The problem is that there are still no metrics for success in Iraq and will not be in September. Bush says his escalation is working wonderfully already. So do many Republicans. Do you seriously believe that Bush will sing a different tune in September no matter how bad things are then? Of course he won't. And the Republicans will be doing their same old song and dance. Edwards is right. Keep sending the same bill to Bush. He can either accept and sign or end the war. Either way it is the will of the American people. We are fed up with the Just Six Months More routine. No more American blood to cover Bush's posterior.

The Democrats should not give an inch. Everybody including Republicans recognize the fact that this war was a big big mistake. We were led down a slippery slope by the likes of those now making excuses and justifying this tragic mistake. Just like the most sensible question that came out of the Viet Nam debacle can be asked here.Who wants to be the last one to die for this absurd cause?

IMHO, the most jaw-dropping part of the current Tenet apologia on "Meet the Press" was his excuse that he HAD NOT HEARD THE STATE OF THE UNION address after President Bush delivered it in Jan. 2003. Russert asked him why, after he heard the '16 words' which he knew to be a lie, he hadn't confronted The Decider the very next day. Reason? I hadn't heard the speech.

I've heard a lot of lies and excuses in my day (I used to teach) but that has to go down as one of the most glaring pieces of bullsh*t I've ever heard.

Tenet has blood on his hands.

A major problem is that the Bush administration continues marketing the wishful concept of "winning the war"... After more than 4 years of human sacrifices, and a situation where large parts of the Iraq poulation deserts the country, there are only "loosers", both in Iraq and in the USA.
A courageous attitude would be by the Bush administration now to accept the "loss of face" that the United Staes has suffered, and to rapidly withdraw.

A couple of guys in Iraq have set up a petition that active military can sign who support the mission. Go here:

www.appealforcourage.org

For the Bush Admin, its always been about spin and delusion. They used deceit, deception, cherry-picking raw intelligence and fact-devoid rumors to justify the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Then, they turned around and claimed that it was all actually based on -- take UR pick -- bringing freedom and democracy to Arab and Moslem countries in the Mideast -- or fighting terrorists in other countries, so the US wouldn*t have to fight them in the 50 states. Lately its been quote -- US military can*t leave Iraq because quitting would mean an al Qaida victory and US defeat unquote. In fact, the US defeat was born the day that the Bush White House started its relentless neocon march and PR campaign to carry out a war in Iraq, and install USG puppet regimes in strategic Arab and Moslem countries who would do whatever the occupant of the White House wanted. And, of course, it was envisioned by both the neocons, the Bush Admin and the RNC that Republicans would be permanently ensconced in the White House, supported by a so-called permanent hard right majority of the US public. So -- the bottom line is that the entire scenario was a complete delusionary fantasy -- paid for by both the American people and the population and country of Iraq. Its no wonder that the Bush Admin*s 6 yr long poltical and military effort has become such a political, social and economic catastrophe and nightmare.

But would could "Plan B" possibly mean in this context? Plan A was topple the statue and wait for the flowers to be strewn. The mission was accomplished four years ago. We are already on Plan F for failed. Let's not fall for anymore lying rhetoric.

It's time to declare a victory & go home.

Civil wars can be the most brutal of all. Just read about Gettysburg.

Perhaps we could offer a conference where the warring factions could come together & settle their differences. If not, maybe they need to beat each other up a while to come to that conclusion. Either way, having our people caught in the cross-hairs of Shia, Sunni, Kurd, and Al Qaida is no way to be.

JMHO.

The remarks of the second in command of Al Qaeda this week is proof positive of how naiive the democrats REALLY are...why don't people get that??? They set us up to fail in Iraq, and think it's just fine. no consequences. no biggie.
They are scary, uninformed, deceitful and all out to win the 2008 election at all costs. look at the naiivety of the LAST dem president..which is why we are REALLY in this mess now. Blame Bush, Blame Tenet and his org. blame whomever...but TELL THE TRUTH OF THE FACTS. I don't think they are capable.
Lets call the present day dems what they really are... (with the exception of Joe Lieberman)SOCIALISTS. Here's a news flash: Nancy Pelosi is NOT the secretary of state (thank God!) the liberals want to socialize America, Harry Reid doesn't KNOW mainstream America, and ABSCAM John Murtha should retire and quit shaming his state.
Hypocrits one and all...
Yippee for the French election..now maybe some intelligent thinking and leadership will help in the war on terror, and not "making nice" for profit, like the Chirac. Goes to show there really are sane people in the world afterall.

re:"A couple of guys in Iraq have set up a petition that active military can sign who support the mission. Go here:

www.appealforcourage.org"

I signed it and I wish that there was an arrest Hillery and Obamma for treason petition.

Boehner is a liar, always has been, always will be. Like all the bloodthirsty politicians who launched and support this war, he does not define *win* in ANY measurable terms.

How do you win a war when at least 10% of our troops are admitting to engaging in torture, almost half say torture is OK, and most troops say they would not report a fellow soldier for abusing/killing civilians? This war is so badly lost that we will need a decade to heal and rebuild our military.

Every day we delay is more damage to our troops and their families. And every day is one more day the Maliki government is building itself an army capable of exterminating the Sunnis, an army trained by us that will not uphold freedom but commit genocide. Yes, we broke it but we cannot fix it and we are only enabling the next phase of a brutal civil war that has already half as many civilians in 4 years as Saddam accomplished in 25 years. Compared to the people *running* things in Iraq today, Saddam was a rank amateur at torture and murder.

Over 90 days ago:

Boehner, 1/23/07:
BOEHNER: I think it will be rather clear in the next 60 to 90 days as to whether this plan is going to work. And, again, that's why we need to have close oversight, so that we just don't look up 60 or 90 days from now and realize that -- that this plan is not working. We need to know, as we -- as we're -- we move through these benchmarks, that the Iraqis are doing what they have to do.

Nice of the Post to flush this down the memory hole.

As a service man and former Bush supporter, (voted for twice) whose brother is in the army and on his 3rd freakin tour. I take great issue with Bush's idea of supporting the troops. He means our continued sacrifice for NOTHING. We can't even tell who the enemy is half the time. At the most basic level, you have to ask you what have we acomplished for 3300 lives, 30,000 casualties and 500 billion. The answer is Absolutley Nothing. The place is worse off than before. This continued sacrifice is his way to prolong it so he can hand it off to his successor and swagger back to Texas and say "he didn't lose it on his watch". Pathetic. It's amazing when you think about what they tried to impeach Clinton for in comparison to the damage and death Bush is responsible for. Simply astounding.

The real debate is not whether we should withdraw, but how we should withdraw and when. The GOP leadership is merely showing how out of touch they are with the electorate by hewing to Bush's wrong-headed stance. By throwing in words about a "plan B", they seek to confuse the issue.

The how of withdrawal involves whether troops should be redeployed to the Kurdish areas, and whether troops should be positioned to be ready for a defacto partition of the country along sectarian lines. I have no problem with some units remaining in Iraq, so long as ALL the troops are pulled back from combat and security (other than securing themselves, logistics, and such).

The point, which escapes the GOP leadership and the Bush Administration, is how to withdraw in the least bad way. Is it possible to structure a withdrawal which will minimize sectarian violence and bloodshed? These are the questions that should be asked.

For the record, I am a conservative Republican. The national GOP and the Bush Administration are conservative and Republican in name only.

Beyond any doubt, Syria and Iran are working with full capacity to destroy your mission in Iraq, why are you not taking any serious action against these two dirty countries?

In my job we have constant deadlines and metrics. That's how companies make profits.

It doesn't surprise me that without a deadline or any metrics the Iraq invasion has failed. For "conservatives" they seem to forget the first fiscal principles.

I'd say that Bush and Company would make very bad managers and I'd never invest in a company they ran... say, didn't George run a Texas oil company into the ground? And who was that he traded when he ran a baseball team?

Change the name on all maps from the Persian gulf to the Arabic gulf. The result will be very positive - very well calculated.

Ahh...i knew it was too good to be true. Remember a few months ago when RepubliCONS were asking for ONE MORE CHANCE? Remember they were asking us to support the last chance at securing Iraq? And remember how they were just asking for a few months? And then they said that the "few months" doesn't actually start for a few more months? And now they say it will be Sept?
Now the RepubliCONS are saying that in Sept. if the surge isn't working they will start working on a Plan B?
Do you see the pattern that is developing? They are stalling for time. They are hoping that SOMETHING will work between now and '08 so that they can claim they supported the war and Bush all along. If nothing works, then they will abandon Bush before the '08 election hoping that the american people will forgive them. If the republican wins, then the Republicans will have to take all the blame for Iraq, but they will still have all the presidential powers at their disposal.
If Democrats win, then the democrats get the presidential power but RepubliCONS will try to put the Iraq blame on the democrats.

They are trying to create a situation where there is SOME benefit for republicans regardless of how things turn out (either they get the white house again, or they get to blame democrats for Iraq).

No matter how you look at it, the republicans are weasely little creeps who can't be trusted. Atleast the democrats are being honest (Bring them home, NOW)

Start to prepare an international conference to discuss Syria and Iran role in sponsering terrorism in the Middle East and beyond.

Eight more of our people were killed this afternoon. Driving around offering the Iraqi people essentially a presence patrol is getting our soldiers killed and wounded-for what I ask you! Suicide bombers are waiting to kill themselves and others; Iranian supplied weapons including the new form of penetrator type IED are taking a heavy toll..like today and no doubt tomorrow or the next day. We do not have a plan A, let alone a plan B. Many of us have lost complete confidence in our senior leadership..and for those back in the WhiteHouse..that was lost a long time ago.

Increase arms sales to Arabia Saudia and other gulf countries, and study all the possibilities to increase their oil production. The next move is clear.

Why are Republican lawmakers more loyal to Bush than the American people?

The only traitors here are the Bush-Cheney Administration, you whining hyper-partisan Republican apologists. You backed the modern Oil Nazis. Deal with it.

Plan B? Blame the democrats and the Iraqis. Lesson one. wars are easy to start and hard to finish. Lesson two. Dont ask the guys who got you into a war for all the wrong reasons, to get you out of it. This administration and the republican bobble-heads, rubber-stampers who prevented any serious discussion about entering this war are the last ones to ask. Plan B? There was no plan A!!

We lost the war 4 years ago. It's so obvious.

These guys always say "All the troops aren't there yet!" Well, jeez, are the travelling by paddleboat? Are they going to keep using this line until 2025? At some point the "don't criticize our strategy until it is fully enacted" talking point is going to cross beyond the fulcrum of insanity.

The blood of all the US troops who are killed
in the Bush War in Iraq will be on the hands
of the members of congress who will not face
facts in Iraq and begin a new strategy --
bringing home most US troops soon and going
for a diplomatic solution.

Elaine, I am a socialist and one thing I can assure you is that the Democrats in Congress are not. If they were socialists they never would have voted to authorize the war on Iraq in the first place. If they were socialists they would vote to cut off every penny for this tragic venture immediately. Alas, they are not socialists.

People think that there is a huge gap between the two parties; in fact there is not - they are both run by the dollars provided by huge corporate interests, whose concern is to line their own pockets rather than the welfare of the American people. Huge corporations own the U.S. news media, which is why the truth about the Iraq war has been only slowly leaking out in the U.S., and what's being reported now is only the tip of the iceberg.

The deaths of all US troops in the Bush War
in Iraq between now and September will be the fault of members of Congress who will not face the fact that we are not winning in Iraq. Most of the troops should be brought home and diplomatic settlement should begin.

Has anyone thought that we might never leave?

(sure, when the oil runs dry we're outta there).

Even the Dems who support leaving want to pull out only the so-called "combat troops" thus leaving behind 75,000 troops to make sure no nationalist government ( Iraqis who didn't flee to Iran where the CIA hired them to replace Saddam) emerges who might want to nationalize the oil industry.

Democrat or Republican we could be there for a long time.

As George Bush said to Rudyard Kipling " Rudyard, boy, why so glum, it's Empire or bust.Now, finish your Tonic"

Iraq is not going as well as we would like, but objectively one has to look at who is causing this. And it's not the United States. A militant minority of Sunnis and Shiites and foreign terrorists are blowing the country up.

We went into Iraq to eliminate a threat, not because we had a burning desire to create a flowering democracy in the Middle East. People seem to forget the reason we invaded Iraq. Every major intelligence service thought Saddam had WMD; it wasn't just the CIA. Indeed, Saddam used WMD against the Iraqi Kurds, killing thousands of Iraqis. More so, Saddam completely destabilized the balance of power in the Middle East; i.e., waging a war with a bigger country like Iran, invading a smaller country like Kuwait and threatening his neighbors like Saudi Arabia. Couple all of this with Saddam's record of supporting terrorists, Saddam's program of paying the families' of suicide bombers $25,000, his torture rooms and the 17 UN resolutions that he flouted and you have just some of the reasons he was justifiably targeted as a major threat. These are the reasons that we went into Iraq.

At the time, nearly everyone agreed it was the right thing to do. One can pick nearly any major presidential candidate - Republican or Democrat - and Google the hawkish statements they made about Iraq throughout the '90's and after September 11th.

The democracy and nation-building aspect has more to do with our altruistic nature of trying to rebuild Iraq after we destroyed Saddam's tyrannical regime. Unfortunately this has not gone well. But it's not as if the US is planting bombs, blowing up markets, targeting schools; destroying the country's electric grid, tearing mosques apart and killing defenseless civilians in unimaginable ways. This is all being done by Iraqis and Al Qaeda in Iraq. What the US has been doing is trying to protect the schools, markets and mosques, and working to rebuild the electric grid and much more. If it were just militant Sunnis and Shiites vying to control the country, I think we would have already left Iraq. It's Al Qaeda that keeps us in Iraq.

Their level of barbarism - somehow justified in the name of Islam - is truly beyond belief. But if you look at what they do to Muslims and Arabs, imagine what they'll do to us. People who rail against Bush for terrorism confound me. Those who act as if everything has happened since Bush became president are either hopelessly partisan or clueless (perhaps both). Have we been hit since 9-11? Saddam's gone; we've got Ramzi bin al Shibh, Khalid Sheik Mohammad and many, many more. Did President Bush create these monsters? No he just captures and kills them. Let's look back a few years.

Mohammad Atta and his gang entered the US in 1996 to begin 9-11 preparations. Not only was this during the Clinton Administration, it was still in his first term. Terrorists hit the World Trade Center in 1993 (only by luck they didn't fall the first time) - but we did nothing. They blew up the Khobar Towers in 1996 -we did nothing. They blew up two US Embassies, on the same day, several minutes apart in 1998 - we did nothing (except launch some Tomahawk missiles into a couple of empty tents blowing sand around the desert). Moving right along to 2000, they blew up a US destroyer - again nothing. Every two years like clockwork they hit us and we did nothing. If we had such a robust anti-terror program going on during the Clinton Administration then what was Sandy Berger trying to hide when he stuffed all of those classified documents into his pants?

I'm as disappointed as anyone that Iraq is so violent, more so probably. I'm currently deployed for Operation Iraqi Freedom and have seen many difficult things during the past 10 months of my deployment. There are also many positive things as well, which are understandably masked by the violence. However, the underlying thing to remember is Al Qaeda is behind much of this - especially the indiscriminate and spectacular violence - and their real target is us.

Is Mr. Boehner using a new alphabet??

After 4 years and 500 billion American dollars spent on destroying Iraq, we should (at least) be on plan X... and NOT talking about a plan B.

If the Republicans really believe in this administration, why don't they want to run Cheney in 2008?? Now that would be a Democrat's dream come true:)

Dear people at the Washington Post,
During the interview with Mr.Russert and Mr.Tenet on the Sunday "Meet the Press",
the CIA Director did mention Mohammed Atta,
however there were no further questions
or discussion regarding Mohammed Atta.

This clarification, which I have never
read, concerning Mohammed Atta's and others
meeting at the Logan Airport, and their
"day of infamy" flights to New York and
Washington, D.C. are, I think, perhaps so
important regarding the initial beginning of the Iraq conflict. Could Mr. Tenet have clarified to Mr. Russert, the events of this most important date, and the accompaning events?

Perhaps I will have more of these unexplained answers when I read George
Tenet's book, which I intend to do.Perhaps also, there was no time available for Mr. Russert to"fit in" any questions, as there is only limited time available. Thank you.

R Lloyd Heberden
Email: Lheberden@iinet.com

Funny how back in '99 George W. Bush was completely in favor of what he whines about now. To quote him:

"Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the president to explain to us what the exit strategy is."

I guess this only applies when its a democratic president on the receiving end of the words.

I did submit a comment for your review, if
you consider it possible. Thank you.

George--thanks for serving, but you are trying to rationalize a giant foreign policy blunder that was perpetrated for oil and strategic dominance in the Middle East. Google or Wikipedia *PNAC* and *Neoconservatism*, and begin to understand why you're there. And Al Qaeda's presence
in Iraq is OUR fault. We opened up the power vacuum and failed to secure the Iraqi borders. However, spectacular suicide bombings aside, blaming everything on AQ is just the administration's latest gambit to try to re-sell this dog of an occupation to the American public, who were retarded enough to buy the nonexistent Iraq/9-11 connection the last time. AQ sells better with focus groups than *civil war*. Good luck to you and stay safe.

Keep returning the military expenditure budget! The money for our troops has been
appropriated by Congress; so it's up to Bush to "cut bait". The fact that he's having a "hissy-fit" over a withdrawl dead-line is his problem. The American public wants out and the Democrats should follow the "will of the People". If you listen to the Republicans, you would think their still relevant; they have't come to grips
with the fact that they are not, so move
forward Democrats, and trust the PUBLIC.

The notion that we are thinking of a plan B is a clear indication that the GOP are nervous about the successes of the so called "surge". We are focusing too much on the military plan and very little on the political process which is key to adverting massive bloodshed and an all out civil war. The Maliki government has done very little in the way of national reconciliation. We need to continue to put political pressure on the Maliki government to forge a compromise on key pieces of legislation to help bring some stability back to this worn torn nation. If the Iraqis cannot show that they are willing to compromise and set aside their sectarian differences then the next plan we should be considering is a full withdrawal of US combat troops out of Iraq.

I feel that this issue has become too polorized. Personally, I feel that the war in Iraq was a huge mistake that everyone (yes everyone) saw coming. No one in Washington was brave enough to admit that and now we are in a situation that is difficult to solve.

On one hand we have people that want to withdraw our troops and send them home. This would allow a civil war to ensue where thousands and possibly millions of people would end up being brutalized and killed. Not to mention our image as a nation would be tarnished for entering a country to access oil and leave it in a waste for the victims to sort out. We have an obligation to humanity. Pulling out of Iraq isn't likely to end or solve anything.

On the other hand, ensuring safety for Americans is not as easy as "staying the course". Being agressors in a foreign land and being seen as unwanted occupiers is plenty of fuel to fire terrorism against us. It is very likely that our presence in the middle east will continue to encourage the will of those who already look upon America with distane.

There is another option that is not being looked at. An option to stop agressive action against an unknown enemy and to remain in Iraq as a peace keeping force.

We must start providing humanitarian aid and protection to the people of Iraq. All the people. We need to solve this problem along side with the current government. We must keep in mind that winning support is key to ensuring an end to terrorism. The more we are looked upon as friends and supporters the less likely we are to be looked upon as enemies. I truely feel that this is an improtant key. Win the people, win the war. In the long run it would do us and millions of innocent civilians a world of good...

Even Gilmore makes more sense than Tom Tancredo. Whenever he speaks on important issues, I always wonder how the heck he got there? I guess anger and hate still appeals.

Here's one for you.

Like has been said before, Bush is clearly stalling until the next election. It's obvious. He wants to blame the Democrats for losing the war.

I'm sorry, but with the way his credibility is right now, do you really think anyone is going to believe him? I, for one, when the Democrats manage to pull the troops out of Iraq will applaud the Dems. They re the only ones who are seeing the light in this fruitless war.

People don't blame Nixon for ending the Vietnam war, they blame LBJ for escalating it. I think that history remembers it that way also.

I'm sorry, but Bush's logic there is as leaky as a boat made out of (insert a leaky substance here).

Gimme a break!!!

Cheers,

Matt W.

everyone think back... think back to the 04' elections. Is anyone really surprised at the situation that we(the bush administration) has put us in. Yet amazingly good ol dubya was relected to another 4 year reign of patriotic terror. Al of the problems that we have can and someday will be resolved. In order to achieve that the american public must educate themselves on the issues that really matter. i.e.. global warming, education, the list goes on and on... Americans need to know who is running their state and in turn will be voting on who is running this country. Eduacate the masses, educate the voters, then see where we stand in the eyes of the world. Red or Blue we live in a democracy. Didnt our founding fathers issue the american public the right to bear arms against a government that is ill and corrupt? Yet we fight over left and right when the answer lies in the middle. The war was a failure from the beggining. 500 billion spent. Imagine all of the problems here at home that could have been solved with that. Bush wants that OIL!!! he couldnt hack it in texas so heck lets buy the presidency and win oursleves a war on terror and in the process gain control over the largest cache of oil in the world. Yee haw!

This is less about fixing Iraq, and becoming more about staying in the face of Iran. "Commander Guy" needs to stop believing he's on a mission from God, working to bring about the Apocalypse.

The GOP is, was, will be on the wrong side of this issue. I'll be voting for the Dems for the next 20 years to prevent a repeat of things like this.

The GOP fails to realize that the USA is not the world's police.

Get out 12 months ago.

When your dealing with a dilusional, obsessive, fanatic who refuses to face reality and is completely out of touch at the expense of the thousands of American lives of our future generations and the heartbreak he is causing mothers,fathers,wives and children you wonder why there is no way to stop the flow of blood for OIL MONEY.

So since "The Commander Guy" Liar in Chief
George W Bush Approval Rating has just
dropped to an all time low of only 28%,
so isn't time the Neo Com Republicans sign
on to Impeachment of Both Loser in Chief
George W Bush and Deranged Vice President
Draft Dodger Trickey Dickey Cheney?..And
by the same token isn't it also time that
Democrat Speaker Nutty Nancy Pelosi and her
Band of Yellow Cowards Steny Hoyer and
Harry Reid stop protecting Bush & Cheney
by blocking Bush and Cheney Impeachment?
The answer is just vote out all Incumbent
Democrats and Republicans in 2008!

As a USAF Veteran, I can say without a doubt , that you pansies make me sick. You can not win a war by running away. You can not expect the Iraqi people to stand and fight, when all they hear and read from our media is how we soon will be running away!
The United States of America is not and has not been United since WWII. We didn't finish the job in Korea,Vietnam,The Gulf war. We have shown what sorry people we truly have become.We quit in Somalia, for goodness sake.
The only issue we seem to be UNITED on ,is tuking our tails between our legs and running away.Being from a military family this make me sick.
Pull our brave men and women out and we have failed again. They want to finish this proud. Let them finish this WELL.I for one am very proud of what our troops are doing and will continue to pray for them.

It is a telling sign when the House Minority Leader says that there should be a change in strategy in September if the surge is not successful. I believed the President and the Repbulicans when they stated the war should be carried out by the commanders on the ground. Now with the deadliest month in American deaths in Iraq and the President's approval rating at 28%, the congressional Repbulicans are not asking the commanders any more but are deciding strategy just like they claim the Democrats are doing.

Time is also what our ennemies have wished because it worked wonder for them. Do not let them fulfill their wish.

ok, so dodd has not gone to iraq because he was not seeking political seat. this equals, no tax payers to foot the bill and did not need to be kissing babies unless he was running for office. how typical of a politician. do just enough to get by... do what you have to when you have to, not because you want to.

i mean edwards.

1) The US is doomed to complete internal destruction if the people continue to point at democrats and republicans. The issues facing our nation are not black and white. Neither side alone is capable of articulating a solution. Neither side has any credibility left.
2) The neocons have shown in 1000s of cases they are corrupt and should be prosecuted. Watergate has been made to be a minor case of a trivial stunt when compared to the breathtaking volume and seriousness of what has happened in the past 7 years.
3) Military solutions can not work in Iraq. They could not work in Vietnam either. Vietnam was a much, much easier geopolitical situation than Iraq. Iraq is an artificial country that should never have been created in the first place. The concept that Kurds don't deserve a country because our ally (Turkey) would be upset is just how 'principled' the US is. The Sunni and Shia situation was understood 40+ years ago. No one with a worm for a brain would ever enter a mess where outside parties are going to want to fight it out (e.g. Saudi and Iran).
4) Unless the Democrats completely expose and fix the problems of Bush, they will be just as tainted as the Republicans. For example, the massive election frauds that we are hearing about, the conflicts of interest, the abuse of the AG's office, etc.
5) Even if the US society was 100% behind the war, the statistics show its military is crumbling. The recent report about how soldiers feel about abusing Iraqis show the military has lost control of itself. The dissent from generals is unprecedented. We are told to listen to the generals, but only the ones who were promoted and parrot what they are told. Bush has never addressed the dissent from within the military.
6) How could a policy that has already resulted in the deaths of 100,000s of Iraqi people ever succeed? It is impossible. The US has created yet more enemies. How could such a policy be allowed to continue? The US has NO morality... just death and profits for corporations.
7) Almost all of the rebuilding projects in Iraq are a failure. Even if they had succeeded, we, the tax payers, paid $1.00 for $.03 to $.05 in value. Halliburton and friends ALWAYS subcontracted projects out for pennies on the dollar.
8) I'll end on this: In the 1950s and 1960s, Pakistanis LOVED the US and Americans in general. They despise us now. Why? There are real reasons much of the world hates the US and they are rooted in foreign policy that was destructive to their nations (but most American are proud of their ignorance and disdain for the rest of the world and simply don't know or want to know basic history). Much of the blame is US corporate control of foreign policy. Examine where America spent the most money and look at what failure you will find. The people of Haiti, Indonesia, Philipines, most of South and Central America have every reason to hate the US. How many foreign aid packages were given to these countries so their leaders could abuse their people? How many aid packages were designed to: 1) bribe the officials in power to take the "aid", and 2) force the aid to be spent with US corporations at wildly inflated prices. There are 1000s of examples of projects that poor nations were dumped with debt from projects whose real cost was 10 to 20% of the package.

America's only hope is to admit its failures and make peace.

Oh no you don't, kbeaty. You don't get to do that conservative BS thing about either supporting the troops or being against the war. THAT IS BULLS--T, AND WE WON'T PUT UP WITH IT EVER AGAIN. Here's the deal: we're not pansies, no one is. Since when does your supporting the troops give you the right to stick them into a hopeless meat grinder? I support them because I can't see why brave Americans -- as you rightly call them -- should be sacrificed to these lunatics and their civil war. Do you?

in regards to mr k. beaty's last remarks...

1. we should not have gone to iraq to begin with.

2. do you really believe that our troops want to be involved in a war that didn't inlvolve us in the least bit?

3. WWII we had a reason to step in. What was our reason this time?

4. the american people gave bush the benefit of the doubt due to the fact that over 3000 innocent americans died on 911.

5. the bush administration has had 4 long years and 500 BILLION american dollars to resolve a conflict that wasnt ours to resolve.

6. u say "you peaople make me sick" with all due respect mr beaty YOU MAKE ME SICK. You say that you cant win a war by running. THIS WASNT OUR WAR!!! WWII WAS EVERYBODY'S WAR!!!

7. and yes mr beaty the iraqi public can fight for themselves! we did it. it was called the REVOLUTIONARY WAR jackass! so can they!

8. You say you are proud of what our troops are doing? So, that means you are proud of the torture? That means you are proud that our troops occupy a country that doesnt want us there?

I ask you mr. beaty usaf veteran. Do you feel it is more important that we finish a war THAT WAS NEVER REALLY A WAR! OR if perhaps we could have spent roughly 500 billion dollars on global warming/poverty/educational/aids-cancer issues?

REPUBLICANS: Ignorant remora clinging to a dead stinking carcass for six years with no ability to understand it's own fate, drifting on the tides of feeble mediocrity, mesmerized by the sparkling commands of the bushmaster which emanate from it's blowhole of failure and death. Inching slowly towards it's inevitable fall when real americans will arise to ensure that it's long needed demise comes to pass in the glorious year of 08.

John Boehner is a liar. You cannot take a Republicon at his or her word. If the Democratic Party caves at the little pressure Bush, MSM and the Republicon's are giving now they will cave until they lose the majority. SEND BUSH THE SAME BILL HE VETOED.

And come on Republicons. Iraq didn't even get a plane or helocopter into the air so YOU CANNOT SAY MISSION ACCOMPLISHED WITH ANY PRIDE. The Arab race is over a billion strong. They have an endless source of suicide bombers. We don't have an endless supply of American soldiers. The only thing the Arab race understands if brute force. Name me one country that is not ruled by brute force. Only an idiot would believe you can bring a civilized thing called Democracy to the Arab race. They must be subdued by absolute force first. And America doesn't have the will to do that. But what the Arab race and Bush have is the ability for our forces to slowly bleed to death.

well, we have managed some real politician answers in this one. are we really that niave about a company that is widely known for tax sheltering? gimme a break. oh, and we managed to rename the immigration reform to its litteral form. but i did not see an answer in the statement. typical political answers. next please?

Yes yes i absolutely agree with mr alarmlv.

Indeed 2008 will be a year to be remembered!

The Commander Guy says that victory is now "an acceptable level of violence in Iraq, after all we have violence in the United States" except as I drive to work, I do not run into IEDs along the road, I do not worry about a mortar attack at work or an RPG attack at lunch. And unfortunately, most of our violence is family or friends upon each other. Kurt Vonnegutt said that " I never thought I would live long enough to see this country run by a Bush, Dick, and Colon." Now I know why everytime I hear this administration talk, I feel like I am bent over on the receiving end of an unwanted sex act.

Mr K Beaty; Just for your information, it was the Republican congress that created war interruptus in Somalia. None of these were wars to finish. And I might ask, what is the finish of the Iraq war? An acceptable level of violence as the Commander Guy has most recently stated? Is there an end? Or is it just the further unnecessary deaths of innocent young men, women , and children on all sides of the equation? or is it last man standing? Just what is the end?

Reading Boehner's comments reminds me of when I went from politically disagreeing with the Busheviks to viscerally hating them and wishing them before firing squads: the deliberate and dutiful repetition of chosen stoc*k phrases. *Surrender date,* *micromanage the war,* and all of them. Like during the bombing of Lebanon when Bush would quip that *Isr'al hazza rat to deFEND itself!* with the same inflection and tone. I hope this is another feature of the right we learn to recognize and become immune to.

Plan B? What the hell is Plan A?

Mr K Beaty, it was the red state [pansies] who voted for Bush AGAIN after buying the [scared of terrorism] tactic from Bushies.

The blame game is sickening. We now have men and women serving a fourth tour in some combination of Iraq and Afghanistan, or the Middle East - if the war is so important to our national security Congress should have a draft to share the burden of democracy. The elite members of congress and the wealthy don't join the forces, and neither do their children. They are even too cowardly to allow coffins to be shown to the American people.

Even a greater shame is that citizens call for giving illegals the opportunity of citizenship to enlist to fill the ranks.

Though personally doubting the credibility of the call for in Iraq I served there for over a year - an obligation I willingly accepted. I only regret others purchase magnetic "yellow ribbons" to "support the troops." (Chinese troops since they are made in China?)

1.We should change the name of Irag war to Bush War.
2.We should keep sending the withdraw bill to Bush again and again, and adding that this is the will of the American people.
3.We should add a referandum to the 2008 election if we should impeach Bush for the crimes of Irag war.
4. There should be an investigation of Bush's state of mind. I do think he is crazy. It is very dangerous for the country to have a crazy man to lead our country.

You say, No more American Blood for GW. Well, the United States hasn't been attacked since the invasion of Iraq. Do people really believe that when combat troops leave Iraq (other troops will always be in Iraq) that Muslim Extrimists, such as AQ will not attempt another attack on the United States. To think this is total denial to what the threat really is. If Dems want to force the President's hand, then cut off the funding. It's just that simple!

`We don't want artificial measures in there to try to ensure failure`.. leave it Bush then.. he's working on natural measures to ensure failure.

Always wondered why the ex-Andover cheerleader didn't get bin Laden at Tora Bora? That failure and his Iraqi caper are mindboggling stupid.

Here is the only answer concerning Iraq.

We apologize to the people of that country.... "we are sorry we destroyed your country".

"No, we can't give you money to help you repair the damage because your bigshots would simply steal it, ending up in bank accounts and wall st. etc".

"So all we can do is say, we are leaving as fast as we can and we are sorry".

Some things can't be fixed. FUBR.

Plan b in September means may more deaths of American troop until then in order to determine if Bush's vanity plan is working after already experiencing 4 years of failure. Looks like plan a is stupid.

Just say we won, and go home.

We haven't told the truth yet. About anything. THIS is what they choose to be honest about?

We won. We did it. We're Number One! U.S.A.! U.S.A.! Now, let's go home.

W is actually the smartest president. Only under W has big oil, dubai-HQ'd halliburton, and even foreign oil exporters (arabs, iran, venezuela, russia,...) made $100s billions in oil and refineries. And summer driving season is still to come with more $ for them.

Shorter GOP: It's fine for your kids to die for naught in some godforsaken desert unless it threatens my re-election.

1. us fights in iraq then
2. price of oil goes up then
3. americans pay more for gas/heat oil then
4. middle eastern oil-exporting al-qaeda supporters make more $ then
5. middle eastern oil-exporting al-qaeda supporters pay al-qaeda more $
Are we somehow indirectly paying the middle easterners to attack us?

It kills me when people say that Al Qaeda hasn't attacked us since we entered Iraq. They attack our soldiers every single day in Iraq. Don't our soldiers count as US? We've now lost as many Americans in Iraq as we lost at the twin towers....which means we've compounded our own misery.

I can't believe how stupid 28 per cent of our population is. How can ANYONE still support George Bush?

Hey Elaine,

You have an opportunity of a life time. ENLIST Now and put your money where your mouth is. But you are like all the "Chicken Hawks" in the repuglican party. All mouth with someone elses'life. When it comes to action, you deflect everything. Why do you think that b-movie actor was called the "Teflon president". I got a good laugh when I heard on a report that reagan's name was used 19 times. The guy dumbed down the country and we are still reeling from it. "Double Speak" is alive and well in the repuglican party.

George: You conveniently leave out the very first cut-and-run episode.... when Ronald Reagan did NOTHING after several hundred Marines were killed in their barracks in Lebanon. His response? Literally cut and run. We packed up and left. So if you're going to play blame, at least be consistent.

Like it or not, legislation is enacted by Congress based on the effects for the politicans' fortunes not the good of the nation. Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid would do well to continue presenting the same funding bill repeatedly; GOP politicians like Boehner will eventually see the light of political disaster and give Congress enough votes to override an executive veto. The question becomes whether Congressional Democrats are willing to stand united and bear the squalls of outrage until then.

Here's a strategy to think about Mr. BONEHEAD. GET OUT!! It breaks my heart to see our brave young men die while their gutless MUSLIM killers are reveered by our Iraqi FRIENDS!!!!

Plan 9 is a B movie with visible strings.

Boehner is spelled wrong it should be Boner.

As the jerk politicians "discuss things" in their usual BS mode, lives and $$$$$$$$$$$$$ continue to be wasted. The United States of Arrogance has lost two wars in the Middle East. I say bring the troops home NOW!, TODAY!, IMMEDIATELY!!!!!!!, then let the politicians do what they do best: NOTHING.

I don*t believe the republicans have any intention at all of seeking some *Plan B*. I think any mention of *Plan B* is all about throwing a pacifier to nervous republican constituents. What you republicans could do for me at this time is put a cap on gas prices, or get your oil buddies to back off on their profit margins. Now there*s a way to put your time to productive use.

So looks like both the Republicans and the
Democrats need to find a "Plan B" for the
US to get our troops out of Iraq real soon,
otherwise every Incumbent Member of Congress may find themselves on the
Unemployment Line after Election Day 2008!
So here is a good "Plan B" for all of them
and its real simple,Impeach both Losers
George W Bush and Dirty Dick Cheney and
throw the entire Democrat & Republican
Congressional Leadership out with them,
Pelosi,Hoyer,Reid,Bonehad,Blunt,McConnell,
and Lott! It's time to take back our
America in 2008 folks!

Are the Republican's going soft on defence? Did Boehner just put out a surrender date? Is he now providing aid and comfort to Al Quaeda?

The Republicans should "stay the course", and continue to rubberstamp everything the White House proposes. The American voters need a clear choice in 2008.

It's a sad state of affairs that Americans have little patience to follow through on conflicts. I'm not sure if we ever did have the proper resolve, but definitely have not from WWII (think of the significance of the Battle of the Bulge) to the present. We always have so many voices on all sides of an issue giving an easy way out.

We as a country have a major problem (of our causing) in Iraq now. What is interesting is how people have forgotten about what Saddam's Iraq was. It had no qualms about killing its own people or its neighbors. After 9/11 we were afraid of a terrorist organization with no real base. Al Qaeda had no land, oil, or population and we feared them. Now, after all the Iraqi problems for the Bush I and Clinton administrations, everyone wants to forget the threat of Saddam to the region (and world if oil is considered also)? We feared Al Qaeda but not Iraq under Saddam. We now worry about Iran funding terrorists and building a bomb but forget Saddam's Iraq which was much worse. What short memories everyone has.

The future of America in Iraq:

Plan A. (Current plan) Beef up the Iraqi army and police to restore and maintain order,,,, then we pull out the bulk of our troops and claim some level of victory (probably early in 2008). Continue to search for, hunt down and kill terrorists.

Plan B. If the change in course involved with Plan A. does not work, it is time for damage control and move the troops out of Iraq and hope things work out. We will have to do damage control concerning the Kurds, Iranians, and others. If Iraq blows up, we will have let the genie out of the bottle but at least we tried to restore order and failed. PS. We continue to search for, hunt down and kill terrorists.

The lesson learned is it's easy to win the war but hard to win the peace. Societies are not imposed, they develop and evolve on their own. War is easy, peace is hard. Civilized behavior is hard, anarchy is easy.

A petitian for the soldiers to sign. This sounds like neocon crap. The military is responsible for this mess as well as the draft dodgers in the administration.
Shooting up iraq like a vidio game. They have no respect or patients for this operation. Plus they are scared out of their mine. Then you have the soldiers that are in the rear with the gear. They do nothing but kiss butt and repeat everything their bosses say. This new american attitude is called the Tenent method to success. I say americans are not fit to manage their own lives much less Iraq.

This 'war' in Iraq has a 'colonial' smell about it...reminds me of Algeria..you know, something undertaken even though it would have been better to go with the flow...of History...Now, Algeria is independent, and has troubles with Islamic extremism...Will France invade , and 'defeat' terrorism the way we are 'defeating' terrorism in Iraq ? Would ANYONE , as a Nation, do what we are doing ? NO ? Iraq is Arabic for 'Quagmire'.

Hello everyone, wanna be part of some kind of community, possible here? anyone here?

Hello everyone, wanna be part of some kind of community, possible here? anyone here?

If you are a bulls?it fan, support this appeal for more stupidity:

www.appealforcourage.org

What is happening in Iraq is very simple to explain and to comprehend:

We have in the US administration some gangsters, who have no respect for human life, be it Iraqi or American life. Those bastards had a plan to control the world's oil reserves. They wanted to market their plan as a fight against "terrorism". But there was no "terrorism", so they had to manufacture it. They carried out the 911 attacks (Google "911 hoax" to find out). They also invented a "biological war" (Remember the anthrax scare?)

The plan went wrong. Americans in Afghanistan and Iraq have no genuine cause for which to fight and die. So, they are having their asses kicked by the brave national resistance in both countries. Spin media can call them "Taliban" or "insurgents", but the fact remains: They are nationalistic zealots fighting to free their own countries from vile foreign occupation.

As to the present situation in Iraq, the resistance there has weapons, brains and manpower to last for another fifty years. They are winning. It is only a matter of time. Such time can be measured in weeks and months, not years.

The jew-cotrolled mass media can spin and spin, eventually they will get dizzy!

Take the Pledge

All Presidential Candidates should make pledges like those below. If they refuse, then you should refuse to vote for them.

1. No More Oil Wars.

2. Work for independence from foreign oil on day one.

3. No more wars for corporate profit.

4. No more secret deals for $4 per gallon gas.

5. No more Chicken Hawks promoting wars of choice when they themselves avoided combat.

6. Make government green--if you can't make what you have the most control over green, I don't care about your plans to make the country green.

7. No more torture.

8. No more lying about torture.

9. No more re-defining torture.

10. No more drunken hunting.

11. No more secret deals with big corporations to divide up the spoils before the war even starts.