(no subject)

(no subject)

In a perfect world, this would not have happened: GI threatens suicide over return to Iraq

Dispatched to investigate a report of a possible suicide attempt Thursday, officers saw the man naked with blood on his body in front of the garage area, police said. As officers approached, the man yelled at them and ran back into the house, according to police.

After struggling with officers, the man told police that he was scheduled to be sent back to Iraq in January, but didn't want to because he would be forced to kill more people, police said.

The man, who said that he had been drinking, told officers that "he just wanted to die," police said.

But this aint a perfect world, and I suppose the best we can hope for now is that he receives counsellings - the VA should do him right. Problem is that if he doesn't have a group (family/friends) who can support him, the VA won't even be enough, they will let him slide into the streets if he cannot demand help or is too proud. He probably still facing the duty though...

Pentagon wants 10,000 more troops in Iraq

"the US military tells NBC it will need between 10,000 and 11,000 more troops in Iraq. NBC-TV reported Monday night that this will "temporarily" bring the total number of US forces in Iraq to 150,000. As a result many soldiers and marines who were scheduled to leave Iraq this month will have to stay longer, while other troops will be sent to Iraq earlier than scheduled. "

Merry Christmas.

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Image one and Image two.

Contrast and compare.

(from antiwar blog)

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This personal email from a WaPo report is a couple of months stale, but it paints a grim picture of a journalist in Iraq. I just found it tardy:

From: [Wall Street Journal reporter] Farnaz Fassihi
Subject: From Baghdad

Being a foreign correspondent in Baghdad these days is like being under virtual house arrest. Forget about the reasons that lured me to this job: a chance to see the world, explore the exotic, meet new people in far away lands, discover their ways and tell stories that could make a difference.

Little by little, day-by-day, being based in Iraq has defied all those reasons. I am house bound. I leave when I have a very good reason to and a scheduled interview. I avoid going to people's homes and never walk in the streets. I can't go grocery shopping any more, can't eat in restaurants, can't strike a conversation with strangers, can't look for stories, can't drive in any thing but a full armored car, can't go to scenes of breaking news stories, can't be stuck in traffic, can't speak English outside, can't take a road trip, can't say I'm an American, can't linger at checkpoints, can't be curious about what people are saying, doing, feeling. And can't and can't. There has been one too many close calls, including a car bomb so near our house that it blew out all the windows. So now my most pressing concern every day is not to write a kick-ass story but to stay alive and make sure our Iraqi employees stay alive. In Baghdad I am a security personnel first, a reporter second.... (read more at link)