84 Comments

1. CJB:

I’m looking forward to those books on the media-malpractice. Looking forward to every sordid detail.

Dec 31, 2008 - 8:10 am 2. ~Paules:

It should be noted that no one predicted the Iraq War would draw in thousands of jihadists from all over the world. General Patraeus should be recognized for a triumph that left Al Qaeda gutted. The cause of liberty was advanced and the world made safer despite the best efforts by radical leftists to subvert the effort. We can only hope that pragmatists in the Obama administration will have the wisdom to keep the pressure on terrorists worldwide. The current Israeli operation in Gaza should be supported by the incoming administration until Hamas is utterly destroyed.

Mr. Obama has inherited a windfall as the price of oil continues to drop, but the window of opportunity might be short-lived. Now is the time for aggressive measures against Iran for the purpose of regime change. This does not necessarily mean overt military action, but it’s going to require tough action. Mr. Obama will have the media largely on his side, an advantage that a McCain administration would not enjoy. We can expect Code Pink and others from the looney left to be marginalized by a press sympathetic to the new administration.

We will know soon enough in what ways President Obama intends to deal with terrorism. Hopefully his ambition will require a pragmatic approach to foreign affairs. Defeatism will not make him a person of historical significance, and he’s probably smart enough to realize it. The quicker the far left becomes disenchanted with Mr. Obama, the better it will be for America. Conservatives might actually find in our new president reasons to support him. Let’s hope so. We should give our new president the benefit of starting with a clean slate, and then judge him on the results.

Dec 31, 2008 - 8:39 am 3. Tony R:

Yep, well said. I’d like to offer a toast to your president George Bush who had the strength of will to ignore the traitors and cowards from his own country to do the right thing in Iraq. And a toast to David Petreaus for being the right man in the right place at the right time. Finally a toast to Michael Yon for his brave work reporting the actual truth from Iraq.

To all the begrudgers who dreamed of failure in Iraq for their own political ends despite the harm it would do to millions upon millions of Iraqis I can only say “Shame”. Shame on you all. You are nothing but an embarrassment to humanity.

Dec 31, 2008 - 8:52 am 4. Steve P.:

Tony R. “To all the begrudgers who dreamed of failure in Iraq for their own political ends despite the harm it would do to millions upon millions of Iraqis I can only say “Shame”. Shame on you all. You are nothing but an embarrassment to humanity.”

Suicide bombings are still happening daily in Baghdad. Millions of innocent Iraqis have been displaced from their homes and may never return; thousands are dead. Thousands of American soldiers also dead. Trillions of dollars sunk. No WMDs ever found. Still no clear explanation for why we invaded. Still no clear explanation for what constitutes “victory.” We invaded a country based on crummy intelligence, destroyed their infrastructure, traumatized an entire generation of innocent people, created a boatload more terrorists, and have absolutely nothing to show for it except for a hefty bill and a crippled country for which we are now responsible.

Moron.

Dec 31, 2008 - 9:52 am 5. Nat X:

Steve P., stop drinking the kool-aid.

The war in Iraq is over. It is simply, verfiably untrue that suicide bombings are happening in Badhdad daily.

Here’s a good idea for you. Try to actually learn about what’s going on in our tragic world.

Moron.

Dec 31, 2008 - 10:02 am 6. CJB:

Steve P,

You forgot the part about children flying kites in the idyllic Iraqi paradise that Saddam Hussein had built. You also forgot the part about the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis Saddam intentionally murdered, just as you forgot the part about the rape rooms and the torture chambers that Saddam ran. If a man can be known by what he supports I am happy I don’t know you.

Dec 31, 2008 - 10:06 am 7. seven:

We won. The liberal media evacuated because they have no articles to write that contain a hint of defeat. Iraq is on it’s feet and making progress. Oil prices have crashed and funding the Muslims is drying up.
Obama is so committed to Muslims. It is ironic that he will have to end his silence and take a position. Israel has called for war and Obama will have to announce his status on it.
Now the death rate in Chicago is still higher than in Baghdad. 12 months ago 3 gays were killed in Obama’s church that served in the ministry there.
we will see if Obama wants to fight crime in America.

Dec 31, 2008 - 10:06 am 8. Jim:

Start by holding those who are seditious as traitors to the United States of America! Or have we forgotten how to maintain law and order?

Dec 31, 2008 - 10:06 am 9. Jim:

…and that includes you, Nat X…

Dec 31, 2008 - 10:07 am 10. Don:

Steve P.:

Explain to me how the war crippled America. I am to understand the the stress of it caused millions of Americans to spend themselves into complete debt? I am to understand that the stress of war caused hundreds of companies to conduct business poorly and drive themselves into bankruptcy? Quit blaming the war for all your problems. People like you are what cripples this country. Whining baby. I’m on my 5th tour to Iraq and I am bored out of my mind, just like everyone else. You have a better chance of getting murdered in the United States then you do of being killed in Iraq. Don’t speak of what you don’t know.

Dec 31, 2008 - 10:22 am 11. mark:

~Paules:It should be noted that no one predicted the Iraq War would draw in thousands of jihadists from all over the world.

This is actually an ages-old strategy employed by the Pentagon, one taken directly from the pages of “The Art of War” by Sun Tsu. Very simply put, it says that when the enemy will not wear a uniform or show themselves in the open, you “create” the battlefield. It worked beautifully, in two important ways. One, it forced our enemies to spend resources where they didn’t want or plan to, and secondly, the idiot jihadists who went Iraq to kill Americans (instead of coming here) found a waiting military force that was trained to kill them. Beautiful.

Dec 31, 2008 - 10:38 am 12. Donna V.:

Don: Thank you for your service – some of us appreciate it. With all due respect, I am happy you folks are bored out of your minds over there. Steve P. undoubtably prefers when life was much more exciting over there – the good old days when women got gang raped by Saddam’s psycho sons and their vile associates before being ground up and fed to dogs, when political opponents were put into wood chippers feet first, when the children’s prisons were booming,…,Ah, yes, what wonderful times we ruined over there.

You see, Steve P. is a compassionate leftist. He’s so much nicer and more moral than we are.

/sarc

Dec 31, 2008 - 10:58 am 13. Paul from Florida:

Steve,

How’s that lefty ‘Free Tibet’ campaign going?
You know, 58 years, three generations, of bumper sticker efforts on your parents old Volvo waggon?

Steve? Hello? (He must be in Darfur, showing the way)

Dec 31, 2008 - 11:19 am 14. Nick:

Outstanding article Mr. Blumer.

Dec 31, 2008 - 11:20 am 15. kabud:

why do we have to argue with the MSM and enemy propaganda agents?

we only legitimize them when we talk to them ot mention them

IGNORE

Dec 31, 2008 - 11:22 am 16. jcrue:

“Free Tibet” – a theocracy the Left will support

Dec 31, 2008 - 11:26 am 17. Peter the Sub Guy:

4. Steve P. wrote:
Thousands of American soldiers also dead. Trillions of dollars sunk. No WMDs ever found.

Peter asks: Please tell me then what your definition of 500 tons of yellow cake uranium is?

Dec 31, 2008 - 11:42 am 18. Peter the Sub Guy:

4. Steve P. also wrote:
…We invaded a country based on crummy intelligence…

Peter points out: Intelligence that your vaunted leaders like Pelosi, Reid and Clinton took at face value just as easily (if not more so) than President Bush and spouted to the American public when it would make them look good.

Dec 31, 2008 - 11:44 am 19. Steve P.:

How the heck is it that a Progressive is trying to convince Conservatives that America ought to stay out of murky foreign affairs that 1) Have nothing to do with America’s national defense, 2) drain our treasury and 3)stretch our military resources to the point of near breakage?

You guys can’t even remember what your values are. No wonder you guys lost.

Dec 31, 2008 - 11:44 am 20. Steve P.:

Peter asks: Please tell me then what your definition of 500 tons of yellow cake uranium is?

Sure, i’ll tell you: It’s bull****. Yellowcake uranium is a commonly traded commodity. Every country that has nuclear capabilities buys and sells it. It is not enriched and cannot be used as a WMD without first going through a complicated enrichment process, which Iraq was unable to do because it has no nuclear power generating plants. So basically Iraq has been sitting on this very low-grade crap for years with nothing to do with it because every time Iraq builds a nuclear processing plant, Israel smartly destroys it.
So… no WMDs.

Dec 31, 2008 - 11:52 am 21. AngryAmerican:

Peter asks:
“Still no clear explanation for why we invaded.”

The answer you seek can be no clearer, if you would only remove the cloak over your eyes -

TO REMOVE SADDAM HUSSEIN FROM POWER and plant the roots of Democracy in Iraq

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!

HOOAH!!!

Dec 31, 2008 - 1:06 pm 22. AngryAmerican:

Steve asks:
“Still no clear explanation for why we invaded.”

The answer you seek can be no clearer, if you would only remove the cloak over your eyes -

TO REMOVE SADDAM HUSSEIN FROM POWER and plant the roots of Democracy in Iraq

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!

HOOAH!!!

Dec 31, 2008 - 1:10 pm 23. Donna V.:

Stevie, Stevie, Stevie.
You’re remarkably uninformed, even for a leftist.

First you tell us that left-wing regimes never persecuted the Jews (yeah, Stalin was far too nice to ever do that) and now you’re babbling on how the war has “drained the treasury.”

Stevie, you do know that the Defense Budget makes up 4% of our national budget, don’t you? Nah, I guess not. You and google do not appear to be friends.

It’s so nice to see a leftist express concern about the national treasury. The only time that ever seems to happen is when it’s the Defense budget we’re talking about. I myself am all for spending more on defense. If the government is going to take my money, I’d at least like it to go toward something that works. I’m less crazy about draining the treasury to bail out GM and the UAW and to keep people who defaulted on subprime mortgages they never should have received in the first place.

The reason we lost (this round) is certainly due in part to the fact that the public schools have produced a lot of ignorant and gulliable Steve P.’s who know no history, learn about current affairs from Bill Maher, and unquestioningly swallow everything CNN tells them.

Dec 31, 2008 - 1:11 pm 24. Tom Blumer:

Re: There were no WMDs —

Yes ….. there ….. were.

Add to that potential WMDs, specifically 550 metric tons of yellowcake uranium, which an IBD editorial called “the stuff that can be refined into nuclear weapons or nuclear fuel.”

Dec 31, 2008 - 1:14 pm 25. Peter the Sub Guy:

To Steve P. Why were we in Iraq? How about a little law called the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998. Since you obviously are too ignorant to know about it, the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 is a United States Congressional statement of policy calling for regime change in Iraq. It was signed into law by a certain president you might remember by the name of Bill Clinton.

The Act found that between 1980 and 1998 Iraq had:
A) Committed various and significant violations of International Law,
B) Had failed to comply with the obligations to which it had agreed following the Gulf War and
C) Further had ignored Resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.

The Act declared that it was the Policy of the United States to support “regime change.” The Act was passed 360-38 in the U.S. House of Representatives and by unanimous consent in the Senate. US President Bill Clinton signed the bill into law on October 31, 1998. The law’s stated purpose was: “to establish a program to support a transition to democracy in Iraq.”

Sounds to me like we followed the law established LONG before Bush was in the White House. Learn a little history Steve P.

Dec 31, 2008 - 1:36 pm 26. sherlock:

I suggest that during the new year, PJM each day feature a repeat the public statements of the liberals on the anniversary of them making them, to show clearly how they attempted to steal victory from us even as victory was being forged, and how they smeared the architects of victory to try to prevent their hated country and their hated President from succeeding.

Dec 31, 2008 - 1:38 pm 27. Peter the Sub Guy:

Also, since you probably didn’t bother to read this in the news either…

In its May 22, 2004 edition, the New York Times confirmed a myriad of reports on Saddam’s nuclear fuel stockpile – and revealed a chilling detail unknown to weapons inspectors before the war: that Saddam had begun to partially enrich his uranium stash.

“The repository, at Tuwaitha, a centerpiece of Saddam Hussein’s nuclear weapons program, . . . . holds more than 500 tons of uranium . . . . Some 1.8 tons is classified as low-enriched uranium.”

“Consider: 500 tons of yellowcake stored at Saddam’s old nuclear weapons plant, where he’d managed to partially enrich 1.8 tons. And the equipment and blueprints that could enrich enough uranium to make a bomb stored away for safekeeping. And all of it at the Iraqi dictator’s disposal.
If the average American were aware of these undisputed facts, the debate over Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction would have been decided long ago – in President Bush’s favor.”

Dec 31, 2008 - 1:38 pm 28. Peter the Sub Guy:

And please, Steve P, tell us all what a Conservative mouthpeice the New York Times is. Please. I dare ya!

Dec 31, 2008 - 1:41 pm 29. Peter the Sub Guy:

Signed,
Peter
Proud Iraqi Freedom Vet

Dec 31, 2008 - 1:41 pm 30. AngryAmerican:

Sorry for the double post and my humble apologies go to Peter.

This statement by Steve along dropped my jaw to the keyboard in disbelief:

“We invaded a country based on crummy intelligence, destroyed their infrastructure, traumatized an entire generation of innocent people, created a boatload more terrorists, and have absolutely nothing to show for it except for a hefty bill and a crippled country for which we are now responsible.”

This is the most insulting statement that could be made to our men and women that have fought this war, those that have paid the ultimate price for the freedom of these people, and their families. What disgusting trashfilled thing to say about the progress they have made this past year in particular. You would have to be totally ignorant to say that NOTHING has been accomplished.

*spit*

Dec 31, 2008 - 1:48 pm 31. AngryAmerican:

Signed,
Peter
Proud Iraqi Freedom Vet

“humble apologies go to Peter” – make that a double

THANK YOU for your ALL that you do, Peter!

Dec 31, 2008 - 1:50 pm 32. AngryAmerican:

The “WMD’s never found” stance by the defeatists holds no grounds with this proud parent of an OIF veteran.

Had these weapons been used during this conflict, instead of “thousands of US troops killed” we would be looking at “tens of thousands” killed. And not over the course of years – but more than likely within seconds.

In context of the Iraqi civilians – the “millions” that the anti-war activists claim have been killed in Iraq, would probably be true. And would probably be in well in excess of 1M.

Also, what must be taken into account, is the scores that would have been medically effected by WMD’s.

I thank the dear Lord that Saddam didn’t insanely use these weapons – have them or not.

Dec 31, 2008 - 2:16 pm 33. Donna V.:

Pete the Sub Guy: thanks both for your service and for kicking Stevie’s butt on this thread. I mean, it’s not like you’re playing in the major leagues when you go up against Steve, but every factual rebuttal of brain-dead liberal talking points is a good and necessary thing.

Isn’t it amazing how the “Question Authority” left never, ever question their own assumptions – or even test them against reality?

Dec 31, 2008 - 2:32 pm 34. Michael In Seattle:

Steve P. wrote: “Still no clear explanation for why we invaded.”

What. You mean other than the years of gross violations of the 1991 cease fire as enumerated in the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998? What more do you need? Honestly. What recounting of the stunning disregard for international norms and basic decency by the Iraq regime do you need that will provide a suitable ‘explanation’?

Michael, who is just another classical liberal who is utterly baffled by the mindset of Progressive Socialists and their Orwellian doublethink mindset.

Dec 31, 2008 - 3:05 pm 35. eor:

Compare 4000+ deaths in Iraq over 7 years to 400+ a year in cities like Chicago and Philadelphia. Also-my son’s outfit-activated for 18 mo. lost one soldier in a vehicle accident and one to a medical event. Lucky, you say? They also knew what they were doing. Professionals, all. They also liked the regular Iraqis they met who were very grateful to be free at last. Saddam was hated and feared. It’s the Steves of this world that concern me!! Ignorant and therefore dangerous!!

Dec 31, 2008 - 3:20 pm 36. Tex Taylor:

Steve, Steve…

Hey, you won the election! Be happy! President Present is on his way so you can have {cough cough} hope and change. But even with you actively voting against them, our military won the war in Iraq and liberated 25MM people.

I know you’re actively rooting for more of our military and Iraqi people to be killed so you can use it as political ammo to bash Bush, but the fact of matter is, our military is better than you and your ilk.

Add to the fact, if we’d left our Presidential vote to the Iraqi people, we’d have President Elect McCain.

Dec 31, 2008 - 3:30 pm 37. ~MM:

Here is something for you all. I am Iraqi by the way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeY05iS5iv0&feature=PlayList&p=3B1097BA9AF2E36C&playnext=1&index=18

Dec 31, 2008 - 3:46 pm 38. robotech master:

To 37 MM:

That video is great… carter is and was a POS… don’t worry obama will likely do the same crap that carter did. Its funny to “iraq has no chemical weapons”… expect the ones supplied by the euro countries. Does explain why the EU wanted to protect saddam and why they happy abused the oil for food problem…

Dec 31, 2008 - 5:45 pm 39. Jim D:

Steve P and a couple of the other posters might try and get educated. An excellent aid in that endeavor is “The Forsaken” by Tim Tzouliadis. Beginning in about ‘26 or ‘27 and going through around ‘35, several hundred thousand Americans left the U.S and headed for the new socialist Utopia that Joe Stalin had set up. Good loyal Progressives through and through! It was wonderful for about 3 months or so….. Afterward, those not outright executed disappeared into the Gulag. Very few were ever heard of again. And that fine Progressive leader, FDR, knew of them and did nothing. The Kool-Aid Krowd is still fully susceptible to this level of indoctrination. Just look at the last election…..Sheeple…..all of them….

Dec 31, 2008 - 5:46 pm 40. Tood:

It was predicted in May 2006 why 2008 would be precisely the year of victory in Iraq.

Dec 31, 2008 - 7:13 pm 41. ~MM:

Saddam had chemical weapons and that’s a fact. As an Iraqi I can tell you that Iraqis are greatfull for taking Saddam out of power, however, and again there was no clear post war plans, if any, just like what happened in 1991.

We can argue all we want but the reality is; the whole thing is a dirty and filthy game. The only loser in this game are the innocent civilians and the young American men and women on duty.

Peace.

Dec 31, 2008 - 7:24 pm 42. ~MM:

Here how Iraq was in the fifties http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV7BFi2-chk&feature=related

Dec 31, 2008 - 7:30 pm 43. The Fop:

We invaded Afghanistan, yet none of the 9/11 hijackers were Afghanis. They were Arabs. Al Qaeda is an Arab terrorist organization. So is Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and the Muslim Brotherhood. The Arab nations are the birthplace and headquarters of Islamic terror.

We invaded Iraq as a show of strength in the aftermath of 9/11. We made an example of one terror sponsoring Arab dictator, in order to send a message to all the other terror sponsoring Arab dictators. It was something that we had to do.

We also accomplished something else. We put the people of an Arab nation in the crosshairs of Islamic terrorism. Islamic terrorists usually attack Israeli or other Western targets, as well as targeting Arab governments that they want to overthrow. In general, the terrorists leave the general population of Muslim countries alone. So these populations have no incentive to take a stand against the terrorists.

The overthrow of Saddam Hussein changed that. Islamic terrorists flooded into Iraq to fill the power vaccuum. They terrorized innocent Iraqis in order to scare the population into submission. They wound up alienating an Arab nation that just got through with being terrorized by a maniacal leader for decades. The Iraqi people may not have known what they wanted, but they learned what they didn’t want. They wanted no part of Islamic terrorists, and have no desire to cheer them on when they attack infidels.

This is progress in the snake pit known as the Middle East. The invasion of Iraq was absolutely necessary, absolutetly brilliant, and absolutely successful, in spite of all the tactical errors that were made and are made in most, if not all wars.

How bittersweet to see the “anti-war” candidate inheriting Bush’s victory. A victory that he must work to maintain, because it is a true victory, and a valuable victory, and the smug schmuck knows it.

Dec 31, 2008 - 8:12 pm 44. fred:

What I most resent is the fact that our victories that were happening even before the Surge were not reported. And there were many such to report. Only the mayhem and OUR butcher’s bill was splashed on the news and the rags. It certainly did undermine the war effort. We almost didn’t get there because of it. The American public largely did not stay the course on this and, quite frankly, I am worried about the mettle of my country in future conflicts. In fact, I could see the handwriting on the wall back in May of 1973, when I graduated from high school and was soon to enter the Army. I saw how demoralized the Army was after the fall of South Vietnam.

The Medea Benjamin’s of our country just barely lost the political battle, however idiotic they are in their quest. Not for one moment do I underestimate these people. After the Army, I went to college and then grad school. I lost my way and was an academic Marxist for a decade of my life, so I got a look inside the Left.

Folks, now for the first time in our nation’s history we have a large critical mass of young Americans totally indoctrinated by the Gramscian Marxists. It’s going to take an ass-whipping by reality to shake these kids from their collectivist mindset. I voted for Carter twice, but I noted how most of my university classmates voted for Reagan. I had to go the long route of sifting and pondering all the nooks and crannies of Marxist thought before I gave it up. Most of these kids do not have either the predisposition or the kind of education necessary to think their way out of the subtle collectivist memes, templates, and instincts put there. It is going to take hard, hard reality to shake them from it.

I just hope the nation can survive the next four years. Anything is possible, both good and ill.

Dec 31, 2008 - 8:31 pm 45. Jimmy:

Hi,
I think American government is going towards wrong side.They create the terrorist.If Saddam had chemical weapons,I ask tell American has no chemical weapons.And also America had used in Japan.www.quranreading.com useful for student.I think this is the war of economy.I want to give message that we all need peace not war.Thanks

Dec 31, 2008 - 8:44 pm 46. fred:

Any guesses at what “Jimmy’s” IQ is?

Dec 31, 2008 - 9:43 pm 47. Donna V.:

Fred: This is very OT, but are you familiar with the historian Eugene Genovese? Genovese became a Marxist while still in his teens. He also became a notable scholar of slavery and the ante-bellum South. This Brooklyn Marxist gradually developed a great respect for the positive aspects of Southern tradition, including religion, although he always deplored racism. I read his book “Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made” while in college and thought it a powerful account of slavery in America. Prof. Genovese started on the left, but was ultimately too humane a man to stay there – eventually the evils of Communism sickened him. Both he and his wife, Elizabeth Fox Genovese, converted to Catholicism late in life. He also said he was disgusted by the hedonism and sexual excesses of the New Left.

An National Review interview with the Professor:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n3_v49/ai_19170058

I just thought you might find it interesting, if you’re not already familiar with the man’s work. When I read your posts I am reminded of Genovese.

Anyway, Happy New Year to all!

Dec 31, 2008 - 9:53 pm 48. robotech master:

Not so rough fred I don’t think english is his first… or 2nd lang… babblefish is your friend jimmy.

Dec 31, 2008 - 10:44 pm 49. john from cinncinatti:

the boat loads of new jihadist that were made, came along to replace the ones that were put down by our troops ie. the western coalition

Dec 31, 2008 - 11:28 pm 50. Yehudit:

Remember that John McCain deserves more credit for the surge than Bush – he advocated for it tirelessly in opposition to both parties, and had to win over President Bush. But yes, credit Bush with staying the course and refusing to allow Iraq to become Vietnam.

BTW Medea Benjamin and Jodie Evans (founders of Code Pink) had dinner with Ahmadinijad while he was in NYC this year. (And he was staying at the Waldorf Astoria, which is owned by Obama’s capaign treasurer Penny Pritzker, who was instumental in the Superior Bank subprime scandal of the mid-90s.)

Jan 1, 2009 - 4:16 am 51. AngryAmerican:

41. ~MM:

Many of us are saddened by the loss of our loved ones who served, and the innocent Iraqi’s.

They have not died in vain – their loss has planted the seeds of democracy in your soil. Given the events in the US this past November, it will be up to your people to make sure those roots spread and stay healthy. I fear the American will to nurture your democracy is waning. Unfortunately most of us in the US have lost our will to do anything that takes guts, other than go to the shopping mall or watch reality TV shows.

Except for our men and women in digitals. Any of us that are close to these men and women – family, former military, and even some of you Iraqis – know the cost of their sacrifice. And that the world’s media has turned their ugly head against them. The media has chosen to make this their “Vietnam” and to look for mistakes that the few have done. And ignore the acts of heroism and kindness that number beyond the stars above.

Our media dragged many of our congressmen into their traitorous agenda to do every they could to see our military fail. Ironically, like in the case of Murtha and the Haditha Marines – they failed and our men and women once again overcame the odds.

Yes, while the Coalition strategy appeared to be non-existent, there was one. It just did not go as the planners had hoped. The leadership had the sense to change its direction on the front lines – not in throwing in the towel – which is what was harping from the mouths of Medea and the rest of the pacifists.

The direction was to enforce security and drive out the insurgency, give the Iraqi security forces a chance to take root, treat the civilians with respect and dignity by rebuilding their infrastructure, give them the humanitarian aide they needed, and help them establish their local economy through small businesses. Why would people want to fight, when you can fulfill any man’s dream by providing for your family and live in peace.

Yes, the whole thing was ugly, but:

“War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things……A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight—nothing he cares about more than his own safety—is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.” – John Stuart Mill

Jan 1, 2009 - 4:40 am 52. mdgiles:

I always find the mindset of the left fascinating, when it comes to the subject of WMDs. Not only are they completely wrong about none being found, they would only be displaying 20/20 hindsight had none been found. Leading up to the Iraq war, would it have been logical to operate on the assumption that Saddam didn’t have them? After all he had them in the past, and had used them on numerous occasions. He operated from within a closed society, and had fought inspections. Saddam himself, as even the clueless ones have noted, made a point of hinting that he had them, to fool the Iranians. What competent leader would have operated from the “rosy” view that it was all bluff – this time? Would a “dirty bomb” going off in some metropolitan area, have made them “happy” as absolute proof? The idea is to stop them before the tragedy, not pick up the pieces afterward.

Jan 1, 2009 - 6:11 am 53. FREE TIBET:

With the purchase of another Tibet of equal or greater value. This offer valid at all Home Depot stores.

Jan 1, 2009 - 7:31 am 54. inmypajamas:

The true test that victory has been achieved in Iraq is that the death tolls now being trumpeted by the press are from Afganistan.

Jan 1, 2009 - 8:38 am 55. Peter the Sub Guy:

Anyone else notice that Steve P. seems to have fled from the thread once his arguments were logically smashed?

Jan 1, 2009 - 8:51 am 56. Greg:

Unfortunately for the media, and the Leftist ‘Defeatist’ the MSM no longer had a total lock on the information the American public gets. No longer can someone like Walter Cronkite falsely portray ‘the Tet offensive as a stunning defeat for America’ and get away with it. We had actual reports directly from the field from our brave soldiers and ‘real journalist’ like Michael Yon (who BTW is more liberal then conservative) posted in a public forum before a audience of millions.

What our media did (both with the Iraq war and the earlier Vietnam war) was treasonous. They were entrusted with a ’sacred duty’ to present a balanced, unbiased view of the world. Instead they perverted it into a tool to enslave the opinions of everyone.

Jan 1, 2009 - 8:55 am 57. Tim:

With Obama’s promise to close Gitmo, with no plan on what to do with the terrorists and no acknowledgement that Gitmo is a necessity, I hope that PM helps get out the word as to who resides at camp Gitmo. We need to hear the stories about the people who are there and other stories about people who were released from Gitmo and how they came back to hurt the US even further. And for certain, we need to hear the stories about those currently at Gitmo who are released by Obama and who make their way back to the battlefield.

The MSM has done their best to embarass and shame the current administration into closing Gitmo. Please, do your best to embarass and hold the incoming administration responsible in their efforts to close Gitmo. Two can play at the game of pulling at heartstrings. The first US person who is killed or hurt by an alumni of Gitmo should be made into our version of a martyr.

F the bleeding heart liberals who have no workable alternative to Gitmo.

Jan 1, 2009 - 10:22 am 58. Timothy:

This is why I go to the internet now for my news. I am probably also gonna cancel my cable and save some money, too. I will no longer give my money or time to the liberal media anymore. Long live pajamas and the net!

Jan 1, 2009 - 12:40 pm 59. weSwinger:

To fred: the most robust defender of conservative principles and the most accessible to young educable readers is Ayn Rand.

It’s amazing to me that even after military training, your VN experience left you so demoralized as to be susceptible to marxist indoctrination. That is so sad. I hate it when the enemy’s plans work. And that surely was (is) their plan.

The lady above is tonic against the “to each according to his needs” claptrap.

Happy New Year!

Jan 1, 2009 - 3:16 pm 60. AngryAmerican:

55. Peter the Sub Guy:

“Anyone else notice that Steve P. seems to have fled from the thread once his arguments were logically smashed?”

I think he turned tail after today’s news hit print:

http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2009/01/sovereignty-restored-us-hands-over.html

Congratulations on a job WELL DONE!

Jan 1, 2009 - 3:28 pm 61. Donna V.:

Anyone else notice that Steve P. seems to have fled from the thread once his arguments were logically smashed?

That’s a pattern with him. Vanishes when he’s presented with clear evidence he’s wrong – and then pops up on another thread a few days later spouting more nonsense. That’s why I mentioned his earlier statement that leftist governments have never persecuted the Jews – because he was smashed on that thread and probably thought everyone had forgotten about it.

Jan 1, 2009 - 3:40 pm 62. AngryAmerican:

More good news from Iraq:

http://www.dvidshub.net/?script=news/news_show.php&id=28225

Jan 1, 2009 - 4:42 pm 63. Tantor:

Code Pink was perhaps the best friend conservatives ever had among the protestors and a wonderful detriment to the antiwar movement. Virtually every protest they made made the antiwar movement look like treasonous fools. When they showed up outside Walter Reed Army Medical Center to protest the wounded warriors, it was like a gift to the victory movement. Every decent liberal winced whom I told that Code Pink was protesting the wounded. When the Freepers began counterprotesting them, the Pinksters were wrongfooted and overreacted, showing that the one thing protestors hate the most is being protested.

The Pinksters succeeded in trivializing every issue they protested. I’ve talked to a lot of them at protests and found them spectacularly uninformed. I remember the look on the poor old lady Pinksters face when she complained to me that the Freepers called them Communists and I explained to her about Medea Benjamin’s socialist background supporting Castro and other communist dictatorships.

The one thing I will say in Medea Benjamin’s favor is that when you talked to them they would reply in a civil fashion. You didn’t have to worry about being physically attacked as you did with the other peace marchers. It’s funny but I served in the military for eight years and nobody laid a hand on me in anger. I went to about a dozen “peace” marches and I was physically attacked twice, threatened several times. What they hate most is video cameras, for some reason. They want to control them, stop them. When you ignore their demands, sometimes they attack you. From my experience, the “peace” movement was anything but peaceful.

Jan 1, 2009 - 4:46 pm 64. Jim Baker:

Steve P is a left wing bomb thrower. He goes in, tosses out the mantra on whatever the subject, and then goes to another story. Look in the comment section under almost every PJ opinion article and you will find old Steve P. He is not concerned about persuading you toward his point of view. His one thought is the same as it is for most leftists. “He who shouts the loudest, wins!” And he is right, but not because he has ever had an original thought. I have noticed that there are several others who practice the same scheme. They learned it from the Obama campaign, who paid hundreds of them to do it. It worked. The problem is, now they just can’t shut up. Maybe they have found a more permanent financier, eh?

Jan 1, 2009 - 8:30 pm 65. fred:

Donna,

Thanks for the link to Eugene Genovese. I had heard of him before, but never really dug into his background. But, yeah, I can relate to the disgust he and his wife felt for that selfish, shallow, narcissistic crowd. I never truly felt at home with them. Many kind of sneered at my Roman Catholicism and the fact that I was a Jesuit seminarian. Vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience – how quaint! And other snarky remarks. The thing is I was truly motivated by love for the poor and the desire to use socialism as a conduit to make some evidence of God’s love evident in their concrete lives. I was not drawn into Marxism because of envy or rage. Or a need for power. I was just a young man who was trying to make sense of his own life and make sense of the world and history. In fact, I am glad of that sojourn, because it did expand me intellectually and emotionally. But, in the end, I decided that the overwhelming evidence of history, science, and all knowledge about humanity said no-can-do to Utopia.

Jan 1, 2009 - 8:47 pm 66. myth buster:

I did a report years ago on the WMDs Saddam did possess. I also know for a fact that Saddam engaged in unlawful acts of war against Israel (financing terrorist attacks and suicide bombings) and the United States (firing upon American jets patrolling the no-fly zones as per the cease-fire). He was even a known financier of Al Queda, even if not 9/11.

Jan 1, 2009 - 9:24 pm 67. George Clarke:

Six Words: The War of the Spanish Succession. It was 1704 and the war party of Whigs was flush with Victory after Blenheim and Louis XIV was prostrate before Marlborough and suing for peace. The Tories, on the out, vaulted to power just then with that fool Henry St. John in the lead, and just a few years later Louis tried another go, against someone in charge who was not Marlborough. Now he made a real go of it, over thousands more dead bodies, and made a much better peace for himself at Britain’s expense, with a Bourbon on the Spanish throne. Just like todaty. The Democrats have inherited the Victory but everyone knows, especially our enemies, that they have not the first clue of what to do with it. The bad guys can take a cue now from Pacino in “Scent of a Woman.” “I’m just warming up!” Let’s hope the Israelis don’t stop what their doing, all the way to Syria and Iran.

Jan 1, 2009 - 10:50 pm 68. jaafar:

I think that Steve P. is “stuck on stupid” and refuses to budge.

So I’ll bring up a final irony. Good old Medea Benjamin and Code Pink quite likely — given the gift of hindsight — accelerated the crushing of Al Qaeda, exactly the opposite of what they intended.

By going back to their stupid Vietnam “protest” tactics, they actually convinced the enemy that they could win in Iraq, and so thousands and thousands of Arab terrorists rushed into Iraq for what finally came out as a turkey-shoot.

The Law of Unintended Consequences triumphs again!

Jan 2, 2009 - 6:36 am 69. Fred Beloit:

Steve P. trolls it under the name of jharp at Riehl World View and has been banned from posting at Paterico. The hyperbole, wrong-headedness, and rudeness of the prose are unmistakable.

Jan 2, 2009 - 8:23 am 70. '08ama:

I see Bush’s handlers are STILL trying desperately to salvage his legacy. Too late. It’s over, Bush broke the world and for the rest of his life he will have to live with his miserable failures. of course, his entire life is nothing but a looooooooong list of miserable failures so Bush will likely believe he “done good” this time.

Just fade away before we impeach you you murdering war criminal.

Jan 2, 2009 - 10:03 am 71. Peter the Sub Guy:

If you impeach Bush, then you need to impeach real criminals like Clinton who…

Oh, wait, they already did.

Jan 2, 2009 - 1:31 pm 72. Jim Baker:

#70
You are willing to name a single war crime Bush has comitted, right? Beter yet, just go back to the George Soros website for morons. You will get a lot of sympathy for your original ideas there.

Jan 2, 2009 - 3:10 pm 73. SeattleBruce:

Steve P.: “No WMDs ever found. Still no clear explanation for why we invaded.”

Wrong, wrong. You must not have heard about the movement of 500 tons of yellow cake uranium to Canada to be used in the production of nuclear energy. Nor did you hear about the actual use of WMD by Saddam? Did you happen to follow through and study the 16 – SIXTEEN Chatper 7 (highest order) UN security VIOLATIONS by Saddam Hussein’s Iraq? That just for starters. I’m sure that you didn’t focus on the connections between leadership elements of Al Qaeda and the diplomatic advantages that Iraq enjoyed. Golly, you don’t suppose that AQ would have benefited from Iraq’s then pariah state status in its clearly sought out alliances with Saddam’s government? Of course you ignore perhaps the most cogent point of the whole battle against terror there – the attraction and destruction of terrorist elements right in their own front and back yards.

You used the word moron?

Jan 2, 2009 - 3:47 pm 74. SeattleBruce:

“war criminal.”
As you believe ther are ‘war crimes’, I’m sure you will be front and center to impeach and convict all your D buddies who led us into this war using the same criterion as Bush, and the same intel, correct? Oh, you’re not going go push for that? We see your true colors then!

Jan 2, 2009 - 3:50 pm 75. SeattleBruce:

Steve P: “Yellowcake uranium is a commonly traded commodity.”
The Iraqis had 500 tons of yellowcake uranium on hand or 1/2 or 1% of an entire annual world production of yellow cake uranium.
http://www.uxc.com/fuelcycle/uranium/production-uranium.html

At the current spot price of uranium (US$53) – that tonnage in Iraq was worth $53,000,000. So are you blithely suggesting that this is no big deal? Also, do you understand that uranium can be enriched and that Iraq has NO nuclear power stations? Again..

Jan 2, 2009 - 4:46 pm 76. Peter the Sub Guy:

Thanks for the backup, SeattleBruce, but it appears Steve P. has fled for greener pastures.

Jan 2, 2009 - 6:48 pm 77. Koblog:

President Bush clearly told us we would respond to 9/11 at the time and place of our choosing.

We chose Iraq. We formed the battlespace and selected the battlefield.

War is difficult and unpredictable in the best of conditions. It was to our advantage to select a battlefield we could win on: the flat open deserts of Iraq.

The crags and corruption of Afghanistan is proving a much more difficult battlefield. Which would you rather fight on? Flat desert with direct supply lines or freezing mountains with lousy supply lines? Would you prefer the jungles, disease and culture of the horn of Africa?

Iraq proved the “fly paper” strategy: draw Al Queda to Iraq and kill them there.

As difficult as it is/was, what better battlefield could we have chosen than Iraq?

Jan 3, 2009 - 3:09 pm 78. wanderer:

Nothing is more illustrative of the moral, intellectual,ideological, and cultural bankruptcy
and degeneracy of western leftists who hypocritically dub themselves liberals, pacifists, and progressives than the fact that they have become the harlots and apologists for the darkness of the islamofascists who openly defend tyranny, terrorism, child marriage, the enslvement and brutalization of women, the economic idiocy of “islamic finance”, and who execute nothing more than indiscriminate killing of the unarmed and innocent, rape, mayhem and mass bloodletting as those those who claim the name progressive continue to shout from any public podium they can subvert or usurp that they are the champions of the poor, the weak and the oppressed. Hypocrisy and amorality has been monoplolized and patented by the left.

Jan 3, 2009 - 6:35 pm 79. wanderer:

Nothing is more illustrative of the moral, intellectual,ideological, and cultural bankruptcy
and degeneracy of western leftists and their msm apologist and propagandist tools who cravenly dub themselves liberals, pacifists, and progressives than the fact that they have become the harlots and panderers for the the retrograde islamofascists. The left’s islamist pimps openly defend tyranny, terrorism, child marriage, the enslavement and brutalization of women, the economic idiocy of “islamic finance”, as they indiscriminately kill the unarmed and innocent. The leiberal lefties excuse the islamists’s rape, mayhem, and mass bloodletting. Meanwhile those those who claim the name progressives continue to shout from any public podium they can subvert or usurp that they are the champions of the poor, the weak and the oppressed.
It is clear to all but the blind that progressives with the full assistance of their departed mentors Stalin, Mao, Marx, and Pol Pot all residing in hell have triumphiantly lobbied Lucifer to grant them a patented monopoly on hypocrisy, amorality, and prevarication.

Jan 3, 2009 - 7:13 pm 80. JL:

I don’t think Steve P is an evil person, I just think he operates from another frame. In his frame the morally good thing to do is to have good intend. Results never come into the equation. I know it’s hard to understand, but it can be the only explanation. Notice that he highlights that there was no evidence beforehand of WMD’s. This in his mind proves that the intend of the war must have been bad and thus not moral, even if the result is good – ie victory and democracy in Iraq. That doesn’t matter in his mind, since only the original intend is important.

Also it seems, in Steve P’s and like minded peoples world view, moral behavior can only consist of actions that individually are “good” actions. Meaning that shooting a bad person to stop him from doing evil could not be considered good in his frame since shooting someone isolated as a single act is a bad thing to do. Therefore waging war against even the worst of criminal dictators is a bad thing to do, because it consists of a series of actions that if looked upon individually are “bad” actions. Notice that he mentions the dead civilians. In this weird world of his, the fact that Saddam would kill even more civilians and for no reason, doesn’t matter, because causing the death of a civillian is a bad thing if singled out as an isolated event.

It is a futile task to try to convince Steve P to alter his view with logic, because his frame is probably hardwired into his brain.

Jan 4, 2009 - 3:00 am 81. mac:

Convince Steve P.? Who cares about that impossible task? All I wanted to see was someone shove his lies back down his throat and shut him up. Peter and Bruce did a fine job of it and now he’s gone. I’m hoping he chokes to death on the “meal.”

One thing is sure: after what happened to him here today, he certainly will have a fine understanding, gained by empirical evidence, of the term “bitchslap.”

Jan 4, 2009 - 5:03 am 82. fred:

wanderer @78 and 79

LOL! I love the way you describe the Left as performing for their Islamic pimps. It is only their Islamic pimps who have the balls to fight the Christian-Jewish West, because the Marxists do not have the cojones to do it. Mano e mano, they are cowards, the lot of them.

As despicable as the minions of Allah are, I respect the jihadi more than I respect the wimpy, feminized metrosexual Leftist who would never carry a gun or go to war to fight for their cause. Even in past wars against the Communists, every Communist military had to have political officers who would make sure the military would not plot against the State, would perform its missions, and would have to hold pistols and machine guns at the backs of their men sent into battle.

I hold the Leftist even beneath contempt. They are worms. Many are truly mentally defective as well. People like “SteveP” are examples of the adage that Michael Savage has made famous: Liberalism is a mental disorder.

Jan 4, 2009 - 10:09 am 83. Steve:

This time the media got a rude shock. They thought they were simply going to replay Vietnam. What they didn’t count was the internet and new media like Rush, Sean and Mark Levin who provided the counter to their efforts to make us give up. Of course another big help was the left’s own vile behavior during the Vietnam War toward our military. Because of that they couldn’t go after our troops without suffering a huge backlash, which deprived them of one of their favorite tactics.

‘08ama:

You morons go ahead and bring up Bush on war crimes I’m begging you. Your so deep in your liberal bubble you won’t realize you and the rest of the traitors on the left would be slitting their own throats. But it won’t happen because although your chosen one is a liberal he’s also spineless.

Jan 6, 2009 - 5:07 am 84. alex:

hey we die to we wanna help iraq but thay dont wanna our help same how thay sayin kurdish are jewish i wish i was jewish we lost lot of army in iraq to who is kurdish??? we are in iraq to and we die to

May 9, 2009 - 6:15 am