President Bushrejected calls by congressional Democrats and some Republicans for a timetable for the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq, saying that could bolster the insurgency. "Why would you say to the enemy, 'Here's a timetable. Just go ahead and wait us out?' It doesn't make any sense to have a timetable," president Bush said. "You know, if you give a timetable, you are conceding too much to the enemy. And this is an enemy that will be defeated."
AFTER:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BAGHDAD " Iraq's Cabinet on Sunday overwhelmingly accepted a plan to end the U.S. military presence in Iraq by the end of 2011 and sent it on to Parliament for approval, where it faces a fight from some lawmakers who consider it a sellout to the Americans.
The Cabinet's decision brings a final date for the departure of American troops a significant step closer after more than 5-½ years of war.
The proposed agreement, which took nearly a year to negotiate, not only sets a date for U.S. troop withdrawal, but puts new restrictions on U.S. combat operations in Iraq starting Jan. 1 and requires a U.S. military pullback from urban areas by next June 30.
Those hard dates reflect a significant concession by the outgoing Bush administration, which had wanted more flexibility and had been publicly averse to timetables.
Iraq also obtained jurisdiction in some cases over serious crimes committed by Americans who are off duty and not on bases.
In Washington, the White House welcomed the vote as "an important and positive step" and attributed the agreement itself to security improvements over the past year.
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"I would not support repeal of Roe vs. Wade, which would then force women in America to [undergo] illegal and dangerous operations." Senator John McCain
Source: Ron Fournier, Associated Press Aug 24, 1999
The difference I see at first glance is that this is coming from the Iraqi government. Not liberal US senators trying to appease their Hollywood friends.
I could be wrong here, but I think that the Iraqi plan would have us maintaining a military presence there after the official withdraw. So the big issue is gonna be how you define a withdraw if in fact there will still be some troops left there.
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"Shoot him again....his soul is still dancing"
The whole Iraq thing is a joke. Al Maliki was an exile to Iran during much of the Saddam regime. So weremost of the Iraqi cabinet ministers. All of these guys have very close ties to the current Iranian government. Lookfor Iraq and Iran to create a Greater Shiastan Islamic State as soon asUS troops are gone from the place.
The US badly upset the balance of power in the middle east with the takeover of Iraq.
Should we have left Saddam in charge and allowed him to redevelop his WMD programs, including the development of nuclear weapons to serve as a counter balance to Iran?
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"Shoot him again....his soul is still dancing"
Should we have left Saddam in charge and allowed him to redevelop his WMD programs, including the development of nuclear weapons to serve as a counter balance to Iran?
Saddam was not actively working on any WMD programs at the time of the invasion.
He may not have been working on WMD's then, but do you honestly think that he would have been a good boy over the past 5 years if he had been left alone?
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"Shoot him again....his soul is still dancing"
do you honestly think that he would have been a good boy over the past 5 years if he had been left alone?
Iraq was broke. The infrastructure for makingnukes was nonexistent. Iraq did not have a functioning reactor. It would have taken decades to develop nukes had Israel permitted it. The delivery systems for chemical and biological agents were nonexistent and would also have taken decades to develop.
The difference I see at first glance is that this is coming from the Iraqi government. Not liberal US senators trying to appease their Hollywood friends.
Bush never made such a qualified excuse - no good doing so after the fact.
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"I would not support repeal of Roe vs. Wade, which would then force women in America to [undergo] illegal and dangerous operations." Senator John McCain
Source: Ron Fournier, Associated Press Aug 24, 1999
Iraq may have been broke but somehow Saddam had the money to spend on building dozens of palaces right up to the moment of the invasion. So, I think that he could have scrounged up the money for whatever weapons program he wanted. Dunno about the time frame needed to develop a nuclear program. I just know that Iran's seems tobe moving along pretty well since they are left completely alone other than complaints and some half-assed embargos.
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"Shoot him again....his soul is still dancing"
Flip-flop Bush, Timetables - No Timetables?
