The President spoke with Scott Pelley, of 60 Minutes, at Camp David. Here is the link to the transcript and here is the video link. Much was brought up, obviously, but this particular portion is what I was struck by:
PELLEY: Is Muqtada al-Sadr an enemy of the United States?
BUSH: Anybody who murders innocent people or frustrating the ambitions of the Iraqi people and the United States.
PELLEY: I was on the battlefield in Najaf when al-Sadr’s people killed your United States Marines.
BUSH: Right. And we killed them, as you recall.
PELLEY: Is Muqtada al-Sadr an enemy of the United States?
BUSH: If he is ordering his people to kill Americans, he is.
PELLEY: Without al-Sadr, there’s no Maliki government.
BUSH: Well, Mr. Maliki has said publicly that militia, including Jaysh al-Mahdi, will either put down their arms or will be dealt with by Iraqi and US forces. And we’re gonna hold them to it.
PELLEY: You don’t fear that al-Sadr’s actually running the show?
BUSH: He may wanna be but, no, I don’t think he is.
al-Sadr is a major problem and this should have been acknowledged!Â
ALLAHPUNDIT brings up a great point: “Sunni jihadis and Shiite militias are half the problem. The other half is the Iraqi government, which is now so distrusted by the American military that the Baghdad operation is being organized with a novel command structure ” including a “crisis counsel” comprised of Maliki, Iraqi ministers, and Gen. Petraeus in supreme command of the Iraqi military and Iraqi generals being paired with American babysitters ” to make sure Sunni and Shiite commanders don’t go renegade. Quote:”
“We are implementing a strategy to embolden a government that is actually part of the problem,” said an American military official in Baghdad closely involved in negotiations over the plan, expressing frustration. “We are being played like a pawn.”:
A major worry among the Americans is that their own efforts to clear areas of the city will be used by militia groups, or even by the Shiite-dominated government forces, as an opening to grab territory and to seed the newly cleared area with their own allies. The concern centers on both Sunni and Shiite armed groups, but particularly on the Shiites. “We are doing their bidding unknowingly,” one American military official said.
“You go clean the area, but then it’s backfilled by JAM,” he said, in a reference to the Mahdi Army, the militia of the renegade Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr. “That’s the heart of the problem.”
Article of interest: Two Alliances President Bush has managed to divide and conquer the Middle East.
Others blogging this:
“We are implementing a strategy to embolden a government that is actually part of the problem,”said an American military official in Baghdad closely involved in negotiations over the plan, expressing frustration. “We are being played like a pawn.â€:
EXACTLY!!
“The concern centers on both Sunni and Shiite armed groups, but particularly on the Shiites. “We are doing their bidding unknowingly,”one American military official said.”
This is an Iraqi Civil War and we have NO BUSINESS being caught in between them!
Our brave men and women are being killed for NOTHING.
“This is an Iraqi Civil War and we have NO BUSINESS being caught in between them!
Our brave men and women are being killed for NOTHING.”
SF, what about your country’s resposibility? You can’t simply go somewhere, create a mess and leave as soon as things get uncomfortable…
It seems that your country hasn’t learned enough from the Vietnam desaster and if you look how long it took for the American public to see how senseless and devastating this stupid war was/is (they even RE-ELECTED the idiots who were responisible for it!!!), it seems that the wound isn’t yet deep enough to learn sth. for the future.
Some have to learn it far beyond “the hard way”… otherwise this stupidity will happen again!
Shitto, you never learn.
Anyway, who watches 60 Lies anyway?
6-does the word “desperation”ring a bell? desperation for what? What is it that you think he is desperate for? I could see if it really mattered what the democrats thought, but it doesn’t. So what is he desperate for?
6, dear psychotic, who cares what you think? A President, no matter what party, ought ot be available to the press.
A President, no matter what party, should not be run by the press. This is where you are psychotic, shitto. The liberal press is not God, nor is it the elected representatives of the people, but the President is.
Please be a doofus elsewhere.
10- He doesn’t need to petition me shiloh. I haven’t decided if you stay or go, but you will know shortly.
13….. Moron. And I am not talking about the president.
“We are implementing a strategy to embolden a government that is actually part of the problem,”said an American military official in Baghdad closely involved in negotiations over the plan….
If that is the case where does it leave the Bush new way forward? If, as we are told (time and time and time again), failure in Iraq is not an option because of the dire consequences attached to that, where does America go if the new plan (which is actually not new at all) does not work?
(a) Continued more of the same?
(b) Another set of elections and hope it works out this time?
(c) A new American territory?
(d) Something else? (What you you suggest?)
(a) is not an option, America is, as GW said, running out of patience, so that leaves either (b), (c), or (d)…. and I’m really interested in hearing a few answers as to what (d) may be given how many times I’ve heard ‘it’s easy to criticize the presidents plan, to offer a solution is harder’.
shiloh you’re being kind. I heard even more: I heard, through my special sources, that upon reaching the top of the “surger” Bush yelled “Mission accomplished!”.
Then he ran through the store yelling “nucular”. Yes I heard this and I am very surprised the media hasn’t picked it up. No doubt the vast right-wing conspiracy, which we know controls the media, has suppressed this valuable information.
But we Libs are way too smart for them to succeed! If I want the real truth, I surf over to DU, Daily Kos, or email Michael Moore!
19- Go back there.
I suggest you pick up a copy of the The New York Times, and open your mind..
You gotta be kidding… The NYT? After all the times they have been caught running propaganda stories, phony stories, made-up crap? This once-great newspaper has been run into the ground. It has very little credibility.
You must be joking. Next time please put the laughing icon there so we know.
“…said an American military official in Baghdad closely involved in negotiations over the plan, expressing frustration…”
Ah, another unnamed source. The MSM and the Libs just love these. They are always quoting unnamed sources such as “experts”, etc., who coincidentally happen to parrot a Democrite talking point of the week that also just perfectly fits in to support the story. Funny how it always works that way!
I’d replace the above quoted part with “…said a Liberal who was just itching to find a stone to throw at Bush…”
SFL: Ready to tell us just how in what way(s), the U.S. lost militarily in Vietnam? We’ve been waiting what, two weeks now for you to back up that statement. We’re waiting…
And SFL are you freezing your ass off in San Francisco? Cold here too in N. Kalifornia, as low as 19 degrees. WE NEED GLOBAL WARMING NOW!!!
GLOBAL…..WARMING……NOW!!!
“Ready to tell us just how in what way(s), the U.S. lost militarily in Vietnam?”
Are you serious? You know you could go to any high school history teacher or your local community college professor and just as easily get a good, or better answer…but, I’m bored so I’ll play along for a bit.
If you consider the Vietnam war as “proxy war” between the US and its allies versus the Soviets and Red China on the other side: who won?
Well, gee, Robert…Vietnam has been entirely communist since 1975, so I’d have to go ahead and say that must mean that the US lost the war for freedom and independence there. Our military withdrew, having failed to achieve its goal.
We lost.
“And SFL are you freezing your ass off in San Francisco? Cold here too in N. Kalifornia, as low as 19 degrees. WE NEED GLOBAL WARMING NOW!!!”
Yeah, it’s pretty damn chilly here in the city. low 40s at night. Been nice and sunny, which helps warm thing up during the day. Still windy and “brisk”.
…Robert, Global Warming causes something called Climate Change.
Melting ice, caused by warming, changes the temp and make up of ocean water, which then changes ocean current patterns, which then change weather patters.
Seriously man, go to a local seminar, or rent some videos, or speak with a local community college professor…get educated on this issue.
…after all, you don’t have to “buy it”, but you should certainly know the details so you can effectively speak on the issue.
#22: You described the political goals. Yes, politicaly we lost in Vietnam (and we all know how and why).
#23: After three weeks of bone-chilling, unseasonal, almost Biblical cold here, I am now an advocate of Global Warming. We need it; must have it. I am counting on it; depending on it.
What do we want? GLOBAL WARMING!
When do we want it? NOW!
#24 SF Liberal?
re #25
Finding things a bit futile here yet?
He sure is! We ALL are! These right wingers can barely spell “Global Warming”; they surely cannot even begin to understand it!
Now us Liberals do not have that problem. We know that we are a solid scientifc foundation. Never mind that as many or more scientists do not accept that human contribution to GW is significant than do, that is irrelevent. We claim the scientific high ground!
Never mind that it turns out as some ice caps shrink, others are expanding! That makes no difference!
And this winter is one of the coldest in memory…PROVING Global Warming!!! Last summer was very hot…again PROVING Global Warming!!!
Oh what the heck! These right wingers don’t and won’t understand. Even the brilliance of Al Gore, the offical savior of the planet, is not enough to penetrate the darkness of their ignorance!
Nope, not clever enough.
Try again, Super Turd.
“Yes, politicaly we lost in Vietnam” .
AND militarily…the goals of our armed forces were the same as the political ones: Protect South Vietnam from the Communist invasion.
I understand what you are getting at, and yes, we killed hundreds of thousands of commies – if not millions versus our tens of thousands of dead (statisticaly, we clobbered them), but the main point is that they eventually took over the rest of the country. The American military could not slow the tide…
…had we won militarily as you suggest, we would have bases there, and the country would be like Korea, divided between a free south and a Red North.
I’ll say we won in Korea. But lost in Vietnam.
Our military went back to the States and elsewhere while Vietnam turned entirely Red, and has remained so for 30+ years.
United States – 0, Communist Vietnam 1.
S.F. LIB the biggist amont of HOT AIR comes from AL GORE,GREENPEACE.LIBERALS and wussies like YOU:razz:
haha! that’s really funny, Snowy!
we are freezing out here! I say again: MORE GLOBAL WARMING NOW!!! According to Al Gore and the EcoWhackos, human activity is a major, possibly the deciding contributor to GW.
Then we hold the solution to this freezing weather in our very hands! A sudden, huge burst of greenhouse gas should cause an immediate rise in temperature. I’d settle for 10-15 degrees or so, just enough to get us well above freezing.
Everyone: Start your SUVs!!! Begin flatulating prolifically (Methane emission)!!! Do whatever you can think of to generate CO2 and Methane! We NEED it NOW!!!
I just checked and last night’s low (21 degrees) broke the 1950 record of 26 degrees for this date!!! GLOBAL WARMING IS KILLING US, IT’S FREEZING US!!!
Wah!!! Wah!!! Wah!!!
That’s it! I’m giving all my money and Constitutional rights to Al Gore, he will save us from Global Warming! I just can’t take any more Global Warming! It’s just too cold!!!
“According to Al Gore and the EcoWhackos…”
…and the vast majority of thousands of climatologists and other scientists that are studying the situation.
Don’t forget to include those…
Really, the debate has been over on Global Warming/Climate Change for quite some time now…
You just don’t know the details, and are to stubborn and politicaly blind to actually and honestly learn them. Certainly doesn’t mean you have to “buy it”, but it helps to know the mechanics behind it – at the very least so you don’t sound like a jackass when talking about it or making fun of it.
If it’s not too intimidating for you, go to your local community college and ask one of the students or professors to help explain climate change and the effects of global warming on it.
I’m not saying, by the way, that this cold snap is clear evidence of global warming and the climate change that follows…
I don’t think anyone is saying that yet.
BTW, I forgot, but where in N.Cali are you? I thought it was San Jose, but…
14. Shiloh, the reason for the violance from what I see is Iran gives money to the sheites, sunni’s to kill each other and money for killing soldiers. It appears that Iran’s money and imported “improved” weapons are the key.
“14. Shiloh, the reason for the violance from what I see is Iran gives money to the sheites, sunni’s to kill each other and money for killing soldiers. It appears that Iran’s money and imported “improved”weapons are the key.”
Not exctly.
The way I see it, Iran and Syriua support the Shi;ite violence, but the Sunni’s are supported by Al Queda and former Baathists (who are by vast majority Sunni).
“Bush turned the country into a chaotic mess…”
No he didn’t. The place was already a chaotic mess.
Ted,,, you might be right. I am just giving my opinion from the battle. Hell the people here (Iraq) say the same thing.