Tweet
With all the talk of improvement in Iraq I thought it would be useful to take a quick tour of some news sites to see all that good news.
One of my first stops is always the independent Aswat Al Iraq and just a scan of the latest headlines suggests the improvements don’t look so encouraging if you are an Iraqi who does not live in the Green Zone.
Then I turned to Al Zaman and learned that today Prime Minister Maliki announced his decision to add 18,000 militia members to the army and police security forces including members of the Badr Brigade known for their participation in death squads and accusations they are:
engaging in ‘death march’ campaigns against Iraqis whom they deem to be immoral; i.e. unchaste women, shopkeepers that sell alcohol or western consumer goods or people believed to be engaging in homosexuality or cross-dressing.
And then I read Al Zaman’s interview with the Deputy Director of the Red Crescent in Iraq who reports a “Surge in number of internally displaced Iraqis:”
The number of Iraqis kicked out of their homes has surged 16 percent in October despite claims by the government that it has declined. The Red Crescent, Iraq’s Red Cross equivalent, said at least 100,000 more Iraqis were forced to leave their homes in October.
“The number of internally displaced people in the country has surged to 2.3 million from 2.2 million,” said Amal al-Karbouli, Red Crescent’s deputy head.
Massive numbers of Iraqis are on the move inside the country in search for safety. The numbers are expected to hike as neighboring countries have shut their borders on the face of fleeing Iraqis.
U.S. occupation troops with the assistance of Iraqi forces have launched yet another military campaign north of Baghdad to quell resistance in four major cities.
The fleeing Iraqis blame ongoing U.S. military activities in which heavy weapons including tanks, warplanes and helicopter gun ships are deployed as well as sectarian killings and coercion for most of their suffering.
Add in the frightening news of the continued spread of cholera across Iraq. While the Iraqi government claims improvement– the WHO is reporting an alarming increase in Baghdad and notes “However, preparedness, surveillance and response to reported cases are not up to the expected standard in Baghdad.” (GorillasGuides is updating the cholera crisis every few days – click “cholera” under categories for their reporting and analysis.)
Improvement? I don’t think so. As we discussed this afternoon in our Book Salon with Dahr Jamail (and if you missed it, please go and take a look – and read his book, Beyond the Green Zone!), the version of “reality” reported in our media is remarkably unlike the actual reality of Iraq. With Congress talking about more funding and Bush touting ‘improvements” we need to be more vigilant and outspoken than ever.
Update: Claire in the Book Salon comments suggested that we make sure to add our reviews to the Amazon page for Dahr’s book, Beyond the Green Zone. That’s one small way we can support his work … so I hope folks will take a moment to do just that.
Photo: These children are members of the Abdul-Hussein al-Tamimi family. The GorillasGuides team was kind enough to share this photo with us – and Du provided the following info from the Arabic information at Guides where you can see more photos of the children:
There are 48 of them ranging in age from under 3 months to 18 years old. They’re from a village close to Khan Bani Saad – a very hot zone. On 24-6-2005 a death squad attacked their village which was an agricultural cooperative about 300 acres and 16 houses and killed seven from this family [these are 7 of the children's parents]:
- Rahim Hussein Abdul-Hussein al-Tamimi,
- Bashir Hussein Abdul-Hussein al-Tamimi
- Ahmed Abdel Hamid al-Tamimi,
- Ahmad Saad Abdel-Hussein al-Tamimi,
- Mohammed Ahmed Abdul-Hussein al-Tamimi,
- Abdul Hussein Ahmed Abdul-Hussein al-Tamimi
- Ali Abdel – Hussein Ahmed al-Tamimi
They slit their throats and dumped their bodies. Some of the boys you see in the photo had to go out and recover the bodies. The families were forced to flee and were taken in by relatives. They and their relatives have been attacked again since. Constant mortar attacks, shooting and arson, forced them out again . They moved to close to Balad Ruz, they were forced to move again and they’re currently living close to where they started out.
Nobody has done a damn thing for them …
105 Comments
Support this site!
Subscribe to the newsletter
Advertise on Firedoglake
Send
us your tips
Make us your homepage
About Firedoglake
2
3 Hi Siun! Off to read..
Siun! Thanks to you and Dubhaltach for this. I saw it on GG this week and wondered what was going on.
So is there a way to help these children get the aid they need?
Dear god:
2,879 prisoners released from U.S. detention centers
When does the al Sadr six month cease fire end?
Laura – it was really nice of Du to take the extra time to give us a translation …
I think the best we can do – as always – is to give to the Red Crescent or check the group Dahr mentioned during book salon: Emergency.
LooHoo – that number is a small part of the estimated 20,000 the US holds as detainees and the average time detained is one year.
“Nobody has done a damn thing for them …”
Thanks for the link to Emergency, Siun. What I’m wondering, though, since it was raised that no one is helping them, is what help they need and how it might be provided.
Are there adoption services for children without relatives, siun? Can an American who has been screened properly adopt an Iraqi child?
This story didn’t make it to the blogs, but it is a very accurate reflection of the presentation that Dr. Eskander made later that evening about the history and extant state of the Iraq National Library and Archives, which I attended. His British Library-hosted blog is a must read.
I can’t in my wildest nightmare imagine what it’s like to live everyday and night in Iraq. I hurt so bad when I know I share responsibility for what my government has done.
Laura … I’ve talked at length with markfromireland about Americans helping Iraqis and it’s quite clear that there aid from the US is not
a good idea except through a few of the good organizations that work in Iraq. Connections to the US put humanitarian workers at more risk – and they are targeted already.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJPzcy37bA8
I did a little addition three weeks ago and came up with five million Iraqis who’ve been killed or have become refugees since the war started. If Iraq’s improved, then this is an auto repair shop.
Holy Mother. Look into those faces in the picture at the top.
By whom and why?
Annie – thanks for mentioning Eskender and his work at the National Library. We did a post about him several months ago – I’ll have to dig out the link for you – but I had heard he had stopped blogging. I hope he is writing again … his blog was very moving and informative.
Good Christ. What have we done in Iraq?
Eureka … by whom? there are too many options: death squads (see Maliki’s new police force), military forces (see US bombing campaigns), and more.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 12
A generous and good sentiment but let’s put the blame where it belongs. It’s not you our I who are failing. It’s this arrogant member of the political aristocracy and I say she needs to be targeted and attacked until she fulfills her oath or better yet is thrown out of office.
But, but, Siun, Fallon swears it’s getting better…
Fallon hails improved Iraqi security
“The situation has dramatically improved in the last five months in particular,” Fallon said during a stop in Hawai’i on his way back to U.S. Central Command headquarters in Florida from a trip to Pakistan, Central Asia and Singapore.
“We’ve seen a significant increase in security nationwide,” he said.
The assessment by the region’s top U.S. commander was in line with Bush administration optimism over progress in Iraq.
Fallon said a grass-roots shift among Iraqis — both Sunni and Shiite — against insurgents in their midst has been critical to the improvement.
“Over the last year, many people in Iraq, I believe, have gotten fed up with the extremists on both sides,” Fallon said.
That’s demonstrated by growing numbers of Iraqis who have taken on security responsibilities in their own neighborhoods, he said. Some 50,000 have signed up to be what the military calls “concerned local citizens” in a project Fallon compared to a neighborhood watch program.
“They’ve been telling the coalition where the insurgents are, where they are hiding their weapons, and who they’re dealing with. This has been extremely helpful,” Fallon said.
http://the.honoluluadvertiser……00343.html
Perhaps we should allow the children of Iraq a vote in our next elections. Surely they have earned that right. The hard way.
Siun @ 13
Too true about being targeted. A Red Crescent site in Baghdad was mortared this week, destroying two of their vehicles.
Here’s the link to donate to the International Red Cross Red Crescent. You can specify relief for Iraq. Help Iraqis through the Red Crescent.
Cujo359 @ 15
Haven’t had a chance to visit your place for awhile but your addition sure is sobering.
I believe this is part of what is meant by the rape of a nation.
Azzaman, November 9, 2007
Employment and training centers across the country have to deal with an army of jobless Iraqis whose numbers have recently shot to more than 1.2 million, a statement by the ministry of labor and social affairs said.
The massive jobless figure includes only those who have registered with these centers in the hope of finding a job.
Azzaman, November 8, 2007
The government has asked British authorities to hand over to the Iraq Museum 654 priceless archaeological pieces that went missing shortly after U.S. invasion troops landed in Baghdad in 2003.
Cujo – I fear your math is very accurate.
I didn’t quite have the heart to add this story to the post but … Iraqi children
Thanks Siun. But The Surge Is A Success! There is more violence and bloodshed and terror, just as the neo-con have desired. Fortunately, US taxpayers have provided even more weapons to make the surge even more successful.
The loss by Gen. Betray-us, the worst General ever, of 190,000 weapons, has been another mystery, especially to the General. But the NY Times provides some answers about who stole the taxpayer funded weapons. Corrupt Iraqis, corrupt US militay officers, and a corrupt Dept. of Defense did it for the money. But, there is a coverup of the theft of these weapons. A Colonel, who helped lose the weapons, is under orders not to discuss it. Whose orders?
RBG @ 25
The US can’t even be bothered to accept some of the refugees :/
Semi On Topic Drive by …
So, I was checking out Eric Blumrich’s site again (which is one of the best websites out there!) and ran across this video
THE NUCLEAR WAR ON IRAQ
The thing that’s scary about it is — it’s all true!
Siun @ 19
Siun, he elected not to as he was re-living many of the daily horrors, and it was taking too much of a toll. However, he is adamant about having the US Army return 25,000 items to INLA which were “liberated” in the immediate aftermath of the invasion in April 2003. I introduced myself to him afterward, explained that I was going to blog about that, and verified that the items (of historical importance to the National Archives) are in possession of the US Army. He confirmed that. I then told him that I had heard retired Gen. Abizaid speak the week before about his views of continued US presence in Iraq and asked if he thought that Abizaid knew about the stolen items. Dr. Eskander’s response to me was to shake his head in the affirmative and to say, “Of course he knows.”
I can’t seem to find any traction for his story, but to sit in a room full of librarians, archivists and Iraqis and to hear what is happening to Iraq’s cultural home, is shattering. The Iraq National Library and Archives (INLA) is the equivalent to our Library of Congress and National Archives – they contain literally the stuff that countries are made of – and most of Iraq’s was looted, stolen or destroyed.
I have his contact information, if you are interested in interviewing him. His internet access in Iraq is often disrupted, so I didn’t want to share his contact info with the world, but I am happy (with his permission) to share it with interested bloggers/journalists upon individual request.
And what do we do with Democratic politicians who voted to enable GWB to attack Iraq? We make them front runners to be president.
The collaboration of the my party with the Republicans over Iraq is way beyond disgusting.
tw3k @ 29
It is truly sad that Syria and Jordan have a few million and we’re at about 7,000 refugees…
That’s actually part of a series of photos. Three have been published on our site.
Here are the other two:
Photo 1
Photo 2
Yes the baby in photo 1 is beautiful and very lucky to be alive.
Take a look at the older boys in the photo. The oldest of them was 15 when the first death squad attack took place.
Then stop and think how you would feel about your 15 year old son (and younger) running under fire towards your body that’s been damned near decapitated and hauling it back so that it can be given a decent burial.
OKK – I’ll tell you what you what America has done in Irak.
America has created what my friend Mohammed Ibn Laith calls “The Orphan Society” a society with nothing left to lose and with every reason to hate your country’s guts.
Get out of Iraq. Now.
Du – thanks for the added links and the translation. Mohammed once again says all there is to say.
I have blood on my hands. The blood of the children of Iraq. I am a Democrat. Most in my party voted to let George W. Bush have is way with Iraq.
Annie – if it’s OK with you, I’ll be in touch via email.
Thanks for keeping this in front of people!
Siun,
On Sunday evenings I look for your postings because you give us such a critical perspective. But while I’m looking for your posts, it is always with trepidation over what information you will impart.
In addition to the situation already created by the U.S. war on Iraq, the situation for Iraqi citizens continues to worsen and will not see any meaningful “improvement” as long as there is no will in Washington D.C.. Our leaders have shown no courage to even slow the rate and intensity of harm inflicted on Iraq and on its internal and external refugees.
Our leaders do not have the courage to stand up to the harm they are either allowing to occur or encouraging to happen to the United States. Until even that small amount of courage and foresight is evident, the “improvements” in Iraq cited in your post will continue . . . to not improve at all.
slainte,
cl
tw3k @ 29
Including some, like Iraqi translators, who’ve risked their lives by working with American forces. Here’s something SusanUnPC wrote last week about a US Army LTC who’s trying to protect some of them.
Siun @ 39
I’d be thrilled! Thanks- (I have many more notes from the presentation which I haven’t made into a post yet, but the Globe story captured much of them)
But al-Maliki claims things are getting better.
Despite al-Maliki’s comments, bombings are not a thing of the past in Baghdad, as this photo from a Sunday attack shows. The blast missed a passing U.S. military convoy in the Baladiyat district but killed a 12-year-old girl and wounded four other Iraqis, police said.
Unless things change, I have decided not to vote for any nominee of my party (Dem) who voted for, and remains supportive of what we are accomplishing in Iraq.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 36
Sadly, the Iraqi’s are about to be screwed again…
Iraqi Government to UN: ‘Don’t Extend Mandate for Bush’s Occupation’
The United Nations Security Council, with support from the British and American delegations, is poised to cut the Iraqi parliament out of one of the most significant decisions the young government will make: when foreign troops will depart. It’s an ugly and unconstitutional move, designed solely to avoid asking an Iraqi legislature for a blank check for an endless military occupation that it’s in no mood to give, and it will make a mockery of Iraq’s nascent democracy (which needs all the legitimacy it can get).
http://alternet.org/waroniraq/67383/
ah CTuttle … can’t have those Iraqis thinking they have a say in what happens in their own country, now can we?
Along with all else, I am so disheartened with the way the UN has lost the will to stand for more than Bush’s agenda.
Cujo I don’t know one single person who doesn’t despise them as collaborators and traitors.
Refugees? Yes certainly.
Entitled as a human right to protection? Yes that too – they certainly have a well justified fear of what will be done to them.
You have no idea how hated the collaborators are and before anyone protests yes they are collaborators.
And I will not vote for anyone who supported Kyle/Lieberman.
Goodnight
lahoma
Siun @ 46
But, do we have a say here in our own country either? And, the UN knows who butters their bread… 8-(
Cujo359 @ 41
Yup, good on Miska. Our current government seem just fine letting the humanitarian mission be assumed by third parties like the Red Crescent/Cross but the US really needs to suck it up and realize the nations’ responsibility.
Your post is well reasoned with good sources Siun. The Bush rubberstamps like McCain and sadly CNN commentators including one of their retired generals, are always characteristically nebulous when they claim things are improving in Iraq. One topic that is taboo to them is the horrendous refugee situation where Condi has kept her thumbs in her usual anatomic location for them.
CNN deliversconsistently false reports on Iraq that they deliver from pro-Bush sources when they don’t put Michael Ware on.
You’ll never see reports like that from NY Times correspondents or Michael Ware with no data to back it up.
The myth is often floated by unreliable sources like Maliki claiming in the NYT today that Iraqis are now returning in droves, and nothing could be further from the truth. In Syria, where they can get in but cannot work, many of the women have turned to prostitution in their night clubs:
Desperate Iraqi Refugees Turn to Sex Trade in Syria
Apply this test for every positive, and worse glowing report you hear on progress in Iraq from this administration or one of their flunkies like the Bush puppets Maliki or McCain or any of “the base”:
Are these reports butressed with any degree of reliable fact or detail? Where do these puppets get these figures? They won’t answer questions in detail as to what their sources are because they make this “happy talk” up.
Or if it’s a Bush handler like Cheney-Addington-Fielding-Rice-Crocker the same criterion should apply. Are there any reliable figures or documentation to back up these claims? If the words are from Ryan Crocker, and his lips move, he’s lying. The same is true of all the above named.
Many believe Bush is delusional, but I’m more cynical–he’s simply lying making up his own reality since the truth has never constrained him. His comments that God talks to him or just cheap pitches to the base of which he’s a charter member.
Mailiki claimed that 7000 families have returned and terrorist acts have fallen 77% since February. He offers no figures to back this up and no documentation and neither do the Bush puppet generals who echo this.
In fact, casualties have never been higher since 2007 began for US forces or Iraqi civilians, including those killed by mercenaries, currently exempt from any kind of law.
2007 Is Deadliest Year for U.S. Troops in Iraq
Malikis’ Typical Bush Puppet Crap fed to him by Cheney’s office with no facts to butress it is quoted below only to discredit it:
Maliki Asserts Influx Into Baghdad
“Most of the capital’s displaced people have yet to return, and the number of those leaving still outpaces those returning, according to Dana Graber Ladek, the Iraqi displacement specialist for the International Organization for Migration.
More than a million Iraqis have fled their homes in the past year and a half, she said, nearly three-quarters of them from Baghdad. And though the Iraqi government is offering one million Iraqi dinars, or roughly $812, to each Baghdad family that returns, she said, only a fraction of residents has done so.”
BTW, more good news for Iraqi refugees. Apparently, a big dam in the north is in danger of failing. This is a story I’ve been meaning to dig into when I have some time. Two years ago, the Corps of Engineers seemed to think they could fix it. Now they’re not so sure.
Cujo359 @ 51
Well if the COE is on the case all will be well. Goodness knows they did a bang-up job on our levee system. /s
Most Iraqis are just trying to survive day-to-day and they are getting screwed at every turn. We are going to be paying for this disaster, in ways much more than monetary, for a very long time.
Dubhaltach @ 47
I’m sure they are, but to me they’re people who tried to help, or who did it to earn a living when there wasn’t a living to be had otherwise. The fact that you and many Iraqis feel they’re collaborators just shows that they’re in danger if they remain.
I don’t want to get into a protracted and pointless argument about this, but we’re not going to agree on this one.
Cujo – the bridge story is very confusing and I have not been able to sort it out. Iraqi sources come down on both sides – some saying there is serious danger, others seeing this as another ploy by US forces to spend huge sums of money that are desperately needed elsewhere. If you find anything out, please holler my way on this one!
Siun @ 7
i’m way behind… but just wanted to say thank you for that book salon…
and i was very glad to see emergency’s work in iraq mentioned by dahr – they are also active in afghanistan.
if you want to be further inspired by emergency – there is a wonderful documentary made about their work in afghanistan (before 911). i can’t recommend it highly enough, and the story behind the filming is amazing too. JUNG: In the Land of the Mujaheddin
more here – on the movie and on emergency.
Pete Pierce – Dahr Jamail mentioned during the book salon that not only are there hardly any returnees, but that some simply have no where to go now that Syria has been forced to slow the number of refugees they can accept.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 48
Nite, lahoma and OKK! Aloha, MM and Selise! ;-)
Selise @ 56 – thank you! I had not heard of them before and wanted to learn more.
madmommy @ 52
The COE weren’t the only ones to screw up on NOLA works. They had a whole lot of help from Congress and several previous Administrations on that one. Not to mention that, like just about every military agency, they’ve been transitioning from having lots of engineers working as civil servants to having many, if not most, on service contracts of one sort or another.
The situation in Iraq could be any of a number of things, including techie optimism meeting up with reality. Like I said, there’s bound to be an interesting story there, but I have no idea what it might be at the moment.
Unfortunately, it’s just ended up as another load of bricks falling on Iraq.
It’s not actually an argument. I’m reinforcing your point. The majority of Irakis hate the collaborators even more than they hate the invaders. It was the same here after the Germans were defeated – life was made very difficult for anyone who had worked with them. Quite a few of them were hung.
The least America could do is take them with you. We did when we withdrew from Irak – granted it took the threat of open mutiny and the killing of one translator before the government caved in. Once they caved they took everyone – the employees and their families.
Cujo359 @ 59
True, plenty of screw-ups all around. However, as the ones in charge of design and construction, the COE built levees that they knew did not meet specs, and didn’t cop to it until they failed catastrophically.
Siun @ 54
Do you mean the dam story? Perhaps it is a ruse, but I think it’s a plausible story. This dam was built back in Saddam’s day, and it’s certainly not unheard of that when someone like Saddam gets an idea that a dam goes there, then it goes there regardless of the challenges. A base that could wash away is a big challenge for folks designing a large structure, particularly when it’s supposed to hold water.
Dubhaltach @ 47
i understand that it’s not only the collaborators who are in danger, but also their family members (hope you will correct me if i’m wrong on that).
in any event, i’m not about to make moral judgements on anyone we’ve harmed in order to see if they are “good” enough to “deserve” our assistance. we’re responsible for the harm we’ve done and are in no position to judge anyone, imo.
Dubhaltach @ 61
For readers who may not know our friend Du, Du has served with the Danish forces in the Middle East.
The actions of the Danish troops to force the removal of all their Iraqi support staff is an example of honor that I hope some US forces will take note of.
Mods,
looks like we need a cleanup on Aisle 65.
Thanks
Siun @ 66
Thanks for the clarification, Siun. I’d wondered.
Honorable indeed. I’m glad _some_ Western countries are still capable of that.
FunnyDiva
Siun @ 57
Don’t know if it’s been brought up here, but the number of refugees from Iraq who have ended up in Syria and Jordan is staggering – somewhere around two million now. That’s roughly eight percent of their combined populations. For us, that would be something like twenty-five million refugees. And we have about ten times the per capita income of those countries.
NO selise you’re not wrong. It’s them and their families at risk. And you’re not wrong about the not judging either. The whole point of the refugee conventions are that you have a well founded fear of persecution, not, for example, whether you have done some persecuting yourself. If you have a well founded fear of persecution then you are entitled under the conventions to refugee status.
Funnydiva2002 @ 66
Another, crunchy-munchy troll? I missed’em… 8-(
OT, but worth it as worser gets even worser.
Breakiing. 2 minutes ago
Mercs do it again. This time, it’s Dynacorp.
Link repaired by MOD
BlueStateRedHead @ 71
The U.S. mercenary brigade continue their assasinations, drawing more of the love for the U.S.:
Security Guard Fires, Killing Iraqi Driver
CTuttle @ 71
Dood, if you’re that hungry, go hunt down a coconut or a papaya or something. There’s no nutrition and even less taste in a troll, y’know!
FunnyD
Dubhaltach @ 61
I stand corrected. Yes, it’s the least we could do. It’s also in our interests. If we ever have to fight another war, we may need native interpreters and other local people as employees. Leaving these ones to their fate would only make the job of convincing any others to help in the future.
You’d think all this would be obvious to our government, but it doesn’t appear to be.
BlueStateRedHead at 7:35 pm
Link not working for me I get a login page – is it the shooting of the taxi driver this afternoon?
#73 link works. Yes, the taxi driver.
Funnydiva2002 @ 74
Refresh your browser and things look much better.
Dubhaltach @ 77
Yes.
See Pete Pierce @ #74.
Funnydiva2002 @ 74
Heh, I know they have no substance, just a hard exo-skeleton, hence, crunchy… ;-)
Funnydiva2002 @ 74
But there’s lots of fiber.
I know, RBG. Just giving CT a hard time…
FunnyD
did you fix your ‘firepup’ yet?
Cujo359 @ 75
Sadly, things that appear glaringly obvious to someone with even a bit of common sense seem to be completely overlooked by members of this administration. Why that is, I cannot imagine. /s
Like the big guy says. “Goodnight. And Good luck.” I think we’re going to need it.
Funnydiva2002 @ 82
Moi? I’m obeying RBG’s wishes, I think? Have I strayed, RBG? I certainly won’t ask Suz that tho…! *g*
I just posted my review of Dahr’s book – I really hope other folks will too.
Dahr called me after the Book Salon and he was very grateful for all the good questions and the discussion. Thanks everyone who participated!
CTuttle @ 85
sorry, CT, that was a comment for RBG, referring to yesterday’s meet-up.
FunnyD
Siun @ 86
I will read that thread later. Had to be gone, but it looked so interesting.
OT, Mortgage insurance companies may be the next to fall.
Siun @ 86
Thanks for having him. And I hope you will have Dr. Eskender soon. I will read the book quickly and post a review. Siun, what you do here is invaluable, and your guests (and I mean you, Dubhaltach) are so appreciated.
Laura Doty @ 90
As always, I’m with Laura.
Siun @ 57
Absolutely true Siun,–this is becoming more and more of a nightmarish “Catch 22″ for them, and the usual formula that has been written about and reported in detail is that these individuals
1) Often have a compelling, precise security reason to leave Iraq. Many have worked for U.S. forces as translators, drivers, etc. and a tragic number have lost immediate relatives, sometimes wives or husbands and children.
2) They can’t get work permits in any venue they escape to.
3) They scrape up every bit of cash they have left just to get to places like Syria and then can’t get a work permit and they don’t dare return to Iraq because people who want to kill them have long memories and they only want to kill them for their associations with the U.S.
I can’t help saying that one of the aspects of turmoil in the Middle East in general, and Iraq specifically, and the contributions towards instability and deaths for Americans and Iraqis from Iran, Syria and Hamas are the complete inability of gutless wonders like the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Jordan and Egypt to exert any real efforts for fear they may loose their free ride as Royal, and in Egypt’s case there is a phony house of cards that disguises itself as democracy.
But then, we don’t really have one here do we? We’re right smack in the middle of the pages of 1984 and the Ministry of Truth.
It is tragic that this pointless involvement of the U.S. in Iraq is bringing so much destruction that will last a lifetime to the families of U.S. soldiers and other personnel killed in Iraq, and in considerably more volume the families of innocent Iraqis whose quality of life has been made horrendous by screwup after screwup by the Bush administration and their puppets.
When I think of Veteran’s day, it isn’t just about the Veterans who have given their time and so much sacrifice. It’s about the lying chicken- hawks in the Bush administration, the media, and the base who push this tragic fiasco.
Thanks so much for that alternet link @ 45, CTuttle. That is an outstanding article. Highly recommended reading on a crucial, pending issue at the U.N. that could determine the future of our occupation of Iraq, one way or the other.
http://alternet.org/waroniraq/67383/
Our federal legislators, if they have any conscience left at all, absolutely must stand up in support of Iraqi legislators on this issue, and condemn this deception by the U.N. Secretary-General (obviously in response to arm-twisting by the Bush administration), loudly and clearly.
Time for me to go – the twins have just pointed out that the universe has deteriorated from 99.999999999% perfect to a completely unacceptable 99.999% perfect and as I’m the bigperson on insomiac duty I had better fix it IMMEDIATELY.
*poof*
Pete Pierce, I salute ya! Excellent points on this Veteran’s Day Eve… 8-)
And Congress, who seems to only know how to do two things.. Bow to the master Bush and give the war a raise.
Non-uniform Sunni militants fighting non-uniform Al Qaeda fighting non-uniform international mercenaries..
Eureka … now that’s a perfect turn of phrase and all too true!
Teddy has a few things to say about our favorite ombudsperson upstair : Slurping her own bathwater
(ewww!)
Eureka Springs @ 96
Nice wording Eureka, and absolutely true.
Pete Pierce @ 92
When I think of Veteran’s day, I think of how the latter have so thoroughly dishonored the former.
Cujo359 @ 101
i think of ‘the good war’ and how long ago that seems and then ‘3 million dead vietnamese’ and the number of ‘war heroes’ who didn’t really have enough of a conscience to say ‘no’
updates on Iraq every day at Iraq Today blog
http://warnewstoday.blogspot.com
oh, and it is not getting better by any means
Typical of the delusional Bushies is radio commentator Larua Ingraham who blithely informed America this morning on ABC that “everything in Iraq is really getting a lot better.” She had no explanation or qualifications for this fiction, and once again I found it easy to believe someone this dumb could have been a law clerk for Clarence Thomas in 1992-1993, but still hard to believe that they let her or Clarence in any door at the Court. I know that the Court is ruined for 35 or so years, and that Roe will be overturned, but I would think there would be a limit with Clarence and Laura in one of the mini-lawfirms in Chambers.
I don’t know what would be funnier–her pillow talk with Right Wing Twit Dinesh D’Souza who broke off his engagement from her, or her chewing the fat with “No Questions at any oral argument because I’m too damn dumb” Pinpoint Clarence.
One thing Laura is accomplishing though,is wracking up broken engagements. She’s working on the third.