Comments on: Because we’re “kicking ass” in Iraq, President Bush should lead a parade through downtown Bagdad http://dangerousintersection.org/2007/09/11/because-we%e2%80%99re-%e2%80%9ckicking-ass%e2%80%9d-in-iraq-president-bush-should-lead-a-parade-through-the-streets-of-bagdad/ Human Animals at the Crossroads of Culture, Science, Religion and Media Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:34:50 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Erich Vieth http://dangerousintersection.org/2007/09/11/because-we%e2%80%99re-%e2%80%9ckicking-ass%e2%80%9d-in-iraq-president-bush-should-lead-a-parade-through-the-streets-of-bagdad/#comment-22792 Erich Vieth Tue, 05 Aug 2008 04:20:46 +0000 http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=1580#comment-22792 Well now, Iraq has a new KFC open, in Fallujah. But, actually, it's all a lie. Thanks FOX. http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/08/kfc_in_fallujah_too_fingerlick.php Well now, Iraq has a new KFC open, in Fallujah. But, actually, it’s all a lie. Thanks FOX. http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/08/kfc_in_fallujah_too_fingerlick.php

]]> By: Erich Vieth http://dangerousintersection.org/2007/09/11/because-we%e2%80%99re-%e2%80%9ckicking-ass%e2%80%9d-in-iraq-president-bush-should-lead-a-parade-through-the-streets-of-bagdad/#comment-14339 Erich Vieth Mon, 17 Sep 2007 05:51:26 +0000 http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=1580#comment-14339 What if the U.S. suffered the equivalent of the Bush invasion of Iraq. That is the subject of a clever graphic here. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1813815 What if the U.S. suffered the equivalent of the Bush invasion of Iraq. That is the subject of a clever graphic here. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389×1813815

]]> By: Jason Rayl http://dangerousintersection.org/2007/09/11/because-we%e2%80%99re-%e2%80%9ckicking-ass%e2%80%9d-in-iraq-president-bush-should-lead-a-parade-through-the-streets-of-bagdad/#comment-14290 Jason Rayl Fri, 14 Sep 2007 12:57:36 +0000 http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=1580#comment-14290 Grumpy, Just for the sake of argument, let's assume Saddam had been taken out by one of his lieutenants--or just died of old age. Do you think the situation vis a vis Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds would be any different? It was Saddam's oppression, begun way back when the Ba'ath Party came to power, that kept a lid on the mutual animosities among these groups. Do you think if we pulled out, en masse, tomorrow, the violence would stop or escalate? Just wondering how much of this you attribute exclusively to our presence. Grumpy,

Just for the sake of argument, let’s assume Saddam had been taken out by one of his lieutenants–or just died of old age. Do you think the situation vis a vis Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds would be any different? It was Saddam’s oppression, begun way back when the Ba’ath Party came to power, that kept a lid on the mutual animosities among these groups. Do you think if we pulled out, en masse, tomorrow, the violence would stop or escalate?

Just wondering how much of this you attribute exclusively to our presence.

]]> By: grumpypilgrim http://dangerousintersection.org/2007/09/11/because-we%e2%80%99re-%e2%80%9ckicking-ass%e2%80%9d-in-iraq-president-bush-should-lead-a-parade-through-the-streets-of-bagdad/#comment-14285 grumpypilgrim Thu, 13 Sep 2007 16:22:24 +0000 http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=1580#comment-14285 Attributing to the surge what has been achieved through genocide is one of the big lies of Bush's occupation. If America waits long enough, a large percentage of the "evil doers" in Iraq will have slaughtered each other. Kill a bunch more with U.S. troops and, eventually, enough people (both "evil doers" and innocent targets) will be dead (or displaced) that violence will inevitably decrease. Survivors will move out of the neighborhoods they perceive as dangerous, and into regions they perceive as safer -- a mass migration that divides Sunnis, Shias and Kurds into more distinct geographical regions. Of course, the process will displace or kill a whole lot of innocent bystanders, but Republican neocons couldn't care less about that. They just want to prolong the chaos long enough for the inevitable decrease of violence to occur, at which time they will declare "victory" for their "strategy" and slap each other on the back for "staying the course." Erich's quote provides a perfect example of this. If a Shia neighborhood slaughters or exiles all of its Sunni residents, violence in that neighborhood will first go way up and then will naturally come back down. Is the inevitable drop in violence something to celebrate or claim credit for? In the big picture, no, of course not. But Bush and company have already begun doing it. Attributing to the surge what has been achieved through genocide is one of the big lies of Bush’s occupation. If America waits long enough, a large percentage of the “evil doers” in Iraq will have slaughtered each other. Kill a bunch more with U.S. troops and, eventually, enough people (both “evil doers” and innocent targets) will be dead (or displaced) that violence will inevitably decrease. Survivors will move out of the neighborhoods they perceive as dangerous, and into regions they perceive as safer — a mass migration that divides Sunnis, Shias and Kurds into more distinct geographical regions. Of course, the process will displace or kill a whole lot of innocent bystanders, but Republican neocons couldn’t care less about that. They just want to prolong the chaos long enough for the inevitable decrease of violence to occur, at which time they will declare “victory” for their “strategy” and slap each other on the back for “staying the course.”

Erich’s quote provides a perfect example of this. If a Shia neighborhood slaughters or exiles all of its Sunni residents, violence in that neighborhood will first go way up and then will naturally come back down. Is the inevitable drop in violence something to celebrate or claim credit for? In the big picture, no, of course not. But Bush and company have already begun doing it.

]]> By: Erich Vieth http://dangerousintersection.org/2007/09/11/because-we%e2%80%99re-%e2%80%9ckicking-ass%e2%80%9d-in-iraq-president-bush-should-lead-a-parade-through-the-streets-of-bagdad/#comment-14281 Erich Vieth Thu, 13 Sep 2007 02:37:22 +0000 http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=1580#comment-14281 Ambassador Crocker: "Baghdad Has Never Looked So Good." This is from an interview at <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/09/12/ambassador-crocker-bagh_n_64184.html ">Huffpo</a>: <blockquote>BLITZER: Is that one of the reasons that there's been a reduction in violence, because in effect, in Sunni neighborhoods there are no Shia and in Shia neighborhoods there are no Sunnis? CROCKER: Well, certainly, when, in a place like Sadr City, which is for example almost exclusively Shia, you see relatively little violence but that doesn't explain the general reduction in violence. That's attributable to the surge.</blockquote> Ambassador Crocker: “Baghdad Has Never Looked So Good.”

This is from an interview at Huffpo:

BLITZER: Is that one of the reasons that there’s been a reduction in violence, because in effect, in Sunni neighborhoods there are no Shia and in Shia neighborhoods there are no Sunnis?

CROCKER: Well, certainly, when, in a place like Sadr City, which is for example almost exclusively Shia, you see relatively little violence but that doesn’t explain the general reduction in violence. That’s attributable to the surge.

]]> By: grumpypilgrim http://dangerousintersection.org/2007/09/11/because-we%e2%80%99re-%e2%80%9ckicking-ass%e2%80%9d-in-iraq-president-bush-should-lead-a-parade-through-the-streets-of-bagdad/#comment-14275 grumpypilgrim Wed, 12 Sep 2007 16:04:10 +0000 http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=1580#comment-14275 A report this week on PBS interviewed an Iraqi woman who escaped the bloodshed in Baghdad and has since founded a non-profit called Women for Women International. She stated that women's rights were in some ways better under Saddam than they are today. She stated that during the chaos of the U.S. occupation, many professional and intellectual women have been assassinated, sending a clear message to the women who remain: stay home. I also noticed this week that some of the Republican presidential candidates continue to assert that we must stay in Iraq because "the people we are fighting in Baghdad are the same ones responsible for 9/11," causing me to wonder if the Iraq fiasco has made the Republican leadership more dishonest, more stupid, or both. A report this week on PBS interviewed an Iraqi woman who escaped the bloodshed in Baghdad and has since founded a non-profit called Women for Women International. She stated that women’s rights were in some ways better under Saddam than they are today. She stated that during the chaos of the U.S. occupation, many professional and intellectual women have been assassinated, sending a clear message to the women who remain: stay home.

I also noticed this week that some of the Republican presidential candidates continue to assert that we must stay in Iraq because “the people we are fighting in Baghdad are the same ones responsible for 9/11,” causing me to wonder if the Iraq fiasco has made the Republican leadership more dishonest, more stupid, or both.

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