The ultimate cost of the war we didn't need to fight.

Iraq - an exit strategy

I knew it was coming...

We all probably knew this was coming, but there was a glimmer of hope, deep in the back of my mind, that it wouldn't.  But here it is - from the New York Times...

MOSUL, Iraq — Some American troops could stay in Iraq for years, well beyond the scheduled withdrawal of all United States forces at the end of 2011, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Friday.

Why are we at war and what is the cost?

NATO forces killed nine children yesterday in Afghanistan.


Our troops murdered nine children as they collected firewood for their homes.


We butchered nine children.


Now imagine that one or more of them were YOUR children.


We are killing children and our troops are dying - and for what?  Tell me what we have accomplished.  Explain why those nine children had to die because I don't get it. And the cost of the war is what, in part, is bankrupting our nation.  It is time to bring our troops home.


The link below will take you to a video that is a little dated, dealing more with the Iraq war than that war in Afghanistan, but it is nonetheless relevant to today.  Think about it.


Support the Troops By Bringing Them Home

Rachel Maddow is not just a talker, she's also a doer...

This video is a little dated, but good nonetheless..

He Said What?

From The Progress Report, July 31, 2009

A U.S. Army officer compared the Iraqis' fledgling independence to that of a "'16-year-old who just got his license and doesn't want to listen anymore but still wants you to pay for the gas and the insurance and bail them out of jail' when they mess up."

The Coalition of One

From the New York Times. Click here to read the whole article.

BAGHDAD — Commanders of the Multi-National Force-Iraq, as the American-led coalition is formally called, have a looming nomenclature problem.

Two days from now, there will no longer be any other nations with troops in Iraq — no “multi” in the Multi-National Force. As Iraqi forces have increasingly taken the lead, the United States is the last of the “coalition of the willing” that the Bush administration first brought together in 2003.

Iraqi's Still Hate Bush

From Acerbic Politics

The Shoe Thrower

From Acerbic Politics

Who Do We Listen To?

From Acerbic Politics

Blackwater to Become Xe

It's been on the news - you've probably heard it - the mercenary outfit called Blackwater is going to change their name. Could it have anything to do with the fact that Iraq is tossing them out for their unmitigated, uncontrolled violence?

From Mother Jones...

What's in a name? A lot, particularly if you're a company accused of misdeeds. The best way out, as has been shown time and again, is simply to discard your name, adopt a new identity, and start again. It's a veritable capitalist tradition. Just ask the budget airline ValueJet, which, after one of its planes nosedived into the Florida Everglades in May 1996, killing everyone aboard, quietly became AirTran. Even cereal executives know the score: the breakfast favorite "Sugar Pops" became "Corn Pops" as health conscious mothers awoke to the idea that feeding sugar to their kids each morning was not a great idea.

What about repeated, questionable shootings of Iraqis? That, too, demands a blank slate... or so Blackwater has decided. Buried in the news Friday was Erik Prince's decision to rebrand his network of military contracting firms from Blackwater to "Xe," pronouned like the letter "z." Seems pretty lame at first blush, but perhaps it's a stroke of genius. Could it be that reporters' fascination with the Blackwater flows, at least in part, from the perfect symmetry of shady dealings and an ominous, Bond-villainish name?

Biggest US Fraud Ever?

The Bush administration handled so many things badly, can this report from Raw Story be a surprise?

The US Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR), the Army's criminal Investigation Command and the Justice Department are investigating US soldiers and officials in the alleged misuse of a portion of the $125 billion initially sent to Iraq for reconstruction shortly after the fall of Saddam.

Monday, The Independent's Iraq correspondent Patrick Cockburn reported the inspectors believe misuse may account for over $50 billion, exceeding the scope of Bernie Madoff's massive Ponzi scheme and making it potentially the "greatest fraud in US history."

"In one case, auditors working for SIGIR discovered that $57.8m was sent in 'pallet upon pallet of hundred-dollar bills' to the US comptroller for south-central Iraq, Robert J Stein Jr, who had himself photographed standing with the mound of money," wrote Cockburn. "He is among the few US officials who were in Iraq to be convicted of fraud and money-laundering.

Barney Frank On The Biggest Spending Bill

The Shoe

An artist in Iraq created a monument to the shoe-thrower who tossed his footware at President Bush in Baghdad.

But, from Video Cafe comes this word...

Almost as soon as it went up The Shoe has been brought down. The monument commemorating the journalist who hurled his shoes at President George W. Bush was taken down only one day after it was erected. Seems the Central Government just didn't approve.

Blackwater Gets The Boot

Blackwater is a private security firm (mercenaries) who provide security for private firms operating in Iraq, and body guard functions for private, foreign workers in Iraq. They have not had a very good reputation as some of their employees seem to be a little bit "gun-crazy."

Here's a clip from Mother Jones - click the link to read more...

The Iraqi government, taking advantage of the autonomy granted by the Status of Forces Agreement that went into effect January 1, has informed US officials that it will not be renewing Blackwater's operating license, according to this morning's Washington Post. This does not come as a shock—the firm has been in Baghdad's sights since at least September 2007, when its contractors opened fire in a traffic circle, killing 17 and wounding 24 others. The Iraqi government's first attempt to boot Blackwater from the country came just days after the shootings when it revoked the company's license, but US officials (enjoying a bit more authority at the time) simply ignored the order and went on to reaffirm Blackwater's presence the following April, much to the Iraqis' displeasure.

Blackwater has a short grace period as Baghdad finishes a draft of new guidelines that will govern the operations of private contractors. As Interior Ministry spokesman Major General Adbul-Karim Khalaf told the Post, "When the work of this committee ends, [private firms] will be under the authority of the Iraqi government, and those companies that don't have licenses, such as Blackwater, should leave immediately."

Iraq Timetable

With Bush nearly hours from being out of office, this is a bit dated - and yet still relevant?

Why Don't We Hear More About Iraq?

Good question, ey? Why is there so little reporting on what's going on in Iraq? Once in a while we hear of a bombing with some more casualties, but really - what do we know of what's going on within their government, with their business development or even how oil development is progressing?

Gawker has some thoughts...

The US is still engaged, supposedly, in the occupation of an unfriendly middle eastern nation, called "Iraq." We remind you of this because you won't learn about it on the television. It's expensive!

Brian Stelter reported on the lack of reporting from Iraq in today's Times. The problem? "Iraq has been, according to some executives, the most expensive war ever for TV news organizations." Because it is the deadliest country in the world for journalists, so they need massive security teams, so the networks are all cutting back on covering the country, which is ok because it's obviously much safer and more secure now, unless, apparently, you are unlucky enough to be a journalist.

The Meaning of Words

Just this past week we celebrated ten years since the impeachment of Bill Clinton. Remember his famous line from the hearings into his behavior? "That depends on what the meaning of 'is' is."

Well we may have another debate with a Democratic president over the meaning of a word.

In his campaign, Barack Obama promised to get the U.S. troops out of Iraq within 16 months of being sworn in. But, just what is the meaning of "withdrawal?"

In an interview this past week with Charlie Rose on PBS, Joe Biden had this to say...

"He is committed within the context of what he said at the time," Biden said of Obama. "He said he would at the time confer with the military leaders on the ground. We will be out of Iraq in -- in the same -- in the -- in the way in which Barack Obama described his position during the campaign. That will happen."

But earlier in the week, Secretary of Defense Bob Gates told Charlie Rose the following about Iraq...

They are a sovereign country, and if they tell us after the end of 2011, we want you all out, I think we have no choice but to do that. I think that just in a ball park figure when I think of the support that they likely are going to need for their air force, for their navy, for counterterrorism, for continued training, for intelligence, for logistics and so on, my guess is that you’re looking at perhaps several tens of thousands of American troops, but clearly, in a very different role than we have played for the last five years.

For those of you who are old enough to remember the Vietnam war, think about how that war started - military advisers.

For the complete article, from which the quotes above were clipped, click here.

Zainab's Shoe Store Ad

Iraq Shoe Throwing Store - watch more funny videos

A Military Feast

With private firms running the support services for our troops in Iraq, and with an unlimited budget (no-bid contracts), expenses for the war can be confusing. I mean, I want to support the troops and all - but is this necessary?

From Military.com...

Forget the K-rations of World War II and the chewy, tasteless MREs -- "Meals, Ready-to-Eat" -- that sustained U.S. Soldiers in more recent conflicts. With most of America's 150,000 troops in Iraq living on large bases, the combat ration has given way to a smorgasbord of food that has some Soldiers bingeing and others in fits.

"You have to have an iron discipline," said Sgt. Robert Carmical, a trombone player in the 25th Infantry Division Band, who arrived at Contingency Operating Base Speicher only days ago. "A lot of people turn to food for comfort, and the opportunity is there."

Barbecue ribs, fried chicken, rib-eye steak, lobster tails, crab legs, roast turkey, stir-fry, cheeseburgers, fries, onion rings, egg rolls, breaded shrimp, buffalo wings, chili, crepes, pancakes, omelets, waffles, burritos, tacos, quesadillas, quiches, bacon, polish sausages, pulled pork, corned beef hash, milk shakes and smoothies -- and that's just for starters.