One more to win national elections because he is against Bush and the US.
Chávez Is Declared the Winner in Venezuela Referendum

Posted by: Fran | Aug 16 2004 15:29 utc | 3

It’s getting better and better!
Transportation: Putting on the Squeeze – A rash of insurgent attacks have made Iraq’s roads too dangerous for truckers to drive, threatening supply lines
And it gets even better!
Police fire at reporters as US tanks roll up to shrine
You won’t believe it – even better!
Offensive resumes in Najaf, prompting desertions of Iraqi troops
Gosh, I better stop now as this is getting just to good.

Posted by: Fran | Aug 16 2004 15:50 utc | 5

Imagine the reaction to telling people “patriotism is psychotic.”

the fundamental purpose of controlling the use of language (keeping discussion within a frame) is to limit the scope of thought; this is essential to social control. When you respond to an argument by using the terms defined by the framers, you have already lost. Lakoff uses the example of “tax relief,” used by Republicans to insinuate that taxes are an inherent affliction. Lakoff suggests that Democrats (and any opponents of the Republicans) counter the “tax relief” excuse of relieving affliction, as a cover for enriching the wealthy, by discussing the “dues” we owe as a patriotic duty to support freedom, democracy, and the American way. In Lakoff’s words,
I would say taxes are what you pay to be an American, to live in this country with democracy, with opportunity, and especially with the enormous infrastructure paid for by previous taxpayers — infrastructure like schools and roads and the Internet, the stock market, the Securities and Exchange Commission, our court system, our scientific establishment, which is largely supported by federal money. Vast amounts of important, marvelous infrastructure: all of these things were paid for by taxpayers. They paid their dues. They paid their fair share to be Americans and maintain that infrastructure. And if you don’t pay your fair share, then you’re turning your back on your country.

— Manuel García, Jr.

Posted by: MarcinGomulka | Aug 16 2004 15:57 utc | 7

@Fran:
God, you aren’t related to NEMO, are you?
Keep ’em coming, the more the merrier!

Posted by: FH | Aug 16 2004 16:22 utc | 9

USA Today:
Stocks soar on oil news – Price drop buoys Dow, Nasdaq
CNN Money:
Markets surge in broad rally after several weeks of selling; oil off its high
Reuters:
Stocks Higher on Oil Price Relief
Current oil price 46.12 – 3% higher than a week ago and only 0.5% lower than Fridays close. How can that be a reason to rally stocks?

Posted by: b | Aug 16 2004 17:57 utc | 11

Moon of Alabama Photographic Exhibition
American armored might, Sadr City, Baghdad, August 16th
Shocked and awed? Small Iraqi boy gazes at American power, Sadr City, Baghdad, August 16th
Cowed locals, Sadr City, Baghdad, August 16th
Winning hearts and minds, on patrol in Sadr City, Baghdad, August 16th
Angry young men? Najaf, August 16th
Cowed locals, Najaf, August 16th
US military helicopters provide air cover, Sadr City, Baghdad, August 16th (Hey – nobody said it has to be effective air cover!)
Gloating, Baghdad, August 16th
Conquered Iraqis, Baghdad, August 16th
The deserted Imam Ali Shrine complex as terrified Iraqis hide from the might of the USA
Deserted Najaf, August 16th – another view
More terrified Iraqis, Najaf, August 16th
Members of the Najaf welcoming committee, August 16th
En route to work, an Iraqi hastens to a meeting with the British, Basra, August 16th
Rush hour, Basra, August 16th
Every picture tells a story eh? But it isn’t always safe to tell the story behind the pictures, is it? Some people don’t like people telling the story behind some of the pictures…
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Relatives of the U.S. soldier who sounded the alarm about abuse of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison said on Monday the family was living in protective custody because of death threats against them…
Family of Iraq torture whistleblower threatened.

Posted by: Nemo | Aug 16 2004 18:03 utc | 13

@b, pork ribs?
The markets must know that Sadr and his band of freedom fighters are going to get stuffed now that the media cannot cover it.

Posted by: Cloned Poster | Aug 16 2004 18:07 utc | 15

Phone calls from Dick Cheney – what are they worth?
Halliburton says US Army suspends withhold threat
Fran,
You’re doing great! I love the way that people here share links and information – and literature and humor and personal insights too. The world may go mad but in our own ways we can always bite it back… And speaking of humor, I see that FlashHarry has quite a team working for him!
😉

Posted by: Nemo | Aug 16 2004 18:28 utc | 17

RE: barbaric barbarcue
I don’t think this scheme will entice.
At least with short fasts: 3 days to a week, the body grows friendlier to the imposed denial.
As probably many of you know: The hardest day of a fast is the first day. Every day thereafter gets easier.
The psychology of a willful fast is far different than one imposed externally–for example by a famine.
I can’t speak to what happens to the mind with longer fasts…but…I suspect the will to persevere bites down on one’s hunger even harder.

Posted by: koreyel | Aug 16 2004 18:49 utc | 19

Any spot the main thing about the training picture here? €10 to the winner

Posted by: Cloned Poster | Aug 16 2004 19:11 utc | 21

Following the links to Joe Bageant from another thread, I found this.
What we “accomplished” before we attacked them.

Posted by: beq | Aug 16 2004 19:35 utc | 23

Custer Battles LLC
Now that is one hell of a cite:
Dabiel Dravitt and Peachy Carnehan, with Harvard MBAs.

Posted by: FlashHarry | Aug 16 2004 19:48 utc | 25

Joe, look at the pic again.
The American has rounds of ammo coming out of this ass, no magazine in the Iraqi weapon.

Posted by: Cloned Poster | Aug 16 2004 19:59 utc | 27

@Jerome:
For the full flavor of Mayberry Maciavelli’s , just Google the phrase. It’s hard to explain.
@CP
8/10 Patrol too bunched up–Mortar round would get 5.
5/17 Ditto. Get 6-10.
7/27 Turning out Iraqi motorized infantry in 5 days–PRICELESS.
Lot of pictures there. Just guessing.

Posted by: FlashHarry | Aug 16 2004 20:26 utc | 29

How can any journalist with any ethics work with this rag?

Posted by: Cloned Poster | Aug 16 2004 20:38 utc | 31

b,
You are right, we are being punked again. It just amazes me how this market suckers people in and then the hedge funds suck the money out.
Have other been being sent viruses? I seem to get them more frequent lately.
Bushie was in our area today. This idiot wouldn’t have a clue if it hit him in the forehead.
Has anyone been reading the articles about Ashcracks justice department and protesters. Their inside memo said questioning potential protesters didn’t violate free speech.

Posted by: jdp | Aug 16 2004 20:47 utc | 33

RIDGE DECLARES LAVENDER TERROR ALERT
FULL STORY

Posted by: Anonymous | Aug 16 2004 20:57 utc | 35

Juan Cole in an online questioning session with the WaPO. Good questions and good answers.

Posted by: b | Aug 16 2004 21:19 utc | 37

The biter, bit
US ‘bounty hunter’ claims FBI links
Famous remembered words,often recalled in lonely, inhospitable prison cells all over the world in between bouts of catching, befriending, training to tap-dance, falling out with and then eating, cockroaches:
“Sure we’re behind you – 100% Do you think we’d leave you hanging out to dry if something went wrong with this thing? You have my word on this, we’re going to support you in every way that we can and if anything goes wrong we’ll square things, trust me. You think we’d abandon you when you’re doing such important work for our country? The USA doesn’t work that way and I guarantee you, we’ll look after you.

Posted by: Nemo | Aug 16 2004 21:48 utc | 39

Livin’ in a Gangsta’s Paradise…
”…The prime minister’s desire to invite Ayad Allawi to the Labour party’s annual conference is one of the odder stories to emerge since Tony Blair vanished into the gangster luxury of Berlusconi’s holiday home in Italy. Maybe the proximity to the sinister Italian premier has skewed Blair’s sense of what is right and what is possible in British politics…”
A history of blood and deception
Blair faces Labour conference walkout over invitation to Iraqi Prime Minister
Najaf, city of defiance

Posted by: Nemo | Aug 16 2004 23:56 utc | 41

Being as the pony show er, I mean the debates are coming up, is anybody familiar with Denise Breton and Chris Largent, authors of the book
“The Paradigm Conspiracy” well, the most favorite part of this book for me has a section on Debate vs Dialog that is very thought Provoking. Don’t let the title of the book put you off the subtitle is : “How Our Social Systems Violate Human Potential”

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Aug 17 2004 1:48 utc | 43

Not a serious topic, but remember the link to Wonkette that Billmon had a while back, with exerpts from Washingtonienne’s blog about the married republicans (and others) she was boinking? Well… Washingtonienne was outed
Interesting article. She’s lost her job. The guys have kept theirs.

Posted by: Anonymous | Aug 17 2004 3:14 utc | 45

“We ain’t scared of your steenkin’ threats!”
@Nemo, or anyone, does anybody remember a flash/animation? a while back that had a prediction of what the nuclear missle war was going to look like in the ME (middle east)it was one of blank attacking blank and then blank attacking blank because blank attacked blank…something to that effect… anyone? grrrr I wish I could remember it.

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Aug 17 2004 3:25 utc | 47

Al Quds al Arabi (in London), reports that Iraqi sources are claiming the presence of Israeli officers with the American troops who are besieging and attacking Najaf. An Iranian satellite TV station Al’alam has also reported that 11 Israeli officers are involved at Najaf. While these ‘sources’ may be rumor-based, and I have no doubt that there are those who ‘see Israelis everywhere’, and while it is true that Iran might have its own reasons for levelling accusations at Israel, if there were any truth in the reports it will not help tensions in the region.
Perhaps the expulsion of journalists from Najaf has created a climate where such reports can be made and gain acceptance, perhaps the expulsion is not unconnected to the possible presence of Israeli officers well practiced in rooting out people from confined spaces and tunnels, perhaps there is no basis to the reports at all. I only have a link for Al Quds al Arabi that provides an Arabic account of the reports – as is so often the case in a situation where rumor and propaganda abound, whether true or not it is the very existence and circulation of the allegations that is likely to escalate suspicion and ill-feeling. I guess the link is of no practical use to many but here it is, just to let you know what people in the Arab world are being told.
Israelis at Najaf?
@ Uncle $cam
I do not know the thing to which you refer but if it is any comfort to you (?) here is a reference to a report where ”…On its front page, Al-Hayat had an important off-lead story, this time related to Iraq’s neighbor Iran, under the headline: “Tehran: Israeli Installations Are Within Range of Our Missiles.” The threat came in a statement yesterday by a senior official in the Revolutionary Guards that Iran was “capable of hitting all nuclear and military installations in Israel, in the event Iranian territory and installations were attacked by Israel.” This came amid growing anxiety in the Middle East that Israel may try to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities in order to prevent it from developing atomic weapons. It also came just days after the Iranians said they had successfully tested a Shehab-3 missile, which has a range of up to 1,700 kilometers. The Revolutionary Guards, which is among the most radical institutions in Iran, were recently given Shehab-3s….
Coupled with consideration of the item you mention, the term ‘Domino effect’ could easily mutate into a reaction that was not quite what its advocates intended….

Posted by: Nemo | Aug 17 2004 3:48 utc | 49

Was it this one End of the World, Uncle?

Posted by: Kate_Storm | Aug 17 2004 4:12 utc | 51

@ FlashHarry
Forgive the lateness of this reply, but I overlooked your earlier question – apologies.
How much training are the local ‘counter-insurgency’ forces getting, you ask.
A good question, and the answer contains considerations that are not good ones for America.
Aside from the rapid ‘square-bashing’, ‘weapons training’ ‘check-point manning’ ‘joint patrolling’ courses, which last a number of months and which also include lectures on intelligence acquisition, the law, fieldcraft, security et cetera, there are squads being trained in ‘special forces’ kind of work. So far so good. The caliber of recruit ranges from raw beginners to seasoned ex-Iraqi army personnel and from start to finish the training succeeds to an extent in producing a disciplined enough body of men with each cohort drilled.
Efficiency, capability and morale are all hostage to the amount and quality of equipment, and here things start to crumble somewhat. In addition, a reluctance on the part of many of the new forces to fire upon their fellow Iraqis has prompted mutinies and mass desertions.
And here things crumble more. It is not, perhaps, high on the list of American worries – who misses a few cowardly deserting ragheads after all? – but thus far they have signally failed to correlate increasing Iraqi resistance capabilities with the onset of intensified American training of locals and subsequent desertions.
Yes, you have it. All the fieldcraft, the military dispositions, the patrol patterns, the preferences for ‘X’ or ‘Y’ ambushes according to topography and terrain, the set-piece responses to Iraqi Resistance ambushes, the set-piece responses and disposition of troops during bomb alerts, protests, post-attack incidents et cetera, the intelligence gathering briefings, the weak spots on Humvees and Strykers, the armaments of each tank, fighting vehicle and platoon, the bomb disposal techniques, the communications techniques and channels – all this information is leaking out of the gate and into the clandestine training programs of the Iraqi Resistance with each wave of desertions.
While it is true that the Americans can rely more on some of their Kurdish levies, and while it is true that they do have Iraqi special forces, a by-product of the American training is that it has been adopted and adapted by the very Iraqi Resistance the Americans are fighting against.
I believe such leakage is usually classified under ‘intelligence and technology transfer’.
Now friend, you tell me – how good is that?
😉

Posted by: Nemo | Aug 17 2004 4:13 utc | 53

I coulden’t believe my eyes when I saw the headlines on the site of my webserver:
US Government does not accept Chavez win The article is in German. Here a fast translation of the first paragraph from the sda (swiss news service):
The US foreign office appreciates the work of the election observers of the OAS as well as of former ex-president Jimmy Carter. Their conclusions, however, can not be accepted by the foreign office in Washington, as the speaker Tom Casey explained.
I mean who do they think they are. Interesting when scanning through the headlines this morning I did find nothing else on this.Has anyone seen more on this?
Ok. now I have to get going, work is waiting.

Posted by: Fran | Aug 17 2004 4:20 utc | 55

Offensive stalls on need to negotiate – Iraq can’t ignore rebel cleric’s power
Useful analysis with input from an Iraqi academic who has spent much of his life in Najaf, now teaching in the US, plus obligatory frothing from a right-wing nut American academic.

Posted by: Nemo | Aug 17 2004 4:48 utc | 57

Torture architect defends his tactics
ABU GHRAIB, Iraq, Aug. 16 — The general in charge of detention operations in Iraq defended his recommendation, made last fall, that military police at the prison here work closely with military intelligence, saying the procedure was still being followed and had not led to abuse of prisoners.
Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller, whose proposals were criticized in a report on mistreatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, said in an interview this weekend that abuses were caused by “a small number of leadership and small number of soldiers who violated regulations and procedures and committed criminal acts….”
Abu Ghraib policy defended – having MPs assist Intelligence didn’t cause abuse, General Says

Posted by: Nemo | Aug 17 2004 5:10 utc | 59

Nemo,
re: Your link to Robert Collier
In Nicaragua, El Salvador, Angola, Mozambique and the Balkans, the United States has waged war — either directly or through local proxy forces — and finally supported peace negotiations that gave amnesty to its foes and allowed them to gain significant chunks of local power through democratic elections.
Refeshing to see a journalist with a grasp of history. The number of people killed by US actions in Angola and Mozambique makes Iraq seem like the Hatfields and the McCoys.

Posted by: biklett | Aug 17 2004 6:06 utc | 61

Koreyel
Could it be………..that what we are talking about here……….under the guise of election year politics……….is really a (not so subliminal ) sense that the bedrock cultural identity that so many have sweated blood to achieve, is now being reformed and reshaped into a zero-sum banality of self aggrandizement and sentimentality?
Could it be………..that fleet of mind sensation of real art is slowly being prevaricated, bricked up and shut up buy a blanket of loyality and fear laid across the nation?
Could it be……….that unsettling notion that the progressive in all of the arts, have been eshewed with a vengence by the minions of fascism, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and on.
Could it be…………that the opposition here has no enlightenment to make, they can show no great poem, no great painting, no great song, no great story, or great film. That they have no mirror that sees beyond the self.
And could it be …….that is why we rage against the coming of the night?

Posted by: anna missed | Aug 17 2004 7:07 utc | 63

Israeli imperialism: Sharon Approves 1,000 Settlement Homes in W.Bank

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has approved building tenders for 1,000 homes in Jewish settlements in the West Bank frozen earlier to avoid upsetting the United States, political sources said on Tuesday.
A political source said the move aimed to defuse resistance in Sharon’s Likud party to his Gaza pullout plan and to bring center-left proponents into his coalition. Likud members are to convene on Wednesday to vote on a link-up with the Labour party.
The sources said the tender package did not flout recent understandings with Washington that any new homes would be built within existing construction lines. But a U.S.-backed “road map” plan for peace between Israel and Palestinians stipulates a freeze on “all settlement activity” in occupied territory.

The US of course will do nothing.

Posted by: b | Aug 17 2004 7:33 utc | 65

@b
This could end in sanctions

Posted by: Cloned Poster | Aug 17 2004 8:02 utc | 67

Thanks, Fran. Viva Chavez! But I wish Palast would lighten up (no pun intended) on blonds. Nothing like perpetuating a stereotype. He’s brilliant otherwise. 🙂

Posted by: beq | Aug 17 2004 15:27 utc | 69

@koreyel:
Re:007
Think Snake Plisken could do the job better.

Posted by: Anonymous | Aug 17 2004 17:17 utc | 71

Bad foundations – the house that Uncle Sam built
BAGHDAD (AFP) – Furious national conference delegates accused the main political parties of hijacking a scheduled vote for a new interim legislature for Iraq, saying most members were chosen long ago in secret.
Several hundred delegates threatened to quit the conference on its last day unless the voting mechanism was changed, before Fuad Maasum, head of the event’s preparatory committee, agreed to put the voting procedure itself to a vote.
“The mainstream political parties have dominated the conference and have already drawn up their lists for selecting the national council,” said Aziz al-Yasseri, from the broad coalition National Democratic Movement….
Protestors accuse political bigwigs of hijacking Iraq’s interim legislature

Posted by: Nemo | Aug 17 2004 17:36 utc | 73

b/ernhard – is there a way we could have a permanent energy thread? The subject is going to keep us all busy in the coming years and weeks…

Posted by: Jérôme | Aug 17 2004 18:48 utc | 75

So 70,000 troops coming home?
US army is overstretched, not enough soldiers, only point is to grab more bodies to fight. Won’t come home, be posted here and there in function of capabilities.
— Scraping the bottom of the barrel : Luis, 57, with cancer, half deaf, high blood pressure, called up from the Reserve:
Link

Posted by: Blackie | Aug 17 2004 18:53 utc | 77

Any spot the main thing about the training picture here? 10 to the winner
CP I can’t guess what you are after exactly, but all those kinds of pictures represent:
1) the Iraquis as poor, backward, massed: they are low in the image, the women are dressed in shrouds, crowds with banners are figured, often prayers are pictured with people bent over. When in the front, grinning or laughing people are shown presenting clumsy slogans in English, or in weird impenetrable Arabic; their poor teeth and clothes are emphasised, a background of dust and desolation, or dilapidated housing is subtly put forward…. Or weeping, screaming, praying women who did not wish to be photographed are shown, against a backdrop of ruins. It all reminds me of Palestine. Interiors are hardly ever shown, as that would make Iraqis seem human – they have dining tables, stoves, children who do homework, TVs and nice pictures on the wall like anyone.
2) US soldiers are shown front stage, looking resolute, determined, equipped, clean bright and smart, or again, massed, but always in contrast to their surroundings (dust, dirt, poor housing, burning cars, etc.) Their teeth tend to be impeccable, their expressions neutral or sympathetic. And they are armed, big time.
I was thrown off a US board once for posting picture of a crying US soldier (head only). There was a vote. The majority voted to ban me as the picture was considered ‘provocative’ and ‘not useful’, ‘polemical’. Feelings ran very high. I also received a storm of email from dissenters. The picture was standard war photography, beautifully done. Therefore the reaction – the power of pictures, yes.

Posted by: Blackie | Aug 17 2004 20:15 utc | 79

“…It’s arrogant of us to go into a country and tell them what kind of government to have…”
US public opinion on Iraq
US Army snipers from 1st Cavalry Division at work, Camp Eagle, outskirts of Sadr City, Baghdad, August 16th
On left is Aaron McAlister, from Maypearl Texas and on right is Chuck Ayars, from Nashville Tennessee.
Grenade and RPG fodder – US troops on evening patrol, Najaf, August 17th
Ambush in Ramadi
Profiles of the American dead at Ramadi
“..…U.S. soldiers and Marines have stopped patrolling large swaths of Anbar…..”
British soldier killed in Basra
Iraqi conference emissaries leave Najaf shrine without meeting al-Sadr

Posted by: Nemo | Aug 17 2004 21:35 utc | 81

@NEMO:
Re:Grenade and RPG fodder Picture.
Though it was welded on some, this looks like a death trap about 5 different ways.
NEMO, If you want to go out FARKING one night, don’t ride in one of those pieces of shit.

Posted by: FlashHarry | Aug 17 2004 22:03 utc | 83

Promises, promises, – the ‘War to end all wars’
The origins of terror – A war that is profoundly responsible for the world as it is today
@ FlashHarry
Waaaaaaaay upthread is my reply to your ‘training question’ Another question for you – what is ‘farking’? Is it halal?

Posted by: Nemo | Aug 17 2004 22:29 utc | 85

“No, don’t tell me – lemme guess what it is. Hmmm, sure beats the hell outta me – gimme a clue. A what? A working man uses it? And just what in tarnation is a working man? Do you mean we still got slaves who work here in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania? What’s wrong with robots? They’re what? Taxes? Ha ha ha! That’s brilliant! Who thought of it? Karl? OK, somebody take this here shiny stick and let’s blow this PWT town.

Posted by: Is this a dagger I see before me | Aug 17 2004 22:55 utc | 87

@NEMO:
WAAAAAY upthread we have a lot to talk about. I want to understand all this thoughly. And I have some business paperwork to do tonight. Perhaps another night.
Fark.com is an American news service. I thought I had already introduced you to it. If not you should check it out.
Of course it is halal, and probably kosher too.
Take care, my friend.
Night All.

Posted by: FlashHarry | Aug 17 2004 23:20 utc | 89

Winning hearts and minds – all in a night’s work
”…You are my friend!” he said he shouted. “This is Operation Iraqi Freedom! You are my friend!”
A soldier pointed a rifle at him, al-Rawi recalled, and ordered, “Shut up or I’ll kill you!…”
For one family, ‘Judgment Day’

Posted by: Nemo | Aug 18 2004 4:42 utc | 91

Put your seat belts on! get ready for one hell of a ride…
——-
“Let us never tolerate outrageous conspiracy theories concerning the
attacks of September the 11th..”
–President Bush, speaking to the United Nations.

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Aug 18 2004 8:11 utc | 93

The link above at 4:07 was not to the full article. The real one is at the NYT: 8-Day Battle for Najaf: From Attack to Stalemate
More very interesting bits:

Senior officers in Baghdad, as well White House officials who discussed the battle in Washington, say the latest fighting began when a Marine patrol drove directly past one of Mr. Sadr’s houses in Najaf – violating an informal agreement that American units would stay away from Mr. Sadr’s strongholds, treating them as part of an “exclusion zone” that was at the heart of the cease-fire in the city.
…
.. Ambassador John D. Negroponte, the top American official in Iraq, “decided to pursue the case,” one official said.
…
Marine commanders in Najaf acknowledge that they did little planning for the battle, but say they gambled that they could reach the walls of the Old City so fast that they would outrun the political firestorm sure to result.
…
the division did not know until the last minute that the 1,800 marines in Najaf might need reinforcements.
…
But with the Army battalion unprepared to fight Saturday, the marines decided to retreat.
…
In Baghdad, commanders seemed curiously disconnected. On Monday, Aug. 9, a senior military official told reporters that American forces had cut off Mr. Sadr’s forces in the Old City and the cemetery from the rest of Najaf. But no cordon existed, and none would be set up until Thursday, when the second Army battalion arrived.
…
The fight became a stalemate.
…
“We put a major hurt on his hard-core militia members,” Major Holahan said. “Things happened pretty well from a military point of view.”
…
Mr. Sadr appeared to have once again withstood American threats and firepower.

Now that´s the way to run an empire:
– troops act in a sensitive area without regards of political questions
– the Pro-Consul decides to pursue, not the “souvereign” pseudo king
– commanders don´t plan before taking action, they gamble
– higher ups don´t know whats happening
– reenforcements are not ready to fight
– central command doesn´t know shit about whats happening
– the military initiative is lost
– anyhow the troops are full of self illusion
– the political fight is lost
This reinforces my experience and learned opinion from the 1980s that the US military is a good equipped force, but has the most uneducated, incompetent and overweening middle management possible.
Reading the above article and keeping in mind that the supply situation is in terrible shape – nearly no trucks come through when several thousands are needed per day – I believe the situation for the US has deteriorated much faster than thought and reported and will turn to be untenable within a few weeks.

Posted by: b | Aug 18 2004 8:48 utc | 95

Oh brother! Procrustean prosecutions – Number 29,456, 392

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. prosecutors have found a possible translation error in a key piece of evidence in the case against two leaders of a New York mosque accused of supporting terrorism, a Justice Department spokesman said on Wednesday….

….U.S. authorities had previously said an address book found in what they called a terrorist training camp in northern Iraq in June 2003 referred to Aref as “the commander,” but the Justice Department spokesman said FBI translators now thought the Kurdish word actually meant “brother…”

…The New York Times quoted Nijyar Shemdin, the U.S. representative for the Kurdistan Regional Government in Washington, as saying he did not see how a translation would have come up with the word “commander.” He also said Aref was referred to with the common honorific “kak,” which could mean brother or mister…

Translation error found in NY terror sting case
Lynchings were so less problematic…

Posted by: Nemo | Aug 18 2004 18:39 utc | 97

@NEMO:
1.How many troops have been turned out throughtout Iraq to today that have had 2-4 months of intensive US taught basic light infantry .
2.It seems to me that Iraq would need a force of 150000 to 250000, perhaps dived equally between light infantry and paramilitay police, to both support the new Iraqi goverment when it is elected, to engage what’s left of the insurgency after elections, and to provide border security and deter outside aggressors.
3. It’s inexcusable that the new army don’t have flack jackets and good helments, but you see the crap our people ride around in.
Would appreciate you thoughts on these matters.

Posted by: FlashHarry | Aug 18 2004 19:33 utc | 99