The Time Table is Set (just not for us)

[Diva]

British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Wednesday announced plans for the imminent withdrawal of around 1,600 of his country's troops from Iraq.

In a statement to lawmakers in the House of Commons, Blair said the UK's coalition contingent based in Basra would be reduced in the coming months -- but only if Iraqi security forces could secure the southern part of the country.


"The actual reduction in forces will be from the present 7,100 -- itself down from over 9,000 two years ago and 40,000 at the time of the conflict -- to roughly 5,500," Blair said.

"The next chapter in Basra's history will be written by Iraqis," Blair said.

It's about fucking time. We need to start planning an exit strategy of our own. Saddam is dead and it's time to give Iraq back to it's people. I don't get why some people think of an exit strategy as defeat. It's not our country. Our 'official' reason for invading was to get Saddam out. Now that he's dead we have no other reason to be there in such great numbers. Let's bring them home... and not in boxes or bits and pieces.


News
º Man reports stolen pot (http://www.local6.com/news/11053321/detail.html). Way to go
º Thieves busted over neighborhood scrap metal (http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=29&art_id=iol1171932914283A551). Idjit
º First edition of novel sells for over $47K (http://www.nbc4.tv/news/11054388/detail.html). No shit
º Man grabs shark with bare hands, blames vodka (http://my.earthlink.net/track?id=1018002&add=1&url=/article/str?guid=20070216/45d53a50_3421_1334520070216-1873525980). Eeek!
º Wet roads lead to 133 accidents in 4 hours (http://cbs2.com/local/local_story_050154458.html). Damn
º Thief stole kitchen appliances (http://www.local10.com/news/11037402/detail.html). New home?
º Group rescues dog frozen to ground (http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/news/11017175/detail.html). Poor puppy
º City sues lottery winners over parties (http://www.nbc4.tv/news/11047834/detail.html). Figures
º Hitler displayed on Croatian sugar packets (http://www.b92.net/eng/news/globe-article.php?yyyy=2007&mm=02&dd=19&nav_category=123&nav_id=39706). Morons
º Free coffee offered for info on gunman (http://my.earthlink.net/track?id=1018002&add=1&url=/article/str?guid=20070217/45d68bd0_3ca6_1552620070217447827481). Heh
º Daytona 500 fan killed in road rage shooting (http://www.local6.com/news/11051783/detail.html). Dipshits
º Duckling cursed with 4 legs (http://my.earthlink.net/track?id=1017990&add=1&url=/article/str?guid=20070218/45d7dd50_3ca6_1552620070218652534486). That's a waddle
º 'Disrespected' man kills 3 women with hammer (http://www.nbc5.com/news/11051929/detail.html). WTF!?!
º Microwave blamed for $1 million gas station/car fire (http://www.nbc4.tv/news/11053446/detail.html). Cockroaches live

Levity
º Classic famous barbs (http://reluctantnomad.blogspot.com/2006/09/insults-they-just-dont-make-them-as.html)
º Video: Priest loses pants at wedding (http://www.livevideo.com/video/landing/A8A91CBF8B3A4D408B1733F4B8D9FC4A/priest-lose-pants.aspx?tx_site=dudehelp.com&tx_cid=540&tx_category=2)
º Complete mini city (I love it!) (http://static.iftk.com.br/mt/2007/02/complete_mini_city.html)
º Old Brooklyn Photos (http://www.brianmerlis.com/)
º YouTube Baby penguin's first steps (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pLqLj75vNc)
º Sexy gal on the beach (http://webmaster.zattevrienden.be/bloot225.htm)

[Bassmama]

I hear Denmark plans an all out withdrawel of their troops ASAP.

(Here comes sarcasm) Gee- I thought our troops were sent to kill off TERRORISTS? (Funny- Bin Laden isn't dead. All the terrorists involved on 9/11/01 were Arab- with a couple of Syrians mixed in. ) Ya mean our troops will be there fighting 'terrorists' all by their lonely?

Sarcasm aside- our men/women will NOT be brought home until King George gets the messagefrom US- the lowly citizen- that HE is NOT IN POWER to sacrifice our $$, family members, & security/safety to further pump up his power trip.

JMHO.

[Bones]

Iraq is getting boring. Lets move on over next door to Iran.

That's sarcasm BTW.

[Amaurote]

I really wonder about this "softly-softly" crap the patriotic press use as pro-army agitprop over here, and just how soft "softly-softly" is considering the British soldiery just had to level an Iraqi police station on the grounds that it was operating like a Norman robber-baron over the bodies of dead Iraqis. The same kind of propaganda is used about Ulster, where low-level violence is as high as ever, it just doesn't make the headlines. It's good that we're finally getting the hell out of Iraq, but the real wonder is that it took us this long to realize that people don't universally welcome foreign soldiers on their streets. You know, like Irish soldiers marching though England went down well during the Wars of the Roses, and like Pancho Villa dashing around the US frontier went down well with the Americans.

[pilsbury]

As if I believe anything that fucktard says, Blair said he would never send trops to Iraq, guess what, HE FUCKING LIED!

[Amaurote]

I remember thinking that Liberal Imperialism wouldn't be such a bad thing when the alternative was indigenous fascism. Now it's completely discredited. The only fascist-killing machine I support now is the one Woody Guthrie stroked with a plectrum.

[Amaurote]

http://cagle.msnbc.com/working/060930/cagle00.gif

[warza bidul]

There are a lot of nations around the world where there is tribalism and occasionaly imperialism and dictatorships help reduce the aggression between these parties because the governing regime forces them to behave. Remove that regime and the bickering starts all over again, but with better weapons.

In order for that bickering to start the sending of enough troops to control the whole country at once would have cost more but insurgency would have been more of a challenge.

If you invade a country and within a few hours there's pillaging and the destruction of museums, pillaging of shops and more have you acheived what you went out to do? Those pillagers should have been stopped then and there.

You remember the news items by distraught curators speaking about how their cultural (mesapotomanian) heritage was being pulverised don't you?

I'm still young and idealistic but wouldn't it seem logical that if you declare war you'd pump in as much money as possible to ensure law obedience and rebuild a working infrastructure to encourage good sentiment among the invaded people.

Look at the roman cohorts and their policy of building a fort and establishing an organised camp when on the move. What about the nationalisation of the Brits to make them enjoy the same perks as the Roman themselves.

Of course this is 2000 years ago but humans remain part of society. Prevent society from starting again and you're screwed.

Anyone look at the Alive in Baghdad videos? They're a small representation of public opinion but they're not in the news.

How do you withdraw if no one is happy on either side.

There was an interesting juxtaposition in the Timesonline today. Prince harry waiting to be deployed as the general gist of one post and British troops waiting to be withdrawn within a few months slightly lower and to the right.

That last part may be completely unrelated of course.

Point is if you're going to stay there stop the fighting and speed up the rebuilding. It'll help with morale and you won't leave such a mess behind.

[mine]

Wow, that mini city is amazing.

[Bassmama]

I LOVED the report on tonight's news- Bush reportedly said that the English troops being pulled out of Iraq is a CLEAR indication of how well we're doing over there. Don'tcha just fucking LOVE how that fucktard twists everything to make himself look good? I guess he figured the US citizens swallowed his bullshit once enough to get into this fiasco, maybe he can get everyone to swallow it again???

If we're doing SO wonderful, why do we need to send more troops? Why not start taking OURS out? Why is it a sign of extreme progrees if the UK withdraws their troops, but if we withdraw ours, it'll be a sign of weakness?

Why is it that quite a few of the Humvees our troops are using aren't equipped like they're supposed to be for our troops safety, but GW ignores that & wants more $$ for more troops??

I'll step down off my soapbox for now.

[warza bidul]

Hey Bass, good point. How is this going to play in the American court of public opinion. That's going to make things at least slightly harder for him.

Might drop by news aggregators and see what they say.http://www.nochicktrix.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=6402&stc=1&d=1172102740
Comparing trends within the blogosphere for the terms
US troop withdrawal and UK troop Withdrawal

Image Source:Blogpulse (http://www.blogpulse.com) is a place where you can see what the blogoshere is interested in.
22/02/2007

You can also see what they're losing interest in.

[Bones]

It'll help with morale and you won't leave such a mess behind.
My only problem with America pulling out is that we made a mess and should clean it up. And we did what our goal was. It's time to bring our people home and let Iraq worry about Iraq. The UK is making the right move. America should do the same.




I

GW ignores that & wants more $$ for more troops??

I'll step down off my soapbox for now.

Because what they claim is a limited war isn't. What they call a Global War is a World War. It's only going to get worse. The snowball started rolling a long time ago. I see no stopping it now. WWIII is just a matter of all these small conflicts merging together.

/me steps off soapbox after scaring himself.

[Amaurote]

Before everyone starts assuming how refreshing it is to see one member of the Coalition of the Willing being so statesmanlike, it's worth remembering that not only has Tony Blair been a blood-crazed hawk on Iraq for many years before George W Bush was even invented, the military are actually very disappointed in him because when you look at it, this isn't anything like a real withdrawal - various generals have been leaking their expectation of a much faster and less conditional redeployment for a long time, so the army itself clearly isn't happy...meanwhile, "withdrawal" is a verboten phrase at 10 Downing Street, where all the emphasis is on the caveats Blair has inserted (which mean any disturbance in Basra could lead to the removal of troops ending post-haste). It may be good politics for a man with an eye on his legacy, but it certainly isn't the volte-face everyone claims...if we'd withdrawn from Northere Ireland this slowly, we'd still be massacring Nationalists on peace marches.

[Bassmama]

I long ago got to the point where I suspect ANYTHING a politician says. I always look for the hidden agenda & am rarely surprised or disappointed by the outcome of the deed- especially in GWB's case.

Case in point: we are now starting to hear from the prospective presidential 'hopefuls'. I was starting to lean heavily towards Hilary Clinton as someone I really liked (without having heard Obama), but in the last few months, I've come to the conclusion that she's no better than any of the others. She refuses to admit that she made an error when she originally supported GWB getting us into this war. All she'll say is 'if I'd known back then what I know now, I wouldn't have supported it.' She stops short of coming out & saying "I was wrong." AS far as I'm concerend, by handling the matter the way she is, she's refusing to accept any responsibility for supporting the war. If she said "I supported going into this war & now know I was mistaken in doing so." the people & the press would accept it & she'd look a LOT better in the 'public opinion' court, instead of being chastized for refusing to admit that she made a mistake. Could it be that the public is FINALLY getting sick of the political double talk they keep getting fed?

Then I've listened to Obama & been surprised- quite pleasantly- by the candidness & responsible words & attitude I hear when he talks. The jury's still out (for my decision) as far as he's concerned, but if he continues to be honest & sensible & doesn't spew any double talk, I just might vote FOR a candidate instead of against one in 2008. Now I wish there was a way I could be sure that the voting system was impervious to corruption- unlike the last election where voting machines were fixed to register only GWB's votes & didn't register any of his opponants', & sections of the country that wereheavily Democratic in their votes had MANY of their machines mysteriously break down & not register votes.

Hell of a country we have. We get all apeshit about a president that got a blowjob from an aide, but go along with a president that twists facts & involves us in a BAD 'invasion' for his own ego, is involved in multiple illegal acts, constantly lies & throws tantrums, & has done more harm to htis country than anyone or anything else has, EVER. (IMHO)

[Bones]

I never liked Hillary Clinton. She sucks. Obama however shows promise. I'll likely vote for him.

[Amaurote]

Obama's story is genuinely inspiring, I have to admit. He exemplifies the American Dream translated to the new millennium, demonstrating that an immensely rich black man can overcome the obstacles life has placed in his way and become even more obscenely rich.

Of the two, I much prefer Hillary, because she's ruthless. You can put whoever you want up against the relentless Republican election-winning machine - of whatever quality or talent - and they'll lose, but you put a sharp, ruthless, cold-eyed bitch like Clinton up there and the Democrats might just stand a chance.

[Bones]

I don't want a ruthless President. I want something that has become rare and probably is extinct. I want a Statesman or woman. I want someone who is truly there to serve the people.
As part of the Republican election winning machine I will tell you now. There isn't a single Republican I would elect President right now. I don't see any of them that has what it takes to lead this republic.

[Amaurote]

Short of several rapid assassinations, the chances of someone like that making it to the White House are remoter than Chesty Morgan's nipples.

[warza bidul]

The problem with any elected official is that they have to watch what they say and please the greatest number for the greatest percentage of time. if they have an opinion and voice it they may get in trouble later for it.

I was reading that although Obama is a great orator he lacks any proper policies for the moment so although pleasing a lot of people with his rethoric he's lacking any concrete plans. In particular the article mentioned his generic comments about certain issues.

Of course I've only read two or three articles compared to the hundreds that some of you have read so I'm a relative virgin in this field.

[JakeD]

Short of several rapid assassinations, the chances of someone like that making it to the White House are remoter than Chesty Morgan's nipples.

Aaaand welcome to the FBI watchlist, NCT!

[Bones]

Aaaand welcome to the FBI watchlist, NCT!


Damnit........ I was just joking about everything..... I promise. :whome: