A war without blood and gore.

A double car bombing near a US military convoy killed an Iraqi child and wounded 11 US soldiers and their civilian interpreter. Hospital officials said a number of civilians had also been killed in separate clashes in Samarra.

A car bomb attack along the main highway to Baghdad's airport injured two Iraqi police officers and two US soldiers. (Same report?)

We continue our constant airstrikes in Fallujah. Destroying two more of the Fallujah based real estate baron al-Zarqawi's network of a thousand safe houses. These were "ajoining" safe houses.

AP Yahoo reports a U.S rocket attack killed six civilians in Fallujah:

"A family of six was killed when U.S. jets fired two rockets at their home in the central Wahda area, said neighbor Saeed Mohammed Bassem, 40. The couple and their four children had just returned to their home overnight after having fled the insurgent-torn city a week earlier, he said. Ten minutes later, a U.S. war plane lobbed a rocket that hit the Female Teachers' Preparation Institute in the Jumhuriya area but it did not detonate, said police officer Mohsen Adnan. "

Juan Cole tallies 10 dead and 109 wounded on tuesday in Iraq.

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Well, both Ron Suskind of the NY Times and Pat Robertson report that Bush expected a bloodless war:

"He described Bush in the meeting as "the most self-assured man I've ever met in my life."

"You remember Mark Twain said, 'He looks like a contented Christian with four aces.' I mean he was just sitting there like, 'I'm on top of the world,' " Robertson said on the CNN show, "Paula Zahn Now."

"And I warned him about this war. I had deep misgivings about this war, deep misgivings. And I was trying to say, 'Mr. President, you had better prepare the American people for casualties.' "

Robertson said the president then told him, "Oh, no, we're not going to have any casualties.""

How do I love thee?, Let me count the ways...

bush versus science

Park Service Sticks With Biblical Explanation For Grand Canyon

The Bush Administration has decided that it will stand by its approval for a book claiming the Grand Canyon was created by Noah’s flood rather than by geologic forces, according to internal documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).

Despite telling members of Congress and the public that the legality and appropriateness of the National Park Service offering a creationist book for sale at Grand Canyon museums and bookstores was “under review at the national level by several offices,” no such review took place, according to materials obtained by PEER under the Freedom of Information Act. Instead, the real agency position was expressed by NPS spokesperson Elaine Sevy as quoted in the Baptist Press News:

“Now that the book has become quite popular, we don’t want to remove it....”

“... Promoting creationism in our national parks is just as wrong as promoting it in our public schools,” stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, “If the Bush Administration is using public resources for pandering to Christian fundamentalists, it should at least have the decency to tell the truth about it....”

... PEER has collected other instances of what it calls the Bush Administration’s “Faith-Based Parks” agenda.

"There is nothing which can better deserve our patronage than the promotion of science and literature. Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness." - George Washington, address to Congress, 8 January, 1790

(thx ass_)

(no subject)

Perversion for profit. (mp4 video)

(no subject)

Two .mov files of combat in Mosul from Back to Iraq

"Thanks to a civilian source in Mosul, I have some footage of an attack on or near the American consulate up there, and the soldiers' response. If you don't find it impressive in its ferocity, you'll at least agree that it's loud. I'm sorry I can't stream these files. My server doesn't support it. But you can download the files by clicking on the images above.

The back story on this battle is thus: A civilian in Mosul sent me this footage of an August battle between American forces and insurgents in Mosul. The people in shorts and t-shirts are not contractors; they're soldiers who got caught up in the battle when it flared up suddenly. They popped on some body army and got into the fight.

From my source:

It's deadly around here -- we are right against the city, not out in the boonies. I wasn't here ten days before a firefight broke out about 50 meters from the office I work in. [This is the video sent to me -- CA] I've lost count of the car bombs, and the mortars are commonplace. Had two guys in a Stryker brigade killed last Tuesday -- car bomb outside the gate. Avoid this place -- do not come up here; without military security you will get killed.

These videos were shot by a soldier and given to the civilian. I suspect it was a little digital camera that had MP4 recording capability, but I don't really know. Anyway, this shows you a little of what combat -- and life -- is like in Mosul.
We've been hearing that Mosul is in danger of turning into a Fallujah of the north. When I get back to Iraq in mid-November -- yes, you read that correctly -- I'll be up north and have an embed opportunity. Then we'll get to see more of what's going on."

More at Back to Iraq