Powell Says U.S. Miscalculated Strength of Insurgents in Iraq

Powell: U.S. Misjudged Insurgents in Iraq
Secretary of State Colin Powell Says U.S. Miscalculated Strength of Insurgents in Iraq

WASHINGTON Sept. 2, 2004 — Secretary of State Colin Powell acknowledged Thursday that the Bush administration miscalculated the strength of insurgents in Iraq but said the United States would "not become faint of heart" in enforcing its Iraq policy.

>>>He conceded that "it is clear we did not expect an insurgency that would be this strong."

The Pentagon announced this week that the death toll for U.S. military personnel in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 was 975 and the number of wounded was approaching 7,000. Casualties and deaths have mounted rapidly since mid-April as the insurgency has intensified, and the Bush administration's postwar strategy is a major issue in the presidential campaign.

In a flurry of interviews timed to coincide with this week's Republican convention, President Bush acknowledged a "miscalculation" about what the United States would encounter in postwar Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime and said the "catastrophic success" of a swift military victory there helped produce the still-potent insurgency.

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20040902_1123.html

Someone needs to buy Bush a calculator

:evilgrin:

more seriously.

Why, it's like no one warned you about it!

WHY WHY WHY should we let them off the hook for mistakes which have devastated America's strength to defend ourselves by making it so clear that we are impotent in Iraq???

to the fact that Bremer sent 700,000 security forces packing, armed, unemployed, unable to feed their families, who would ever have thought they might become disgruntled and resentful of our occupation. . .?

Bet that makes the parents of the dead and wounded (American and Iraqi) feel better.

This is what is wrong with the "them/us" mentality. We Americans are NO different from humans living anywhere else in the world. If people from another country bombed and invaded THIS country, then I would pick up a gun and defend my family and property. I would be part of the "insurgency" against occupying forces.

:grr:

There was no miscalculation. There was a deliberate decision to ignore the predictions made in YOUR State Department that this would happen.

I'm sick of this so-called voice of moderation in this sick administration. You allowed the neo-cons to use you Colon. You are a f***ing coward, just like the rest of this cabal.

How many miscalculations can you all make before it's called incompetence. You all should resign, worthless freaks.

he was a willing participant. He could have blown the whistle anytime. Remember Mai Lai?

They didn't calculate at all.

If they had asked ANYONE who knew ANYTHING about the Middle East, they would have been told that an occupation (that's right Zelliot OCCUPATION) would NEVER be tolerated, no matter how long it went on and that an endless insurgency would be the result.

(Hell, Colin knew that. He's just doing what he was told)

1. Nobody they personally knew would get killed, and
2. it's a volunteer army so who gives a shit anyway?

Calculation complete. :mad:

True....

:-(