Kerry said "Invading Iraq was a crisis of historic proportions and, if we do not change course, there is the prospect of a war with no end in sight,"
A war with no end in sight began on 9/11 and with another senseless murder by Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi demonstrates, we've only begun.
Kerry claims: "Falluja…Ramadi… Samarra … even parts of Baghdad – are now “no go zones”…"
Yet a Major on the ground in Baghdad writes:
You may not have even heard about the city of Samarra. Two weeks ago, that Sunni Triangle city was a “No-go” area for US troops. But guess what? The locals got sick of living in fear from the insurgents and foreign fighters that were there and let them know they weren’t welcome. They stopped hosting them in their houses and the mayor of the town brokered a deal with the US commander to return Iraqi government sovereignty to the city without a fight. The people saw what was on the horizon and decided they didn’t want their city looking like Fallujah in April or Najaf in August.Boom, boom, just like that two major “hot spots” cool down in rapid succession. Does that mean that those towns are completely pacified? No. What it does mean is that we are learning how to do this the right way. The US commander in Samarra saw an opportunity and took it – probably the biggest victory of his military career and nary a shot was fired in anger.
Perhaps Kerry should hire better researchers as the Major's report and more in the same vein are widely available on dozens of blogs and through the milblogs ring.
Kerry's latest Chicken Little ploy of shouting Iraq! Iraq! Iraq! sounds hollow to all but partisan ears as Kerry has changed positions too many times.
John Kerry on Meet the Press a year ago:
MR. RUSSERT: Do you believe that we should withdraw American troops from Iraq?
SEN. KERRY: No.
MR. RUSSERT: Do you believe we should put more American troops in Iraq?
SEN. KERRY: No.
MR. RUSSERT: Do you believe that we should reduce funding that we are now providing for the operation in Iraq?
SEN. KERRY: No. I think we should increase it.
MR. RUSSERT: Increase funding.
SEN. KERRY: Yes.
MR. RUSSERT: By how much?
SEN. KERRY: By whatever number of billions of dollars it takes to win. It is critical that the United States of America be successful in Iraq, Tim.
Kerry on Iraq reminds me of the lines from The Talking Heads "Life In Wartime"
I changed my hairstyle, so many times now,
I don’t know what I look like!