From the Gathering Of Eagles website, an open letter from a Naval Officer currently in Baghdad:
----
Senator Reid:
When you say we’ve lost in Iraq, I don’t think you understand the effect of your words. The Iraqis I speak with are the good guys here, fighting to build a stable government. They hear what you say, but they don’t understand it. They don’t know about the political game, they don’t know about a Presidential veto, and they don’t know about party politics.
But they do know that if they help us, they are noticed by terrorists and extremists. They decide to help us if they think we can protect them from those terrorists. They tell us where caches of weapons are hidden. They call and report small groups of men who are strangers to the neighborhood, men that look the same to us, but are obvious to them as a foreign suicide cell.
To be brief, your words are killing us. Your statements make the Iraqis afraid to help us for fear we’ll leave them unprotected in the future. They don’t report a cache, and its weapons blow up my friends in a convoy. They don’t report a foreign fighter, and that fighter sends a mortar onto my base. Your statements are noticed, and they have an effect.
Finally, you are mistaken when you say we are losing. We are winning, I see it every day. However, we will win with fewer casualties if you help us. Will you?
Respectfully,
LT Jason Nichols, USN
MNF-I, Baghdad
Posted by: Bigfoot at April 23, 2007 04:03 PM
Didn't Bonner also say, we will know withing 60 to 90 days if the surge worked.
Posted by: Josh Keaton at April 23, 2007 04:57 PM
Princella,
Should we have listened to these Generals? If not, please tell me which Generals we should listen to, and which ones we should ignore.
Thanks in advance.
Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, who was in charge of training the Iraqi military from 2003 to 2004,. Maj. Gen Eaton feels the Army was dispatched on a fool's errand: being given far too few troops to conquer and pacify Iraq in the misguided hope of spawning democracy in the Middle East.
In 2003, when Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki said that hundreds of thousands of soldiers would be needed to succeed in Iraq, he was sacked by the White House.
Army Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV announced that the operation "has not met our overall expectations," noting a 43 percent increase in attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces since the middle of the summer.
According to a classified briefing at the Pentagon by the commander, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the number of American combat brigades in Iraq is projected to decrease to 5 or 6 from the current level of 14 by December 2007.
Posted by: mike h at April 23, 2007 04:58 PM
Awesome. Why isnt this all over the media? Cindy can have her ugly can plastered all over the TV screen, but this short effective letter cant? Its such bullshit.
Posted by: zachster at April 23, 2007 05:00 PM
It worked in years past, when with the help of the MSM they hammered away about Viet Nam, and THIS, is what they are trying to do with this war against Terrorists who, by the way, want to KILL them(Liberal Dems) as Americans-they don't discriminate about what party one belongs to. Wise Up.
Posted by: Jo at April 23, 2007 07:35 PM
If the libs succeed in grasping defeat from the jaws of victory in Iraq, my only solace will be the knowledge that when the terror starts here in the US, that I live in state with a right to carry concealed weapons law (Kansas) and I'll have a gun to shoot back to protect myself, my family and my friends. They won't!!!
Unfortunately, presented with the opportunity, my sense of honor will require me to try and save their sorry butts too. Someone, please, talk me out of it.
Posted by: Mark at April 23, 2007 10:35 PM
Bigfoot,
Thanks for posting that letter. Well said, soldier!
Posted by: Freedom1 at April 24, 2007 03:00 AM
Yeah, because when Bush preemptively declared victory a few years ago, that worked out real well...
Posted by: legion at April 24, 2007 10:32 AM
If you think we're in the "jaws of victory" you need to open your eyes. The war in Iraq was lost before it was started because it was built on lies. The war on terror will be lost for the same reason, because it's being fought by opportunistic authoritarians and paid for by the suckers that make up the 33 percent that still think we're fighting for anything other than the frail egos of our pathetic administration.
Posted by:
Chris Henson at April 24, 2007 02:27 PM
Chris, you must be new to conservative blogs, otherwise you would know that the Big Lie is the one that the left is telling about the purported lies of the current administration. I'm not going to lead you to articles you won't read or believe or even understand in your BDS lunacy. But they are out there if you are honest enough to break away from the liberal talking points and seek out the truth. Good luck to you and may you survive the disaster that would be a Democratic president.
Posted by: WB at April 25, 2007 02:49 PM
Gee, the guy who said we should give the it 60 to 90 days when the "surge" plan was announced now says we should not have any benchmarks? Hmm, calling for a lack of accountability...must be a republican in congress.
Posted by: carsick at April 25, 2007 07:24 PM
"...give the it" ? Sorry, typo. Lose the "the".
Posted by: carsick at April 25, 2007 07:29 PM
From the Gathering Of Eagles website, an open letter from a Naval Officer currently in Baghdad:
----
Senator Reid:
When you say we’ve lost in Iraq, I don’t think you understand the effect of your words. The Iraqis I speak with are the good guys here, fighting to build a stable government. They hear what you say, but they don’t understand it. They don’t know about the political game, they don’t know about a Presidential veto, and they don’t know about party politics.
But they do know that if they help us, they are noticed by terrorists and extremists. They decide to help us if they think we can protect them from those terrorists. They tell us where caches of weapons are hidden. They call and report small groups of men who are strangers to the neighborhood, men that look the same to us, but are obvious to them as a foreign suicide cell.
To be brief, your words are killing us. Your statements make the Iraqis afraid to help us for fear we’ll leave them unprotected in the future. They don’t report a cache, and its weapons blow up my friends in a convoy. They don’t report a foreign fighter, and that fighter sends a mortar onto my base. Your statements are noticed, and they have an effect.
Finally, you are mistaken when you say we are losing. We are winning, I see it every day. However, we will win with fewer casualties if you help us. Will you?
Respectfully,
LT Jason Nichols, USN
MNF-I, Baghdad
Didn't Bonner also say, we will know withing 60 to 90 days if the surge worked.
Princella,
Should we have listened to these Generals? If not, please tell me which Generals we should listen to, and which ones we should ignore.
Thanks in advance.
Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, who was in charge of training the Iraqi military from 2003 to 2004,. Maj. Gen Eaton feels the Army was dispatched on a fool's errand: being given far too few troops to conquer and pacify Iraq in the misguided hope of spawning democracy in the Middle East.
In 2003, when Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki said that hundreds of thousands of soldiers would be needed to succeed in Iraq, he was sacked by the White House.
Army Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV announced that the operation "has not met our overall expectations," noting a 43 percent increase in attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces since the middle of the summer.
According to a classified briefing at the Pentagon by the commander, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the number of American combat brigades in Iraq is projected to decrease to 5 or 6 from the current level of 14 by December 2007.
Awesome. Why isnt this all over the media? Cindy can have her ugly can plastered all over the TV screen, but this short effective letter cant? Its such bullshit.
It worked in years past, when with the help of the MSM they hammered away about Viet Nam, and THIS, is what they are trying to do with this war against Terrorists who, by the way, want to KILL them(Liberal Dems) as Americans-they don't discriminate about what party one belongs to. Wise Up.
If the libs succeed in grasping defeat from the jaws of victory in Iraq, my only solace will be the knowledge that when the terror starts here in the US, that I live in state with a right to carry concealed weapons law (Kansas) and I'll have a gun to shoot back to protect myself, my family and my friends. They won't!!!
Unfortunately, presented with the opportunity, my sense of honor will require me to try and save their sorry butts too. Someone, please, talk me out of it.
Bigfoot,
Thanks for posting that letter. Well said, soldier!
Yeah, because when Bush preemptively declared victory a few years ago, that worked out real well...
If you think we're in the "jaws of victory" you need to open your eyes. The war in Iraq was lost before it was started because it was built on lies. The war on terror will be lost for the same reason, because it's being fought by opportunistic authoritarians and paid for by the suckers that make up the 33 percent that still think we're fighting for anything other than the frail egos of our pathetic administration.
Chris, you must be new to conservative blogs, otherwise you would know that the Big Lie is the one that the left is telling about the purported lies of the current administration. I'm not going to lead you to articles you won't read or believe or even understand in your BDS lunacy. But they are out there if you are honest enough to break away from the liberal talking points and seek out the truth. Good luck to you and may you survive the disaster that would be a Democratic president.
Gee, the guy who said we should give the it 60 to 90 days when the "surge" plan was announced now says we should not have any benchmarks? Hmm, calling for a lack of accountability...must be a republican in congress.
"...give the it" ? Sorry, typo. Lose the "the".