"These folks are savages, mass murderers..."

Hmmm wonder how they can spin this stuff...Gen. Meyers on NBC...

Published on May 31, 2005 By ShadowWar In Current Events

Yesterday on Good Morning America, Gen. Meyers, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was interviewed by Katie Couric. During the interview he made a few important statements that many may not have heard so I bring them here for you to see.

Several of his comments were in relation to the Iraq conflict and even when Ms. Couric tried to misquote him, he was able to give very clear and concise answers. Here is the interview (edited for length)

...
MS. COURIC: I know that on Sunday some 40,000 Iraqi troops began a new effort called Operation Lightning to deal with the insurgency. Recently, General Myers, I know you said insurgencies can last anywhere from three to four to even nine years. This is very important to note. Notice it says IRAQI TROOPS not U.S. Troops. Ther Iraq Military is taking over the duties of securing their own country more and more every day. This is a prime example of it.

Given the fact that there were 21 suicide bombings in May, compared to 25 for all of 2004, is the insurgency gaining steam or losing steam at this point in time?

GEN. MYERS: Let me try to put it in perspective. The insurgents originally thought, a year and a half, two years ago, they could go after the coalition and they could intimidate the coalition into leaving Iraq. Obviously we haven’t left. (isn't it great how military leaders have a habit of stating the obvious for those that don't want to see it. )

Then they went after Iraqi security forces, particularly at recruiting stations. And yet Iraqi police, Iraqi army recruits, are signing up in record numbers. And, of course, during the election period, in the run-up to the elections in January, they tried to go after Iraqi civilians very hard. And, of course, Iraqis went to the polls, very proud of that, and 85 percent of Iraqis today say they’re going to vote in the constitutional referendum. (This speaks volumes about the Iraqi people and their determination to have their own country, and run and secure their own country. They want to be free and not need the U.S. walking down their streets. They are doing more each day. Just the other day my buddy in Aman, Jordan (where they train new Iraqi Police Officers) said they just got another 5000 recruits in and are expecting to double that again in a couple of weeks.)

So they are not going to be successful. They can’t be successful. These are the people that are cutting off people’s heads. They put it on TV. They shoot a Japanese man. They put that on their web site. These folks are savages, mass murderers. There’s no reason the international community should ever think about anything but winning.

MS. COURIC: But General Myers, having said that, when you hear nine years, a prediction of possibly nine years, it’s pretty chilling. (This is where she tries to mislead what he said, but he takes care of that)

GEN. MYERS: That was never a prediction. It was talking about insurgencies in general. And some take as little as two years; some take as long as nine. The point is, I think, with the political progress we’re seeing in Iraq, that’s going to be the key. And as the current government reaches out to Sunnis, which they’re doing, trying to make them more a part of a constitutional process, that progress in the political front is going to be key to progress against the insurgency. And it’s happening.

MS. COURIC: Meanwhile, earlier this year, General Myers, some of your top military leaders suggested the possibility of reducing the number of troops from Iraq by the first half of 2006. Do you agree with that, and do you still see that as a possibility?

GEN. MYERS: Katie, that’s something we look at all the time. Every week we go over the analysis there. General George Casey, who’s doing a great job of leading our troops in Baghdad and in Iraq, and General Abizaid, who’s responsible for the area over there, are reviewing that constantly.

The key is getting Iraqi security forces out front. And they are out front. You know, the offensive that’s going on in Baghdad, in good coordination between the ministry of interior, the ministry of defense, the fact that we have 35 operations going on right now, five of which are being conducted by Iraqi security forces without any help from the coalition, 30 of which are in combination with the coalition, this is in contrast to just a few months ago, where the Iraqi security forces weren’t so much in the front. But that’s occurring as we would have hoped it would have occurred. And we’re very optimistic that we’ll be able to look at our force structure in the future.
(That last paragraph is very important. The Iraqi military is able to function completely without the U.S. military on several levels and is already conducting its own operations. And more will follow. The best indicator of when this will all be over for the U.S. Troops is when the Iraqi military takes over more and more. Which they are doing. What a great statement about the Iraqi people that are stepping up despite the dangers and helping to make their own country safe. Keep your eyes open here and you will see the reports on their operations as I get them.)

Comments

Rightwinger

on May 31, 2005

Great job, SW.....Katie Couric's position on the efforts in Iraq is well known. It's good to see her efforts at negative spin crushed and turned away by the truth. It's great to see shafts of success cutting through the fog of failures the biased media tries to blind us with.
As to having to state the obvious, sometimes that has to be done when the source of the question is trying from the get-go to protray you in a negative light. Hit them with something basic, and you can start fresh.

JillUser

on May 31, 2005

As to having to state the obvious, sometimes that has to be done when the source of the question is trying from the get-go to protray you in a negative light. Hit them with something basic, and you can start fresh.

Ain't that the truth?!

Great points Shadow. What speaks volumes to me is that the Iraqi people risk being blown up to stand in line to vote where Americans will stay home if they think the line is going to be too long.

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