Trackbacked at Wizbang:
 |
“I believe myself that the secretary of state, secretary of defense and - you have to make your own decisions as to what the president knows - (know) this war is lost and the surge is not accomplishing anything as indicated by the extreme violence in Iraq yesterday.” - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev |
| “I can’t begin to imagine how our troops in the field, who are risking their lives every day, are going to react when they get back to base and hear that the Democrat leader of the United States Senate has declared the war is lost.” - Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky |  |
The Pentagon says it has enough money to pay for the Iraq war through June. The Army is taking “prudent measures” aimed at ensuring that delays in the bill financing the war do not harm troop readiness, according to instructions sent to Army commanders and budget officials April 14.
While $70 billion that Congress provided in September for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan has mostly run out, the Army has told department officials to slow the purchase of nonessential repair parts and other supplies, restrict the use of government charge cards and limit travel.
The Army also will delay contracts for facilities repair and environmental restoration, according to instructions from Army Comptroller Nelson Ford. He said the accounting moves are similar to those enacted last year when the Republican-led Congress did not deliver a war funding bill to Bush until mid-June.
More stringent steps would be taken in May, such as a hiring freeze and firing temporary employees, but exceptions are made for any war-related activities or anything that “would result immediately in the degradation of readiness standards” for troops in Iraq or those slated for deployment.
How some are reacting to Mr. Reid’s statement:
- There is no such thing as a fair weather warrior, but you have become a fair weather Senator, a disgrace to our country and a hero to spineless people who will not fight anyone. Let us fight an enemy who will not quit fighting us even if you succeed in pulling us out of this country. The Iraqis overwhelmingly support us as their allies. Decide to fund the warriors here in Iraq and those lined up to take our place; quit supporting the spineless ones who have bribed you into kissing bin Laden’s ass. - SSG Hinz, Daniel, 1-82 ARB 25 CAB, COB Speicher
- To be brief, your words are killing us. Your statements make the Iraqis afraid to help us for fear we’ll leave them unprotected in the future. They don’t report a cache, and its weapons blow up my friends in a convoy. They don’t report a foreign fighter, and that fighter sends a mortar onto my base. Your statements are noticed, and they have an effect. - LT Jason Nichols, USN, MNF-I, Baghdad
- George Washington and John Adams did not surrender when the British had taken New York, Rhode Island, and New Jersey and driven the Continental Army back across the Delaware. Even when Washington’s army was leaving in droves as enlistments ended and the treasury ran dry, these real Americans clenched their jaws and prepared to surrender their lives for freedom. - S. Lee Whitesell II, CDT, US Army ROTC
- Your statement that the Iraq “war is lost” is irresponsible and is demoralizing to me, on of those “troopsâ€. Your statement also gives hope to an enemy that cannot win in direct confrontations. That by randomly bombing civilians, spreading fear and chaos, it can cause those without strong will to leave the Iraqi people behind to a fate far worse than Saddam’s torture chambers. - SPC Matthew S Gangwer, 112th Special Operations Signal Battalion, SIGDET/SOCCENT, MacDill AFB, Tampa Florida
- We are winning this war. Just look at the signs. The enemy cannot safely wear uniforms, they cannot confront us directly, and instead they hide amongst and target unarmed civilians. When they succeed in blowing up an unsuspecting marketplace, they can count on you to dutifully deliver the big sound bite about how the civilian body count is direct evidence that the war is lost. Then you tell the same enemy that all they need to do is kill more civilians and wait, kill more civilians and wait, kill more civilians and wait. They were waiting for 2009 but, fortunately for them, “elections have consequences.” - 1SG Steven G. Cotton
1 response so far ↓
1 Sergeant S.W. Foster // Apr 23, 2007 at 1:42 pm
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said:
“this war is lost and the surge is not accomplishing anything as indicated by the extreme violence in Iraq yesterday.†- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev
The war is lost because the Iraqi people are fighting amongst themselves? Please don’t believe this crap…think for yourself. Imagine for a moment watching the Super Bowl game with your family and friends. It’s half time and your team is up 21 to 3 but they’ve lost a couple key players due to injuries and have already been penalized much more than normal. Would you look at your friends and say: “I don’t think we can win this one?”
The next weekend you’re watching a Heavyweight boxing match. Your guy has knocked down his opponent three times already and won every round but has yet to deliver the knock out punch. The bell rings and the last round begins and your guy comes out strong although he has a terrible black eye. Do you look at your buddies and say: “He’s losing this fight?”
Of course you would not, so why then are we hearing so much about losing the war in Iraq? We have been penalized, we have lost some players and we have a nasty black eye…but we have already won this war. We have done everything we promised we would, we have removed Saddam Hussein from power, destroyed his evil Baath regime, and installed a Democracy in Iraq with three free and successful elections under their belt.
Yes the Shi’a and Sunnis are involved in a Civil War, with the removal of Saddam’s brutal police force and military this was bound to happen. Saddam was a Sunni, as was everyone in the ruling party. With his iron fist the Sunnis ruled for decades in Iraq and any attempt the Shi’a made was brutality quashed. What we’re seeing on the News today is nothing new; they’ve been fighting since the death of Mohammad, almost 1,400 years ago when Islam split into the two factions. They will most likely be fighting for a long time to come…but what does that have to do with OUR war?
Here’s what I think happened. After the 2004 reelection of President Bush, a bunch of Democratic elite politicians and strategists began scheming. They decided that in order to regain the House and Senate in 06 and the Whitehouse in 08 they must do something about the quest for blood after 9/11 sentiment. In order to do that, they needed to turn the national pride over the war effort into disgust and malice towards our leaders. With that, they came up with the idea of us losing the war. They want us to lose this war because it’s the only way they could reclaim power.
Now don’t get me wrong, this is not a political paper, I’m not saying the Republicans are better than the Democrats because I’m sure the GOP would have done the same thing if a Dem would have been in power at the time of 9/11. I’m simply appalled at this Democratic strategy and even more so how the majority of the American public has fallen for it.
Everyone tells me, “I support the troops but I just don’t think we can win this war.” When I hear that it makes me sick. Then I ask: “Will you please tell me why you feel we’re losing the war?” It’s usually something like: “Well…Americans are dying over there.” Agreed, but in the big picture very few and in a war…people do die. Another popular response is: “We’ve created a Civil War amongst the Iraqis.” Well first of all, we haven’t created anything but an opportunity for it to flare up again. This Civil War is as old as Islam itself. Secondly…what does that have to do with us losing this war?
Many people are demanding a pull out; if you’re one of them, please consider something. What are the insurgents going to think of that? What about Iran and Syria and other Islamic crazy assholes over there? They know all they have to do is hang on, set a few bombs, and America will eventually go away. Yes, I agree we are done with this war because, as I said before, we’ve done everything we said we would. I do believe we need a major downsizing of troops in the area, but we must maintain a strong presence in the Middle East for years to come to insure our safety and security here at home.
If we do lose this war and in the bigger perspective, the showdown with Iran…it won’t be due to the Shi’a and Sunni Civil War, the lack of troops or the incompetence of the Bush Administration. It will be entirely the fault of Partisan Politics, the Media and the general public who have become like sheep. Wake up America…I’m not asking you to take my opinion on the subject or to change yours…I’m only asking that you think for yourselves and not let creeps like Harry Reid or the Media put words in your mouth or thoughts in your head.
When I heard Harry Reid spew that crap I wondered what former Presidents would have done if something like that would have been said during times of war. What if the Democratic Senate Majority Leader would have said this of Harry Truman during the Korean war? Ole Harry would have had him shot and the public wouldn’t have objected.
This is nothing but partisan politics and the only ones who suffer are the troops.
Sergeant S.W. Foster
US Army Reserves
Iraq War Veteran
http://www.FastCashOnline.com
http://www.DesertVets.org