Supporting the Troops - More Bodybags

[Georgia]

Rick
Thanks for not misquoting me in your last post.
I expect insults and misrepresentation but is over the edge to constantly misquote.

True we're viewed as occupiers by many.

But if you don't support an instant pull out, then do you have any other ideas other than a vague statement that "Anything is better"?

[RickSp]

Quote by: Georgia True we're viewed as occupiers by many. But if you don't support an instant pull out, then do you have any other ideas other than a vague statement that "Anything is better"?

The truth is that most Iraqis not only want us to leave but support those who attack US troops. Nearly eight in 10 say the U.S. presence in Iraq is provoking more conflict than it's preventing (as opposed to being "a stabilizing force.")
Wonder why the insurgency continues to grow?

We should begin a phased pull out which might include UN peacekeepers or a regional force. Most Iraqis do not believe that we really will leave. We have to show them we do not intend to occupy Iraq in perpetuity.

Do you have any ideas other than to downplay the deaths of US soldiers and "to stay the course" as more Americans die in this needless war?

[PatrickHenry]

The US will be staying in Iraq.

Largest US Embassy on the planet.

Four MAJOR permanent US military bases. US is in Iraq to stay.

[RickSp]

Largely ignored as compared to news accounts of "naughty e-mails" but still worth covering even if the "Stay the Course and Lose" crowd would prefer we ignore it all together. 2,729 American dead as of today.

'Tragic day' claims eight US soldiers in Baghdad

At least 17 US soldiers have been killed around Iraq since Saturday, including eight in a single day in Baghdad, the US military announced, saying the toll had brought "a tragic day". The toll represents a dramatic spike for US casualties in Iraq which generally average no more than a couple of wounded a day, especially for the Baghdad-based forces. "I don't have any comparative figures," said Lieutenant Colonel Barry Johnson, who declined to say whether the toll was an increase. "We have tragic days and this was a tragic day." Monday saw four soldiers killed when their vehicle was obliterated by a roadside bomb in northwest Baghdad, as well as four soldiers killed by small arms fire in various other spots throughout the city. Since August, there have been many more US soldiers operating across Baghdad as part of the "phase two" of the Iraqi government's four-month-old Operation Together Forward to restore stability to the war-torn capital.

[kalel29]

Bush fired Powell, but kept Rumsfield. :rolleyes:

[bishop]

no.. powell resigned.. i've never seen any information suggesting that bush remotely wanted him gone. powell was by far the most popular member of his cabinet, even after his fall from grace at the u.n..

[kalel29]

He was forced to resign, which in essence is being fired.

Think Progress » President Bush fired Colin Powell.

[RickSp]

His new book said he was fired, booted, kicked to the curb.

Colin Powell claims he was fired by President Bush

The video in the link is both interesting and damning. It describes how Powell tried to warn the president about the situation in Iraq even as he was leaving and how completely disengaged and disinterested Bush was.

[RickSp]

U.S. Casualties in Iraq Rise Sharply

The number of U.S troops wounded in Iraq has surged to its highest monthly level in nearly two years as American GIs fight block-by-block in Baghdad to try to check a spiral of sectarian violence that U.S. commanders warn could lead to civil war. Last month, 776 U.S. troops were wounded in action in Iraq, the highest number since the military assault to retake the insurgent-held city of Fallujah in November 2004, according to Defense Department data. It was the fourth-highest monthly total since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. The sharp increase in American wounded -- with nearly 300 more in the first week of October -- is a grim measure of the degree to which the U.S. military has been thrust into the lead of the effort to stave off full-scale civil war in Iraq, military officials and experts say. Beyond Baghdad, Marines battling Sunni insurgents in Iraq's western province of Anbar last month also suffered their highest number of wounded in action since late 2004. More than 20,000 U.S. troops have been wounded in combat in the Iraq war, and about half have returned to duty. While much media reporting has focused on the more than 2,700 killed, military experts say the number of wounded is a more accurate gauge of the fierceness of fighting because advances in armor and medical care today allow many service members to survive who would have perished in past wars. The ratio of wounded to killed among U.S. forces in Iraq is about 8 to 1, compared with 3 to 1 in Vietnam.