"US ambassador warns against quick Iraq exit; Cites worries despite drop in violence" by Tina Susman, Los Angeles Times | January 23, 2009
BAGHDAD - US Ambassador Ryan Crocker yesterday warned against a hasty withdrawal of American forces from Iraq and offered a sobering assessment of the country despite what he called its "remarkable transition" in the last two years....
Crocker said he was confident that was not the direction Obama was going....
Effects could include the resurgence of Sunni insurgents loyal to Al Qaeda in Iraq; and increased meddling by neighboring countries such as Iran and Syria, which have been accused of smuggling fighters and weapons into Iraq to destabilize the US-backed government.
Yeah, sure, whatever. See Occupation Iraq: Israel's IEDs and related links, readers, for WHO is RESPONSIBLE for the violence!!
"And perhaps most importantly, I think, it would have a chilling effect on Iraqis," Crocker said. If they perceived that US forces were rapidly withdrawing, the spirit of compromise that led to political breakthroughs such as the scheduling of provincial elections on Jan. 31 could fall by the wayside, he said....
This as the Iraqis are asking us to SPEED UP the WITHDRAWAL!!!
Yes, I READ the BLOGS as well as WRITE THEM!
As for the spirit of compromise, we all know who is responsible for tensions there! Funny how the shit doesn't start until USrael shows up, huh? Been intermarrying for centuries and mosques weren't being blown up then.
But then again, crock-o-shit Crocker wouldn't lie, would he?
Crocker.... has held a series of high-profile posts that made him a major force in US diplomacy in the region. He was serving in Beirut in 1983 during the bombing of the American Embassy and the US Marine barracks; he reopened the American Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 2002 after the US invasion to drive out the Taliban leadership; and he was the US ambassador in Pakistan from 2004 until coming to Baghdad. He also has served as ambassador to Syria, Kuwait, and Lebanon.
Gee, he always seems to be RIGHT in the MIDDLE of EVERYTHING, huh?
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Of course, the ACTUAL WAR BOILS DOWN to a BRIEF (at least, it is in my paper)!