I am so sick and tired of this, I demand a cite that EVERYBODY (even) in Fallujah hates our guts.
OK, OK. Everybody except Achmed Al-Jaziim, the little bugger.
Wouldn’t you?
I doubt it, but just in case I will state for the record that you’re an honorable person and I would never even hint that you are hopeful of the prospect of slaughter. Anyone drawing that conclusion from my post is flat-out wrong. I just think your vision into the future is clouded by a desire to see Bush repuditated. That’s all.
Besides, I’m sure your interest in “playing” is not contingent on the roles of the players.
Except that there is simply no reason to delay the elections. Do you honestly think things will be better six months from now? Two years is a long time to live in a country governed by your occupiers. The sooner the process gets going, the better. At any rate, we need only wait a few months to see if your prediction plays out.
I’m kinda curious as to how anyone will argue the pro-invade-Mosul side. This seems to be a rather rare alignment of the debaters, with cmkeller’s OP being the only one that seems to have thought Fallujah went well and should be repeated on 10x scale.
Any devil’s advocates out there?
Well am not for invading Mosul, just the strengthening and support of Iraqi forces within the city to somehow bring back order. Its the only way we can win back that city I’m afraid.
Gee. You shouldn’t have. No, really.
You misunderstand. I am not contending that the elections should be postponed, I also see no reason for optimism. My analysis of the situation leads me to suspect that the Bushiviks will take the first thing smoking. Witness Rummy’s preparatory statements, about how they know it won’t be perfect, but damn near anything will do. They are intensely motivated that the elections go forward on schedule. That motivation might be due entirely to their deep and heartfelt committment to democracy for the Iraqi people. It might.
But because the Bushiviks are full of shit, doesn’t make postponing the election a good idea, nor a bad one. Frankly, I hardly think it matters. At any rate, what you failed to grasp: I’m not advocating postponing or not postponing.
And I wouldn’t call it a prediction by any stretch. Our access to facts is paltry at most, the amount you and I don’t know would fill volumes.
Perhaps we will meet in another venue, some time, where we can more openly share our insights into one another’s character.
And I never said you were advocating it. My question above was simply to point out that wanting, even insisting, that the elections go forward is a very reasonable position to hold. Bush is pushing them to be held on time because it would be **worse **to delay them.
Agreed.
Can’t say that the exchange in either direction would be of much interest to me.
They are. The only question, really, is the timeframe: will they want us out of their cities immediately, and out of the country in three months, or will they want us out of their cities in six months, and out of the country in two years?
The Shi’ite slate that wins won’t want to be regarded as ‘collaborators’.
I’m always good for a gentlemanly wager. My email’s in the profile, if you’d prefer to work out the details of a wager outside of the thread.
The most damaging scenario would be to disregard the orders of the sovereign government of Iraq to leave, and continue to see our soldiers get killed and maimed anyway, and continue to see the security situation go downhill, and eventually have to leave anyway, with our military in the worst shape it’s been in since before Grenada. And THEN watch the civil war explode after we’re gone, since we’re about the only thing most Arab Iraqis can agree on.
And civil war: the only question in my mind is, will it become a full-fledged conflagration within three months of our departure, or will it take up to a year? The Shi’ites have most of the population, but the Sunnis are both much better armed, and much better fighters, not to mention they’ve been practicing on our troops. I’m betting on them to come out slugging. Betting window’s open.