Today in Iraq

War News for March 31, 2004 Bring ‘em on: Five “coalition” soldiers killed in bomb ambush near Fallujah. Bring ‘em on: Four killed, including one American in ambush near Fallujah. Bring ‘em on: US troops open fire during demonstration at Green Zone checkpoint in Baghdad. Bring ‘em on: One US Marine killed, one wounded in three separate bomb attacks in Ramadi. Bring ‘em on: Mortar attacks reported in Samarra. Bring ‘em on: Car bomb in Baquba wounds 12, including local governor’s security detail. Bring ‘em on: US troops under mortar fire in Mosul. Bring ‘em on: Another US convoy ambushed with roadside bomb in Ramadi. Bring ‘em on: Three “coalition” soldiers, three security contractors wounded in separate ambushes near Mosul. Bring ‘em on: One Iraqi police officer killed in checkpoint attack in Baghdad. Bring ‘em on: One US soldier killed, one wounded by roadside bomb near al-Asad airbase. Bring ‘em on: Four US soldiers wounded by RPG fire near Ramadi. CPA reports attacks against “coalition” troops averaged 26 per day over the last week. Poppy wants everybody to stop picking on Lieutenant AWOL. “Lay off my kid! That's the message former President George Herbert Walker Bush delivered yesterday, fighting back tears as he defended his son and ripped into his rivals.” Civilian casualties in Iraq. “Those estimates, however, signal that losses have been severe. Between 8,789 and 10,638 civilians have died since war began March 19, 2003, according to one group of British and American researchers that surveys media reports and eyewitness accounts.” Casualty Reports Local story: Wisconsin soldier killed in Iraq. Local story: Ohio Marine wounded in Iraq. Note to Readers Quite a few years ago, some civilian friends and I watched a movie called “The Great Santini” based on the book by Pat Conroy. In the opening scene, Robert Duvall - who plays a US Marine fighter pilot - receives a dressing-down from a US Navy captain after a party of Marine officers gets out of hand at a Spanish hotel. When the Navy captain orders the Marine officers to leave, Duvall asks the captain for permission to enjoy one last drink at the bar just to prove the Marines can behave like civilized men. Instead, the Marines decide to play a prank on the Navy captain, who is dining with his wife and some other Navy officers in the dining room. Duvall hides a can of mushroom soup in his uniform tunic, drunkenly staggers into the dining room and finally crawls onto the bandstand on his hands and knees. Retching and gagging, he pretends to vomit at the feet of Spanish musicians and spills the soup on the floor. Immediately, the other Marine officers run up on the bandstand with spoons in hand and begin scooping up the spilled soup and eating it. One of the Marines pulls a comrade away and complains, “No fair! You’re getting all the big chunks!” My civilian friends were appalled. I was laughing my head off. I had to explain, “I know people who do stuff like this.” I didn’t tell them that I do stuff like that, too. It’s hard to explain military humor. I’m not a photoshop expert, but I have no doubt that the photo 2cents posted in yesterday’s comments is authentic. It’s typical of the kind of crude, tasteless, adolescent gross-out humor that soldiers love. Like applying a transparent shrink-wrap to a urinal and laughing when some poor, unsuspecting bastard pees all over himself. Or stealing the new lieutenant’s binoculars and putting shoe polish on the rubber eye pieces before secretly replacing the binoculars in his gear, and then laughing because the poor guy looks like a raccoon after he uses them. Sergeants are really good at these kind of pranks. “Go get me a can of muzzle-blast,” Sarge tells the new private. “A big one.” The wild-goose chase begins and everybody is amused for an afternoon. One of my battery commanders once told a new lieutenant to fetch him a box of grid squares. The lieutenant wasn’t so easily fooled. He got some scissors and cut the captain’s favorite map into tiny squares. The sergeants laughed their asses off when they heard about it although the captain was less amused. During the first Gulf War, a particularly obnoxious and despised major from our brigade headquarters left his disposable camera, with his name written on it, on a map table in our battalion tactical operations center. A senior NCO from our S-3 section discovered it. There were four officers in the TOC, including me, when the sergeant showed us the camera and suggested, “If you guys shoot the moon, I’ll take a picture for Major G.” We gladly complied. “Spread ‘em a little wider, sir,” the sergeant said after we dropped our trousers and he focused the camera. We returned the major’s camera on the next courier run. We relished the moment when we learned this was the camera his wife had sent him so he could take pictures of all of his friends, and he had sent it back home to her so she could get the film developed. This kind of humor isn’t just an American military tradition. I was in Macedonia with a US Army infantry battalion as part of a UN peacekeeping mission. The other battalion in Macedonia, called NORDBAT, was a composite unit comprised of Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish and Danish rifle companies, and a mixed support company. The US battalion and the Nordic battalion were assigned observation posts along the UN line between Serbia and Macedonia, and corresponding sectors within Macedonia near the line where we conducted community patrols. Whenever we patrolled in the villages, we were always greeted by the local children who would come out to wave, try to make friends and get goodies like candy, MRE's and chem-lights. During a realignment, my battalion took over part of an ethnically Albanian sector assigned to the Swedish rifle company. The UNPROFOR and NORDBAT staff worked hard to make sure there was a smooth transition, and the Swedish soldiers helped by teaching the local kids a little bit of English so they could properly welcome the Americans. When we started patrols in that sector, our troops were welcomed by swarms of smiling, cheering Albanian children waving their middle fingers in the air and shouting, "Fuck you, GI! Fuck you, GI!" So I’ll cut Lance Corporal Boudreaux some slack. That photo is just a prime example of tasteless but harmless military humor. 86-43-04. Pass it on.

War News for March 30, 2004 draft Bring ‘em on: Arab newspapers report six US soldiers killed by roadside bomb in Samarra. This is the only source reporting this story. Bring ‘em on: One US soldier killed in roadside bomb ambush near Fallujah. Bring ‘em on: Two British soldiers wounded in Basra rioting. Bring ‘em on: Iraqi policeman wounded in Baghdad grenade attack. (Last paragraph.) Bring ‘em on: Suicide bomber attempted to assassinate Iraqi police chief near Hilla. Bring ‘em on: Three Iraqi policemen wounded in Najaf riots. Bring ‘em on: Two killed in attempted assassination of Iraqi police chief near Mosul. Bring ‘em on: One US soldier wounded by RPG fire in Diyala province. CPA forced newspaper closure causes protests in Baghdad. Islamic fundamentalists target Iraqi academics. A rise of religious fundamentalism is terrorizing the Iraqi academic community, and threatening to roll back the gains in academic freedom made by university presidents and their advisers from the United States since the end of the war. Sounds like the conservative fundies at our very own Campus Watch. Remember that BBC poll? So how did ORI weight its sample for class and religion, to achieve results that, according to the BBC, ‘reflected Iraq's distribution of population, balance between men and women, and religious and ethnic mix’? It didn't. Director Christoph Sahm said it was weighted by governorate (Iraq's 18 regions), by distribution between urban and rural areas, and by age. So there was no weighting by social factors? ‘How would you do that?’ he says.” Check out Chalabi’s popularity vis-à-vis Saddam Hussein at the end of the article. Prime Minister Chalabi. "If Chalabi's fast track to power is not derailed and he becomes prime minister in July, the president won't be able to fire him unless his two deputies agree. The provisional constitution seems tailor-made for Chalabi to call the shots into 2005. As head of the Governing Council's economic and finance committee, Chalabi has already maneuvered loyalists into key Cabinet positions in the provisional authority -- finance, oil, and trade. The Central Bank Governor, the head of the trade bank and the managing director of the largest commercial bank also owe their positions to Chalabi's influence." Clueless “From the state of Iowa, the Deutsch family received a perfectly folded American flag that flew for one day in Michael's honor above the Capitol in Des Moines. And from the White House came a letter of condolence signed by President Bush. Two letters, actually. ‘The exact same one, twice,’ Wayne Deutsch noted dryly, sitting at the kitchen table of their wood-frame house in Dubuque's working-class North End neighborhood. ‘What does that tell you? It was a form letter.’… Ilene Deutsch listened to her husband's lament as she stood by the kitchen stove. For several hours, she had politely refrained from answering questions about the politics of the war. She was afraid of what she might say. Now it came flooding out, along with the tears. ‘They didn't have a clue what was going to happen once the war was over. No anticipation. Bush had no idea,’ she said. ‘I don't like George Bush. We are listed as independents, but I will never vote for him. Surely he didn't look at the long range. . . . He didn't have a clue.’” Commentary Analysis: “The spectacle speaks for itself. If President Bush wants to install democracy, as he claims morning and evening, what is happening on the ground is proving the contrary. The law of the jungle, assassinations, liquidation, violations of the social fabric in this predominantly Arab country, with a gradual slide towards its historic fragmentation, and it is no secret that the odor of civil war is becoming strong. Sunnite ulema have been killed and mosques burned. In the same way, Shiite imams have been shot down and husseiniyat have been set on fire.” Analysis: The President, influenced by the spectacle of collapsing skyscrapers, had barely declared his ‘War on Terrorism’ when his closest advisor, Karl Rove, often referred to as ‘Bush's brain,’ began developing a campaign strategy. The 2002 midterm elections and, more importantly, the President's campaign for reelection two years later, were to be conducted entirely ‘within the context of the war.’” Casualty Reports Local story: Florida soldier killed in Iraq. Local story: Texas Marine killed in Iraq. Local story: Massachusetts Marine killed in Iraq. Local story: New Jersey soldier killed in Iraq. Local story: Texas Marine killed in Iraq. Local story: New York Marine dies in Kuwait. Local story: New Jersey soldier dies in Iraq. Local story: Florida soldier wounded in Iraq. Local story: Texas Marine wounded in Iraq. Local story: Illinois Department of the Army civilian wounded in Iraq.

War News for March 24, 2004 Bring ‘em on: Two Iraqi civilians killed, two US soldiers wounded during firefight in Fallujah. Bring ‘em on: Green Zone rocketed in Baghdad. One US contractor wounded. Bring ‘em on: Two Iraqi civilians killed in mortar attack in Mosul. Bring ‘em on: Two US soldiers wounded in rocket attack near Balad. Bring ‘em on: Three Iraqi policemen wounded by bomb in Mosul. Bring ‘em on: Two Iraqi civilians killed by roadside bomb in Baghdad. Bring ‘em on: Baghdad Sheraton attacked with rocket fire. Bring ‘em on: Facility Protection Service officer wounded in ambush near Mosul. One US soldier killed in non-combat related shooting near Mosul. Polish ambassador in Seoul says no place in Iraq is safe for foreign troops. Operation Enduring Bases. Wounded Guardsman loses job over battle wounds. “But he was back on the job only a few days. The company, after learning secondhand about his injuries, asked him not to return to work until he supplied more information about his health, he said. In particular, Securitas wanted to know more about his diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder.” The article says over 3,200 complaints from returning Guardsmen and reservists have been filed with the Department of Labor. Soldier’s widow sounds off about Lieutenant AWOL’s lies. “’The evidence that's starting to come out now feels like he was misleading us,’ Mrs. Kiehl said. ‘It seems that he did not tell the whole truth. It's almost as though he had things 'fixed' so it would look like he needed go to war. He can claim he was truthful, but the evidence feels like he was misleading us.’” Commentary Opinion: “In his three speeches, Bush made no mention of the Iraqis who were permanently defaced. Bush cannot mention them because the invasion had no grounds. Neither weapons of mass destruction nor proof of an imminent threat was found. Bush cannot mention them because he knows a needless invasion was not worth up to 10,000 Iraqi civilians killed by US and British forces. He cannot mention them because it would only bring attention to the paltry and peculiar way the United States pays victims and the families of victims for the injuries and fatalities suffered at our hands.” Opinion: “Somewhat in the same spirit, Worldbeat offers a warning to voters in the United States, as its presidential campaign gathers steam: The prospect of a second victory for George W. Bush is troubling in the extreme. Not just because of his administration's reckless economic program or its divisive management of international alliances. No, the most troubling part of the Bush regime is its penchant for dissembling and its obsession with global score-settling, regardless of its impact on Americans and the rest of us.” Casualty Reports Local story: California Marine killed in Iraq. Local story: Pennsylvania soldier killed in Iraq. Local story: Texas soldier dies in Iraq. Local story: Alabama soldier wounded in Iraq. Awards and Decorations Local story: Washington State soldier decorated for valor. 86-43-04. Pass it on.

War News for March 23, 2004 Bring ‘em on: Fourteen British soldiers wounded during rioting in Basra. Bring ‘em on: Chief of police assassinated in Balad. Bring ‘em on: Two Iraqi policemen killed, two wounded in drive-by shooting in Kirkuk. Bring ‘em on: Rockets fired at US base near Kirkuk. Bring 'em on: Five Iraqi police trainees killed in ambush near Hilla. Bring 'em on: US troops open fire to disperse protestors in Ramadi. Bring ‘em on: Iraqi police station bombed near al-Hindia. Bring ‘em on: Iraqi judge assassinated near Hilla. CPA reports that during the past week, there have been an average of 21 attacks against Coalition troops and two attacks against Iraqi security forces each day. Sectarian violence escalates. “A series of attacks on Sunni and Shi'ite neighborhood mosques and religious figures this month has killed about a dozen people and prompted clerics of the two Muslim sects to publicly proclaim their solidarity. Privately, they worry that they are seeing the start of the sectarian conflict they have dreaded since the end of Saddam Hussein's iron rule.” National Guard recruiting and retention damaged by Bush’s War. “Maj. Richard Kaley, a recruiter for the Rhode Island National Guard, reports that ever since October the stream of Rhode Islanders signing up for the Guard has slowed. ‘We're about 25 percent off for the first quarter,’ he told Nightline. Almost everyone Nightline talked to agreed it was the announcement in September that guardsmen would serve a full year in Iraq that has affected both recruitment and re-enlistment.” Guarding the oil pipelines. US business association sounds off. "A US business group that monitors federal spending took out a full-page advert in The New York Times, likening President George W. Bush to a corrupt chief executive officer who has forfeited public trust. Timed to coincide with the weekend anniversary of the US-led war against Iraq, the advertisement -- paid for by Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities -- said Bush's case for invasion 'was built entirely out of falsehoods.'" Croatia abandons plans to send troops to Iraq. War story. “Just last month Turner, a 101st Airborne Division soldier, was honored with the Silver Star medal for saving at least two lives in combat. Today he is out of the Army, driving a borrowed car and sleeping at a friend's house. The smile he beamed at the medal ceremony masked months of problems he says he experienced since returning home with battle wounds: a suicide attempt, along with flashbacks and nightmares so bad he resorted to binge drinking to fall asleep.” Turner is 23 years old. Commentary Editorial: “The question that remains is not whether Clarke's allegations are accurate in every detail. His is only one side of the debate. The overriding question is whether the United States' war on terror has benefited in some measurable way from the war in Iraq. So far, the answer is no.” Analysis: “The exquisite irony of an Iraqi grand ayatollah showing a sustained commitment to elections and democratic constitution-making while the American who rules Iraq in the name of bringing freedom manoeuvres to keep US-appointed officials in power for almost another year captures the deep contradictions that have confounded this occupation.” Opinion: "The war in Iraq -- allegedly part of Bush's war against terrorism -- is inspiring more horrific acts elsewhere. The train bombings in Madrid killed 202 people; the car bombing in Baghdad earlier this week killed more civilians. The terrorist acts and the U.S. diminished credibility appear to be weakening the will of the so-called 'coalition of the willing.' Spain's newly elected President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is ready to pull Spain's 1,300 troops out of Iraq by June 30 if the United Nations is not given a bigger role." Analysis: "The INC, in the letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee from which KR drew its news outlet revelations, identified two officials, one then in the office of Vice President Cheney (John Hannah) and one in the office of Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld (William Luti) to which it had fed information directly. (The names of others who served as liaisons to Chalabi and the INC will come out.) The information had bypassed established U.S. intelligence channels and reached the recipients even after the CIA and the DIA had questioned the accuracy and motives of the suppliers. Some key allegations found their way into major documents the Administration used to make the case for war. This is where the trail becomes really interesting. If more comprehensive records can be produced to document a list of individual appointments, with meeting agendas, that Chalabi and members of his organization had with the Vice President and his staff from 2001-2003, it will become even clearer how out-of-channel intelligence made its way to the war cabinet chaired by Dick Cheney. It can be presumed that they were not discussing the search for missing Iraqi antiquities." Casualty Reports Local story: California soldier killed in Iraq. Local story: Indiana soldier killed in Iraq. Local story: Massachusetts Marine killed in Iraq. Local story: Kansas soldier dies in Iraq. Local story: Mississippi sailor wounded in Iraq. Local story: California Guardsman dies of wounds received in Iraq. Rant of the Day Back when I was a law student, I learned that the Federal criminal statutes define a conspiracy as when one or more persons intend and agree to perform criminal conduct, and any one of that group commits an overt act in pursuit of the conspiracy. With each new revelation about the inside machinations of the Bush administration, it’s becoming more and more evident that these people actively conspired to commit a criminal act. If we were talking about a bank robbery, Condoleeza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, George W. Bush and their co-conspirators would either be in jail or on an FBI fugitive list. Paul O’Neill told us that the Bush administration was intent on invading and occupying Iraq from the day they moved into the White House. Now come Richard Clark’s revelations that on September 12, 2001 George W. Bush himself demanded evidence that Iraq was to blame for the previous day’s attack despite being told that the real culprit was al-Qaeda. The Bush gang didn’t see the al-Qaeda attack on New York City that destroyed the World Trade center and killed 3,000 Americans as anything except an opportunity to do what they wanted to do anyway. Kenneth Pollack said exactly that when he appeared on Frontline. "From the very first moments after Sept. 11, there was a group of people, both inside and outside the administration, who believed that the war on terrorism . . . should target Iraq first." The real significance of Clarke's book isn't that the Bush administration is a bunch of bungling, incompetent gasbags who failed to understand and respond to the threat of al-Qaeda. We knew that already. But while being a bungling, incompetent gasbag isn't illegal, criminal conspiracy most certainly is. Okay, so we have a group of people who have clearly agreed that they intend to commit a criminal act - and purposefully launching unprovoked and unjustified war is a criminal act of the first magnitude. Now, one of the conspirators must commit an overt act in pursuit of the conspiracy. Take your pick of overt acts. You could select any of the deliberately misleading utterances compiled by Rep. Waxman, including born-again George W. Bush's March 2002 statement, "Fuck Saddam. We're taking him out." Personally, my favorite overt act in pursuit of this criminal conspiracy was the formation of Rummy's Special Plans Unit at the Pentagon which had the specific mission to pervert the National Intelligence system to collect and publicly hype intentionally deceitful information to the American public in pursuit of the conspiracy. Among the conspirators we can't forget the moles in the media who helped bamboozle the public and who helped the Bush administration smear and shout down law-abiding Americans who tried to stop a crime in progress. I'm not talking about the craven, yellow-bellied "journalists" who were themselves intimidated. I'm talking about giving Judith Miller another opportunity to stand by her sources - in a courtroom. We don't need a commission to investigate the so-called "intelligence failures" as the Bush administration hyped an unprovoked war. We need a criminal investigation with the objective of prosecuting the conspirators who devised Bush's War and ensuring they receive the full criminal sanctions provided by the law. We need to do more than hold them accountable at the ballot box. We need to do this for a variety of reasons. First, because the bastards deserve it. Second, because we've been down this road with this gang before. Had we properly punished the Iran-Contra conspirators, the current nest of neocon-men would have thought a bit more about the consequences of their actions. Deterrence works. Finally, we need to punish these criminals because that is the only way we can hope to remove the filthy stain they have left on our collective honor. 86-43-04. Pass it on.

War News for March 22, 2004 Bring ‘em on: US soldier and Iraqi interpreter killed, three wounded by roadside bomb near Abu Ghraib. Bring ‘em on: Car bomb near US base in Balad kills two Iraqis, wounds 25. Bring ‘em on: Six US soldiers wounded by RPG and small arms fire in Baghdad. Bring 'em on: Two Finnish businessmen killed by sniper fire in Baghdad. Bring 'em on: Three US Marines wounded by mortar fire near Ramadi. CENTCOM reports one US soldier killed in weapons accident near Samarra. Italians want Berlusconi to withdraw troops from Iraq. IGC warns that Israel's assassination of Ahmed Yassin could cause more violence in Iraq. "'This could happen in Iraq because the Israelis are well protected in Israel and the Americans are vulnerable here in Iraq. It could escalate the dangers in Iraq,' Assadi said, whose party sits on the Governing Council." Sistani warns UN on interim constitution. “Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric has urged the United Nations not to endorse the country's interim constitution, raising another obstacle to U.S. plans to hand power to Iraqis, a Beirut-based aide has said…In his letter, Sistani said the interim constitution was unworkable because it establishes a three-person presidential council, which he said would be composed of a Sunni, a Kurd and a Shi'ite who would be required to take unanimous decisions. ‘This builds a basis for sectarianism. Consensus would not be reached unless there is pressure from a foreign power, or a deadlock would be reached that destabilises the country and could lead to break-up,’ Sistani said.” Resentment growing in Baghdad. "No one can deny that many Iraqis have been happy to see Saddam Hussein removed from power by the US-led coalition last year. It is also probably true that most Iraqis were willing to give occupation forces the benefit of the doubt in the first few months after invasion. But now that the bitter reality of occupation has ceased to be a novelty, it appears patience with US forces is running thin. Barely tolerated as it is, if the Americans stick around for too long, the resentment will only grow." Costs of Bush’s War delay Army IT upgrades. Iraq’s interim government. “The fledgling Iraqi government will be capable of tackling little more than drawing up a budget and preparing for elections, top U.S. and Iraqi officials say.” Ibtihal Jassem. Find out who she is. Commentary Opinion: "…The president himself has as much as said the weapons never really mattered. He told an audience in Charleston, S.C., last month that even knowing what he knows today - i.e., that weapons of mass destruction probably don't exist - he would 'still' have invaded Iraq. 'America did the right thing in Iraq,' he said. It was arguably the starkest indication to date that the nation's show of diplomacy in the days prior to the invasion was always a sham, a fig leaf to cover the fact that George W. Bush was determined from the beginning to go to war. Diplomacy would not get in his way, nor would facts, nor would the hesitation of allies. And what has it gotten us? Everything we feared. Lives lost. Bodies maimed. American prestige crippled. And daily attacks of ever-increasing intensity on soldiers who we were told would be greeted with open arms as liberators." Analysis: "What does the future hold for Iraq's 25 million people and, by extension, all Arabs and indeed the larger Muslim world of 1.3 billion, especially their toxic relationship with America? The answers lie partly in the response to another question, the one American soldiers in Iraq often ask, when not sitting in armoured vehicles with machine guns pointing outward: 'Why do they hate us?' …But beyond that, Iraqis are furious at America, first, for the same reasons that Canadians, Europeans, Asians and, increasingly, Americans are, and the Spaniards ousted their government for backing Bush and the Germans re-elected theirs last year for standing up to him. Further — and this is often forgotten in this age of media amnesia — Iraqis have not only been the principal victims of Bush's war but also American indifference or hostile actions stretching back two decades." Casualty Reports Local story: New York soldier dies in Iraq. Local story: Pennsylvania soldier killed in Iraq. 86-43-04. Pass it on.

War News for March 21, 2004 Bring 'em on: Two US soldiers killed, seven wounded in rocket attack near Fallujah. Bring 'em on: Green Zone mortared in Baghdad. One US soldier wounded. Bring 'em on: Attempted pipeline sabotage reported near Kirkuk. Bring 'em on: One Iraqi killed, four wounded in mortar attack on PUK office in Mosul. Bring 'em on: One Iraqi killed, ten wounded in Baghdad mortar attack. Bring 'em on: One Iraqi policeman killed, two wounded by bomb in Khalis. Bring 'em on: Roadside bomb in Mosul wounds one Iraqi civilian. (Last paragraph.) Bring 'em on: Gunmen attack Turkmen youth center in Kirkuk. CENTCOM reports one US soldier killed, two injured in vehicle accident near Taji. Happy anniversary. "The millions of Iraqis who exulted in Saddam's downfall did not publicly celebrate the day, nor were there street protests from those who enjoyed his patronage - partly because public gatherings are vulnerable to suicide attackers, car bombs, shootings and other violence." More happy anniversaries coming. "Despite optimistic predictions from the Bush administration about an emerging democracy and plans to transfer sovereignty to an Iraqi government this summer, experts in foreign policy say Americans should prepare for many more years of deadly roadside bombings and U.S. and civilian casualties. Americans should also be prepared to pay billions per year for Iraq's reconstruction." Lieutenant AWOL's shabby coalition. "Because the coalition is one of individual governments without the cohesion provided by the United Nations or NATO, its makeup can change as governments do. Those who, in Bush's language, are 'with us' before national elections can suddenly be 'against us' depending on an election's results." Iraqis feel humiliated in an unstable nation. "'Now I will list the bad things,' said Saad as he entertained two visiting Americans in his living room and served them cans of Pepsi. 'There is no stability, there is no security, there is no clear future. Along with a feeling of humiliation.' One year after American forces invaded Iraq and overthrew the regime of Saddam Hussein, the Saads' fears and complaints are one way to understand why many Iraqis haven't embraced the American-led occupation." Widow still can't find out how her husband died in Iraq. "A news release from Coffin’s unit said he died after the Humvee swerved to avoid a civilian vehicle. But the U.S. Central Command reported the day before that a member of Coffin’s unit was killed July 1 when his convoy was hit by 'an improvised explosive device.'" Commentary Analysis: "Retired Gen. William Odom, director of national security studies at the Hudson Institute in Washington, said the Iraq war has already weakened the broad international unity Bush commanded after Sept. 11. Then, Odom said, NATO for the first time invoked Article 5 of its founding constitution, essentially declaring that the terrorist attacks on the United States constituted attacks on the trans-Atlantic alliance as a whole. 'Everybody was with us,' Odom said. 'Today, a remarkable number of people have left us. The question is when and why. It starts with the president's 2002 State of the Union message, when he announced the axis of evil. The Europeans were absolutely shocked. They said, 'We didn't sign up to fight Iraq, Iran and North Korea. We signed up to fight al Qaeda." That was the fork in the road' Odom said. 'By waging war in Iraq, the president has managed to essentially erode the anti-terrorism coalition.'" Opinion: "America went to war in a dishonest way that alienated key allies, divided and weakened the United Nations, outraged the world community, made us more hated in the world and made the war on terrorism more difficult to win. The decision on war or peace is the most important decision any president ever makes." Opinion: "Of the numerous misrepresentations in the ads, I find particularly annoying the claim that Kerry voted to cut combat pay for soldiers. In fact, as the public record abundantly proves, it was the Bush administration that opposed extending the period for increases in combat pay for soldiers in both Afghanistan and Iraq by $75 a month for imminent danger pay and by another $150 for family separation allowance. The administration backed down because of public outcry." Opinion: "Their 507th Army Ordinance Maintenance Co. was ambushed March 23, 2003. Eleven soldiers died; six were captured. A lone soldier held out until the end; he ultimately was fatally shot and stabbed by Iraqi troops. When American forces later retrieved Lynch from an Iraq hospital, the Pentagon immediately created the myths of a daring raid to rescue her and of her heroic resistance to the Iraqis. U.S. soldiers don’t need myths to bolster their reputation. This isn’t like the Vietnam conflict, when some troops found themselves reviled by folks back home. Americans have come to their senses. Irrespective of their views about the ongoing war in Iraq, Americans are unified in their support and concern for U.S. servicemen and women." Analysis: "Honduras is sticking with its plan to withdraw 300 soldiers in July, and when Bush recently met the Dutch Prime Minister, Jan Peter Balkenende pointedly refused to say how long he would leave his 1300 troops in Iraq. Small beer, perhaps. But it is all symptomatic of rising anger and tension among the old and valued friends at the insistence of Bush - who may well be judged by history to have been the ventriloquist's doll for the ideologues around him - that his very necessary war on terrorism did not need to be swamped by war and its uncertain aftermath in Iraq." Editorial: "When Vice President Dick Cheney and others in the administration continue their bullheaded insistence that it does not really matter whether the central reasons for invading and occupying Iraq have come to pass, it serves only to drive away key coalition members such as Spain. The latter's frustration and distrust were underscored by the defeat last week of its pro-U.S. government… With the November election looming, it is past time for the Bush administration to come clean with the American people and its allies, and admit its mistakes in Iraq. That might help it make its case for more help from abroad for the important work that remains to be done. But continuing to go it alone, with no end in sight, is not an option." Casualty Reports Local story: Texas Marine wounded in Iraq. Local story: Pennsylvania soldier wounded in Iraq. Local story: Ohio Marine dies of wounds received in Iraq. 86-43-04. Pass it on.

War News for March 19 and 20, 2004 Bring 'em on: One US soldier wounded by RPG fire in Mosul. Bring 'em on: Insurgents give Powell the "Wolfowitz Welcome" in Baghdad. Bring 'em on: Eight US soldiers and one Marine wounded by mortar fire in Fallujah. (Last paragraph.) Bring 'em on: Iraqi policeman killed in Kirkuk ambush. Bring 'em on: Iraqi police station bombed in Karbala. Bring 'em on: US Marines under rocket and mortar barrage near Al-Asad. Bring 'em on: US Army helicopter shot down near Amariya. Bring 'em on: One US Marine killed in action near Fallujah. CENTCOM reports one soldier died from injuries sustained in Bradley accident near Beiji. US soldier electrocuted in accident near Baquba. South Korea cancels plan to deploy 3,600 troops near Kirkuk. Time to call up more US Guardsmen. Iraqis sound off about Bush-style liberation. Arab journalists walk out on Powell's Baghdad press conference. Reality TV in Mosul. "The scene could be straight out of the U.S. television reality show 'Cops,' but instead of American police officers, the lawmen getting their 15 minutes of fame are Iraqi police." Iraqi police colonel arrested for aiding insurgents in Kirkuk. Let's attack Iraq because there are lots of good targets there. "The Bush administration considered bombing Iraq in retaliation almost immediately after the 9-11 terrorist attacks against New York and the Pentagon, according to a new first-person account by a former senior counterterrorism adviser inside the White House. Richard Clarke, the president's counterterrorism coordinator at the time of the attacks, said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld complained on Sept. 12, 2001 -- after the administration was convinced that al Qaeda was responsible -- that, 'there aren't any good targets in Afghanistan, and there are lots of good targets in Iraq.'" Emphasis added. Today, hundreds of thousands of people are protesting Bush's War. Rather than cover those protests, this one small incident reveals how much damage Lieutenant AWOL has done to America's reputation. Commentary Editorial: " Bush's theme yesterday was that it was important for the world to come together now to fight terrorism. There is no middle ground, he said. Fine, but the reality is that his administration's arrogant, unilateral approach to the war against Iraq has done more to isolate the United States from its allies than any other single act over the last 100 years. Much, if not all, of the good will and unity that came out of the outrage over the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington was dissipated by the administration's go-it-alone excursion into Iraq." Opinion: "Iraq is only one example of distorted security priorities. By focusing on the use of unilateral military force at the expense of the more traditional U.S. focus on diplomacy, arms-control treaties and cooperation with allies, we actually have made ourselves less safe." Casualty Reports Local story: California soldier killed in Iraq. Local story: Illinois Guardsman killed in Iraq. Local story: Texas Marine killed in Iraq. Local story: Arkansas Marine killed in Iraq. Local story: Texas Marine wounded in Iraq. Local story: Illinois Guardsman wounded in Iraq. Local story: West Virginia soldier dies of wounds received in Iraq. Local story: Ohio Marine wounded in Iraq. Local story: Massachusetts Marine wounded in Iraq. Local story: Vermont Guardsman dies in Kuwait. Local story: Texas soldier dies in Iraq. Local story: Georgia Guardsman dies in Kuwait. Awards and Decorations Local story: Oregon soldier posthumously decorated for valor. 86-43-04. Pass it on.

Waist Deep in the Big Muddy It was back in nineteen forty-two, I was part of a good platoon. We were on manoeuvers in Louisiana, One night by the light of the moon. The captain said, "We've got to ford the river", That's where it all began. We were knee deep in the Big Muddy, And the damn fool kept yelling to push on. The Sergeant said, "Sir, are you sure, This is the way back to the base?" "Sergeant, I once crossed this river Not a mile above this place. It'll be a little soggy but we'll keep slogging. We'll soon be on dry ground." We were waist deep in the Big Muddy And the damn fool kept yelling to push on. "Captain, sir, with all this gear No man'll be able to swim." "Sergeant, don't be a Nervous Nellie," The Captain said to him. "All we need is a little determination; Follow me, I'll lead on." We were neck deep in the Big Muddy And the damn fool kept yelling to push on. All of a sudden, the moon clouded over, All we heard was a gurgling cry. A second later, the captain's helmet Was all that floated by. The Sergeant said, "Turn around men! I'm in charge from now on." And we just made it out of the Big Muddy With the captain dead and gone. We stripped and dived and found his body Stuck in the old quicksand. I guess he didn't know that the water was deeper Than the place where he'd once been. For another stream had joined the Muddy A half mile from where we'd gone. We were lucky to get out of the Big Muddy When the damn fool kept yelling to push on. Well, you might not want to draw conclusions I'll leave that to yourself Maybe you're still walking, maybe you're still talking Maybe you've still got your health. But every time I hear the news That old feeling comes back on; We're waist deep in the Big Muddy And the damn fools kept yelling to push on. Knee deep in the Big Muddy And the damn fools keep yelling to push on Waist deep in the Big Muddy And the damn fools keep yelling to push on Waist deep! Neck deep! we'll be drowning before too long We're neck deep in the Big Muddy And the damn fools keep yelling to push on Note to Readers No update today. Instead I decided to post the lyrics to Pete Seeger's "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy." It seems appropriate after listening to Lieutenant AWOL running his mouth about "unity" on the anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. For non-American readers, the "Big Muddy" is what we call the Mississippi River. I'll update tomorrow. 86-43-04. Pass it on.

War News for March 18, 2004 Bring 'em on: Two US soldiers killed, six wounded in mortar attack near Balad. Bring 'em on: Three Iraqi journalists killed, nine wounded in attack on employees of CPA TV station near Baquba. Bring 'em on: One US Marine killed, three wounded in mortar attack near Qusayba. Bring 'em on: Bomb near US-funded TV station in Baquba kills three Iraqis, wounds ten. Bring 'em on: Three rocket attacks kill four Iraqis in Baghdad. Bring 'em on: One US soldier and two Iraqi security officers wounded by roadside bomb in Baghdad. Bring 'em on: Three ICDC members wounded in mortar attack near Mosul. Bring 'em on: British patrol attacked by car bomb in Basra. Five Iraqis killed. Bring 'em on: Two US troops wounded in Fallujah. CENTCOM reports one US soldier killed, two injured in vehicle accident near Baji. CENTCOM reports one US soldier killed in convoy accident enroute to Kuwait. Polish President says Lieutenant AWOL is a liar. "'That they deceived us about the weapons of mass destruction, that's true. We were taken for a ride,' Kawsniewski said Thursday, according to the AFP." Baghdad fashion maven and incompetent CPA administrator L.Paul Bremer working hard to establish Boy Scouts in Iraq. Commentary Opinion: "They didn't know what might happen from this dangerous gambit, and they knew they didn't know. Yet Bush, faced with a stinker of an economic situation, is seeking re-election today based largely on his stewardship of security matters. It is a sign of the depraved state of statesmanship in our republic that he can do so with some confidence in his chances." Editorial: "A new opinion poll timed to the one-year anniversary of the U.S. occupation of Iraq this week revealed that many European and Muslim countries traditionally allied with the United States now harbor an increasingly negative view of the Bush administration's foreign policies. The disenchantment even extends to Britain, the U.S. government's strongest wartime ally, where half of those surveyed said the war in Iraq actually hurts efforts to combat global terrorism." Casualty Reports Local story: Washington State soldier dies in Iraq. 86-43-04. Pass it on.

War News for March 17, 2004 Bring ‘em on: One Iraqi killed, five wounded in rocket attack on Baghdad mosque. Bring ‘em on: Iraqi police colonel, two bodyguards killed near Mosul. Bring ‘em on: US troops attacked near Ramadi. Bring ‘em on: US troops mortared near Kirkuk. Bring 'em on: Many casualties reported as bomb destroys central Baghdad hotel. US allies fear revenge attacks for role in Iraq. Honduras to withdraw troops from Iraq. IGC minister says coalition are not doing enough to ensure the security of Iraqis. Civilian casualties. “It has been nearly a year since the war in Iraq started, but U.S. military commanders are just beginning to reckon with the volume of civilian casualties streaming in for assistance. Twice a week, at a center in Baghdad, masses of grief-weary Iraqis line up, some on crutches, some disfigured, some clutching photographs of smashed houses and silenced children, all ready to file a claim for money or medical treatment. It is part of a new compensation process unique to this war.” Zapatero tells off Lieutenant AWOL: "’The occupation is a fiasco. There have been almost more deaths after the war than during the war,’ he said. ‘The occupying forces have not allowed the United Nations to take control of the situation.’" Lies and the lying liars. “US President George Bush and his four top advisers made a combined total of 237 misleading public statements on the threat posed by Iraq. The claim was made in a congressional report released on Tuesday. Compiled by Democratic staff of the House Government Reform Committee, the report examined assertions made by Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice.” Commentary Opinion: “We never should have invaded Iraq, but now we have a responsibility to the Iraqi people not to leave them in a new world of chaos that we created. Even the CIA warns of the very real threat of civil war in Iraq. Is this the president's definition of ‘Mission Accomplished?’” Opinion: “We proved that the world’s mightiest nation could stand virtually alone and still have its way, but at what price? Can we afford to be reckless and independent gunslingers in future conflicts? Does such arrogance erode our leadership in the war against terror? If the Iraqis ever get around to thanking us for what we did, we would do well to remind them that they were the lucky recipients of a series of unprecedented political and strategic blunders that, at great cost to us, worked to their long-term benefit.” Opinion: “Ever since Sept. 11, 2001, I have been behind a war on terrorism. Let me specify -- a war on terror that I thought would oust Osama bin Laden. This war in Afghanistan was apparently just fuel in the fire for a Bush administration that wanted to rid the world of Saddam Hussein. The administration, in my opinion, sidetracked from the true goal of the war on terror to complete its own agenda.” Casualty Reports Local story: Massachusetts soldier killed in Iraq. Local story: Missouri soldier wounded in Iraq. Local story: Ohio soldier wounded in Iraq. Local story: Florida soldier wounded in Iraq. Local story: Minnesota soldier wounded in Iraq. Local story: Tennessee Marine wounded in Iraq. 86-43-04. Pass it on.

War News for March 16, 2004 Bring ‘em on: Four US missionaries killed, one wounded near Mosul. Bring ‘em on: Iraqi translator assassinated, her father wounded in Mosul. Bring ‘em on: Assassination attempt against Turkmen leader wounds two near Baquba. Bring ‘em on: CPA reports Iraqi secretary of labor and social affairs and his driver killed in ambush near Mosul. Bring 'em on: Two German workers, two Iraqi policemen killed in shooting near Mussayab. IGC wants to retain power. “In interviews in the council's chamber yesterday, members admitted that the 25-member council was stymied over how to piece together a transitional government to rule Iraq, once the American-dominated authority dissolves in three months. Racing against time, with little consensus among them, most members appear to be moving toward the quickest option -- simply expanding their numbers.” Bush-league liberation. “But for those outside the political spectrum, such as 26-year-old IT instructor Dina from Baghdad, it’s a very different story. From her point of view, the Iraq of today is a country that offers no future… Being told by US soldiers that they should not make such a fuss, that the crime rate in their cities is no worse that of Los Angeles or Chicago only stokes their anger.” Bulgaria will replace Spanish troops. US media says Chalabi scammed them, too. “Feeding the information to the news media, as well as to selected administration officials and members of Congress, helped foster an impression that there were multiple sources of intelligence on Iraq's illicit weapons programs and links to bin Laden. In fact, many of the allegations came from the same half-dozen defectors, weren't confirmed by other intelligence and were hotly disputed by intelligence professionals at the CIA, the Defense Department and the State Department. Nevertheless, U.S. officials and others who supported a pre-emptive invasion quoted the allegations in statements and interviews without running afoul of restrictions on classified information or doubts about the defectors' reliability.” Commentary Opinion: “On Wednesday, March 17th, 2004, ‘An Iraqi Economic Forum’ will be held in Beirut where foreign economists and investors will gather to lecture or be lectured on what is obviously a pressing subject in the minds of many. More than the topics to be discussed, however, I could not help but be struck by the role which American big businesses will invariably play. With their rights in the Iraqi cut reserved by the current US occupation, it’s not surprising. However, it also brought to my mind similar events that happened decades ago during the British Mandate over Iraq.” Opinion: “National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice on Sunday acknowledged what the Bush administration has, up to now, argued only by implication -- that the war in Iraq was a direct response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attack by Al-Qaida on New York and Washington. Confronted with intelligence reports that have repudiated every single rationale President Bush had used to justify the war, Rice argued that the conquering of Iraq and overthrow of Saddam Hussein were designed to shrink the areas from which Al-Qaida can operate.” Editorial: “Saddam Hussein's was the first government to be ousted by the American-led war on Iraq. Jose Maria Aznar's was the second. And British Prime Minister Tony Blair, like Aznar a rare European supporter of President Bush, must be nervously reading the election returns from Spain. So should anyone else who cares about making the world safer from terrorists.” Opinion: "Polls suggest that a reputation for being tough on terror is just about the only remaining political strength George Bush has. Yet this reputation is based on image, not reality. The truth is that Mr. Bush, while eager to invoke 9/11 on behalf of an unrelated war, has shown consistent reluctance to focus on the terrorists who actually attacked America, or their backers in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan." Editorial: "The victory of incoming Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero thus is a clear rebuff to President Bush, who cherished the backing he received from Madrid as many other Western allies disowned the U.S.-British invasion to oust Saddam Hussein." Opinion: "In America, the new order of things is defined mainly by the sour taste of moral hangover, how the emotional intensity of the 9/11 trauma -- anguished but pure -- dissolved into a feeling of being trapped in a cage of our own making. As the carnage in Madrid makes clear, the threats in the world are real and dangerous to handle, but one US initiative after another has escalated rather than diffused such threats. Instead of replacing chaos with new order, our nation's responses inflict new wounds that increase the chaos. We strike at those whom we perceive as aiming to do us harm but without actually defending ourselves. And most unsettling of all, in our attempt to get the bad people to stop threatening us, we have begun to imitate them." Casualty Reports Local story: Ohio soldier wounded in Iraq. Local story: North Carolina soldier killed in Iraq. Local story: California missionary killed in Iraq. Local story: North Carolina missionaries killed in Iraq. 86-43-04. Pass it on.

War News for March 15, 2004 Bring 'em on: US soldier stabbed and wounded in Baghdad's Green Zone. Bring 'em on: Arab city council member assassinated in Kirkuk. Bring 'em on: Police station mortared in Mosul. Bring 'em on: One US soldier killed, 20 wounded during anti-insurgency operations near Ramadi. Bring 'em on: Four civilians wounded during mortar attack near Abu Ghraib. New Spanish Prime Minister promises to withdraw Spanish troops from Iraq. "He today said that no decision on the 1,300 Spanish troops in Iraq would be taken until he was in power and without wide political consultation, but insisted he did not intend for them to stay. He told Cadena Ser: 'The war has been a disaster, the occupation continues to be a disaster, it has only generated violence.'" US troops blamed for six Iraqis killed, four wounded near Baquba. IGC now squabbling over UN role in elections. Tensions between Iraqi Shi'ites and US increasing. "The Iraqis sent a delegation to Tehran, which is high on Washington's 'enemy list', presenting it as just a neighbourly visit. But the Americans would have been stunned by the inclusion in the team of their hand-picked candidate as the likely next leader of Iraq - returned exile and former banker Ahmed Chalabi. US retaliation was swift. It closed all but three of the crossing points on the Iraq-Iran border. This was presented by the chief of the US occupation, Paul Bremer, as just another security measure, but observers saw the border tightening as a rebuke to the Iraqi Shiites who depend on the spending of thousands of Iranian pilgrims who cross daily to visit the Shiite shrine cities in Iraq - Karbala and Najaf." I suppose Chalabi is still miffed at losing that sweet $327 million security contract. Baghdad's trailer trash. "Smith was hired as an aide to the U.S. senior adviser to the Iraqi Ministry of Interior but now works as a policy adviser in the civil division for fire and emergency services. He is helping to organize a national conference of emergency officials. Smith said he has spent most of his time in the Green Zone, where the occupation forces are based. Lately, he has been traveling more to other parts of the country as an interim government is being set up to assume control on July 1." Insurgent improve tactics and bomb techniques. "Progress in Iraq? Depends on who you ask." It sometimes seems that the Stars and Stripes is the only US news organization that actually compares the "progress reports" issued by the CPA with the perceived reality of the average Iraqi citizen. If you heard Lianne Hansen yesterday on NPR gushing during an "interview" with an IGC member, you know what I mean. Military families sound off at Dover. AWOL Guardsman plans to surrender, fight Bush's War. I saw this story earlier today, but I didn't post it until Navy Wife posted it comments and I realized that it is a relevant story. As a man, I feel sympathy for Staff Sergeant Mejia, but as a soldier I feel nothing but contempt and revulsion for an NCO who deserts his comrades in combat. Still, it's interesting that 600 soldiers are classified as AWOL after failing to return to their units in Iraq from leave. Selective Service creating procedures for "special skills" conscription. "Flahavan said Selective Service planning for a possible draft of linguists and computer experts began last fall after Pentagon personnel officials said the military needed more people with skills in those areas...The military has had particular difficulty attracting and retaining language experts, especially people knowledgeable about Arabic and various Afghan dialects." Of course, bogus counterintelligence investigations and prosecutions - like, say, Captain Yee's ordeal, and Ashcroft's targeting of those Arab-American communities that could provide a suitable recruiting base has nothing to do with the recruiting and retention problem. Move along, citizen, nothing to see here. Casualty Reports Local story: Wisconsin soldier killed in Iraq. Local story: Maryland soldier killed in Iraq. Local story: Utah soldier killed in Iraq. Local story: Florida contractor killed in Iraq. Off Topic: Texas soldier with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. "First, the disease robbed Alford of his dignity and the career he had craved since boyhood. Not knowing the monster was consuming his brain and central nervous system, his superiors in the 2nd Battalion of the Army's 5th Special Forces Group berated and demoted him for a pattern of dereliction that included losing equipment, going AWOL and repeatedly failing to carry out commands. He was bucked down a rank and was about to be stripped of his Special Forces uniform patch, having been shipped home early from Iraq. Once the diagnosis was made, the Army made amends. Rank and pay were restored. But Alford's parents and wife wonder why no one questioned how a soldier who had earned a Bronze Star in Afghanistan in 2002 could become, 18 months later, the foul-up of the unit. They want answers, and apologies." I live about 20 miles from Midway Meats, the slaughterhouse where a cow with BSV was slaughtered and processed a few months ago. You can see it from the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 if you're driving from Seattle to Portland. I often see it when I fly because it's just north of Runway 15 at the Chehalis airport, and I use the building as a reference point to start my base turn when I'm landing on that runway. Every time I see that place I'm reminded that Lieutenant AWOL has done nothing to protect the US food supply except point fingers and shout, "Not my fault!" Now, I'll think about Sergeant Alford, too. 86-43-04. Pass it on.

War News for March 14, 2004 Bring 'em on: One US soldier killed by roadside bomb in Baghdad. Bring 'em on: Three US soldiers killed, one wounded by roadside bomb in Baghdad. Unpleasant truths: an over-stretched military, a busted budget and rising anti-US sentiment. Happy birthday, Bush's War. Coming home. "All are coping with the psychological effects of the war, which forced them to question their own mortality and sometimes to kill. Many saw Iraqis dead along roadways and comrades fatally wounded in attacks. From Fort Campbell, 60 soldiers have died in the Iraq war and aftermath more than from any other military installation and hundreds were injured." Follow-up story on a wounded Indiana soldier. More wishful thinking. "In less than four months, a sovereign Iraqi government will have authority to impose restrictions on U.S. troops, or even request that they leave. U.S. military officials here, who are planning for American forces to be in Iraq through 2005, say they are sure the latter option won't be exercised. 'We intend to stay here as invited guests as long as we are needed, as long as we are wanted, and as long as we are invited,' Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, deputy operations chief, said last week." Regular readers will remember that discussions between the CPA and the hand-picked IGC on the status of US forces in Iraq collapsed when no IGC members wanted to be associated with authorizing a continued occupation presence. What makes the CPA so sure a future government, which promises to be even less compliant than the IGC, will consent to American troops remaining on Iraqi soil? Shock and Awe, Part Deux. "The White House will mark this Friday's first anniversary of the invasion of Iraq with a week-long media blitz arguing that the overthrow of Saddam Hussein was essential to combating global terrorism and making the United States safer." Military families sound off about Bush's War. "Today, the Pennington, N.J., woman will be at the U.S. air base in Dover, Del., where her son came home a war statistic. She'll be joined in protest with other military families who have lost loved ones in a war that has so far killed 555 Americans and wounded nearly 3,200. Tomorrow, many others will gather here in front of the Walter Reed Army Hospital, where the war's most seriously wounded recuperate, then will march to the White House. They are coming from California, New Jersey, Alabama, Illinois, Ohio, Arkansas and places in between, all paying their own way because they feel they must raise their voices to save others the anguish they feel." Commentary Editorial: "… Bush exclaims, 'Support our troops.' Then, he cuts benefits to military families and veterans. He allows our troops in Iraq to be provided with supplies that are inferior or run short, forcing our men and women to buy their own. Wounded soldiers are treated like dogs as they languish in miserable accommodations for days or weeks in bases before they receive adequate care for their wounds. Purple hearts are denied and dead soldiers come home in the dark of night to cover up their ballooning numbers." Editorial: "This unilateral war of choice was not only unjustified on national-security grounds --- that is more obvious than ever -- but was planned and conducted with staggering ineptitude. Thousands of American men and women have died or been injured as a result. Mr. Bush still -- sloppily, or cunningly -- refers to the Iraq war as a facet of the U.S. war on terrorism, but it is his leadership about which Americans ought to be most fearful." Analysis: "Apart from armed resistance, the US officials in charge of Iraq must also face the likelihood that Iraq’s new leaders will not be typical democrats in any sense. Indeed, al-Sistani, who has broadened his own national authority by channelling anti-American sentiment, already controls an authoritarian-minded clerical network. Like the Shiite clerics that helped garner support for the fight against the British, al-Sistani has been beating the same drum, demanding that the new Iraq be run for and by Iraqis. As a result, despite his unexplained intentions, he is the most popular man in Iraq today." This is one of the best analysis pieces I've posted in a long time. Opinion: "Reinhold Niebuhr, arguably America's greatest theologian, often observed that it is not the bad people we have to worry about but the good people. By 'good people' Niebuhr meant those who are so convinced of their own righteousness as to be blind to their capacity for evil. These are the ones who really ought to concern us. One year after the war in Iraq began, Niebuhr's warning is on target. Consider what the year has revealed. We have learned that this war was on the administration's agenda when it took office, months before 9/11. The Bush administration wanted this war and was in no mood to build the international coalition or consensus that might have given it legitimacy and heightened the chances of post-war success. This crowd was too sure it was right to do it right." Analysis: The Bush administration has taken a huge gamble in Iraq. The Iraqis may just muddle through in returning to a parliamentary system. But the rest of the Arabs, who resent centuries of Western dominance, will probably resist Iraqi democracy as a model, since it will have a ``Made in America'' tag on it. Given its unwieldy constitution and its outstanding ethnic disputes, Iraq could instead fall victim to gridlock or become another Northern Ireland. If it does, the administration may well have discredited democracy in the region." Another good read, by Juan Cole. Memorial Faces of the fallen. "The war, which began a year ago amid non-stop media coverage, has faded from the limelight, although it is still deadly. Gone are the televised missile attacks on Baghdad and rumbling tanks passing through palm groves. Instead, the fighting breaks out along empty roads or at guard posts. Bombings and sniper attacks replaced set-piece battles with swooping aircraft and artillery barrages. Military accidents such as vehicle crashes or helicopter collisions cause many casualties. Despite the far-away feel, the fallen are real people. They have names and faces. Each man and woman deserves recognition for taking on a risky challenge in the service of this country's armed forces. Compared to past national conflicts, the number of deaths is small. But the sacrifice and loss on a personal level is just as painful…Before the war is wrapped up and American troops depart, there will be more fatalities. Only then can the full human cost of the war be measured. But as the first anniversary of the war approaches, it is time to stop and think about those who have given their lives, and why." The article contains a link to a section containing the portraits of US soldiers killed in Iraq and brief biographies of each. Casualty Reports Local story: California soldier killed in Iraq. 86-43-04. Pass it on.

War News for March 12 and 13, 2004 Bring 'em on: Two US soldiers killed, four wounded by roadside bomb near Tikrit. Bring 'em on: Two Iraqi women working for Halliburton assassinated near Basra. Bring 'em on: One US soldier killed, two wounded by roadside bomb near Baquba. Bring 'em on: Two US soldiers killed, one wounded by roadside bomb near Habbaniyah. Bring 'em on: Assassination attempt at Baghdad mosque wounds Sunni cleric, kills son. Bring 'em on: One Iraqi killed, one wounded in attempted bomb attack on US convoy near Fallujah. Bring 'em on: Aide to al-Sadr assassinated near Najaf. Bring 'em on: Bomb in Baghdad commercial district wounds several Iraqi civilians, kills one. Bring 'em on: Bomb destroys Baghdad mosque. Four members of ICDC arrested in assassination of US CPA officials near Hilla. CPA reports an average of 19 attacks against coalition forces daily for the past week. Shi'ite clergy attack interim constitution. Lieutenant AWOL sends secret "senior official" to Baghdad. "The White House official is scheduled to arrive in Iraq this weekend for meetings with the U.S.-handpicked council to jumpstart the process, after L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator of Iraq, and other coalition officials failed to end the squabbling, U.S. officials said. At the administration's request, The Washington Post is not identifying the official before his arrival in Iraq because of security concerns." The Faces of Iraq. A series of eight stories from Iraqi citizens. Bushies continue to stonewall cost estimates of Bush's War. " The Pentagon's refusal to estimate costs is the same stance it took before the war. For months leading up to the invasion, officials said they couldn't estimate because they didn't know how long it would take to fight the war. Within days after it started, however, the Pentagon sent Congress a request for $63 billion. 'So you know they had it in their back pockets,' all along, said Cindy Williams, a former congressional budget officer now with the MIT security studies program. 'They were just not wanting to disclose to the American people on the eve of the war how much it was going to cost.'" Commentary Opinion: "Nowhere is this ignorance more apparent than in Iraq, where last week’s belated signing of the Temporary Administrative Law or interim constitution has not ended bickering by Shi’ites, who comprise 60 per cent of the population, about Sunnis, who comprise under 20 per cent, as well as the four million Kurds, who also account for nearly 20 per cent. Iraq can expect another explosion as soon as American troops have gone because L. Paul Bremer III, presidential envoy of the United States of America, seems to have learnt nothing from the past." Editorial: "When President Bush took office, an imminent threat against the United States indeed existed, but it wasn't from Saddam Hussein…The Bush administration was apprised of that threat by the outgoing Clinton administration and presented with a plan of action for taking the fight aggressively and soon to Bin Laden. The White House all but ignored the warning. Instead, counterterrorism funding was cut and, as former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill has disclosed, the president and his national security team focused on removing Saddam Hussein from power." Casualty Reports Local story: Kentucky soldier killed in Iraq. Local story: Wisconsin soldier killed in Iraq. Local story: Pennsylvania civilian killed in Iraq. Local story: Missouri soldier killed in Iraq. Local story: North Carolina soldier dies in Iraq. Local story: Oklahoma civilian killed in Iraq. Awards and Decorations Local story: Wisconsin Marine decorated for valor. 86-43-04. Pass it on.

War News for March 10, 2004 Bring ‘em on: Spanish troops under mortar fire near Diwanlya. Bring ‘em on: Two American contractors and Iraqi interpreter killed in ambush near Hilla. Bring ‘em on: Two US soldiers wounded in unspecified explosion. Bring ‘em on: More explosions and small arms fire reported in Baghdad. Bring ‘em on: Bomb at SCIRI office in Baquba wounds one Iraqi. Bring ‘em on: One Italian Carabinieri wounded, four Iraqi policemen killed in firefight with Shi’ite militia near Nasiriyah. Bring ‘em on: Mosul police chief survives attempted assassination. CPA awards contract to run pro-democracy advertising campaign in Iraq. Halliburton reports $85 million profit on $3.6 billion revenue from Iraq contracts. Iraqi farmers claim US occupation is damaging agriculture. Arab-Kurd tensions continue to build in Kirkuk. Armed guards for schoolchildren. “His is a typical story of the new Iraq: a man with a thriving business selling satellite dishes but who lives in fear in a lawless country.” The US Fourth Estate and Iraq. “The study, by the university's Center for International and Security Studies, concluded that newspaper coverage generally failed to adequately question the U.S. administration's efforts to link its campaign against Iraq and the ‘war on terror’…’Too many journalists acted as virtual stenographers for the current administration, in effect validating President (George W.) Bush's linkage of terrorism, Iraq and weapons of mass destruction,’ said University of Maryland journalism professor Susan Moeller, the report's author.” Rummy’s end-run on the CIA. “Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Tenet said he was unaware until recently that the Pentagon unit had presented its findings to the offices of Vice President Dick Cheney and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice. It is not clear whether Cheney or Rice was present for the briefing, which was mentioned in a Defense Department letter released by the Armed Services Committee on Tuesday… The Pentagon unit was created by Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. Feith has said the unit comprised a handful of intelligence analysts, and that it was established to examine state sponsorship of terrorism, but it is principally known for its efforts to assemble evidence linking Iraq to al Qaeda.” Northern oil pipeline still requires major repairs. The Problem of the Grudge Informer. Where is Lon Fuller when we need him? Commentary Opinion: “The coalition’s track record of rule in Iraq is a pitiful one ­ a catalogue of errors and misjudgments. It is time for the coalition to step down and pass responsibility to a democratically elected Iraqi government. Despite the UN verdict, which is also a truly fallible institution that has made its share of mistakes in the past, and repeated claims by the coalition that the security situation makes elections impossible, it is time to accept that it is the coalition’s presence that creates such a situation.” Editorial: “President Bush also wants Iraq to be someone else's worry when the fall campaign begins in earnest. That's why the June 30 deadline originally was set. Bush isn't about to let it slip.” Editorial: “Constitution-making is a classic Muslim crisis. The demand for the ‘shariah’ is a latent emotion that becomes overpowering after the achievement of a state. Pakistan began as a secular state under the Quaid-e-Azam, then trimmed its sails a bit under Liaquat Ali Khan and his Objectives Resolution, only to fall in the trap of General Ziaul Haq and his ‘shariah’. The worst years of Pakistan were experienced under the ‘shariah’ and the jihad it unleashed in the region. The irony is that after the Muslims have achieved a legal shipwreck they tend to go into denial and refuse to accept that the ‘shariah’ is responsible for it. Indeed, often they insist that the shipwreck is due to a scarcity of shariah rather than an abundance of it. When Ayatollah Khomeini imposed his ‘shariah’, the Pakistani clergy started coveting it; when Mullah Umar went one better on him in Afghanistan, Pakistan began yearning for Talibanisation. No one learns any lessons; in fact, lessons don’t even register. That is why the news that Iran’s ‘shariah’ has abolished ‘rijm’ (stoning to death) and Egypt’s ‘shariah’ has allowed ‘riba’ (bank interest) has not reached Pakistan.” Casualty Reports Local story: Louisiana soldier dies in Iraq. Local story: Florida soldier wounded in Iraq. Local story: Pennsylvania soldier wounded in Iraq. Local story: North Dakota Marine dies in Kuwait. 86-43-04. Pass it on.