WP: Bush* Fails to Gain Pledges on Troops Or Funds for Iraq

[kskiska]

National Guard, Reserve May Plug Holes

By Dana Milbank and Colum Lynch
Thursday, September 25, 2003; Page A01

NEW YORK, Sept. 24 -- President Bush ended two days of meetings with foreign leaders today without winning more international troops or funds for Iraq and with a top aide saying it could take months to achieve a new U.N. resolution backing the U.S. occupation.

Bush's failure to win a promise of fresh soldiers in meetings with the leaders of India and Pakistan -- aides said the president did not even ask -- increased the difficulty the United States will have in assembling another division of foreign troops in Iraq, which senior Pentagon officials say is the minimum needed to relieve overstretched U.S. forces.

In testimony on Capitol Hill today, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said, "We're not going to get a lot of international troops with or without a U.N. resolution. I think somewhere between zero and 10,000 or 15,000 is probably the ballpark."

And Peter Pace, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned that more National Guard and Reserve forces could be activated if the third foreign division -- 15,000 to 20,000 troops -- is not secured within the next six weeks.

Bush's empty-handed departure after two days at the United Nations, combined with warnings from the military that it will soon need fresh U.S. troops to relieve those in Iraq, makes it increasingly likely that the U.S. military will have to rely on its own reservists to do the job -- a politically dicey move for Bush, whose domestic support already has declined because of the continuing instability in Iraq.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61046-2003Sep24.html

[lanlady]

1. months til a new resolution?

I swear they were all saying there would be a new one on the table next week! What happened? Oh, never mind, it's that personal Dubya touch that ruined everything.

[Paschall]

23. The personal Dubya touch

Yeah, nobody in the General Assembly noticed that Shrub was present only to give his own speech, that he walked in after Secretary General Annan had opened the session, and that he left before French President Chirac took the podium.

And Chirac--who was present for Shrub's remarks--probably didn't notice that when Shrub listed the terror strikes since 9/11, in the first paragraph of his speech, Shrub failed to mention the Oct. 2002 strike that damaged a French tanker off the coast of Yemen. Or even the car bombing a month earlier in Karachi, Pakistan, that killed 11 Frenchmen and wounded 12 others (and orphaned 27 French children). No, Chirac didn't notice that at all--even if the Karachi bombing was reportedly the worst strike against French civilians on foreign soil in the past 40 years.

Nah. Everyone was just charmed and awed by America's wannabe president.

[saigon68]

31. I think Chirac remembers the "Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys"

Tag given to his country by Homer Simnpson and then repeated various conservatives.

[calimary]

34. And let's remember, Chirac was the FIRST WORLD LEADER

to come to this country after 9/11 to offer support and condolences. Fine friends we are, 'eh? If I were him, I'd probably still be feeling stung by that.

[Beetwasher]

30. They want the whole thing to quietly go away: UN? What's that?

We never went to the UN to ask for a resolution? Diplomatic failure of the millenium? Huh? What are you talking about?

[Guaranteed]

39. We won't be seeing Powell for quite awhile after this.

He's in the doghouse now, him and his "crazy" ideas! What a wacky guy, talkin' about goin' to the UN!! HA!

[BattyDem]

2. Well, that's a surprise.

How could the UN members turn their backs on Bush* when he gave such a heartfelt speech filled with humility and respect?? :eyes:

[diplomats]

3. This proves that those comments by Germany's Schroeder

about working with Bush reflected absolutely no change in the status quo. Bush has gotten us into this mess alone and he has to face the consequences for his appalling decision.

[bpilgrim]

10. the japanese are masters at saying NO without you knowing it ;-)

it's called DIPLOMACY and the neo-CONs ain't got a friggin clue, cept a lot of 'unknown unknowns'

the real question is, will they leave quietly :scared:

peace

[prolesunited]

4. We are sooo screwed!

I don't blame the rest of the world for not bailing out this arrogant asshole, but we will be paying the price for years to come.

[BattyDem]

6. I agree

I completely understand why they won't get involved - I certainly wouldn't if I were them - but this is a HUGE problem for us ... and our troops. :-(

[Mari333]

36. and HOW many of us Baby boomers are about to retire??

we are screwed, our kids are screwed, our grandkids are screwed..
Goodbye USA.

[truthisfreedom]

5. heehee. hahahaha.

*sputter* BWAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAhahahahahaaah.

heh. hahaha. hee.

ok, now that i got that over with, *sniff* *wipe*, let's get the worthless sack of snot impeached and out of here, or into jail. in fact, let's recall the mofo. otherwise our poor kids are going to just keep needlessly dying.

[roguevalley]

7. this should put him in jake with the troops.

god help us all. It could be that Europe, remember? Old Europe?, is punishing dummy until he's defeated in the election next year. Or cheats and brings about armed rebellion in the streets.

[young_at_heart]

8. "Bush fails"..............how about that!

Is anyone surprised?

[tabasco]

9. Our Guard and Reserve troops will be hopelessly unprepared

For the type of urban chaos we've created in Iraq. I am very frightened the casualty rate will be rising, as less-trained units and troops are committed to this tragic war.

[ResistTheCoup]

11. I'm afraid you're exactly right

Just in the last week my brother-in-law's guard unit has been alerted that they could be sent on short notice to Iraq. They're taking the engineering people first for roads, infrastructure, etc. but anyone/everyone could go.

The sad part is that he personally was gung-ho for Bush and the war. Well surprisingly, now that he's likely to go, he not so gung-ho.

Even though he's not the brightest guy who doesn't give much stuff deep thought (like why he likes Bush?)- I certainly don't want anything to happen to him should he be deployed. And my fears are the same as yours on the casualty rate. :(

[calimary]

37. Welcome to DU. I wish the outlook around your house was better.

It's just a bloomin' shame. I wish all the chickenhawks and neocons, especially those who sat out Vietnam for various chicken-shit reasons, could all go over there now and tend to business personally. Perhaps if they saw what war really is and does, up close, when it's THEIR asses on the line, they'd think differently about the aggression they just HAD to foist upon the world.

[BattyDem]

12. I remember ...

I was over my aunt's house for dinner on the evening the war began. She's a typical Bush supporter, thinks Clinton is the root of all evil, etc.

Anyway, when I heard it started, I stared at the television while I got this sick feeling in my stomach and I said, "This is going to be so bad."

My aunt gave me the usual neocon talking points - Saddam was involved in 9/11, our military will crush them, our troops are better trained, the Iraqis will love us, at least Bush is doing more than Clinton did to protect us, etc.

I just looked at her, shook my head and said, "You'll see. This isn't going to be as simple as you think. This is Vietnam all over again."

Her reply was, "Oh you're just saying that because Gore lost!" :eyes:

I was really hoping I was wrong. This sucks. Our troops deserve better. :-(

[fabius]

13. No bailout for Whistle-ass this time.

It's really such a shame that he has to take down our troops and the Iraqis with him. :grr:

[lebkuchen]

16. That's why he's not getting troops and money

Other countries' leaders don't want to head into the toilet, where Bush has taken everyone else.

[madmax]

14. bush* has been a failure his entire life.

Poppy's friends always bailed him out of his business failures.

[Manix]

15. .......I have heard it said, one of his problems is he is a "dry drunk"

meaning he quit drinking without any rehab or program. Lots of
repressed, unresolved demons draining one of any clarity of thought.

[xJlM]

17. I don't know about the "dry" part

Unless you think it was really a pretzel...

[cliss]

18. Yes, we here at the DU have 20/20 vision.

Think about it. Between 10,000 and 15,000 troops. That's all!!!! They don't even seem upset about it. It's like they're actually covering for the other countries.

Donor fatigue. They're busy elsewhere. No dough. Maybe some other time. See ya later. Sayonara.

Am I the only who feels this way? That they don't really want help.

Oh my God, think about it. They're running out of money. They're running out of troops. They are running out of International support. And the Americans are running out of patience with them.

These guys are MUCH MUCH BIGGER gamblers than I ever thought possible. This is not gambling. This is Russian Roulette.

[grasswire]

19. people are missing the message

Look at this: "aides said the president did not even ask "

The Bushies DON'T WANT ANYONE ELSE IN THERE.

They don't want other countries involved.

[kskiska]

21. They don't want anyone else

but they ALSO don't want TV reports every night of OUR guys getting killed. They'd much rather some Turks or Poles get shot up. Amuricans don't care so much about that, and neither does the media.

[ferg]

35. they didn't want to be turned down

I figure they knew Bush would be refused if he asked, and felt it would look better not asking.

[cliss]

20. My sister has always said

that people will always tell you who they are and what they are about. Sometimes you have to look VERY carefully. So what about this administration? Are they really telling us that they don't want any help in Iraq. In other words, back off.

Christ, what does this mean? What do they know that the rest of us don't? We can't keep this up indefinitely. The money will run out at some point. We have to send our troops home at some point.

What is their plan? Grasswire?

[AndyTiedye]

22. It Means they won't let them leave until the election...

...and then they will start up a bloody great big draft.

Or else they'll have an even bigger one and can the election.

[leesa]

43. They are a global force. I don't think they care about America

except as a safe place for them to live. They are essentially borderless because their business is all over the world and they have all the money. They WANT America brought down...they are not into Democracy, in case you haven't noticed. They want most of our population poor so they can continue to loot and pillage around the world.

[Enraged_Ape]

24. Wow, a WP headline with "Bush" and "fails" in the same sentence

Never thought I'd see the day, since the chimp has done NOTHING BUT FAIL since day one and he's never been called to the carpet for any of it, not even once. Chim-Chim must really be in trouble this time.

[4dsc]

25. Who said..

There is a sudden realization that things were pretty good under the last Democratic president, and that Bush has made a profound mess of things.

[robbedvoter]

26. But, but he told them to get over it - it should have worked!

CNN yesterday kept playing the sound byte of W bragging in front of Schroeder: "We had our differences in the past, but we are past that" Kinda like that "Mishun Accomplished" thingy, non?

[Lugnut]

38. And "told" was....

The key word that caught my attention. Shitforbrains TOLD Schroeder that we had differences in the past but we're past that. He thinks he can order people to give him a do-over. Guess not.

[legin]

27. I don't want the world sending 15,000 troops

because it is not just 15,000 it is also the troops at home waiting to be rotated in to replace those in the field. At the very minimum it is another 15,000 troops, that is a 1:1 rotation system, in fact the real life figure is 3:1, don't ask me why.

A foreign division of 15,000 - 20,000 troops in fact sort of works out giving bush* about another 50,000 troops to play with, which I don't actually think is a very good idea.

[spinbaby]

28. On the bright side...

...this means we don't have the resources to invade Syria and Iran.

[bluedog]

29. Blair NO SHOW

Seeing bush and blair caused this mess.blair decides he has other things to attend to.....makes one wonder if hes ashamed to be in the same room with that lying SOB bush.

[Ouabache]

32. kick

Juniors pr is spinning the UN's diplomatic face as a victory, but they are really giving whistleass the whistleass treatment.

Say anything - just don't fund it or do it...

[9215]

33. I likes pig roasts

slows and easy, but I likes my fisheez raw and whole.

[Dr Fate]

40. But-but- Bush/Media INSISTED we has a "Coalition of the Willing"

Why cant this organization supply us with troops and funds? I mean, Bush/Media SAID that it existed- right?

[goforit]

41. It amazes me how the idiot still just doesn't get the message!!!!

Oh well!!!!

Some people just have to fall hard!!!!

[Kool Kitty]

42. As much as I'm glad to see pResident Plastic Action Doll

get his comeuppance, I feel bad for our troops, because this makes it so much harder for them. This administration doesn't look any further down the road than the end of its own nose before it plans anything.