Very tired:
BAGHDAD (AFP) – Insurgent attacks killed six more US troops, the military said on Sunday, as security forces braced for more chemical attacks after dirty bombs left two policemen dead and 350 civilians sick.
Almost exactly four years after the invasion of Iraq, American casualties are still mounting as US and Iraqi forces battle to quell the insurgent and sectarian violence gripping the country.
And this is just gut churning. I guess we finally found the WMD:
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Insurgents in western Iraq set off three chlorine gas car bombs, U.S. forces said on Saturday, weeks after two similar attacks sparked fears of a new campaign to use unconventional weapons in Iraq.
The Friday attacks came a month into a major U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown in Baghdad aimed at stemming sectarian violence that threatens to pitch Iraq into outright civil war. […]
Chlorine gas was widely used in World War One but its use in insurgent attacks in Iraq has particular resonance there. Saddam Hussein attacked Kurdish areas with chemical weapons in the 1980s during the Iran-Iraq war.
The U.S. military said two suicide bombers driving dump trucks carrying chlorine made 350 people ill near the town of Falluja on Friday, and a smaller car bomb near Ramadi also released chlorine, though there were few casualties.[…]
Two bombs with chlorine killed eight people earlier this year. It causes severe burns when inhaled and can cause death.
Like I said, I am very, very tired. And sick. And we have at least another 2 years of this mindless slaughter to go.
Dear National Public Radio:
Every few days there seems to be a segment dedicated to the Americans (and only Americans) who were killed in the war – which sounds like something right out of a 1950’s era Cold War propaganda film. The dead are always said to have “died doing what they loved” or “serving their country”, they all joined the military out of a sense of duty, their parents and community are all proud of them and (this is key) supportive of the war. Of at least that’s what NPR claims.
We never ever hear about anyone who joined the military because he couldn’t afford college and was simply hoping for a better life, we never hear of anyone the least bit critical of the war, we never hear any questioning of why someone’s kid is dead.
I can’t believe that none of these parents and relatives have the slightest issue with the war, sorry. Your coverage of the dead is propagandistic sentimentalist claptrap.
In fairness to NPR, I think they have been censored by the Bush administration.
Yeah, there is a reason we’ve been rated 53rd(I think) worldwide in freedom of the press.
And I’m tired of reading about it. (No offense intended to the esteemed author of this post.)
No offense taken.
Militarily, fiscally, emotionally, politically, diplomatically, morally. We don’t have two years left. The sociopaths who are driving this bus are headed for the cliff at full speed. We cannot wait them out. We cannot rein them in with this or that half baked non binding sorry compromise of a resolution that they will ignore anyway. We don’t have time for that either. We have to take away the keys.
Jesus, Mohammed and Buddha, can we frog march the motherfuckers now?
I agree.
We’re in crisis.
Sadly our “Leaders” are more interested in fiddling than in taking necessary action.
I feel real sorry for you. You are tired and sick. A four year war and “two more to go”!
Are you kidding? If you think that this is going to end in two years you had better make sure that you have a ton of whatever you are taking for you cold!
This bullshit is going to go on and on and on!
This is just the start of perpetual war!!!!!
There is too much PROFIT to be made and unless and or until the profit motive can be removed from this horror, you ain,t seen nuttin yet!
I said “at least” two more years. Just like you, I fear it may go much longer.
Booman, who sold the chlorine to the Iraqis, and for what purpose? Mass water treatment, or chemical processing, or oil refining? Why and who?
There is a horrible theory appearing on the fringes that I will not link to but want to comment on, and that is the observation that the tit-for-tat attacks and reprisals in Iraq are being fueled by outsiders alright….US and Israeli undercover operatives, playing off both sides in an effort to keep the conflict going and provide the cover justification for continued military adventure.
We know the commercial nature of this gambit. Is this still more cruelly cynical gamesmanship to be used as grist to feed the war funding machine?
Who knows where the chlorine came from. The Military is saying it came from an Al Qaeda chlorine bomb factory in Falluja.
Someone had to sell them the chlorine, as Chlorine was embargoed under the terms of the sanctions imposed upon Iraq. It has a dual use that is readily apparent from a military standpoint.
Something doesn’t add up here. So, the ” Greater al Qaeda bomb works of Fallujah” may make nice humorous snark, but it looks like the Bush escalation of troop levels is not only failing, it’s likely a ploy.
that is my point.
Hey Steven, believe me when I say that I ain’t criticising you. What I am trying to do is simply point out that what is going on right now in this country is probably the most frightening acts of madmen since this country was formed! Yup!
Never forget for a second that in addition to the 160+ thousand troops that are involved and for which this country is supporting, there are at least 100 thousand plus PRIVATE individuals in Iraq!(and I will bet anyone that there are alot more than the 100+) This is a new industry Steven, being run by extremely well connected folks who are NOT about to give up what has to be one of the most lucrative businesses in existance!
So, get rid of your sickness, take a nap(not too long – Ha!) and get beack out there.
billjpa
PS- hey Steve- POI! I’m 69 and still kicking but I have never been so scared in my entire life!!!!!
I know where you are coming from.
Like I said, I am very, very tired. And sick. And we have at least another 2 years of this mindless slaughter to go.
But this slaughter can be stopped quickly. I explained how here. All we have to do is get one senator to initiate a filibuster blocking funding for the war, and 41 to support it.
But there seems to be virtually no interest in this approach, which is the only way of ending the occupation now, in the netroots. It seems that we have grown too used to being powerless. Instead of trying to refine this plan and then implementing it, we just speculate about why it wouldn’t work, or just ignore the possibility of using the filibuster to stop the war altogether.