Clipmarks | BartendingBear's 'iraq' clips

War Dead Out Of Sight & Out Of Mind = BushCo Likes It That Way

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 04:47:09 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: Arlington whistle-blower fired for trying to allow media access to military funerals.

Clip Source: thinkprogress.org

On April 24, the Washington Post’s Dana Milbank reported on the Pentagon’s effort to keep media out of earshot and photo range of the funeral of Lt. Col. Billy Hall, the 4,011th American to die in Iraq. Milbank wrote that Gina Gray, Arlington’s new director of public affairs, “pushed vigorously to allow the journalists more access to the service yesterday — but she was apparently shot down by other cemetery officials.”

Today, Milbank reports that Gray was demoted and then fired by the Army for trying to investigate the restrictions on the media:

Gray told Milbank that Arlington’s deputy superintendent “has been calling the families of the dead to encourage them not to allow media coverage at the funerals — a charge confirmed by a high-ranking official at Arlington, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.”

Last month, CBS’s Lara Logan said she believed “the soldiers feel forgotten” because Americans don’t understand the harshness of the Iraq war.

International Red Cross: Iraq Citizens In Dire Situation

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 04:41:33 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: So, how's that surge helping them to their feet again?

Clip Source: uruknet.info

BAGHDAD, July 9 (UPI) -- Internally displaced Iraqis, especially women and children, face a dire humanitarian situation, the head of the International Red Cross in Iraq said.

In an interview with the International Rescue Committee, Aidan Goldsmith, who heads the relief effort in Iraq, said the people of Iraq need more help than ever.

"It would not be a stretch to describe the situation for ordinary Iraqis as dire, and as time goes on, the circumstances are not improving," he said.

He categorized women and children as the most vulnerable of the Iraqi people, saying the educational and health facilities in Iraq are in decline, putting the social climate in a state of despair.

Many families in Iraq are afraid to send their children to schools. Children who do attend classes must attend in shifts, considering the lack of classroom capacity.

Powerful Iraqi Cleric Flirting With Shiite Militant Message

Fri, 23 May 2008 18:18:20 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: "Let's surge again, like we did last summer. Let's surge again like we did last year." Sing it Chubby!

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

BAGHDAD - Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric has been quietly issuing religious edicts declaring that armed resistance against U.S.-led foreign troops is permissible — a potentially significant shift by a key supporter of the Washington-backed government in Baghdad.

AP Photo: Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini Al-Sistani, enters a room in Al-Abdaly on...

The edicts, or fatwas, by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani suggest he seeks to sharpen his long-held opposition to American troops and counter the populist appeal of his main rivals, firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army militia.

So far, al-Sistani's fatwas have been limited to a handful of people. They also were issued verbally and in private — rather than a blanket proclamation to the general Shiite population — according to three prominent Shiite officials in regular contact with al-Sistani as well as two followers who received the edicts in Najaf.

Atheist Army Spc. Exposed As Athiest Now Needs Bodyguard

Fri, 16 May 2008 06:10:35 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: Sent home from Iraq because the Army can't ensure his safety from our own military.

Clip Source: www.tampabay.com

Maybe the reason the misperception persists that there are no atheists in foxholes is that nonbelievers must either shut up about their views or be hounded out of the military.

Just ask Army Spc. Jeremy Hall, who is making a splash in the news because of the way his atheism was attacked by superiors and fellow soldiers while he was risking his life in service to his country.

Hall, 23, served two combat tours in Iraq, winning the Combat Action Badge. But he's now stationed at Fort Riley, Kan., having been returned stateside early because the Army couldn't ensure his safety.

There is something deeply amiss when we send soldiers on a mission to engender peaceful coexistence between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, yet our military doesn't seem able to offer religious tolerance to its own.

This is nothing new to Mikey Weinstein

a former Air Force judge advocate general

Weinstein

has collected nearly 8,000 complaints

from Christian members

tired of being force-fed

evangelical fundamentalism.

Tags: religion, hypocrisy, coercion

BushCo's "Gross Incompetence" Cost Billions - Ex US Commander In Iraq

Sun, 04 May 2008 01:08:02 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: Would someone PLEASE IMPEACH THESE ASSHATS!!! This ineptitude isn't criminal, but they have done more than enough that is. HANG 'EM HIGH!

Clip Source: rawstory.com

In a new memoir set to be published May 6, the former commander of US forces in Iraq provides new intimate details of the goings-on at high levels of the Bush Administration in the first year of the Iraq war.

His sharp tongued conclusion: "Hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars were unnecessarily spent, and worse yet, too many of our most precious military resource, our American soldiers, were unnecessarily wounded, maimed, and killed as a result. In my mind, this action by the Bush administration amounts to gross incompetence and dereliction of duty."

Sanchez commanded the US military in Iraq from 2003-2004. The three-star general was relieved of his commander in 2004 following the Abu Ghraib scandal, and in 2005, was told his career was over and he wouldn't be promoted to a fourth star.

US "...was clueless on counterinsurgency" - Paul Wolfowitz

Thu, 01 May 2008 21:55:17 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: Intel? We don't need no stinkin' intel! We can ride in on our horses while wearing our cowboy hats and shoot the place up, though.

Clip Source: www2.nysun.com

Paul Wolfowitz, in his first public remarks on the Iraq war in years, said the American government was "pretty much clueless on counterinsurgency" in the first year of the war.

The former deputy secretary of defense said yesterday that the force sent to Iraq was adequate for fighting Saddam Hussein's military, citing the speed with which American troops toppled the regime. But Mr. Wolfowitz said no one in the Bush administration anticipated that Saddam would order his security services to wage an insurgency after their formal defeat on the battlefield.

his remarks yesterday have special relevance, because in the run-up to the war, the deputy secretary of defense downplayed testimony from a retired Army chief of staff, General Eric Shinseki, who told Congress that postwar stabilization operations would require several hundred thousand troops.

On February 27, 2003, Mr. Wolfowitz told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the estimate was "wildly off the mark."

A Litany of BushCo. Lies About Iraq

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 19:11:20 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: Video tape is a wonderful thing.

Clip Source: whatthe.blogetery.com

[Video]

Compilation of lies the Bush administration told leading up to the Iraq war, the lies they told during the war to cover up the initial lies, then the admissions of lying when they were all lied out! Watch how certain Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Powell, Rice, and Wolfowitz were about things initially, only to later act as though there was no possible way to be certain.
They are trying to lie their way into war with Iran…DON’T BUY IT PEOPLE!

Would You Close A Local US School To Pay For Iraq?

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 19:30:04 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: Some communities are facing this question at this very moment.

Clip Source: www.ourfuture.org

When Gen. David Petraeus testifies today about the status of the Iraq occupation, I'll be thinking about my neighborhood elementary school.

Because the Bridge Street School in Northampton, Mass., may have to close for lack of funds, while we continue to waste billions on a failed foreign policy.

My town is facing a shortfall in our school budget between $800,000 to $1 million. We are forced with a choice between closing an entire school, which doesn't even make up the entire gap, or a series of cuts across the entire school district, including teaching positions, school buses, special education, music and arts education and supplies.

Across Massachusetts, cities and towns face the prospect of deep cuts in what appears to be the grimmest fiscal year since 2003. Local revenue and state aid can't keep up with such rapidly rising expenses as employee health insurance, heating oil, and even street paving. School costs, like special education requirements, are sapping local budgets.

Adm. Fallon - Top US Commander For Iraq War Resigns

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 00:38:25 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: A fighting admiral resigns because of the perception he disagrees with Bush? Something is smelly.

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

Adm. William Fallon, the top U.S. commander for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, will retire because of misperceptions he disagrees with the Bush administration on Iran, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday.

Fallon asked to retire after a magazine article portrayed him as challenging President George W. Bush on Iran policy. The article in Esquire magazine suggested Fallon was pushing the administration to avoid war with Iran.

"Recent press reports suggesting a disconnect between my views and the President's policy objectives have become a distraction at a critical time and hamper efforts in the CENTCOM region," Fallon said in a statement.

"And although I don't believe there have ever been any differences about the objectives of our policy in the Central Command Area of Responsibility, the simple perception that there is makes it difficult for me to effectively serve America's interests there," he said.

Active Duty Military Speak Out Against The War

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 18:26:21 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: Between deployments, they work to inform public of the truth we are denied by our government and the media.

Clip Source: www.news8austin.com

A growing number of active duty soldiers or recent Iraq war veterans are speaking up about the war in Iraq.

"The honest truth is that if the American people knew what was going on over there everyday, they would be raising their voices too. They would be saying, 'Hey, bring those guys home," Sgt. Selena Coppa said.

Coppa blames lawmakers in Washington for filtering the facts on the war in Iraq. She said there's no real end in sight.

"We lost really good friends, really good leaders who died in Iraq. From my perspective, it didn't make any sense, we didn't
accomplish anything, and I talked to a lot of other soldiers who feel the same way," Fort Hood soldier Casey Porter said.

Porter is spending his numbered days in the U.S. passing out pamphlets before he is redeployed this summer.

"I honestly thought I might not live through my second tour, so I
thought, you know if I'm going to die anyway, I need to say the
things I need to say," Cantu said.

He's also home between deployments to Iraq.

GOP Baghdad Embassy Operative BLASTS State Dept.

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 04:59:44 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: Calls US effort "willfully negligent if not criminal". Kudos to his sense of patriotism for calling a spade a spade.

Clip Source: abcnews.go.com

In a confidential memo, a long-time Republican operative who has served in the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad for the past year says the State Department's efforts in Iraq are so poorly managed they "would be considered willfully negligent if not criminal" if done in the private sector.

"We have brought to Iraq the worst of America -- our bureaucrats," writes Manuel Miranda in the memo, which was addressed to U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and cc'd to "ALCON" or "all concerned" at the State Department.

"You are doing a job for which you are not prepared as a bureaucracy or as leaders," Miranda writes. "The American and Iraqi people deserve better."

Miranda previously held senior Republican leadership positions on Capitol Hill, including counsel for then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.

Blackwater: The Shadow Army

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 11:00:57 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: Is Bush's private army coming to a city near you?

Clip Source: www.brasschecktv.com

Blackwater: The Shadow Army

[Video]

Produced by the US magazine The Nation.

No one knows for sure, but it's believed that as much as 40% of the military budget goes to private contractors including private armies.

There are thousands of private mercenaries operating on behalf of the US in Iraq and elsewhere around the world. Nearly 1,000 have been killed in Iraq alone, but their casualties are not counted. Nor has Congress been able to discover exactly how many mercenaries the US employs there.

One of these firms, Blackwater USA, a big supporter of George Bush, is now deploying in the US. They were present in New Orleans after the levee collapses.

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Bush's Private Army

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 10:57:34 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: Is Blackwater coming to a city near you?

Clip Source: www.brasschecktv.com

Blackwater: The Shadow Army

Coming to a city near you?

Produced by the US magazine The Nation.

No one knows for sure, but it's believed that as much as 40% of the military budget goes to private contractors including private armies.

One of these firms, Blackwater USA, a big supporter of George Bush, is now deploying in the US. They were present in New Orleans after the levee collapses.

See the complete catalog of
free Brasscheck TV videos

Obama & Huckabee Key Issue FACTBOX

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 06:18:52 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear

Clip Source: www.alertnet.org

IRAQ

IMMIGRATION

HOUSING CRISIS

TRADE

CLIMATE CHANGE

TAXES

A Soldier's Suicide - Did He Have To Die?

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 06:00:35 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: Heartbreaking story showing military lack of support for our own troops.

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Pfc. Jason Scheuerman nailed a suicide note to his barracks closet in Iraq, stepped inside and shot himself.

"Maybe finaly I can get some peace," said the 20-year-old

His parents didn't find out about the note for well over a year, and only then when it showed up in a government envelope in his father's rural North Carolina mailbox.

The one-page missive was among hundreds of pages of documents the soldier's family obtained and shared with The Associated Press after battling a military bureaucracy they feel didn't want to answer their questions, especially this: Why did Jason Scheuerman have to die?

What the soldier's father, Chris, would learn about his son's final days would lead the retired Special Forces commando, who teaches at Fort Bragg, to take on the very institution he's spent his life serving — and ultimately prompt an investigation by the Army Inspector General's office.

The documents

reveal a troubled soldier kept in Iraq despite repeated signs he was going to kill himself,