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Sun 11 Apr, 2004 07:45 am
I listened to the military briefing to the press this morning and where we are still under fire and what we are doing in Iraq. The one thing the officer was absolutely adament about is there are pockets of resistance here and there in Iraq but these are a tiny minority. The vast majority of the 25 million people of Iraq are not angry or hostile toward the USA or the others of the coalition troops. This is so even in Fallujah. The USA and coalition troops are doing everything they can to minimize civilian deaths and they are not commiting any war crimes of any kind.
He specifically referenced the mosques. The insurgents attack from a mosque to wreck as much havoc as they can, including the killing of civilians who get caught in the crossfire. Then, when we break down a wall of the mosque and squelch the attack, they use this as proof that we are destroying Islamic churches and killing civilians.
This is not being reported by the press, however. He said it would be a huge help to the total effort if there was more balanced and accurate reporting re the situation there and if it was being reported more honestly that the whole country is not at war in Iraq. He did not attempt to minimize the difficulty of tracking down the insurgents who do not wish for Iraq to be a free and independent country and are doing their worst to stop that from happening.
It saddened me that this report was necessary on Easter Sunday morning. Nevertheless, Happy Easter to Christian friends in this forum.
Yes, so sad. The Vatican was under high alert as the Pope led Easter worship. Rome was considered a major target the Easter period.
Happy Easter all -but I guess everything will be right with the US since the President had proclaimed God on our side.
Hey Wilso, Happy Easter. Long time no see.
Thanks JD. I've been around, wot about you? Having an enjoyable weekend?
Well I was computerless for several months. Got tons of stuff done since I was not able to A2k.
We are in for soggy raining easter here in Dallas. But that is a good thing we need the rain. But not the cold. Everything was switched to air instead of heat a couple of weeks ago and now we are all freezing.
I was computerless for 2 weeks once, and nearly went out of my mind. Glad you're back.
All's Well in Iraq -- Just Ask the Dead
Published on Friday, April 6, 2004 by the Los Angeles Times
by Steve Lopez
Everything's OK.
Honest.
Shell-shocked wives of soldiers are racing home from Oceanside beauty salons to see if their husbands are among the latest casualties in Iraq. But there's nothing to worry about.
The Shiite uprising appears to be throwing the entire country into bloody chaos, and weary American soldiers are being ordered to extend their tours of duty. But you have some good moments and some less good moments in these kinds of enterprises, as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said.
If things were spinning out of control, would President Bush be on Easter holiday at the ranch in Texas, where he was visited Thursday by members of the National Rifle Assn., Ducks Unlimited and Pheasants Forever?
Twelve Camp Pendleton Marines have been killed in the last week, most of them in one horrific battle Tuesday. But there's no "major combat" in Iraq, the president's flack assured us even as several cities were under fire and up for grabs. It's just that a "relatively small number of extremist elements" are being pesky little insurgents.
Can you really even call it a war?
In a war, you honor the dead by greeting their return to American soil. But media, and sometimes even family members, are still banned from air bases as the bodies arrive. The White House doesn't want us to get the crazy idea that Operation Iraqi Freedom has gravediggers working overtime.
Last month, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) called for an end to the ban during an antiwar vigil at the air base in Dover, Del. The rally was held by families of American soldiers, and Jane Bright was there. The San Fernando Valley woman's son, Sgt. Evan Ashcraft, was killed in Iraq last July. He was 24.
"I believe we have to turn over our solitary control of Iraq, get the U.N. and peacekeeping forces in there, and begin to remove the American footprint on this," Bright says.
But she's well aware of the degree of difficulty, given the U.S. alienation of allies and what she sees as an American quest to control Middle Eastern oil supplies, regardless of how many lives it costs.
She fears, in fact, that things will get much worse before they get better.
"My husband happened to say to Congressman Rangel, 'We're worried about the draft being reinstated, because I have an 18-year-old.' And Rangel said, 'The draft has already started. They're drafting reservists now. They're drafting grandfathers.' "
Reinstating the draft is an interesting idea. If national leaders are able to downplay the risk and tell us everything is proceeding just swimmingly, could it be because their loved ones aren't picking sand out of their ears and dodging rocket-propelled grenades?
The president's daughters are safe, just like Daddy was during the war of his era. (Bush and Vice President Cheney both managed to avoid any whiff of battle back in their day). And only a handful of congressional representatives have had any family member in harm's way in Iraq.
Sure, it's a volunteer army. But many who sign up do so because they aren't exactly blessed with myriad options. And soldiers serve under the assumption they are not risking their lives on the basis of hyped threats, goosed intelligence and hidden agendas.
Go to CNN.com, Bright suggested, and look at the price of all that deception.
I clicked a few times and there it was ?- the roll call of fallen soldiers. The list goes on and on and on ?- 644 American soldiers killed in the first year of a bloody campaign whose end is nowhere in sight.
You hit the "Next" button again and again, and the soldiers keep marching onto your screen. Pages and pages and pages of them. There's a small photo of each, along with hometown, age, and when and where they died.
Some are smiling. Some sport a combat pose. Some look like kids.
Among the dead, 129 were 22 or younger, and going through the list, you spot a lot of 18-year-olds.
An additional 3,000 American soldiers have been injured in the war, many of them permanently disabled.
Estimates on the number of Iraqi civilians killed in the war run well into the thousands.
All Rumsfeld said was that you have good moments and less good.
He didn't say which there'd be more of.
Not that I'm keeping track, but there were no weapons of mass destruction, the deadly ethnic sparring was easily predictable, we're in trouble whether we stay or go, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is more combustible than ever, and there's no telling how many new terrorists have been spawned.
No, it isn't Vietnam. It's much more dangerous than that.
But that's the cynical view.
The good news is that President Bush is resting up at the Everything's OK Corral, and Condoleezza Rice assured the Sept. 11 commission that her boss "never pushed anybody to twist the facts" and create a link between Iraq and the hijacking of American airliners.
Honest.
U.S. commanders are scrambling to determine whether they need more troops to quell the bloody uprisings, but that's probably because they didn't get the White House memo assuring everyone there's no "major combat" and nothing to worry about.
Quagmire?
What quagmire?
Copyright 2004 Los Angeles Times
I think the truth lies somewhere in between, but hopefully is closer to the military briefing than not.
But then again, the military has their own ass to protect.
Just saw a commercial for the National Guard.
"Protect your state. usually one weekend a month and one week in the summer. Pay for college"
Uhhuh.
With cuts to Pell grants and rising unemployment, suddenly the military looks attractive to a segment of society.
So, Suzy. Which did your son finally decide on, Harvard, or the Army? I'm remembering an old Abuzz discussion, and hope I haven't confused you with someone else.
Discussionpoint: if the American army stays, there will be more and more American dead; if the American army leaves, the killing of American stops...but that would mean, like a good friend of mine says, "running away from the terrorists". Solution? I suddenly remember a song. "Should I stay or should I go?"
hey, Roger! Yeah. He chose none of the above and became a town worker! He's doing really well.
BTW, the Harvard thing was just an athletic offer.
but a mother can dream...!
They've got no choice but to stay. They've wrecked that country and now it's their responsibility to fix it. I just don't think they've got it in 'em.
True but will the American public again accept 600 American dead?
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