Pace declares `sea change' in Iraq

[Barrett808]

Source: Associated Press

Pace declares `sea change' in Iraq
By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer
Tue Jul 17, 6:33 AM ET

RAMADI, Iraq - In his most optimistic remarks since the U.S. troop buildup began, Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Tuesday that Iraq has undergone a "sea change" in security in recent months, and that this will influence his recommendation to President Bush on how long to continue the current strategy.

After conferring with Maj. Gen. Walter Gaskin and other commanders in this provincial capital west of Baghdad, Pace told reporters he has gathered a positive picture of the security environment not only here but also in Baghdad, where he began his Iraq visit on Monday.

He was asked whether this would inform his thinking about whether to continue the current strategy, with extra U.S. troops battling to security Baghdad and Anbar province.

"It will because what I'm hearing now is a sea change that is taking place in many places here," he replied. "It's no longer a matter of pushing al-Qaida out of Ramadi, for example, but rather — now that they have been pushed out — helping the local police and the local army have a chance to get their feet on the ground and set up their systems."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070717/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_pace

[Skink]

1. The IED'S are getting bigger.

[TheWatcher]

17. And Leon's Getting LAAAARGER

Sorry, If I can't Laugh I'll Cry. :(

[Strawman]

2. So there will be two reports

One that says what Dick Cheney wants it to say and one that tries to appear more credible. They'll just keep doing whatever they need to do to delay and keep us in Iraq. How can we trust anything that comes from this adminsitration and its hand-picked flunkies? What's the point of waiting for a biased report?

"Pace said the chiefs of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force are developing their own assessment of the situation in Iraq, to be presented to Bush in September, that will be separate from a report to Congress that month by Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander for Iraq."

[InkAddict]

10. One if "by land"; Two, "if by sea"

And I on the opposite side shall be
Waiting to ride and spread the alarm
to every Middlesex village and farm
for the country folk to be up and to arm.

[TwilightGardener]

3. Gee, during the same week as the Levin-Reed debate! Thought

the generals wanted EVERYONE to wait until September, it was too soon, blah blah--but now the good news is coming fast and furious! I can't imagine why (Republican Senators).

[Amonester]

4. What kind of a "sea" is it?

A sea of blood?

At what pace is it changing?

[underpants]

19. LOL that was my thought when I read the headline-They have a sea?

is this new?

178 attacks a day-highest level ever...sea change

[Amonester]

21. Maybe they have a sea of oil...

That must be it. Or they have two seas now? A sea of oil AND a sea of blood.

Their sea of oil is changing, because each day that passes by, the Iraqis get robbed more.

But their sea of blood is changing too: in the other direction...

Their pace of change is directly proportional, but in the opposite direction.

[gasperc]

5. wow, knock me over with a feather

I never saw this coming, expect when I practically wrote his memo in January. blah, blah, blah the surge is a great success, it is working let's keep going with the strategy,

[soothsayer]

6. O lord, he's seeing mirages! The desert looks like the sea to him. Soon he'll be gulping down sand

thinking it's an oasis. Poor delusional bastard. He's been in the sun too long.

[InkAddict]

7. Q: If they got pushed out, where'd they go?

a) A: Iran
b) A: AmeriKa
c) A: Pakistan
d) A: Little seeds sown in all of the above and more?

[AndyTiedye]

8. Bigger Surge Coming

Just before they start trying to "surge" into Iran.

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. The original "sea change"? A corpse, fossilizing under water

Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell:
Ding-dong.
Hark! now I hear them, ding-dong, bell.

The Tempest, 1. 2

http://www.allgreatquotes.com/shakespeare_tempest_quotes.shtml

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

18. That's fascinating.

I always wondered where that dumb term came from, I never imagined it was such a beautiful source.

[Jim__]

11. Could Pace be a tool?

From ThinkProgress (quoted in another DU log):

Presented with an opportunity in a meeting with Bush to determine where this “general agreement” might lie, Brooks uselessly offers that Bush “feels no need to compromise to head off opposition from Capitol Hill and is confident that he can rebuild popular support. ‘I have the tools,’ he said.” (This was one of only two quotes Brooks managed to gather from a 110 minute session.)

[razors edge]

12. From O+ to O-?

:shrug:

[trof]

13. Iraq has no 'sea' and only 36 miles of coastline.

;-)

[sallyseven]

14. I thought he got canned!!!

What did cheney do, get him reinstated????

[L0oniX]

15. You can't believe anything they say anymore!

They lie all the time and from the start of the war. Remember at the start of the war, the lies about Jessica Lynch? How about the army hiding details of Pat Tilman's death from the public? How about the dog and pony show embedded news reports? I can't believe anything they and this admin have to say anymore. Satan is the father of the lie and this country is all about lies! They are correct when they call the USA "The Great Satan".

[Dhalgren]

16. Here's a snippet from Juan Cole this morning.

Is this the same country Pace is gushing about?!

"Sunni Arab gunmen massacred dozens of Shiite villagers near Muqdadiya in Diyala province the night of Monday into Tuesday morning, according to a police source. Also on Tuesday, "In Baghdad, the deadliest bombing occurred when a suicide driver detonated his vehicle near an Iraqi army patrol in Zayouna, a mostly Shiite area of eastern Baghdad, killing 10 people, including six civilians, police said. Police said 11 people, including seven civilians, were wounded."


The LAT reports on the three bombings that roiled the northern city of Kirkuk on Monday and which its interviewees blamed on "al-Qaeda."

I am horrified at the loss of innocent life, and hate to see the incident used for politics. I would be very suspicious of assigning blame to "al-Qaeda" for this one. The bombs hit the party offices of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in Kirkuk as well as (Kurdish) policemen. The Kurds are trying to annex oil-rich Kirkuk province to their Kurdistan provincial confederacy. Turkmen and Arabs do not want to be annexed. Turkey does not want to see it annexed.

There are lots of social forces that would like to hit the PUK over this issue, not just "al-Qaeda.""

www.juancole.com

[LuckyLib]

20. Is Pace smoking the "evil weed" over there? Is it available to troops there, BTW, as it was in Nam?

[badgervan]

22. Pace...

.... just another a**kisser supreme. This dude reminds me a lot of Westmoreland in VietNam - says and does exactly what he is told to say and do. He'll go far. He'll also get no respect from the troops.

[Guitarman]

23. Pace is nothing more than Bush's Talking G.I. Joe

Dumbya pulls the string and Pace initiates one of his pre-recorded responses. He is a disgrace to the uniform.