Bush acknowledges problems in post-war Iraq

[quaoar]

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=5797402&cKey=1116467433000

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush acknowledged problems with the post-war effort in Iraq on Wednesday and said the United States must respond more quickly to help new democracies build stable institutions.

"One of the lessons we learned from our experience in Iraq is that, while military personnel can be rapidly deployed anywhere in the world, the same is not true of U.S. government civilians," Bush said in a speech to the International Republican Institute, which aims to promote democracy worldwide.

To remedy this Bush cited an initiative in his budget that would create a corps of trained civilians who could be deployed on short notice to help in crises caused by war or revolution.

Critics have faulted the Bush administration for failing to properly plan for the occupation of Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein's government in 2003.

[pfitz59]

1. building bigger government!

bush, the anti-conservative!

[KittyWampus]

2. Yeah, While The Military Guarded The Oil Ministry-Civilians Could've Guard

the rest of the fucking country.

You know, the experts who KNEW Iraq advised the NeoCons to keep the Iraqi Military and Police intact while prosecuting only higher ups.

Bush ignored them and listened to Chalabi and Wolfowitz/Perle/Cheny/Rumsfeld.

[BadGimp]

3. The earth just stopped spinning

no really!

[kainah]

4. more money for Halliburton!!!! n/t

[BadGimp]

5. un-frickin-un-believable

"..a corps of trained civilians who could be deployed on short notice to help in crises caused by war or revolution."

Do they EVEN know how this sounds??

[knowbody0]

7. for future invasions and occupations

what a concept

[quaoar]

8. That picture is great!!!

LOL

[geckosfeet]

9. can I use that graphic ?

[UpInArms]

13. ummmm.... doesn't that sound like our National Guard? ... eom

[short bus president]

16. Activated Natl. Guard are not civilians. n/t

[UpInArms]

37. that was exactly my point

how can you "deploy" civilians?

[cliss]

44. Yes, good point.

What civilian is going to pack his bags, discontinue his newspaper for 2 years, only to go to Iraq & get killed? The country is too dangerous, even for the military. What makes him think he can "deploy" civilians?

Another point: Bush has talked about "reconstructon", "improvement", "building infrastructure" for a long time now.

He's awarded plenty of $$money$$ to Halliburton, Kellog Brown & Root and many other contractors to do just that. I'm not really seeing much results in that area. He's making it seem like it's a NEW thing? They can't even get the fucking electricity on for these people.

This story is so bogus, it doesn't qualify as news. There are too many holes. I'm not even going to start to comment on it:smoke:

[okoboji]

6. "create a corps of trained civilians...."

".....who could be deployed on short notice to help in crises caused by war or revolution."


Hmmmm ... so now ordinary, unarmed, U.S. citizens are to sign-up and go get themself's possibly killed to help with illeagal tactics the U.S. uses against other countries?

I just don't see this happening.... but let's create another agency of the governement were more money can be laundered through for Bush's buddies. Oh, how about $350 million to get it started? and another $5 billion to keep it operating for 3 months at a time.

[Demos]

14. Oh - So it's us civilians who are loosing the war.

We just aren't trained well enough to meet the high standards of the glorious Bush Doctrine.

[Zhade]

21. Well, who said that such a corps was VOLUNTARY?

NT!

[Changenow]

10. Post war

isn't that cute.

[okoboji]

11. you have a huge point

now I am once again confused....

War?
Post War?
Liberating Iraq?
Searching for WMD's?
Osama Bin Long-Forgotten?
Fighting the terrorist?
Insurgents or rebels?
They love us, but hate us for our freedom?
our oil or their oil?


why are we in Iraq for?

[Hissyspit]

12. Civil War w/ Occupation

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

15. Well thank you for acknowledging that fact dim son

:mad: :argh: :spank: :grr: :nuke: :banghead: :spray:

[quaoar]

17. Shameless kick

[Voltaire99]

18. "One of the lessons we learned..."

The Bush cabal hasn't learned anything.

The rest of the planet, however, has learned much about them.

And unfortunately--to borrow the phrase of the 9/11oholics--"everything has changed."

[ngGale]

19. Exactly what civilians is he planning to train...

kids kidnapped out of high school? This bunch is completely without reason, they are crazy.

[okoboji]

23. "Exactly what civilians is he planning to train..."???

how about .....

Christian Missionaries

[leftchick]

24. His Christian Crusaders

I have no doubt.

[Demeter]

28. That Assumes They Are Trainable

to perform useful and constructive work. I have serious doubts about that.

[leftchick]

29. LOL! You are joking right?

Seriously, has "useful and constructive work" EVER been a requirement to work for the chimperor??

[NuttyFluffers]

20. Outsourced civilian casualties? how bizarre

instead of the local populace dying off, now we can supplant them! with outsourcing! from our own populace! ...!?

what's next, outsourced collateral damage? ship our own dams and buildings to the land we invade so we can blow them up?

i can't understand this man no matter how i try. i think i'll stop trying.

[unhappycamper]

22. Outsource this

please.

Bring them home!

[Melynn]

25. It took Bush two years to figure this out???????

Good God, we're doomed.

[steve2470]

26. No feces, you mentally challenged halfwit ! nt

[ima_sinnic]

27. oh isn't that just BRILLIANT

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

so now instead of JFK's legacy of the Peace Corps, Furious George can have the legacy of . . . the WAR CORPS!!!

Hey all you college students--don't ask what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your fuhrer in somebody else's country. Only the suicidal need apply.

[Up2Late]

30. Bush acknowledges problems in post-war Iraq

(Hey, * is proposing $124 Million Dollars for future post-war civilian teams! What is that, about what they spend every 2 days in Iraq?)

Bush acknowledges problems in post-war Iraq


Wed May 18, 2005 09:03 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush acknowledged problems with the post-war effort in Iraq on Wednesday and said the United States must respond more quickly to help new democracies build stable institutions. "One of the lessons we learned from our experience in Iraq is that, while military personnel can be rapidly deployed anywhere in the world, the same is not true of U.S. government civilians," Bush said in a speech to the International Republican Institute, which aims to promote democracy worldwide. To remedy this Bush cited an initiative in his budget that would create a corps of trained civilians who could be deployed on short notice to help in crises caused by war or revolution.

Critics have faulted the Bush administration for failing to properly plan for the occupation of Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein's government in 2003. Insurgents in Iraq recently stepped up their two-year campaign of violence and more than 400 people have been killed since a new Iraqi government was named late last month. Bush said that recruiting and hiring people for the Coalition Provisional Authority, which oversaw Iraq's reconstruction before an interim government was formed last year, proved a "lengthy and difficult" process.

Among those attending the IRI dinner was Paul Bremer, who headed the CPA before it was disbanded. Bush said he is proposing $100 million for a corps that will focus on post-conflict response globally and another $24 million for a group of foreign and civil service officers in Iraq that can respond to crises there.

Bush, who once eschewed "nation-building," said changes are being made in the U.S. military to prepare them for the tasks in Iraq and Afghanistan of "helping the people of these nations build civil societies from the rubble of oppression." Bush has made his call for the spread of democracy in the Middle East and elsewhere a major theme of his second term.

(more and page 2 at link above)

[tridim]

31. Why is he talking about Iraq in the past tense?

"One of the lessons we learned from our experience in Iraq".

Duck and cover Iran.

[Up2Late]

35. Oh man, I didn't see this stupid quote from Page 2

"Almost every new democracy has gone through a period of challenge and confusion," Bush said. "Democratic change and free elections are exhilarating events. Yet we know from experience that they can be followed by moments of uncertainty."

"...exhilarating events?" "...moments of uncertainty?"

Oh my GOD, this guy is Soooooooo out of touch!:crazy:

[flordehinojos]

32. the people in iraq and afghanistan do not want bush's help.

if iraq were a woman saying no to bush, i don't want to have any relations with you, and bush would continue to insist that the woman was not free to express her opinion, that he knew what was best for her and force her to have a relationship with him...we would think of bush as an abuser! which, he is!

[blackcat77]

33. Oh boy! The Halliburton Air Force nt

[DesEtoiles]

34. I thought Iraqi oil was supposed to pay for the reconstruction

[teryang]

36. "Problems" the bushism for killing and torture.

What he and his energy/pro-Israel/defense lobby did and are continuing to do to Iraq is a war crime.

[Javaman]

38. At the onset of the war, I emailed the WH...

I wrote a long letter describing a division of civilian workers from all walks of life to act as a "sea-bees" type of reconstruction team. Electictrians, plumbers, carpenters, phone, A/C, psychologists, healthcare workers, etc. They could work in an administration positions while hiring local Iraqi's to do the work and get paid.
Like all things sent to the WH, I never received a response, probably because they checked the voter rolls and saw I was a registered Democrat.
I find it amusing, that only now moron* comes to this brilliant idea. I'm not saying I had anything to do with it, I just find it interesting and personally ironic.

[DS1]

39. I'd get mad, but getting mad isn't going to get him impeached

and/or imprisoned.

[realFedUp]

40. Copy editing...

Love how Bush says the U.S. has to
do something, when it's Bush Inc.
pulling the strings...

Mr. Bush, you are not U.S.

[donkeyotay]

41. Deploying civilians in a sort of vigilante freedom march/crusade

I had to read this when I saw the headline:

“Bush acknowledges problems…”

No, he didn’t. Bush has never acknowledged any problems or taken any responsibility.

Okay, so the problem that Bush says “we” learned in Iraq, is that “we” need to be able to deploy civilians faster.

Remedy: Create another secretive, slush-fund agency.

Bush said that recruiting and hiring people . . . proved a "lengthy and difficult" process.

Actually, the problem was that this maladministration purged the country of Baathists (wrong political beliefs to participate in Bush’s brand of democracy), thereby dismantling Iraq’s civilian structure.

Bush said that, for starters, he needs $100 million to screw with democracies globally, and $24 million to screw with Iraq in particular. Deployable civilians were needed:

...for the tasks in Iraq and Afghanistan of "helping the people of these nations build civil societies from the rubble of oppression."

“Bush has made his call for the spread of democracy in the Middle East and elsewhere a major theme of his second term.”

It’s official! Boosh has turned into a bleeding-heart, do-gooder nation builder! Spend and spread! Play policeman to the world! Screwed this country up, now it’s time to screw-up the world. Hold on people! Healthcare, fair elections, worker’s rights, clean air, water, sanitation – IT’S ON THE MARCH!

[Az_lefty]

42. Which War was it that was won...

due to rapidly deployed civilians??? Is that why the borders were not, and still are not secured...no civilians? Bush is totally fucked in the head.

[Cocoa]

43. Paul Bremer was at that dinner

funny we haven't seen much of him since he came back.

[Pacifist Patriot]

45. I'm going to take a wild stab here and guess that he still wouldn't

be able to come up with any mistakes he's made if asked that question.

[CorwinB]

46. Behold...

...The Minutemen in Iraq ! Coming this summer to a quagmire near you.

[bvar22]

47. Golly gee whizzzz....problems in Iraq....

Could this have been because you made a HUGE fucking mistake???!!!!


I am afraid that bush* is giving legitimacy and government sanction to the civilian contractors (MERCS) that are already the 2nd largest coalition force in Iraq. Since they are private civilian contractors they don't need to bother with silly things like the Geneva Conventions, Chain of Command, public scrutiny, Public Disclosure, Freedom of Information, International Treaties, or Constitutional Restrictions. Since they are private civilian contractors whose contracts can be awarded without bid, bush* gets to pump lots of taxpayer money into his friends pockets while claiming plausible deniability about their actions on our behalf in foreign countries.


ALL matters of WAR, DEFENSE, POLICE, ENFORCEMENT, CORRECTIONS,and INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS MUST ABSOLUTELY REMAIN IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR (government)!!!! It is an obscene and perverted offense against our DEMOCRACY to allow these positions representing the PEOPLE of the UNITED STATES to fall under the cloak of CorporateAmerica!!!!
People representing the United States SHOULD BE accountable to the People of the United States, not to a Board of Directors meeting in secret.