Sadly, they weren’t there before the invasion. Now wonder most Americans (correctly) believe that the Iraq War has made us less safe. From WaPo: U.S. troops raiding a warehouse in the northern city of Mosul uncovered a suspected chemical weapons factory containing 1,500 gallons of chemicals believed destined for attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces and civilians, military officials said … Read More
Report From Crawford
The anti-Cindy Sheehan protesters have shown up at the Bush ranch, and like their online counterparts, they’re nothing but ugly: Alex just called, and some counter-protestors showed up in a bus. Don’t know with whom or what they’re affiliated. A diary on DailyKos says it’s the Mike Gallagher group. They’re not obeying the strict parking rules the police have been … Read More
A Soldier’s Story
From a soldier stationed in Iraq: I’ve rewritten this 3 times already. Yes, we should have done what we did. We should be here. A free, stable Iraq will go a long way towards stabilizing the region. In the long run, I think Saddam Hussein would have been a threat to our country. The people who are running things at … Read More
Sheehan
There’s so much out there on the left blogosphere about Cindy Sheehan, and it’s all good. But Steve Gilliard focuses on the predictable smear tactics of the right, and how it is backfiring: The thing about the Right Wing noise machine is that it only has one tactical mode. Full bore attack. Which against a woman who lost her son, … Read More
But Only Up To A Point
Via Atrios: Staff Sgt. Jason Rivera, 26, a Marine recruiter in Pittsburgh, went to the home of a high school student who had expressed interest in joining the Marine Reserve to talk to his parents. It was a large home in a well-to-do suburb north of the city. Two American flags adorned the yard. The prospect’s mom greeted him wearing … Read More
Links Between Iraq And al Qaeda Established
Unfortunately, the link occurs in the present Iraqi government, not the overthrown one. Newsweek has the exclusive: A former Washington-area man accused in court papers of being the “American contact” for an Osama bin Laden “front organization” is now believed to be working for the new Iraqi government’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, two U.S. law-enforcement officials and a longtime associate … Read More
Baghdad Catch-22
Matt Yglesius: As you may have heard, Baghdad’s mayor was deposed today by a SCIRI-backed militia and replaced by a SCIRI loyalist. SCIRI, of course, is one of the main parties currently running Iraq’s federal government. So what’s the USA to do? Here we get to one of the central paradoxes of our current policy. If the municipal coup is … Read More
Worst. American. Ever.
With good reason, Atrios is calling Michelle Malkin "possibly . . . America’s Worst American" for "shitting" all over Cindy Sheehan, Bush ranch protester and mother of Casey Sheehan, her son killed in Iraq. Here’s something from Crooks & Liars: Bill O’Reilly: I think Mrs. Sheehan bears some responsibility for this [publicity] and also for the responsibility for the other … Read More
What’s The Opposite Of A Chickenhawk?
A brave dove: "I just want to get it done, come home, and continue my life." Those were just about the last words that Gennaro Pellegrini, Jr. — a 31-year-old Philly cop and up-and-coming boxer — said to us when we spoke last last November. In less than 48 hours, Pellegrini was about to step onto an airplane bound for … Read More
Quote Of The Day
Maureen Dowd, speaking tongue-in-cheek about Cindy Sheehan, the 48-year-old mother of a dead U.S. soldier, who says she will camp out in the dusty heat near Bush’s ranch until she gets to tell Mr. Bush face to face that he must pull all U.S. troops out of Iraq: If only her husband were an undercover C.I.A. operative, the Bushies could … Read More
Gandhi In Crawford
If you are not following the story of Cindy Sheehan, the bereaved mother of a U.S. soldier killed in Iraq, you ought to be. She’s set up camp outside the Bush ranch in Crawford, Texas (where Bush is taking a record-breaking long vacation), hoping just to meet him and ask him questions. And you should be reading her diaries at … Read More
Phelps Again
Fred Phelps and his minions are at it again. He intends to picket the funeral of Sgt. Christopher Taylor, a Marine who died in Iraq. Why? Because the military isn’t homophobic enough for Phelps, or because Phelps’ god (allegedly) hates fags, or something… Friday, about 15 members of the group — some of them children — picketed the funeral of … Read More
Update: The Downing Street Memos
The reporter who broke the Downing Street Memo (DSM) in the London Times, Michael Smith, has filed this important piece in Raw Story (bold text is my emphasis): Britain and America’s reasons for stepping up bombing of Iraq in the ten months leading up to the war in Iraq was a sham, official figures released by the British Ministry of … Read More
Sleeping Bag Interrogation
Here’s another example of why torture doesn’t work: Iraqi Maj. Gen. Abed Hamed Mowhoush was being stubborn with his American captors, and a series of intense beatings and creative interrogation tactics were not enough to break his will. On the morning of Nov. 26, 2003, a U.S. Army interrogator and a military guard grabbed a green sleeping bag, stuffed Mowhoush … Read More
The Never-Ending “Last” Throes
Seven Marines on Monday. Fourteen marines on Tuesday. This is insane. Among the carnage is the sad story of Steven Vincent, a freelance journalist. We wrote an op-ed piece which appeared in the New York Times last Sunday, entitled “Switched Off in Basra”. It told of how the police in Basra, who are supposedly on our side, are mostly comprised … Read More