Bush Says al-Qaida Is Top Enemy in Iraq

[rodeodance]

Source: ap




Bush Says al-Qaida Is Top Enemy in Iraq


May 2, 4:41 PM (ET)

By BEN FELLER

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush on Wednesday declared al-Qaida "public enemy No. 1 in Iraq," placing increasing emphasis on the terror network forever associated with the deadliest attack in U.S. history.

The president also seemed to offer another definition of success in Iraq - not a lack of violence, but a livable level for citizens.

In a speech to construction contractors, Bush put a heavy focus on al-Qaida, which carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. In doing so, he sought more bluntly to cast the unpopular Iraq war in terms that U.S. citizens could connect to their own lives.

"For America, the decision we face in Iraq is not whether we ought to take sides in a civil war, it's whether we stay in the fight against the same international terrorist network that attacked us on 9/11," Bush said. "I strongly believe it's in our national interest to stay in the fight."

Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20070502/D8OSFFHG0.html

[TwilightGardener]

1. I knew it. I knew it would come to this. If people stopped believing

the lie, then wait a while and reintroduce it.

[The_Casual_Observer]

2. Keeping it simple. It took 'em a long time to evolve this gem.

By god, they have forced their connection to 9/11. What a fucking transparent pile of shit.

One more insult to the collective intelligence.

[TwilightGardener]

3. Actually, it makes sense, if you think about it.

Who else would be our top enemy? Al Sadr went away somewhere. We can't say the Sunnis are our enemies, that would obviously cause problems. And "insurgents" is too vague and faceless--could be anybody. Thank God Al Qaeda has stepped into the breach, to provide us with a satisfying enemy experience!

[texastoast]

4. "whether we stay in the fight"

"against the same international terrorist network

"that I helped to strengthen by attacking Iraq.

"Dammit, turdblossom, that part wasn't supposed to make it into the speech."

:eyes:

[november3rd]

5. What does al-Maliki say?

I've never heard him utter a peep about al Queda, in Iraq or anywhere else.

I would venture to say that Bush has no idea what he's talking about--as usual.

[cliss]

6. He's wasting his time

and he knows it.

The American people have spoken. They want us out, and they want it done soon.

Bush can keep talking, it doesn't matter at this point. His fate will forever be tied to this Catastrophe. I recall reading an article a few years ago, and it was so appropriate.

It said, 'Bush is trapped in Iraq. It's impossible for him to extricate himself. As Iraq goes up in flames, Bush himself finds his fate tied with this country.'

[sinkingfeeling]

7. Sure ain't what the Iraq Study Group Report said, now is it?

Violence is increasing in scope, complexity, and lethality. There
are multiple sources of violence in Iraq: the Sunni Arab insurgency,
al Qaeda and affiliated jihadist groups, Shiite militias
and death squads, and organized criminality. Sectarian violence—
particularly in and around Baghdad—has become the
principal challenge to stability.
Most attacks on Americans still come from the Sunni
Arab insurgency. The insurgency comprises former elements
of the Saddam Hussein regime, disaffected Sunni Arab Iraqis,
3
and common criminals. It has significant support within the
Sunni Arab community. The insurgency has no single leadership
but is a network of networks. It benefits from participants’
detailed knowledge of Iraq’s infrastructure, and arms and financing
are supplied primarily from within Iraq. The insurgents
have different goals, although nearly all oppose the
presence of U.S. forces in Iraq. Most wish to restore Sunni
Arab rule in the country. Some aim at winning local power and
control.
Al Qaeda is responsible for a small portion of the violence
in Iraq, but that includes some of the more spectacular acts:
suicide attacks, large truck bombs, and attacks on significant
religious or political targets. Al Qaeda in Iraq is now largely
Iraqi-run and composed of Sunni Arabs. Foreign fighters—
numbering an estimated 1,300—play a supporting role or carry
out suicide operations. Al Qaeda’s goals include instigating a
wider sectarian war between Iraq’s Sunni and Shia, and driving
the United States out of Iraq.
Sectarian violence causes the largest number of Iraqi
civilian casualties. Iraq is in the grip of a deadly cycle: Sunni insurgent
attacks spark large-scale Shia reprisals, and vice versa.
Groups of Iraqis are often found bound and executed, their
bodies dumped in rivers or fields. The perception of unchecked
violence emboldens militias, shakes confidence in the
government, and leads Iraqis to flee to places where their sect
is the majority and where they feel they are in less danger. In
some parts of Iraq—notably in Baghdad—sectarian cleansing
is taking place. The United Nations estimates that 1.6 million
are displaced within Iraq, and up to 1.8 million Iraqis have fled
the country.
Shiite militias engaging in sectarian violence pose a substantial
threat to immediate and long-term stability.

[Cant trust em]

8. Can't we do both?

Can't we get out of their civil war and keep terrorists from attacking American soil again? Why don't we do what John Kerry always talks about? We should be disrupting terrorist training camps (whether in Iraq, Afghanistan, or Saudi Arabia), eliminating their international money transfers, and securing our ports and means of entry into this country. Let's get our troops out from the trenches of someone else's civil war and put them to work where they can do some good. If troops are going to get shot and killed I'd rather have it be for something productive.

[ckramer]

9. VietCon is public enemy No. 1 in Vietnam

Has history been studied?

[and-justice-for-all]

10. Funny, I thought BushCo was the top enemy in Iraq. nt

[bdamomma]

17. he has surpassed Saadam.

[rocktivity]

11. Bush is either a liar, an idiot, an lying idot, or an idiotic liar.

:eyes:
rocknation

[and-justice-for-all]

18. I find him Diabolical and he knows exactly what he is doing....

..An Idiot yes, but an idiot with an agenda.

[Decruiter]

21. The agenda....

[krkaufman]

12. Well, if we're primarily concerned with al Qaeda in Iraq, then we should ...

... do whatever has the highest probability of snuffing whatever popular support al Qaeda has in Iraq -- by getting the hell out. If we weren't in the country, the other foreign fighters would quickly lose their "war visas", as it were.

Get out, Shrub.

[BushOut06]

13. Who is the idiot that invited Al Qaeda into Iraq?

Remember his "Bring it on" statement? The fucking asshole asked for it, looks like he is getting what he wants. I don't give a shit if it really is Al Qaeda, or just a bunch of wanna-be Al Qaeda types, it's Bush's fucking fault for encouraging them.

[FiveGoodMen]

14. How many times does he have to lie before they stop just repeating the lies?

[shaniqua6392]

15. I thought I remember hearing al-Qaida was only 4% of fighters over there.

Who are the other 96%??????

[VegasWolf]

16. The US trying to steal Iraq's oil seems to be Iraq's greatest enemy. nt

[annabanana]

19. Bush Says blurp beep grnflk gazzle gorp knouph snarkle. . . . n/t

[KarmaKaize]

20. Biggest Tragedy of All: We Respond to the AWOL Cokehead

Did you ever consider the absurdity of it all: we respond with hundreds of posts to the effluent that emanates from the most degenerate, dyslexic, cowardly, corrupt, brain-damaged AWOL cokehead POS POTUS ?

Why can't we just isolate the degenerate Bushitler genome and quarantine the members of the Bushitler clan, so this flesh-eating virus will stop infecting the body politic ?