Today in Iraq

War News for April 15, 2004 Bring 'em on: Italian hostage killed by insurgents. Bring 'em on: One US soldier killed, five wounded by roadside bomb near Samarra. Bring 'em on: Iranian diplomat assassinated in Baghdad. Bring 'em on: One US soldier killed in unspecified action near Mosul . Bring 'em on: Four Iraqis killed, six wounded in mortarr attack in Mosul. Bring 'em on: Fighting continues in Fallujah. Bring 'em on: Rockets strike house in Baquba, killing three Iraqis, wounding two. Bring 'em on: Insurgents demolish bridges on US supply routes. UN envoy urges "caretaker" government in Iraq. Illinois Guardsmen extended in Iraq. Insurance costs for contractors have doubled in the last two weeks. "Experts say security and insurance costs now represent half the total cost of doing business in Iraq for international firms. That is if they are able to continue doing business at all." Al-Sadr offers truce in Najaf. Contractors haul ass out of Iraq. "More than a few have fled their jobs without notice. At the urging of their governments, many citizens of Russia, France, and South Korea are preparing to leave. Some contractors and aid organizations have packed up and moved workers to neighboring countries." Another Army analyist bitch-slaps Lieutenant AWOL and Rummy. "The administration 'either misunderstood or, worse, wished away' the hard slogging required to build a country, exposing serious flaws in the way the United States is waging its war against terrorism, according to a hard-hitting paper by Lieutenant-Colonel Antulio Echevarria of the U.S. Army War College's Strategic Studies Institute...The administration 'low-balled' the number of troops required, the expected length of deployment and the overall cost of the war, he argues in the paper, posted on the institute's website. That left a U.S.-led invasion force that simply wasn't large enough to ensure the success of political and economic reconstruction." Commentary Analysis: "Indications the British and Americans have not seen eye-to-eye on Iraq go back to before the Iraq invasion when British officials were unable to get Washington to develop a more comprehensive post-war restructuring plan. That was exacerbated by the decision of CPA administrator Paul Bremer to allow the complete disbandment of the Iraqi army and freezing out of Baathist administrators, decisions the British say has led directly to the current security situation." Book Review: "Bush’s ongoing lies about Iraq’s WMD capabilities and ties to Al Qaeda, Dean asserts, constitute an attempt to deceive Congress — an 'impeachable offense.' He notes that Nixon, already impeached for the Watergate cover-up, barely avoided yet another article of impeachment over his extending the Vietnam War into Cambodia, and got off the hook only when it came out that he had secretly informed a few key congressional leaders. Dean quotes James Iredell, a future Supreme Court justice, speaking at the Constitutional Convention of 1787: 'The president must surely be punishable for giving false information to the Senate.' Not anymore, apparently." Casualty Reports Local story: Texas soldier killed in Iraq. Local story: Arizona Marine killed in Iraq. Local story: Illinois soldier killed in Iraq. Local story: Virginia contractor killed in Iraq. Local story: Alabama contractor missing in Iraq. Local story: Two Illinois Guardsmen wounded in Iraq. 86-43-04. Bring it on.