A SOLDIER'S PERSPECTIVE
THE WEB'S LEADING MILITARY BLOG SINCE 2004
All Posts Information December 28 2008
— By CJ
Bob has a post up about our victory in Iraq. Yes, I’m willing to say we’ve won. I’m not willing/able to say exactly when it happened since there wasn’t exactly an enemy to declare defeat or surrender, but it happened and our troops are to thank for it. Our politicians on both sides of the aisle and in all branches of government did everything in their power to make this as hard and painful as possible, but our troops did it! Despite the calls for defeat and premature withdrawal by the pessimists of American society, we’ve succeeded in defeating AQ in Iraq and standing up a Democratically elected government of the people. Check out Bob’s post for the rest.
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SSgtJ
Works for me. You might think everyone would want to celebrate a victory and move on, heck they even have you and me on board now.
Could it be the haters don’t really want us ‘out of Iraq’, they want a Bush Failure …
Critical Facts
My New Year’s resolution is to stop being such an idiot. I recognize that my meager lack of intelligence is the fault of a school system that pushes students through as if they were sheep. Baaah. I’m going to start small. Hopefully, I can stick to this resolution which will lead to the next logical step that I will take next year – actually loving my own country! [interpretation by CJ]
Critical Facts
There you go again, CJ, accusing everyone with a different opinion from your own as being a traitor, etc. How American of you!
Steve
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/12/26-4
CJ
That’s awesome, Steve. When you provide a link to a story that links to blogs and Al Jazeera as its references, you don’t win any takers here. Those “myths” are completely fabricated and don’t tell the entire story – the most glaring being the refugee piece.
I’ll let you keep the link in though since you’re only shooting your own credibility in the foot. Do you eat your own young too? Just curious.
Ryan
Ralph Peters’ article about myths of Iraq is the perfect rebuttle to that blog post, Steve.
Here is the URL; http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2006/03/myths_of_iraq.html
Yeah, I know it’s kind of old, but even though your link’s article is still new, the talking points are amongst the oldest and most cliched of the politics surrounding this war. Peters debunks the claims of civil war in Iraq, or the lack thereof to be more accurate.
Also, the Iraqis didn’t force any agreement on Bush to withdraw by 2009 as your article claims. Actually, this past summer, an agreement was being discussed by Iraqi officials to start withdrawing coalition troops in 2011, and completely withdraw by 2013.
SSgtJ
So what are you saying Steve? You want us to send some more troops?
Do you think Al Sadr or Iran had ANYTHING to do with the problems in Iraq?
Do you think that the old sanctions were actuallyt HELPING the civilians in Iraq?
Where would those tons of yellowcake be today if we did nothing? (Wonder what Scooter Libby thinks about this article)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25546334/
Look I even used an MSNBC post …
Steve
MSNBC is owned by NBC which is owned by GE. GE is one of the largest makers of weapons systems in the country. Are you so naive as to think GE doesn’t profit from a war in Iraq?
CJ
There you go again, Steve, like a typical troll. You move the conversation somewhere else because you can’t handle the current conversation or you’ve been shown to be wrong. I could care less if GE “profits from a war in Iraq.” The military doesn’t make it’s own weapons. Someone has to. You have a problem with businesses making profits? I think it was your idol Barney Frank was the one that recently said the world isn’t made up of businesses “but people”. So, do you have a problem with people making a profit? Do you make your money strictly holding a cup and carrying a sign that says “will work for an education?” Cause you need to.
Steve
There you go again, more name calling and insults. I have a problem with business’s making a profit through duplicitous means. Using their news arm for the purpose of propaganda to justify a war so they can make additional profit is wrong. In 1984, George Orwell said, “War is the Ultimate Consumer”. GE made a profit when they initially sold the weapons but if the weapons just sit in a warehouse they don’t make any more money. If those weapons get used up or destroyed in a conflict they get to sell more and increase their profits. Now if GE could just get the G to privatize the VA they could make even more money running treating the wounds caused by their weapons in a war their news agency pushed.
CJ
Steve, when it comes you to I have to lower myself to words you understand. Hence, I resort to name calling so it I can get across to your 3rd grade mindset. You can stop recognizing it because I’m going to keep doing it with you. How many times do I have to plainly say I just don’t like you? I really don’t. I don’t hate you, I just really despise people like you. You’re a sad, pathetic little man and you have my pity. At least CF likes you.
Surely you can provide some proof about GE’s evil ways…I’m interested in how you think that GE is building AK-47s, RPKs, IEDs, etc since you say THEIR weapons are wounding our troops.
Steve
Once again I will defer to the Ron Paul.
“24. Are you familiar with the 1994 Senate Hearings that revealed the U.S. knowingly supplied chemical and biological materials to Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war and as late as 1992- including after the alleged Iraqi gas attack on a Kurdish village?”
Never heard of friendly fire?
CJ
Oh, you’re one of those tin-foil Ron Paul supporters. That makes a lot of sense.
JD
What are you saying about Ron Paul? Ron Paul was the best Republican candidate running for the office of President of the United States. The RNC missed the mark by throwing its support behind a loser like McSame. Ron Paul had Obama the Magic Negro beat hands down.
Steve
You’re the one who quoted Ron Paul in your post on the Bail out. So is Ron Paul right only when he happens to agree with you?
Steve
And you, are telling the whole story? Yeah, right. Al Jazeera huh, I’ll bet you 20 bucks there are thousands of people in the employ of the US gov that read it front and back every day. There is some truth in everything, it just has to be found.
I don’t think Al sadr or Iran had anything to do in Iraq under Hussein, It wasn’t until the US invasion that it was destabilized to the point they could exert influence.
CJ
Steve, I tell A story. The difference between you and me is that my stories come largely from firsthand experience as well as detailed study from various sources. You link to a bunch of liberal garbage that suits your beliefs.
However, I’m a conservative first and foremost. But isn’t it funny how this conservative chooses to tell the story of progress, victory, and optimism while you, the uber-liberal, choose to want the story of digression, defeat, and pessimism highlighted? It speaks volumes about you (not all liberals, since people like Bob the Liberal and NY-David know how to be unbiased and champion successes when they occur).
This is why people like you and CF and Doug will never get my respect – not that you want it.
Ryan
“I don’t think Al sadr or Iran had anything to do in Iraq under Hussein, It wasn’t until the US invasion that it was destabilized to the point they could exert influence.”
-Steve
Even if Al-Sadr had no influence in Iraq before the invasion, that doesn’t change the fact that there were terrorists like him in Iraq prior to the invasion including; Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and E.I.J. who both happen to be a part of the Al Qaeda network, and members of Army of Mohammed(terror group from Bahrain).
Steve
I’ll let Ron Paul answer that….
8. Is it not true that northern Iraq, where the administration claimed al-Qaeda were hiding out, is in the control of our “allies,” the Kurds?
From Ron Paul’s “QUESTIONS THAT WON’T BE ASKED ABOUT IRAQ”
CJ
This “victory” stuff is just eating you alive isn’t it, Steve? Your hatred for America is so intense you can’t even see past the nose on an elephants face. No worries though. We won without your support. You’ll just have to start supporting the Taliban since your AQ friends didn’t fair so well.
Steve
You can throw around words like “victory” and “won” all you want, doesn’t make it so.
CJ
And you can throw around defeatist attitudes all day long, it doesn’t make you a troop supporter.
Ryan
Yeah, so what? Our allies the Kurdish Iraqis live there, they had no political influence in any part of the country of Iraq. Inlcuding the north bordering Iran.
Plus, I was clear on the names of the groups that I was refering to, and Ansar Al-Islam wasn’t one of the groups I had listed. Ansar Al-Islam was the group operating in the Kurdish region of Iraq. Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and E.I.J. were operating else where.
For example; the British troops when entering Basra for the first time in the initial invasion had caught Gulbuddin operatives hiding in some of the city’s infrastructure.
Basra is not in the Kurdish north and has no Kurdish influence. It was a Ba’ath controlled city up until Saddam’s fall.
Now let me ask you a question. Is Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and E.I.J. a part of the Al Qaeda network? Yes, they are and they have been in that network since 1998, the year it first became operational. Did they have connections with the Ba’ath party and it’s military? Yes, they did according to the I.D.A. report.
Just to be clear on this report’s veracity you should know that the study that the report was based on used data collected from; our intel and military services, the pentagon, and the Iraq Study Group whose staff members include intel and military members from over 20 countries.
Steve
“Did they have connections with the Ba’ath party and it’s military?”
Timothy McVeigh was a veteran, wore military clothes and carried military weapons so he must have had military connections. He was a conservative so he must have been a Republican. He freely traveled throughout the US so he had the blessing of some part of the government. He railed against the Clinton administration so he must have been working for the right wing.
See I can make up a conspiracy theory too.
Ryan
The thing is, I didn’t make up a conspiracy theory.
wordsmith
Ron Paul’s a foreign policy dunce. No disrespect to him, intended.
Inside northern Iraq was Ansar al Islam which we know had been taken over by AQ proper at the time, and Iraqi IIS agents were coordinating ops in N Iraq which would benefit both ansar al islam, AQ, and Saddam; this group was Saddam’s muscle in a territory he otherwise didn’t control. Saddam used Ansar al Islam as his terrorist guerrilla proxy force against Kurdish enemies.
Steve
Would earning the respect of someone I don’t respect mean anything?
” my stories come largely from firsthand experience as well as detailed study from various sources.”
Every other reporter/journalist/diarist out there would say the same thing. But if that’s really the case….why were you so quick to jump on the Battle Captain email about Obama? When other people questioned his credibility you were defending him.
How exactly was the Battle Captain email part of your firsthand experience because it obviously wasn’t an example of “detailed study from various sources”?
Steve
“When you provide a link to a story that links to blogs….you don’t win any takers here.”
You link to blogs. Your post on terrorists being treated better than soldiers is linked to a blog. So are the only valid blogs the ones that agree with your narrow world view?
This site is as valid as Sue’s “Farsi Christian Network”.
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=29415
I’m sure you’ll find some reason to question it’s validity, even if it’s just your imagination.
MIckey
Steve you are so ignorant…..
Ryan
Yeah, but when you link to blogs you use it as evidence for your political crap. CJ, links to blogs when he wants to share with us a post that hit home with him. He never uses other blog posts to influence our thinking. That’s what I like about having him as an blogger. I dont have to agree with him on what he reads. I have my own interpretation of the posts he links me to.
Also, I wouldn’t be using veracity as a means to score one upsmanship against this blog and it’s authors. Your information is about as accurate as the talking points memo of Arianna Huffington which is pretty much no facts and less honesty.
JD
I agree. “Let’s call it a victory.” And get the hell out. We never should have been in Iraq in the first place.
Our government lied to US about our invasion of Iraq and has continued to lie to US about our occupation of Iraq.
CJ
Yeah, the bunch of “liars”. JD, I think you’re lying about the lies our government is lying about. What a hypocrite!
Ryan
“I agree. “Let’s call it a victory.” And get the hell out.” -JD
First time I actually agreed with you. Of course, the second part of your comment is still nothing but kool-aid fed crap.
I hate to reiterate myself, but people like you give me absolutely no choice. I refer you to this article from fact check dot org.
-http://www.factcheck.org/iraq/anti-war_ad_says_bush_cheney_rumsfeld.html
And, another good report would be the 610 page Rob-Silbermann commission report.
Of course, I wouldn’t put it past you to actually read these. You’re like a person making a New Year’s resolution, giving a little bit more effort for the better isn’t your thing.
Ryan
Sorry about that messed up URL, here it is; http://www.factcheck.org/iraq/anti-war_ad_says_bush_cheney_rumsfeld.html.
SSgtJ
JD, is it true that you aren’t actually a liberal at all, but a hard core conservative that just signs on here to try and pump everyone up with your silly posts? Just asking …
JD
I in no way resemble a liberal, thank you very much.
SSgtJ
JD, Guess I was including you with some of those you seemed to be siding with. My comments were meant more for Steve and CF.
Steve
I am replying down here because if I reply further up the reply would be to squished to read. So anyway…CJ, you claim your a conservative yet you seem shocked by the idea of a corporation like GE selling weapons to both sides. It’s old news. A conservative, such as yourself, would know of what Eisenhower warned against as the military-industrial complex and the role it plays in promulgating wars. Eisenhower was a true conservative who put America first. Bush is a phony conservative.
Ryan
“Timothy McVeigh was a veteran, wore military clothes and carried military weapons so he must have had military connections.” -Steve
You don’t need connections to the military to obtain those kinds of weapons. Also, the I.D.A. report isn’t built on conspiracy.
Like I had said, it has a lot of veracity. And they are not the only ones saying that the Ba’ath party had connections to Al Qaeda, just look at the link I had provided to fact check’s website.
P.S.-I would have posted this closer to the comment I am refering to. However, I also do not want my comment squished up against the side bar.
CJ, can we go back to the way we used to submit comments on this blog? Thanks.
Steve
“You don’t need connections to the military to obtain those kinds of weapons.”
Even more true in the Middle East where weapons are readily available in street markets.
Ryan
Yeah, sadly the same can be said about many places. Most people in the Middle East have a firearm that was originally manufactured for military and police services.
I read a national geographic magazine that was centered around firearm ownership in the Middle East. Traditionally, as every boy starts to undertake adult responsibilities, his father would purchase him a dagger.
Over time the dagger changed into a firearm(with the exception of Yemen where most boys still recieve a dagger over a firearm), but that is the only change. Still, most boys will never use the weapon.
Ryan
While we are talking about conspiracy theories, I just have to ask this.
If Mcveigh being a radical conservative as well as a veteran means his actions could have been connected to the military and Republican party, then can people like Jesse McBeth being a Green Beret imposter and in the anti-Iraq war crowd mean that all of the veterans who are connected to people against the war in Iraq are imposters?
Just using the logic behind your diatribe, Steve. You know, the one that you used to poorly rebuttled the I.D.A. report’s findings in a dismal attempt to one up me by falsely implying that I(like you) am a conspiracy theorizing nutcase?
Steve
There are plenty of imposter’s on both sides of the aisle. Have you ever read Stolen Valor or looked at CyberSEAL? Plenty of right wingers like to lie about their service.
I’ve always thought it was strange that people who lie about having been in the military almost always claim they were in Special Forces or a SEAL. Why doesn’t the lier ever claim they were a clerk typist or a mechanic? Who in many ways have a job that is more critical than that of an operator.
Ryan
“There are plenty of imposter’s on both sides of the aisle. Have you ever read Stolen Valor or looked at CyberSEAL? Plenty of right wingers like to lie about their service.” -Steve
Yeah, I have been to cyberseal. It also doesn’t show the political affiliations of the imposters. So how do you compose a statement like the one above? I don’t know.
As for the second part of your statement, thank you. The people in the military who aren’t fighters are still very important assets to the service. Sadly, many people overlook this.
wordsmith
Ryan asked:
I agree with Ryan. I find the “reply” option disorienting, as I expect new comments to appear at the bottom; I don’t want to wade back through a pool of old comments to see what old comment was replied to with new.
wordsmith
Steve,
Essentially are you arguing that there weren’t any links between Saddam and the al-Qaeda network? Because the Iraqi Perspectives Project released last year only confirms- not discredits- Saddam’s willingness and history of working with Islamic terrorists, including training, financing, and giving safe-haven. This includes Egyptian Islamic Jihad, as Ryan points out, 2/3rds of which became the al-Qaeda leadership.
Barriers and distinctions between one terror group from another become grey and fuzzy, as there are many cross-overs, shared interests and goals, shared financing and training. That’s why it’s more proper to talk of the al-Qaeda network and affiliates.
CJ
All, I’m hoping to get the comments changed back. Have patience please. Marcus is the smart one when it comes to that stuff and I don’t want to screw anything up.
Marcus
Off topic, I’m looking into comment stuff. Let me research and I’ll see what I can come up with.
Ryan
Marcus,
I hope you have some coffee with you. Some of these comments that were made a while back are now displayed at the bottom as if they were among the more recent.
I know you’re great with computers, but it looks like you may have your work cut out for you. Take care, and thanks for trying to fix the commenting system. You too, CJ.
Marcus
Not much I can do about the comments that got moved. When I changed the max number of threaded levels, it dumped any above that number to the end. Sorry about that.
wordsmith
Steve wrote:
The logic of that query doesn’t really make sense. No, it means even broken down clocks aren’t always wrong. On foreign policy, he’s wrong. I think even last night, I heard Harry Reid say Israel has a right to defend itself from rocket attacks. Does that mean you get to ask, “So is Harry Reid right only when he happens to agre with you?” The smart-ass answer? Yes.
Thanks for trying, Marcus. Lol…now some of the comment replies look “out of context”; like CJ’s rebukement (yeah, I know not a real word, so the spelling-check tells me) of Steve now appearing after an otherwise innocent comment by him.