A company of Iraqi soldiers abandoned their positions on Tuesday night in Sadr City, defying American soldiers who implored them to hold the line against Shiite militias.
The retreat left a crucial stretch of road on the front lines undefended for hours and led to a tense series of exchanges between American soldiers and about 50 Iraqi troops who were fleeing.
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
Can our guys come home now?
Our soldiers may as well be fighting a fire at some guy's house who refuses to listen and continues to pour gasoline onto his own house.
The single overarching goal is to get out of Iraq with no other consideration than the safety of our troups and such collaborators whose lives would be compromised without our protection. Any other precondition that we place upon withdrawal will become pretext for continued occupation.
I hope Obama is the President who will do it. I don't think Hillary or McCain have the guts.
Guts? Seriously? I understand your premise, and respect your point of view, but don't equate dodging our responsibilities to guts.
Here's an apology to all of those that wished and worked for Peace:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFGkxFcB6UA
Maybe the US army could get a few of those polygamists to trick them to stay at their posts.
Had,say, the Chinese invaded America for our natural resources, then, to control those against the occupation, had formed an "army" of Americans. Would you join that army? And, for some reason, such as to have money to feed your family, if you decided to join, would you kill other Americans when ordered to do so by the Chinese?
Hume,
from such situations are successful insurgencies made and sustained. Using the foreign occupation army as a resource to train your own people for a long-term insurrection and overthrow has been successful since the beginning of human history. One need only look at the Soviet experience in Afghanistan or read Mao's ON GUERILLA WARFARE (YU CHI CHAN) to understand this simple fact.
Let's bring our people home to proper care and a new GI Bill as they deserve, and get the Hell out of this bloody debacle of the Busheviks.
The sooner the better.
Leland R. Erickson
Citizen
Hume, many Iraqis are doing just what you say... this is a story of ONE unit who abandonded their post.
They were backed up by an elite force of Iraqis.
You act like the whole country is against the U.S. Don't you think a good portion of the Iraqi population would like the Iraqi gov't to succeed and bring more peace, and function better?
Why do you support the Revolutionaries who would bring chaos and anarchy?
You are so strongly opposed to your own countries actions, that you can't see the big picture of what's at stake.
You speak in generalities and analogies and declare grand statements as if they were gospel, yet they are only opinions.
EVERYONE on the planet would LOVE to see the U.S. troops OUT of Iraq. Right now, they are busy supporting the Iraqi gov't and the people who have thrown their hat in the democracy ring.
You speak romanticly of the "Freedom Fighters" of Iraq because they kill Americans. You claim it's only "by definition", but if the "by definition" standard were applied to YOU, you would whistfully be called a "traitor"; because by definition, you root for the enemies of the U.S. soldier.
Get your head out of your ass Smelly and read Hume's post again. Try to understand it this time. He made it simple enough so that even you can understand it.
And while we're doing silly hypotheticals...
What if the European Union invaded the US and overthrew Bush and had him hanged by a hand-picked Court of MoveOn.com members headed by interim Chief Justice Olbermann? And after disbanding the US Army, the Euro coalition formed a new army of former anti-war protesters that was tasked with tracking down former neocons and transporting them to Gitmo for imprisonment and hanging.
Would you join that army?
Hume was asking that you exercise empathy to understand an analogous situation, not to exercise antipathy and express your predjudices. They are opposites, you know, but you still did not undermine his point. Better luck next time.
All things considered, and as long I was searching out Neocon traitors our government was unwilling to prosecute and not just average citizens, yes I might join.
Our troops are doing the best they can yet with so many of the Iraqi Army deserting this has serious repercussions. These desertions puts our troops at risk. Also if our troops are doing all the work why would the Iraqis step up and take responsibility. It is ridiculous that after 5 years the Iraqis are still not standing up while our troops are on 5th and 6th tours of duty. It is an unfair and dangerous situation.
You're missing the point Probus.
This isn't about 'capable' this is about Iraqis REFUSING to kill other Iraqis.
The resistance to our military occupation has now taken a very dangerous turn.
It is much easier to train an army to fight foreign invaders. To train them to kill their own people is problematic, to say the least.
When you say that "Iraqis are still not standing up", keep in mind, Sadr supporters are just as much Iraqis as those in the Iraqi army.
This entire war is taking an important and crucial turn, the Iraqis will do nothing to help American soldiers.
It's shocking that Iraqis will not help the foreign occupying force that invaded them, killed their people, armed different factions to kill each other, stole their natural resources, installed corrupt leadership, enshrined Sharia Law into the constitution and gave them Abu Graib.
This is going to get even uglier than it's been.
Thank you Bush Co and Israel and Neocons. Great job flushing America down the toilet.
"Due to the recent setbacks in Iraq, the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off!".
Gen. Petroleaus
And isn't the good general blaming the Iranians for turning the light off?
LOL. I love "Gen. Petroleaus" even better than "Gen. Betray-us". I usually call him "the lying General".
"Vietnamization" Deja' vu???
Now these are some REAL Americans.
http://alternet.org/waroniraq/82447/
They learned their cowardice from Cheney and Bush. Which is why McLoser sees the need to be there for 100 years -
I don't see how Iraqis defying the orders of an occupying force to kill their own countrymen is cowardice.
Hell no, most of these guys who are over 35 served together in the war with Iran and from what we know held their ground against human wave mass assaults. Ask Korean vets what it takes to do that.
Only collaborators take orders from an army of occupation.
Bingo!
"Only collaborators take orders from an army of occupation."
The U.S. army is there to support the Iraqi gov't.
"But it's a puppet regime" you say...
...I say it's better than ANARCHY. The REVOLUTIONARIES in Iraq are not interested in installing a MORE democratic form of gov't in Iraq. They are Anti-Democracy.
SUPPORT DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ.
Please give me your list of countries that we have invaded to install democracy. I wonder if Saudia Arabia feels threaten by your and Cheney's lust for democracy?
SUPPORT DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ - TRY BUSH FOR WAR CRIMES
Peterg76: Excatly right.
Smelly One: You speak of democracy but, really dont a clue as to the facts or reality as to what our gov't has installed.
Are you aware that American gov't officials and lawyers helped enshrine Sharia Law into the Iraq constitution as the superceding authority?
Our corrupt criminals have no interest in democracy!
Divide and conquer is the plan and while Iraqis are busy killing each other, Bush & ZioNeoCon scum can invade Iran.
""But it's a puppet regime" you say... I say it's better than ANARCHY"
It's a shame Bush and the neocons didn't understand this about Saddam's regime before they let Pandora out of the box.
The pillar of democracy is self-determination. Something that for Bush, his cronies and the vast majority of flag-waving American "patriots", isn't even on the radar.
It has nothing to do with our continued catastrophic presence in Iraq, or what we think would be best for the Iraqis. It has everything to do with their individual and collective choices. Their willingness to make a better life for themselves, stand up to anarchy and violence, or not.
To destroy our military, our economy, our currency and our moral legitimacy, in a useless attempt to mold and control Iraq (while simultaneously surrendering many of our most sacred rights), is beyond comprehension.
Face it,,,,,,what you want is a govt that will kiss the USA's ass.
Well, moron, if you go in and rape and klll and abuse their people for kicks, you have to be one REALLY stupid person to think they want you there.
I want to ask youi one more time...........were you in Iraq when Saddam was in power?
If not then STFU........
It was a quite peaceful place and safe and clean...........except NOT if you were a terrorist or Islamist. which Saddam HATED,
Yeah. Goooooooooooooooooooooooo shiite death squads!
Precisely....................good point..
New York Times | MICHAEL R. GORDON | April 15, 2008 10:57 PM