‘America’s Defense Meltdown’

Check it out.   I am saving to read later when I have more time; you might want to take a look and read it - very up to the minute.

at CDI - Center for Defense Information; newly released to and for President-Elect Barack Obama’s consideration.

         "America's Defense Meltdown"?  (pdf)

What’s in "America's Defense Meltdown" is a new anthology that gives President-elect Obama and Congress direction and will guide the United States back onto the path of an effective defense at a cost a nation in recession can afford.
Author(s): Winslow Wheeler

I haven't watched this video yet either at GRIT TV with Laura Flanders website  - it is where I found the info.

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My ‘morning reads’ are disturbing this morning

Michael Ware, CNN Correspondent, six years in Iraq.  At HuffPo the title is 'Michael Ware's Tortured World; I Am Not the Same F---g Person'...which links to the original article at Men's Journal titled ‘CNN's Prisoner of War'.

Michael Ware speaks to what he has witnessed and experienced.  He speaks to dehumanizing aspect of war, the war in Iraq in truth being now the war in Iran and was since beginning when U.S. troops crossed the Kuwait border, he speaks of  how Obama can bring the troops home and it may be at the expense of mortgaging our foreign policy in the Middle East. 

Read it for yourselves;  a few of excerpts;

"It's my firm belief that we need to constantly jar the sensitivities of the people back home," he says. "War is a jarring experience. Your kids are living it out, and you've inflicted it upon 20-odd million Iraqis. And when your brothers and sons and mates from the football team come home, and they ain't quite the same, you have an obligation to sit for three and a half minutes and share something of what it's like to be there."

It's an obligation now owed to Michael Ware, too.

excerpt from Men's Journal titled ' CNN's Prisoner of War'.

This freedom has helped Ware stay a year in front of conventional wisdom. In 2003, while others were covering the conquest of Baghdad, he talked with Iraqi policemen and soldiers, the men who would become the insurgency. Then in 2004, when Donald Rumsfeld was dismissing these insurgents as "dead-enders," Ware was reporting on their strength after seeing their training camps firsthand. Two years later, Ware was branding the conflict in Iraq a civil war while the Bush administration boasted about the results of Iraq's democratic elections. This year his obsession has been the extent of Iran's influence over the Iraqi government.

"From the moment the first American tanks crossed the Kuwait border, America was in a proxy war with Iran," Ware says. "The Iranians knew it, but it took the U.S. four years to figure it out. Now the Iraqi government is comprised almost entirely of factions created in Iran, supported by Iran, or with ties to the Iranian government — as many as 23 members of the Iraqi parliament are former members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard."

excerpt from Men's Journal titled ' CNN's Prisoner of War'.

As uncomfortable as he is with the idea of his leaving Iraq, if Ware were setting policy, American forces would be in Iraq for a very, very long time. He shudders at the idea of massive American troop withdrawals. Horrific genocide, he predicts; worse than Bosnia. "John McCain said, 'The war's going so well, so why stop now?' I say it's going so badly that we have to pay the price to prevent what's to come."

"The successes in bringing down the violence are undeniable, yet America hasn't been looking at the price to deliver these successes. Obama can bring American kids home tomorrow, but are you willing to mortgage your foreign policy future in that region? Are you willing to walk away from a stronger Iran that is gaining leverage to be a nuclear power? Are you willing to accept your diminished influence in the Middle East? As long as the American public is willing to ante up, then you can bring them home."

excerpt from Men's Journal titled ' CNN's Prisoner of War'.

"Then, for the next 20 minutes," Ware remembers, "all of us just stood around and watched this guy's life slowly ebb away in painful, heaving sobs for air, rendering him absolutely no assistance or aid. If that had been an American soldier, he would have been medevacked out and in 20 minutes would've landed on an operating table. Once an enemy combatant comes into your custody, you're obliged by the Geneva Conventions to render that wounded prisoner all aid. Even I — with my rudimentary medical training, I don't think his life could've been saved — but even I could've eased his passing.
"Instead a towel was laid over his face, making his breathing much more labored and painful, the taunts continued, and we just sat around and watched him die.

"And for some bizarre reason, it was just me and this platoon of soldiers, and I was able to see the dispassion of these kids in the way they just watched his life slip away. I was filming and worrying about the best composition of the shot, and I realized that I too was watching just as dispassionately. There's no blame to be laid here. That guy was a legitimate target who was rightfully shot in the head. But it made me realize, just once more, that this kind of dehumanization is what happens when we send our children to war."

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Obama Victory Ushers in More Confident Tone for Iraq - U.S. Settlement

Obama Victory Alters the Tenor of Iraqi Politics, title of article at NY Times;

BAGHDAD — Barack Obama may have been elected only three days ago, but his victory is already beginning to shift the political ground in Iraq and the region.

Iraqi Shiite politicians are indicating that they will move faster toward a new security agreement about American troops, and a Bush administration official said he believed that Iraqis could ratify the agreement as early as the middle of this month.

“Before, the Iraqis were thinking that if they sign the pact, there will be no respect for the schedule of troop withdrawal by Dec. 31, 2011,” said Hadi al-Ameri, a powerful member of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, a major Shiite party. “If Republicans were still there, there would be no respect for this timetable. This is a positive step to have the same theory about the timetable as Mr. Obama.”

Mr. Obama has said that he favors a 16-month schedule for withdrawing combat brigades, a timetable about twice as fast as that provided for in the draft American and Iraqi accord.

and this;

Over all, however, there was a new tone of optimism. “The atmosphere is positive with the American attempt to preserve the sovereignty of the Iraqi nation,” the government’s spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, told the news channel Al Arabiya. He praised the inclusion of a new provision stating that Americans would not launch attacks on Iraq’s neighbors from Iraqi soil.

The Americans also added language to make explicit what kinds of troops would remain after the withdrawal in 2011, said a Bush administration official knowledgeable about the security pact. Those still in Iraq would be primarily trainers and air traffic controllers, the official said.

“There’s going to be a significant presence, but they are not going to be ‘combat’ forces,” said the administration official. The official said that the most recent talks with Iraqis had given American negotiators confidence that a final agreement was close.

Mr. Ameri, who is chairman of the security committee of Iraq’s Parliament, said that Iraqi politicians did appreciate the Bush administration’s commitment to Iraq. Signing the agreement while President Bush was still in office would be “a minimum sign of appreciation,” Mr. Ameri said.

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Obama: 'New Mission in Iraq: Ending the War'

Following through on his campaign promises, President Elect, Barack Obama and Vice President Elect, Joe Biden already have a strong sense of how they plan to end the war in Iraq. 

Read the entire article by Jason Leopold  at The Public Record.

also read it firsthand at and follow along at Barack Obama’s newly launched online ‘transition’ website change.gov – office of the President-Elect.

The president-elect said one of his first policy directives after he is sworn into office will be giving military commanders and the Secretary of Defense "a new mission in Iraq: ending the war."

On the SOFA; which needs to be worked out between the U.S. and Iraq by Dec 31, 2008 since that is when the United Nations mandate that allows foreign soldiers to operate in country expires 

"Under the Obama-Biden plan, a residual force will remain in Iraq and in the region to conduct targeted counter-terrorism missions against al Qaeda in Iraq and to protect American diplomatic and civilian personnel," his proposal says. "They will not build permanent bases in Iraq, but will continue efforts to train and support the Iraqi security forces as long as Iraqi leaders move toward political reconciliation and away from sectarianism."

The Obama team also said that a Status of Forces Agreement Bush is currently negotiating with the Iraqi government must be approved by Congress or must include input from Obama and his foreign policy advisers before being signed.

“The Bush administration must submit the agreement to Congress or allow the next administration to negotiate an agreement that has bipartisan support here at home and makes absolutely clear that the U.S. will not maintain permanent bases in Iraq," according to Obama’s transition website.

"Obama and Biden believe any Status of Forces Agreement, or any strategic framework agreement, should be negotiated in the context of a broader commitment by the U.S. to begin withdrawing its troops and forswearing permanent bases," states the proposal. "Obama and Biden also believe that any security accord must be subject to Congressional approval. It is unacceptable that the Iraqi government will present the agreement to the Iraqi parliament for approval—yet the Bush administration will not do the same with the U.S. Congress.”

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Hillary Cllinton Owns Iraq War; Video March 6, 2003 - in her own words

Having a first hand investment in needing to know why the 2 in our family were deployed to Iraq, I tend not to forget that Hillary Clinton voted for the Resolution to invade Iraq. Hear her in her own words in the video below.

Okay, so that was five years ago and many who voted for invading Iraq now suffer with buyer's remorse. Not Hillary Clinton though. She has not, to my knowledge, taken responsibility for the incredulous damage caused by the collective 'yes' votes from Congress to invade and occupy Iraq; her own yes vote included.

She has done a good job of pointing to the Bush Administration and justifiably, but when she uses that ploy to point the finger away from herself, I don't find it an act of courage, nor do I find it ethical, nor do I appreciate it as necessary politicking ... in this case politicking with the lives of our loved ones, and with the lives of Iraqi families who had little to do with the event of 911. I find Hillary's tactics as more of the same in that it is politics as usual, and I believe those who have and will die by the votes and actions of our politicians deserve more humane political
consideration.

One of the very reasons why I am more inclined to want to see what Barack Obama has to offer in leading this country back from the brink, is because I've already seen what Hillary Clinton has to offer. The respect I have held for John McCain remains, and it is in the past tense now for his military service to our country for which he will always deserve respect. He seems though, to have lost his way along the course of the years. There is no such thing as winning or victory in Iraq, and to hold out for that end is beyond foolhardy.

The Bush Administration will always deserve the core brunt of disdain for what they have done in Iraq and thereby rendered our standing in the world as foolishly impudent. The American citizens who weren't sent to fight in combat are feeling the effects of the trade offs in the cost of the Iraq war costing a destabilized economy at home.

See the video below, and into the video at the 6:30 time mark begin Hillary's comments. Hat tip to the Daily Kos diary where this video is posted and please read more there. I felt very compelled to bring the video here to this blog because our family has such a personal stake.

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Families Cracking Under War Pressure

U.S. military families have become the unseen victims of the war in Iraq, with those left behind suffering when Soldiers go off to fight and when they finally return home.

"I don't know one military family that is still together or anything like they were before the Soldier in the family went to war," 30-year-old Mylinda, whose husband was among the first Marines to be deployed in Iraq, told AFP.

Mylinda's husband returned home from Iraq around a year ago after "we both decided then that he should leave the military because otherwise he would have had to go back," she said.

"We did pretty well when he first got back, but he never spoke about Iraq.

"I could see he was unhappy and he lost self-confidence when he left the military and couldn't find a job," she said.

Deployment News and Resources

But then came the bombshell.

"In March, he said he didn't want to be married any more," Mylinda said.

The majority of Iraq veterans who took part in a recent study acknowledged having "some family problem at least once a week," said Dr Steven Sayers of the Veterans Administration (VA) Medical Center in Philadelphia.

"About three-quarters of the veterans acknowledged having some family problem at least once a week. About half were unsure of their role or responsibility in the household," he said.

"It could be that being depressed, they are too self-critical, and that may complicate the task of being reintegrated into the family," Sayers said, adding that all the veterans sampled for the study had shown signs of depression or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

PTSD News and Resources

Children are among those who suffer most, both during their parent's deployment and after they return.

A study conducted for the Pentagon earlier this year showed that child abuse rose 42 percent and neglect doubled when a parent is deployed to a combat zone.

Retrospectively, Mylinda acknowledged that she was not "in control" of her family when her husband was in Iraq.

"I remember thinking I was in control of everything, but now I look back at events and things that happened, and I think maybe I wasn't," she said.

"I let my oldest, who was seven, do a lot of things I wouldn't usually approve of him doing -- riding his bike around town by himself, going off with friends unsupervised. Now he tells me the things he did, and I think: 'But I would never let you do that.'"

Dr Wendy Lane, head of the child protection team at the University of Maryland, blamed maltreatment and neglect by the parent left at home on severe stress.

"Child neglect and abuse are often the result of stress and the absence of social support," Lane told AFP.

"Having a spouse deployed is bound to be stressful, and it also removes that social support -- having someone to help with childcare responsibilities, to talk to about life's stress so that you don't take it out on your children," she said.

Mylinda said her children were angered and hurt by their parents' separation.

"The kids had a really hard time with it. My oldest was mad about it," she said. "But I don't think they associated it with Iraq ... They pretty much blamed themselves."

Pentagon official Lieutenant Colonel Les Melnyk told AFP that it was "difficult if not impossible" to determine if a military family's divorce or separation was due to deployment.

But, added Melnyk: "Strong marriages can weather a deployment, weak ones will be tested."

Although Melnyk and Sayers pointed to a number of programs and counselling available to Soldiers and their families, Mylinda said she and her children were not offered any help.

"My husband got all kinds of different classes and courses. He was able to talk to a lot of people on the boat coming back from Iraq -- about marriage, about family. But we didn't get anything," said Mylinda.

Mylinda's mother -- herself the wife of a veteran of the 1990s' Desert Storm campaign in Iraq -- blasted the US military for failing to adequately train Soldiers for combat and life after the armed forces.

"When an army recruiter came to the school where I taught, I did everything I could to keep kids from joining. I had seen too many people go off to fight in Desert Storm and then come back, changed for the worse," she said, asking not to be named.

"When we were in the military, it was a good, strong group of men that knew what they had to do and how to do it," she said.

"Now, you have boy scouts fighting over there. They get kids out of high school, put them in boot camp and then send them to fight.

"When they get out, all they know how to do is kill someone."

from website Military.com

(The comparison by the Mylinda's mother reflects an earlier generation and perhaps an earlier time in military life. It seems to me that Vietnam war also sent kids straight out of high school (via military draft) to train them up to be sent to Iraq to kill and return home with little to nothing in the way of debriefing, re-acclimation, reintegration. Nonetheless, there is a strong ring of truth to what she shares, enough so that I wanted to call attention to it.

For our family, where I was raised a military brat, it reflects an earlier generation and time in military life - post Korean War and pre Vietnam war. See the dvd 'Brats, Our Journey Home' for an accurate and fair representation of growing up a 'military brat'. But for me, when I graduated high school, married my high school sweetheart who was drafted by lottery and sent to Vietnam, military life wasn't what I grew up with or knew. Now, with Iraq war, and 2 in our family who are returning Iraq veterans; one is leaving for second deployment to Iraq next month -- military life has changed considerably and I can only describe it as exploitation with extreme callousness of what were and are some fine military values in honor, courage, service, duty --- integrity.
Lietta)

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How can you argue with this young soldier? His truth exceeds any political truth.

An offer Bush, Cheney, Lindsey Graham, & McRomniani should not refuse.

Do you realize just what you say when you spill terrible talking points?

The troops may as a majority harbor traditional patriotic sentiment but they ain't as stupid as our politicians.

Some of them are just plain common sense human beings.

Here's my hurried transcript excerpt from an ABC News film clip (Thanks for the tip to Dan at On The Road to 2008)

"I challenge Bush to come and spend a tour with me. I'll serve another 15 months if he will. They don't need to pay me any more. They don't have to do anything just come here and hang out with me.

We have people up there in Congress with brain of a two year old who don't know what they're doing. They don't experience it.

I challenge the President or whoever has us here for 15 months to ride along side me. I'll do another fifteen months if he comes out here and rides along with me every day for 15 months. I'll do 15 more months. They don't even have to pay me extra."

(edit update)


This is the followup report to the ABC News report, of Sean Smith's embed with American troops in Baghdad from The Guardian, that aired on 7-16-07.

Here is the written report:
'I Am the Mother of the Driver'"I am the mother of the driver of the Bradley you see upside down and burning," she wrote. "He was 19 years old and could see the futility of Iraq invasion and occupation."
from ABC comments on their newscast exclusive; soldier challenges Congress in 'A Violent and 'Normal' Day in Baghdad' footage. "I am Alex Varela's mother, the driver of the bradley shown here upside down and burning, 6 soldiers from the 1-5 Cavalry out of Fort Hood Texas died on May 19th and I hope the pictures this nation is viewing become an Icon for the occupation ending'

photo at ABC News Smith captured a deadly attack on a Bradley armored vehicle, seen here. (photo credit -Sean Smith/Guardian)


'I Am The Mother of the Driver"
Reactions to Rare Footage of U.S. Troops in Iraq




(Edit update)


Rarely seen on our News programs. We get major blast news, numbers killed of civilians and how many of our Military Personal, but rare footage of what's happening Daily. ABC News showed a cut of this report on 7-16-07, the Guardian Unlimited has the full report and it was shown on British TV.


"I challenge Congress and the President to do my Rotation!!"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/video/page/0,,2125978,00.html


The Guardian's award-winning photographer and filmmaker Sean Smith spent two months embedded with US troops in Baghdad and Anbar province. His harrowing documentary exposes the exhaustion and disillusionment of the soldiers.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/






Seed Newsvine

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New York Times says it's time to bring the troops home post haste - Now!!

It is time for the United States to leave Iraq, without any more delay than the Pentagon needs to organize an orderly exit.

It is frighteningly clear that Mr. Bush’s plan is to stay the course as long as he is president and dump the mess on his successor. New York Times Editorial, July 8, 2007

Wasn't I pleased to read the editorial of the New York Times 'The Road Home' calling for bringing the troops home now - no more point for them to be in Iraq. I count this as an unexpected birthday gift to myself. My birthday was yesterday. Thank you NY Times and it's about time! After all the President did say in 2005, that it was going to be a 'long war' and the next President was going to have to figure out what to do about Iraq. Why did it take you till 2007 to 'hear' and believe what he said. This isn't exactly new news, and how many lives were lost between the time the President said those words and you are getting around to expressing the same conclusion as an editorial piece. Still a thank you New York Times is in order.

In the words of the New York Times editors;

excerpt

July 8, 2007

Editorial

The Road Home

It is time for the United States to leave Iraq, without any more delay than the Pentagon needs to organize an orderly exit.

Like many Americans, we have put off that conclusion, waiting for a sign that President Bush was seriously trying to dig the United States out of the disaster he created by invading Iraq without sufficient cause, in the face of global opposition, and without a plan to stabilize the country afterward.

At first, we believed that after destroying Iraq’s government, army, police and economic structures, the United States was obliged to try to accomplish some of the goals Mr. Bush claimed to be pursuing, chiefly building a stable, unified Iraq. When it became clear that the president had neither the vision nor the means to do that, we argued against setting a withdrawal date while there was still some chance to mitigate the chaos that would most likely follow.

While Mr. Bush scorns deadlines, he kept promising breakthroughs — after elections, after a constitution, after sending in thousands more troops. But those milestones came and went without any progress toward a stable, democratic Iraq or a path for withdrawal. It is frighteningly clear that Mr. Bush’s plan is to stay the course as long as he is president and dump the mess on his successor. Whatever his cause was, it is lost.

The political leaders Washington has backed are incapable of putting national interests ahead of sectarian score settling. The security forces Washington has trained behave more like partisan militias. Additional military forces poured into the Baghdad region have failed to change anything.

Continuing to sacrifice the lives and limbs of American soldiers is wrong. The war is sapping the strength of the nation’s alliances and its military forces. It is a dangerous diversion from the life-and-death struggle against terrorists. It is an increasing burden on American taxpayers, and it is a betrayal of a world that needs the wise application of American power and principles.

A majority of Americans reached these conclusions months ago. Even in politically polarized Washington, positions on the war no longer divide entirely on party lines. When Congress returns this week, extricating American troops from the war should be at the top of its agenda.

Seed Newsvine

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The death toll for U.S. soldiers for the month of May = 124. The thrid worst month since March 2003 invasion; exceptions of April 2004 with 135 dead and November 2004 with 137 dead.

This is also the first time there have been back to back monthly death tolls above 100, and this has easily been the most deadly six month period of the war. The chart shows the increasing toll on our troops.

(hat tip to Daniel K's blog entry at On the Road to 2008)

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I heard the news today -- Iraq

Voices from the Military Families on Iraq

A Letter from a Military Wife My husband has been in the military for four years. He joined for reasons probably very similar to the rest of the people he serves with. We were young, newly married, with a baby on the way. Every time he thought he was going to get a decent job, it ended up being a dead end.

From the wife of an Army Captain: I love my country very much. I love my husband very much. I would not have a problem with my husband being deployed if the premise of the war was just and honorable.

From the mother of an Army Sargent: As one of the small number of Americans who have actually made a great sacrifice for Bush's Iraq war, I write today...

From the mother of a veteran: My son spent a year in Iraq watching his friends get blown to pieces. My son came home. So far more than 3000 of our brave soldiers won't be coming home. Why are our children dying in Iraq?

From the parents of a soldier: The problem isn't a lack of funding to support the troops, as some in Washington want the American public to believe, rather it is a basic disregard for the lives and well being of our loved ones.

From the mother of two soldiers: Every family, with a loved one in Iraq, knows the true meaning of "support the troops". I doubt anyone, who hasn't had to say goodbye, can say they "support the troops" with the same measure of dedication and commitment.

From the Parents of a Marine Reservist: This Government abandoned many of our loved ones not just once by this war of choice but then again by not caring enough to prepare, to demand and to fund the very best healthcare system for those who have answered this country's call to arms and have sacrificed so much.

Letter from a Marine mom: The war that was launched on a lie for no good purpose was conducted with arrogance and funded on the cheap. It has wreaked havoc on the lives, homes, health, and livelihoods of the Iraqi people.

From a gold star mother: My son showed leadership, courage, and a sense of duty no matter the cost by the many letters from his fellow soldiers. These character traits seem to be in short supply on Capital Hill.

From the sister of an Army Medic: I and my family face the daunting task of dealing, on a daily basis, with the worry and fear that we feel as my brother serves in Iraq. He is John Evans, an excellent flight medic with the National Guard, flying in Blackhawk helicopters.

From an Army wife: I sit here tonight watching my husband pack his things. He's getting ready to fly back to Iraq in the morning.

From the sister of an Army soldier: As I type this letter, my brother, a U.S. Army Tank Commander, fights for his life in Ballad, Iraq. I feel guilty when I laugh at something my children have done, or when it's a beautiful day outside.

I am the mother of a Soldier who is now fighting in a war that I and the majority of voters disapprove of. As long as the President has one dime of taxpayer money, he will keep US troops in harms way in Iraq.

From the co-founders of MFSO: We are breaking the code of silence that has historically kept our voices from the public. We are speaking out in support of our loved ones and the loved ones of others by calling for an end to the war in Iraq.

My name is Bonnie McCoy Ernst and i am an army wife. My husband, David Ernst, is currently serving his first tour in Iraq. This recent exetension, as you could imagine, has hit too close to home. David will not be coming home as planned. As I write, I feel the emotion beginning to hit me.

Recommended Viewing

America At a Crossroad-Part 1( A MUST SEE SERIES)

PBS-America At A Crossroad-Please click here to watch the series I am posting this entry today because this is something you should all go and read/watch. It will give you a better understanding of what our American Soldiers are facing on a daily basis being deployed to Iraq to fight for a country that doesn't want us there and are killing our troops on a daily basis. Below is a detailed description of what the show consists of and information about each show aired. America at a Crossroads is a major public television event premiering on PBS in April 2007 that explores the ...

Bill Moyers on Why the Press Bought the Iraq War

The media took the Bush administration's Iraq claims at face value, but it didn't have to. Bill Moyers Journal: "Buying the War" will broadcast on PBS on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 at 9:00 p.m.
(check local listings - www.pbs.org/moyers).

The marketing of the war in Iraq by the administration has been much examined, but a critical question remains: How and why did the press buy it? The new Bill Moyers Journal documentary from PBS explores these very questions.

Bill Moyers and his team piece together the reporting that shows how the media were complicit in shaping the "public mind" toward the war, and ask what's happened to the press's role as skeptical "watchdog" over government power. This segment features the work of some intrepid journalists who didn't take the government's word at face value, including the team of reporters at Knight Ridder news service whose reporting turned up evidence at odds with the official view of reality.

Sundance channel airing two great dvds - one we know about = 'Ground Truth' and if you haven't yet seen 'Sir! No Sir!' then I'd like to recommend it - highly.

http://www.sundancechannel.com/schedule/

On Monday May 7th 2007...there will be an historic night of GI resistance on national television as the Sundance Channel presents the U.S. broadcast premiere of both.


Sir! No Sir!
Monday, May 7
The Sundance Channel
9 pm Eastern
8 pm Central
7 pm Mountain
6 pm Pacific



The Ground Truth
Monday, May 7
The Sundance Channel
10:30 pm Eastern
9:30 pm Central
8:30 pm Mountain
7:30 pm Pacific

*******************

This is a wonderful chance for millions of people to see these films that, together, link the tremendous movement of American soldiers against the Vietnam war with the growing opposition
among soldiers to the Iraq war today.

Voices from U.S. Labor on Iraq

Despite Baghdad "Security" Plan: increase in assasinations of Iraqis academics

Vermont Senate: Impeach the President

Dems reluctant to oppose Iraq funding

US has lost war in Iraq, says top Democrat

America's dismal debate brings little hope of peace in Iraq

US presses Iraqis on reconciliation plans

RECONSTRUCTION ROADBLOCKS: New Rebuilding Plan in Iraq Ignites Debate About Tactics

Young People and the War in Iraq

IRAN: NEITHER U.S. AGGRESSION NOR THEOCRATIC REPRESSION

Iran and Beyond: Shi'ite vs. Sunni?

Conference Committee Agrees on Iraq War Supplemental Funding

Ex-Halliburton unit accused of war profiteering

3 Suspects Talk After Iraqi Soldiers Do Dirty Work

Training Iraqi troops no longer driving force in U.S. policy

Record of Iraq War Lies to Air This Wednesday, April 25, on PBS

Resolution on Renewal of US Labor Against the War Affiliation and Update of Anti-War Position

The Occupation is Not the Solution, It is the Problem

Four years since the looting of the National Museum

Gates vows US will persevere with Baghdad crackdown

Wednesday: 312 Iraqis, 1 GI Killed; 302 Iraqis Wounded

"They can kill somebody's body, but they can't kill love."

Divide and rule - America's plan for Baghdad

Feingold Introduces Bill To End U.S. Military Involvement In Iraq

Iraqis Finally Unite ­Against the U.S.

Military Families Across U.S. Responding To the Extension of Army War-Zone Stints

Army Cost-Cutting in Budget Standoff May Actually Add to Costs

U.N.: $80 Million Overpaid to Victims of Iraq's Invasion of Kuwait

UN warns of Iraqi refugee crisis

Iraq may hold twice as much oil

Dems Divided over Webb's Proposal Requiring Approval for Attacking Iran

Majority Expect U.S. Will `Lose' War In Iraq

Iraq's Education System Is On the Verge of Collapse

Troop Mobilizations

National Guard (In Federal Status) And Reserve Mobilized As Of April 25, 2007

News Releases are official statements of the Department of Defense.

My Note:All U.S. Army troops to have Extended Deployments. Can you say 'Stop Loss'? Can you say 'Back Door Draft'? Can you say 'Involuntary Military'?

Three Months Tacked Onto All Army Combat Deployments

From VOA: The U.S. Defense Department announced Wednesday that most of the U.S. army troops now in Iraq and Afghanistan and other parts of the Middle East and East Africa will have their assignments extended from 12 months to 15 months, and that the longer tours of duty will apply to soldiers who deploy to the region for the foreseeable future. VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon the move



Memorials

More soldiers from Fort Lewis killed in Iraq; Memorials at Fort Lewis, Washington state

Memorials

By Ken Swarner on Fort Lewis

FORT LEWIS, Wash. (I Corps Release) -- A memorial ceremony for Cpl. Michael Mathew
Rojas and Cpl. Wade James Oglesby will be held Tuesday, April 24 at 2:30
p.m. in the Main Post Chapel, where they will be remembered by family,
friends, Soldiers and the Fort Lewis community.

Memorial

By Ken Swarner on Fort Lewis

FORT LEWIS, Wash.(I Corps release) -- A memorial ceremony for Sgt. Larry R. Bowman
will be held Thursday, April 19 at 2:30 p.m. in the Main Post Chapel.

More Memorials

9 Fort Bragg Families Told of 82nd Airborne paratroopers deaths in Iraq

Officials at Fort Bragg, N.C., met Tuesday with the families of paratroopers killed a day earlier in Iraq. A truck bomb claimed the lives of nine members of the Army's elite 82nd Airborne Division, based at Fort Bragg.

Wounded Soldiers - Broken VA Medical Care Services

Eight Thousand Soldiers with Traumatic Brain Injuries

Iraq war brain trauma victims turn to private care

Opinion: Proactive Community Needed to Help Troops Reconnect, Reintegrate

From the Spring Grove [MN] Herald: I am watching the growing furor over the shortcomings in the Veterans Administration system and the fallout from Walter Reed Army Hospital with growing alarm. I am concerned that we are going to fix the crisis and forget the problem. The problem is how to help warriors, and their families, successfully reintegrate back into our communities, and their homes

Family 'Respectfully Disagrees' With VA Report on Son's Suicide

From the Associated Press: [Iraq vet Jonathan] Schulze had made at least 40 visits to the VA hospital in Minneapolis, where doctors diagnosed him with post-traumatic stress disorder, the report said. But it said mental health workers at the St. Cloud hospital told investigators Schulze never mentioned suicide to them, and they would have taken it seriously if he had. “The report and story has

U.S. News & World Report: More Evidence That Military Downgrading Disability Ratings

The evidence keeps piling up: U.S. military appears to have dispensed low disability ratings to wounded service members with serious injuries and thus avoided paying them full military disabled retirement benefits. While most recent attention has been paid to substandard conditions and outpatient care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the first stop for many wounded soldiers stateside

Lead Ft. Lewis Army Lawyer: Military Stacks Deck Against PTSD, TBI-injured Troops

Lots of articles, for good reason, coming out on the topic exploring the issue of troops not getting a fair shake when going through their disability claims processing; I recently was asked to contribute some background material on an upcoming piece for the Tacoma News-Tribune. This latest piece, from Military Times, also concerns troops at Washington state's Fort Lewis: The Army disability

Army made video warning about dangers of depleted uranium but never showed it to troops

David Edwards Published: Tuesday February 6, 2007

A special investigation on the effects of depleted uranium reveals the Army made a tape warning of the effects of depleted uranium which was never shown to troops despite the fact the Pentagon knew the agent to be potentially deadly, CNN reports Tuesday.

Depleted uranium -- or DU -- was used in the Gulf War as a projectile that could penetrate tank armor. A group of soldiers are suing the US government because they are sick from exposure; despite the unshown video, the Army denies that depleted uranium represents a serious health risk.

CNN reporter Greg Hunter explains. The soldiers "report similar ailments. Painful urination, headaches and joint pain. They say Army doctors blame their symptoms on post traumatic stress. We showed them a tape the Army made in 1995, a tape the Army never distributed. It warned of potential D.U. hazards. The army's expert on D.U. training concedes some information contained on the tape is true. For instance, radioactive particles can be harmful."

A doctor who once investigated DU for the Army now believes that the health risks are serious.

"In the 1990s this doctor studied D.U. health effects for the U.S. military," Hunter says. "Now a private researcher, he says his own test of these veterans showed abnormally high levels of D.U. this their urine and that those levels pose a serious health threat."

"One doctor... calls it, quote, 'a radiological sewer,'" Hunter adds. "The Army adamantly denies that."



Depleted Uranium: Poisoning Our Planet

Depleted Uranium used in weaponry of U.S. troops - NOT depleted, in fact, radioactive and causes radiation poisoning illnesses. Veteran Activist Dennis Kyne speaks at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. Link to article and video.

Troop Resistance

Army Raises 2006 Desertion Figure by 1,000

From the Pasadena Weekly: [T]he US Army has revised its count of active duty soldiers who have deserted the military, raising that figure by almost 1,000 for fiscal year 2006 alone. Until the new figures were released on March 23, it had been widely reported that the number of deserters and soldiers absent without leave, or AWOL, had been decreasing since the start of the Iraq War except for a

Politically Speaking

Kucinich introduces impeachment resolution against Cheney

Raw Story reports that late today Dennis Kucinich submitted House Resolution 333 which sets out three "deeply researched" charges against Vice President Dick Cheney. The articles of impeachment and supporting documents are on Kucinich's site. Here's the transcript of his press conference in a Washington Post article.

House Set to Vote on Compromise War-Funds Bill

Gen. David Petraeus visits Capitol Hill Wednesday as the House of Representatives prepares to vote on a measure that will directly affect his mission in Iraq. The bill would both fund the war and set a timetable for U.S. withdrawal.

Bush Repeats Threat to Veto Iraq Spending Bill

Speaking at the White House, President Bush repeats his threat to veto an Iraq war spending bill that includes a timetable for the withdrawal of United States troops from Iraq. Congressional Democrats agreed Monday to a bill that would require troops to begin leaving Iraq on Oct. 1.

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