Anybody Notice A Victory Today?

[twyacht]

American Troops withdrew from cities across Iraq today at midnight Iraqi time.

This is what everyone wanted. Where's the celebration? Where's the acknowledgment that the surge worked, and Iraqi forces are now in control of their own cities.

Troops will still be there, but where's the coverage? The MSM covered all the negative, all the tragic realities of combat, all the mistakes, but this is a landmark victory that even anti war people wanted.  Give them the means to police themselves and go...

What our soldiers accomplished should not pass by the wayside because of the state run media, or a war opposing POTUS.

Our troops, and their families deserve all our prayers and thanks for their sacrifice and diligence; it's a shame it was not noted except for a few sound bites by the state run media.

[Timothy]

This is why I don't watch the network or cable news programs any more.

Our troops deserve a standing ovation but I doubt very much it's going to happen, at least not in a public forum...

They have my eternal gratitude, that's all I can do.

[Rob10ring]

They're showing it here, but making it look like Obama's pullout is working. They mentioned that total withdrawal is supposed to be in 2011, just in time for elections.

[fightingquaker13]

Regardless of your positon on Obama or the wisdom of the war to begin with, this has to happen. You can't be like Cheney who thnks we should stay till the last terrorist is dead, or the peaceniks who opposed the surge. At some point the Iraqis have got to pull their own weight. Withdrawing from the cities to test their ability to do that while we still have troops in theatre seems like a good idea. We can always go back in.
FQ13

[GASPASSERDELUXE]

DOES ANYBODY REMEMBER OUR " VICTORY" IN VIETNAM IN 1973 AND THE FALL OF SAIGON IN 1975.

YOU ARE NOW SEEING THE "VICTORY" IN IRAQ. YOU WILL BE SEEING THE FALL OF BAGDAD IN A COUPLE OF YEARS.

[Sponsor]

[ericire12]

Harry Reid, you where saying?

[twyacht]

At some point the Iraqis have got to pull their own weight. Withdrawing from the cities to test their ability to do that while we still have troops in theatre seems like a good idea. We can always go back in.

FQ, Spock would approve, that is a very logical thing to say...I can't even argue with that....

I know, it's all Cheney's fault, but still,....

[Kid Shelleen]

The only way to turn this Defeat into a Victory is to HONOR every single serviceman and servicewoman when they eventually come home for good. I know that many of them are going to be pissed that we're not properly finishing the job and rushing to turn the cities and soon the country over to the Iraquis. It is a dishonor to those that have died and shed blood not to finish things properly.

God forbid that gaspasserdeluxe is right and we see the fall of Baghdad in the near future.

We can only pray that the Iraquis are up to the task. Thankfully, at this point, we have only left the cities and not the country.

[tombogan03884]

Regardless of your positon on Obama or the wisdom of the war to begin with, this has to happen. You can't be like Cheney who thnks we should stay till the last terrorist is dead, or the peaceniks who opposed the surge. At some point the Iraqis have got to pull their own weight. Withdrawing from the cities to test their ability to do that while we still have troops in theatre seems like a good idea. We can always go back in.
FQ13

  (_*_)  We kept troops in Germany and Korea for over 50 years (so far). Did any body else see this :

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090701/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq

BAGHDAD – Not a single American soldier was in sight. Gone, too, were the American helicopters whose buzz has for years defined Baghdad's background track. Left alone to protect the capital Tuesday were thousands of Iraqi troops and police manning checkpoints, with army tanks deployed at potential trouble spots and convoys of pickup trucks with machine guns roaming the streets.

But it was elsewhere, 180 miles to the north, that militants delivered their first deadly challenge to Iraq's security forces on a highly symbolic day after the formal withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from cities at midnight.

A car bombing devastated a food market in the city of Kirkuk, killing at least 33 people and wounding 90. The early evening attack, which bore the hallmarks of Sunni extremist groups like al-Qaida in Iraq, was the second in the Kirkuk area since a truck bombing killed 82 people on June 20.

[fightingquaker13]

 (_*_)  We kept troops in Germany and Korea for over 50 years (so far). Did any body else see this :

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090701/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq

BAGHDAD – Not a single American soldier was in sight. Gone, too, were the American helicopters whose buzz has for years defined Baghdad's background track. Left alone to protect the capital Tuesday were thousands of Iraqi troops and police manning checkpoints, with army tanks deployed at potential trouble spots and convoys of pickup trucks with machine guns roaming the streets.

But it was elsewhere, 180 miles to the north, that militants delivered their first deadly challenge to Iraq's security forces on a highly symbolic day after the formal withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from cities at midnight.

A car bombing devastated a food market in the city of Kirkuk, killing at least 33 people and wounding 90. The early evening attack, which bore the hallmarks of Sunni extremist groups like al-Qaida in Iraq, was the second in the Kirkuk area since a truck bombing killed 82 people on June 20.

Tom
Look. I opposed the war in Iraq for two reasons.
1 Saddam was not in conivance with Al Queda, he did not have WMD, as Bush the elder's containment plan was working fine, and the country is a  freaking basket case made up Kurds, Sunnis and Shiites, all of whom hate each other, and if we invaded this would become our problem with little support from any other nation. I think I was right.
2 We weren't finished with the job in Afghanistan and had barely driven the Taliban out and not yet secured the nation to prevent their return. Again, I think I was right.
The thing is if the only thing holding Iraq toghether is American soldiers, at some point we have to say "who cares". We can't stay there forever. The Iraqis will have to either:
1 Get their act toghether
2 Agree on partition
3 Decend into a Balkan style civil war that will end when either one side wins, or they get tired of killing each other.
Whichever they choose, at some point it has to be their choice and no longer our problem, to the tune of billions a year and not enough forces to deal with Iran and North Korea. (The two members of the axis of evil that actually DO have WMDs, not to mention Pakistan). Sorry Tom, but there are only so many king's horses and so many king's men. King George didn't have enough to fight forever, and neither does the Boy King. It is time to test the Iraqi government while we still have troops there. We can always go back in. But until we withdraw, rest, resupply and retrain, Iran and North Korea know we can't do much. Therefore best to turn it over to Iraqi's as soon as we responsibly can.
FQ13