Rumsfeld Says Defeat of Iraq Insurgency Is Up to Iraq Forces

[Kadie]

Rumsfeld Says Defeat of Iraq Insurgency Is Up to Iraq Forces

June 26 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the insurgency in Iraq may continue for years and it will be up to the Iraqis, not U.S. troops, to end it.

``We're not going to win against the insurgency, the Iraqi people will win against the insurgency,'' Rumsfeld said on the ``Fox News Sunday'' program this morning.

He also downplayed a report in the London-based Sunday Times that U.S. officials have met twice this month with several insurgent groups. Such meetings ``go on all the time,'' Rumsfeld said. ``The attention to this is overblown.''

more...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aVF.iIMErvVY&refer=us

[bemildred]

1. Does this mean we can leave? nt

[Roland99]

7. My exact thoughts.

Trouble is, the Iraqi forces won't be trained in enough size for a very long time. They are being asked to fight against fellow Iraqis and they are also under pressure as they and their families are at risk from attacks because they are members of the Iraqi police or guard.

[mom cat]

28. No no no! It just means if we lose its the Iraqis fault, not ours. We

don't lose wars anymore, not since Vietnam.

[LynnTheDem]

2. So the world's first & only HYPER-POWER CAN'T WIN...

but the devastated, bombed, invaded, occupied IRAQIS have to.

Uh huh.

Gee, good thing bush attacked Iraq and liberated everyone. :eyes:

[VegasWolf]

24. We haven't won ONE thing with Bush at the helm of the Titanic. nt

[prodigal_green]

3. but but but

we don't negotiate with terraists, right?

NOTE: whenever they say, "it happens all the time" be assured that A) it is an activity that is illegal
B) it is an activity that is immoral
C) it is an activity that is fattening (the wallets of the chimp cronies)

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

19. I pick D) It directly contradicts their public stance.

[stray cat]

4. So he thinks American troops aren't doing anything important?

[Mikimouse]

5. This is a setup!

When the Iraqis are in full blown civil war, *, Rumsfeld, and the band of cronies will approach the people through the media with a sad face saying that the Iraqi people are clearly not capable of handing things by themselves and require the intervention of the US. Back we go and there we stay.

[thebigidea]

6. one story in a London paper is overblown attention?

[katinmn]

8. What is he really saying? Does he even know?

"...while the battle against insurgents may continue through the drafting of a new Iraqi constitution later this year and may get more violent, the political progress in Iraq is ``amazing.'"

What's amazing is that we are still in Iraq.

[hangtotheLEFT]

9. Well, Rummy....

THAN WHY THE FUCK DO OUR MEN HAVE TO DIE FOR THE INSURGENCY?!?!?

Enough is goddamn enough already! Could someone (ANYONE!) with 1/2 a fucking brain & 1/2 a fucking conscience please take control of this illegal war & GET US THE FUCK OUTTA' THERE!?!?!?!?

AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!


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clinton got head......BUSH KILLS TROOPS DEAD!.....
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....My CountryMen Went To The Polls...................
..and All I Got Was THESE LOUSY REPUBLICANS!.....
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[DoYouEverWonder]

10. So in other the words, the US can't defeat the Iraqi resistance

The US with the biggest, most well equipped and well trained armed force on the planet and we can't defeat them. How the hell do we expect the Iraqis to defeat them?

Time for some more 'secret' negotiations maybe?

Can we demand Rummie's resignation yet? His incompetence is astounding.

[Cocoa]

14. that's not in other words, that's a direct quote

"we're not going to win against the insurgency..."

[hollowdweller]

11. He's on MTP right now. Luntz must have given him new talking points

Now when criticized instead of repeating "9/11, 9/11, 9/11" he keeps trying to insinuate that any criticisim of the White House and Pentagon's poor planning and execution of the war is somehow criticisim of the troops. The troops are like a chainsaw they run and it is up to the operator to make sure they are used properly. He seems to have forgotten this.

[maddezmom]

12. updated headline: Rumsfeld Says Iraq Insurgency May Go on for `Years'

`12 Years'

Rumsfeld, who was interviewed on four U.S. television network-news shows, said Iraq may face an extended battle against the insurgents, who he described as a combination of Saddam Hussein loyalists, foreign terrorists and criminals.

``Insurgencies tend to go on five, six, eight, 10, 12 years,'' Rumsfeld said.

The violence may also increase as the transition government in Iraq draws closer to drafting a constitution, he said. While daily attacks continue to claim the lives of U.S. troops, their Iraqi allies and civilians, the political progress in Iraq is ``amazing,'' Rumsfeld said.

One sign of that progress, he said, was the decision of leaders of Iraq's Sunni Muslim factions to take part in the transitional government, which is dominated by Iraq's Shiite majority.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aoRYFyZciK0M

[blondie333]

13. It pains me to say it....

Bush 41 was 100% correct when he stood his ground on not going into Baghdad. The man knew it would be a losing situation. As usual with most sons and their dads, they don't listen. Have to learn for himself that daddy was right.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

15. Must have said this during one of those rare times he is sober.

[gratuitous]

16. Hmmmm.

So, let's see. Iraq was a stable -- if hostile to us -- country in the Middle East in 2002. But Lil Georgie couldn't resist whacking the scorpion in the terrarium, and broke it into pieces. Now it turns out that the scorpion in the terrarium was keeping a whole host of other little uglies in check. Not only is the scorpion gone, but the terrarium has been smashed and the little uglies are getting to be big uglies.

Time to walk away and say it's all someone else's problem, and whine that it's wrong to hold this corrupt administration responsible for the mess it's made.

I'd find this logic deficient from a four-year-old.

[SOS]

17. What Iraqi forces?

"We don't want to take responsibility; we don't want it," said Amar Mana, 27, an Iraqi private whose forehead was grazed by a bullet during an insurgent attack in November. "Here, no way. The way the situation is, we wouldn't be ready to take responsibility for a thousand years."

From:
Building Iraq's Army: Mission Improbable
Project in North Reveals Deep Divide Between U.S. and Iraqi Forces

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/09/AR2005060902245.html

[alfredo]

18. Adults take responibility. they do not shift blame. Grow up

Rummy. You went into this war with no plan to win the peace. You fucked up. You are responsible, and so are the others who took part in the neo con echo chamber.

[driver8]

23. These criminals will never take responsiblity -- never!

They will lie, cheat, steal, criticize, and blame others but will never admit that they were wrong.

[alfredo]

25. We will have to force them.

[radar]

20. And that will be possible...

When Iraqi Forces accept the foreigners(neocons in republican clothing) living thousands of miles away as the master and dominant partner in this relationship. Much like many democratic congressmen & all corporate media the last 5 years - willing to take any scraps thrown their way as payment for acting submissive.

* I don't think the Iraqis are that weak, though. The armchair warriors in Washington are finding that not all bow down before the bully.

[dejaboutique]

21. that was the part that struck me

when he was talking about it being up to the iraq force but how can he deny the staggering numbers of iraqi police and guard being killed everyday, they seem to lose about an average of 5-10 a day! Rummy, iraq won't have any iraqi police or army if they keep getting blown up on a daily basis!

[driver8]

22. why should we listen to Rummy? He hasn't been right, yet!

Everything this idiot has done regarding this "war" has been wrong.

[cliss]

26. What this means, in plain English,

is that the US has failed. If their plans had succeeded, we would be setting up stores in Baghdad, the US embassy would be built, and the oil would be flowing. The entire country of Iraq was carved up for bidders; stores, construction companies, real estate, you name it. The ink was signed on the dotted line.

Instead, we have the US shifting to "Plan B". This is a very clear sign that our original plans have been scrapped. And I believe they secretly know that they won't be able to train the Iraqis themselves to squash the rebellion. Iraq is very clannish, they have ties which go back centures, and no American plans will change that.

I think at this point, the Pentagon is just treading water, trying to figure out what to do next. There is no doubt in my mind that they realize they've failed. The Iraqis will outlast us: they have all the ammunition they need: notice, almost all the attacks are now bomb-related.

And if you think about it, RumsFool has been pretty consistent in this. He's said many times we won't be able to root out the insurgency. CHENEY is the one who absolutely will not see reality for what it is. Bush, being the perennial ass-kisser, goes along with what his boss, Big Dick, says.

[NuttyFluffers]

27. sounds like Vietnamization redux to me...

didn't work then, won't work now.

how long before the putty-brained dumbass constituency supporting these war criminals will get it? oh that's right, never.

some people deserve to be flayed to death by garden snails.

[Disturbed]

29. Logic Disconnect.

If a part of the Insurgency is fighting to oust the U.S. Occupation how can the Bush Regime keep telling us that the Iraqis must deal with the Insurgency. By trying to cast the Insurgency as one force the Bush Regime is attempting to make the situation simple for simple minds.

Unfortunately it is not simple. Iraq does not yet have an actual sovereign Govt. for the Iraqis to defend. While a majority of Sunnis are not represented this Iraqi Govt. does not represent all of the people of Iraq. The Insugency is many groups with different goals. That's too complicated to explain to the Amerikan people, so the Bush Regime casts the entire Insurgency as "killers", terrorists, rebels, militants that are against Freedom. Ah... much simpler.

Rumsfailed is a screw up that Shrub cannot fire because it would send the message that the Bush Regime screwed up the Iraq aftermath. They don't admit failure.

[Porcupine]

30. The ARVN, uh excuse me, Iraqi army will handle the bulk

of the fighting and the reduced forces of the U.S. military will remain in the country to "assist and advise."

Sure thing Rummy; it worked so well last time. Are we bombing Iranbodia yet?