Gates: Iraq failure would be a "calamity".

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

Memo to Spook Bob: Iraq already is a failure and it's already a calamity. No wonder your stint in the CIA was a flop.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061218/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/gates_15

Robert Gates assumed the helm at the Pentagon on Monday, warning in his first public remarks as defense secretary that failure in Iraq would be a "calamity" that would haunt the United States for years.

The former CIA chief pledged to give President Bush his honest advice on the costly and unpopular war, and said he would go to Iraq soon to see what U.S. commanders believe should be done to quell the growing violence.

"All of us want to find a way to bring America's sons and daughters home again," Gates, 63, said after taking the oath of office as defense secretary from Vice President Dick Cheney at a Pentagon ceremony. "But as the president has made clear, we simply cannot afford to fail in the Middle East. Failure in Iraq at this juncture would be a calamity that would haunt our nation, impair our credibility, and endanger Americans for decades to come."

He takes office as Bush conducts a wide-ranging review of his approach to the 3 1/2 year-old Iraq conflict. The fighting, teetering on the edge of a civil war between sects, has seen more than 2,940 Americans die at a cost to U.S. taxpayers exceeding $300 billion.

Gates, a Kansas native, joined the CIA in 1966. He left in 1974 to join the staff of the National Security Council until 1979, when he returned to the spy agency. He rose to deputy director for intelligence in 1982. His 1987 nomination to head the CIA was scuttled when he was accused of knowing more than he admitted about the
Iran-Contra affair. The Reagan administration secretly had sold arms to Iran in hopes of freeing hostages in Lebanon, and used the money to help the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.

[Avalux]

1. Ah! We must WIN! We will accept nothing but VICTORY!

:eyes:

New person, same old shit.

[Flubadubya]

2. Or....

[walldude]

9. Yes Victory! Nothing but Victory!

What does Victory consist of? Well they'll have to get back to us on that.

[thingfisher]

12. 50,000 more troops ought to do it!

Nice change of tactics Dubya!

[damntexdem]

15. He obviously has his verb tenses mixed up:

our Iraq failure has been a calamity.

And the 'failure' was not a military one, it was a moral, diplomatic, and political one: we illegally invaded in the first place. Since then, the calamity has gotten progressively worse.

[NRaleighLiberal]

3. Wrong verb. Substitute "Is" for "would be".

[SutaUvaca]

4. He pledges to give Chumpster honest advice??

And is that supposed to be different from the ISG report, Mr Gates? Was THAT honest advice?

[Fridays Child]

7. That's where the honest advice ended, I'm afraid.

[deutsey]

5. What's this "would be" crap? It's been months since the situation was simply

a "calamity". It's gone on to "colossal catastrophy" and inching slowly toward gotterdammerung.

:evilfrown:

[Fridays Child]

6. The Dems who helped to rush Gates into office got snookered and....

...Bush is laughing his ass off, right now.

[blm]

11. I don't think so - I think Gates is playing to W's ego, here, but House of Saud has

already told House of Bush that they need to move to bring this to some conclusion before the entire region is engulfed in Civil War. They need US troops redeployed away from Iraq but will still keep a strong contingent available for Saudi Arabia if they become targeted for an overthrow.

That's my read from an old BFEE watcher view. ;)

[leftchick]

8. example of the current Calamity

from today....

<snip>

Many international aid organizations closed their operations in Iraq as the security situation deteriorated after the U.S.-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein.

At least half a dozen mass kidnappings have been carried out in the Iraqi capital this year, possibly by armed groups linked to the sectarian conflict between Sunnis and Shiites.

In other violence:

• Four bodies were found blindfolded, handcuffed and shot execution-style off a highway in western Baghdad. Two roadside bombs killed one person and wounded seven others during the morning rush hour, and two mortar shells killed one person and wounded two others, police said. A sniper killed a guard at the gate of the University of Technology, they said.

• In Mosul, police found two bodies, and gunmen shot and killed a civilian.

• In Diyala province east of Baghdad, police said gunmen killed two civilians and wounded another. A roadside bomb killed an Iraqi soldier and wounded another, and a mortar round killed one villager and wounded 12 others.

• In northern Iraq, a Sunni Arab member of the Nineveh provincial council, Khairi al-Dabagh, was shot and killed on his way to work in Mosul, police said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061218/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

10. Here's another...

http://livesstrong.blogspot.com/

[Gregorian]

13. Baby's first meaningless words.

Do these ass baboons ever say anything meaningful?


That's a rhetorical question.

[bluerum]

14. What does he mean would be? It's already a total cluster duster.