78 U.S. Troops Killed In October In Iraq

Three More Marines Killed In Combat Make This Month Deadliest Of 2006

(CBS/AP)  As President Bush reviewed Iraq strategy on Saturday with top generals and administration officials, the U.S. military announced that three more Marines were killed in combat in Anbar province, bringing October's death toll for American forces to 78.

That makes October the deadliest month for the American military in Iraq this year, surpassing the previous high figure of 76 in April. The skyrocketing death figure meant October, with more than a week left, was on course to be the deadliest month for American service members in two years.

Mr. Bush's second day in a row of meetings on the war in Iraq comes amid increasing election-season pressure to make dramatic changes to address deteriorating conditions.

With an increasing number of Republicans – including candidates in the November 7 elections – publicly conceding that the Iraq is not going well, Mr. Bush has suggested that he is open to changes in war tactics, reports CBS News correspondent Dan Raviv.

"I think the pressure for the president to re-examine what we're doing is going to be overwhelming," said Harlan Ullman, a defense-analyst and part-time consultant to the military.

But the overall strategy will remain the same, he says: defeating terrorists and helping Iraqis create their own stable government.

CBS News chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan reports that some troops are frustrated by the constraints they’re facing while trying to stop the violence.

“The military aren’t able to operate freely at all. They are completely restricted and limited by the politics. For example they can’t act against certain militias or certain high-value targets because of their connections inside the government and unless the Iraqi government gives them permission.”

Logan adds, “So that’s very frustrating for the military. They’re tied to the political system, and so far the political system is failing. So unless something changes dramatically, it doesn’t look like this is a war that can be won.”

Before a midmorning bike ride, the president consulted for 90 minutes at the White House with his national security team, spokeswoman Nicole Guillemard said.

Gathered around a Roosevelt Room conference table with Mr. Bush were Gen. John Abizaid, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East; Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld; Mr. Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley; and other officials. Vice President Dick Cheney and Gen. George Casey, who leads the U.S.-led Multinational Forces in Iraq, joined in by videoconference.

"The participants focused on the nature of the enemy, the challenges in Iraq, how to better pursue our strategy, and the stakes of succeeding for the region and the security of the American people," Guillemard said.

Mr. Bush also met with Abizaid for a half-hour on Friday.

Even as it appeared to set the stage for a possible announcement, the White House insisted the meeting was routine and that all that is in question is a change in tactics in the war, not an overhaul of broader strategy or goals. Guillemard said the session was the third in a series of consultations with commanders that would continue in the same forum in the coming weeks.

The discussions Friday and Saturday came at the end of a week in which the U.S. military spokesman in Iraq said a stepped-up operation to secure Baghdad was failing and needed to be refocused; Republicans worried about losing ground in midterm elections expressed fresh doubts about the war; and frustration grew with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's lack of progress in reining in militias.

Some new ideas will be published by an advisory panel created by Congress, the Iraq Study Group, headed by former Secretary of State James Baker, reports Raviv. That group has both Republicans and Democrats and is expected to be critical of how the war has been conducted, while suggesting possible changes. Baker decided, however, not to reveal any of his group's findings until after the congressional elections – so that neither political party would spin the report for electoral advantage.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters traveling with her from Asia to Moscow that Mr. Bush meets often with generals overseeing the war effort, including a similar session she attended recently at Camp David.

"I wouldn't read into this somehow that there is a full-scale push for a major re-evaluation," Rice said.

"They are always looking at what course we're on, whether or not it's working, what's working and what isn't working," Rice said. "I'm quite certain that given the problems of violence in Iraq and the fact that the violence is not coming down to the degree that people would have hoped, that there is going to be a lot of discussion about how we address that."

But a senior State Department official gave a more pessimistic assessment of U.S. policy so far in Iraq. Speaking on Al-Jazeera, Alberto Fernandez, director of public diplomacy in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, said the United States had shown "arrogance" and "stupidity" in Iraq. He said the U.S. was now ready to talk with any group - except al Qaeda in Iraq - to facilitate national reconciliation.

On Friday, gunmen loyal to an anti-American Shiite cleric briefly seized a major southern city, an embarrassment for the local Iraqi security forces. For October so far, the U.S. death toll was at least 75 — and likely to be the highest for any month in nearly two years.

"The last few weeks have been rough for our troops in Iraq, and for the Iraqi people," Mr. Bush said Saturday in his weekly radio address. "The fighting is difficult, but our nation has seen difficult fights before. In World War II and the Cold War, earlier generations of Americans sacrificed so that we can live in freedom. This generation will do its duty as well."

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Listen: President Bush's Radio Address

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Listen: Diane Farrell's Democratic Radio Address

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Mr. Bush said the violence has increased because the Baghdad campaign has put a greater number of American forces in the most violent areas and because terrorists are grasping for propaganda tools. He insisted his goal of victory in Iraq would not change. He also praised Iraq's leaders for "beginning to take the difficult steps necessary to defeat the terrorists and unite their country."

"The terrorists are trying to divide America and break our will, and we must not allow them to succeed," he said. "We will help Iraq become a strong democracy that is a strong ally in the war on terror."

But Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, who holds a seat deemed safe for the GOP, said in a campaign debate Thursday she would have voted against the war had she known Saddam Hussein possessed no weapons of mass destruction, and said earlier in the week that partitioning Iraq into semiautonomous Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish regions should be considered.

Democrats also kept up the pressure. In a letter to the president, a dozen House and Senate Democratic leaders urged him to bring home some U.S. troops and force the Iraqis to take more responsibility for their security. The Democrats said Mr. Bush should do more to pressure Iraqi leaders to disarm militias and find a political solution that would curb violence.

Delivering the Democratic radio response, Diane Farrell, who is trying to unseat GOP Rep. Chris Shays in Connecticut, said Mr. Bush should fire Rumsfeld and Congress should establish benchmarks for Iraqis that would allow U.S. troops to leave.

"We need a new direction in Iraq. To be blunt, the president and the Republican Congress have been wrong on Iraq and wrong to keep their failed strategy," Farrell said. "An arbitrary departure date could be dangerous, but real goals for the new Iraqi government and its army are necessary."

Mr. Bush called withdrawal a retreat that "would allow the terrorists to gain a new safe haven from which to launch new attacks on America."

"We will not pull our troops off the battlefield before the mission is complete," he said.

An independent commission led by former secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton of Indiana is exploring options for a new strategy. Though Mr. Bush is not expected to hear their recommendations for change until December or January, the White House has rejected possible ideas such as partitioning Iraq or a phased withdrawal of troops.

[pakaal]

Bush has already created a "new safe haven from which to launch new attacks on America" by tircking us into invading Iraq, destroying the government and destroying the infrastructure there. Lawlessness creates a vacuum that humans will always find a way to fill with terror.

The fact that Donald Rumsfeld told our generals not to come up with a post-war strategy:

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/world/09/09/9iraqrumsfeld.html

...makes the current situation all the more appalling.

It's time to listen to the polled views of the majority of Americans and Iraqis, that both say "leave Iraq." Then we can at least take away the main talking point for insurgents; that the US are occupiers and we're never leaving. The one thing we can't afford to do is "stay the course" when the course is taking us further into this civil war.

[joehawkinson]

You have heard it before:

BUSH LIED THEY DIED!

[heetseeker]

it is surely somewhat ironic that Iraq is now a finishing school for terrorists.... not only that but the US has unwittingly taught any nation that may in future face the threat of regime-change the ideal strategy to bog down a super power in a potracted and costly war....

Look at the Taliban, they have learned the lessons of Iraq and are employing new tactics... I would not all be surprised if the Iranians already have a post invasion contingency plan based on the Iraq insurgency model....

Others will also see how comparatively successful the insurgency has been and look to replicate that example....

How is it that people who studiously dodged the Vietnam draft can so blithely send 2,788 young men & women to their deaths....

[peterbaldwin-2009]

Along with the 78 we have about 600 wounded this month(IraqCoalitionCasualties.com report 618 since sep 28). Note that nothing out of Bush's mouth has been specific or substantive - only platitudes. His stern, "we will win", condescending lecture to the American people comes across as detached from reality and a bit bizarre. With Bush and his obeisant, Reichstag-like Republican Congress in control, we are going to witness a descent into hell with our troops increasing becoming props in a shooting gallery, not to mention the potential of a war with North Korea or Iran. We Americans have let this madness unfold before our eyes and now we must act to stop it. We have to face up to the fact that the President is a mass-murderer and a pychopath. A vote for any Republican in this climate is a vote for the unraveling of America.

[patriotic9]

We are supposed to be a country af freedom and democracy and our media is supposed to be free but unfortunately our media and govt has been hiding what's going on in Iraq.The casualty figures we hear in the news and by military sources are much lower then what really happens on the ground.This is a fact which no sensible man who looks at the videos of our Military vehicles being blown up by IEDs and who understands the nature of unconventional warfare can deny.If we don't acknowledge the problems,how can we solve them.When Jill Carol was under captivity,she was told by her captors that only one insurgent group ALQAEDA IN IRAQ has killed about 40,000 US troops and as evidence she was shown the videos.Our govt should come forward and deny those claims by terrorist on the basis of evidence.Govt should explain the tax payers that when our Military Convoys pass throuh a narrow street in Baghdad surrounded by houses on both the sides where insurgents take positions on the rooftops,if suicide car bombers struck our convoys and insurgents who hide on the roof tops of the houses start shooting from all the directions,How many of our troops succesfully return back to base.When we hear that a suicide bomb killed dozens of Iraqis but none of our troops who were in the same area got hurt at all,it shows that something is kept hidden from the tax payers whose money finance the war.

[webdepot]

patriotic9-
Spouting off unsubstantiated claims does not help in the argument of trying to convince a fence sitter as to what is truth...
The death toll of American soldiers in Iraq is 2794, period... maybe give or take a few not reported as yet...
Think for just one moment will you.... do you really think the grieving families of 37,000+ dead soldiers would be silent about it... the chances are slim and none, even if the government ordered them to shut up.
The situation in Iraq is bad and getting worse... let's not sensationalize false figures to try to make a point... it only makes your post look idiotic.

[agnim]

"STAY THE COURSE"!

Why "cut and run"?
After all, no bush is dying.
And if a bush was called for Vietnam, say, he'd "run and hide"! LOL

[getcentered]

This war in Iraq is EXACTLY what the experts (the CIA, Pentagon) said it was going to be.

GW Bush has nothing to do with the way the military is going to employ tactics.

The military commanders do not want unnecessary deaths, but right now, they are on the ground in Iraq, by order of the President. People are dying all around our troops and they cannot do much about it. They do not know why they are there, or why the people in Iraq started killing each other.

If the experts said it would be this way, why did we not take the time to create a better plan? I think I know part of the reasons: "politics". The party wanting this war needed it to BEGIN quickly or it might never come to pass.

How unfortunate for our brothers and sisters in the military that they can be wasted along side of Iraqi people without a known, true and just cause.

[peterbaldwin-2009]

Lara Logan notes how troops shipping out of Balad in two weeks were informed by commanders that they will be returning in a year, and that this knowledge had a devastating impact on morale. A few weeks ago a miltary unit about to leave Iraq in a matter of days were suddenly told that they would be extended. There are a lot of parallels between Iraq and Vietnam, but at least in Vietnam short-timers went home when their tour was up - come hell or high water. I remember in 1970 at Firebase Tomahawk troops carving their ETS date into the rafters in the Fire Direction Center, and I recall how short-timers would get a progressively worsening case of the heebie-jeebies as their return to "the real world' got closer. And, there were no last minute cancellations, though you could extend by signing on the dotted line. This cavalier mistreatment of troops and their families waiting back home is disgraceful and inexcusable. The is no justifiable reason to inform unit members that they have to come back just before they leave. We have idiots running this show.

[j-whitman]

It's high time to take our government back from these totally incompentent lying, corrupt idiots, they have totally destroyed our country,, thanks a lot Bush. Now we have Duncan Hunter & Brian Bilbray trying to silence CNN,, real shades of FACISM.

[nynative1340]

This is the same story, almost word-for-word, that appeared this morning under a different headline: "Bush, Generals Review Iraq Strategy." Even some of the comments posted are the same, word-for-word.

Is CBS so hard up for news that they have to change a few words and run them again with a different headline?

I'm tired of hearing "stay the course" and "cut and run." I'd like to hear a real plan for turning the country over to the Iraqis. What they do with it after that is their business. If they want to have a civil war, let them. After all, we had ours and no outsiders intervened, and we survived. A few hundred thousand died, a few hundred thousand more were maimed for life, but we survived. Every democracy goes through a painful infancy.

The story I don't want to read is the one similar to Vietnam, where people were on the embassy rooftop, fleeing for their lives, and being picked up by choppers as the NVA was breaking down the front door. I don't want to read a story about American troops fleeing for their lives from the green zone as insurgents are breaking down the walls.

Let freedom ring, and let the Iraqis ring their own freedom bell. They will appreciate it more if they have to work for it, rather than having it forced upon them.

[nynative1340]

Ah, Duncan Hunter, my favorite candidate for poster child for term limits. Served in Congress well past his Peter principle, as so many others have.

And Brian Bilbray, the poor man who doesn't know where he lives, but still managed to get elected in a district in which he did not, and does not live. But his mom lives there, and he went to see here once in a while. Talk about carpetbaggin'.

[patriotic9]

webdepot
When a US troop get killed in Iraq,his family is notified but his family doesnt know how many more troops were killed that day but if you hear the news media names are not suddenly released on the media and the reason told is to hide them till the next to kins are informed.The family members don't come out on street because it's not only US troops who are brave enough to give ultimate sacrifice for their country but also their family members who are proud of their sacrifice.If you look at the video released on CNN recently which showed US troops killed by sniper shots,you will realize who difficult it's to fight an UNSEEN ENEMY.If you remember when a sniper was killing people in Washington D.C metro area,nobody was even able to find where the bullet was coming from.In Iraq it's not sniper but ROAD SIDE BOMBS,SUICIDE BOMBERS,SUICIDE CAR BOMBERS,RPG ATTACKS,AMBUSHES.Our soldiers are in Military uniforms whereas enemy is in civilian clothes.We are surrounded by enemies who are in there own there country and there is no front line.Attacks come from 360 degrees.Considering all these things in mind if we beleive what media and our govt are telling us,we are living in a DREAM or FANTASY WORLD.

[j-whitman]

patriotic,,, The only ones missleading our nation is Bush & his corrupt, lying cronies in the GOP

[patriotic9]

j-whitman
I totally agree with you but what should we do now.Do you have something in your mind what is the solution.Saddam Hussain was a SECUALR DICTATOR who had killed his own people who wanted to establish a RADICAL ISLAMIC GOVT.Saddam Hussain was only good with IRAQI CATHOLICS called CALDIANS who were the most previlaged people in Iraq because he didn't have any fear of power from them.He knew that in a muslim coutry nobody would like to see a CHRISTIAN being the president.Saddam Hussaian has been removed from power by US forces and those RADICAL ISLAMIC SHIAS have been brought to power by democracy who will take our tax payed money on the name of REBUILDING IRAQ to establish an ISLAMIC STATE based on hatred against west.They have given the duty of killing US forces to their SUNNI brothers.SUNNIs and SHIAs kill each other just to make us fool.They both are united against us.We need to learn their culture .For achieving their goals and objectives,they don't only kill each other but can also kill themselves.Now the PRIME MINISTER of IRAQ will always be the Governor from Iran(practically).The most important thing we need to know is how to confront the real threat which is posed to us by Iran.Our war policies in Iraq has made IRAN powerful and our troops are trapped in Iraq.

Can anyone else see the irony.

GW Bush, a known coward who did his best to dodge his military service, asking others to give their lives in defence of a country that he once couldn't be bothered to defend because he'd rather party.

Bush has one policy - let others do the fighting while he and his pals sit back, safe at home, and get richer of the sacrifices of American service men and women.

While I don't believe the US should "cut and run", I do believe that we need someone in charge who isn't incompetent. That goes for the rest of the current administration as well.

Bush, Rice, Rumsfeld, Cheney - they all have their own personal agendas that don't extend to saving the lives of American troops.

They are more interested in lining their own pockets and setting themselves up for life after politics then saving American lives.

I don't care if they are replaced by Republicans or Democrats - someone needs to replace those incompetent fools who are currently in charge.

They should also be made to answer for their failed policies - and quickly.

[adian1-2009]

Look at that: 78 more of our youngsters killed in just two thirds of a month!! Just try to make an estimate of the economic value of all those lives. Would you dare make a estimate of what kind of effort --from their parents and from all us who pay for the huge infrastructure necessary to bring these good boys to manhood? And what about the emotional investment made by their entire families? How the hell did we brought to power this bunch of irresponsible crooks? And with all that, they intend to stay in power. Are we going to allow this to happen? WAKE UP, AMERICA!!!

[j-whitman]

patriotic,, Sure I have a solution which definately put us on the right track,, 1st the problems, "The Great Decider" failed at every venture in his life except for getting elected as governor, then remember George H.W. Bush in front of the Enron audience "Thank you Enron, we couldn't have done it without you", then Cheney of Haliburton which is still operating in Tehran as Iran still supplies weapons against our troops,, then of course we have Rumsfield who as a board member of a company which sold nuclear reactors to North Korea -Solution- Remove them all from office ASAP then jail them, fire all those in the GOP who kept telling us "Iraq is so safe, I'll take my family there" And then put someone in thier places that actually understands national security & patriotism,,,, We could get them from McDonalds.

[j-whitman]

An immediate benifit of placing McDonald's employees in charge of the White House,,, They can actually count money, they will also feed hungry Americans.

[j-whitman]

janem4,,, Let's see now,, Bush has lost both Iraq & Afaganistan,, do you really think he's capable of leading a War on Terrorism???

[j-whitman]

janem4,, let's not forget his failed domestic policies & how screwed up he's made the entire Middle East.

[j-whitman]

janem4,, I also have a son who's been to Iraq, a marine seargent(previously a Bush lover)he now tell me Bush wants to end the Marine Corps,, they are now losing family services at Camp Pendelton,, He now wants out after 8 years. Good luck to your son, tell him to keep his head down.

[j-whitman]

janem4,,, just where would we be now in Iraq if CNN didn't put forth thier best efforts? I know both Bilbray & Hunter,, they are just GOP hacks, Hunter always has been. CNN didn't show anything disrespectful, only the truth. There are still many areas that are far to dangerous for any news crews, & they still don't show the whole truth.

[j-whitman]

janem4,,, Do you understand what Fascism is?? Please look it up, then see how it applies to the methods of this administration uses, please.

[getcentered]

"janem4"

I feel for you. My family is serving as an officer in the Marines and we are worried about him too.

The best opinion I have to offer is, keep your head up. By this I mean try to stay informed, about what the military is doing with our sons and daughters, about how our leaders spend our tax money, about the intentions of our leaders, about what is working, and what is not.

Give credit where credit is deserved.

LOOK TO MANY SOURCES FOR YOUR INFORMATION, and do what you just did, which is go to the public forum and find out what others think too.

I think so many of us do not really have a clue about why so many people are dying in Iraq, but next time a war call is made by our president I hope that more %u201Cscrutinizing%u201D leaders are in place to make sure the deaths of our kin is a worthy and just cause.

[rsoxfan1123]

fas%u2027cism%u2002 /%u02C8ff%u0283%u026Az%u0259m/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[fash-iz-uhm] %u2013noun a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.

[rsoxfan1123]

fascism

[j-whitman]

Something else to think about,,,, Condi Rice is in Russia telling them to keep thier press free,,, while Duncan Hunter & cronies are trying to silence our press,, GOP flip-flop?

[rsoxfan1123]

janem4- that type of video shows us the reality of what is happening in Iraq. It is far too easy for people like Bush to think in numbers rather than actual human life when looking at the cost of the tremendous mess he created in Iraq. If my son were there I would want the whole world to see the truth. By voting republican, you basically voted your son over there.

[joehawkinson]

Janem4,

Though I dont like democrats any better ,and I mean it, I have serious issues with GOP. One of the biggest tricks Karl Rove was able to pull was to make common Americans believe that Democrats are soft on protecting the country. I believe it is misleading to make the key issue to justify GOP administration. Truth is GOP is useless when it comes to national security except for empty talks and John Wayne gestures. GOP made US less secure by pulling us into Iraq which really had nothing to do with 911, no matter what FOX TV or few paid neocon radio hosts tells you. We had to go after Bin Ladin and Bush chose to go to Iraq because of several reasons, but none of those reasons had anything to do with national security. Bush& Co made grave mistakes and unlike any sensible person who'd correct those mistakes he adamantly keeps doing the same exact mistakes. At this point I think we have to hold this administration accountable for what they have done.

[j-whitman]

Need we mention the damage to our National Security in every erea done by this admninistration, such as Middle East, trade, domestic, etc.???

[j-whitman]

Maybe we could invade Mexico,,, they are cutting heads off people.

[j-whitman]

Yea,, invade Mexico,, our kids could come home for the weekends.

[nynative1340]

janem said "We are not supporters of the war. However, we do not trust democrats when it comes to terrorism based on the previous democratic administration."

Do you not trust Democrats because the current administration says you can't trust Democrats? Do you really think the world is safer because Bush said it is safer? Do you think that world terrorism is decreasing and Iraq will be "safe for democracy" because Bush says so?

Do you get your news from "Bush friendly" sources like FOX?

Lighten up. At least Clinton contained Saddam and Saddam contained his people. Bush captured the Lion and all h*ll broke loose. Iraq is not breeding terrorism, where previously the only terrorist was Saddam.

Bush let thousands of terrorists escape in Tora Bora, and now he doesn't even acknowlege bin Laden.

So don't tell me that Democrats, or even politically uneducated high-schoolers couldn't run this country better than the Bush administration has done.

If you voted Republican in 2000 and 2004 you have yourself to blame for the present mess. You voted for a man who never ran a successful business and had absolutely no qualifications to be the leader of the free world. The rest of us could easily spot a phony.

[nynative1340]

janem said "All of the posts in response to my post fail to tell me how showing our soldiers being killed serves a purpose."

We obviously can't be successful in fulfilling your desire for an answer, because you really don't want an answer.

The only purpose it serves is to remind us that we live in a REPUBLIC that is a DEMOCRACY, and a FREE PRESS is a very significant and important element of a DEMOCRACY. I don't necessarily agree with CNN's decision to run the video, but, unlike that poster child for term limits Duncan Hunter, I respect their right to do so. That's what I spent 28 of the prime years of my life defending in the U.S. military.

BTW: I have a typo in my previous comment. "Iraq is not breeding terrorism..." should read "Iraq is NOW breeding terrorism, where previously the only terrorist was Saddam."

[nynative1340]

Godwin's Law - As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler [or Fascism] approaches one [hundred percent]. Coined by Mike Godwin in 1990.

[webdepot]

"janem4"
There are no easy answers for you... I know where I stand... 'getcentered' had excellent advice... learn... read... read lots... then read some more.. Make your own deductions based on rational logic, not hysterical partisan spin..
CNN is reporting the news as it is happening.. ugly and upsetting?? Yes it is... but that is what people need to see in order to understand that war is only.... and I mean only, a last resort.. certainly not something a thinking, rational person chooses to do..
I will leave you with a serious quote from history:
"If you tell a lie often enough, from a position of power, it becomes accepted truth.[by the people]"
Apply that phrase to the past three years, then google the phrase to see who authored it.

Several months ago I read a bumper sticker that has more truth than mirth to it:
"Politicians and diapers should be changed often, and for the same reason"

My last advice... pray for your son daily... as I will be...

[sharncedar]

"If we do not pull together we will be doomed. "

AS far as I can tell, we are in fact certainly doomed, in the long run, that is, we are without doubt destined to lie down in some warm ground round about here ridden with the same class of maggots, neither better maggots for I or thee.

Though an ambitious business type was telling me today to make something better of myself... but it is not my duty I replied to improve the living conditions of my future tenants in the worm fauna they can surely do such renovations as they see fit but without my participation or aid, I will not give it them willingly I replied, and proceeded to my wasteful, unbetter life none the worse.

[heetseeker]

It is nothing new to play politics... politicians do it all the time on the economy,public policy etc... At any time it is wrong but during times of war it is unspeakable...

More than anything else Iraq is a human story... our fallen have left widows, orphans & loved ones... bread-winners have been taken away and mothers and fathers have faced the ultimate indignity of burying their own children..... for every fallen serviceman or woman many other lives have been utterly ruined... the great tradegy of Iraq is that these lives will never appear on any statistical count...

Rather than come clean about this misadventure & try to rally a wounded nation... the administration is peddling fear as policy & brands any who dare to critique it as unpatriotic... are the lives of young Americans so cheap & has the nation become so frigid? Where is the collective sense of rage at what has been done in our name?

[cofmanaaron]

Everybody: read Pat Tillman's legacy in the Opinion section. It reminds me of my friend overseas right now. He signed up with the army after 9/11. Now Bush and his administration have used him, Pat, Kevin Tillman, and many others for this ****. The piece was written by Kevin as an epitaph for his dead brother. God, a dead brother. I'm so thankful to god my baby brother isn't there right now.

[agnim]

Janem

"All of the posts in response to my post fail to tell me how showing our soldiers being killed serves a purpose."

One purpose is for you to do some soul searching about whether or not you want to also sacrifice your offspring in Iraq as he joins the other f@ggot 'heroes' in slaughtering Iraqi mothers and children.

Another purpose is to give you a 'heads up' as to what some other pathetic parents have to endure when they allow their children to be sacrificed for a worthless cause.

You think any of the warmongers sending your son to Iraq would have gone to Iraq himself?
They didn't 'cut and run'. They 'ran and hide' from Vietnam; and we don't blame them one bit.

It's because people like you don't believe in learning what is really happening why it is so easy to lie and mislead so many of the American people.

You unwittingly are demonstrating a preference for propaganda if you can't stomach the truth about life and death in the comical campaign in Iraq.

That is why we were so shocked on 911; we didn't care to know the truth about what we were doing as a nation to invite a 911.

[heetseeker]

There is nothing redeeming about showing young soldiers being killed.... it is an obscenity...

However keep in mind that war is not redeeming... on the contrary it is an obscene & bloody hell... even those wars which we have had to fight for our very survival....

The American public should see war in all its obscenity... our soldiers in Iraq are not playing nintendo... they are fighting & dying bravely... we should NEVER sanitise war... for the day we do we become careless in our support for it...

This administration does not want footage of shot soldiers or coffins to be broadcast because it provides evidence of their culpability and failings in Iraq, and is in direct conflict with the endless "happy talk" of progress

When we see our soldiers dying in Iraq we ask: why, three years after the war began, are we entrapped in this swamp.... oh yes it is because of the concocted, exaggerated threat created by an administration that cares more for its neo conservative world view than the integrity of its leadership...

Yes we should show the pictures & worse than that if possible... let us see the consequences of deception and deceitfulness in all their obscene glory... lets us not cover our eyes or be indignant at the sight of our young people being slaughtered, committing suicide & driven mad in Iraq... rather let us ask ourselves how did we get here, who sent them and why...

[j-whitman]

Ask Bush tomorrow how he spells FAILURE. Tomorrow won't be a good day for our White House. Watch the news.

[j-whitman]

How do republicans spell "Cut & Run",,,, Will Bush be the new surrender monkey?

[heetseeker]

This is an interesting point... for an administration that was slow to acknowledge that things were not going well in Iraq & has failed to hold any of its architects accountable ... how might it eventually account for the collpase of its policy in Iraq?

Well accountability has never been a strength of this Government and |I suspect they are preparing their excuses as we post... expect blame to be laid at the door of: the public for lacking will for the fight, the press for "negative" reporting and "old Europe" for not sending their own young to be slaughtered in the Sunni triangle....

Indeed anyone else but themselves...

Comforted that they will be immune from prosection...their memoirs will be a rewrite history & deniability will be their defence....

[missingamerica]

Do you begin to understand why America's businesses are unable to compete globally?

Most of the Administration is drawn from the ranks of business; they "set a course", that course fails, and they immediately try to find anything other than their leadership, imagination, and planning skills to blame.

Here, its "labor that won't cooperate with managment in cutting costs"; in Iraq, its "terrorists that won't cooperate with the peace process".

I often wonder if the two terms (labor and terrorists) aren't interchangeble in their minds, because their reaction to resistance from either is ideologically if not physically identical - close the factory and ignore the human impact, or blow up the factory and ignore the human impact.

They are like children with a balky toy - if it initially refuses to cooperate fully, they stamp it into dust instead of learning what makes it tick and teaching themselves the flexibility required to use it correctly.

[tibu987]

Bush and cronies:
"MISSION ACCOMPLISHED"
Yeah sure, tell that to the families that have lost loved ones, American and Iraqi.
Vote out the imcumbents, Dems or Repubs.
Vote for term limits.

[emhawks]

For those who are interested, there is alot of information available on the Internet about:
Halliburton
Saudi Binladen Group(SBG)
Brown & Root
Bechtel
Project for the New American Century(PNAC)
The Carlyle Group
The history of the Bush family's involvement with the bin Laden family.
Read the book "Crossing the Rubicon" by Michael C. Ruppert.
Remember, knowlege is power!