In 2003, then-war-supporter Andrew Sullivan wrote: One of the many layers of the arguments for invading Iraq focused on the difficulties of waging a serious war on terror from a distant remove. Being based in Iraq helpsus notonly because of actual bases; but because the American presence there diverts terrorist attention away from elsewhere. By confronting them directly in Iraq, … Read More
Memorial Day Rembrances
Powerful and moving stuff from B.U. professor Andrew Bacevich. Bacevich is a vocal opponent of the Iraq War. Earlier this month, his sone was killed in that war: I Lost My Son to a War I Oppose. We Were Both Doing Our Duty. Parents who lose children, whether through accident or illness, inevitably wonder what they could have done to … Read More
The Franks/Willis Debate Thread
I’m enjoying it. Franks: Questions For Our Liberal Friends Willis: An Answer To Our Conservative Friends Franks: Questions Answered Willis: Iraq Dialogue, Continued
The Rush To Fight, And The Consequences
Yup. Another "What Digby Said" moment: The Bush administration and its neocon muses have long said that the most dangerous thing the US could do would be to give the terrorists a victory by "proving" that we don’t have the ballocks to stand and fight. They firmly believe that a failure to kick ass and take names, going all the … Read More
The U.S. Palace In Baghdad
Insane: Rising from the dust of the city’s Green Zone it is destined, at $592m (£300m), to become the biggest and most expensive US embassy on earth when it opens in September. It will cover 104 acres (42 hectares) of land, about the size of the Vatican. It will include 27 separate buildings and house about 615 people behind bomb-proof … Read More
Death Of A Son
Boston University professor Andrew Bacevich is the Director of that university’s Center For Internaional Relations. A Vietnam vet, Bacevich is also an outspoken war critic, and author of the critically-acclaimed book, The New American Militarism: How Americans are Seduced by War. Here’s what he wrote in a Washington Post editorial in August 2005: In fact, apart from consuming $300 billion … Read More
Bye, Blair
I actually liked him for a while. He had a decade of really great achievements, until he climbed aboard the Bush Bandwagon.
“There Is No Longer Any Credibility.”
Dissension in the Republican ranks: NBC News reports tonight that 11 Republican members of Congress pleaded yesterday with President Bush and his senior aides to change course in Iraq. The group of Republicans was led by Reps. Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Charlie Dent (R-PA), and the meeting included Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Karl Rove, and … Read More
Disaster Preparedness Is A Disaster
Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius was complaining about the lack of Kansas National Guard people at home long before her state was struck by an F5 tornado last week: "The Guard cannot train on equipment they do not have," Sebelius continued. "The more resources that are left behind, the less able our guardsmen are to prepare here at home. And in … Read More
Supporting The Troops
Right-wing pundit Dick Morris explains it all on Fox News. It seems that we need to have our soldiers in Iraq – to be killed. Yes, if we give al Qaeda fresh young American bodies there, they won’t kill Americans here: MORRIS: I think that withdrawal from Iraq — it obviously gives al Qaeda a huge victory. Huge victory. On … Read More
What Does $456 Billion Buy?
That’s the price tag — so far — of the Iraq War. The Boston Globe is running a slideshow of what that money — $456 billion — could have bought had it been spent elsewhere. Check it out. My faves: free gas for all Americans for 1.2 years, or a 52,615 year contract for Dice-K. Most sobering? The $456 billion … Read More
Where Are The Bulldozers And The National Guard?
A category F5 tornado virtually destroyed the town of Greenburg, Kansas this weekend. Now the rebuilding begins. Except, not so much: The rebuilding effort in tornado-ravaged Greensburg, Kansas, likely will be hampered because some much-needed equipment is in Iraq, said that state’s governor. Governor Kathleen Sebelius said much of the National Guard equipment usually positioned around the state to respond … Read More
Sack Of Monkeys In My Pocket
That’s the name of a well-written and popular blog by a woman named Laura Linger. Back in October, when her younger brother was redeployed to iraq, she wrote: This is for you, my darling, wonderful, intelligent, hilarious, beautiful baby brother. You see, these are the only kinds of things that I can do for you now. Meaningless gestures commemorating a … Read More
Four Years Later
Bush, standing on the platform of an aircraft carrier, May 1, 2003. "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended" From Think Progress, a by-the-numbers look at the situation then, compared to the situation now: May 1, 2003 Today U.S. Troops Wounded 542 24,912 U.S. Troops Killed 139 3,351 Contractors Killed 69 916 Journalists and Media Assistants Killed 11 167 U.S. … Read More
Iraq Reconstruction: What Your Tax Dollars Bought
• Shoddy work found at seven of eight Iraq reconstruction projects, report says• Maintenance lags after projects are turned over to Iraqi control• Only 10 of 17 generators installed at airport remain operational (some are "missing")• Modular buildings built for $1.8 million were removed with no reason cited and, oh yeah — • 224 U.S. citizen deaths Full story.