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Author: TriSec    Date: 04/01/2008 10:40:17

Good Morning.

Today is our 1,840th day in Iraq.

We'll start this morning as we always do...with the increasing casualties from the warron terra, courtesy of Antiwar.com:

American Deaths
Since war began (3/19/03): 4011
Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03): 3872
Since Capture of Saddam (12/13/03): 3550
Since Handover (6/29/04): 3152
Since Election (1/31/05): 2573

Other Coalition Troops: 309
US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 491


We find this morning's cost of war passing through: $507,453,610,000.00

Do go and watch it for a minute. I timed it just now, and our war debt seems to be increasing by $10,000 every four seconds or so. Think of your annual salary, then do the math. It's sickening.



Turning to our friends at IAVA....remember "As they stand up, we'll stand down"? Well, my young son went from crawling to walking to running in less time it's taken for Iraq to do the same. And some vets are taking notice.


Y’all got some ’splaining to do.

Pictures of the Basra police handing over their weapons to JAM last week were followed by stories of the same patrolling Basra in HMMWVs. While there’s no telling right now if that’s true or not, the absence of a realistic plan or even an honest assessment of the problems faced while creating a professional security force in Iraq are on jaw-dropping display. Even more frustrating are the Pentagon’s pollyannaish assessments that tend more to propaganda than to a critical eye on the real world. And without an honest assessment, it is darn near impossible to expect any sort of sensible plan. Sadr’s deprecations over the last week and their manhandling of Maliki’s ISF set the stage for another public “assessment” where generals give testimony to politicians giving them speeches and the troops are no better off than before:

Iraq’s new army is “developing steadily,” with “strong Iraqi leaders out front,” the chief U.S. trainer assured the American people. That was three-plus years ago, the U.S. Army general was David H. Petraeus, and some of those Iraqi officials at the time were busy embezzling more than $1 billion allotted for the new army’s weapons, according to investigators.

The 2004-05 Defense Ministry scandal was just one in an unending series of setbacks in the five-year struggle to “stand up” an Iraqi military and allow hard-pressed U.S. forces to “stand down” from Iraq.

That’s from the AP’s Iraq’s Army a Long Time ‘Standing Up’

And the happy talk still continues

The current chief trainer counters that his Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq, known as MNSTC-I, has made “huge progress in many areas, quality and quantity.”

“But we’re not free of difficulties,” Lt. Gen. James Dubik told reporters on March 4.

The GAO is hot on their heels but they only repeat what almost any combat troop working with the Iraqis will tell you - with a few notable exceptions, they are a hollow and untrustworthy force.

Desertions persisted. In its latest quarterly report, in early March, the Pentagon says some 197,000 military personnel have now been trained, but that number includes the equivalent of two divisions - 27,000 men - estimated to have gone AWOL in 2007. Some 224,000 police are listed as trained, including an unknown number who left their posts.

Without that honest assessment, and some strategy or another (I mean - pick something!) all the commentary and discussion about the success or failure of the troop increases are meaningless. Over the next couple of weeks leaders at all levels will testify or make the rounds in DC. The White House will spin for all it it is worth and all three presidential candidates will weigh in. Pasty faced “analysts” will make “expert assessments” in front of every camera from C-SPAN to FOX and Friends. Months later a fact checker will be able to see that they’ve gotten almost every single thing wrong at every step of the way. But by then the only ones that really know will be on their fourth or fifth tour in Iraq. The only thing we won’t hear is a real plan and anything approaching a comprehensive security strategy. And no - I haven’t a qualified recommendation to make because I, like just about everyone else, do not have the whole picture. Until we get that assessment and are honest about it, you can’t identify the real problems and you can’t make viable recommendations.

We’ve seen this game before and it is time for the most senior of military officers and their civilian counterparts to stop play-acting and get to the hard work of speaking truth to power and then doing what they’d demand of their subordinates - make a suggestion - pick something! But be honest about the costs and the chances of failure or success, and the results of that. Get the right info out there and let a real discussion of informed constituents proceed. Otherwise - shut up or identify yourself as the political prop you are.



Turning now to the Iraqis, perhaps you heard of the recent fighting in and around Basra. Or perhaps not, since the American media completely ignored it. In any case, the citizens of that beleagured city are now facing food and water shortages, and can't even bury their dead.
Residents in southern Iraq are hopeful that the al-Mahdi Army will heed calls by Muqtada al-Sadr, the influential Shia leader, to withdraw from the streets.

For nearly a week, clashes between al-Sadr's forces and the government have forced hundreds of families in Basra, Kut and Kerbala to seek safety inside their homes.
At least 300 people have reportedly died since an Iraqi military crackdown in Basra last week sparked fighting across the country.

The operation was aimed at disarming the city's warring Shia militias, including the al-Mahdi Army, as well as crushing a number of criminal gangs.

But many Iraqi civilians say the fighting is spilling over to their lives.

"We need food and water," Abu Kareem, a Basra resident, told Al Jazeera in a phone interview.

"Electricity has been cut off [for] three days and all food we had in our refrigerators has been lost."

"Many houses are being used [by] fighters to hide and yesterday they entered my home twice, raising the dangers of an air strike over us," the 52-year-old added.

"My sons and wife are scared and when I tried to refuse their [fighters'] entrance, I was beaten," he added.

Yearning for calm
Fighting continued in Basra on Sunday despite calls by al-Sadr for his troops to stand down and withdraw from the streets, dashing the hopes of residents who yearned for calm.

"I'm glad that our cleric decided to call for the militia to withdraw but I'm not sure it will work out," Ala'a Salah, a Basra resident, said.

"When you cease fire without addressing the main issues facing our society, the wound will be open and ready for any new infection. I'm sure clashes will return but on a much worse scale."

Salah added that the temporary ceasefire has allowed his family to get food, petrol for generators and clean water. But as soon as it is safe, he said, he will pack up and leave the city.

Abu Ali, a fighter for the al-Mahdi Army, said he will obey al-Sadr's order, but does not believe all militia fighters will stand down.

"Some fighters are feeling used as they were told to fight for recognition and now to stop without any concessions being made to them," he said.

"If we stop [fighting], we are going to be seen as losers and a weak group and the possibility to be politically recognised will be less likely."

Health care woes
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has expressed concerns that continued fighting in southern Iraq could create a humanitarian crisis in the region.

"Hospitals in Basra and in parts of Baghdad are running out of medical stocks, food and fuel," said a Red Cross volunteer who asked to remain anonymous because he was not authorised to speak to the press.

"Aid workers have been prevented from entering Basra for security reasons while the need for aid is urgent. Some families have told me by phone that in some houses children are starving and armed groups aren't responding to appeals from civilians," he said.

Ali Dureid, another Basra resident, told Al Jazeera that after his brother has been killed outside his home, the family had to wait for hours before carrying the body inside.

They also had to delay his burial for two days while they waited for fighting to subside in their neighbourhood.

"A foul smell started to come from his body," 34-year-old Duraid said.

Dureid added that he understood why the al-Mahdi Army militia have taken up arms, but said the killing of innocent civilians does not ultimately serve their interests.

"They are fighting to be recognised, but how can Iraqis [recognise] them if what they are doing is letting innocent civilians die under their ideals?"




Lastly this morning...we turn to the politicians. In the cacophony that is an election campaign, both sides are arguing with each other over the war...again. This time it's Obama and McCain.
ALLENTOWNPA. -- , -- In one of their sharpest exchanges of the presidential campaign, Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama clashed over the Iraq war on Monday, with each challenging the other's credentials on national security.

Meanwhile, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Obama's rival for the party's nomination, went after Obama's supporters for urging her to exit the race.

McCain lashed out after a Mississippi event that launched the Arizona senator's weeklong tour of the nation to highlight his military pedigree.

Responding to Obama's frequent mocking of McCain's suggestion that U.S. troops might remain in Iraq for 100 years, the Republican nominee-in-waiting said the Illinois senator failed to understand that America has kept forces in Korea, Japan, Germany and Kuwait long after wars in each country ended.

"In all due respect, it displays a fundamental misunderstanding of history, of how we've maintained national security, and what we need to do in the future to maintain our security in the face of the transcendent challenge of radical Islamic extremism," McCain told reporters on his campaign plane.

"And I understand that, because he has no experience or background in any of it," McCain added.

Obama and other critics have dogged McCain over his remark in New Hampshire last year that the U.S. might keep troops in Iraq for as long as 100 years.

McCain has stressed since then that he meant that U.S. troops might need to remain to support Iraqi forces, not to wage full-scale warfare.

Campaigning Monday in Allentown, Obama questioned McCain's judgment -- and that of New York Sen. Clinton -- in voting to authorize the war in Iraq.

"John McCain and Hillary Clinton, they had a chance to make a good decision on the most important foreign-policy issue of a generation, and they got it wrong," Obama told a crowd of 4,000 at Muhlenberg College.

"There's only one candidate left who got it right, and that's who you should want answering that phone call at 3 o'clock in the morning," he added, alluding to a Clinton ad suggesting that she was best suited to handle a foreign- policy crisis.

Obama also stood by his criticism of McCain for saying U.S. forces could stay in Iraq for as long as 100 years.

"Barack Obama," his spokesman Bill Burton said, "doesn't need any lectures from John McCain, who has consistently misunderstood American national security and the history of the Middle East in arguing for an invasion and 100-year occupation of a country that had nothing to do with 9/11."



So...another week at war. No end in sight. What do we do next?



 

196 comments (Latest Comment: 04/02/2008 04:43:47 by livingonli)
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Comment by BobR on 04/01/2008 12:12:42
McCain thought Iran was training al-Qaeda, and he has the balls to criticize anyone on MidEast military strategy?

Comment by velveeta jones on 04/01/2008 12:34:20
Yes, after McCain, on more than one occassion, confused Sunni and Shi'a - I'll take knowledge over experience!! .



Morning all. I'll be off today......... taking the wife to see her new doctor, which is in another town. *sigh* It means......... no Steph.



:(

Comment by m-hadley on 04/01/2008 12:44:26
No Foolin' :D

Although as I think I mentioned earlier I have a good friend who lives in DC and I will probably stay with her at least one of the two nights, but would love to hang with you all the other night...



Quote by livingonli:

I have a spare bed in my room if needed. I booked one with two double beds just in case.




Hey there Liv,

I may take you up on your offer to share your room. Last night I booked my flight (only cost me $47.00 more than the credit that they gave me for the Columbus trip I didn't make). I arrive on Friday - early afternoon - and fly out around 10:00am Sunday morning. I am really looking forward to meeting you and the rest of the 4Fs gang - can't wait...

Cheers,

mfaye

Comment by TriSec on 04/01/2008 13:05:43


Comment by Raine on 04/01/2008 13:22:51
Good morning all!





Comment by m-hadley on 04/01/2008 13:28:14
Momma seems to have more than her share of body pierced listeners

Cheers,

mfaye

Comment by starling310 on 04/01/2008 13:35:45
Morning!



Quote bylivingonli Without Thom Hartmann on WWRL, they are dead to me.




Liv...when did WWRL do away with Thom's program?

I just listened to him last week on their stream.

Comment by starling310 on 04/01/2008 13:35:45
Quote bylivingonli Without Thom Hartmann on WWRL, they are dead to me.


Comment by Raine on 04/01/2008 13:36:26
Oh dear... Dennis miller is SO not funny.

Comment by starling310 on 04/01/2008 13:39:50
OMG! WWRL replaced Thom with ED SCHULTZ?!?!?!?

WhenTF did that happen?



Pfft....at least I can still get him on Green960.

Comment by Raine on 04/01/2008 13:45:19
Quote by BobR:

McCain thought Iran was training al-Qaeda, and he has the balls to criticize anyone on MidEast military strategy?


HE is indeed on of those cranky old men. Man he has a real set of hypocrites hanging there, huh?





Comment by Shane-O on 04/01/2008 13:48:32
I SO wish that the statistics in TriSec's post were an April Fools' prank.

Comment by Raine on 04/01/2008 13:48:33
Comment by Raine on 04/01/2008 13:52:55
HEre we go...





Comment by livingonli on 04/01/2008 13:52:58
Good morning everyone.



Oh, this working until 2 AM is cramping my style.



I don't know how anyone can listen to Sean Hannity, the 3-hour talking point fritata broken record.



faye, you are more than welcome. It will be new for me to have a roomie. Just a word of warning, I am a snorer. Although if last time was any indication, we probably won't get that much sleep.

Comment by Raine on 04/01/2008 13:53:42
Good morning again to everyone!

Comment by Raine on 04/01/2008 13:57:25
John mcCain really scares me.

Comment by livingonli on 04/01/2008 13:59:09
:star:, WWRL changed programming yesterday. They seemed to have marked the fourth anniversay of Air America by cutting back they're commitment to the network. Here is the new lineup;



5-9 AM the WWRL Morning Show

9-11 AM Infomercials (why couldn't they have replaced Lionel with Momma?)

It's bad enough that people actually watch the ones on TV but who the hell listens to them on the radio?

11-Noon Ron Daniels

Noon-3 PM Ed Schultz

3-6 PM Randi Rhodes

6-8 PM Rachel Maddow (bye bye last hour)

8-10 PM Al Sharpton (tape delayed)

10PM-1 AM Alan Combs.



I wish our station war programmed like KTLK or KPHX. (KTLK would edge out for having live Rachel)

Comment by m-hadley on 04/01/2008 14:00:19
Quote by livingonli:

Good morning everyone.



Oh, this working until 2 AM is cramping my style.



I don't know how anyone can listen to Sean Hannity, the 3-hour talking point fritata broken record.



faye, you are more than welcome. It will be new for me to have a roomie. Just a word of warning, I am a snorer. Although if last time was any indication, we probably won't get that much sleep.




We should get along just fine, in spite of using those "Breathe-Right Strips" I am told that I snore too :)

Looking forward to meeting you :D

Cheers,

mfaye



Comment by Raine on 04/01/2008 14:00:28
I want to this primary over already..



(did that work?)



no? OK, how about this?







Comment by wickedpam on 04/01/2008 14:01:43
Morning :hug:





Faye - posted a note for you under the DC trip blog but since your here I'll ask - are you flying into National or Dulles?

Comment by m-hadley on 04/01/2008 14:02:06
Quote by Raine:

John mcCain really scares me.


My friend, he scares the bejesus out of me , too

Cheers,

mfaye

Comment by starling310 on 04/01/2008 14:04:06
Quote by livingonli:

:star:, WWRL changed programming yesterday. They seemed to have marked the fourth anniversay of Air America by cutting back they're commitment to the network. Here is the new lineup;



5-9 AM the WWRL Morning Show

9-11 AM Infomercials (why couldn't they have replaced Lionel with Momma?)

It's bad enough that people actually watch the ones on TV but who the hell listens to them on the radio?

11-Noon Ron Daniels

Noon-3 PM Ed Schultz

3-6 PM Randi Rhodes

6-8 PM Rachel Maddow (bye bye last hour)

8-10 PM Al Sharpton (tape delayed)

10PM-1 AM Alan Combs.



I wish our station war programmed like KTLK or KPHX. (KTLK would edge out for having live Rachel)




I cannot believe that. They got rid of the smartest man in Radio.

F*ckers!

F*ckin Frank!



Comment by Raine on 04/01/2008 14:05:13
Food Stamp use nears record.



Robust economy my ass.

Comment by Raine on 04/01/2008 14:05:58
Quote by m-hadley:

Quote by Raine:

John mcCain really scares me.


My friend, he scares the bejesus out of me , too

Cheers,

mfaye
My friend, we are not alone...



Comment by Raine on 04/01/2008 14:08:00
FAYE!!!





Comment by Shane-O on 04/01/2008 14:08:13
Faye! with the

Comment by wickedpam on 04/01/2008 14:08:47
Faye with the funny! :D

Comment by Raine on 04/01/2008 14:09:15
WOOHOO!!!! SHANE-O!!!





Comment by livingonli on 04/01/2008 14:09:25
Quote by Raine:

Quote by m-hadley:

Quote by Raine:

John mcCain really scares me.


My friend, he scares the bejesus out of me , too

Cheers,

mfaye
My friend, we are not alone...



My friend, we are so screwed..

Comment by Raine on 04/01/2008 14:09:47
Four Freedoms participation rocks!!!

Comment by livingonli on 04/01/2008 14:10:19
Faye and Shane-O, the 4F blog all-stars.



(and then there's Raine in Atlanta).

Comment by m-hadley on 04/01/2008 14:11:23
Quote by wickedpam:

Morning :hug:





Faye - posted a note for you under the DC trip blog but since your here I'll ask - are you flying into National or Dulles?






I'm flying into Baltimore BWI (much cheaper) - there is a shuttle that goes from BWI to various points in DC and it is not too expensive.

Comment by livingonli on 04/01/2008 14:15:19
Quote by m-hadley:

Quote by wickedpam:

Morning :hug:





Faye - posted a note for you under the DC trip blog but since your here I'll ask - are you flying into National or Dulles?






I'm flying into Baltimore BWI (much cheaper) - there is a shuttle that goes from BWI to various points in DC and it is not too expensive.


It's just a short skip. I will be driving down from home (with a pit stop in Brooklyn to pick up HBK). I want to try and get in by late afternoon and hopefully beat the rush hour.



Comment by starling310 on 04/01/2008 14:16:20
Yeah, I'll be hangin' onto my condo for a loooooong time.



Comment by starling310 on 04/01/2008 14:17:43
Well, that doesn't bother me. When the country is in the state it is, I'd rather have a president that is more busy working than bowling...or....say.....TAP DANCING!





Comment by Raine on 04/01/2008 14:17:49
:foil: is getting better and better at doing the obama voice!

Comment by wickedpam on 04/01/2008 14:18:27
Yeah Shane-O!





Faye - I wish I knew how to get to BWI, I've never driven there. If you can get the shuttle to like Union Station or one of the Metro Stations - you want to take the blue line and get out at Rosslyn Station.

Comment by Raine on 04/01/2008 14:19:16
Quote by starling310:

Well, that doesn't bother me. When the country is in the state it is, I'd rather have a president that is more busy working than bowling...or....say.....TAP DANCING!







I gotta agree. It is sad that we still seem to need our politicians to go out and do these things in order to win votes.



Comment by livingonli on 04/01/2008 14:19:36
I guess with the way things are going, I should be glad I'm still a renter. Don't have to worry about deprecation. Just wish my rent would go down.

Comment by Raine on 04/01/2008 14:20:02
I am so very excited about the DC trip myself!





Comment by BobR on 04/01/2008 14:20:21
Faye - you mentioned that you might be spending a night with a friend. Starling mentioned she might be willing to share her room (if there are two beds), and she's staying just Sat night. My friend Stan might want to share a room for both Fri & Sat night.



So my suggestion would be Faye spend Fri night with her friend (if that's possible) then Sat night with Starling & Friend, and Stan share Livin's room both nights.



Just my 2 cents.



Oh - and morning, folks... :coffee:



Comment by livingonli on 04/01/2008 14:21:17
Raine, HBK is on the SMS live blog.

Comment by BobR on 04/01/2008 14:22:01
Quote by livingonli:

I guess with the way things are going, I should be glad I'm still a renter. Don't have to worry about deprecation. Just wish my rent would go down.


That will never happen. Some prices go down; rent is not one of them.



You'll have better luck getting a raise.

Comment by livingonli on 04/01/2008 14:22:21
Quote by BobR:

Faye - you mentioned that you might be spending a night with a friend. Starling mentioned she might be willing to share her room (if there are two beds), and she's staying just Sat night. My friend Stan might want to share a room for both Fri & Sat night.



So my suggestion would be Faye spend Fri night with her friend (if that's possible) then Sat night with Starling & Friend, and Stan share Livin's room both nights.



Just my 2 cents.



Oh - and morning, folks... :coffee:



We'll make this work somehow.

Comment by wickedpam on 04/01/2008 14:22:34
Quote by Raine:

I am so very excited about the DC trip myself!









ME Too!

Comment by livingonli on 04/01/2008 14:24:31
Quote by BobR:

Quote by livingonli:

I guess with the way things are going, I should be glad I'm still a renter. Don't have to worry about deprecation. Just wish my rent would go down.


That will never happen. Some prices go down; rent is not one of them.



You'll have better luck getting a raise.


My review should be coming up soon. Hopefully, I will get a bigger raise than I have the last few years. At the rate things are going, it will be a few years before I am making what I used to make before I was laid off.

Comment by Shane-O on 04/01/2008 14:25:53
Quote by Raine:

:foil: is getting better and better at doing the obama voice!


It's not until someone as brilliant as Jim does a voice that I can figure out what it is that makes a certain person's speech pattern unique. The way Jim stretches the vowels and speeds up the end of the sentances in his Obama voice. Jim must just listen, and listen and listen - to figure that kind of thing out.



Has anyone noticed the large amount of new promos these past two weeks? Yea! to

Comment by starling310 on 04/01/2008 14:25:59
Quote by BobR:

Faye - you mentioned that you might be spending a night with a friend. Starling mentioned she might be willing to share her room (if there are two beds), and she's staying just Sat night. My friend Stan might want to share a room for both Fri & Sat night.



So my suggestion would be Faye spend Fri night with her friend (if that's possible) then Sat night with Starling & Friend, and Stan share Livin's room both nights.



Just my 2 cents.



Oh - and morning, folks... :coffee:





That's fine with me!

It might be nice to defray the cost of the room in the end.

Faye - you can let me know.

It's no big deal either way.



Comment by wickedpam on 04/01/2008 14:26:40
Quote by livingonli:

I guess with the way things are going, I should be glad I'm still a renter. Don't have to worry about deprecation. Just wish my rent would go down.






I think someone would have had to have bought a home not long after I did (within a year or so) cause right after I did all the prices went threw the roof. A lot of my neighbors are having problems one on them (a couple with 2 little girls) pays more then twice what I do a month. They had to sell their second car and we've all started swapping DVD to help them save some cash and keep the girls entertained.



Give it another year (or maybe a little less) and it could be a good time to jump in a buy a home if you can get into a first time homebuyers program.