The Talk Show American

THE TALK SHOW AMERICAN: 08/31/2008 - 09/07/2008

Monday, September 01, 2008

Iraqis Take Control of Anbar Province

American forces on Monday handed over security responsibility to the Iraqis in a province that the U.S. once feared was lost.

The transfer of Anbar province, marked a dramatic milestone in America's plan to eventually hand over all 18 provinces to Iraqi control so U.S. troops can go home.

The 25,000 American troops remaining in Anbar will focus on training Iraq's military and police forces and standing by to help if the Iraqis are in need of help with any surge in violence.

"This war is not quite over, but it's being won and primarily by the people of Anbar. Al-Qaida has not been entirely defeated in Anbar, but their end is near and they know it," Marine Maj. Gen. John Kelly, the senior U.S. commander in Anbar


President Bush hailed the handover as a major achievement, saying the once-violent province had been "transformed and reclaimed by the Iraqi people."

"Iraqi forces will now take the lead in security operations in Anbar, with American troops moving into an overwatch role," Bush said in a statement. "This achievement is a credit to the courage of our troops, the Iraqi security forces, and the brave tribes and other civilians from Anbar who worked alongside them."


Anbar became the 11th province to revert to Iraqi security control, but it is the most significant because it borders Baghdad.

Biden: Israel Will Have To Live With Nuclear Iran

A number of Israeli newspapers are quoting Sen. Biden as saying that Israel will just have to live with a nuclearized Iran. Here's what Sen. Biden is quoted as saying:

"Israel will have to reconcile itself with the nuclearization of Iran," Army Radio quoted Biden as telling the unnamed officials. "It's doubtful if the economic sanctions will be effective, and I am against opening an additional military and diplomatic front."


It won't take long before Obama-Biden will be backtracking from Sen. Biden's statement. They should be embarrassed. The Democrats knew that Sen. Obama didn't have the national security/foreign policy credibility. So they thought that Sen. Biden would bring that credibility to the ticket.

That myth is now shattered.

Jewish voters, whose support was already tepid, will take notice. They'll be repulsed by Sen. Biden's statement. Don't think that won't cripple the Obama-Biden ticket in Florida. It certainly will. Initially, Florida's Jewish community had their doubts about Sen. Obama. It was thought that Sen. Biden would shore up Sen. Obama's credibility.

This report destroys that.

This destroys the myth, also, that Sen. Biden is a great at foreign policy. If anything, this proves he's a foreign policy disaster. Let's remember his plan to tell the sovereign Iraqi government to split into three independent countries. This was a stupid plan right from the start. Sen. Biden hadn't thought that an independent Kurdistan would quickly become rich and destabilize the region.

His plan would given the Anbar Province to AQI and forced southern Iraq into an allegiance with Iran.

Prior to Sen. Biden's most recent gaffe, the Democrats planned on telling voters that they shouldn't risk voting for someone as inexperienced as Gov. Palin. That argument just disappeared. When the American people hear about this, they won't put a high priority on experience. they'll put a higher priority on judgment.

J.R. on Vacation: Flight Attendants Thank The Soldiers

Hey Folks,

J.R. here reporting from Wrightsville Beach in North Carolina where Mrs. J.R. and I are vacationing. I have been trying to sneak peeks at the Republican Convention and following a lot of it on You Tube. Weather is great here.

Anyway, the reason why I am posting a blog today is because of a very heartening experience we had on our flight here from Charlotte. Both Mrs. J.R. and I were seated toward the rear of the plane. We overheard a conversation between a female flight attendant and a soldier just back from Iraq. She was asking him how things over there were going. The soldier explained that things have going much better and that there were many provinces in Iraq that were now in control of the Iraqi Military. The soldier stated that the Iraqi people were cooperating more with the US Military helping them weed the terrorists out of their neighborhoods. He was relating a very positive outlook on the progress we have made in Iraq,

The female flight attendant seemd surprised to hear his remarks. She told the soldier that this is not what the news media is reporting here in this country. She thanked him for his service.

A couple of moments later a male flight attendant, who looked like Patrick Stewart,(no kidding he looked just like Jon Luc Picard} walked back and was speaking with the soldier and the female flight attendant.

Shortly thereafter, as our flight landed and we waited to depart the aircraft the male flight attendant was doing his routine welcome to Wilmington, N.C. speech and as he was finishing he asked the passangers to allow him to indulge in a bit of editorial license and then acknowledged the soldiers who were on the plane in civilian clothing and asked the passangers to join him in thanking our brave men and women in uniform for serving their country and to thank the families for their sacrifice as well. He went on to acknowledge that he also served in the military when he was younger.

When he was through, the passangers in the plane erupted in applause.

As Mrs. J.R. and I were departing the aircraft I stopped and shook his hand and thanked him for acknowledging the troops and for his service to our country as well.

It's nice to see that there are people who support the troops and aren't afraid to stand up and say so.