IRAQ

The Last Day of the Iraq War

It's too late to fix Iraq before the pullout date. All U.S. troops can do now is keep trying to slow the killing and get out. They call it 'Iraqi good enough.'

By Larry Kaplow | NEWSWEEK
Published Jan 3, 2009
From the magazine issue dated Jan 12, 2009

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  • Posted By: Nath @ 08/17/2009 3:59:59 AM

    There is a global awareness now on the need to fix Islam - but darkness prevails on the best method - a solution that is simple and sure will evolve from here.Sounds far fetched ? Just consider the peculiar case of 1 million deaths in the Iran Iraq war- this was no Jihad with Kafir and hence all those dead went to hell for no fault of theirs except that they had Saddam as "boss" - avoidable case of bad direction by leadership , which brought ruin to followers!

    A nuclear attack on middle east from either US or Israel canoot be ruled out at all - it appears to be very central to planners of Islamic life. As all muslims prey 5 times a day for death in jihad and seat in heaven ; this is the most practical way for a benevoilent & merciful kafir like Bush to delivery a heavenly martyrdom in jihad to all muslims on equal footing.... so that at the Allah's brothel - stock of 72 goats/ martyr can be enjoyed equally by each muslim.

  • Posted By: eddiewhere @ 08/11/2009 11:06:13 PM

    you are absolutely right. You have just described the foundation of the KARL ROVE/BUSH DOCTRINE. THEY USED 9\11 as an excuse to lead us into the greatest catastrophe of this century so FAR. IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN. LOOK AT THE MESS WE HAVE MADE IN THE MIDDLE EAST. THOSE PEOPLE HATE US and we have killed Hundreds of thousands. WORST OF ALL WE SENT OUR YOUNG TO DIE FOR WHAT SO IRAQ CAN HAVE A CORRUPT REGIME UNDER THE NAME OF DEMOCRACY. LOOK AT AFGHANISTAN. THe GOVERNMENT THERE IS SO CORRUPT and so inefficient that we are now in a greater mess than we were before. IT IS JUST ALL WRONG. YOUNG AMERICANS ARE DYING SO HALLIBURTON COULD PROSPER AND MAKE BILLIONS. CHENEY ROVE RUMSFIELD; THESE GUYS ARE SO EVIL AND SO TWISTED; USING BIBLE QUOTES in the name of war. THE CLOSEST THING TO NAZI'S a NAzi regime we have ever seen.

  • Posted By: eddiewhere @ 08/11/2009 11:04:30 PM

    you are absolutely right. You have just described the foundation of the KARL ROVE/BUSH DOCTRINE. THEY USED 9\11 as an excuse to lead us into the greatest catastrophe of this century so FAR. IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN. LOOK AT THE MESS WE HAVE MADE IN THE MIDDLE EAST. THOSE PEOPLE HATE US and we have killed Hundreds of thousands. WORST OF ALL WE SENT OUR YOUNG TO DIE FOR WHAT SO IRAQ CAN HAVE A CORRUPT REGIME UNDER THE NAME OF DEMOCRACY. LOOK AT AFGHANISTAN. THe GOVERNMENT THERE IS SO CORRUPT and so inefficient that we are now in a greater mess than we were before. IT IS JUST ALL WRONG. YOUNG AMERICANS ARE DYING SO HALLIBURTON COULD PROSPER AND MAKE BILLIONS. CHENEY ROVE RUMSFIELD; THESE GUYS ARE SO EVIL AND SO TWISTED; USING BIBLE QUOTES in the name of war. THE CLOSEST THING TO NAZI'S a NAzi regime we have ever seen.

  • Posted By: sieg6529 @ 07/07/2009 12:24:36 PM

    Considering the way this illegal war was started and executed, good enough is pretty amazing. It was a horrible precedent to set, because there are dozens of oppressive regimes all over the world. We can't "liberate" all of them, nor should we.

  • Posted By: jbz7879 @ 07/06/2009 5:53:23 AM

    america and islam
    america ,israel and islam???
    From: usman khawaja (jbz7879@hotmail.co.uk)
    Sent: 06 July 2009 10:40:17
    To: jbz7879@hotmail.co.uk

    unfortunately there is no escaping the conclusion that after the 1998 nuclear blast by pakistan the whole of that region is viewed by the pro-american west as a threat to their interests whatever they might be and it seems like america is bent upon somehow destroying the entire globe and even itself in the process ,
    while countries lie iran iraq afg and pakistan have enough man power in their scaffolds america is slowly consuming both it's degenerating economy and its demoralised troops too,
    all this seems to be aimed at nuclear missiles and arsenals which were in the first place sponsored to pak by CHINA ,although the hoax was kadeer khan who is a nobel physicist from belgium and wanted by america ,
    since 1998 usa staged a military coup in pakistan and if saudia had not intervened would 've had the elected premier assassinated but when the military refused to cooperate in the crucial nuclear issue we had 9/11 which led to afghani invasion and u.s presence in the heart of asia next to iran -pakistan ,russia and china .
    since then the US ARMY EVANGELISTS induced a crusade in iraq too for purely egoistical reasons leading to over a million civilian casualties ,but that is just the tip of the iceberg as american drones since have massacred millions in pakistan and afghanistan too.

    the grapevine from afghan is that the war is a hoax and only there to pressurise iran and pakistan into submission over the nuclear aims and goals,that unfortunately is not going to go american way despite all the vile and filthy tactics and human massacres which are being reflected in a giant degeneration as a punitive measure in american economy which under obama is spiralling into an abyss .
    DIVINE INTERVENTION INDEED FOR INNOCENT BLOOD BEING SPILT ,
    usa needs to talk to china but i do not think they trust usa one tiny bit and are trapping it to the core in a huge economical and military trap .

  • Posted By: drewand @ 07/05/2009 7:14:41 PM

    The Iraqi people have a system that has been in place for eons. The man with the biggest stick rules. After we leave there will be a civil war and out of the ashes will rise the new leader of iraq. This leader will be ruthless and will not be any better than the one we dethroned and killed. Good enough? What a joke! Thanks George, thanks for everything!!!

  • Posted By: Trooper101st @ 05/21/2009 10:12:04 AM

    As soon as we leave, there will be a wave of violence. Whether the IA can handle it, is up for debate. I for one say no. There is too many divisions between Sunni-Shia, and throw in the Kurds. How many combat brgds we will leave I don't know, but only a US presence will keep the country stable. They want us out, so we are going. After that, we could care less. All those that will not come home is wat bothers us. For wat did they die for? The ultimate sacrifice..we will not forget. I bet the politicians do though.

  • Posted By: BD11won @ 03/19/2009 10:13:37 PM

    The Iraqi 'good enough'...its a messed up situation for us to keep playing big brother, or attempting to...its a good idea to get out and minimize the rest of the deaths

  • Posted By: bm100 @ 02/03/2009 7:49:23 AM

    Dear Rich, I won't drag this discussion out to something that will go on forever as I do love the Christian relgiion as well as all other religions, but Christians live in the Middle East and they have been respected for centuries, as were Jews before the concept of Zionism in the last 70 years or so, so please stop lecturing on matters of which you have no logical support or factual basis. I do agree there are extremist elements and perhaps in Islam more so than other religions, but ou have just demonstrated extremism comes from all different perspectives. I will say that Iraqis have done well after years of brutal sanctions in which many of the people supported while innocent Iraqis were isolated form the world for more than a decade. This is besides the US bombardments and the fact that kids dying were seen as "collateral". Such mercy in US policy!

    • Posted By: brydges @ 02/12/2009 12:45:11 PM

      Spoken like a true Muslim hipocrit
      Who were the animals hat hung U.S. soldiers decapitated bodies from a bridge - Were they Jew or Christian?

  • Posted By: Archangel 3:16 @ 01/14/2009 9:50:16 AM

    Let's be real here people. Anyone who ever believed that with the wave of a wand Iraq would change is delusional. We have made remarkable progress with the people and government there in a realatively short period of time. We all to often forget that when we had our revolution, we had only a few 100,000's of population, and though there was descent, the majority had the same goals and purpose in mind. Even with all that, it still took ten years of PEACEFUL effort, after the war was over, to come up with a paper that all would sign. Our present constitution. And it has taken nearly 250 years to sort out our differences besides.

  • Posted By: rich c @ 01/13/2009 8:36:22 PM

    A bridge too far, thats what the war in Iraq was from day one. Better we had made an accomidation with Saddam to do our killing for us, and keep the Iranians and muslim sects at bay for us. The USA was is a Christian nation. Muslims refer to Christians as dogs The two religions are totally incompatable, like oil and water. One is love the other is hate. They will never mix. Neither can the muslim mentality fathom the western notion of freedom. Freedom fo do whatever the individual deems right for that individual. Nor can the muslim fathom the idea of democracy with its inherent tension between parties , this without violence. Freedom and individual rights are an alien concept in the muslim world., as the koran dictated the law or perscribes death to anyone who thinks differently enough.. The jehad against the infedel dogs will always be ingrained. Poor Europeans who have welcomed millions of muslims into thier democracys. Shiria law is just around the corner a few generations down the road, with high muslim birthrates and influx. Meanwhile libberal press in the usa and europe gives lip service to the poor downtrodden muslims of the world. In the end the free press will be forced to shut up or face a Fatuah dictating death to all who like Salmon Rushdie dare to point out the evil in this brand of thinking. It seems even if America wins it still will loose in the end, as its unlikely that we can reform this dangerous religion, and the countries and people worldwide that it dominates.......

  • Posted By: christopherkidwell1 @ 01/06/2009 9:10:02 PM

    AngieR, most of us would LOVE to join the Army..... if it wasn't for the fact that it turns American citizens into murderers and baby-murderers who rain down bombs on people who are not better or worse than us from 20,000 feet in the air, with no legitimate way for those people to fight back!
    The fact is that our Army is NOT necessary. Our nukes are MORE than enough to protect our country from any foreign enemy invading us, and we have to realize that we do not have a monopoly on 'being right', which is usually just a cover for a powermonger to make people do what HE wants them to do.

    • Posted By: Combat Goldfish @ 01/07/2009 11:43:04 AM


      Wow. Please go back to your San Francisco drum circle hippie. Joining the military does NOT turn you into a murder or baby killer.

      1. The ARMY doesn't drop bombs. That is the AIRFORCE.
      2. Innocent people are killed in war. It happens, it's been happening since the first war, and or battle was fought. It's an awful thing war brings. But it's a rarity that a trained soldier kills an innocent on purpose.
      3. Our Army isn't necessary? Our military performs duties well above the calls of wars. Put down the bong for a few minutes, pick up a book, watch the news, ect. The military has answered the call for help in several countries during disasters, including our own (ie Hurricane Katrina). You might as well say the police are not necessary as well.
      4. You're a contradiction. You condone the military but don't condone the use of weapons of mass destruction, which would lead to hundreds of thousands of lives lost if we were to use a nuke or two anytime someone had a clash with the United States.

      • Posted By: AngieR @ 01/08/2009 11:56:38 AM

        Combat Goldfish: I understand and agree with you! (One suggestion, though? I think maybe you are confusing the word "condone" with the word "condemn"....... christopherkidwell1 "condemns" the use of our military because he is against it, if he "condoned" our military then he would be in approval of it.....please don't take offense, I would want someone to tell me, if it were me!! :-D)

    • Posted By: AngieR @ 01/07/2009 11:07:55 AM

      1st off, the military doesn't 'turn' people into baby killers. There are plenty of American civilians that are baby killers without ever joining the military, so naturally, a few undesirables will find their way into the ranks

      2ndly, throwing the proverbial baby out with the bathwater and using nukes to "protect" our interests IS THE EXACT equivalant of baby-killing since the people we are battling live among civilian neigborhoods and even 'tactical' nukes aren't THAT tactical, (i.e. precise enough to hit this compound but spare this building)

      3rdly, the political fall-out from opening the Pandora's Box of using nuclear weapons would ensure the eventual economic and political crumble of America. (America NEEDS the political clout that we have left to do the good things that we can and STILL do in the world.)

      For all who read this, I do not expect anyone to take my words at face value, please, take the time to research what others say are facts, however, I do want to point out that I am not the typical stereotype of the hard-core, do-or-die, face-less, prior-enlisted ground pounder. I am an educated person and my job in the services was Intelligence Operations, so I got to see first hand the reports that came from the front line, and NOT just what the major networks want the public to see to boost their ratings.

      ASK YOURSELF THIS QUESTION: Would you want Russia to nuke us because we have the Ku Klux Klan? To condemn entire towns for the actions and beliefs of a small percentage of the population? Because that would be the equivalant! The Islamic Extremist is a FAR FAR cry from mainstream Islam.......I have seen the difference firsthand. The hate and anger that comes from sending nukes would only beget MORE hate and MORE anger. And that is a war that NO ONE will win, not us and not them.........

  • Posted By: dror ben ami @ 01/07/2009 2:31:40 PM

    Gee Newsweek: where is the statistics telling us the total number of civilians killed since the fighting began ? Where are the statistics tellling the total number of Iraqi civilians killed this month ? Why is it only when you write about Israel these things are important ? You don't care about people being killed, only embarassing Israel

  • Posted By: nawawimohamad @ 01/07/2009 5:33:22 AM

    By removing Saddam from power, killings so many people, destroying Iraq, maiming both soldiers and civilians, installing a weak puppet government, wasting trillions USD, what have the US achieved? The answer is a big NOTHING! The situation could have been better for both Iraq and the US if Bush had try to make Saddam a US ally which was what he was during the Iraq-Iran war. It is just because of the stupidity of the US president that all these things happen. Iraq will now be very fragile and eventually become another failed state created by the US.

  • Posted By: papadave2 @ 01/04/2009 1:43:35 PM

    All you Monday morning quarterbacks making comments and predictions on Iraq are full of hubris and a lot of that stinky stuff from the back side of a bull. Newsweek and all the liberal media are masters at self-deception. Bashing American and George Bush might make you feel good but it won't even be a pimple on the course of human events. The sunlight of history will make fools of you all.

    • Posted By: 40YearR @ 01/05/2009 9:25:30 AM

      The significance of your declarations therefore is?

      • Posted By: brydges @ 01/06/2009 12:30:41 PM

        'The significance of your declarations therefore is"

        Is that mindless egomaniacs like yourself will look stupid in time.

        • Posted By: 40YearR @ 01/06/2009 11:54:23 PM

          Now why might one expect nothing more than just gratuitous name calling from this poster, pray tell?

  • Posted By: christopherkidwell1 @ 01/06/2009 9:07:40 PM

    GoreFan, you are right. The fact is that while Saddam was an arrogant mass murderer.... he was STILL the only person with the power and knowledge to keep Iraq together.
    There is also the problem that a lot of ethnic factions in Iraq don't want to have to listen to a central government. They are of the thinking that "We can do whatever the hell we want, and it's only our tribemates that judge us!"
    Partially, that is the correct way of thinking.... but when EVERYONE is outraged by some things that are happening in Iraq and in these tribes... you have to listen at least.

  • Posted By: GoreFan @ 01/06/2009 6:20:52 PM

    The sad fact is that from the moment we invaded, iraq was doomed to become the new Lebanon, with a weak centarl government, meddling powerful neighbor, fighting ethnic factions and one one or two incidents away from civil war. We have no one to blame but ourselves.

  • Posted By: lisarae38 @ 01/03/2009 7:36:26 PM

    The United States can't keep drugs, violence, unemployment, homelessness, disease, and corruption off its own streets. Why would ANYONE think that we could deliver such to a nation that has been involved in civil war, on some level since BC? I agree with motown67 completely, Iraq will be a mess with or without us just as it was before we invited ourselves to take over their civil war. US troops train for combat in under 6 months~If the Iraqi Army isn't capable of protecting their country after 5-6 years of training at the expense of the United States, maybe they should come up with their own plan B, and the United States should get busy weeding their own garden before we end up in a civil war of our own!

    • Posted By: Veteran_Advisor @ 01/06/2009 5:06:02 PM

      I served as an embedded advsior to an Iraqi Army Infantry unit for a year. I sometimes would "browbeat" the Iraqi unit commander regarding my perceived lack of progress in the training and readiness of his unit to defend his country. He replied, "It's taken your Army 200 years to become the best Army in the world! You must give us time to learn and grow." I couldn't argue with him as he was absolutely correct. The Iraqi's I served with want to defend their country independent of assistance from outside sources, and given time, I firmly believe they will. I'm proud of the progress the Iraqi military has made since the New Iraqi Army was established.

  • Posted By: AngieR @ 01/06/2009 4:25:20 PM

    My name is Angie and as a former member of the American Armed Forces, (and with siblings on the ground right now) one specific, simple fact comes to mind:: My family and I, and most of the American Forces did not sign up to "save" Iraq. We did not sign up to take down Saddam, protect Israel, get into oil production, or any of the other reasons cited here. We fought in Iraq to keep the fights away from our country and our families, i.e. 9/11. If the situation in Iraq is not up to the standards of those that are posting here, then your path is clear. PUT UP OR SHUT UP. YOU join the military, run for government, become an ambassador, do SOMETHING to facilitate change in the world, but for pete's sake, quit being a bunch of pansy-a***d keyboard commandos spewing out a bunch of conspiracy theories that won't help anyone, any where, in any way. The only "Good Enough" that matters to us is that which keeps the fighting away from my children, my husband, my parents, everyone I care about. If Iran manages to become a nuclear bomb-producing power (even though they don't have the strategic missiles to deliver a warhead to our homeland) I have no doubt that the U.S. will have to cross that bridge when/if we come to it. Until then, the most important opinion is from those that are on the ground, in the line of fire, doing all the work. And guess what? It's not the U.S. government, it's not the civilian keyboard commandos, it's the men and women of our Armed Forces. Period.

    "A man who has nothing which he is willing to fight for ... is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

    John Stuart Mill

  • Posted By: DrewCAENG @ 01/06/2009 10:00:32 AM

    Gary you are placing too much balme on Isreal. We went into Iraq so Bush and Co. and all of his friends at Carlyel Group, Halliburton , etc etc etc and (yes probably some Israeli defense companies) could get big juicy American tax payer contracts and make millions. Everyone from tech to defense to construction and soon enough oil got in on it and made loads of $$$$ courtesy of the US taxpayer. BUT dont kid yourselfe or misplace your anger we did not go in there to "protect" Isreal

    • Posted By: garysgary @ 01/06/2009 12:32:02 PM

      Sorry, but anyone who cares to look will find that The Project For A New American Century lobbied Clinton to take down Saddam...this was before 9/11. After 9/11, when Bush took office this same organization, which is part of the "Israel Lobby" lobbied the Bush Administration very effectively to take down Iraq. Which he did. This organization includes mostly prominent Jews in government, business and the media. That is a fact. They beleive that the most important mission for the U.S. was to protect Israel. The Project for a New American Century is made up of neocons (mostly jewish) who believe and lobby for the U.S. to use it's military strenght to make the world a better place. It is no accident tnat the U.S. first used it's strength to take down Saddam...a vowed enemy of Israel. Now this same group and others in the Israel lobby want the U.S. to take down Iran...they want to take down Syria after that. All of these countries are enemies of Israel! The Israel Lobby which include Aipac and PNAC got it's wish. Bush and Cheney did EXACTLY what the "lobby wanted them to do. Exactly what Cheney wanted...He signed the original letter from PNAC to Clinton. Remember this was BEFORE 9/11. Cheney was an advocate of taking down Saddam befor 9/11. Others that signed the letter are mostly Jewish and supporters of Israel. That's a FACT...Look it up! The benefits to Halliburton and others were a secondary benefit...the real reason we went into Iraq was to protect Israel! We've spent a trillion dollars, lost thousands of American lives and tens of thousands wounded to protect Israel! Not to mention the innocent Iraqis who have died Now they say "this is as good as it gets" Bush, Cheney, the neocons that suppoted Israeli interests, the Israel lobby, Joe Leiberman and John McCain are all traitors in my opinion. They put another country's interest ahead of ours...that's treason in my eyes.

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