"Bill Ritter: Spoke with Iraqis who said
a quick U.S. pullout is the last thing they want."
Posted on 08/02/2007 9:29:32 AM PDT by Red Steel
DENVER - Gov. Bill Ritter got more than he bargained for when he entertained questions Wednesday from 30 Iraqi teenagers touring the United States.
Speaking to the students, the Democratic governor explained that he believes the U.S. invasion of Iraq was preemptive and that America’s presence has “greatly jeopardized” security in the country.
Do you know the real situation over there? the students asked.
The students, whose identities are being kept secret for fear of retaliation when they return home, told Ritter the last thing they want is the immediate exit of U.S. forces — a view the governor said he’s also heard from Jordanian officials.
Saying unguarded cities and towns are far more dangerous than they’ve been described in the American media, the students peppered Ritter with questions about whether he would pull U.S. troops out if it meant more Iraqi civilians would get killed.
“It’s a bad situation. It’s a very bad situation,” one boy told the governor. “We need someone to help us.”
Near the end of about 10 minutes of questions, Ritter told the students: “I’m not a person who is trying to defend the position of the United States going to Iraq . . . but I think innocent Iraqis deserve a chance at peace and safety.”
The General Assembly passed a resolution earlier this year calling for an end to the current buildup of U.S. troops in Iraq.
Because it was a resolution rather than a bill, Ritter did not have to sign or veto it.
After the meeting with Ritter at the state Capitol, several of the Iraqi teenagers said regardless of how they felt about the initial U.S. invasion, the troops are needed now.
Militias most often target villages where U.S. troops are not stationed, several said.
One boy said the U.S. needs to concentrate on closing off Iraq’s borders so that terrorists can’t enter the country.
Another boy said America must make the Iraqi government be more honest with the people and explain where the country’s money and resources are going.
“I don’t think any of them want the troops to withdraw,” said 14-year-old Rachel Sabey, whose family is one of several in the Denver area hosting the students while they are in Colorado learning about local government.
Judging Ritter’s answers, one girl said that foreign policy wasn’t his job, and a boy added that Ritter, like most American leaders, only knows what he hears from major media sources.
“They know the upper level of the situation. They don’t know in deep,” the boy said.
The group will depart soon for Virginia and Washington, D.C., where it will study civics.
The trip to Colorado was organized through the Baghdad-Denver Region Partnership, a program of Sister Cities International, and funded largely by the U.S. State Department.
Smart boy. He should replace Chertoff.
Out of the mouth of babes.
Saying unguarded cities and towns are far more dangerous than they’ve been described in the American media, the students peppered Ritter with questions about whether he would pull U.S. troops out if it meant more Iraqi civilians would get killed.
I thought the media made Iraq appear more dangerous and unstable than it really is.
ROFL. Iraqi Kids body slamming a politcal hack. You have to love it.
Sorry son. The U.S. does not know how to close a boarder.
LOL!
Like in Viet Nam, the dems really don’t care how many people die.
The US also doesn’t know how to close a border.
“One boy said the U.S. needs to concentrate on closing off Iraq’s borders . . . “
Obviously a racist kid, bigoted against `undocumented Iraqis’.
A nativist `know-nothing’, he must not want what’s best for Iraq.
:>)
“I thought the media made Iraq appear more dangerous and unstable than it really is.”
The media makes look like the only trouble in Iraq is where U.S. troops are stationed, guarding the Iraqi’s.
They act like the rest of the country is Disney World.
Calling George Bush. Calling George Bush. Border security is your friend.
Though considering the left will not listen to Iraqi leaders, US Military officers, Milbloggers, honest embedded reporters, or even read their own past quotes from the 1990s on about Iraq, why should the left now listen to children?
The left did not care about the millions of South Vietnamese who were slaughtered by the communist North either.
I have no idea how they sleep at night, but then I remember that the “Weather Underground/Weathermen group advocated killing millions of Americans to implement communism in the USA. The radical left sleeps at night because they dream about implementing a true police state and ‘cleansing’ any opposition.
Typical sleazy political non-answer to the Iraqi children's concerns. But these kids seem smart. I highly doubt they bought it.
It does because of its tactic of only showing bad news. The media rarely talks about the various levels of progress being made, so Iraq comes off looking hopeless and more of a disaster than it really is.
That being said, I LOVE that these kids did this and highly encourage them to visit Reid, Pelosi and all of that vermin.
'Course I know that won't happen...
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Not so, the Dems are so concerned about the slaughter in Darfur they want to “redeploy” US soldiers out of Iraq, to save lives of course.
The Iraqis now know first hand what we in Colorado have know all along; Ritter is a mental eunuch.
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