2102 - Talk of the lighter footprint, loss of political gains Iraqis had gained. Holy shrine, blah. They've got a million of them. The situation in Iraq is unacceptable to him and this country.
2103 - Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me. C-SPAN is cutting in and out in audio.
2104 - No magic formula for success in Iraq. Failure in Iraq strengthens extremist Islam and its groups, as would be Iran in its nuclear quest. Further attacks could result; 11 September 2001 showed what a foreign refuge could do
to us.
Dozed off.
2117 - Expect more casualties. Believes strategy will work. "No surrender ceremony on the deck of a battleship". About bloody time someone says this!
2105 - 80% of all sectarian violence is within 30 miles of Baghdad. Attempts to secure Baghdad failed; not enough troops and too many restrictions. Military commanders looked at a new Iraqi plan and believe in it.
2106 - New military district of urban Baghdad. Iraqi police to be replaced or supplanted by Iraqi national military. We will change our strategy to help the Iraqis contain sectarian violence; more than 20,000 additional troops will be sent. Five brigades for Baghdad, embedded with the Iraqis for security operations.
2107 - Previously, terrorists returned after we left. Apparently, now the plan is to take, clear, and hold. Also, Iraqi-American forces will ignore political or sectarian interference. POTUS says "our commitment not open-ended"; Iraq could lose our support. PM Maliki understands this.
2108 - No safe havens for criminals. No immediate end to suicide attacks etc. Enemy will hope to fill our TV screens with images of death. (So what?) Breathing space for Iraqi government. "Most Sunni and Shiites want to live together", hah. I think they'd rather kill each other.
2110 - Sharing of oil revenues among all Iraqis---shouldn't this be spent on reconstruction?---and Baghdad's responsibility for security in all provinces by November 2007.
2111 - . . .
2112 - Will continue to pursue al-Qaeda and foreign fighters. Al-Qaeda home base is Anbar province; most violent outside the capital. We have captured data suggesting al-Qaeda wants to knock out the Anbar government. Tribal leaders have recently showed interest in going after al-Qaeda. Four thousand new US troops for Anbar.
"We will not allow [al-Qaeda] to re-establish a safe haven in Anbar."
2113 - Iran and Syria allowing terrorists and insurgents to use their territory. Iran supplying attacks on our troops. Additional carrier battlegroup to the region. Work with Turkey and Iraq to solve border problems.
2119 - All involved have a responsibility to explain how their path leads to victory. New bipartisan study group to be led by Senator Lieberman to tinker with this; first step is expanding the armed forces.
Oops, I went to sleep again. I doubt the Cindy Sheehans of the world will be convinced, but I thought it was OK. I hope this works.
Posted by Country Pundit at January 10, 2007 09:02 PM