America has failed in Iraq

malik —

Satan has been defeated in Iraq and is about to flee.
Flasehood is bound to flee.

There was no way any army could win in the land of Imam Ali without asking for help from followers of Imam Ali

God beat Satan's forces.
Its just a matter of time when Satan makes a runs disgraced.

By ALAN FRAM, Tue Sep 11, 2007, AP

Poll: Most see Iraq war as failure

American public sees the Iraq war as a failure and thinks the U.S. troop buildup there has not worked, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll suggesting the tough sell President Bush faces in asking Congress and voters for more time.

The pessimism expressed by most people — including significant minorities of Republicans — contrasted with the brighter picture offered by Gen. David Petraeus. The chief U.S. commander in Iraq told Congress on Monday that the added 30,000 troops have largely achieved their military goals and could probably leave by next summer, though he conceded there has been scant political progress.

By 59 percent to 34 percent, more people said they believe history will judge the Iraq war a complete or partial failure than a success. Those calling it a failure included eight in 10 Democrats, three in 10 Republicans and about six in 10 independents, the poll showed — ominous numbers for a president who hopes to use a nationally televised address later this week to keep GOP lawmakers from joining Democratic calls for a withdrawal.

"We cannot take any of this administration's assertions on Iraq at face value anymore," said Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif., a war foe and senior member of the House Armed Services Committee. "And no amount of charts or statistics will improve its credibility."

Underscoring the public's negativity, four times as many predicted the war in Iraq would be judged as a complete U.S. failure as the number who see a complete success, 28 percent to 7 percent.

Poll: Iraqis say US troops not helping

By ALAN FRAM, Mon Sep 10, 2007

Overwhelming numbers of Iraqis say the U.S. troop buildup has worsened security and the prospects for economic and political progress in their country, according to a poll released Monday that provides a strikingly bleak appraisal of the war.

Forty-seven percent want American forces and their coalition allies to leave the country immediately, the survey showed, 12 points more than said so in a March poll as the troop increase was beginning. And 57 percent — including nearly all Sunnis and half of Shiites — said they consider attacks on coalition forces acceptable, a slight increase over the past half year.

The poll, conducted by ABC News, Britain's BBC, and Japan's public broadcaster NHK, was released at the start of a critical week in the fight by Democrats trying to force President Bush to begin a withdrawal.

Petraeus outlines troop withdrawal plans

By DAVID ESPO, Mon Sep 10, 2007, AP

The top U.S. general in Iraq outlined plans Monday for the withdrawal of as many as 30,000 troops by next summer, drawing praise from the White House but a chilly reception from anti-war Democrats.

Gen. David Petraeus said a 2,000-member Marine unit would return home this month without replacement in the first sizable cut since a 2003 U.S-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein and unleashed sectarian violence.

US general under fire over surge

BBC - Tuesday, 11 September 2007

The top US military commander in Iraq, General Petraeus, has come under heavy criticism in Congress as he reports on the progress of the US military surge.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos dismissed Gen Petraeus' assertion that military objectives of the surge were being met.

There were tactical successes but the surge was a strategic failure, he said, adding it was time for troops to leave.

Ali Ali Ali - Ya Ali Madaad.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6988515.stm

Forum
General

Beast — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 - 14:48

malikSatan has been defeated in Iraq and is about to flee.

Does that mean Iraq will be a paradise on earth now that Satan will no longer be around to tempt people to do evil?

Beast — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 - 14:50

Youerm... Iraq and America in the headline = the same topic.

Can't Malik's threads be deleted unless he posts them all in one dedicated thread about Malik's take on America/Iran/Iraq/etc?

malik — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 - 15:31

AP: Lebanese cleric slams US 9/11 response

Today is the 6th annivarsary of 9/11 atrocity.

I feel for families whose innocent members were killed by terrorists.
I read Surat Fateha for their souls.

Also, today, Ayatollah Fadlala said US poor thought out policy is to blame for must of the terror around the world.

Fadlallah: U.S. Response to Sept. 11 Attacks Enhanced Instability

AP. Tue, 11 Sep 2007

Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah lashed out at the U.S., claiming Washington's reaction to the Sept. 11 attacks had increased global instability.

In a statement released ahead of the sixth anniversary of the attacks, Fadlallah, Lebanon's top religious authority for Lebanon's Shiites, said U.S. President George Bush's decision to invade Afghanistan and Iraq had facilitated "the emergence of extremist movements in the Middle East region."

"The American reaction to those events of Sept. 11 attacks, either by linking Islam to terrorism or by occupation in Afghanistan and Iraq, has further complicated the problem worldwide and many countries have become regions for chaos and local and regional terrorism," Fadlallah said in the statement.

Fadlallah condemned the Sept. 11 attacks, but also criticized the U.S. for using them as a pretext for furthering its interests in the Middle East, especially its support for Israel.

"It has become clearer today that Bush's declared 'war on terror' in response to the Sept. 11 events ... is nothing but a war against those who oppose America's policy and its strategic plans, particularly the big Middle East project," said the cleric.

Fadlallah, 71, was the spiritual mentor of Hizbullah during the 1980s when it was blamed for kidnapping Westerners and bombing American targets in Beirut that killed more than 250 Americans.

Hizbullah, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Washington, has never admitted a role in the kidnappings or bombings.

Fadlallah has since distanced himself from Hizbullah and opposes terror attacks against civilians.

malik — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 - 15:05

Iran predicts complete failure for US in Iraq.

Maybe Iranians are arming Iraqis to teach US a lesson like Vietnam?

Iran: Report will not save U.S. from "Iraq's swamp"

REUTERS - Wed Sep 12, 2007

Iran on Wednesday dismissed a long-awaited progress report by the two senior U.S. officials in Iraq saying it would not "save America from Iraq's swamp."

General David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, and ambassador Ryan Crocker testified to the U.S. Congress on Monday.

Iran has long called for U.S. forces to leave its neighbor, but a Foreign Ministry statement made clear the suggested troop withdrawal did not go far enough for Tehran.

"This report does not reflect the real demands and priorities of the majority of the American people," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said in the statement, according to the official IRNA news agency.

It was the first official reaction from Tehran about Monday's testimony, which has been welcomed by the Iraqi government.

Iran rejects U.S. accusations it is fomenting instability in its neighbor by arming and training militias there and says the presence of U.S. forces is behind the violence.

The two old foes are also at loggerheads over Iran's nuclear programme, which the West suspects is aimed at making atom bombs. Iran says it solely aims to generate electricity.

Petraeus and Crocker appeared at a congressional hearing regarded as a pivotal moment in the U.S. debate over the war, which U.S. President George W. Bush has vowed to pursue but which many Democrats, who control Congress, say must end.

Analysts said Petraeus's recommendation to bring some troops home by Christmas and more in 2008 could provide political cover for Republicans and dissuade them from abandoning Bush while blunting Democratic calls for more dramatic withdrawals.

In Tehran, Hosseini accused the United States of committing a "large amount of mistakes" in Iraq since the U.S.-led 2003 invasion to topple Saddam Hussein.

"The Bush administration wants to transfer most of their problems to others and to convince the representatives of the American people of the need to continue the occupation," he said, referring to the U.S. allegations.

"This report will not save America from Iraq's swamp."

Ties between Shi'ite-dominated Iran and Iraq have improved since the ousting of Saddam, a Sunni Arab strongman who waged war against his neighbor in the 1980s.

US general's plan means 10 more years of war: Democrats

Democrats charged General David Petraeus's latest Iraq strategy was a blueprint for 10 more years of war, as they rejected "rosy" claims of battlefield progress and demanded a speedy US withdrawal.

The Democratic counter-attack came as President George W. Bush prepared to address Americans on future Iraq strategy on Thursday, and war commander Petraeus endured a roasting in Congress.

"President Bushs policy announced by General Petraeus is a path to 10 more years of war in Iraq," said Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House of Representatives in a statement after meeting the president at the White House.

"General Petraeus' testimony to Congress drew a bright line: redeployment is not an option; endless war in Iraq is the administration's only option."

Petraeus said during two days of marathon congressional testimony that the "surge" of some 30,000 more troops into Baghdad was working, and that US troop numbers could recede back to around 130,000 by next summer.

But Pelosi slammed such a scenario as "an insult to the intelligence of the American people."

The White House said Bush would make a live televised address at 9:00 pm Thursday (Friday 0100 GMT).

Senate Democrats argued the surge had failed in its prime goal -- forging political reconciliation between Iraq's warring factions.

"We should stop the surge and start bringing our troops home," said senior Democratic Senator Joseph Biden.

Carl Levin, another veteran Democrat, said claims the surge was working was part of a "litany of delusion" by the Bush administration on Iraq.

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton said the reports by Petraeus and US ambassador to Baghdad Ryan Crocker demanded the "willing suspension of disbelief."

Petraeus and Crocker spent 10 consecutive hours testifying to tense hearings of the Senate Foreign Affairs and Armed Services committees, which came on the sixth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, a day of deep political significance here.

They spent five hours before two House committees on Monday.

The White House argued in a statement that success in Iraq would be a "terrible blow" to US enemies in the 'war on terror' and extremists had to be battled there, rather than on US soil.

But another Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama, said it was wrong to hold a hearing on a day filled with echoes of the attacks.

"It perpetuates this notion that, somehow, the original decision to go into Iraq was directly related to the attacks on 9/11," he said.

Petraeus, who testified before the House of Representatives on Monday, said US forces could gradually be reduced from their current 168,000 strength, to pre-surge levels of around 130,000 by mid-2008.

But Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer accused the general of painting an overly optimistic picture.

"I ask you to take off your rosy glasses," she said. "We are sending our troops where they are not wanted, with no end in sight, in the middle of a civil war, in the middle of the mother of all mistakes."

Republican war critic Chuck Hagel had a similar complaint.

"Are we going to continue to invest American blood and treasure at the same rate as we are now? For what?"

But Republican presidential hopeful Senator John McCain, a staunch defender of the surge, warned: "The consequences of American defeat in Iraq will be terrible and longlasting.

"Iraq has become the central front of the global war on terror."

Ripples from Petraeus's testimony spread worldwide, with the general set to head to London to discuss the British military's handover of security in the southern city of Basra to Iraqi forces.

Britain said Tuesday its approach to Iraq would not be changed by Petraeus's upbeat testimony. France meanwhile said there was no military solution in Iraq and called for an eventual US withdrawal.

Meanwhile, Iraq's National Security Advisor Muwaffaq al-Rubaie told reporters that he expected US forces to cut back on combat duties soon.

"We anticipate in the near term a relaxation of the requirement for coalition forces to be in direct combat operation," he said in Baghdad.

But he cautioned against a quick withdrawal of US troops, echoing Petraeus in his testimony on Monday, saying the coalition forces were needed until Iraq's own security forces were self-reliant.

malik — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 - 15:12

One by one, they are all admitting failure in Iraq.

US Senators confess what Bush dare not.

US military surge in Iraq failing: top Democrat

AFP - Tue Sep 11, 2007

Top Democratic Senator Joseph Biden Tuesday told the US war commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, that his military "surge" was failing to translate into political peace in Baghdad.

"We should stop the surge and start bringing our troops home," the Senate's foreign relations committee chairman said at the start of a second day of hearings with Petraeus in Congress.

After a moment of silence on the sixth anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks, Biden assailed President George W. Bush's strategy launched in February of surging another 28,500 US troops into Iraq.

"The one thing virtually everyone now agrees on is that there's no purely military solution in Iraq. Lasting stability requires a political settlement among the Sunnis, the Shias and the Kurds," the Democrat said.

He queried whether Iraqi politicians had used the surge to pursue political reconciliation, or if they would they use another six months of the US escalation to "stop killing each other and start governing together?"

"In my judgment, I must tell you...the answer to both those questions is no," Biden told Petraeus.

Addressing two committees of the House of Representatives Monday, Petraeus and US ambassador to Baghdad Ryan Crocker battled interruptions by anti-war protesters to reject claims that Bush's war plan has failed.

The military commander said gradual troop withdrawals were feasible and signaled that the United States would reduce combat levels near to pre-surge numbers by the middle of next year.

But Petraeus also warned that "a premature drawdown of our forces would likely have devastating consequences."

Six years after 9/11, America is staring at failure everywhere.

It should have asked Iran for help. Today it would have won.

Its not too late to beg the Ayatollahs for assisstance.

malik — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 - 15:15

Everybody knows the real path to success.

Bush is to stupid to listen.

Former US President Jimmy Carter calls for direct US-Iran talks

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 20:38:09

Former US president, Jimmy Carter, has asked Washington to hold 'direct talks' with Iran in his speech at the Toronto Film Festival.

Carter made the comments at the world premiere of the biographical documentary, Man from Plains, which portrays his life since his one-term presidency.

The film was made a few months after the publication of his book Palestine Peace, not Apartheid by the Academy Award-winning director Jonathan Demme.

Speaking at the film festival's first geopolitical talk, Carter called for 'direct talks' with Tehran.

The Noble Prize laureate also presented his views about peace in the Middle East and expressed his grief over the 'unwarranted and unprecedented' fundamentalism that has pervaded US politics.

"I worship Christ who was the prince of peace, not pre-emptive war," he said, attacking George W. Bush and his extremist supporters.

"A superpower like the United States should use all of its resources ... to promote peace," he added.

Carter said he hoped his book would help 'find peace in the Holy Land'.

"There hasn't been one single day of peace talks in the last seven years," he complained.

You — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 - 17:25

Yeah, "Iraq" should be renamed to "A Wreck". (Yup, that's Bermner, Bird and Fortune a few years too late!)

malik — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 - 14:15

mmmAmerica Failed in Iraq.

So did Iran.

How did Iran fail?

Iran has not even started anything yet.

President Ahmadinejad said Iran will move in once the US leave;
and he said US is about to leave because its power is collapsing.
Most US Senetors agree with Iran.
Most people America admit that US has been defeated in Iraq.
Only Bush is deluding himself. We can understand why.

mmm — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 - 14:45

malik

mmmAmerica Failed in Iraq.

So did Iran.

How did Iran fail?

Iran has not even started anything yet.

President Ahmadinejad said Iran will move in once the US leave;
and he said US is about to leave because its power is collapsing.
Most US Senetors agree with Iran.
Most people America admit that US has been defeated in Iraq.
Only Bush is deluding himself. We can understand why.

Once again BORING.

Iran will step in and do what?

Iran has failed because it is standing by and watching people die now!

malik — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 - 12:43

Bush said that thousands of US troops are dying because Iran is killing them.

Isn't that so?

Ayatollah says Bush always lies. He will hang like Saddam

BBC - Friday, 14 September 2007

Iranian supreme leader slams Bush

It was a particularly tough speech from the Iran's
Supreme Leader

By Jon Leyne - BBC News, Tehran

The supreme leader of Iran has launched a scathing
attack on United States President George W Bush.

Speaking at Friday prayers, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
said he was sure President Bush would be tried in an
international court for what had happened in Iraq.

It was a particularly tough message, accusing the US
of invading Iraq partly to undermine Iran's Islamic
system.

It follows Mr Bush's speech to the US on Thursday in
which he criticised Iran's ambitions in the Middle
East.

Ayatollah Khamenei said the US had been defeated in
its plan for the Middle East, and he went on to talk
of the complete defeat of the United States in its
plan to weaken Iran.

He said he was convinced President Bush would be tried
in an international court for what he had done in Iraq
- and even likened him to Hitler and Saddam Hussein.

"Americans will have to answer for why they don't end
occupation of Iraq and why waves of terrorism and
insurgency have overwhelmed the country," he said.

These strong comments suggest that the Supreme Leader
is giving his full backing to President Ahmadinejad in
the confrontation with the West over Iran's nuclear
programme.

President Ahmadinejad has said several times that he
believes the dispute over the nuclear plan is now
over; this is a very similar message from Iran's
Supreme Leader.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6995000.stm

malik — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 - 14:50

In Friday sermon, Ayatollah claims Bush has failed not only in Iraq, but in entire middle east.

Iran leader says U.S. policy has failed

REUTERS – Friday 14 SEPTEMBER 2007

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday U.S. President George W. Bush's Middle East policies had failed and he and others would one day be put on trial for "the tragedies they have created in Iraq."

"America has failed in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine. America's policies have failed in the Middle East region," Khamenei told worshippers at Tehran University in a speech broadcast live on state television.
Washington accuses Shi'ite Muslim Iran of providing funds, arms and training to Iraqi Shi'ite militants and of supporting terrorism across the Middle East.

Iran denies the charge and blames the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 for the bloodshed between Iraq's majority Shi'ite and minority Sunni Arabs.
"I am certain that one day Bush and senior American officials will be tried in an international court for the tragedies they have created in Iraq," Khamenei said.

Thousands of people gathered in central Tehran to hear the supreme leader, who has the last say in all state matters, mark the first Friday prayer of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.

"America's power in the region is waning ... they (U.S.) are looking forward to pulling out of Iraq," Khamenei said.

The mass audience, including senior state officials, clerics and wheelchair-bound veterans of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, responded with chants of "Death to America. Islam is victorious."

"PSYCHOLOGICAL WAR"

Iran and the United States cut diplomatic ties shortly after Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. They have held rounds of talks in Baghdad to find ways to restore security in Iraq but relations remain very strained.

Khamenei condemned the Middle East peace process, Israel and some European countries as well as the United States as he described a "psychological war" he said had been waged against the Islamic republic of Iran.

Tehran and Washington are also at loggerheads over Iran's nuclear work. The United States says Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons under cover of a civilian programme. Iran denies this, saying it needs the technology to generate electricity.

Iran has so far refused to halt sensitive nuclear work, despite U.S. threats to ratchet up pressure with new U.N. sanctions. Two rounds of sanctions have already been imposed.

Washington is leading a drive for a third sanctions resolution. World powers are set to meet in Washington on September 21 to discuss a new resolution.

China, Russia, and possibly Germany, are reluctant to take further punitive action because of a deal between Iran and the U.N. watchdog meant to bring transparency to Iran's atomic work.

The Bush administration plans more unilateral measures to pressure Iran, including sanctions on the Guards' Quds force, blamed for stoking violence in Iraq.

However, Khamenei said Iran would not yield to pressure, including further sanctions.

"The Iranian nation has resisted sanctions since the revolution. Under sanctions, Iran has moved forward ... We have developed our nuclear work despite sanctions," said Khamenei.

malik — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 - 14:56

Ayataollah predicts Bush will end up in court at the hague to be tried as war criminal.

Lot of US Senators seems to agree with Ayatollah on US failure in Iraq.

Iran's Khamenei: Bush is war criminal comparable to Hitler

Haaretz - 14 September 2007

Iran's supreme leader Friday compared U.S. President
George W. Bush to Adolf Hitler and predicted that he
would eventually be brought to court as a war
criminal.

"The day will come that Bush would be brought to a war
tribunal for the catastrophe he caused in Iraq. He has
to be called to account just like in the case of
Hitler and Saddam," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in the
Friday prayer ceremony in Tehran.

"[Bush] has to reply to the simple question why a rich
country like Iraq has no water, no electricity, no
hospitals, no schools... the only thing the U.S.
brought into Iraq was terrorism," Khamenei added.

The Ayatollah said that the U.S. had in the last three
decades followed the plan to have full domination of
the Middle East with "Israel as its capital," but
failed in Iraq, as well as in Iran, Lebanon and the
Palestine Territories.

He added that the U.S. used Iraq to stage a war
against Iran (1980-1988)with the aim of toppling the
Islamic system, but failed.

He said the U.S. staged elections in the Palestine
Palestinian Authority, in which Hamas emerged as the
winner, and tried to disarm the Hezbollah in Lebanon
only to suffer "a humiliating defeat for what was
believed to be the undefeatable Israeli army."

Khamenei added that U.S. plans to impose sanctions on
Iran due to the continuation of its nuclear programs
would "just make the nation stronger than before."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/903727.html

Iran leader: Bush must face trial over Iraq

AFP – Sept 14, 2007

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday that US President George W. Bush had been defeated in his Middle East plans and would one day stand trial for "atrocities" committed in Iraq.

Khamenei's withering personal attack on the US president in a Tehran prayer sermon to mark the onset of the Muslim holy month Ramadan came one day after Bush once again accused Iran of undermining the Iraqi government.

"I have a firm belief that one day this current US president and the American officials will be tried in a fair international court for the atrocities committed in Iraq," he said.

"They have to be held accountable. The United States cannot ignore its responsibility," Khamenei told worshippers, who punctuated his sermon with shouts of "Death to America".

"The situation will not remain like this. One day it was Hitler, then it was the turn of Saddam," he said.

Khamenei accused the United States of invading Iraq in 2003 to execute a plan to create a Middle East that would be "based around" Iran's arch enemy Israel and aimed at weakening the region's Islamic system.

"The Americans were defeated in their aims in the Middle East and were defeated in their ultimate aim for the Islamic Republic of Iran.

"The Middle East plan was not achieved and they did not touch the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.

"Thanks to God, we are climbing the ladder of success... This shows the complete defeat of United States in weakening Iran.

"It is thanks to your alertness that you have reached the summits. Work in such a way that no one can dare threaten the Iranian people," he said.
The US and Iranian envoys to Baghdad have held two rounds of landmark talks in Baghdad on Iraqi security this year but Khamenei's comments underline the degree of enmity that remains between the two sides just on this issue.

US Senator Edwards: Bush, Congress fail to end war

AP – 14 SEPTEMBER 2007

White House candidate John Edwards criticized President Bush in a televised response Thursday for failing to pull out of Iraq, but also spread some of the blame to the Democratic-led Congress.

"Our troops are stuck between a president without a plan to succeed and a Congress without the courage to bring them home," Edwards said in the video with an American flag in the background.

"No timeline, no funding. No excuses," Edwards said. "It is time to end this war."