Clipmarks | BobbyDelray's 'war' clips

Fifth, Sixth, or Seventh Tour of Duty

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 01:48:52 GMT

clipped by: BobbyDelray
clipper's remarks: If MCCain becomes president those currently in the military can look forward to a fifth, sixth or seventh tour of duty in Iraq.

Or maybe, he intends to start paying volunteers like we pay our mercenaries.

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

McCain: Only World War III would justify draft

Only World War III would prompt Republican presidential candidate John McCain to bring back the military draft, McCain said on Tuesday.

Many Americans are fearful the U.S. government will be forced to reinstitute the draft given the prolonged Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Asked about that possibility by a potential voter in Florida during a telephone "town hall meeting," McCain said: "I don't know what would make a draft happen unless we were in an all-out World War III."

Ex-Rumsfeld deputy describes Iraq as 'major debacle'

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 18:37:08 GMT

clipped by: BobbyDelray

Clip Source: blogs.usatoday.com

The Iraq war has turned into a "major debacle," a former Pentagon official writes in a report published by the National Defense University in Washington.

"Measured in blood and treasure, the war in Iraq has achieved the status of a major war and a major debacle," Joseph Collins writes at the beginning of his 60-page article.

Collins, a retired Army colonel, served as a senior DoD official under Paul Wolfowitz and Donald Rumsfeld.

Among the conclusions he reaches in Choosing War: The Decision to Invade Iraq and Its Aftermath:

To date, the war in Iraq is a classic case of failure to adopt and adapt prudent courses of action that balance ends, ways, and means

Globally, U.S. standing among friends and allies has fallen. Our status as a moral leader has been damaged by the war

At the same time, operations in Iraq have had a negative impact on all other efforts in the war on terror

The central finding of this study is that U.S. efforts in Iraq were hobbled by a set of faulty assumptions

Tags: iraq, war, rumsfeld, joseph collins

Cheney Unconcerned by Iraq War’s Unpopularity

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 04:30:19 GMT

clipped by: BobbyDelray

Clip Source: thelede.blogs.nytimes.com

Vice President Cheney, already a lightning rod for critics of the Iraq war, seemed likely to ruffle more feathers today with remarks he made to a TV interviewer as the nation marked five years of war in Iraq.

After Ms. Raddatz asked about the economy — which he said was in “a rough patch,” not a recession — the subject turned to the deep unpopularity of the Iraq war. Here’s a transcript of the exchange, released by the network:

Raddatz: Two-third of Americans say it’s not worth fighting.

Cheney: So?

Raddatz: So? You don’t care what the American people think?

Cheney: No. I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls. There has, in fact, been fundamental change and transformation and improvement for the better. That’s a huge accomplishment.

The network has posted video of the exchange online.

their public remarks have rarely been so tersely dismissive of the strongly held views of many Americans about the conflict.

More Money Flowing into Iraq

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 16:07:29 GMT

clipped by: BobbyDelray
clipper's remarks: U.S. economy could fall casualty to wars.

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

The flow of blood may be ebbing, but the flood of money into the Iraq war is steadily rising, new analyses show.

In 2008, its sixth year, the war will cost approximately $12 billion a month, triple the "burn" rate of its earliest years

Beyond 2008, working with "best-case" and "realistic-moderate" scenarios, they project the Iraq and Afghan wars, including long-term U.S. military occupations of those countries, will cost the U.S. budget between $1.7 trillion and $2.7 trillion -- or more -- by 2017.

Interest on money borrowed to pay those costs could alone add $816 billion to that bottom line, they say.

A boy rests at an Iraqi refugee camp in June. Economists say it's hard to calculate the social costs of war.

That total far surpasses the $670 billion in 2007 dollars the Congressional Research Service says was the U.S. price tag for the 12-year Vietnam War.

Tags: iraq, war, cost

Estimates on Iraq-War Costs

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 02:46:01 GMT

clipped by: BobbyDelray

Clip Source: blogs.wsj.com

How much has the war in Iraq cost the U.S.?

The most-basic estimate covers only spending to date, and is limited to budgetary items of military and diplomatic operations in Iraq. The Congressional Budget Office put those costs at about $400 billion in testimony last month before a House panel.

But start projecting forward 10 years

and you get a wide range of figures, all the way up to $3.5 trillion.

The latest estimate came this week from Congressional Democrats. The Joint Economic Committee’s majority staff released a report estimating the costs incurred so far in Iraq and Afghanistan at $1.6 trillion, and pegs costs through 2017 at $3.5 trillion. The report received widespread press coverage, including on CNN and in the Washington Post.

Republicans responded by criticizing the report for “errors and poor methodology,” but didn’t offer their own estimate.

The CBO

estimated total budget costs through 2017

between $1.2 trillion and $1.7 trillion

interest costs between $600 and $700 billion

Tags: iraq, war, costs, budget

Woman confronts Condi Rice with 'blood' on her hands

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 17:30:08 GMT

clipped by: BobbyDelray
clipper's remarks: The big version of this photo shows the look on Condi's face much better.

Clip Source: blogs.usatoday.com

Protester Desiree Farooz confronts Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a photograph taken today by Charles Dharapak of the Associated Press.

Rice was preparing to testify before the House Foreign Affairs Committee when she encountered Farooz inside the hearing room. Farooz had painted her hands red, apparently to symbolize her group's claim that members of President Bush's cabinet have blood on their hands because of the way they've waged war in Iraq.

USA TODAY has a wire story about the secretary's subsequent testimony about the Mideast peace process.

Tags: condi rice, blood, desiree farooz, secretary of state condoleezza rice, charles dharapak, house foreign affairs committee, war

Cheney Will Not Let Iran Go Nuclear

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 01:25:00 GMT

clipped by: BobbyDelray

Clip Source: www.rollingstone.com

Sometime early next year, Dick Cheney is planning to start his third war in the Middle East. According to a wide range of Washington insiders — from Cheney sympathizers to anti-war activists — the vice president is angling behind the scenes for yet another unilateral military action, this time aimed at toppling the clerical regime in Iran. "It's an open secret," one leading analyst of Iranian relations tells Rolling Stone. Even though America remains bogged down in twin conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the insiders add, Cheney still has the clout to get President Bush to give the order — despite strong opposition from the State Department and the Pentagon, both of which believe that attacking Iran could have catastrophic consequences for the United States.

Tags: cheney, us, will, not, let, iran, go, nuclear

World War III?

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 18:41:03 GMT

clipped by: BobbyDelray
clipper's remarks: This is how things get started. What would we do in this circumstance?

Clip Source: blogs.usatoday.com

Turkey is preparing for what the Associated Press describes as a "possible cross-border operation into Iraq."

The defense minister tells Reuters that the parliament must OK any large-scale invasion, but the premier's office can authorize limited incursions known as "hot pursuit" operations inside Iraq.

Turkey claims that Kurdish militants have attacked Turkish territory from bases in northern Iraq.

Tags: war, iraq, turkey

Top House Dems push war 'surtax' of up to 15%

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 18:54:41 GMT

clipped by: BobbyDelray

Clip Source: blogs.usatoday.com

"If the president really is concerned about stopping red ink, we are prepared to introduce legislation which will provide for a war surtax for that portion of military costs that are related to our military actions in Iraq," Rep. David Obey, the Wisconsin Democrat who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, says, according to Reuters.

The Politico reports members of the Democratic leadership say they'll oppose any spending bills that don't include a plan to end the 4-year-old conflict. Under the surtax proposal, taxpayers would pay extra taxes -- ranging from 2% to 15% based on income -- designed to raise $140 billion a year for the war effort.

"If you don't like the cost, then shut down the war," Obey just told reporters on Capitol Hill. He was joined by Reps. John Murtha of Pennsylvania and James McGovern of Massachusetts.

Tags: democrats, house, war, tax, surtax, spending, funding

Public splits with Bush on war spending, childrens' health insurance

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 18:51:28 GMT

clipped by: BobbyDelray

Clip Source: blogs.usatoday.com

A new Washington Post-ABC News poll suggests that most Americans oppose President Bush's proposal to spend $190 billion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a "sizable majority" support the changes to a health insurance program for children that Bush has pledged to veto.

This lack of consensus extends to the president' war-funding proposal. About 70% of respondents say they favor reductions in the war budget, with half saying they want the allocation "cut sharply or entirely."

A third of respondents say they approve of the president's performance.

"When the parties are pitted directly against each other, the public broadly favors Democrats on Iraq, health care, the federal budget and the economy. Only on the issue of terrorism are Republicans at parity with Democrats," the paper says.

Tags: war spending, kids health insurance, bush, public

Brzezinski: U.S. in danger of 'stampeding' to war with Iran

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 04:33:22 GMT

clipped by: BobbyDelray

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski likened U.S. officials' saber rattling about Iran's alleged nuclear ambitions to similar bellicose statements made before the start of the Iraq war.

"I think the administration, the president and the vice president particularly, are trying to hype the atmosphere, and that is reminiscent of what preceded the war in Iraq," Brzezinski told CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer" on Sunday.

In October 2002, five months before Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was toppled for what the United States said was his pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, President Bush said, "Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof -- the smoking gun -- that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud."

Earlier this month during a televised speech about Iraq, the president said, "Iran would benefit from the chaos and would be encouraged in its efforts to gain nuclear weapons and dominate the region."

Tags: zbigniew brzezinski, iran, war, nuclear

Clinton: I won't fund Iraq war without withdrawal plan

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 04:30:23 GMT

clipped by: BobbyDelray

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton said Sunday she won't vote for any more money to support the four-year-old war in Iraq without a plan to start bringing U.S. troops home.

"I've reached the conclusion that the best way to support our troops is begin bringing them home," the New York senator and former first lady told CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer."

"I don't believe we should continue to vote for funding that has an open-ended commitment, that has no pressure on the Iraqi government to make the tough political decisions they have to make, or which really gives any urgency to the Bush administration's diplomatic efforts."

Tags: clinton, hillary, war, iraq, funding

Poll finds solid support for Iraq withdrawal, more political pressure

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 03:29:42 GMT

clipped by: BobbyDelray
clipper's remarks: Should be get out immediately or schedule a withdrawal?

Clip Source: blogs.usatoday.com

The latest USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds that 59% of Americans support setting a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq and sticking to it regardless of conditions over there.

But Gen. David Petraeus' appearances before Congress last week did not change fundamental attitudes toward the war, writes USA TODAY's Susan Page.

found essentially no shift in views on whether U.S. forces are likely to win the war — two-thirds predict they won't — and if the United States should set a firm timetable to remove troops.

Here are the complete results.

Tags: iraq, war, poll, withdrawal

Iraq Death Toll Rivals Rwanda Genocide, Cambodian Killing Fields

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 14:21:09 GMT

clipped by: Rasmus

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

According to a new study, 1.2 million Iraqis have met violent deaths since the 2003 invasion, the highest estimate of war-related fatalities yet. The study was done by the British polling firm ORB, which conducted face-to-face interviews with a sample of over 1,700 Iraqi adults in 15 of Iraq's 18 provinces. Two provinces -- al-Anbar and Karbala -- were too dangerous to canvas, and officials in a third, Irbil, didn't give the researchers a permit to do their work. The study's margin of error was plus-minus 2.4 percent.

The poll's findings are in line with the rolling estimate maintained on the Just Foreign Policy website, based on the Johns Hopkins' data, that stands at just over 1 million Iraqis killed as of this writing.

These numbers suggest that the invasion and occupation of Iraq rivals the great crimes of the last century

800,000 to 900,000 believed killed in the Rwandan genocide in 1994

(1.7 million) who died in Cambodia's infamous "Killing Fields" during the Khmer Rouge era

Tags: iraq, usa, war, war on iraq

Greenspan Bashes Bush Over Spending

Sun, 16 Sep 2007 19:37:14 GMT

clipped by: BobbyDelray
clipper's remarks: Fact or Fiction?

Clip Source: smartclips.blogspot.com

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, in his new book, bashes President Bush for not responsibly handling the nation's spending and racking up big budget deficits. A self-described "libertarian Republican," Greenspan takes his own party to task for forsaking conservative principles that favor small government. "My biggest frustration remained the president's unwillingness to wield his veto against out-of-control spending," Greenspan wrote. And he weighed in briefly but pointedly on the Iraq war: "I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil."

Tags: alan greenspan, bashes, bush, fed, global warming, irag, oil, reserve, the age of turbulence: adventures in a new world