Today in Iraq

War News for November 23, 2003 Bring ‘em on: Two US soldiers killed in central Mosul. Bring ‘em on: One US soldier killed, two wounded in bomb ambush near Baquba. Bring ‘em on: Two US soldiers wounded in bomb ambush near Baquba. This may or may not be the same incident cited above. Bring ‘em on: Iraqi police colonel assassinated in Mosul. Bring ‘em on: Four American, three Iraqi KBR employees wounded in rocket attack on oil installation near Kirkuk. Bring 'em on: Iraqi police chief assassinated in Latifiyah. US soldier drowns in vehicle accident near Baghdad. (Last paragraph of this story.) Baghdad International Airport closed to commercial traffic. Schools may be open in Baghdad but parents fear to allow their children out. Bush’s Iraq economic policies will bring further instability. “Experts say the U.S. plans, which aim to upend Iraq's closed state-run economy and convert it to one of the most open, capitalist economies in the world, would unleash new waves of unrest in an already strife-weary Iraqi population. International law forbids occupying powers from making such deep changes, they say.” Some military families aren’t too thrilled with Bush using them as campaign props. “I don’t think (Bush) understands the true sacrifice we’re all making, and I am concerned he doesn’t know the repercussions of the decisions he has made,” said Dawn April, whose husband, Capt. Douglas April, is in Iraq. The US media is starting to notice our wounded soldiers. Three stories: From the Denver Post. From the Baltimore Sun. From the Philidelphia Inquirer. Bush’s War is draining the military. “Perhaps the most troubling statistic is the drop in retention for the Army Reserve, first disclosed by Army Chief of Staff General Peter Schoomaker on Wednesday in testimony before Congress. The drop was due to the Reserve falling 9.3 percent short of its retention goal among career soldiers.” Army MPs in Iraq; Private Broadwell decorated with Bronze Star for valor. Commentary Opinion: MoDo hits one out of the park: “The president is trying to make the campaign about guts: he has the guts to persevere in the war on terror. But the real issue is trust: should we trust leaders who cynically manipulated intelligence, diverted 9/11 anger and lost focus on Osama so they could pursue an old cause near to neocon hearts: sacking Saddam? The Bush war left our chief villains operating, revved up the terrorist threat, ravaged our international alliances and sparked the resentment of a world that ached for us after 9/11.” Opinion: Stealing from dead soldiers. “If Bush is trying to hide the cost of war, as Kerry claims, by hiding the dead, he robs Schultz and Gilmore of one of the rights of soldiering.” Casualty Reports Local story: New York soldier killed in Iraq. Local story: Indiana soldier wounded in Iraq.