The Iraq Unraveling

[ProSense]

The Iraq Unraveling

Former General Colin Powell blasted the Bush administration's "stay the course" catastrophe in Iraq today.

Video

Watch the Ware video. It's worse than we are being told.

"Only the Iraqi people can resolve this," Powell said.

U.S. troops have to stay in Iraq for "some time," he said. "But there is a limit to the patience of the American people."

Powell was the featured speaker at this year's distinguished Carlson Lecture at the University of Minnesota.

In Iraq, "staying the course isn't good enough because a course has to have an end," Powell said. ...

Powell: Staying course in Iraq isn't enough

There is also the case of bloody Baghdad.

According to Juan Cole, 21 U.S. soldiers have been killed since Saturday, with 8 killed yesterday alone.

Snip...

It's very clear that as George W. Bush heads into categorically undeniable lame duck status that his desire to actually do anything about Iraq will become less and less. He's said before that he's going to hand it off to the next presidents, plural, meaning that it will take more than two administrations to get the job done. This puts Joe Lieberman Democrats in a difficult position, as Ned Lamont (h/t) said today.

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Former Marine Corps Chief Cites Concerns

By ANNE PLUMMER FLAHERTY
The Associated Press
Wednesday, October 4, 2006; 6:04 PM

WASHINGTON -- Gen. James L. Jones, once the Marine Corps' top general, did not deny reports in a new book that he told a colleague Iraq was a debacle and that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld had emasculated the service chiefs.

But Jones, NATO's top commander and headed toward retirement, said Wednesday he will not join the ranks of other retired military officers who say Rumsfeld should be ousted. Rumsfeld has been under fire by critics, including several former generals, who say he has run roughshod over the Pentagon's uniformed leadership.

"I do not in any way associate myself with ... that particular group, and will not associate myself in my retired life," Jones said at an event sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations.

Snip...

In Bob Woodward's book "State of Denial," Jones is quoted as telling Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a 2005 meeting: "You're going to face a debacle and be part of the debacle in Iraq." Jones also warned Pace that the Joint Chiefs of Staff had been "systematically emasculated by Rumsfeld," according to the book.

Jones confirmed that he expressed to Pace that the "strategic consequences of failure" in Iraq are "very serious."

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Soldiers saddled with incompatible kit, NATO says

By Tim Hepher Tue Oct 3, 12:03 PM ET

PARIS (Reuters) - NATO planners gave a withering assessment of the West's defense arsenal on Tuesday, saying their forces are sometimes unable to talk to each other on the ground because costly defense systems are not compatible.

Problems in getting state-of-the art equipment from rival manufacturers to link up are making it harder for forces of different countries and even units within the U.S. military to co-ordinate -- and costing taxpayers millions to sort out.

In some cases, the crossed-wires in communications only come to light when defense gear is being used for the first time in exercises or even battle zones, defense industry chiefs heard at an annual conference between NATO and its arms suppliers.

"We are all taxpayers and all taxpayers would shoot most of us if they realized how much money is being spent in trying to get systems to talk to each other after the fact," U.S. Air Force General Lance Smith, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, told delegates

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U.S. Military Ties Iraqi Unit to Militia

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 4, 2006

Filed at 7:22 p.m. ET

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Iraqi authorities pulled a brigade of about 700 policemen out of service Wednesday in its biggest move ever to uproot troops linked to death squads, aiming to signal the government's seriousness in cleansing Baghdad of sectarian violence.

The government move came amid steadily mounting violence, particularly in the capital. A U.S. military spokesman said the past week had seen the highest number of car bombs and roadside bombs in Baghdad this year.

Four U.S. soldiers patrolling in Baghdad were killed by gunmen on Wednesday, the U.S. military said, also announcing the deaths of two other soldiers a day earlier in Baghdad and the northern city of Kirkuk. The deaths brought to 21 the number of Americans killed in combat since Saturday.

The suspension of the police brigade was the first time the Iraqi government has taken such dramatic action to discipline security forces over possible links to militiamen, though some individual soldiers have been investigated in the past. Baghdad's Sunnis widely fear the Shiite-led police, saying they are infiltrated by militias and accusing them of cooperating with death squads who snatch Sunnis and kill them.

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8 G.I.’s Die in Baghdad, Most in a Day Since ’05

Darko Bandic/Associated Press
A G.I. with a side arm dispersed children Tuesday in Baghdad after his armored vehicle ran into a ditch.

By MICHAEL LUO
Published: October 4, 2006

BAGHDAD, Oct. 3 — Eight United States soldiers were killed Monday in Baghdad, the United States military said, the most in the capital in a day since July 2005.

Four of the soldiers died in a roadside bomb attack; the four others were killed by small-arms fire in separate incidents.

Monday’s loss also represented one of the highest nationwide death tolls for American troops in the past year. In late August, nine soldiers and a marine were killed in a day. But before that, the last time eight or more soldiers were killed in hostile action was last November.

“Obviously this was a tragic day, with eight killed in 24 hours,” said Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a military spokesman.

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WEDNESDAY, 04 OCTOBER 2006

Reality Spoils "Commemoration of Success"

Eight United States soldiers were killed Monday in Baghdad ... the most in the capital in a day since July 2005. Four of the soldiers died in a roadside bomb attack; the four others were killed by small-arms fire in separate incidents," reports the New York Times today. Juan Cole adds that there have been 23,416 US casualties in the Iraq war, and that 21 GIs have been killed since Saturday.

Cole contends that "the Department of Defense is using flimsy excuses for not revealing the nature and severity of the wounds GIs receive" and that we have to read local newspapers to get the real stories. A Kerrville, Texas story about a wounded soldier reports that "a spokesman for the U.S. Army in Fort Wainwright said she could not verify the injury or discuss any soldier’s condition without the soldier’s permission," but the soldier's aunt told the paper that he has "a piece of shrapnel in the back of his neck near the brain stem."

But, never fear. Victory is just around the corner. Congress set aside $20 million in the military spending bill for this past year to "pay for a celebration in the nation’s capital 'for commemoration of success' in Iraq and Afghanistan" and to “issue a proclamation calling on the people of the United States to observe that day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.” What kind of ceremony would you like to see?

The bill has a built-in roll-over for next year. Alas, the year 2007 doesn't look so great either:
Bob Woodward . . . writes in his new book . . . that things are going to change in Iraq in 2007. They are going to get worse. The intelligence division of the Joint Chiefs of Staff circulated a secret intelligence estimate in May predicting that violence in Iraq will not only continue for the rest of 2006 but increase thereafter, according to an advance look at "State of Denial" by The Washington Post. (Journal News, via McJoan's story at Daily Kos)

More about those injuries: Juan Cole cites the story of a Whitman, Mass. soldier lost both lower legs. The Whitman VFW Post and Legion have raised $8,000 to assist in his recovery. The Texas soldier is the beneficiary of "a benefit account" established at the Wells Fargo in Kerrville, Texas.

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Poll: Iraq and Afghanistan War Vets Say Military Is Overstretched, Underequipped

Republican lawmaker calls for Rumsfeld to resign

Associated Press

Published October 4 2006

STAMFORD, Conn. -- Rep. Chris Shays, who is facing a tough challenge from an anti-war Democrat, on Wednesday called for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to resign - a rare demand from a longtime Republican.

The Connecticut lawmaker also accused officials at the Defense Department of withholding information about the Iraq war from Congress.

"I am losing faith in how we are fighting this war," Shays, a longtime supporter of the conflict, said in an interview. "I believe we have to motivate the Iraqis to do more."

Shays, who was elected in 1987, said defense officials stopped cooperating with his congressional subcommittee after he proposed setting a timeline for troop withdrawals. Shays, who had previously opposed such a timeline, offered the plan in August following his 14th trip to Iraq since the war began.

Rumsfeld "simply is refusing to cooperate with a committee that oversees the Department of Defense," Shays said. "To me he has crossed the line."

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[ProSense]

1. 'Just a Comma' Becomes Part of Iraq Debate

'Just a Comma' Becomes Part of Iraq Debate

Opponents See Bush's Words on War as Insensitive or as Code for Religious Right

By Peter Baker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 5, 2006; Page A19

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Oct. 4 -- When the president speaks, every word can be subject to scrutiny. Even the punctuation marks.

As he heads out on the campaign trial, haunted by an unpopular war, President Bush has begun reassuring audiences that this traumatic period in Iraq will be seen as "just a comma" in the history books. By that, aides say, he means to reinforce his message of resolve in the struggle for Iraqi democracy.

But opponents of the war have seized on the formulation, seeing it as evidence that Bush is indifferent to suffering. To them, it sounds as if the president is dismissing more than 2,700 U.S. troop deaths as "just a comma." And a lively Internet debate has broken out about the origins of the phrase, with some speculating that Bush means it as a coded message to religious supporters, evoking the aphorism "Never put a period where God has put a comma."

Presidential utterances have long drawn enormous notice. But instant transcripts and the Internet have focused an even more powerful microscope on the nation's leader. The approaching midterm elections have intensified the already close scrutiny of the president's words as he sharpens his rhetoric.

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[ProSense]

2. Afghanistan, Iraqified

Afghanistan, Iraqified

Jim Lobe
October 04, 2006

Jim Lobe is Washington bureau chief for Inter Press Service. Reprinted with permission.

Five years after the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency was putting the final touches on a brilliant campaign plan to oust the Taliban and its al-Qaida allies from power, Afghanistan is back in the headlines here, and the news isn’t good.

An unexpectedly fierce and prolonged Taliban offensive that began last spring has U.S. and NATO officials deeply worried that they face a serious insurgency fueled by a thriving drug trade and growing popular disaffection with the government of President Hamid Karzai.

Greatly compounding their concern is Pakistan’s cease-fire agreement with pro-Taliban, Pashtun tribal leaders signed earlier this month to withdraw thousands of army troops from North Waziristan and release several hundred Taliban and al-Qaida militants from jail.

Snip...

In any event, the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan—and the increasing media attention it is getting with Thursday's marking of the fifth anniversary of the launch of U.S. operations there—has added to the growing pessimism among the foreign policy elite here about Bush’s “global war on terrorism.”

It was only last spring that top administration and military officials told reporters that Washington planned to withdraw about 25,000 troops from Iraq and 4,000 troops from Afghanistan by now. At the same time, Vice President Dick Cheney was confidently describing Afghanistan as a “rising nation” from which U.S. forces could return home “proud of their service for the rest of their lives.”

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[bigtree]

3. there it is. The house of cards is collapsing

now we have to clean the table in November

[Swede]

4. Time to get the hell out.

There is not going to be any kind of good end to this.

[blm]

5. Now can we resubmit the Kerry-Feingold Iraq withdrawal plan, Sen. Reid?

.

[ProSense]

6. Car and road bombs hit year high in Iraq: US military

Car and road bombs hit year high in Iraq: US military

Wed Oct 4, 11:42 AM ET

BAGHDAD (AFP) - The past week has seen the highest number of car bombs and roadside bombs in Iraq than at any time this year, said a US military spokesman.

"Last week we also saw the highest number of vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices this year," said Major General William Caldwell, using the military terminology for car bombs.

"The number of improvised explosive devices was also at an all time high," he added, referring to home-made bombs used by Iraqi insurgents and militias to target road traffic.

A week earlier, Caldwell said the number of suicide attacks in Iraq was at its highest point since the 2003 invasion, citing the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan as a traditional peak for violence in Iraq.

"As expected, attacks have steadily increased in Baghdad during these past weeks," he said.

On Wednesday, 21 people were killed in a single incident involved two roadside bombs and a car bomb in southern Baghdad.

[bleever]

7. the Joint Chiefs of Staff had been "systematically emasculated

by Rumsfeld..."


Single-handedly broke the best military in the world.

[ProSense]

8. Saudis build 550-mile fence to shut out Iraq

Saudis build 550-mile fence to shut out Iraq

Harry de Quetteville, Middle East Correspondent
(Filed: 01/10/2006)

Security in Iraq has collapsed so dramatically that Saudi Arabia has ordered the construction of a 550-mile high-tech fence to seal off its troubled northern neighbour.

The huge project to build the barrier, which will be equipped with ultraviolet night-vision cameras, buried sensor cables and thousands of miles of barbed wire, will snake across the vast and remote desert frontier between the countries.

The fence will be built despite the hundreds of millions of pounds that the Saudi kingdom has spent in the past two years to beef up patrols on its border with Iraq, with officials saying the crisis in Iraq is now so dangerous it must be physically shut out.

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[ProSense]

9. Rice makes surprise visit to Iraq

Rice makes surprise visit to Iraq

By ANNE GEARAN, AP Diplomatic Writer
23 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, making an election-season visit to Iraq, said Thursday she will tell its leaders they have limited time to settle political differences spurring sectarian and insurgent violence.

"They don't have time for endless debate of these issues," Rice said during a news conference aboard her plane. "They have really got to move forward. That is one of the messages that I'll take, but it will also be a message of support and what can we do to help."

Rice said Iraqis must resolve for themselves complex problems such as the division of oil wealth, possible changes to the national constitution and the desire for greater autonomy in various regions of the country.

Snip...

The conflict, now in its fourth year, has claimed the lives of more than 2,700 American troops and cost more than $300 billion.

There may also be a political cost for Rice's Republican Party. With less than five weeks left before congressional elections, new polls show Americans are increasingly unhappy with the war in Iraq and President Bush's leadership.

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