# Reality finally sinking in - Iraq expectations lowered **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 15, 2005, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-finally-sinking-in-iraq-expectations-lowered/317094 "2005-08-15T14:26:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-finally-sinking-in-iraq-expectations-lowered/317094/21 "2005-08-15T17:44:49Z")
[Iraq Leaders Agree on Draft Constitution](http://www.normantranscript.com/feeds/apcontent/apstories/apstorysection/D8C0D0DO0.xml.txt/resources_apstoryview) > [@](#): > > Iraqi leaders have agreed on a draft constitution to be submitted to parliament by Monday’s deadline except for two issues that the legislative body must decide, two Shiite officials said. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-finally-sinking-in-iraq-expectations-lowered/317094/22 "2005-08-15T18:11:39Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > [Iraq Leaders Agree on Draft Constitution](http://www.normantranscript.com/feeds/apcontent/apstories/apstorysection/D8C0D0DO0.xml.txt/resources_apstoryview) > [@](#): > > the document would be handed over to the 275-member National Assembly late Monday for a decision on the two unresolved issues, which he did not specify. [college “C” student] I’m getting an incomplete! [/college “C” student] ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-finally-sinking-in-iraq-expectations-lowered/317094/23 "2005-08-15T18:32:26Z")
Have they been using the “fight terrorists there instead of here” excuse anymore? Or did too many people see this was a contradiction with the “we did it for the Iraqi people” excuse? (“Let’s free them from Hussein who terrorized them, but make their home a magnet for terrorism”) ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-finally-sinking-in-iraq-expectations-lowered/317094/24 "2005-08-15T18:38:28Z")
> [@World Eater](#): > > What’s the over/under on the constitution draft getting completed today? It’s an exercise in futility anyway. Part of the “reality” that still hasn’t sunk in is that as soon as the US makes haste and withdraws – and I very much doubt a retreat to permanent bases will be acceptable to Iraqis in general – odds are the National Assembly will fade into oblivion. I mean, really, even now they hold no real clout outside The Green Zone. Ironically enough, that may yet turn out to be the best move for the US’s interests, for all signs point to a psuedo-alliance with the Shiite brethen in Iran if the status-quo were to prevail. ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-finally-sinking-in-iraq-expectations-lowered/317094/25 "2005-08-15T19:00:42Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > [college “C” student] > I’m getting an incomplete! > [/college “C” student] According to my local news, the two unresolved issue are women’s rights and Kurdish autonamy. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-finally-sinking-in-iraq-expectations-lowered/317094/26 "2005-08-15T19:18:11Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Moving the goalposts is just step one. Step two will be explaining that its all Michael Moore’s/Clinton’s fault. This is one time I must say you’ve been caught napping, **'luc**. Because, even here in the SDMB, that well known “bastion of liberal thought,” they’ve been going full bore with the ‘let’s blame Michael Moore for all the sins of our Asshole In Chief’ for some time now. Clearly, marching orders have been issued on this matter. Couple of samples, [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6475539&postcount=212) and [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6461129&postcount=59). ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-finally-sinking-in-iraq-expectations-lowered/317094/27 "2005-08-15T19:26:52Z")
What **RedFury** said. Far as the Bush apologists are concerned, it’s _never_ too early to blame the “leftists” (_i.e.,_ anyone who disagrees with Brainless Leader) for the nation’s problems and missteps. I’m sure the folks over at Fox News are even now busily working out how to point fingers at Cindy Sheeham over this, too. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-finally-sinking-in-iraq-expectations-lowered/317094/28 "2005-08-15T19:55:52Z")
> [@Stuffy](#): > > According to my local news, the two unresolved issue are women’s rights and Kurdish autonamy. Whoops: [Iraqi Parliament OKs Constitution Delay](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050815/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq) > [@](#): > > Iraq - > Iraq’s parliament agreed to a seven-day extension for leaders to complete a draft constitution, after politicians failed to reach a midnight Monday deadline to agree on the charter. Parliament adjourned after voting to extend the deadline until Aug. 22, acting on a request from Kurdish leaders for more time. I hope they passed their extension resolution with a large enough majority to overide the [Interim Constitution](http://www.cpa-iraq.org/government/TAL.html). Otherwise everything from here on out will be illegal. ---
**Author:** ![shelbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@shelbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shelbo)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-finally-sinking-in-iraq-expectations-lowered/317094/29 "2005-08-15T20:16:02Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > If one buys into the theory (as I do) that the sole reason for invading Iraq was for Bush to depose Hussein - well, they did that. Ya know, for $350 Billion, I bet you could have bought the Iraqi army, and had them take out Hussein. Hell, for $350 MILLION, you could have bought a couple of key generals, and taken out Hussein. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-finally-sinking-in-iraq-expectations-lowered/317094/30 "2005-08-15T20:19:30Z")
Man! IF they’re admitting it’s this bad, can you imagine how awful it REALLY must be over there? ! ? ! ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-finally-sinking-in-iraq-expectations-lowered/317094/31 "2005-08-15T20:22:33Z")
> [@shelbo](#): > > Ya know, for $350 Billion, I bet you could have bought the Iraqi army, and had them take out Hussein. Hell, for $350 MILLION, you could have bought a couple of key generals, and taken out Hussein. For $350 billion we could have assembled a full time self-sufficient lunar base with a particle-beam gun and shot Saddam’s eye out! And still have some dough left over to pay the gays off to not marry in public. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-finally-sinking-in-iraq-expectations-lowered/317094/32 "2005-08-15T20:27:44Z")
But the oil fields, those cost extra! ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-finally-sinking-in-iraq-expectations-lowered/317094/33 "2005-08-15T20:29:57Z")
> [@Inigo Montoya](#): > > Man! IF they’re admitting it’s this bad, can you imagine how awful it REALLY must be over there? ! ? ! That’s a frightening point. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-finally-sinking-in-iraq-expectations-lowered/317094/34 "2005-08-15T21:29:45Z")
Unfortunately, this new “candor” will probably win them back a bunch of voters. ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-finally-sinking-in-iraq-expectations-lowered/317094/35 "2005-08-15T22:08:33Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > I really, really do hope that the George W. Bush Presidential Library is hidden behind a pork-rendering plant, or perhaps in a ravine someplace. > > Or the Badlands of North Dakota! Yeah! Great idea! Why ruin the Badlands? I was just there camping and hiking with my girlfriend weekend before last. Bison, elk, mustangs, prairie dogs. It was plum purdy! Besides…everyone (at least anyone who’s seen the [Medora Musical](http://www.medora.org/today/musical.asp)) knows that’s Teddy Roosevelt country. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-finally-sinking-in-iraq-expectations-lowered/317094/36 "2005-08-15T22:11:58Z")
> [@bluethree](#): > > Unfortunately, this new “candor” will probably win them back a bunch of voters. Don’t worry. The candor will ebb. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-finally-sinking-in-iraq-expectations-lowered/317094/37 "2005-08-15T22:30:50Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Don’t worry. The candor will ebb. And now I must smack **Cervaise** for forcibly inserting the image of Dick Cheney in fishnets and bustier singing “Life is a cabaret, old chum!” to George W. while Osama bin-Laden walks by outside singing “Tomorrow belongs to me”… ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-finally-sinking-in-iraq-expectations-lowered/317094/38 "2005-08-16T02:12:27Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Any guesses on the exact date of Kurdistan Indepence Day? I’ll take March 12, 2006 in the pool. The formal alliance of the newly-elected, sharia-based Shiite theocracy in Iraq with the one in Iran can’t be long afterward. That isn’t long enough for a really horrible, bloody civil war. First you have to have the US withdraw in disgrace, and only then can the killing really begin in earnest. Then, you need a Kurdish strongman to emerge from the blood and chaos to declare a Kurdish Islamic Republic. This stuff takes time. I’m guessing September 27, 2007. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-finally-sinking-in-iraq-expectations-lowered/317094/39 "2005-08-16T03:22:18Z")
Think we’ll get footage of the helicoptors pulling out, ala Vietnam? ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-finally-sinking-in-iraq-expectations-lowered/317094/40 "2005-08-16T05:40:37Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Think we’ll get footage of the helicoptors pulling out, ala Vietnam? Nah, they’ll probably recycle that footage of the SH statue getting yanked down, and repeat how we liberated Iraq ad nauseum. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-finally-sinking-in-iraq-expectations-lowered/317094.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-finally-sinking-in-iraq-expectations-lowered/317094.md?page=3)