400 Dead In Iraq War's Worst Attack

PM Announces New Unity Government, But No Sunnis Aboard; New Blast Hits Baghdad

(CBS/AP)  The Interior Ministry said Thursday that at least 400 people were killed in a string of suicide bombings targeting an ancient religious sect in northwestern Iraq earlier this week.

Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf said that 2 tons of explosives were used in the blasts, which crumbled buildings, trapping entire families beneath mud bricks and other wreckage as entire neighborhoods were flattened near the Syrian border.

The victims were Yazidis, a small Kurdish-speaking sect that has been targeted by Muslim extremists who consider its members to be blasphemers.

Khalaf said 400 people were killed. Local officials earlier had given estimated death tolls ranging from 250 to 500 as bodies were pulled from the rubble and hundreds of wounded were taken to several overwhelmed hospitals across the region.

As emergency crews and bewildered residents sifted through the rubble of leveled clay houses in the northwest, a car bomb ripped through a Baghdad market district during the morning rush hour, killing at least nine people and wounding 17 more.

A police officer says the car was parked in a seven-story building on top of a row of stores and touched off a huge fire. There's been no claim of responsibility for the attack but it comes as U.S. commanders warn of more insurgent attacks ahead of next month's report to Congress on the progress on the war.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi prime minister and president announced Thursday a new alliance of moderate Shiites and Kurds, saying Sunni moderates refused to join but the door remained open to them.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said the agreement was the first step to unblock political stagnation that has gripped his Shiite-led government since it first took power in May 2006.

The announcement after three days of intense political negotiations in the capital was disappointing because it did not include Iraq's Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi and his moderate Iraqi Islamic Party.

President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, said al-Hashemi refused the invitation to join in the new political grouping but "we have not closed the door to him."

An American commander called the attack on the Yazidi community in the northwest an "act of ethnic cleansing," and the military blamed the suicide attack on al Qaeda in Iraq.

"This is an act of ethnic cleansing, if you will, almost genocide," Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, commander of U.S. forces in northern Iraq, told CNN. He said that was evident from the fact Yazidis live in a remote part of Ninevah province that has been far from Iraq's conflict.

The attack comes just as the American military is claiming the troop surge is making real progress, particularly against al Qaeda, reports CBS News national security correspondent David Martin. But al Qaeda still has the capability to hit where the American troops are not.

"What it tells me is they have to move to the remote areas to conduct their murderous acts," says Mixon.

Mixon said last month that he proposed reducing American troop levels in Ninevah and predicted the province would shift to Iraqi government control as early as this month. It was unclear whether that projection would hold after Tuesday's staggering casualties.

U.S. commander, Gen. David Petraeus said Wednesday he was preparing recommendations on troop cuts before he returns to Washington next month for a report to Congress, and believes the U.S. footprint in Iraq will have to be "a good bit smaller" by next summer. But Petraeus cautioned against a quick or significant U.S. withdrawal that could surrender "the gains we have fought so hard to achieve."

One military source says Petraeus wants to start pulling out troops in December, bringing home one combat brigade a month, so that by next June, troop strength will be back to the pre-surge level of 130,000, reports Martin.

Petraeus made his prediction while meeting with a group of former Sunni insurgents who are now fighting with the Americans against al Qaeda. By one estimate, 30,000 former insurgents have joined the fight alongside U.S. forces, a contingency equal in size to the entire U.S. troop surge and with much better intelligence on the whereabouts of the enemy, reports Martin.

In other developments:

A congressman wants clemency for a Marine from Plymouth, Mass., who is facing 15 years in military prison for the murder of an Iraqi civilian. Rep. William Delahunt, D-Mass., said Wednesday he recently sent a letter to the Marine general handling the case seeking clemency for Lawrence Hutchins III, who was demoted to private from sergeant after his conviction at Camp Pendleton, Calif. The congressman says it is a question of fairness since Hutchins is the only member of his squad to be convicted of murder in the case.

An Iraq security expert says withdrawing all U.S. troops, contractors and equipment could be done safely within a year. The U.S. military would prefer double that time. Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies says it would be feasible to pull out 10,000 troops a month and 10,000 contractors through Kuwait. He also says that by destroying equipment and abandoning facilities, the U.S. could be gone in as little as a few weeks and no more than a few months.

The attack on the Yazidis dealt a serious blow to the Bush administration's hopes of presenting a positive picture in a progress report on Iraq to be delivered by Petraeus, and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker in about four weeks.

Petraeus warned that he expected Sunni Arab insurgents to stage more spectacular attacks ahead of the report to Congress, whose members are deeply divided over whether to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq.

"This is way out by the Syrian border, an area where we do think in fact some suicide bombers are able to come across the border. It's an area that is very, very remote — quite small villages out there — and it was disheartening for us, too, obviously," Petraeus told The Associated Press in an interview.

"We've always said al Qaeda would try to carry out sensational attacks this month in particular," he added. "We've had some success against them in certain areas, but we've also said they do retain the capability to carry out these horrific and indiscriminate attacks such as the ones yesterday. There will be more of that, tragically."

© 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 mudrose-2009 August 16, 2007 12:21 PM PDT

There will be a very severe punishment for this type of carnage. Very severe. It may not come immediately, but it will come to those who would do this to innocent human beings. It just leaves one speechless.

Reply to this comment

by clestes-2009 August 16, 2007 12:28 PM PDT

You know this outcome was predicted by Cheney himself in 1994. Go to MoveOn.org and listen to the video of Cheney explaining why the US did not pursue Saddam into Iraq. He said the result would be complete chaos and would cause unstability all over the middle east.

What he predicted has come true. My only question is, what prompted the change of mind 9 years later?????

Reply to this comment

by mudrose-2009 August 16, 2007 12:53 PM PDT

Gains? When 400 people are killed! What is Petraeus thinking..White House Logic? Once again people in power are missing the BIG Picture.
Posted by apple2pie

So are you.

Reply to this comment

by clestes-2009 August 16, 2007 12:59 PM PDT

mudrose,

what do you think the big picture is?

Reply to this comment

by v_1618 August 16, 2007 1:11 PM PDT

WITH THIS SUICIDE BOMBS THAT KILL 500 PEOPLE YOU DON''T HAVE TO BE SMART TO REALIZE THAT THE NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMBS IS VERY NEAR IN U.S. OR BRITAIN SOIL.

Reply to this comment

by norcalruss August 16, 2007 1:12 PM PDT

400 dead? Not to worry, just send the good old BS Express to northern Iraq and have John McCain reassure us that things are MUCH better there now and that the press has it all WRONG again

Reply to this comment

by stevenrox August 16, 2007 1:16 PM PDT

War always has murder. It is often veiled as well. What should strike everybody the most is the fact that the civilian suicide bombers are looking to take down one American. The fact is that more of their own people are killed. Casualties of war. this is more like an indirect murder on the part of people, President, Cabinet members, and Blind Justice. The murder is influenced. One giant American gun is pointed at them, once civilians flinch, once rebels flinch, the gun is fired. When those same people manage to hide they are found in the deepest wells. They defend themselves as anybody else would try. It is that same American gun pointed at their faces that causes them to be distraught, wring out their lives into the battle field. A battle field that has not been chosen by them and is only poisoned by one giant gun that most of the time shoots a flag with the words bang. Once that flag is read, they civilians choose to explode. A large bluff in which they all turn on themselves to kill themselves. This is murder. We''ll provide the anger, they''ll provide the action! One big brother that teases the siblings until they are in a dog fight.

Reply to this comment

by micma-2009 August 16, 2007 1:27 PM PDT

Wow Bu$h''s strategerum is so successful! No wonder intelligent people like mudrose support him.

Reply to this comment

by j-whitman August 16, 2007 1:59 PM PDT

mudrose --- Bush is a TOTAL FAILURE ----- THE "SURGE IS OVER" ---

General Petraeus -- "We know that the surge has to come to an end. There''s no question about that. I think everyone understands that by about a year or so from now we''ve got to be a good bit smaller than we are right now.

Guess Who''s writing his report fool ???? --- THE FRIGGIN WHITE HOUSE --- YOU CAN NOW CALL IT THE *** HOUSE

Reply to this comment

by postboxj August 16, 2007 2:01 PM PDT

Iraq is entering into a very fractionalized civil war, with multiple religious groups killing each other. In the begining of the war, US soldiers were destroying stockpiles of weapons caches. Why did we turn around and "lose" 200,000 weapons? Is this some deliberate attempt to keep stroking the fire? Didn''t Dwight D. warn us? "In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. "

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by space_poet August 16, 2007 2:01 PM PDT

Let''s see:

Quagmire in Iraq entering its fifth year (check)
Still no sign of WMD (check)
Thousands of US troops dead. Tens of thousands maimed. (check)
Al Qaeda in resurgence, determined to attack inside US (check)
Taliban in resurgence in Afghanistan (check)
Bin Laden still alive and at large (check)
America hated by most of the world despite almost universal goodwill post 9/11 (check)
Rich getting richer while wages stagnate (check)
Health care costs rise unabated (check)
Massive budget deficit (check)
Looming recession to be caused by softening housing market/credit bubble (check)
Environmental legislation eviscerated (check)
Civil liberties trampled (check)
Government secrecy at all-time high (check)

I dunno, guys... everything seems pretty good!

Reply to this comment

by red164 August 16, 2007 2:20 PM PDT

Yesterday the Headline to this story read 500 Dead. How does it go from 500 to 400 CBS just asking? BTW, It''s 400 to many.

Reply to this comment

by j-whitman August 16, 2007 2:22 PM PDT

It''''s time to get the hot tar & feathers ready & head to the White House

Reply to this comment

by red164 August 16, 2007 2:23 PM PDT

To people like mudrose that sit on their head all day death is no big deal, he probably isn''t even opposed to seeing his whole entire family wiped out if means winning the war on terror.

Reply to this comment

by libsluvsuvs August 16, 2007 2:24 PM PDT

It''''''''s time to get the hot tar & feathers ready & head to the White House
Posted by j-whitman at 02:22 PM : Aug 16, 2007
+ report abuse

*******

you know *** well that is not going to happen..do you want to make a difference because your childish taunts is not...RIDE YOUR BIKE AND CONSERVE OIL...these bas tards will still be killing each other off but this time we would not care

Reply to this comment

by red164 August 16, 2007 2:26 PM PDT

WITH THIS SUICIDE BOMBS THAT KILL 500 PEOPLE YOU DON''''T HAVE TO BE SMART TO REALIZE THAT THE NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMBS IS VERY NEAR IN U.S. OR BRITAIN SOIL.

Posted by v_1618 at 01:11 PM : Aug 16, 2007

Yes of course these bombs causing so much death and destruction must be the same kind that Timothy M used at OLK City, why don''t the reporters ask where are these types of WMD''s coming from?

Reply to this comment

by j-whitman August 16, 2007 2:31 PM PDT

libsluvSUVs ,,,,,,

Bush is a TOTAL FAILURE ----- THE "SURGE IS OVER" ---

General Petraeus -- "We know that the surge has to come to an end. There''''''''s no question about that. I think everyone understands that by about a year or so from now we''''''''ve got to be a good bit smaller than we are right now.

Guess Who''''''''s writing his report fool ???? --- THE FRIGGIN WHITE HOUSE --- YOU CAN NOW CALL IT THE *** HOUSE

Reply to this comment

by tcoleman12 August 16, 2007 2:33 PM PDT

Wow, this happens just when the Lib Democraps were getting on board with the surge for political expediency''s sake. How unfortunate for them. Can''t catch a break.

Reply to this comment

by j-whitman August 16, 2007 2:34 PM PDT

badaxmofo,,,, The immediate response was - "Oh no, only 30 to 50 killed"

Reply to this comment

by j-whitman August 16, 2007 2:36 PM PDT

badaxmofo --- Bush is a total failure --- The White House is writing the Petreaus Report --- Watch the Friggin White House News conferences.

Reply to this comment

by j-whitman August 16, 2007 2:49 PM PDT

tcoleman12 --- It''s not the Lib''s who now say the "Surge Is Over" it''s General Petreaus ------ We paid attention from the begining & knew it had no chance of working.


----- THE "SURGE IS OVER" ---

General Petraeus -- "We know that the surge has to come to an end. There''''''''s no question about that. I think everyone understands that by about a year or so from now we''''''''ve got to be a good bit smaller than we are right now.

Reply to this comment

by red164 August 16, 2007 2:49 PM PDT

On Wednesday, a Merrill Lynch & Co. analyst downgraded Countrywide to "Sell," just days after calling it a "Buy,"

Sounds like the BUSH ADMIN

Reply to this comment

by j-whitman August 16, 2007 2:53 PM PDT

badaxmofo,,,,, Read it for your ******* self, then start watching White House press conferences ---- PUKE

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20283239/

Reply to this comment

by j-whitman August 16, 2007 2:58 PM PDT

badaxmofo,,,, You want to win a friggin war ??? --- Bring back the DRAFT this time NO DEFERMENTS AT ALL ----- Cowards like Bush would be forced to serve & not run from active duty.

Reply to this comment

by seven-pesos August 16, 2007 3:07 PM PDT

southerners are looking for another prez like george bush, jr.

the south is mighty proud of all the christian work and leadership bush has provided.

hooray for bush, stars & bars and jefferson davis.

Reply to this comment

by j-whitman August 16, 2007 3:11 PM PDT

badaxmofo --- What does it mean to you when General Casey says "Our Strategic Reserves are gone, The only ones being trained for conventional warfare is major''s & above, Our troops need 18 months at home for sufficient training" ???????

Reply to this comment

by sgtrds August 16, 2007 3:18 PM PDT

badaxmofo,,,, You want to win a friggin war ??? --- Bring back the DRAFT this time NO DEFERMENTS AT ALL ----- Cowards like Bush would be forced to serve & not run from active duty.

Posted by j-whitman at 02:58 PM : Aug 16, 2007

As would badaxmofo. And swingingdick. And lars and so on and so on. They''d all get whiplash from changing their views so quickly if they ever had to put their gutless cowardly as*ses on the line instead of being keyboard warriors.

Reply to this comment

by sgtrds August 16, 2007 3:22 PM PDT

mudrose,

what do you think the big picture is?

Posted by clestes at 12:59 PM : Aug 16, 2007

The big picture is 3700+ Americans who have died in vain in Bush''s war. But Bush''s cowardly supporters can''t even see that big picture from where they hide under their mommy''s shirts, just like the yellow belly in charge hid under Barbara''s during Vietnam. No wonder daddy loved Jeb best. At least he isn''t a total mamma''s boy *** like George is.

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by j-whitman August 16, 2007 3:24 PM PDT

SgtRDS,,,, Bingo, you got that right ------ And these lying dishonorable idiots still want to blame Clinton --- They should have blamed George''s Mom for failing to practice Abstinence.

Reply to this comment

by red164 August 16, 2007 3:26 PM PDT

The big picture is 3700+ Americans who have died in vain in Bush''''s war. Posted by SgtRDS at 03:22 PM : Aug 16, 2007

Exclusive excerpt: The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire, and the Future of America

Peter Dale Scott
GNN
Thursday, August 16, 2007

Terror, oil and the "shadow government"

In this exclusive excerpt from his powerful new book, The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire, and the Future of America (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press), UC Berkeley professor emeritus Peter Dale Scott

Meanwhile, the BBC heard from State Department insiders that planning for regime change in Iraq %u201Cbegan %u2018within weeks%u2019 of Bush%u2019s first taking office in 2001, long before the September 11th attack on the U.S.%u201D45 The administration%u2019s concern for controlling oil in the Middle East intermingled with strategic concerns in the area, especially with increasing uncertainty about the future of U.S. bases in Saudi Arabia. The White House was also impressed by the report of an AEI-based discussion group, commissioned by Paul Wolfowitz, that a strategy to deal with Middle East terrorism would require two generations of conflict, in which %u2018Iran is more important. . . . But Saddam Hussein was . . . weaker, more vulnerable.%u2019%u201D46

UC Berkeley professor emeritus Peter Dale Scott just another conpiracy nut right rands?

Reply to this comment

by sgtrds August 16, 2007 3:27 PM PDT

SgtRDS,,,, Bingo, you got that right ------ And these lying dishonorable idiots still want to blame Clinton --- They should have blamed George''''s Mom for failing to practice Abstinence.
Posted by j-whitman at 03:24 PM : Aug 16, 2007

Or his dad for not pulling out. Hell I have no doubt that even he regrets that he didn''t rather then have to go down in history as having helped spawn this should have been aborted son George of his. That''s why he always seems to be on the verge of crying. Poor old George H.W is going to have on his tombstone "Please forgive me for George! I swear to GOD he''s the milkman''s bas***** not mine!.

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by j-whitman August 16, 2007 3:28 PM PDT

badaxmofo ---- You have only yourself to blame --
- The ones running this war are the same people you love,, who tell you they can secure a 2100 mile border with half funding of a 700 mile fence & leaving it to the undermanned & undersupported Border Patrol to build

Reply to this comment

by seven-pesos August 16, 2007 3:29 PM PDT

it will be another hundred years before the south becomes part of america.

meanwhile, don''t elect anymore of those idiot southern christian faith professing creeps.

don''t vote for a southerner.
don''t vote for a christian.
don''t vote for a republican.

america will be just fine.

ha,ha,ha.

war, hate, christian creeps, republican snakes...

nothing good comes out of the south.

Reply to this comment

by red164 August 16, 2007 3:30 PM PDT

Exclusive excerpt: The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire, and the Future of America

Peter Dale Scott
GNN
Thursday, August 16, 2007

Terror, oil and the "shadow government


Cheney%u2019s task force was the final stage in a lobbying process by the oil majors that had begun under Clinton. As early as April 1997, a report from the James A. Baker Institute of Public Policy at Rice University addressed the problem of %u201Cenergy security%u201D for the United States, noting that the country was increasingly threatened by oil shortages. It concluded that Saddam Hussein was still a threat to Middle Eastern security and still had the military capability to exercise force beyond Iraq%u2019s borders. The second Bush administration returned to this theme as soon as it took office in 2001, by following the lead of a second report from the same institute. This task force report was cosponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, another group historically concerned about U.S. access to overseas oil resources.43 The report, Strategic Energy Policy: Challenges for the 21st Century, concluded that %u201Cthe U.S. should conduct an immediate policy review toward Iraq including military, energy, economic and political/diplomatic assessments.%u201D44

rands he mentioned the CRF, I''m not surprised you''ve never heard of the CRF.

Reply to this comment

by drummer94 August 16, 2007 3:31 PM PDT

The general is (was) going to recommend troop reductions. Now shrub is trying to stifle that. Don''t do it sir. Stand up to that little Napoleon wanna be. Tell him, in those timeless words, PACK SAND.

Reply to this comment

by seven-pesos August 16, 2007 3:35 PM PDT

yeah, bush is responsible for much death and destruction.

another southerner, lyndon johnson, wasted many lives for a dishonorable war.

another southerner, jefferson davis, is responsible for much american blood and treasure lost.

all southerners, all christians, all snakes...

slave state losers.

if you want to win a war... don''t send a southerner to do the job!

ha,ha,ha.

war, hate arrogance, christian creeps, republican snakes...

nothing good comes out of the south.

Reply to this comment

by j-whitman August 16, 2007 3:35 PM PDT

99 US Soldiers committed suicide last year Up 15% from last year ----- Bush will keep lowering the standards for enlistment & lying to America''s citizens.

Reply to this comment

by feelfree1 August 16, 2007 3:37 PM PDT

Re: ""This is an act of ethnic cleansing, if you will, almost genocide," Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, commander of U.S. forces in northern Iraq, told CNN"

Ethnic cleansing is clearly a primary goal of the Bush regime in this illegal war of aggression. That is why they have regularly backed Shiite and Sunni death-squads, and have staged regular bombing attacks using the ficticious "al-Qaeda-in-Iraq" for cover. This is classic divide and conquer strategy, but thank goodness it is failing.

Re: "...and the military blamed the suicide attack on al Qaeda in Iraq."

Who else are they going to blame for their own stunning failure and disgrace? Since "al-Qaeda-in-Iraq" is little more than a black-bag, psy-ops fairytale, aimed at providing a reason for continuing the illegal and disgraceful invasion of Iraq, it is little wonder that they would try to conflate this ugly hoax at every opportunity.

Reply to this comment

by j-whitman August 16, 2007 3:39 PM PDT

Looks like Badaxmofo -- Cut & ran

Reply to this comment

by sgtrds August 16, 2007 3:45 PM PDT

Looks like Badaxmofo -- Cut & ran

Posted by j-whitman at 03:39 PM : Aug 16, 2007

Feeding time at the RNC and he doesn''t want to lose his place at the pig trough.....

Reply to this comment

by sgtrds August 16, 2007 3:49 PM PDT

UC Berkeley professor emeritus Peter Dale Scott just another conpiracy nut right rands?

Posted by red164 at 03:26 PM : Aug 16, 2007

Everyone knows that PNAC has wanted in invade Iran and Iraq since the early 1990''s. So what? the conspiracy nut part comes into play when anyone tries to say that the CIA or Bush or PNAC was somehow behind 9-11. Or that there''s some sort of worldwide conspiracy that controls both parties and makes all of the decisions. That''s paranoia of a mental health issue size.

BTW, the name is Randy, not rands.

Reply to this comment

by libsluvsuvs August 16, 2007 3:50 PM PDT

Posted by SgtRDS at 03:45 PM : Aug 16, 2007
+ report abuse

Posted by j-whitman at 03:39 PM : Aug 16, 2007
report abuse

*************

"The victims were Yazidis, a small Kurdish-speaking sect that has been targeted by Muslim extremists who consider its members to be blasphemers"

who is next? are you guys one of those godless blasphemers? I agree with you..let them come and rid this country of those blasphemers..

Reply to this comment

by j-whitman August 16, 2007 3:51 PM PDT

Bush,,,, There is only 1 honorable way out of your mess ----- SEPPUKU, but, it requiers a bit of skill,,,, If you never heard of it the more common term is HARA-KIRI

Reply to this comment

by drummer94 August 16, 2007 3:51 PM PDT

Don''t they always cut-n-run?

Reply to this comment

by j-whitman August 16, 2007 3:54 PM PDT

libsluvSUVs,,,, It still has absoultly Nothing to do with ---- Our Freedoms or thiers, Our Liberty or thiers,,,, It''s not about Democracy -- It''s for the Oil & control of the region & it''s spreading world terror.

Reply to this comment

by red164 August 16, 2007 3:58 PM PDT

Everyone knows that PNAC has wanted in invade Iran and Iraq since the early 1990''''s. So what? the conspiracy nut part comes into play when anyone tries to say that the CIA or Bush or PNAC was somehow behind 9-11. Or that there''''s some sort of worldwide conspiracy that controls both parties and makes all of the decisions.

BTW, the name is Randy, not rands.

Posted by SgtRDS at 03:49 PM : Aug 16, 2007

I see how effective the Democratic Party have been at stopping the Bush Admin; have you missed a few things over the last six years?

Reply to this comment

by j-whitman August 16, 2007 3:58 PM PDT

Have a nice day, I''ve got things to do

Reply to this comment

by j-whitman August 16, 2007 4:02 PM PDT

red164 ---- Try watching dems in action on CSPAN or CSPAN 2... Stop listenin to the continued dishonorable lying rhetoric by Bush & his GOP ----- WE WOULD NOT BE TALKING TROOP WITHDRAWAL LIKE OUR GENERAL PETREAUS IS TODAY WITHOUT DEMOCRAT EFFORTS --- NOT BAD SINCE THEY ONLY TOOK OVER IN FEBUARY ------ THE PROBLEM IS STILL GOP OBSTRUCTION ON ISSUES GOOD FOR OUR NATION.

Reply to this comment

by mbcsmith August 16, 2007 4:04 PM PDT

Who else are they going to blame for their own stunning failure and disgrace? Since "al-Qaeda-in-Iraq" is little more than a black-bag, psy-ops fairytale, aimed at providing a reason for continuing the illegal and disgraceful invasion of Iraq, it is little wonder that they would try to conflate this ugly hoax at every opportunity.



Posted by FeelFree1 at 03:37 PM : Aug 16, 2007



Wooooo... go back on the meds man.

Reply to this comment

by red164 August 16, 2007 4:08 PM PDT

red164 ---- Try watching dems in action on CSPAN or CSPAN 2... Stop listenin to the continued dishonorable lying rhetoric by Bush & his GOP ----- WE WOULD NOT BE TALKING TROOP WITHDRAWAL LIKE OUR GENERAL PETREAUS IS TODAY WITHOUT DEMOCRAT EFFORTS --- NOT BAD SINCE THEY ONLY TOOK OVER IN FEBUARY ------ THE PROBLEM IS STILL GOP OBSTRUCTION ON ISSUES GOOD FOR OUR NATION.

Posted by j-whitman at 04:02 PM : Aug 16, 2007

That''s all you people do is talk blah, blah, I understand there are some Democratic Leaders that want change but if you think that the Democratic Party as a whole isn''t controlled just like most of the GOP your deluding yourself.

BTW, if you would trouble yourself to read the posts instead of always worrying about what your going to say next you might learn something, I support the Republican Party when their right which happens very infrequently.

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[mudrose-2009]

There will be a very severe punishment for this type of carnage. Very severe. It may not come immediately, but it will come to those who would do this to innocent human beings. It just leaves one speechless.

[clestes-2009]

You know this outcome was predicted by Cheney himself in 1994. Go to MoveOn.org and listen to the video of Cheney explaining why the US did not pursue Saddam into Iraq. He said the result would be complete chaos and would cause unstability all over the middle east.

What he predicted has come true. My only question is, what prompted the change of mind 9 years later?????

[mudrose-2009]

Gains? When 400 people are killed! What is Petraeus thinking..White House Logic? Once again people in power are missing the BIG Picture.
Posted by apple2pie

So are you.

[clestes-2009]

mudrose,

what do you think the big picture is?

[v_1618]

WITH THIS SUICIDE BOMBS THAT KILL 500 PEOPLE YOU DON''T HAVE TO BE SMART TO REALIZE THAT THE NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMBS IS VERY NEAR IN U.S. OR BRITAIN SOIL.

[norcalruss]

400 dead? Not to worry, just send the good old BS Express to northern Iraq and have John McCain reassure us that things are MUCH better there now and that the press has it all WRONG again

[stevenrox]

War always has murder. It is often veiled as well. What should strike everybody the most is the fact that the civilian suicide bombers are looking to take down one American. The fact is that more of their own people are killed. Casualties of war. this is more like an indirect murder on the part of people, President, Cabinet members, and Blind Justice. The murder is influenced. One giant American gun is pointed at them, once civilians flinch, once rebels flinch, the gun is fired. When those same people manage to hide they are found in the deepest wells. They defend themselves as anybody else would try. It is that same American gun pointed at their faces that causes them to be distraught, wring out their lives into the battle field. A battle field that has not been chosen by them and is only poisoned by one giant gun that most of the time shoots a flag with the words bang. Once that flag is read, they civilians choose to explode. A large bluff in which they all turn on themselves to kill themselves. This is murder. We''ll provide the anger, they''ll provide the action! One big brother that teases the siblings until they are in a dog fight.

[micma-2009]

Wow Bu$h''s strategerum is so successful! No wonder intelligent people like mudrose support him.

[j-whitman]

mudrose --- Bush is a TOTAL FAILURE ----- THE "SURGE IS OVER" ---

General Petraeus -- "We know that the surge has to come to an end. There''s no question about that. I think everyone understands that by about a year or so from now we''ve got to be a good bit smaller than we are right now.

Guess Who''s writing his report fool ???? --- THE FRIGGIN WHITE HOUSE --- YOU CAN NOW CALL IT THE *** HOUSE

[postboxj]

Iraq is entering into a very fractionalized civil war, with multiple religious groups killing each other. In the begining of the war, US soldiers were destroying stockpiles of weapons caches. Why did we turn around and "lose" 200,000 weapons? Is this some deliberate attempt to keep stroking the fire? Didn''t Dwight D. warn us? "In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. "

[space_poet]

Let''s see:

Quagmire in Iraq entering its fifth year (check)
Still no sign of WMD (check)
Thousands of US troops dead. Tens of thousands maimed. (check)
Al Qaeda in resurgence, determined to attack inside US (check)
Taliban in resurgence in Afghanistan (check)
Bin Laden still alive and at large (check)
America hated by most of the world despite almost universal goodwill post 9/11 (check)
Rich getting richer while wages stagnate (check)
Health care costs rise unabated (check)
Massive budget deficit (check)
Looming recession to be caused by softening housing market/credit bubble (check)
Environmental legislation eviscerated (check)
Civil liberties trampled (check)
Government secrecy at all-time high (check)

I dunno, guys... everything seems pretty good!

[red164]

Yesterday the Headline to this story read 500 Dead. How does it go from 500 to 400 CBS just asking? BTW, It''s 400 to many.

[j-whitman]

It''''s time to get the hot tar & feathers ready & head to the White House

[red164]

To people like mudrose that sit on their head all day death is no big deal, he probably isn''t even opposed to seeing his whole entire family wiped out if means winning the war on terror.

[libsluvsuvs]

It''''''''s time to get the hot tar & feathers ready & head to the White House
Posted by j-whitman at 02:22 PM : Aug 16, 2007
+ report abuse

*******

you know *** well that is not going to happen..do you want to make a difference because your childish taunts is not...RIDE YOUR BIKE AND CONSERVE OIL...these bas tards will still be killing each other off but this time we would not care

[red164]

WITH THIS SUICIDE BOMBS THAT KILL 500 PEOPLE YOU DON''''T HAVE TO BE SMART TO REALIZE THAT THE NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMBS IS VERY NEAR IN U.S. OR BRITAIN SOIL.

Posted by v_1618 at 01:11 PM : Aug 16, 2007

Yes of course these bombs causing so much death and destruction must be the same kind that Timothy M used at OLK City, why don''t the reporters ask where are these types of WMD''s coming from?

[j-whitman]

libsluvSUVs ,,,,,,

Bush is a TOTAL FAILURE ----- THE "SURGE IS OVER" ---

General Petraeus -- "We know that the surge has to come to an end. There''''''''s no question about that. I think everyone understands that by about a year or so from now we''''''''ve got to be a good bit smaller than we are right now.

Guess Who''''''''s writing his report fool ???? --- THE FRIGGIN WHITE HOUSE --- YOU CAN NOW CALL IT THE *** HOUSE

[tcoleman12]

Wow, this happens just when the Lib Democraps were getting on board with the surge for political expediency''s sake. How unfortunate for them. Can''t catch a break.

[j-whitman]

badaxmofo,,,, The immediate response was - "Oh no, only 30 to 50 killed"

[j-whitman]

badaxmofo --- Bush is a total failure --- The White House is writing the Petreaus Report --- Watch the Friggin White House News conferences.

[j-whitman]

tcoleman12 --- It''s not the Lib''s who now say the "Surge Is Over" it''s General Petreaus ------ We paid attention from the begining & knew it had no chance of working.


----- THE "SURGE IS OVER" ---

General Petraeus -- "We know that the surge has to come to an end. There''''''''s no question about that. I think everyone understands that by about a year or so from now we''''''''ve got to be a good bit smaller than we are right now.

[red164]

On Wednesday, a Merrill Lynch & Co. analyst downgraded Countrywide to "Sell," just days after calling it a "Buy,"

Sounds like the BUSH ADMIN

[j-whitman]

badaxmofo,,,,, Read it for your ******* self, then start watching White House press conferences ---- PUKE

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20283239/

[j-whitman]

badaxmofo,,,, You want to win a friggin war ??? --- Bring back the DRAFT this time NO DEFERMENTS AT ALL ----- Cowards like Bush would be forced to serve & not run from active duty.

[seven-pesos]

southerners are looking for another prez like george bush, jr.

the south is mighty proud of all the christian work and leadership bush has provided.

hooray for bush, stars & bars and jefferson davis.

[j-whitman]

badaxmofo --- What does it mean to you when General Casey says "Our Strategic Reserves are gone, The only ones being trained for conventional warfare is major''s & above, Our troops need 18 months at home for sufficient training" ???????

[sgtrds]

badaxmofo,,,, You want to win a friggin war ??? --- Bring back the DRAFT this time NO DEFERMENTS AT ALL ----- Cowards like Bush would be forced to serve & not run from active duty.

Posted by j-whitman at 02:58 PM : Aug 16, 2007

As would badaxmofo. And swingingdick. And lars and so on and so on. They''d all get whiplash from changing their views so quickly if they ever had to put their gutless cowardly as*ses on the line instead of being keyboard warriors.

[sgtrds]

mudrose,

what do you think the big picture is?

Posted by clestes at 12:59 PM : Aug 16, 2007

The big picture is 3700+ Americans who have died in vain in Bush''s war. But Bush''s cowardly supporters can''t even see that big picture from where they hide under their mommy''s shirts, just like the yellow belly in charge hid under Barbara''s during Vietnam. No wonder daddy loved Jeb best. At least he isn''t a total mamma''s boy *** like George is.

[j-whitman]

SgtRDS,,,, Bingo, you got that right ------ And these lying dishonorable idiots still want to blame Clinton --- They should have blamed George''s Mom for failing to practice Abstinence.

[red164]

The big picture is 3700+ Americans who have died in vain in Bush''''s war. Posted by SgtRDS at 03:22 PM : Aug 16, 2007

Exclusive excerpt: The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire, and the Future of America

Peter Dale Scott
GNN
Thursday, August 16, 2007

Terror, oil and the "shadow government"

In this exclusive excerpt from his powerful new book, The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire, and the Future of America (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press), UC Berkeley professor emeritus Peter Dale Scott

Meanwhile, the BBC heard from State Department insiders that planning for regime change in Iraq %u201Cbegan %u2018within weeks%u2019 of Bush%u2019s first taking office in 2001, long before the September 11th attack on the U.S.%u201D45 The administration%u2019s concern for controlling oil in the Middle East intermingled with strategic concerns in the area, especially with increasing uncertainty about the future of U.S. bases in Saudi Arabia. The White House was also impressed by the report of an AEI-based discussion group, commissioned by Paul Wolfowitz, that a strategy to deal with Middle East terrorism would require two generations of conflict, in which %u2018Iran is more important. . . . But Saddam Hussein was . . . weaker, more vulnerable.%u2019%u201D46

UC Berkeley professor emeritus Peter Dale Scott just another conpiracy nut right rands?

[sgtrds]

SgtRDS,,,, Bingo, you got that right ------ And these lying dishonorable idiots still want to blame Clinton --- They should have blamed George''''s Mom for failing to practice Abstinence.
Posted by j-whitman at 03:24 PM : Aug 16, 2007

Or his dad for not pulling out. Hell I have no doubt that even he regrets that he didn''t rather then have to go down in history as having helped spawn this should have been aborted son George of his. That''s why he always seems to be on the verge of crying. Poor old George H.W is going to have on his tombstone "Please forgive me for George! I swear to GOD he''s the milkman''s bas***** not mine!.

[j-whitman]

badaxmofo ---- You have only yourself to blame --
- The ones running this war are the same people you love,, who tell you they can secure a 2100 mile border with half funding of a 700 mile fence & leaving it to the undermanned & undersupported Border Patrol to build

[seven-pesos]

it will be another hundred years before the south becomes part of america.

meanwhile, don''t elect anymore of those idiot southern christian faith professing creeps.

don''t vote for a southerner.
don''t vote for a christian.
don''t vote for a republican.

america will be just fine.

ha,ha,ha.

war, hate, christian creeps, republican snakes...

nothing good comes out of the south.

[red164]

Exclusive excerpt: The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire, and the Future of America

Peter Dale Scott
GNN
Thursday, August 16, 2007

Terror, oil and the "shadow government


Cheney%u2019s task force was the final stage in a lobbying process by the oil majors that had begun under Clinton. As early as April 1997, a report from the James A. Baker Institute of Public Policy at Rice University addressed the problem of %u201Cenergy security%u201D for the United States, noting that the country was increasingly threatened by oil shortages. It concluded that Saddam Hussein was still a threat to Middle Eastern security and still had the military capability to exercise force beyond Iraq%u2019s borders. The second Bush administration returned to this theme as soon as it took office in 2001, by following the lead of a second report from the same institute. This task force report was cosponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, another group historically concerned about U.S. access to overseas oil resources.43 The report, Strategic Energy Policy: Challenges for the 21st Century, concluded that %u201Cthe U.S. should conduct an immediate policy review toward Iraq including military, energy, economic and political/diplomatic assessments.%u201D44

rands he mentioned the CRF, I''m not surprised you''ve never heard of the CRF.

[drummer94]

The general is (was) going to recommend troop reductions. Now shrub is trying to stifle that. Don''t do it sir. Stand up to that little Napoleon wanna be. Tell him, in those timeless words, PACK SAND.

[seven-pesos]

yeah, bush is responsible for much death and destruction.

another southerner, lyndon johnson, wasted many lives for a dishonorable war.

another southerner, jefferson davis, is responsible for much american blood and treasure lost.

all southerners, all christians, all snakes...

slave state losers.

if you want to win a war... don''t send a southerner to do the job!

ha,ha,ha.

war, hate arrogance, christian creeps, republican snakes...

nothing good comes out of the south.

[j-whitman]

99 US Soldiers committed suicide last year Up 15% from last year ----- Bush will keep lowering the standards for enlistment & lying to America''s citizens.

[feelfree1]

Re: ""This is an act of ethnic cleansing, if you will, almost genocide," Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, commander of U.S. forces in northern Iraq, told CNN"

Ethnic cleansing is clearly a primary goal of the Bush regime in this illegal war of aggression. That is why they have regularly backed Shiite and Sunni death-squads, and have staged regular bombing attacks using the ficticious "al-Qaeda-in-Iraq" for cover. This is classic divide and conquer strategy, but thank goodness it is failing.

Re: "...and the military blamed the suicide attack on al Qaeda in Iraq."

Who else are they going to blame for their own stunning failure and disgrace? Since "al-Qaeda-in-Iraq" is little more than a black-bag, psy-ops fairytale, aimed at providing a reason for continuing the illegal and disgraceful invasion of Iraq, it is little wonder that they would try to conflate this ugly hoax at every opportunity.

[j-whitman]

Looks like Badaxmofo -- Cut & ran

[sgtrds]

Looks like Badaxmofo -- Cut & ran

Posted by j-whitman at 03:39 PM : Aug 16, 2007

Feeding time at the RNC and he doesn''t want to lose his place at the pig trough.....

[sgtrds]

UC Berkeley professor emeritus Peter Dale Scott just another conpiracy nut right rands?

Posted by red164 at 03:26 PM : Aug 16, 2007

Everyone knows that PNAC has wanted in invade Iran and Iraq since the early 1990''s. So what? the conspiracy nut part comes into play when anyone tries to say that the CIA or Bush or PNAC was somehow behind 9-11. Or that there''s some sort of worldwide conspiracy that controls both parties and makes all of the decisions. That''s paranoia of a mental health issue size.

BTW, the name is Randy, not rands.

[libsluvsuvs]

Posted by SgtRDS at 03:45 PM : Aug 16, 2007
+ report abuse

Posted by j-whitman at 03:39 PM : Aug 16, 2007
report abuse

*************

"The victims were Yazidis, a small Kurdish-speaking sect that has been targeted by Muslim extremists who consider its members to be blasphemers"

who is next? are you guys one of those godless blasphemers? I agree with you..let them come and rid this country of those blasphemers..

[j-whitman]

Bush,,,, There is only 1 honorable way out of your mess ----- SEPPUKU, but, it requiers a bit of skill,,,, If you never heard of it the more common term is HARA-KIRI

[drummer94]

Don''t they always cut-n-run?

[j-whitman]

libsluvSUVs,,,, It still has absoultly Nothing to do with ---- Our Freedoms or thiers, Our Liberty or thiers,,,, It''s not about Democracy -- It''s for the Oil & control of the region & it''s spreading world terror.

[red164]

Everyone knows that PNAC has wanted in invade Iran and Iraq since the early 1990''''s. So what? the conspiracy nut part comes into play when anyone tries to say that the CIA or Bush or PNAC was somehow behind 9-11. Or that there''''s some sort of worldwide conspiracy that controls both parties and makes all of the decisions.

BTW, the name is Randy, not rands.

Posted by SgtRDS at 03:49 PM : Aug 16, 2007

I see how effective the Democratic Party have been at stopping the Bush Admin; have you missed a few things over the last six years?

[j-whitman]

Have a nice day, I''ve got things to do

[j-whitman]

red164 ---- Try watching dems in action on CSPAN or CSPAN 2... Stop listenin to the continued dishonorable lying rhetoric by Bush & his GOP ----- WE WOULD NOT BE TALKING TROOP WITHDRAWAL LIKE OUR GENERAL PETREAUS IS TODAY WITHOUT DEMOCRAT EFFORTS --- NOT BAD SINCE THEY ONLY TOOK OVER IN FEBUARY ------ THE PROBLEM IS STILL GOP OBSTRUCTION ON ISSUES GOOD FOR OUR NATION.

[mbcsmith]

Who else are they going to blame for their own stunning failure and disgrace? Since "al-Qaeda-in-Iraq" is little more than a black-bag, psy-ops fairytale, aimed at providing a reason for continuing the illegal and disgraceful invasion of Iraq, it is little wonder that they would try to conflate this ugly hoax at every opportunity.



Posted by FeelFree1 at 03:37 PM : Aug 16, 2007



Wooooo... go back on the meds man.

[red164]

red164 ---- Try watching dems in action on CSPAN or CSPAN 2... Stop listenin to the continued dishonorable lying rhetoric by Bush & his GOP ----- WE WOULD NOT BE TALKING TROOP WITHDRAWAL LIKE OUR GENERAL PETREAUS IS TODAY WITHOUT DEMOCRAT EFFORTS --- NOT BAD SINCE THEY ONLY TOOK OVER IN FEBUARY ------ THE PROBLEM IS STILL GOP OBSTRUCTION ON ISSUES GOOD FOR OUR NATION.

Posted by j-whitman at 04:02 PM : Aug 16, 2007

That''s all you people do is talk blah, blah, I understand there are some Democratic Leaders that want change but if you think that the Democratic Party as a whole isn''t controlled just like most of the GOP your deluding yourself.

BTW, if you would trouble yourself to read the posts instead of always worrying about what your going to say next you might learn something, I support the Republican Party when their right which happens very infrequently.