A diarist at Kos makes an observation: The news this morning is full of signs of peace settling over Baghdad as increased troop levels help to quiet the insurgency. Officials said privately that they hoped to foster a sense of normalcy and encourage limited travel to Iraq, particularly by business people and aid workers. They mentioned that Baghdad International Airport … Read More
Supporting The Troops
I don’t care if you are for or against the war in Iraq — this is just plain wrong: The U.S. Military is demanding that thousands of wounded service personnel give back signing bonuses because they are unable to serve out their commitments. To get people to sign up, the military gives enlistment bonuses up to $30,000 in some cases. … Read More
Memo To The City Of Long Beach, California
Today is Veteran’s Day. Which is to say, today is the day we specifically set aside to honor the veterans. Regardless of how one feels about the Iraq War, or the Vietnam War, or even war in general, we set aside today to honor those men and women who put their lives on the line in service to their country. … Read More
Porn For Soldiers
I’m with Steve Benen — if you are fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and risk get shot at or blown up at any moment, then by God you really should be entitled to read whatever the hell you want. Yes, including Penthouse. But the American Prude Family Association isn’t all that concerned about the soldier’s dying. Nope, what bothers … Read More
The Imperial Presidency
Good NY Times review of two new books: DEAD CERTAIN: The Presidency of George W. Bush, by Robert Draper and THE TERROR PRESIDENCY: Law and Judgment Inside the Bush Administration by Jack Goldsmith. The first book, "Dead Certain" is probably the more interesting in that the author, Robert Draper, had a lot of access to President Bush and his aides, … Read More
Hell No They Won’t Go
Can the State Department force its employees to go to Iraq? Uneasy U.S. diplomats yesterday challenged senior State Department officials in unusually blunt terms over a decision to order some of them to serve at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad or risk losing their jobs. At a town hall meeting in the department’s main auditorium attended by hundreds of Foreign … Read More
Investigations Into Blackwater
A TPM tally: * The Nisour Square shootings: An Iraqi investigation concluded that the Blackwater guards were not under attack when they opened fire. As a result, the Iraqis asked the State Department to pull Blackwater out of Iraq. The FBI is leading the most active American-led investigation of the shootings. The FBI investigation superseded a preliminary State Department investigation … Read More
Training The Iraqi Army
Methinks we have a ways to go. Yes, that’s an actual clip of American troops leading Iraqi troops in jumping jacks.
Bush: A Case Study In “How He Works”
April 2006 — a question to the President from a student at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies: Student: "I was hoping your answer might be a little more specific. (Laughter.) Mr. Rumsfeld answered that Iraq has its own domestic laws which he assumed applied to those private military contractors. However, Iraq is clearly not currently capable of … Read More
War vs. Children’s Health
A day after the White House through Dana Perino said they weren’t concerned about the newest CBO estimates that the Iraq and Afghanistan wars will cost the treasury over $2 trillion dollars, Perino this morning says that Bush will veto the newest SCHIP bill coming from Congress this week. The reason? Because Congress hasn’t justified why $35 billion more over … Read More
Wars Cost You $8,000
CNN: The wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and anti terrorist efforts abroad could cost the country $2.4 trillion over the next ten years, according to a report Wednesday. The money, over 70 percent of which would go to support operations in Iraq, includes the estimated $600 billion spent since 2001, Congressional Budget Office Director Peter Orszag said in testimony before the … Read More
U.S. Soldiers Say “Institute A Draft Or Leave Iraq Now”
In the Washington Post today, 12 former Army captains declare that “five years on, Iraq is in shambles,” and that “short” of a military draft, “our best option is to leave Iraq immediately“: As Army captains who served in Baghdad and beyond, we’ve seen the corruption and the sectarian division. We understand what it’s like to be stretched too thin. … Read More
Shorter Rich Lowry
On Iraq: Fuck if I understand what’s going on! Of course, Lowry blew his Iraq commentary cred in the May 9, 2005 issue of National Review: More about Lowry from an old Greenwald post.
It’s Official: The Surge Has Failed
Yglesias: As you’ll recall, when the "surge" was announced in January, its stated purpose was to create the conditions for progress toward the goal of national reconciliation. We were promised a report in September on the surge’s results. What we got in September was a very, very, very quiet admission that, in terms of its stated goals, the surge had … Read More
Rush Vs. The “Phony Soldiers” – Day 3(?)
Rush Limbaugh responded to an actual war hero who confronted him for his smears of soldiers who disagree with Bush’s war was to by saying that the Purple Heart vet was a dupe being used by liberal "terrorists" to attack Rush in a suicide bombing. "This is such a blatant use of a valiant combat veteran, lying to him about … Read More