The Iraq thread 3

[ralphwiggum 6]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/03/16/blix.back.ap/index.html

Quote[/b] ]NEW YORK (AP) -- President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair have lost credibility, the world is not safer now that Saddam Hussein is out of power and it was clear 10 months ago that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, according to Hans Blix, the former U.N. weapons inspector who returned to New York on the one-year anniversary of the war.

Blix, who was often vilified by supporters and opponents of an invasion in the run-up to the Iraq war, left his post at the United Nations last June at a time when many held out hope that biological, chemical or even nuclear weapons could be found by U.S. troops in Iraq.

But dozens of search teams over the last year have came up empty handed and much of the initial resources devoted to the hunt have since been reallocated.

In an address Monday at New York University, Blix said the United States should have known months ago that there were no weapons to be found.

"By May I knew there was nothing because the Americans had interrogated so many Iraqis by then and even offered money and still they found nothing."

On a speaking tour for his new book "Disarming Iraq," Blix offered some tough assessments of American accomplishments in Iraq and suggested that the United States was motivated to go to war because of the attacks of September 11, 2001.

"It was a reaction to 9/11 that we have to strike some theoretical, hypothetical links between Saddam Hussein and the terrorists. That was wrong. There wasn't anything," he said in an interview with NBC's "Today" show.

And he disagreed that the war had made the world a safer place.

"Sorry to say it doesn't look that way. If the message was to terrorists that we are willing to take you on, then that has not succeeded. In Iraq, it has bred a lot of terrorism and a lot of hatred to the Western world," he told an audience of 1,200 at NYU.

"Disarmament by war and democracy by occupation are difficult prospects

[bn880 5]

But watch out Blix, there are some fairly insane polls ran by coalition media coming out of Iraq saying Iraqis wanted the war, and they are better off now. (my god, where did they poll)

[Tovarish 0]

But watch out Blix, there are some fairly insane polls ran by coalition media coming out of Iraq saying Iraqis wanted the war, and they are better off now.      (my god, where did they poll)

Reminds me of when Cubans were polled about Castro's popularity and he got a 98% popularity rating. If armed soldiers from a regime or occupational force that tend to see any dissent as a sign of hostility come to your door and ask you if you like them, what would the smart (safe) answer be?

[shinRaiden 0]

Mr Information Minister only looked stupid because the bombs were falling as he spoke and the camera bounced as a result. Heck, even Mikhail Gorbachav is on the speaking circuit "Good evening ladies and gentlemen, as supreme leader of the biggest superpower, I personally oversaw the trainwreck with my hands on the throttles. I really do appreciate your honoraium. It is so much better than small potaoes."

[SpecOp9 0]

Lol, I'm sorry guys but there is way too much reading even for me to keep up with what you guys are talking about.

Alot of detail into these Iraq threads and Middle east

[Balschoiw 0]

Deadly Explosion Destroys Baghdad Hotel

Quote[/b] ]A large explosion destroyed a hotel in central Baghdad on Wednesday night, and rescuers pulled bodies from the rubble. Witnesses said it was a bomb blast.

Two U.S. soldiers tried to help pull bodies from the wreckage, but angry Iraqis pushed them back.

Flames shot skyward, and heavy smoke rose behind Baghdad's central square. Trees were on fire, and flames jumped to nearby buildings. Eight cars were on fire, and one vehicle was hurled by the blast into a store.

Ambulances raced to the scene.

The explosion occurred behind Firdaus Square, where a bronze statue of Saddam Hussein was felled April 9 with the help of U.S. Marines who had just entered the center of the Iraqi capital.

The area of the blast, Karrada, is a mix of residential and commercial buildings.

The blast shook the nearby Palestine Hotel, where many foreign contractors and journalists are based.

Booming times in Iraq

[Acecombat 0]

I read in Khallej Time that Baghdad has been rated as the worlds worst city to live in

Go American occupation......Not.

[EiZei 0]

I read in Khallej Time that Baghdad has been rated as the worlds worst city to live in

Go American occupation......Not.

Surely there are worse shitholes in africa not to mention that Baghdad was not the best place to live before the occupation either..

[SpongeBob 0]

......Not.

Wayne's World is still cool today.... not

Baghdad worst place to live in

Quote[/b] ]London, March 1 (Reuters): Baghdad, which suffered war and occupation in 2003, ranked the worst place to live in the world in a survey just published.

Concerns over security and precarious infrastructure were among the reasons putting Baghdad at the bottom of a survey on the quality of life in 215 world cities by Mercer Human Resources Consulting.

I dunno, I'm thinking about that city near Chernobyl, that has to be the all time worst place to live.

[bn880 5]

Chernobyl is being handled via evacuation/monitoring, you plan to evacuate Baghdad?

[EiZei 0]

http://www.moveon.org/censure/caughtonvideo/

Not so sure if this has been posted here before but still pretty amusing nonetheless.

[ralphwiggum 6]

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20040318_2465.html

Quote[/b] ]SEOUL, South Korea March 18 — South Korea canceled plans to send troops to the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, citing U.S. pressure to participate in "offensive operations," but still plans to send the forces to help rebuild the country, the Defense Ministry said Friday.

The ministry said it was looking for another location to send the promised 3,600 forces.

Seoul's dispatch, which would make South Korea the biggest coalition partner after the United States and Britain, was scheduled to come as early as next month. But Friday's decision means the mission might be delayed.

South Korea's Defense Ministry said the "United States cited inevitability for offensive operations to keep security in order in the Kirkuk area," and proposed that a certain number of U.S. troops remain in Kirkuk to operate under South Korean control.

South Korean said the U.S. proposal does not jibe with South Korea's intention to "keep its own independent operational command system and conduct peaceful reconstruction."

[ralphwiggum 6]

http://www.cnn.com/2004....ex.html

Quote[/b] ]WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein thinks he is smarter than his captors, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said Thursday.

"He's turned out to be a pretty wily guy who seems to be enjoying the give and take with his interlocutors," Armitage said in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Cooperation. "He sure thinks he's smarter than everyone else, that's for sure."

In a separate interview earlier this week, Armitage said Saddam is "not giving much information that I've seen, but he seems to be enjoying the debate."

Armitage said that while some of the results of Saddam's interrogation will be shared during his trial -- to be held in Iraq by Iraqi authorities -- a strong case needs to be made first.

"I've seen some of the results of these debriefs and we've got a lot of dots to connect, I think, before we throw these out publicly," Armitage said

Despite the instability in Iraq, Armitage said he's confident the Iraqis will hold the trial when they're ready.

"I'm not nervous about it going off the rails," Armitage said. "There's a good deal, I think, of interest in Iraq for seeing the tyrant finally brought to his knees."

[cozza 24]

Quote[/b] ]Armitage said that while some of the results of Saddam's interrogation will be shared during his trial -- to be held in Iraq by Iraqi authorities -- a strong case needs to be made first.

Well Iraqi well have a goverment system on June/July 1st when America start reducing there tropped number. So is that when Saddams trial begins

[denoir 0]

Rallies mark Iraq war anniversary (BBC)

[Pipski 0]

I read in Khallej Time that Baghdad has been rated as the worlds worst city to live in  

Go American occupation......Not.

Surely there are worse shitholes in africa not to mention that Baghdad was not the best place to live before the occupation either..

Just a reminder, back in the 60s Baghdad was a real jet-set destination. Very exotic, expensive, luxurious.

[Balschoiw 0]

Now we know why Iraq was attacked. Old Rumsie put his logic to plain simple mode:

Quote[/b] ]“Rumsfeld was saying we needed to bomb Iraq,†Clarke said. “We all said, ‘But no, no, Al Qaeda is in Afghanistan.â€

Clarke, who is expected to testify on Tuesday before a federal panel reviewing the attacks, said Rumsfeld complained in the meeting that “there aren’t any good targets in Afghanistan and there are lots of good targets in Iraq.â€

Iraq, unlike Afghanistan, has lots of good targets: Rumsfeld

Send him to a clinic for mentally insane and never let him out again.

Mr Clueless Bush had another nice time lying to the public:

Quote[/b] ]"The liberation of Iraq was good for the Iraqi people, good for America, and good for the world,'' the president said in his weekly radio address.

Neither of these claims is true. In fact it´s the opposite situation.

Quote[/b] ]"The worst regime in the region was given way to what will soon be among the best,''

Huh ? Have I missed something ?

Quote[/b] ]But the president pressed member nations of the Iraq coalition -- which he said number more than 50 -- not to abandon the US-led campaign for democracy and stability in Iraq.

Oh look at him. How cute. Democracy and stability...

The terrible security situation is only the result of his "democracy and stability" war. He´s the one to be held responsible for the situation in Iraq.

Quote[/b] ]"Helping Iraq emerge as a free nation is a global responsibility," he said. "We will never turn over Iraq to terrorists who intend our own destruction. We will not fail the Iraqi people, who have placed their trust in us."

Blah blah. Iraq has already been turned over to "terrorists". In fact Bush was the one who made terrorism in Iraq possible.

And he already failed the Iraqi people. They don´t trust the USA an inch and they know why. US forces have not established anything in Iraq. Nothing. Nothing for the people, nothing for stability BUT secured the oil sources...

Quote[/b] ]"The war on terror is not a figure of speech. It is the inescapable calling of our generation. ... Whatever it takes we will seek, and find, and destroy the terrorists," he said.

OMG. Could someone pls tell him that you can´t win a war on terror ? Does it really take that long for Bush to have the idea that the "war on terror" does not work but only makes the "terrorists" to attack the USA with all their might ?

Isn´t a president supposed to tell the truth ?

The Iraq war is 100 times more expensive than Bush told the US public when it started. He lied. Obviously.

Impeach him now !

Impeach Bush, vote here

Put him to court with his fantasy TBA. All participants in this mess have to be put to court and jailed.

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

What a bunch of naive children

CNN.com

10 pieces each for 180.000 soldiers. mmmhh that makes    1.8 million stolen items from Iraq. This wasnt a crussade that was a plunder!  

[Balschoiw 0]

Or just looters no better than others.

They dare to punish Iraq citizens for looting wood and take home pretiouse and ancient goods.

Man, the US officials better shape up on this. It´s incredible that customs didn´t intervene.

Thieves, that´s what they are.

[booradley60 0]

A summary of misleading statements by TBA concerning Iraq prepared for...umm... his name is on the first page.

[walker 0]

Hi booradley60

Thanks for that intel woow!

How has the Media Missed this?

Ah Released on the 16th of March, 5 days after the madrid bomb and burried in the furore around the Spanish election.

They made 237 misleading statements to start the war.

Quote[/b] ]President George Bush, Vice President Richard Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell, and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. It finds that the five officials mademisleading statements about the threat posed by Iraq in 125 public appearances. The report and an accompanying database identify 237 specific misleading statements by the five officials.

http://www.house.gov/reform....rep.pdf

George Bush Jnr. made most of the misleading statements (bit of a mouthfull that is not a misleading statement the same as a lie?) He made 55 Misleading statements to start the war on Iraq.

Donald Rumsfeld was second in the league of misleading statements with 52 Misleading statements to start the war on Iraq. Suprised he did not make the majority as he controled The Office of Special Plans; you remember the organisation charged with keeping the real experts on terrorism away from the president and the cabinet so they could make up stories to support a war on Iraq.

The Office of Special Plans was the one that kept Clarke from placing the strategy to stop Al Qaida before TBA untill after 9/11 and that then kept Clarke away from the president and the administration because he kept saying Iraq was not a threat Al Qaida was. George Bush Jnr was far more interested in imaginmary enemies. Funny that I had an imaginary friend when i was about 2 years old but I grew out of it when I was 3 years old. How old is George Bush Jnr. not to have grown out of his imaginary enemy syndrome?

Then comes Dodgy Dick Cheyney with 51 Misleading statements to start the war on Iraq

Just below them came Secretary Powell who made 50 Misleading statements to start the war on Iraq but the report notes he put a lot of caveats in his statements (I wonder why?)

At the bottom is Security Advisor Rice. Guess that college education and legal traning stands her in good stead. I also note she wont go before the 9/11 investigation citing executive privelidge odd that why didnt Clinton do that? Any way National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice comes in with a mere 29 Misleading statements to start the war on Iraq

Thanks for the info again booradley60 I hope all my Journalist friends are reading this.

Should be a good one to run after the Clarke Story has decimated TBA.

I presume this Guy REP. HENRY A. WAXMAN is one of those who is looking to be in for the control of the Republican party after TBA loose the election. Wow the Republican infighting has already started they must realise they have not got a snowballs chance in h**l.

Kind Regards Walker

[billybob2002 0]

Quote[/b] ]I presume this Guy REP. HENRY A. WAXMAN is one of those who is looking to be in for the control of the Republican party after TBA loose the election. Wow the Republican infighting has already started they must realise they have not got a snowballs chance in h**l.

Only way Bush might/will lose the elections is if Kerry keeps pushing the job issue. (off-topic)

http://www.ipsos-na.com/news/pressrelease.cfm?id=2093

Taken from Ap-Ipos poll that took place between March 19-21:

-Bush will do a better job of protecting the country than Kerry, 58 percent to 35 percent.

-Kerry to do better at creating jobs, 53 percent to 37 percent.

-Bush is stronger leader than Kerry, 60 percent to 32 percent.

-Bush is leading in their poll 46 percent to 43 percent (Nader as 5 percent).

[shinRaiden 0]

Considering that these charges were compiled long after the fact by people who stand to gain politically by their advancement, I'm betting on the snowballs. Rep. Waxman is most certainly not a republican. Rep. Waxman's Webpage

Full text with linkage to bill authorizing force against Iraq, with declarations:

H.J.Res.114 - Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002

Quote[/b] ]Note: S.J.Res. 45 [Daschle-Lott] was based on the original White House proposal authorizing the use of force in Iraq. H.J.Res. 114 [Hastert-Gephardt] and the substantially similar S.J.Res. 46 [Lieberman] were modified proposals. H.J.Res. 110 was a separate proposal not considered on the floor.

People who tagged their name to the supporters:

Cosponsors

House vote record on HR 114:

Rep. Waxman voted for HR.114

Senate vote record on the same:

Senate vote record

Legislation from the 2nd session of the 107th Congress about Iraq

Iraq, Republic of

Full committe report on HR 114:

Committee on International Relations report 107-721

Public law 105-235 signed by Pres. Clinton, cited by 107th HR 114:

105-235

[Balschoiw 0]

Very funny Mr. Bush

Quote[/b] ]US President George W Bush has sparked a political row by making a joke about the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

...

One pictured Mr Bush looking under a piece of furniture in the Oval Office, at which the president remarked: "Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be here somewhere."

Bush's Iraq WMDs joke backfires

Nice to see a president joking about the number one reason to invade Iraq. Nice to see a president joking about a war that already has cost a lot of blood on both sides.

Quote[/b] ]Mr Bush's election challenger Senator John Kerry described the president's attitude as "stunningly cavalier".

"If George Bush thinks his deceptive rationale for going to war is a laughing matter, then he's even more out of touch than we thought," he said in a written statement.

"Unfortunately for the president, this is not a joke."

Mr Kerry's statement also included a comment from Iraq war veteran Brad Owens, who said: "War is the single most serious event that a president or government can carry its people into.

"This cheapens the sacrifice that American soldiers and their families are dealing with every single day."

What a dumbnut is Bush ?

[Balschoiw 0]

Army Surveys Iraq Troops Mental Health

Quote[/b] ]Among the survey's findings:

- Fifty-two percent of soldiers said their personal morale was low or very low, and 72 percent said their unit's morale was low or very low. The cohesiveness of units also was described as low. These are inexact measures of mental health, but senior Army officials told reporters that morale is one factor among many in the pattern of soldier suicides in Iraq.

"It was a pretty miserable set of circumstances" facing soldiers there last summer, said Col. Virgil J. Patterson III, a social work officer who headed a 12-member team of psychologists and other mental health professionals who spent several weeks in Iraq and Kuwait last August through October.

- Seventeen percent of soldiers were assessed to be suffering traumatic stress, depression or anxiety and were deemed to be "functionally impaired." Of that group, about three-quarters said they had received no help at any time in Iraq from a mental health professional, a doctor or a chaplain.

- Twenty-three percent described themselves as feeling moderate to severe stress.

- Only one-third of soldiers who wanted help actually got it

Quote[/b] ]More than half of mental health providers whose mission was "combat stress control" told Patterson's team that they had inadequate supplies of anti-depressant and sleeping drugs. Half said they did not receive enough prewar training in combat stress, and more than half said they either did not know the Army's combat stress control doctrine or "did not support it."

Quote[/b] ]Of the 23 who killed themselves, all but two were males. Gunshot was the method of killing in all but one case, which was a result of drug overdose. The peak months were July, with five suicides, and November with four. So far this year, there has been only one confirmed suicide, according to Col. Bruce E. Crow, a member of the Iraq survey team and a specialist in suicide prevention.

At least seven other soldiers killed themselves last year after returning to the United States.

Not that good imo.