corrente

ring out the bells again
like we did when spring began
wake me up when september ends

(image: farmtoons)

Agence France-Presse:

US troops could be in Iraq for a decade (AFP)
17 June 2007

WASHINGTON - US forces could be needed in Iraq for a decade to battle insurgents, the top coalition commander said Sunday while vowing a 'forthright' review in September on whether a troop surge is working.

Speaking on Fox News, General David Petraeus said there was broad recognition in Washington that Iraq’s daunting challenges would not be resolved 'in a year or even two years.'

'In fact, typically, I think historically, counter-insurgency operations have gone at least nine or 10 years,' he said.

[...]

'The fact is that there are signs of normalcy throughout a good bit of Baghdad. There are tens of thousands of kids that will be out there tonight playing soccer,' the general said.

4 By September, 2017 George W. Bush would be 71 years old. Dick Cheney would be 76. Cindy Sheehan, 60. Pat Tillman would have been almost 41 (born Nov., 1976). Donald Rumsfeld would be 85. Paul Dundes Wolfowitz, 73 going on 74. Bill Kristol, 64 going on 65. The so advertised "cakewalk" in Iraq will have turned 14 years old. My grandfather, who was 10 years old in 1917, will be 110 years old.

Bloomberg:

Petraeus Says Iraq Plan Won't Succeed By September (Update2)
By Demian McLean

June 17 (Bloomberg) -- The odds of building a stable Iraqi government by September are slim, even with the addition of 30,000 U.S. troops to give lawmakers in Baghdad security, said the top U.S. general in the Middle East country.

The `"aggregate level'' of violence has not diminished since the troop increase began five months ago, General David Petraeus said in an interview on "Fox News Sunday.'" Asked whether he thought the strategy could succeed by early September when he's due to report to Congress, Petraeus was negative.

"I do not, no. I think we have a lot of heavy lifting to do,'' he said. "This is a tough effort.''

4 On October 7, 2017 the FOX News Channel will turn 21 years old (finally old enough to drink a beer without a fake ID).

THE BIG SHOE DANCE, March 24, 2003 ("The mission has only just begun"):

Office of the Press Secretary
March 24, 2003
Press Briefing by Ari Fleischer
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

Q Ari, given what we've been told about Saddam Hussein's regime, I think a lot of Americans are surprised that we haven't seen scenes of widespread jubilation, at least in some of the areas under coalition control. Why do you think that is? We saw in Afghanistan in areas that had been removed from Taliban control. Why not Iraq?

MR. FLEISCHER: Well, let me remind you what you saw in Afghanistan also didn't happen on the 5th or 6th day. I mean, there is a certain amount of time here. The mission has only just begun. Saddam Hussein still has rather lethal pockets of resistance that have been left behind in different places. And the presence of those forces has still created some fear in the Iraqi people, which is justifiable given the way Saddam Hussein's military forces and security forces have treated people who spoke out or showed their desire to be free from Saddam's oppression. So we already have seen, indeed, in some areas -- and I've seen in many of your newspapers and magazines pictures of jubilant Iraqis. Of course, there was a picture of an Iraqi attacking a picture of Saddam Hussein with a shoe that was widely disseminated around the world. People saw that.

like my father's come to pass
twenty years has gone so fast
wake me up when september ends
wake me up when september ends
wake me up when september ends

4 (italics/lyrics: Green Day, "Wake Me Up When September Ends")

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