Honoring The Fallen In Iraq By Acknowledging Them

For the entirety of the war in Iraq, George Bush banned cameras from Dover Air Force Base when our dead soldiers came home. To him, it was better that we not think about the consequences of his action and go on with our lives as if the war was something that happened "over there," not here at home. Now with a new President, we as a nation can finally start to honor those that gave the ultimate sacrifice.

KBR Finally Being Confronted For Their Criminal And Immoral Behavior

This story is just sickening, I hope everyone involved in these practices are prosecuted to fullest extent of the law, whether that be here in the U.S. or Iraq. Not only does KBR ignore the value of foreign workers' lives, they don't mind treating our own troops worse than garbage.

What Does Memorial Day Mean Anymore?

I don't know about you out there, but I've lost the meaning of Memorial Day. I know the basics, that it is a day to honor our armed forces and those that made the ultimate sacrifice in battle or more likely throughout history (particularly in the 19th and early 20th century) from the fact that they fought in harsh environs where disease took the lives of many. Yet for many years now, as long as I have been alive the day has meant a shorter work week, the "unofficial start of summer," a day to barbecue or to make a trip out of the long weekend. Somewhere in the background, there is the impetus to fly the American flag on the side of the house or apartment and the stores that have sales put patriotic decor on the things they sell.

Considering the war we are in now, and the fact that many people have no connection to it in their everyday lives, it is disheartening that there really isn't much done for our soldiers and our veterans. Sure, we all support them in spirit, even if we don't buy those yellow magnetic ribbons for our cars that are made in China. Those things aren't worth the chemicals they're printed with because they have no meaning to the men and women in uniform.

The one person that can help them the most prefers to help defense contractors and their lobbyists way before the private making a salary less worthy than the poverty line. An executive at Halliburton or a lobbyist for the Carlyle Group is far more likely to benefit the President and his friends than some grunt in the field risking his life everyday. So while George Bush makes a mockery of our soldiers, his true feelings are voiced in the legislation he is in favor of and that of which he goes against. He also promised they'd be greeted as liberators. Now look at how the locals think of us.

So as we barbecue, shop, relax or even visit the graves of our dead heroes as the soldier above did, take the time to remember how we have treated our soldiers through the actions of a President who clearly has no regard for them. Then take another moment to envision how we want our next President to honor them as well.

4000 Isn't Just A Number

Now that the death toll from Iraq for our soldiers is over 4,000 after five years, pundits and politicians take a day to discuss the number, what it means and what to do about it based on their view of the war and if it is effective or not. Often, the people on TV overlook the fact that it isn't just a number, it signifies loss of loved ones and tragically for the Velez family, the loss of two brothers. Though this isn't simply about two men dying on the battlefield, this story is far worse.

From Details Magazine:

Andrew Velez idolized his older brother, Freddy. So when Freddy joined the Army and went to fight in the Middle East, Andrew followed. Now both brothers are dead—but only one of them is being called a hero.

Three A.M., a few nights before Christmas, 2004. The war in Iraq is approaching its second anniversary, and the conflict in Afghanistan is into year four. A soldier sits in a small suburban house. He is a baby-faced 21-year-old but has a look of exhaustion that can’t be concealed. He should feel safe here. But the young man has lost his ability to reason. He closes his eyes as if to tune out the chatter from the other people in the room, and when he opens them, he snaps. “The hajjis are coming!” he screams. “The hajjis are coming!”

To those around him it’s clear that Army Specialist Andrew Velez has been sucked into some dark corner of his mind. “They’re coming!” he repeats. “They’re coming!” Andrew stands up and runs around the house, turning off all the lights. A young woman is standing nearby, and Andrew ushers her into a bedroom, hollering at her to duck for cover. He drops to the floor and slides across the room on his stomach. At some point he produces a rifle, albeit an imaginary one, and squeezes the invisible trigger. “I’m not gonna die!” he shouts. “I’m not gonna die!” Then Andrew runs for the back door. The woman chases him. When she steps outside, Andrew pulls her to the ground to protect her from enemy fire. “I’m not gonna die!” he screams. “I’m coming home to see my babies!”

That is just the beginning of this sad and disturbing article. Andrew's brother died in Iraq and was labeled a hero, but they turn a blind eye to Andrew and the effect of the war on him. This a must-read account of what war can do to people.

Truly horrific.

What's Five Years Anyway?

What does five years mean to you? Literally its a half a decade. It can be a small child getting ready for kindergarten, a slightly lengthened college career or the time to get ready for a Senator looking to be re-elected. It means a lot of different things to many different people. Yet one thing many of us share, is our nation's collective experience in Iraq. Five years ago our country was lied to and manipulated and on this day in 2003 our troops crossed the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border and deposed Saddam Hussein not too much later.

Since then, we have lost nearly four thousand soldiers have lost their lives, hundreds if not more contractors have been killed and tens of thousands have been wounded in one way or another. That means that hundreds of thousands of Americans know friends or family that have died in the war, or experience the post-war lives of the wounded. Sometimes it is hard to notice the direct effects in your community but then it sometimes not. A couple months ago I was grumbling about one thing or another when I was buying something at the pharmacy and I turned to my left and saw a young man who had a prosthetic leg. Every other part of him looked like a soldier...and I completely forgot what I was angry about.

The other day I was walking with my girlfriend and we passed the 69th Regiment Armory over on Lex and 26th. She noticed a group of National Guard troops and was shocked at how young they were. Even in our late 20s, it is hard to see people in uniform with baby faces. Those soldiers have the very real possibility of being shipped over to Iraq. It is incredible....and yet it is unconscionable.

And what, pray tell does George Bush think about his failed war? What does he gather about five years of death, misery, poverty and a new struggling theocratic government in Iraq? Does he think about the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians that have died, or perhaps the influx of terrorist organization into the country since he began the war? Well, why not ask him?

From The Huffington Post:

WASHINGTON — President Bush says he has no doubts about launching the unpopular war in Iraq despite the "high cost in lives and treasure," arguing that retreat now would embolden Iran and provide al-Qaida with money for weapons of mass destruction to attack the United States.[...]

Looking back, Bush said, "Five years into this battle, there is an understandable debate over whether the war was worth fighting ... whether the fight is worth winning ... and whether we can win it. The answers are clear to me: Removing Saddam Hussein from power was the right decision and this is a fight America can and must win."

Bush said the past five years have brought "moments of triumph and moments of tragedy," from free elections in Iraq to acts of brutality and violence.

"The terrorists who murder the innocent in the streets of Baghdad want to murder the innocent in the streets of American cities. Defeating this enemy in Iraq will make it less likely we will face this enemy here at home," Bush said.

So there we have it. More lies, the same lies and the tired rationale that somehow Iraqis who have decided to rebel against our occupying force would come over here to fight us in our homes. No Mr. President, it is you that sent our troops to fight in their homes. You sir, are the terrorist that helps to murder the innocent with your deception, your bloodlust and your greed for power and domination.

Five years to me is five out of seven failed years of your Presidency. It is five years that you have sent our soldiers off to die and many to be scarred (physically, mentally or both) for life. It is five years that you have trashed our reputation in the global community and plundered our economy to fight this godforsaken war. For shame George, for shame.

Speak Your Mind, Get Thrown Out The Door

What happens when you demand that Fox News talks about real issues than obsess on the tragic death of Heath Ledger? You get canned. And it doesn't matter if you were a former Marine either, all that counts is that you toe the line.

Al-Maliki Aide: Nevermind

The Bush Administration must have been pretty pissed off to hear Nouri al-Maliki's comments on Saturday saying that U.S. troops could leave anytime they want to. That doesn't mesh with George's surge of death in Baghdad for our soldiers. He thinks he can win this way and no one is going to convince him otherwise, even the Prime Minister of Iraq. Check out the difference in tone between Saturday and today.

From The Huffington Post:

"We say in full confidence that we are able, God willing, to take the responsibility completely in running the security file if the international forces withdraw at any time they want," al-Maliki said.

Those comments appeared to undercut President Bush's contention that the 155,000 U.S. troops must remain in Iraq because the Iraqis are not capable of providing for their own security.

On Sunday, al-Maliki's adviser Yassin Majid told The Associated Press that the prime minister meant that efforts to bolster Iraq's security forces would continue "side-by-side with the withdrawal."

Majid urged the United States to continue building up Iraqi forces so they would be ready whenever the White House orders a troop withdrawal.

Although the comments are meant to connect each other, they mean entirely different things when it comes to geopolitics. Bush certainly has considerable influence in making "corrections" from the mouth of al-Maliki. Though the Prime Minister certainly didn't like doing it, hence his aide making the revision instead of himself.

The President needs at least a couple of stooges to make his delusions of winning in Iraq continue and al-Maliki is one of those unwilling Larry, Moe or Curlys.

Dishonoring The Dead

Each soldier that falls in battle, regardless of where and when should be honored with dignity. Each soldier deserves their own memorial for their ultimate sacrifice and the loss for the families. Soldiers were honored individually at Fort Lewis but now they will join a growing number of bases that have mass ceremonies. The reason for this is due to the large increase in soldiers killed who were based out of the fort.

From The Olympian:

Fort Lewis, which this month has suffered its worst losses of the war, will no longer conduct individual memorial ceremonies for soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Instead, the post will hold one ceremony for all soldiers killed each month, the Fort Lewis acting commanding general, Brig. Gen. William Troy, wrote in a memo to commanders and staff last week.

“As much as we would like to think otherwise, I am afraid that with the number of soldiers we now have in harm’s way, our losses will preclude us from continuing to do individual memorial ceremonies,” Troy wrote in the memo, according to a copy obtained by United for Peace Pierce County and posted on the group’s Web site. A post spokesman confirmed the policy change Tuesday. It will start in June.

The Fort has lost 124 soldiers in the last five years of war, with 16 just this month. I see no reason why they cannot do individual services despite the increase in those that have fallen. Shame on William Troy for changing the policy and even more for the architects of this failed war. The President and the military do not support the troops while they are alive and fighting. Now they will not even honor them after they have died, leaving a trail of mourning families that Bush and his warmongers cast aside.

Your Typical Sunday Drive

If you drive a Humvee in Baghdad, this is a normal cruise around town. Just imagine being terrified of an IED attack as you knock cars around you and curse at locals that take their sweet time to get out of the way. Now imagine being one of those locals, what would you think of that Humvee and it's driver?



(h/t to C & L)

Another Day, Another Lie

It is a full-time job to take account for all the lies that George W Bush tells the American people and the world. This post will just cover one of the big whoppers. So, remember when Bush said that he was sending an additional 21,500 troops to Iraq for his unwinnable war? Well he wasn't telling the whole truth. See those 21,500 combat troops need support, which comes to an additional 26,500 men and women being ripped from their families and sent to Iraq.

DefenseTech has more:

President Bush and his new military chiefs have been saying for nearly a month that they would "surge" an additional 21,500 troops to Iraq, in a last, grand push to quell the violence in Baghdad and in Anbar Province. But a new study by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says the real troop increase could be as high as 48,000 -- more than double the number the President initially said.

That's because the combat units that President Bush wants to send into hostile areas need to be backed up by support troops, "including personnel to staff headquarters, serve as military police, and provide communications, contracting, engineering, intelligence, medical, and other services," the CBO notes.

I have never expected the President to be honest about anything. This is just one more piece of evidence to get rid of Bush as soon as possible. The country can not take this much longer.

Why You Should Know What Acinetobacter Baumannii Is

Bush and friends may have claimed Saddam had weapons of mass destruction and foretold of a giant mushroom cloud but none were found...big f*ckin surprise. After their story fell flat the excuse to invade Iraq changed to spreading Democracy. The only problem is that there is a weapon of mass destruction that was created in Iraq and is now spreading beyond the civil war zone.

Acinetobacter is the weapon of mass destruction we should all be worried about. This bacteria was unleashed from the soil of Iraq and thanks to the life-saving medical technology available to the soldiers over there, it seems this virus has been able to adapt itself to fight off anything we have available.



The original story was written by Wired Magazine and if you have the time I highly recommend you read all 7000 words or so. The work that went into the article is nothing short of fantastic and covers everything imaginable on the topic. RawStory followed by Crooks & Liars posted about the topic yesterday. This bacteria preys on the sick, wounded, young and old. It is affecting our troops that have been wounded in battle and anyone that cannot protect themselves against it.

From RawStory:

A drug-resistant bacteria that is infecting wounded US soldiers in Iraq -- and has spread to civilian hospitals in parts of Europe -- accidentally evolved in US military hospitals in Iraq, Wired Magazine will report in a massive expose on Monday, RAW STORY has learned.

......

The several thousand word expose is set to bring uncomfortable new light to the bacteria Acinetobacter baumannii that Pentagon officials previously said was likely a product of Iraqi soil.

"By creating the most heroic and efficient means of saving lives in the history of warfare, the Pentagon had accidentally invented a machine for accelerating bacterial evolution and was airlifting the pathogens halfway around the world," the magazine reveals.

The Wired article details the story of a young twenty year old marine named Jonathan Gadsden who was injured in Anbar province in the summer of 2004. Usually his injuries would have been fatal but he was treated by medics who quickly arrived on the scene. He was taken to a nearby hospital and stabilized before being flown to Germany for further work and then on to Bethesda Naval Hospital.

As Jonathan recovered from his wounds the Acinetobacter baumannii developed in his body undetected. His friends took him out of the hospital to a Redskins game and he was slowly returning to normal, only something was still wrong.

From Wired:

But he still had mysterious symptoms that he couldn't shake, like headaches, rashes, and intermittent fevers. His doctors gave him CT scans, laxatives, methadone, beta-blockers, Xanax, more surgery, and more antibiotics. An accurate evaluation of his case was difficult, however, because portions of his medical records never arrived from Bethesda. If they had, they would have shown a positive test for a kind of bacteria called Acinetobacter baumannii.

In the taxonomy of bad bugs, acinetobacter is classified as an opportunistic pathogen. Healthy people can carry the bacteria on their skin with no ill effects - a process known as colonization. But in newborns, the elderly, burn victims, patients with depressed immune systems, and those on ventilators, acinetobacter infections can kill. The removal of Gadsden's spleen and the traumatic nature of his wounds made him a prime target.

Shortly afterwards Jonathan became gravely ill. On October 18th of 2004, less than two months after he was airlifted from the scene of battle, the 20 year-old marine suffered a seizure and a heart attack, eventually rendering him brain-dead. By October 22nd they switched off the life support system, officially ending the young man's time on this earth.

Afterwards the Marine Corp officially said Jonathan died of wounds attributed to enemy action, though an investigation was launched with the help of Rep. Bill Young.

Over 700 troops are reported to have carried the disease since the invasion was begun. Non-military patients have also contracted the deadly bug while being treated in the same hospitals as the infected troops. The Defense department has tried to keep this under the radar but thankfully we have magazines like Wired to broadcast this essential information.

Bush Gets Cool Reception From Censored Soldiers

Now that we are nearly four years into the quagmire that is Iraq, public attitudes are changing towards the war. The American public is now solidly against it. Democrats in D.C. are now against it (Lieberman obviously doesn't count as a Dem). Even moderate Republicans like Smith and Hagel are coming out against it.

The most fervent supporters of the troops have always been the troops. We here on the left care about them and want them home, wingnuts claim to care about them by sticking magnets on their SUVs and wanting more of them to be in harm's way to win an unwinnable war. Yet it is the soldiers' duty to protect his brothers and sisters who fight on the front line. It is their duty to support the commander-in-chief as he leads them into war.

For years the troops gave the President enthusiastic responses. Bush has relied on using our troops as a backdrop to his misbegotten policy blunders to give an illusion of support. On Thursday, January 11th 2007, this wasn't the case.

Except for the grilling Rumsfeld received by soldiers asking for body armor, the troops have been highly supportive of the President and especially when he visits them face-to-face. However yesterday wasn't that day over at Fort Benning.

Buried on page A12 by WaPo:

Soldiers being soldiers, those who met the commander in chief Thursday saluted smartly and applauded politely. But it was hardly the boisterous, rock-star reception Bush typically gets at military bases. During his lunchtime speech, the soldiers were attentive but quiet. Not counting introduction of dignitaries, Bush was interrupted by applause just three times in 30 minutes -- once when he talked about a previous Medal of Honor winner from Fort Benning, again when he pledged to win in Iraq and finally when he repeated his intention to expand the Army.

The soldiers are told to be a good audience for the President, but they do not have to go over the top. Being polite is sufficient for the commanders. However those commanders were still wary of their troops' opinions of Bush and decided to silence them from talking with reporters.

Eventually frustrated journalists were allowed to speak with a few selected soldiers. A hand-picked few hardly represented how these brave men and women feel about the President's recent decision to send the 3rd Brigade Combat Team from the 3rd Infantry Division back to Iraq, two months earlier than previously reported.



Another typical PR move by the White House. The President gets his photos without hearing how the troops really feel about the escalation Bush has saddled our military with. As the military's support for the war plunging, expect more cool responses to come.

David Greene from NPR reported on this story as well, listen to it here.