I'd like to see everyone stop referring to the "war in Iraq" and call it what it is.

The occupation of Iraq.

As Blue Girl blogged yesterday the killing continues. At least 117 were killed in a massive suicide truck bombing.

How many more have to die?

It's funny how Powell's claims about the depth of his opposition to the war five years ago seem to increase almost linearly with the level of hopelessness of the war now.

Well said. Powell has been such a disappointment through all of this. One of the things that made him admirable is that he projected the appearance of strong character. His behavior throughout the Iraq fiasco undercuts that completely.

Had Powell really wanted to stop our invasion of Iraq, he could have tried telling the public and the media that Bush's evidence was a sham, the invasion was ill-advised, and the plans for afterward were a fiasco in the making. He also could have resigned. However, I don't recall anything like that at all in his UN speech or his press conferences.

Not to defend Powell, but I doubt that anything he could have done, up to and including resigning, would have stopped Bush from having his war. That does not, however, justify his shilling for the war at the UN.

SO HOW ARE THINGS GOING IN IRAQ?

The military just reported they have killed the senior Al-Qaeda leader Kamal Jalil Bakr Uthman.

Link

"Coalition Forces killed a senior terrorist leader during an operation Tuesday morning targeting the al-Qaeda in Iraq

network in Mosul.
Kamal Jalil Bakr Uthman, also known as Sa'id Hamza, was known to be the al-Qaeda in Iraq military emir of Mosul.

Intelligence reports indicate he planned, coordinated and facilitated suicide bombings in the Mosul area.

Additionally, he facilitated the movement of more than 100 foreign fighters through safe houses in the area, and

orchestrated attacks against Iraqi and Coalition Forces."

Shame on this administration for the terrible situation in Iraq.
This lame duck era of George Bush seems positively endless.
I saw a memorable political cartoon that had two soldiers walking together in the ruins of Iraq, one says "An extended tour of duty can make a man fatigued, incoherent and a danger to others."
The other soldier says, "I agree, Bush has been in office too long."

This administration is so incompetent there can be no good news about Iraq. And it was an invasion and an occupation.
The death and destruction is so appalling.

Iraq military not meeting US goals
Lack of trained forces hampers progress.
Published Sunday, July 8, 2007
SALMAN PAK, Iraq (AP) - U.S. soldiers in night-vision goggles piled out of a Chinook helicopter under a wide, orange moon. They crawled through mud along canals south of Baghdad, then stormed a chicken farm that the U.S. military believed doubled as a car bomb factory.
But something was missing: Iraqi partners.
The Iraqi army has yet to deploy a single soldier on this 380-square-mile swath, where the U.S. military is waging an offensive to dislodge al-Qaida fighters from marshlands along the Tigris River.
In Tuesday’s predawn raid, the lack of Iraqi backup meant a frustrating outcome for U.S. forces. When suspects fled, there was no Iraqi cordon to catch them.
But more broadly, it illustrated a key weakness in the new U.S. counterinsurgency strategy of "clear, hold, rebuild." American commanders say the "hold" phase relies on Iraqi forces’ ability to move into cleared areas and keep insurgents in check once the U.S. draws down its troop levels....

That's 19 Billion with a 'B' down the rathole to Republican crony capitalist supporters.
No doubt Bush will claim progress like his supporters Lieberman, McCain, and Graham so he can continue his policy, kicking the can down the road.

Al, you are nothing but an apologist for the Bush/Cheney/McCain/Lieberman War Machine.
How is it that you landed here? Seems your talents would be most appreciated at the right wing noise machine type blogs! Think of the concurrence you would have with similar thinkers.
It would be delightful, don't you think?

Al, is that the guy they killed twice?

The military just reported they have killed the senior Al-Qaeda leader Kamal Jalil Bakr Uthman.

Yeah, I remember when we killed this guy last year. I mean, don't get me wrong, that was a good kill, no question. But THIS time when we killed him it was really awesome!

I have a feeling if we kill him again it's just going to be kind of a letdown.

I ask, trex answers. What a team!

This is not the only guy the Coalition have killed twice. The Grounhog Day kill stories usually come out when there is very bad news for the Coalition. Just about every day would fit the bill now.

al....

we have heard it all before...haven't you?

"I see tangible progress. (in Iraq) There are reasons for optimism." - General Petraeus September 2004 Wash. Post

A catastrophe in slow motion doesn't look so bad at select points in time. Look, one million people are now refugees, another million are permanently displaced. At least 600,000 Iraqis have been killed outright.

And we have the audacity to ask, "How is it going?" Are we all fucking crazy?

Ah, Kevin.

"SO HOW ARE THINGS GOING IN IRAQ?...."

I'm so glad you asked. Let's run down the list, shall we?

-Violence in Bagdad down 80 %
-The Sheiks in Anbar have come over to our side and are now fighting Al Qeada
- Economic growth is exploding and the new Kurdistan is a beacon of the Middle East
-Hamas in Gaza has now now been isolated and they are on a dead end path while the West Bank is set to have millions of dollars channelled to it to sustain their democratic form of government.
-Protests in Iran, probably in part due to US pressure, is shaking the foundations of Ahmadinajad's governtment.
-Egypt is putting an end to female genitorture

Sounds like Bush has done a pretty good job to me.

CBS is reporting that Sunni leaders in Iraq plan to introduce a no-confidence vote in Nouri al-Maliki's government a week from now. Juan Cole counts heads and predicts that al-Maliki will survive — for now.

Too bad nobody can do that to Mubarak, or Assad.

No one would have tried that when the Baathists held power, would they?

However, you are basically correct. The September report by Petraeus will show at best modest progress, and the announced goals will mostly not have been met. The question of whether to abandon those who have been working with the U.S. will linger. Also, perhaps, the question of exactly how many troops to leave behind for training the Iraqi army, protecting U.S. facilities, and fighting the al Qaeda-linked jihadists and unlinked insurgents.

Powell had my respect until the famous UN speech. When he talked about the mobile biolabs, I knew immediately that this was totally insane. Producing bioweapons in a mobile lab, where you could have an accident and release some terrible disease? Were they fucking crazy? And then the evidence was a bunch of fucking cartoon drawings? What was this, the Acme Co Mobile Bio-Weapons Labs? Where was Wile E. Coyote, anyway?

God, Al, you are such a fucking moron!! Have you ever heard of the chain of command, you total boob? You kill #2, #3 gets a promotion. So what the fuck good is killing #2. Same with killing #1 or any other number. It's promotion time for the others.

In fact, killing #2 make al Qaeda STRONGER. If we killed #2, he was a bad soldier. A possibly better soldier will then take his place.

Egbert, you are a perfect idiot. Truly a perfect idiot.

-Violence in Bagdad down 80 %

Um, no. 2% - a statistical blip, and nowhere close to 80%

-The Sheiks in Anbar have come over to our side and are now fighting Al Qeada

How about all those Sheiks that died a week or two ago in the hotel bombing?

- Economic growth is exploding and the new Kurdistan is a beacon of the Middle East

Don't you mean truck bombs are exploding in the new Kurdistan?

-Hamas in Gaza has now now been isolated and they are on a dead end path while the West Bank is set to have millions of dollars channelled to it to sustain their democratic form of government.

Except...Hamas was democratically elected. After the elections were pushed for by aWol the Feckless.

-Protests in Iran, probably in part due to US pressure, is shaking the foundations of Ahmadinajad's governtment.

I keep telling you lot that he has no policies, he is a stick in Buh's eye. That is all. And as soon as we have a president who wouldn'[t benefit from massive amounts of psychotropics, he is gone and the overtures start.

Care to try again? Perhaps after you get a real education, not one delivered at the kitchen table, by a parent who feared nothing more than the posibility you learn something and feel compelled question Lord Voldemort...I mean, I can only assume, since you can't speak his name that that is who you are talking about.

The only people who were disappointed in Colin Powell's role in bring about the invasion of Iraq, along with the whole "War on Terror" propaganda program, are people who were conned into believing he was anything more than a Republican Party hack.

What did Powell ever do to earn the fawning he gets from the corporate press/media and the general public?

Schradenfrude is all well and good, but what then?Unless we find liberal leaders who have the balls to stand up to the immoral bastards who insist that we continue to send our kids to die in a futile occupation, schadenfreude is all we are gonna get.

What did Powell ever do to earn the fawning he gets from the corporate press/media and the general public?

What the hell? I'll answer, since I think sacred cows make the best burgers.

He was the first black chairman of the Joint Chiefs. And going back a few decades, his path to advancement was smoothed by the top brass because he was complicit in the cover up of the My Lai massacre.

Powell had my respect until the famous UN speech. When he talked about the mobile biolabs, I knew immediately that this was totally insane. Producing bioweapons in a mobile lab, where you could have an accident and release some terrible disease? Were they fucking crazy? And then the evidence was a bunch of fucking cartoon drawings? What was this, the Acme Co Mobile Bio-Weapons Labs? Where was Wile E. Coyote, anyway?

I don't know about mobile labs and couldn't have judged Powell based on that part of the testimony. I do know, however, that it is very, very easy to get two Arabic speakers and make a recording insinuating presence of chemical weapons (WMD). Powell played an audio of a supposed telephone conversation between two Iraqi military officers discussing hiding the wmd.

If Powell thought this was "evidence" he could present live to the whole world to justify a war, he is ****ing incompetent. Jeez, all you need is a couple of hundred dollars to recruit two Arabic speakers in the middle east and record a conversation to pass it off as a tapped phone conversation between two Iraqi military personnel. And Powell actually believed this and other "evidence" enough to stand behind it?

Kevin,

Why the focus on petulant ad hominums recently? Can't Powell or Bill Kristol have a different opinion than yours and still be honest? Or do you have to project your own tendentious mangling of the facts on to them?

Blue Girl, et al,

Before throwing stones at Powell for his gullibility I wish you would Google some references from 2002 - maybe Mohammad Atta and crop duster...captured Afghanistan documents and chemical weapons, etc. Try to put yourself in his shoes back then and realize how much safer we are today because of his hard choices.

Last week some commenters thought it was another wag the dog situation in the UK, since the bombmakers were so sloppy. I wish you guys would try to imagine what would have happened if these guys had thousands more graduates of the ansar al Islam or the Salman Pak camps to teach them how to do it right.

BTW Blue Girl, I don't see how you can get your smear on Powell whitewashing My Lai out of this set of facts without stovepiping and cherry picking and Dowdifying a lot worse than Wolfowitz or Adelman: [via Wikipedia]

...Six months later, a 21 year old soldier of the 11th Light Infantry named Tom Glen wrote a letter accusing the Americal Division (and other entire units of the US military, not just individuals) of routine brutality against Vietnamese civilians; the letter was detailed, its allegations horrifying, and its contents echoed complaints received from other soldiers. Colin Powell, then a young US Army Major, was charged with investigating the letter, which did not specifically reference My Lai (Glen had no knowledge of the events there). Powell wrote: "In direct refutation of this portrayal is the fact that relations between American soldiers and the Vietnamese people are excellent." Later, Powell's refutation would be called an act of "white-washing" the news of My Lai, and questions would continue to remain undisclosed to the public. On 4 May 2004, Powell, then United States Secretary of State, said to Larry King, "I mean, I was in a unit that was responsible for My Lai. I got there after My Lai happened. So, in war, these sorts of horrible things happen every now and again, but they are still to be deplored."[7]

Maybe minion should Google Hans Blix, who was in Iraq, with weapons inspectors, finding nothing, continually asking the CIA and the Pentagon "now where did you say those weapons were. Oh, been there done that, got sand in my boots and nothing else." And those plans in Afghanistan were al-Quaida plans for al-Quaida, not for Iraq.

Yoeah, we're safer. On a scale of 0 meaning no change and 10 being perfectly safe, we've made it to -12.

I just read the timesonline article quoting Powell.

The former secretary of state has twice met Barack Obama, the Democratic candidate, to advise him on foreign policy.

Wow, Powell is now advising Obama on foreign affairs? Shame on Obama. I lower my respect for him by a notch for taking counsel from one of the Bush cabinet members who sold the war to us. Shame on you Obama. Can't you buy better counsel with the tens of millions you are raising?

As others have pointed out, all Powell had to do to show his opposition to war was resign and take the case to the public. That could have made a big difference in what happened. It is one thing to be an ideologue (like neocons) and another to be an opportunist like Powell. Powell tried to have it both ways and now, it appears, he may get neither.

Minion, I would refer you to this site:

The My Lai massacre. On March 16, 1968, US soldiers from the Americal Division slaughtered 347 civilians--primarily old men, women, children, and babies--in the Vietnamese village of My Lai 4 (pronounced, very appropriately, as "me lie"). The grunts also engaged in torture and rape of the villagers.

Around six months later, a soldier in the 11th Light Infantry Brigade--known among the men as "the Butcher's Brigade"--wrote a letter telling of widespread killing and torturing of Vietnamese civilians by entire units of the US military (he did not specifically refer to My Lai). The letter was sent to the general in charge of 'Nam and trickled down the chain of command to Major Colin Powell, a deputy assistant chief of staff at the Americal Division, who was charged with investigating the matter and formulating a response.

After a desultory check--which consisted mainly of investigating the soldier who wrote the letter, rather than his allegations--Powell reported that everything was hunkey-dory. There may be some "isolated incidents" by individual bad seeds, but there were no widespread atrocities. He wrote: "In direct refutation of this portrayal is the fact that relations between Americal soldiers and the Vietnamese people are excellent." The matter was closed.

To this day, we might not know about the carnage at My Lai if it hadn't been for another solider who later wisely sent a letter to his Congressman.

(Twenty-five years later Powell gave an interview in which he not only failed to condemn the massacre but seemed to excuse it.)

Anyone who ever served honorably should be appalled.

What did Powell ever do to earn the fawning he gets from the corporate press/media and the general public?
Posted by: James E. Powell on July 8, 2007 at 4:43 PM

I remember his performance immediately following 9/11. Very calming, rational, matter-of-fact, very professional. I couldn't help but thinking: "Why isn't *this* guy our president?" It was embarrassing for me to watch Bush's performance after 9/11. I couldn't understand how so many people were impressed with it. I never thought of GWB as anything but a dingbat from the getgo. I agree with POed Lib though. The UN speech was a big disappointment. Powell violated his own doctrine with the Iraq mess.

.... Can't Powell or Bill Kristol have a different opinion than yours and still be honest?....minion at 5:34 PM

Ron Ridenhour and Hugh Thompson are names said with reverence in my parents house. And mine. Both Hugh Thompson and my father are gone now, but they were friends before and remained so after, and I know my father felt honored to have a man such as him call him friend.

It's a convenient fiction for the war party, but it's not even remotely true.

Evidence, Kevin?

Blue Girl,

So because Powell didn't follow the Otter Principal [from Animal House] and throw away his career on a totally pointless and self-destructive gesture - responding to some winter soldier-like propaganda that didn't mention My Lai - he's less admirable than your hero candidates like George Galloway, Joe Wilson, Jaques Chirac, boogie-to-Baghdad Richard Clarke, etc... I too admire Hugh Thompson, even more than I loath the John Kerrys who tried to piggyback on his heroism to make it in the smart set. The fact is Powell did everything he could to help the Vietnamese people, you should read his autobiography and you might learn something. And how do you get him excusing rather than condemning the massacre from the comments I quoted, or are you referring to some other interview...

It seems more and more that the American public is diverting its consciousness (or is having its consciousness diverted, by the MSM) from the most direct marker of the lack of progress in Iraq, to wit:
1. More American and Coalition forces have died in the 10 month and eight day period between September 1, 2006 and July 7, 2007 than in any prior twelve month period during the Iraq war. According to the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count webpage - - http://icasualties.org/oif/ - - there have been 963 American and 1019 total Coalition deaths in the indicated period. Prior to the current period of tragedy, the highest death totals were experienced in the period between March 1, 2004 and February 28, 2005 when there were 947 American deaths, and total Coalition fatalities of 1018.
2. Even more frightening - - because I believe it can be taken as evidence that the insurgent forces had strengthened even prior to the “Surge� and that such strength does not seem to have been greatly diminished in the period since additional troops began their deployment - - and totally unremarked upon by anyone in the media as far as I can tell - - is the fact that prior to September, 2006, the average of total Coalition deaths on a daily basis never exceeded 2.5 for more than two months in a row. Horribly, September, 2006 and every month since then has seen a daily average of over 2.5 Coalition deaths. Moreover, prior to September, 2006 (in other words during the first 3 1/2 years of the war, there had been only six months (March, 2003; November, 2003; April, 2004; November, 2004; January, 2005 and October, 2005) when total Coalition deaths exceeded 3 on a daily basis. There have, however, been an additional six months with such a daily death toll in only the ten month period beginning September 1, 2006.

A career based on a cover up is not a career worth having. I'm not an absolutist about very many things but the Honor Code? There is no room for negotiating or equivocating.

BG

If I thought he engaged in a cover up I'd agree with you... don't you think your commitment to quaint ideas like an Honor Code make you a little too bourgeois for the pack of America-hating hyenas you associate with?

I do not associate with "America Hating Hyenas" I associate with patriots in the mold of Thomas Paine, Ben Franklin and James Madison.

Slightly off topic – one of my spouse’ assistants is married to an Army Captain stationed outside of Baghdad. His unit is back on a diet of combat rations, no hot food and no fresh vegetables. Seems Brown and Root is having trouble getting food to the troops again. So, who is it who really supports the troops? Not guys like Bush and Cheney who outsourced feeding the troops to their corporate cronies at Halliburton et al.

Paine, Franklin, and Hamilton did not believe the ends justified the means, did not insult the character of their opponents, and did not have a masochistic, Freudian need to lie and distort facts to portray their country being, at best, morally equivalent with beheaders and murderers.

As a good Republican I subconsciously substituted Hamilton for Madison...BTW, my characterization was of the people you cite like the aptly named "Disinformation" - not you personally.

Colin Powell needs to drop the attempt to restore his reputation and retire into (materially) comfortable obscurity. IF the story he's peddling here is true (I'm agnostic on that issue), the only honorable next step when he realized the President was unalterably committed to the occupation of Iraq was to resign and oppose it from the outside. His failure to do so is an unalterable stain on his reputation, and he should put down the bleach and go home. Like merchandise in the Pottery Barn, if you damage your good name badly enough it can never be repaired.

Minion –

Funny, but most people think your side characterize any one who opposes them as unpatriotic (American hating hyenas?), that they lied outrageously to justify the war in Iraq (after all means justify the ends), and that they ignore the worst kinds of criminal actions in order to portray their nation as pure and Godly no matter what. Personally I don’t think this is Freudian, just very wrong.

Paine, Franklin, and Hamilton did not believe the ends justified the means, did not insult the character of their opponents, and did not have a masochistic, Freudian need to lie and distort facts to portray their country being, at best, morally equivalent with beheaders and murderers.

Nor do I. So what is the point?

Paine, Franklin, and Hamilton did not believe the ends justified the means

Nor do progressives. Funny, Bush and his cronies believe that, however. Hyping WMD's was just a convenient reason to "market" the war, according to Wolfowitz.

[Paine, Franklin, and Hamilton] did not insult the character of their opponents

Yes they did. So much so that Hamilton and Burr fought a duel over a character insinuation, the Federalists derided Jefferson as an "infidel" who was unfit for office because of his religious and political beliefs, and Madison scathingly referred to Hamilton as a "monarchist" and "Anglophile" -- among countless other examples that refute your point.

did not have a masochistic, Freudian need to lie and distort facts

Again, you're describing wingnuts and some Republican officeholders.

to portray their country being, at best, morally equivalent with beheaders and murderers.

Nice strawman. That is not a progressive view. Progressives have noted that the Bush administration -- not "America" -- foisted a massive lie on the American people while concealling ulterior motives -- a lie the consequences of which has been the killing of Iraqi people on a scale far surpassing what any individual "beheader" has done.

I suppose you can ignore such a moral travesty if you also think the Honor Code is "quaint." That would explain why you can also ignore holding men like Powell and Kristol responsible for their actions. IOKIYAR.

You're unwittingly providing great fodder for the stereotype that Republicans are hypocrites that don't really care about the rule of law unless and until it conveniently fits in with their ideology or party agenda.

The Iraqis in charge have no intention of meeting goals set for them by the United States. They want U.S. forces gone, the sooner the better.

The fake "Al" knew damn well who he (or she) was writing about when he touted that kill.

What do they call it when posters create fake identities stupider than themselves (not easy) so they can always win the arguments? Don't think "sock puppet" is correct, and "straw man" isn't right either. "Punching bag?" "Jousting dummy?"

Republican 'conservatives' have never been ones to let the facts get in the way of their actions. Have you ever noticed that the mainstream media has to give more than equal time to right-wing distortion and lies just not to appear 'liberal'. I think the media should only state facts and criticize lies whether they come from a 'conservative' or a 'liberal'. Now, even NPR let's neocons state lies as fact so as not to appear biased. The media and America better wake up before the country is destroyed.

Ummm...I was off and having a drink, so I will just say..What trex said

that is all...

Muqtada al Sadr back to Iran? Not doing so well politically?

http://billroggio.com/archives/2007/07/muqtada_al_sadr_back.php

BBC analysis of surge results to date:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/middle_east/2007/iraq_surge/default.stm

Not a bright picture.

Turkish army provides care for Iraqi bombing victims:

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1183901655524&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

So How Are Things Going In Iraq, you ask, well why don't you ask the Commander & Thief, I fill sure he will lie and tell you all is going well with my war, sure soldiers have to die in war he will say but For What??? Bush's Oil???Bring our soldiers home now and if you are worried that the terrorists will come over here and try an attack post all sevicewoman and men in all the major airport terminals, the shipping docks as well as all the major railway terminals at least they will be at home serving their country here .

Sounds like Bush has done a pretty good job to me." Posted by: egbert on July 8, 2007 at 4:10 PM

Yes, he has.

But to whom?

Al Quaeda in Iraq and Cheney's Leer
Among all of Dick Cheney's distasteful contorted facial expressions the one that was most chilling and evil, which I wish that I had not seen, was the leer he transmitted to a GOP faithful audience when he disclosed that AQ in Iraq now numbers fifteen thousand.
His leer fully transmitted that he used the propaganda lies, that AQ was connected to Iraq, to get our guns and oil companies into Iraq. It also transmitted the, to him, deliciously evil twist that the lie has now morphed into the truth.
That AQ is now several thousand strong in Iraq is a grotesque result of the pathetically naive Neocon misadventure. It's also a plank in their arguments that we need to stay.
"The dolts, (meaning the American public and the MSM), don't have a clue as to what evil we will employ to accomplish our goals," is what the leer beams to the mightiest of the Bush base.
...as the sunlight flickered on the cross in his lapel...
cognitorex

comedy minneapolis club Acme

comedy minneapolis club Acme

Nice Site!
http://google.com

Nice Site!
http://google.com

Nice Site!
http://google.com

Excellent site. It was pleasant to me.

Great. Now i can say thank you!