Reuters reports:
By Kristin Roberts and Ross Colvin
BAGHDAD – The U.S. military on Friday reported the deaths of five more soldiers in Iraq as Defense Secretary Robert Gates ended a visit aimed at finding a new strategy to curb violence and allow U.S. troops to withdraw.
Four U.S. servicemen were killed in action on Thursday in Anbar province, heartland of the unrelenting Sunni insurgency against U.S. forces and the Iraqi government and the most dangerous place in Iraq for American soldiers.
A fifth was killed and another wounded west of Baghdad on Friday when their patrol came under machinegun and mortar fire, the U.S. military said. At least 71 U.S. soldiers have died so far this month.
The deaths brought the U.S. toll in Iraq to 2,960, creeping closer to the 3,000 mark and adding more pressure on President Bush to find a strategy that will allow the eventual withdrawal of 135,000 U.S. troops.
Bush’s, and Blair‘s, plans for bigger armies: here.
This movie is from when ´only´ 2000 US troops had died.
Dear Kitty. Some blog 
Take Their Troop Surge In Iraq And SHOVE IT
Posted by: “garymyrick@sbcglobal.net” garymyrick@sbcglobal.net garymyrick
Wed Dec 20, 2006 12:20 pm (PST)
This was forwarded to me by a friend, who received it from a relative who is a RETIRED MILITARY OFFICER…
———————————————————-
Take Their Troop Surge In Iraq And SHOVE IT
It is astonishing to remember that a mere six years ago George Bush campaigned on the accusation that the Clinton administration had let the readiness of our military deteriorate. Today nearly all our military experts, even those speaking at peril to their careers, agree that our armed forces have been broken by the strategically idiotic occupation of Iraq. And yet the Bush administration has now coined a new slogan for “stay the course,” in utter and diffident defiance of the will of American people. They are trying to sell us on yet one more “surge” in Iraq, perhaps the one that will finally break our own backs. What Germany could not do in World War II, what Japan could not do, George Bush has singlehandedly nearly accomplished already, the destruction of our armed forces.
There is only one possible outcome from more such bull headed obstinacy, a surge in casualties, a surge in red ink budget deficits, and sadly yes, a SURGE in insurgency. At a time when many are worried about how to logistically extract the troops we have there already, what the Bush administration is looking to do is to drive even faster going the wrong way on the freeway. And IF there were to be a further increase now, it would push off prospects of any meaningful withdrawal for another couple years, conveniently until the currently scheduled end of the Bush presidency. What is this silly talk about two to three months? It would take longer than that just to get more troops in. Are supporters of this idea nuts? They most certifiably are.
And worse yet, Harry Reid was just quoted as saying he might go along with their “surge” lunacy. He really needs to hear from us. American deaths from roadside bombs in Iraq are even now at their highest rate ever. There is no honor whatsoever in sending our brave service people into a rigged fight. There is no defense against such weapons, at least none which our troops are likely to ever be given. Our troops are in a shooting gallery where it is impossible to tell friend from foe. They are dying for absolutely no other reason but politicians who are too cowardly to admit they were wrong, with the pathological liars in the White House at the top of the indictment.
Please take action NOW, so we can win all victories that are supposed to be ours.
To be added to the list go to http://www.peaceteam.net/in.htm
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Read this at http://www.peaceteam.net/no_surge.php
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Military Times Newspapers publish ad for War Crimes Report
Posted by: “Charles Jenks” charles@traprockpeace.org chaspeace
Thu Dec 21, 2006 1:20 am (PST)
WAR CRIMES REPORT ADVERTISED
IN THE MILITARY TIMES NEWSPAPERS
By Nick Mottern, Director, Consumers for Peace
nickmottern@earthlink.net
December 20, 2006
“U.S. War Crimes in Iraq and Mechanisms for Accountability” is being advertised for the month of December in the classified sections of the weekly newspapers Army, Navy, Marine and Air Force Times, published by Military Times. The newspapers are distributed to all U.S. military bases around the world and are read by an estimated 1 million military people, according to a Military Times advertising representative.
“We felt that the people who are ordered to fight in Iraq, and those who support U.S. presence Iraq, ought to know of the opportunity to learn about the many ways in which the United States has violated and continues to violate international law there,” said Nick Mottern, Director of ConsumersforPeace.org, publisher of the war crimes report.
The report, published in October, 2006, has been endorsed, with entries in its forward, by historian Howard Zinn; journalist Dahr Jamail; former Army officer and peace worker Ann Wright; Neil MacKay, Scottish journalist and the Sunday Herald’s multi-award winning Home Affairs and Investigations Editor; ;and Kathy Kelly, co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Non-Violence.
Ten international websites have published the report.
A direct download link:
Click to access war_crimes_iraq_101006.pdf
Publishers:
Consumers for Peace
http://www.consumersforpeace.org
Association of Humanitarian Lawyers
http://www.humanlaw.org
Traprock Peace Center
http://www.traprockpeace.org
Voices for Creative Nonviolence
http://www.vcnv.org
Uruknet.info
http://www.uruknet.info
Information Clearing House
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info
AfterDowningStreet.org
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org
Socialist Worker newspaper
http://www.socialistworker.org
The Brussells Tribunal (for International Anti-Occupation Network)
http://www.brusselstribunal.org/
Stop the War Coalition (UK)
http://www.stopthewar.co.uk
Charles Jenks
Chair of Advisory Board
Traprock Peace Center
103 Keets Road
Deerfield, MA 01342
http://www.traprockpeace.org
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Will Christmas Bring the Bombing of Iran?
Posted by: “Compañero” companyero@mindspring.com chocoano05
Fri Dec 22, 2006 9:55 pm (PST)
“Don’t Attack Iran”
The Pentagon has announced plans to move additional warships and strike aircraft into the Persian Gulf region to be within striking range of Iran. The aircraft carrier Eisenhower and its strike group entered the Persian Gulf on Dec. 11. Another aircraft carrier, the Stennis, is expected to depart for the Gulf within the next month.
Scott Ritter sees parallels to the invasion of Iraq: “We have told the Iranians it is their responsibility to prove to the international community beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is no nuclear weapons program in Iran. How can you prove a negative?”
Another parallel is the brutal Christmas Bombing of North Vietnam by Richard Nixon in 1972. James Carroll described it as “a final venting of frustration and rage by a superpower faced with ignominious defeat.” Will Bush bomb Iran out of frustration with failing to “win” in Iraq?
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*Presidential Profiling*
Posted by: “hapi22” hapi22@earthlink.net robinsegg
Sat Dec 23, 2006 8:01 am (PST)
This writer is right: Bush DOES seem uncharacteristically animated and
energized by the disaster that is Iraq.
… nothing focuses this man [Bush] like failure
There’s clearly something psychological at work here. He’s
spent his life trying to talk himself out of bad situations of
his own making, so maybe this has put him in a comfort zone.
He finally has the conflict in Iraq on his own terms, which
means it is all screwed up. He seemed defiant and almost happy
as he sparred with the reporters about this fiasco. The war
isn’t wearing him down — he seemed invigorated and joyfully
alive.
———————————————————-
*Presidential Profiling*
by Bill McDonald
The Portland Freelancer
Dec. 20, 2006
I awoke this morning to the sounds of President Bush giving a press
conference. I played my usual game: How long till he says something a
little off? Three questions later he came up with the phrase “increasing
more troops,” but overall he was coherent. Apparently, nothing focuses
this man like failure. He seemed energized by the gigantic mess he’s
made, and eager to make the mess worse.
There’s clearly something psychological at work here. He’s spent his
life trying to talk himself out of bad situations of his own making, so
maybe this has put him in a comfort zone. He finally has the conflict in
Iraq on his own terms, which means it is all screwed up. He seemed
defiant and almost happy as he sparred with the reporters about this
fiasco. The war isn’t wearing him down — he seemed invigorated and
joyfully alive.
One of the reporters’ questions was directly about this. It referenced
the other day when President Bush sought to assure us that he was
sleeping well as the mayhem in Iraq unfolds. It struck many as quite
revealing — one of those slips that let you know who he really is. What
does it say about a man when he’s in the middle of the Iraq War — a
conflict he caused — and yet he sleeps well at night?
[NOTE FROM ME: And he brags about it.]
.
One obvious answer is that he has sociopathic tendencies — an inability
to feel the normal range of human emotions. Apparently someone in the
White House noticed the problem with that sleep comment the other day,
so the President was ready for the question this morning. The reporter
discussed how devastated President Johnson was during our failure in
Vietnam. You could see it wearing him down, and it helped him decide not
to run again. The reporter asked how this President could appear so
relaxed knowing people were dying because of him. President Bush went
into an answer that seemed rehearsed to me. His voice didn’t crack with
emotion, like his father’s would have. He said that it was the toughest
part of his Presidency but that he had questioned himself about Iraq and
realized he was right, so that was that.
At this point, I came up with another theory abut the Iraq War – one
that I haven’t heard expressed exactly like this anywhere else.
Certainly others have mentioned that this President could be a sadist.
He has the anecdotal behavior from his childhood — the cruelty to
animals. His profound lack of curiosity in the world could stem from a
realization that there’s something missing in his own soul and he knows
it. This lack of crucial feeling makes him mad — he realizes he’s
different, and though he rehearses answers about human emotions, every
now and then the truth slips out.
We also know he gravitates to torture. When McCain wanted an
anti-torture bill, President Bush fought it with everything he had —
even threatening to veto it. After it was signed, President Bush made it
clear that he would not follow it if he didn’t want to — torture was
clearly one practise he did not want to lose. Of course, he said all the
right things — downright lies, actually — about how America does not
torture, but there was a glimpse into his personality with that. This
comment about sleeping well while others suffer and die because of his
actions, was another.
So what’s my theory? Okay, the reason the President seems so animated
right now — the reason he is focused and alert — is that the Iraq War
has given him something that his sadistic, sociopathic personality
craved from the first time he was called mediocre, and teased for being
who he is. The Iraq War is his adult version of torturing little
animals. He has finally made it to the Super Bowl of Cruelty, and it’s
really working for him. The reason he’s sleeping so well, and talking so
energetically, is precisely because — in his twisted way — he is happy
right now. Why? Because he’s using the Iraq War to torture us all.
– – – – – – – –
Bill McDonald usually writes jokes for a living — funny one-liners for
Jay Leno and various morning “zoo” radio shows. But this week, he’s
wondering out loud why George W. Bush seems so happy lately. At his
blog, the Portland Freelancer.
Read this at:
http://portlandfreelancer.blogspot.com/2006/12/presidential-profiling.html
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The number of U.S. women killed in Iraq and Afghanistan has surpassed the number killed in the Korean, Vietnam and Gulf wars, the Washington Times reported Dec. 26. Altogether, 70 female soldiers have been killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars; women account for 14 percent of U.S. forces deployed there. More than half of the 70 women were victims of hostile fire; seven were mothers of children under 18. Eight of the women died in Afghanistan.
In earlier conflicts, female soldiers primarily served on medical teams but have since moved into many other occupations despite being barred from combat positions. Changes in the battlefield itself in Iraq and Afghanistan, where the front lines are murky and sectarian violence permeates, along with the length of the conflicts, are factors in the increased female fatalities.
Source: http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm?aid=3019
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