Bush downplays violence in Iraq

[UpInArms]

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-09/15/content_1983178.htm

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 (Xinhuanet) -- US President George W. Bush downplayed on Tuesday the deadly unrest in Iraq after a car bombing in central Baghdad killed more than 50 people.

"Despite ongoing acts of violence, Iraq now has a strong prime minister, a National Council, and national elections are scheduled in January," Bush said at a campaign rally.

<snip>

Haifa street was the scene of a fierce battle between US forces and Iraqi insurgents on Sunday, in which at least 13 people were killed and 55 others wounded.

More than one year after Bush declared the Iraq war ended, the insurgency in the country is increasing as more than 1,000 US soldiers have been killed since the Bush administration launched the Iraq war in March last year.

...more...

[NNN0LHI]

1. Of course. He ain't getting shot at n/t

[Alpharetta]

2. "Hey, they're sovereign now."

which means they've got sovereignty. you know. the sovereign thing.

[Tempest]

3. Someone needs to remind Bush

Denial is not a river.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Hey at least he did not scrream BRING IT ON!

[NNN0LHI]

11. You make a great point n/t

[Kierkegaard]

5. He's wearing his transparent emperors suit again

I guess the explosions, gun fire, people dying in droves are just anecdotal.

[The_Casual_Observer]

6. Ever get the feeling we are on the Titanic?

Not once has anything good happened while bush was in office.

[Disturbed]

9. Sovereignty?

The Hand-Over That Wasn't: Illegal Orders give the US a Lock on Iraq's Economy
by Antonia Juhasz

Officially, the U.S. occupation of Iraq ended on June 28, 2004. But in reality, the United States is still in charge: Not only do 138,000 troops remain to control the streets, but the "100 Orders" of L. Paul Bremer III remain to control the economy.

These little noticed orders enacted by Bremer, the now-departed head of the now-defunct Coalition Provisional Authority, go to the heart of Bush administration plans in Iraq. They lock in sweeping advantages to American firms, ensuring long-term U.S. economic advantage while guaranteeing few, if any, benefits to the Iraqi people.

The Bremer orders control every aspect of Iraqi life - from the use of car horns to the privatization of state-owned enterprises. Order No. 39 alone does no less than "transition from a … centrally planned economy to a market economy" virtually overnight and by U.S. fiat.

Although many thought that the "end" of the occupation would also mean the end of the orders, on his last day in Iraq Bremer simply transferred authority for the orders to Prime Minister Iyad Allawi - a 30-year exile with close ties to the CIA and British intelligence.

<http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0805-07.htm>

*GW Bush was a fraud then and is now.

[Crunchy Frog]

18. Hey, my sister

used to be friends with Tony Juhasz when they were little kids. I'll have to email her that article.

[jimshoes]

10. Yes, and he has half the country convinced

that we're not sinking. What's it gonna take to convince them? Water up to their butts?

[qanda]

7. Haifa street on Sunday was no fierce battle...

It was a war crime, a bloodbath, a crying sin and a shame.



http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,1303807,00.html

[AFSCME girl]

13. Good God in Heaven!!!

Does Bush even live on the same planet as the rest of us?!!!! You're certainly right, pbl, this is a horrible, immoral shame....60 dead in the last 48 hours... :grr:

[Larkspur]

8. Do you get the feeling that the insurgents are using the US election

campaign season to gain as much ground as they can before Nov. 2 results are finalized? If Bush wins, Rummy will crank up the US attacks against them, but if Kerry wins, Bush will let the insurgency grow.

[LynnTheDem]

12. bush is a big fat fcking LIAR.

The overwhelming majority (of US soldiers)lost their lives after President George W. Bush declared major combat operations over in his now infamous "Mission Accomplished" photo-opportunity in May last year.

After an invasion and occupation that promised them freedom, Iraqis have seen their security evaporate, their state smashed and their country fragment into a lawless archipelago ruled by militias, bandits and kidnappers.

(T)he US is down to the last vestiges of its always exiguous allied support, at the time when Iraq needs every bit of help it can get.

The occupation has lost control of big swathes of the country.

Financial Times @
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0911-26.htm

It's not only that U.S. casualty figures keep climbing. American counterinsurgency experts are noticing some disturbing trends in those statistics.

The Defense Department counted 87 attacks per day on U.S. forces in August--the worst monthly average since Bush's flight-suited visit to the USS Abraham Lincoln in May 2003. Preliminary analysis of the July and August numbers also suggests that U.S. troops are being attacked across a wider area of Iraq than ever before.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5973272/site/newsweek/

More than 200 U.S. troops were wounded in Iraq in the past week, the Pentagon said Tuesday, and the total since the invasion was launched in March 2003 is now 7,245.

The number of Americans killed and wounded has grown rapidly amid an intensifying and increasingly effective insurgency. There were more wounded over the past five months — about 4,000 — than in the first 13 months of the war when there were about 3,300, according to Pentagon reports.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/09/14/iraq/main643404.shtml

THREE YEARS ON, WAR ON TERRORISM LOOKS LIKE A LOSER

”It is hard to find a counterterrorism specialist who thinks that the Iraq War has reduced rather than increased the threat to the United States,” wrote James Fallows, a prominent national-security journalist, in the current edition of 'Atlantic' magazine.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0911-01.htm

[truthisfreedom]

14. you can't even hear his blathering lies over the maelstrom of violence

in Iraq. death and destruction, blood and mayhem, and bush stands on a soapbox and says, hey, everythings coming up roses!

[leeman67]

15. oh, he didn't say "bring it on!"?

[krkaufman]

16. Strong prime minister, National Council, national elections...

Hey, W, didn't they have all that *BEFORE* we invaded, too -- but without the violence, constant death, lack of security, fear, etc?

Dumb@ss!

[donkeyotay]

17. gee, I wonder why the repo's think this fool is strong

"Despite ongoing acts of strong violence, Iraq now has a strong prime minister, a strong National Council, and strong national elections are scheduled in January," strong Bush said strongly at a campaign rally for the strongly clueless.

Golleee, what a strong leader we have. I think I'll just overlook the fact that everything he says is a lie.