Rice: Iraq Isn't Becoming Another Iran

[maddezmom]

By KEVIN FREKING

WASHINGTON Aug 6, 2006 (AP)— Iraq is not on track to become another Iran despite the disconcerting images last week of Iraqis burning U.S. flags and chanting "Death to America," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday.

"I have no doubt that this is an Iraqi government and an Iraq that is going to be a fierce fighter in the war against terrorism, because they themselves are experiencing the effects of terror on their population," Rice said. "I have no doubt that this is going to be a government that is on the right side in the war on terror."

The protests in Baghdad on Friday were organized by anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in response to fighting in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah. Crowds of al-Sadr supporters from across Iraq's Shiite heartland chanted "Death to Israel, Death to America" in the one of the biggest pro-Hezbollah rallies since the conflict began July 12.

Rice, during an appearance on NBC's Meet the Press, was asked whether the United States has helped create another fundamentalist Islamic regime in Iraq, such as the one in Iran. Rice said she did not like what the protesters said, but she believes that Iraq today is better off than when sectarian differences were oppressed through the iron rule of Saddam Hussein.

more:http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2279505&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

[Waya]

1. So she is hoping......................

[stray cat]

2. Iran is more stable without a civil war -

[uppityperson]

22. my thought also.

[hobbit709]

3. And the moon is made of green cheese

:shrug: :sarcasm: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[w4rma]

"I am not a crook." - Nixon, a crook. (nt)

[OregonBlue]

26. That was my EXACT thought!

[bronxiteforever]

4. More "faith based " foreign policy

The failure of her and Shrub's war is obvious to the world now.

[CJCRANE]

5. It's a war OF terror...nt

[xchrom]

6. tell that to gay folk.

in a small room -- just you and them condi --

we'll see what you say then.

[izzie]

7. I thought this war wrong before it started and since I have

being reading the wrong papers as I see nothing of what Condi and Bush seem to see.

[Blackhatjack]

8. There you have it, Iraq IS becoming another Iran ....

When ever this Administration trots out Condi to denounce something like this, you know it is true.

There is no other role for the Sec of State since we have no foreign policy, they are not consulted about the use of military force, and they are not allowed to promote the idea of a cease fire to discuss possible settlement of differences without killing more people.

Condi is a glorified Bush("husband")-worshipping bag toter for this Administration, and fulfills no other role that her position traditionally embodied before the Neocons took over.

[Fridays Child]

9. She has no doubt Iraq will be on the right side in the war on terror?

Neither do I, Condi. Neither do I. It's always bittersweet when Bush and his minions inadvertantly speak the truth, isn't it?

[anotherdrew]

10. who ever said it was? It's not becoming a canned ham either n/t

[billyoc]

11. Correct. It will be a long time before Iraq

can ignore the United States the way Iran does. In Iran, chanting "Death to America" went out with poprocks.

[MrPrax]

12. Unmitigated gall...

Jeez can't imagine why iraqis might be burning American flags and denouncing the US and it's ally Israel...such activities are proof of 'fundamentalism'!(which in the narrative is terrorism and can ONLY be terrorism to the racists)

Only in the Kool Aid Republic of Jesusland...

[Straight Shooter]

13. You bet your a** they're feeling the effects of terror on their population

But it isn't the terror you think you're talking about, Ms. Kindasleezy Rice.

[FlavaKreemSnak]

14. But will Iran become another Iraq?

I know that people will say it won't happen, but the more I read about everything that is happening in the Middle East, it seems like we will have to invade Iran at some point. It is the biggest country there, for one thing, they have weapons and Israel says it is a threat to them. I just don't think that Iran is going to agree to do what America and Israel wants any more than Hezbollah is going to agree to stop fighting back or that Iraq is going to agree to stop fighting back. But just like Iraq is not a cakewalk, and the Iraqis don't see the Americans as liberators, and the Lebanese don't rise up to tell Hezbollah to stop firing rockets, I don't think Iran will be any different.

So it is depressing but it looks like both Israel and America will be doing all these same things for a very long time, I think it was Condi that said it would go on for generations, but will there ever be a generation that will just agree to be occupied? It is like Bushco thinks that if they bomb enough, it will stamp out anti-American and anti-Israel opinions, and it is hard for me to believe that anybody believes that.

[ananda]

15. No, and that's because..

.. Iran is strong and can fight back.

Chickenhawks unite in making people think something that has nothing to do with the truth.

Sue

[gratuitous]

16. Let's unpack this, shall we?

Dr. Rice says Iraq isn't becoming another Iran. First, what does that mean? That Iraq will become another Islamic fundamentalist state thirsting for America's chitlins in holy jihad? Has anyone said that that is the case? Coyly, Dr. Rice doesn't spell out what she means when she says that Iraq isn't becoming another Iran. Is Iraq in a civil war with an unknown outcome, and what shape will post-civil war Iraq take? Dr. Rice avoids this question, retreating to comfortable platitudes. The loss of American troops, the wholesale slaughter of Iraqi citizens, and the squandering of American money and prestige don't enter into Dr. Rice's formulation at all.

So, what are the comfortable platitudes that Dr. Rice prefers to dwell on? That Iraq will be "on the right side in the war on terror." And which side is that, Dr. Rice? The side that pretty much left Iraq alone prior to 2003, or the side that laid punitive sanctions on Iraq for over a decade before marching into the country and decimating its government, infrastructure, and society? From an Iraqi point of view, I'd be hard pressed to decide which side is "right."

Yet, Dr. Rice would like to think that Iraq is "better off" by one measure and one measure only: Saddam Hussein is no longer ruling the country as he did before. The one indisputable fact she and the rest of her corrupt administration can fall back on without fail is that Saddam is indeed no longer ruling Iraq. For that we spent 2,600 military lives, half a trillion dollars, our national honor, our credibility as a force for freedom and countless (and deliberately uncounted) Iraqi lives. For all that effort, money, and lives, all they have to show is that Saddam is no longer ruling Iraq. Yet in interview after interview, everyday Iraqis voice a certain nostalgia for the days of Saddam. It might have been a ruthless dictatorship, but at least the air conditioning worked, the streets were relatively safe, and bombs weren't going off at random times in random places. Dictatorship can almost look preferable under the horrific circumstances inflicted on Iraq by the benevolent ministrations of George Bush and his criminal cabal.

Just admit you don't know what you're doing and walk away now.

[gulliver]

17. Yeah, thousands in Baghdad swore they would martyr ...

... themselves for Hezbollah. Look at Condi's clever Republican formulation. Iraq is going to be a fierce fighter in the war against terrorism. Like Saudi Arabia, I guess, only with Iranian-leaning Persians.

[lumpy]

18. When did Rice become an expert on

war and peace in the Midest? All she has to offer is her opinion based on what?

[Little Star]

19. Yeah and the ceasefire would be on in Lebanon last week.

She is useless.

[Stella_Artois]

20. She's right

Iraq isn't becoming a new Iran. Iraq is just continuing to be Iraq. Its already a byword for impotent military might and "super" power humiliation at the hands of lightly armed insurgents.

[Ms. Clio]

21. well, that settles it

Since they have been utterly wrong on every other score, that means Iraq is certainly becoming another Iran.

[TomClash]

23. Yeah, "Iran is going to become another Iraq" nt

[bigdarryl]

24. She's DELUSIONAL

Plain and simple

[flyarm]

25. yeah like she would know..and

we would belive a damn thing she says..

while Lebanon was burning..and children were being blown up.. she was playing piano, while Katrina was devistating Americans, she was shoe shopping and going to Broadway plays...

who would give a fuck what this witch says??

not I..

fly

[Roland99]

27. STFU, Ms. Volcano of Lies

Gawd I hate that ^@#$#^@#$^!!!

[Disturbed]

28. She might be correct for all the wrong reasons.

Iraq may split into three countries, unlike Iran which will remain one country.

[daleo]

29. "I have no doubt...I have no doubt...I have no doubt"

She reminds me of one of those bobble head dolls, or maybe a drinking bird like in that Simpson's episode.