U.S. ambassador: Al-Qaida close to defeat in Iraq

Sunday 25th May, 06:56 AM JST

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Madverts at 09:32 PM JST - 29th May

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7425314.stm

According to Iraqi and American propaganda, the city where this happened is considered to be the last urban stronghold of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Then again, we were told the back of the insurgency had been broken sometime in 2003....
Sarge at 11:25 PM JST - 29th May

The surge is working. Heh, that must really grind the gears of some posters here.
Madverts at 11:56 PM JST - 29th May

" Heh, that must really grind the gears of some posters here."

No it's the terrorist breeding ground thet the US created that grinds my gears. Heh, it grinds your gears too, but not in the same way because you're in Denial, uh, sarge.
medievaltimes at 08:35 AM JST - 30th May

No it's the terrorist breeding ground thet the US created that grinds my gears.

Terrorist breeding ground in the short term sure. Why wouldnt it be? Of course the terrorists are going to flock there. But what is more important is the long run.

The upcoming election and foreign policy will be an important point. But if the troops stay, the US probably will not have a good grasp of things for another couple years.

If the troops pull out, there is a possibility that the US will have to go back in at a later date under worse conditions.
SezWho2 at 09:41 AM JST - 30th May

There's always that possibility. There are also the possibilities that the US will "have to" go back in again under better conditions or that a US pullout will allow Iraq to get this problem sorted expediently on its own.

Possibilities are not the point. The point is the cost of various courses of actions and of probabilites of those actions being successful. "Expected value" is the calculation that we should be trying to understand.

The administration has so far been arguing that its course of action is the only course of action which avoids ruin. In so doing, however, it has both neglected to demonstrate that this is so and ignored the calculations that show its course of action is producing a negative yield.
Sarge at 10:11 AM JST - 30th May

No, the U.S. didn't create the terrorists/terrorist breeding ground, but we're dealing with them/it.

"uh, sarge"

Madverts, I'm laughing at the superior intellect.
Madverts at 05:53 PM JST - 30th May

"No, the U.S. didn't create the terrorists/terrorist breeding ground"

So it just appeared mysteriously in the aftermath of the invasion?

Phew - I've heard of chronic Delusion before but that takes the biscuit.
super delegate at 08:10 PM JST - 30th May

Author Lawrence Wright won the Pulitzer Prize for his book The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11, which traces the development and rise of Al Qaeda.

He is now chronicling a revolt within their ranks and maybe even their demise -

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/06/02/080602fafactwright?currentPage=1
nightflesh at 08:18 PM JST - 30th May

Too many people on here have no clue what is going on other than what the read on the internet/newspaper/magazine.
SezWho2 at 09:40 PM JST - 30th May

Too many people everywhere have that problem. Maybe even in the White House.
Madverts at 09:42 PM JST - 30th May

But super-d,

That doesn't expalin the phenemenon that al-Qaida didn't exist in Iraq until the invasion put them there.

The few dregs that continue to offer their support for the invasion are truly un-patriotic Americans and supporters of terroroism IMO.
Madverts at 09:43 PM JST - 30th May

Nightflesh,

Firstly, nice handle.

Secondly, maybe you could tell us what is really going on then?
medievaltimes at 11:22 PM JST - 30th May

Too many people on here have no clue what is going on other than what the read on the internet/newspaper/magazine.

So, whats your view???
Sarge at 09:07 PM JST - 31st May

Madverts - Let me try to explain this to you one more time - No, of course al-Qaida didn't just appear mysteriously in Iraq - they took advantage of the power vacuum caused by all the in-fighting between the various Iraqi factions who couldn't seem to come together after we kicked out the dictator who was running the country into the ground. What's that? Would have been better to leave the dictator in place to continue running the country into the ground? Don't think so. And neither do most Iraqis.

Hey, nightflesh - when are you going to tell us what's really going on?
Madverts at 01:05 AM JST - 2nd June

" they took advantage of the power vacuum"

Yes, so the invasion gave al-Qaida the oppertunity to run amok.

Please desist now, you're looking silly again.