September 9, 2008
An Interesting Twist (Armstrong Williams)
Who says President Bush is irrelevant and only a burden to anyone who dares invoke his name? I’ve just finished watching our commander in chief brief the country on the amazing progress our American military continues to make in Iraq. In fact, the progress is so pronounced that another 8,000 soldiers are headed home in the coming weeks. That’s policy with results, and while it certainly helps make John McCain look more prophetic by the day, it poses an interesting dilemma for the Obama camp.
News flash to Sen. Obama — the surge worked! You’re no less a man if you admit it now, and it may even bolster your efforts, to borrow a phrase from JFK, whom the Democrats often like to quote. Yes, folks, the truth is not determined by how many times a phrase is repeated. So Sen. Obama should just face facts and quit this nonsense of denying the surge was responsible for any good deed we’re now witnessing in Iraq.
I suspect he’ll try and change the subject today and in the coming days, but the imagery of troops disembarking from transport planes on American soil in the coming weeks will force Obama’s hand to come to grips with a foreign policy initiative he never fully understood in the first place.
Visit www.armstrongwilliams.com
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Bush has not wavered or given up on the War in Iraq, and Obama has finally been put in his little place. The surge worked and now Obama looks more ridiculous then usual. Bill O'Reilly left him speechless with some facts about the economy last night. The Bush economy has grown 20% more than the Clinton economy did. Barack looked stunned and gave a ridiculous answer. Anytime Barack gets one on one with anyone who gives him some facts, he looks ashen and stumbles over his tongue. He's totally worthless.
Comment by Robert Rosencrans — September 9, 2008 @ 12:38 pm
Apparently, Armstrong, you are as naive as Bush hope's the majority will be.The 8,000 mentioned are to be withdrawn in February.
Don't you get sick of being held in contempt by the people you serve?
Comment by pghremodeler — September 9, 2008 @ 12:39 pm
That's kind of funny. Here in Wisconsin, the National Guard gets its biggest call since WWII
The last time the Wisconsin National Guard mobilized as many soldiers from the same organization, at the same time was in October 1940," said Lt. Col. Tim Donovan, spokesman for the Wisconsin Army National Guard. "So this mobilization is of historic proportions for us. It's the biggest one we've done in more than 60 years.
Comment by Ernest Tee — September 9, 2008 @ 12:44 pm
"Who says President Bush is irrelevant and only a burden to anyone who dares invoke his name?"
It depends. How much were you paid to invoke Bush's name and policies?
Comment by MM3K — September 9, 2008 @ 12:54 pm
Armstrong,
I am getting very nervous. I like you writing today. : )
Great job President Bush !
Comment by JFK-HRC — September 9, 2008 @ 2:01 pm
Evidently Mr. Williams has been watching Bill O' and nor paying attention to Obama's speeches; Obama has said the "Surge" worked better than expected.
The surge was working before there was a US troop surge. That is a surge in paying Sunni militias to fight al Qaeda and lower death tolls on our combat troops. Lower death rates happened after al Sadr and Maliki signed a deal to keep American troops out of Sadr City and Basra.
When our troops were taken out of the front lines fewer are wounded or have died; fancy that? I suppose the Surge in reverse worked wonders.
Comment by Donaldd — September 9, 2008 @ 3:28 pm
Hogwash
Real policy with results would have been letting the inspectors finish their job…
before the invasion or pressuring Saddam to step down over the long run, like many who voted in the Oct 2002 resolution were fooled into thinking he would do.
Bush said invading was a last resort but Obama read the fine print and suspected otherwise. He was not dazzled by the decorum of power and macho words.
So now were are finally slowly stepping out of the quagmire occupation with no real political solution yet, as Biden has been calling for since 2006, putting the cart before the horse.
The Sunni awakening worked. The surge helped, but would have been dead in the water without it.
But the surge is over and there still is no political solution and the country is not stable. What next Surge II, Surge III, Surge 100 ?
A quagmire is a quagmire, and we are still in one. Bush is "declaring victory and getting out" as the pun goes.
Comment by Fred from Oregon — September 9, 2008 @ 5:56 pm
Fred, the way those inspectors were going, led by a notorious Swedish pacifist, they couldn't find an elephant in a cage in a zoo labeled "elephant". Saddam delighted in changing their plans and playing cat and mouse games with them. Lotsa fun at the ol' rape rooms and woodchipper facilities was had by all!
Now everybody and their brother wants to change history. I was aware of the Sunni awakening in Dec. 06 because I followed the war every single day, and really wanted the surge, but back then from Obama to Harry Reed to Nancy Pelosi to the Surrender Commission everyone claimed the war was lost and everyone needed to leave. All this crap about the surge not meaning anything, other factors at work, no political solutions are just that: crap. You can disagree about starting the war, but to claim that Bush didn't win the war that was about to be lost with his steady leadership against a traitorous Congress that included Obama as one of the main enforcers of defeat is nonsense.
Comment by Igor R. — September 9, 2008 @ 8:31 pm
What a great victory in the name of the American people!
1 million Iraqi deaths!
2.5 million Iraqis displaced!
4155 US Military deaths!
30588 US Military wounded!
All based on lies to the American public!
If you think that this is some kind of victory for the US, you're a sick man!
Comment by smilinjack — September 9, 2008 @ 8:52 pm
There would have been no need for a Surge if Bush & Co. had not taken the U.S. into a Phony & Pretend War on Terrorism while the Real War on Terrorism in Afghanistan where Bin Ladin lived, was ignored!
Comment by angellight — September 10, 2008 @ 6:36 am
I'm not surprised to see liberals label the war as phony. It's just another element of their game plan to stab the troops in the back.
Comment by Robert Rosencrans — September 10, 2008 @ 10:13 am
RR;
I must take exception to your comment that liberals wanted to stab our troops in the back. First off, we libs tried to warn you neocons about the consequences of your actions before you started on this ill-advised adventure. We protested, endured calls of being Unamerican just because we saw the lie and you didn't. Once the troops were there, we libs supported them by making sure that they had teh proper equipment which, it seems you boy Buah/Cheney didn't supply them. THey went there with unarmored Humvees, no body armor, fewer troops than Gen Shinsiki wanted, but you blame us libs. If it had been up to us libs, there would be 4155 men and women not killed for a lie. We libs would have saved this country and teh taxpayer close to 1 trillion dollars. Osama Bin Laden would be dead or on trial. It is you neocons who like Bush didn't listen also you don't learn. You fools thought it was a good idea to invade a Muslim country of 27 million people with 140,000 troops. How dumb is that. Those countries have made more westerners leave their lands than a little and you fools thought that "Shock and Awe" would make them tremble. So now you have f*ck up and have no good way to leave and as long as we keep paying them not to kill us, they won't. The second that there is no more money for them, then our body count goes up again. But it was us libs that stab our troops in the back. Only little minded neocons would make a statement like that. Thanks RR, you post is the most stupid post of the day.
Comment by Mike Coleman — September 10, 2008 @ 12:39 pm
smilinjack, the 1 million Iraqi deaths is a gross exaggeration, the lies part refers to what the Democratic head of the CIA considered "slam-dunk", and a victory under the circumstances sure beats defeat with, now for real, millions dead and the US getting blamed for it.
Comment by Igor R. — September 10, 2008 @ 4:57 pm
RE: #8
Igor,
Hans Blix was right, but he was not allowed to finish his job, like Bush promised.
We were under no immediate threat. That was pretty clear. There was not reason to rush to war, but it was not about WMDs, it was about the oil.
Comment by Fred from Oregon — September 11, 2008 @ 11:13 pm
We will never "win" this occupation, because all long as we are there, people will be attacking us because they don't want us stealing their oil.
You can't blame them. We would feel the same way.
The best only objective we have is to leave the country in a stable form. To do that we need a stable political structure with which all Iraqis are happy.
Comment by Fred from Oregon — September 11, 2008 @ 11:17 pm
Williams wrote: "will force Obama’s hand to come to grips with a foreign policy initiative he never fully understood in the first place."
Nonsense. Bush has no foreign policy, except the Bush doctrine, and according to the way that is defined, buying Arab oil is supporting countries that foster terrorism.
Of course, the is the Chalabi doctrine, the Golden Rule, whoever has the gold makes the rules.
Comment by Fred from Oregon — September 11, 2008 @ 11:23 pm
RE: 8.Fred, the way those inspectors were going, led by a notorious Swedish pacifist, they couldn't find an elephant in a cage in a zoo labeled "elephant".
——–
Badmouth them all you want Igor, but they were experts, the best the world had to offer in the field of Nuclear arms.
They were right about WMDs, so far as they were able to inspect - Bush was wrong, and never let them finish.
Hans Blix had good English. Can you speak Swedish?
The politics of fear is the worst kind. It is what the Imperial Japanese Military used to make the people refuse to surrender in WWII, and caused much suffering to this otherwise noble culture.
Bush's fearmongering is the same kind.
Comment by Fred from Oregon — September 13, 2008 @ 4:51 pm