Fogbuster

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Hold on, everyone: the war in Iraq is suddenly going to be "cool" again!!! Watch Hillary and all the Dems claim all the credit:

As Democrats See Security Gains in Iraq, Tone Shifts

As violence declines in Baghdad, the leading Democratic presidential candidates are undertaking a new and challenging balancing act on Iraq: acknowledging that success, trying to shift the focus to the lack of political progress there, and highlighting more domestic concerns like health care and the economy.

Former Senator John Edwards regularly brings up Iraq, but focuses on his opponents’ judgment.

Advisers to Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama say that the candidates have watched security conditions improve after the troop escalation in Iraq and concluded that it would be folly not to acknowledge those gains. At the same time, they are arguing that American casualties are still too high, that a quick withdrawal is the only way to end the war and that the so-called surge in additional troops has not paid off in political progress in Iraq.

But the changing situation suggests for the first time that the politics of the war could shift in the general election next year, particularly if the gains continue. While the Democratic candidates are continuing to assail the war — a popular position with many of the party’s primary voters — they run the risk that Republicans will use those critiques to attack the party’s nominee in the election as defeatist and lacking faith in the American military.

If security continues to improve, President Bush could become less of a drag on his party, too, and Republicans may have an easier time zeroing in on other issues, such as how the Democrats have proposed raising taxes in difficult economic times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/25/us.../EfHPOXHzQDwig



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"All that is required for evil to triumph is for good to do nothing."

DarrylS

Although things have quieted down, I still do not believe it is permanent, wait and see what happens when we start to withdraw troops and take the so called "boot" off of the throat..

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"Being the best doesn't mean you always win. It just means you win more than anyone else".. tweet from Kurt Warner to Tom Brady.

PressCoverage

exactly... what wife beater is going to smack his wife around while the cops are at the front door?... if they're not seperated, of course it's going to happen all over again shortly after the cops leave...

as has been said... it's only "quieting" in iraq because they're all already dead, seperated, or left the country... there wasn't going to be an infinite amount of sustained violence to measure... hello?

Harry Boy

We're Winning

Oh Lord

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Harry Boy (Genius)

In The Absence Of Law And Order Society Will Surely Destroy Itself

jack

With ethnic animosities,blood vandettas and simmering religion-based hatreds, it's slightly better than it was a year ago, but thats partly because of ethnic cleansing and the fact that we've essentially declared southern iraq ''Indian country'' and completly abandoned it now that the british have wisely left.
The indigenous politicaly social forces in iraq are biding their time, and as anyone knows the literature on civil wars and ethnic conflict can tell you it will explode in due time...

Real World

Agenda Boy at his finest. Sure though, you really want us to succeed there. The gains we've made were "luck" last week, and are now due to everyone in Iraq being "dead, seperated, or left the country". Of course it has nothing to do with the surge, Petreous' strategy, and the incredible job our hero's (uncourageous tools to some) in uniform are doing. Nope, none at all.


The gains there have been excellent and encouraging. However, whether or not they can be sustained is still up in the air. There is still alot that needs to be done, both politically, and socially. Employment opportunities, reconstruction, political reconciliation, and the ethnic integration of security forces at the local level will now be key. If we can somehow gain some headway on those issues in the next 6-12 months, then I think Iraq will have a better than 50/50 chance at stability. If we don't move forward in those area's, then it'll probably revert to a chaotic situation. I have a cautious optimism, and certainly no one should be glorifying what is a fragile window of stability.

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"The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him."
Leo Tolstoy, 1897

Real World

Again, do you know what you are talking about, or are you, like most in here, simply repeating whatever talking point the left, or the right, has been uttering in print, or on TV? When you say it's "slightly better than a year ago", and other asorted TP's, I have my doubts about the objectivity of your position.

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"The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him."
Leo Tolstoy, 1897

Patters

Of course the tone shifts. If fewer Americans and civilians are dying, that's good, but that doesn't negate the severe political and economic problems in Iraq, not to mention the very high economic cost of the war to us. It doesn't negate the fact that there are reports that Al Qaeda is gaining ground in Afghanistan or the fact that there continues to be death and destruction in Iraq. Nonetheless, with things quieter in Iraq, it's a very good time for the Dems to talk about other issues and there's naturally less urgency on Iraq, though the problem is still there.

Fogbuster

Looks like some people like good news but others do not. We will see what we will see, but I'm putting my money on a new Iraq coming out of this, one that will set the tone for the entire Middle East. Democracy is a foreign concept in the ME; only Turkey has any semblance of it, and they are half-considered part of Europe because of their degree of democratization.

When people have the freedom to choose what course they want to go, they tend to choose the best way. At the least they know they are responsible for their own future, and that alone makes for sensible choices being made.


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"All that is required for evil to triumph is for good to do nothing."

Patriot_in_NY

I love the spin...........

Denial is more then an river in Africa fellas.



p.s. A reminder....... winning, improved security, reduced casualties are GOOD things and t be celebrated and capitalized on. Gains are just that gains, then can be temporary or longer term, depending on what we do from here.

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Patroit_in_NY is now Patriot_in_ABQ