You may have heard about this story a few months ago. It’s about the U.S. soldier in Iraq who threw a puppy off a cliff. Here’s the video [WARNING: This is a very disturbing video] Justice is (somewhat) served. According to the AP: The Marine Corps said Wednesday it was expelling one Marine and disciplining another for their roles in … Read More
Senate Intelligence Committee Report On Pre-War Iraq Released
Key conclusions: The Committee’s report cites several conclusions in which the Administration’s public statements were NOT supported by the intelligence. They include: Statements and implications by the President and Secretary of State suggesting that Iraq and al-Qa’ida had a partnership, or that Iraq had provided al-Qa’ida with weapons training, were not substantiated by the intelligence. Statements by the President and … Read More
Here’s What Happened
The folks over at McClatchy newspapers are trumpeting their own horn about their reportage in the run-up to the Iraq War. And well they should. Unlike the rest of the media, they actually questioned the Bush Administration’s "intelligence" and justification for an Iraq War. To them (and other astute political observers), Scott McLellan’s book is nothing new. But the "crimes" … Read More
The McClellan Book
You know, it doesn’t say anything that many of us didn’t already know. It’s just nice to see someone on the inside of the Bush Administration admit that these things went on: WASHINGTON (CNN) — The incidents that first left then-White House press secretary Scott McClellan "dismayed and disillusioned" about Washington involved the surreptitious release of classified information, McClellan said … Read More
The Coulter Foreign Policy
Great: McClatchy says the U.S. military is investigating reports that Marines have been handing out religious material at checkpoints in Fallujah, Iraq. "Multi-National Force-Iraq is investigating a report that U.S. military personnel in Fallujah handed-out material that is religious and evangelical in nature," spokesman Rear Adm. Patrick Driscoll says in a statement to the news organization. "Local commanders are investigating … Read More
Fiscal Malfeasance In Iraq
Can you imagine if you ran your household finances this way? In one case, according to documents displayed by Pentagon auditors at the hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, a cash payment of $320.8 million in Iraqi money was authorized on the basis of a single signature and the words “Iraqi Salary Payment” on an invoice. … Read More
Shut The Hell Up!
Olbermann laid into Bush last night about the "no golfing while we’re in Iraq" sacrifice that Bush is making. Full transcript below the fold.
Bush Makes Ultimate Sacrifice For The War
President Bush finally admitted today that he has been touched by the true cost of war: For the first time, Bush revealed a personal way in which he has tried to acknowledge the sacrifice of soldiers and their families: He has given up golf. "I don’t want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander in … Read More
The Mortality Rate Of Iraq And Afghan Wars
Something to think about when you consider the U.S. casualty count. Thomas Insel — director of the National Institute of Mental Health and the U.S. government’s top psychiatric researcher — said today that “the number of suicides among veterans of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may exceed the combat death toll because of inadequate mental health care.” Bloomberg reports: Insel … Read More
PTSD
A RAND study just showed that something like 20% of all returning servicemembers from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from depression or PTSD. That’s an astounding number — almost 300,000 men and women. But it is just a number. What is it like? Read this post from a vet actually suffering from this syndrome. A sample: So it’s like that — … Read More
Pentagon Institute Calls Iraq War “A Major Debacle”
So is there anyone left besides the boneheads in the White House who still thinks it was a good idea to go into Iraq? WASHINGTON — The war in Iraq has become "a major debacle" and the outcome "is in doubt" despite improvements in security from the buildup in U.S. forces, according to a highly critical study published Thursday by … Read More
How’s That Training Of Iraqi Police Going?
Um….. Iraqi police in Basra shed their uniforms, kept their rifles and switched sides Abu Iman barely flinched when the Iraqi Government ordered his unit of special police to move against al-Mahdi Army fighters in Basra. His response, while swift, was not what British and US military trainers who have spent the past five years schooling the Iraqi security forces … Read More
If This Is Positive….
Today we learn that: American military forces for the first time conducted air strikes on targets in Basra late Thursday, joining Iraqi security forces in trying to oust Shiite militias in the southern port city. …while in Baghdad: U.S. forces in armored vehicles battled Mahdi Army fighters Thursday in Sadr City, the vast Shiite stronghold in eastern Baghdad, as an … Read More
4,000
My blogging has been light, but that may be changing. Sad to fear up again with the sad milestone: The AP is calling America’s 4,000th death in Iraq. UPDATE: Hilzoy’s thoughts…. [Click for much larger image]
The Last Five Years
Happy Fifth Birthday, Operation Iraqi Freedom! U.S. Deaths Confirmed By The DoD: 3988 U.S. Deaths Pending DoD Confirmation: 2 Total: 3990 David M. Herszenhorn, NYT: At the outset of the Iraq war, the Bush administration predicted that it would cost $50 billion to $60 billion to oust Saddam Hussein, restore order and install a new government. Getting at the true … Read More