Poll Iraq Inquiry

You know this thing.

Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in IraqSo, I hate to sound like a shill, but in the overwhelming (and frequently overweening) volume of literature written about this US administration, neoconservatives, and this disastrous war in Iraq - Thomas Ricks' book deserves special mention ( Read more... )

1. IRAQ: "Curveball" revealed.

2. IRAQ: waste, fraud, & abuse with military contracts. Apparently only half their contract officers are actually certified to do their work.

3. X-Files: Scratch one Chupacabra, apparently it's a bald coyote.

4. Climate Change: 110 Mayors meet in Seattle. Interesting and exciting political rumble. Of course Bush ( Read more... )

Slate expounds on the controversy and conspiracy theories surrounding NSPD-51Either there are secret provisions that address many of its glaring shortcomings (e.g. who declares an emergency, who declare when it is over), or it is as poorly designed as just about everything else that's come out of the Bush White House ( Read more... )

I got off my lazy duff early this morning and headed on in to the Farmers' Market. It was even raining fairly strongly, but I decided it would be best to go by foot. Sure enough, got there without too much difficulty, and besides all the rest I bought, I ended up buying an entire box of enormous peaches ("Fairfield"? "Fairweather"? Somesuch variety ( Read more... )

TomDispatch always posts some interesting narratives, and here are a couple of recent eye-popping ones to read:

1. Schizophrenic in Disneyland

2. Peter Galbraith on the war - and possibly the way out.

3. Planet Pentagon

The Beebs wrote about it, and here is the source material: ( Read more... )

PBS offered two fascinating surprises this evening ... first how well Robert Macneil is doing, the second is the rather crucial and frank presentation of the foreign policy choices facing the US now.

The first episode (graphically!) reviewed the situation in Iraq, titled Gangs of Iraq, and interviewed key people in the unraveling situation - both ( Read more... )

So for lack of anything better to do (oh, I could have done a load of wash, I suppose), I ended up channel surfing and came across some violent pornography that stands in for educational television. Of course, I speak of the Discovery Channel's Future Weapons. In any event, the episode was hormonally describing the allegedly awe-inspiring elements ( Read more... )

US KIA: 3,135
US Wounded: 23,530
Iraqi deaths: 34,452 (UN number)
Iraqi deaths: 56,574-62,296 (Iraq Body Count)
Iraqi deaths: 100,000-150,000 excess (Iraq Health Ministry)
Iraqi deaths: 655,000 excess (Lancet study)

US desertions: 3,000 (up 25% on preceding year)
5,000 (if includes desertions who were quietly discharged)

NPR reports on this ( Read more... )