Iraq: Teh Success Is Killing Us

The WahPoo reports that yesterday provided further evidence of success in Iraq. In fact, that particular day in Iraq was so successful that we may not have an army left at all, if each day to come is exactly like that one.


Shoot, we may not have any Iraqis, either. Then we can just mosey on in there and suck up all the oil for our Hummers. According to the article,

Two bombings killed nearly 60 people Tuesday in parts of Iraq where U.S. and Iraqi forces have claimed significant success in combating Sunni insurgent groups.

Just imagine what the death toll might have been like if we weren't that successful.

Bombings took place in Baquba (Diyala province), Mosul, Ramadi (Anbar province), and Baghdad. Some 82 people were wounded, and the carnage inspired one Iraqi spokesman to add to our treasury of unforgettable quotes this particular remark:

"Half of the dead people are still at the Baqubah morgue because it is so hard to identify their bodies," Jassem said.

Being cursed with an overactive imagination, we're currently searching for our psychoactive meds while speculating on just why identification appears to be so elusive. Possibly, the difficulty of identifying a knee or a wrist is greater if it is no longer attached to the person one might know and love.

What a terrible thing this war is. Day after day, our purported "leaders" lie to us, until even the tinpot soldier in charge of the current efforts (since all the better men were forced out for daring to tell the truth about this misadventure) is forced to admit that no corners have been turned, there is no light at the end of the tunnel, and the "last throes" of the insurgents have persisted for three too many long, weary years even as the U.S. Army is in its last throes thanks to the throe-er's friends and cronies accumulating wealth by winning no-bid contracts to give our military insufficient arms and equipment and poisoning them with bad food and dirty water.

Some people are doing something about it. Some very courageous people. Grateful thanks to those of you speaking out against the war.

Crossposted over at ThePoliticalCat

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The Shafting Of Our Patriots In Military Service - Part IV

(Time for me to put my money where my mouth is, dive in with me, the water is fine. Cross posted from BFD Blog!)

As I discussed in my last postilng I had reached a point of outrage over the fact that the Army Medical Corps is systematically mis-diagnosing PTSD war casualties as having a Personality Disorder, which then requires that these solders be given Chapter 5-13 discharges, which in turn disqualifies them from receiving any military medical or retirement benefits and which places them outside of the umbrella of Veterans Administration services.

Well it is time to put my money where my mouth is. It gives me no great pleasure in the fact that this has to be done, but it does give me some pleasure in the fact that I have figured out a way that I, and all of you can do something to help re mediate the dire situation faced by our disabled patriots. I have launched a new web site and an advocacy campaign for active duty military personnel and veterans who are PTSD casualties.

Please visit my new web site FIGHT-PTSD.ORG.

Please pass this link along to family, friends, fellow bloggers, colleagues and acquaintances. Please join me in my Army Campaign which has two immediate goals:

1. To lobby Congress to pass two bills which would temporarily freeze all Chapter 5-13 discharges.

2. Through a grass roots campaign, pressure the Surgeon General of the Army and the Army as an institution to cease the misdiagnosing and railroading of PTSD casualties.

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Peace Activists Blacklisted: They Will Not Be Silenced

[Cross-posted from BabyWhisperingLoudly]

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Putting the "ACT" back into activist media

[Guest-posted by Joel Wendland of Michigan Class Notes]

Putting the "ACT" back into activist media

Building toward the October 27th national day of action to end the war in Iraq

Dear activist media representative,

George Bush is planning to occupy Iraq indefinitely, and many of our national leaders appear to be accepting that. We know that we cannot rely on the mainstream media to tell the story of our resistance to endless war and occupation honestly and accurately.

You don't need to be convinced that we must have our own voice, and that our voices are stronger when joined together and when linked to activism.

Political Affairs (http://www.politicalaffairs.net) and our friends at People's Weekly World (http://www.pww.org) invite you to join the nation wide effort that is building right now toward the October 27th antiwar demonstrations scheduled for at least 11 cities in all regions of the country.

The marches are being sponsored and organized in a collaborative way by United for Peace and Justice and local coalitions and organizing committees.

The activist media can play a special role in promoting the marches and mobilizing our audiences to speak out in their local newspapers, radio shows, in meetings with elected officials, and more.

We request you to either carry an image, see: http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/5910 with a link to http://www.oct27.org or develop your own graphic with a link. We'd like to hear your suggestions on how to build this movement, to give voice to the organizers of the marches, to amplify the voices of the peaceful, the veterans and the families, the workers, and so on. Can we share information and stories?

We also invite you to join with us in a media campaign that will orient our voice toward the mainstream media and demand that the voices of the peace movement be heard.

If you use the image and want to be listed with us in the campaign to "Put the ACT Back into Activist Media" just send us an e-mail at jwendland@politicalaffairs.net.

As part of our mainstream media press release, we will include you on a list of media, websites, and blogs that want to speak out, help publicize, and join the October 27th marches to demand an end to the war, to bring the troops home, and to leave no one behind. Feel free to send us your links, quotes, contact info for interviews and so on.

Thank you,

--
Joel Wendland
managing editor
http://www.politicalaffairs.net
http://paeditorsblog.blogspot.com
http://classwarnotes.blogspot.com
734-547-8084
646-437-5336

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