How can people who "support the troops" allow this to happen? Rushed by President Bush’s decision to reinforce Baghdad with thousands more U.S. troops, two Army combat brigades are skipping their usual session at the Army’s premier training range in California and instead are making final preparations at their home bases. Some in Congress and others outside the Army are … Read More
Quote Of The Day
Laura Bush on Larry King Live: And many parts of Iraq are stable now. But, of course, what we see on television is the one bombing a day that discourages everybody. One bombing a day? C’mon, Laura. Here’s a list of incidents Iraq over the past week. By my count, there are 34 involving bombs. That’s five a day.
Gibson: People Who Think There’s Too Much Anna Nicole News Are “Iraq Snobs”
Wonkette: Fox News tool John Gibson is disgusted by Anderson Cooper’s “news-guy snobbery,” because the handsome CNN anchor keeps reporting on stupid Iraq!Bravely defending the constant cable-news coverage of a fat drug-addict porno gal’s death, Gibson told his radio audience that Cooper is just trying to be a fancy snob with all this “U.S. troops killed every day” stuff, which … Read More
At Last — Something Non Non-Binding
AP: Determined to challenge President Bush, Senate Democrats are drafting legislation to limit the mission of U.S. troops in Iraq, effectively revoking the broad authority Congress granted in 2002, officials said Thursday. While these officials said the precise wording of the measure remains unsettled, one draft would restrict American troops in Iraq to combating al-Qaida, training Iraqi army and police … Read More
Britain No Longer Our BFF
They’re pulling out of Iraq.
Iraq 101
You don’t know the difference between a Sunni and a Shia, do you. Admit it — you don’t. That’s okay — you’re in good company (the head of the House Intelligence Committee didn’t know either). Seriously, Iraq is complicated. Which is why I recommend this piece by Mother Jones, specifically written to get everybody (myself included) up to speed on … Read More
The Cost Of Iraq To North Carolinians
According to the National Priorities Project… Taxpayers in North Carolina will pay $12.3 billion for the cost of the Iraq War through 2007. For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided: 2,549,652 People with Health Care or262,688 Elementary School Teachers or1,664,717 Head Start Places for Children or5,677,670 Children with Health Care or116,816 Affordable Housing Units or1,358 … Read More
Support The Troops
Yuck: [P]art of the wall is torn and hangs in the air, weighted down with black mold. When [he] stands in his shower and looks up, he can see the bathtub on the floor above through a rotted hole. The entire building, constructed between the world wars, often smells like greasy carry-out. Signs of neglect are everywhere: mouse droppings, belly-up … Read More
The Murtha Move
Brilliant. Just brilliant. Anytime a Democrat expresses opposition to the Iraq War (and, in current terms, the Bush plan to escalate the number of U.S. troops in Iraq), that Democrat is accused of not "supporting the troops". Senator John Murtha, a combat veteran, has long opposed the war in Iraq, and now he has a bill which puts Bush in … Read More
What Does The House Non-Binding Resolution In Opposition To The Escalation In Iraq Have In Common With “Wicked”?
54 percent. That’s the number of Americans who would vote to cut off funding for President Bush’s escalation plan if they were in Congress, according to a Fox News poll. So while most Americans simply want to STOP the escalation, the Senate cannot even engage in a debate about whether or not to pass a non-binding resolution voicing opposition to … Read More
The Iraq Debate
Sadly, it seems that congressional Democrats, having long opposed the war and now in a position to end it, are not going to pull the pursestrings. The anti-war position has always had a difficult time, because the standard meme is "Yes, the war was fucked up in its conception, but we’re there now. If we leave Iraq now, the country … Read More
Dangers Of Pullout May Be Delusional
Pardon the extensive quote, but Steven Chapman’s editorial nails — I mean, nails — everything I’ve always thought and said about Iraq: Hard-core supporters of the war, no longer able to pretend that we are making progress toward a stable, democratic Iraq, have fallen back to their last line of defense — insisting that no matter how bad things are … Read More
Save The Cheerleader, Save Iraq
From The Washington Post: Gen. David H. Petraeus, the new U.S. commander in Iraq, is assembling a small band of warrior-intellectuals — including a quirky Australian anthropologist, a Princeton economist who is the son of a former U.S. attorney general and a military expert on the Vietnam War sharply critical of its top commanders — in an eleventh-hour effort to … Read More
Patience
Today’s headline: US military calls for patience in Iraq, ABC News Headline, 2/5/07 See also: Bush urges patience with Iraq war plan – ABC News headline, 1/24/07 Rumsfeld pleads for patience in Iraq – ABC News headline, 12/9/06 Election looming, U.S. general urges Iraq patience – Reuters headline, 11/2/06 After Iraq Visit, an Upbeat Bush Urges Patience – NYT headline, … Read More
Obama Introduced Bill For Date Certain Troop Withdrawal
Like him or not, the man has balls. While Democrats (and some Republicans) debate the finer points of passing a non-binding resolution articulating opposition to the Bush escalation of troops in Iraq, Senator Obama is doing what needs to be done. He’s introduced a law which states, quite specifically, the goal of getting "all" — yes, all — U.S. combat … Read More