And just how is the Surge going?

[jazkiljok]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/04/22/iraq.petraeus.reut/index.html

let's see, things are better in Baghdad, worst in the outer areas.

"better" in Baghdad means a lot more "sensational bombings" a lot less general mayhem. Petraeus adds that everyone's just going to have to get used to the sensational bombings. considering how long they've been going on, i think the iraqi's already have, so perhaps that's more directed to the american people.

for perpsective, think about someone telling the american people that they'll have to get used to the horror that happened at virginia tech, at least 2, 3 times a week.

 

[terryl965]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/04/22/iraq.petraeus.reut/index.html

let's see, things are better in Baghdad, worst in the outer areas.

"better" in Baghdad means a lot more "sensational bombings" a lot less general mayhem. Petraeus adds that everyone's just going to have to get used to the sensational bombings. considering how long they've been going on, i think the iraqi's already have, so perhaps that's more directed to the american people.

for perpsective, think about someone telling the american people that they'll have to get used to the horror that happened at virginia tech, at least 2, 3 times a week.

I personnaly feel sorry for everyone related to this nonsense of a war God Bless them all

 

[wade]

SSgt. Gregory Lewis, AFC James Lewis, and son in law, Sgt, David Martinez have been there. The baby, James is on his way back. 2 students KIA. This **** really sucks.

 

[michaeledward]

Every Action has an equal and opposite reaction.

In this instance, the Shia government of Iraq has been severely weakened from its original, just barely tenable state, by the withdrawl of Muqtada al Sadr's 35 delegates.

Additionally, Sadr has called on all Iraqi's to expel the occupier from their homeland. He recently called for a rally to protest the American occupation. On a statement released for that rally, we find these words

"You, the Iraqi army and police forces, don't walk alongside the occupiers, because they are your archenemy. God has ordered you to be patient in front of your enemy, and unify your efforts against them -- not against the sons of Iraq.

And, only from someone without an understanding of what that means, we find this quote:

Col. Steven Boylan, a U.S. military spokesman and aide to the commander of all U.S. forces in Iraq, praised the peaceful nature of the demonstration, saying Iraqis "could not have done this four years ago."

"This is the right to assemble, the right to free speech -- they didn't have that under the former regime," Boylan said. "This is progress, there's no two ways about it."

Although the Government has stopped using the 'As they stand up, we stand down' phrase ~ because it is no longer a priority ~ there are still patrols wherein Americans and Iraqis are working side by side. And in those patrols, who is watching the American soldiers' backs?




source : http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070409/Iraq_anniversary_070409?s_name=&no_ads=

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

SSgt. Gregory Lewis, AFC James Lewis, and son in law, Sgt, David Martinez have been there. The baby, James is on his way back. 2 students KIA. This **** really sucks.

Hey Wade I am sorry to hear that.

 

[Shaderon]

Sorry to hear it Wade. War always makes the innocent suffer.

 

[tellner]

Let's see...

The US has quietly abandoned Vietnamification, excuse me, "Stand up, stand down" because the Iraqi military and police are a hollow joke. Bombings are up. Iraqi government ministries are made up of feuding rival militias and out-and-out criminals to the point where doctors don't go to the Health Ministry because they know they'll be kidnapped or killed. The rest of the "Coalition of the Willing" is unassing themselves from the whole sorry mess. We haven't even been able to secure Baghdad and have been reduced to building big concrete walls around the ghettoes. Iraqis are leaving at an increasing rate - about 100,000/month. And that includes almost all of the professionals and skilled tradespeople that you need to make a country work. Our friends the Turks are about to invade our friends the Montagnards, excuse me, the Kurds. Chimpy McLackwit (the Prez) has been trying to outsource his own job - Commander in Chief - for months. After several senior generals ran screaming from the offer he's found a sucker who's willing to be the War Czar, but it doesn't look like the Theocrats and Plutocrats will accept him; they're swiftboating his unhappy ***.

On the positive side a US Senator can stroll freely through the markets of Baghdad as long has he has half a dozen attack helicopters, half a dozen troop helicopters, a hundred man honor guard, body armor and pre-visit work by a Military Intelligence team along his desired route.

It's going great if you're Iranian President Iwannajihad, otherwise not so hot.

Meanwhile desertions from the US Army and Marine Corps(?!) are worryingly high. Not surprising given that we've been reduced to taking criminals, drug addicts and neo-Nazis as soldiers. Training and readiness are seriously degraded. The physical stock of military equipment is depleted. The military is in the worst shape it's been since the end of the Vietnam War.

Old Reagan officials are saying that Chimpy has bankrupted the country for generations. Our reputation in the world hit bottom a couple years ago and has started digging. War profiteering is no longer shameful. It's a feeding frenzy, and the Administration offers ****ing seminars to corporations on how to do it. Our infrastructure, industrial base, treasury, and basic services are trashed and still declining. The money we should be spending on them is being pissed away into the desert. The other war (Afghanistan) isn't going well. And we've surrendered the last of our civil rights to the dictatorial powers of the Unified Executive without a whimper because we want to feel safe. There's been a power grab and Constitutional crisis unprecedented in the history of the Union.

Sounds like it's going just swimmingly.

But at least Sanjay got kicked off American Idol, Brittney shaved her head, and we have those creepy Father-daughter "Purity Balls".

 

[jazkiljok]

But at least Sanjay got kicked off American Idol, Brittney shaved her head, and we have those creepy Father-daughter "Purity Balls".

Sanjay got the boot? i guess i'd have known that if i wasn't so busy shopping to support our troops...that is what Uncurious George asked of us, isn't it?

 

[tellner]

I hear Cuba is beautiful this time of year...

http://www.whoseflorida.com/misc_pages/14_characteristics_fascism.htm

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Verdana,]The 14 Characteristics of Fascism[/FONT]

[/FONT] The 14 Characteristics of Fascism
Dr. Lawrence Britt, a political scientist, wrote an article about fascism, which appeared in Free Inquiry magazine -- a journal of humanist thought. Dr. Britt studied the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia), and Pinochet (Chile). He found the regimes all had 14 things in common, and he calls these the identifying characteristics of fascism. The article is "Fascism Anyone?," Lawrence Britt, Free Inquiry, Spring 2003, page 20.

The 14 characteristics are:

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symb ols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial, ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy.

6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

8. Religion and Government are Intertwined - Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.

9. Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

10. Labor Power is Suppressed - Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed .

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses, and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.


Any of this sound familiar?

[/FONT]

 

[jazkiljok]

yeah, what he said...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18354465/

 

[jazkiljok]

said he what? yeah...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18348452/

 

[michaeledward]

yeah, what he said...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18354465/

The full essay can be found here:

http://www.armedforcesjournal.com/2007/05/2635198

ARMY LT. COL. PAUL YINGLING is deputy commander, 3rd Armored Calvary Regiment. He has served two tours in Iraq, another in Bosnia and a fourth in Operation Desert Storm. He holds a master's degree in political science from the University of Chicago. The views expressed here are the author's and do not necessarily reflect those of the Army or the Defense Department.

For the second time in a generation, the United States faces the prospect of defeat at the hands of an insurgency. In April 1975, the U.S. fled the Republic of Vietnam, abandoning our allies to their fate at the hands of North Vietnamese communists. In 2007, Iraq's grave and deteriorating condition offers diminishing hope for an American victory and portends risk of an even wider and more destructive regional war.

These debacles are not attributable to individual failures, but rather to a crisis in an entire institution: America's general officer corps. America's generals have failed to prepare our armed forces for war and advise civilian authorities on the application of force to achieve the aims of policy. The argument that follows consists of three elements. First, generals have a responsibility to society to provide policymakers with a correct estimate of strategic probabilities. Second, America's generals in Vietnam and Iraq failed to perform this responsibility. Third, remedying the crisis in American generalship requires the intervention of Congress.

 

[michaeledward]

If you did not hear the radio address today by Retired General William Odum, you missed an important piece of American political history.

The address can be found here:
http://www.democrats.org/a/2007/04/lt_gen_odom_del.php

It is available to listen to by downloading or streaming on this site.

Lieutenant General William E. Odom, U.S. Army (Ret.) delivered the Democratic Radio Address. General Odom has served as Director of the National Security Agency and Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence, the Army's senior intelligence officer. In his address, General Odom will discuss why he believes President Bush should sign the conference report on the Iraq Accountability Act.

To put this in a simple army metaphor, the Commander-in-Chief seems to have gone AWOL, that is 'absent without leave.' He neither acts nor talks as though he is in charge.

It seems old habits die hard.

 

[jazkiljok]

Iraq Deconstructed
By Roger McShane
Posted Sunday, April 29, 2007, at 6:03 AM ET
The New York Times leads with, while the Washington Post stuffs, American inspectors in Iraq finding that in a sampling of eight reconstruction projects officially declared successes by the U.S. government, seven are now "crumbling." ...

Republicans have often sought more coverage of the positive news coming out of Iraq, but the NYT's lead probably isn't what they had in mind. The Times reports that when U.S. government inspectors examined eight "successful" reconstruction projects, ranging from a maternity hospital to an airport power station, they found that seven "were no longer operating as designed because of plumbing and electrical failures, lack of proper maintenance, apparent looting and expensive equipment that lay idle." Recommendations to fix some of the problems were dismissed by the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad as an effort to micromanage Iraqi affairs.
The inspections were carried out by the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (which Duncan Hunter tried to do away with last year). In a bit of mixed news, the office says its findings aren't a true statistical measure of the reconstruction's (lack of) success because the sample wasn't random. The reason the sample wasn't random: Many projects are in areas too unsafe to visit.

denial is now a river in iraq.

 

[michaeledward]

A new press offensive from the Administration is rolling out.

Yesterday, I saw a headline that President Bush released classified information linking al Qaeda, bin Laden and Zarqawi. A quick glance to the article shows the link from a communication in January 2005. It is kind of odd to highlight a link between these two parties four years after 911 and two years after the invasion of Iraq. Isn't that kind of like closing the barn doors after the animals have gotten away?

This morning, the headline is a 'NEW' plan for Iraq.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18775219/

Aren't we in the middle of a new strategy ... the 'Surge'? Oh, sure, of the past three months, the numbers involved in that surge have increased regularly; now said to be an increase of 58,000 combat troops, as opposed to the original 20,000 to 30,000.

But this article (above), as I read it, seems to be saying everything the military has done for the past five years has been wrong.

But, more importantly, just a few weeks back, we were hearing that General Patreaus wasn't going to be able to report on the effectiveness of his new plan until September. IF THAT WAS TRUE, why is the plan being altered now, or why is a new plan coming online.

Of course, this article only confirms to me what I have felt all along. The President doesn't have a clue about what he is attempting to do in Iraq. And each day, more soldiers die. And another 500 million dollars gets spent.

The Surge is a failure. But that isn't going to stop anything. There has to be some way to apply direct pressure to this wound, eh?

 

[JBrainard]

From the article:

‘Bridging strategy’
Next, the plan emphasizes building the government's capacity to function, admitting severe weaknesses in government ministries and often nonexistent institutional links between the central government and provincial and local governments. This, too, is in contrast with Casey's strategy, which focused on rapidly handing over responsibility to Iraq's government.

Argh! I can't stand the hypocrisy! Iraq was the most progressive Middle Eastern country before we bombed the **** out of it. Now we are heros because we are putting the pieces back together? Makes me sick.

 

[jazkiljok]

The Surge is a failure. But that isn't going to stop anything. There has to be some way to apply direct pressure to this wound, eh?

surge ahead.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-surge23may23,1,1160458.story?ctrack=1&cset=true
In Baghdad, fighting their 'Alamo'

U.S. troops in the Iraq security push face daunting foes: snipers and bombs. A captain fears it may be 'their surge, not ours.'
By Garrett Therolf, Times Staff Writer
May 23, 2007

 

[tellner]

Argh! I can't stand the hypocrisy! Iraq was the most progressive Middle Eastern country before we bombed the **** out of it. Now we are heros because we are putting the pieces back together? Makes me sick.

It really wasn't. Honest. It was reasonably secular and stable in a jackboots-and-guns Baathist sort of way, but the laurels go to places like Turkey, Dubai and Israel.

 

[michaeledward]

Tomorrow's New York Times will report that the United States military is arming the Sunni Insurgents. Apparently, the hope is the Sunni's will go after al-Qaeda in Iraq or al Qaeda in Mesopotamia.


Now, I'm just spitballin' here .... but didn't we go into Iraq with the intention of DIS-ARMING the Sunni Leadership in Iraq?


Can someone please tell me how this doesn't turnout badly?

 

[Makalakumu]

Tomorrow's New York Times will report that the United States military is arming the Sunni Insurgents. Apparently, the hope is the Sunni's will go after al-Qaeda in Iraq or al Qaeda in Mesopotamia.


Now, I'm just spitballin' here .... but didn't we go into Iraq with the intention of DIS-ARMING the Sunni Leadership in Iraq?


Can someone please tell me how this doesn't turnout badly?

Mike - the US has a history of arming both sides of a conflict. Especially in Iraq.

Oh yeah, there's no such thing as blowback...