Spain Plans to Hasten Withdrawl of Troops

[kskiska]

After announcing its decision last weekend to withdraw forces from Iraq, Spain has raised further ire in Washington by giving notice of plans to pull out faster than expected, a move that Bush administration officials said yesterday is complicating military operations in Iraq and could put lives in danger.

Initially, officials here had expected the withdrawal to start in a month or two and be carefully coordinated with U.S. military commanders in Iraq. But the Pentagon received word earlier this week that about half of Spain's 1,300 troops would be leaving in the next 10 days and the rest within 20 days after that.

"We completely respect their political decision to remove their forces, but the way they're doing it is a big disappointment," said a senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. "They did not coordinate with the commanders on the ground. It's causing us to have to scramble to backfill those very important positions. And it could unnecessarily jeopardize operations and lives.

"This is just not the way that allies should treat each other," the official went on. "It's disappointing and it's unprofessional."

Such unusually blunt and angry language reflected the depth of the official irritation generated by Spain's plan and undercut efforts yesterday by Spain's top diplomat to smooth over the episode.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32541-2004Apr21.html

[InflateableLove]

1. Spain should hurry up and get out

The sooner they leave their posts and require the few extra US troops to fill the empty posts the sooner more bad things can happen to add pressure for the US to get out. Do it now while it can be used in the election!

[tkmorris]

4. Several DU'ers have family in Iraq

Suggesting that "bad things" should happen to them is not going to make you many friends. Please try to remember that those troops are people, not political tools.

[Jacobin]

5. Dude!!! Where's your tombstone????

BTW, have you enlisted yet?

Sounds like your pretzledent needs you!!!!!

[InflateableLove]

8. You can't handle the truth

The call for bad things to happen to our troops here is sick.

You can not deny it with honesty.

[cprise]

9. No, the OBSERVANCE of bad things happening

..to our troops is relentless.

Does it make you yearn for dishonesty?

[InflateableLove]

10. You missed the LBN free-for-all aginst our troops

When they overpowered the enemy. Look it up if it has not been deleted yet.

[cprise]

12. Sorry I missed that one

...and you are lazy.

I've also been on DU for years now, so I know chances are you are quite mistaken.

[InflateableLove]

14. You have the star...look it up with search.

I've been here since 2/2001 reading so I am quite aware of the score.

[cprise]

26. Burden of proof is on the accuser

So go to town... or get lost.

[Gman]

11. Tombstone countdown...

5... 4... 3... 2... 1...

[InflateableLove]

15. Yep...anything that you can't argue against is buried.

Must be nice to be so narrow minded and shallow.

[tkmorris]

16. So, why are you here?

You are knowingly breaking the rules you agreed to when you registered. What do you think that says about you?

Also, what is this quote from you?

"How dare a fellow vet deny Kerry his hero status

Time for a serious expose of these obvious Rove planted vets.

We all know that Kerry is a hero and any vet that says otherwise is a plant and can't be trusted. We need Dan Rather and the other few we have left to point this out to the sheeple that doubt it."

Were you just being cute or what?

[InflateableLove]

17. Name ONE rule I have broken

Arguing against opinion is not against the rules. Thanks for playing and cheating.

[tkmorris]

18. Umm, yeah ok

I'm "cheating". I just feel terrible about it. Self-flagellation is surely in order.

[InflateableLove]

19. You can't name the rule?

I'd feel terrible too if I used star power to silence opposing views instead of the truth.

[Minstrel Boy]

20. You're baiting. And not very well, at that.

For instance:

Kerry needs to swing far left to win PA

PA is getting tired of gun rights, property rights and low taxes. It's way past time to crack down of the PA threat to a Democratic America. If anyone here has a friend in PA then call them and tell them to vote for Kerry!!!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=502494#502555

[InflateableLove]

21. So you think Kerry needs to swing RIGHT to win PA?

I don't. What's the real problem here?

[markses]

23. The point is that

You don't believe that Kerry needs to swing left. You are trying to be cute, and it is transparent. It would, of course, be useful to lay out a set of arguments if your sarcasm wasn't so cowardly, but since you can't seem to put forth a real argument, but instead prefer these backhanded and lilly-livered tactics (oh, they're soooo within the rules, shouted the laughable little coward), I think folks would just prefer to wait for the moderators, who will be able to make a useful decision about your status.

That said, you know damn well what the rules are here regarding right wing talking points. That's why you hide behind your belabored and inept attempt at reductio ad absurdum, not realizing (perhaps because you lack the capacity) that the only thing you are reducing to absurdity is yourself. It's pathetic, really. You know that there are plenty of boards where conservatives, republicans, and others who lean right can debate with liberals, democrats, and others that lean left. This board is reserved for the latter to hash out their own issues. That's the purpose. If you're hankering for a debate, why not go to one of the thousands of open boards? What's the point of your childish little operation here, really? It shows immaturity and lack of good sense. So just growq up and stop it. It makes you look sad and stupid.

[Brother Buzz]

25. What's the real problem here?

You're a quick study, you tell us.

Logical Fallacies

Ad Hominem Argument
The person rather than the position is attacked

Bandwagon Argument
Assumes the popular position is almost necessarily the correct one

Circular Argument
The truth of the conclusion is assumed by the premises

Either/Or Argument
Two and only two options are provided when alternative positions are available

False Analogy
The two items compared are dissimilar

Hasty Generalization
The sample is too small to support the generalization

Non Sequiter Argument
A statement is made which does not logically follow from what has been just stated

Post Hoc Argument
Because one event follows another the first event is assumed to be the cause of the second event

Red Herring Argument
Argument which distracts the audience from the issue in question through the introduction of some irrelevancy

Slippery Slope Argument
A series of increasingly unacceptable, usually disastrous, consequences occur

Strawman Argument
Attacking an argument that is different and usually weaker than the opponent's best argument

[leesa]

7. Duh.

[BostonTeaParty04]

13. ??? what election?

Their election is over.
Ours isn't for 7 months.

Exiting in 3 weeks vs. 6 weeks would have no impact on anyone's election.

[Mikimouse]

2. Baaawwwww! Uncle Kofi, we didn't mean it, make 'em stay!

<sniff>

[KoKo]

3. Bush shakes his fist at the World and more of our soldiers die. When

will folks wake up and see that he's the Bully of the world and he's hurting and killing people because of his ego.

This is so awful. Maybe the world has to show him a lesson or save us from him by abandoning us in Iraq.

[leesa]

6. Well, heaven forbid SPAIN should put lives in danger! The dirty

terrorists appeasers!
Are Americans truly stupid enough to buy this BS???

[InflateableLove]

22. Yes.

Most of America will view Spain as cowards. That you can not change.

[markses]

24. Luckily for the Spanish

They clearly don't give a shit what these people think. They have made a political and ethical decision regarding their own armed forces, and they intend to hold to it, apparently. The support for the withdrawal is running at 70-80% in Spain. What part of a government for and by the people are you having trouble understanding?

Oh, yes. Of course. When the people don't agree, they need strong leadership to persuade them about the rightness of an unpopular course. Well, the Spanish right has had plenty of opportunity to do so, and they've failed. Too bad. They can, of course, continue in their attempts to persuade, but at this point, the people of Spain have rejected the right's arguments, and they continue to reject them.

[July]

27. Yeah, they should treat their allies

the way we treated our allies France and Germany, right?

Maybe if we hadn't bribed, ridiculed, and lied to our allies, we wouldn't find ourselves losing support now.

But it's so much easier to blame it on Spain.

[Dhalgren]

28. Every life lost in Iraq, of all nationalities,

must be laid at the doorstep of Chancelor Cheney and his band of thugs. They are murdering scum. You can't really blame the little limp-noodle Bush - he's just an empty suit; he couldn't pour piss from a boot with the directions on the heel; he is a cypher; a non-entity, a big zero. I have nothing but contempt for the Brain-Dead Bush, however, he will have to stand trial with the other war criminals when this thing is finally put to rights (if it ever is).