Say it!

Pregnant pause?

pation.

Sybarite: Say it!

Occam's Chainsaw: pation.

Damn...too late!

It's just a jump to the left?

Sybarite and Occam's Chainsaw It's good to see that the classics are not forgotten on Fark.

And then a step to the right!

HOW DOES THE HEADLINE END I CAN'T WAIT ANY LONGER!

demon seed

The rare triple entendre.

Fully endorses this headline.

/hotter than Janet and Magenta combined

Stupid empire.

Sybarite: Say it!

Occam's Chainsaw: pation.

Looks like I was beaten (with whips and chains) to the punch.

Bwaahahaha!

Suck it defeatists, the Empire is sticking around. No band of rag-tag rebels is going to disrupt the master plan!

"I appreciate the fact that you really snatched defeat out of the jaws of those who were trying to defeat us in Iraq"

George W. Bush, thanking General Odierno in March 2008

That is the best quote they could get from Bush?

/Yes, I know you read it in his voice as well

Obama doesn't really have a say in foreign policy. The new puppet of the former republic is just that, a new face on the old policy.

kronicfeld:

The rare triple entendre.

One being that it ain't over till the Soprano sings.

New boss, same as old boss. Yadda yadda yadda...

Death to New Rome: Obama doesn't really have a say in foreign policy. The new puppet of the former republic is just that, a new face on the old policy.

/bread and circuses FTW!

He wants to pull out by 2011 because that's the deal the Bush Administration agreed to with the Iraqi government.

While I'm pissed we're still going to be there for 2 more years, I find it honorable that he's not just going to simply ignore the treaty like something out of the Bush Administration playbook.

No shiat. Anybody that voted for Obama because they though it'd end the Iraq war was fooling themselves.

b-b-b-but Bush!

There are a LOT of hypotheticals in that article. I'm not saying Odierno is wrong, but a lot can happen between now & August 2010.

Thank you, Fark.

/"Come up to the lab.."

wolvernova: No shiat. Anybody that voted for Obama because they though it'd end the Iraq waranything would change was fooling themselves.

FIFY

President Barack Obama is seeking $83.4 billion for US military and diplomatic operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, pressing for special troop funding that he opposed two years ago when he was a senator and George W. Bush was President.

The success of "the surge" was that the USA started bribing the various tribes that were previous killing Americans. Much of this money is to keep those bribes intact, so that the civil war does not start up again. The "surge" was not a military success, it was a political tactic to get the Bush administration to the end of their term, so that when the inevitable civil war finally occurs, the republican media attack team can blame it on their opposite side. When the bribes stops, the civil war will start anew. So the bribes must continue, mostly for domestic American political reasons.

With the economic climate of the USA right now, this money should not be spent on a foreign nation for political reasons.
Cut the bribes, let the civil war occur and take care of the USA.
Rumsfeld and Cheney lost the occupation with their political meddling in 2003. It's time someone recognized that, throws those farkers in jail, and ends the "democracy in Iraq" charade.

Some fun brewing in the comments section:

"Looks like some were right about it being "Obama's Vietnam War !

You Own it Sir , can't push this off on Bush !!!!!

Doug Rose, Chicago"

We can't push off an unpopular war, entered into under false pretenses, onto Bush who led us there in the first place? How does that work? He's right that Obama now owns it, but it's not like he had anything to do with going in.

wolvernova: No shiat. Anybody that voted for Obama because they though it'd end the Iraq war was fooling themselves.

I don't know of any voter who supported Obama for this reason alone. I worked on the campaign for months--every voter I spoke to had various reasons for supporting him.

But by all means, rail at the heavens some more. Republican butthurt is vastly entertaining.

Color me shocked. SHOCKED.



At a formal press announcement Monday and in media appearances over the next day, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates unveiled the biggest military budget in world history, in anticipation of an endless series of Iraq and Afghanistan-style wars by American imperialism.

Both the military budget itself and the official who drafted it-Gates held the same position in the last two years of the Bush administration and is the first Pentagon chief to be retained by a new president-underscore the fundamental continuity between Obama and Bush.

For all its pretensions of "change" and all the popular illusions attached to Obama's supposed "anti-war" stance, the new administration is as committed to the ruthless pursuit of the interests of American imperialism as its discredited predecessor.

varmitydog:
The success of "the surge" was that the USA started bribing the various tribes that were previous killing Americans. Much of this money is to keep those bribes intact, so that the civil war does not start up again. The "surge" was not a military success, it was a political tactic to get the Bush administration to the end of their term, so that when the inevitable civil war finally occurs, the republican media attack team can blame it on their opposite side. When the bribes stops, the civil war will start anew. So the bribes must continue, mostly for domestic American political reasons.



This is the typical left wing spin that the surge was not a military success so they have to create something else to explain how Iraq was won. There is no way that the left is going to give Bush credit.....for anything. Despite his faults and underestimating and getting things wrong in Iraq he was right about the surge and, at risk of being non-cynical, down right courageous with his decision on the surge give the political climate at the time. The surge worked. Get over it.

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama said Thursday that the escalation of U.S. troops in Iraq, which he had opposed, has succeeded in reducing violence "beyond our wildest dreams." (new window)

brigid_fitch:

I don't know of any voter who supported Obama for this reason alone. I worked on the campaign for months--every voter I spoke to had various reasons for supporting him.

But by all means, rail at the heavens some more. Republican butthurt is vastly entertaining.

It was the reason he got the damn nomination

Hang On Voltaire: anything would change was fooling themselves.

Hang On Voltaire: The surge worked. Get over it.

You seriously are the thickest skulled idiot I've ever seen on this website. How can you come out bashing Obama for his 'lack of change' while at the same time CONTINUING to cheerlead the previous administration's imperialist policy. Do you not see the disconnect there? If you liked Bush in Iraq, you should have no problem with Bush Lite in Iraq.

What? The boogieman isn't dead yet?

The jolt you just felt was everybodies collective chains getting yanked.

Hang On Voltaire: varmitydog:
The success of "the surge" was that the USA started bribing the various tribes that were previous killing Americans. Much of this money is to keep those bribes intact, so that the civil war does not start up again. The "surge" was not a military success, it was a political tactic to get the Bush administration to the end of their term, so that when the inevitable civil war finally occurs, the republican media attack team can blame it on their opposite side. When the bribes stops, the civil war will start anew. So the bribes must continue, mostly for domestic American political reasons.



This is the typical left wing spin that the surge was not a military success so they have to create something else to explain how Iraq was won. There is no way that the left is going to give Bush credit.....for anything. Despite his faults and underestimating and getting things wrong in Iraq he was right about the surge and, at risk of being non-cynical, down right courageous with his decision on the surge give the political climate at the time. The surge worked. Get over it.

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama said Thursday that the escalation of U.S. troops in Iraq, which he had opposed, has succeeded in reducing violence "beyond our wildest dreams." (new window)

We won? Awesome!

Mission accomplished.

Scrophulous Barking Duck: Sybarite and Occam's Chainsaw It's good to see that the classics are not forgotten on Fark.

Raleigh Realto / Graceland Cinemas (Columbus) represent!

PanicMan: Thank you, Fark.

/"Come up to the lab.."

I get a LOT of funny looks when I break into that particular song at work.

Hang On Voltaire The surge worked. Get over it.

The success or failure of "the surge" cannot be judged until those payments stop. The fact that Obama is requesting more funds to continue it indicates that it was not as successful as all that.

It used to be that conservatives held the line "millions for defense, but not one penny for tribute" sacred. I still do.
Just because a bunch of PNAC jackasses painted themselves into a corner is no reason to abandon American principles to save their sorry, lying asses. (and pet pork programs)

someonelse: We won? Awesome!

Mission accomplished.

Someone won. There's a leader of a powerful government who, when he walks down the streets of Baghdad, gets flowers thrown at him by adoring fans in the Iraqi street. Nope, not the American president, who still has to arrive for 'surprise visits' under cover of darkness. Nope, there's another guy out there. Something with an 'Ahmad' or something...hmmm



Good thing he's on our side, right?

I'm sure it will be worth the wait.

varmitydog: Hang On Voltaire The surge worked. Get over it.

The success or failure of "the surge" cannot be judged until those payments stop. The fact that Obama is requesting more funds to continue it indicates that it was not as successful as all that.

It used to be that conservatives held the line "millions for defense, but not one penny for tribute" sacred. I still do.
Just because a bunch of PNAC jackasses painted themselves into a corner is no reason to abandon American principles to save their sorry, lying asses. (and pet pork programs)

The troops and the money helped, but Iran reigned in al-sadr and some other shiite groups, I can't wait to read about what we did for Iran.

Shaggy_C: Good thing he's on our side, right?

Well, he's on the left side of that picture, anyway.

So he should feel at home in the new People's Republic of America.

A suicide bomber just killed five more U.S. soldiers in Iraq. They are going to kill each other over there for control of the country or parts of the country, no matter when we leave. Sooner out, the better.

Shaggy_C: Good thing he's on our side, right?

Well, not that dude so much. But we'd be a damn better sight off if we were actively working with the region to deal with Iraq. Including our old sock puppet.


Which is what I hope we're working towards with our recent friendlier relations.

And anybody who thought Obama was an anti-war candidate wasn't paying attention.

someonelse: Mission accomplished.

Your mission is a failure, your lifestyle's too extreme.

Are we still paying off the insurgents to not fight?

Shaggy_C: Hang On Voltaire: anything would change was fooling themselves.

Hang On Voltaire: The surge worked. Get over it.

You seriously are the thickest skulled idiot I've ever seen on this website. How can you come out bashing Obama for his 'lack of change' while at the same time CONTINUING to cheerlead the previous administration's imperialist policy. Do you not see the disconnect there? If you liked Bush in Iraq, you should have no problem with Bush Lite in Iraq.

DarnoKonrad: Which is what I hope we're working towards with our recent friendlier relations.

It's worth a try; we seemed moments away from starting a bombing campaign in late 2007 and they were more defiant than ever. Apparently threats don't work with some people...

Hang On Voltaire: This is the typical left wing spin that the surge was not a military success so they have to create something else to explain how Iraq was won.

Citing the surge is creating something else to explain how Iraq was won. Iraq fell on April 9th, 2003. We did mop-up through late April, but at that point, the war was over. We won.

We. Failed. At. Peace. Repeat that over and over again until it finally sinks into your skull. We failed to anticipate any sort of meaningful insurgency. We failed to plan for any contingency in which there was one or more armed groups fighting an insurrection. We failed at preparing for long-term peacekeeping. We failed to train our troops for peacekeeping, the actual hard part of the mission. We failed to arm and support them accordingly. We failed to set any sort of meaningful long-term goals beyond "WE WIN!! IRAQ AM DEMOCRACY!! YAAAY!!" We failed to adapt the overall strategy when it became clear that the reality on the ground no longer reflected the reality we anticipated. We failed at PR. We failed to convince the fighters that their cause was senseless or that their enemy did not need fighting. We failed to convince the populace at-large that we could effectively provide security, or that the insurgent threat was primarily a threat to them. And worst of all, we failed to admit that we were failing, substituting hubris for results.

You want to hear good things about the surge? Fine. The surge was one of several tactics that lead to a significant decrease in violence. In addition to the development of long-term intelligence assets, a better ability to liase with the locals, and frankly throwing big-ass bales of cash around, the manpower to implement the take-and-hold tactics that helped drain some of the insurgent swamps in the big cities. In the middle of a comprehensive failure, they got one right. Huzzah.

Does whiffing every pitch but one, and knocking that one out of the park, suddenly qualify as a 1.000 batting average? They were successful in implementing ideas which were partially responsible for fixing a tiny piece of the clusterfark of their own creation. In the Special Olympics, that would get you a medal. In the decathlon, you get laughed out of the stadium.

brigid_fitch: wolvernova: No shiat. Anybody that voted for Obama because they though it'd end the Iraq war was fooling themselves.

I don't know of any voter who supported Obama for this reason alone. I worked on the campaign for months--every voter I spoke to had various reasons for supporting him.

But by all means, rail at the heavens some more. Republican butthurt is vastly entertaining.

You don't know me very well. Aint no republican, biatch. But enjoy your change and hope.

Unimpressed. Will show Obama how to pull out.