Bush Nominee: Al Qaeda Seems To Have ‘Unlimited Pool’ (Of Fighters In Iraq)

[Purveyor]

Source: The Hill

Marine Corps Gen. James Cartwright, President Bush’s nominee to become vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Tuesday that al Qaeda in Iraq seems “to have an unlimited pool” of fighters.

“In other words, as we defeat, others come in behind,” Cartwright said during his Senate confirmation hearing in response to a question from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) as to whether the ongoing troop surge is diminishing al Qaeda’s presence in Iraq.

--
Mullen, who said he worries about terms such as “winning” and “losing,” said, “Based on the … lack of political reconciliation at the government level, obviously — although I spoke earlier about some of it going on at the local level, which I think is important — I would be concerned about whether we’d be winning or not.”

--
In response to questions from Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Mullen acknowledged that the surge would have to end by April 2008 unless troop rotations are extended, because the military would not have enough manpower to keep the troop presence in Iraq at the current level of 160,000.

Read more: http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/bush-nominee-al-qaeda-seems-to-have-unlimited-pool-2007-07-31.html

[pinkpops]

1. duh

[bemildred]

9. Indeed, duh. Who could have predicted this? nt

[Demeter]

2. Al Qaida Has More Than YOU, Georgie!

You broke your army, which was actually OUR army.

[Purveyor]

5. And it is not taking $20,000 rapid deployment bonuses for al Qaida either... eom.

[Bob3]

3. I don't understand - we keep killing them and bombing

why don't they love us?

[IndianaGreen]

27. Too many Al-Qaeda's Number 2s to kill

Gee, you think there is a connection between our troops being in Iraq and the insurgents' endless supply of recruits.

[NanceGreggs]

4. Waiting for the Condi response:

"No one could have possibly anticipated that our occupation of Iraq would actually increase the number of 'terrorists' who hate us."

[Xipe Totec]

6. And this is a surprise to whom?

True Islam, the one taught by Muhammad, revives the law of retaliation or lex talionis. The Biblical "eye for an eye."

http://www.americanthinker.com/2005/07/muhammads_aye_for_an_eye_law_o.html

[xchrom]

7. in other words -- the war has made us less safe.

revelations like this make bushco worse than the monsters we thought they were.

[TXVNVt]

8. WHODATHOUGHTIT!!!!!

It don't take a rocket scientist to figure out that bu$h is creating more enemies than friends in the Muslim world.

BTW, I'm not a general and I figured it out long ago. ;-0

[onehandle]

10. Psst. Look under the rock.

Hint: Directly south of Iraq.

The real enemy.

[pinniped]

11. Everyone in Iraq has morphed into this alleged al-Qaeda in Iraq.

WHat a FN surprise.

[David__77]

12. Famous words about any insurgency that is "winning."

This is not a war of attrition, contrary to US wishes. The US will always be able to kill at least 20 Iraqi "fighters" for every US soldier that is killed in action. Insurgents don't need parity in these terms. They need only replinish continuously as would be allowed by enjoying a minimum theshold of public support. They have that and so the insurgency will be sustained.

[SKKY]

22. Your post is much more prophetic than you think...

In fact, by my count, they're about 3 generations ahead of us in recruiting. Scary when you think about it.

[SKKY]

13. I think ADM Mullen will surprise some people...

...he's not the "yes man" he appears to be.

[atreides1]

18. You have evidence

To support your claim or is it just a feeling based on being under his command at a point in your career?

What makes you think he hasn't been drinking the kool-aid, and is just doing what previous Bush nominees have done, tell the Senate what they want to hear and then whistle another tune when they get confirmed?

Two good examples would be Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito, they made statements that were contrary to what they have actually done since being confirmed to the SCOTUS!

How do we know that Admiral Mullen isn't cut from the same cloth?

[SKKY]

21. To be honest with you, it's just a gut feeling...

...I've worked "around" him on two separate occasions in my career, and he always came across to me and those around him as a "Sailor's Sailor". When he introduces himself, he says "Hi, I'm Mike Mullen." Once, I was watching an Ensign give him a brief, and ADM Mullen asked him a question that the Ensign didn't know. Instead of berating him, he spent about 20 minutes talking about it, why it was important, and what the ramifications were. At the end, he looked around the room and said, "You know, I miss teaching Sailors." I think he cares far too much about the military to accept a post that would effectively make him a "yes man". But, I'll grant you, I could very well be wrong.

[truthisfreedom]

14. Unlimited pool of SAUDI fighters, Bandar-lover.

Arm-in-arm and kissing the greatest threat to Western civilization since the British.

[aquart]

15. Make him go away.

[woodsprite]

16. Yes, and we're helping with the recruitment every single day we

stay there.

[Bragi]

17. Gee, odd that. Wonder why? /NT

[Doctor_J]

19. So we can kill the #3...FOREVER

Just give us lots of money and no oversight

[rcdean]

20. Welcome to Vietnam, general.

A war of attrition--which is what we've been waging, despite our denials (just as in 'Nam)--cannot succeed when our own tactics are GUARANTEED to create more new converts to the opposition every day.

To "win" in a situation like this, we need to truly win the hearts and minds of the people -- NOT destroy their country.

It's precisely the same situation that brought us down in 'Nam.

The old rule is, "When you're a hammer, every problem looks like a nail." America is a military hammer. We don't have any inclination to actually HELP other people unless that help is an incidental byproduct of further enriching some political ally of the current regime.

The secret to our failure in Iraq can be read in the statistics concerning daily life in a typical Baghdad neighborhood:
-- Electricity: avg less than 2 hours a day.
-- Temperature in August: avg 108 degrees daytime in the Summer.
-- Clean water: generally unavailable
-- Sewage disposal: Not working
-- Streets: flowing with raw sewage
-- Public Safety: Slim to none.
-- UNEMPLOYMENT: 60% +++ !!!!!

It is OUTRAGEOUS that America does not, after 5 years and $21 billion in "reconstruction" funds, have something more than this to show for it.

We deserve the failure we are reaping.

[Booster]

23. Yeah, we would call them "citizens". I asked my Marine nephew

if a foreign country attacked Florida and we went to help, what would we be called - he said "insurgents". Bingo.

[eppur_se_muova]

24. But isn't this infinite pool in its last throes? nt

[tom_paine]

25. Almost as if it is the Iraqis themselves who are responsible for the uprising

against their conquerers.

What could give somebody a crazy idea like that? :silly: :silly: :woohoo: :silly:

[IndianaGreen]

26. Solution: Draft all college Republicans into the military and send them off to war!

We have an unlimited supply of Republican assholes on campus!

[onager]

28. Alexander The Great: Afghans Seem To Have "Unlimited Pool" Of Fighters

n/t