Iraq sets Time for U.S. Pullout

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by Urbane Guerrilla

Merc, more conspicuously in Zimbabwe, which presently does not possess a money economy readily recognizable as such.

Yea, I just use the title of Rhodesia to piss off the marxists.

Anyway how about that now, where did I hear someone say this?:

$700 Billion Printing of Bailout Monopoly Money, Hedge Your Wealth!
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article6635.html

That new bailout, announced Tuesday, will be financed by a different pile of funding - most likely from the printing of more money.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/25/news...ands/index.htm

[ZenGum]

You're kidding, right?

That new bailout, announced Tuesday, will be financed by a different pile of funding - most likely from the printing of more money. The Federal Reserve and Treasury Department said they will allocate $800 billion more to go to holders of loans backed by consumer debt in an attempt to jumpstart lending by the nation's banks for mortgages, credit card purchases and cars.

Nope, he ain't kidding.


Not just Zimbabwe, I'm thinking more like the hyperinflation in Germany in 1920-1923, which was caused by the same overprinting of cash. We all know where THAT ended up. Little man, what now?

I'm off to buy some tinned food.

[classicman]

So radar you got anything to say about your prediction regarding the troop withdrawal timetable?

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Zimbabwean hyperinflation outpaces the Weimar Republic's. Economists are throwing up their hands and using words like "surreal." There comes a point where it hardly matters any more.

[ZenGum]

Yes but if we are looking at an analogy for the contemporary US, Weimar Germany is a much closer match, being a developed, industrialised economy that should have been able to keep a sound base. Zimbabwe was largely an agricultural economy.
Led me add, though, that the US economy could survive printing an extra trillion dollars or so, with a bit of a devaluation hit. There is still a lot of strength in the US, despite the present problems.

Over printing money to bail out corporations or defaulting mortgagees devalues all the money currently being held. This is effectively a tax on anyone prudent enough to have saved, and a let off for anyone who has a dollar-denominated debt. Again, we're looking at rewarding those who helped create the problem.

[TheMercenary]

I guess I need to go out and get some second mortgages.

[classicman]

Iraq's al-Maliki: US will stay in insecure areas

BAGHDAD – U.S. troops will not be removed from areas of Iraq that are not completely secure or where there is a high probability that attacks could resume after the Americans leave, Iraq's prime minister said Sunday.

(a)Nouri al-Maliki said in an interview with The Associated Press that he had told President Barack Obama and other top U.S. officials that any withdrawals "must be done with our approval" and in coordination with the Iraqi government.

"I do not want any withdrawals except in areas considered 100 percent secure and under control," al-Maliki said during his flight from Australia to Baghdad at the end of a five-day visit.

"Any area where there is a likelihood of a resumption of attacks, withdrawals from there will be postponed," he said.

The U.S.-Iraq security pact that went into effect Jan. 1 calls for U.S. combat forces to leave the cities by the end of June in the first step of a plan to remove all American troops from Iraq by the end of 2011.

(b)In Washington, a senior administration official said Obama "has talked with and consulted with the Iraqis" and has said that "obviously we want to sustain the security gains of the last year."

He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was referring to private conversations.

Al-Maliki did not specify areas where the removal of U.S. troops might be delayed. But those areas would likely include Mosul, the country's third largest city, and Diyala province northeast of Baghdad.

Al-Qaida and other Sunni extremist groups operate in both areas, despite repeated offensives by U.S. and Iraqi forces. An Iraqi soldier was killed Sunday in a bombing in Mosul and a police lieutenant colonel was shot dead in another part of the city, police said.

"I want to leave it very clear that there's no cessation of combat operations" after June 30, Rudesheim told reporters in Baghdad's heavily guarded Green Zone.

"We understand that we're going to have the vast majority of our formations moving out of the city proper and moving to the rural belts," he said.

"We will not forsake the security that has been established by the Iraqi security forces and coalition forces," he said.

Rudesheim said U.S. military transition teams that train Iraqi forces will remain at posts within the city.

(a) I'm just curious here, When did this guy start dictating US policy?

(b) Wow, admitting that we made gains last year. I found that interesting.

This article has a lot more info in it that I haven't seen available elsewhere.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by classicman

[b][u]

(a) I'm just curious here, When did this guy start dictating US policy?

We've been bitching for the Iraq's government to get off their duff and start running the country, so now they are. They came up with a timetable for US rules of engagement and withdrawal last year, remember?

(b) Wow, admitting that we made gains last year. I found that interesting.

Contrary to your belief, Obama is not an idiot. He, and most of the politicians, know what's going on over there, regardless of their public(political) posturing.

Oh, and Iraq could still go to hell in a handbasket.

[piercehawkeye45]

Originally Posted by classicman

[b][u]
(a) I'm just curious here, When did this guy start dictating US policy?

You mean when did the Prime Minister of Iraq start dictating US policy that directly effects Iraq's stability?

Though of course we don't have to listen to him....they are our troops. But it would be kind of funny (maybe not) if we initially started a war with Iraq to take down a dictator and install a democracy and then pull out right before the democracy could stabilize leaving us with a dictator or chaos.