Quotes of the Morning: What Enemy?

“We’re not in a civil war. This is just not true.”
-William Kristol, Fox News Sunday, July 15, 2007

“Sure, WE aren’t, but the Iraqi people sure as heck seem to be involved in one.”
-Skippy

“A car bomb packed with explosives detonated Sunday in a central Baghdad square, killing 10 people and wounding 25, the deadliest attack on a violent day that claimed the lives of at least 18 others.
Still, a U.S. military spokesman on Sunday that the month-old American offensives in and around the capital were starting to have an effect, reducing violence and civilian deaths. He did not cite figures.”
-Associated Press, July 16, 2007

“Hmm.. It sounds like a civil war. Mr. Kristol, are you sure that there can’t be a civil war going on?”
-Skippy

"There's been a certain amount of pop sociology in America ... that the Shia can't get along with the Sunni and the Shia in Iraq just want to establish some kind of Islamic fundamentalist regime. There's almost no evidence of that at all. Iraq's always been very secular."
-William Kristol, Fresh Air, April 1, 2003

“Ah.. Well, I guess that proves it then. All of those bombings must be coming from somewhere though.. I wonder where?”
-Skippy

“Although Bush administration officials have frequently lashed out at Syria and Iran, accusing it of helping insurgents and militias here, the largest number of foreign fighters and suicide bombers in Iraq come from a third neighbor, Saudi Arabia, according to a senior U.S. military officer and Iraqi lawmakers.
About 45% of all foreign militants targeting U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians and security forces are from Saudi Arabia; 15% are from Syria and Lebanon; and 10% are from North Africa, according to official U.S. military figures made available to The Times by the senior officer. Nearly half of the 135 foreigners in U.S. detention facilities in Iraq are Saudis, he said.
Fighters from Saudi Arabia are thought to have carried out more suicide bombings than those of any other nationality, said the senior U.S. officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the subject's sensitivity. It is apparently the first time a U.S. official has given such a breakdown on the role played by Saudi nationals in Iraq's Sunni Arab insurgency.”
-LA Times, July 15, 2007

“Wait.. That can’t be right either. Saudi Arabia is our ally. I’ve seen the pictures of Fearless Leader walking hand in hand with the Prince. Can’t we blame this on Syria or Iran or somebody else?”
-Skippy

“A previously undisclosed Army investigation into an audacious January attack in Karbala that killed five U.S. soldiers concludes that Iraqi police working alongside American troops colluded with insurgents.
The assault on the night of Jan. 20 stunned U.S. officials with its planning and sophistication. A column of SUVs filled with gunmen who posed as an American security team passed through Iraqi police checkpoints at a provincial headquarters in the Shiite holy city.
Within a few minutes, the attackers killed one American, wounded three and abducted four. The captives were later found shot to death; the gunmen escaped.
‘(The American) defense hinged on a level of trust that … early warning and defense would be provided by the Karbala Iraqi police. This trust was violated,’ the report dated Feb. 27 says.”
-USA Today, July 11, 2007

“No, no, no.. Dang it, Iraq is not in a civil war and all of our problems there are coming from non-Saudi terrorists, not a native insurgency! Can’t you get that through your head? We need to root out these foreign terrorists and then we can finally declare victory and leave Iraq.”
-Skippy

“Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Saturday that the Iraqi army and police are capable of keeping security in the country when American troops leave ‘any time they want,’ though he acknowledged the forces need further weapons and training.
The embattled prime minister sought to show confidence at a time when congressional pressure is growing for a withdrawal and the Bush administration reported little progress had been made on the most vital of a series of political benchmarks it wants al-Maliki to carry out.
Al-Maliki said difficulty in enacting the measures was ‘natural’ given Iraq's turmoil.
But one of his top aides, Hassan al-Suneid, rankled at the assessment, saying the U.S. was treating Iraq like ‘an experiment in an American laboratory.’ He sharply criticised the U.S. military, saying it was committing human rights violations, embarassing the Iraqi government with its tactics and cooperating with ‘gangs of killers’ in its campaign against al-Qaida in Iraq."
-Associated Press, July 15, 2007

“Don’t listen to the government of Iraq. We ain’t leaving ‘til every last non-Saudi foreign terrorist is dead.”
-Skippy