Today in Iraq

War News for December 6, 2003 Bring 'em on: Iraqi policeman killed in Samarra. Bring 'em on: US troops under small arms fire in central Mosul. Bring 'em on: Iraqi policeman killed in Mosul. Bring 'em on: CENTCOM reports over the past seven days, "there have been an average of 19 engagements daily against coalition military and an average of two attacks per day against Iraqi security forces and Iraqi civilians." The following incidents, extracted from the CENTCOM briefing, occured over the past 24 hours: Bring 'em on: US logistics convoy attacked with automatic weapons near Samarra. Two civilian drivers wounded. Bring 'em on: Roadside bomb in Baghdad wounded one US soldier. Bring 'em on: Dominican soldiers mortared near Diwaniyah. Bring 'em on: Coalition foot patrol under fire in the Al-Majar al-Kabir yesterday. Iraqi Governing Council proposes forming separate militias into a unified security force. Fashion maven and incompetent administrator L. Paul Bremer doesn't like the idea but has no plan of his own to transfer security to the Iraqis. Check out the picture with this article of that ridiculous little man Bremer strutting across a stage wearing a Gucci suit and combat boots. US troops raid 2,400 apartments in Baghdad. Bushies intend to establish unilateral war-crimes tribunal in Iraq. Then again, we may not need tribunals for Baathists. Fuel and power shortages continue to anger Iraqis. General Clark continues to spank Lieutenant AWOL: "Clark said, 'This election is going to be about this president landing on that aircraft wearing a flight suit,' with an audience member chiming in, 'That's a joke.' He said, 'It's going to be about the president flying to Baghdad in the middle of the night to deliver turkeys to the troops,' and someone else chimed in, 'Because he is one.'" Sen. Kerry gets a piece of Lieutenant AWOL, too. "'On issue after issue, George Bush has given America a raw deal, and everyone in this room knows it,' he said in the text. 'George Bush goes to Baghdad to carry around a fake Thanksgiving turkey while he cuts support for our troops and 40,000 veterans are left on a hospital waiting list.'" Bushies want to minimize the casualty count so they deny soldiers Purple Heart medals for wounds received in action. It has become pretty obvious that the Bushies are waging a hard campaign to conceal American casualties from the American people. They refuse to allow media access to Dover and Ramstein, and it's clear the CENTCOM doesn't report specific attacks on American troops, wounded soldiers, or even American KIAs unless the action happens in directly front of a reporter. Rummy visits oilfields near Kirkuk. I hope this report is wrong. "A farmer from the city of Baquba, 60 km north of Baghdad, said US troops had burned large areas of citrus orchards in the city, which were suspected to be guerilla hideouts." Damage from Bush's War and Rummy's failed defense policy: "Four Army divisions — more than 100,000 soldiers, 40 percent of the active-duty force — will not be fully combat-ready for up to six months next year, leaving the nation short of ready troops in the event of a major conflict in North Korea or elsewhere, a senior Army official said yesterday…Retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey…said four to five divisions below the C-1 rating 'means literally half the Army is broken and not ready to fight.'" Emphasis added. Casualty Reports Local story: Georgia soldier wounded in Iraq. Local story: Kansas soldier wounded in Iraq. Home Front Lieutenant AWOL raises another $1 million bucks in Baltimore before stopping at Home Depot, a company that has chipped in over $1.5 million to his campaign in exchange for some sweet taxpayer-funded favors. Rant of the Day Lieutenant AWOL sends form letters to the families of the fallen. Past Presidents routinely sent form notifications and letters of sympathy to the families of soldiers KIA. The letter of personal sympathy has traditionally been a function of the chain of command, and a direct responsibility of the soldier's company commander. So this shouldn't even be an issue except that Bush himself had made it an issue by setting a higher standard for himself and then failing to perform as promised. In February, Bush said, "I hug the mothers and the widows of those who may have lost their life in the name of peace and freedom." He made the same claim when he visited London recently. So when Bush gets criticized because he has consistently refused to attend the funereals of fallen soldiers, bars the press from covering the arrivals of the dead and wounded, and meets only with selected family members in a tightly controlled environment, it's legitimate criticism because he and his political handlers have intentionally claimed the responsibility for personal involvement. By failing to perform as promised, Lieutenant AWOL makes it clear that he is merely milking the military for political advantage. He mouths meaningless phrases in front of the cameras, prances around on a flight deck, and stages a two-hour Thanksgiving photo-op with the troops, and then dashes off to the next fundraiser. Makes me want to puke.