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UK Iraq Envoy Says Bush's Escalation Is Failing
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| UK Iraq Envoy Says Bush's Escalation Is Failing
- Click HERE to go to the original thread with graphics
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| Ass Boil |
US surge is failing, says UK's Iraq envoy
By Colin Freeman, Chief Foreign Correspondent, and Philip Sherwell in New York, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 1:08am BST 21/05/2007
The "troop surge" by American soldiers in Iraq is not working, one of Britain's senior military officials in Baghdad has said.
In a pessimistic assessment of the strategy designed to pull Iraq back from all-out civil war, Alastair Campbell, the outgoing defence attaché at the British Embassy in Baghdad, claimed that extra US forces were not achieving the desired drop in violence.
Mr Campbell, whose remarks may cause embarrassment to Downing Street and anger in Washington, said that the casualty figures for April - in which 1,500 civilians are believed to have been killed - provided no "encouraging" evidence.
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Speaking on the record last week to a public audience at Chatham House, the London-based foreign-policy research institute, he said: "The evidence does not suggest that the surge is actually working, if reduction in casualties is a criterion. The figures in April were not encouraging."
In unusually candid comments, Mr Campbell also disclosed that American commanders had decided that the criteria for the "success" of the troop surge would be nothing more than a reduction in violence to the level prior to last year's al-Qaeda bombing of the al-Askari Mosque in Samarra, which destroyed its golden dome.
The destruction of the shrine, one of the most important Shia sites in the world, led to a dramatic escalation in sectarian conflict between Sunni and Shia factions, peaking at 3,500 deaths in September last year. Casualty figures had been running at 800 a month before that, a level that few would regard as anything approaching peace.
While the United States military has made little secret of its view that the bloodshed in Iraq can now only be contained, rather than stamped out altogether, the suggestion that 800 murders a month in the country would be a measure of success is an indication of how far the coalition has been forced to reign in its expectations.
Mr Campbell, who holds the rank of colonel, left Baghdad in February and is about to retire. His remarks that the troop surge seems not to have succeeded may also be a premature judgment.
American generals have insisted that the success - or otherwise - of the surge cannot legitimately be assessed until September, when Gen David Petraeus will present a six-month review of the year-long operation to the US Congress. Gen Petraeus, the commander of coalition forces, has said that even by then, there may be no "definitive" conclusions, as many of the 20,000 soldiers involved in the surge will not arrive until next month.
Jack Keane, a retired US general and one of the co-authors of the "surge" blueprint, rejected claims that the tactic was failing, citing a marked drop in sectarian violence since the extra troops began arriving in January. "From a security perspective, the surge is making steady progress," he told The Sunday Telegraph. "The major indicator is the reduction in sectarian violence. We will get the full effect after the last brigade arrives in June."
The casualty count for April of 1,506 civilian deaths, from Iraqi government figures, was 20 per cent down from March, when 1,861 civilians were killed. The figure for February was 1,645.
Dan Goure, a Pentagon adviser, confirmed that the use of the Samarra benchmark was common among military commanders. "If we get back to pre-Samarra levels, then that's a significant reduction in violence, especially sectarian violence, and will provide the momentum for further improvements."
The Ministry of Defence said Mr Campbell was speaking only in a personal capacity. "We are in agreement with the Americans, that it is too early to give an estimate of the impact of the troop surge yet," said a spokesman.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/mai.../20/wirq120.xml |
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| Stonewall |
It's not working?
So the strategy of telling the enemy all of our plans isn't working to defeat them? That's odd.
Telling the enemy how we really want this to work and it might be the last straw if it does not work.... that isn't working?
This is a strange war. All the other wars we always told the enemy all we planned to do and how we could be defeated, and that always worked.
This is so strange... |
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| zimmie |
| liberals don't want it to work........everyone knows that....it isn't news |
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| salafibrigades |
Quote: Originally posted by zimmie
liberals don't want it to work........everyone knows that....it isn't news |
Retard Alert!!! Retard Alert!!!! zimmie is here!!! |
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| Luther |
Quote: Originally posted by zimmie
liberals don't want it to work........everyone knows that....it isn't news |
Why can't everyone just get along? Maybe if we kill enough of them and build enough permanent bases and hold enough democratic elections, they will stop fighting us and each other. |
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| otherone4life |
| shock ...our own generals didn't think this surge was going to work but they (to their credit) implement W's dumb ideas ....keep feeding the sons and daughters into the meat grinder (as Chuck Hagel calls it) |
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| Ass Boil |
Quote: Originally posted by Stonewall
It's not working?
So the strategy of telling the enemy all of our plans isn't working to defeat them? That's odd.
Telling the enemy how we really want this to work and it might be the last straw if it does not work.... that isn't working?
This is a strange war. All the other wars we always told the enemy all we planned to do and how we could be defeated, and that always worked.
This is so strange... |
So what was the excuse the first 5 times they tried it and didn't announce it?
You are clueless. |
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| Ass Boil |
Quote: Originally posted by zimmie
liberals don't want it to work........everyone knows that....it isn't news |
God damn you are stupid.
Is there ANY issue that does not fly right over your tiny head? |
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| Jack Shit |
Quote: Originally posted by zimmie
liberals don't want it to work........everyone knows that....it isn't news |
Thank you for your dumb opinion. :) |
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| zimmie |
C'mon admit it boyz......we know you don't want it to work......
but support the troops huh? |
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| Jack Shit |
Quote: Originally posted by zimmie
C'mon admit it boyz......we know you don't want it to work......
but support the troops huh? |
You want it to work. We already know it won't.
You support the troops by your willingness to get more of them killed FOR NOTHING.
This war was lost the day it started because of the lies of the Bush Admin. and sheeple like you. |
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| Ass Boil |
Quote: Originally posted by zimmie
C'mon admit it boyz......we know you don't want it to work......
but support the troops huh? |
The fact that after the same "strategy" failed 5 times already you still think it will "work" tells us everything we need to know about you.... The fact that you need to hide behind the troops to defend the failed "strategy" tells us even more.
You are a dumb coward. |
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| Fdubya247 |
| Why do UK Iraq Envoy's hate America? |
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| Stonewall |
Quote: Originally posted by Ass Boil
So what was the excuse the first 5 times they tried it and didn't announce it?
You are clueless. |
They didn't announce it? They have announced everything. Everything. Troop surges for the elections. They announced Fallujah, more than once. There is nothing they have not announced. Watch a hearing sometime. |
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| Jackie's Career |
Quote: Originally posted by Jack Shit
You want it to work. We already know it won't. |
The question is do you want it to work? Although we already know the answer to that.
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| Ass Boil |
Quote: Originally posted by Stonewall
They didn't announce it? They have announced everything. Everything. Troop surges for the elections. They announced Fallujah, more than once. There is nothing they have not announced. Watch a hearing sometime. |
Yeah, you're right stoney.... the only reason escalation isn't working is because people are talking about it......
And why would George Bush do something like that? It's almost as if he doesn't really care about solving the problems in Iraq. But that thought is blasphemy. He is the "War President", after all..... right?
I watch plenty of hearings, but thanks for the suggestion..... Maybe you should go one step past watching the hearings and actually use your big brain to honestly put 2+2 together........ |
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| patcracker |
Second Life for Study Group
Iraq Woes Lead To a Reappraisal
By Michael Abramowitz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, May 21, 2007; Page A01
After an initially tepid reception from policymakers, the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group are getting a second look from the White House and Congress, as officials continue to scour for bipartisan solutions to salvage the American engagement in Iraq.
With negotiations continuing this week on a new war funding bill, the administration is strongly signaling that it would accept the idea of requiring the Iraqi government to meet political benchmarks or else risk losing some assistance from the United States. That was one of the key proposals from the group headed by former secretary of state James A. Baker III and former Indiana congressman Lee H. Hamilton, but it was initially dismissed by the White House when first proposed last December.
Link |
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| Crazytree |
Quote: Originally posted by Stonewall
It's not working?
So the strategy of telling the enemy all of our plans isn't working to defeat them? That's odd.
Telling the enemy how we really want this to work and it might be the last straw if it does not work.... that isn't working?
This is a strange war. All the other wars we always told the enemy all we planned to do and how we could be defeated, and that always worked.
This is so strange... |
This language and concepts in this post do not follow logically.
This post makes no sense. |
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| Jack Shit |
Quote: Originally posted by Jackies Career
The question is do you want it to work? Although we already know the answer to that. |
OK, I admit it, I don't want it to work!!! I'm just another America-hating liberal who hates America! Happy now asshole? :rolleyes: |
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| Jackie's Career |
Quote: Originally posted by Jack Shit
OK, I admit it, I don't want it to work!!! I'm just another America-hating liberal who hates America! Happy now asshole? :rolleyes: |
I don't think you're an America hater simply because you don't want it to work. You're just extremely partisan, and possibly retarded, because a failed state in Iraq would be bad news for the entire world even after Bush is gone.
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| ChaseDC |
| The republicunts don't give a crap if the surge works or not. all they want is to prolong this ill-conceived war. There is no plan, no strategy to win this war. |
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| Jackie's Career |
"The republicunts don't give a crap if the surge works or not. all they want is to prolong this ill-conceived war."
Yeah, that makes sense :rolleyes: |
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| otherone4life |
| exactly chase ...W is running out the clock so a Democratic President is forced to make the tough decision to pull the troops. It's very consistent with W's history ....trashes the place (both of his companies, the T. Rangers, the state of Texas, etc ...) and let's someone else clean up his mess ... |
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| DUDE-HERE |
Quote: Originally posted by Jackies Career
"The republicunts don't give a crap if the surge works or not. all they want is to prolong this ill-conceived war."
Yeah, that makes sense :rolleyes: |
ITS NOT SUPPOSED TOO
ITS AN EMOTIONAL RANT WHICH REQUIRES ZERO THOUGHT..JUST SAY
" YEA " |
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| ChaseDC |
Quote: Originally posted by Jackies Career
"The republicunts don't give a crap if the surge works or not. all they want is to prolong this ill-conceived war."
Yeah, that makes sense :rolleyes: |
prove they do. |
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| ChaseDC |
Quote: Originally posted by DUDE-HERE
ITS NOT SUPPOSED TOO
ITS AN EMOTIONAL RANT WHICH REQUIRES ZERO THOUGHT..JUST SAY
" YEA " |
Smoke another bowl, brainless. |
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| ChaseDC |
Quote: Originally posted by otherone4life
exactly chase ...W is running out the clock so a Democratic President is forced to make the tough decision to pull the troops. It's very consistent with W's history ....trashes the place (both of his companies, the T. Rangers, the state of Texas, etc ...) and let's someone else clean up his mess ... |
Typical Bush. All he is doing is waiting until his term is over and then the republicunts will blame that sitting president. |
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| Jackie's Career |
Quote: Originally posted by ChaseDC
prove they do. |
Because they want to win elections, obviously. |
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| Jackie's Career |
Quote: Originally posted by ChaseDC
Typical Bush. All he is doing is waiting until his term is over and then the republicunts will blame that sitting president. |
Why would they blame Rudy? He didnt have a vote in the matter. |
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