Bush: Troops in Iraq Until at Least 2009
March 21st, 2006 by Ape ManAP| Bush Defends Decisions on Iraq War.
President Bush said Tuesday the decision about when to withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq will fall to future presidents and Iraqi leaders, suggesting that U.S. involvement will continue at least through 2008.
Probably the most disorienting thing about dealing with staunch Iraq war supporters is their insistence on the twin realities that we must stay in Iraq basically indefinitely and that things are going great. It’s as if all the things these people said before the war about how long it was going to take (Rumsfeld said all but a small force would be home by the end of 2003) and how much it was going to cost (the White House said Iraq would shoulder much of the burden for its own reconstruction) have just disappeared into the dust.
At some point don’t the war-trumpet blowers need to admit things aren’t going according to plan? Aren’t we off the map here at this point? If not, how come in the runup to war it didn’t occur to anyone to mention that we’d still be occupying Iraq in 2009?
Anyone?
March 21st, 2006 at 3:20 pm
It doesn’t matter because Jesus is gonna fix everything.
March 21st, 2006 at 3:31 pm
I thought the war was over. Wasn’t that what Bunnypants told us?
March 21st, 2006 at 3:45 pm
Damian–
Did you just out yourself as a Malloy listener?
March 21st, 2006 at 4:13 pm
Nobody has a monopoly on calling Bush Bunnypants.
APS
March 21st, 2006 at 4:27 pm
Ape–
Did I just pwn myself?
March 21st, 2006 at 4:28 pm
I don’t “get” the bunnypants reference. Where’s it from?
March 21st, 2006 at 4:31 pm
Malloy
March 21st, 2006 at 5:13 pm
Think this is intresting?? And…. how many are dead now?
March 21st, 2006 at 5:15 pm
Wow, Laine. Great link. I’m going to post it. Thanks.
March 21st, 2006 at 5:40 pm
My pleasure LA!
March 22nd, 2006 at 1:46 am
Well, more than enough time for me to over in Iraq one more time.
March 22nd, 2006 at 6:54 am
We still have troops in Germany, South Korea and Bosnia.
DOH!!
March 22nd, 2006 at 9:41 am
yes, and if the governments of any of those countries tells us to leave, we will go.
unfortunately in the last two elections the iraqis overwhelmingly elected politicians promising to get rid of foreign forces in the country. each time, the u.s. forced them to flip-flop when they were sworn in. maybe if we did that in south korea there would be an insurgency there too
March 22nd, 2006 at 12:11 pm
How would you feel about going back, Zig?
March 22nd, 2006 at 12:27 pm
Bush: Troops to Stay in Iraq Until Next Republican Presidential Candidate Can Use The Troops Presence in Iraq as a Campaign Platform
P.S. - Whatever the 2008 Republican presidential candidate’s plan is for those troops will be nothing short of a “bold and decisive plan.” Whatever the 2008 Democratic presidential candidate’s plan for the troops — even if it is exactly like Bush’s “plan” — will be cowardly fear-mongering.
P.P.S. - Maybe LBR can tell us the last time the US Troops in Germany, South Korea and Bosnia actively policed those countries? Buehler? Buehler?
March 22nd, 2006 at 3:53 pm
“yes, and if the governments of any of those countries tells us to leave, we will go.”
The newly constituted government of Iraq has not told us to leave, Up. Where did you get that idea?
When we believe they’re ready to handle the “in(terrorists)surgents” they won’t have to ask. In the meantime it’s the last thing anybody other than the terrorists and their supporters wants to see….
March 22nd, 2006 at 3:53 pm
I wouldn’t want to go. The first time over there was bad enough. But orders are orders and I can’t debate them.
March 22nd, 2006 at 4:25 pm
So, the majority of the Iraqi population that wants US forces gone within six months, those are all terrorists and terrorist supporters? That’s quite a force we’re up against over there 13 million strong.
APS
March 22nd, 2006 at 4:44 pm
i didn’t say they did. here’s what i did say:
unfortunately in the last two elections the iraqis overwhelmingly elected politicians promising to get rid of foreign forces in the country. each time, the u.s. forced them to flip-flop when they were sworn in.
get it? the major iraqi parties campaigned on a platform of throwing out u.s. troops. the shia coalition that most emphasized that in their campaign won an upset victory and ended up in control of the parliament in the january 2005 elections. immediate withdrawal of u.s. forces was #2 on their platform when they ran, but they dropped it as soon as they came to power.
this last election, that party was thrown out by the iraqi people, replaced by another iraqi party that emphasized immediate troop withdrawal. although they have been seated in parliament, they haven’t managed to form a government yet. still, they seem to have dropped all talk of a troop pullout.
as i said about, if this happened in south korea, there would probably be an insurgency against the u.s. there too
March 22nd, 2006 at 4:46 pm
I said “and their supporters” Ape. I consider most of the Sunnis as opposed to the U.S. presence whether or not they support terrorists, or just the milder, expurgated “insurgent” version.
If the poll were held among Shiites and Kurds only you’d see a dramatic difference.
What you WON”T see, however, God willing-is this country cutting and running ala Murtha and company-before the Iraqis are fully capable of handling security in that country…
March 22nd, 2006 at 5:10 pm
“but they dropped it as soon as they came to power.”
Well you just answered your own question Up. The Iraqis aren’t the only ones to have developed the Jimmy Carter and William Clinton “anything to get elected” ploy to a high art.
But to give them the benefit of the doubt, maybe they really meant it at the time. That is until they looked around and calculated just how long they’d be around to try and fulfill all the other promises they made on the stump without the American forces to protect them…
March 22nd, 2006 at 5:22 pm
“No nation building”*”No new taxes”*selective memory courtesy LBR
March 22nd, 2006 at 7:23 pm
There’s a government in Iraq?
No, seriously…
March 22nd, 2006 at 8:03 pm
Just please clarify BRT, is half the Iraqi population “terrorist supporters?” Because half the Iraqi population wants US troops out now.
And I guess by extension, do you support killing all 13 million of those people?
APS
March 22nd, 2006 at 9:41 pm
Well, Zig, I hope you don’t have to go back. How about a nice assignment in Hawaii or Thailand or something?
March 22nd, 2006 at 9:48 pm
The Iraqis may have a hard time with this democracy thing, but they sure picked up real fast on how to make campaign promises. Hope springs eternal!
March 23rd, 2006 at 1:15 am
I can only hope.
March 23rd, 2006 at 7:34 am
Yeah - well let’s hope they can pull it off.