Author Topic: War in Iraq - Is it a Disaster (Read 1608 times)

mars01 · « **on:** October 05, 2004, 01:01:55 PM »

This is interesting.

Supposedly from a reporter for the Wall Street Journal.

WSJ reporter Fassihi's e-mail to friends

scroll down a little an look for the title

"WSJ reporter Fassihi's e-mail to friends"

Some Excerpts... This is only a small part of the email.

Quote

Being a foreign correspondent in Baghdad these days is like being under virtual house arrest. I am house bound. I leave when I have a very good reason to and a scheduled interview. I avoid going to people's homes and never walk in the streets. I can't go grocery shopping any more, can't eat in restaurants, can't strike a conversation with strangers, can't look for stories, can't drive in any thing but a full armored car, can't go to scenes of breaking news stories, can't be stuck in traffic, can't speak English outside, can't take a road trip, can't say I'm an American, can't linger at checkpoints, can't be curious about what people are saying, doing, feeling. And can't and can't. There has been one too many close calls, including a car bomb so near our house that it blew out all the windows. So now my most pressing concern every day is not to write a kick-ass story but to stay alive and make sure our Iraqi employees stay alive. In Baghdad I am a security personnel first, a reporter second.

Quote

Iraqis like to call this mess 'the situation.' When asked 'how are thing?' they reply: 'the situation is very bad."
What they mean by situation is this: the Iraqi government doesn't control most Iraqi cities, there are several car bombs going off each day around the country killing and injuring scores of innocent people, the country's roads are becoming impassable and littered by hundreds of landmines and explosive devices aimed to kill American soldiers, there are assassinations, kidnappings and beheadings. The situation, basically, means a raging barbaric guerilla war. In four days, 110 people died and over 300 got injured in Baghdad alone. The numbers are so shocking that the ministry of health -- which was attempting an exercise of public transparency by releasing the numbers -- has now stopped disclosing them.

Quote

The insurgency, we are told, is rampant with no signs of calming down. If any thing, it is growing stronger, organized and more sophisticated every day. The various elements within it-baathists, criminals, nationalists and Al Qaeda-are cooperating and coordinating.

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The Iraqi police and National Guard units we are spending billions of dollars to train. The cops are being murdered by the dozens every day-over 700 to date -- and the insurgents are infiltrating their ranks. The problem is so serious that the U.S. military has allocated $6 million dollars to buy out 30,000 cops they just trained to get rid of them quietly.

Quote

As for reconstruction: firstly it's so unsafe for foreigners to operate that almost all projects have come to a halt. After two years, of the $18 billion Congress appropriated for Iraq reconstruction only about $1 billion or so has been spent and a chuck has now been reallocated for improving security, a sign of just how bad things are going here.

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The Iraqi government is talking about having elections in three months while half of the country remains a 'no go zone'-out of the hands of the government and the Americans and out of reach of journalists. In the other half, the disenchanted population is too terrified to show up at polling stations. The Sunnis have already said they'd boycott elections, leaving the stage open for polarized government of Kurds and Shiites that will not be deemed as legitimate and will most certainly lead to civil war.

God I pray for our troops, if this is even half true, what a terrible place for them to be.

Sandman · « **Reply #1 on:** October 05, 2004, 01:26:27 PM »

It's hard work.

It's really hard work.

The work is really hard.

Toad · « **Reply #2 on:** October 05, 2004, 01:44:17 PM »

But don't worry, I have a plan.

I plan to talk the French and Germans into coming to Iraq so that we don't have to pay 90% of the cost and take 90% of the casualties. I think I can persuade them to split it 33% across the board in both money and casualties.

I have a plan.

Yeager · « **Reply #3 on:** October 05, 2004, 01:49:09 PM »

didnt sKerry backstab the same guys forty years ago?

Iraq will sort itself out if the US doesnt pull the rug our from under them....if sKerry gets the job Iraq is screwed.
====

Toad, have you guys heard from WpnX lately?

straffo · « **Reply #4 on:** October 05, 2004, 01:54:17 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Toad
But don't worry, I have a plan.

I plan to talk the French and Germans into coming to Iraq so that we don't have to pay 90% of the cost and take 90% of the casualties. I think I can persuade them to split it 33% across the board in both money and casualties.

I have a plan.

you give 33% of the oil ?
if so we have a deal.

Suave · « **Reply #5 on:** October 05, 2004, 02:31:25 PM »

No, war isn't disaster, disaster is much less destructive than war.

TheDudeDVant · « **Reply #6 on:** October 05, 2004, 02:52:25 PM »

Kinda crazy how we controlled more of the country during SH's time than we do now..

Scootter · « **Reply #7 on:** October 05, 2004, 02:55:27 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by straffo
you give 33% of the oil ?
if so we have a deal.

Does Iraq not sell its oil?

Can not the French buy it at world prices?

I understand they do and you can, is this not true?

I don't think they give away any oil, am I wrong?

Please help me understand this.

It sounds like we may have a deal, unless you do not want to pay for oil and in that case you would be wrong.

RTSigma · « **Reply #8 on:** October 05, 2004, 02:57:59 PM »

Whats the point of the US being there if they're going to kill more and more people because we are there?

SFRT - Frenchy · « **Reply #9 on:** October 05, 2004, 03:00:18 PM »

Where does it says the word "French, or France" in this article?

Is it the average American behavior to blame his failure on the French?

anonymous · « **Reply #10 on:** October 05, 2004, 03:03:40 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by straffo
you give 33% of the oil ?
if so we have a deal.

okay its a deal. one more condition though. france gives up all documents pertaining to oil for food program. shouldnt be a problem we all know french govt would never do anything underhanded with a program intended to feed iraqi civilians.

straffo · « **Reply #11 on:** October 05, 2004, 03:04:30 PM »

Ne casse pas ma tentative de troll !

Sur ce je vais au dodo et on vera demain si la pêche a été bonne

SFRT - Frenchy · « **Reply #12 on:** October 05, 2004, 03:06:18 PM »

T'as pas vu la taille de mon filet?

anonymous · « **Reply #13 on:** October 05, 2004, 03:06:58 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by RTSigma
Whats the point of the US being there if they're going to kill more and more people because we are there?

because allowing people to be ruled by whomever can scrap together the most murderous gunmen is not how things should be. self determination and such.

anonymous · « **Reply #14 on:** October 05, 2004, 03:10:04 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by SFRT - Frenchy
Where does it says the word "French, or France" in this article?

Is it the average American behavior to blame his failure on the French?

what failure? by your reasoning world war two should have been done with in less than a year or allies would have "failed" in fighting axis. i love the reasoning that clearcut victory not attained on a timetable set by a political party equals "failure". the coalition isnt the germans and the insurgents arent the french this thing is going to be a fight for awhile.