[eastbay]

Zardoz,

Any excuse to leave that disaster would suit me just fine.

[Zardoz]

And now this:

Pentagon Considers Moving Troops From al-Anbar Province to Baghdad

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')BC News has learned that Pentagon officials are considering a major strategic shift in Iraq, to move U.S. forces out of the dangerous Sunni-dominated al-Anbar province and join the fight to secure Baghdad.

...The region is a Sunni stronghold and the main base of operations for al Qaeda in Iraq and has been a place of increasing frustration to U.S. commanders.

In a recent intelligence assessment, top Marine in al-Anbar, Col. Peter Devlin, concluded that without a massive infusement of more troops, the battle in al-Anbar is unwinnable.

[rogerhb]

Next scene is people clamering to get on the last choppers to leave the Green Zone, switch to shots of the choppers being pushed off the side of the aircraft carrier in the gulf to make room on the flight deck for more choppers....

Deja vu anyone?

[Eli]

Well a new plan is taking shape now.

The US is going to try and extricate themselves from this morass by reaching out to the Iranians and the Syrians so the US can get the hell out of Iraq.

Don't kid yourself this is an abject defeat for the US and especially for the Necon jackasses that help drag us into this war. It is exceedingly ironic that the necon ideal of changing the ME and confronting Iran in an effort to benefit Israel has completely blown up in their faces.

Now the US is not only powerless in it's ability to stop Iranian nuclear ambitions we desperately need their help to get us out of Iraq. Instead of protecting Israel and securing the region, the debacle that is Iraq will put Israel squarely in the sites of Iran.

[rogerhb]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Eli', '.')...the debacle that is Iraq will put Israel squarely in the sites of Iran.

[Bas]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('zoidberg', 'T')hey're going to trash the oil wells so no-one can utilize it for 10 years if they're forced to pull out. You think Saddam was bad? Boys you aint seen nothing yet.

Best part is those barrels aint going anywhere. Maybe the whole Iraq thing was a clever resource conservation plan.

[Zardoz]

Forget civil war. Something even worse is brewing:

Is Iraq Headed for Genocide?

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')hile the term conjures up thoughts of enormous numbers of civilian dead, the quantity of victims is not the warning sign experts look for when considering the danger of genocide. Samantha Power, a professor at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, says with Shi'ite and Sunni sub-groups already identifying and killing victims solely on the basis of their religious identity, "genocidal intent" is already present in Iraq. "When you drive up to a checkpoint and you're stopped and somebody pulls out your ID and determines whether you're a Sunni or a Shiite and takes you away and kills you because of that, there is a genocidal mentality afoot."

[Battle_Scarred_Galactico]

"When somebody pulls out your ID and determines whether you're a Sunni or a Shiite and takes you away and kills you because of that, there is a genocidal mentality afoot."


"Afoot!". Yes, yes you could say that.

[Zardoz]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Battle_Scarred_Galactico', '.')..yes you could say that.

[DesertBear2]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Zardoz', '
')What an asshole...

[Zardoz]

Yeah, Doctor Rice, play it coy:

Rice Says U.S. Has Made Mistakes in Iraq

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '"')When I'm back at Stanford University," she said, "I can look back and write books about what we might have done differently."

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he next day, Coalition forces struck at 'insurgents' in Samarra. Fourteen insurgents were killed and two captured, after they engaged a Coalition convoy. While the insurgents fled in trucks and motorcycles, Task Force Lightning attack helicopters tracked them for several miles and used two guided bombs to destroy one of the vehicles. Subsequently, helicopters and strike aircraft engaged the remaining vehicles, killing or wounding all of the insurgents," according to the MNF-Iraq press release. No Coalition casualties were reported in any of the three operations.

[zoidberg]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Bas', '
')That's an interesting view...do you think W really has green party sympathies?

[Zardoz]

Analysts See Few Good Military Options for Iraq

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')lthough there is little agreement over just how a phased withdrawal of U.S. forces would work, there is a virtual consensus on one issue: Fewer U.S. troops in Iraq will lead to more bloodshed.

"I think what will happen in the near term is a bloodbath," said retired Gen. Jack Keane, the acting chief of staff of the Army at the start of the war, an advisor to the Iraq Study Group and an ABC News consultant. "And while people feel a sense of hopelessness right now, that hopelessness will increase."

[Zardoz]

Wretched low-life scum:

Gunmen kidnap dozens at Iraq's Red Crescent

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'G')unmen in Iraqi army uniforms staged a mass kidnapping on Sunday at the office of the Iraqi Red Crescent in downtown Baghdad, police said.

An official of the Iraqi aid group said the assailants abducted 20 to 30 employees and visitors, but left women behind. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of security concerns.

...The Red Crescent, which is part of the international Red Cross movement, has around 1,000 staff and some 200,000 volunteers in Iraq. It works closely with the International Committee of the Red Cross, which visits detainees and tries to provide food, water and medicine to Iraqis.