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Author: TriSec    Date: 03/22/2011 10:33:25

Good Morning.

Today is our 2,925th day in Iraq and our 3,443rd day in Afghanistan.

We'll start this morning as we always do; with the latest casualty figures from our ongoing wars, courtesy of Antiwar.com:

American Deaths
Since war began (3/19/03): 4439
Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03): 4300
Since Handover (6/29/04): 350
Since Obama Inauguration (1/20/09): 211
Since Operation New Dawn: 21

Other Coalition Troops - Iraq: 318
US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 1,508
Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 865
Contractor Employee Deaths - Iraq: 1,487
Journalists - Iraq : 348
Academics Killed - Iraq: 448

We find this morning's cost of war passing through:

$ 1, 169, 062, 000, 000 .00



Did you see all the coverage of the protests this weekend? It was, after all, the 8th anniversary of the ill-starred invasion of Iraq. My tiny little foilhat thinks that the start of "Operation Odyssey Dawn" this past weekend was no coincidence. Why remember a war we're losing when it's oh-so-much easier to show US warplanes dominating an essentially helpless foe? But, I digress.


So far, there's no indication that any ground troops are going to be committed by anyone. The President has even given strong suggestions that the US role will be limited and control of the operation will be 'handed over' in a few days. We'll have to see what happens there.

Changing gears, most of you know I'm a pretty hardcore WWII geek. To that end, I've just finished reading Heinz Guderian's book "Panzer Leader". It's a lot of dry observations on the formation of the Panzer Corps and their actions on the Eastern Front during the war...it is fascinating reading. But the real historical value is in the last chapters and Herr Guderian's observations on the wartime leadership of Germany. One of the things he kept harping on was the fact from about Stalingrad on, members of the high command simply stopped visiting the front, and bacame increasingly out of touch with the realities of the military situation.

Ah, but why do I bring this up? We've been railing for years about how the common citizens bear the brunt of war; with few exceptions, no one in Washington has any children serving, or indeed, have served in war themselves. I don't think military service should be a pre-requisite for public office, but in times of war, it could provide valuable insight. Just like what happened to Representative Jerry McNerney (D-CA) after he went to Afghanistan.


A lawmaker says a trip to Afghanistan to visit U.S. troops has inspired him to continue pushing for an increase in hazardous duty pay, hostile fire pay and family separation allowance.

Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Calif., has reintroduced what he calls the Combat Act of 2011, which would increase hazardous duty pay and hostile fire pay to $260 a month and family separation allowance to $285 a month. This would result in monthly increases of $35 in hazardous duty pay, $10 in hostile fire pay and $35 in family separation allowance.

McNerney said troops in Afghanistan “talked about the struggles they face providing for their families while they are away from home and in dangerous conditions” and they “asked me to work on increasing pay.”

His bill is HR 1110, and it has the support of the Military Officers Association of America, the National Military Family Association and the Military Order of the Purple Heart.

The Defense Department is almost finished with a year-long study of military pay that will include recommendations for revising combat-related compensation. In a statement for the record submitted March 17 to the House Armed Services Committee, the Pentagon’s top manpower official said the 11th Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation has finished its work and is in the process of briefing senior military leaders about its recommendations. The report will be forwarded to the White House by April 11.

The official, Clifford Stanley, undersecretary of defense for personnel and management, did not provide any details on the recommendations, but said the report will recommend “improvements” that could be made “in how we compensate those sent into combat and how we compensate the Guard and reserve that is more consistent with their current and future use.”

The pay review also was tasked with looking at incentive pays for linguists, special operations forces, remotely piloted vehicle operators and mental health professionals, and at pay for wounded warriors and their caregivers and benefits for survivors.


Finally, despite my earlier snark there were indeed protests this past weekend. I saw some myself; the small, but dedicated group of about a half-dozen protestors was holding signs on Waltham Common this past weekend....like they have most Saturdays since we started this thing.


Washington (CNN) -- More than 100 people were arrested in front of the White House Saturday after gathering for an antiwar protest on the eighth anniversary of the Iraq war.

About 1,000 people from various antiwar groups, including Veterans For Peace, Iraq Veterans Against War and Code Pink, marched around Lafayette Park to make three demands of the Obama administration: stop the war, expose the lies and free Bradley Manning.

Manning is a 23-year-old Army private accused of leaking classified military and State Department documents to the whistle-blower site WikiLeaks. He has been held at Quantico military prison in Virginia for nearly eight months.

Among those calling for Manning's release on Saturday was Daniel Ellsberg, a former Pentagon official whose unprecedented leak of thousands of classified documents -- dubbed the Pentagon Papers -- revealed that top American officials were actively concealing the unwinnable reality of the Vietnam War from the public.
Ellsberg, who went to trial facing 115 years in prison for his leak, was one of the 113 people arrested at Saturday's otherwise peaceful rally on charges of "disobeying an official order."

Police at the protest told CNN the arrests were made after protesters handcuffed themselves to the White House fence. The protesters were transported to a park service facility and served violation notices, the National Park Service said.


So, now that we're in three wars in the Middle East, what's next?
 

32 comments (Latest Comment: 03/22/2011 22:30:34 by trojanrabbit)
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