Nice graphic to go with the headline. boys.
What Attytood Said
On U.S. casualities in Iraq: The AP has a story out looking at the issue of America’s reaction to Iraq casualties — some folks are not happy with the article, because there’s some anger over the idea that people shouldn’t be upset because it’s so many less than any other "major" U.S. war, including Vietnam and Korea. It’s a complicated … Read More
Lynching, Not Hanging
I don’t know if you have bothered to see the "video" footage of Saddam’s "hanging" (the leaded footage clearly isn’t the official footage, but rather, something shot from a cell phone), but it is disturbing. It’s not the execution itself, nor the fact that Saddam was executed, that is distrubing. It is the manner in which it is carried out. … Read More
Hanging Hussein
I’m sorry, but I just can’t get worked up over this. So maybe he’ll be executed within 24 hours, or maybe in a month. But who cares? Either way, it’s really a footnote to current events and the War on Terror in my opinion. It’s ironic how this one person — the former boogeyman of the Bush Administration three years … Read More
The Truth Shall [Redacted] Set You Free
This is astounding. The White House censored an New York Times editorial, telling the Times to redact certain portions. The censored portions do not contain classified information. The White House, it seemed, just didn’t like it. (The redacted version of the op-ed is here.) It should be noted that the CIA normally does these type of things, not the White … Read More
Back Again
Well, back to regular life, more or less, such as it is. What did I miss? Ford dying. Well, that was predictable. Wasn’t a fan of the Bush War — again, not surprising. Ford may have been lackluster (I love how the media is trying to hype the most unhype-able of ex-presidents), but he was no dummy. Edwards throws his … Read More
Behind The Curve
As Carpetbagger says: It strikes me as rather unfortunate that we’ve reached a point in which it’s literally front-page news when the president is willing to acknowledge that we are not winning the war in Iraq. Talk about your soft bigotry of low expectations. It bears repeating that just before the elections one month ago, Bush took the position that … Read More
Your Move, Mr. Pres
From the memory hole: Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan, April 22, 2004: The President has made it very clear that we will provide our troops with all the resources they need to do their job. And he looks to our commanders in the theater to make those determinations, in terms of what is needed. President Bush, January 1, … Read More
Attention al Qaeda!
Hey, I’m no military expert, but it seems to me that Pentagon shouldn’t be releasing — on the Internet no less — it’s new 282 page Counterinsurgency Manual (available here in PDF format). I mean, if I can get it, can’t our enemies?
We Need A Little Christmas
(1) Inflation took its largest jump in decades (2) Joint Chiefs of Staff oppose Bush’s plan to put more troops in Iraq. Bush has always said that he will listen to the advice of his military advisors. Will he? RELATED: Powell breaks with Bush 43, too. (3) America’s biggest cash crop? Cannibas. ("It is the leading cash crop in 12 … Read More
This Is What They Call “Supporting The Troops”?
With talk about putting a "surge" of troops in Iraq, the inevitable question arises: <i>What</i> troops? We’re extended as far as we can go. The answer, it seems, is simple: We don’t add more troops; we just extend the rotation of troops already there, don’t allow any breaks, and bring in their replacements early. There are tens of thousands of … Read More
Detainee No. 200343
In Iraq, an American contractor, who was also an informant for the FBI, was captured and imprisoned in April: [G]uards arrived at the man’s cell periodically over the next several days, shackled his hands and feet, blindfolded him and took him to a padded room for interrogation, the detainee said. After an hour or two, he was returned to his … Read More
How’s That “Hearts And Minds” Thing Going?
One of the reasons, we were told, for invading Iraq was because we wanted to win over the Middle East, and bring them to our way of thinking about freedom and democracy, so that they wouldn’t get all extremist on us and fly planes into our buildings. Bush said it himself: The experience of September the 11th made it clear … Read More
Eyes Wide Closed; Mouths Open Shut
Well, Condi Rice has rejected the idea of negotiating with Iran and Syria to help bring some stability to Iraq because "neither country should need incentives to foster stability in Iraq." This makes absolutely no sense to me. Why not just talk to them? What’s the downside? Matt Yglesius explains it better: Seriously, people, it’s time to grow up. Sitting … Read More
Milestone
American-led casualties — meaning "dead or wounded" — has surpassed 25,000. See a multi-media presentation about this here.