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This was sent to me by a Buddy In Iraq. I am sure it has been translated to Iraqi to English. So Take it as you will...


"If you have any questions about what it means to the average citizen of Iraq to have
Americans here, you need to read this letter about what the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment
has done for one town.  I'm sure this is the type of reports you could get from all over Iraq.


And now the letter from a Mayor from a city in Iraq.

In the Name of God the Compassionate and Merciful;
To the Courageous Men and Women of the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment, who
have changed the city of Tall Afar from a ghost town, in which terrorists spread
death and destruction, to a secure city flourishing with life.  

To the lion-hearts who liberated out city from the grasp of terrorists who were
beheading men, women and children in the streets for many months.

To those who spread smiles on the faces of our children, and gave us restored hope,
through their personal sacrifice and brave fighting, and gave new live to the city
after hopelessness darkened our days, and stole our confidence in our ability to
reestablish our city.

Our city was the main base of operations for Abu Mousab Al Zarqawi.  The city was
completely held hostage in the hands of his henchmen. Our schools, governmental
services, businesses and offices were closed.  Our streets were silent, and no one
dared to walk them.  Our people were barricaded in their homes out of fear; death
awaited them around every corner.

Terrorists occupied and controlled the only hospital in the city.  Their savagery
reached such a level that they stuffed the corpses of children with explosives and
tossed them into the streets! in order to kill grieving parents attempting to retrieve
the bodies of their young.

This was the situation of our city until God prepared and delivered unto them the
courageous soldiers of the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment, who liberated the city,
ridding it of Zarqawi's followers after harsh fighting, killing and many terrorists,
and forcing the remaining butchers to flee the city like rats to the surrounding areas,
where the bravery of other 3d ACR soldiers in Sinjar, Rabiah, Zumar and Avgani
finally destroyed them.


I have met many soldiers of the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment; they are not lonely
courageous men and women, but avenging angels sent by The God Himself to fight
the evil of terrorism.


The leaders of this Regiment; COL McMaster, COL Armstrong, LTC Hicky, LTC
Gibson, and LTC Reilly embody courage, strength, vision and, wisdom.


Officers and soldiers alike bristle with the confidence and character of knights in a
bygone era.  The mission they have accomplished, by means of a unique military
operation, stands among the finest military feats to date in Operation Iraqi Freedom,
and truly deserves to be studied in military science.  This military operation was
clean, with little Collateral damage, despite the ferocity of the enemy.  With skill and
precision of surgeons they dealt with the terrorist cancers in the city without causing
unnecessary damage.

God bless the brave Regiment; God bless the families who dedicated these brave
men and women.  From the bottom of our hearts we thank the families.  They have
given us something we will never forget.  To the families of those who have given
their holy blood for our land, we all bow to you in reverence and to the souls of
your loved ones. Their sacrifice was not in vain.  They are not dead, but alive, and
their souls hovering around us every second of every minute.  They will never be
forgotten for giving their precious lives.  They have sacrificed that which is most
valuable.  We see them in the smile of every child, and en every flower growing in
this land.  Let America, their families, and the world be proud of their sacrifice for
humanity and life.

Finally, no matter how much I write or speak about this brave Regiment, I haven't
the words to describe the courage of it's officers and soldiers.  I pray to God to grant
happiness and health to these legendary heroes and their brave families.


NAJIM ABDULLAH ABID AL-JIBOURI
Mayor of Tall Afar, Ninewe, Iraq

Thats the kind of stuff the news should be repoting but will never see it . Bad news sell more than good.
Kevin

Between Tom Engelhardt and Michael Schwartz they point out that there are three kinds of news from Iraq.

Bad news--suicide bombings, kidnappings and killings.

Good news--the Marines deliver a wheelchair to someone, a mayor writes a flattering letter.

Economic rearrangement news--the kind of conditions that the World Bank hooks on to loans applied to the economy of Iraq.

Original here:  http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?emx=x&pid=72319

QuoteBecause the privatizers of the Bush administration were, however, in control of a largely prostrate and conquered country, the Iraqi reforms were enacted more swiftly and in a far more draconian manner than anywhere else on the planet. Within six months, for example, the American occupation government, the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), had promulgated all manner of laws designed to privatize everything in Iraq except established oil reserves. (New oil discoveries, however, were to be privatized.) All restrictions were also taken off foreign corporations intent on buying full control of Iraqi enterprises; nor were demands to be made of those companies to reinvest any of their profits in Iraq.

At the same time, state-owned enterprises were to be demobilized and sidelined. They were to be prevented from participating either in repairing facilities damaged during the invasion (or degraded by the decade of sanctions that preceded it) or in any of the initially ambitious reconstruction projects the U.S. commissioned. This policy was so strict that even state-owned enterprises with specific expertise in Iraqi electrical, sanitation, and water purification systems -- not to speak of Iraq's massive cement industry -- were forbidden from obtaining subcontracts from the multinational corporations placed in charge of rejuvenating the country's infrastructure.

A nice story but sounds a bit excessively sweet to me.  Status is undetermined according to Snopes currently.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/iraqmayor.asp

If you want a real story of day to day conditions in Baghdad, check out  http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/

She is a girl computer tech in Baghdad and she tells it exactly like it is as she sees it living there.  She doesn't hate Americans, or Sunni's or Shia or Christians.  She's just a person trying to stay alive in a war torn hell that we brought to her doorstep.  I have been following her since the "Shock and Awe" era (or possibly the "Awe, Shucks" era).

She has responded to my email in the past directly.  Her blog is updated every week or two usually - which is amazing considering the conditions she lives under.  Take a look - get a fairly unbiased view of what it's really like from a real average person in a real average family in Iraq. :'(  Note - actually upper class educated average Iraqi as they are the ones who blog- she would be an equal to most of us on this board and her English is as good as ours.

Here is her reply when I mentioned that we missed her after she hadn't posted a new blog for a while -- How did we know --- maybe she was dead.

From :        <riverbend@------.com>  Note -- this was her old address - If you want to write, her new one is on her blog
Sent :       Saturday, April 24, 2004 2:21 AM
To :       "glenn kangiser" <glenn-k@msn.com>
Subject :       Re: We Missed you
     
     
Inbox

Dear Glenn,

Thanks so much for your words. It means a lot to have so many people concerned
about my well-being. I can hardly believe it sometimes. I will try
to write more often but sometimes it can be so difficult doing something as
trivial as blogging when the world seems to be going crazy outside of my
window.

Thanks again Glenn... hope you and yours are safe and happy always.

Regards,
R.

Here's her take on the Jill Caroll abduction and the loss of her interpreter.

http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/2006_01_01_riverbendblog_archive.html#113709584389005811

Thanks for the link to the blog of this very important reporter. This is a valuable perspective for us to have.

I read with concern the notice she saw on Baghdad television, "The Ministry of Defense requests that civilians do not comply with the orders of the army or police on nightly patrols unless they are accompanied by coalition forces working in that area."

This means people cannot trust that the people in uniform are who they appear to be. Or that people in real uniforms are taking night jobs for someone else. Both very disturbing...

It is easy to forget that one of the first things needed for civilization and an economy to work is that an organization relatively trustworthy needs to have a monopoly on violence. IE: People have to trust that unsanctioned violence will be dealt with by an overpowering force, and that that force has some rules of fairness or law behind it. (Or, at least, universal fear  :'()

If violence is freelance you can not have civilization - you have anarchy and out of that will come warlord-ism, tribalism or some other system that will attempt to monopolize violence more locally. Bigger structures will not hold and it will keep disintegrating until there are structures that will hold and people can be protected.

This is what happened with the fall of Rome and Roman civilization. People just abandoned the cities because they could not be protected... they roamed the countryside until they could find a land baron who was willing to take them inside the walls and feed them in exchange for work. This was the start of a system called feudalism that lasted about 1000 years - the "dark ages".

Thanks Glenn! That is a great link..
The letter did seem a little Americanized.
My first thought told me it was sent to the troops in the field to boost moral.
To let them feel like what they are doing matters to people other than those in the oil business.

I talk with young guys (21-28 y/o) who are back from Iraq after having served, usually, 2 tours there.  Last weekend I spoke with a 22 y/o who had served 1 yr in Iraq--was there when we "took" Baghdad & then went to Afganistan for 8 mo.  I find it very difficult to draw a lot of information out of these guys.  The one I just spoke to made the statement:  "We can't just pull our troops out now after we've destroyed their country"...  He said when he got there, there wasn't any infrastructure, so they basically lived in their "amphibious" vehicle - he laughed & said "there isn't any water around, but it held 18-19 guys" only problem was, when driving it, in order to be able to see, you were exposed from your waist up, so not real safe.  He had injured his back in Iraq but went on to Afganistan where he was on patrol constantly.  There weren't any vehicles there so they walked everywhere.  The hillsides & mountains were sand & rocks, very slippery to climb, especially in the dark... they were always sliding down the mountains & hillsides, usually couldn't see anything.  One of his legs had gone numb due to the back injury & he ended up going for emergency surgery & sent back to the states, he was very close to being paralyzed from the waist down.  He said some of the Iraqi people were friendly - especially when they 1st went in to Baghdad, but a lot were suspicious.  He said he got a chance to talk a little with the Afganistanis - they were more friendly because we weren't in there "showing force"He got back last summer from Afganistan.  I spoke with another 22 y/o a couple months ago who was very disturbed about what was going on there & felt like we were destroying their country, a couple weeks ago, a 28 y/o thought we were helping them...  My nephew was there before & during the time they went into Baghdad - he wasn't exposed to the actual fighting, he was located 50 miles away I think, he didn't think it was so bad, so...

My heart really goes out to these young guys who have put their lives on the line... they go in with patriotic, idealistic ideas & are put in some very difficult situations.  When I question them, I'm more concerned with finding out how they are dealing with life back in the states, especially with all the controversy over the war.  I was in highschool & college when the Vietnam war was going on & am dealing wiith a lot of veterans who have never been able to get past that - you can think to yourself "why don't you just grow up" but having never experienced personally fighting in a war - especially the guerrilla wars like Vietnam & Iraq - who am I to judge.  I am more concerned with making sure they get the help & support they need, whether I am for or against the war.  After I find out how they are doing, I ask them what their feelings, thoughts are about what we are doing in Iraq & how things are going there - that I want to hear 1st hand, what those who were there have to say since there are such extreme views in the media.  Usually they will open up some, but I know that they have been told not to talk about things there.  Rumsfield also admits that the US gov't is still paying the media over there to write articles with a positive slant.  It is so difficult to get the straight scoop on things.

Oh, by the way, the guy I talked to this past weekend, he said he asked one of the contractors, how much money he was making.  The contractor refused to tell him.  He kept bugging him about it, the contractor told him they weren't allowed to tell, finally he said, "Put it this way, the 1st $90,000 is tax free."

My big concern is for the potential for destroyed lives, not just the American soldiers who are killed but the 100,000 + who have been injured physically & countless more psychologically.  That doesn't even include what has happened to the Iraqi people.  

That article you cited, Amanda, & other ways Bremer & Co handled the occupation after the "shock & awe" is why, I believe, the Iraqi people have turned on the US.

I'm reading a novel by Taylor Caldwell The Balance Wheel (I've read several of her books since high school...) This was written in 1950 but is set in the time frame starting in 1913 the year the IRS & Federal Reserve were established... leading up to WWI--I thought this quote was very telling...  "I am not a politician... I am only a soldier... there are times when it is expedient to make---war.  When it is profitable.  When people want it.  The people can always stop war simply by insisting that they want no war.  But they never do, sir.  They never do.  They like it."

Yes, it does work that way, doesn't it?

Glad you liked the link.  I consider River to be an important writer and a friend.  

Here is an American from Alaska I have also been following for a couple years.  I haven't read him for a while, but if he says it is so -it is so.

http://dahrjamailiraq.com/

He has been places no other reporter would go and live to tell about it.  This guy has b*lls the size of grapefruit and a heart of gold.

War is the ultimate ego trip... that's why people choose it. It makes us feel important and alive (after all, mortality hangs in the balance).

To reduce the attractions of war we have to somehow gain perspective on the ego satisfaction it provides and find alternatives to that.

The Greek invention of competative sports is one...

That is true, John.   I've often thought that all the time spent playing & watching sports was a waste of time, but on the other-hand it is great way to let off steam & compete.  I used to love to play sports, myself - but, not to sound sexist or anything  ;) I think that it is more the men who need competition--no matter if it be sports or building, inventing, etc.  Even though, after receiving several "telemarketing"  >:( calls in a day I can feel like going to war!   :o

In order to prevent the real consequences of the war for what???? in Iraq from influencing public opinion, the US government controlled media is not allowed to publish pictures that may influence your veiws.  Some other countries are not restricted from showing these images.

Only look if you have the stomach for it ----or pretend it isn't happening like they want you to.  Out of sight --out of mind.  This is what the war of lies for the increase of the riches of corporate and elite America is doing to our kids.  Note that you will not see any pictures of politicians children here with their faces or limbs blown off.

http://www.voltairenet.org/article136827.html

Paste the link into the site below for a fairly decent machine translation.  Sorry, I don't know how to get the translated page posted here.

http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/tr  Note - select Spanish to English as the translation languages.

For the Iraqi images

http://www.voltairenet.org/article136851.html

And despite the pictures of the president visiting the disabled, there's this, definitely biased column by Judith Coburn (definitely biased? I'd hate to go up against a "Bush is always right" friend using only this as evidence, would expect one cheap shot in there somewhere):

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/042806B.shtml

....But little has been reported about how shockingly on-the-cheap the homecomings of these soldiers have proved to be. The Bush administration awarded Blake Miller a medal, but it has fought for three long years to deny soldiers like him the care they need. While Miller and his men were being thrown into the fire in Falluja, the White House was proposing to cut the combat pay of soldiers like them. (Only an outburst of outrage across the political spectrum caused the administration to back off from that suggestion.)

   The Veterans Administration, now run by a former Republican National Committeeman, has been subjected to the same radical hatcheting that the White House has tried to wield against the rest of America's safety net. Cutbacks, cooking the books, privatization schemes, even a proposal to close down the VA's operations have all been in evidence. The administration's inside-the-beltway supporters like the Heritage Foundation and famed anti-tax radical Grover Norquist like to equate VA care with welfare. Traditionally, however, most Americans have held that the VA's medical care and disability compensation was earned by those who served their country.

.........
  Nonetheless, the VA has admitted - and it's been confirmed by an Army study - that a staggering 35% of veterans who served in Iraq have already sought treatment in the VA system for emotional problems from the war. Add this to the older veterans, especially from the Vietnam era, pouring into the VA system as their war wounds, both physical and emotional, deepen with age or as, on retirement, they find they can no longer afford private health insurance and realize that VA health care is - or, at least in the past, was - more generous than Medicare.
...............
   Other White House ideas for cutting back the VA, including making vets pay insurance premiums, higher co-pays and doubling Vets' costs for prescription drugs, have also been beaten back by Congress. One VA response to its huge backlog of claims has been to limit enrollment for its services. In January, 2003, the White House ordered the VA to create a new temporary cost-cutting category of "affluent" vets who would not be eligible to use the VA. But the new category seems headed for permanency. And it sets the cut-off level for eligibility for VA care so low - around $30,000 for a so-called "affluent" family of four - that many vets who have been cut off can't possibly afford health insurance and medical care on the private market.

   In World War II, 12 million Americans fought on behalf of a nation of 130 million. Twenty-five percent of American men served in that war. They came back heroes to a country more than willing to give them the latest medical care, compensate them for their wounds, send them to college, and help them buy homes.

Amanda, you are so right.  Working in a VA hospital, I see 1st hand the devastation wreaked in so many persons lives.  There ARE a large % of vets with psychological problems.  The WWII vets are dying but we have a whole new influx of Vietnam vets, Gulf War & now the current undeclared war in Iraq & Afganistan.  I believe that the VA health services are some of the best & most comprehensive & for the past few years in all the surveys, have been rated tops.  We continue to accomplish that even though the budget & staffing keeps getting cut.  I don't really believe in socialized medicine, but in this case, it has worked extremely well.  But that is because we are continually graded on various benchmarks.  Some examples:  preventive health & education, mental health screening, 10 min window for treating a person who comes in with possible heart attack (ECG, labs, meds etc) as well as patient satisfaction... Unless there are those types of guidelines, controls & follow-up, burorocracies (sp)  tend to slide down the slippery slope of poor performance & waste.  We also have state-of-the-art equipment in most cases.

In our hospital, we make it a priority to see the returning Iraqi vets.  I don't know how it works with the active duty vets who get care from the military hospitals.  The co-pays for people over a certain income have traditionally been very reasonable.  The VA now collects from the private insurers of people who have it, to help offset the cuts in budget.  We have some patients who tend to "abuse" the system, unfortunately, just like in the county & private sectors.  They miss their scheduled appts & then go to the ER for routine care & medications, tying up the services for people who might have acute problems.  Patients complain if they have to wait more than an hour to be seen.  There are those who come in several times a week for minor problems.  We even had a patient come in recently who had called 1st to find out some of his lab results... when the nurse who answered, told him he couldn't give that info over the phone, he arrived in ER 10 min later complaining of chest pain... after all the intensive care & monitoring for 9 hrs, diagnositc testing etc, it turned out nothing was wrong--basically he just wanted results of lab tests... people learn the code words to say to get immediate attention.  Oftentimes, the staff, itself, will state "if these people had to pay a small co-pay, they wouldn't abuse the system so much with nonsense."  Most don't have to pay anything.  

I agree that our veterans, who have put their lives on the line, deserve to receive care.  That was promised when they joined up.  It used to be that most who were seen had a service related injury or ailment.  At my hospital, we have people who barely made it through bootcamp, were only in for 3 mo, who are the ones who have a tendency to use the VA services the most.  

My nephew's girlfriend served 2 tours in Iraq as a military police in the Marines.  She joined up after highschool because she didn't feel she was ready for college yet.  She had a 4.3 GPA, was a dancer in the Olympics, had a lot of things going for her.  She was on patrol in a humvee during her last tour, when an IED blew up their vehicle, 2 of her good friends were killed, she wasn't even injured.  But she says that it has scarred her for life.  She saw a humvee blown up on the news & started shaking & crying uncontrollably, she said she felt like she was back in Iraq.  I told her if the stress was too bad for her she could get help from the VA.  She said she didn't want a mark on her record that might effect her employability when she gets out.  

QuoteJohn Raabe:  War is the ultimate ego trip... that's why people choose it. It makes us feel important and alive (after all, mortality hangs in the balance).

I believe that applies more-so to the people who plan the wars... the ultimate game of chess...  the common man & woman get caught up in the propaganda & want to do their part in protecting our country by being patriotic... they are the pawns who suffer...

What is it costing us and our children to feather the pockets of our elite by purchasing what it takes to wage this undefined war of terror?

http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20060504-112948-6189r

$439,000,000,000.00 / 298655659 US Population=$1469.92 for every man, woman, child, bum, illegal? and panhandler in the US and rising daily.

I know I didn't authorize the White House resident to spend any money for me so please add my amount to yours. :)

While I think war IS hell on earth, the closest we get here, I think we cannot turn our backs on those who desire freedom from cruel dictators...rape rooms...mass extermination...and attacks on our country from oversees (911).  Enclosed, my blog address, where I posted some "too graphic for Tv" photoes I was emailed.  http://water05201.blogspot.com/

It's nice to think we are doing good there, Water8.  Many of us really want to believe that and tend to ignore the facts. I wish I could believe that and that it was really true.  Actually the reason we need to stay there now is because we have messed things up so badly.  Led into war under false pretenses, it seems that the main reason for going there was to transfer present and future tax money to currently reigning officials and their cronies as well as America's mega-corporations and to have a power base in the middle east.

Iraq had nothing to do with 911 and many people think that whoever pulled it off had help from the inside.  

http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/011805_simplify_case.shtml

It wouldn't be the first time our government has used this tactic to sway public opinion.

http://www.pearlharbor41.com/     http://www.the7thfire.com/Politics%20and%20History/Gulf-of-Tonkin.htm

Now they're working on getting approval to attack Iran. Some of the Saudi hijackers trained at US Navy Bases.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0208/S00085.htm

http://www.prisonplanet.com/alleged_hijackers_may_trained_us_bases.html

Iraq worse off than under Saddam

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0406-01.htm

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1651789,00.html

http://www.codewolf.com/story/article_1023139.html

http://www.haleakalatimes.com/news/story1986.aspx

Human rights abuses by US - Abu Ghraib Rape Rooms

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1206725,00.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5165156/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Ghraib_prisoner_abuse
 It can be argued that the people over there attacking us are protecting their homeland as we would do if attacked here.  Riverbend noted in her blog from Iraq that suicide bombers did not show up in Iraq until after we attacked them.

The gas used on the Kurds was provided by us.  We exterminated the entire column of soldiers retreating from Kuwait after we had given Saddam approval to attack them for slant drilling under Iraq to steal oil.  

"There are, in addition, strong indications that many of those killed were Palestinian and Kuwaiti civilians trying to escape the impending seige of Kuwait City and the return of Kuwaiti armed forces. No attempt was made by U.S. military command to distinguish between military personnel and civilians on the "highway of death."   Gulf War 1 -Daddy Bush.  

On July 25th, after the massing of Iraqi troops on the Kuwaiti border, U.S. Ambassador April Glaspie told Saddam regarding a possible invasion of Kuwait, that "the United States has no opinion on Arab-Arab conflicts, like your border disagreement with Kuwait." "James Baker has directed our official spokesmen to emphasize this."

http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/history-repeating.html

Check out the Highway of death

http://deoxy.org/wc/warcrime.htm

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/90/Highway_of_death.jpg)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway_of_Death


This is what we do to people who have not harmed us.
(//%3Cbr%20/%3Ehttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4b/AbuGhraibAbuse-standing-on-box.jpg/200px-AbuGhraibAbuse-standing-on-box.jpg)

We are not the knights in shining armor we like to think of ourselves as. If only we were as nice as most people in the US thnk we are.  Maybe then the world would love us.

It is estimated by some sources that we have killed over 100,000 Iraqi civilians-

"The experts from the United States and Iraq said most of those who died were women and children and air strikes from coalition forces accounted for most of the violent deaths."

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/10/29/iraq.deaths/  This is also mass killing.

There are some of our naive young soldiers over there trying to do the best they can hence the photos you posted but our official policies and leaders orders don't paint a nice picture of us to the rest of the world.  Our children are cannon fodder for the elite and the corporations of the war machine and big oil.  

On the bright side, oil profits are gaining by leaps and bounds. :)

"Taxation without representation" was the first revolutionary slogan.

How about "Invasion without representation" as our current issue?

How 'bout performing    Whakapohane (http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/jm240406.htm) one of the traditions of the Waikato Maori in New Zealand, when they don't agree with the politics...  ;)

(thanks to Jonsey for the link :) )

I'm all for that.  What a nice little way to show them what you think of them.

Did I get too carried away?  I just couldn't control myself. :-/

Sounds good to me John.  The Iraq invasion was planned before Bush was installed in office, so nobody at the peasant level (us) had a say in it.

Iraq Invasion talked about in 1999 (http://www.guerrillanews.com/articles/article.php?id=761)

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/01/10/oneill.bush/

BTW, here's one of our welders performing "whakapohane" on streaming video to the Whitehouse....

(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/garage-snow2-19-06103.jpg)

Where do you get this stuff!!!???

(Please don't tell me you follow Glenn around.)  ;)

QuoteBTW, here's one of our welders performing "whakapohane" on streaming video to the Whitehouse....

(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/garage-snow2-19-06103.jpg)

 Please invest in these
 (http://www.davidmorgan.com/images/1173ynvy_thb.jpg%20)

  ;D

She has to bring the cookie jar to the jobsite once in a while, John.

PEG, I'll have a little man to man talk with him about the spenders.

Well John... I don't know what to say  ::)  The picture was such a classic I hated to see it go to waste... & then Jonsey sent me some links & I just so happened to read about  "walkapohane" & the picture fit right in...  ;)

...besides, I didn't take that picture... one of the other guys told Glenn to bring his camera up & that's how the picture came about...

Big brother is watching...   http://news.com.com/2010-1069-980325.html%20RFID/Spychips    :o

Well, PEG, I had that little talk with Fred---- told him you thought he should try spenders.

He said "If I do that how will I get to show off this sexy a$$?"  

He is quite proud of it I think  ---as demonsrated by his little display over the jobsite Security Camera.  He once mooned me going down the freeway as he and his buddies passed my truck.

Sorry - I tried --- he is incorrigible.  :-/

No matter what the average person thinks of us there, why we are there or how we got there, having just passed memorial day, we don't want to forget the cost.

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/fallen/

Women pioneer new territory.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/17/AR2006041701618.html

This is reprinted from the Daily Reckoning (http://www.dailyreckoning.com/) today.

Good writing, as usual, with an economic/philosophic focus...

---

Every great public spectacle begins with a lie, develops into a farce, and
often ends up a tragedy. We read the newspapers and wonder where the war
in Iraq stands in the sequence. Certainly, the lies are behind it. The
Bush administration told the lies it needed to tell to get the war
underway. Now, no more lies are needed. But, does that mean we are in the
farce stage? Or have we already moved to tragedy?

"When you open up the strategy for victory, there is nothing inside," said
Representative John Murtha, Democrat from the great state of Pennsylvania.
Murtha has seen this show before, in Vietnam. That, too, had to work its
way through the three stages. The lies: that Americans should care what
kind of misgovernment the Vietnamese had...and that if they "went
communist," the whole of Southeast Asia would fall "like dominoes."

Then came the farce - in which hundreds of thousands of American boys were
"sent to do the fighting that Asian boys should do," in Lyndon Johnson's
words...sent off with an empty strategy and no real knowledge of whom they
were fighting or what they were fighting for, other than slogans as empty
as a George Bush speech. And finally, came the tragedy, not so much the
American retreat, which was still in the bloody farce stage, but the
victory of the reds, who were every bit as asinine and murderous as their
enemies made them out to be. But finally, when Vietnam did "go communist,"
the whole of Southeast Asia yawned. Nobody cared. The Vietcong had won.
And the whole country suffered its victory, like a war wound, for the rest
of the century.

There were no real winners in Vietnam. The president says he has a Plan
for Victory in Iraq, but there will be no winners there either.  

Who will be the biggest loser? We cannot know. It is not given to man to
know his fate. All we can do is to try to peek around the corner.

The world was a much different place in 1966 than it is in 2006. Forty
years ago, the United States was the world's undisputed economic power,
and still a growing power with a positive trade balance, a net creditor to
the rest of the world, and a dollar still convertible into gold, albeit
indirectly. Americans still paid off their mortgages. Credit cards were
still in the future...along with reality TV and "neg am" mortgages. The
generation in command still remembered the lessons of the Great
Depression, and World Ware II. They made mistakes - big ones - but they
still expected to pay their bills and balance their budgets. What's more,
their largest potential competitors - Russia, China, India - still hobbled
themselves with Marxist claptrap that kept them out of world markets for
much of the 20th century. In other words, America could still afford to
make grandiose mistakes.

The United States is, of course, an imperial power. It is also the world's
largest debtor. Its role in the world is to maintain order. But it can
only do so by borrowing money from its former and future enemies! And now,
the empire wastes its military resources in a fight that can do it no
good, and squanders its borrowed money trying to secure a part of the
imperial periphery that can do it no harm; Russia is building up piles of
dollars by exporting energy. China is building up mountains of dollars by
exporting consumer-manufactured goods. India is coming on strong, too, by
offering English-language information processing to the rest of the world.

At some time in the future, these lenders will surely want more for their
money than 5%. Already, we read in last week's paper that China's key
advisors are urging the government to take its dollars and buy oil and
gold. At some point, they might want to suggest changes in the trade
relationship, or changes in the décor of the White House...or changes in
the U.S. Constitution itself. Who knows?

The dollar is, after all, a currency of no fixed value. Both lenders and
borrowers are aware that it floats on the wind like odor from a public
dump. And when the lenders decide the time is right, they will make a
flap. Then, the borrower will find he or she is on the wrong side of the
breeze.

Osama bin Laden wasn't born yesterday. He, too, knows which way the wind
blows. His publicly stated strategy is to bleed the empire dry - forcing
it to spend $100,000 for every 50 cents his terrorists lay out. It is
simple enough to understand the math, but who would have thought that the
empire would be stupid enough to fall into the trap?

A "war on terror" is in many ways the perfect war for a bankrupt empire.
Perfect for its enemies, too. It allows the homeland team to marshal
resources it does not have for a war it cannot lose. Terrorists can only
irritate the great empire; they cannot bring it down. No, the empire will
have to bring itself down. And for that, we don't need terrorists. We have
Congress and the White House.

I hadn't run into the Daily Reckoning before.  But I have been thinking about the economy how it relates to war, depression and collapse.

Partly because the audio book of the moment is Jonathan Alter's book about FDR and the first hundred days.  Fascinating to compare and contrast then and now.

What our guys are asking in Iraq.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15160357/

Weapons of Mass Destruction (http://www.brasscheck.com/videos/iraq/iraqwar15.html)

The quip in 2003 was "Of course we know they have WMD.  We've got the invoices showing what we sold them"

And then Scott Ritter (among others) pointed out how readily they disintegrated.

You've got it, Amanda.  More and more people are catching on now.  Finally I don't feel so much like the Lone Ranger.  I can be happy knowing I will get to be in the new KBR camps for dissidents with lots of like minded individuals. :)

The links below tell of the massive rocket attack that destroyed much of Camp Falcon and its ammo dump.  The name list from the hospital claims over 300 casualties.  DOD does not list them as part of that event perhaps because many times they don't consider them dead until recorded at another location.  The size of the event indicates the list should be credible.  It will be interesting to see what comes out in the near future.

http://iraqwar.mirror-world.ru/article/106318

http://www.tbrnews.org/Archives/a2547.htm#001

QuoteAlthough official U.S. DoD statements indicated that there were no deaths; that only a hundred men were inside the base guarding billions of dollars of vital military equipment and that there were "only two minor injuries to personnel," passes belief and certainly reality is more painful than propaganda.

Not only has the U.S. military machine lost much of its armor and transport, and its entire reserves of ammunition and special fuel, but the casualty list for only the first day is over 300..

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/com/221735790.html

Oh, dear.  We don't do inflated body counts of the enemy killed any more, so instead we have to minimize our own casualties?

I hope not.

I guess the immediate solution is if anyone knows anyone on the list, to try and contact them.

They did it in Viet Nam as you mentioned.  

Looks like more than small ammo going off here.  Small ammo doesn't make blinding white light and mushroom clouds that I know of.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7500391660672808417&q=camp+falcon+ammunition&hl=en

http://www.uruknet.info/?p=99999&l=e&size=1&hd=0

Remember Pat Tillman, the football player who was killed in Iraq?  The following link is to an article his brother wrote that was published in the Air Force Times in memory of Pat...  I was surprised they posted this article!  

http://www.airforcetimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-2310513.php

That's right amazing.

Although Air Force Times is a .com and not a .gov.

It is also the magazine that published that there were substancially more injuries than officially reported from the Iraq war.

It is the report that got Sassy's dad to realize we were being lied to, big time.  He's Air Force, retired.

It is estimated that 80% of the injured troops returning from Iraq have some level of brain injury - some severe, some slight.  The severely brain injured get immediate attention, not so with the mild injuries as they are not always apparent at 1st, until the family & friends notice GI Joe is acting a little weird, forgetting more than normal, flying into rages... not to mention the PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder).  

I spoke at length to a nurse who was the head nurse at one of the 4 "brain injury" units in the Veteran's Admin hospitals.  She said it was tragic, she cried everyday.  She was instrumental in getting some liaison between the DOD (dept of defense) & the Veteran's Affairs.  You would think they would be working close together, but not so.  Once there is an injury the DOD deems too severe for the military, the person is discharged (this is more true with the army than the other branches).  

It is too expensive for the military to keep them on duty as they would have to pay for Tricare (health insurance for the family), housing etc.  Discharging them leaves the injured veteran basically out in the streets - if he/she has family, spouse - great, if not  :-/ .  The funding for the Veteran's Affairs gets cut more & more while the # of veterans needing medical care keeps increasing.  This fiscal year the funding for the brain injured medical units was cut in half.

The nurse I was talking about earlier really cared about what was happening with these vets & their families.  She called commanders, generals, senators, representatives etc & got them involved.  She was appalled that there was no communication between the DOD & VA after a wounded vet was discharged - she insisted on meeting with the people "in charge" - she went to Washington DC, she insisted they come to her hospital & meet with the Chief of Nursing & the Director of the hospital.  She got things MOVING!  Hurrah for her!

Anyway, another situation that she dealt with was the families.  She ended up being a counselor to the spouses, patients, parents... working at getting the injured veterans the help & benefits they should be able to receive after putting their lives on the line for our country & basically having their lives destroyed.  These vets have to learn to talk, walk, use the toilet, brush their teeth, etc etc - many of them are like infants.  With today's incredibly efficient medical units on site & the ability to airvac the injured - we are able to save lots of lives - but with the majority of injuries being caused by IED's the brain injuries are astronomical.

This nurse was able to get together one of the wives & a wealthy businessman who had come to the VA hosp to volunteer - and they were successful in raising the private funds for a "Fisher House" so that the families would have a place to stay while their loved ones were in the hospital so that they can participate in the daily rehab, which is so vital for the brain injured veteran.  

The raising of funds & building the 21 bedroom suite house took less than a year.  It is beautiful.  Stephanie (the nurse) was on CNN & several other news shows (can't remember the names).  But she is very humble about it - I had to keep asking her about it - she still tears up when she talks about the situation.  She said she had to leave there as she has 2 small children & she would be called night & day - she was so emotionally involved - she needed to focus on her family & give herself some time to heal.  

Once she got the liaison support, the Fisher House built etc, she knew that she could leave - that her work was done there.  I was in tears as she was telling me the story - she showed the videos of the interviews & of many of the brain injured veterans.  I was so impressed with her empathy & the power of one woman who cared enough to fight the odds & the status quo to ensure that our veterans received the care & support they were promised when they joined the military service to "fight for our freedoms".  Whether we may agree or disagree with the premises of the war in Iraq, the casualties to these young men are the reality & Stephanie was one person who truly has made a difference in their lives & the lives of their families.  

QuoteWhether we may agree or disagree with the premises of the war in Iraq, the casualties to these young men are the reality & Stephanie was one person who truly has made a difference in their lives & the lives of their families.

Yes.

here's a link to a report from the Veterans Affairs   http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/news/20061010/index.htm
from the National Security Archives:

 VA Takes Nine Months to Locate Data on Disability Claims by Veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars

Report Indicates that 1 in 4 Veterans of the
Global War on Terrorism Claim Disabilities

One in four sounds way too high, like there are a lot of slackers out there trying to rip off their government in its time of trial....

[size=20]Until[/size]

you realize that a lot of the people who used to be army--cooks, a large portion of the transport people, construction, and more--are no longer in the army or marines but are contract workers--in the name of economy, of course.

I think I read somewhere that there were almost as many contract workers as regular military in Iraq--maybe 80 per cent of the military total.

I think you are right, Amanda, from what I've read.  The gov't uses creative budgeting - sorta like Enron... but then so do our banking institutions & including the Federal Reserve, the United States private central bank... to pay for the contractors so it doesn't look like we have such a BIG budget for the military branches - although, remember, on the eve of 9/11 Rumsfield admitted that the Pentagon couldn't account for 2.3 trillion $$$!!!

Of course I see slackers in the VA health system, you see them everywhere, but then you've got to realize that these veterans have all been exposed to depleted uranium (DU) :o as have the Iraqi's, Afgan's, Kuwaiti's & even Europe... & of course, the 100's (1,000's) of tons of the aerosolized DU has been breathed in, touched, eaten etc.  Think radiation poisening?  :-/  Could that stuff floating around the world affect "global warming"?

That was another reason that the nurse I spoke about earlier felt she had to leave... there was so much they were not allowed to talk about ie DU among other things... she said she knew too much.  I don't want to say too much as I don't want it to come back on her.  

But now we have the Federal Reserve producing the financing so that our gov't will have endless funds to promote war that our children will have to fight, and that we all pay for through the IRS - oops, actually all our taxes to the IRS pay for is the interest to the international bankers who own & control the Federal Reserve  >:( !  And the Federal Reserve produces the money out of, lets take a guess, thin air???  :o  There's not even fractional banking anymore.  When the Federal Reserve prints up the money to pay for the US Treasury bills or other debts the gov't has to borrow on, the Feds consider that an asset in their accounting world - go figure (actually all the banks do) because the United States citizen is going to have to pay taxes to pay the interest on the debt that was purchased out of - uh, you guessed it, thin air!   :o

That is another reason the 3rd world countries default on so many loans - yet again, a huge banking entity called the "World Bank" finances the loans out of, guess again, "thin air" & now the 3rd world country is saddled with not only the debt but the interest... usually they can only pay the interest, if that, but the international bankers want the interest so they are nice enough to "roll over" the loan.  After that has been done countless times - the 3rd world country can no longer pay even the interest, so they default on the loans... mind you, the international bankers do not lose, the generous United States citizens & citizens of other countries have guaranteed the loans & pay the international bankers out of their taxes - some of which goes to the World Bank!  Think Russia, Mexico, Brazil among many other countries... who have defaultd on their loans in the past few years - but good United States citzens as we are - we make sure that the international bankers are paid their due!  Aren't we generous  ;D ...

Well, enough of my rant - this may be basic economics to most of you - I've just been studying it over the past couple years, although I worked in a bank for 10 years, I didn't really get into the nitty gritty of how our banking system works...

It may sound like I got off the subject of the Iraq war, but I didn't really - wars need to be financed - so there has to be a system in place to finance them & someone makes money off those wars... it's certainly not the unfortunate soldier  :-/ Think The Carlyle Group (daddy Bush among others) Halliburton (Cheney), pharmaceutical companies - vaccines (Rumsfield), big oil (Rice & Bush, among others), Kellogg Brown & Root... anyway, I guess that's enough of a rant...  :-/

"Why We Are At War - George Bush Is Not The Problem"   :-?  View video Here (http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15830.htm)

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

PS  I mentioned in another post that corporations are required by law to make a profit (according the the documentary "The Corporation") this speaker refutes that assumption...

No, most any investment is a gamble.  Some more than less--"backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government" ought to mean something, although one of the Eisenhower brothers--not Dwight, Milton I think--believed in the late seventies that the United States should declare a moratorium on the national debt, including all the money it had borrowed.  In an infamous op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal.  (which I haven't found a reference to through a couple of pages of Google search)

The problem with the United States backing everything is that banks & corporations take risky chances - when that bank or corp. fails, the United States makes good on their promise - or I should say, the United States taxpayer...  :-/

But then there was 1929.  Well, on through at least early 1933.

If banks went under all the money was gone for all the depositors.

(now, they'd have sold their loans, so you'd still owe those)

3,166 reported deaths -Depends on who is counting

...and besides what really qualifies as dead anyway?  Dead is really subject to interpretation.  Isn't it? :-/

US Iraq casualties rise to 52, 590

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/19170

How The Military Industrial Complex Makes Money Off 9/11 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCbzFJyVS-o) video

Hidden cost of Iraq war - and the lies to hide it.

http://www.newstatesman.com/200703120024

QuoteAmerica won't simply be paying with its dead. The Pentagon is trying to silence economists who predict that several decades of care for the wounded will amount to an unbelievable $2.5 trillion.

Yow!

Dahr Jamail from Alaska is showing up here at the community center in El Portal.  He is a number one source of truth about what is happening in Iraq and spent longer than any reporter actually over there in the middle of it.  

We have been getting his reports for years now.

Sassy and I are going to go see what he has to say tonight.

http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/
http://dahrjamailiraq.com/weblog/

A great evening with a great proponent of truth.  Dahr was a guide at Denali and has friends here at Yosemite.  While he brought up things that were great revelations to many people who don't follow alternative news sources, it was right in line with what Sassy and I spew here regularly.  No differences, significant or otherwise.  His scope was basically limited to Iraq.

He is currently going to Lebanon and Syria to report - leaving next week and was there reporting during the recent attack on Lebanon by Isreal.

He suggested that he drop in to visit the underground complex next trip through.  We of course would love to have him visit if he can find the time.

He had been here a year ago last November, unknown to us.

One point he brought up was that people voicing their opposition to current policies did have the effect of causing Halliburton to lose a multi-billion (13.7?) dollar contract.  He says we can all make a difference.

He mentioned in after the discourse conversation that about 80% of the people fighting the occupation were Iraqi citizens, just as we would fight if we were occupied and losing close friends and relatives to the occupying forces.

I asked him how he felt about around 80 journalists being killed in Iraq by our forces and other tragedies of the war .  He said it was actually over 200 and that while there was danger there he felt that others were in greater danger than he was.  His previous friend , driver and translator had to flee to Syria and his friends there told him not to come back - it wasn't even safe for them there.  He was in Falluja around the time we napalmed and white phosphorused the civilians to teach them a lesson for hanging the Blackwater mercenaries.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/07/25/1442242

QuoteIndependent journalist Dahr Jamail, who exposed how the U.S. used white phosphorus bombs in Iraq, says Israel is using the same tactic in Lebanon. We speak to him in Beirut.

While Human Rights Watch is accusing Israel of using cluster bombs, the Lebanese president Emile Lahoud says Israel is also using white phosphorus. Lebanese doctors have reported witnessing the effects of white phosphorus on their patients. Independent journalist  is in Beirut and has spoken to some of those doctors. We reached him earlier today.

   * Dahr Jamail -Independent journalist. Dahr Jamail spent the last week on the Syria-Lebanon border and the last several days in Beirut.

I don't know that much about what is going on over there.
My main criticism would have to be the people making massive profits from the war, if that is true.

I think the media should focus more on finding out what companies are making massive profits from the war, and to what extent that has anything to do with why the war is taking place, or lasting longer than it should, or taking turns for the worst.

Of course there is nothing wrong with profits, and war is often neccessary, and there might even be a case for profits during war, but I doubt that the average Coalition soldier or Iraqi civilian over there appreciates people making massive profits at their expense. Just my opinion but I suspect that if you end the profits and you will end this war.

The media is controlled by the government.  You will not hear of solutions or even the main problems from them.  Every story is carefully crafted to keep the major portion of the people dis-interested and of the view that our government and military will handle it just fine without our intervention or direction and in spite of the illegality of it.

That is why un-embedded reporters like Dahr are so important and also why their lives are so much in danger.

http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/hard_news/archives/iraq/000543.php

Last night Dahr brought out that this is the first administration that has ever been staffed nearly all by oil company people.  

He brought out that Cheney's portfolio has increased by 4000% since he entered office.  

Haliburton serves the military (not saying they don't deserve it) premium meals in what he referred to as the mega-bases, because they are on no bid cost plus contracts to the government (US Taxpayers at this point - Iraq money is gone).  The more they spend the more profit they make - we are talking roast beef and turkey dinners every day.

You will not stop war profits by anything but impeachment, in fact future candidates are poised to continue more of the same.  The profiteers are in control of the government.

As you touched on - our military - sons and daughters are being sacrificed for big business - oil - war machinery etc.  The mercenaries are being paid much better, but even they are not impervious to bullets and bombs.

Contract workers from other 3rd world countries (read slaves) work for about a third of what the Iraqi's do (Iraqi=about $150 month) and help prevent security breaches or infiltrations.  They die also.  Neither they , contractors , mercenaries or green card soldiers are counted in the official war death counts.  Soldiers who die after being evacuated to Lundsdahl or other places are not counted.  Funding is being reduced for veteran care and is scheduled to be greatly reduced after the next elections.

Cancers and growths from depleted uranium (not officially) are affecting not only our returning soldiers but also their wives and children.  Someone we know will be reporting to Dahr on this after his return from the middle east in May.

My understanding is that the media is controlled by big business, as is the government. It is a bit muddier than that but it is all pretty much the same thing. What further complicates things today is that many of these large corporations are multinational, both in their operations and in their investors.

I really can't say I even begin to understand it all. As we know, assuming what we hear is true, there were people around the world making huge unethical profits in Iraq before the war, and now there are, supposedly different people around the world, making huge unethical profits in Iraq during the war. The difference might be that more people are dieing, Iraqi and American and British, there is more infrastructure destroyed which presumably will have to be rebuilt, and the taxpayers in Iraq and American and Britain, but mostly America, are paying a much bigger bill.

Not sure what is really in it for the average American. The ultimate showdown, at least economically, has to be with China. My gut says that that is ultimately what this war is all about, getting there first, but I still can't begin to understand it. There are American investors in China and Chinese investors in America, so it is really not as straightforward as it might seem, even for someone that loves conspiracy theories as much as I do. I think its just another case of human weakness and mass stupidity, on a grand scale.

It could get a lot worse though, and probably will. Perhaps therein lies the real justification, and the problem. There is madness to this method.

It is very complicated and I don't know that anyone understands it all.   Follow the money helps to explain a lot of it.  Money - greed -- power all enter into it.  

Our figurehead people in government are not smart enough to direct all that is going on by themselves.  The plan is not to benefit our nation or people or the world.  It is people above government and from different nations that are or feel that they are above all governments that steer this thing in the way they want it to go to maximize their power and profits. It's more of a world wealth and power struggle rather than a national power struggle.  

Recent moves in our country - toll roads owned by foreign countries - ports sold to Arab countries and China - Nafta highway from Mexico to Canada with Mexican customs in the middle of the US (hope I have all of that right - that's more Sassy's area) all indicate a world economy without regard for the common US citizens welfare in mind.  We are the serfs.

As an old work aquaintance once said, "Dems et gets it's dems et don't talks about it."

I talk to people in China on Skype every so often and along with what Dahr said last night - the people in these countries are just like you and I.  We could all be friends.

The exploit comes from big business, money greed and power mongering without regard for death or human suffering.  A girl form China asked me what I thought of China.  I said I thought it was just like here.  A lot of good people with a few bad.  She agreed.

China makes it fairly easy for US companies to set up shop there  - they partner with Chinese companies to get started then in a few years can go on their own.  Our corporations jump at the chance to maximize profits by using near slave labor and increase revenue for their shareholders -but mainly for those at the top of the ladder.  If our jobs also go overseas it is of no concern to them.  Corporations are considered to be the same as people under US corporation law, but people without a heart or conscience.

QuoteAs an old work aquaintance once said, "Dems et gets it's dems et don't talks about it."

Good one.

Another one, somewhat related.
"The puppet master doesn't have to sing the tune. He only has to hum it."

Pretty deep there, James.  Makes you think.  Yup -- I think he already knows the song -- in fact the entire show and direction it's going.

Here is a point Dahr stressed strongly last night and a great clue to where the puppet master is headed with this thing.

QuoteIn September 2000, a few months before the accession of George W. Bush to the White House, the Project for a New American Century (PNAC) published its blueprint for global domination under the title: "Rebuilding America's Defenses."

The PNAC is a neo-conservative think tank linked to the Defense-Intelligence establishment, the Republican Party and the powerful Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) which plays a behind-the-scenes role in the formulation of US foreign policy.

The PNAC's declared objective is quite simple - to:

   "Fight and decisively win in multiple, simultaneous theater wars".

This statement indicates that the US plans to be involved simultaneously in several war theaters in different regions of the World.

Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney had commissioned the PNAC blueprint prior to the presidential elections.

The PNAC outlines a roadmap of conquest. It calls for "the direct imposition of U.S. "forward bases" throughout Central Asia and the Middle East "with a view to ensuring economic domination of the world, while strangling any potential "rival" or any viable alternative to America's vision of a 'free market' economy" (See Chris Floyd, Bush's Crusade for empire, Global Outlook, No. 6, 2003)

The Role of "Massive Casualty Producing Events"

The PNAC blueprint also outlines a consistent framework of war propaganda. One year before 9/11, the PNAC called for "some catastrophic and catalyzing event, like a new Pearl Harbor," which would serve to galvanize US public opinion in support of a war agenda. (See http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/NAC304A.html )

The PNAC architects seem to have anticipated with cynical accuracy, the use of the September 11 attacks as "a war pretext incident."

The PNAC's reference to a "catastrophic and catalyzing event" echoes a similar statement by David Rockefeller to the United Nations Business Council in 1994:

   "We are on the verge of global transformation. All we need is the right major crisis and the nations will accept the New World Order."

Similarly, in the words Zbigniew Brzezinski in his book, The Grand Chessboard:.

    "...it may find it more difficult to fashion a consensus [in America] on foreign policy issues, except in the circumstances of a truly massive and widely perceived direct external threat."

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5428.htm

The only apparent problem is the Iraqi's and Afghan's failure to cooperate in this part of the plan costing countless lives and bloodshed on all fronts. [highlight] "Fight and decisively win in multiple, simultaneous theater wars". [/highlight]

Dahr brought up that our military is spread out in all corners of the globe.  We enter but do not leave.

Zbig has been a pro at steering US foreign policy since the Carter days and may have been instrumental in in helping steer the breakup of the USSR.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article7323.htm

Looking for a quote from Zbig, I found this - http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/zbig.html interesting read.

While I try to stay away from Alex Jones for direct reference, as  some consider him to be a tin hat conspiracy nut, I haven't found things he has said to be untrue and he is the one who pulls this info together the best.

The PNAC took his words, that it would take an event such as a new Pearl Harbor to get support for their agenda  from the ambivalent people of the US, and we somehow miraculously  :o got 9/11.

Now seemingly feeling that Bush regime has gone overboard, he is turning around the other way, criticizing their actions and warning of false flag operations that may be enacted in the near future to get support for attacking Iran.

http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/february2007/060207falseflag.htm

Before I lose this, note that a lot of our troops over in Iraq are not so happy about being there to support big business and Cheney's portfolio.  A lot of them are not happy about risking their life for a lie - actually a lot of lies.

They signed up to defend our country - not to build an empire.  If you think 9/11 had anything to do with the reason they are there then you have a lot of studying to do.  It was the excuse - not the reason.

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/US_troops_in_Iraq_want_out_03192007.html

Wouldn't it be nice if they got to come home.  $1000 a month for our guys compared to around $1500 a day for mercenaries?  No wonder they don't want to stay - and I'll bet the mercs have health care.

Why aren't the Bush daughters in Iraq? (http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-kelley19mar19%2C0%2C737381.story?track=mostviewed-homepage)

I would really like to see a real list all who have died besides the "official" one.

http://www.rense.com/general76/oneinten.htm

This is more in agreement with the article in the Air Force military magazine.  It didn't agree with the official news either.

What are the families told?

Or is there some sinister don't report the single orphans thing going on?

I think I've read before that they are not listed as official war casualties if a) they were still semi-alive when they were put on the plane to Germany, or b) if the deaths could be written off as, say, an auto accident--never mind that they were in a shooting match with a pursuing vehicle at the time.  

I'm not sure how all of this goes down.  I've searched a bit for it but don't really know of a way to find out much.

The Donald looks at Iraq with his eyes open.

http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=7a5e5yjlf3

maybe the donald should be president....Only thing is he would have to take a half billion dollar per year pay cut to be president....And that is not going to happen

He was right about one thing...

Everything in Washington under Bush has been a lie.... completely totally a lie...

That summed it up pretty well...

Yeah -- personally I don't really care for the guy but he really has a good handle on what's going on.  

well the donald has an ego the size of manhatten...

Other than that all of his problems are minor...

But he is usually one to tell it like it is...

Anyone need a job?  Don't count on getting any support if you get killed  :-/  

Blackwater Heavies Sue Families of Slain Employees for $10 Million in Brutal Attempt to Suppress Their Story (http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/53460/)

If you are lucky you could soon be deployed by Blackwater here in the states though.

Bringing Democracy to Iraq.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYHFrG8oGjQ&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Euruknet%2Einfo%2F%3Fp%3Dm33543%26hd%3D%26size%3D1%26l%3De

This may turn out to be a composite, or even creative writing.  

But since riverbend left the country this may be how we're going to see Iraq.

http://arabwomanblues.blogspot.com/

the excerpt below came from information clearing house via a friend--put in only part of it here.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17921.htm

Home, a home...any home...I think I will write about that instead.

Marwan is a Palestinian Iraqi. This is how he defines himself.

"I do not know where my family is. They are stranded somewhere in the desert, between Syria and Iraq. Layla, I already lost 4 of them in Baladiyat. I regret Saddam so much..."

Ah regrets and nostalgia...Maybe I need to write about this instead.

Salman, an Iraqi shia. An staunch anti-Saddam says to me.

"There is no end to this dark tunnel, Layla. Give us back a strong government, with an iron fist. I would pay anything to have that back..."

Did I hear pay ? Pay, paychecks...

Now check this one out.
I mentioned in one of my posts that a junior member of parliament in the Green Zone brothel makes 30'000 dollars a month plus fringe benefits. Now do you want to know how much the matron makes? No joke here.

Jalal Talabani makes 1 million dollars A MONTH plus fringe benefits. This heavy hooker has pocketed in 2 years, 24 million dollars! Whilst the majority of the Iraqis don't have a piece of bread...

Bread...That reminds me of Nadia's husband. After being sacked from his job as an accountant, he took up the job of a baker. I just learned that he has typhoid.
Raging fevers in raging Iraq...


So kindly tell me, where would you like me to start? Pick and choose.

Fatherless day, orphans in feces, sodomy Americana, blood pools, home burials, severed heads, public castrations, erring homelessness, regrets and nostalgia or how to make a million bucks per month in Iraq? Or maybe I need to stop here and put out this fever?

So when you decide, let me know. But do remember there is no end in sight...

Now, If you don't mind, I would like to go and crawl into some corner, take up a foetal position and vanish...Vanish from these endless beginnings, vanish from my own powerlessness, vanish far away....

...spinning in ever smaller circles, untill you vanish up your own butt..? Sounds like a great idea- the time for sackcloth and ashes was way back when Clintion allowed the power-base responsible for this-  those same Neo-Cons who have only the protection of Israel as their main function in Government-  in his administration to take root, and Bush G cemented them and their warped agenda into place.

Who is fueling and funding
the insurgents in Iraq?

The war-mongers in the
Bush administration say
that it's Iran.

But who destroyed the social
order of Iraq?

Who left thousands of tons
of conventional arms and
ammunition unguarded in the
months after the invasion?

Who fired an entire army of
well trained, well armed professional
killers and left them on the
streets with no means of supporting
themselves or their families?

The answer to why Iraq suffering
from chaos is here:

http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/120.html

Continuation of winning hearts and minds.  

(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/USiraqattack.jpg)

http://iraqwar.mirror-world.ru/article/141602

U.S. Is Paying Off Iraq's Worst War Criminals in Attempt to Ward Off Attacks

By Katie Halper, AlterNet. Posted September 18, 2007.

Title: Director's Cut: New Video shows the truth in Anbar that Petraeus does not want us to see.

"When Bush was in Iraq two weeks ago he posed for photographs with Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, the leader of the Anbar Awakening, an alliance of Sunni tribes who vow to back the United States and fight against al Qaeda.

Last Monday, General Petraeus testified to Congress that "a year ago" Anbar province "was assessed 'lost' politically ... Today, it is a model of what happens when local leaders and citizens decide to oppose al Qaeda and reject its Taliban-like ideology."

Three days later, the assassination of Abu Risha in Ramadi dramatically undercut Bush and Petraeus' claims of Anbar victory and peacekeeping. But what else is the administration keeping from us about Anbar?" con't at link above...

Why Iraqi Farmers Might Prefer Death to Paul Bremer's Order 81
By Nancy Scola, AlterNet. Posted September 19, 2007.

"Anyone hearing about central India's ongoing epidemic of farmer suicides, where growers are killing themselves at a terrifying clip, has to be horrified. But among the more disturbed must be the once-grand poobah of post-invasion Iraq, U.S. diplomat L. Paul Bremer.

Why Bremer? Because Indian farmers are choosing death after finding themselves caught in a loop of crop failure and debt rooted in genetically modified and patented agriculture -- the same farming model that Bremer introduced to Iraq during his tenure as administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority, the American body that ruled the "new Iraq" in its chaotic early days.

In his 400 days of service as CPA administrator, Bremer issued a series of directives known collectively as the "100 Orders." Bremer's orders set up the building blocks of the new Iraq, and among them is Order 81 [PDF], officially titled Amendments to Patent, Industrial Design, Undisclosed Information, Integrated Circuits and Plant Variety Law, enacted by Bremer on April 26, 2004."  cont at link
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/62273/

Quote from: John Raabe on April 01, 2006, 10:39:07 AM
War is the ultimate ego trip... that's why people choose it. It makes us feel important and alive (after all, mortality hangs in the balance).

To reduce the attractions of war we have to somehow gain perspective on the ego satisfaction it provides and find alternatives to that.

The Greek invention of competative sports is one...

Just rec'd the latest article by Ron Paul going over the reasons/questions of our going to Iraq... 
Texas Straight Talk

A weekly column
Predictions vs. Reality in Iraq

On September 10, 2002  I asked 35 questions regarding war with Iraq. The war resolution passed on October 16, 2002.  Now today, as some of my colleagues try to reestablish credentials regarding spending restraint, I want to call attention to my 18th question from six years ago:

"Are we willing to bear the economic burden of a 100 billion dollar war against Iraq, with oil prices expected to skyrocket and further rattle an already shaky American economy?  How about an estimated 30 year occupation of Iraq that some have deemed necessary to "build democracy" there?"

Many scoffed at my "radical" predictions at the time, regarding them as hyperbole.  Six years later, I am forced to admit that I was wrong.  My "radical" predictions were in fact, not "radical" enough.

I warned of a draining 30-year occupation.  Now, politicians glibly talk about a 100-year occupation as if it is no big deal.  On cost, according to estimates from the Congressional Research Service, we have already burned through around $550 billion in Iraq, at a rate of about $2 billion per week.  Economist Joseph Stiglitz's estimates are even higher, at $12 billion a month.  It is a total price tag quickly heading into the trillions, if we don't stop bombing and rebuilding bridges in Iraq that lead us nowhere but bankruptcy!  Bridges in this country are crumbling along with our economy, while some howl about earmarks.  Earmarks are a drop in the bucket compared to war and occupation.

Yes, I was wrong about Iraq.  I knew it would be bad.  I didn't know it would be this bad.

The American people deserve better.  Being asked to endorse such a farce is beyond insulting.  Clearly, the rosy predictions of the neo-Conservatives from before the war are not coming true.  Far from it!  With a straight face, one official estimated the TOTAL cost of reconstruction in Iraq would be just $1.7 billion.  Turns out that we spend more than that in ONE WEEK.  Our friends are not pitching in to cover the cost.  Expenses are not being covered by oil from a grateful and liberated Iraqi people.  Rather, big corporate interests are benefitting, the price of oil has more than quadrupled, and the American economy is on its knees and sinking fast.

No one predicted the exact course of this war before it started.  But to continue to listen to the foreign policy advice of those that were the MOST offbase will only lead to more foreign policy disasters.  We need to keep this in mind as we think about Russia, Iran, Cuba and other countries.  Keep in mind - the doomsday predictions on the Iraq War from six years ago, sound like a cakewalk today.  While what leaders in the administration had predicted, reads like a fairytale.  Ask yourself, when listening to the same foreign policy "experts" explaining situations around the world and suggesting policy positions: In light of the facts of today, and the predictions of yesterday, how expert have they shown themselves to be?

Passing HR 2605 to sunset authorization for the use of force in Iraq is the first step to stopping this bloody war, and the consequent bleeding of our treasuries.  Serious fiscal conservatives will support it, as will those who have been paying attention to foreign policy predictions and reality.

Posted by Ron Paul (09-22-2008, 02:12 PM) filed under Foreign Policy
con't @ link to find other articles by Ron Paul
http://www.ronpaullibrary.org/document.php?id=1123

Genocide in Iraq

http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/diarypage.php?did=9821

Pentagon Hands Iraq Oil Deal to Shell

http://iraqwar.mirror-world.ru/article/177384

"The Pentagon's Shell deal came during one DoD's periodic petroleum benders - massive multi-day spending sprees where hundreds of millions or billions of taxpayer dollars are paid out to oil companies. This one, on September 17th and 18th, netted Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and seven other oil companies a grand total of over $1.5 billion.

The fact that the U.S. government secretly facilitated dealings between Shell and the Iraqi Oil Ministry for no-bid contracts; that the U.S. military - the primary occupation force in Iraq - regularly pays Shell billions of dollars each year; that on the heals of a contract worth hundred of millions of dollars with the U.S. military, Shell just inked a deal with occupied Iraq and set up an office in the U.S. military's secure "Green Zone" should raise myriad questions about the tangled relationship between the major players in Iraq. These complex issues go ignored because they are viewed as so routine as not to be worth mentioning, but in any other context the confluence of guns, oil and billions of dollars would certainly raise eyebrows."


http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=10439