O'Reilly: Dems are right, get out of Iraq now

**Hurin_Rules** · 02-23-2006, 17:11

You can just see Bush saying, as LBJ reportedly said of Walter Cronkite, "If I've lost O'Reilly, I've lost the nation."

Now, that will be the one and only time I compare Walter Cronkite to Bill O'Reilly (sorry, Walter!).

P.S. What's all this crap about under estimation? Many CIA and foreign policy analysts (not to mention numerous people just on these boards, myself included) predicted exactly this years ago: a civil war. It's just that the Bush admin. didn't want to listen to them.

**master of the puppets** · 02-23-2006, 17:18

so you would drop the country full of innocent people who really do like us and give them to the "Crazies"

**Dâriûsh** · 02-23-2006, 17:28

You break it, you buy it?

**solypsist** · 02-23-2006, 17:35

Know what's even more funny? He's basically taking Cindy Sheehan's position.

**Kanamori** · 02-23-2006, 17:45

Pulling out is about one of the worst things that could happen now... We need some serious NATO peacekeeping help, or a draft for this mess. I just hope I'm wrong.

**Fragony** · 02-23-2006, 18:04

Originally Posted by Kanamori

Pulling out is about one of the worst things that could happen now... .

Ya, pulling out would be a disaster. Time for the UN to prove they actually have some use. American/english troops need to be under UN banner from now on, they have made too many mistakes. It would at least look like a fresh start.

**solypsist** · 02-23-2006, 18:09

why leave now when the insurgency is "in its last throes?"

Originally Posted by Fragony

Ya, pulling out would be a disaster. Time for the UN to prove they actually have some use. American/english troops need to be under UN banner from now on, they have made too many mistakes. It would at least look like a fresh start.

**t1master** · 02-23-2006, 18:09

get the sky blue spray paint ready...

**Devastatin Dave** · 02-23-2006, 18:20

We just need to air drop Soly and his hunnies in there. All the violence steams from the lack of sweet tail and jiggling juggies.

**solypsist** · 02-23-2006, 18:42

funny thing is, i actually applied 2 months ago for a photojourno assignment to iraq (strictly greenzone stuff). received word this week (tuesday) i was greenlighted and it was just a waiting game (i still have time to change my mind right up to the time i actually land there). hmmm...i might have to rethink this.

Originally Posted by Devastatin Dave

We just need to air drop Soly and his hunnies in there. All the violence steams from the lack of sweet tail and jiggling juggies.

**Seamus Fermanagh** · 02-23-2006, 18:00

Originally Posted by Dâriûsh

You break it, you buy it?

True, to a goodly extent.

While withdrawing the bulk of America's armed forces deployed in Iraq has to be an objective, efforts must continue to train Iraqi forces, weed out the death squads, and keep building government infrastructure.

Far too many competing parties over there really do want it to degenerate into warlordism and establish fiefs for themselves. This has some chance of happening in any case.

If America fails to prop up the new regime well enough to at least give it a chance of establishing some positive inertia, then "Nelly-bar-the-door."

A civil war in Iraq means the following become distinctly possible:

1. A full-on pogrom against Sunnis, resulting in political control of most of Southern Iraw falling to Qom.

2. The likely intervention of Turkey into Northern Iraq, not for conquest (Turks aren't dumb) but to cripple all infrastructure in the area and prevent the formation of an aggressive Kurdistan.

3. Syria will re-establish control of Lebanon, allowing for attacks into Northern Israel by those wishing to side-step the "fence."

4. An increased level of support for the armed struggle against Israel by Palestinian militants -- the other arab states don't really need them to win, just to keep Israel bleeding and give their local militants a place to go fight in the jihad (rather than upset the apple-cart at home).

5. Peace and quiet in Europe for at least 5 years, with little or no terrorist activity and very few violent protests.

6. The USA will cease to function as a Superpower, allowing China to assume a more dominant position in Asia and freeing most of Europe from the need to support/work with US policy.

7. The USA's budget will return to more balanced levels, domestic spending by the government will increase, American business will enjoy a period of prosperity -- though the defense industries will take a huge hit.

8. The trend toward Chavez-style socialism and the repudiation of IMF/World Bank efforts in South America will increase.

And yes, Naysayers will tell us that such things were virtually guaranteed the very day we destroyed Saddam's regime and that the USA should never have done anything to Iraq except drop the sanctions that were killing children and let the old regime keep a lid on. You needn't repeat it again.

**Husar** · 02-23-2006, 19:58

Originally Posted by Seamus Fermanagh

5. Peace and quiet in Europe for at least 5 years, with little or no terrorist activity and very few violent protests.

6. The USA will cease to function as a Superpower, allowing China to assume a more dominant position in Asia and freeing most of Europe from the need to support/work with US policy.

7. The USA's budget will return to more balanced levels, domestic spending by the government will increase, American business will enjoy a period of prosperity -- though the defense industries will take a huge hit.

8. The trend toward Chavez-style socialism and the repudiation of IMF/World Bank efforts in South America will increase.

These three sound good to me.

**Tribesman** · 02-23-2006, 20:54

Really iraq is just a bunch of rival religions and parties who are participating in the election cause they need a leading force, of course all of this (grudging) cooperation would fall apart if the glue that holds it together (US, Brits) were to leave. what the sunnis of the area want is for this to happen,, a complete collapse into militantism, for it is only in violent turmoil that they can undo the vastly greater majority and yet peacful shi'ah. if we get out now, when there are fewer and fewer insugents alive, there will be nothing left but the french blaming us for pulling out when they called for it and what was once iraq will become a few small nations at each others throats with bombs going off everywhere.

Could someone translate this statement for me please ?

**Adrian II** · 02-23-2006, 21:48

Originally Posted by Tribesman

Could someone translate this statement for me please ?

Something about the French, I believe. Olympic Games maybe?

**master of the puppets** · 02-24-2006, 17:27

Originally Posted by Tribesman

Could someone translate this statement for me please ?

i'm saying if the US pulls out now the country will implode and people will blame us cause we pulled out...upon there wishes.

**Seamus Fermanagh** · 02-23-2006, 21:54

Originally Posted by Husar

These three sound good to me.

I didn't think everyone would be against all of the potentialities, nor that they would be universally bad.

On the other hand, labeling 5-8 inclusive as "three" speaks poorly for your skill with mathematics.

Can I borrow $30 from you?

**Divinus Arma** · 02-23-2006, 22:26

I like the idea of transfering peace keeping to a joint UN-Iraqi force. It would seem like a fresh start and a positive transition.

What's worse then this crackpot mayor is the recent bombing of the shia mosque and the shia retaliation on sunnis mosques. That's bad juju for sure!

*Maybe* splitting up Iraq along ethnic lines would be a good thing. It's borders were established arbitrarily anyhow. I don't know enough about the consequences though to comment further. I know that Iranian influence in the Shia region would grow, Turkey would be pissed because of kurdish steps towards an Independant Kurdistan, and that the Sunni regions would grow closer to Syria, which is Sunni and Ba'ath...

O'reilly is a hothead anyway. He sometimes makes good points, but mostly he's just into himself.