Bush Says Iraq Attacks Don't Rise to Level of Major Combat

[Khephra]

Bush Says Iraq Attacks Don't Rise to Level of Major Combat

Bush said today that despite the deadly attack on an American helicopter on Sunday, the United States was no longer involved in major combat in Iraq. And he insisted that Saddam Hussein is no longer a danger.

Asked whether United States forces were again engaged in "major combat operations," — which he declared over on May 1 — Mr. Bush said that they were not. "We're back to finding these terrorists and bringing them to justice," the president said in Harbison Canyon, Calif., where he toured areas swept by wildfires. "And we will stay the course," he added. "We will do our job."

more............

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/04/politics/04CND-BUSH.html

[greatauntoftriplets]

1. How the hell would he know????

:shrug:

Rhetorical question, Kheph.

[Khephra]

2. Good! I'd hate to have to drink myself into understanding Bush

:evilgrin:

[greatauntoftriplets]

4. Like numbnuts has seen major combat!

:eyes:

[DivinBreuvage]

45. Drinking doesn't help, khephra...

I've tried it :) No amount of booze will help you get inside that head unless you're a spoiled rich psychopath and rotten to the core.

Françoise

[smirkymonkey]

52. Why not? He does.

:)

[loudnclear]

49. Not combat because we can't carpet bomb or lob cruise missiles from afar!

Therefore it's not "combat" in our eyes. For there to be "major combat" the enemy must not be able to attack us back and we must be able to kill thousands of them at one time. Oh, those dead soldiers...they're collateral damage. Suck it up and grow up...we just won two Democratic held governorships in the south and one in California. Stop your whinning, we are taken over the planet and the world is a much safer place. As soon as we get those ID cards for all Democrats we can relax.

[Maple]

3. Wow...is he gonna pay

for that exceptionally dumb remark!

[peekaloo]

5. Tell that to the soldiers' families

So now Saddam is no longer a danger, but gee whiz Wally, I thought Saddam was behind all the continuing "evility".

[sendero]

6. oh yeah...

... give it a few more weeks you blithering moron.

[Corgigal]

7. Guess this is one way

of making sure you don't have to meet coffins or go to funerals for the dead.

[hatrack]

8. Gee, he really IS wooing the military vote, isn't he?

First the carrier strut photo-op, then "bring 'em on".

Then cuts in veterans' medical benefits, and Iraq wounded paying for hospital meals.

Now he just informed the families of the 21 KIA since Sunday that they didn't die in "real" combat.

What a smirking, stuttering, muttering, arrogant PRICK.

[leesa]

19. Remember the Republicans cut military benefits the very day the

bombing started in Iraq by a unanimous vote. ALL Republicans are hypocrites unfit for service in our government.

[kalian]

9. What an imbecile....

but they're killing off American troops rather well anyways, no?
Friggin moron...

[Military Brat]

10. bush is an android

How else do we explain those knee-jerk responses? "We will stay the course." "We will do our job." There is absolutely no original thought that has been created in bush's head and come out of his mouth since god knows when.

Was he pounding on something while he was saying this, so he could dramatize his tough-guy role?

[roguevalley]

11. My nephew served with the Danes in Kosovo and Bosnia.

Trekked everywhere and after the 'cease fire' was stationed with the Danes in a UN unit. He said don't believe cease fire statements. He used to sit in his bunker and watch the bombs lob in. You'd see a red spray he would say.

He got shot at going to the latrine, etc. And this was the war that wasn't in Iraq's league.

Funny enough, the worst thing he said he had to do was shoot stray dogs that were starving. Odd thing, war. Didn't have to shoot any people, THANK GOD, but mourns for the dogs.

I hate war.

[The_Casual_Observer]

27. They did set up a podium for this appearance

& got in a few rattling thumps for emphasis, as it was a rather cheaply constructed podium.

He did a great stutter too! (would have put Mel Tillis to shame)

[are_we_united_yet]

12. Say whaaa??????????

[intheozone]

13. WTF!! Didn't he just say earlier today that we are at war?

:wtf: Didn't he say that from Irvine CA this morning or am I wrong?

If he said that, then isn't WAR a form of MAJOR COMBAT (unless of course you're playing it on a video game, the nearest bush has ever come to it!).

My head is spinning, I can't believe the utter, useless, senseless crap that comes out of the f*cking asshole's mouth.

[Khephra]

14. See...I've come up with an "expanation"

It's only "Major Combat" when we're kicking the shit out of someone with OUR bombs. When someone else bombs us, well, that's a sign of progress.

[Ramsey]

15. Oh, I see the distinction now.

Major combat, 139 dead US soldiers.

After "Mission Accomplished" and a strut across the deck of an aircraft carrier with a big sock schlong: 239 dead US soldiers.

I see the difference now. Silly me.

http://lunaville.org/warcasualties/Summary.aspx

[Journeyman]

26. From Harper's Index. . .

Number of U.S. troops who have died in Afghanistan and Iraq in the last two years : 354

Number who died in Vietnam in 1963 and 1964 : 324

[wellst0nev0ter]

54. Link

http://www.archives.gov/research_room/research_topics/vietnam_war_casualty_lists/statistics.html#year

[Guaranteed]

16. Bush, just shut the hell up.

You're a goddamn tool. Just shut up.

[dreissig]

17. Parsing of Words

Bush is doing a lot of hair-splitting about the meaning of words. He was supposed to be a blunt-spoken Westerner who was going to restore rural morality to the White House. Surprise, surprise! He's parsing words like a lawyer.

[leesa]

18. What a slap in the face this creature is to every military person on the

planet! He has no idea what the job is but he's dead certain we'll do it. Just one meaningless cliche after another meaningless cliche...and the Republican drones and the DINOs lap this meaningless blather right up! What a manly man in his cheerleading outfit. Do you think the skirt has pleats??

[Octafish]

20. The Little Turd from Crawford can't admit being wrong — EVER!

The unelected fraud is mentally incompetent to serve as Commander-in-Chief. His decision-making is faulty. He gets furious with anyone who questions his authority. His ignorance has crossed the line of gross negligence. His behavior can only be explained as that of a traitor.

[Kinkistyle]

43. The guy thinks he was appointed by God

I mean he is clearly delusional. Just like every weakminded megalomaniac who has ever graced this planet, he believes himself some grand iconic leader here to "help the people".

Look at these pictures:





His handlers probably show him this crap all day and all night. He's completely deluded.

[austinboy]

21. Hold up...Wait a minute

OK...* says that Saddam is no longer a danger to the US and yet he is the supposed "mastermind" behind all of these attacks. Oh yea...I forgot...black is white and up is down in his bizarro world. :grr:

[lebkuchen]

22. Guerilla warfare is as bad. So, what's his plan?

He doesn't have one, never has...except to get that oil. Why doesn't he try to woo Americans with that? Tell us he'll share it with us. That's better than minimizing or ignoring troop deaths, as he's been doing for months now.

[Pallas180]

23. The only book Laura reads to him every nite is "Alice in Wonderland"

:crazy:

[markses]

24. That's gonna haunt him

Book it. That was a very very stupid thing to say.

Of course, he HAS to say it. The only thing floating his demented little ship now is the illusion that we've made Iraq "better." Oh, boy. It WILL be bad.

[no_arbusto]

25. Isn't this from a David Cross comedy set?

"We're back to finding these terrorists and bringing them to justice," the president said in Harbison Canyon, Calif., where he toured areas swept by wildfires. "And we will stay the course," he added. "We will do our job."

Seriously I think he predicted this speech, almost verbatim, in one of his acts. Looks like Bush has taken the hyperbole pills again!

[Rex]

28. I want some of whatever Dubya is smoking

just kidding Mr. Ashcroft!

[fizzana]

29. He's always going to bring them to justice, rarely actually

succeeding.

[pinniped]

30. If that AHOLE wanted to find the terrorists and bring them to justice...

all the puke has to do is crawl to the Hague and turn himself and his cronies in. That AHOLE is biggest terrorist the modern world has ever known.

[VolcanoJen]

31. "We'll Stay the Course...." did Chimpy see the CBS Reagan movie?

Did he get an advance copy, or something?

}(

[radfringe]

36. stay the course....

Baghdad Bush's whole administration and cabinet is based on Recycled Reagan Rhetoric

"stay the course" was Reagan's stump slogan when running for re-election

tinkled-on economics, wealthy-fare tax cuts etc. are all part of the Reagan Myth designed to remind voters and align himself with that myth

CBS's movie would have blown a few holes in that myth - hence the political pressure NOT to broadcast. Unfortunately, CBS caved-in to that pressure and are now back into lapdog mode.

[JawJaw]

40. Stay the Course?

"Stay The Curse" might be a more appropriate term for Governor Bush's thrilling adventures in Iraq

[fshrink]

32. That's why it's called "guerilla": minor combat operations

As to who is no longer, or still, a danger...

[truthisfreedom]

33. so why are we moving major numbers of planes into the mideast via scot-

land? what's about to happen, bushster?

[Zhade]

34. That's right, Chimpy McTraitor. Keep bringin' it on - military HATES you!

You are digging your own grave, you traitorous fool.

But please, don't mind me. Keep moving that shovel.

[kayell]

46. The problem is that he is digging so many other graves

along with his own. And they won't have Diebold to resurrect them.

[Voltaire99]

35. How are they "terrorists"?

I have two problems with Bush's language, which is wielded as delicately as our cave-dwelling ancestors wielded clubs.

1. Calling enemy soldiers who down helicopters "terrorists." If they target civilians or civilian infrastructure, yes, they are guilty of terror as it is widely defined. But if they target occupying troops, they're enemy soldiers; it's their nation, and no one on earth may tell them not to expel foreign occupiers from it. Blurring the difference is dishonest and self-aggrandizing. It expands the meaning of the word "terror" beyond any precise usefulness and into the realm of arbitrariness and abstraction (which is, alas, Bush's intention).

2. Use of the phrase "bringing them to justice." The armed forces are used to defend the nation and to express its foreign policy, which currently includes invasion and occupation of foreign soil under false pretexts. That isn't "justice" in any sense but a localized, nihilistic one; nor is it even a form of behavior tolerable to 99% of the planet.

Dishonest language = bad government.

[radfringe]

38. "...bringing them to justice...."

well, if Baghdad Bush's goal is to bring them to justice, then they have nothing to fear, the odds are in their favor....

Baghdad Bush was going to "hunt 'em down" in Afghanistan and Bin-Laden is still running around.

Baghdad Bush was going to "dig 'em out of their holes" - Al Qaeda and the Taliban are still running around

Baghdad Bush was going to "git Saddam" and he's still running around

<begin sarcasm> so let's have 4 more years of a jobLOSS recovery, 4 more years of stupidity, 4 more years of arrogance, 4 more years of invading more countries, 4 more years of lying and let's screw the people for 4 more years </end sarcasm>

[0007]

37. I wonder if junior believes the war he went AWOL was major?

junior always sez "we" - Whay not use the word "Americans" - perhaps the "we" junior refers to is the Carlyles & the Halliburtons?

[OKHRANA]

39. No, it's not major bombat Bush Boy...

it's "peace", so why don't you go there and take a long slow walk around Baghdad? Chat with the locals, and our troops. See how happy and thankful they are. Then come back if you can and tell us about it in a new speech.

[dbt]

41. Like he would know!

Dear, Sweet, Misguided, Little Georgie. Perhaps if you had reported for your duty station during Viet Nam (instead of deserting), you would have some idea what "Major Combat" looks like.

:puke:
dbt

[laylah]

42. Yeah, right!

Tell that to the families of the dead soldiers who were over there fighting for Bush, Cheney, and their business partners. AWOL bastard!:mad:

Jenn

[Ganja Ninja]

44. If there’s no major combat and we’re having so much success ...

than why doesn’t Bush go to Iraq the way Clinton went to Kosovo?

[Robb]

47. Absurd

Ah, well. As long as someone keeps bringing it up, he'll keep looking like an idiot.

[muriel_volestrangler]

48. If Saddam is no longer a danger

Then has Bush lifted the 25 million dollar reward for him, and put it to a better use? I think not.

[DoYouEverWonder]

50. Here's a timeline for the daily attacks in Fallujah since

Oct. 19th up until Saturday's attack on the Chinook helicopter killing 15 Americans. If this isn't a major combat operation, then it will be soon.



10/19/03 U.S. Army military ammunition truck. The vehicle exploded when assailants attacked a convoy apparently transporting weapons and ammunition in the city.

An Iraqi was killed and another wounded here when US soldiers opened fire after they came under rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) attack while removing a military vehicle hit earlier by an RPG, witnesses and hospital sources said.



10/20/03 Assailants ambushed a U.S. Army foot patrol outside Fallujah. One American soldier and two civilians where killed and five others wounded in the second day of attacks. The patrol, from the 82nd Airborne Division, was first hit by an exploding homemade bomb, and then by small-arms fire.

One of the two civilians that was killed in the clash, his family said he was shot by the Americans after they detained and handcuffed him. The Pentagon said it had no information on the claim, and U.S. military spokesmen in Iraq had no immediate comment.


10/22/03 Smoke billows from a burnt US humvee that came under attack in the flashpoint city of Fallujah, 50 kms west of Baghdad. Four US soldiers were wounded in a bomb attack in the city, witnesses said. Five armoured-vehicles were crossing the city when a bomb exploded, destroying one vehicle and throwing it 20 meters.


10/24/03 Iraqi demonstrator shouts anti-US slogans during a demonstration in Fallujah. About 100 Iraqis clashed with police in Fallujah, after a giant outdoor prayer service was held in protest of US forces.


10/25/03 The US military said guerrilla fighters killed three civilians and wounded two others near Fallujah, denying the account of a survivor who said soldiers, panicking after a bombing, opened fire on him and his three colleagues.


10/28/03 Two cars burn near a police station following an explosion in Fallujah. At least six people, including school children, were killed when a car bomb exploded near the police station. Later Tuesday, eight huge explosions were heard after sundown from the southern area of Fallujah. U.S. officials in Baghdad said they were unaware of the blasts, which residents described as "deafening."


10/30/03 Iraqis loot a train, carrying military supplies, outside Fallujah, west of Baghdad, Thursday, Oct 30, 2003. The train was carrying supplies when an improvised bomb set four containers ablaze. No casulaties were reported, but the attacked sparked a frenzy of looting by Iraqis who carried off computers, tents and other supplies.


10/31/03 An Iraqi police car was set alight at the governor's residence in Fallujah.


10/31/03 Young men hurl stones towards Iraqi police officers during clashes in Fallujah, 40 miles (65 kms) west of Baghdad, after a strong explosion rocked the center of the city. One person was killed when residents attacked the offices in the flashpoint Iraqi town.


11/02/03 Iinsurgents hiding in a date palm grove shot down a Chinook helicopter carrying dozens of soldiers heading for home leave Sunday, killing 16 and wounding 20 in the deadliest strike against U.S. forces since they invaded Iraq in March.

[kentuck]

51. The entire war was an unprovoked attack upon a 3rd world country...

They had no idea the innfrastructure was in such bad shape...uh-huh..

[librechik]

53. Ah, at last a response to the "Mission Accomplished" banner

The Chimp insists the banner was right, so there's no more controversy about who put it up.

Brilliant!

Should have tried that one first, he still looks like he's a waffler.

What do the Pukes care? Once they've deified one of their gods, they can do no wrong, and misbelievers like us better just shut up.

[JackDragna]

55. You know what? Bush is right!

This isn't major combat.

Which is precisely what the Iraqis want.

They have no need to sit there and engage us in traditional battle. No need to hide behind things, engage in protracted firefights and so on. They can do a much better job sneak-attacking our soldiers and running away, making it nearly impossible to track them down.