Herald Tribune
The former secretary of state Colin Powell said Sunday that badly overstretched U.S. forces in Iraq were losing the war there and that a temporary U.S. troop surge probably would not help.
“There really are no additional troops” to send, Powell said, adding that he agreed with those who say that the U.S. Army is “about broken.”
“We are losing — we haven’t lost — and this is the time, now, to start to put in place the kinds of strategies that will turn this situation around,” Powell said on CBS-TV.
Wild Thing’s comment….
Can’t these people just wait to see what Bush will decide to do and then rip it apart later? We know they will no matter what Bush decided. But for Powell to say our troops are ” losing in Iraq” makes me furious.
Our troops fought hard and got to Baghdad, they HAVE won and taken out many of the top officials, including the arrest of Saddam. That is not losing in Iraq in my opinion. Powell could have made his comments in a different way without saying U.S. Forces are losing in Iraq. It gives an entirely different connotation to what has actually happened, not only in Iraq but also in Afghanistan.
Loosing the war? You would think a retired 4-Star General would have more sense than that.
Name one battle or skirmish our troops have lost?
The war has been won. Our troops are now stuck in the middle between two waring factions in Iraq who not only want to kill each other but anyone else then can in the process.
Problem is the politicians won’t get out of the way and let the troops do what they do best…kill bad guys and break things.
In all honesty you think you have won in Iraq? You are on a different planet! You duped the Puppet Blair into a false war based on a lie and American big oil interests and then have gotten yourself in a mess you cannot get out of. Can you say Vietnam Mark II?
As for naming battles or skirmishes you won or lost – you don’t control any countryside the locals don’t let you control – Kurds only and bits of Baghdad really.
The US military hasn’t won a war on its own – ever! You even needed British input to win the Civil War – so don’t get cocky about your abilities!
Just so you know before you go on some ill informed right wing rant, I am neither Muslim, British or god Forbid American – although I did have the misfortune of living in Atlanta for 2 years.
This depends how you define winning and losing.
Against the old government of Iraq, headed by Saddam, the coalition troops (Mostly the US) won. They won quickly, they won easily, and they won with very low losses. Not just a victory, but a near-perfect victory, no doubt about it.
Its the insurgency that is the problem. As BobF said, what soldiers do best is kill bad guys and break things. Against an opposing army, with its tanks and its uniforms, they are very effective. But what they need to do now is more police work than military, and they are struggling.
They arn’t losing, but they arn’t winning either – they are only able to maintain the peace at the expense of a lot of American lives and a giant chunk of the taxpayer’s money. Sooner or later, thats going to hurt public support for the war, and the voters will start looking for a way out. Any way out.
Any ounce of respect I had for this man went flying away after his started opening his mouth after leaving Washington.
E
The bombing campaigns of Rolling Thunder and Linebacker had the North Vietnamese on their knees and out politicians let them up. Militarily the North Vietnamese were beaten badly but politically they won.
It’s funny you can’t name any battles or skirmishes, only say we don’t control any countryside. Dude, what ever area were in, we control. Unfortunately, we can’t be in all places at all times. And, if you want to talk about attacks, just walk down the side streets and allies of any major city in the world at night and see if you don’t get mugged (attacked). After all, the police can’t be everyplace at all times. So, maybe it’s the cops only control what the hoodlums let them control.
Maybe you need to learn a little history. After the United States rescued Europe from Nazi Germany, it took years to quell the Nazi insurgency. Why do you and others think Iraq should be so different?
http://www.canadafreepress.com/2005/rubin082005.htm
It’s too bad your so embarrassed of your nationality or country of origin. You told us what you weren’t but you didn’t tell us what you are.
Hey guys I’m french so just excuse my English.
I ‘ m young but I thank for all my life what America do for my country during the 2 nd World War . Maybe you don’t know that but during the 2 nd 3000 American soldiers lost theire lives just for take Caen ( a little city ) . Tha Troops are in Iraq since 2003 and there are 3000 soldiers who lost theire lives . Its too much for me , but when you compare to the 2 nd War its nothing . We are in the 4th World War your Troops make a hard work , I’m so ambarrased than my country did not take a part of this War , specialy my country . I’ m not proud to be French , howhever you can be proud of your GREAT PRESIDENT , Mr Bush and specialy your Troops for theire job . Powel is WRONG completly wrong , so continue to suppoort theme , they deserve it , how many school are build in Iraq , there is any people who appreciate the “Operation Iraqi Freedom” like Omar and Mohammed http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/. I’ve read a book write by a french who said Neoconservatisme is a Humanism , I said America is Humanist because only America bring Freedom when every body said “its theire problems ” You can thank God to be an American citinzen . God Bless you all
It’s a shameful trait that a retired 4 star general and former Pentagon official would go before the cameras at CBS and give the Islamo-Fascist’s of the world a pep talk. Colin Powell is part of the problem not part of the solution, he was in on the decision making and advising of when to cease combat operations and return sovereignty to the Iraqi people, I can’t help thinking he’s kin to Jimmy Carter.
Bob your right, and even though I have never been a fan of Powell, I would have thought he would have more sense to say something so stupid as that.
Jo, me too I agree with you. Powell had such a great opportunity to make a real differnce and he blew it. I have zero respect for him.
RWC, nice to meet you. And thank you for commenting.
I am very proud to be an America and grateful everyday.Our Veterans and our troops today are the biggest reason for me that I am proud to say I am an American.
Again thank you so much for commenting and welcome to this blog. Thank you for the link too.
E… just this….you are way off base and completely wrong. You need to read up on history as soon as possible and learn how the entire world has depeneded on my great country America and our military.
Jack I agree I see Powell as someone NOT to trust, not to have confidence in at all. And most certainly not to bring in to the know on things, I don’t trust him at all, not even a little bit.
E
Too bad your American history is so faulty. It wasn’t Lincoln who consulted with the British, it was the Conferacy, who wanted their help. The United States did not need the help of the British, as Lincoln said, ‘I have the Army all I need is a General who knows how to use it.’ That is when he found Grant.
We never won a war on our own, Again your history
is severly limited. The United States did not start the Second World War, but all by ourselves we beat the Japs all the way back to Japan and then cut their heads off.
The war in Iraq is our Vietnam version 2, ??? Again you facts don’t match the events .
The United States has the best Military in the world, there is no Army anywhere that can match ours, and for me to waste my time answering a jive ass punk like you just shows you I have way too much time on my hands.
Mark beat me to it. I was going to mention the US defeating Japan in the Pacific theater during WWII.
So let’s see. How about the First Gulf War? While it was a coalition, the forces were comprised largely of American troops. Took the coalition, what, a matter of weeks to crush Iraq.
And E, if the politicians would get out of the way, stop being concerned about how the world views us, and let the ladies and gents of our military do what they are trained to do; this would have been over already.
Sure, there would have been higher civilian casualties, but our troops would have suffered fewer. Instead, our troops shoulder more of the burden in an attempt to minimize “innocent” civilian deaths.
E tells us what he isn’t, not what he is. He fails to mention that he isn’t very smart and isn’t worth reading,
What does the E stand for? Emasculated?