<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/eyN_4GsfpwI"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/eyN_4GsfpwI" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object> Got that? I bet when you pulled that leaver for the democrats last November, you were voting for an escalation to the war. I know I was You silly democrats...
UN: Iraqi gov't held casualty figures By THOMAS WAGNER, Associated Press Writer BAGHDAD - The Iraqi government withheld recent casualty figures from the United Nations, fearing they would be used to present a grim picture of Iraq that would undermine the coalition's security efforts, U.N. officials said Wednesday. Working with its own figures, the U.N. released a new human rights report Wednesday saying that sectarian violence continued to claim the lives of a large number of Iraqi civilians in Sunni Arab and Shiite neighborhoods of Iraq's capital, despite the coalition's new Baghdad security plan. --- For the first time, UNAMI said, its assessment of the human rights situation in Iraq did not contain overall death figures from the Iraqi government because it refused to release them, omitting what many had viewed as a rare, reliable indicator of suffering in Iraq. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070425/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_un_report
It is possible that the Bush Administration did not order the Iraqis not to release the numbers? Yes, but fairly unlikely. After all our working class "volunteers" now comprise about 95% of the "coalition of th willing". The surge may only be trickling at best.
U.S. officials exclude car bombs in touting drop in Iraq violence By Nancy A. Youssef McClatchy Newspapers WASHINGTON - U.S. officials who say there has been a dramatic drop in sectarian violence in Iraq since President Bush began sending more American troops into Baghdad aren't counting one of the main killers of Iraqi civilians. Car bombs and other explosive devices have killed thousands of Iraqis in the past three years, but the administration doesn't include them in the casualty counts it has been citing as evidence that the surge of additional U.S. forces is beginning to defuse tensions between Shiite and Sunni Muslims. http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwas...53.htm?source=rss&channel=krwashington_nation
that is unreal. It is like the Rockets and Jazz playing a game, and deciding that in the second half baskets scored by anyone wearing purple or blue just don't don't count. Amazingly enough that second half would go so well that the Rockets would have perfect defense.
i wanna konw who is patreas and why is everyone acting like he is the second coming of Jesus in a uniform. It seems like we put all this pressure on him for it to succeed and if it doesn't then the gov't can just distance themselves from him if he fails and the blame won't fall on the policy makers, rather those that enacted them. This is the 6th troop surge and its not that much.
Iraqi Parliament Planning TWO MONTH Recess -- From the statement of Senator Carl Levin on the Senate floor last Thursday. --
Every 6 months or so they trot out a new guy. There is only so long you can look credible as the news drones on. He will be writing a book like Powell and Tenet etc. to protect his reputation as an intelligent and most likely relatively honest guy. After all he is just doing his job.
Majority of Iraqi Lawmakers Now Reject Occupation AlterNet reports a significant development that has yet to be noted in the U.S. media — a majority of Iraqi parliament members have signed a petition calling for a U.S. withdrawal: A new Gallup poll finds a majority of Americans — roughly 60 percent — are united with the Iraqi parliament. http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/51624/
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^^^ You should at least let people know it's over an hour. Republicans Berate Bush Over Iraq In Private White House Meeting In a sign of the growing fissure between the White House and its congressional allies over the war, NBC News reports tonight that 11 Republican members of Congress pleaded yesterday with President Bush and his senior aides to change course in Iraq. The group of Republicans was led by Reps. Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Charlie Dent (R-PA), and the meeting included Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Karl Rove, and Tony Snow. One member of Congress called the discussion the “most unvarnished conversation they’ve ever had with the president,” and NBC’s Tim Russert said it “may have been a defining pivotal moment” in the Iraq debate. video: http://thinkprogress.org/2007/05/09/iraq-meeting/
Interesting. Kirk and Dent saw their victory margins drop a lot last Fall, Kirk's dramatically. Dent's district was actually carried by Kerry in '04. Both of these guys have to be worried about '08. Kirk, in particular, has an impressive resume and served in the Bush Sr. and Clinton administrations for a time, and is a Navy reservist who has been in intelligence. His margins the last 3 elections? 69% (2002), 64% (2004) and 53% (2006). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Kirk Will Bush pay the least bit of attention to these Congressmen? I doubt it. D&D. Madness Abounds.
Based on my understanding of the man (Bush), he views not listening to them as a virtue. He seems to value 'being resolute' to a degree that it becomes irrational.
It's a pity. Some, like Kirk, could be of real value to Bush and to his district, but the obtuseness (to be kind) of Bush, his refusal to listen to any counsel not agreeing with his preconceived views, does more than harm the country and our armed forces... it harms his own party. There is no question that Bush is irrational. I certainly agree with you about that. D&D. Madness Abounds.
Back to the surge 3-4 mos in. Hayes, Basso. Jorge think it un American to report news that does not make it look like we are surging. Fox adheres to this. However, those damn radical libs at ABC News. ************** A sharp increase in mortar attacks on the Green Zone the one-time oasis of security in Iraq's turbulent capital has prompted the U.S. Embassy to issue a strict new order telling all employees to wear flak vests and helmets while in unprotected buildings or whenever they are outside. The order, obtained by The Associated Press, has created a siege mentality among U.S. staff inside the Green Zone following a recent suicide attack on parliament. It has also led to new fears about long-term safety in the place where the U.S. government is building a massive and expensive new embassy. The situation marks a sharp turnaround for the heavily guarded Green Zone long viewed as the safest corner of Baghdad with its shops, restaurants, American fast-food outlets and key Iraqi and American government offices. The security deterioration also holds dire implications for the Iraqi government, which uses the Green Zone as a haven for key meetings crucial to its ability to govern. On Wednesday, for example, Vice President Dick Cheney held meetings in the Green Zone with Iraq's prime minister. Reporters covering the Cheney visit were hustled into a secure area when a large explosion rattled windows in the U.S. Embassy late in the afternoon. Cheney spokeswoman Lea Anne McBride said the vice president's meeting "was not disturbed and he was not moved." The increase in mortar attacks comes despite the presence of tens of thousands more American and Iraqi soldiers in the streets of Baghdad as part of the security crackdown ordered by President Bush in January. The vest and helmet security order was issued May 3, one day after four Asian contract workers working for the U.S. government were killed when rockets or mortars slammed into the Green Zone. It was at least the third straight day of barrages against the 3.5-square-mile area along the west bank of the Tigris River in the center of Baghdad. Because of the "recent increase of indirect fire attacks" the military term for mortar and artillery barrages the order told embassy employees that until further notice, "outdoor movement" must be "restricted to a minimum." http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=3155382
