FTA:

And that's just fine with him. As local police take greater control of their towns and local citizens help keep al Qaida malcontents from detonating bombs in their markets, the Marines here are left with little to do but reconstruction and institution building - an overall mission that has one every Marine can appreciate.

That's some nice "failure" there, Lou.

MasterThief: FTA:

And that's just fine with him. As local police take greater control of their towns and local citizens help keep al Qaida malcontents from detonating bombs in their markets, the Marines here are left with little to do but reconstruction and institution building - an overall mission that has one every Marine can appreciate.

I just wish it had been that way from the beginning.

I just wish it had been that way from the beginning.

I just wish the war had gone as planned so there was no need to rebuild. The decapitated government was supposed to keep on running just fine after a head transplant. It didn't, and that mistake is what extended the war by nearly five years and counting.

Good. Our work there is done. Let's leave now.

Wabash: Good. Our work there is done. Let's leave now.

We need to leave some guys in the areas we clean up, so that the bad guys we're fighting in other areas don't move back in. If we can clean up Anbar, we can clean up the whole country... It's only a matter of time.

/Keep up the good work, Marines!

Can we get the fark out now?

While that's great, how is that Iraq government coming?

ZAZ: I just wish the war had gone as planned so there was no need to rebuild. The decapitated government was supposed to keep on running just fine after a head transplant. It didn't, and that mistake is what extended the war by nearly five years and counting.

Decapitated? It was dismembered and fed into a wood chipper during the "de-Ba'athification" debacle. Tom Ricks' Fiasco has a chapter "How to create an insurgency", ie by following US occupation policy.

Iraq under Saddam had some serious economic problems, especially in the non-Sunni areas, it wasn't purely the smiles and sunshine that Michael Moore presented. Even with the best occupation it wouldn't have been a case of "no need to rebuild", but the situation was certainly made worse by the insurgents and the terrorists and the US policies that inadvertently helped them.

Hmm, this actually might be true. This site, when sorted by province, shows last US death in Anbar province at 10/08/07. However, given the list of locations, I cannot say for certain that this is accurate. Searches of Ramadi, Haditha, Al Qa'im and Fallujah all also came up negative. However, if you go to Statistics -> Coalition Casualties by Location Across Time, you will be disturbed. And it only goes through Oct 7, 07.

you guys are done in iraq? great! now get your asses into afghanistan to finish the job there, you know, the one you were hired to do.

I say we bring them (Iraqis) baseball equipment and have the engineers build some baseball diamonds and have someone set up a baseball league for them. Every country that has a serious baseball program or was before a dictator took over (I'm looking at you Cuba & Venezuela) is a friendly nation with good U.S. relations. Send Bonds , Clemens, and the rest of the 'roid & HGH cheats on an international baseball tour as penance for their crimes against the game. If you disagree with me, you're either a troll or lowly commie scum. I'm a sports fan (baseball, football, basketball, soccer) of all kinds, but baseball first.

homerdrew415: I say we bring them (Iraqis) baseball equipment and have the engineers build some baseball diamonds and have someone set up a baseball league for them. Every country that has a serious baseball program or was before a dictator took over (I'm looking at you Cuba & Venezuela) is a friendly nation with good U.S. relations. Send Bonds , Clemens, and the rest of the 'roid & HGH cheats on an international baseball tour as penance for their crimes against the game. If you disagree with me, you're either a troll or lowly commie scum. I'm a sports fan (baseball, football, basketball, soccer) of all kinds, but baseball first.

Iran will greet us with baseballs then?

if we do it right in Iraq, baseball will spread. Look at Japan, S.Korea, Taiwan, etc.

homerdrew415: I say we bring them (Iraqis) baseball equipment and have the engineers build some baseball diamonds and have someone set up a baseball league for them. Every country that has a serious baseball program or was before a dictator took over (I'm looking at you Cuba & Venezuela) is a friendly nation with good U.S. relations. Send Bonds , Clemens, and the rest of the 'roid & HGH cheats on an international baseball tour as penance for their crimes against the game. If you disagree with me, you're either a troll or lowly commie scum. I'm a sports fan (baseball, football, basketball, soccer) of all kinds, but baseball first.

Yeah, because game fields have never been used for anything but the intended game.

A good friend from high school just got back from his tour in Iraq. He said he experienced the same. Pretty much all they did was pay locals to rebuild all the shiat America had blown up.

What a great plan that is...

That's in a stadium. I'm just talking diamonds & outfields.

besides, the kick from an AK off the pitchers mound would be a balk if we get good umpires.

homerdrew415: besides, the kick from an AK off the pitchers mound would be a balk if we get good umpires.

That's a HOME RUN! OOOOHHHH YEAAAHH!

Shouldn't they train regularly? Ya know get some trigger time at the range.

Anbar?

It's almost a trap.

As a true conservative I am OUTRAGED by the waste going on here. These shlubs are sitting around doing nothing yet have no problem sucking away at the gravy train of taxpayer dollars and benefits. If we're going to be paying these uniformed welfare queens, they should be earning said pay. Onward to Iran, stat!

Captain Darling: ZAZ: I just wish the war had gone as planned so there was no need to rebuild. The decapitated government was supposed to keep on running just fine after a head transplant. It didn't, and that mistake is what extended the war by nearly five years and counting.

Decapitated? It was dismembered and fed into a wood chipper during the "de-Ba'athification" debacle. Tom Ricks' Fiasco has a chapter "How to create an insurgency", ie by following US occupation policy.

Iraq under Saddam had some serious economic problems, especially in the non-Sunni areas, it wasn't purely the smiles and sunshine that Michael Moore presented. Even with the best occupation it wouldn't have been a case of "no need to rebuild", but the situation was certainly made worse by the insurgents and the terrorists and the US policies that inadvertently helped them.

We supposedly needed 450,000 troops or so to take and hold Iraq. I think we are at 135,000 now.

Saiga410: Shouldn't they train regularly? Ya know get some trigger time at the range.

There's a difference between range firing and firing "in anger/agression". I'm sure they keep their training going.

Well, I for one would call that a "good thing."

/Can we leave now plz?

That's great.
Can they come and be bored here at Pendleton?

Mission accomplished, now lets get the fark out.

The husband of a relative of mine is an MP up north of Baghdad, and based on what I've heard/read from him, the situation up there is...decidedly different.

So Anbar is now effectively peaceful. That's great; however an examination of the situation there makes it clear why this is possible. Anbar is almost all Sunni: once the Iraqis decided that fighting the US was a losing proposition, there wasn't much left for them to do but make up with us and kick out the Qaeda that had set up shop. The areas of Iraq where most of the attacks are currently going on do not present such a straightforward solution.

So in the end, while this is great news for the troops who get stationed in Anbar, it doesn't mean much for the rest of the country.

MasterThiefThat's some nice "failure" there, Lou.

Nah this is actually a victory for our enemy Al Sadr, who hates Al Qaeda just as much, and decided to rein in the rogue civilian-bombing Shiites single handedly, and is also helping to reconstruct damaged properties.

Problem?

Yea. Al Sadr is ingratiating himself with the Iraqis and our Marines haven't done a thing to make him not prepare for payback.

Unless you begged him not to personally, MasterThief, then you shouldn't dismiss Al Sadr's goal of strengthening his forces that everyone but Fox News had reported on.

All I'm saying is, you're swimming in the eye of the hurricane and telling everyone else to hold hands. You're Bush-foolish.

but how's the rest of the country? Didn't think so...

<b>wowzer97pooh:</b> <i>

We supposedly needed 450,000 troops or so to take and hold Iraq. I think we are at 135,000 now.</i>

450,000 was the estimate when Iraq actually had a full population. A few hundred thousand dead and several million fled later, you don't need nearly as many troops

Driving Without Pants: Can we get the fark out now?

first you assholes have to elect ron paul. as long as the voting is rigged, you fools will be in iraq for another 100 years.

get your shiat together america.

I like the way the article repeatedly implies that not getting killed is only minor consolation for boredom.

As a true conservative I am OUTRAGED by the waste going on here. These shlubs are sitting around doing nothing...

I know you're joking, but actually "true conservatives" are against making government programs cost-effective. Like Barry Goldwater said, there's no public pressure to terminate programs if they're made efficient, useful, and worthwhile. If you want to do away with "big government" (conservatives usually define that as any government spending that helps someone), you must always strive to make government programs wasteful and unaccountable to the public.

douchnozzle unvailable for surrender coment

we're paying insurgents. it's kicking the can down the road, but it worked wonders for the short term.

jojostan: douchnozzle unvailable for surrender coment

Let's not start sucking each other's dicks just yet, fellas.

Things are so wonderful in Iraq that the troops have nothing to do. But Iraq will go to hell in a handbasket if we pull the troops out.

Right. Got it.

Anbar is Akbar's laid back brother.

Nah this is actually a victory for our enemy Al Sadr, who hates Al Qaeda just as much, and decided to rein in the rogue civilian-bombing Shiites single handedly, and is also helping to reconstruct damaged properties.

Um, Anbar is mostly Sunni.

Jeff_from_MD: MasterThiefThat's some nice "failure" there, Lou.

Nah this is actually a victory for our enemy Al Sadr, who hates Al Qaeda just as much, and decided to rein in the rogue civilian-bombing Shiites single handedly, and is also helping to reconstruct damaged properties.

Problem?

Yea. Al Sadr is ingratiating himself with the Iraqis and our Marines haven't done a thing to make him not prepare for payback.

Unless you begged him not to personally, MasterThief, then you shouldn't dismiss Al Sadr's goal of strengthening his forces that everyone but Fox News had reported on.

All I'm saying is, you're swimming in the eye of the hurricane and telling everyone else to hold hands. You're Bush-foolish.

He tried an uprising against US forces and lost badly. He called a ceasefire, rearmed and trained, and tried again with the same results.

It seems like faced with the good news coming from Iraq, that many of the suffers of Bush Derangement Syndrome have also developed a bad case of confirmation bias.

Ok, I can now say... Told ya so!

/been in Anbar for 2 years.
//suck it, haters!

I was in Iraq as a CIV Contractor, tech work, and let me say to all of you who serve our great country THANK YOU! It was a privilege and an honor to be among you doing what you do so well.

And I found out the truth of this 'phrase' first hand, unfortunately:

We went to war, and a garrison broke out!

Thank you!

jaedreth

Check your email.
I'm contemplating a trip over myself.