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U.S. can't 'redeploy' its way out of Iraq
http://www.suntimes.com/output/steyn/cst-edt-steyn25.html# ^ | Mark Steyn

Posted on 06/25/2006 2:39:15 AM PDT by croak

Last week John Kerry revealed his plan to "redeploy" U.S. forces from Iraq. This plan is different from fellow Defeaticrat Jack Murtha's plan to "redeploy" U.S. forces from Iraq to Okinawa, which Congressman Murtha seems to think is in the general neighborhood of Iraq. Iraq's in the Middle East, Okinawa's in the Far East: C'mon, how far can it be to get from the Far to the Middle? After all, the distance between the farthest fringe of the kook left and the center of the Democratic Party seems to be closing up every week.

Anyway, Sen. Kerry doesn't want to waste time "redeploying" to Okinawa. When America "redeploys," it's not going to take a connecting flight via Japan and risk its luggage getting "redeployed" to Bratislava. No, sir, in John Kerry's America, we "redeploy" nonstop, straight back to Main Street in time for the Redeployment Day parade.

(Excerpt) Read more at suntimes.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: 2006elections; 911; chicagosuntimes; cutnrun; defeaticrats; defeatism; democrats; engagement; frenchpoodle; iraq; islamofascism; isolationism; jeanfrancoischeri; kerry; leftspeak; lesserfrance; marksteyn; murtha; nationalsecurity; redeployment; steyn; superpower; visforvictory; waronterror
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To: Coop; smoothsailing; Just A Nobody

What we can imagine, is their reality.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1655192/posts?page=47#47


21 posted on 06/25/2006 4:35:01 AM PDT by freema (Proud Marine FRiend, Mom, Aunt, Sister, Friend, Wife, Daughter, Niece)
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To: goldstategop

Another trope you will soon be hearing is "Throw Israel under the bus," which would "redeploy" the Jews to Europe and/or America. It would be a "redeployment" by boat by the Vietnamese after the Communists took over the South after a Democratic Congress pulled the rug from under them. Europe pretty much denies the illegitimacy of Israel, and we can expect the East Coast academics and the NYT to pretty much start singing the same tune as the Palestinians continue to eat each other alive and Israel tries to build a fence . We will know the Israelis are really in deep doo-doo when the NYT accuses them of torturing Arab gays.


22 posted on 06/25/2006 4:46:30 AM PDT by RobbyS ( CHIRHO)
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To: OldFriend

The bad think about a redeployment deadline is the effect on the troops. Who wants to be the last casualty in a war that is coming to an end?


23 posted on 06/25/2006 4:49:39 AM PDT by RobbyS ( CHIRHO)
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To: croak
Steyn's genius is now routine but this article rises even above his normal genius level. His last line sums up the genius of this piece:
In a nonpolar world, there's nowhere to redeploy to.

24 posted on 06/25/2006 5:07:07 AM PDT by samtheman
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To: samtheman

And to quote another freeper. It's going to be our job to redeploy some of these democrats back to their home districts for good.


25 posted on 06/25/2006 5:12:39 AM PDT by OldFriend (I Pledge Allegiance to the Flag.....and My Heart to the Soldier Who Protects It.)
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To: All

Here's a historical list of wars won using timelines as strategic objectives:


26 posted on 06/25/2006 5:13:43 AM PDT by Blackrain4xmas (Now, more than ever, with our soldiers in harm's way, we must stand together and succeed in Iraq-JKF)
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To: croak

America is tired of doing all the heavy lifting in this world, but theres no other option


27 posted on 06/25/2006 7:26:41 AM PDT by mylife (The roar of the masses could be farts)
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To: Howlin; riley1992; Miss Marple; deport; Dane; sinkspur; steve; kattracks; JohnHuang2; ...

U.S. can't 'redeploy' its way out of Iraq

June 25, 2006

BY MARK STEYN SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST





Last week John Kerry revealed his plan to "redeploy" U.S. forces from Iraq. This plan is different from fellow Defeaticrat Jack Murtha's plan to "redeploy" U.S. forces from Iraq to Okinawa, which Congressman Murtha seems to think is in the general neighborhood of Iraq. Iraq's in the Middle East, Okinawa's in the Far East: C'mon, how far can it be to get from the Far to the Middle? After all, the distance between the farthest fringe of the kook left and the center of the Democratic Party seems to be closing up every week.



Anyway, Sen. Kerry doesn't want to waste time "redeploying" to Okinawa. When America "redeploys," it's not going to take a connecting flight via Japan and risk its luggage getting "redeployed" to Bratislava. No, sir, in John Kerry's America, we "redeploy" nonstop, straight back to Main Street in time for the Redeployment Day parade.

You gotta hand it to these guys: "Redeployment" is ingenious. I'll bet the focus-group consultants were delirious: "surrender," "lose,","scram," "scuttle ignominiously," "head for the hills" all polled poorly, but "redeploy" surveyed well with all parts of the base, except the base in Okinawa, where they preferred "sayonara" -- that's "redeploy" in any language. The Defeaticrats have a clear message for the American people. Read da ploy: No new quagmires.

This is the most artful example of Leftspeak since they came up with "undocumented immigrant." In fact, if it catches on, I'll bet millions of fine upstanding members of the Undocumented-American community now start referring to themselves as Redeployed Mexicans.

The only teensy-weensy problem is this: If America ever adopts the Kerry plan, the Murtha plan or some variation thereof, does anyone think al-Jazeera, the BBC, Le Monde, Der Spiegel et al will be using the word "redeploy" in their headlines? Or will they use a word closer to what's actually going on?

In a sense, the Democrats have already psychologically redeployed. Last week they unveiled their "New Direction for America." It's a six-point plan, two of whose points are "Cut College Costs" and "Ensure Dignified Retirement." On the first point, it's true the education system remains a problem: Many hardworking Americans are trapped in low-paying dead-end jobs as U.S. congressmen because an inadequate education left them with the impression Okinawa's in the United Arab Emirates. On the second point, I'm all in favor of a "dignified retirement": Why not try it on Kerry as a pilot program? As for the other four points, none has anything to say about national security or foreign policy.

The Defeaticrats' "New Direction for America" foresees a future for this country as a kind of Lesser France. That would be problematic enough: The dependency culture favored by the Dems has mired much of Europe in permanent double-digit unemployment, a moribund economy and unsustainable social programs. Presumably, Nancy Pelosi and Co. would respond by saying that their pledge to "give America a raise" -- i.e., increase the minimum wage -- shows that their party is in tune with real people's real needs rather than a lot of foreign adventuring that's got nothing to do with how real people really lead their really real lives. Sorry, it doesn't work like that. Not even the Democrats can redeploy from the whole planet.

If you were a 5-year-old boy standing in the London streets in 1897 for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee parade and marveling as the hussars and lancers of the mightiest empire the world had ever known passed before your eyes, it would have seemed inconceivable that you'd be celebrating your 80th birthday in a decrepit ramshackle broken-down strike-bound basket case of a state. Permanence is the illusion of every age. And, if you're interested in a "dignified retirement," you might want to give some thought to the shape of the world the day after tomorrow.

Today, lots of experts crank out analyses positing China as the unstoppable hegemon of the 21st century. But the real threat is not the strengths of your enemies but their weaknesses. China is a weak power: Its population will get old before it gets rich. Russia is a weak power: If Africa has health crises, the Middle East has Islamists and North Korea has nukes, then Russia's got the lot: a dying population whose men have a lower life expectancy than Bangladeshis with a Muslim separatist movement sitting on top of the biggest pile of nukes on the planet. Europe is a weak power, remorselessly evolving month by month into Eurabia.

Islam is a weak power: In the words of Dr. Mahathir Mohammed, the former prime minister of Malaysia, one of the least worst Muslim nations in the world, "We produce practically nothing on our own, we can do almost nothing for ourselves, we cannot even manage our wealth." But in Iran they're working full-speed on nukes that will be able to hit every European city.

North Korea is a weak power: Its population is starving but it's about to "test" the latest variation on its aptly named No Dong missile. I mean "test" in the sense that I test my new shotgun by firing it through your kitchen window. They're going to launch it and see where it comes down -- maybe Tokyo, maybe San Diego; maybe they'll aim for Los Angeles but it'll fall in Vancouver. Hey, that's why we call it a "test," right?

The danger we face is not a Chinese superpower or an Islamist superpower: If it's a new boss, you learn the new rules and adjust as best you can. But the greater likelihood is of a world with no superpower at all in which unipolar geopolitics gives way to nonpolar geopolitics, a world without order in which pipsqueak thug states that can't feed their own people globalize their pathologies. There would be more stories like that one the other day about the three decapitated policemen whose heads were found in the Tijuana River. But Pelosi would carry on talking about college tuition as the world sinks into economic decline, arbitrary bombings and kidnappings, and the occasional nuking.

Kerry gets all huffy if he thinks you're questioning his patriotism, so let's be charitable and assume the Defeaticrats are simply missing the point: For the rest of the world, what's at issue in the Iraq war is not the future of Iraq but the future of America. Can the world's leading nation still lead or is Kerry's Vietnam Syndrome "seared" (as he'd say) into its bones? Luxembourg can be Luxembourg. America doesn't have that option. In a nonpolar world, there's nowhere to redeploy to.


28 posted on 06/25/2006 12:48:20 PM PDT by Pokey78 (‘FREE [INSERT YOUR FETID TOTALITARIAN BASKET-CASE HERE]’)
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To: croak
This is the most artful example of Leftspeak since they came up with "undocumented immigrant." In fact, if it catches on, I'll bet millions of fine upstanding members of the Undocumented-American community now start referring to themselves as Redeployed Mexicans.

ROFL, ROFL!!! Classic Steyn.

29 posted on 06/25/2006 12:54:52 PM PDT by NonValueAdded ("So to hell with that twerp at the [WaPo]. I've got no time for him on a day like this." Mark Steyn)
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To: Pokey78
Thanks Pokey78...opened this thread earlir, and as I'm on dial-up (what's that??) I waited and knew you would come through.

Tanks again!

FMCDH(BITS)

30 posted on 06/25/2006 12:59:14 PM PDT by nothingnew (I fear for my Republic due to marxist influence in our government. Open eyes/see)
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To: NCSteve
You gotta hand it to these guys: "Redeployment" is ingenious. I'll bet the focus-group consultants were delirious: "surrender," "lose,","scram," "scuttle ignominiously," "head for the hills" all polled poorly, but "redeploy" surveyed well with all parts of the base, except the base in Okinawa, where they preferred "sayonara" -- that's "redeploy" in any language.

Col. J.S. Mosby, CSA, preferred "skedaddle"!

31 posted on 06/25/2006 1:10:03 PM PDT by Tax-chick ("Wallow in poverty, you whining gerbil! They're taking everyone's money!" ~dljordan)
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To: croak
This plan is different from fellow Defeaticrat Jack Murtha's plan to "redeploy" U.S. forces from Iraq to Okinawa, which Congressman Murtha seems to think is in the general neighborhood of Iraq.

Yikes! I thought this was a joke when I saw a poster mention it. He really did say that!

32 posted on 06/25/2006 1:19:28 PM PDT by cardinal4 (Allah is the opium pipedream of a desert pedophile...Freeper Ax)
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To: scholar; Bullish; linear; yoda swings

Ping


33 posted on 06/25/2006 1:31:48 PM PDT by knighthawk (We will always remember We will always be proud We will always be prepared so we may always be free)
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To: Pokey78; tlj18
"Can the world's leading nation still lead or is Kerry's Vietnam Syndrome "seared" (as he'd say) into its bones? "

I say a resounding NO! Why, because thankfully we have the likes of tlj18 in this country.

Courtesy Ping, tlj18.
34 posted on 06/25/2006 1:55:36 PM PDT by Chgogal (The US Military fights for Freedom of the Press while the NYT lies about the Military and cowers...)
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To: knighthawk

Hey, aren't you watching Ned vs. Port????


35 posted on 06/25/2006 1:56:19 PM PDT by Chgogal (The US Military fights for Freedom of the Press while the NYT lies about the Military and cowers...)
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To: Chgogal
Hey, aren't you watching Ned vs. Port????

That game was uglier than a Helen Thomas close-up.

36 posted on 06/25/2006 1:57:40 PM PDT by dirtboy (When Bush is on the same side as Ted the Swimmer on an issue, you know he's up to no good...)
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To: dirtboy
That game was uglier than a Helen Thomas close-up.

Yeah, it was. I was pulling for Holland, but Portugal came to play..

37 posted on 06/25/2006 2:01:27 PM PDT by cardinal4 (Allah is the opium pipedream of a desert pedophile...Freeper Ax)
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To: Chgogal

Thanks for the ping


38 posted on 06/25/2006 2:01:29 PM PDT by tlj18 (Shipping out for Basic Combat Training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, on July 27, 2006)
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To: dirtboy
It almost became US Football...althoughs bodies flying around. ;)

Before I get slapped for highjacking this thread....here are my favorite Steyn quotes.

"Many hardworking Americans are trapped in low-paying dead-end jobs as U.S. congressmen because an inadequate education left them with the impression Okinawa's in the United Arab Emirates."

"The Defeaticrats have a clear message for the American people. Read da ploy: No new quagmires."

"North Korea is a weak power: Its population is starving but it's about to "test" the latest variation on its aptly named No Dong missile. I mean "test" in the sense that I test my new shotgun by firing it through your kitchen window. They're going to launch it and see where it comes down -- maybe Tokyo, maybe San Diego; maybe they'll aim for Los Angeles but it'll fall in Vancouver. Hey, that's why we call it a "test," right?"


And if you want to save yourself a year or two of applied history classes take this one to heart.

"If you were a 5-year-old boy standing in the London streets in 1897 for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee parade and marveling as the hussars and lancers of the mightiest empire the world had ever known passed before your eyes, it would have seemed inconceivable that you'd be celebrating your 80th birthday in a decrepit ramshackle broken-down strike-bound basket case of a state. Permanence is the illusion of every age. And, if you're interested in a "dignified retirement," you might want to give some thought to the shape of the world the day after tomorrow."
39 posted on 06/25/2006 2:05:54 PM PDT by Chgogal (The US Military fights for Freedom of the Press while the NYT lies about the Military and cowers...)
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To: Pokey78; croak; goldstategop

From Niall Ferguson

"But what if this view is wrong? What if the world is heading for a period when there is no hegemon? What if, instead of a balance of power, there is an absence of power? Such a situation is not unknown in history. Though the chroniclers of the past have long been preoccupied with the achievements of great powers--whether civilizations, empires or nation states--they have not wholly overlooked eras when power has receded. Unfortunately, the world's experience with power vacuums is hardly encouraging. Anyone who dislikes U.S. hegemony should bear in mind that, instead of a multipolar world of competing great powers, a world with no hegemon at all may be the real alternative to it. This could turn out to mean a new Dark Age of waning empires and religious fanaticism; of endemic rapine in the world's no-go zones; of economic stagnation and a retreat by civilization into a few fortified enclaves.

'snip'

The prospect of an apolar world should frighten us a great deal more than it frightened the heirs of Charlemagne. If the U.S. is to retreat from the role of global hegemon--its fragile self-belief dented by minor reversals--its critics must not pretend that they are ushering in a new era of multipolar harmony. The alternative to unpolarity may not be multipolarity at all. It may be a global vacuum of power. Be careful what you wish for. "

http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110005244


40 posted on 06/25/2006 2:10:02 PM PDT by dervish
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