quote:

Originally posted by SUNLINER81:
Ah, your point is?...
Respectfully, SUNLINER81

quote:

Originally posted by oldmole:
Frankly it was news that we were fighting AQ in Saudi Arabia, so the victory seems less praiseworthy.

Can we go home now? I have heard numbers like 90% contained ... and find them, shall we say, optimistic. Granted, they have been having great trouble operating without antagonizing the locals ... a fundamental flaw that has little to do with what we are doing to them.

But I am curious as to what effect this should have on our operations. Can we safely reduce troop levels? If not, why not?

quote:

Frankly it was news that we were fighting AQ in Saudi Arabia,

quote:

Originally posted by SUNLINER81:

quote:

Originally posted by oldmole:
Frankly it was news that we were fighting AQ in Saudi Arabia, so the victory seems less praiseworthy.

Can we go home now? I have heard numbers like 90% contained ... and find them, shall we say, optimistic. Granted, they have been having great trouble operating without antagonizing the locals ... a fundamental flaw that has little to do with what we are doing to them.

But I am curious as to what effect this should have on our operations. Can we safely reduce troop levels? If not, why not?

What would be a criteria for success for you?
Respectfully, SUNLINER81

quote:

Originally posted by oldmole:

quote:

Originally posted by SUNLINER81:

quote:

Originally posted by oldmole:
Frankly it was news that we were fighting AQ in Saudi Arabia, so the victory seems less praiseworthy.

Can we go home now? I have heard numbers like 90% contained ... and find them, shall we say, optimistic. Granted, they have been having great trouble operating without antagonizing the locals ... a fundamental flaw that has little to do with what we are doing to them.

But I am curious as to what effect this should have on our operations. Can we safely reduce troop levels? If not, why not?

What would be a criteria for success for you?
Respectfully, SUNLINER81

I am not sure we see success in the same way. I would see success as accomplishing our mission enough to start withdrawing ... General Hayden seems to see "success" as a reason why we can't.

quote:

Originally posted by outlaws93:

quote:

Frankly it was news that we were fighting AQ in Saudi Arabia,

the saudi gov is doing it...alqueda has been trying to destabilize saudi arabia for years now....

quote:

Originally posted by Lucky_Lieutenant:

quote:

Originally posted by SUNLINER81:
Ah, your point is?...
Respectfully, SUNLINER81

No point other than this is great news for those of us invested in success in Iraq.

quote:

Originally posted by WesLemmon:
"In a strikingly upbeat assessment, the CIA chief cited major gains against al-Qaeda's allies in the Middle East and an increasingly successful campaign to destabilize the group's core leadership."

It's amazing how all friggin assessments (Good or Bad), from the Administration seem to achieve about 60 to 70 percent negative comments after posting here. But, of course there's no pre-conceived biases allowed here -- only, fair and balanced.

God Bless President Bush and all our leaders. They deserve much more credit than we give them.

From A Proud Vietnam Veteran

quote:

Originally posted by oldmole:
I am not sure we see success in the same way. I would see success as accomplishing our mission enough to start withdrawing ... General Hayden seems to see "success" as a reason why we can't.

quote:

Originally posted by xerello:
If you go with the President’s pattern of lowered expectations and are happy with the goal of “Success is not no violence” then there is reason to celebrate the assessment that "On balance, we are doing pretty well" in Iraq.

Success is not victory though.

There is no victory available in Iraq.

After all the blood, sweat, tears and treasure spent in Iraq, the enemies of American are as strong or stronger than the day Operation Iraqi Freedom began.

Iran is far more influential in the Middle East than is was before President Bush decided to invade Iraq. Despite the best efforts of the Administration, the Iranians are still working on nuclear capability.

Hezbollah has more seats in the Lebanese Parliament than when W. became President and fought Israel to a standstill in 2006. With backing from Syria, they are now a more dominate factor in Lebanon.

Hamas was elected to lead the Palestinian people on W.’s watch and now controls the Gaza strip. They had never officially controlled anything before.

Syria withdrew security forces from Lebanon, but still has great influence in that country’s politics and continues to supply Hezbollah, including rockets that are fired into Israel and to assassinate Lebanese leaders.

North Korea continues to d!ck us around, promising to give up their nukes, but they have not, although we have started to give them food and fuel oil again.

Afghanistan is struggling to maintain its gains. President Karzai has control of the capitol Kabul, but not much else. Despite the best efforts of NATO forces, the Taliban is still a threat to the country. Afghanistan supplies more than 70% of the world’s heroin, which in turn supplies the Taliban and al Qaeda with money to further terrorism.

President Bush has lost ground on the war on drugs also, with Afghanistan leading the way in supplying the world with heroin and porous southern border where drugs still stream in from Mexico.

Shia Militias are as strong as ever and some continue to kill Americans and Iraqi officials.
Many Sunni have joined forces with American forces and fight against al Qaeda. Many do not and still kill Americans and ISF. Some play both sides of the fence, they kill al Qaeda and Americans.

Al Qaeda in Iraq – American forces have done an outstanding job in going after al Qaeda in Iraq. But they are still a force to be reckoned with, one that did not exist before the invasion of Iraq.

Al Qaeda was crippled after the U.S. drove them out of Afghanistan. However they are now reconstituting and now have safe bases in Pakistan from which to plan and train for the next large scale attack on America. Al Qaeda is as big a threat to American as they were before 9/11, only their target has been hardened.

President Bush can count one enduring victory as CinC – Saddam Hussein is out of power.

quote:

Originally posted by Lucky_Lieutenant:

quote:

Originally posted by xerello:
If you go with the President’s pattern of lowered expectations and are happy with the goal of “Success is not no violence” then there is reason to celebrate the assessment that "On balance, we are doing pretty well" in Iraq.

Success is not victory though.

There is no victory available in Iraq.

After all the blood, sweat, tears and treasure spent in Iraq, the enemies of American are as strong or stronger than the day Operation Iraqi Freedom began.

Iran is far more influential in the Middle East than is was before President Bush decided to invade Iraq. Despite the best efforts of the Administration, the Iranians are still working on nuclear capability.

Hezbollah has more seats in the Lebanese Parliament than when W. became President and fought Israel to a standstill in 2006. With backing from Syria, they are now a more dominate factor in Lebanon.

Hamas was elected to lead the Palestinian people on W.’s watch and now controls the Gaza strip. They had never officially controlled anything before.

Syria withdrew security forces from Lebanon, but still has great influence in that country’s politics and continues to supply Hezbollah, including rockets that are fired into Israel and to assassinate Lebanese leaders.

North Korea continues to d!ck us around, promising to give up their nukes, but they have not, although we have started to give them food and fuel oil again.

Afghanistan is struggling to maintain its gains. President Karzai has control of the capitol Kabul, but not much else. Despite the best efforts of NATO forces, the Taliban is still a threat to the country. Afghanistan supplies more than 70% of the world’s heroin, which in turn supplies the Taliban and al Qaeda with money to further terrorism.

President Bush has lost ground on the war on drugs also, with Afghanistan leading the way in supplying the world with heroin and porous southern border where drugs still stream in from Mexico.

Shia Militias are as strong as ever and some continue to kill Americans and Iraqi officials.
Many Sunni have joined forces with American forces and fight against al Qaeda. Many do not and still kill Americans and ISF. Some play both sides of the fence, they kill al Qaeda and Americans.

Al Qaeda in Iraq – American forces have done an outstanding job in going after al Qaeda in Iraq. But they are still a force to be reckoned with, one that did not exist before the invasion of Iraq.

Al Qaeda was crippled after the U.S. drove them out of Afghanistan. However they are now reconstituting and now have safe bases in Pakistan from which to plan and train for the next large scale attack on America. Al Qaeda is as big a threat to American as they were before 9/11, only their target has been hardened.

President Bush can count one enduring victory as CinC – Saddam Hussein is out of power.

Yep... all that if you really want to replace facts with subjective rhetoric, however, the FACT REMAINS THAT CLINTON GOT THE 3000+ innocents killed on 911 through his FAILED DIPLOMATIC SABER RATTLING DIDN'T HE?

quote:

Originally posted by Lucky_Lieutenant:
GREAT NEWS!

Less than a year after his agency warned of new threats from a resurgent al-Qaeda, CIA Director Michael V. Hayden now portrays the terrorist movement as essentially defeated in Iraq and Saudi Arabia and on the defensive throughout much of the rest of the world, including in its presumed haven along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Story

quote:

Originally posted by Squizzer:

quote:

Originally posted by Lucky_Lieutenant:
GREAT NEWS!

Less than a year after his agency warned of new threats from a resurgent al-Qaeda, CIA Director Michael V. Hayden now portrays the terrorist movement as essentially defeated in Iraq and Saudi Arabia and on the defensive throughout much of the rest of the world, including in its presumed haven along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Story

Great news indeed! Big gains against 2% of the insurgency. Keep this up and they can all come home by the spring of 4637.

quote:

Originally posted by Grachus:

quote:

Originally posted by Squizzer:

quote:

Originally posted by Lucky_Lieutenant:
GREAT NEWS!

Less than a year after his agency warned of new threats from a resurgent al-Qaeda, CIA Director Michael V. Hayden now portrays the terrorist movement as essentially defeated in Iraq and Saudi Arabia and on the defensive throughout much of the rest of the world, including in its presumed haven along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Story

Great news indeed! Big gains against 2% of the insurgency. Keep this up and they can all come home by the spring of 4637.

Meanwhile of course, we have this new thread on the board about the latest treaty that Pakistan has signed with the Taliban:
http://forums.military.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/672198221/m/7150081581001

How appropriate that the two discussions are so close together.

Dave

quote:

Originally posted by SUNLINER81:

quote:

Originally posted by Grachus:

quote:

Originally posted by Squizzer:

quote:

Originally posted by Lucky_Lieutenant:
GREAT NEWS!

Less than a year after his agency warned of new threats from a resurgent al-Qaeda, CIA Director Michael V. Hayden now portrays the terrorist movement as essentially defeated in Iraq and Saudi Arabia and on the defensive throughout much of the rest of the world, including in its presumed haven along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Story

Great news indeed! Big gains against 2% of the insurgency. Keep this up and they can all come home by the spring of 4637.

Meanwhile of course, we have this new thread on the board about the latest treaty that Pakistan has signed with the Taliban:
http://forums.military.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/672198221/m/7150081581001

How appropriate that the two discussions are so close together.

Dave

O.K., what do you see is the connection?
Respectfully, SUNLINER81