Ex-general: U.S. troops need to stay in Iraq at least 10 years

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Fri, Oct. 08, 2004


Ex-general: U.S. troops need to stay in Iraq at least 10 years
Associated Press


DELRAY BEACH, Fla. - Iraq will need at least a decade until it is stable enough for the U.S. military to withdraw, said the retired general who commanded the air campaign in the 1991 Gulf War.Retired Air Force Gen. Chuck Horner said Thursday the 10-year estimate was based the length of time it took to rid Germany of Nazis after World War II.

"Every time we train 10 Iraqis, we can pull out one GI," Horner told the World Affairs Council of the Florida Palm Beaches. "We should have never disarmed the Iraqi army," he said before his speech.

President Bush has refused to offer a timetable for bringing home the about 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. He has said setting a deadline would let insurgents wait out the U.S.-led coalition. Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry has said some troops could begin coming home within six months of his being in office.

Horner did not criticize the Bush administration directly, but nevertheless said the results of the war in Iraq have been a "mixed bag."

"I've learned not to be for or against war," he said. "War is a terrible thing that should always be a last resort."
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/breaking_news/9865129.htm
(Free registration required)

[pinniped]

1. I bet that will increase enlistments 1000 fold.

n/t

[punpirate]

2. Good morning, Vietnam...

... expect to hear that on Armed Forces Radio in Iraq for a long, long time, if this guy is correct.

As long as there are troops in the country in the current concentrations, there will be the belief on the part of Iraqis that the U.S. has determined to keep an occupying force in the country.

[displacedtexan]

3. Straddling that fence must be really comfortable, Horner!

Mixed bag, my ass!

[Tom Kitten]

4. I still do not understand

how this relates to the "war on terror"...we just opened up a second front and go about rebuilding a nation...and meanwhile the terrorists go elsewhere...

[izzie]

5. Oh lets just leave. Bush has made the mess and now let Iraq clean it up

I know we will not as Brennen (SP) has put in all the new laws and now our corp. can own all businesses so we need to stay and protect the US businesses.We also own the oil and the nice thing is the people in Iraq can never change these laws as that also has been put into law and these corp do not have to pay any taxes to Iraq. It has got to be a full rape of the country. Did you see that Order 1303 or is it 13303, Bush signed? Of course it was done in the middle of the night or some such thing. We of course do not want their oil either.

[acmavm]

6. There is no way that we can sustain a ten-year presence in Iraq. 1)

The Iraqia will never be 'pacified' so we'll never have enough warm bodies, especially in light of the fact that we've pissed off the entire Middle East, so we have no end of enemies. And the children of who's, the brothers and sisters, grandparents, aunts and uncles will NEVER accept the occupation. The hatred will last forever, and; 2) we cannot afford a ten-year occupation financially. We're already in debt that will effect generations and those that are benefiting from the war continue to be rewarded with further tax breaks.

Idiots, it can't be done. Eventually it will lead to an insurgency in this country.

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

7. It depends on the next year...

If we can get other Arab nations and NATO to pick up part of the burden (and move the U.S. to a more administrative role), there's a chance that the local insurgents will calm down. Al-Queda won't, but the Shi'ites might if they feel they're being treated fairly. If in the next year we can calm the country and get on with the task of rebuilding, it's possible that we could have a significant draw-down of troops in the next 2-4 years.

The Bush Doctine, of course, says that we should drop the hammer on men, women and children, regardless of whether they've been involved in the insurgency. It's the same sort of "collective punishment" that the Nazi's used in the Balkans during World War II. Every bomb that Bush drops on Sadr City create a hundred new insurgents. He just doesn't get it.

[Ganja Ninja]

8. No matter who wins the election ...

I don't think we'll be there a year from now. We may set up an air and naval base in the south on the gulf but we won't be patrolling the streets. We don't have enough troops in the pipeline to hold the country. Even if we start a draft next spring we would be hard pressed to hold on.

[TacticalPeek]

9. Kick.

:kick:

[wildflower]

10. Something I don't get about the "insurgents waiting it out" argument...

Maybe I am a dunce here.

But aren't the insurgents targeting the U.S. and those working with/for the U.S.?

So if the U.S. pulled out, wouldn't the insurgents stop? Or most of them anyway.

(This is leaving aside the issue of civil war among the three major populations in Iraq.)

-wildflower

[Ranec]

11. You aren't a dunce!

This is very true and why we need to set up a legitimate, representative Iraqi government.

If we continue to prop up puppets, then the insurgents will start attacking that government.

[Amigust]

12. Operative words: "at least"

eom

[killbotfactory]

13. No shit?

Golly, I thought we'd be out by now and trying to wash the smell of roses out of our clothes!

[Mountainman]

14. Why not bring them home and let them rebuild America for 10 yrs?

[Disturbed]

16. Is this a secret?

The Hand-Over That Wasn't: Illegal Orders give the US a Lock on Iraq's Economy
by Antonia Juhasz

Officially, the U.S. occupation of Iraq ended on June 28, 2004. But in reality, the United States is still in charge: Not only do 138,000 troops remain to control the streets, but the "100 Orders" of L. Paul Bremer III remain to control the economy.

These little noticed orders enacted by Bremer, the now-departed head of the now-defunct Coalition Provisional Authority, go to the heart of Bush administration plans in Iraq. They lock in sweeping advantages to American firms, ensuring long-term U.S. economic advantage while guaranteeing few, if any, benefits to the Iraqi people.

The Bremer orders control every aspect of Iraqi life - from the use of car horns to the privatization of state-owned enterprises. Order No. 39 alone does no less than "transition from a … centrally planned economy to a market economy" virtually overnight and by U.S. fiat.

Although many thought that the "end" of the occupation would also mean the end of the orders, on his last day in Iraq Bremer simply transferred authority for the orders to Prime Minister Iyad Allawi - a 30-year exile with close ties to the CIA and British intelligence.

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0805-07.htm

*Kerry mentioned the 14 Military Bases that are being built as I type this. He said that they will be evacuated eventually. If the US keeps forces in country the Insurgents will attack those bases. The US Puppet Govt. of Allawi would last about a week if US Forces pulled out. Allawi would be airlifted out or he would be assasinated. This Jan. Iraq Election would be a farce if it ever comes to pass. Iraq will never submit to US Colonization, period.

[daleo]

15. So, ultimately he wants an Iraqi army of 1.4 million

"Every time we train 10 Iraqis, we can pull out one GI,"

Based on 140,000 U.S. troops, that comes to 1.4 million in the Iraqi army. Throw in another 100,000 to replace the other "coalition" troops. I don't think nearby countries will be very happy with this plan (especially Israel).

[mike_c]

17. it'll take at least that long to wear the new shine off...

...the permanent military bases and pump out all the oil. My prediction: WWIII will start well before then if the U.S. is not out of Iraq soon.

[NeoConsSuck]

18. How many years do we need to stay in Sudan?

Oops, silly me, no oil. Let the genocide continue. </sarcasm>

[tabasco]

19. I bet Gen. Horner has financial interests with war profiteers n/t

:mad: