spent at this remote desert base in the restive Sunni province of Anbar, where he had summoned Iraqâ??s Shiite prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, and others to demonstrate that reconciliation among Iraqâ??s warring sectarian factions was at least conceivable, if not yet a fact.

After talks with Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top American commander in Iraq, and Ryan C. Crocker, the ambassador to Iraq, Mr. Bush said that they â??tell me that if the kind of success we are now seeing here continues it will be possible to maintain the same level of security with fewer American forces.â?�

Mr. Hadley, briefing reporters, recalled a military intelligence officerâ??s dire warning a year ago that Al Qaeda controlled the provincial capital, Ramadi, and other towns in the region. â??Anbar Province is lost,â?� he quoted the analyst as saying then. Mr. Hadley was apparently referring to Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the homegrown Sunni Arab extremist group that American intelligence agencies have concluded is foreign led. The extent of its links to Osama bin Ladenâ??s network is not clear.

On Monday, after meeting with some of the local Sunni leaders who only months ago led the struggle against the American presence in the region, Mr. Bush held up Anbar as a model of the progress that was possible.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/04/wo...ref=middleeast

And the dems said it couldn't be done........

Have a good one!:s4:

So his big troop withdrawel will be returning the surge guys to the USA, whoopee, he's a genious, bringing home the troops, NOT.

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

I was actually hoping, on the very slim chance, that the surge might actually reduce the violence with one big assault. But of course all that happened was a dispersal of the violence into the rest of Iraq, and an increase. How can he even claim success when violence has now reached record levels? Or, as medicinal pointed out, is he just bringing home the extra boys from the surge who weren't supposed to be there in the first place?

[Psycho4Bud]

Ummmm....even the head Dem leaders stated that the surge was having a positive effect. Oh well.........

Have a good one!:s4:

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

Ummmm....even the head Dem leaders stated that the surge was having a positive effect. Oh well.........

Have a good one!:s4:

Well personally I think voting Dem or Rep is like feeding the left and right head of the two-headed beast.

The possitive effect of the surge, not surprisingly, was temporary and artificial. Baghdad has a massive suppression in violence, and lo and behold, violence increased hugely in the rest of the country. They didn't suppress it, just dispersed it. It was only a couple weaks ago that 500 Iraqie's were killed in one day of bombings, 170 the day before that.

[jakez]

http://boards.cannabis.com/politics/...ithdrawal.html

[Ganja Dude]

How come every republican's comeback is something negative about the democrats? Most people who know politics know they are both equally as bad. All they do is divide the country.

Psycho if you buy that bullshit the Bush administration feeds you then you're being foolish. The current people in office are criminals and should be removed asap. If the Iraq war was just and good then it would have more support. Even Bush's republican cronies are turning on him now. Why is it that so-called repubs can't grasp the concept that these are real lives and not pawns on a chess board? We don't need to be in the middle east. If people really want to attack us taking down random people in the streets of baghdad isn't going to help. If we were attacked by an actual country it would be a different story. It's even proven now that Iraq had no WMD's which was the reason we went in anyhow.

It's sad that Bush has ruined so many lives and continues to. He sends people's children to war to die and has killed over 600,000 Iraqi people since he has sent our army to invade. It shouldn't have been this easy to do all of it. People just let it slide and those who oppose are ignored.

This war isn't meant to be won, it's meant to be ongoing. I don't know why these people need more money and power. I barely have any money and power and I am very happy.

Psycho4bud I'd like you to explain why you think the Iraq war is beneficial to anybody but those who make money off of it in any way. Bush is clearly not doing what the people of the United States want so how are we a democracy anymore? It seems much more like a dictatorship because although there are democratic processes, they don't seem to matter much anymore.

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

How come every republican's comeback is something negative about the democrats? Most people who know politics know they are both equally as bad. All they do is divide the country.

I'd say both sides are equally guilty of attacking their opponent as a platform.

If the Iraq war was just and good then it would have more support.

Keeping weed illegal still has more support than those who want to legalize it. I wouldn't call popular opinion an accurate gauge for morality.

We don't need to be in the middle east.

We don't need to be in Iraq. I personally believe the Afghanistan invasion is justifiable and necessary. But to each his own.

If people really want to attack us taking down random people in the streets of baghdad isn't going to help.

Not only that, but it's massively increased terrorist recruitment. What do you expect when hundreds of thousands of people are killed, all who collectively have millions of friends and family who'd have damn good reason to hate the states post-invasion.

It's even proven now that Iraq had no WMD's which was the reason we went in anyhow.

It hasn't been proven, it's impossible to disprove something that doesn't exist really, and there is some suspicion that Saddam moved some weapons to Syria (not holding my breath on that one though). The problem is more that the Bush administration failed to provide sufficient evidence or proof that they were there. The invasion was harshly lacking in justification or evidence yet they jumped in anyway. I mean, why not? Just charge in, topple a dictator, be greeted as liberators, and America has a steady supply of oil, a buddy the middle east and 'ol George can proudly proclaim he brought freedom to the middle east.
They were still stuck in the mindset of wars being a matter of toppling governments. If that's all it took, as they thought it would, the invasion would have been a piece of cake.

This war isn't meant to be won, it's meant to be ongoing. I don't know why these people need more money and power. I barely have any money and power and I am very happy.

I think it's meant to be won, Bush just can't possibly admit a mistake and own up to the people, acknowledging the hopeless situation he's created. At this point though, pulling out pre-emptively would be disastrous. He's stuck the nation in Iraq like snot to a screen door, good job George!:thumbsup:

Bush is clearly not doing what the people of the United States want so how are we a democracy anymore? It seems much more like a dictatorship because although there are democratic processes, they don't seem to matter much anymore.

You're thinking of direct democracy, not the representative democracy most (if not all) nations have today. Foreign policy (and many other) decisions under our system are based on the people voting in candidates who most closely represent their views, not candidates who govern by popular opinion.

Bush does have a moral obligation to listen to the will of his people on this matter, but not a legal one.

[thecreator]

Bring back the draft!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you dont agree your fucking dumb.If we do that we will truly be affected by the war and that is one way to end this senseless blood shed. The only way were going to write, phone, and email our local representatives is if we have an actual, evident connection to the war. I don't think it would be passed bc its political suicide to even bring the situation up but w the limited coverage of the reel stuff thats going on their how can we even begin to understand the atrocities going on in that waring nation.. Big up yourself for the thread