I’m also Superman. Did I mention that?
And, as was noted then, he spent all of his time out in the western region where there had not been any fighting (and where there are not many people) until he finally arrived at the outskirts of Baghdad (from the “peaceful” side) , at which point he fled north without ever entering the city of going down to Basra where the troubles are reported. It was as if he spent two weeks hanging out on New York State Route 17, turned around at Yonkers, and announced he had proven that the Bronx was a safe place for a stroll.
Poor old december… a man who suffers from “sillyus manipulatus carborundum”… latin for grating us with silly manipulation…
It’s as though december is paid by the State Department to take selective, questionable facts and really 'em give the old spit and polish treatment and then trumpet said heralds as the real truth, the real, REAL TRUTH.
However, the cynic in me argues thus… december is actually paid by the owners of the Straight Dope Messageboard to regularly manipulate the truth so that we, in turn, are tested in our commitment to fighting ignorance.
I have to say… he does a stand up job… no questions about that at all.
Question for ya, Boo Boo. I see december has been registered since Dec 1999. If he really is a State Dept lackey towing the Bush Administration line, who was paying him before Jan 20, 2001? Maddie Albright? 
That’s only partially correct. Among the areas he visited was Tikrit, Saddam’s home base, where much of the trouble was. His tour covered much of the country, including, as you point out, the outskirts of Baghdad.
Richard Mellon Scaife, I’d wager – after all, Ken Starr was done with his witchhunt on Bill and Hillary Clinton, so those funds could just be diverted to december instead.
Sure would explain how the guy gets by without a job, giving him lots of free time to post to the SDMB…
Mixture of fact and falsehood. Tikrit was Hussein’s home town and there is still sympathy for him there (as yesterday’s captured aide indicates), but Tikrit never saw the looting that Baghdad saw and has not been the site of the general resistance found in Baghdad and Basra. All the incidents around Tikrit (few as they are) have focused exclusively on the U.S. military. Steyn was still lying and you are still defending him with made up answers.
Iraqis see U.S. troops as necessary evil - poll
Of course, God only knows what opinion polls mean under these conditions.
So, how long before december starts tossing out “83% of all Iraqis want the US forces to stay” as a reference? :rolleyes:
They have to stay, and thats the worst of it. If we were to leave, the situation would rapidly turn into election by Darwinism and God only knows what the result would be, but the process would be bloody, of that we can be assured.
Count Iraqula has fastened himself upon our collective jugular. Not only can we not bring home our troops now, we will almost certainly have to reinforce the ones already there, and reinforce them massively. The Bushistas are already busily spinning this as an extension of hositilities, under the rather silly excuse that we are under assault by Saddam “loyalists” (who are, presumably, quite exhausted after thier extended bout of dancing in the streets and flinging flowers at us.)
How long until our losses from “peacekeeping” exceed our losses from the actual “liberation”?
A month ago, columnist Mark Steyn spent two weeks driving around Iraq on his own, with no bodyguards. Sounds like Baroness Amos simply isn’t as brave as Steyn.
Seriously, there’s no doubt that there’s a dangerous security situation in Iraq right now. Americans seem to be attacked on almost a daily basis. This is something our troops will have to deal with. It’s a real problem – one of many.
But, it’s separate from the OP. I didn’t mean to say that things were perfect in Iraq. I said that some allegations were exaggerated, like the stories about widespread famine and large numbers of people unable to get hospital care. **
[/QUOTE]
Yeah things are going just great:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14492-2003Jun19.html?nav=hptop_tb
And for the december apologists-- enough. Its getting fricken creepy. december is a big boy and can speak for himself. The “pat december on the head, he made a nice post” request is absurd and demeaning to december. Are you claiming he is such a bad poster that he need to be reinforced like a puppy when he does something good? Are you going to follow him around now and personally rate all of his posts and demand praise for him for each post which passes your personal muster?
december does post on other issues you know? Just the other day he had a nice OP mocking a certain self-important commentator. Do you want to run over to that thread and hold up an applause sign too? :rolleyes:
A few posters had asked about losses and the ration of war to post war.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14499-2003Jun19.html?nav=hptop_tb
elf6c, it’s normal for soldiers to gripe. Frankly, I don’t blame them; it’s a tough life. The fact that some anonymous Seargant is grousing isn’t newsworthy. Your cite merely shows the media bias du jour.
I am very upset at the continuing attacks against our soldiers, as is the Seargant. OTOH he’s wrong about Iraqis wanting us to leave.
To summarize:
Some Iraqis are welcoming the troops with praise and thanks.
Some Iraqis are still shooting at the US and British troops.
Some Iraqis are grateful that Saddam Hussein has been removed from power.
Some Iraqis aren’t.
Some Iraqis want us to leave now.
Some Iraqis would prefer that we weren’t there, but recognize that a continued military presence is necessary for the time being.
Some Iraqis can’t wait to set up their own McDonalds franchises.
Most Iraqis wish things hadn’t come to this.
In that I fully agree with you december- griping is part of enlisted life. Like cursing, it is a vital part of not going crazy (at least during my 4 years of service- maybe its different now). However, seeing that person is on the ground there, and you are not, I place alot more weight in their analysis of the situation then yours. Failure to listen to the troops on the ground is a classic political failure and the way to lose a war- one mistake Bush claimed he would not make.
BTW, the Congress and the Bush Administration seems a bit worried as well.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14499-2003Jun19.html?nav=hptop_tb
Unfortunately now that we are there we have to stay until the job is finished, so we do not have a repeat of the Afganistan situation.
And december- ease off the “media bias” bullshit-- m’kay. It makes you looks silly and hypocritical. The quote was hard facts and a direct fucking quote from someone who knows what they are talking about on the ground there- hard to “bias” that.
Unlike you, I only Cite to large well respected news organizations. No Blogs, Op-Eds, or Rush Limbaugh sites. Clean up your own Cites before crying “media bias”. I know its uncomfortable to have your cherished beliefs refuted with facts and quotes from well respected sources, but do try to not lapse into trite cliches.
Oh come on, it’s not december’s fault that all those humanitarian organizations are made up of liberal, hippie commies.
Geez.
Oh, but december does cite large, well esablished news organizations such as the Washington Post. However, when he does he tends to ignore the parts that don’t agree with him.