Comments on: Maliki: US Withdraw Is A Great Victory

By: artboyusa

artboyusa — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 09:45:59 +0000

Good post, Prof. Thanks – and more thanks and the very best of luck to you in your service.

By: proreason

proreason — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 14:14:50 +0000

I had missed that you were joining the military, Professor.

You are indeed a hero of the first order.

Thanks and best of luck to you.

By: texaspsue

texaspsue — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 06:40:20 +0000

NYT? I would consider the source. Maybe they should learn how to translate text that is in foreign languages. :-)

The Iraqi media isn’t ever harsh about the Americans and they don’t write that they consider us “occupiers. Here’s their contrast on the story about July 1st withdrawal……………..”Iraq in a steeping stone towards sovereignty”. http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/Ira.....ignty.html

FWIW Sounds to me as if the Iraqi are trying to learn to stand on their own two feet before Obama calls for withdrawal.

By: bronzeprofessor

bronzeprofessor — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 06:00:05 +0000

I have had the honor of speaking with many men and women who served in Iraq and came back, then went to school on the GI Bill. It was largely because of their inspiration that I chose to sign up for the Army (if all goes well, I am going to sign my contract next week — wish me luck.)

All of the Soldiers & Marines I have spoken to, who went to Iraq, have said the same thing. They saw countless signs of gratitude as well as hostility, but the hostility directed at Americans was never as bad as the hostility among Iraqis.

Al-Maliki is in a delicate situation, so I won’t infer too much from his statements. Nor do I believe that he meant to imply what the NY Times is taking away from the statements. We would have to find out what he said in Arabic and trace how it got translated. The NY Times is still stuck in the debate of 2003 over whether or not we should have gone in, which is why when discussing Obama they seem often to be stuck in the debate over whether Obama was the right man to become president — you see, to the NY Times readers, these two debates from 2003 & 2008 are the organizing principles of their worldview, and the two questions — was invading Iraq justified, and was Obama the right man — are inseparable.

For all that NY Times readers say they believe in nuance, they are really exceedingly simplistic readers. Any information about Iraq has to go back to the original debate over whether invading was a good idea. Any discussion of Obama has to affirm their conviction that he was the right person to become president. No matter how long their articles are, all the information is always framed in order to revisit, revise, and relive those debates, always casting themselves as prophets and/or victors.

By: Liberals Make Great Speedbumps

Liberals Make Great Speedbumps — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 05:09:30 +0000

“it is one more example of Iran’s seemingly endless supply of ingratitude.”

That should be Iraq I believe Steve, but I fear that before too long it’s not going to matter.

By: MinnesotaRush

MinnesotaRush — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 01:16:03 +0000

Maybe they’d take some of those $5.00 Katrina trailer homes, too. Occupants included, please!

Bye, bye!

By: Barbie

Barbie — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:28:58 +0000

Maliki is as big of an idiot as Obama. I fear for the families in that country who just want to live their lives in peace; however, thanks to Obama and the left wing nuts, I fear for the families in this country, too.

By: Chinnubie

Chinnubie — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:02:47 +0000

We give these people a democratically run government, let them make up their own constitution, and the Times would have you think we dropped a nuclear bomb on Baghdad. Were the German people disgusted by the United States? They were the losers and that is the way it goes when you lose. Why do we always have to be sorry for what we’ve done for these people and others like them? Don’t they want to have the same freedoms we experience here in the U.S.? I guess I’m being too “black & white” on the issue.

I think the people of Iraq are grateful, but the Times would never let something like that get out. How stressful & angry must these liberal people be in order to get through their everyday life? I’m sooo glad I can see the difference, because if I had to spend one day in the shoes of a liberal I think I would blow my brains out!!!!

By: 12 Gauge Rage

12 Gauge Rage — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 19:24:29 +0000

The ultimate irony would be for the people of Iran to prevail and depose of their theocratic rulers in favor of better ties with the U.S. while an ungrateful Iraqi government gleefully tells us to get the hell out of their country. Regardless of all the sacrifices in lives we’ve given to liberate them. American blood is too precious to shed on foreign soil. Especially to a hostile, thankless people.

By: Liberals Demise

Liberals Demise — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 19:13:06 +0000

Great point!
Maybe we could offer him some urban blight to go along with their influx of returning cowards!

By: Petronius

Petronius — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 18:21:10 +0000

Reference Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki’s calls for the “repulsion of foreign occupiers.” Might we also interpret this to mean that the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees who occupy parts of the USA will now be returned to Iraq? Just wondering . . . .