We So Crazy

Ken AshfordForeign AffairsLeave a Comment

57 per cent of Australians think US foreign policy to be as great a threat as that of Islamic fundamentalism. Can’t imagine why.  Unless you think about it. I mean, of ALL the nations on this planet, which one has been involved in more wars and had more of its troops in other sovereign lands?  Which nation invokes "pre-emption" as … Read More

Baghdad’s Grassy Knoll?

Ken AshfordIraqLeave a Comment

Body and Soul has the low-down on the killing of Nicola Calipari, the Italian intelligence agent who American soldiers shot and killed early this month as he was transporting an Italian kidnap victim to safety. The U.S. government story has always been that the American soldiers, located on the most dangerous road in Baghdad, got a little jumpy and fired … Read More

Foreign Affairs News

Ken AshfordForeign AffairsLeave a Comment

From Reuters: Ousted Kyrgyz Leader Says Not Resigning MOSCOW (Reuters) – Kyrgyzstan’s ousted President Askar Akayev, in exile in Russia following last week’s coup in the Central Asian state, said on Tuesday that he would not resign. "So far I have not resigned as president. That’s why I consider myself the one and only legitimate and elected president. At the … Read More

Support Our Troops?

Ken AshfordIraqLeave a Comment

The latest fad among our soldiers? Videotaping the "charred, decapitated and bloody corpses" that they have killed, edit it together against a backdrop of loud headbanging music, and keeping the tapes as entertaining mementos. Barbarians.

Iraq Invasion — Two Years Later

Ken AshfordIraqLeave a Comment

Since this is the second anniversary of the Iraq War, let’s look at the numbers: 200: Lowest estimated number in billions of U.S. taxpayers’ dollars that have been spent on the war in Iraq 152,000: Estimated number of troops currently deployed in Iraq 1,511: U.S. troops killed in Iraq since the invasion 11,285: Americans wounded since the invasion was launched … Read More

108

Ken AshfordIraqLeave a Comment

Unbelieveable. At least 108 people have died in American custody in Iraq and Afghanistan, most of them violently, according to government data provided to The Associated Press. Roughly a quarter of those deaths have been investigated as possible abuse by U.S. personnel. The figure, far higher than any previously disclosed, includes cases investigated by the Army, Navy, CIA and Justice … Read More

Support Our Ex-Troops, Too

Ken AshfordIraqLeave a Comment

Another kind of hero: Un-Volunteering: Troops Improvise to Find Way Out By MONICA DAVEY Published: March 18, 2005 he night before his Army unit was to meet to fly to Iraq, Pvt. Brandon Hughey, 19, simply left. He drove all night from Texas to Indiana, and on from there, with help from a Vietnam veteran he had met on the … Read More

The Healing Of One Man’s Soul

Ken AshfordIraqLeave a Comment

Take some time to read Jimmy Massey’s story: Jimmy Massey is a young man of Irish-American heritage, tall, fit, and straight. His eyes are clear and his voice is strong. A proud son of the mountains of western North Carolina, his twelve years as a Marine are still apparent in his physical appearance. When he tells you his story, you … Read More

As Expected

Ken AshfordForeign AffairsLeave a Comment

The world reaction is one of head-scratching: The United States nomination of Paul Wolfowitz as World Bank chief drew a cool response from European officials on the bank’s board but they had little chance of blocking it, board sources said on Wednesday. Sources close to the World Bank board said Wolfowitz’s name was informally circulated several weeks ago among the … Read More

Little Lulu Bent Out Of Shape

Ken AshfordIraq, Right Wing Punditry/IdiocyLeave a Comment

I understand that I am not a conservative, so my brain is wired a little differently.  But I consider myself a reasonably intelligent person with the ability to understand different points of view, even if I don’t necessarily agree with them. Still, I have to admit that many of Michelle Malkin’s outrages simply stump me.  Take this, for instance: This … Read More

Republicans and War

Ken AshfordForeign AffairsLeave a Comment

From E&P: Gallup: Americans Don’t Like Syria, Iran, N. Korea, but Don’t Want War A new Gallup Poll released today shows that while Americans have very negative opinions of Syria, North Korea, and Iran, by very wide margins they do not want to go to war with them. Still, about 4 in 10 Republicans would support "military action" against each … Read More

Support The Troops

Ken AshfordCorporate Greed, IraqLeave a Comment

From The Left Coaster: Did his duty – then lost his job Michael Warren, a native of Port Jefferson, L.I., is suing International Business Machines Corp. for firing him because since 9/11 he’s been called up too often by the Army Reserves. And IBM has HOW MANY Pentagon contracts?

What I Heard About Iraq

Ken AshfordIraqLeave a Comment

Please read in its entirety.  It is by Eliot Weinberger, copied from here. What I Heard about Iraq In 1992, a year after the first Gulf War, I heard Dick Cheney, then secretary of defense, say that the US had been wise not to invade Baghdad and get ‘bogged down in the problems of trying to take over and govern … Read More