Posted on 04/10/2004 11:49:37 AM PDT by Archangelsk
BAGHDAD, April 10 -- Insurgents attacked a U.S. airbase north of Baghdad Saturday with mortars, killing one soldier and wounding two. The death, announced by the Army, came at the close of the most violent week of combat since the capture of the capital a year ago.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Do you think Bush takes the phone off the hook when he gets down there?
You know, he sleeps 8 hours a night; should we demand that he stay awake for 4 years?
Sad to say, but Condi Rice pobably has the best set of the bunch.
This administration isn't lacking in testicular fortitude.
It's odd that you would call on this administration to "grow a pair," as a recent post of yours suggested that Condi Rice needed to bring a "dose of humble" along with her when she faced the 9/11 Commission (as you accused the Bush administration of "hubris"):
When the erudite, intelligent, articulate Soviet expert Rice takes the stand on Thursday she had better bring a healthy dose of humble with her.
Taken side by side your posts don't pass the smell test.
1. I hate to be the one who breaks it to you but Dr. Rice was absolutely the wrong choice as NSA. As a school marm she's fine, but she lacks the equipment to deal with the threat, and rather than try to bluff or bluster her way through last week she should have been contrite, accepted her shortcomings, and resigned at the conclusion of her testimony. Which brings me to my second point.
2. WHAT IN THE NAME OF SAM HOUSTON AND DAVEY CROCKETT IS THE ADMINISTRATION DOING HIDING BEHIND A WOMAN'S SKIRT!!!!!!
If I were the President, whom I've supported through this whole war, I would have been the first goddamn witness in front of the commission. Or do I need to remind you of the last President to hide behind his woman?
There is a very practical reasons for a temporary ceasefire.
News reports state that the U.S. military asked civilians on Friday morning to evacuate the city. They are being allowed to leave only on foot and must leave their vehicles and anything they cannot carry behind.
A lull in the fighting allows the civilians, who now know that the U.S. is using everything from tanks, to JDAM's to AC 130's in Fallujah, to get out of Dodge.
An urban battlefield devoid of civilians will then allow the U.S. to fully maximize it's strengths in air power, armor and artillery instead of having to engage in house to house infantry firefights in order to minimize civilian casualties.
War is a chess game and you have to think several moves ahead instead of taking every gambit at face value.
The Baathist die-hard leadership and their foot soldiers are a cancer within Iraq. They don't want "freedom". They want to resume their previous positions of power over the rest of Iraq and that will never change. The cancer cells must die if the body of Free Iraq is to live. Therefore, when these "negotiations" fail miserably, as they ceratainly will, the U.S. military can resume killing the Baathists in a Fallujah emptied of civilians.
As General Powell said of the Iraqi Army before the start of Desert Storm: "First we are going to isolate it. Then we are going to kill it".
The Baathists and foreign fighters are concetrated in Fallujah. We are going to isolate them. Then we are going to kill them.
You can't have it both ways, although I can't say you didn't try.
The apt replacement for her is either Wayne Downing or Bobby Inman.
And I'd have to agree. War is an ugly thing at best. But once you commit to it you don't pull punches.
The Washington Post ^ | 041004 | Chan and Barbash"
Funny when I click on the link the title says Iraq's Governing Council to Press for Ceasefire .
I don't see anything in the article about the US asking for a ceasefire at all. In fact quite the opposite. It seems the US is reluctantly going along with this at the request of the Governing Council.
The US military wants to take Sadr and his forces out.
Before I saw her testify before the commission I might have been more open to argument on this.
In fact I saw situations previously where I thought she came off a bit shakey.
But after seeing her performance on Thursday, I was extremely impressed, not only by her intelligence, but her overall grasp of the issues, ability to put things into perspective and more so her toughness and self confidence under pressure.
Bush made an excellent choice when he appointed her to his cabinet.
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