posted on October 6, 2006 05:30:01 AM new
By Will Dunham - ANALYSIS REUTERS NEWS
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Five years of warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan have left signs of wear and tear on the U.S. military, raising questions about its ability to sustain its current level of operations and confront potential new crises.
The U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, ordered following the September 11 attacks, began on October 7, 2001, thrusting the all-volunteer U.S. military into combat that has continued unabated there and, since March 2003, in Iraq.
Senior military officers, including Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker, have warned of falling combat readiness of some units and mounting equipment shortfalls, with Abrams tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles and other equipment battered from extended use on the battlefield.
Many troops are facing second and third long combat tours and less time between overseas deployments. At the same time, the U.S. death toll mounts, with more than 2,730 troops killed in Iraq and about 280 more in Afghanistan.
"We're in the early stages of some sort of crisis that, if not addressed, will result in breaking the force," said retired Army Col. Andrew Bacevich, a military expert at Boston University. "You'd have to be remarkably naive to think that we're going to be able to continue to place this level of stress on the force for all that much longer."
The last five years mark the first time the all-volunteer force has been tested by protracted warfare. The draft ended in 1973. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld opposes resuming it.
Lexington Institute defense analyst Loren Thompson said the Navy was the only service in genuinely good shape in a military of 1.42 million active-duty troops and 830,000 part-time reserves. "The ground forces -- the Army and the Marine Corps -- are in a very rundown and beleaguered state. And the Air Force's fleet of aircraft has become almost archaic, they're so aged," he said.
posted on October 7, 2006 05:43:01 AM newthis man really needs to get laid.....
And I bet you are the man to do it for him
Absolute faith has been shown, consistently, to breed intolerance. And intolerance, history teaches us, again and again, begets violence.
---------------------------------- The duty of a patriot in this time and place is to ask questions, to demand answers, to understand where our nation is headed and why. If the answers you get do not suit you, or if they frighten you, or if they anger you, it is your duty as a patriot to dissent. Freedom does not begin with blind acceptance and with a flag. Freedom begins when you say 'No.'
posted on October 7, 2006 05:46:14 AM new
SINCE BUSH INVADED IRAQ AMERICA HAS 2738 DEAD TROOPS.
SINCE BUSH INVADED IRAQ AMERICA HAS 20687 WOUNDED TROOPS.
BELOW IS JUST A FEW MORE REASONS WHY NO ONE CAN BELIEVE WHAT BUSH AND HIS SUPPORTERS SAY ABOUT HIS IRAQ WAR FAILURE.
10/07/06 Reuters: Five bodies found in Baghdad
Police found five bodies with signs of torture and bullet wounds in the eastern Shi'ite Sadr city district of Baghdad, police said.
10/07/06 Reuters: Gunmen kill two in Baghdad bakery
Gunmen stormed into a bakery killing two workers and wounding one in the relatively upscale Mansour district of western Baghdad, police said
10/07/06 Reuters: Gunmen kill four civilians in Baquba
Gunmen killed four people in different incidents in Baquba, according to police sources.
posted on October 9, 2006 04:25:46 AM new
10/09/06 UPDATE ON BUSH'S INVASION OF IRAQ
SINCE BUSH INVADED IRAQ AMERICA HAS 2,744 DEAD AMERICAN TROOPS UP 6 IN LASE 2 DAYS.
SINCE BUSH INVADED IRAQ AMERICA HAS 20687 WOUNDED TROOPS.
BELOW IS JUST A FEW MORE REASONS WHY NO ONE CAN BELIEVE BUSH AND HIS SUPPORTERS ABOUT HIS IRAQ WAR.
10/08/06 RNZ: More murders in Baghdad
Baghdad police have found the bodies of 35 murder victims scattered around the Iraqi capital, many of them showing signs of torture and all shot dead at close range.
10/08/06 AP: Worries over growing violence in northern Iraq
Bombings and shootings are increasing in Iraq's north as part of a power struggle between Arabs and Kurds. Car bombings in oil-rich Kirkuk grew fivefold last month and hundreds of Kurdish families have left the north's biggest city...
THE GOOD NEWS IS,IN LESS THAN 1 MONTH AMERICANS CAN START TAKING THEIR COUNTRY BACK. YES!!!
Thanks for posting on how few death's we have had in this major war. It only proves how many lives have been saved because of this action.
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"Unfortunately there are levels of Stupid that just can't be cured!!" The new Demomoron motto.
posted on October 9, 2006 05:31:03 PM new
10/9/06 UPDATE ON BUSH'S INVASION OF IRAQ
SINCE BUSH INVADED IRAQ AMERICA HAS 2,747 DEAD AMERICAN TROOPS UP 3 SINCE THIS MORNING.
SINCE BUSH INVADED IRAQ AMERICA HAS 20687 WOUNDED TROOPS.
BELOW IS JUST A FEW MORE REASONS WHY NO ONE CAN BELIEVE BUSHY AND HIS SUPPORTERS ABOUT THE INVASION OF IRAQ.
10/09/06 Reuters: Three Marines killed in western Iraq
Three Marines were killed in action in Anbar Province in western Iraq on Sunday, the U.S. military said in a statement...The U.S. military had reported the deaths of three Marines in the largely desert province on Friday.
10/09/06 Reuters: At least 13 killed, 46 wounded by Baghdad car bomb
At least 13 people were killed and 46 wounded when a car bomb exploded in a busy market in northeast Baghdad on Monday, police said. The car was parked on the side of the street in Shalal market in the mainly Shi'ite Shaab district...
THE GOOD NEWS IS,IN LESS THAN 1 MONTH AMERICANS CAN START TAKING THEIR COUNTRY BACK. YES!!!
posted on October 10, 2006 04:41:26 PM new
10/10/06 AFP: Explosions rock Baghdad as US arms dump catches fire
A fire erupted in an ammunition store at an United States military base in Baghdad, a spokesman said, triggering massive explosions that could be heard across the war-torn Iraqi capital.
IN THE LAST 2 DAYS OVER 100 DEAD BODIES FOUND ASSASSINATED IN IRAQ'S CIVIL WAR.
10/10/06 CNHI: New medical treatment eases war injury pain
a pioneering medical method developed two years ago at the John P. Murtha Neuroscience and Pain Institute here is helping wounded soldiers better cope with their suffering than in previous wars.
HEY NEO-CONS TRY TO SWIFT MURTHA AND YOU LOOSE.
THE GOOD NEWS IS IN LESS THAN A MONTH AMERICANS CAN START TAKING BACK THEIR COUNTRY FROM LIARS AND CHEATS.
posted on October 11, 2006 05:09:46 AM new
10/11/06 UPDATE ON BUSH'S INVASION OF IRAQ
SINCE BUSH INVADED IRAQ AMERICA HAS 2,753 DEAD AMERICAN TROOPS UP 6 SINCE YESTERDAY.
SINCE BUSH INVADED IRAQ AMERICA HAS 20687 WOUNDED TROOPS.
BELOW IS JUST A FEW MORE REASONS WHY NO ONE CAN BELIEVE BUSHY AND HIS SUPPORTERS ABOUT THE INVASION OF IRAQ.
10/10/06 MNF: Three more Marines Killed in Al Anbar province
Three Marines assigned to 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division died Monday from enemy action while operating in Al Anbar Province
posted on October 11, 2006 12:27:03 PM new
HEY NEO-CONS DENY THIS!!!!
Will Media Finally Count the Dead in Iraq?
From the beginning, the U.S. military refused to count -- and the American media rarely probed -- civilian casualties as the result of our invasion of Iraq in 2003. Now a new study places the number at 600,000, more or less. Why is the AP playing up the view that the report is nothing but "politics"?
By Greg Mitchell
(October 11, 2006) -- From the beginning, the U.S. military refused to count -- and the American media rarely probed -- civilian casualties as the result of our invasion of Iraq in 2003.
For the longest time these deaths were rarely mentioned at all. In recent months, they do appear nearly every day or two, usually in relation to several dozen bodies discovered around Baghdad with holes drilled in their skulls or showing other forms of torture. We also now learn about U.S. soldiers arrested for killing innocent cvilians. Even so, the press almost never attempts to quantify the Iraqi death toll.
Now today comes a shocking study from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health -- to be published Thursday by Lancet, a leading medical journal -- based on very detailed (and no doubt dangerous) field work. It suggests that more than 600,000 Iraqis have met a violent or otherwise war-related end since the U.S. arrived in March 2003. Even now, however, The Associated Press casts a very skeptical eye on the study, emphasizing the views of one “expert” (as the AP describes him) who charges that it is nothing but "politics,” with the November election approaching.
The expert is Anthony Cordesman, who actually is a respected voice on military matters (he recently said flatly that a civil war is indeed raging in Iraq). But the Washington Post, fortunately, quickly found others with far more experience in studying civilian casualties who basically endorsed the Johns Hopkins study.
The AP report by Malcolm Ritter called the study “controversial” right in its first sentence, then went on to cite Cordesman as the only critic. Ritter also noted that the invaluable Web site, Iraq Body Count, which has tried to keep a running tally, places the number of dead at 50,000. At least he admitted that base their count strictly on confirmed media reports.
But, as I said at the top, media reports have been scattered, partly due to disinterest (in the past) and the dangers of investigating (currently).
The Johns Hopkins count, based on door-to-door surveys in 18 provinces (most of them not beset by daily violence) could be lower, the study suggests -- but the bottom line is still 426,000 and the high end soars to nearly 800,000. The last guess coming from President Bush was 30,000.
Today, asked about this at a press conference, Bush declined to amend his 30,000 figure, called the new survey not "credible," and, seriously, added: "I am, you know, amazed that this is a society which so wants to be free that they’re willing to — you know, that there’s a level of violence that they tolerate."
He meant Iraq, but he could just as easily been talking about America.
The Washington Post, meanwhile, interviewed Ronald Waldman, an epidemiologist at Columbia University who worked at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for many years. He called the Johns Hopkins survey method "tried and true," and added that "this is the best estimate of mortality we have."
Sarah Leah Whitson, an official of Human Rights Watch in New York, told the Post, "We have no reason to question the findings or the accuracy" of the survey.
Two weeks ago, in a column, I explored Bush’s recent statement that, one day, the Iraq adventure will be looked on as “just a comma." Baffled at first (did he mean “coma”), I soon discovered that the “a comma, not a period” phrase is widely used by some Christians today, though it originated, oddly enough, with the comedienne Gracie Allen.
Anyway: at that time, to graphically show what 2,700 American deaths in Iraq looked like, I displayed 2,700 periods (not commas) on the page. But I also noted that the number of Iraqi casualties dwarfed the American toll.
Now, thanks to the Johns Hopkins survey, we have a better (if not confirmed) idea of that. Unfortunately, I cannot think of a way to readily show 600,000 periods, although I suppose I could print 600 of them and then say “multiply by 1000 in your mind”.
Maybe that would be hard to imagine -- one would hope so.
So, instead, I will close with something a little more palpable. When I was doing my own field research a few decades ago in another place devastated by violent death – Hiroshima – I found that the most valuable and chilling moment of all came on virtually the first day, when I climbed a hill overlooking the rebuilt city. It resides in a natural bowl formed by the hills, and I found it all too easy to imagine nearly everything spread out below me, including all the people, dead and gone.
Here is a list of 12 American cities with a populaton of just under or just over 600,000. Think of them disappearing -- and imagine the U.S. one-tenth its current size. Then you've got the possible toll in Iraq:
Austin
Baltimore
Denver
Boston
Seattle
Milwaukee
Memphis
Washington, D.C.
Ft. Worth
Portland
Las Vegas
posted on October 11, 2006 02:07:37 PM new
Stonecold613, you keep pasting the same sentences month after month but I can see that you have no realization of the situation in Iraq. It gets worse by the day.
Violence forces 1,000 Iraqis a day to flee homes: U.N.
Wed Oct 11, 1:49 PM ET
GENEVA (Reuters) - Over 1,000 Iraqis are fleeing their homes each day because of rampant violence, and revenge killings are "totally out of control," the U.N.'s top humanitarian official said on Wednesday.
Jan Egeland, U.N. Under-Secretary General, told a news conference that sectarian violence and military operations had forced over 315,000 to flee their homes in the past eight months.
"Some 9,000 have been displaced every week ... even worse, perhaps 100 people are killed every day," he said.
The violence was related to sectarian killings, with Sunni Muslims being forced to flee Shi'a Muslim areas and Shias fleeing Sunni strongholds, he said.
"Revenge killings seem now to be totally out of control. Many of those killed have been killed by gunshots or tortured to death," Egeland said.
The U.N.'s emergency relief coordinator appealed to ethnic and cultural leaders to see that "this has spiraled totally out of control...It has to stop."
Between 1.2 and 1.5 million Iraqis were sheltering in neighboring states, with some 2,000 crossing into
Syria each day, Egeland said.
Many of those who were fleeing were highly educated people, such as doctors, leaving the country facing a considerable brain drain, Egeland said.
"Some estimates are that universities and hospitals had a loss of up to 80 percent of their professional staff. A third or more of Iraqi professionals have also left the country," he said.
posted on October 11, 2006 02:34:21 PM new
Bigpeepa, that information means nothing to the morons who remain here. In addition to the American troops, there is a reliable estimate that 600,000 Iraqis have died in the violence of this war....almost three times the number of people reportedly killed by Saddam.
The idiots who reply to your notice of dead and wounded Americans with idiotic chants and silly personal insults don't give a dam about the troops.
And, it's not likely that they will ever experience an enrichment of mind or heart that will lead them to acquire a sensitive and intelligent understanding of the tragedy that this war entails, here and all over the world. Instead, they will march like mindless lemmings and without question or disagreement kiss the ass of their incompetent leader.
The administration of George Bush depends on that kind of mindless support.
posted on October 11, 2006 06:29:12 PM new
Kiara and Helenjw,
This study asked 80% of the Iraqi people they interviewed to produce proof of the deaths in their families. 90% of the families asked for proof produced death certificates.
I know very well that most of the Bushy supports on this board will try to DENY the M.I.T and JOHN Hopkins REPORT.
HELL'S BELLS even their failed leader George(Dumbo)Bushy said today the M.I.T and Hopkins people didn't know what they were talking about.
TO SHOW HOW OUT OF TOUCH AND IN THE DENIAL MOLD STONE IS. HE POSTED A POST TODAY CELEBRATING AND BRAGGING ABOUT A FEDERAL DEFICIT OF 247 BILLION DOLLARS FOR 2006.
STONE JUST KEEPS PROVING THERE IS NO FIX FOR NEO-CON STUPID. STONE WOULD MAKE OUT MUCH BETTER GOING BACK TO WHAT HE DOES BEST. I AM SURE STONE IS A VERY GOOD MOTOR HEAD.
HEY GALS PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU GALS PULL EVERY DEMOCRAT YOU KNOW TO THE VOTING BOOTHS ON 11/07/2006.
DUMBO BUSHY CALLED THE VOTING BOOTH "THE VOTING BOX" TODAY. I BELIEVE DUMBO WAS THINKING OF THE LAME DUCK BOX WE AMERICANS ARE ABOUT TO PUT HIM IN ON 11/07/2006.
WE AMERICANS CAN START DRAINING THE SLIME FROM THE SWAMP THE G.O.P. HAS PUT UPON US ALL IF WE VOTE.
posted on October 13, 2006 05:54:30 AM new
10/13/06 UPDATE ON BUSH'S INVASION OF IRAQ
SINCE BUSH INVADED IRAQ AMERICA HAS 2,758 DEAD AMERICAN TROOPS UP 4.
SINCE BUSH INVADED IRAQ AMERICA HAS 20,895 WOUNDED TROOPS.
BELOW IS JUST A FEW MORE REASONS WHY NO ONE CAN BELIEVE BUSHY AND HIS SUPPORTERS ABOUT THE INVASION OF IRAQ.
10/13/06 Reuters: Police find 14 bodies in orchard near Baghdad
The bodies of 14 construction workers, their throats slit and their hands and legs bound, were found in a rural area near Baghdad... Police said the laborers, among 17 workers who had been kidnapped after leaving their work on Thursday...near Dhuluiya
10/13/06 RFE: Bomb Inside Iraqi Police Station Kills Six
A bomb planted inside a police station in the Iraqi city of Al-Hillah killed six people today. Iraqi authorities say the head of a special counterinsurgency police unit, Colonel Salam al-Mamoury, was among the dead.
The good news is in just 3 weeks Americans can start taking their country back. See you all at the elections.
posted on October 13, 2006 06:01:33 AM new
Britain Army Chief Calls for Iraq Troop Pullout
By TARIQ PANJA, AP
LONDON (Oct. 13) - Britain's new army chief called for a withdrawal of British troops from Iraq, warning that the military's presence there only exacerbates security problems, according to an interview published Thursday.
Gen. Richard Dannatt described British Prime Minister Tony Blair's Iraq policies as "naive," declaring that while Iraqis might have welcomed coalition forces following the ouster of Saddam Hussein, the good will has since evaporated after years of violence.
The British military should "get ourselves out sometime soon because our presence exacerbates the security problems," Dannatt said in an interview with the Daily Mail released on the tabloid's Web site. "Whatever consent we may have had in the first place" from the Iraqi people "has largely turned to intolerance," he was quoted as saying.
The British government has not yet set a timetable for the departure of its 7,500 troops from Iraq.
The Defense Ministry responded to the interview by saying: "We have a clear strategy in Iraq. We are there with our international partners in support of the democratically elected government of Iraq, under a clear U.N. mandate."
posted on October 15, 2006 08:52:07 AM new
10/15/06 UPDATE ON BUSH'S INVASION OF IRAQ
SINCE BUSH INVADED IRAQ AMERICA HAS 2,763 DEAD AMERICAN TROOPS UP 5 IN THE LAST 2 DAYS.
SINCE BUSH INVADED IRAQ AMERICA HAS 20,895 WOUNDED TROOPS.
BELOW IS JUST A FEW MORE REASONS WHY NO ONE CAN BELIEVE BUSHY AND HIS SUPPORTERS ABOUT THE INVASION OF IRAQ.
10/15/06 AP: Death toll climbs to 63 in tit-for-tat killings north of Baghdad
Suspected Shiite militiamen killed at least 46 Sunni Arabs in a weekend rampage of revenge killing in a city north of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry official said Sunday, raising the toll in the latest sectarian bloodletting there to 63.
10/15/06 AP: Iraq's Interior Ministry fires 3,000 in police force
Iraq's Shiite-dominated Interior Ministry, whose police forces have been accused of complicity in sectarian attacks, has fired 3,000 employees accused of corruption or rights abuses and will change top commanders, a spokesman said Saturday.
REMEMBER BUSHY,CHENEY AND RUMSFILED BRAGGING ABOUT HOW MANY POLICE THEY TRAINED. EVERYTHING THESE GUYS DO IN IRAQ TURNS OUT TO BE FAILURES LIKE THEY ARE
10/15/06 MNF: 3 MND-B Soldiers killed by roadside bomb
Three Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers were killed at approximately 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 14, when the vehicle they were riding in was struck by an improvised-explosive device south of Baghdad.
10/15/06 KUNA: Four killed, 40 wounded ion four explosions in Kirkuk
a series of four blasts, two of them suicide bombs, killed at least four Iraqis and wounded 35 others. An improvised explosive device blew up at Domez crossroad killing two people and wounding four others.
posted on October 16, 2006 08:38:19 PM new
10/16/06 UPDATE ON BUSH'S INVASION OF IRAQ
SINCE BUSH INVADED IRAQ AMERICA HAS 2,772 DEAD AMERICAN TROOPS UP 9 SINCE YESTERDAY.
SINCE BUSH INVADED IRAQ AMERICA HAS 20,895 WOUNDED TROOPS.
BELOW IS ANOTHER REASON WHY NO ONE CAN BELIEVE BUSHY AND HIS SUPPORTERS ABOUT THE INVASION OF IRAQ.
Soldiers Come Home-–No Job Guarantee--What's Wrong with This Picture?
Jane Flasch (Rochester, N.Y.) - Many soldiers have risked their lives serving in Iraq and Afghanistan only to return to home to find their jobs here have been filled by someone else.
Infantry Captain Rob Peterson spent almost a year in Iraq guarding convoys from insurgents near the Syrian border.
Peterson said, "You had bad guys from across the border trying to blow up convoys. That was their training before you got to Baghdad."
When his duty was over, Peterson returned home to face a different kind of pressure.
He said, "Here I am chomping at the bit to get a job. I have a wife and two children at home."
While the U.S.military does not release information about the numbers of full time men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan from Rochester, we do know the number of reservists and national guardsmen called up from the Rochester area is twice the national average.
One in five of them return home to find they no longer have a job.
John Batiste said, "Despite laws that guarantee work when soldiers and airmen return-- that's not always the case…a year is a long time…the job was taken by someone else."
Batiste is a retired general who served in Iraq. He is also the president of Klein steel.
Peterson now works for him as a distribution manager. It has been such a good match.
Batiste has become an advocate and member of the Veteran's Business Council. He said, "Our experience has been, if you can find the right vet with leadership training, it’s tremendous. They fit right and add a great deal immediately. It's a good place to look."
Spread the Word.
The unemployment rate for veterans is twice that of non veterans. The Veterans Business Council is run through The Veterans Outreach Center on South Avenue. So far it has 20 members.
Employers with job openings are asked to contact the center at (585) 546 - 1081.
posted on October 19, 2006 07:22:05 PM new
10/19/06 UPDATE ON BUSH'S INVASION OF IRAQ
SINCE BUSH INVADED IRAQ AMERICA HAS 2,787 DEAD AMERICAN TROOPS UP 15 in 3 days.
BELOW IS ANOTHER REASON WHY NO ONE CAN BELIEVE BUSHY AND HIS SUPPORTERS ABOUT THE INVASION OF IRAQ.
10/19/06 Reuters: U.S. reviews Baghdad strategy as troop deaths mount
The U.S. military said on Thursday it was reviewing strategy in Baghdad, where U.S. reinforcements have failed to halt spiraling violence, and expressed grave concern about mounting troop deaths.
posted on October 24, 2006 07:54:54 PM new
10/24/06 UPDATE ON BUSH'S INVASION OF IRAQ
SINCE BUSH INVADED IRAQ AMERICA HAS 2,804 DEAD AMERICAN TROOPS UP 17 in 4 days.
BELOW IS ANOTHER REASON WHY NO ONE CAN BELIEVE BUSHY AND HIS SUPPORTERS ABOUT THE INVASION OF IRAQ.
10/24/06 AP: Exodus of Iraqi spilling into Europe
Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have fled the unrelenting violence in their homeland since the U.S. invasion in 2003 — a mass exodus directed primarily to neighboring Arab countries.
posted on October 27, 2006 06:25:09 PM new
10/27/06 UPDATE ON BUSH'S INVASION OF IRAQ
SINCE BUSH INVADED IRAQ AMERICA HAS 2,810 DEAD AMERICAN TROOPS UP 6 in 3 days.
SINCE BUSH INVADED IRAQ AMERICA HAS 21,266 WOUNDED TROOPS AND STILL COUNTING.
BELOW IS ANOTHER REASON WHY NO ONE CAN BELIEVE BUSHY AND HIS SUPPORTERS ABOUT THE INVASION OF IRAQ.
CBS) Army Staff Sgt. Bryce Syverson spent 15 months in Iraq before he was diagnosed by military doctors with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and sent to the psychiatric unit at Walter Reed Medical Center, CBS News correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi reports.
"It ended up they just took his weapon away from him and said he was non-deployable and couldn’t have a weapon," says his father, Larry Syverson. "He was on suicide watch in a lockdown."
That was last August. This August, he was deployed to Ramadi, in the heart of the Sunni triangle — and he had a weapon.
He's still there. Under pressure to maintain troop levels, military doctors tell CBS News it's become a "common practice" to recycle soldiers with mental disorders back into combat. The military's actions were first reported by the Hartford Courant newspaper.
"It's flat-out not a good idea," says Dr. John Wilson, an expert in combat trauma.
One study estimates that about 16 percent of soldiers returning from Iraq have PTSD. But military officials say they don't keep tabs on how many troops still fighting have been diagnosed. Most soldiers are never screened, a GAO report finds.
posted on October 28, 2006 09:50:45 PM new
So much for Bush and his buddies bringing the Iraqis freedom. For women, it's becoming worse and worse.
Iraqi women's rights champion murdered
Sat Oct 28, 7:24 AM ET
KIRKUK, Iraq (AFP) - Gunmen broke into the house of an Iraqi women's rights campaigner and shot her dead in front of her three children, police have said.
Human rights activists say the lives of women in Iraqi society have worsened dramatically since the US-led invasion of March 2003, amid a general break down in law and order and the rise of conservative Islamist militias.
Captain Imad Khudhir of the Kirkuk police said Saturday 38-year-old Halima Ahmed Hussein al-Juburi was killed late on Friday by 10 unidentified attackers who broke into her home in the northern town of Hawijah.
"We do not know the motive behind the crime," he said.
Juburi was the head of the Human Rights organisation of Maternity and Childhood in Hawijah, a lawless town in an area plagued by violent Sunni insurgent groups.
Her husband was not at home at the time of the attack.
Professional women and rights campaigners are often targeted by conservative Islamist groups who adhere to a strictly traditional view of women's role in society and use violence to drive women out of public life.
posted on October 29, 2006 12:49:55 AM new
Voters:
Before voting in the coming election....ask yourself ONE question.
Which party wants to win this war and which party wants to admit DEFEAT to the terrorists?
The answer is REAL easy for me. I don't want to see America admit defeat and run from the terrorists. [b]They're NOT going to go away, they're going to see that as a sign we're cowards...paper tigers and that we're SCARED and WEAK.
They will be impowered by our 'running away with our tails between our legs' as our radicals HERE continue to call for. And that will make them even MORE brave.
While the democratic party complains about everything THIS President does to protect our Nation:
What would a Democrat president have done at that point? Apparently, the answer is: Sit back and wait for the next terrorist attack.
Ann Coulter
posted on October 29, 2006 12:55:39 AM new
Cheney Blasts CNN
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/27/2006 5:41:00 PM
Lynne Cheney, wife of Vice President Dick Cheney, strongly criticized CNN Friday for its "Broken Government" series of specials in the run-up to the November mid-term elections and for its airing of tapes of snipers shooting American soldiers in Iraq.
In an interview with Situation Room anchor Wolf Blitzer, Cheney said the network's Vote 2006 specials contained "terrible distortions of the president's and vice president's positions on many issues."
She suggested CNN was working from Democratic talking points, and took issue with the negative tone of the title "Broken Government," suggesting it betrayed CNN's bias and countering that the administration had inherited a recession, been through some tough times like 9/11 and Katrina, but that the economy was healthy. "That's not broken, " she said, "this government has acted very well... I shouldn't let media bias surprise me, but I worked for CNN once [with Crossfire, according to Blitzer], and I was troubled.
Blitzer said the series was "probably" meant to be provocative, "to get people to think, to get people to discuss these issues."
Cheney turned the tables on Blitzer, becoming the questioner: "what is CNN doing running tapes of terrorists shooting Americans," she asked more than once, repeating a question CNN had been asked: "Do you want us to win?"
I think it should be VERY clear to most voters that the dem party doesn't want the US to win. They want us to admit defeat and retreat.
Oh...they'll give lip-service and answer they DO want us to win [well, some of them will - not those who don't care if America is shamed and loses].
But do YOU really think retreating is considered WINNING? I sure don't. That's called LOSING in my book. Admitting defeat is NOT winning....no matter how nicely the dems try to present their 'package' of bring America DOWN.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While the democratic party complains about everything THIS President does to protect our Nation:
What would a Democrat president have done at that point? Apparently, the answer is: Sit back and wait for the next terrorist attack.
Ann Coulter
[ edited by Linda_K on Oct 29, 2006 01:02 AM ]
posted on October 29, 2006 06:42:55 AM new
LIAR_K,
You know as well as I do BUSHY is getting ready to declare victory in Iraq AND START PULLING OUT SOON. Typical of the LIAR Bush is he will blame all his failures on the Iraqi government.
For almost 4 years now you have been saying the same old bull roar that doesn't work any longer with the majority of the American people. See NEWSWEEK POLL Below.
"Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling the situation in Iraq?"
.Approve Disapprove Unsure
10/6-8/06
30% 66% 4%
"Please tell me which political party -- the Republicans or the Democrats -- you trust to do a better job handling each of the following. What about the situation in Iraq? Which party do you trust to do a better job handling this issue?"
.
Republicans Democrats Both
10/26-27/06
33% 45%
WHEN YOU VOTE IN A FEW DAYS REMEMBER THIS NEO-CONS GOVERNMENTS BLUNDERS IN IRAQ.
2,812 DEAD AMERICAN TROOPS
21266 WOUNDED AMERICAN TROOPS ABOUT 40% FOR LIVE
317 BILLION DOLLARS OF YOUR TAX DOLLARS SPENT IN IRAQ
posted on October 30, 2006 12:35:07 PM newIt’s not often that you hear President Bush called soft on terror by another Republican. But that’s precisely what happened yesterday. Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, appearing on Fox News Sunday, agreed with interviewer Chris Wallace who asked him if he would equate supporting a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants with being weak on terrorism.
The issue came up because Santorum’s campaign is running an TV ad which links support for such immigration reform, his opponent Bob Casey Jr.’s position, with being a wuss on terror.
MR. WALLACE: Senator, if I may, let's talk about the reality of this situation with regard to the vote on illegal immigration. All he said was, he would have voted for the comprehensive immigration reform package that was passed by the Senate. A package, incidentally, that was supported by 23 of your Republican Senate colleagues, as well as President Bush. Does that make all of them soft on terror?
SEN. SANTORUM: Well, I think in that particular respect, yes. I think anything that says to the people of the world if they can come into this country and break the law and cross our borders, and we're going to give them amnesty, number one you encourage more people to come. And I think that does allow the opportunity for, if we do not secure our borders first, which is what now we're trying to do, after people rejected the Senate bill. The overwhelming majority of Pennsylvanians have rejected the Senate bill because it puts the cart before the horse. If we don't we're going to have problems.
MR. WALLACE: So Senator, you're saying your Pennsylvania colleague, Arlen Specter, and George W. Bush, both of whom supported that bill, are soft on terrorists?
SEN. SANTORUM: All I would suggest is -- I don't know how I can make it more clear, Chris. I don't think -- if we don't secure our borders first, and what we say to people is that we're going to provide you amnesty if you cross into this country, you're going to get more people into this country that I believe could be a threat to this country and I think we're seeing that.
Santorum is doing three things here. First, he's trying to separate himself from Bush. Second, he's trying to tap into voter anger across the political spectrum at the idea of illegal immigrants being given what many call amnesty.
A related goal is that he's trying to fire up the conservative base between the cities of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, a base that has felt betrayed to some extent by the president's stance on illegal immigration and what they view as out-of-control federal spending.
The latest poll has Santorum falling behind Casey by 16 points. So Santorum's charge that the president and others in his party are weak on terror, at least when it comes to immigration, is probably something of a Hail-Mary pass.
Absolute faith has been shown, consistently, to breed intolerance. And intolerance, history teaches us, again and again, begets violence.
---------------------------------- The duty of a patriot in this time and place is to ask questions, to demand answers, to understand where our nation is headed and why. If the answers you get do not suit you, or if they frighten you, or if they anger you, it is your duty as a patriot to dissent. Freedom does not begin with blind acceptance and with a flag. Freedom begins when you say 'No.'
posted on October 30, 2006 02:30:53 PM new
Prick Santorum is nothing but another low life liar NEO-CON that has gotten caught up with.
I in all my years I have never seen a more desperate Wiesel as Pricky is now.
If the people from Pennsylvania get out in masses to vote. Pennsylvania will defeat the number 2 or 3 man in the NEO-CON party. That will send shock waves across both side of the isle.
Santorum is the number 1 highest paid man from lobbyists from big oil,big drug companies and big insurance companies. He always votes in their favor. The oil,drug and insurance companies own Santorum
posted on October 30, 2006 04:24:37 PM new
Voters...one week until you have the chance to decide is you want the dem party to BRING DOWN America once again. Let's support our troops and their mission. Let's not vote democratic and let them bring our troops home in SHAME like they did during the VN war.
==================
From the Federalist, today:
As of this writing 2,802 young Americans have been killed during three and a half years of war in Iraq.
That's roughly the same number killed at Iwo Jima during the first three and a half days of fighting against the Japanese. Every life lost was precious and every loss grievous to those who loved them.
Unfortunately, our media intends to use every one of those killed to make their point. It's a lesson they learned in Vietnam. On Feb. 27, 1968, after a month of brutal fighting and daily images of U.S. casualties on American television, Walter Cronkite, then the host of the CBS Evening News, proclaimed that the Tet Offensive had proven to him that the Vietnam War was no longer winnable...
It didn't matter that Tet had been a decisive victory for the United States and South Vietnam.
Today's potentates of the press are trying to deliver the same message: that Iraq, like Vietnam, is un-winnable. One television network [CNN] has gone so far as to broadcast images of U.S. troops being killed by terrorists - making Iraq the first war where Americans get their news from the enemy.
The war in Vietnam wasn't lost during Tet 68 no matter what Cronkite said. Rather, it was lost in the pages of America's newspapers, on our televisions, our college campuses - and eventually in the corridors of power in Washington.
We need to pray that this war isn't lost the same way. ~ Oliver North
While the democratic party complains about everything THIS President does to protect our Nation:
What would a Democrat president have done at that point? Apparently, the answer is: Sit back and wait for the next terrorist attack.
Ann Coulter
posted on October 30, 2006 05:14:16 PM new
Back in 1975 a few people were saying about Viet Nam the same thing LIAR_K is saying now. Now Viet Nam has American garment makers and others in Viet Nam using their pool if cheap labor.
Sorry Liar_k you can't even get the Iraq invasion numbers right.
Total U.S. Troops Killed since BUSHY invaded Iraq is 2,814. One hundred of those killed this month alone.
US Non Mortal Casualties:
including non-hostile and medical evacuations
Non Mortal Casualties Army Navy Marines Air Force Total
TOTAL - NON-MORTAL CASUALTIES 44,779
As of September 30, 2006
Since Bushy invaded Iraq America has spent 338,000,000,000 billion in U.S.tax dollars.
That money has helped put our entire Nation in debt for years to come.
Like (R)Sen.Prick Santorum,Liar_k has become desperate about loosing NEO-CON power starting on 11/07/2006.
Sorry old girl you once had it all and because of your own doings your about to start loosing it all. YES!!!
The American Majority will start taking their country back if they turn out to vote in numbers.
SEND CROOKED LIAR NEO-CON LAWMAKERS AWAY WITH THEIR TAILS BETWEEN THEIR LEGS LIKE THE GREEDY DOGS THEY ARE.
Then pass a law saying ex-house members can't become lobbyist for 5 years. MAKE THE CROOKS GET A REAL JOB.
