Iraq - Job Will Be Completed Soon

[Craig Read]

Lots of media handwringing.

More people are killed annually in Toronto-Washington-New York and London than will be killed in 2-3 years in Iraq. But hey, that is okay, it is a disaster in Iraq obviously.

Why the US will crush the insurgents within one year:

1. The latest intelligence puts the number of active Iraqi guerrillas at 5,000 and sympathizers at around 50,000. The insurgents have plenty of firepower, including assault rifles, explosive devices, rocket-propelled grenades and a number of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles. And their funding appears sufficient to pay young men as much as $5,000 to risk an attack against American forces.

But an insurgency requires several other elements to succeed: popular support, money, weapons and a safe haven to hide, train and plan. The Baathist insurgency has adequate arms but little else. Only the most 'useful of idiots' in the West believe that the Iraqi's want fascism and Islamo-theocratic governance.

2. The Pentagon says most of the insurgents are former Baath Party officials and other Saddam loyalists and nearly all are part of Iraq’s Sunni Arab minority. The Sunnis have little influence outside the Baathist/Sunni triangle which extends just north and west of Baghdad. Little terror activity occurs outside this area, and American generals say their best intelligence on the insurgence comes from other Iraqis fed up with the resistance.

3. The Baathists lack a credible ideology to inspire new recruits. Returning Saddam to power generates little enthusiasm anywhere in Iraq, and, according to a recent study by Baghdad University, 71.5 percent of Iraqis favor the occupation, at least on a temporary basis.

4. Hussein will be caught and killed.

5. Arms caches are being uncovered weekly and eventually weapons supplies will run out.

This is why the outcome is inevitable. Even if the French and their useful idiot allies try to fund the insurgents

[theloniusfleabag]

Dear Mr. Read,

Your post is inaccurate on many levels.

1.

Only the most 'useful of idiots' in the West believe that the Iraqi's want fascism and Islamo-theocratic governance.

The 'useful idiots' vote according to this theory, but do not understand Islam, nor the Iraqi people. Methinks you got this from CNN ( the most respected news source in Russia in the 80's, well before Clinton)

2.

2. The Pentagon says most of the insurgents are former Baath Party officials and other Saddam loyalists and nearly all are part of Iraq’s Sunni Arab minority. The Sunnis have little influence outside the Baathist/Sunni triangle which extends just north and west of Baghdad. Little terror activity occurs outside this area, and American generals say their best intelligence on the insurgence comes from other Iraqis fed up with the resistance

Are you suggesting that Islam could be turned upon itself? Is the US suggesting this? I must say 'Rubbish'.

3. If 71.5% of Iraqi's supported occupation, in any legitimate sense of the word, so would the world. This number can obviously be thrown out the window.

4.

Hussein will be caught and killed.

Only those who fear what he might reveal wuld want him killed. The rest of us wish him to stand trial at The Hague, and hear (possibly) the truth! (gasp)

5.

Arms caches are being uncovered weekly and eventually weapons supplies will run out.

Not while it is in the US' interests to have him as an enemy.

[Hugo]

If 71.5% of Iraqi's supported occupation, in any legitimate sense of the word, so would the world.

This makes absolutely no sense! Do you believe that between 1933 and 1945, the rest of the world wanted Hitler in power, because the German people did? Rubbish. It's entirely probable that the Iraqi people want to be occupied, since the occupation is far, far less brutal than the regime that preceded it. On the other hand, in the rest of the world suckers like you are drinking hand-wringing news stories about quagmires and so forth, and insisting that the Coalition be made to get out.

Only those who fear what he might reveal wuld want him killed. The rest of us wish him to stand trial at The Hague, and hear (possibly) the truth! (gasp)

And what do you think 'the truth' might be - that Saddam was really a nice guy, and the graves containing 300,000 of his political enemies aren't really there, and the torture and rape chambers are really S&M nightclubs? We know the truth about Saddam. He was a brutal despot and a butcher of innocents who modeled himself on history's worst criminals.

I would like Saddam to be tried in a genuine court of law, because then the facts about him might actually be told in a way that would get through to people like you. But I doubt it.

[Craig Read]

Pretty sad when the 'Useful Idiot' crowd keeps defending fascists. I don't suppose that any argument along economic, political or moral lines will dissuade those who believe that leaving a megalo-maniac with a penchant for murder, warring, oil domination and chemical production, in charge of cowed, beaten, subjected and humiliated people was the right course of action.

Iraq is just one step in a longer journey that will take years to traverse. It is the long sought for and much delayed first step in rebuilding a broken system in a corrupt area of the world and dragging failed Islamic societies into the modern era.

I am no fan of Islam, but i do believe that with time, the right tools, the right economic strategy and with a secure representative system of laws and governance, that the Arab world will respond quite favorably to Western styled societal construction.

I have faith that the Iraqi's themselves will rise up in the coming years and turn their own country around. At least now they have their chance. Let's see what they and the US will do with it. I am certain - 110% - that they will succeed.

[KrustyKidd]

I have faith that the Iraqi's themselves will rise up in the coming years and turn their own country around. At least now they have their chance. Let's see what they and the US will do with it. I am certain - 110% - that they will succeed.

People are smart. Once they learn how to juggle a system it all comes together. I think that at this time on planet earth, the luckiest people are the Iraqis. So much opportunity, so much confusion, so much moneyall flipping around in a market just ready to explode! Televisions, taxis, discos, factorys, tourism, oil with modern infastructure. It is so exciting and limitless. And so many novices it just boggles the mind.

A place for an entreprenuer for sure!

With fifty grand you could start a newpaper industry country wide, a trucking company, a cell phone system. Like what is the downside here? That Iraqis are being hard pressed? Day to day I wonder how many less Iraqis are not being swept off the streets to dungeons unknown? Over the course of the US occupation so far I imagine the lives saved far outnumber those lost during major combat.

Democracy forced on a prison that size, like withdrawl symtoms for an addict. Truely an exciting time to be alive!

[Craig Read]

Yes the Iraqi's have their moment. The insurgents will be defeated, Hussein castrated, and his fascist minions put to death. Then we will see the spirit of an oppressed people rise up and show the naysayers what they are capable of. There is a good reason why the Iraqi's want the US and not the UNO in their country to manage security and the transitionary period. They recognise the ineffectiveness and inutility of the UNO. The UNO, outside of East Timor, which has a population the same size as Peterborough Ont., has no experience with rebuilding states. The only successful organisation that has rebuilt states is the US government. Yes they will make lots of mistakes, but like with most issues, the Americans eventually get it right.

[Hugo]

Israel was originally a strip of desert with very little going for it. Now it is the most prosperous and productive state in the Middle East, and it owes it all to four things: democracy, free markets, the will of its people and Western, specifically American, backing. Now Iraq will have those things too, and I confidently predict that in short order Iraq will become a free and prosperous state. In time they may even out-do Israel, since they have oil wealth to further drive their economy.

It certainly seems that the majority of Iraqis are truly inspired and wish to make their country a better place now that the shackles are off, and with the support of the West and the advent of democracy and the free market the country will take off. These are exciting times.

[Craig Read]

Exciting and dangerous. The US will pull out of Iraq if Dean wins in '04. This will be his main foreign policy concept - isolationism. He can't moderate his 'I hate Bush and the Iraq war' position now. He is too far gone and the hate Bush crowd is the only way the Dumbo's can organise an effective national campaign.

I believe Bush will win 35 states and '04. So the US will be in Iraq. They have to stay there a min. of 5 years with a huge military precense.

If this transpires and the Iraqi para military is well trained and helps out with obliterating the insurgents and if Hussein is caught, castrated and beheaded, then Iraq within 5 years will be a reformed and transformed country.

The pre-requisite is however a Bush victory in '04. If not sorry folks, Iraq will fall back into anarchy.

[Craig Read]

Not bad we predicted the beginning of the end - and indeed it has arrived.

Within one year, Iraq will be transformed.

The insurgency will collapse within 4 months. No leaders, no money, no vision. Bye Bye. As for the Liberal idiots in the Dumbo party - Bush will 35 states and the Demo's will split into 2 warring factions - the Hitleryites and Dean supporters vs. Lieberman and the smarter faction of the party.

Officials said the high-value target was captured at his home, where he was apparently having a meeting. All 74 Iraqis were captured at the house in Samarra, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Tikrit, officials said. The suspects were young men of military age, and no women were present, officials said.

Coalition officials described the top man as a midlevel official, a member of the paramilitary group Fedayeen Saddam and a financier of attacks on coalition troops. Officials said they believe he can lead them to some insurgents involved in the attacks.

Coalition officials also said they found 135 pounds of explosives, several mortar rounds, 15 AK-47s, 200 blasting caps and other ammunition and paraphernalia similar to those used in attacks against coalition troops.

U.S. troops have fought off ambushes in Samarra twice this month -- on December 1, when the military said troops killed 54 Iraqis, and Monday, when they killed 11 attackers.

Brig. Gen. Martin Dempsey, commander of the 1st Armored Division in Baghdad, said that Saddam Hussein's arrest Saturday could help U.S. forces search for Iraqi insurgents.

[righturnonred]

The US military in Iraq is seeing positive results stemming from the capture of Saddam. Indications are that the insurgency is slowly collapsing.

Attacks down 22% since Saddam's capture

Attacks against coalition forces in Iraq have dropped 22% in the four weeks since Saddam Hussein's capture, military records show.  U.S. military officers say the decline in attacks, after months of growing intensity, is the first proof that Saddam's capture and recent U.S. offensives have dampened, but not eliminated, resistance to the occupation.

The average number of daily attacks fell to 18 in the four weeks since Dec. 14, when the coalition announced that Saddam had been captured the day before. In the four weeks before Saddam was found, attacks averaged 23 a day.

Commanders have set their sights on Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, Saddam's number 2 man, who is now believed to be directing the resistence.

Coalition forces are slowly eliminating the critical elements of the resistence: leadership, money, and the will to fight.

It is only a matter of time before Iraq in stablized, paving the way for a new constitution and general elections.

[theloniusfleabag]

Dear rightturnonred,

Coalition forces are slowly eliminating the critical elements of the resistence: leadership, money, and the will to fight.

The most critical factor has been idiotically overlooked. The US claims it as the catalyst, yet denies it has value to the enemy. It is "The reason to fight".

[righturnonred]

The most critical factor has been idiotically overlooked.

How so?

Let me ask you something:

If you're one of Saddam's minions fighting to reinstall your fallen Baath regime to power and you're leaders are being systematically killed and captured to the point at which a return to the "good ol' days" is seeming less and less likely every day, how much willingness are going to have to continue to fight for an increasingly hopeless cause?

The answer is little to none.

[theloniusfleabag]

Dear rightturnonred,

The point I make is that the US has assumed that the truth is

one of Saddam's minions fighting to reinstall your fallen Baath regime to power

when it is more than likely that it is not at all the case.

[Craig Read]

Well fleabag, you should cite your own posts and lies before criticising the complex reconstruction of a geopolitically valuable area of the world. Your litany of nonsense and the left liberal accusations pre and post war make comical reading. You have been wrong on every major point.

Your philosophy is so pathetically weak and irrelevant - the Clintonian policy of avoidance and the Cdn philosophy of rhetoric as a replacement for reality. Sad.

Talk to some Iraqi's that live in Canada. You will get the real news - that the dismantlement of fascism is a positive and that 90 % of the population wants to move forward. Talk to some Iranians the live in Canada. They will tell you they hope Iran is next.

Maybe Canada can send a dogsled team and some musketeers to help out in the invasion of Iran, presaged by withering rhetoric of course on morality, human rights and Cdn greatness. As they ignore the mass graves, destruction of human potential and the brainwashing of an entire group of people....sanctioned by the UN of course.

[Michael Hardner]

What about the theat by Al Quaida to Iraq ? This is not to be taken lightly.

[KrustyKidd]

Dear rightturnonred,

The point I make is that the US has assumed that the truth is

one of Saddam's minions fighting to reinstall your fallen Baath regime to power

when it is more than likely that it is not at all the case.

Duh, it gets rid of a lot of the people attacking Iraqis and Americans but not all. It is a positive step forward. Therre are die hards for sure but they will fall eventually. Like them the left will begin to accept that things are working out.

A quick question to those who are inlined to the left; what do you figure when most of your predictions about this action have been proved wrong? Do you find excuses or simply overlook them? What I am talking about is all the Peter Jennings quotes about this being a Viet Nam and America being bogged down and such.

[theloniusfleabag]

Dear KK,

When I refered to Iraq being another Afghanistan, I was not kidding. The predictions have not been proven wrong, (I admit I do not know what Peter Jennings may have said) because Iraq has not been 'subdued' yet.

[KrustyKidd]

I was serious as well my Sparring Partner. It was well said and is observed by myself as being an incomplete work. One that seems to be covieniently out of the spotlight.

As for Jennings, it's hillarious. Here is is, Craig posted it.

ost Preview

QUOTE (Craig Read @ Dec 30 2003, 07:37 PM)

Clown is a good word for the Liberals on Iraq and Foreign policy. Maybe they add some value on domestic issues, when you can cry about love, equality and making sure grandma has enough money to buy dentures. On foreign policy these guys are so out of touch it is shocking.

Good report here on Canadian Peter Jenning's and his AntiAmerican Blowhard Corp's [ABC], pre Iraq war utterances. Utterly vapid.

JENNINGS LINK

Peter’s Peace Platoon

An MRC study of 234 stories on ABC’s World News Tonight from January 1 to March 7 found that ABC News harshly criticized the Bush administration and its policies, but failed to extend that same tough critical standard to congressional Democrats, UN bureaucrats, skeptical allies like France and even to the dictatorship in Iraq.

(MRC Special Report, March 18)

Jennings Refuses to Cover NYC Pro-Troops Rally

No anti-war protest has been too small for Jennings and ABC to cover but a pro-troops rally that drew 15,000 in New York City didn’t get a mention. NBC and CBS, as well as the three cable networks, did short pieces on the event.

(CyberAlert, April 11)

Jennings Repeats Himself

ABC anchor Peter Jennings used an al-Jazeera report about an American bombing that killed 18 civilians on two successive nights.

(CyberAlert, April 5)

Jennings and Stahl Raise Vietnam Quagmire

Jennings claimed “one Marine” told an ABC reporter that Iraq “sometimes feels like Vietnam.” Over on CBS, Lesley Stahl asked former Navy Secretary James Webb if he was getting a feeling of “déjà vu.”

(CyberAlert, March 27)

Celebrating Iraqis A Ruse?

Iraqis tore down Saddam Hussein's picture and celebrated when coalition forces came through the town of Safwan but ABC News was skeptical. Peter Jennings suggested the actions were done "for the cameras." Correspondent John Donvan went there unescorted and said he "didn't see anything like that."

(CyberAlert, March 23)

Jennings: U.S. Will Be Welcomed, But We Kept Saddam in Power

Jennings interviewed an anti-American former assistant UN Secretary General and made a pro-American point. Sort of. Iraqis will welcome Americans, Jennings said, because they want “to get out from under the yoke of Saddam Hussein, in part because the U.S. supported him staying in power for a long time and kept sanctions.”

(CyberAlert, March 21)

OK ABC time to fire Jennings the clown - or maybe Fox can buy him and put him on the Simpsons.

[theloniusfleabag]

Dear KK,

Ok, I did read this post previously. I didn't, at the time pay it special attention. Some points...

Iraqis tore down Saddam Hussein's picture and celebrated when coalition forces came through the town of Safwan but ABC News was skeptical. Peter Jennings suggested the actions were done "for the cameras."

The IDF, fighting against the Intifada in the 80's, hated camera crews that accompanied them on missions. The sight of cameras always drove people to actions they might not have otherwise commited. I understand this is called 'Jackass' in the US now.

Iraqis will welcome Americans, Jennings said, because they want “to get out from under the yoke of Saddam Hussein, in part because the U.S. supported him staying in power for a long time and kept sanctions.”

This part is true (Mostly, the part of Iraqis welcoming the US is dubious). Not sure where the clown part comes in.

The rest seems to be run-of-the-mill biased reporting. Nothing out of the ordinary, except that if it was from a US reporter, he would be fired. The entire rest of the world sees it all to be true. You wouldn't beleive the anti-US sentiment in the rest of the world today. Actually, you probably would, if you didn't listen to US 'news'.

[KrustyKidd]

Actually, you probably would, if you didn't listen to US 'news'.

I read voraciously. I think as well. I listen to news, and especially like talk shows. Believe it or not I like left radio as well. Sean Hanitty and Mike Savage are my favs for info but I always check their facts. The left radio never has any new facts like the right stuff. They spin the same facts in different ways. A fact is a fact. When you follow the whole picture the way we have then you see the pattern and no spin will change the overall picture unless you live in a cave.

What I have noticed abuot the Left is that the object of their hatred is not the actions of the US but rather, Bush himself. I like to think that any President would have done the same thing. Kennedy, Truman, Rosevelt I am certain would have. What say you?

Now back to Europe and the press. WMD were in Iraq. Iraq threatened the ME and hence the stability of the world's oil supply, not simply the US. Saddam had ample opportunity to rejoin the Nations of Earth and instead allowed sanctions to continue to make a point. HELLO! He allowed his people to starve to villify the UN and America? Who is the villan here? All he needed to do was to give a hungry Blix and his merry men a few documents and burn some crap in front of them. Maybe some interviews with the people who destroyed the WMD but no, he did not.

I see the US as the only entity on Earth that actually did what it was supposed to do. Sure, they did it for differing reasons but none are as nefarious as some portray it. I mean, arre there squadrons of covered wagons from Iowa waiting to move in to the deserts of Iraq to rip the Iraqis off? All oil exports have been more to Europe than America.

I find that the European press is forgetful of one fact; the US has had Atomic weapons for over 50 years and we are still alive with prosperous trade and far better off than we were 50 years ago. Under the rule of a variety of terrorist organisations from the ME, supported by Saddams and whoever else, what we have is Atomic weapons, warlords elevated to cult status with Atomic weapons.

Middle ages meets 20th century with an Atomic suicide belt. No thanks, I'd rather nip it in the bud with some democracy.

BIASED BOOK

[Craig Read]

KK,

I find that the European press is forgetful of one fact; the US has had Atomic weapons for over 50 years and we are still alive with prosperous trade and far better off than we were 50 years ago. Under the rule of a variety of terrorist organisations from the ME, supported by Saddams and whoever else, what we have is Atomic weapons, warlords elevated to cult status with Atomic weapons.

Correct. I argued with some Euroweenies this week on this very fact. They forget that the COLD WAR raged for 50 years. They forget that rogue nations DO EXIST. They forget that national defence and military preparedness are the prime responsiblities of govt's. That is the basis after all of the hobbesian contract between citizens and national govts. You want my money fine - but make sure i have security.

Something the tree hugging, naked, love to be relative Cdns should clue into.

As for Iraq creating a western dependency in the middle of a bad neighbourhood is an act not only of charity but long term geopolitical genius. The Cdns and French have not quite figured out that fascism is a nasty concept and must be beaten, destroyed and eradicated whenever it raises it ugly face.

Iraq is going well. Importantly its social services and infrastructure is being rapidly rebuilt. This bodes well looknig out 1-2 years from now.

Liberal idiots just don't get it.

Christopher Spear, assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Labor, said a majority of Iraqis report they are better off now than they were under the regime of Saddam Hussein, and their cooperation with the American-led coalition proves this.

"When you get out and work with these people - the smiles that you see, the embraces - it just really is encouraging. You're actually contributing and making a difference, but it really rests on their shoulders," Spear said.

Diana Tabler, chief of staff for health affairs with the Department of Defense, said Iraqi medical agencies gradually are upgrading their facilities and soon will regain the medical prominence they once enjoyed in the region.

"Their skills are simply not as current as they would like because they were forbidden from any kind of international travel; they were forbidden from reading and obtaining journals of any recent publication" under Saddam Hussein, Tabler said.

Both officials recently returned from deployments in Baghdad, where they worked with the Coalition Provisional Authority in the reconstruction and stabilization effort in Iraq. They reported their findings to CNSNews.com at a special breakfast briefing.

During a six-week tour of Iraq during the summer, Tabler assisted in the re-establishment of the Iraqi Health Ministry, organizing conferences, ensuring that hospitals have electricity and seeing to it that Iraqi doctors and nurses are paid.

Tabler reported visiting medical libraries where shelves were bare except for photocopies of books or journals that had been smuggled into Iraq from neighboring countries. With the assistance of the United States and non-governmental organizations, Iraqi medical facilities are rapidly being transformed, she said.

"They will rapidly regain their place in that region and, I believe, once again be the referral site and the desired place for medical care in the region," Tabler said.

In the past 12 years, Iraq's health care system deteriorated appallingly, Tabler said. Infant mortality rates more than doubled, from 50 deaths per 1,000 born in 1990 to 107 per 1,000 born in 2000. More than half of the pregnant Iraqi women are anemic, and about one-third deliver babies that are under standard birth weight.

"There are some very significant needs, the most critical being the health of children and young mothers, those who suffered from malnutrition and the lack of medicines so that there are critical health needs throughout the country that need to be addressed and that we're working on," Tabler said.

Of the $87 billion the administration is requesting in supplemental spending for Iraq and Afghanistan, $850 million would be spent on health care in Iraq, according to the Office of Management and Budget.

That $850 million would be in addition to $211 million spent on health care from July through the end of 2003 and $946 million targeted for health in the provisional government's 2004 budget, according to reports.

An additional $100 million for administration and salaries of hospital and clinic employees has been taken from seized assets of Hussein.

Some ministries will be operational soon

As the Coalition Provisional Authority's representative to the Iraqi Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Spear ran an agency of 3,800 employees that administered about 120 buildings throughout Iraq.

Working from hastily improvised facilities in Baghdad, Spear oversaw the renovation of 16 of 38 damaged buildings and worked with Iraqi officials to make the ministry functional. The rest of the repairs are expected to be completed by the end of the year, he said.

Spear also oversaw the distribution of dollar payments to Iraqi ministry employees and overdue payments to welfare and social security recipients - including the sick, the elderly and disabled - who had not been paid since February.

Some ministries - such as the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, with its 3,800 employees - will become operational sooner than others, Spear said. Other ministries have more than 100,000 employees and suffered far more damage.

"In the next year, you're going to see so much improvement that you'll begin seeing our military and our governmental presence begin to diminish. It'll phase out, and what remains will be the areas that need a little more tending to," Spear said.

With 40 percent of Iraq's population of 23 million people under 14 years of age, "the youth really are the future," Spear said.

"I think as they get older and become more accustomed to the international community, Iraq really will be a contributing force in the Arab region as well as globally," Spear said.

[theloniusfleabag]

Dear KK,

What I have noticed abuot the Left is that the object of their hatred is not the actions of the US but rather, Bush himself. I like to think that any President would have done the same thing. Kennedy, Truman, Rosevelt I am certain would have. What say you?

I do try to bash the US as a whole first and foremost. When I refer to Pres. Bush, it is because it would be silly to say Mr. Kennedy was responsible for the illegal acts of the US today. (Even though the US still honours 'dead presidents' images more than anything)

I read voraciously. I think as well. I listen to news, and especially like talk shows. Believe it or not I like left radio as well.

I also read and think a great deal. I mostly despise talk shows, as they are sensationalist ('cause they need the money) and the host skews the results of debate, whether they be 'right or left'.

[KrustyKidd]

I also read and think a great deal. I mostly despise talk shows, as they are sensationalist ('cause they need the money) and the host skews the results of debate, whether they be 'right or left'.

Of course they are. They are entertainment. I do agree with you in that they are sensationalist. How else could they gain listeners? Boring topics might make them think they were listening to the CBC or something.

I love them for the information direction though. When I hear something that is of interest I file it away in my head. I check it later on a printed or internet source then make my own conclusions. I do find Left radio is much more lacking than right radio for revelations and stories and high on well worked over rhetoric. Mind you today for example I had the only channel I could get and Buffoon Boy Rush was on. Same thing over and over, something about Clark being a flip flopper on Iraq. A caller called in and gave the entire context of the Sept 2002 statement by Clark and Rush wouldn't hear any of it. Instead he kept repeating the same thing over and over again about flip flopping. I know Clark does that but Rush doing it for an hour and a half then about to move into hour two of a three hour show. .....

I love the Gypsy Kings and have a few CDs of theirs. Sanity!