tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19488177.post872125442820355805..comments2023-09-05T08:21:27.204-06:00Comments on Serving the People of Iraq: The "Mini-Surge" is Showing Some PromiseFrank Stahelihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01822334061980912687noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19488177.post-76012726308291902192007-08-10T15:31:00.000-06:002007-08-10T15:31:00.000-06:00Not too surprising, but now it comes out that redu...Not too surprising, but now it comes out that reduced casualties in July <A HREF="http://consortiumnews.com/2007/080907.html" REL="nofollow">coincided with a reduction in the operational tempo</A>. Reason: either political or because it's just too damn hot in Iraq.<BR/><BR/>"Mindful of the political fallout from a rising American death toll in Iraq, the U.S. military has pulled back from widespread use of aggressive tactics on the ground this summer, helping to explain a modest reduction in the number of soldiers killed in July, according to intelligence and military sources."rmwarnickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10948594032787232166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19488177.post-5179031821256046772007-08-04T15:20:00.000-06:002007-08-04T15:20:00.000-06:00Freedom...freedom from life.Freedom...freedom from life.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19488177.post-28256908161913382402007-08-03T16:25:00.000-06:002007-08-03T16:25:00.000-06:00You have mastered the art of bullshit--thow away y...You have mastered the art of bullshit--thow away your chains and see reality!<BR/>You seem like a reasonably smart person. (Not reasonable by no stretch). But you are blinded by pessimism and far left ideas. All I am saying is that we need to give the Iraqi people a chance at freedom, and what we are doing now is helping. What do you propose we do that will work?Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16532237715455614152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19488177.post-72274336823972263522007-08-03T14:28:00.000-06:002007-08-03T14:28:00.000-06:00Danny-- you have mastered the art of faith-based s...Danny-- you have mastered the art of faith-based strategic thought, much like President Bush and the neocons. Cast aside the chains of reality, and anything becomes possible!rmwarnickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10948594032787232166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19488177.post-87166154450472488852007-08-02T13:21:00.000-06:002007-08-02T13:21:00.000-06:00I can see it now... Two years from now, we have a ...I can see it now... Two years from now, we have a minimal amount of troops in Iraq and it is quite stable. They become one of our greatest allies. <BR/>And when this does happen, people like Richard, will still be saying what a disaster it was and how it was a huge failure. All because they are too ignorant to see the truth. They just want to hate whatever isn't liberal. Yes, sime things could have been different. There was some mistakes made. But, assuming you learned how to ride a bike, you fell a few times. Sometimes, unfortunately, that has to happen in other aspects of life as well. Especially when it comes to peoples lives instead of a scraped knee. But, Freedom isn't free. Learn that phrase. Unfortunately, the price is lives. But that being the price, you sure enjoy it, considering your whining. Let some Iraqis enjoy the same, they don't whine as much.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16532237715455614152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19488177.post-10850900506608008512007-08-01T16:21:00.000-06:002007-08-01T16:21:00.000-06:00IraqSlogger points out the following trend in numb...<A HREF="http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/3790/US_Mil_Deaths_in_July_Debating_the_Trends" REL="nofollow">IraqSlogger</A> points out the following trend in numbers of US killed in action:<BR/><BR/>July 2003 - 48<BR/>July 2004 - 54<BR/>July 2005 - 54 <BR/>July 2006 - 43<BR/>July 2007 - 78<BR/><BR/>It's reasonable to say that more aggressive tactics are resulting in higher casualties. The generals have been up front about that. I'm not sure you can say casualties are down.rmwarnickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10948594032787232166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19488177.post-14739102847705229002007-07-31T20:45:00.000-06:002007-07-31T20:45:00.000-06:00Frank, I wouldn't have expected you to play a sill...Frank, I wouldn't have expected you to play a silly numbers game with these grim statistics. In military terms, you count dead plus wounded evacuated from theater. In April, 751. In May, 778. In June, 831. The July total isn't available yet. <BR/><BR/>As General Barry McCaffrey pointed out many weeks ago, our forces have been losing the equivalent of a battalion a month. Clearly, it's now gotten worse than that. These losses are unsustainable and you know it.rmwarnickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10948594032787232166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19488177.post-25865813431600347562007-07-31T16:55:00.000-06:002007-07-31T16:55:00.000-06:00Downward trend? You just listed one: 126, 101, 74...Downward trend? You just listed one: 126, 101, 74.Frank Stahelihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01822334061980912687noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19488177.post-87985078884473111712007-07-31T16:11:00.000-06:002007-07-31T16:11:00.000-06:00If you go back and look at the statements by Gener...If you go back and look at the statements by General Petraeus and other backers of the so-called "surge," they promised only one thing for sure: more American casualties.<BR/><BR/>June was the third consecutive month that has seen 100+ American deaths. April had 104, May 126 and June 101, making it the deadliest quarter in the Iraq war since March 2003. We had 74 dead in July, which may or may not count the three who died yesterday. <BR/><BR/>The total wounded was 647 in April, 652 in May and 730 in June. I don't have a number for July. I fail to detect a downward trend.rmwarnickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10948594032787232166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19488177.post-44337107546907081362007-07-31T13:35:00.000-06:002007-07-31T13:35:00.000-06:00They weren't talking about electricity, indigent p...They weren't talking about electricity, indigent people, unemployment, etc. It goes without saying that electricity, indigence, and unemployment are much worse than they should be. Why does Joseph Palermo exult so in his obviously "non-Eureka moment"? Pollack and O'Hanlon were talking about improvement in stability of a country so that they can have more electricity, and less indigence and unemployment. Over the past 2-3 months, THAT has been happening.<BR/><BR/>You say "rapidly increasing US casualties". This is not true. <A HREF="http://icasualties.org/oif/" REL="nofollow">In the past 2-3 months, US casualties are trending downward</A>, which is all the more remarkable in light of the fact that far fewer soldiers are now living on FOBs and far more combat missions are currently being performed.Frank Stahelihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01822334061980912687noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19488177.post-10902737408063632902007-07-31T12:49:00.000-06:002007-07-31T12:49:00.000-06:00On The Huffington Post, Joseph Palermo takes on th...On <A HREF="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-a-palermo/a-war-we-just-might-win_b_58423.html" REL="nofollow">The Huffington Post</A>, Joseph Palermo takes on the O'Hanlon/Pollack ope-ed point by point, including some of the things they forgot to mention:<BR/><BR/>- 1-2 hours of electricity in Baghdad<BR/>- 60 percent unemployment<BR/>- rapidly increasing US casualties<BR/>- rampant corruption in reconstruction projects<BR/>- <A HREF="http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/3758/8_Million_Iraqis_in_Immediate_Need" REL="nofollow">8 million Iraqis destitute</A> according to Oxfam<BR/>- 2.5 million refugees & 2 million IDPsrmwarnickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10948594032787232166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19488177.post-49556426120146574782007-07-31T10:40:00.000-06:002007-07-31T10:40:00.000-06:00I'm not attacking anyone's character, I just think...I'm not attacking anyone's character, I just think it's laughable that Pollack and O'Hanlon have any credibility at this point. They've both been wrong consistently for years. Shame on CNN et al. for allowing them to claim the mantle of "war critics." They supported the invasion and occupation of Iraq from day one-- in Pollack's case, well before that.<BR/><BR/>As for how the occupation of Iraq is going, read the papers. Check out <A HREF="http://www.iraqslogger.com/" REL="nofollow">IraqSlogger</A>. Read O'Hanlon's own <A HREF="http://www.brookings.edu/iraqindex" REL="nofollow">Iraq Index</A>.rmwarnickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10948594032787232166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19488177.post-71676040838274417252007-07-31T08:58:00.000-06:002007-07-31T08:58:00.000-06:00There wasn't a whole lot of uniqueness among TPM a...There wasn't a whole lot of uniqueness among TPM and Think Progress. Glenn Greenwald was much more detailed. <BR/><BR/>When Pollack and O'Hanlon were in Iraq in late 2003, it was (or appeared to be) still going well.<BR/><BR/>They've recently gone back and, through their wanderings, they found that it's going well again. I'd rather that you not resort exclusively to attacks on their character, but rather try to show how their statements about things going well in Iraq are false.<BR/><BR/>Interestingly (1) they have been critical of Bush from time to time, and (2) they estimated that it would take 3-5 years to successfully turn Iraq around.Frank Stahelihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01822334061980912687noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19488177.post-15670519582971315322007-07-30T21:18:00.000-06:002007-07-30T21:18:00.000-06:00Glenn Greenwald has a rundown of O'Hanlon's happy ...<A HREF="http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/07/30/brookings/index.html" REL="nofollow">Glenn Greenwald</A> has a rundown of O'Hanlon's happy talk and rosy predictions going back to 2003.<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://thinkprogress.org/2007/07/30/ohanlon-pollack/" REL="nofollow">Think Progress</A> has more. Pollack and O'Hanlon were totally wrong in 2002-2003 and they are wrong now.rmwarnickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10948594032787232166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19488177.post-14330587861743942632007-07-30T21:02:00.000-06:002007-07-30T21:02:00.000-06:00Talking Points Memo has more on the "phony war cri...<A HREF="http://electioncentral.tpmcafe.com/blog/electioncentral/2007/jul/30/cable_news_networks_buy_phony_war_critic_frame_hook_line_and_sinker" REL="nofollow">Talking Points Memo</A> has more on the "phony war critics" O'Hanlon and Pollack.<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://electioncentral.tpmcafe.com/blog/electioncentral/2007/jul/30/war_proponents_pollock_and_ohanlon_lets_stay_in_iraq_well_into_2008" REL="nofollow">And more:</A> "It's been endlessly observed that being wrong repeatedly just hasn't disqualified experts from continuing to get platforms such as this one to continue making predictions about the disaster they helped create..."rmwarnickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10948594032787232166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19488177.post-21590738582629535102007-07-30T20:52:00.000-06:002007-07-30T20:52:00.000-06:00I saw Kenneth Pollack on CNN this morning claiming...I saw Kenneth Pollack on CNN this morning claiming to be a critic of the Bush administration's Iraq policy, which is only true if by "critic" you mean "cheerleader." Pollack was in favor of invading Iraq before Bush was. <BR/><BR/>Michael O'Hanlon is no different. Show me any statement he has made concerning Iraq over the last four years that was true.rmwarnickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10948594032787232166noreply@blogger.com