4,000 dead Americans

[EricMM 0]

*shrug*

 

You can't really, really blame the Democrats for not pushing the timetables through.

 

With a president with a veto and Republicans working in lockstep, it was logistically impossible.

[NoCalMike 0]

*shrug*

 

You can't really, really blame the Democrats for not pushing the timetables through.

 

With a president with a veto and Republicans working in lockstep, it was logistically impossible.

 

Well it would make sense that they keep working to make the President change(even though he isn't likely to), since that is what the American people voted for. Put the ball in the President's hands and make him the one to veto funding. Afterall, the american people wanted a different course in Iraq. All they are getting now is "stay the course" signed, sealed and delivered. I mean, if the President keeps vetoing funding then he is going to have to explain where he is going to get funds to continue the war or he would have to just cave and sign the bill.

[snuffbox 0]

America has proven itself gullible to Bush's lame warnings of the Iraqi's coming here to get us, etc. The Democrats assumed that they would have to share the responsibility of the troops not being funded (a complete load of bullshit, of course, but one Americans have shown themselves to be believers of in the past) with the man vetoing the legislation. By leaving the war more in the hands of Bush and his jellyfish in Congress they leave themselves in an even better position for 2008. What we could be looking at next November is another 5 or so vote swing to the Dems in the Senate and maybe 30 or more in the House, along with a new Administration.

 

And, seriously, if you missed it, check out Boehner making a retard of himself on the House floor yesterday. It's on youtube.

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

The Truth on Iraq.

[NoCalMike 0]

The Truth on Iraq.

 

Well that gets a thumbs up. I hope to hear stuff like that at the next Democratic debate.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

The Truth on Iraq.

 

Well that gets a thumbs up. I hope to hear stuff like that at the next Democratic debate.

 

See, that's the kind of attitude I'm looking for in a candidate. I guess I'm leaning towards Obama at this point.

[NoCalMike 0]

The Truth on Iraq.

 

Well that gets a thumbs up. I hope to hear stuff like that at the next Democratic debate.

 

See, that's the kind of attitude I'm looking for in a candidate. I guess I'm leaning towards Obama at this point.

 

On straight up issues, I am with Kusinich the most, but he will likely drop out eventually and back whoever wins. With the likelyhood of it coming down to Hillary or Obama, I am prefer Obama, although I want to see THAT attitude displayed at the debates. I still find it amazing that Ron Paul is the only person thus far that has come out publicly and said what the Democrats SHOULD be saying.(well as far as the war issue goes)

[Gary Floyd 0]

Sheehan has given up protesting

 

She lost some credibility in my eyes a while back when she did a photo op with Chavez, and then went on praising the guy. I hate bush too, but come on...

 

That out of the way, I had no problem with her, and always felt bad for her.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Good riddance to human garbage, I say.

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

[Dobbs 3K 0]

"Report: Iraq Government Missed All Targets":

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070710/D8Q9EA400.html

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Latest reports saying that Bush is still refusing to shift Iraq policy. When is enough enough already?

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

85 Iraqis were blown to bits this morning in Kirkuk.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6900553.stm

 

It's kind of sad that this kind of story is happening so often that people barely take notice anymore.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Every 15 minutes past that hour on the 6 o'clock news is the Middle East Violence Report. It's not a funny subject but I've always thought you could mad-lib it and it'd still work......

 

"Terrible news today coming out of _______ as a _______ detonated in a crowded _______. A Military spokesperson called this attack _____. Over _____ people were killed when the ______ exploded around noon today. Local group _____ are taking responsibility."

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Yeah, that's pretty much.

 

"But the media is only telling you the bad in Iraq! What about all the good our troops are doing?"

 

Yes, our troops are doing good things over there. That still doesn't negate dozens of people getting killed in a single incident.

[NoCalMike 0]

I am beyond trying to even debate with people about why this Occupation(even calling it a war anymore is a joke) should be ended.

 

Everytime I turned on C-Span and a republican was speaking all I heard was "Al Qaeda this" and "Al Qaeda that" but no one seemed to want to ask them just what in the hell this occupation has to do with Al Qaeda in the first place. It just feels like the run-up to the 2004 election all over again. The Democrats not wanting to play hardball, while the Republicans continue to mix fantasy with reality and bring forth outright intellectually dishonest arguments.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Yep. It's about time for a third party to step up in this country. Sadly, there really aren't any viable ones.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Go Green Party!!

 

Ron Paul should just declare himself a Libertarian. He might get more support from both sides, and bring forth a better third party in the process. Even though I think he's kind of a douchebag on any issue not relating to Iraq.

[At Home 0]

The gays should make their own party.

 

That'll fuckin' show them.

 

10% of all people are gay, 300 million americans, 30 million gays.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

The white nationalists are supporting Paul in droves, though I haven't really looked into why.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

The gays should make their own party.

 

That'll fuckin' show them.

 

10% of all people are gay, 300 million americans, 30 million gays.

 

That statistic has generally been proven to be inflated (it's more like 3%) and also, I'm quite certain the majority of Gay's wouldn't vote for them on principle alone.

 

I know you're kidding, just felt like pointing that out.

[Atticus Chaos 0]

General says draft still an option

 

 

Hmm....this might be the one to end the war for sure. The mere notion that any of their precious children or grandchildren will be forced to go fight an unwinnable war will get congress to pullout so fast it'll make your head spin.

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

http://crookedtimber.org/2007/08/12/strategic-analysis/

[Jingus 0]

General says draft still an option

 

 

Hmm....this might be the one to end the war for sure. The mere notion that any of their precious children or grandchildren will be forced to go fight an unwinnable war will get congress to pullout so fast it'll make your head spin.

Oh, it won't be Congressional children at risk. They weren't drafted during Vietnam, and they wouldn't be now. How many of current Congressmen have kids in Iraq? Is it up to two or three now?

 

But I do think that if such a measure were taken, public approval for the war would drop to levels that would make the current ones look downright friendly. Words like "recall election" would be thrown about. I seriously doubt it could pass.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

I almost hope they try. There'd be riots in the streets, and government officials would be getting death threats. Maybe that would finally bring our troops home.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Heard something about 500 people dying in Iraq yesterday in some bombings, or something. *shrug*

[Jingus 0]

Get yer facts straight. 200. Killed by terrorist bombs planted outside a train station, a market, and homes.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

I thought I saw something about 500 last night on CNN...I couldn't find a link. It's not like it really matters at this point anymore, either way.

[Jingus 0]

Yes. It does. If you're going to talk based on inaccurate facts, why talk at all?

[Dobbs 3K 0]

It doesn't matter because it's not going to change anything either way.

 

Hey, waitaminute, here's the story I was looking for:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/08/16/...iref=newssearch

 

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The death toll in this week's suicide bombings in northern Iraq has risen to at least 500, local officials in Nineveh province said Wednesday.

 

Iraqi Army and Mosul police sources earlier put the number at 260, but said it was likely to rise; 320 were reported wounded.

 

The Tuesday truck bombs that targeted the villages of Qahtaniya, al-Jazeera and Tal Uzair, in northern Iraq near the border with Syria, were a "trademark al Qaeda event" designed to sway U.S. public opinion against the war, a U.S. general said Wednesday.

 

The attacks, targeting Kurdish villages of the Yazidi religious minority, were attempts to "break the will" of the American people and show that the U.S. troop escalation -- the "surge" -- is failing, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon said.

 

The bombings highlight the kind of sectarian tensions the troop surge was designed to stop. In another blast Thursday morning, a bomb in a parked car exploded at a busy shopping center in central Baghdad, killing at least nine people and wounding 17, Iraq's Ministry of Information said.

 

Al Qaeda in Iraq is predominantly Sunni, and Mixon said members of the Yazidi religious minority have received threatening letters, called "night letters," telling them "to leave because they are infidels."

 

"This is an act of ethnic cleansing, if you will -- almost genocide when you consider the fact the target they attacked and the fact that these Yazidis, out in a very remote part of Nineveh province, where there is very little security and really no security required to this point," Mixon said.

 

Sunni militants, including members of al Qaeda in Iraq, have targeted Yazidis in the area before.

 

Brig. Gen. Abdul Karim Khalaf, an Interior Ministry spokesman, said there were three suicide trucks carrying two tons of explosives. At least 30 houses and other buildings were destroyed.

 

Khalaf said the carnage looks like the aftermath of a "mini-nuclear explosion." More bodies are expected to be found. See a timeline of deadliest attacks in Iraq »

 

The U.S. military said there were five bombings -- four at a crowded bus station in Qahtaniya and a fifth in al-Jazeera.

 

The massacre comes ahead of next month's report to Congress by Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker on progress in Iraq.

 

Yazidi

Approximately 100,000 Yazidis live in isolated communities in Iraq. A few members of the sect also reside in Syria, Turkey, Georgia and Armenia.

 

Ancient group worships a supreme god and seven angels in the form of peacocks.

 

Religion blends elements of Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

 

Traditions are very secretive. Many rituals focus on the religion's chief saint, Sheik Adi, a 12th-century Sufi Arab who lived in northern Iraq. "We still have a great deal of work to do against al Qaeda in Iraq, and we have great deal of work to do against al Qaeda networks in northern Iraq," Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner, a Multi-National Force-Iraq spokesman, said Wednesday.

 

The office of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki blamed Sunni extremists for the "monstrous crime." He said a committee has been formed to investigate.

 

Ashraf Qazi, the U.N. secretary-general's special representative for Iraq, called the attack an "abominable crime aimed at widening the sectarian and ethnic divide in Iraq."

 

Qazi urged Iraqi authorities to bolster their efforts to protect minorities.

 

The Yazidi sect is a mainly Kurdish minority, an ancient group that worships seven angels, in the form of peacocks, who are subordinate to the supreme god who created the universe.

 

A couple of related incidents in the spring highlighted the tensions between Sunnis and Yazidis.

 

In April, a Kurdish Yazidi teenage girl was brutally beaten, kicked and stoned to death in northern Iraq by other Yazidis in what authorities said was an "honor killing" after she was seen with a Sunni Muslim man. Although she had not married him or converted, her attackers believed she had.

 

The Yazidis condemn mixing with people of another faith.

 

That killing is said to have spurred the killings of about two dozen Yazidi men by Sunni Muslims in the Mosul area two weeks later.

 

Attackers affiliated with al Qaeda pulled 24 Yazidi men out of a bus and slaughtered them, according to a provincial official.