Letters to the Editor
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The Surge is Succeeding. The Surge is Suceeding. The Surge is Succeeding...
The facts don't matter Joe, you should know that by now. The surge is working, they will repeat this 1 million times on every telescreen and in every edition of The Times throughout the land of Airstrip One.
If that is not enough, then just change the way you report deaths like Petraeus did when he said that if a body was found shot in the back of the head it was sectarian, but if it was shot in face, it was just "a crime" and not counted in the stats. Car bomb deaths are now excluded as well.
O'Brien held up his left hand, its back towards Winston, with the thumb
hidden and the four fingers extended.
'How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?'
'Four.'
'And if the party says that it is not four but five--then how many?'
'Four.'
The word ended in a gasp of pain. The needle of the dial had shot up to fifty-five. The sweat had sprung out all over Winston's body. The air tore into his lungs and issued again in deep groans which even by clenching his teeth he could not stop. O'Brien watched him, the four fingers still extended. He drew back the lever. This time the pain was only slightly eased.
'How many fingers, Winston?'
'Four.'
The needle went up to sixty.
'How many fingers, Winston?'
'Four! Four! What else can I say? Four!'
...
'You are a slow learner, Winston,' said O'Brien gently.
'How can I help it?' he blubbered. 'How can I help seeing what is in front
of my eyes? Two and two are four.'
'Sometimes, Winston. Sometimes they are five. Sometimes they are three.
Sometimes they are all of them at once. You must try harder. It is not
easy to become sane.'
America has always been winning the war in Iraq, America will always be winning the war in Iraq - even it take 100 years.
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Meanwhile on the Front Lines
With help from U.S. soldiers, work is under way in Salman Pak, about 15 miles south of the Iraqi capital, to revitalize a hospital that has not been fully operational for about five years.
Soldiers and leaders from 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, and Team 915 of Company A, 489th Civil Affairs Battalion, from Knoxville, Tenn., attached to 1-15th Infantry Regiment, visited the hospital Feb. 4.
Army Maj. John Wolfe, from Scottsboro, Ala., a 489th Civil Affairs Battalion team leader, said the Iraqi National Police have been using the facility as a headquarters and barracks since 2005.
"The national police were forced by circumstance to work out of the hospital and other key facilities," explained Army Maj. Cliff Faulkner, from Silverton, Colo., commander of Company A, 489th CA. "Now that security has improved, they can give physical possession of key infrastructure back to local residents."
Wolfe said the first step in revitalizing the hospital was negotiating with the city council to relocate the police from the building. The next step is establishing community access to the hospital.
Several council leaders, a leader of the local Sons of Iraq security group, and maintenance representatives led the tour through the hospital's cold, dark halls.
Wolfe said he believes coalition forces and Iraqi leaders can restore the hospital to full operation. If the facility returns to its former capacity, jobs will be available for doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals.
"Past insecurity and sectarian violence kept many medical professionals away," Faulkner said. "We are optimistic that the improved security and stability will permit the return of these professionals and essential services."
Oh yeah, it's all make believe.
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McCain is pro war?
qazwart wrote: "It is well known that he is pro-war, so not stressing the surge wouldn't hide that fact."
Ya know, only a coward who hasn't volunteered in our nation's defense would ever say that any soldier is "pro-war". McCain has seen, witnessed, and been tortured, quite literally, by war. He has never, ever been "pro-war". He is pro-victory; there is a profound difference.
We're there now, and we can either run away, like the Israelis did in Lebanon, or we don't. If we do run away, we will most likely pay the same price as the Israelis, except we'll have a terrorist regime in charge of the oil fields and a genocide take place as we pull out. McCain doesn't believe in killing more people or sending people out to die because he's a gun-toting, trigger happy idiot. He recognizes, rightly, that we're stuck there until we sort things out as best we can because we NOW have a moral obligation and political need to do so. Bush got us into war and McCain realizes that he will have to get us out.
I'm also sickened by liberals who turn their brains off and conveniently leave out the context for McCain's "100 year" remark. He was referring to the same kind of relationship we have with the Balkans, Germany, and Korea. He recognizes that we will have an obligation to keep numerous garrisons on the ground to maintain the eventual peace. It will not be a peace based on peace and love. It will be a peace based on selfish economic interests, tribal hegemonies, and quiet hatred. He said that we would need to be there for 100 years just like we've been in Korea for 50 years and will probably stay there until the north falls. To construe his remarks any other way is not just self-serving. It is also really, really intentionally stupid.
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Chaos is victory
The operative word is "perception." The Anwar Awakening is tens of thousands of armed Sunnis who will return to being insurgents at some future date. The so-called success is measured in stilted mortality statistics which do not include the abominable living conditions nor the lack of employment. Pools of sewage, lack of purified water, inabilitiy to travel freely within the country, armed ethnic groups, and an ineffective political center continue to be the normal conditions for Iraqis. Surely victory is at hand.
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@thingswesaid
"Past insecurity and sectarian violence kept many medical professionals away," Faulkner said. "We are optimistic that the improved security and stability will permit the return of these professionals and essential services."
Oh yeah, it's all make believe.
At the rate of $250,000,000.00 and one American life per day, we should hope we could point to something tangible in Iraq we have achieved at the cost of all that treasure and blood.