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Mark Fuhrman
Citizen
Username: Mfpark
Post Number: 1080
Registered: 9-2001
| | Posted on Friday, January 7, 2005 - 8:45 am: | 
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Baghdad -- Sen. John Kerry, whose seemingly shifting positions on the U.S. war in Iraq plagued him throughout his presidential campaign, came to this war- torn capital Wednesday to see for himself whether the country was moving toward stability or deeper into chaos.
Kerry, who repeatedly charged during the presidential campaign that President Bush had botched the war effort, was greeted warmly by U.S. soldiers in Baghdad.
"I've been visiting a lot places like Des Moines and Green Bay, and it has been great," the Massachusetts Democrat said during an informal lunch meeting with a small group of reporters and representatives of nongovernmental organizations. "But we are at war, and I think you can't really make all the judgments that you need to make without digging in."
He declined to compare the growing insurgency with the one he faced in South Vietnam as a Navy gunship lieutenant more than three decades ago. But he insisted that superior firepower alone wouldn't quell the uprising disrupting Iraq.
"No insurgency is defeated by conventional military power alone," he said. "Look at the IRA," the Irish Republican Army, which fought a decadeslong guerrilla war against the British in Northern Ireland before a Catholic- Protestant power-sharing government was put in place. "It was defeated by a combination of time and political negotiation."
Kerry, who talked with U.S. intelligence officials and Iraqi officials on Wednesday, was also scheduled to meet with officials of the U.S. Embassy and with members of the interim Iraqi government, including interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and a deputy to Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, the Shiite leader at the top of an electoral list favored in Iraq's Jan. 30 elections.
U.S. soldiers approached Kerry inside the restaurant of the Rashid Hotel, asking him to pose for photographs and sign T-shirts. The star-struck restaurant manager insisted on serving Kerry the restaurant's specialty, a plate of grilled chicken and lamb.
Later in the day, Kerry met with about 20 soldiers based in his home state, including reservists from the 356th Engineer Detachment and 126th Aviation Company of the Massachusetts Army National Guard at Camp Victory, where soldiers are bivouacked in luxury villas once inhabited by Saddam Hussein and his loyalists.
"They all joked about how living conditions had changed since Sen. Kerry was in Vietnam," said David Wade, the senator's communications director.
Kerry was scheduled to fly on a C-130 military transport plane today to visit troops in Fallujah and Mosul.
The senator said he was more interested in asking questions of soldiers, U.S. officials, Iraqis and even the journalists themselves instead of rehashing the political battles of the past campaign season.
But in several instances, Kerry attacked what he called the "horrendous judgments" and "unbelievable blunders" of the Bush administration. The mistakes, he said, included former U.S. occupation leader Paul Bremer's decisions to disband the Iraqi army and purge the government of former members of Hussein's Baath Party. Both moves are widely believed to have fueled the largely Sunni insurgency.
"What is sad about what's happening here now is that so much of it is a process of catching up from the enormous miscalculations and wrong judgments made in the beginning," he said. "And the job has been made enormously harder."
He added, however, that it was time to move forward.
"Mistakes have been made," he said. "Now, it's a different time and different set of judgments that have to be made. I'm here to make judgments about what moves are available to us."
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Guy
Supporter
Username: Vandalay
Post Number: 453
Registered: 8-2004
| | Posted on Friday, January 7, 2005 - 9:57 am: |
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Kerry spends his new year the same way he spends most of his year : away from the Senate.
Even Jesse Jackson slammed Kerry fot not being around for that nutty Electoral College challenge.
“And we need him here in Washington today. Those who cannot lead today cannot lead in 2006 or 2008. This is the moment of truth!”
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Rastro
Citizen
Username: Rastro
Post Number: 585
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Friday, January 7, 2005 - 10:03 am: |
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At least he wasn't on vacation.  But you're right, he should be in the Senate. That's what he was elected for, not galavanting all over the world campaigning for a position he already lost. |
Madden 11
Citizen
Username: Madden_11
Post Number: 574
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Friday, January 7, 2005 - 10:15 am: |
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I suspect (and hope) that Kerry will find himself with exactly as much support in 2008 as Lieberman had in 2004. |
cjc
Citizen
Username: Cjc
Post Number: 2975
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Friday, January 7, 2005 - 12:22 pm: |
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Kerry could be either in Iraq or the Senate wailing about either situation, and his effectiveness would have matched that of his entire Senate career. A career, I might add, which he chose not to highlight in his run for the Oval Office and for good reason. |
jjkatz
Citizen
Username: Jjkatz
Post Number: 510
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Friday, January 7, 2005 - 1:20 pm: |
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The best thing about the 2008 election is that Bush won't be running. |
cjc
Citizen
Username: Cjc
Post Number: 2980
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Friday, January 7, 2005 - 1:28 pm: |
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Jeb might change his mind! |
jjkatz
Citizen
Username: Jjkatz
Post Number: 511
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Friday, January 7, 2005 - 2:28 pm: |
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I don't know anything about Jeb's politics, but I know that unlike his brother, he possesses more than the requisite number of brain cells for walking upright. |
Mark Fuhrman
Citizen
Username: Mfpark
Post Number: 1087
Registered: 9-2001
| | Posted on Friday, January 7, 2005 - 2:32 pm: |
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Jeb was the one that Daddy was grooming for the White House--the Bush dynasty was caught by surprise when W. became the Second. |
Southerner
Citizen
Username: Southerner
Post Number: 37
Registered: 2-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, January 8, 2005 - 12:49 pm: |
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Mark,
You are correct. Jeb will be the Repub nominee one day. The next couple of years will determine if it's 2008 or whether he'll wait. It's the same situation Hillary found herself in this past time around. If Iraq improves and the economy keeps humming then I expect Jeb in '08. If things don't go to well then the Repubs will hold onto their guy for a time when he has a better chance to win. |
ashear
Supporter
Username: Ashear
Post Number: 1633
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, January 8, 2005 - 7:18 pm: |
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Yes, thank god Bush is still in power so that we have guys with this kind of insight running the war
Mr. Wolfowitz...opened a two-front war of words on Capitol Hill, calling the recent estimate by Gen. Eric K. Shinseki of the Army that several hundred thousand troops would be needed in postwar Iraq, "wildly off the mark." Pentagon officials have put the figure closer to 100,000 troops.
....In his testimony, Mr. Wolfowitz ticked off several reasons why he believed a much smaller coalition peacekeeping force than General Shinseki envisioned would be sufficient to police and rebuild postwar Iraq. He said there was no history of ethnic strife in Iraq, as there was in Bosnia or Kosovo.
He said Iraqi civilians would welcome an American-led liberation force that "stayed as long as necessary but left as soon as possible," but would oppose a long-term occupation force. And he said that nations that oppose war with Iraq would likely sign up to help rebuild it. "I would expect that even countries like France will have a strong interest in assisting Iraq in reconstruction," Mr. Wolfowitz said. He added that many Iraqi expatriates would likely return home to help.
....Enlisting countries to help to pay for this war and its aftermath would take more time, he said. "I expect we will get a lot of mitigation, but it will be easier after the fact than before the fact," Mr. Wolfowitz said. Mr. Wolfowitz spent much of the hearing knocking down published estimates of the costs of war and rebuilding, saying the upper range of $95 billion was too high....Moreover, he said such estimates, and speculation that postwar reconstruction costs could climb even higher, ignored the fact that Iraq is a wealthy country, with annual oil exports worth $15 billion to $20 billion. "To assume we're going to pay for it all is just wrong," he said.
From the NYT of 2/28/03 via Political Animal http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2005_01/005419.php |
Strawberry
Supporter
Username: Strawberry
Post Number: 4232
Registered: 10-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, January 9, 2005 - 9:59 am: |
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boring |
tjohn
Citizen
Username: Tjohn
Post Number: 2862
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, January 9, 2005 - 10:03 am: |
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Ashear,
Now look what you did. You overwhelmed Strawberry with facts and reality. Shame on you.
It's OK Straw. Mommy Wolfowitz will come tell you it going to be OK. |
Strawberry
Supporter
Username: Strawberry
Post Number: 4233
Registered: 10-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, January 9, 2005 - 10:25 am: |
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overwelmed me with facts he copy and pasted? How ingenius of Ashear.
libs...
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Ukealalio
Citizen
Username: Ukealalio
Post Number: 1650
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, January 9, 2005 - 1:17 pm: |
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Can someone please tell me how you spell putz in English ?. |
cjc
Citizen
Username: Cjc
Post Number: 2986
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, January 9, 2005 - 3:10 pm: |
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U.....K....... |
jerkyboy
Citizen
Username: Jerkyboy
Post Number: 8
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, January 9, 2005 - 3:16 pm: |
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u.....k.....e..... |
Strawberry
Supporter
Username: Strawberry
Post Number: 4235
Registered: 10-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, January 9, 2005 - 3:21 pm: |
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ashear
Supporter
Username: Ashear
Post Number: 1634
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, January 9, 2005 - 9:28 pm: |
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At least I'm ingenious enough to know how to spell ingenious (and overwhelmed).
I don't usually do that but he started it http://www.southorangevillage.com/cgi-bin/show.cgi?tpc=26018&post=313066#POST313 066 And of course he did not respond to the substance of the post. What could he say. Not sure how a fact loses potency from being cut and pasted. |
Ukealalio
Citizen
Username: Ukealalio
Post Number: 1651
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, January 9, 2005 - 10:00 pm: |
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ashear-I sincerely hope you didn't think my post was in any way directed at you.
This boring stuff is sooooo
Can anyone tell me how to spell putz in English ? . |
Bobkat
Supporter
Username: Bobk
Post Number: 7174
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, January 10, 2005 - 4:56 am: |
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Unlike a lot of posters here Ashear credited his post.
Instead of nit-picking it might be good to take a close look at Wolfowitz's faulty thought process and how it got us to where we are now.
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ashear
Supporter
Username: Ashear
Post Number: 1635
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, January 10, 2005 - 8:57 am: |
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No Uke, that was all for Straw.
I agree Bob. I think the groupthink and intolerance of dissent in the administration blinded them, and continues to blind them. |
Strawberry
Supporter
Username: Strawberry
Post Number: 4239
Registered: 10-2001
| | Posted on Monday, January 10, 2005 - 8:59 am: |
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boring and out of touch with reality. |
tjohn
Citizen
Username: Tjohn
Post Number: 2864
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Monday, January 10, 2005 - 6:05 pm: |
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Trollberry,
It is quite out of character for you to describe Bush in that way. |
Strawberry
Supporter
Username: Strawberry
Post Number: 4245
Registered: 10-2001
| | Posted on Monday, January 10, 2005 - 7:09 pm: |
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I bought girls scout cookies from Tjohn. |
tjohn
Citizen
Username: Tjohn
Post Number: 2865
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Monday, January 10, 2005 - 7:22 pm: |
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Maraming salamat po! |
Strawberry
Supporter
Username: Strawberry
Post Number: 4246
Registered: 10-2001
| | Posted on Monday, January 10, 2005 - 8:02 pm: |
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Áåç ïåðåâîäà. |
cjc
Citizen
Username: Cjc
Post Number: 3000
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Monday, January 10, 2005 - 9:51 pm: |
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Uke's spelling problems reveal possible ADD. |
Guy
Supporter
Username: Vandalay
Post Number: 468
Registered: 8-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 11, 2005 - 9:43 am: |
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ADD : Another Defeated Democrat. |
Ukealalio
Citizen
Username: Ukealalio
Post Number: 1659
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 11, 2005 - 11:21 am: |
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Actually cjc, most people with ADD don't necessarily have problems with spelling, that would be more a symptom of dyslexia. ADD can sometimes hinder comprehension because of a difficulty in focusing. Since this seems to be your problem, I would suggest daily doses of Ritalin. |
Strawberry
Supporter
Username: Strawberry
Post Number: 4251
Registered: 10-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 11, 2005 - 12:08 pm: |
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alright people, let's cool it with the spelling attacks. If DAVE & JAMIE WOULD INVEST IN A DAMN SPELL CHECK IT WOULD SOLVE THE PROBLEM! 
I type like 100 words a second, and half are spelled wrong..a spell check would be nice for folks like me who don't have time to check and re-check and re-check my posts.
I'm sure Uke would say the same.
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Rastro
Citizen
Username: Rastro
Post Number: 593
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 12, 2005 - 5:18 am: |
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<drift>
There is a spell checker for this software, apparently (/discus/messages/3137/46748.html?1095288938).
Anyone notice that Ritalin (Ri'-ta-lin) is spelled the same as (Ry-tal'-lin) from Star Trek's Requiem for Methesulah? Coincidence?
</drift> |
Face
Citizen
Username: Face
Post Number: 485
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 12, 2005 - 9:55 am: |
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Specifically who gave the cheers, where and when? Or is this another Democratic fantasy.
“Baghdad -- Sen. John Kerry, whose seemingly shifting positions on the U.S. war in Iraq plagued him throughout his presidential campaign, came to this war- torn capital Wednesday to see for himself whether the country was moving toward stability or deeper into chaos.”
Seemingly shifting positions? Seemingly? What the heck is that word in there for?!
Kerry, who repeatedly charged during the presidential campaign that President Bush had botched the war effort, was greeted warmly by U.S. soldiers in Baghdad.
Unfortunately, the article doesn't include the location of this warm greeting, aside from the bar in the al Rashid Hotel. I ask Could it have been in Cambodia?
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Dave
Moderator
Username: Dave
Post Number: 4971
Registered: 4-1998
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 12, 2005 - 10:42 am: |
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And here's the Republicans' fantasy..
US ends search for WMD in Iraq
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/01/12/wmd.search/index.html |
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