Thursday
19Jul2007
CNN Embed Correspondent in Awe of Ramadi Progress
Thursday, July 19, 2007 at 08:23AM Bottom Line Up Front: When the media leaves DC and embed in Iraq with top commanders, they’re often amazed by what they see. CNN war correspondents are no exception.
CNN correspondent Barbara Starr usually reports cynically from Washington, DC, but this week she’s embedded in Iraq traveling with GEN Peter Pace and expressed astonishment at the positive conditions in that city. Listen to her report on Tuesday, CNN’s American Morning with Kiran Chetry:
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Reader Comments (13)
SG: Aims, I agree there ARE good stories in Iraq. However, it is also true there are NOT. So ... where is the 'real' Iraq?
Wherever it 'lies' and whatever you and I think about it all, it is a question which will probably be answered in the American political arena, and by (R) politicians, who I predict, will abandon "W'z" wa(R) and will start to vote with (D)z and for withdrawal. In fact, I think it is already happening ....
Snerd
Bush told Iraq war has helped al-Qa’eda
By Tim Shipman in Washington
3:00am BST 19/07/2007
http://tinyurl.com/2zk5fu
President George W Bush was facing increasingly blunt criticism of his Iraq policy last night as a US intelligence report suggested that the war has made al-Qa'eda attacks on American soil more likely.
Senator George Voinovich, a close ally of Mr Bush, delivered a withering assessment of the situation in Iraq, declaring that the Bush administration had "f****d up the war".
[...]
He spoke out as a declassified National Intelligence Estimate of the terrorist threat to the US indicated that the Iraq war has helped al-Qa'eda "raise resources and to recruit and indoctrinate operatives, including for homeland attacks".
[...]
He said other Republicans were close to speaking out against the President's current strategy. "I have every reason to believe that the fur is going to start to fly, perhaps sooner than what they may have wanted," he said.
I deleted the video, unfortunately, of a CNN report in which a national security advisor said that al-Qaeda's strength is below what it was on 9/11. I'll see if I can find the quote.
Aside from that, my emphasis is on the military, not the political, aspect of the war. To say Bush F***ed up the war is a stupid statement on many levels, not the least of which has to do with accountability. Even if Bush were the most bumbling President in history, al-Qaeda and terrorists (insurgents, etc) are responsible for how the war is going. I simply cannot take the bait that Bush drives the war in terms of bad things happening.
And for Voinovich to suggest a change of strategy in Iraq is equally as stupid. No, it's more; after the Nov. 2006 elections the strategy changed. Bush changed the Sec. Defense, top commander in Iraq and implemented the surge after listening to counterinsurgency expert GEN Petraeus. To suggest "changing course" is either double speak (for withdrawal) or political. In either case, it's idiotic.
The war is actually progressing at its best since the initial invasion. When Voinovich blames the administration, he's really blaming GEN Petraeus, which is utterly asinine. Petraeus is brilliantly executing this war.
As for Republicans turning against the President, I see this as a big lesson learned. That is, political parties are just that: political. These politicians have to be re-elected and if they want to play politics so they can return to the Senate and Congress for another term, so be it, but they do so without my respect.
There's a core of Republicans staying true to the mission because they understand it and the ones who visit Iraq are the most gung ho to complete (not fail) the mission.
The entire war debate is one of politics and its sad that they, whether Republican, Democratic or Independent, they're willing to sell out the soldiers in the field and betray their country by demanding failure.
Finally, war isn't popular. It never has been and never will be. That's probably how it needs to but that doesn't mean that this mission isn't worthy of support. The dichotomy between the supporters and opposition of this war is clear.
The good news is that the U.S. will be involved in Iraq long enough (in my opinion) for more Iraqi troops to take control. As long as more Republicans don't go for the cheap sell-out, there won't be enough votes to pull the troops until 2008 IF a Democratic President is elected.
Hey Amy have you seen this yet? The left media lying about the troops again.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Check.asp?idArticle=13889&r=yghpf
Michael Goldfarb unloads on a sack of doo in the New Republic. He is calling on all the milbloggers to debunk it. And here,
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Weblogs/TWSFP/TWSFPView.asp#2025. I have posted on it if you want to weigh in.
Of course once the MSM gets out into Iraq proper instead of relying on stringers and press snippets they sing a different song till their cohorts stifle them for not fitting into the PC narrative of a Bush failure.Mike Yon has a new dispatch up on the great progress being made in Baquba and called the New Republic piece garbage.
Um, FICTION. That story is a @*#&@#!.
Well help spread the word it is bunk, Its up to us, the MSM won't.
"Bill Clinton criticizes Bush on Iraq: 'There is no military victory here'"
Sounds like the Bill Clinton show is back.
'There is no’ – was Bill’s favorite Phrase.
‘there is no Dress’
‘There is no relationship
‘There is no sex with an intern’
'There is no.....
Cal, Clinton's "no military victory" is an exploitation of the terminology for political gain. We're conducting counterinsurgency in Iraq, which is not confined to military action. To the contrary; winning hearts and minds, promoting good government, the rule of law, etc., etc., all of which we're doing in Iraq.
The phrase isn't that there can be no military victory, but that there isn't SOLEY a military solution. Its a garauntee that a military withdrawal will lead to political and diplomatic failure, however. The reality is that there can be no political or diplomatic success WITHOUT military presence.
"There is no military solution" sounds sexier, but it's a fraudulent use of the term.
One reason I like Mike Yon's latest, so much positive on the horizon!
I saw Starr on CNN yesterday. She does indeed have much positive to report!
Have a great day. Thank you once again!
Oh Amy, You're hopeless!
How can trolls 'who actually give some thought to the topics' come to your blog and argue with you when you keep posting these videos?!
Always a positive spin! you'd think we were actually acomplishing something in Iraq, and Harriet Ried was lying to us!
It's refreshing to see some positive footage or commentary on CNN, we better enjoy it now, because it won't last.
Leticia, you got that right! It's interesting to see how normally pessimistic correspondents are shocked that progress IS happening in Iraq. They've been hanging around the Congress and Senate so long that they believe the negativity but for the same reasons politicians who visit Iraq come back encouraged, so do the media.
A few months ago it [Ramadi] belonged to Al Qaeda. – Barbara Starr