Today in Iraq

War News for May 11, 2004 Bring ‘em on: One Russian contractor killed, two kidnapped in ambush near Latifiya. Bring ‘em on: Four Iraqis killed, 22 wounded by bomb in Kirkuk market. Bring ‘em on: One Dutch soldier killed, one wounded in ambush near Samawah. Bring ‘em on: US troops ambushed in Mosul. One Iraqi child killed. Bring ‘em on: One US soldier killed, one wounded by roadside bomb near Samarra. Bring ‘em on: One US soldier dies from wounds received in ambush near Mosul. Bring ‘em on: Explosion reported on oil pipeline near Musayyib. Bring ‘em on: Thirty-five Iraqis killed in fighting in Sadr City. Bring ‘em on: Five Iraqis killed, 14 wounded in fighting near Kufa. Bring ‘em on: US civilian found dead near Baghdad. Bring ‘em on: KBR convoy ambushed near at-Rutba. CENTCOM reports one US soldier died in a vehicle collision near Baghdad. You can read General Taguba’s AR 15-6 Report here, in PDF format. Professor Cole has a revealing post on US-Spanish operations near Najaf in early April. “The post-Franco, post-fascist Spanish military must have been absolutely astounded and disgusted by the Texan demand that they deliver Muqtada to the US "dead or alive." And, they immediately refused. Obviously, if the Spanish had taken the US bait and carried out the arrest, their forces would have faced the full fury of the Sadrists, who are capable of quite a lot of fury. This whole episode strikes me as shameful and cowardly on the Americans' part. It seems obvious that Bush, who must have made the decision to launch the largely unprovoked attack on Muqtada, was hoping to make the Spanish the fall guys. (Two pieces of evidence point to Bush: 1)We now know he was the one who ordered that "heads must roll" at Fallujah, so these major military campaigns are his idea; and, 2) the phraseology "take him dead or alive" is distinctively his.)” I know how this guy feels. “Before Memorial Day 2003 Mertes painted a sign with the number of soldiers who had died in the war -- just to help make people aware. After a few days, he made a new number and stapled it to the painted sign. Then he decided to make numbers and change them. He didn't really intend to continue keeping track. But then someone stole the sign. That's when Mertes became determined.” I try to avoid posting links from anonymous sources. However, this post has a ring of authenticity because the author uses accurate terminology from Army intelligence doctrine, such as “low level collector,” a term used by Army counterintelligence in low-level source operations, and he seems to have a working knowledge of Military Intelligence. Interrogators receive part of their training at Fort Huachuca. Readers can decide if the information is credible. Commentary Editorial: “Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, also shares in the shame. Myers asked “60 Minutes II” to hold off reporting news of the scandal because it could put U.S. troops at risk. But when the report was aired, a week later, Myers still hadn’t read Taguba’s report, which had been completed in March. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld also failed to read the report until after the scandal broke in the media. By then, of course, it was too late. Myers, Rumsfeld and their staffs failed to recognize the impact the scandal would have not only in the United States, but around the world.” Opinion: “Did top officials order the use of torture? It depends on the meaning of the words ‘order’ and ‘torture.’ Last August Mr. Rumsfeld's top intelligence official sent Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, the commander of the Guantánamo prison, to Iraq. General Miller recommended that the guards help interrogators, including private contractors, by handling prisoners in a way that ‘sets the conditions’ for ‘successful interrogation and exploitation.’ What did he and his superiors think would happen?” Analysis: “Vietnam and Iraq were both wars of choice. And they are also similar in that deceit and misrepresentation were employed by the US government, first to engage US forces and then to keep them there. Bush took us to war on the grounds that Saddam possessed weapons of mass destruction and had ties to al-Qaeda. No weapons of mass destruction have been found and no ties to al-Qaeda have been discovered. We were also told our troops would be greeted with open arms and flowers, which didn't last long, and that Iraqi oil would pay for most of the reconstruction. Now we're told we're in Iraq to nurture democratic self-government, while political reconstruction is also going badly.” Editorial: “A large segment of the American public still perceives Bush as strong on national security. Yet in just three years, his policies have helped squander the good will that flowed toward America after 9/11. In much of the world, that good will has been replaced with a stockpile of resentment and hatred. A hated America is not a secure America. And it's not the America we want the world to know.” Editorial cartoon: Le Monde. Analysis: “Conveniently forgotten is the offhand remark of Defense Undersecretary for Policy Douglas Feith, who is quoted by subordinates - in a 110-page report by the New York City Bar Association -- saying ‘the Geneva Accords’ on the treatment of prisoners are laws ‘in the service of terrorists.’ Which may explain why the National Guard prison guards knew squat about these international treaty obligations. Long before official reports and journalistic exposes revealed the horrific abuse of Iraqi prisoners, high-ranking American officers in the Judge Advocate General (JAG) expressed their deep concern that the civilian officials at the Pentagon were undermining the military's detention rules and regulations, and ignoring interrogation procedures, even citing cases of torture. The Pentagon's civilian leadership was apprised in late spring of 2003 and again in October. The Financial Times' John Dizard has dug up the New York City Bar Association's report that leaves no doubt the practices revealed at Abu Ghraib violated both U.S. and international law. JAG officers are quoted as telling Scott Horton, the chair of the Committee on International Law of this particular Bar Association, that Feith had ‘significantly weakened’ the military's rules and regulations governing prisoners of war… One deputy counsel at the Pentagon, a staunch Republican, recently resigned because, as he explained not for attribution, ‘right-wing ideologues are putting at risk the reputation of the U.S. military.’” Casualty Reports Local story: Texas soldier killed in Iraq. Local story: Florida sailor killed in Iraq. Local story: Florida sailor killed in Iraq. Local story: Oregon soldier dies in Iraq. Local story: Virginia Guardsman wounded in Iraq. Local story: North Dakota soldier wounded in Iraq. Local story: Massachusetts soldier wounded in Iraq. Local story: Kentucky soldier wounded in Iraq. Note to Readers I have removed the comments I posted yesterday directed toward the anonymous reader from OSD. I posted those comments because I saw an opportunity to express my anger, outrage and personal contempt directly to source of those feelings. I chose my words carefully, with the intent to be as offensive and vulgar as possible. My sitemeter stats indicate that a reader from OSD viewed the page while my comments were posted. Mission accomplished. 86-43-04. Pass it on.