2007 is Australian for 2008? Posted by Heather Hurlburt

Hmmm.  Long-serving leader, considered by some a bit of a buffoon, ousted in landslide after election where main issues include withdrawing troops from Iraq and signing the Kyoto Protocol???

Just sayin'...

On the downside, remind me who has any troops left in Iraq now that the Aussies and the Poles have elected new leaders to head for the exits?

Comments

[Don Bacon]

According to the State Dept. Iraq Weekly Status Report, November 21, 2007, there are 27 countries other than the USA with forces in Iraq, with a total of about 11,589 troops including: Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tonga etc.

The same report says:
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Shiite-Led Government Larger Threat than al-Qaida:

Senior military commanders now portray the intransigence of Iraq's Shiite dominated government as the key threat facing the U.S. effort in Iraq, rather than al-Qaida terrorists, Sunni insurgents or Iranian-backed militias. Several U.S. military officials have expressed growing concern over the Iraqi government's failure to capitalize on sharp declines in attacks against U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians. A window of opportunity has opened for the government to reach out to its former foes, said Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the commander of day-to-day U.S. military operations in Iraq, but "it's unclear how long that window is going to be open."
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/95643.pdf
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The democratic Iraqi government, the US 'noble cause', a result of the much-ballyhooed 'purple-finger' elections, requiring so much personal sacrifice, death and destruction, THE IRAQI GOVERNMENT IS A LARGER THREAT THAN AL-QAEDA!!

Shout it to the mountains--let's end this fiasco NOW!!

[Don Bacon]

. . . or from the mountaintops, rather. I get so excited from all those bold caps.

[Dan Kervick]

Senior military commanders now portray the intransigence of Iraq's Shiite dominated government as the key threat facing the U.S. effort in Iraq, rather than al-Qaida terrorists, Sunni insurgents or Iranian-backed militias.

Well, the US stab in the back is now in full swing. Our top brass and government officials aren't even being subtle about it anymore.

Of course, the main forms of Shia "intransigence" in Iraq are the intransigent reluctance of the democratically elected Shia majority to turn power back over to the violence-wielding Sunni Arab minority who dominated them for decades with the aid of foreign backers, and want their vanished power restored; and also the intransigent failure of Iraq's Shia to help the US foment hostilities with their fellow Shia in Iran. It seems the Iraqi government has its sights set on a most intransigent neighborliness with their Iranian neighbors.

Not too long ago we called most of the Sunni Arab rejectionists "insurgents". And they were generally agreed to be the bad guys in the war, since they were the ones most actively engaged in killing our soldiers. But then our strategy wizards took out their geography books and learned that Iranian Muslims were Shia as well. That made Iraq's Shia semi-Iranians in the eyes of the Washington power elite. Ever since then, the knives have been out. The Sunni tribal warlords and Baathist gangsters in Iraq, who enjoy the open or tacit support of the Israelis, the Saudis and the Egyptians, have now been rehabilitated and have been discovered to be on "our side" in the war. Up is down; black is white; night is day.

[Don Bacon]

Elias Antonio Saca, the president of El Salvador, the only Latin American country with a military presence in Iraq, announced in August that his country would cut troop levels from 380 to 300.

news release: President George W. Bush will welcome El Salvador's President Elias Antonio Saca November 29 for talks on troop levels [300 is a "troop level"? Sounds more like an augmented latrine detail.] in Iraq and other issues, the White House announced November 16. "El Salvador is a strong ally of the United States and a firm partner in the War on Terror, including the contribution of nine rotations of troops as part of the international coalition supporting the Iraqi people's efforts to build a free and peaceful Iraq" spokeswoman Dana Perino said in a statement.[Go Dana!!]

Maybe Bush can get the Salvadorans to 'rotate' those eighty troops back to Iraq. They might be more effective than the 429,630 "trained and equipped Iraqi Security Forces" (State Dept. report) who rarely show up for duty, and then without the rifle and boots they sold on the black market.

[Mike M.]

What downside? We're the ones with troops in Iraq. In the most practical sense, we were always alone. Even our staunchest supporters handled only little bits of the war. So, it's us. Always has been. Let's stop.