To think I was skeptical. I'm so ashamed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpssfO_v2_M

Oh seems Fox news was wrong again I did a little more research than Fox and after that cheery feel good story turns out it was a fraud. ..................................................Now, call us cynical, but something about that segment seemed off -- oddly upbeat even. On Friday I put in a call to KFC headquarters to ask if the Fallujah chicken joint is the real deal. KFC told me they were looking into the matter. Today, Yum! Restaurants International spokesman Christophe Lecureuil wrote me back:

I understand you wanted some details about the store in Falluja that looks like a KFC. This store is not approved by KFC International and we have working with the US Military to warn the troops of this situation.
Details are still hard to come by. Lecureuil said that the company doesn't have more information at this stage because "we've just started investigating the matter." Asked how KFC was working with the military, Lecureuil wrote only that: "Concerning the military, we have a long-standing and excellent relationship with them as we have quite a few KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut stores in military bases outside the US."

So where did the Fallujah KFC myth come from?

The story seems to have popped up two weeks ago in a report by a Marine public information officer. Cpl. Chris T. Mann is a PIO for Regimental Combat Team 1, which is part of the 1st Marine Division. The following photo accompanied his post on the regimental website:



And the footage that Fox used can be traced back to a 5-minute clip at LiveLeak.com, which shows scenes of chicken frying amid assorted KFC-branded signage. Another marine, Public Affairs Chief Josh Higgins of Regimental Combat Team 1, referenced the same "KFC" in a recent article for the Greenville, TN, newspaper.

In an email Saturday, 1st Lt Brian Block, a media officer for Multi National Force - West, told me that Cpl. Mann would be out on a mission for the next couple of days. We've also called the number of the faux KFC itself, but no one at the restaurant seems to speak English.

All we know for sure right now is that the original Fox report -- that a KFC franchise opened in Fallujah -- was bogus.

TOPICS: Iraq, KFC Fallujah http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/iraq/

You have a lot of free time, huh?

Yes I am on vacation just dropped my daughter off at volleyball practise and still drinking coffee this AM

Im surprised that McDonald's didnt make it there first....

well it turns out if was a fake KFC run by some Iraqis and not part of the franchise. They served fried Puppies but if youwatched the fox report on the Youtube I posted you wouldnt get that impression, pay close attention to tommy franks, he claims this as "things are going good" fox news didnt do there homework, is that realy supriseing?

Don't be fooled into thinking the surge has led to reduced violence in Iraq and fewer US casualties!

In Feb.,
Powerful Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is expected to extend a six-month truce by his militia, two officials in his movement said on Thursday, a move Washington says is important for maintaining security gains.

He did and,
U.S. officials say the ceasefire has helped to reduce violence sharply in Iraq. Besides tit-for-tat sectarian attacks, the Mehdi Army has battled Iraqi forces and rival Shi'ite factions and waged two uprisings against U.S. forces in 2004.

"When Moqtada al Sadr called a ceasefire, a large number of those Shi'ite extremists ... stopped shooting at us," Major-General Rick Lynch, who commands 20,000 U.S. troops south of Baghdad, told Reuters in an interview last week.
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL21815536

That is why the surge appears to have worked and Bush has used it to claim victory for the surge. If you notice many also warn the improved security is a shaky security which could reverse itself at anytime. I will explain more shortly.

July 31, 2008
A warning from Sadr,

Iraq's radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr called on the government on Thursday not to sign an accord being negotiated with Washington that will govern the presence of US troops from next year.

"I call on the Iraqi government not to sign the accord with the United States and I affirm that I am ready to support the government publicly and politically if it does not sign," Sadr said in a statement.

The security agreement was to have been sealed in principle by Thursday to take over from a UN mandate which expires this December, but Washington has said that date was unlikely to be met.


"The agreement was not signed and the government in Iraq has went on vacation."



The United States has about 142,500 troops stationed in Iraq where Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki this month shook the White House by saying he was in favour of setting a date for the withdrawal of US combat troops.

US President George W. Bush has repeatedly refused to give a time-table for the overall withdrawal of US forces from Iraq.

But Iraqi leaders, including Maliki, are demanding such a timetable to be included as part of a security deal now being negotiated by the two countries for the future presence of US forces in Iraq.



As you remember all this happened around the same time as the Obama visit and the Bush Administration's sudden reversal of policy. Claiming victory for the surge and that he may now be willing to set a timetable "based on conditions on the ground."

Personally I dont care if he wants to take credit. He cant be reelected.
It does present an opportunity for us to remove our soldiers from the quagmire of the Iraqi Civil War!
If he acts quickly and intelligently!
Boy that's an oxymoron. Bush, intelligent? LMAO

The U.S. is paying people not to fight now. When the payments stop or when they want more money it will start again.

Is that progress? Gee what's the cost of the war to date? haha Not to worry, it's only more money we don't have. Debt that Bush seems to have no problem increasing.

Now this morning in the news, and the reason why commanders have been warning that security in Iraq could return at anytime.


Iraqi cleric links truce, US withdrawal timetable

Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr will call on his fighters to maintain a cease-fire against American troops but may lift the order if a planned Iraq-U.S. security agreement lacks a timetable for the withdrawal of American forces, a spokesman said Thursday.

The statement by Sheik Salah al-Obeidi comes as al-Sadr plans to reveal details of a formula to reorganize his Mahdi Army militia by separating it into an unarmed cultural organization and elite fighting cells.

The announcement is expected during weekly Islamic prayer services on Friday.

Several cease-fires by al-Sadr have been key to a sharp decline in violence over the past year, but American officials still consider his militiamen a threat and have backed the Iraqi military in operations to try to oust them from their power bases in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq.

Al-Sadr's move appears to be an extension of plans he announced in June aimed at asserting more control over the militia by dividing it into a group of experienced members who would be exclusively authorized to fight and others who would focus on social, religious and community work.

http://www.examiner.com/a-1525682~Iraqi_cleric_links_truce__US_withdrawal_timetable.html


Bam there it is again!

Several cease-fires by al-Sadr have been key to a sharp decline in violence over the past year.

The surge. I thought it was the surge!

For what this war cost we could have fixed social security for the next century. We have been fleeced by the military industrial complex on a massive scale. They boo hoo about not haveing money for our seniors or schools or whatever the public needs but will borrow to give it to the Halliburtons. What a discrace this country is anymore

That's a part of it but a very small part!

Sadr's cease fire is the reason for the reduction in violence!

"When Moqtada al Sadr called a ceasefire, a large number of those Shi'ite extremists ... stopped shooting at us," Major-General Rick Lynch, who commands 20,000 U.S. troops south of Baghdad, told Reuters in an interview last week.


As you can see from reading what is happening in Iraq, and eliminating the Bush Administrations propaganda.
Is that Sadr is really running Iraq, not the puppet Maliki!
Bush isnt even smart enough to realize that.
He isnt even smart enough to take advantage of the oppurtunity offered to leave while still being able to claim a victory.
He should have already been in negotiations with Sadr and reducing American forces from Iraq at a rapid pace.

Iraq is a US colony and as such it has no say and no ligitimate government . All the decisions are made in Washington . As far as the Iraqi officials , they either follow the boss in the US or face the music .A colony does not have a LEGITIMATE government .The elections were a farce to say the least .

For now!!

We had this discussion about the surge before and you said there is no proof that it had worked. So now you admit there is a reduction in killings and bombings and instead of giving credit where it is due, you chose to give it to Sadr because that would mean you were wrong and heaven forbid that! Fanta. You are so quick to discredit anything that has anything to do with Bush or Republican that you have blinders on and don't even realize it. You say you are pro-troop but all you do with your threads is reinforce the Liberals that they are right by twisting every story to fit your needs. Every terrorist could come out tomorrow and lay down their weapons and say we have changed and you would say " Its because Sadr or Obama told them to!" I am very open for all kinds of angles on any issue but you take it to the extremes.

Wow I thought this was the thread about the (fuzzy feel good) fake fox news report and we could discuss the fox propoganda network

You can Mad man. You can!!

bump