Today in Iraq

War News for September 4, 2003 Bring ‘em on: Two US soldiers wounded by Iraqi suicide bomber in Ramadi. Bring ‘em on: After US troops repelled an attack at a US base near Tikrit yesterday, the attackers returned this morning and fired an RPG at the base. No US casualties reported in either incident. Bring ‘em on: US convoy ambushed in central Fallujah. Bring ‘em on: US troops kill three Iraqi insurgents planting roadside explosives near Baquba. Great Moments in Bush Diplomacy No. 36012 in the series: US presses Turkey for troop contingent in Iraq despite Kurdish dispute. US-approved Iraqi foreign minister says no Turkish troops for Iraq duty or all hell will break loose. More News: Egyptian attempts to kidnap American tourist to force Bush to leave Iraq. Rummy arrives in Iraq on unannounced visit. Blames Syria and Iran for allowing “foreign fighters” into Iraq. “’We are unhappy about the fact that people come across the Syrian and Iranian border…’ Rumfeld told reporters...Rumsfeld said the U.S. forces did not know exactly where the threat to American forces was coming from.” Rummy says no more US troops needed in Iraq. Here’s a bit of fatuous optimism in this article: “In Baghdad itself, it seems that the electricity is a bit better than, say, in June when we were going sometimes 18 to 20 hours without electricity. Now it's about 12 hours with electricity and 12 without.“ I suppose those ungrateful Iraqis ought to be rolling out the red carpet for Rummy. Rummy thinks so: ''’It is getting better every day. I can see a change since I was here,’ Rumsfeld said. ‘For a city that's not supposed to have power, there's lights all over the place. It's like Chicago,’ Rumsfeld said.” Somebody tell Mayor Daley to turn off the juice for 12 hours every day and see how long it takes for the shit to hit the fan. General Sanchez tells reporters he needs more troops, but he doesn’t need more US troops: “Sanchez said the coalition lacks sufficient troops to protect Iraq's porous borders or its thousands of miles of highways…’if a militia or an internal conflict of some nature were to erupt ... that would be a challenge out there that I do not have sufficient forces for…’'' Let’s look at this objectively. Either you have a security problem or you don’t. If you do, the immediate solution is to increase force levels. Saying you need more troops but not US troops is saying you don’t have a security problem if you can't get foreign troops. Former Army secretary says “administration policy threatens to turn the U.S.-led war against Iraq into a “’potential humanitarian, political and economic disaster.’” Iraq is not a quagmire. It’s a black hole. “The significance of passing the astronomical event horizon is that whatever crosses it, even light, cannot recover or be recovered. It is a one-way trip down a ‘tunnel’ at whose end there is no light, only crushing gravity.” Great Moments in Bush Diplomacy No. 36013 in the series: France, Germany refuse to support US proposals for Security Council resolution. "’We are ready to examine the proposals, but they seem quite far from what appears to us the primary objective, namely the transfer of political responsibility to an Iraqi government as soon as possible,’" Mr. Chirac said in a joint news conference.” It’s amazing how the US media is playing this story. Headlines say France and Germany are “cool” to US proposals, or “skeptical” or “fault US proposals. Actually, they told Bush to piss up a rope. Home Front: Bush signs Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003. More legislation favorable to Enron, no doubt. Bush will remember 9/11 with a “dinner and screening of "Twin Towers," which is the Academy Award winning documentary about the September 11th attacks in New York,” according to Scott McClellan. Support group for wounded soldiers. Bush promises to send a T-shirt. “Top White House officials personally approved the evacuation of dozens of influential Saudis, including relatives of Osama bin Laden, from the United States in the days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks when most flights were still grounded, a former White House adviser said today.” You mean Bush would cuts special favors for the rich and powerful Saudis, even Osama bin Laden's family, at a time when Americans were grounded, the transportation grid was on lockdown and the American economy was collapsing? Nothing new here. Great Moments in Bush Diplomacy Coming Attraction! Russia may provide troops for Iraq. Veterans of the wildly successful Chechnya peacekeeping campaign, no doubt.