The Iraq War - Chapter 2

[Miulang]

Re: The Iraq War - Chapter 2

Americans, as usual, have no sensitivity whatsoever to the past and the treasures they might unwittingly be destroying. Since 2003, the US Marines have been occupying the ancient site of Babylon. In the process, we have destroyed many ancient buildings and artifacts which can never be replaced.

I bet that's another reason why they don't like Americans in Iraq...we have an utter disrespect for the past.

Miulang

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...MPLATE=DEFAULT

[Miulang]

Re: The Iraq War - Chapter 2

What have we done?! Rather than eliminating terrorism in Iraq, all we have managed to do, according to the National Intelligence Council (a CIA thinktank), is draw the terrorists away from Afghanistan and move them into Iraq. Iraq has now become the primary place for jihadists to be recruited and trained. Iraq now has more terrorists than before we captured Saddam.

Miulang

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...7460_2005jan13

[Miulang]

Re: The Iraq War - Chapter 2

The Prez in an interview with the Washington Post said our troops will start being pulled out of Iraq "soon". Does he really think that answer is going to satisfy us? Does he really think the thinking part of this country is going to be content with that ambiguous word? Hell, we said the same thing about North Korea and Vietnam. Soon may be when the majority of troops will be returning, but we will have a cadre of troops deployed in Iraq for an indefinite period of time to support the Iraqi security forces for "as long as necessary", probably beyond 2009.

Does the Bush Administration really think we are all buffoons who will blindly shake our heads in agreement with his totally ambiguous semantic smoke and mirrors promise to bring the troops home? At least Colin Powell said troops could start returning to us by the end of this year. But then again, Powell is leaving the Cabinet soon anyway so we can just discount his lame duck pronouncements.

Miulang

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...MPLATE=DEFAULT

[Miulang]

Re: The Iraq War - Chapter 2

As the country wrestles with the notion of a firm timeframe for troop pullout from Iraq, the DoD is quietly building a permanent $10 million wireless communication network that hints strongly at our intention to continue to have a presence in that country for an indefinite period of time. Of course, once the microwave towers are erected, they will become targets for the insurgency, which I guess justifies our need to continue to be in Iraq to protect our interests, which in turn will beget more anger on the part of the locals, which in turn will create more reason for the jihadists to continue their violence...it's never gonna end.

Miulang

http://www.informationclearinghouse....rticle7706.htm

[Miulang]

Re: The Iraq War - Chapter 2

I guess maybe what the Prez meant when he said our troops would be pulled out of Iraq "soon" was that yes, they would be out of Iraq, but would be shuttled next door to Iran, where since summer we have apparently been conducting covert operations to try to determine where Iran was hiding all its munitions. Wouldn't surprise me in the least if we weren't doing the same thing in Syria.

Miulang

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...m/20050116/ts_
Hmmm...Yahoo seems to have pulled this story already. Wonder why????
Being sneaky, here is the story directly from the source, Reuters:
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...toryID=7337636

[Miulang]

Re: The Iraq War - Chapter 2

There are reports that 3 more candidates running for office in Iraq were killed in suicide bombing incidents today. I guess the Iraqis don't need a runoff election: what they are ending up with is a "rundown" election, where the people who are declared winners in 2 weeks are the only ones left standing and breathing!

Miulang

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp..._re_mi_ea/iraq

[Miulang]

Re: The Iraq War - Chapter 2

Here's a really neat map put together by the coalition forces of Iraq. So the next time you hear about the battle at Najaf, you'll know exactly where it is. While you're at the website, you might want to wander around and see what other information you can get from it. There are press releases and the like, some of which never make it to the American press. The map will show you where the "Sunni Triangle" that everyone is talking about is located (it's between Fallujah, Ramadi and Samarra; Tikrit is Saddam's home town.

Miulang

http://www.mnf-iraq.com/irag-faqs/iraq-maps.htm

[Miulang]

Re: The Iraq War - Chapter 2

Omigod! Secretary of State Condoleeeeza Rice actually admitted that there might have been some mistakes made in planning for the Iraq war and the reconstruction of the country afterwards. There may be some hope for her after all, if she can fix our diplomatic problems with our international allies.

Miulang

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...m/bush_rice_dc

[Miulang]

Re: The Iraq War - Chapter 2

"Support our troops by bringing them home." I met the author of this article when I was working on the staff of a progressive economics magazine in Boston. He writes about history and economics in a way that everyone can understand.

http://www.informationclearinghouse....rticle7795.htm

Miulang

[Miulang]

Re: The Iraq War - Chapter 2

Now there appears to be an indirect link between the Iraq war and the abduction and killing earlier this week of a WM clerk in Texas. The assailant, Johnny Lee Williams was a Marine on leave who had served one tour of duty in Iraq and who was facing discipline charges for cocaine posession while in the Marines.

His mom said that she didn't know what had happened to her son, except that he had changed since he returned from the war. I'm not sure if he can use an insanity plea since he also tried to rob a convenience store (the clerk shot him in the arm), but it sure sounds like he was suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome after coming back from Iraq. Another of our "walking wounded". How many other returning soldiers are in this same predicament and are walking time bombs?

I know that my ex-boyfriend, who was in Vietnam for a year, used to write about getting stoned and drunk all the time to numb the pain of seeing people getting killed and of almost being killed himself. (Last time I heard, he had suffered 2 failed marriages and was an alcoholic). I'll bet that's why Williams was using drugs in Iraq, too.

Miulang

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/01/21/woman.abducted/
http://www.click2houston.com/news/4120495/detail.html

[Miulang]

Re: The Iraq War - Chapter 2

The US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee will be releasing next Tuesday a tentative timetable for our withdrawal of troops from Iraq. this bipartisan report will recommend that we draw down our commitment to around 30,000 troops by mid next year.

The big "if" is if that means the 120,000 troops who should be coming home will, in fact, be back or whether they will be sent to Iran. Analysts all agree that if we continue to maintain the same level of troops in Iraq, there is no way we can expect to also be at war with Iran at the same time.

Miulang

http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012305D.shtml

[Miulang]

Re: The Iraq War - Chapter 2

Donald Rumsfeld really has to go. Now it has been discovered that he has put together another spy agency of his own to compete with the CIA. How much duplication is there, and at what cost (in terms of tax dollars, credibility of data gathered and coordination between both departments?) And why wasn't Congress informed of the new department when it was formed right after 9/11? And how does this new information jibe with the report from Seymour Hersh saying that we were spying in Iran? All the dirty laundry will come out in hearings scheduled to happen soon.

Miulang

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...9414_2005jan22

[Miulang]

Re: The Iraq War - Chapter 2

Chances are that if you are a reservist (or know a reservist) and you haven't been called up yet to go to Iraq, your next "vacation" could be someplace where people will be shooting at you.

There are 3 other alternatives: bring more troops home, extend the reservists contracts for another year or two, or reinstate the draft. None of those alternatives sound very palatable. I guess we could spend beaucoup bux and create whole battalions of those "robosnipers" mentioned in another thread, but the company who makes them couldn't keep up with the demand.

http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/news...97/detail.html

Miulang

[Miulang]

Re: The Iraq War - Chapter 2

The Iraqis captured the #1 car bomb builder, Abu Omar al-Kurdi ("Boom Boom Omar") on Jan. 15. He has admitted to building approximately 3/4 of all the lethal car bombs used by the insurgents in the recent escalation of attacks against Shiite clerics and civilians.

Unfortunately, this capture will only set back the enemy for a little while. There are enough willing volunteers who will step up to become the next Omar so that the bombs will continue to explode way after January 30.

The only good thing is that the Shiites have vowed not to retaliate against the Sunnis...maybe it's because it appears that for the first time the Shiites will be in control of their government.

Miulang

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...q_050124192623

[Miulang]

Re: The Iraq War - Chapter 2

It's now out of the mouths of people in the Pentagon: we will be in Iraq for at least 2 more years. Let's see $80 billion this year, another $80-100 billiion next year...and what exactly will have been accomplished except to kill more of our soldiers and innocent Iraqis and create even more resentment towards us by the Iraqi civilians and all of the Muslim world?

Miulang

http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012605E.shtml