The Bush administration is entering into a series of new contracts for training of Iraqi security forces and another to provide food to the US prisons there.
Seems to me that this is another attempt to lock the US into the Iraq forever.
Category: War
Reporter Says Upper Management at Networks Prohibited Real Journalism in Run Up to War
On Anderson Cooper, Jessica Yellin said that network execs killed stories critical of Bush and the invasion of Iraq.
I am so not surprised.
PTSD by the Numbers
I came across this on Eric Alterman’s Altercation, in one of the letter from Ken G of Cherry Hill, NJ that he published, detailing the basics of combat related psychological stress:
Studies during World War II determined that the average rifleman in combat maintained peak efficiency up to about 90 days of cumulative combat. Thereafter, efficiency decreased and ultimately, if not otherwise wounded, they became “psychiatric casualties” after 200 to 240 cumulative days in combat. Once they became “psychiatric casualties,” soldiers could be treated and made useful again in rear echelon duties but they were rarely able to become effective combat rifle men again. It was further determined that “Rest and Recuperation” (R & R) could “stop the clock” on the cumulative days of combat, but it could not “turn back the clock.” In other words, whether a rifleman served in combat for 240 consecutive days or for 240 single days with R & R in between, they were still likely to become psychiatric casualties. Interestingly, studies during the Vietnam War initially did not seem to support the figures calculated in World War II. However, further study determined that actually the figures from World War II were correct, but, since in Vietnam a soldier was invariably a target to insurgent snipers and mortar barrages and bombs whether on a search and destroy mission or at base camp or on R & R in Saigon, the “combat clock” continued to tick even during times that were seemingly non-combat. In others words, it is not the least bit shocking that most of the men who served as riflemen for a one-year tour in Vietnam suffered from some level of PTSD upon completion of their tour.
Note that the surge required 15 months tours, so people in the military and the administration knew that they were breaking the bulk of the soldiers who are so deployed.
McClellan’s New Tell-All Actually Tells All
Or at least a lot more than you would expect from the guy who job was to Bush’s liar in chief*.
To be fair, at least from the excerpts on Politico, he does a lot more blaming of Bush’s staff than Bush himself, but still, the allegations are explosive:
- He accuses Bush of relying on propaganda to sell the war.
- Basically calls the press a bunch of lap dogs.
- Admits that the administration was clueless on Katrina
- That Rove, Libby, and possibly Cheney lied to him about l’affaire Plame.
I’m not going to buy the book, paying Republicans only creates more Republicans, but I’m definitely going to borrow it at some point.
*To be fair, this is the job description of every press secretary.
No Troop Drawdown in Iraq
The Pentagon will stay at 140,000 deployed to Iraq in the war to save Bush’s ego.
Should the US Pull Out of the Green Zone
Sam Brannen makes some very compelling arguments for this.
I agree, particularly to his argument that this leads to an impression of permanency in terms of the US occupation.
It’s well worth reading.
Jon Stewart vs. Stupidest F&%$ing Guy on the Planet
John Stewart v. Doug Feith.
This is ugly….fish in a barrel, children’s crusade, New Orleans Saints.
This makes a baby seal being clubbed look like Chuck Norris taking on a jillion Ninja.
Part 1
Part 2
Howard Dean for Vice President
What the Other Matt (Yglesias) said about people who supported the war, or more accurately about the idea that supporting the war somehow creates some foreign policy “street cred”:
This reflects, I believe, an incredibly damaging mindset that’s been crippling the Democratic Party for years and the prospect of excising this mindset is the single most appealing thing about the prospect of Obama being the nominee. Clinton’s ‘street cred’ on national security consists, of course, of being massively wrong on the most important national security issue of her career. Paradoxically, a lot of folks find her massive wrongness on this hugely important issue reassuring because they and their friends were also wrong and they view having made the right call to be a suspicious quality. After all, the Iraq War may have led to thousands of U.S. deaths, tens of thousands of U.S. casualties, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi deaths, and millions of Iraqi refugees all at a cost of over $1 trillion and in ways that’s damaged the strategic position of the United States, but war opponents were all a bunch of hippies.
I say good riddance to that. I got the war wrong, and I think that gives me less ‘cred’ than I would have had had I gotten the war right and I think that, politically speaking, it makes sense to put people forward who aren’t tainted by the war. But most of all we need to ditch the mindset that says ‘cred’ on national security is composed of being hawkish even when that means being wrong.
To me, this means one thing: Howard Dean as Obama’s running mate.
Stop Loss Orders in US Army Skyrocket
The “backdoor draft” is back up to 12,235. The number peaked in May of 2005, and bottomed out in May of 2007, but is headed back up.
Remember that these folks who now consider themselves burned by the military experience, and the army will be paying for this for a very long time, perhaps generations.
1000 Words: Iraq
UK Will Delay Troop Withdrawal from Iraq
The planned draw down has been delayed due to the overwhelming success that the forces of peace, democracy, and self determination in the recent conflict against al Sadr and his Mahdi army.
The Poodle’s gift to the British people just keeps on giving, huh?
Military Being Destroyed, Bush Does Not Care
The Joint Chiefs of Staff have warned Bush that the military is being worn thin by Iraq.
Bush is expected to support political whore David Petraeus, whose recommendation is that there be no draw down.
Neocons Now Going After Brits
Yes, Fredrick Kagan, an chicken hawk idiot in a family of chicken hawk idiots, is criticizing the UK over its withdrawal from Basra last year, and its determination not to involve ground troops now.
Mr. Kagan, you are 38 years old, and according to the wiki, “He earned a B.A. in Soviet and East European studies and a Ph.D. in Russian and Soviet military history, both from Yale University. He worked as an Assistant professor of military history at West Point from 1995-2001 and as an Associate professor of military history from 2001-2005.”
You are young enough to serve, and you have the background to serve. Go serve in this war you love so much.
Good Politics, Good Policy on Iraq
42 Democrats are promising to submit legislation for an immediate withdrawal from Iraq if elected.
At least one of the 42, Donna Edwards, is pretty much already in, as she defeated the incumbent in the primary, and it’s one of the safest Dem seats in the country.
What needs to be done is to lean on the Bush Blue Dog Democrats.
If we see a few more “Mini-Tets” in Iraq, which I think is likely, then more people will sign on to something like this.
Scare Quotes of the Day
Courtesy of that communist rag, the Financial times of London, where they ask Why we should fear a McCain presidency?
It may seem incredible to say this, given past experience, but a few years from now Europe and the world could be looking back at the Bush administration with nostalgia. This possibility will arise if the US elects Senator John McCain as president in November.
Emphasis mine.
Of course, this quote is no where near as disturbing as Harold Meyerson’s in the Washington Post:
It is 3 a.m., and the stillness of the White House night is shattered by the ringing of the red phone. President John McCain, rousing himself from a deep sleep, turns on the light and picks up the receiver. A U.S. embassy in a Middle Eastern country, he is told, has been blown up, and al-Qaeda is taking credit.
McCain takes a deep breath. “Character counts, my friend,” he says. “Bomb Iran. Bomb, bomb Iran.”
There is a rustling of blankets, and, brushing aside Cindy McCain, a concerned Joe Lieberman rises from the bed. “Not Iran, Mr. President,” he says. “They hate al-Qaeda.”
“That’s right,” the president says. “I remember now.” He sighs with relief. “Good thing you’re here every night, Joe.”
But suppose, dear reader, that John McCain becomes president and Joe Lieberman doesn’t bunk with the McCains on a nightly basis. How easily should the rest of us sleep? It’s anything but an academic question after McCain’s bizarre performance in Jordan last week.
As disturbing as the last image is, it’s clear that McCain’s solution to anything short of unstopping a toilet is to launch a military strike.
Military strikes against the DPRK and Iran would be almost certain, and I’d offer even money for shooting between Russia or China and the US.
Tet in Iraq Update
Well, when we look at the straight news stories, we have the New York Times saying that the, “Iraqi Crackdown on Shiite Forces Sets Off Fighting“, and CNN Reporting that Maliki is offering an “Ultimatum” (AFP says the same.)
There are two possibilities here:
- Maliki wants to take out a more political opponent before the provincial elections.
- The US Military demanded this, because they want to show “Iraqi military progress” for the upcoming congressional hearings.
My money is on the second. Even a hack like Petraeus knows that the Iraqi military is not ready for this.
Additionally, the reports that Maliki is “personally supervising” the operations in Basra, seems to indicate a ploy by Maliki, not by the members of the Bush military-political complex/
Spencer Ackerman makes a very good point when he says that the US role in all of this is that of a hostage:
As long as Maliki is in the prime minister’s chair, and as long as we proclaim the Iraqi government he leads to be legitimate, Maliki effectively holds us hostage.
Eric Martin asks if Bush and His Evil Minions™ are backing the wrong horse.
I agree with his concerns. While Sadr is looking for a stricter theocracy, he is the most outspoken Shiite Iraqi nationalist in the game, while the other two main Shiite factions, (ISCI/SCIRI and Dawa) are firmly committed to Iran, possibly near-puppets of Iran.
The reason that the US does not make nice with Sadr is because he opposed to the US’s Iraq forever plan, which Bush is irrevocably committed to.
Finally, Matthew Yglesias makes a very good point about the nature of imperialism:
The would-be imperial power has to back the ‘less popular local elements.’ The key thing is to find groups that are strong enough to hold on to power with external support, but too weak to come to be in a position to kick the ladder of external support away.
Any politician in Iraq who could become popular enough to have a meaningful and independent power base is a threat to the US presence there, and thus will be opposed by the US.
The Sacrifices We Must All Make in War
H/t Atrios
Rabi’ al-awwal (ربيع الأول) is Arabic for Tet
It appears now that the truce with Moqtada al-Sadr is well and truly over. Even if hasn’t called for a revolt against the Maliki government, he has called for civil disobedience and self defense, and the shooting has begun.
The US blames the latest attacks on rogue Mahdi Army elements tied to Iran, but analysts say the spike in fighting with Shiite militants potentially opens a second front in the war when the American military is still doing battle with the Sunni extremists of Al Qaeda in Iraq.
“The cease-fire is over; we have been told to fight the Americans,” said one Mahdi Army militiaman, who was reached by telephone in Sadr City.
The force most closely linked to Iran is not the Mahdi Army. It is sectarian, but also Iraqi nationalist.
It isn’t helping that out west, the Sunni Militias are going strike because they have not been paid.
It would be comical if it were not for the killing.
The ones in the thrall of Iran, are Maliki’s guys. They fought for Iran in the war, and tortured Iraqi POWs at the request of the Iranians.
The Americans don’t get it. Sadr is not an Iranian puppet, he’s the strongest nationalist Shia out there, though this is not stopping David Petraeus, Bushes Bitch on the Euphrates, from claiming that all the attacks are coming from Iran.
Sir, you are a lying sack of sh%$ and a disgrace to your uniform, the men who serve under you, and the United States of America.
The press coverage on this side of the pond, excepting the Monitor and McClatchy, is universally poor, with claims that the civil disobedience causing the violence.
Eric Martin makes some very good points about how Malicki and the US undermined the truce int he first place.
He notes there has been a crackdown against the Mahdi army and its related political party in advance of provincial elections.
It’s pretty clear that the state security apparatus, and the US military, have been used in an attempt to influence these elections.
It’s hard to say for sure, which of these factors [The surge, the Anbar Awakening, the Sadr ceasfire, or the Completion of ethnic cleansing in most of Baghdad] was the most important. The Bush Administration will tell you it’s all about the troop levels. I’ve tended to believe it’s more of a mix and was most inclined towards the Anbar Awakening and the sectarian cleansing as the important factors. But when you look at the data it really seems to indicate that the Sadr ceasefire may have been the key.
More than anything else, Sadr wants us out.
He may get it before November.
Got Everything Wrong
So says John Cole of Balloon Juice.
While it is amusing to read that he finds it, “amazing I could tie my shoes in 2001-2004“, my question is more direct. What the hell are your going to do to fix it?
I’ve wrong on most of my predictions, but I have not pushed policy prescriptions on the basis of those predictions.
You were were more than wrong, you were an accessory to evil, and an enthusiastic one at that.
You contributed to making us less safe, killing in excess of half a million Iraqis, driving more than a million from their homes, and damaged the United States for decades to come economically, diplomatically, and morally.
You cheer led for this evil.
The Julius Streicher, the publisher of Der Stürmer was put to death for his cheer leading, and while your misdeeds are far more milder, simply saying, “oops, sorry”, does not cut it
What Are you going to do to make it right?