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By Richard A Oppel Jr in the NDT:
BAGHDAD, June 23 — Eight American servicemen were reported to have died in Iraq on Saturday, bringing the four-day death toll to at least 23 as insurgents continued to use huge roadside bombs to rip through combat vehicles.The deadliest attack on Saturday killed four American soldiers in combat northwest of Baghdad. Insurgents detonated a roadside bomb near the soldiers’ vehicle. An Iraqi working as an interpreter for the Americans was wounded.
Though the military did not specify the location of the attack, American forces have been stepping up patrols and other operations in the area immediately northwest of here as part of new offensives to try to bring some control to the insurgent-dominated belts around the capital. The area northwest of Baghdad had been left largely untouched, American officials say, allowing Sunni militants to use the sparsely populated area as a sanctuary.
Another insurgent attack — a coordinated strike using rifles and at least one bomb — led to the deaths of two American soldiers in eastern Baghdad early on Saturday. The soldiers first were struck by the explosion of a roadside bomb, then they were fired upon, the military said. Three other soldiers were wounded in the attack.
[...]
In Baghdad, Parliament agreed to delay its summer vacation for one month, until the end of July, so that lawmakers would have more time to try to pass legislation that American officials say is crucial to moving the country past a deep political crisis.
The coalition of Sunni Arab political parties that promised that they would replace the speaker of Parliament, Mahmoud Mashhadani, are now conceding that they may have to stick with him. Mr. Mashhadani has dug in his heels and said that he is not leaving despite widespread discontent with his performance from his own bloc, as well as from many of the Shiites in Parliament. For the moment, he is on leave from his job as speaker.
The media talk of "political crisis" and "widespread discontent" in the Iraqi "Parliament" as though it were the Massachusetts statehouse. My mind keeps going back to that scene in Lawrence of Arabia with the Arab clans crammed into some government building in Damascus hooting and exchanging insults. Not exactly the House of Lords over in Baghdad, I expect.
[...]American and Iraqi forces have begun a major offensive in Baquba to lessen the grip that Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia and other militants hold on the city. An Iraqi commander in Diyala, Maj. Gen. Abdul Karim al-Rubaie, said that 53 Qaeda fighters had been killed and 60 arrested. Earlier in the week, American commanders acknowledged that about four-fifths of the top Qaeda leaders had escaped Baquba before the offensive began.
Posted by Greg at June 24, 2007 1:24 AM
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Bush’s Ten Plagues
First Plague: Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in Iraq.
Second Plague: Propagating the Islam is a great religion of peace and American troops must die for them doctrine.
Third Plague: Putting Chertoff and Myers and other incompetents in charge of our security.
Fourth Plague: The Bush/McCain/Graham/Kyl/Kennedy axis of weasels.
Fifth Plague: Stabbing the working men and women of America in the back.
Sixth Plague: Selling the Unites States of America out to agri-business, the Chamber of Commerce and other plantation owners.
Seventh Plague: Burdening Americans with massive amounts of imported crime, drugs and welfare dependents from a foreign country.
Eighth Plague: Trying to legalize and institutionalize serfdom in the nation of Abraham Lincoln.
Ninth Plague: Aiding, abetting and facilitating the ruling class in Mexico to ethnically cleanse much of their lower class.
Tenth Plague: Trying to destroy the party and coalition that Ronald Reagan build.
To be continued as it appears to be a work in progress. There may end up being more than Ten Plagues as El Presidente "ROP" Arbusto still has 19 more months as Commander Guy to go.
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at June 24, 2007 2:01 AM
I first attacked Bush on Sept. 17, 2001, the day after his infamous "Islam is peace" speech was made at DC's Islamic Center. And I have never stopped in spite of being tossed off numerous forums. The second he signalled - first to Afghanis - that he intended to waste billions of dollars on nation-building on behalf of America's mortal enemies, I knew that jihadis had their pigeon. When the first smart bombs were dropped on Taliban positions, al-Jazeera began cheering on the terrorists. And Bush replied by promoting inclusion of terrorists in sham "democratic" elections.
Over 19,000 terrorists were in Egyptian prisons on Sept. 11, 2001. After 5 years of America's dypso joke of a president, three quarters of those animals have been released, and they are well positioned to execute the Hamas solution.
While Euros assert primacy of secularism, Bush's State Department champions the ersatz right to wear Islamic slave rags, under the cover of freedom of religion. And the indulged radicalism in the Muslim tyrannies is matched in equal measure with US importation of immigrants from extremist gutters.
Bush has never uttered a single word of criticism against Saudi Arabia, or the genocidal Wahabism that frames their terror ideology. And he won't. If he does, the Bush crime family can kiss off payola.
Why are US troops patrolling 24-7 in non-pacified Iraq neighborhoods? Because field operations are being commanded by a moron who is fixated on matching the $60 million that Cheney gouged from Gulf War 1 military-industrial contacts. Should an IED be exploded or a sniper murder a US soldier, little or nothing is done in response. Why? Bush allows jihad recruitment videos that celebrate murder of Americans, to be sold openly in Iraq streets, under the cover of freedom of conscience. Until Islamic jihadism is allowed to impact US minds as unconscionable, Bush's phony war will continue. As jihadis are indulged, jihadis will take license to murder.
When "freedom" is spewed from Jerk-One's dypso mouth, think of it as snakeoil.
Posted by: supercargo at June 24, 2007 2:54 AM
President Bush has probably watched High Noon sometime in the last three years and imagined that he was Gary Cooper.
The difference is that Gary Cooper was the man fighting the fight.
Posted by: pez at June 24, 2007 3:41 AM
Watching some show on mine clearing. The military tells the President they need three weeks of mine clearing to ensure force safety. The President directs that 72 hours is the limit. The military salutes and goes forward.
The mission: humanitarian aid for the Iraqi people.
Posted by: pez at June 24, 2007 4:23 AM
From the article:
Eight American servicemen were reported to have died in Iraq on Saturday, bringing the four-day death toll to at least 23 as insurgents continued to use huge roadside bombs to rip through combat vehicles.
Go here to see a list of Iraqi casualties. Scroll through and see how our soldiers are dying. The overwhelming majority are killed by roadside bombs. It's not battles, it's boobytraps. The jihadists are not fighting our troops, they are killing them by remote control.
Can anyone explain to me how a "surge" of troops is going to improve the situation? A greater number of troops isn't leading to a greater number of "victorious battles" against the jihadists. The jihadists hide from our soldiers, they don't fight battles. We're just presenting a greater number of targets to be hit by roadside bombs. Our soldiers can be the best trained fighters, using the most technologically advanced weapons, and it doesn't make a bit of difference, because they're just sitting in their vehicles when the f'n jihadists detonate their bombs.
Can anyone, civilian or military, start to realize that the current strategy is not the correct one to use against the jihad? Please, I'm begging you. Search the archives for "Hugh Iraq strategy", and take it from there. It tears me up to see the faces of our fallen soldiers. We've got to start taking the jihad seriously. Stop d*cking around; we're smarter than we're acting right now.
Posted by: special_guest at June 24, 2007 5:18 AM
Loved Bush's 10 Plagues. You didn't mention him trying to appoint hack Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court. Or trying to sell our ports to Arabs. Or letting Americans die in New Orleans for 4 days before sending in the Army.
Does anyone know if the increasingly weird Free Republic still has the dramatic "Pray for Pres. Bush" thread? Prayers can't overcome reckless incompetence.
Posted by: Bingo at June 24, 2007 6:10 AM
Miers appointment never seemed to be more than a plant intended to force the Republican Party to demand who they really wanted for the Supreme Court.
Roadside Bombs = Landmines. Something the International Peace-nicks want outlawed. They seem to say little about their use in Iraq.
We could apply the same methods as the Enemy does. Randomly place Anti-Personnel Mines around randomly selected Mosques every Thursday evening.
Posted by: flowerknife_us at June 24, 2007 7:38 AM
supercargo - Millions of us were ignorant -including myself -concerning Islam back in the days after 9/11.
Now, years have passed. Knowledge has replaced ignorance on the subjects of Islam, Koran, and Muhammed.
So, do you think Bush STILL believes Islam to be peaceful?
Posted by: darcy at June 24, 2007 8:24 AM
Karzai wants to call the shots:
http://sheikyermami.com/2007/06/24/sack-karzai-now-but-then-what/
Posted by: sheik yer'mami at June 24, 2007 8:36 AM
Then there is this morning's story of alert and heroic US soldier's who stopped, with bullet's, a truck with 8000 pound's of explosive's, that was headed for the military base. It would have leveled the whole place. Kudo's to those brave US and coalition forces...
Bush's ten plague's is a growing list There are many more than ten. Bush and the Bushmen, are deliberatly destroying America...it's not stupidity, it's deliberate. Our own political axis of evil, government employee's, unresponsive to the American people, on their own agenda to reform (destroy) America. Their handbook written by Bush operative's is 'How to destroy America and keep getting elected', an appeal to lifelong entrenched politician's like Kennedy et al. Term limit's are called for...short one's.
Posted by: duh_swami at June 24, 2007 10:22 AM
It saddens me when I hear more of our galliant military personal fighting for my freedoms,were killed by the religion of uncivilised 7th century sand mites. To think our president can say islam is a "religion of peace" is beyond me. Ask the familys and friends of the 3000+ murdered at the twin towers and all the horror islam promotes around the world. The people effected are exponential. I truly wonder if bush is a traitor and sell out, under extreme presure from the pc left, or just plain stupid.
Posted by: mustang65 at June 24, 2007 11:16 AM
Agree with the Ten Plaques of Bush (to be continued), but this country'e elected government has been playing pussyfoot with Muslims for decades - long before Bush came into office. The taking of the US Embassy in Tehran was an act of war - more so because it was directly sponsored by a foreign government, than the 911 attacks. And what did we do? Nothing but negotiate and wring our hands. I fault Bush and the "tough talking" Cheney and all the administration advisors (including all those "diplomats" at State under two different administration secretaries who never meant a Muslim they didn't love) for failing to realistically and seriously recognizing the enemy and killing it. I about gagged the other day when scanning through some talk radio and came acroos Sean Hannity rresponding to a caller that this government and military does not bomb innocent (muslim) women and children like in WWII. Well, we did win that war. And it's not as if Muslims have difficulty procreating as we see in Gaza and the West Bank with their overflowing "refugee" camps.
What the hell is going on? The same government that coddles muslims in this country and all their ideological hatred is the same government that goes nuts over any skinhead demonstration - as if they're a threat. The millions of taxpayer dollars wasted on hiring all these intel analysts (many if not most who don't have a clue about Islam), ops centers, another agency reorganization, etc. - not counting the billions in foreign aid. Who cares if we are loved? Fear and respect this country. Stay in the 8th century and whenever you creep out of your cave and threaten us, we will kill you.
Posted by: HOV Dummy at June 24, 2007 11:57 AM
I am disdainful of GWB as anyone can be for his failures to recognize the real threat of jihad. So I will not join in a all around "Bush bash" to condemn Harriet Meyers and other acts open to criticism. I think GWB is still a very decent man. If I had to vote over again, and my choices were between he and John Kerry, I would vote for him again.
My disdain is all about ignorance and laziness, not stupidity, or bad informed choices he has made. When it comes to jihad he is just plain ignorant. He has access to the best, extensive sources of information and advice that one could hope to access as leader of the free world. How long would it take to learn about real jihad (the slow, the fast), about who the prophet Mohammed really was and the role he plays in the day of the everyday muslim life( whether that muslim be moderate, devout, radical extreme, pick your adjective)? How long would it take to read enough material to understand why Islam and liberal democracy cannot exist in the same political sphere? 1, 2 , 3 days?
Hugh calls it "wilful" ignorance. I don't know enough to claim his ignorance is wilful. I don't know what exactly has been presented to him by way of authoritive sources on the history and nature of Islam. Hugh's accounts seem to suggest he has been misguided by those whom he has relied to make these crucial decisions (Perle, Wolfowitz, Hughes, B. Lewis). Perhaps it can be attributed to just laziness in not wanting to endeavor a study into Islam they way I did, and many readers here at JW probably have, on their own for nothing more than sheer curiousity over the burning question that loomed after 9/11- Why do they hate us so much?
I wish I had been as informed as reader supercargo on 9/11/01.
OK, so we all disdain GWB. Where do we go? Is there any presidential candidate out there right now so much different from him that might not be as ignorant? Has anyone besides Tancredo suggested a different strategy in Iraq? I know many say Tancredo "gets it". But where is that evidence and what the hell is he waiting for to send out a sign that he gets it? Fred Thompson shines some light on getting it lately by attacks on CAIR and very positive review of Ayeen Hirsi-Ali's "Infidel".
If this or that candidate really gets it about the real jihad, about the real threat of the spread of Islam, they need to speak up and not be afraid to.
They don't have to openly announce a general condemnation of Islam. They can send signals. Is there a MORE important issue today than the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and how the country will or will not continue with the current policies? Have we heard a single candidate mention the threat to our own security if the current trends in Europe continue? I know people find abortion, immigration, social security to be very important issues, but they simple are not as important as the continued spread of Islam and jihadist idealogy throughout the world.
I am doing what I can to make sure our next president is not as ignorant. I write plenty of emails to politicians and the media. A reader here (PEZ?) describes his/her effots by hand delivering letters to politicians offices. More of this is needed. I started an email list of friends, family & acquantances and send them articles occasionally (mainly those found here at JW/DW). My list is growing. The candidiates need to develop a sense of comfort so that the will be able and more willing to call out the islamic threat without fear of "Islamophobia" backlash. If others here do other things to spread the word please share your ideas.
Sorry for the sunday morning rant.
at June 24, 2007 11:58 AM
flowerknife wrote,
"Miers appointment never seemed to be more than a plant intended to force the Republican Party to demand who they really wanted for the Supreme Court."
Disagree. the miers nomination was a clear example of bush placing, or trying to place, cronies -- even incompetent ones -- in high offices. Remember that there had been earlier talk of his wanting that incompetent ass/lackey AG Alberto Gonzalez to sit on the Supreme Court. And don't forget the 1st lady's appearance on the morning shows where she agreed that the conservative opposition to the miers' nomination stemmed in part from gender bigotry. yet another example of bush's MO of sliming those who disagree with his policies, instead of meeting their objections with reasoned argument.
re: the immigration issue & the war. He speaks often of the need for a more-or-less open border to prevent the inhumanity of separating illegals from their families. hey, bush! What about the permanent separation of our dead soldiers in iraq from their families? What about the forced separation of our troops from their families due to the seemingly interminable extension of their tours of duty in the iraqi quagmire? The sooner bush leaves office, the better. and I don't give a danm how he leaves office.
Posted by: sheik yer booty at June 24, 2007 12:08 PM
Take the "hill" (village, city, etc.), leave the hill, lose the hill.
Take it again; leave; lose it again.
This plan never works.
You cannot do these kinds of operations with too few troops in the first place, so the Iraq Plan was doomed from the start.
Wasting lives to "patrol" what you will not secure is old-fashioned "cannon fodder" lunacy.
I thought this lesson was learned in the trenches of WW I.
Conquer the area, then move on to conwuer the next. Not "move in and then move back out".
The terrorists can filter away (or literally go underground) until our troops pass through and leave, then the jihadists re-emerge.
And plant new IED's for the next group of soldiers sent in on the next fool's mission.
If we cannot sent enough troops to do the Big Job, then just use the Coalition forces we have go secure the oil fields, and the Kurdish region, and then let the rest of Iraq have at it with their Sunni-Shi'ite 1300 year old madness.
We can watch Islam in action from relative safety.
And not have our bravest die for it for nothing.
at June 24, 2007 12:30 PM
Some great responses I've read today, for instance supercargo and special_guest have made good points, however.
I think the war could have been managed a lot better if we had clear and true goals. Bush has to state very clear and loud that Saudies are SOBs not to be trusted. Bush aint gonne say that, his cronies have vested interest over there. I figured that we are fighting in Iraq not really to make a better place, we hope that will be an outcome, we are fighting a corporative battle on behalf of Cheney and co. We have lost nearly 4000 service people in a country that doesn't deserve a single American life. The target 'saudies' are the one's we missed.
If Bush goes, we don't have a real strong candidate to replace him. I do not trust Obama Barrack, sounds too much like Osamma and Iraq.
Robert, why don't you give it try buddy?
Posted by: MusHuntCowboy at June 24, 2007 4:02 PM
"The Surge" turns out to be mostly a surge in U.S. casualties with little to show for it. Nor will there be much more to show for it come September other than another couple of hundred casulties.
at June 25, 2007 12:37 AM
Typekey SUCKS LATELY!!! I don;t even know where to come back to once I've gotten the typekey error..!!
I KNOW I am not the only one... :-)
Scru the Jehad!!!!!!
Here's what I wrote earlier:
We in Europe are held fast, enslaved by our need for Arab oil, we are no longer masters of our own house.
Posted by: Holger Dansker
You mqay probably not like us German Rabble very much, Holger Dansker.. BUT this time we REALLY DON'T GIVE A SHIT WHO HAS US AS YOUR ALLIES!!!
We are going to BE THERE - like it or not!
ALL of Europe wishes for Britain to BREATHE FREELY!!!
We consider you our BROTHERS and our Sisters in this brutal and yet un-declared War we are in!!
One good thing this time: The Allies will have home in ALL of our lands..
Bad thing is: So will our ENEMIES, both foreign and domestic.
Posted by: Allahfanculo at June 25, 2007 2:50 AM
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