Monday, May 10, 2004
"We're in a war we don't understand...."
Image courtesy: Newsweek
"Major Combat Operations" are over? Now some US brass are saying that the US is actually losing the war in Iraq:
Deep divisions are emerging at the top of the US military over the occupation of Iraq, with some senior officers saying the United States is facing the prospect of casualties for years without achieving its stated goal of establishing a free, democratic Iraq.from "US military divided on Iraq occupation" by Thomas E. Ricks. (Washington Post via The Boston Globe)
Major General Charles H. Swannack Jr., the commander of the 82d Airborne Division who spent much of the year in western Iraq, said he thinks that at the tactical level at which fighting occurs, the US military is winning. But when asked whether he thinks the United States is losing, he said, ''I think strategically, we are." [emphasis added]
Related reading:
- Respected hawk John Murtha (D-Pa.) told his Democratic colleagues Tuesday that he feared the war in Iraq is unwinnable if the US military does not dramatically increase troop levels, provide more ground support and seek significant international involvement. (The Hill)
The Bush administration says the U.S. atrocities at Saddam's old jail were the work of a few. But prisoner abuse is more widespread, and lots of people are passing the buck from "Abu Ghraib and Beyond." (Newsweek)
More on the Abu Ghraib prison scandal from the man who broke the story, Seymour Hersh, in this week's New Yorker: Chain of Command -- How the Department of Defense mishandled the disaster at Abu Ghraib.
Torture, false confessions, the US is at it yet again? Nope, this time it's our "partners" in the "war on terror," Saudi Arabia. Read how they really get down again in "Saudi Justice?" which aired last night on 60 Minutes.
This is how many Democrats feel about Kerry's lackluster campaign so far:
Image courtesy: The Journal News
Mock the Vote: how college students are discouraged from voting by local election boards. (Rolling Stone via Catchdubs)
Almost 50 years too late, the Justice Department reopens the Emmitt Till murder case. (Newsweek)
