9 Comments

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  rjd_jr at 07:52 AM JST - 10th October

  No end in sight.

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  Sarge at 03:28 PM JST - 10th October

  rjd jr - What do you suggest? No, wait, I already know - pull out all U.S. troops now and let the place descend into total chaos, allowing extremists to take over Iraq, right?

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  SuperLib at 07:22 PM JST - 10th October

  Shhhhhhhh Sarge.....that's the secret that's not supposed to be talked about....

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  SezWho2 at 08:30 PM JST - 10th October

  Oh, dear. And here I thought that secret was that the surge hadn't really put paid to all this.

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  coulrophobic at 08:44 PM JST - 10th October

  "And here I thought that secret was that the surge hadn't really put paid to all this."

  You sound delighted by the violence. It's like you miss it.

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  SezWho2 at 09:28 PM JST - 10th October

  coulrophobic,

  I'm waiting for a dot-path from my statement to yours. Don't make it too difficult for me to connect, please.

  I think my statement said what I have been saying all along. Reducing the floor of violence does not mean that the surge has worked. And treating the reduced floor and limited political gains as evidence that the surge "has worked" is something that not even Petraeus does.

  Now if you see something more in there, you're being fairly creative.

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  coulrophobic at 09:34 PM JST - 10th October

  I'm glad then that sez who agrees with what the article has to say:

  “There’s no doubt that Iran influences Iraq,” Maj Gen Michael Oates told reporters. “The risk would come if they seek to influence the election using some nefarious operations or surrogates or they raise the level of violence in the country.”

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  rjd_jr at 11:41 PM JST - 10th October

  What other options is there sarge, unless you want to keep the level of troops there, which cost taxpayers billions a month, forever. What's the point of keeping the troops in danger over a precarious situation caused by the invasion in the first place? It's the Iraqi's country, let them fight and die for it.

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  SezWho2 at 06:59 AM JST - 11th October

  coulrophobic,

  I'm not sure what you are trying to say. I think you have some faulty grammar going there. Perhaps if you try again...?

  When you do it might be better to speak for yourself and not pretend to extrapolate to what you think I might agree with. If I don't agree, I'll tell you soon enough.

  As far as Iran is concerned, of course it influences Iraq. It always has. They're neighbors and a majority of Iraq's population is Shiite. Even the enmity between Iran and Iraq under Saddam was the result of an influence.

  However, you're not suggesting that the Iranians rubbed out an al-Sadr supporter are you? With al-Sadr's close relationship with Iran, why would they do that?

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