Bush: Attack Should Not Derail Elections

[leftchick]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041221/ap_on_re_mi_ea/us_iraq&cid=540&ncid=1480


"We just want them to know that the mission is a vital mission for peace," Bush told reporters after visiting wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Hospital.


The explosion that ripped through a dining tent at a U.S. military base in Mosul killed at least two dozen people, including U.S. soldiers. Seven of the dead worked for U.S. Army contractor Halliburton or its subcontractors, a company spokeswoman said.


More than 60 people were wounded. Reports on the cause of the explosion varied, with some blaming rockets or mortars fired into the base and others saying a bomb may have exploded inside the mess hall tent. Bush called it a "rocket attack."


Bush said the violence, part of a continuing wave of unrest in Iraq, should not affect elections scheduled for Jan. 30.


"I'm confident democracy will prevail in Iraq," he said.



President Bush (news - web sites) with his wife, Laura, speak to the media outside the Fisher House on the compound of the Walter Reed Army Hospital, Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2004, in Washington. The President and first lady visited wounded servicemen and their families. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)

[latteromden]

1. Coming from the same guys that wanted to shut down OUR elections in case

of terrorist attacks?!

[Walt Starr]

2. GMTA!

That is EXACTLY what ran through my head when I first read this!

[cliss]

16. Great point!!!

Why are they more important than us????

[joanski01]

3. This guy just makes me want to

:puke: Is this ever, ever going to end?

[leftchick]

4. God, I hope so joanski01

are you listening God?? :(

[durablend]

5. "Can you spare a couple of lightning bolts?"

PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE?

[OnlyInAmerica]

6. I actually agree with him

If "elections" in Iraq are postponed every time there is an attack they will never be held. If we aren't leaving until there is a "democratically elected" gov't in place then I want the "elections" to happen sooner rather than later.

[Bridget Burke]

7. Don't hold your breath.

Bush's crowd sees continuing US presence in Iraq as useful in the geopolitical sense.

[grumpy old fart]

9. We aren't EVER leaving, under the neocons....

"The war is not meant to be
won. It is meant to be continuous."
G. Orwell
Welcome to 1984.

[One_Life_To_Give]

11. Thats the problem

Fair elections could be good for Iraq. But that means needing a independent group (U.N.) to run the elections. And a definate option for the Iraqi people to vote for the US to get out of their country.

I see our "Military Governors" in Iraq, are doing their best to rule out the latter . And the former is suspect under the best of circumstances.

[Robbien]

8. Sure, our troops are bleeding to death & Bush's first thought is elections

"Elections are going to be held come hell and more hell", says Bushie. "Oh by the way ma'am, too bad about your son".

[lebkuchen]

12. Most US dead today than since Shock and Awe

Chuck Hagel said events were worsening in Iraq, genius that he is.

[leftchick]

15. wasn't there a helicopter downed with 19 dead?

about a year ago? As far as US troops that seems comparable. At least if they are being honest with the numbers. It is so hard to plow through the BS.

[lebkuchen]

18. You're right

Since the helicopter downing.

That we know of.

Although, MSNBC says, "deadliest since war began"

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6727646/

[Walt Starr]

10. We're there for ten years or more

By the time we turn tail and run, more than 50,000 American servicement will have given their lives.

Iraq is the 21st century Vietnam.

[leftchick]

13. in your dreams...

the US has no intentions of leaving Iraq. Those bases haliburton/kbr are building are essential to the continued course of US Dominance in the Middle East and control of thier oil. Where the hell have you been? On to Syria and Iran! Go PNAC!

[driver8]

23. You are right, leftchick...

Anyone that thinks we are there for democracy is living in la-la land. This war is about the control of natural resources as defined by the PNAC.

Bush and his cronies are criminals. These poor families that are losing their sons and daughters because of the greed of a few is so sad...

I wish the American people would wake up before Iraq reaches the death toll of Vietnam.

[Solly Mack]

17. Wipe off your shoes and smell the horseshit

Cause Bush has got America walking knee-deep in the stuff.

We're not leaving Iraq anytime soon...election or no election.

[leftchick]

21. well said Solly!

I love a realist's point of view!

:)

[Left Brain]

14. Yeah, well I'M confident

that he's a lying, thieving idiot.

[madbelgiancow]

19. As long as there is one Iraqi left standing,

on a smoking pile of debris, he will be coerced to vote, Diebold will switch his one vote, and Bush* will call it a huge success because the voter turnout was 100%.

No moral, no values.

[Barrett808]

20. My theory: Insurgents planning rope-a-dope

Given that it will be impossible to protect 9,000 voting stations, and that US forces we be deployed extraordinarily thinly to attempt this feat anyway, I expect the insurgents will make some token attacks to fulfill delusional Rumsfeld expectations. But they will actually target US bases, maybe even the Green Zone, in a very real offensive across the country.

They know the elections are irrelevant to their purpose of outright military victory, but the election charade provides a convenient and potentially devastating distraction for US forces.

Imagine a few US firebases falling to insurgents, just as Iraqi police stations have fallen: Hundreds of US troops killed and captured, videos of GIs begging for their lives under threat of beheading or waterboarding.

Then it will be mellow.

[lastliberalintexas]

22. Waterboarding?

What does that mean? Thanks in advance!

[Barrett808]

24. One of the Rumsfeld-approved torture methods

Consists of tying a victim to a board and inverting his/her body to immerse his/her head in a bucket of water. A form of simulated execution, the victim believes he/she will be drowned. Can be repeated indefinitely.

[leftchick]

25. New Improved Headline: Bush Says Troops Were on Mission of Peace

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20041221/ts_nm/iraq_bush_dc_3

:puke:

[despairing optimist]

26. Earth replies: Elections won't derail attacks

Who's living in the alternate universe? I've lost my way. Can I go home now, Good Witch of the North?

[Flammable Materials]

27. The Ritalin president. n/t