Hey Darwin...

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

I said that we will be bailing out of Iraq by year's end, a process that will begin shortly after the mid-term election. The election will only change the terminology used to describe the process, but the process will remain the same regardless of the terminology. Yes it will be gloomy. It will be an ugly disaster. But I believe it is coming.

regardless, arguing it ad nauseum would be a waste of time. We only have to wait a month or so to see if I am right or wrong.

Who (Democrats? Republicans? Congress?  White House?) will make the decision to perform this bail out?  What will be the results of this bail out in Iraq?  What will be the results of this bail out in the US and the rest of the world?

Who will make the decision? The administration will, based on the recommendations of Baker's committee. They will continue to pretend that things are going well to keep the loyal base that has bought into this line of B.S. on board through the mid-term election, then try to put the best face possible on the withdrawal.

What will be the result? Probably all-out civil war, with Iran gaining even more control of the area's oil supply. Once that situation settles itself, there will be tremendous problems between the Kurds in the north and the Turks, as well as between the Arab Shiia and their Persian Shiia neighbors in Iran. Ironically the troubled Sunni triangle may be the calmest place in a post-U.S. occupied Iraq because they have a relatively stable relationship with the Syrians. In fact the Sunni triangle will likely become a defacto extension of Syria. As far as our relationship with the rest of the world, that could hardly get worse than it has been the past four years and will most likely start to improve once we are out of Iraq.

Now how about some specific preditictions from you? How do you see this shaking down? Will we finally defeat these dead enders who are in the last throes of their insurgency and the Iraqi people will finally greet us with flowers as democracy flourishes in the region?

...
We may not have to debate this much longer. If al-Sadr pulls his support from Maliki after Maliki meets with Bush this week and the full force of the Mahdi army is unleashed on the Maliki government and U.S. troops, the war will be cranked up to a new level. We could see the spectacle of U.S. troops and personnel being evacuated from rooftops in helicopters before the end of the year.

...
As for backing up my assertations, you and I have been arguing these points for years, and near as I can tell, I've been 100 percent right and you've been 100 percent wrong, so I see no reason not to wait and let time prove you wrong once again. I see no reason why your track record should improve now, Nostradamus.

You made some pretty bold predictions, and it turns out that you were wrong all down the line. 

The '06 midterm elections have come and gone, and there was no US bail out.  The Baker Hamilton report was released, and still there was no bail out.  The new year has come and gone, and there's still no big bail out.  There exists no all-out civil war.  Iran does not control the regions oil supply.  There are no tremendous problems between the Kurds and the Turks, nor between Arab and Persian Shiia.  The Sunni triangle is not a de facto extension of Syria.  Maliki met with Bush, and neither Maliki's government nor the Iraqi democracy failed.  There has been no Hanoi-like evacuation from Bagdad.

None of your predictions have come to pass, nor do they look like they'll come true any time soon.  Care to eat crow and/or apologize to me, Nostradamus?

[The Rabbi]

I predict a deafening silence.

[wingnutx]

I predict that I will be back there in a year 

[Ex-MA Hole]

FYI- his last active date was December 11, 2006, 01:44:48 PM.  He may not be around anymore...

[Darwin]

I'm around, but I'm pretty busy. I look at the board every once in awhile but, and I apologize in advance for saying this but since this post is about me personally and how I feel, I'll get right to the point: I find it a depressing waste of time arguing with the rats too stupid, ideologically blinded, or just plain insane to jump from a sinking ship.

Let's just wait and see how and if this proposed troop surge is implemented. Let's see what happens when Bush's delusions butt against military realities and the actions of Robert Gates. I predicted a troop drawdown because that was the only sane course of action at this point. Right now I predict that if we don't see a drawdown we'll be seeing an outright defeat with a chaotic evacuation before Bush is out of office. When I made my prediction I assumed there was one shred of sanity in the Administration, but I may have overestimated Bush's grasp on reality. I will check in from time to time, but not often because I'm tired of reading the insane ramblings of a few lunatics.

[wingnutx]

Can I tell you about the rogue helicopter pilot?

[Perd Hapley]

I will check in from time to time, but not often because I'm tired of reading the insane ramblings of a few lunatics.

Translation:  I'm so wrong and so embarassed that I can hardly bear to show my face around here.  Or screen-name as the case may be. 

By the way, Darwin, the argument was about what would actually happen, not about how "ideologically blinded" Bush or the Thompson Gunner might happen to be.  You were wrong. 

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

I'm around, but I'm pretty busy. I look at the board every once in awhile but, and I apologize in advance for saying this but since this post is about me personally and how I feel, I'll get right to the point: I find it a depressing waste of time arguing with the rats too stupid, ideologically blinded, or just plain insane to jump from a sinking ship.

Let's just wait and see how and if this proposed troop surge is implemented. Let's see what happens when Bush's delusions butt against military realities and the actions of Robert Gates. I predicted a troop drawdown because that was the only sane course of action at this point. Right now I predict that if we don't see a drawdown we'll be seeing an outright defeat with a chaotic evacuation before Bush is out of office. When I made my prediction I assumed there was one shred of sanity in the Administration, but I may have overestimated Bush's grasp on reality. I will check in from time to time, but not often because I'm tired of reading the insane ramblings of a few lunatics.

Back in October, you claimed that the war was so terribly mismanaged and so hopeless that we were going to be defeated shortly after the November elections. 

Well, that election came and went.  We weren't defeated.

OK, well maybe we weren't defeated in November, but the war is still a terrible mistake and everyone knows how hopeless it is.  Oviously we're going to be defeated soon, like right after the Baker Hamilton report is released. 

Well, that report came and went.  We still weren't defeated.  Hmm...

Alright, we all know that Bush is dumb as rocks, and this war is the stupidest foreign policy move any nation has ever made.  We can't possibly avoid a stinging defeat.  We only have to wait until the New Year to see just how bad this disaster will turn out to be.

Well, the New Year is here, and we still haven't been defeated.  But wait a sec...   I thought this war was so hopeless that we couldn't possibly last until the New Year.  Umm...

Oh, I understand now.  The war is still hopeless, we're still bound to be defeated in short order, we just have to keep the faith a little longer.  "Let's just wait and see how and if this proposed troop surge is implemented. Let's see what happens when Bush's delusions butt against military realities and the actions of Robert Gates. I predicted a troop drawdown because that was the only sane course of action at this point. Right now I predict that if we don't see a drawdown we'll be seeing an outright defeat with a chaotic evacuation before Bush is out of office."

When does it stop? 

Your argument (and that of most of the leftists I've heard) has always been that this war is so hopeless we're sure to be defeated in short order.  We've heard these predictions from you and from other leftists over, and over, and over, and over again, ever since the war began.

Y'all have been wrong each and every time you've predicted defeat. 

How much refuting evidence does it take to make you re-evaluate your basic premise that this war is hopeless?  How long are you going to engage in the doublethink necessary to suspend your critical thinking and deliberately forget your own failed predictions?

You're smarter than this.  I know you are.  The evidence is right here, staring each of us in the face.  Will you finally agree that this war isn't hopeless, that we can win it and we will win it?

[Perd Hapley]

Let's just wait and see how and if this proposed troop surge is implemented. Let's see what happens when Bush's delusions butt against military realities and the actions of Robert Gates. I predicted a troop drawdown because that was the only sane course of action at this point. Right now I predict that if we don't see a drawdown we'll be seeing an outright defeat with a chaotic evacuation before Bush is out of office. When I made my prediction I assumed there was one shred of sanity in the Administration, but I may have overestimated Bush's grasp on reality. I will check in from time to time, but not often because I'm tired of reading the insane ramblings of a few lunatics.

This gets better and better.

[roo_ster]

Well, just wait and the surge will be for naught and THEN we'll be out... 

FTR, I am in the "raze their cities to the ground, sew with salt, and leave promptly" camp of warfare with savages, but betting against the US Armed Forces is a sucker's bet, even when they are implementing the ate up policy of their inferiors in Washington.

[Monkeyleg]

Fistful, you've been tampering with graves again.

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

Durn, that goes way back to 2006.

What brings that to mind now?

[Perd Hapley]

Well, somebody was chiding us about decapitation jokes, so I thought I'd do a search for Darwin Award threads with associated jokes about death.

[Jamie B]

Snort! Maybe Darwin was a victim of Darwin.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

Well, just wait and the surge will be for naught and THEN we'll be out... 

FTR, I am in the "raze their cities to the ground, sew with salt, and leave promptly" camp of warfare with savages, but betting against the US Armed Forces is a sucker's bet, even when they are implementing the ate up policy of their inferiors in Washington.

that was my plan  bomb it so flat that a guy on one border on a stepladder could shine a flashlight and be seen by a guy on the other border.  its a bit harsh and pricey but you only have to do it once

[charby]

Fistful, you've been tampering with graves again.

I think he is just trying to jack up his post count.

[Doggy Daddy]

Fistful, you've been tampering with graves again.

Necrophilia.  This corpse has just been screwed.

DD

[RoadKingLarry]

that was my plan  bomb it so flat that a guy on one border on a stepladder could shine a flashlight and be seen by a guy on the other border.  its a bit harsh and pricey but you only have to do it once

In our mid-watch bull sessions down in the torpedo room we called it "The McDonald's Plan". Nuke 'em, pave 'em, put up the Golden Arches. Comes complete with self lighting, glass paved parking lot.

Not really workable but fun to rant about.

[sanglant]

glass parking lots would rock, just think of the autocross course you could set up. add a little oil, and it would really be a hoot.

[BMacklem]

Are we just itching for the new season of "The Walking Dead" to come out so badly that we need to get these sorts of zombies up ourselves?