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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Rumsfeld Makes Surprise Visit to Iraq |
| 2004-12-24 |
| U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, on a surprise Christmas Eve visit with the troops three days after the devastating attack on a U.S. military dining hall here, told soldiers he remained confident of defeating the insurgency and stabilizing Iraq, while noting that to some "it looks bleak." "There's no doubt in my mind, this is achievable," Rumsfeld, who flew here under tight security, told a couple of hundred 1st Brigade soldiers of the 25th Infantry Division at their commander's headquarters. He promised them that later in life they will look back and feel pride at having contributed to a mission of historic importance. "When it looks bleak, when one worries about how it's going to come out, when one reads and hears the naysayers and the doubters who say it can't be done, and that we're in a quagmire here," one should recall that there have been such doubters "throughout every conflict in the history of the world," he said. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #8 his conscience, SMN? *snort* get a life |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-12-24 9:47:52 AM |
| #7 Mike, Now you did it. How in the hell am I going to top that quote? |
| Posted by: Poison Reverse 2004-12-24 9:11:28 AM |
| #6 As Lincoln once said of Grant: "I can't spare this man -- he fights!" |
| Posted by: Mike 2004-12-24 6:43:57 AM |
| #5 I'm sure it went a long way to soothe his conscience also! |
| Posted by: smn 2004-12-24 2:45:17 AM |
| #4 I think the biggest problem for Rumsfeld are the "winning hearts and minds" folks whomever they may be - for sure the MSM, both stripes of Congressmen and women, JAG no doubt, and even the WH. I suspect that Rumsfeld is not a "hearts and minds" type of guy. He's more the break things and overwhelm the bad guys (Sunni) until they yell uncle, and then he'd let the Shiites and Kurds take charge for long term smack downs and not according to the Geneva Convention, thank you very much. This "winning hearts and minds" crapolla should be implemented in Iraq in person by the bright lights( calling Jeanne Kirkpatrick, Paul Wolfowitz, State Department) who were stupid enough to dream it up in the first place. This piece of snot goal should not be an albatross for Rumsfeld and his military. And no, Virginia, extremist tribal Muslims are not the same as Germans and Japanese in WWII. |
| Posted by: joeblow 2004-12-24 2:10:06 AM |
| #3 Mr Secretary, your a good man. Your taking entirly too much criticism on the armour front, even though your critics dont seem to have the facts on this issue. Up armoring using steel based solutions degrades performance of vehicles while increasing their cost to operate. Ceramic solutions are the best solutions from a ballistic protection point of view, the DOD needs to do a much better job framing this debate. Congress would have us spend millions on uparmouring using the wrong armour, then doing it all over again when ceramics are the only rational alternative to this force protection issue. |
| Posted by: Ebbeath Gleart2775 2004-12-24 1:26:09 AM |
| #2 Perhaps, but I have no more interest in whether Rummy's class or crass than Lincoln had in Grant's drinking habits. I care about winning, period. I believe Rummy shares my commitment. I do not believe that the majority of the chiefs, or CIA officers, or midwestern and southern isolationist-inclined Republican senators, and certainly not Rummy's MSM critics, share this commitment to victory over fascism in Iraq. |
| Posted by: lex 2004-12-24 12:36:02 AM |
| #1 Rummy's a class act, and he proves it often. Merry Christmas, Mr. Secretary. |
| Posted by: Jonathan 2004-12-24 12:31:43 AM |