The former commander of Nato forces in Europe, General Wesley Clark, says American policy has "created chaos" in Iraq.
A smart guy, he discovered what we already knew
General Clark said the fundamental problem was the US tendency to fight states to get at "terrorists", rather than take on the "terrorists" themselves. "We may have given Osama Bin Laden the recharge he needed to rebuild his arsenal and his ranks," he told the BBC’s World Today programme. General Clark is being encouraged to become a democratic candidate for next year’s presidential election, but has not yet announced if he will stand. His criticisms coincided with a warning from the US administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, that the country would need tens of billions of dollars to rebuild its shattered infrastructure. The bill to overhaul essential services would reach almost $30bn, on top of the estimated $1bn per week the US already spends on its forces in Iraq, he said.
Should be no problem, isn’t that the so-called amount saved by Turkey’s refusing?
President George W Bush has pledged "no retreat" in Iraq, saying US-led forces are making good progress in restoring order and insisting Iraq is part of the wider war on terror.
I wonder which part that is, Felluce?
But General Clark expressed reservations about waging war on a country that he did not believe was "particularly linked to terrorism" or an "imminent danger". He said the war should have resulted in restored Iraqi relations with the UN and Nato, finding weapons of mass destruction and ensuring Iraq would "not become a hotbed of international terrorism".
What, you @!# democrat! You call Bush and Powell liars, I saw Powell showing enough valuable proof on satellite photos!
"We are drawing in terrorists. We have created chaos in Iraq," he said.
Uhhhm, blame it on the Turks, with a northern front this wouldn’t have happened
America should have concentrated its efforts on the "fundamental problem" of fighting "terrorism", he argued. "What I have seen again and again is a tendency to want to attack states to get at terrorists rather than dealing with the harder problem of getting the terrorists themselves."
| That statement doesn't make any sense. Sorry. Terrorists don't float in the air, and they need money to eat and to buy guns and ammunition. They also need money for bus tickets, so they can spend all their time going from one country to another to blow things up. Having money and bases implies support from countries or organizations on the ground — also not floating in the air or somewhere out beyond Jupiter. |
He said America should rethink its strategy on Iraq, and work to ensure Iraqis could take back control of their borders, security and reconstruction.
???, give back the oil? Never, our fight on terror will continue "no retreat!"
General Clark said he would announce in the coming days if he would stand as a democratic candidate in next year’s presidential elections. The situation in Iraq is fast becoming an issue for next year’s presidential election, the BBC’s Justin Webb reports from Washington. Mr Bush’s speeches have been branded "empty rhetoric" by opposition candidates, and his popularity ratings have fallen.
| Those of us who support him, on the other hand, don't regard his statements as "empty rhetoric," though we do regard most of the pronouncements coming from the Dems — Kerry and Dean, particularly — as self-serving and politically motivated. We also realize that Bush's "popularity" is going to fluctuate — we also realize that there's a strategy behind his actions. |
The number of American deaths since the end of major combat operations on 1 May has now surpassed the number killed during the war - 139 compared to 138.
| That's a meaningless milestone. The actual destruction of Sammy's regime was the easy part. We said prior to the war that once Sammy was gone the Bad Guys would be rushing in to try and snatch the bone from our jaws. I thought there would be a lot more clumsy Iranian involvement and not so much clumsy Saudi involvement, but none of the outline of what's happening is coming as a surprise. If I'm not surprised, and most Rantburgers aren't surprised, why would Bush be surprised? And if Clark's surprised, he's sure as hell not presidential material. |
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