i love post stalking people!
3/19/2008 12:33:57 AM
3/19/2008 1:25:13 AM
Housing Boom in Baghdadhttp://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=5041443
6/12/2008 5:17:24 AM
so thats where our subprime market went
6/12/2008 11:03:07 AM
^ No mortgages. All housing there is paid for in cash.
6/12/2008 1:36:30 PM
i know i was kidding.i cant imagine anyone who'd finance a house in baghdad
6/12/2008 4:16:35 PM
I mean, there are a ton of articles I dont post about Iraq because its the same thing over and over.75 insurgents captured or killed here, 19 AQI captured or killed there.Reconciliation everywhere. Im sorry, I called it. I am the fucking man.http://www.longwarjournal.orghttp://www.iraqupdates.com/index.phpBest 2 sites I have found. Fucking amazing.And its all because its what the Iraqi people want. No more, no less.[Edited on June 12, 2008 at 4:21 PM. Reason : das]
6/12/2008 4:20:49 PM
6/12/2008 4:47:02 PM
Pentagon: Violence down in Iraq since 'surge'
6/24/2008 8:20:30 AM
6/24/2008 9:08:24 AM
6/24/2008 9:16:17 AM
How quickly they forget. . .Clinton: Terrorist attack would help GOP
6/24/2008 9:44:29 AM
so the 'surge' has had the short term effect of reducing violence in the areas where the additional troops were deployed.yeah, that's great and all, but NO ONE -- not even the most strident critics of the Bush Administration -- doubted for a moment that a reduction in violence would be the immediate short-term result of a 'surge' in troop force.the question is, what will the Iraqis do once we reduce our troops back to pre-surge levels ... or lowerwill the country become once again enmeshed in violence? can they yet stand on their own and take care of themselves? do they have any capability of self-government? will the 3 major groups EVER work together, or are they going to balkanize into separate factions and start another campaign of bloody sectarian warfare?unfortunately, there's really no indication whatsoever that the leaders of Iraq's government has any capabililty to successfully run their own country and maintain any semblance of security without substantial support from the US.if you're happy with 150,000 troops in Iraq for 20 years, then why don't you just go ahead and say so.[Edited on June 24, 2008 at 12:13 PM. Reason : ]
6/24/2008 12:12:53 PM
^ You are wrong--again. Despite your claim that there is "no indication whatsoever that the leaders of Iraq's government has any capabililty to successfully run their own country and maintain any semblance of security," the Iraqi government is doing just that.From the link I posted above:
6/24/2008 12:25:09 PM
ok, so surge works, Baghdad is growing up to be a real lovely place to live and raise a family, it will probably be the next New York City, etc etc. so can we leave yet?Seems like before, we had to stay because thing were going to horribly that we had to fix it before we left. Now things are going peachy, so it seems like we might as well hang around. so, when is victory?
6/24/2008 12:39:12 PM
^ Probably never in the minds of you and your ilk. I mean, the Surrendercrats declared the war in Iraq lost already, right? We should stay there as long as it takes to achieve a stable Iraq--things continue to look promising. Obama has even talked about the progress in Iraq. What's the rush? Are you calling for us to rush out of South Korea and Germany and so on?http://youtube.com/watch?v=Tw8ES7E2-D4
6/24/2008 12:46:50 PM
the danger (however much lower than it was a year ago) and ongoing cost of being in Iraq are nothing like a few bases set up in peaceful democracies like Germany and South Korea
6/24/2008 1:35:53 PM
Yeah, and those countries are about fifty and sixty years out. Did you think that response through? No?
6/24/2008 1:42:26 PM
give me a break. You're doing a disservice to everyone who proudly fought and died in WWII to compare that war to the 5 year debacle that has been "Operation Iraqi Freedom"
6/24/2008 2:02:46 PM
^ I'm doing nothing of the sort. I'm simply saying that the Iraqi government is already doing much better in a very difficult environment--imagine how well things could be going decades down the road if the progress continues.
6/24/2008 2:13:30 PM
6/24/2008 2:35:32 PM
^ Have you heard of the Middle East? Have you heard of our enemies there? Have you heard that we've been working to help stabilize that region for decades? You are the ignorant one, schmoe. You've been ate up with it worse than usual lately.
6/24/2008 2:41:27 PM
oh, yes, I'm familiar with the Middle East. But are you?because this debacle in Iraq, has certainly improved our standing in that region, our perception, and our real capacity to meet clear and present threats to our national interest. oh boy, has it ever. Now just in case you cant understand sarcasm, let me add something you can understand : Iran has now become more powerful than ever as they expand into the power vacuum created by our shortsighted plan to rebuild the nation of Iraq in our image. yeah, we've really impressed the power players in the Middle East alright. they're just all damn sure amazed by our ability to get bogged down in a quagmire. Never mind that we can't even keep Afghanistan under control, much less even find the guys responsible for attacking our country in the first place.Look: the whole fucking problem, as widely agreed by political and military scholars of all persuasions, has been that we screwed up in Iraq and the Middle East, exactly because we applied policies and strategies that were designed to contain the Soviet Union's influence in the Cold War.the fact that you are STILL trying to equate Iraq to West Germany or South Korea shows just how intellectually bankrupt your position is.[Edited on June 24, 2008 at 2:54 PM. Reason : ]
6/24/2008 2:45:48 PM
yeah, generally democracy (that isn't a big scam) and economic growth come after a country has become educated, developed health care, etc.Aaaaand I'm done here.
6/24/2008 2:54:59 PM
Yes, on July 4 I celebrate that our founding fathers provided the healthcare and education resources that formed the great foundation of this democratic republic.
6/24/2008 9:17:52 PM
7/3/2008 2:37:47 PM
7/3/2008 3:44:04 PM
7/3/2008 3:48:17 PM
^I absolutely agree.The thing is...most of america feels that Iraq is still a lost cause because the mainstream media outlets are not reporting it. I had a conversation with a friend the other day and he thought McCain actually said he "wanted" to stay in Iraq for 100 years....McCain never, ever said that.It is absolutely amazing how uneducated the general public is regarding this issue....and the press is absolutely silent.....after reading editorial after editorial for the past 3 years of how it was a lost cause and we should give up, it appears they are too full of themselves to actually REPORT THE NEWS!
7/3/2008 4:17:18 PM
Military progress is definitely being made. However, is the political progress that the surge was supposed to help being made?
7/3/2008 4:19:39 PM
He might not have said he "wanted" to stay in iraq for 100 years, but he did say he would be fine with ithttp://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/04/mccain-100-years/
7/3/2008 4:19:59 PM
^Exactly.....no one in their right mind "wants" us to stay in Iraq. If the need is there, the need is there...if it isnt, lets get out and move on. Thats bascially what hes saying.
7/3/2008 4:30:32 PM
7/3/2008 4:33:29 PM
Umm, you being pretty particular about the semantics and I don't think you can fault your friend as being uneducated on this point.If McCain believes that AQI will be there for 100 years, then I obviously think he does "want" us to be there.
7/3/2008 4:36:39 PM
It will never be minute. We have 45,000 troops in Germany, 47,000 in Japan, and 30,000 in South Korea. Once a lasting peace is established I'd be surprised if we ever have less then 50,000 or so in Iraq, especially with the volatility in the region.Those numbers are off the top of my head and I'll take responsibility if they aren't correct.
7/3/2008 4:40:52 PM
Right on for SK, Maybe 10,000 short for Japan, but I don't know if that has anything to do with the realignment.General idea - unchanged. We've got a LOT out there.
7/3/2008 4:45:55 PM
Any idea on how much we spend in Germany? I guess it isn't the actual number I care about so much, it's the sheer amount of money we are wasting on TNT that we drop on brown people and petrol to move them around, etc.
7/3/2008 4:51:56 PM
^^^^Consistent with our energy security policies of the last 30 years, I have to imagine that we will establish a fairly large base in order to protect the Strait of Hormuz and aid in our other interests in the region. As to whether we will be able to draw down our forces soon without an escalation in violence, I really don't know. I wish I had a better idea of the actual conditions out there, but there are just a lot of conflicting reports from various news sources.I haven't made up my mind as to whether the costs and negative ramifications of our presence in the region outweigh the benefits. But it's quite obvious that our military objectives have shifted from cold war era proxy battles to energy security as our primary goal. The threat of terrorism and opportunity for "nation-building" in Iraq was a key selling point for neocons and red-blooded, patriotic Americans, but I have to surmise that energy security was paramount in the ultimate decision to invade. [Edited on July 3, 2008 at 5:05 PM. Reason : 1]
7/3/2008 4:55:15 PM
7/3/2008 6:41:01 PM
Barack Obama purges Web site critique of surge in Iraq
7/17/2008 7:50:31 AM
7/17/2008 12:57:32 PM
7/18/2008 9:07:19 AM
Did you include the cause of death in those? No, because that would ruin your skewing of the facts.Between 1980 and 1999, hostile deaths and terrorist attacks is 583.Between 2000 and 2006 - 2675.
7/18/2008 9:46:58 AM
So I looked all through that pdf, and I can't find anything remotely resembling those numbers?Are they made-up?
7/18/2008 9:53:01 AM
I couldn't see his numbers either. Mine were taken from the graph that cuts up military deaths by cause (I used calculator and added).
7/18/2008 9:54:49 AM
Yeah, I'm looking at CRS-8, too. Arab13-- when you need to falsify sources in order to make your point, you should reevaluate your views.
7/18/2008 10:04:15 AM
christalmighty, Arab13 if you're going to try to lie using falsified data, you should not put the raw source for people check your facts.
Calendar Total Accident Hostile Suicide HomicideYear Deaths &Illness Action 1980 2,392 1,787 174 11 4191981 2,380 1,765 145 0 4571982 2,319 1,749 108 0 4461983 2,465 1,832 37 263 1151984 1,999 1,667 17 6 841985 2,252 1,751 111 22 3631986 1,984 1,583 2 27 1031987 1,983 1,555 62 2 1041988 1,819 1,365 90 26 3211989 1,636 1,294 23 37 581990 1,507 1,112 74 43 2771991 1,787 1,239 147 33 1121992 1,293 914 109 17 2521993 1,213 868 86 9 2211994 1,075 776 83 0 2061995 1,040 788 67 4 1741996 974 700 15 19 521997 817 592 42 0 1701998 827 455 40 3 1681999 796 449 37 15 1502000 758 549 34 20 1382001 891 621 58 141 492002 999 736 44 162 532003 1,228 810 367 186 422004 1,874 877 746 201 452005 1,942 933 765 175 522006 1,858 777 779 192 42
7/18/2008 11:15:50 AM
hey, i was up till 4am, didn't have my coffee yet, and didn't dig through the CR here at work... sorry.SkankinMonky - i thought it said for any reason
7/18/2008 11:40:29 AM
So that's making its rounds through the internet? I wonder what motivates people to write this stuff.(all my acquaintances know not to send me political spam-- they get a 5-page retort in a reply-all )
7/18/2008 11:48:14 AM
i'm too lazy for that...
7/18/2008 11:51:23 AM