The Iraq thread 3

[denoir 0]

FOX presenter backs on Iraq

Quote[/b] ]

A right-wing American television presenter who outspokenly supported the Iraq war has backtracked on his views.

The Fox News network's Bill O'Reilly told viewers he was now sceptical about the US president's claim that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

"I was wrong," said Mr O'Reilly, adding "all Americans should be concerned" that no such weapons had been found.

President George W Bush led the US to war in Iraq, claiming its arsenal of illegal weapons posed a threat.  However, since the war, successive teams of investigators have been unable to find any evidence that Iraq possessed these weapons of mass destruction.

David Kay, the US official appointed by President Bush to lead the search for Iraq's weapons, resigned last month, complaining that the intelligence that led to the war was mistaken.  Under growing pressure from his critics, President Bush has announced an inquiry into apparent pre-war intelligence failures.

Pre-war promise

Mr O'Reilly did not criticise the president, but instead indicated the blame lay with American's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

"I think every American should be very concerned for themselves that our intelligence is not as good as it should be," he said. "I don't know why [CIA director] Tenet still has his job."

Mr O'Reilly made his statement on ABC television, the US rival to Fox News, keeping a promise he made before the war to publicly apologise if no banned weapons were found in Iraq.

I knew it! There have been some very odd vibes from Fox lately in general. I noticed it about a week ago, but it was fairly vague so I didn't post anything about it. Basically they had been chaning some wording and for the first time said something like "And the president has to prove to the nation that he did not start a war under false pretenses"..

It's looking more and more like Bush actually could lose the next election

[EiZei 0]

Think hell just froze over.

[Tex -USMC- 0]

I heard this the other day, and I am, in a word, amazed. If you've ever watched the O'Reilly Factor, you know that it is virtually impossible to make the bastard concede a point, much less an entire argument. To have him make a reversal this large has huge implications in such a media-driven system, especially considering how popular the Factor is (I watch it now and then- good TV, bad politics).

[ralphwiggum 6]

simple as this. O'Reilly is an opportunist. He has been criticzed by conservatives more and more, and now he is switching boat before it sinks.

[Balschoiw 0]

Quote[/b] ]Excuse me Bavarian Battlesmurf i can easily answer your questions about all that stuff. but ho do i know you aren't a terrorist

You can´t answer it as you have not the slightest idea who they actually are. period.

And in case you shouldn´t know it, I carry my OFP tag with pride. It represents my origin (bavaria), my job (soldier) and the guys that send/sent me for military missions abroad for over a decade now (UN).

Get it ? Get it ? Ahhh.

Now stay away from me unless you have something significant to say.

[Akira 0]

Military Out Of Money

Apparently the military will be outta money because Bush doesn't want to ask Congress for the necessary funds till after the election.

EDIT: JP226 should be interested in the article since his best bud Shoomaker is quoted.

[JP226 0]

actually smurf i do know them, since your country harbors terrorist i can't tell you, because you cold be a terrorist. But if you must really absolutely know you have to say please.

[Frisbee 0]

actually smurf i do know them, since your country harbors terrorist i can't tell you, because you cold be a terrorist. But if you must really absolutely know you have to say please.

     

European countries actively hunt down terrorists,here in Belgium a cell of AQ was recently shut down,with the help of Dutch,French and German police,iirc.

Germany harbouring terrorists,why would they?

Because they hate the US maybe?  

Please...

And that last comment  

Was I wrong to suspect you already were at highschool level?

edit : ooh,I didn't understand the smurf part of your tag,thanks for the explanation

[GoOB 0]

actually smurf i do know them, since your country harbors terrorist i can't tell you, because you cold be a terrorist. But if you must really absolutely know you have to say please.

Terrorists and alleged terrorists live in Germany, Sweden, England and pretty much all countries you can think of. Even the US for christs sake! It's not like Germany gives money to the people who they don't know to be terrorists. Except maybe unemployment pay, wich really isn't actively funding terrorism. There is a difference between harboring terrorists and having terrorists in your country wich you obviously cannot see trough your somewhat closed mind.

And suddenly everyone from any other country than the US can be a terrorist? I won't say anything more since you might track me down and send the CIA on me...

[Akira 0]

actually smurf i do know them, since your country harbors terrorist i can't tell you, because you cold be a terrorist. But if you must really absolutely know you have to say please.

I've never seen anything more immature.

For the record I have contacted moderators about your behaviour, particularly flame-baiting and trolling.

I'm beginning to think you are the terrorist, sent in here to make all Americans look like dumb-ass, snot-nosed, ignorant, socially worthless, pieces of sh*t.

I'm speaking in general, of course, not necessarily JP226

[NavyEEL 0]

Once again General Denoir speaks of his vast knowledge of Military affairs. He obviously knows more about military capability than a US Army Cheif of Staff who has nearly given his entire life to the military.

If there is one thing the U.S. Army has taught me, it is that officers often make VERY VERY foolish decisions.  The higher the rank the bigger their foolishness.  I can tell you a hundred stories of utter stupidity I have seen concerning decisions made by officers of all ranks including generals.

The higher your rank in the military also the more isolated you are from reality as you are not on the ground risking your life on a daily basis and you are generally not in contact daily with regular Iraqi citizens unless you are a general with a major pair of cajones.  

Generals operate within their framework of knowledge.  If they are operating on a cold war based framework (which most of them are) then they are operating on a faulty framework.   

...

So I'm sorry, but unless a general is one of these front-line type commanders who's willing to risk his life working closely on the ground with his troops and he's open minded to new concepts in warfare, he's going to have a very very skewed analysis of the war in Iraq by operating on principles of maximum firepower rather then on a cultural/political/religious based framework of operation. Chris G.

aka-Miles Teg<GD>

Actually, Miles-Teg, Gen Schoomaker IS a general who is "in the know," so to speak. Given his vast experiences in combat and special operations units, to include Delta Force and being in command of US SOCOM, he is aware of the fact that conventional forces aren't as effective as they used to be given our current situations. In fact, he is currently revamping the US Army in a huge way, modifying the way our divisions are organized and the way our units act as a whole. Everything from training, organization, exercises, deployments, and rotations is being modified to fit the needs of current world situations. The first unit to be modified I believe is the 3ID, who will be rotating out again in the latter half of this year. While I agree that generals have a tendency to become more isolated from warfare at the tactical level, I do not believe Gen. Schoomaker suffers from any such problem.

Oh, and JP226... damn your posts are hilarious! You ridicule people yet post nothing but thoughts of your own, or random quotes from sources. I don't even know what kind of sources... just random sources. And if you know Gen. Schoomaker, that's great. In fact, he gave a briefing here not too long ago on the state of the Army and the changes it is undergoing. But please, if you are going to use him as a source of information, whether you know him personally or not, do it respectfully. Don't just say "our chief of staff knows all blah blah blah." Just because he's the CSA doesn't mean he knows everything. And unless you know, preferably through experience, how what he says relates to current world situations, then please don't use him as a source. Thanks!

[miles teg 1]

May I ask whether he said anything about making cultural training a big requirement for the Army?   What about methods of fighting religious militants?  Anything on a change of tactics?  

Does he understand the broader pan-Islamic issues and methods of perception management?

You see you can change the organization all you want, but if the basic tactics aren't changed it don't mean a damn thing.

I wish I could have been there as I would have had a lot of questions to ask.

Chris G.

aka-Miles Teg<GD>

[Hjaldar 0]

Quote[/b] ]actually smurf i do know them, since your country harbors terrorist i can't tell you, because you cold be a terrorist. But if you must really absolutely know you have to say please.

Uh, he's got me. I must confess. I am European, even German. I did civil service. I wear long hair! I am student of a German university! I even have a beard, for God's sake! Arrest me, I could be a terrorist.

Anyone knows when the next plane to Cuba departs?

PS: It's not nice of JP that he insist on being a typical role model for the ignorant American - not nice towards other Americans, that is. I'm glad that I've been to the States several times for learning that you've got lots of nice people over there. And not only Bushes and JPes.

[Tex -USMC- 0]

They breed and they vote.

[JP226 0]

You know I was wrong to think that some of you were intelligent. Since you completely stepped, no fell, into my blatant Sarcasm I understand that you guys are idiots, complete morons now next time please pay attnetion and watch your step.   TO Navyeel or EEL or whatever not worth the time to look up your name. I have a bitch for a step mother that talks the exact way you do. Are you her?I didn't even see miles teg's whole post. Too long and I have to watch my step as well, not to step in the bullshit

[ralphwiggum 6]

ok, that's it no more flaming allowed. bye. perm ban.

[Balschoiw 0]

thx now we can concentrate on Iraq again.

Edit: Only for the record. I knew he was lying about the Schoomaker things because both of his daughters are already over 29, one is playing volleyball and the other one is a marathon runner. What makes them special ? They are twins.

And for the record also they both never attended to a US school longer than 1,5 years as they were taught at home

[Baron von Beer 0]

Dunno if it was mentioned on here: Just read that the Haliburton subsidiary that was in charge of meals in Iraq seems to be in trouble. An audit at one facilty alone showed they were over charging the government a little (this was the one listed, it is said it is not an isolated case). At this dining facility, ~14,000 meals had been served, but the bill was for ~42,000. This I assume was part of that "brilliant" move to switch such tasks over from Army personnel to civilian contractors. (Some things I understand, but food? Soldiers eat every day, so it makes sense to have soldiers trained to feed the rest... if push came to shove, they can still grab a rifle. A Civilian in the same situation will just make a bad situation a tragic one. Also interesting was the statement that most troops found the food served so unappetizing, they prefered to buy food from street vendors. (For some reason I got a mental picture of some 70 year old school lunch lady with cigarette hanging from mouth placing a mound of unidentifiable slop onto a tray, saying enjoy with as much enthusiasm as I would have eating said slop.)

[miles teg 1]

Civilian contracting only works well when you have competition.  For example the military bases I believe have competitive contracts.  Overall the mess halls I've been to manned by private contractors (with soldiers on KP duty to do serve the food, do minor cooking tasks, and clean the kitchen) are of very good quality because they have to compete to get the contracts. An example are the mess halls at Ft. Leanordwood where I did basic training.  The cooks there (mostly Korean ladies) were awesome cooks.  However on the Army run mess halls at Ft. Hood, Texas that I ate at, the cooks were all Army cooks and they also do a fairly good job of cooking.   They also are ALOT cheaper I imagine since these cooks can be used for many different jobs, must long hours, and are paid a salary that is pretty low until they hit NCO ranks (E-5 and above).   In Iraq some of these cooks thrown out of their jobs by Haliburton have reportedly been attached to patrols in Baghdad.  They are indeed taught basic soldiering skills, but its still not anywhere near on the same level as a US Army infantryman with vast amounts of training on weapons, urban warfare, using a radio, land navigation, ect... ect...

But Bush and Cheney have to support their buddies at Haliburton so they can make some serious cash at the expense of the American taxpayer.

As for their cooks.... I wonder where they get them from.  

By the way, I'm glad JP226 is gone.  I don't like lying trolls.

He must have had a very sad childhood to act this way (assuming he's not still a child).

Chris G.

aka-Miles Teg<GD>

[NavyEEL 0]

May I ask whether he said anything about making cultural training a big requirement for the Army?   What about methods of fighting religious militants?  Anything on a change of tactics?  

Does he understand the broader pan-Islamic issues and methods of perception management?

You see you can change the organization all you want, but if the basic tactics aren't changed it don't mean a damn thing.

I wish I could have been there as I would have had a lot of questions to ask.

Chris G.

aka-Miles Teg<GD>

He did not give specifics as far as what would be done in reference to cultural training or the religious aspects of our current engagements. He does, however, understand the broader issues and the need for new tactics to be implemented, particularly against the kinds of enemies we are facing today, which involve largely urban areas and a large portion of the civilian population. Like I said, this was more a "state of the Army and where we are headed as a whole" briefing as opposed to a briefing on the situation in Iraq or Afghanistan. I, personally, am looking forward to the changes that Gen. Schoomaker has in store for us. He is really modernizing our Army, eliminating the "cold war" mindset and preparing us for the more unconventional types of wars we will be fighting in the future.

PS Thank you mods for getting rid of JP226!!!

[miles teg 1]

Ah ok. He sounds like a capable General. I just hope he makes his changes soon enough. He sounds like the type of military commander I'd love to talk to.

But right now I'm just a nobody with no serious connections.

Just another voice on the net...

Chris G.

aka-Miles Teg<GD>

[Acecombat 0]

Following up on the Pakistan (handwashing) issue, Kofi Annan finds it odd that Pakistan pardons it's top scientists for leaking Nuclear  secrets.  Annan for world leader!  

EDIT: a linker  le story

Hmm bn880 read this as well: US history replete with ‘mother of all pardons’

Its ironic for american govt to say anything about this

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

okay, so much about a peaceful iraq

us commander attacked

seems the iraqis have good intel

edit: ralph: please quote some contents of article please

Quote[/b] ]FALLUJAH, Iraq - Insurgents launched a brazen attack Thursday on an Iraqi civil defense outpost visited by Gen. John Abizaid, commander of all U.S. forces in the Middle East. Abizaid and his party escaped injury in the gun battle.

Just moments after a convoy carrying Abizaid and his party pulled inside the cinderblock walls at the headquarters of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps in this city west of Baghdad, an explosion rang out. Seconds later, two more explosions were heard near the rear of the compound, and U.S. soldiers responded with a barrage of rifle and machine gun fire.

[miles teg 1]

Well considering that a good percentage of the population of Iraq hates America, its not hard to get intelligence from buildings overlooking the base or from Iraqis working in the base who may be infiltrators. When Saddam was caught apparently he had a big list of people on him, some of whom were Saddam loyalists who had infiltrated the new Iraqi government including the police force. Its also not difficult to tell when somebody important arrives at a base due to the increased levels of security. All you need is a guy with binoculars looking out for an older looking soldier or a civilian with what looks like body guards around him to know that he's someone important....then you just call up your jihadis on your cell phone and bingo....RPG's and mortars incoming.

Chris G.

aka-Miles Teg<GD>

[Balschoiw 0]

Accord on Iraq polls emerging, says Annan

Quote[/b] ]Diplomats said UN officials as well as American and British envoys in Baghdad believe the caucus system is too unpopular and will have to be scrapped. One proposal, envoys said, would be to postpone the June 30 handover date so some form of elections could be organised. But any delay would carry risks for President Bush, who is being criticised for going to war to eliminate a threat from Iraq’s biological and chemical weapons that have still not been found.

Pressure from Iraq populations rises by the minute. I don´t know what will happen if elections are delayed to 2005. Nothing good I suppose.