Monday, October 17, 2005

Iraq War: Let's be optimistic

"I think we are winning.  Okay?  I think we're definitely winning.  I think we've been winning for some time." - Gen. Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on the Iraq War 04/26/05

"I just wonder if they will ever tell us the truth." - Harold Casey, Louisville, KY, October 2004.

William Arkin is really optimistic about US success in the Iraq War.  That why he says it's time to set a timetable for withdrawal: Iraq: Time to Get Out by William Arkin Washington Post blog 10/17/05

I'm not saying abandon Iraq.  Set a meaningful timetable.  Leave a strike force to pursue al Qaeda.  But remove the bases and the traffic and the contractor opportunist class as much as possible.  ...

I believe our military and government officials when they say things are really going better and that it is up to the Iraqis to make their own future.

And our military and government official wouldn't like to us, would they?

And why shouldn't we put faith in our military leaders and intelligence agencies who have been so consistently reliable all through the war, even during the buildup to war?

When Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Peter Pace dismisses the notion that Iraq might deteriorate into civil war even if a majority of Sunni Arabs vote against the constitution, I believe him, too.

When Lt. Gen. James Conway, director of operations for the Joint Staff, and the top Marine Corps commander in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom says there is no shortage of young Iraqi males seeking to join the armed forces in Iraq, despite repeated insurgent attacks at recruiting stations, I believe him.

When intelligence insiders who watch Iraq say that the insurgency has weakened in the past year, that the tribes in the west are beginning to fight for stability and security in their own lands, I believe them.

To heck with all these skeptics and nervous Nellies.  Let's just put faith in our leaders and believe those optimistic reports and get our soldiers out of there!

Works for me.

"Wars are easy to get into, but hard as hell to get out of." - George McGovern and Jim McGovern 06/06/05

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