Senate Republicans Pushing for a Plan on Ending the War in Iraq

[PatrickHenry]

Wait! Are you saying Apeman's linguistic skills have evolved ahead of his capacity for logic?

[RickSp]

Quote by: rmnunez It would be interesting to see something to support this conclusion. As far as I can tell, based on the casualty rates and terrorist (or insurgency) incidents it doesn't seem like the insurgency is growing. I have seen more polls suggesting the disenchantment among Iraqis with the occupation has grown, but nothing showing the increasingly disenchanted are joining the revolution.

Well so far the insurgency has grown from an estimated several hundred in 2003 to somewhere between 20,000 - 40,000 active fighters today. In addition to the active fighter the total rises to closer "200,000 members counting part-time fighters and volunteers who provide rebels everything from intelligence and logistics to shelter. " Is that enough growth for you? A recent poll said that 80% oppose the occupation and that 45% of Iraqis consider it OK to attack US or UK forces? So why is it suprising that the insurgency is growing?

[RickSp]

So here we have Apeman calling anyone who doesn't march in step with the mad King to be "cowards" and denying that we are losing the war. (He will keep deying it until we are chased off the damned embassy roof, escaping in helicopters.) He claims that those who oppose his idiotic war don't give a damn about the troops. He cares - he cares for them all the way to their graves. And he just keeps making stuff up as he goes along. Evidence? He doesn't need evidence! Just obey orders and march.

Apeman, proof that evolution can run both ways.

[RickSp]

OK, so let's get the Party Line Message straight - We need to stay the course. A phased withdrawal is wrong. Anyone calling for withdrawal of significant numbers of troops is a coward and unpatriotic.

Bush set to pull out 60,000 troops

Confirming the worst fears of the war’s conservative supporters, who argue that more troops are needed to defeat the insurgency, senior military officials made clear yesterday that the Bush Administration’s goal is to cut troop levels from 160,000 to below 100,000 by the end of 2006. Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of State, far from denying the withdrawal plan first reported in The Washington Post, said that a gradual pullout of troops could begin “fairly soon”, and that the number of coalition troops is “clearly going to come down”. Dr Rice told Fox News that the US will not need to maintain its present troop levels in Iraq for “very much longer”, because Iraqi security forces are “stepping up”. She added: “I think that’s how the President will want to look at this.” The talk of withdrawal comes after a profound and swift change in attitude about Iraq in Congress. The issue, festering just below the surface for months, has exploded in Washington and is resonating loudly throughout America. In the past fortnight the war has eclipsed every other subject and is accelerating Mr Bush’s slide in the polls.