# U.S.: We've broken the back of the Iraq insurgency!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 19, 2004, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-weve-broken-the-back-of-the-iraq-insurgency/275742 "2004-11-19T22:57:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-weve-broken-the-back-of-the-iraq-insurgency/275742/21 "2004-11-20T10:08:15Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Hey, we’ve turned that corner so many times we’re running up our own asses. Thanks. That provided both a laugh-out-loud and a nice witty reply that I’m sure to forget when it is most appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-weve-broken-the-back-of-the-iraq-insurgency/275742/22 "2004-11-21T13:26:50Z")
> [@Machetero](#): > > Any ‘true believer’ is a fool not matter Red or Blue. If you don’t think that holds true for Kerry voters, then you’ve done fooled yourself. There are always ‘true believers’ in the supporters of any politician or movement. But only one major American political party is _led_ by TBs. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-weve-broken-the-back-of-the-iraq-insurgency/275742/23 "2004-11-21T13:55:26Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > **U.S. declares insurgency 'broken’** > > [By Rowan Scarborough > THE WASHINGTON TIMES](http://washingtontimes.com/national/20041119-124401-8720r.htm) > _ **I hereby proclaim today, November 19, 2004, to be V-I day!!!** _ 😃 And what do we have the very next day? [US may boost troop levels in Iraq](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4027591.stm) > [@](#): > > Gen Smith, the deputy head of US Central Command in Iraq, described the Falluja operation as very successful. > > But insurgents continue to hold out in some parts of the city. > > And Gen Smith said it was “too early to say” if it had broken rebels’ resistance. “Broken back” to “too early to tell” in 24 hours. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-weve-broken-the-back-of-the-iraq-insurgency/275742/24 "2004-11-21T14:18:36Z")
Not to mention, [we can’t even secure the road between Baghdad and the airport](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4026795.stm). And that’s a rather important stretch of road. > [@](#): > > A 15-mile stretch between Baghdad airport and the city centre is said to be the world’s most expensive taxi ride. > > Small convoys of armoured cars and Western gunmen charge about £2,750 ($5,108) for the perilous journey. > > The route, known as the Qadisiyah Expressway, has become the scene of regular attacks and kidnappings by insurgents. And the Baghdad airport: > [@](#): > > offers two daily 90-minute flights, although times are subject to changes and cancellations, depending on whether the airport is under mortar attack. And we can’t forget the evasive action that planes have to take while taking off and landing, to avoid surface-to-air missiles. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-weve-broken-the-back-of-the-iraq-insurgency/275742/25 "2004-11-21T15:29:14Z")
Time to put the blame squarely where it belongs, with the pro-terrorist left! It is their constant carping and complaining that undermines our troops morale, as well as their (dare I say?) treasonous refusal to support our War President! When called upon to hand the WP a clear and unwavering mandate of support, they turned to a self-declared war criminal who voted 3,645 times to deny ammunition and medicine to Our Heroes! Thank Heaven they were crushed in an overwhelming thunderous avalanche of a landslide! Their polite murmurings of dissent forces our military leaders to fight with one hand tied behind their backs, with predictable consequences. They whine and snivel about the deaths of “civilians” without giving a moments thought to the obvious truth: civilians are the very source of insurgent recruiting, they dash off to join our enemies at the merest provocation. Trivial matters like desecrating a house of “worship” and a few isolated incidents of cold-blooded murder are exaggerated into “war crimes”, which is then echoed by the pro-terrorist left. We must place our combat boot firmly on their neck! And then we can offer them a voter registration form. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-weve-broken-the-back-of-the-iraq-insurgency/275742/26 "2004-11-21T15:45:22Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > Followed in the coming months (years?), by V-II day, V-III day, V-IV day, and V-V day. :dubious: Wow! :smack: I coulda had a V-VIII! This issue has not one, but 2 parts: 1. Did we actually break the back of the insurgency? 2. If so – is that a good thing? Even if we achieve total victory in Iraq, is that going to make the world a safer place? Will Iraqis be better off? Or are we just leaving behind (indeed, if we ever leave) a pile of rubble and blood and ill-will? ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-weve-broken-the-back-of-the-iraq-insurgency/275742/27 "2004-11-21T18:11:57Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Or are we just leaving behind (indeed, if we ever leave) a pile of rubble and blood and ill-will? [yep](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/finnagain/timecover.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-weve-broken-the-back-of-the-iraq-insurgency/275742/28 "2004-11-21T18:45:38Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Wow! :smack: I coulda had a V-VIII! 😃 > [@](#): > > 1. Did we actually break the back of the insurgency? No. > [@](#): > > 1. If so – is that a good thing? Yes. The guys running Fallujah between last spring and last week were right up there with the Taliban in terms of general nastiness. > [@](#): > > Even if we achieve total victory in Iraq, is that going to make the world a safer place? Will Iraqis be better off? Or are we just leaving behind (indeed, if we ever leave) a pile of rubble and blood and ill-will? It depends on what you mean by ‘total victory’. At this point, I’d interpret it to mean a cessation of armed opposition to our puppet government or its successor, complete with confiscation of the weapons lying loose in Iraq that enable the various insurgencies. I think that would be a Good Thing of a high order, because what the _people_ of Iraq need, more than anything else, is sufficient security to go about their daily lives without fear of being caught in the crossfire. Unfortunately, Iraq is a sea of weapons these days, and our efforts to put down each insurgency are sufficiently ham-handed that we create more insurgents every time. It’s hard to imagine that we could remotely approach cornering the market on serious weaponry in Iraq, and we’d lost the battle for hearts and minds well before the fires of April, or the news from Abu Ghraib in May. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-weve-broken-the-back-of-the-iraq-insurgency/275742.md?page=1)