U.S. Death Toll In Iraq Tops 3,500

23 Deaths In First Six Days Of June, Almost Double That Of June 2006

(CBS/AP)  Another U.S. soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq, the military said Thursday, pushing the four-year death toll for American forces to 3,501, according to an Associated Press tally.

The count includes 23 deaths in the first six days of June, an average of about four per day.

The soldier was killed Wednesday when a roadside bomb exploded during combat operations in a southwestern section of Baghdad, a military statement said. It added that two other soldiers were wounded in the attack and evacuated to a coalition medical facility.

The soldiers' names were withheld pending notification of relatives.

The Bush administration has warned that the current troop buildup in and around Baghdad will result in more U.S. casualties as American troops increasingly come into contact with enemy forces.

Brig. Gen. Kevin J. Bergner told reporters Wednesday that the last of five brigades earmarked for the buildup will arrive in the "next couple of weeks," but may take up to two months to establish itself as fully operational.

In other developments:

Anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr went on state-run TV in his first interview since the U.S. surge began, reports CBS News chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan, and blamed all of Iraq's problems on U.S. forces. Sadr's comments are being watched closely by U.S. intelligence, Logan reports, because he's the one man in Iraq who can single-handedly affect the success of the U.S. surge.

Public approval of the job President Bush is doing now matches its all-time low, an AP-Ipsos poll says. The survey reflects widespread discontent over how Mr. Bush is handling the war in Iraq, efforts against terrorism and domestic issues.

The Army general picked by President Bush to become his personal war adviser suggested Thursday that pressuring the Iraqis to take on more responsibility might not work. "I have reservations about just how much leverage we can apply in a system that's not very capable right now," Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute said during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Turkey has declared several areas near the border with Iraq to be "temporary security zones" in a sign of increasing activity by the military in its campaign against Kurdish rebels. The declaration Wednesday came amid a Turkish military buildup on the border, and on the same day as Turkish security officials and an Iraqi Kurdish official said hundreds of Turkish troops crossed into northern Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish guerrillas who launch raids into Turkey.

A female Iraqi journalist was shot to death while she was waiting for a taxi Thursday in the northern city of Mosul, according to police and her news agency. Sahar al-Haidari, a 45-year-old mother of four, covered political and cultural news for the independent Voices of Iraq news agency and was second employee of the organization to be killed in just over a week.

Meanwhile, bombers struck across the country again Thursday, from a restaurant in Baghdad's teeming Sadr City to a police station leveled by a blast near the Syrian border. At least 15 people were reported killed.

In the capital's eastern Sadr City district, a Shiite Muslim stronghold, a bomb beneath a parked car exploded at lunchtime outside a falafel restaurant, police reported. At least three people were killed and eight wounded, said a police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.

Sadr City has been repeatedly targeted by Sunni extremists seeking to terrorize the Shiite majority and inflame hostilities between the Muslim sects.

Earlier, in the day's first reported attack, a suicide bomber blew up his explosives-laden truck at about 9 a.m. at a police station in Rabia, near Iraq's border with Syria, killing at least four policemen and five civilians, and wounding 22 other people, an Iraqi army spokesman said.

Continued

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© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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by wdrussell1 June 7, 2007 2:25 PM PDT

What a plan George. Now in Sept. when 85 Americans are killed, George can bring his pom-poms out and claim things are getting better.

Reply to this comment

by perception5 June 7, 2007 2:26 PM PDT

985 Americans killed in Iraq in 2006

16,185 Americans killed in America in 2006


Americans killed in America in 2006............................. some details on how our "deep blue" cities are doing

Detroit - 417 killed

Baltimore - 276 killed

New Orleans - 162 killed

Philadelphia - 406 killed

Chicago - 467 killed

Los Angeles - 480 killed

Washington DC - 169 killed

All of these cities are "deep blue" cities............have been for decades and generations

My question is to the rich liberals that live in these cities:

Where's the "Social Justice" ???????????

Where is there going to be accountability ? .............. Timetables for improvement ???

or do we continue to ignore this crime with more "blank checks" ??

Reply to this comment

by space_poet June 7, 2007 2:27 PM PDT

How many more people, how many more need to die in a lie, killed by the policies of a failed occupation and power grab that has become the biggest cluster-you-know-what in the modern world? Oh, how our country has fallen, how our leaders have failed us, how the secrets abound that you will never know about. The truth, shrouded in sound bites of partisan bickering keeps us shielded from the underlying crimes, while we work our lives away to pay for our own undoing...

Reply to this comment

by drummer94 June 7, 2007 2:30 PM PDT

3501. "Public approval...now matches all-time low" Bush's personal war advisor-Iraqi's to take on more responsibilities "might not work" and not very capable. 4 years,screwball,4years and "not very capable" 4 years 3501 warriors lives and,what,a hundred billion a year. HEY DOC! The maroon needs his meds!

Reply to this comment

by space_poet June 7, 2007 2:32 PM PDT

Hey, perception, you twist facts to confuse people. You don't even come close to the actual debate here, and purposely mislead people into thinking that domestic crime has anything to do with a war on a nation half way around the world. Why don't you list the Iraq cities and their death rates if you want some real outrage?

Reply to this comment

by perception5 June 7, 2007 2:35 PM PDT

Why don't you list the Iraq cities and their death rates if you want some real outrage?
Posted by Space_Poet at 02:32 PM : Jun 07, 2007


..... Space_Poet, why are you insensitve to the 16,185 Americans that were killed in America in 2006. Mostly in our "deep blue cities"??

Is this what you call "Social Justice" Space_Poet??

I guess you think its ok as long as you have your "material" possessions........

Reply to this comment

by muzzlebush June 7, 2007 2:39 PM PDT

Here's a mileage question for George and D1ck:

How many lives per gallon?

perception 5 opens an interesting discussion. How much better could we make our cities if we weren't spending billions to make sure that Bushco had control of Iraqui oil?

Reply to this comment

by notblue June 7, 2007 2:46 PM PDT

Lives lost: War of Independence 100,000 plus, Civil war 100,000 plus, World War I 100,000 plus, World war II 500,000 plus, Korean war 100,000 plus, Viet Nam war 50,000 plus, First Gul war less than 10,000, War in Iraq 3,500. Lives lost to violence in U.S. just this last year 16,000 plus, just putting it in perspective.

Reply to this comment

by drummer94 June 7, 2007 2:50 PM PDT

Interesting,indeed! Shoring up cities,especially the inner cities, has been proven to reduce the crime rates. Unfortunately, the politicians all make a grab for the dough when it's there. See the "coconut highway story

Reply to this comment

by wdrussell1 June 7, 2007 2:53 PM PDT

According to the numbers 2377 died in deep blue cities. Where did the other 13000 die?

Reply to this comment

by space_poet June 7, 2007 2:58 PM PDT

Percept, I live a very simple life, I don't own a car, I barely watch TV, and I care about every life on this planet. Because this country has it's own problems is besides the point. When we start to spread our death across the globe, then we are not taking care of ourselves, we are worsening the situation. I have no beef with you, but your comparrison is quite unrelated to the topic at hand. Every country on the planet has crime.

Reply to this comment

by muzzlebush June 7, 2007 3:05 PM PDT

Posted by xzavierbrown:
here is a milage question for you: "how much of Bushco's gas did you use this week??"

Actually, none.

Reply to this comment

by jsilver2th June 7, 2007 3:07 PM PDT

We mourn the loss of 3500 of our finest young men and women...

Why did they die?

Those who have reaped the obscene war profits seem to me to have some answering to do.

Reply to this comment

by jjp735i June 7, 2007 3:08 PM PDT

And Bush, the Dems and Rep. will say the surge is working during the next Washington spin cycle.

Reply to this comment

by cdfoxtrot June 7, 2007 3:10 PM PDT

How come we don't get reports any more of Bush's approval ratings? I haven't seen the detailed analysis in many months. I can't see that 3,500 needless deaths of US soldiers is going to be seen as much of a milestone. Maybe when it gets to 5,000 or 10,000. It's going to take a lot more unnecessary loss of life to force this basta*d in the WH to change course in any meaningful way.

Reply to this comment

by muzzlebush June 7, 2007 3:15 PM PDT

Is the logic being proposed by some here that somehow 3500 senseless deaths is better than 16000 senseless deaths?

Reply to this comment

by hungry1968 June 7, 2007 3:17 PM PDT

perception5:
(Or better yet lack of perception5)

First of all - are you trying to say that it's President Bush's fault that crime went up? Because according to the FBI report where you picked the carefully selected information from:

Dallas - 187 killed
Houston - 377 killed
Memphis - 147 killed
Jacksonville, FL - 110 killed
Miami - 77 killed
Atlanta - 110 killed
Birmingham - 104 killed
Phoenix - 234 killed

Those are all "deep red" states. So if murder rates are your sole indicator, then crime is going up across the country regardless of the predominant local political affiliation.

I'm proud of you though - at least you tried using actual information instead of home-made web sites spewing pro-war garbage at us. Please feel free to try some more.

Reply to this comment

by hungry1968 June 7, 2007 3:24 PM PDT

For those that are interested, here is the address of the FBI report that lackofperception5 carefully cherry picked his information from:

http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/06prelim/ucrtable4index.htm

Like I said - I'm glad that at least he's now using legitimate, verifiable information instead of the typical garbage.

Reply to this comment

by drivelphobe June 7, 2007 3:40 PM PDT

War has casualties, unfortunately, and I am saddened each and every time I read about another lost American soldier. However, I feel the correct path to take is fight fire with fire and adopt some new military tactics that are more devastating and overwhelming than anything used to date. These animals need to be blown up on sight and if a few "innocents" go down, tough. I personlly don't believe there are any "innocents" hanging around. Anyone in the area should be considered a hostile and eliminated. It's time to toughen up.

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by bogusbones June 7, 2007 3:47 PM PDT

And the list will grow until we stop the insanity.

Reply to this comment

by pepperp1 June 7, 2007 3:57 PM PDT

What dribble, a couple hundred thousand maybe, hopefully you are already in Iraq in uniform fighting for your principles. Look stupid Iraq did not attack us on 911 if you need to relate the mass murder of 911 the Osama et al are from Saudi and it is about keeping the oil flowing or not. You be the animal.

Reply to this comment

by notblue June 7, 2007 4:13 PM PDT

For those blinded by politics, those that keep harping Iraq didn't attack it was Saudi Arabia, it's time to get a clue! NO SPECIFIC COUNTRY ATTACKED the U.S.. An IDEOLOGY called radical Islam attacked, it can't be any clearer or more truthful than that.

Reply to this comment

by bluestardad June 7, 2007 4:14 PM PDT

Here are a list of the Congress that is Responsible for keeping this War going! They are in the pocket of the Israeli Lobby Group AIPAC I hope the soldiers families in their states remember this!

Also Carl Levin (D)
Steny Hoyer (D)


Alexander, Lamar- (R - TN)
Allard, Wayne- (R - CO)
Chambliss, Saxby- (R - GA)
Cochran, Thad- (R - MS)
Coleman, Norm- (R - MN)
Collins, Susan M.- (R - ME)
Cornyn, John- (R - TX)
Craig, Larry E.- (R - ID)
Dole, Elizabeth- (R - NC)
Enzi, Michael B.- (R - WY)
Graham, Lindsey- (R - SC)
Hagel, Chuck- (R - NE)
Inhofe, James M.- (R - OK)
McConnell, Mitch- (R - KY)
Roberts, Pat- (R - KS)
Sessions, Jeff- (R - AL)
Smith, Gordon H.- (R - OR)
Stevens, Ted- (R - AK)
Sununu, John E.- (R - NH)
Warner, John- (R - VA)

Reply to this comment

by marcodele June 7, 2007 4:32 PM PDT

"An IDEOLOGY called radical Islam attacked"

Iraq is an ideology called radical Islam?

If that's true, why are we attacking a country instead of ideologically attacking radical Islam?

Reply to this comment

by nyckate June 7, 2007 4:33 PM PDT

notblue - yeah - now if only we had had a president and presidential cabinet who could see that or at least admit it now - but yet the GOP candidate leading the pack (Rudy-n-Judy) still keep the rhetoric alive -fight them over there instead of here - well clearly 'they' weren't in Iraq till we let them in - and clearly 'they' are everywhere.

A vote for Rudy is a vote

Reply to this comment

by infidel_us June 7, 2007 4:33 PM PDT

Roadside bombs courtesy of IRAN. We need to direct some "gunnage" and "bomage" towards Tehran.
I see where Mookie al-Sadr "rejects interference by Tehran", yet we just learned that NATO has proof that they are shipping IED's, RPG's, and C-4.

The b*astards have declared war on us! We should give them what they deserve - death.

Reply to this comment

by marcodele June 7, 2007 4:36 PM PDT

The "Surge" is working great, isn't it?

(Surge = return troop levels to 2005 levels)

Reply to this comment

by pepperp1 June 7, 2007 4:37 PM PDT

Yeah right, you would like to believe it was about Islam that way you can believe you are righteous when killing all these folks, it is about oil and the disruption of oil revenues and the oil corporate complex that the terrorist believe are disenfranchising themselves and the peoples of the ME keeping them from power and the good life. Fact, prior to the Shah being booted 95 percent of the oil revenue from Iran went to BP. Its about power and oil if they were Christians they would still hate us.

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by cdfoxtrot June 7, 2007 4:38 PM PDT

Well done, bluestardad, highlighting the role of AIPAC on US foreign policy. Americans are dying by proxy for Israel. That's the truth. The US supports Israel no matter what it does and that's the lightning rod for much of the resentment toward the US around the world. Ordinary people are driven into the arms of fanatic extremists of the likes of Osama by the foreign policy pursued by successive US presidents. Long-term, a truly balanced policy toward the Arab-Israeli problem would be in the interests of Israel and the US -- and the world. Meanwhile, the US can look ahead to continued unrest in the Mid-East, with or without the presence of US troops.

Reply to this comment

by rohink-2009 June 7, 2007 4:56 PM PDT

Anyone here remember that yesterday, June 6 was D-Day? How many soldiers died in one?

Reply to this comment

by itchyb-2009 June 7, 2007 4:59 PM PDT

"Lives lost: War of Independence 100,000 plus, Civil war 100,000 plus, World War I 100,000 plus, World war II 500,000 plus, Korean war 100,000 plus, Viet Nam war 50,000 plus, First Gul war less than 10,000..."

notblue, U.S. deaths in First Gulf war was indeed less than 10,000. Around 300, actually. So, it was less than 1,000,000 for that matter, but your numbers are quite misleading. Do some research.

Reply to this comment

by samthetvcat June 7, 2007 5:00 PM PDT

"For those blinded by politics, those that keep harping Iraq didn't attack it was Saudi Arabia, it's time to get a clue! NO SPECIFIC COUNTRY ATTACKED the U.S.. An IDEOLOGY called radical Islam attacked, it can't be any clearer or more truthful than that."
Posted by notblue at 04:13 PM : Jun 07, 2007

You can't beat an ideology with military force unless the goal is to commit mass genocide . . . is that the goal? And even assuming that that was achievable, it's so morally heinous another ideology would crop up to challenge this form of 'democracy' (really a dictatorship or something) . . . come to think of it, hasn't that already started with Putin? All that goodwill carefully cultivated by Reagan has been washed down the tubes!

I can appreciate how frustrated die-hard repubs must feel with the thought of a Democrat taking office and it being unknown how they'll deal with the war on terror - I'll admit the frontrunners have not put themselves out their in terms of their own policies, because they haven't had to with Bush being so unpopular. But let's face it Bush IS making things worse - he's no Reagan.

Reply to this comment

by irishmail42 June 7, 2007 5:03 PM PDT

rohink asks how many died on D-day, June 6, 1944. And the answer is thousands. And we had allies in Canada, Great Britan, France, Russia just to mention a few. And it was not a war of"choice."

Reply to this comment

by pepperp1 June 7, 2007 5:06 PM PDT

US policy has been high jacked by neo conservatives ideologues who believe in world domination of all things and the use of military force to take that power for themselves in furtherance of their interest, they are a bunch of incompetent whacko and they are pulling the puppet strings of the current GOP. It is not a religious movement but a political force does not be blinded by propaganda that is a smoke screen.

Neo Conservative related institutions and publications check them out;
Institutions

American Enterprise Institute
Bradley Foundation
Foundation for the Defense of Democracies
Henry Jackson Society
Hudson Institute
Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs
Project for the New American Century

Publications

Commentary
Weekly Standard
Political magazines featuring neoconservative ideas:

Front Page Magazine

The National Interest
National Review
Policy Review
The Public Interest

Reply to this comment

by winnerindia June 7, 2007 5:41 PM PDT

yopa. Beghdahad is a hot place to live.

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by winnerindia June 7, 2007 5:47 PM PDT

The number of US troops killed or burnt on daily basis should be increased in order to save the money of an American tax payer. This would also force snakes to call back our troops.

Reply to this comment

by sayfud-deen June 7, 2007 5:58 PM PDT

i see all of you in the mainstream media are sticking to the 3500 casualty figure,and you want us to believe that the surge is working,and of course, you still want us to believe that these wars have not cost the taxpayers over a trillon dollars! when are you in the media going to start telling the people in this country the truth?

Reply to this comment

by katie_legs June 7, 2007 6:31 PM PDT

The United States public has duped by a moron
about WMD, and same idiot had Colin Powell lie before the UN about the mobile chemical labs in Iraq before we invaded Iraq
1) Couldn't show up for a physical in the Texas air guard...Never found in a war or has any idea
aboout any logistical logic concerning a war and
thinks that this surge is going to win over Iraq.
1) Doesn't have a brain in his head or have a plan about how to run foreign policy
3) Has created irreputable harm in the United States as well damaged foreign relations because
of Iraq/ Afghagistan.
4) Has exacerbated the terroist problems in general - More than ever.
5) Turned Iraq into a civil War and indirectly
responsible for over 150,000 Iraq Civilian Deaths
(Iraqi Liberation) in addition to over 3500 American causualties. (not to mention the Americans who are disbaled permanently or mained
without arms or legs.
6) Has wreaked havoc with the middle class structure since alot of jobs have been outsourced.
7) Has created havoc with the Medical care system in this country.
8) Has been incompetent about the way he handled
the Katrina Crisis
6) Has increased the national debt by at least 3.3-4 trillion over the course of 6 YEARS AND 4 MONTHS
7) Never had a plan as far as leading this country into a propserity. Well the circus will be over when the fact lady sings. The llist goes on.

Reply to this comment

by tejasdemo June 7, 2007 6:31 PM PDT

The Dems had a chance to make a statement regarding this war recently with the funding and they wussied out.

I am ashamed and mad as hell all at the same time.

Reply to this comment

by detherton63 June 7, 2007 6:36 PM PDT

Quote from winnerindia: "The number of US troops killed or burnt on daily basis should be increased in order to save the money of an American tax payer. This would also force snakes to call back our troops."

Tell that to the spouses, parents and children of our service members who are currently serving in the Theater of Operations. It is hard for me to understand how you would (or could) wish for the deaths of our Soldiers just to make a point. As an Active Duty Soldier with over 26 years of service, it pains me to think that I serve, without reservation, to protect the likes of you.

Reply to this comment

by smirk5 June 7, 2007 6:56 PM PDT

Poor Bush Jr.

A few years ago, the GOP that nearly completely supported Bush in every way was talking about his having a mandate (hows that going?) to run the country. Now, I bet they're worried he might be allowed to speak at the next GOP convention.

And, it's all because he kept putting lipstick on his pig called Iraq over and over. Someone should have told him that you can't do that forever and get away with it. If you continue to say we're making progress and we're winning you eventually have to show some results that everyone can agree on.

Reply to this comment

by hungry1968 June 7, 2007 7:03 PM PDT

I can appreciate how frustrated die-hard repubs must feel with the thought of a Democrat taking office and it being unknown how they'll deal with the war on terror.
Posted by SamTheTVCat at 05:00 PM : Jun 07, 2007

The war on terror is in Afghanistan. That's where the Taliban was based, that's where they hid and are still hiding, and it's where they're making a comeback.

You're wondering how the Democrats will deal with the war on terror? It's almost 6 years after 9/11, and I'm still trying to figure out why Bush is ignoring the terrorists that attacked us, to start a civil war in a country that didn't attack us.

When are the Republicans going to do something about the war on terror instead of worrying about the Iraq civil war?

Reply to this comment

by winnerindia June 7, 2007 7:05 PM PDT

" Tell that to the spouses, parents and children of our service members who are currently serving in the Theater of Operations. ...without reservation, to protect the likes of you.
Posted by detherton63

I am never saying that our soldiers should be killed. I merely wrote in a stiric manner that the *** holes who are not calling back our troops should call back troops whatever the excuse may be. Will they call troops after they are killed in scores greater than Vietnam? I am afraid.

Reply to this comment

by smirk5 June 7, 2007 7:15 PM PDT

When you stand up on an aircraft carrier as president and proclaim "In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.", eventually you have show that reality matches the *** that comes out of your mouth. How many troops did we lose in Kosovo? Zero? When you proclaim victory in a war, you need to get down to numbers like zero in a hurry. Didn't anyone teach Bush Jr. War PR 101?

Reply to this comment

by king77shaw June 7, 2007 7:22 PM PDT

collapse or controlled demolition ? - look at the photo and you be the judge...

http://911research.wtc7.net/
wtc/evidence/photos/wtc2exp2.html

more photos .. collapse or controlled demolition ? how did the beams get shot so far horizontally ? curious ...

http://911research.wtc7.net/wtc/e
vidence/photos/wtc1nenw.html

Reply to this comment

by taylpatr June 7, 2007 7:28 PM PDT

Now we're getting to Vietnam numbers.The old rhetoric "Those who don't remember history are doomed to repeat it" rings louder today than ever before.I am embarassed by this fool trying to play soldier with real peoples lives.He's a fool that has ruined Americas once-great place in the world.How many more have to die before the inevitable happens: that someone is going to have the balls to admit how wrong we've been. McNamara did it after Vietnam, only it was twenty years after the fact, after the dead were all buried and forgotten.Please, someone in power invoke the articles of impeachment, or use emergency powers to stop these megalomaniacs before more blood is spilled!I hope W. and Cheney lose as much sleep over this *** as I do.I may not be rich, but I don't have blood on my hands!Sweet Dreams, you murderers!

Reply to this comment

by missingamerica June 7, 2007 7:29 PM PDT

"Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage morale and undermine the military are sabatours and should be arrested, exiled or hanged" Abe Lincoln

Interesting quote - it ignores the Constitution, however, and considering how and why this "war" in Iraq was started, it also advocates ignoring truth and encouraging war-making for profit.

Perhaps more appropriate, today, would be:

"Elected or appointed officials who willfully take actions to bring about or extend a war so that one or more businesses can profit are collaborating in war profiteering and the murder of American service members by proxy and should be arrested and hanged along with the leadership of the commercial interests they aided."

If that were the law and strictly enforced, we'd have gone into Iraq with sufficient forces to disarm and organize that sovereign nation - and we'd be long gone from it now.

Reply to this comment

by king77shaw June 7, 2007 7:34 PM PDT

who is Philip Zellikow ? ... and why was he executive director of the 9/11 Commission Report ?

an impartial report ? Bi Partisan ? - then why was Condi's #2 heading the thing ? and why was his name never mentioned in the media%u2019s %u201Ccoverage%u201D of the report ?

of course we didn't get the truth - we got the MYTH !

Reply to this comment

by missingamerica June 7, 2007 7:40 PM PDT

"Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage morale and undermine the military are sabatours and should be arrested, exiled or hanged" Abe Lincoln

Interesting quote - it ignores the Constitution, however, and considering how and why this "war" in Iraq was started, it also advocates ignoring truth and encouraging war-making for profit.

Perhaps more appropriate, today, would be:

"Elected or appointed officials who willfully take actions to bring about or extend a war so that one or more businesses can profit are collaborating in war profiteering and the murder of American service members by proxy and should be arrested and hanged along with the leadership of the commercial interests they aided."

If that were the law and strictly enforced, we'd have gone into Iraq with sufficient forces to disarm and organize that sovereign nation - and we'd be long gone from it now.

********
Hmmm...I should have said we'd either never have gone into Iraq or we'd have done it right.

Quite probably the former.

Reply to this comment

by June 7, 2007 7:57 PM PDT

badaxmofo wrote:

"How many here miss Rosie on the View? From the looks of it here, there must be quite a few...!"

Why would anyone watch that cr@p anyway?

You'd have to be a complete moron to watch that show - I guess you watch every episode, right?

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[wdrussell1]

What a plan George. Now in Sept. when 85 Americans are killed, George can bring his pom-poms out and claim things are getting better.

[perception5]

985 Americans killed in Iraq in 2006

16,185 Americans killed in America in 2006


Americans killed in America in 2006............................. some details on how our "deep blue" cities are doing

Detroit - 417 killed

Baltimore - 276 killed

New Orleans - 162 killed

Philadelphia - 406 killed

Chicago - 467 killed

Los Angeles - 480 killed

Washington DC - 169 killed

All of these cities are "deep blue" cities............have been for decades and generations

My question is to the rich liberals that live in these cities:

Where's the "Social Justice" ???????????

Where is there going to be accountability ? .............. Timetables for improvement ???

or do we continue to ignore this crime with more "blank checks" ??

[space_poet]

How many more people, how many more need to die in a lie, killed by the policies of a failed occupation and power grab that has become the biggest cluster-you-know-what in the modern world? Oh, how our country has fallen, how our leaders have failed us, how the secrets abound that you will never know about. The truth, shrouded in sound bites of partisan bickering keeps us shielded from the underlying crimes, while we work our lives away to pay for our own undoing...

[drummer94]

3501. "Public approval...now matches all-time low" Bush's personal war advisor-Iraqi's to take on more responsibilities "might not work" and not very capable. 4 years,screwball,4years and "not very capable" 4 years 3501 warriors lives and,what,a hundred billion a year. HEY DOC! The maroon needs his meds!

[space_poet]

Hey, perception, you twist facts to confuse people. You don't even come close to the actual debate here, and purposely mislead people into thinking that domestic crime has anything to do with a war on a nation half way around the world. Why don't you list the Iraq cities and their death rates if you want some real outrage?

[perception5]

Why don't you list the Iraq cities and their death rates if you want some real outrage?
Posted by Space_Poet at 02:32 PM : Jun 07, 2007


..... Space_Poet, why are you insensitve to the 16,185 Americans that were killed in America in 2006. Mostly in our "deep blue cities"??

Is this what you call "Social Justice" Space_Poet??

I guess you think its ok as long as you have your "material" possessions........

[muzzlebush]

Here's a mileage question for George and D1ck:

How many lives per gallon?

perception 5 opens an interesting discussion. How much better could we make our cities if we weren't spending billions to make sure that Bushco had control of Iraqui oil?

[notblue]

Lives lost: War of Independence 100,000 plus, Civil war 100,000 plus, World War I 100,000 plus, World war II 500,000 plus, Korean war 100,000 plus, Viet Nam war 50,000 plus, First Gul war less than 10,000, War in Iraq 3,500. Lives lost to violence in U.S. just this last year 16,000 plus, just putting it in perspective.

[drummer94]

Interesting,indeed! Shoring up cities,especially the inner cities, has been proven to reduce the crime rates. Unfortunately, the politicians all make a grab for the dough when it's there. See the "coconut highway story

[wdrussell1]

According to the numbers 2377 died in deep blue cities. Where did the other 13000 die?

[space_poet]

Percept, I live a very simple life, I don't own a car, I barely watch TV, and I care about every life on this planet. Because this country has it's own problems is besides the point. When we start to spread our death across the globe, then we are not taking care of ourselves, we are worsening the situation. I have no beef with you, but your comparrison is quite unrelated to the topic at hand. Every country on the planet has crime.

[muzzlebush]

Posted by xzavierbrown:
here is a milage question for you: "how much of Bushco's gas did you use this week??"

Actually, none.

[jsilver2th]

We mourn the loss of 3500 of our finest young men and women...

Why did they die?

Those who have reaped the obscene war profits seem to me to have some answering to do.

[jjp735i]

And Bush, the Dems and Rep. will say the surge is working during the next Washington spin cycle.

[cdfoxtrot]

How come we don't get reports any more of Bush's approval ratings? I haven't seen the detailed analysis in many months. I can't see that 3,500 needless deaths of US soldiers is going to be seen as much of a milestone. Maybe when it gets to 5,000 or 10,000. It's going to take a lot more unnecessary loss of life to force this basta*d in the WH to change course in any meaningful way.

[muzzlebush]

Is the logic being proposed by some here that somehow 3500 senseless deaths is better than 16000 senseless deaths?

[hungry1968]

perception5:
(Or better yet lack of perception5)

First of all - are you trying to say that it's President Bush's fault that crime went up? Because according to the FBI report where you picked the carefully selected information from:

Dallas - 187 killed
Houston - 377 killed
Memphis - 147 killed
Jacksonville, FL - 110 killed
Miami - 77 killed
Atlanta - 110 killed
Birmingham - 104 killed
Phoenix - 234 killed

Those are all "deep red" states. So if murder rates are your sole indicator, then crime is going up across the country regardless of the predominant local political affiliation.

I'm proud of you though - at least you tried using actual information instead of home-made web sites spewing pro-war garbage at us. Please feel free to try some more.

[hungry1968]

For those that are interested, here is the address of the FBI report that lackofperception5 carefully cherry picked his information from:

http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/06prelim/ucrtable4index.htm

Like I said - I'm glad that at least he's now using legitimate, verifiable information instead of the typical garbage.

[drivelphobe]

War has casualties, unfortunately, and I am saddened each and every time I read about another lost American soldier. However, I feel the correct path to take is fight fire with fire and adopt some new military tactics that are more devastating and overwhelming than anything used to date. These animals need to be blown up on sight and if a few "innocents" go down, tough. I personlly don't believe there are any "innocents" hanging around. Anyone in the area should be considered a hostile and eliminated. It's time to toughen up.

[bogusbones]

And the list will grow until we stop the insanity.

[pepperp1]

What dribble, a couple hundred thousand maybe, hopefully you are already in Iraq in uniform fighting for your principles. Look stupid Iraq did not attack us on 911 if you need to relate the mass murder of 911 the Osama et al are from Saudi and it is about keeping the oil flowing or not. You be the animal.

[notblue]

For those blinded by politics, those that keep harping Iraq didn't attack it was Saudi Arabia, it's time to get a clue! NO SPECIFIC COUNTRY ATTACKED the U.S.. An IDEOLOGY called radical Islam attacked, it can't be any clearer or more truthful than that.

[bluestardad]

Here are a list of the Congress that is Responsible for keeping this War going! They are in the pocket of the Israeli Lobby Group AIPAC I hope the soldiers families in their states remember this!

Also Carl Levin (D)
Steny Hoyer (D)


Alexander, Lamar- (R - TN)
Allard, Wayne- (R - CO)
Chambliss, Saxby- (R - GA)
Cochran, Thad- (R - MS)
Coleman, Norm- (R - MN)
Collins, Susan M.- (R - ME)
Cornyn, John- (R - TX)
Craig, Larry E.- (R - ID)
Dole, Elizabeth- (R - NC)
Enzi, Michael B.- (R - WY)
Graham, Lindsey- (R - SC)
Hagel, Chuck- (R - NE)
Inhofe, James M.- (R - OK)
McConnell, Mitch- (R - KY)
Roberts, Pat- (R - KS)
Sessions, Jeff- (R - AL)
Smith, Gordon H.- (R - OR)
Stevens, Ted- (R - AK)
Sununu, John E.- (R - NH)
Warner, John- (R - VA)

[marcodele]

"An IDEOLOGY called radical Islam attacked"

Iraq is an ideology called radical Islam?

If that's true, why are we attacking a country instead of ideologically attacking radical Islam?

[nyckate]

notblue - yeah - now if only we had had a president and presidential cabinet who could see that or at least admit it now - but yet the GOP candidate leading the pack (Rudy-n-Judy) still keep the rhetoric alive -fight them over there instead of here - well clearly 'they' weren't in Iraq till we let them in - and clearly 'they' are everywhere.

A vote for Rudy is a vote

[infidel_us]

Roadside bombs courtesy of IRAN. We need to direct some "gunnage" and "bomage" towards Tehran.
I see where Mookie al-Sadr "rejects interference by Tehran", yet we just learned that NATO has proof that they are shipping IED's, RPG's, and C-4.

The b*astards have declared war on us! We should give them what they deserve - death.

[marcodele]

The "Surge" is working great, isn't it?

(Surge = return troop levels to 2005 levels)

[pepperp1]

Yeah right, you would like to believe it was about Islam that way you can believe you are righteous when killing all these folks, it is about oil and the disruption of oil revenues and the oil corporate complex that the terrorist believe are disenfranchising themselves and the peoples of the ME keeping them from power and the good life. Fact, prior to the Shah being booted 95 percent of the oil revenue from Iran went to BP. Its about power and oil if they were Christians they would still hate us.

[cdfoxtrot]

Well done, bluestardad, highlighting the role of AIPAC on US foreign policy. Americans are dying by proxy for Israel. That's the truth. The US supports Israel no matter what it does and that's the lightning rod for much of the resentment toward the US around the world. Ordinary people are driven into the arms of fanatic extremists of the likes of Osama by the foreign policy pursued by successive US presidents. Long-term, a truly balanced policy toward the Arab-Israeli problem would be in the interests of Israel and the US -- and the world. Meanwhile, the US can look ahead to continued unrest in the Mid-East, with or without the presence of US troops.

[rohink-2009]

Anyone here remember that yesterday, June 6 was D-Day? How many soldiers died in one?

[itchyb-2009]

"Lives lost: War of Independence 100,000 plus, Civil war 100,000 plus, World War I 100,000 plus, World war II 500,000 plus, Korean war 100,000 plus, Viet Nam war 50,000 plus, First Gul war less than 10,000..."

notblue, U.S. deaths in First Gulf war was indeed less than 10,000. Around 300, actually. So, it was less than 1,000,000 for that matter, but your numbers are quite misleading. Do some research.

[samthetvcat]

"For those blinded by politics, those that keep harping Iraq didn't attack it was Saudi Arabia, it's time to get a clue! NO SPECIFIC COUNTRY ATTACKED the U.S.. An IDEOLOGY called radical Islam attacked, it can't be any clearer or more truthful than that."
Posted by notblue at 04:13 PM : Jun 07, 2007

You can't beat an ideology with military force unless the goal is to commit mass genocide . . . is that the goal? And even assuming that that was achievable, it's so morally heinous another ideology would crop up to challenge this form of 'democracy' (really a dictatorship or something) . . . come to think of it, hasn't that already started with Putin? All that goodwill carefully cultivated by Reagan has been washed down the tubes!

I can appreciate how frustrated die-hard repubs must feel with the thought of a Democrat taking office and it being unknown how they'll deal with the war on terror - I'll admit the frontrunners have not put themselves out their in terms of their own policies, because they haven't had to with Bush being so unpopular. But let's face it Bush IS making things worse - he's no Reagan.

[irishmail42]

rohink asks how many died on D-day, June 6, 1944. And the answer is thousands. And we had allies in Canada, Great Britan, France, Russia just to mention a few. And it was not a war of"choice."

[pepperp1]

US policy has been high jacked by neo conservatives ideologues who believe in world domination of all things and the use of military force to take that power for themselves in furtherance of their interest, they are a bunch of incompetent whacko and they are pulling the puppet strings of the current GOP. It is not a religious movement but a political force does not be blinded by propaganda that is a smoke screen.

Neo Conservative related institutions and publications check them out;
Institutions

American Enterprise Institute
Bradley Foundation
Foundation for the Defense of Democracies
Henry Jackson Society
Hudson Institute
Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs
Project for the New American Century

Publications

Commentary
Weekly Standard
Political magazines featuring neoconservative ideas:

Front Page Magazine

The National Interest
National Review
Policy Review
The Public Interest

[winnerindia]

yopa. Beghdahad is a hot place to live.

[winnerindia]

The number of US troops killed or burnt on daily basis should be increased in order to save the money of an American tax payer. This would also force snakes to call back our troops.

[sayfud-deen]

i see all of you in the mainstream media are sticking to the 3500 casualty figure,and you want us to believe that the surge is working,and of course, you still want us to believe that these wars have not cost the taxpayers over a trillon dollars! when are you in the media going to start telling the people in this country the truth?

[katie_legs]

The United States public has duped by a moron
about WMD, and same idiot had Colin Powell lie before the UN about the mobile chemical labs in Iraq before we invaded Iraq
1) Couldn't show up for a physical in the Texas air guard...Never found in a war or has any idea
aboout any logistical logic concerning a war and
thinks that this surge is going to win over Iraq.
1) Doesn't have a brain in his head or have a plan about how to run foreign policy
3) Has created irreputable harm in the United States as well damaged foreign relations because
of Iraq/ Afghagistan.
4) Has exacerbated the terroist problems in general - More than ever.
5) Turned Iraq into a civil War and indirectly
responsible for over 150,000 Iraq Civilian Deaths
(Iraqi Liberation) in addition to over 3500 American causualties. (not to mention the Americans who are disbaled permanently or mained
without arms or legs.
6) Has wreaked havoc with the middle class structure since alot of jobs have been outsourced.
7) Has created havoc with the Medical care system in this country.
8) Has been incompetent about the way he handled
the Katrina Crisis
6) Has increased the national debt by at least 3.3-4 trillion over the course of 6 YEARS AND 4 MONTHS
7) Never had a plan as far as leading this country into a propserity. Well the circus will be over when the fact lady sings. The llist goes on.

[tejasdemo]

The Dems had a chance to make a statement regarding this war recently with the funding and they wussied out.

I am ashamed and mad as hell all at the same time.

[detherton63]

Quote from winnerindia: "The number of US troops killed or burnt on daily basis should be increased in order to save the money of an American tax payer. This would also force snakes to call back our troops."

Tell that to the spouses, parents and children of our service members who are currently serving in the Theater of Operations. It is hard for me to understand how you would (or could) wish for the deaths of our Soldiers just to make a point. As an Active Duty Soldier with over 26 years of service, it pains me to think that I serve, without reservation, to protect the likes of you.

[smirk5]

Poor Bush Jr.

A few years ago, the GOP that nearly completely supported Bush in every way was talking about his having a mandate (hows that going?) to run the country. Now, I bet they're worried he might be allowed to speak at the next GOP convention.

And, it's all because he kept putting lipstick on his pig called Iraq over and over. Someone should have told him that you can't do that forever and get away with it. If you continue to say we're making progress and we're winning you eventually have to show some results that everyone can agree on.

[hungry1968]

I can appreciate how frustrated die-hard repubs must feel with the thought of a Democrat taking office and it being unknown how they'll deal with the war on terror.
Posted by SamTheTVCat at 05:00 PM : Jun 07, 2007

The war on terror is in Afghanistan. That's where the Taliban was based, that's where they hid and are still hiding, and it's where they're making a comeback.

You're wondering how the Democrats will deal with the war on terror? It's almost 6 years after 9/11, and I'm still trying to figure out why Bush is ignoring the terrorists that attacked us, to start a civil war in a country that didn't attack us.

When are the Republicans going to do something about the war on terror instead of worrying about the Iraq civil war?

[winnerindia]

" Tell that to the spouses, parents and children of our service members who are currently serving in the Theater of Operations. ...without reservation, to protect the likes of you.
Posted by detherton63

I am never saying that our soldiers should be killed. I merely wrote in a stiric manner that the *** holes who are not calling back our troops should call back troops whatever the excuse may be. Will they call troops after they are killed in scores greater than Vietnam? I am afraid.

[smirk5]

When you stand up on an aircraft carrier as president and proclaim "In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.", eventually you have show that reality matches the *** that comes out of your mouth. How many troops did we lose in Kosovo? Zero? When you proclaim victory in a war, you need to get down to numbers like zero in a hurry. Didn't anyone teach Bush Jr. War PR 101?

[king77shaw]

collapse or controlled demolition ? - look at the photo and you be the judge...

http://911research.wtc7.net/
wtc/evidence/photos/wtc2exp2.html

more photos .. collapse or controlled demolition ? how did the beams get shot so far horizontally ? curious ...

http://911research.wtc7.net/wtc/e
vidence/photos/wtc1nenw.html

[taylpatr]

Now we're getting to Vietnam numbers.The old rhetoric "Those who don't remember history are doomed to repeat it" rings louder today than ever before.I am embarassed by this fool trying to play soldier with real peoples lives.He's a fool that has ruined Americas once-great place in the world.How many more have to die before the inevitable happens: that someone is going to have the balls to admit how wrong we've been. McNamara did it after Vietnam, only it was twenty years after the fact, after the dead were all buried and forgotten.Please, someone in power invoke the articles of impeachment, or use emergency powers to stop these megalomaniacs before more blood is spilled!I hope W. and Cheney lose as much sleep over this *** as I do.I may not be rich, but I don't have blood on my hands!Sweet Dreams, you murderers!

[missingamerica]

"Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage morale and undermine the military are sabatours and should be arrested, exiled or hanged" Abe Lincoln

Interesting quote - it ignores the Constitution, however, and considering how and why this "war" in Iraq was started, it also advocates ignoring truth and encouraging war-making for profit.

Perhaps more appropriate, today, would be:

"Elected or appointed officials who willfully take actions to bring about or extend a war so that one or more businesses can profit are collaborating in war profiteering and the murder of American service members by proxy and should be arrested and hanged along with the leadership of the commercial interests they aided."

If that were the law and strictly enforced, we'd have gone into Iraq with sufficient forces to disarm and organize that sovereign nation - and we'd be long gone from it now.

[king77shaw]

who is Philip Zellikow ? ... and why was he executive director of the 9/11 Commission Report ?

an impartial report ? Bi Partisan ? - then why was Condi's #2 heading the thing ? and why was his name never mentioned in the media%u2019s %u201Ccoverage%u201D of the report ?

of course we didn't get the truth - we got the MYTH !

[missingamerica]

"Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage morale and undermine the military are sabatours and should be arrested, exiled or hanged" Abe Lincoln

Interesting quote - it ignores the Constitution, however, and considering how and why this "war" in Iraq was started, it also advocates ignoring truth and encouraging war-making for profit.

Perhaps more appropriate, today, would be:

"Elected or appointed officials who willfully take actions to bring about or extend a war so that one or more businesses can profit are collaborating in war profiteering and the murder of American service members by proxy and should be arrested and hanged along with the leadership of the commercial interests they aided."

If that were the law and strictly enforced, we'd have gone into Iraq with sufficient forces to disarm and organize that sovereign nation - and we'd be long gone from it now.

********
Hmmm...I should have said we'd either never have gone into Iraq or we'd have done it right.

Quite probably the former.

badaxmofo wrote:

"How many here miss Rosie on the View? From the looks of it here, there must be quite a few...!"

Why would anyone watch that cr@p anyway?

You'd have to be a complete moron to watch that show - I guess you watch every episode, right?