TemplarKormac
Political Atheist
- Mar 30, 2013
- 50,215
- 13,594
Bush recognized what would happen if we pulled out too early. He called for a surge and it worked. By 2011, Iraq was pacified, that is until Obama ordered a complete withdrawal of US troops from the country. Everything happening now was forewarned against by President Bush in 2007.
President Bush Addresses CENTCOM Coalition ConferenceAs sectarian violence threatened to destroy this young democracy, our coalition faced a choice. One option was to help the Iraqi government tamp down the sectarian violence and provide them with the breathing space they need to achieve reconciliation -- provide them the breathing space they need to take the political and economic measures necessary to make sure our military efforts were effective. The other option was to pull back from the capital, before the Iraqis could defend themselves against these radicals and extremists and death squads and killers. That risked turning Iraq into a cauldron of chaos. Our enemy, the enemies of freedom, love chaos. Out of that chaos they could find new safe havens. Withdrawal would have emboldened these radicals and extremists. It would have confirmed their belief that our nations were weak. It would help them gain new recruits, new resources. It would cause them to believe they could strike free nations at their choice.
Withdrawal would have increased the probability that coalition troops would be forced to return to Iraq one day, and confront an enemy that is even more dangerous. Failure in Iraq should be unacceptable to the civilized world. The risks are enormous.
So after an extensive review, I ordered a new strategy that is dramatically different from the one we were pursuing before. I listened to our military commanders; I listened to politicians from both sides of the aisle. I made a decision. I appointed a new commander, General David Petraeus, to carry out this strategy. This new strategy recognizes that our top priority must be to help the Iraqi government secure its capital so they can make economic and political progress.
-President George W. Bush, CENTCOM Coalition Conference, MacDill AFB, May 1, 2007
Iraq was never "pacified".
Some violence went down because the US began bribing the Sunnis.
But it never abated.
Then why were you guys claiming credit for it then? "Al Qaeda is on the run"? I swear, it's like you guys have Alzheimer's or something.
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