Pelosi Insists No Progress in Iraq
Monday, February 11, 2008 at 05:15PM Watching Nancy Pelosi standing by her "Iraq is a failure" position is like watching John McCain insist that Mitt Romney called for a troop withdrawal and timetables in Iraq. Saying it over and over just doesn't make it true.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer was clear about which generals she listens to on Iraq: the retired generals who oppose the war. She also says peace will come to the region once we rip our troops out leaving al-Qaeda to rape, pillage and plunder.
Pelosi insists the "military" surge has worked and there has been no political progress (maybe she's thinking of the U.S. Congress). The reality is:
POLITICAL PROGRESS in IRAQ:
GEN Petraeus told Wolf Blitzer on Jan 27, 2008 that the Iraqi government:
- Passed a pensions law that extends pension rights to tens of thousands of individuals who were left out in earlier arrangement several years ago.
- they passed the Iraqi flag law in the council of representatives. Now, you might think that's purely symbolic. It's not. It has been a contentious issue for several years. The current flag does not fly in portions of the Kurdish regional government are in Iraq. And so this is an important step forward.
- The de-Baathification reform bill, so-called accountability and justice law, has passed
- The 2008 budget is being debated right now in the council of representatives, and it distributes oil revenues in a way that is in line with the oil revenue-sharing bill that could be debated later in the year
- So, again, all of a sudden, it's as if there's a new dynamism in the council of representatives.
Not only that, but the Iraqi Parliament has been more effective than the U.S. Congress:
The House Committee on Foreign Affairs compares Bills Signed Into Law:
- Democratic Congress – 48
- Iraqi Parliament – 53
Progress Report on Iraqi Parliament
Reconstruction progress via the US Army Corps of Engineers
Desperate Al-Qaeda Resorts to Using Retarded Women in Attacks
Al-Qaeda Car Bombs Decrease Dramatically in Iraq
Iraqi Officer Challenges Media Misinformation about Coalition Forces
U.S. To Transfer Authority of Anbar Province Back to Iraq
Soldiers Celebrate Safest Christmas Ever in Iraq
Sunni, Shia March Together in Baghdad for Peace
Inflation Drops 90% In Iraq (and other good news)
- Year-to-date inflation as of October 2007 is 4.2%, compared to year-to-date inflation through October 2006 of 42.7%
- The continued appreciation of the Iraqi dinar went from 1,475 dinars per U.S. dollar in late 2006 to 1,218 dinars per U.S. dollar currently.
- Electrical output/production is up 14% from this time last year.
- The postwar electricity production record for one day (123,000 MWh) was broken on October 12, 2007 with the production of 125,000 MWh.
- Violence and casualties are down
- Security is up
- Sectarian deaths have plummeted
- In NOV 2006 there were 6 Iraqi Division Headquarters, 30 Brigade Headquarters and 91 Battalions.
- In NOV 2007 there are 10 Division Headquarters, 34 Brigade Headquarters and 108 Battalions.
Nancy, even a Retired General Who Opposed Iraq War Has Change of Heart
There's a reason Iraq has taken a back burner on the Democratic presidential campaigns but we can only hope Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid will keep giving interviews!
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Amy Proctor
by Jack Kelly
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared again on CNN's "Late Edition" program Sunday that the troop surge in Iraq is a failure.
Ms. Pelosi's timing was unfortunate for what shreds remain of her credibility. Her statement coincided with the release by U.S. forces in Iraq Saturday of the diary of Abu Tariq, an al Qaida leader around the northern city of Balad. The diary was captured in a raid in November. It apparently had been written the month before.
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Reader Comments (16)
The look on her face appears of the likes of a 'deer in headlights.'
That's her story and she is sticking to it, you know what, they are still going to give Bush everything he needs so the military can continue twin in Iraq.
So the sky is falling: the economy failing is not enough? So we are back to losing Iraq? What is it with these folks? Doomsday, or power?
According to John McCain, there's so much progress from the surge that we have to keep out troops there for 100 years.
mud, do you know how to fact check? You should try it sometime. It's liberating.
McCain did NOT say we would keep our troops there for 100 years but said it could be in the U.S.'s interest to help stabilize the area with a permanent post like we have in Japan, Germany, Britian, etc., The reality is that it is a possibility, although probably not a reality.
Geesh!
He did say it; that it would be fine for us to be in Iraq for 100 years. It's all over YouTube...out of his own mouth. I'm not here to do your homework for you.
Look, Amy, I know you live in a right wing echo chamber...but denying the truth is silly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFknKVjuyNk
Horse's mouth.
Also, there's a difference between having a base in a country, and the occupation of a country. As a military wife, why don't you know that?
If The Cheney/Bush administration had tried to sell the American Public on the idea that we could be there for 100 years, they never would have bought into it. Instead the rightwing sold the war as a cakewalk. Literally. I can get you numerous YouTubes to prove that, with words out of the Administration's own mouth.
Thanks for the link, mudkitty, but all it did was prove my point. Your assertion was:
McCain did NOT say we "have to keep our troops there for 100 years." He went to explain, as I did, that we've had troops in the South Pacific, Korea, Japan for decades FOR A REASON. His quote:
"It's fine with me as long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed. It's fine with me and I hope it's okay with you that the U.S. maintain a presence in a very volitale part of the world where al-Qaeda is training, recruiting and equipping, motivating people every single day."
That's what he said, mud. I have no desire to defend John McCain but there's no need to misrepresent what he said. What are you so afraid of that you have to twist people's words all the time? People with the truth on their side don't have to resort to that sort of game playing.
I paraphrased, just like you did with Obama's comments. But in my case the content and the context are accurate.
So let's rephrase it then...just to prove your point, Amy. McStain said he had no problem with staying in Iraq for 100 years.
That's going to sell well with the Great American Public. Not.
For one so ridiculously critical of my comments in a title about Obama you sure are keen to doing it yourself. You were inaccurate in both cases. Feel free to show otherwise.
Mudkitty,
We have had troops in Germany and Japan for 60 years, Korea for 55 years. Doesn't the fact that troops are able to stay in those regions, just as they will be staying in Iraq tell you about the siutation on the ground. We are going to be in the Middle east for a long time.
Mudkitty,
By the way I would like to thank you and the Democrats in the Senate who have all but legalized the NSA program this week. Without the support of the Democrats and voters like you Bush wouldn't have tools to defeat Al Qaeda. Now how does this work again, Democrats and the blogosphere scream impeachment and use issues like this to gin up hatred, votes and money, then they give Bush what he wants on the sly. As a bonus retoactive immunity for telecommunications companies! The Protect America Act, brought to you by Pelosi, Reid, and President Bush!
By the way, Pelosi said the Iraqi Government was enemy #1, not al-Qaeda. I just found some video of GEN Petraeus and MG (Maj. Gen) Hertling saying al-Qaeda is public enemy number one. Pelosi should be impeached for spreading blatant lies against our military.
Guess what, some of the key legislation that was needed was ratified by the Iraqi Parliament today. Not that it will be widely reported. How are the Dems going to spin this one?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080213/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_new_laws_1
Shhh, robert, not so loud.. you might embarrass mudkitty. :)
As far as the Dems are concerned, things are not going well in Iraq. They want defeat and since the surge is working, they aren't getting what they want. So for the dems, the current events are bad for them since they are the party of "defeatism"
If you think berkas make a good fashion statement for women, then you probably think there's been progress in Iraq.