Who calls shots in Iraq, U.S. or insurgents?

The American Enterprise Institute. Hmmmm. From sourcewatch.org: "The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (AEI) is an extremely influential, pro-business right-wing think tank founded in 1943 by Lewis H. Brown. It promotes the advancement of free enterprise capitalism, and succeeds in placing its people in influential governmental positions. It is the center base for many neo-conservatives." No more need be said. Next!

"It was one of those strange Washington moments where the military expert with real experience as a combatant commander in the battlespace at issue was being told he was wrong by an Inside the Beltway expert who likely never fired a weapon at anyone in anger." - Frank James

It may be strange in Washington, but it's the norm here at The Swamp.

We've got at least 1/2 dozen chickenhawk chairborne commandos who've only ever pecked at a keyboard in anger.

The American Enterprise Institute is not in any way a real part of the American Government. They are a private foundation, created by a certain political group. What are they doing testifying about anything? They are a special interest group, nothing else. They are not elected and they do not represent the people of America. I hope nobody in Congress gives any weight to what anyone in that organization has to say about the war in Iraq. Of course, we know that certain ultra conservatives, who created that "Think Tank", to help them press their agenda, think they are 100% right. Come to think of it, they are, 100% right (wing)!

And Doug is in his full Doogie the Leftwing Loon mode now.
Again, Gen. Patreus is speaking of a better situation than Batiste.

the insurgents have the initiative since they can pick where and when to explode a truck bomb for instance.

In what insurgency is that not true? It seems like a specious point.

San Miguel,

Don't you wonder why so many supporters of intervening in the Iraqi multi-faceted civil war have never served themselves?

Everybody gets to have an opinion, but why is it the chickenhawks who cluck the loudest?

General Petraeus is Bush's current "dog robber". He will testify as instructed by Bush and Gates. He is one of those weak American generals that have been led around by their nose by the civilian chicken hawks. Have any of you noticed that we have been at this for almost five years and are worse off now than three years ago.
Petraeus interjected himself in the 2004 campaign. He wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post Sep. 26, 2004, that said among other things,"I see tangible progress...Iraq leaders are stepping forward...Iraq's security forces are developing steadily and they are in the fight". What kind of a report do you expect? T

John D, it shouldn't surprise anyone that General Patreus' public comments on the Iraqi situation might tend to ameliorate the conditions the American troops face. I think that if you're bespoken to the Commander-in-Chief, you pick your words very carefully; being a General also means that you've picked up some diplomacy skills.

Isn't it funny that the W. administration and the rest of the Republic Party is once again claiming that we're fighting Al-Qaeda in Iraq?

Al- Qaeda is miniscule in Iraq, these people aren't "insurgents", they're Iraqi's, and they're having an all out civil war that we started in the first place and to top off our stupidity, Prez Chimpy and his GOP followers have decided that it's a good idea to put our American troops in the middle of it.

NEOCON = S T U P I D

First off, I invite anybody with an open mind to actually read Kagan's testimony: http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/803vtvls.asp?pg=1

The gist of the testimony is that the surge has just started, so it's premature to make judgments.

If Frank James was an actual reporter, and not a DNC shill, he'd acknowledge that plenty of "in the field" army officers agree with Kagan. One example is Col. David Kilcullen, an Australian who's "over there" right now--which retired Gen. Batiste isn't. Kilcullen's latest article can be read at http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/2007/06/understanding-current-operatio/

Frank James and the "Swamp" never give readers both sides. That's why it's necessary to give the other side in this posting.

John D of course doesn't know a thing about combat and so he can't comment with integrity. Clearly we are in an undermined situation militarily. Not enough troops on the ground. Unclear mission. No real functioning government in Iraq. Anyone who has seen or heard a lengthy interveiw with Gen. David Petraeus knows that he fully grasps the untenable situation he has been placed in. This will go down in history as one of the great foreign policy blunders. History will not be kind to the Bush administration.

Wouldn't it be nice if it were the Iraqi government and people calling the shots?

General Petraeus is the current "dog robber" for Bush. He replaces Colin Powell who was used up after staging that dog and pony show for the U.N.
Petraeus helped Bush in 2004. Sept.26 he wrote in an op-ed in the Wash. Post,"I see tangible progress...Iraqi leaders are stepping forward... Iraq's security forces are developing steadily and they are in the fight". I think Petraeus will say whatever Bush and Gates tell him to say.

John E is back to his old cup of ignorant tricks. John E., the "insurgents" are largely not Iraqi, but Al Qaeda. Throw in some Sunnis and members of the Baath party and that is the problem. By why am I trying to educate the uneducatable?

Dan M. and Illogic Brain, Petraeus knew exactly the situation, he's been there for a few years now and is now the ground commander. But again, i am trying to educate the uneducatable.

All of you are graduates of the Chicago Public School System, right? Evanston Public School System? No school?

Kagan, a scholar, falls into the looney left's catagory of QWERTY warrior. He fights from here with his keyboard. No sand, no MREs, no Sunni. Has a very positive attitude. Not like the infantry captains that are retiring in droves.

Correct me if I'm wrong but...I thought that a "blog" is not a "report" rather it is more like an opinion piece. So where do you people who are looking for "balance" coming from if that is what you want?

Really Jane D, the insurgents in Iraq are not Iraqi's but Al-Qaeda?

...and you know this how? because it was written in your RNC talking points this morning?

Lochness Lefty Monster, this blog also is the property of a NEWSPAPER, which is to be OBJECTIVE. Also, reporters contribute to this blog and really isn't a good practice for reporters to be engaging in opinion pieces. While I and anyone with a clue knows that Frankie, Markie and the rest of the LIBune gang are lefties, by opinionating they do jeapordize their credibility.

By why am I trying to educate the uneducatable?

Posted by: John D | June 27, 2007 8:32 PM

Huh??? John correct me if I'm wrong but you've never spent a day in the military. You most likely have no (special top secret neo-con insane person) intel. Yet to read your comments you have your finger on the pulse of Iraq. I suggest you stick with that remedial reading and comprehension class. I think all the under educated posters you lectured can disseminate the news in Iraq without your help. p.s. what do those Al Qaeda dog tags look like anyway???

"John E., the "insurgents" are largely not Iraqi, but Al Qaeda."

Proof? Sources? Evidence?

Oh Wait, it's Johnny D, what was I thinking? Just another lie.

So kagan thinks the problem is we have been using political progress to fight this war and since that is not working we should use military might.He also changed the debate over the war from should we be fighting to "how" we are fighting it.
Maybe the trib should run a front page using pie charts and bar graphs to show us exactly how our money is being spent over there. Who is dead. Civilian/insurgent/alqueda. Who killed them Us/insurgents/alqueda. We could assess a point system, 5 points for alqueda, 4 points for insurgents, 3 points for an iranian, 2 points for suspected insurgents and 1 point for civilians. Since Iraq is such a grave threat we should be able to figure out the value of each dead Iraqi to america and compare it to the cost of killing them. This will give us the means to better assess how the war is being fought, and if we are getting an honest bang for our buck. Or we could just listen to the majority american people who already believe this war is a sham and get our people out, minus the coffin.

Do your readers here not know that Fred Kagan is the NEO-CONSERVATIVE AUTHOR of the Surge Strategy (so-called)? That Bush, grasping at straws to hang on, was handed a way to prolong facing up to the failure of the Iraq invasion...when Kagan handed him his "paper" talking about "victory".

You don't know that Kagan, as a neo-con, is part of the AIPAC bunch -- remember the Project for a New American Century (PNAC) in the 1990s calling for "a new Pearl Harbor"? You really ought to read it...and find out who is actually running the show in Washington, D.C.

Especially before the neo-cons, led by Cheney, drop nuclear weapons on Iran -- their next little project.

Fred Kagan believes that he is the President of the United States. Unfortunately George W. Bush agrees. He does everything Kagan tells him to do, because he has no mind of his own.

Draft Robert Mc Namara. At least he's a "born again" screw up. I was in the biggest "surge" of Vietnam. 500,000 men in August '66. Bring back the Draft and let's all go home.

For the people who are criticizing Kagan, how many of you have actually served overseas but still offer your opinion to anyone that asks because you are the only one with a right opinion. We seldom hear the positive things that the military has done over there from a majority of news agencies. As a former soldier who was over there, I still believe what we are doing over there is right and no matter what we should look for victory and not for defeat as so many people are looking forward to right now. Petreaus even stated when the surge began that we are going into a hornets nest and the public needs to realize that there will be an increase in the number of casualties. If you so called arm chair generals can fix it, then why aren't you a military commander?

I am a vet, and it seems clear enough to me. We never should have started this war in the first place, and now that it is a complete and total flop, and our troops keep dying because of bad leadership, we all want to blame them.

Get over it. The real fault lies with the "real" government, "We the Sheeple." We let this happen, both through complacency and the fear we let them instill in us. It is time for the sheep to stand up and take over again.

Remember, the Bush administration after all, are all "public servants." And the majority of the people in this country know they have done wrong. So stop bitching about it and fix it.

We can start by cutting off the head of the neocons and impeaching their REAL leader, Darth Cheney, the dark lord of the neocons.

[quote]
John E., the "insurgents" are largely not Iraqi, but Al Qaeda. Throw in some Sunnis and members of the Baath party and that is the problem.

Posted by: John D | June 27, 2007 8:32 PM
[/quote}

John D:

Got any proof that these "insurgents" are mostly Al Qaeda? A link to a creditable news source's web site will suffice.

Either that or admit that you're making up your facts again.

[quote]
Do your readers here not know that Fred Kagan is the NEO-CONSERVATIVE AUTHOR of the Surge Strategy (so-called)? That Bush, grasping at straws to hang on, was handed a way to prolong facing up to the failure of the Iraq invasion...when Kagan handed him his "paper" talking about "victory".

You don't know that Kagan, as a neo-con, is part of the AIPAC bunch -- remember the Project for a New American Century (PNAC) in the 1990s calling for "a new Pearl Harbor"? You really ought to read it...and find out who is actually running the show in Washington, D.C.

Posted by: Sandy | June 28, 2007 12:33 PM
[/quote]

Sandy, please don't confuse people like Bruce, John D and Paulo with facts; it makes them extremely grumpy.

Tim Flint is certainly correct about Bush, the puppet President. Anyone who has read the Washington Post's series on Cheney must now recognizes that Bush has been puppet to Cheney since he chose himself to be vice-president. The puppet master has been collecting his million dollar a year paycheck from Halliburton all this time. Who runs the show in the USA again? Fat Freddy Kagan is just the latest shill from the AEI to tell the generals how to run the Cheney's war!

I too find the statement that the insurgents are largely Al-Qaeda rather than Iraqi to be dubious at best. I'm sure there are many more Iraqis than there are Al-Qaeda in the entire world. And here we are talking about within Iraq itself.

If I remember correctly, the elder Bush and advisors thought that a full invasion of Iraq would be a mess of insurgencies and/or civil war even before Al-Qaeda was considered.

"If you so called arm chair generals can fix it, then why aren't you a military commander?"

Perhaps you should ask civilian Fred Kagan the very same question. What special qualification does he have to be arguing with the generals on the ground over tactics and strategy?

Regardless who is the "expert" on the escalation in hostilities or "surge", the FACT is during the first six months of 2007 (rough period of surge) there has been a 58% increase in American military deaths (601 vs. 379). Working or not - I find the price far, far too high for their Democracy and our failed effort at nation-building.

I live with a bunch if defeatists. I have spent most of our income on lottery tickets, my family, friends and neighbors all think this is wrong. Last week I spent the mortgage payment on powerball. Now these defeatists want me to stop playing, are they serious? Do they really think I should lose my home and family for nothing? How am I supposed to attain victory with all these idiots around me? The truth is, I can't win if I can't play, so if I can't play it is because of the defeatist that I won't be the millionaire I deserve to be. Youse guys are so stupid

I just got a loan from my mom. There will be a surge in lottery tickets this summer that will ensure my ultimate victory. Take that you lefty losers.(except you honey, and don't worry, the "I don't have a penny for clothing look" is making a big comeback here in the states, just think of yourself as a maverick trend setter)

So Eric W, would you be so kind as to tell us exactly what we should give someone who asks our opinion? Is there a list of of government sanctioned opines to draw from? Is that what fox means by talking points?
Nothing is stopping you or anyone else from educating us about the virtues of this conflict. I have been debating this war since it started, and aside from the fact that I am against it, this is what I have learned from the opposing position.
I have learned that I am an american hating, moron, faggot, marxist, socialist, racist. lying, homosexual lover, freak, leninist, baby ****ing, loser, illiterate, ignorant, christian-hater, terrorist harboring, hateful, muslim loving, evil, roman empire destroyer, guilty minded, weak minded, angry, stupid, godless, hypocrite, mental midget liberal. Thanks to your I can add arm chair general and know it all.
In the spirit of cooperation I will help you start a list of grand accomplishments.

1) We are now the #1 ranked killer of human beings on the planet.

OK, your turn.

So Eric W, would you be so kind to tell us exactly what we should give someone who asks our opinion? Is there a list of of government sanctioned opines to draw from? Is that what fox means by talking points?
Nothing is stopping you or anyone else from educating us about the virtues of this conflict. I have been debating this war since it started, and aside from the fact that I am against it, this is what I have learned from the opposing position.
I have learned that I am an american hating, moron, faggot, marxist, socialist, racist. lying, homosexual lover, freak, leninist, baby ****ing, loser, illiterate, ignorant, christian-hater, terrorist harboring, hateful, muslim loving, evil, roman empire destroyer, guilty minded, weak minded, angry, stupid, godless, hypocrite, mental midget liberal. Thanks to you I can add arm chair general and know it all.
In the spirit of cooperation I will help you start a list of grand accomplishments.

1) We are now the #1 ranked killer of human beings on the planet.

OK, your turn.

I apologize, I'm still learning the difference between preview and post.