I cannot believe Betrayus can say the surge is working with a straight face.
He is a lying sack of shit, just like his boss Chimpy.
Tom3
· 1 year ago
12 Billion Dollars a Month. Down the shitter.
nicho
· 1 year ago
Very reminiscent of the last days of the Third Reich.
grandma
· 1 year ago
ATK continues making bullets by the billion
grandma
· 1 year ago
ATK continues making bullets by the billion
Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 8:34:54 AM
Edina-based Alliant Techsystems (ATK), the largest supplier of small-caliber ammunition to the United States military, has announced that it delivered 1.4 billion rounds to the military for FY 2008 and projects another 1.4 billion military rounds for FY 2009. The latest delivery numbers were accompanied by the announcement of a $415.6 million contract for additional ammunition and expansion of its plant in Independence, Mo.
ATK delivered 1.2 billion rounds to the military in each of the first three years of the war in Iraq, and increased production to 1.4 billion in 2006. All told, ATK has delivered 6.4 billion rounds of small-caliber ammunition over the past five years to the military alone. But even that wasn't enough, because in 2004 a military shortage in small-caliber munitions resulted in emergency contracts and the addition of General Dynamics of Falls Church, Va., as a second source of supply.
" Embassy personnel have also been cautioned to limit their trips outdoors and, when they must leave the protection of reinforced structures, to wear flak jackets, protective eyewear, and helmets."
---
and yet... mccain still thinks its safe to walk around in certain neighborhoods.
... and Gen. Patreus drives in an unarmored vehicle.... painted red, with 'God Bless America' blasting on the stereo and flying an American flag.
see! its safe over there!
/snark
scooter in brooklyn
· 1 year ago
jeebus - is voinovich up for reelection this year in ohio?
Tom3
· 1 year ago
Betrayus SHOULD drive around in a brightly colored unarmored vehicle in Baghdad.
Sniper bait is about all he is worth.
Joshau Norton
· 1 year ago
Geez!! If the words "um" and "ah" and "er" didn't exist, the Ambassador wouldn't be able to talk at all. It gets annoying after the first 15 seconds of listening to it.
MN USA
· 1 year ago
The US needs to pinpoint some goals that will get us out. The Bush administration and General Petraeus keep stalling - a few more months and this may happen, a few more months and that may happen. The few more months has now gone on for five years. Where's the plan to get out?
OlderAndWiser
· 1 year ago
Petraeus: "It's hard and it's complicated..." No straight answers from this Joker.
Chris From Maine
· 1 year ago
we are never leaving Iraq.
by the way, in a real country, Petraeus and Crocker would be arrested for perjury before Congress immediately. However this isnt a real country anymore.
OlderAndWiser
· 1 year ago
What is the fucking end point? Anybody? Neither Petraeus or Crocker have answers to anything, it seems.
Obama tried to get a straight answer, but it's not forthcoming from those two clowns.
Dave of the Jungle
· 1 year ago
Mission Accomplished, Bring'em on, We're winning absolutely, We're make'n progress, We're kick'n ass, The next 3 to 6 months are critical.
Ah, heh heh heh...
gwpriester
· 1 year ago
Sounds like that Surge is working pretty well. Eh?
Chris From Maine
· 1 year ago
Betrayus asked for more time, more troops, and no end date.
in other words, stay the course.
OlderAndWiser
· 1 year ago
"Parade of horribles" -- Obama
Soundboy_jeff_meanie
· 1 year ago
OlderAndWiser
Petraeus: "It's hard and it's complicated..." No straight answers from this Joker.
---
sounds more like a line from larry craig.
Bush_Bites
· 1 year ago
Soft-spoken Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) may have been the last questioner of this morning's hearings on Iraq, but he ended up being a highlight of the hearings, deftly making his points on "opportunity costs" and the increasing demands of Afghanistan against a flummoxed Ambassador Ryan Crocker. Unable to make any sort of cogent point to rebut Bayh's intimations, Crocker ineptly attempted to raise Osama bin Laden as a spectre of fear, telling Bayh, "I noted in my testimony that Osama bin Laden fairly recently referred to Iraq as the perfect base for al Qaeda and it is a reminder that for al Qaeda, having a safe base on Arab soil is extremely important today."
Bayh's response: "I appreciate your responses. And I would only caution us to not take our marching orders from Osama bin Laden."
I haven't seen his testimony. Did he mention how the Iraqi "army" turned tail and ran during the incursion in Basra recently? Just sorta dropped their guns and ran, deserted, wormtailed it outta there? That's the fragile freedom that's over there? Do these gooks want a nation that we're so conveniently building for them? I don't think so and I think segmenting the "country" into neighborhoods is really the only way to go. At least Ireland had a national identity, despite the religious factions.
OlderAndWiser
· 1 year ago
Soundboy, this is an inside, but I almost cracked up today when I went to get my license plate renewal...the mgr of the place is Larry Craig. : )
Wonder if he toe taps...
Indigo
· 1 year ago
The embassy staff is to remain under 'hardened cover." To state the obvious, that usually implies being under attack. The less obvious but more disturbing implication is that two, maybe more, official stories about what's happening have surfaced. While the good general reassures everyone that Iraq is coming along just fine, the responsible officials at the embassy are protecting their own by encouraging them to be armored. Two stories. Two distinct command systems. Two realities. Conditions like that suggest a schizophrenic behavior pattern with delusion tendencies that could become outrageously destructive. Welcome back to Saigon, 1974, where all is well.
Joe Biden Just Obliterated Every Administration Argument About Iraq
Joe Biden asked Amb. Crocker where it would be better for American national security interests to eliminate Al Qaeda in Iraq or Al Qaeda along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Crocker had nowhere to hide with that question. Spencer Ackerman describes the outcome.
Crocker, in an impossible political position -- give the correct answer and humiliate the Bush administration; give the administration's answer and look like a fool -- dodged as much as he could. Then Biden forced him down. Crocker: "I would therefore pick Al Qaeda on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border."
Game over.
(Biden's other great achievement was his strong statement that Congressional PERMISSION is needed to make any long-term commitment to Iraq. There were actually cheers in the hearing room after that one.)
You can actually end this hearing right now. We have all the information we need. Joe Biden made the entire Administration policy for 6 years look foolish.
1. Did Iranian personnel play a role in the recent fighting in Basra? If so, on whose side(s)?
2. What is the status of Al Qaeda in Iraq? Is it on the brink of defeat? If so, is the primary rationale for a continued American presence evaporating?
3. Can the Sunni "Sons of Iraq" be trusted? Might they come to pose a threat to the Iraqi government in Baghdad?
4. Who is the enemy for the United States in Iraq? Do the United States and the Maliki government share common foes and common friends?
5. Are the Iraqis "Standing Up?"
grandma
· 1 year ago
Older and Wiser..
Good question ...haven't seen it in the main stream media as of yet.
Yeah...he done real good !!!
Tom3
· 1 year ago
Go Joe!! Biden really kicked their asses today.
Maybe democracy isn't dead yet after all.
FunMe
· 1 year ago
Gen BETRAYUS is back?
Where's MoveOnOrg? I want to piss off the Senate once again!
OlderAndWiser
· 1 year ago
Jim DeMint should just STFU with his obsequiousness...what an ass.
existenz
· 1 year ago
Sounds like we are on the verge of success, huh?
scooter in brooklyn
· 1 year ago
they might as well sleep in their offices. it's not as if they're doing any meaningful work.
jr
· 1 year ago
"does this cheerleading outfit make me look fat?"-Lindsey Graham to Joe Lieberman
Green Eagle
· 1 year ago
I can see that helicopter on top of the embassy any day now.
BryanKirchoff
· 1 year ago
A few observations about the lively discussion on this post:
1) The basic hypothesis of this article is that Iraq is falling apart even as General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker speak. However, the type of war the insurgents are fighting - sporadic rocket launches, IEDs, shoot-and-run mortar attacks - do not require lots of manpower or complex planning. In other words, just because the headlines feature more attacks in a given week does not mean the insurgency is enjoying a groundswell of support or some new strategic advantage. It means the existing guerillas have decided to ratchet up their attacks for some purpose during a period of time. (It would be interesting to see if such upticks have coincided with American congressional testimonies and election seasons.) That's why we have congressional testimonies - because it's too easy to misinterpret a situation if all we know of it is what we've read or watched from several thousand miles away. 2) While the Basra operation (and resultant Baghdad fighting) apparently have not gone as hoped, the fact that the Iraqi government was confident enough to launch the operation in the first place represents progress. Some questions that have not come up much in discussion: Why did al-Sadr dictate a six-month ceasefire in the first place? Is he still hiding in Iran, and if so, why? Why did he order his men off the street this time? Is he betraying some weakness in his position? After all, thousands of people were demonstrating for more security in Basra before the operation, so their sympathies may very well not lie with him. 3) For those of you who seem to have trouble spelling General Petraeus' name with a "P" instead of a "B"...since even President Bush, by virtue of having talked to a military recruiter, has more military experience than a substantial portion (perhaps even vast majority) of the anti-war movement, you are remarkably under-equipped to question the character and judgement of an Army general. I had enough to deal with as a mere sergeant in Iraq, so I can guarantee you have no idea of the pressures and responsibilities of being the commanding officer in a war. To remedy this, you might consider joining the military or diplomatic corps so the nation is no longer denied your superior understanding of national security affairs. Ending the Iraq War is a perfectly valid proposal for debate, but the MoveOn school of rhetoric drowns it in such a lather of arrogance that any real message is lost. (Sorry for the harsh tone, but that was friendly compared to the comments to which I'm referring.)
Bryan Kirchoff St. Louis
aquarius2
· 1 year ago
"3) For those of you who seem to have trouble spelling General Petraeus' name with a "P" instead of a "B"...since even President Bush, by virtue of having talked to a military recruiter, has more military experience than a substantial portion (perhaps even vast majority) of the anti-war movement, you are remarkably under-equipped to question the character and judgement of an Army general." -----------
Oh really? How many surges? How many surges were successful? How many years of this on going conflict? How many dead compared to other conflicts? You are against anti-war protesters? Why? It took years for anti-war protesters to force the troop removal in Vietnam, something the military leaders were against.
So after six years, the USA with its refined weapons and manpower is reduced to this from Petraeus:
"Petraeus said that in the seven months since their last appearance before Congress, U.S. and Iraqi forces have made progress toward tamping down the violence but that progress was "fragile" and "reversible."
All Comments
so is this:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ar...
He is a lying sack of shit, just like his boss Chimpy.
Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 8:34:54 AM
Edina-based Alliant Techsystems (ATK), the largest supplier of small-caliber ammunition to the United States military, has announced that it delivered 1.4 billion rounds to the military for FY 2008 and projects another 1.4 billion military rounds for FY 2009. The latest delivery numbers were accompanied by the announcement of a $415.6 million contract for additional ammunition and expansion of its plant in Independence, Mo.
ATK delivered 1.2 billion rounds to the military in each of the first three years of the war in Iraq, and increased production to 1.4 billion in 2006. All told, ATK has delivered 6.4 billion rounds of small-caliber ammunition over the past five years to the military alone. But even that wasn't enough, because in 2004 a military shortage in small-caliber munitions resulted in emergency contracts and the addition of General Dynamics of Falls Church, Va., as a second source of supply.
http://minnesotamonitor.com/showDiary.do?diaryI...
---
and yet... mccain still thinks its safe to walk around in certain neighborhoods.
... and Gen. Patreus drives in an unarmored vehicle.... painted red, with 'God Bless America' blasting on the stereo and flying an American flag.
see! its safe over there!
/snark
Sniper bait is about all he is worth.
by the way, in a real country, Petraeus and Crocker would be arrested for perjury before Congress immediately. However this isnt a real country anymore.
Obama tried to get a straight answer, but it's not forthcoming from those two clowns.
Ah, heh heh heh...
in other words, stay the course.
Petraeus: "It's hard and it's complicated..." No straight answers from this Joker.
---
sounds more like a line from larry craig.
Bayh's response: "I appreciate your responses. And I would only caution us to not take our marching orders from Osama bin Laden."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/08/evan-b...
Wonder if he toe taps...
LOL!
He's even starting to sound like the Chimp:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ReoKQlOF4XY
Joe Biden asked Amb. Crocker where it would be better for American national security interests to eliminate Al Qaeda in Iraq or Al Qaeda along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Crocker had nowhere to hide with that question. Spencer Ackerman describes the outcome.
Crocker, in an impossible political position -- give the correct answer and humiliate the Bush administration; give the administration's answer and look like a fool -- dodged as much as he could. Then Biden forced him down. Crocker: "I would therefore pick Al Qaeda on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border."
Game over.
(Biden's other great achievement was his strong statement that Congressional PERMISSION is needed to make any long-term commitment to Iraq. There were actually cheers in the hearing room after that one.)
You can actually end this hearing right now. We have all the information we need. Joe Biden made the entire Administration policy for 6 years look foolish.
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/04/joe-bide...
McLame just stuck his tongue up their asses.
1. Did Iranian personnel play a role in the recent fighting in Basra? If so, on whose side(s)?
2. What is the status of Al Qaeda in Iraq? Is it on the brink of defeat? If so, is the primary rationale for a continued American presence evaporating?
3. Can the Sunni "Sons of Iraq" be trusted? Might they come to pose a threat to the Iraqi government in Baghdad?
4. Who is the enemy for the United States in Iraq? Do the United States and the Maliki government share common foes and common friends?
5. Are the Iraqis "Standing Up?"
Good question ...haven't seen it in the main stream media as of yet.
Yeah...he done real good !!!
Maybe democracy isn't dead yet after all.
Where's MoveOnOrg? I want to piss off the Senate once again!
1) The basic hypothesis of this article is that Iraq is falling apart even as General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker speak. However, the type of war the insurgents are fighting - sporadic rocket launches, IEDs, shoot-and-run mortar attacks - do not require lots of manpower or complex planning. In other words, just because the headlines feature more attacks in a given week does not mean the insurgency is enjoying a groundswell of support or some new strategic advantage. It means the existing guerillas have decided to ratchet up their attacks for some purpose during a period of time. (It would be interesting to see if such upticks have coincided with American congressional testimonies and election seasons.) That's why we have congressional testimonies - because it's too easy to misinterpret a situation if all we know of it is what we've read or watched from several thousand miles away.
2) While the Basra operation (and resultant Baghdad fighting) apparently have not gone as hoped, the fact that the Iraqi government was confident enough to launch the operation in the first place represents progress. Some questions that have not come up much in discussion: Why did al-Sadr dictate a six-month ceasefire in the first place? Is he still hiding in Iran, and if so, why? Why did he order his men off the street this time? Is he betraying some weakness in his position? After all, thousands of people were demonstrating for more security in Basra before the operation, so their sympathies may very well not lie with him.
3) For those of you who seem to have trouble spelling General Petraeus' name with a "P" instead of a "B"...since even President Bush, by virtue of having talked to a military recruiter, has more military experience than a substantial portion (perhaps even vast majority) of the anti-war movement, you are remarkably under-equipped to question the character and judgement of an Army general. I had enough to deal with as a mere sergeant in Iraq, so I can guarantee you have no idea of the pressures and responsibilities of being the commanding officer in a war. To remedy this, you might consider joining the military or diplomatic corps so the nation is no longer denied your superior understanding of national security affairs.
Ending the Iraq War is a perfectly valid proposal for debate, but the MoveOn school of rhetoric drowns it in such a lather of arrogance that any real message is lost. (Sorry for the harsh tone, but that was friendly compared to the comments to which I'm referring.)
Bryan Kirchoff
St. Louis
-----------
Oh really? How many surges? How many surges were successful? How many years of this on going conflict? How many dead compared to other conflicts? You are against anti-war protesters? Why? It took years for anti-war protesters to force the troop removal in Vietnam, something the military leaders were against.
So after six years, the USA with its refined weapons and manpower is reduced to this from Petraeus:
"Petraeus said that in the seven months since their last appearance before Congress, U.S. and Iraqi forces have made progress toward tamping down the violence but that progress was "fragile" and "reversible."