Iraq: not looking good

[KrustyKidd]

I was referring to the mid-terms. So many of Republican allies are asking for a change of course that I wouldn't be surprised to hear about a staged pull-out before the election.

Then he would have to be the man that did a 100% turn around while maintaining a sure course. Probably would work on Liberals and Democrats but is suicide for right wingers. Hence, unless he is turing into a flip flop Kerry-like-Democrat, I'm sure that won't happen so don't lose any sleep or waste any bandwidth on it..

[jdobbin]

Then he would have to be the man that did a 100% turn around while maintaining a sure course. Probably would work on Liberals and Democrats but is suicide for right wingers. Hence, unless he is turing into a flip flop Kerry-like-Democrat, I'm sure that won't happen so don't lose any sleep or waste any bandwidth on it..

Funny how one Republican after another is saying the situation in Iraq has to change and some are saying that a staged withdrawal should come sooner than later.

[jdobbin]

This documentary was on PBS October 25, 2005, Wednesday.

It was on the election in 2005.

This is a Youtube preview. Well worth watching. It shows what chaos the elections were and how tbey divided families.

[jdobbin]

Not much talk on Iraq here from the supporters of the war. Guess there has not been too much good news from that country.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15866123/

[jdobbin]

Where are all the Iraq supporters on the board lately?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16000477/

Things progressively seem to be getting worse in Iraq. Where are the people who have been saying things aren't a civil war there and that the U.S. is turning things around?

[myata]

Now a warning from Kofi Anand about the way Iraq situation can develop: CBC story.. Same question once again: should not the people who started the mess be held responsible for the direct result of their actions?

[myata]

Now the new Defence Sec to be admits that US is not winning Iraq: BBC story.

And a fresh look at Iraqi casualties shows disturbing dynamics: BBC: Iraqi violence

[JerrySeinfeld]

Now the new Defence Sec to be admits that US is not winning Iraq: BBC story.

And a fresh look at Iraqi casualties shows disturbing dynamics: BBC: Iraqi violence

That's cause we need more troop in there.

[Shakeyhands]

Not sure if anyone has posted this link yet... if not... enjoy reading.

http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guar...roup_report.pdf

There are plenty of interesting tidbits.

[jdobbin]

That's cause we need more troop in there.

You could always volunteer.

[myata]

No. The cause is JWB and his neocon circle who thought that they could rule the world.

[ozzyGrl]

it sure isnt... americans and their war on terror =(

[Black Dog]

That's cause we need more troop in there.

Ask and ye may recieve: Surge!

The White House said Tuesday that increasing U.S. troops in Iraq is an option under consideration and denied that there are differences with the Joint Chiefs of Staff over that idea.

White House press secretary Tony Snow emphasized that no decisions have been made about changing U.S. policy in Iraq.

Maybe someone should first answer the questions of where all these troops will come from and what they will do when they get there.

And really: I shouldn't have to point out the irony of the same people who praised Rumsfeld's "small is better" approach at the outset are now calling for more troops long after the time when more troops would have made a difference has passed.

[Higgly]

That's cause we need more troop in there.

Déja Vietnam all over again.

[jdobbin]

Maybe someone should first answer the questions of where all these troops will come from and what they will do when they get there.

And really: I shouldn't have to point out the irony of the same people who praised Rumsfeld's "small is better" approach at the outset are now calling for more troops long after the time when more troops would have made a difference has passed.

Even the military is showing skepticism over this tactic. They fear it may even cause a backlash.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16287392/

[jdobbin]

Gates arrives back after looking into Iraq.

U.S. casualty rate climbs to near 3000 soldiers killed.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16326096/

I wonder if Bush will get his surge.

[jdobbin]

After both British and Americans denied there was a cockpit video of an American pilot killing a British soldier, the U.S. reveals there was a video.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6334769.stm

[GostHacked]

You have GOT to be kidding me.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/02/05/...aker/index.html

Seems like a few people have been overlooked someone who was on the ballot. I predict an untimely death.

[Catchme]

Na, they are going to use this a pretext to bomb Iran.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A man sentenced to death in Kuwait for the 1983 bombings of the U.S. and French embassies now sits in Iraq's parliament as a member of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's ruling coalition, according to U.S. military intelligence.

Jamal Jafaar Mohammed's seat in parliament gives him immunity from prosecution. Washington says he supports Shiite insurgents and acts as an Iranian agent in Iraq.

U.S. military intelligence in Iraq has approached al-Maliki's government with the allegations against Jamal Jafaar Mohammed, whom it says assists Iranian special forces in Iraq as "a conduit for weapons and political influence."..Top U.S. officials, including President Bush, have accused Iran of meddling in Iraq by fomenting sectarian violence and providing arms to illegal militias. Bush has authorized U.S. troops to use deadly force against Iranian agents in Iraq to defend American or allied forces, and the administration's increasingly tough warnings to Tehran have raised concerns that the four-year-old Iraq war could spread.

Al-Maliki told CNN last week that the United States and Iran should stop using his country as a proxy battleground, accusing Iran of targeting U.S. troops in Iraq but saying he doesn't want U.S. forces to use Iraq as a base to attack Iraq's neighbors.

[jdobbin]

Another helicopter down. Seven dead.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17021136/

Seems to be a new tactic of insurgents. Twenty-eight killed in 7 days. The trend is four soldiers killed a day.

Even the pro-Iraq war supporters must be wondering what the hell is going on in Iraq. Mission accomplished?

[GostHacked]

After both British and Americans denied there was a cockpit video of an American pilot killing a British soldier, the U.S. reveals there was a video.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6334769.stm

I managed to check out the cockpit video, it is on Google Videos. Those pilots seemed to have doubts about the target they had in sight. They confirmed it with their base. Field commanders told them, that it was their target. Why not take a couple recon shots to confirm the target?

Almost right after the pilots strafed the Britts, then the Sky Cheif came on and told them that friendlies where on the ground. That sucks for the pilots, they should not be charged with shit. They were given bad intel. If they ignore orders, they get court martialed and jailed. They obeyed orders and now they are still going to get court martialed and jailed. Sucks for those pilots.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-297944469677991983

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...ack=1&cset=true

[GostHacked]

Hey what is going on here ???

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/02/09/ira...l.ap/index.html

The Story highlights.

• NEW: Policy office was "inappropriate" in advancing unsupported intelligence

• Report says Pentagon manipulated Iraq intelligence to create al Qaeda link

• Inspector general's report says efforts were inappropriate but not illegal

• Levin had asked for investigation of Pentagon's policy chief Douglas Feith's office

4 Years too late... shameful.

[Catchme]

Finally, things are surfacing and yes, it is 4 years too late for Iraq, but hopefully not too late to stop the nonsense in Afghanistan, and the current targeting of Iran by Bush et al.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. defense policy chief Douglas Feith developed and issued "dubious" intelligence that was used to bolster the Bush administration's case for the invasion of Iraq, a Pentagon watchdog agency said in a report to be released on Friday.

The conclusion by Feith's office that there was a "mature symbiotic relationship" between Iraq and al Qaeda was inconsistent with the view of the U.S. intelligence community, according to excerpts of the Pentagon inspector general's report released by Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"An alternative intelligence assessment process was established in the office of Under Secretary for Policy Doug Feith ... that was predisposed to finding a significant relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda. His staff then conducted its own review of raw intelligence reports, including reporting of dubious quality and reliability," the report said.

"They arrived at an 'alternative' interpretation of the Iraq-al Qaeda relationship that was much stronger than that assessed by the IC (intelligence community) and more in accord with the policy views of senior officials in the administration," the report concluded.

Phoney trumped up intelligence that has cost trillions of US citizen tax dollars and Canadian citizens billions.

The response from the Senate is:

But the report was made available to the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday and its chairman, a Democrat, was swift to speak out.

"The IG (inspector general) has concluded that this office was engaged in intelligence activities. The Senate Intelligence Committee was never informed of these activities," Sen. John Rockefeller of West Virginia said in a statement.

"Whether these actions were authorized or not, it appears that they were not in compliance with the law."

He said he would consult with the committee's vice chairman, Republican Kit Bond of Missouri, to determine whether any further action was warranted.

[Catchme]

An Iraq Interrogator's Nightmare

By Eric Fair

Friday, February 9, 2007; Page A19

A man with no face stares at me from the corner of a room. He pleads for help, but I'm afraid to move. He begins to cry. It is a pitiful sound, and it sickens me. He screams, but as I awaken, I realize the screams are mine.

Though the man in this particular nightmare has no face, I know who he is. I assisted in his interrogation at a detention facility in Fallujah. I was one of two civilian interrogators assigned to the division interrogation facility (DIF) of the 82nd Airborne Division

Despite my best efforts, I cannot ignore the mistakes I made at the interrogation facility in Fallujah. I failed to disobey a meritless order, I failed to protect a prisoner in my custody, and I failed to uphold the standards of human decency. Instead, I intimidated, degraded and humiliated a man who could not defend himself. I compromised my values. I will never forgive myself.

American authorities continue to insist that the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib was an isolated incident in an otherwise well-run detention system. That insistence, however, stands in sharp contrast to my own experiences as an interrogator in Iraq. I watched as detainees were forced to

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...7020801680.html

[Catchme]

Here is some good news on Iraq, in fact so good one wonder why the Bush admin is still ramping up surge deployments, ignoring the actual insurrgents in Iraq, and rhetoric against Iran.

Robert Fisk: Iraqi insurgents offer peace in return for US concessions

For the first time, Sunni insurgents disclose their conditions for ceasefire in Iraq

Published: 09 February 2007

For the first time, one of Iraq's principal insurgent groups has set out the terms of a ceasefire that would allow American and British forces to leave the country they invaded almost four years ago.

Al-Jeelani suggests the United Nations, the Arab League or the Islamic Conference might lead such negotiations and would have to guarantee the security of the participants.

Then come the conditions:

* The release of 5,000 detainees held in Iraqi prisons as "proof of goodwill".

* Recognition "of the legitimacy of the resistance and the legitimacy of its role in representing the will of the Iraqi people".

* An internationally guaranteed timetable for all agreements.

* The negotiations to take place in public.

* The resistance "must be represented by a committee comprising the representatives of all the jihadist brigades".

* The US to be represented by its ambassador in Iraq and the most senior commander.

But there are other points which show that considerable discussion must have gone on within the insurgency movement - possibly involving the group's rival, the Iraqi Islamic Army.

They call, for example, for the disbandment of militias and the outlawing of militia organisations - something the US government has been urging the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, to do for months.

The terms also include the legalisation of the old Iraqi army, an "Anglo-American commitment to rebuild Iraq and reconstruct all war damage" - something the occupying powers claim they have been trying to do for a long time - and integrating "resistance fighters" into the recomposed army.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article2251354.ece

Well, after reading the article and noting that it appears that ALL the insurrgents in Iraq have been talking, about negotiating no less, also I saw absolutely no mention of Iran at all, indeed there isn't any indication Iran was involved in any insurrgency in Iraq even. Moreover, if they were there certainly wouldn't be this let's talk, talk, unless of course Iran was urging them to negotiate.

Now what is Bush et al going to do with Iraqis wanting peace and their country back? Continuing bombing them somemore?