In news conference with Iraqi leader, he says U.S. withdrawal would free 'terrorists' for attacks elsewhere
WASHINGTON - Denying he has painted too rosy a picture of Iraq, President George W. Bush said yesterday that terrorists could "plot and plan attacks elsewhere, in America and other free nations," if U.S. forces were withdrawn. He said he would consider sending more troops if asked, but Iraq's interim leader said firmly that they weren't needed.
Bush and Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, standing in the Rose Garden under a bright sun, agreed that Iraq is making steady progress despite bombings, beheadings and violence that has claimed the lives of more than 1,000 Americans and many more Iraqis.
"On television sets around the world we see acts of violence; yet in most of Iraq, children are about to go back to school, parents are going back to work and new businesses are being opened," Bush said.
Allawi said 14 or 15 of Iraq's 18 provinces "are completely safe."
Full Story @ Newsday.com
Posted by Muddy at September 24, 2004 07:06 AM | TrackBackDont worry if Kerry is elected he will have us out of Iraq in 6 months, er 4-6 years, er (what do the polls say they want to hear?)
Posted by: cwilli at September 24, 2004 11:28 AMsad thing is that it's true... THere s no easy way out now... Iraq in chaos would be the perfect heaven for terrorists ...
duh ... is.
They said the exact same thing about Germany when we occupied them in WWII. They were wrong and so are you.
Headlines:
Germans Reveal Hate of Americans. Oct. 31, 1945.
Loss of Victory in Germany Through U.S. Policy Feared. November 18th, 1945
Germans Declare Americans Hated, December 3rd, 1945
The American media has a long history of being against very partisian.
http://pep.typepad.com/public_enquiry_project/2004/06/the_ny_times_on.html
Posted by: cwilli at September 24, 2004 01:04 PMI'm sorry but to call IRaq chaotic is a bit of an over statement. You should hear the men who jsut returned and testified before congress about the state of Irq. One said that to watch the news reports made him physically sick. He said the lies an absurd negativity being spread about Iraq in the news media has rendered him unable to watch a newscast since he returned from Baghdad.
This was an infantry officer. This was aguy who was in the thick of it and he said that it's not as bad as they make it out to be.
What is true is that there is no easy way out. To pull out imeediately would be bordering on insane. But that's simply a by-product of war.
Posted by: skywalker at September 24, 2004 02:00 PMThis is what makes me so upset about the idiots who think that by watching the news, they get the whole story. They do no research and then they come here and spout the same crap that they are spoon fed by the media.
They think that they know what is going on but the fact is they dont and never will...
Posted by: cwilli at September 25, 2004 11:20 AMMy view of the media will forever be tarnished by the things I witnessed them do while I was at Camp Pendleton. They will say any lie to make things look the way they want them to look.
Posted by: skywalker at September 25, 2004 04:54 PM"They will say any lie to make things look the way they want them to look."
Yes, and unfortunately, it seems that only a small percentage of americans (not to mention the rest of the world) are smart enough to see and understand that point.
Posted by: mrs. muddy at September 25, 2004 06:14 PMI only fully understood it once I witnessed it first hand.
Posted by: skywalker at September 25, 2004 11:43 PMok...well, maybe it's just me.:-P
Posted by: mrs. muddy at September 26, 2004 08:14 AMOh, I thought I did before...but once I saw them in action, I found out that what I knew wasn't even the half of it.
Posted by: skywalker at September 26, 2004 10:06 PMWell, you'll have to share some stories sometime.
Posted by: mrs. muddy at September 26, 2004 10:36 PMFYI US body count in one year of occupation of : Irak 2003-2004 : 1000
Germany 1945-1946 : 0
So may be the news were overreacting in Post nazi Germany. But the situation was in no way as dangerous as it is now in Iraq.
Of course People go to work everyday and schools reopen. But then that was also the case post 9-11 in the USA.
More than 10 000 iraqi civil deaths in this war. But of course life goes on. Hopefully things will turn out for the good. However brushing away evidence of error and danger is in no way the best path for success...
Rumsfeld even had to admit that may be elections will have to be post poned after january ...
oh, DF. your all wrong. its the liberal press that sets off roadside bombs everyday. its the press and there lies about everywhere outside the "green zone" being unsafe and unstable. its the media and their lies that say iraq is so unstable, that half the country wont have "elections".
what we need to is "pacifiy" them like rumsfield insist. hmmm, how do you pacifiy a city of several hundred thousand people that all hate you?
"Widespread anxiety engulfed much of Iraq this month as a wave of car bombings, kidnappings and gun battles killed scores of American soldiers, Iraqi civilians and hostages.
The continuing violence has overshadowed signs of progress and put a damper on the prospect of democratic elections.
"How can we hold elections when they will bomb every polling booth?" asked Husham Mahdi, a 29-year-old communications engineer in Baghdad, echoing a common sentiment."
yea. damn media and all their distortions.
"In 15 out of our 18 Iraqi provinces we could hold elections tomorrow. Although this is not what we see in your media, it is a fact."
- Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi
Last I understood 15 out of 18 is not half the country. Of course thats all media propaganda..... or better yet; Bush propaganda!
Funny how it works both ways. Yea. that damn media.
And DF your right that there were no Americans killed during the occupation of Germany following WWII. However your not taking into account that most all of the insurgents who are fighting in Iraq now are not Iraqi's. They are coming in from other countries to fight us in Iraq, which is much better than fighting us here in America.
Posted by: cwilli at September 29, 2004 09:49 AM"They will say any lie to make things look the way they want them to look."
PERFECT EXAMPLE!
Posted by: cwilli at September 29, 2004 09:53 AMI don't see your point cwilli. Allawi says its safe. Others say it is not.
So far, this US Administration lied about the WMD, lied about terrorist links between Saddam and Al Quaida, piled up errors in a huge stairway to hell ...
Well ... ANything close to it is hard to be trusted.
We'll see what election say. 3 months is close now.
I shall remind you that one year later you still do not believe that there were no WMD in irak, even though Bush and blair admit it ... So I bet that even if no election happen in january february... Even if they are flawed with bombs and all ... You would still say that there is no problem...
The only hope in the region is to be put on the shoulders of Al sistani. A moderate shiite movement taking control of Iraq and a call for a UN military force ... That's the best to hope for Iraq ...
My point is this. Allawi lives in Iraq. If he says that 15 out of 18 provinces are ready to vote and the media says different. I believe him.
I believe that there were WMD in Iraq (I believe that they are now in Syria). I strongly believe that there was a connection between Saddam and Al Quaida. I believe that there will be elections in Iraq (on time) and I believe that the UN is a corrupt, inept group that we should have no part of. In fact we should do the exact opposite of whatever the UN thinks we should do
I can find news stories that both argue and prove my points. Neither you nor I actually live in Iraq and nobody will actually ever be able to prove of these things. So I am tired of idiots who only blindly watch the news, do no research on their own, and come here and spout crap.
I also believe that the humanitarian reasons alone were enough to remove Saddam from power.
Humanitarian reasons ALONE.
Humanitarian reasons ? Why Iraq then and not iran, syriah, saoudi arabia ... Or soudan, china ...
May be you mean these reasons were enough, but there were other reasons that decided which undemocratic and highly repressive country to invade. A country poorly armed with lots of oil ennemy of israel.
President chirac lives in France, if he were to say elections can not be held for security reasons now, I would not believe him.
But you would ? Just because he lives there ?
My point is not about allawi's statements. In fact It seems highly possible that elections can be held in 15 regions now. Yet if the sunnite regions are the ones who won't vote because they are under the rebellion control ... It will alter the results of the election. Possibly it will prevent many sunnites from trusting the government ...
Imagine Bush saying in 49 states, the election process was good... All but one. ANd I was elected because of this one...
Clearly one region is enough to wreck it all.