Last week, the Department of Defense released the obituaries of 13 military personnel, ranging in age from 19 to 30. Eight of the deaths were caused by improvised explosive devices, including six soldiers who were felled by a single attack in a booby-trapped house north of Baghdad.
According to the web site www.icasualties.com, U.S. deaths in Iraq now stand at 3,923, including two whose families are being notified today.
The Department of Defense also released the obituaries of three military personnel killed in Afghanistan, ranging in age from 22 to 36. All were the victims of roadside bombs.
Total U.S. deaths in Afghanistan were 409 as of January 5, according to the Pentagon.
Today's edition of the L.A. Times includes an article on a fallen hero from Truckee, California and Troy, Michigan. Marine Sgt. Phillip A. Bocks, 28, was a mountain warfare instructor in California last spring, when he decided to volunteer to serve as an advisor to an embedded training team in eastern Afghanistan's mountainous Nuristan province.
On November 9th, Phillip's team was ambushed in one of the deadliest incidents in the Afghanistan war. Six Americans were killed in the attack, including Philip, along with three Afghan soldiers, and eight other Americans were wounded.
Bocks was remembered, in the Times article, as a perpetually optimistic student at the Tahoe Truckee High School. He loved to go on packing trips to Montana. He was also an avid skier and snowboarder and, in his spare time, he rode motorcycles and dirt bikes.
A fellow Marine said "anything he took an interest to, he went all out and full force into it." But his most endearing trait, according to his comrade, was his loyalty to his friends. "If you needed something, he would bend over backwards to help you."
Before leaving for Afghanistan, Phillip left instructions with his family in the event of his death. Recently, his father fulfilled his son's wishes by sadly scattering his ashes over Phillip's beloved Sierra Nevada Mountains.
As his Dad said, perhaps speaking for all such parents, "It's not easy."
Meanwhile, another glimpse into the adjustment problems facing our returning veterans is revealed in a current series appearing in the New York Times. The paper has found 121 cases in which veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan have been charged with killings in this country after their return from war.
The report said "In many of those cases, combat trauma and the stress of deployment - along with alcohol abuse, family discord and other attendant problems - appear to have set the stage for a tragedy that was part destruction, part self-destruction."
President Bush, traveling in Bahrain yesterday, said his plan to bring 20,000 troops home by summer was "on track." However, he added, he was willing to halt the drawdown "in order to make sure we succeed," according to press reports.
At the same time, General Petraeus, speaking to the same audience of troops, raised once again his concerns about what the administration says is Iran's support of anti-U.S. forces.
The subject of Iran also came up in news reports about a series of meetings between Mohamed ElBaradel, the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, and top Iranian leaders. ElBaradel was quoted as saying the talks "were frank and friendly and I'm looking forward to an environment of accelerated cooperation."
The Associated Press reported today that ElBaradel had met with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran who has the final say on all state matters. The Ayatollah told ElBaradel, according to the story, that the watchdog agency should deal with the Iranian nuclear questions exclusively, and not the politically-dominated Security Council.
"The Americans wrongly assume that they will be able to break the Islamic Republic of Iran by pressuring Iran over the nuclear issue, but they will not be able to bring the Iranian nation to its knees by raising this issue or other issues," he was quoted as saying.
And, a little further to the east, President Pervez Musharraf appeared to be displaying a little annoyance with Washington, or possibly with the comments that have been made by some of the U.S. presidential candidates.
On Friday he said that U.S. troops would not be welcome in his country to join in the fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban extremists, despite the fact that the terrorist threat is growing. He said he would resist any such action. "I challenge anybody coming into our mountains. They would regret that day," he told Singapore's the Straits Times newspaper.
Also, the L.A. Times has just reported that Nicholas Schmidle, an American scholar and free lance journalist, has been expelled from Pakistan for writing about the growing strength of the Taliban militants. Schmidle had recently filed stories with the New York Times magazine and the online magazine Slate. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists expressed grave concern over the situation.
It has been reported that the United States has provided Pakistan with over $10 billion in aid since 9/11/01.
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Comments: 64
Especially when the operations are conducted without understanding how to bring about one's desired outcomes. We should have reduced fears of the Christian West and instead we increased them enormously. Now if Muslims to attack us verbally and physically they get praise rather than condemnation. They are defending Islam from the U.S. of all things. We have provided great recruiting propaganda for radical Muslim organizations. We have shown that the radical leaders were right to say that we would attack them.
Foolish.
Somehow Americans have to separate the issue of the need for the war, the need for us to defend ourselves and spread "civilization", and the selfish, negligent, greedy incompetent execution of the war, and governing in general of George W. Bush and the Republicans.
The price of freedom has always been high, but the Republicans want to make everyone else pay it, and then give them nothing for it. Shame on them, and the Democrats better point this out, and then do much better.
> instead we increased them enormously. Now if Muslims
> to attack us verbally and physically they get praise rather
> than condemnation.
Larry, I think you are drawing the wrong conclusions based
on Western guilt, some of which is probably justified.
The people who have attacked and "gotten the better" of
the west have always been lionized in the Middle East, and
they associate Israel and the Jews with the West as well.
They do not need excuses to hate us, they make them up
in order to give their society meaning, and bolster the
violent stability that comes with a culture of terror. From
the moment children are born they are fed lies about the
infidel, in whatever form.
One interesting one I heard about lately is that the
media in the Middle East is telling their people that
Americans are invading Iraq for transplant organs.
There are secret teams of doctors behind our lines,
(true actually, this is the way we save so many lives)
but that our doctors really take the Islamic dead and
harvest organs from them to sell in America and of
course Israel.
Both sides are human, so what I look at is the sustainabilty,
flexibility and freedom inherent in both societies. I obviouslyt
prefer the West, warts and all, because I think Islam will
not change and has and will bring misery to the world as
they have to so many of their own people.
Peace Within
As always David, you keep us well informed - Thanks!
The more deaths they report, the less we care as a nation about all the lives being lost on both sides.
> about all the lives being lost on both sides.
That is not true of me personally, and I do not think it is true of the
nation in general either.
I pay close attention to the deaths in this mess, and if it goes
up too much, incrementally speaking, it is time to do something
new to improve performance or shut it down.
Our audacious leaders bluntly declare their intent on "regime change" in country after country, and then act aghast that the people they are directly threatening and taking violent action against don't just slit there own throats. This is getting weirder by the day, and we appear to be headed for national psychosis. I no longer wonder how those in Germany in the early thirties were dragged into infamy, I can taste it.
why in the holy name of God can the politicians not come to the same agreement...out - now - and dont look back...it is obscene the money we are dishing out to those countries..and we cannot even take care of our own here in this country...
We are indeed headed for a national psychosis...and all I have to say is I am glad these decisions and choices Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney have made are not on my soul....because their day of reckoning will come...
The war itself in economics would be called a "sunk cost" in other words we have already poured money into this investment, the arguments are all about future cost/benefits.
President Bush seems to want to use the fact that we are stuck there as vidication of his "strategy" or lack of it .. when really it shows his, and his advisors total lack of competence of vison of possible risk and pitfalls. I cannot stress this enough, because it needs to be the loud and strong voice of the Democrats in this campaign, or they will get punked again by the Republicans on fear and soft of terrorism.
I support the current effort in Iraq, because it may be that we are close to a better end with an incremental more investment that the total debacle that will surely happen if we leave now with no real plan. I do not like it, I just see it as the best alternative for now.
Of course you MIGHT be correct about "incremental cost" and such, if this were EVER what it was billed as, and what we were witnessing was incompetence. However, if it was NOT what it was billed as, and these neocon lunatics are simply using various statements and violent potentials which may actually have existed as a cover for plans that have no real relationship to those original problems, there is no remaining logical reason to "stay the course".
I understand and agree we COULD do good things for Iraq and the Middle East in general, but homicidal maniacs won't get it done. The same vicious creatures that have done all this, have told us WHY they have, and they are NOT honest people. I don't believe they have "bungled" a righteous cause, but have successfully carried out an unrighteous one. No sooner does modest improvement get FORCED on the situation by a few good soldiers, like Admiral Fallon, and the many excellent combatant commanders that tirelessly rouse their troops to near super-human effort, than a new front is opened up, and others lined up for endless warfare.
If that WAS the original plan, for all the obvious and disgusting reasons we have all discussed endlessly, then those folks are NOT going to make any good use of our continued support, but simply exploit it, endlessly.
If the surgeon is really a homicidal maniac, the welfare of the patient is not a rational justification for letting him continue the operation, just because the efforts of others involved have temporarily stabilized the vital signs. He will not suddenly become a dependable doctor, and the fact that the patient really did have a tumor, means virtually nothing.
What I think happened was the "plausible" deniability and dirty-tricks of the elite Republicans who got a hold of the plan and co-opted the Neocons and are now squeezing everyone. One of the reasons I support the impeachment and indictment of the core leadership of the Bush administration, and believe it is the best thing that could happen to this country - that is, to send a message to the rest of them that are probably even now planning their next assault on the country and the world that they are not going to be ignored, tolerated, or let go for difficulty in litigation.
I'm not holding my breath, but I'd like to see at least Rumseld, and Cheney behind bars, and Bush sybolically impeached even if it is after he leaves office.
You and I are not very far apart on this matter, I don't think, and though I have little faith that things will work out as you hope, I would be more than happy if they did. (I do disagree strongly on the PNAC plans, for I do not feel force and domination is a viable means of achieving lasting peace or prosperity.)
America, and Iraq, and the whole of civilization could do so much better, we do agree, it seems. I will pray it comes to pass.
I haven't quoted it word for word here but this was the gist of the most important part of the statement and the part that became the mantra for our foreign policy, and which still is....
I read that document several years ago, and have heard it's been "cleaned up", though I haven't been back recently. What I read was ALL about domination, and force. It advocated "global hegemony" brought into being through the use of our military might, as the only remaining "superpower".
One can easily speak of such things as though the moving of chess pieces on a board, with this and that inevitable outcome, but in the real world, it is never so. People don't respond well to being bullied, and there's no reason they ought to. I believe there is a little game one plays, wherein the simplistic "bad guys" of ones imagination, get substituted for real human beings, with complex and understandable motivations, such that one can believe they would be "helping" folks, by committing violent and malicious actions.
If you wish to believe your mind is capable of comprehending whole populations and cultures and economies, yes, it all can look like some sort of "strategy". But people can't do such things. Never could, and never will. That's the very foundation of our form of government; The free development of human beings, under the domination of no man's petty schemes.
Not yours either. Or mine. I think it's best, for us, and any peoples. Attempts to "jump start" the process are not "strategies" at all, but merely prolonged attacks with silly logics to justify them. The whole of history is filled with the horrible consequences of such folly. If you believe things have changed, it's probably because you actually think you can see the past realistically, based on a few scraps of paper and some popular rumors. There is nothing new under the sun.
All the facts and pressures present in your article, David, remind one of the tremendous need for greater stability in the entire region. When we invaded Iraq we removed the top from a tremendous hornet's nest!
The goal of reforming Iraq into a western loving, democratic nation was never a realistic goal. Now, with the radicals building their strength in Pakistan and their resurgence in Afghanistan, it looks like we're in for a long haul!
> Principles called for preemptive attacks to assert the world
> dominance of the United States and to protect the State of Israel....
Dave, you and John are sort of correct, domination, but not in the
meglomaniacal Austin Powers sense of the term, domination means
standing up for ourselves and projecting our power and authority.
I think that is not only necessary in this world but good.
The key concept here that the American public needs to re-program
themselves to ... is that that does not include the many incompetant,
corrupt, criminal, murderous and idiotic things that Bush did, and if
this distinction is not keenly defined and explained what happens
is that the conspiracy theorists and the far-left wackos are the
only voice people hear ... and consequently don't listen to, because
most Americans are concerned about terrorism and security they
close off though when they hear some loud, know-nothing start
spouting off about how America is evil or whatever.
Everyone knows that the US has done some pretty bad things,
but comparatively we still stand for doing the right thing, and
that is the message that needs to be put out there, and lived
up to.
So, if you can find the word "domination" in the PNAC white papers
Dave you'll please pardon me if I do not think it is important or
it does not connote to me what it seems to for you or some others.
Standing up for our allies, however far away, however big, however
threatened to the greatest extent possible is an policy of integrity.
Despite his many words - President Bush did not do that.
That does not mean it should not get done, and I think the Democrats
have to make the case they can do it, or we are all going to be
wandering around in limbo waiting another 8 years to blow it
yet again.
Dominance or hegemony can mean imperialism, and by extension
all the negatives they can imply.
It can also mean spreading influence. Classical examples are the
ancient Greek empire under Alexander, and the Romans, which
had both elements. The British empire which started out quite
militaristically, and evolved into a more benign confederacy.
George Bush had a thing for macho, it seemed to fire up his
followers, and this was something no one really needed. I
don't want to get into psychoanalyzing the cowardly nutcase
in the White House, I just want to draw the distinction that
the US has to exist in a competive and often unfair world, and
we have done that and continue to do that by dominating
areas of influence, building political and business ties and
hopefully under some laws extending and evolving our system
of civilization.
"Of course, the United States must be prudent in how it exercises its power. But we cannot safely avoid the responsibilities of global leadership or the costs that are associated with its exercise. America has a vital role in maintaining peace and security in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. If we shirk our responsibilities, we invite challenges to our fundamental interests. The history of the 20th century should have taught us that it is important to shape circumstances before crises emerge, and to meet threats before they become dire. The history of this century should have taught us to embrace the cause of American leadership."
Of course, you can interpret "global leadership" and "American leadership" in more than one way, but given our own foreign policy which has been based on the Statement of Principles, it is clear to me that it means "world domination."
Also the word "before" which appears twice in the next to last sentence is obviously a call for preemptive strikes....
If only we had saints for leaders, and most of our citizen's names were Einstein . . . if only.
and Dave you know as well as I do that the US military strategy has always included preemptive strikes if the need arose, there is not other way to defend one's self these days. Bringing the saber out and rattling it was George Bush's choice again ... and if the Democrats criticise this choice of style they will be missing the point,
which is again, it is what we do, and how it comes out that matters ... of course, not that the ends justifies the means, but survival does allow the survivee to argue about it later.
Sure, we had our backs to the wall, and there was just no choice but to start bombing and torturing and manipulating . . . it was us or them, we were just trying to survive for goodness sakes . . .
True, the same folks that initiated this crusade also thought it was doable cause we were the only superpower on earth, but who's bothering to think things through anymore, what with the heathen scoundrels probably swimming this way right now!
It's nonsense Bruce, we were in danger of nothing more than some criminal activity and some loss of status and wealth. And what have we gotten for our ridiculous paranoia? Vastly more threat of criminal activity, a complete collapse of our status, and riches scattered like birds across the whole of the greedy corporate masters dominion. Boy, much more of this saving, and we won't have anything left to worry about losing.
I was giggling a bit as I typed that.
(Why do you seem always to think I'm upset? You have not ONCE seen me speak in anything but calm thoughtful composure. I don't allow myself to speak in anger in this medium, ever. That would be wrong to me.)
Who are you talking about here, Islamic extremists, or George Bu$h? Or Both?
Sounds like wise policy to me, ace.
I grow more and more intolerant from the shrill voices on the left, hence I rarely bother to "talk" to them anymore, and instead letting them bleed on their sleeves as long as they require.
To the people that will tell you, "there's no difference between a demcrat and a republican, I say you are blind. There is a vast chasm between American use of force, and the use of force Africa, for example. Anyone equating the two, is stupid.
I am greatly disappointed in the bush bonehead, but I guess I should have seen it all along. Like his daddy before him, he signaled his support for progressvies ideas.
Daddy had "a kindler more gentle nation"
Sonny boy had *compasionate conservative."
See now, where compassion gets you Sonny boy ??? Stoned by your enemies and friends alike.
But then, I remember that David and others are willing to rely on the words of Mohamed ElBaradei, the U.N. Arab incompetent (and perhaps traitor) responsible for nuclear nonproliferation during the unprecedented spread of nuclear weapons to rogue nations by Arabs.
And that convinces me that the KoolAid drinkers are willing to grasp at any straw to prove the US wrong, and have no concept of how to defend this country against those who would do us harm. And I am once again dealing with reality.
Hand wringing is not a defense.
> I am greatly disappointed in the bush bonehead, but I
> guess I should have seen it all along. Like his daddy
> before him, he signaled his support for progressvies ideas.
I don't know how you can call anything else "stupid" when
you say something like this. Bush ... Bush's have always
been an abberation in Conservatism, they are faux-Conservatives
and are so rich that they basically have a conflict of interest
in any political office to the American government or people.
They are basically Benedict Arnold "globalists" ... that is me being kind.
But in my reading of "this" matter you are right on target and I applaud your passion and intentions.
Bruce K., you make some good points BUT it seems that you, both put Bush at the base of the "cause" (in my opinion he is but a "puppet") and at the same time attribute way too much "credit" to the "good Intentions" of such as what the PNAC papers represent.
What goes around comes around ... the use of force will get force right back at us ... sure we had (HAD) the force to start what we started ... but I doubt seriously that we will have what is required in "that" fashion to finish it ... It is high time this nation woke up to that reality and apologised to the world as we clean up our act. A good start would be holding those responsible accountable, then just maybe a part of the world might begin to believe in us again ... many still do foolishly, as you seem to yet, as you and they go about life pretending (maybe because it makes you feel better ?) that there are "no conspiracies" afoot working in nefarious ways for the super wealthy and power hungry factions of the corporate dominated world that controls our entire media industry for their own purposes ... as you insist that all such "theorists" are but far left fringe kooks with tin-foil hats that can be pressured by your peers into silence if they (we?) are castigated enough ... just what your handlers want you to do ... wake up please, things are nowhere near as benign as you would want to believe.
The TRUTH is the very best there is, ever. Those in denial of it though are the ones constantly fighting it into silence because they so FEAR it. Fear must be confronted in and with TRUTH, even if it (especially) is ugly.
It you take the ratio of the stupidity of comments, I'd give that about a 9, but if you went further and took the product of stupidity of comment and multiply it by length of comment a nice stat, I'd call stupidity-verbosity ... you would have to come out tops on Gather ... either you or Clark Kent, but at least I can read a few lines of Clark Kent's posts and get a cogent idea out of it to disagree with.
So, in a nutshell, jJ and Randy ... do not go away, we need you guys to show up here as the perfect examples of why this nation is so screwed up, the apologetic thinking that supports the actions of the war makers over those of the peacemakers who you two equate to what you think is disgusting left-wing loonies ... let the whole world compare between our two attitudes ... actually they have been and that is why they so hate us now, they, like you two, have a way of thinking that is a "preference", that "others" can be classified as ALL lessor and the reason for the troubles in the world ... truths, half truths, and out-right lies ... some too many people are just not very discriminating it seems.
Your "blaming" me for your own ignorance will in no way alleviate it, it only makes you "feel" better about your (lacking) self.
This is not "your" thread, so relax and just pass over what I say to the next comment. Nobody is forcing you to read anything.
This Country better get ready. The US is sending Special Forces from Ft. Bragg and other location into Pakistan. It will happen within the next 3 weeks. Mark my word it will not be the first time they've been across the Afgan border. Reconnaissance missions have been ongoing for some months now.
If Musharif is threating the US, he better be prepared to use his nukes because we are coming. The US Military is coming to take out the Talaban and as many Al Queada operatives it can to stop some of the fire fights the US Military has been involved in along the Afgan border. The word around Ft. Bragg is that it's time to take out Bin Laden so George Bush can say he "got him" before he leaves office.
Don't be surprised if the number of US casualties jump substantially over the next few months. If they are not reported, don't be surprised about that either. You and I both know the military only gives out the information they want us to know. The figures are adjusted to keep the look of the Surge successful even though from all accounts except those of George Bush, it's been a joke.
And the next thing to go will be our rights.
The U.S. Treasury has become a cookie jar and the wartime profiteering you mentioned is out of control. As you said, there is far more interest in making money in Iraq than there is in giving our wounded soldiers the type of care they deserve.
There was a time when the disappearance of many billions of dollars, as has been the case in Iraq, would have prompted a vigorous investigation. Now it gets barely a mention in the press.
As poorly as the administration is perceived by the American public and other nations of the world, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are nothing less than heroes to their disciples in the oil patch and the defense industry. Never have so many billions been made by so few in such a short period of time.
Cheney's continued ownership of over 4,000 options on Halliburton stock and his acceptance of deferred income of between $200,000 and $300,000 per year is nothing less than criminal. Halliburton's stock value has soared and the company has done so well that it is sitting on billions in cash, thanks to Cheney. The V.P. says he'll donate the profits on the options, but that's not a binding pledge. If he was serious he'd give them away today. Once he's out of the public eye there's no telling what he'll do.
It's disgraceful that the Justice Department has become nothing more than a rubber stamp for the administration and the opposition party has been an impotent disaster under its present leadership.
In the absence of any entity inside or outside the government to protect the rights of the public it can only come down to the need for activism. I believe as we begin to experience economic pains in the near future, at the level most people have never known, a movement for major reform may start to be generated.
Unfortunately, however, the government seems well prepared to stifle it.
Thanks for your perceptive comments, Judi...
> Halliburton stock and his acceptance of deferred income
> of between $200,000 and $300,000 per year is nothing
> less than criminal.
This is nothing compared to Rumsfeld. What has happened with
money under the Bush adminstrations has been criminal, and if
nothing is done about it, they will come back again and again and
again.
They have privatized functions of the government so their
personal private connections can get at data and services
that should not leave the government and are supposed to
be private.
The military is spending huge amounts of money on contractors,
in fact Rumsfeld wanted to privatize the whole Army. This is
so unConstitutional. Even the Romans were smart enough to
not allow private troops to cross the Rubicon and enter Rome.
The things moving around in the background that are not being
reported on need to have light shined on them and be reversed.
I couldn't agree more. I think it is the most important aspect to this outside the loss of life and limb. We cannot endure under such a staggering corruption, it will destroy us in short order. Things were bad enough before this most repugnant wave of pillaging and gutting. We are not even the same nation anymore.
Chicken Little, what a predicable rant....
Dropping by with a 10 for you
Flippity Floppity, Zippity Zee
And a great big HI from Pooh and Me!
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