Troop Surge question?

Question

Charles Schumer, one of bush's harshest critics says the surge is going well.

Bill Maher said "of course the surge is working, if a cop is on the street crime is going to go down."

Didn't the liberals say the surge wasn't going to work?

Why can't they just admit they were wrong?

Answer 1

They can not admit that they were wrong because then the people that voted for them might kick them out of office.

Answer 2

The surge was not going to work. But the surge has worked.

Everybody from the Brookings Institution to the Washington Post has gotten around to admitting that. Even such an inveterate war opponent as Rep. Brian Baird, who voted against virtually every bill supporting the war, has reversed his stance to accept the simple, undeniable fact that the surge is working.


But that doesn't matter anymore. The surge is irrelevant, because there's no "political settlement". Iraq Shi'ites and Sunnis are still at loggerheads. None of the "benchmarks" has been reached, none of the crucial questions concerning representation and division of oil resources and revenues has been dealt with. Surge or no surge, Iraq's sectarian nightmare rolls on.


Except that on August 26, leaders of Iraq's three major sectarian groups, Sunnis, Shi'ites; and Kurds, laid down the basis for a settlement by clearing away the most galling issues preventing reconciliation: provincial autonomy, the status of ex-Ba'athist party members, and the release of Sunnis in custody without charge. This may well be the first step toward a lasting political order.

Answer 3

Here's a question for Bill, how can a single cop being on the street in say NYC lower crime, it's a big city and a crime not occur their anyway.

But beides that the Democrats have hitched their 08 campaign to failure or at last a worsening of the situation in Iraq. If they admit things our getting better wll then they lose the mainstay of their campaign platform.

Answer 4

I am far from liberal but I am very sceptical of people saying that the surge is working... Yes, violence has been down in Anbar and consequently the number of violent acts have been down for Iraq but violence has increased in Baghdad and the outskirts of Baghdad... the surge has actually been concentrated in Anbar but troops were taken out of Baghdad to support the surge... this indicates that the insurgents are just moving out of the areas where there is going to be a large military presence... We have yet to just cover the entire nation of Iraq. And we can't, we don't have the troops to cover that entire territory without asking more from our allies (and most are not willing to do this or they would have already) or taking more troops out of Afghanistan (which, by the way, is increasing in Taliban insurgency violence since we have taken troops out of that country to go into Iraq.... we do have two occupations occuring now and we need to remind ourselves of this).

So the question has to be: Are we willing to be there forever, chasing out insurgents then rechasing and rechasing... people call this the "whack-a-mole srategy and it is apt.

Yes, it is working for one objective and not addressing the other objectives. By ignoring objectives in something as serious as a war I have to still call this entire enterprise a failure.

Answer 5

The best thing the liberals could do is admit that they were wrong; it would give them at least some shred of credibility.

However, in their view, they are never wrong....

There were some contributing circumstances (such as extra boots on the ground! ) which altered the playing-field.

So, no, they won't admit to an error.. they cannot.

wsulliva

Answer 6

I got a letter just today from Gen Patraeus (not me specifically, it went out to all the troops in theater) that explains what he is going to tell Congress this next week.

Now that the Surge is officially working, the Dems are shifting their attack. At first, it was "We can not win militarily" so we should leave immediately.

Gen Patraeus proved them wrong with expert tactics and a finely executed offensive.

The argument now is "The Iraqi Government isn't making enough progress." so we should STILL leave, even though we are winning militarily.

I haven't seen ONE answer to your question yet, but I'd bet dimes to dollars that you're getting this kind of diatribe.

The Dems will go to great lengths to lose this war. One (cough*Hillary*cough) has outright said that success in Iraq will give Republicans an "edge" in the 2008 election.

Allow me to give you quote from Gen Patraeus's letter :

"In spite of these challenges, our operations - particularly the offensive operations we have conducted since mid-June - have helped produce progress in many areas on the ground. In fact, the number of attacks across the country has declined in the 8 of the past 11 weeks, reaching during the last week in august a level not seen since June 2006. This trend is not just a result of greater numbers of Coalition and Iraq Security Forces; it reflects your determination, courage and skill in conducting counterinsurgency operations. By taking the fight to the enemy, you have killed or captured dozens of leaders and thousands of members of Al Qaeda – Iraq and extremist militia elements, you have taken many of Al Qaeda’s former sanctuaries away from them, and you have dismantled a number of their car bomb and improvised explosive device networks. By living among the population with our Iraqi partners, you have been holding the areas you have cleared. By helping Iraqis reestablish basic services and local governance, you have helped exploit security gains. And by partnering closely with Iraqi Security Forces, you have been strengthening Iraqi elements that will one day have the sole responsibility for protecting their population. Indeed, while Iraqi forces clearly remain a work in progress, Iraqi Soldiers and police are very much in the fight, and they continue to sustain losses that are two and three times our losses.”

David H. Patraeus
General, United States Army
Commanding

Answer 7

It's against their religion. If a liberal admits he's wrong about anything it opens him up to the possibility he might be wrong about other things as well. That means he's not perfect and all liberals know they are perfect. If you don't believe me just ask one.

Answer 8

You need a real sur... escalation adding up to 600000 men to control them.
Otherwise, you'll get another Vietnam.

A single cop can do nothing in a 'hood.

Answer 9

I'm glad to hear it, if it saves some lives.