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The surge is working well.
If you don’t have a clue about what your talking about.
This war was designed to destroy the greatest “democracy” in history and replace it with a new form of corporate fascism.
Mission Accomplished!
Yeah, look at all of that oil we got from Iraq over the last 5 years that helped to keep our gas prices super low.
Oh wait…
I don’t know whether this video puts to question the success of the surge, but it sure shows that there’s a lot of work to do in Iraq and that it’s an unbearable place to live 5 years since the fall of Saddam.
The answer to the surplus money question is obvious: symbolic amounts will go for genuine projects in Iraq (to shut up critics’ mouths), symbolic amounts will go to America to make your voters feel like the war was worth it, but most of the money will be given to people only by the name, while in fact it will be dissipated on all steps of their flow and diverted to pockets of both Iraq’s corrupt officials and Bush’s cronies in the U.S. (Starting with U.S. companies working in Iraq – they’ll surely charge a big premium, like 10x the usual cost for building a small school of mud and brick.)
Welcome to the American democracy. And you want to teach other nations how to build a democratic society. First learn to hold your govt execs accountable. Because it seems like you didn’t learn anything from Nixon. You are capable of (almost) impeaching a President for a blowjob, but you can’t get rid of one that kills tens of thousands of people, illegally kidnaps and tortures dozens if not hundreds, and eavesdrops on millions (including Americans.) No, you elect him for a second term.
On a side note, this film shows you part of the answer to the question “is old-skool journalism any good in the era of blogging.” The answer is: hell, yes, I can’t imagine a citizen journalist doing this kind of movie. Sure, a kid in Iraq could come up with something similar, but then neither would it be credible to Westerners, nor would it get through the white noise of the web. And sure, a Western blogger could come up with such an idea, but he wouldn’t have the balls – and the resources – to go to Iraq and make a movie like this. Nor whould he be able to get to the more dangerous places. (Not to mention knowing local culture or speaking Arabic.)
Also, I don’t see why the fact that The Guardian is left-leaning should mean anything. Facts are facts. And as George Wanker Bush has shown to us, right-leaning assholes can make up facts or bend them or use to justify own morally flawed policies just as well as anyone else.
Far be it from me to intrude on this hate Bush anti war circle jerk, but the FACTS are that Iraq has better infrastructure today than it did BEFORE the war. There’s more electricity, better plumbing, more schools and hospitals. And there’s no more rape rooms or mass graves from people disappearing into the night.
If all you look at are the stories that support your pre-conceived notions, you can hardly be considered credible.
That’s right Iraqis – five years of war and your living in a dump – get used to it.
If you don’t like it, then you shouldn’t have attacked Poland with WMDs on 4/11 !!!
This is funny. “I wonder if there’s a chance the vast money surplus Iraq now has from oil profits”
It’s totally false. Ask any lib and he’ll tell you. We went in to STEAL the oil. Iraq has no $ from oil production, the US takes it all.
5,
“The chocolate ration has been increased to 2 grams, although subversive elements will try and convince you that the ration used to be 3 grams. Any you hear complaining about the ration increase must be reported.”
# 5
Did you not see the second Vid ?
Are you from FOX TV ?
Is this Hannity ?
Matt Garrett, this is very nice that you’ve picked up these issues, except that you’ve got facts wrong in one aspect: what you’re saying applies to AFTER the fall of Saddam.
It was at the height of sectarian violence (after mosque bombing) that there would be tens of bodies of murdered people found DAILY in Baghdad. Also, it is widely known that infrastructure, including electricity supply, was in better condition before the 2003 war.
As for stories supporting my view, you couldn’t be more wrong. Opinion silo’ism is an American feature – here in Europe we like to look on things from different perspectives. It is in States where Republicans watch only right-wing channels and Democrats read only liberal magazines. I enjoy everything from WSJ to Economist to NYT to Time and Newsweek. If I don’t watch Fox, it’s not because I don’t like right-wing tv, but because it’s widely known that Fox is very right-twisted and not objective (…and because it’s not available in my cable ;).
I myself, for that matter, am right-leaning (at least by European measure) and always vote right. But that doesn’t cloud my judgement. And if I were an American, right now I would vote Obama, no doubt. Not because I like Dems more, but because, how to put it… Bush should be tried by an International Court (if US didn’t opt out… haha, and US media are so happy for catching Karadzic and bringing him to Hague… how hypocrytic!), and because McCain indeed is basically a repackaged Bush.
Chuck, what was that 4/11 Poland? 😉
#4
Clinton didn’t face impeachment for a blowjob – it was for lying under oath. Had nothing to do with Monica. He was sued and settled for sexual harrassment against Paula Jones. Sexual harrassment is a crime in this country and so is lying under oath.
[Duplicate comment deleted. – ed.]
#5 Matt Garrett
Oxfam (late 2007) has concluded that 70% of Iraq does not have potable water and 80% does not have sufficient sewage systems. Lack of electricity, technicians, and access to key infrastructure are the main culprits. They also estimate that about ~85% of the technical staff that maintained these systems pre-war are either dead or refugees.
Disclaimer, I regularly support Oxfam and I focus my money on West Africa these days. I don’t directly support Iraq or Afghanistan since the death rate among aid workers is so high.
Honestly, I’d feel guilty about that.
#12
Can you link to that Oxfam data, please? I’d like to see the source myself. Is there any more current data?
I’d sooner use a machine gun to make a sandwich, than an army to build a country.
Ask any american soldier, off the record of course, and they’ll tell you how f’ed up it is there. Wasted life, effort, and money.
To #15:
That’s interesting. I sponsor a soldier in Iraq and she’s fed up with the news coverage we get here in the States. According to her, while it’s no picnic over there, there has been vast improvement over the last year in many parts of the country. She’s very proud of her involvement and that’s off the record.
#11 (montanaguy), I know about lying under oath and I guess most readers do, I just wanted to emphasize the difference between what both Presidents have done. But of course you’re right.
Didn’t know about Paula Jones, though. I guess I was too young at that time to follow this kind of stuff. 😉
Speaking of Iraq, I guess it can be generally assumed that while it was no doubt a bloody dictatorship, as long as you kept your head low and didn’t try to oppose or criticize the govt, you were pretty safe. Nowadays you theoretically have freedom, but you can die shot or blown up by a sucker from an opposing sect or just an ordinary bandit. And now it turns out from the video that there’s not so much freedom either, since the whole city is split and neigbourhoods are walled-out (forgive me if that’s not the right phrase.)
On a separate note, I just remembered how a (low-key) US diplomat surprised me one time by telling how bearable from the quality-of-life perspective Belarus is (an old-skool communist dictatorship), and how poor by comparison is Moldova, also a post-soviet state, but theoretically democratic.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that I support dictators or that they should be embraced and tolerated. I’m just reminding you that throwing out dictators doesn’t solve problems. Saddam was thrown out and in result freedom problems were swapped for security and quality-of-life problems. It is for an Iraqi citizen to judge whether it was worth it – not for a well-fed Westerner. Our (both US and EU) moral obligation now is to make sure that Iraqis have to face neither freedom nor security or quality-of-life issues… (since our American colleagues have done that abovementioned silly swap, killing lots of people in the process.)
Sorry if I sound a bit like an Obama that has grown a stingy tongue. 😉
>>Since we went to war to ensure an unimpeded flow of Mideastern oil to America,
We went to war because Saddam was an imminent threat.
Or so we were told.
To this day, the Bush Administration and their true believers insist that this HAD ABSOLUTELY NOTHING AT ALL WHATSOVEVER to do with Iraq’s vast untapped oil reserves.
http://tinyurl.com/5scoyx
But what do you mean by the “unimpeded flow” part? I don’t think either the pro- or anti- war sides were claiming that Saddam was – or had the ability to – impede oil flow.
Saddam was actually supplying oil to the world before the war (some legally, some not) and was eager to do more so.
I wonder why we are still calling it the “surge.” We have more troops in Iraq than before, which would not be the case if it truly was a surge. I suggest that it be called the “escalation.”
It is tragic. Thanks for the videos.
There has never been a point in this occupation where the Bush Administration and their apologists haven’t claimed to be “winning.”
I see no reason to believe their claims about the surge working so fabulously.
He you guys … stop picking on Matt Garrett.
I trust Matt Garrett’s “facts” more than actual Iraqis living in Iraq. I mean, what the hell do THEY know ?
#18, the plan for the surge is for the added troops to be withdrawn. This may have already started. Anyone have a link to troop levels?
Note to other Islamic countries: Don’t work with Al Qaeda or this will be you
There is no proof as causation cannot be established. “Post hoc, ergo proctor hoc.” After this, because of this, is a well known error in logic.
My definition of the surge working is that the USA gets repaid the money we spent in toppling Sadam.
Did the surge work? Will it ever work?
The Iraqis in the provinces think it’s because of the surge. They don’t want the US withdrawing completely.
#18: That’s not what I meant. Bush wanted Saddam out so we could have a foothold in the Mideast that could be used to control Iraq’s neighbors to ensure cheap oil continued to flow from the region. Worked out well, wouldn’t you say?
1) He WAS Impeached, but not convicted. Impeachment does not equal a conviction and removal from office. The House Impeaches, the Senate tries.
2) As already noted, he was not impeached for doing the dirty with Monica, he was impeached for lying.
For lying about Monica. Parse parse parse…
#28 – Then stripped of his ability to practice law by the Bar because he was a criminal.