Prebuttal to Petraeus: The Surge has Failed

In a prebuttal to General Petraeus' testimony, Lieutenant General William Odom (ret.) and Lieutenant General Robert Gard (ret.) joined former Congressman Tom Andrews to discuss the failure of the surge tactic in Iraq.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• iraq
• war
• robert
• gard
• william
• odom
• tom
• andrews
• petraeus

[ashrakay]

It's un-American and foolish to question authority, to demand results, to expect competence?

I'm curious what your model for a free, democratic society is. I'm thinking it's Pakistan or China.

[lldanj]

Touche! Those are strong arguments indeed.

[smartincreative]

UGH! Still having this same old argument? Me and 80% of the country don't give a fuck about Iraq. We are just trying to keep our homes from being foreclosed on, keep our gas tanks and oil tanks full, and try and hang on to our jobs. Meanwhile we're watching the dollar dwindle and our retirement accounts lose value by the day. Iraq can go to hell (if it hasn't already)

[harobedyelsnit]

That can hardly be true since almost everyone in my closest family are Conservatives. I don't hate anyone - part of my childhood upbringing. I may hate a person's actions or words, but I don't hate people.

You may not read this since you ended the discussion. That's okay. We've probably gone as far as we can go on this topic. Peace be with you.

DebMo

[NakedLadyMudFlap]

People like you Hate all Conservatives so I'm going to humor you by Hating you back. I think that you're un-patriotic, un-American, and that you talk much and understand little. I think that you're 10 miles wide and 1 inch deep. You're thinking threatens the future of the Entire World and I stand against you. End Of Discussion!

[harobedyelsnit]

Juan Cole: The Maliki government & its allied Shiite faction, the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, are much closer to Iran than the Sadrists. ... It was the head of that Quds Force,an Iranian general, who bailed out Maliki after the assault on Basra failed, forcing him to send officials to Iran to broker a truce.

[harobedyelsnit]

You always lace your arguments with insults. Is that just for effect, to try and bully me into something or is it just because you get off on it? Hmmmm.

According to all my reading and thinking, and what else do we have to go on after all, you are the one in error. I don't know all of Sadr's motives, but I do know, even if he disbands the Medhi Army, there's going to be a lot of bloodletting yet to come. What happens when Sadr becomes a powerful member of the government? He's not our friend.

[harobedyelsnit]

Well I think you are the one mistaken so I guess there's no resolution to this particular argument. I base my opinions on reading a wide selection of reports and some books not so much on gut reaction. I guess we'll see this play out. I think Sadr wants a legitimate (stronger) position in the government.Any concessions he makes are toward that end. We'll be seeing a lot of him in the future(unless he's killed).IMHO

I've enjoyed jousting with you. Ididn't really expect to sway you. Thanks.

[harobedyelsnit]

Wow, quite an imagination you've got there. Did you find the "way back" machine for that one? All wars are not the same. Where I stood during the Revolutionary war would have depended on my status, where I came from, my background, wealth, etc. Apparently, you can't think of anything current to rebut my arguments so you are making up these fantasies about the past to condemn me. More interested in condemning than in rational argument perhaps?

[NakedLadyMudFlap]

Wrong...Maliki did not meet with the Iranians and did not send any surrogates to request a cease fire....biased lft wing reports of that are in error and probably purposefully so. You eat propaganda like it's popcorn. Try thinking for youself for a change. Why would Al Sadr offer to disband if he won? He wouldn't. The Iranians sent his guys out in hopes that Maliki would cave like he has in the past...and he didn't. They were trying to send u ammuntion for the hearings. They like you!

[NakedLadyMudFlap]

GW lost most of the battles he fought in and had many that criticised him and wanted him removed. My guess is that you would have been one of those and not respected by Ol' George...just like you're not respected by me. George ignored the you types and America was born. You embrace every oportunity to see things in the worse light and ignor anything that's positive. You make your decisions based on a D or an R next to someone's name. Your opinion is jaded and therefore worthless.

[NakedLadyMudFlap]

If we wanted to control it we would. Kuwait has as much oil as Iraq and we've had an army sitting there more than once that could have easily taken over. BTW, your lefty portrayal of Maliki's defeat is in error. 1,000 Itaqis did refuse to fight but they were mostly police...13000 Iraqi army stood and fought. Al Sadr did request a cease fire at the urging of Iran, but Maliki did not negotiate with Iran and has since increased troops in Sadr City causing the offer to disband.