Victory in Iraq!

[Dorothy_ParkerX]

<p>New York Times:

“…Speaking in a solemn voice, President Bush said: ‘This war is now behind us. Ahead of us is the difficult task of securing a potentially historic peace.’”

</p>

<p><a href=“The Learning Network - The New York Times”>The Learning Network - The New York Times;

[Allmusic]

<p>Victory was declared in 2003. What news is this?</p>

<p>(Pay no attention to the escalating civil war…)</p>

[sjmom2329]

<p>Allmusic, I don’t think that that was DPX’s point. The link refers to the First Gulf War, under President George H. W. Bush.

He seemed to invite the citizens of Iraq to overthrow the man who had defied the assembled military and political power of the international alliance. ‘Coalition forces fought this war only as a last resort,’ Mr. Bush said, ‘and look foward to the day when Iraq is led by people prepared to live in peace with their neighbors.’</p>

<p>Arranging ‘a Solid Peace’ </p>

<p>Gen. Colin L. Powell, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, replied, ‘I think we can do that,’ Mr. Fitzwater said.</p>

<p>‘The message here was we’ve won the war and we’ve now got to go through the arrangements for a solid peace,’ he said.

I think it could be said that the current War in Iraq has been waged since 1990. Though the Iraqi’s were encouraged to rise up at the time, the lack of support from the coalition forces sealed their failure, and the deaths of many.

Just 12 years ago, the Shiite Muslims who constitute a majority in Iraq and in the city of Baghdad were betrayed by the United States – an act that may have cost them as many as 100,000 lives. That recent history – of which the Shiites are understandably a good deal less forgetful than we – explains why the Shiites in the south initially greeted invading American and British forces with a good deal more reserve than expected. And as the continuing turmoil in southern towns and cities makes clear, building a democratic state in Iraq over the long term will depend to a large degree on how strong and lasting a trust we can build among these people.

<a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A10874-2003Apr11?language=printer[/url]”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A10874-2003Apr11?language=printer&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>The first battles were not decisive enough to get rid of Hussein and stabilize the country. It just simmered for another 12 years.</p>

[Dorothy_ParkerX]

<p>

@Xmusic

“Victory was declared in 2003. What news is this?”

Ah yes, irony does represent quite the challenge for the ever-earnest political scrapper. </p>

<p>Or is it a simple function of humor?!;)</p>

[citygirlsmom]

<p>The First Lady went on to say: “Many parts of Iraq are stable now. But, of course, what we see on television is the one bombing a day that discourages everybody.”</p>

<p>What PLANET does this first lady live on…its that evil TV again</p>

[BedHead]

<p>George HW Bush made a tragic mistake to call for the Shi’ites to rise up as sj2939 notes. It cost many lives. The swamps of Southern Iraq were drained in retaliation. As with the calling upon the Hungarians and the people of other satellite countries to rise up against the Soviets, we didn’t meet our calls to arms with support for the cause of those taking up arms. </p>

<p>However, Bush Sr. showed great judgement in ending the war where he did, at the border of Iraq. The successful liberation of Kuwait marked the end of the first Gulf War. </p>

<p>The current Iraq War is a substantively different effort, and very misconceived. It threw aside all the sound reasoning that had guided not venturing into Iraq at the end of the First Gulf War. Even Paul Wolfowitz, one of the architects of the current war, agreed publicly until the late 90s that continuing into Baghdad would have been taking on the governance of a very difficult country and, therefore, suggested that we were right not to take the war into Iraq during the Gulf War.</p>

<p>As we face down the complicated realities of what we have “bitten off” in this latest war, recall that there were wise people across the spectrum who saw, as is happening, that we would face not victory in Iraq, but quagmire. Best to declare “Victory in Iraq” and just come home.</p>

<p>President W wanted to play with the grown-ups and win his own war. It’s too bad he didn’t have the wisdom of his father.</p>

[k_amp_s]

<p>The “stable” parts of Iraq are controlled by Shia militias (many funded by Iran) battling each other for control or by 2 Kurdish parties which are intent in forming theiy own autonomous semi-state (which has the Turks in a frenzy).</p>

<p>Southern Iraq - around Basra is so dangerous that Western journalists rarely venture there and the pop. is increasingly pressured to adhere to strict interpretations of Islamic law.</p>

<p>The claims by this administration (and in particular, those by Cheney) are laughable.</p>

[OpiefromMayberry]

<p>Please, laying junior’s stupid move back at dad is just silly. I have a far, far greater respect for GW sr. than Jr. . Senior got it done, did what he was supposed to and boxed sadam in. junior just blew up the beehive and wonders why were getting stung. </p>

<p>Leave the dad out of the son’s mess. One will be remembered well in history, the other a fool.</p>