When Obama Says This Conflict Will Take Days And Not Weeks Why Do I Get Flashbacks?

[no limit]

Oh yeah:

"< Iraq > could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months"

- Donald Rumsfeld

[snappyturtle]

1. Me too! I hope the President has a really good plan. nt

[dennis4868]

2. Great...

DUers holding Zbush's lies against Obama....everyday this place gets weirder and weirder....

[Powdered Toast Man]

4. You have to admit...

Does sound familiar.

[Selatius]

9. A lot of people here are against military intervention, period. Including just airstrikes.

A lot of folks have and continue to believe the only reason they should go to war is to defend their homes and to defend the Bill of Rights and nothing more.

[ixion]

10. Obama has maintained and furthered Bush policies

so the comparison is not without merit.

[dennis4868]

23. yep....

this is Bush's policies:

www.whatthefuckhasobamadonesofar.com

what utter craziness....

[Bluerthanblue]

27. When did GW Bush say that any of his wars would be quick?

He said just the opposite-

Can you give me a direct quote? Cause I can give you some that back up my claim.

[ixion]

34. huh? The meme at the time was 'cakewalk'

and every neocon from Rummy to Darth was saying it was only going to last a few weeks... maybe months.

NOBODY would say it was going to last years.

[Bluerthanblue]

36. can you post an ACTUAL quote from GW saying it will be a cakewalk-

Rumsfeld said alot of stupid stuff- 'old europe' 'known unknowns' 'stuff happens' and Cheney was even worse 'greet us with flowers' 'Saddam tied to 9/11).

Where did GW say it would be quick and easy-?? He made quite the point of saying it would be LONG and last for years and years- I remember this distinctly, because when he spoke to the nation after 9/11 saying this, I turned to one of my sons and said OH SHIT!- He set the stage for endless war when he began his 'war on terra'. He said it would go on for ever- so when I hear "it's going to be quick" I don't think of Bush at all.-

"The war on terror we fight today is a generational struggle that will continue long after you and I have turned our duties over to others." gw Bush


:shrug:

If you can find me a quote by Bush saying any of his wars will be quick and easy, I'd really appreciate it. I don't think it exists. He had an agenda, and it was to keep this nation at war for decades.

[sad sally]

38. Believe you're correct:

"I can't tell you if the use of force in Iraq today would last five days, or five weeks, or five months, but it certainly isn't going to last any longer than that."
--Donald Rumsfeld, November 14, 2002
"It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months"
-- Donald Rumsfeld, February 7, 2003
"I think it will go relatively quickly. Weeks rather than months."
-- Dick Cheney, March 16, 2003
"No one is talking about occupying Iraq for five to ten years."
-- Richard Perle, March 9, 2003
"It could be that, absolutely."
-- George W. Bush, when asked of the United States would have troops in Iraq for the next ten years, January 11, 2008

Source: The War in Quotes, by G.B. Trudeau, p. 40-41 Oct 1, 2008

[ixion]

39. Bush gave his "major combat operations have ended" speech two months after we invaded

http://www.kalwnews.org/audio/2011/03/21/the-costs-war-reflection-eight-years-iraq_901444.html

I agree with you that the agenda was to keep us there (It wasn't Bush's agenda, he was dancing for his puppet masters, just like Obama).

On May 1, President George W. Bush gave his famous speech on the USS Abraham Lincoln, in front of a banner declaring “Mission Accomplished.”

PRESIDENT BUSH: Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.

This is a declaration that it was a 'short war,' even when it wasn't over.

[Bluerthanblue]

40. It wasn't a statement made to encourage people to believe that

the military action WOULD be 'quick'- As the OP's implies.

And I don't believe Bush was 'dancing for his puppet masters' at all- They would much rather he adopt the meme of "quick and easy"- THAT would have been much easier to sell, and was the one used by those around him. He had a personal agenda- and he wouldn't/couldn't hide it. I don't believe Pres. Obama has an agenda to involve our Military in endless wars- I think it's quite the opposite, but he is having a difficult time making that happen.

Bush made several statements about Iraq, AFTER he'd gotten us involved which implied or led the public to believe "things are winding down" but he didn't make those statements going in- and THAT is an important distinction imo.

thanks for trying though.

:hi:

[ixion]

42. stating "an end to all major combat operations" two months after was not

supposed to lead people to believe in a quick ending? Uh, yeah, right. Whatever. :eyes:

[Bluerthanblue]

43. it was said AFTER the invasion- it wasn't said in order to reassure

people. How long after "mission accomplished" did it all go right back to hell eh? It was after the fact!

Show me a quote from Bush that says to the world- "it's going to be quick in and out". not past tense (and pre-mature by nearly a decade).

I give you kudos for trying, but the quote doesn't do what the OP infered.

(I don't believe Bush's "mission accomplished" was done so that people would think that the war would have a quick ending. I think he did it for the Photo OP, to feed his 'base' and because of his ego)

[ixion]

44. It was said by Wolfowitz, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rice

that it was or was not said specifically by Bush in the run-up to the invasion is rather splitting hairs, since these aforementioned (with the possible exception of Cheney) took their marching orders from the same people Bush did.

If Bush didn't say it speifically (and really, I've got better things to do with my time than look for stupid Bush quotes), it was only because they were orchestrating the 'mission accomplished' fiasco. It was obviously a taking point, because it was said over and over and over. If you recall, Bush wasn't big on saying much of anything in those days, giving fewer press conferences than others before him.

[Mimosa]

11. Nobody's holding anything against Obama. It's not personal.

His administrations actions and words speak for themselves.

And we have every reason -as well as responsibility- to pay attention. If those sentences remind of us of what we've heard before, why not mention it?

[Amonester]

3. Trauma?

That is what the BFEE excels at, besides everything else.

[The_Casual_Observer]

5. They probably have some bullshit pro-tem plan cooked up that rotates

ownership every week or something so that it could be claimed in some half ass legal sense that the US isn't in charge. The US will of course continue to be responsible for 99% of it as usual.

[gateley]

6. I think Obama believes that, I think Rumsfeld was flat out lying. nt

[Little Star]

21. How will that make any difference in what actually happens? ....

Sure, maybe he does believe it. And we will soon see if he is simply naive or not won't we?

[gateley]

24. Sigh. I'm not saying Obama's prescient and KNOWS how this will turn out, we never

know how anything turns out until it's completed, but merely that is my belief of the difference between Obama's statement and Rumsfeld's. I agree with everything you posit, there's no argument in that. But why did you think I was implying that what Obama says/believes will make a difference in the outcome? That's really a supposition on your part, I think - and mistaken.

[Bluerthanblue]

28. for one thing, Rumsfeld has nothing to do with this Administration-

and Dick Cheney isn't vice president.

[David__77]

7. "Days and not weeks" may end up being a good anti-war soundbite.

I'm definitely compiling the dossier of such things. We all should be. Obama needs to held 100% accountable for the outcome of this intervention.

[Jack Rabbit]

8. "our boys will be home from Vietnam by Chistmas." -- LBJ, 1964

!!

[Mimosa]

12. Yes, he did say that. n/t

[no limit]

22. Thanks, didn't know that.

[quaker bill]

13. He did not say how long the conflict will take

He said that we will be handing it off to others within days. It seems our role is to destroy Libyan air defenses. This is something we can do pretty quickly. We have the technology and apparently plenty of practice. He did not say how long the conflict will last, only how long we will be taking a lead in it. This can be literally true and fairly well understood.

[no limit]

20. You really think we will totally wash our hands of this within the next few days?

I could be wrong, and I hope I am. But I doubt that very much,

[quaker bill]

35. Did you actually read what I said?

I have re-read my post, and I can't see where the words "totally wash our hands" came in. However I do take President Obama at his word when he says he will be handing off the leadership of this to others within days. Once the air defenses are down, pretty much anyone with planes that can fly and shoot will be able to handle this. Libya has not acquired a new fighter in 22 years and from what I understand most of the old ones they have are not airworthy. Further, I gather we have pretty well messed up all the airstrips. If they start repairing one, it will only take a bomb or two to turn it back into craters.

I also gather from the reports that massed tanks and artillery are legit targets. Since there won't be anything in the air to shoot at, I expect most of the time will be spent on these. They really don't need our "special capabilities" to do this sort of thing.

[Vinca]

14. Maybe they can scare up the "Mission Accomplished" banner.

[Duende azul]

17. Someone had to say it.

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Scuba]

16. Memories were banned under HR-666. n/t

[KharmaTrain]

18. Famous Last Words...It's Easy To Start A War...

...and not so easy to end one. While people may support a limited military strike, this country does not have the stomache and resources for anything more than lobbing missiles from offshore and "smart" bombs from above. Sounds simple...that is until things don't quite work out as we "planned". Unfortunately there seems to be little planning on this latest incursion. While I'm tepidly supportive as it did stop a slaughter by Gadaffi's mercenaries...the clock is ticking. While one hopes this is more like Serbia than Iraq, anyone who thinks they can predict an end game right now is talking out their ass...

[warren pease]

19. Just another "cakewalk," as Adelman said about Iraq nt

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

25. Flashbacks are due to Obama's new mastery of Neo-Conese.

Although, he does speak it without the Texas accent.

[FiveGoodMen]

26. Same lie, different liar.

[JackRiddler]

29. Also when he says, "make no mistake" and "this is a broad coalition."

[LanternWaste]

30. I get flashbacks to the Bosnian conflict...

I get flashbacks to the Bosnian conflict...

I imagine that for the most part, we call up the memories that better validate our opinions one way or the other.

[Bluerthanblue]

31. me too-

I'm not an advocate of violence- but I supported Pres. Clinton's decision then, as I do Pres. Obama's in this instance. Maybe to some extent, we also form our opinions based on our flashbacks.

:hi:

[LanternWaste]

33. Very relevant point...

"Maybe to some extent, we also form our opinions based on our flashbacks..." That is something I've never considered. Thanks for the additional perspective.

:)

[Arkana]

32. Understood, but remember:

there are no American soldiers in Libya. We are there under a UN mandate. All we have to do is turn the boats and the jets around and go home.

The rhetoric does unfortunately sound similar, but the circumstances and the man in the big chair are very, very different.

[Octafish]

37. The UK defense chief said war in Libya ''could last 30 years.''

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1369019/Libya-war-30-years-Ministers-extraordinary-admission.html?ITO=1490

[bdamomma]

41. oh crap.

and we all know Gaddafi is not going anywhere either, he will die on his own soil.