Why don't you come on back to the war, let's all get nervous...

[yes_justice]

Now that our WMD assertions have been discounted by everyone except the most dug in hawks (even John Edwads admits his mistake supporting WMD claim), Blairs 45 minute claim is declared FALSE:

"Jack Straw today revealed that the intelligence services have withdrawn the controversial claim that Iraqi weapons of mass destruction could be ready within 45 minutes"
...
"he ducked a question from former foreign secretary Robin Cook that "two-thirds of Iraqi civilians killed in the past six months have been from coalition bombing"."

Zero help to the slaughtered. The war was fueled by the false claim.

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While the United States elections are delaying a major military assualt in Iraq, the minor military assualts are in full rage.

U.S. Airstrikes demolish a very popular Fallujah restaurant, smashing nearby stores, and some civilians homes. Many Iraqi civilians are slain. The dead included a woman and child. This is how we respect Iraqis during the approach of Ramadan - with bombs.

Yesterday, a car bomber in Mosul pulled up next to a convoy and exploded killing one US soldier & two Iraqis. Insurgents attacked US soldiers after the car bomb and the gunfire injured 24, including nine American soldiers. Two US soldiers were killed and five wounded in a rocket attack in southern Baghdad.. In Ramadi, two Iraqis were killed and three wounded in clashes with US forces, appended to the fighting from this weekend and the recent mosque raids.

Northwest of Baghdad in Hiyt, US planes bombed a mosque killing one Iraqi and wounding five. Marines had come under fire earlier. Witness report a helicopter was downed. A major clash with dozens of insurgents. I bet bombing their mosque into flames deeply upsets the local Sunnis, along with our arresting the top Sunni cleric.

We are using 500 pound bombs, as reported in a good summary of the recent violence:

"US forces hammered militants’ positions in Fallujah and Ramadi Tuesday, killing 11 people, as the disarming of militiamen gathered pace in Baghdad despite US warnings of internal rifts. US warplanes struck Fallujah three times and raided at least seven mosques in Ramadi, arresting a senior cleric. US Marines dropped a 500-pound bomb on insurgents on the eastern fringes of the city after a firefight, a military spokesman said. A first raid targeted Al-Haj Hussein restaurant in central Fallujah. Four people were killed and six wounded, including restaurant staff, hospital sources said. The US military said it was a known meeting place for Iraq’s most wanted militant Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi’s Unity and Holy War group. Four hours later, US aircraft returned to strike the battle-scarred city, considered a hub for insurgents, destroying a suspected Zarqawi hideaway, the military said. Also in the restive Al-Anbar province of western Iraq, US marines and Iraqi forces carried out pre-dawn raids on at least seven mosques in Ramadi, sparking shoot-outs in which two Iraqis were killed, the military and hospital sources said. More air strikes were reported in Hit city. US aircraft attacked a town mosque and set it on fire after insurgents hiding in the shrine opened fire on American Marines, the US military said. Sporadic clashes continued through the night, killing at least two Iraqis and wounding 15, according to Hit General Hospital."

Like all war zones, disease is rampant, and Iraqi frustrations high:

"The problem of supply is particularly acute in areas like chemotherapy, IV fluids, even antibiotics. It is also worse than before the war when it comes to lab facilities," said Dr Ali Hussein, the chief resident.

"We have seen a big rise in admissions. A lot of them are from an increase in the rate of infections, mainly of waterborne diseases ... The big problem is that the Americans cannot provide security, and that affects medical supplies."

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The weapons transfer, which is fundamentally a good idea (not as good as ending the occupation), isn't working. Worse, Fallujah insurgents are saying they will fight.

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The soldiers are rightly becoming frustrated by this occupation, and our tactics are chilling:

"A senior U.S. officer, requesting anonymity, said that besides more troops, what is needed here is a "psychological operations" campaign. Soldiers should meet with villagers and convince them that they risk losing their homes if they fail to turn in insurgents. Bulldozers could clear a large swath that could be more easily patrolled and offer less cover for attackers, the officer said. There were 61 mortar or rocket attacks on the base in April, 61 in May and 40 in June. July and August saw 58 attacks each. There were 27 attacks on the base in the first 16 days of September, the most recent period for which figures were available."

Sounds quite a lot like Palestine. Ironicly, an Israeli security think tank delcared that the war in Iraq was a distraction from the war on terror:

"the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University said that instead of striking a blow against Islamic extremists, the Iraq war "has created momentum for many terrorist elements, but chiefly al-Qaida and its affiliates." Jaffee Center director Shai Feldman said the vast amount of money and effort the United States has poured into Iraq has deflected attention and assets from other centers of terrorism, such as Afghanistan "

I agree. Everyone lost their damn minds after 9/11. One thing is clear, if Bush is re-elected, it will continue to our peril.

Comments

LOL you know the 45 minute thing came from Alawi

[(Anonymous)]

Chalabi's plump little dollaho collaborator cousin.


I wouldn't count on the outcome of the alleged "election" to affect events anymore than the similarly styled recent event in Afghanistan will make a big difference for the people starving in Occupied Pashtunistan, but it may give psychological comfort to some, and in light of the situation, it would hardly be humane to begrudge them that.

DuctapeFatwa

http://ductapefatwa.blogspot.com