ENOUGH

BRING THEM ALL HOME NOW

U.S. forces take cover as they hear gun shots while inspecting the site of car bomb, July 30, 2006, in Mosul, Iraq.  (AP Photo/Mohammed Ibrahim)

 “The Occupation Has Reached A Point Where It Is ‘Delaying Defeat’”

“Col. Wilkerson Notes That He Has Not Received A Single Positive Email From Anyone On The Ground In Iraq”

 [So, now we know what the mission is.  Now we know what you’re supposed to die for.  You’re supposed to die to “delay defeat.”  You know by now what the troops in Vietnam did about that proposition.  In the words of the prophet, “Go thou and do likewise.”  T]

 31 July 2006 By Stirling Newberry, Truthout Book Review [Excerpts]

 Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq - the title alone of Thomas E. Ricks's book is enough to make it shoot to number one on Amazon.com. Ricks has twice been a member of a reporting team that won the Pulitzer; he has been covering the military for over 20 years. His recent book is a brutal look at the bundle of failures in conception, operation and execution that are the American involvement in Iraq.

 On Friday, he was at the New America Foundation along with Colonel Larry Wilkerson (retired), former chief of staff at the State Department, at a gathering hosted by Steve Clemons, the director of the American Strategy Program at NAF.

 His conclusion is that Iraq is in a "civil war," and that the occupation has reached a point where it is "delaying defeat."

 The situation of ground troops has become a defensive one in which they, in the soldier's own words, "embrace the suck" as a way of dealing with the unstable personnel situation, the siege mentality, and the complete lack of real progress.

 Col. Wilkerson notes that he has not received a single positive email from anyone on the ground in Iraq.

 When asked about what "victory" would mean in Iraq, both Ricks and Wilkerson denied that military victory was even possible.

 I've written on root causes of military failure, the most important the triangle of failure, where the drive for quick results leads to shock tactics.

 These are frustrated by the lack of decisive battle, producing frustration, which leads to the drive to create body count, which creates the expectation of some measurable result, such as control of territory. This in turn drives expectations for quick return on territorial control.

 Ricks's book amply demonstrates how this triangle has been chased around and around at ever-increasing expense.

IRAQ WAR REPORTS

‘Soldier’s Soldier’ From Arundel Dies In Iraq Ambush

Army Staff Sgt. Christopher Swanson

 July 27, 2006 By Nia-Malika Henderson, Sun reporter

 On his personal Web site, Army Staff Sgt. Christopher Swanson called himself "Just a regular Joe," and he blogged about growing up in the 1990s, and the valor of soldiers and of his troops.

 "They are my life and my family right now," he wrote on his myspace.com page, which family and friends used to post word of gatherings and milestones.  "I would do anything for them even if it means giving my life to save theirs."

 On Saturday, Sergeant Swanson, who wrote that his goal was to bring his soldiers home safe, died in an ambush in Anbar, his family said yesterday. The southern Anne Arundel County resident was 25.

 The Department of Defense had not confirmed Sergeant Swanson's death as of yesterday evening, but his family was making funeral preparations.

 More than 50 Maryland soldiers have died in the war in Iraq.

 "Chris was a dedicated servant, he was a leader, and he wanted to be out front," said Glenn Swanson, his uncle.  "He was going to be a career soldier, that's what it looked liked to us."

 It looked that way because Sergeant Swanson, of Rose Haven, kept serving.  He was on his third tour of Iraq when he was killed,

 Public service was something he learned from his parents - both work in law enforcement - and began years ago.

 As a teenager, he traveled on mission trips with members of First Baptist Church in Upper Marlboro, preaching the gospel on Florida's beaches and teaching lessons about love, honor and integrity to gang members in Ohio.  In West Virginia, he helped build part of a church, moving concrete and hammering nails in the afternoon sun.

 At Southern High School in Anne Arundel County, where he was captain of the soccer team, he was the student who spent his free period in the principal's office.

 Not because he was in trouble, but because he wanted to help.

 "He was always lending a hand, running errands, sorting mail, making copies," said Carole Nutwell, an administrative secretary at Southern High. "He was just a really happy-go-lucky, likable kid."

 Toward the end of his junior year, he began talking about joining the military, said his father, Gary Swanson.

 By his senior year, his mind was made up, even when others tried to dissuade him.

 In August 1999, three months after he graduated from high school, he enlisted. "You don't ever want to let loose of a child, but it was his decision, and we supported him," said his father. "He could have chosen any career in life, but this is something that he wanted, to serve his county." 

Sergeant Swanson served in Kosovo as a member of the 82nd Airborne Division, and was part of the initial assault on Iraq in March 2003, his uncle said. He returned home in October of that year and was redeployed a month later.

 His third tour began in November last year. He was awarded two Purple Hearts, his uncle said.  The second came about two weeks ago, when he was injured by an improvised explosive device.

 He refused to be sidelined, he wrote his brother, Kenneth Swanson, after the incident.  His troops needed him.

 "Chris' main thing was to be there for his men, he got them to the places where they needed to be," his uncle said.  "He was a true soldier's soldier."

 With his father, he enjoyed fishing and following the Ravens and Orioles.  His father said he would leave an empty seat for his son at the games.

 "He was every man's dream son, but he didn't stand out. He was just an average kid, doing what he loved, " he said. "He's our hero. ... This has brought us to our knees."

 Funeral services are planned for 11 a.m. Tuesday at First Baptist Church in Upper Marlboro.  Sergeant Swanson will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Additional survivors include his grandparents, Roger and Tillie Swanson of Phillippi, W.Va., and Peggy and Conrad C. Sloan of Zephyrhills, Fla.

U.S. Patrol Attacked In Mashtal;

Casualties Not Announced

July 31, 2006 Xinhua

A makeshift bomb went off at about 9:00 a.m. (0500 GMT) near a passing U.S. patrol under a bridge in Mashtal neighborhood in eastern Baghdad, the source said.

It was not clear whether the U.S. troops sustained any casualties, the source added.

AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS

“We Know Perfectly Well That Once We Leave A Village, The Taliban Come Back”

30 July 2006 By Françoise Chipaux. Le Monde [Excerpt]

NATO forces risk finding time running against them, while the Taliban presence has very clearly spread and its influence progressed. The fight against these rebels and their potential inroads could thus very quickly overwhelm the will for development, especially if losses in the ranks of the international forces are significant.

Already, one Canadian soldier back from patrol acknowledges, "We know perfectly well that once we leave a village, the Taliban come back."

Assorted Resistance Action

July 29, 2006 (CNN) & Khaleej Times & July 31, 2006 People's Daily Online & Xinhua & Amir Shah, Canadian Press

Four Taliban were killed during a three-hour battle north of the Afghan capital of Kabul after they attacked a police post.  One policeman died and four others were wounded in that fight.

Taleban insurgents attacked a police checkpoint in Dand district of Kandahar province. Two policemen were wounded in the Taleban attack.

Suspected Taliban fighters blocked the road from Kandahar to Kabul for one hour at Hassan Kariz village of Shagoi district in Zabul province.

Taliban militants attacked a police post in Dand district of Kandahar province, and the police fought back robustly, the spokesman said.

A bomb planted in a car exploded Monday outside a crowded mosque in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least eight people and wounding 16, during a memorial service for a mujahedeen commander, officials said.

The bomb planted in a car targeted the provincial governor and other senior officials in his administration. Gov. Gul Agha Sherzai - who has been targeted by bombings before - had driven away from the mosque minutes before the bomb went off and was unhurt.

The dead included five police and three civilians.

Witnesses at the scene of the blast said a vehicle belonging to bodyguards of the provincial governor was damaged by the bombing.

TROOP NEWS

THIS IS HOW BUSH BRINGS THE TROOPS HOME:

BRING THEM ALL HOME NOW, ALIVE

The funeral of Marine Cpl. Julian A. Ramon at Long Island National cemetery, July 29, 2006 in Farmingdale, N.Y. Cpl Ramon died July 20, 2006 in Al Anbar province, Iraq.  (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

52% Of Adult Americans Want To See All U.S. Troops Out Of Iraq Within A Year

July 29th, 2006 By: Glenn Greenwald on Saturday, Crooksandliars.com [Excerpts]

For almost two years now, polls have continuously shown that a solid majority of Americans opposes the war in Iraq, the signature policy of the Bush administration and its followers, and believes it was a mistake. 

But a new analysis of Gallup poll data reveals that opposition to the war isn’t just substantial, but is greater than it was for the Korean War, and roughly equal to the opposition Americans expressed towards the Vietnam War even as late as 1970:

An analysis released today by Frank Newport, director of The Gallup Poll, shows that current public wishes for U.S. policy in the Iraq war eerily echo attitudes about the Vietnam war in 1970.

The most recent Gallup poll this month found that 52% of adult Americans want to see all U.S. troops out of Iraq within a year, with 19% advocating immediate withdrawal.

In the summer of 1970, Gallup found that 48% wanted a pullout within a year, with 23% embracing the “immediate” option. Just 7% want to send more troops now, vs. 10% then.

At present, 56% call the decision to invade Iraq a “mistake,” with 41% disagreeing.

Again this echoes the view of the Vietnam war in 1970, when that exact same number, 56%, in May 1970 called it a mistake in a Gallup poll.

Odious Odierno’s Brutal, Stupid Tactics Built The Iraqi Resistance Movement;

Now The Worthless Piece Of Shit Goes Back To Iraq As Second In Command

July 26, 2006 By Michael Hirsh, Newsweek [Excerpts]

Reading "Fiasco," Thomas Ricks's devastating new book about the Iraq war, brought back memories for me.

Memories of going on night raids in Samarra in January 2004, in the heart of the Sunni Triangle, with the Fourth Infantry Division units that Ricks describes.

During these raids, confused young Americans would burst into Iraqi homes, overturn beds, dump out drawers, and summarily arrest all military-age men—actions that made them unwitting recruits for the insurgency.

For American soldiers battling the resistance throughout Iraq, the unspoken rule was that all Iraqis were guilty until proven innocent.

Arrests, beatings and sometimes killings were arbitrary, often based on the flimsiest intelligence, and Iraqis had no recourse whatever to justice.

Imagine the sense of helpless rage that emerges from this sort of treatment.  Apply three years of it and you have one furious, traumatized population.  And a country out of control.

As most U.S. military experts now acknowledge, these tactics violated the most basic principles of counterinsurgency, which require winning over the local population, thus depriving the bad guys of a base of support within which to hide.

Such rules were apparently unknown to the 4th ID commander, Maj. Gen. Ray Odierno.

The general is a particular and deserving target of Ricks's book, which is perhaps the most exhaustive account to date of all that went wrong with Iraq.

Nonetheless—according to that iron law of the Bush administration under which incompetence is rewarded with promotion, as long as it is accompanied by loyalty—Odierno will soon be returning to Iraq as America's No. 2 commander there, the man who will oversee day-to-day military operations.

Like Ricks, The Washington Post's first-rate Pentagon correspondent, I don't really fault the soldiers on the ground for the mistakes made.  These young men and women were in a hellish situation, and as warriors they performed superbly. 

But once they began breaking into Iraqi homes, cool and competent GIs turned into Keystone Kops, pressed into a counterinsurgency role they'd never been taught. 

So the soldiers improvised, often amateurishly, apparently, according to Ricks, directed by Odierno to kick down doors. 

The American soldiers themselves were aware of how inane many of their night raids were. Back in January 2004, the unit I was with jokingly called their raids "Jerry Springers."  Why?  Because the intelligence was often based on unreliable sources who had agendas of their own.  "Lots of times it turns out to be some guy who wants us to arrest another guy who's interested in the same girl," one soldier told me.

They were more wild goose chases than military operations.

During one raid someone spotted a picture of Ayatollah Khomeini, the Iranian revolutionary leader, lying in a pile of paper.  "Who is that?" asked Capt. Andy Depanais, a young tank commander who would have been in grade school at the time of the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.  None of the soldiers seemed to know, but Khomeini did look suspicious to them.

Never mind that the insurgency, even then, was mostly Sunni, while the Iranians and Khomeini were Shiite.

"I usually just round up all the military-age men," Ben Tomlinson, the lieutenant in command of the platoon, told me.  As Ricks writes, this had become doctrine for all of Odierno's 4th ID.

At one point we burst into a small hotel, or hostel, whose guests were said to be Iranian-influenced insurgent sympathizers.  Finding none, we moved onto a house supposedly occupied by the Iraqi hostel owner, arresting him and his three sons.

One son, I remember, protested that he was a medical student, and the soldiers riffled through what were clearly English-language medical textbooks surrounding his bed.  No matter, the youth was shoved to the floor.

Another, by appearance the youngest, was hyperventilating and coughing incessantly, obviously feverish and ill with some respiratory ailment.  On the floor he went, an American boot to his back. 

On the ride back to base, I sat next to one detainee in a Bradley fighting vehicle. Blood was oozing from his nose, which appeared to be broken, but he could not wipe it away because his hands were tied.  He was whimpering. Many like him ended up at Abu Ghraib prison.

And there, even if they weren't insurgents before—most weren't—many became supporters of the insurgency.

Back home meanwhile, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was still denying there was an insurgency at all.  Bush was pretending that angry Iraqis who might be sympathetic to the insurgency were terrorists of the same ilk as Al Qaeda.

Odierno, who allowed credit for Saddam's capture to accrue to him though Special Forces had led the operation, was suggesting that he was close to defeating the insurgency.  "The former regime elements we've been combating have been brought to their knees,"'  Odierno declared two and a half years ago.

Today, despite these disastrous misjudgments, not only do all these men still have their jobs, some, like Odierno, are destined to run the future U.S. Army.

But inexorably, month by month, the Bush administration broadened the war on terror to include ever more peoples and countries, especially Saddam's Iraq, relying on thinner and thinner evidence to do so.

And what began as a hunt for a relatively contained group of self-declared murderers like bin Laden became a feckless dragnet of tens of thousands of hapless Arab victims like the sons of the hostel owner in Samarra, the vast majority of whom had nothing to do with Al Qaeda or terror, just as Saddam had little to do with Al Qaeda, just as the Iraqi insurgency had little to do with Al Qaeda (at least at the start), just as Hizbullah has nothing to do with Al Qaeda.

And as the war broadened beyond reason, and the world questioned the legitimacy of the enterprise, our friends dropped away.

Worse, we have found ourselves making enemies in the Islamic world faster than we could round them up or kill them.

The War On Gatorade Comes To Camp Anaconda:

[Reading Between The Lines And The Lies, Looks Like Supply Problems Getting Worse]

Jul 30 By Rebecca Santana, Associated Press

CAMP ANACONDA, Iraq

Friday, July 28, 2006, 2:17 p.m. local time

One of Command Sgt. Major Lawrence A. Halls biggest worries in Iraq is Gatorade.  Too much Gatorade, to be precise.

The problem started with making sure the troops were hydrated in the hot July sun, when the low temperature is still in the 90s and the high often goes well above 110. And in this case, hydrated doesn’t mean seven to eight glasses of water a day as is recommended by many beauty magazines to keep your skin glowing.  It means seven to eight liters of water a day.

But liter after liter of water obviously doesn’t have a lot of taste to it, so troops like to mix up what they’re drinking, and Gatorade is an obvious choice.

Then Hall, of the Army's 1st Squadron, 167th Cavalry, learned that the medical staff is starting to notice an increase in kidney stones and gall stones in troops.  

They believe its because the guys, and gals, are drinking a lot of Gatorade and at the same time, not getting enough exercise.

So soldiers are encouraged to either exercise more or drink water instead of Gatorade.

They’re also rationing the amount of Gatorade troops can pick up at the dining facility to two bottles per person, whereas in the past, troops could — and often did — fill up every pocket with a bottle of the green or orange liquid.

Cutting back on the amount of Gatorade also means fewer convoys on the highways bringing the stuff in and, as a result, fewer people dying from roadside bomb attacks.

Hall said he didn’t know whether it was the medical reasons or the aim of limiting convoys that originally led to the 2-bottles per person rule, but the end result has been a Gatorade crackdown.

"Who would have thought that wed come to Iraq and my biggest problem would be too much Gatorade?" said Hall.  "Little things that you would think never matter, are a big deal around here."

Israeli Armored Corps Officer Refuses To Kill Lebanese;

Goes To Jail

[Thanks to many people who sent this in.]

07.30.06 By Hanan Greenberg, Ynetnews.com & By Amos Harel, Yuli Khromchenko, Lily Galili, Gideon Alon and Yoav Stern, Haretz

Captain Amir Pastar, called up by army in recent days to join fighting in Lebanon, declares Sunday he refuses to take part in war, sentenced to 28 days in military jail.  'He thinks Israel's operation hurts civilians on both sides,' his girlfriend explains

The Yesh Gvul movement reported in this regard that it is currently in touch with more than 10 soldiers and officers who have been called up to serve in Lebanon and decline taking part in the fighting.

While some of them have answered reserve duty call-ups and are participating in military training, they have said that they will not take part in the fighting, according to organization spokesman Yishai Menuchin.

Pastar, who has been called up in the recent reserve mobilization, stated that "participating in the war contradicts the values I was brought up upon."

The officer was sentenced by his regimental commander after stating he prefers to serve jail time rather then act against his conscience.  Pastar's girlfriend, Nitzan, told Ynet that "even before he received the induction order he was contemplating how he would respond.  He has no problem in principle to serve anywhere else, as long as it's not inside Lebanon."

On Sunday morning, when Pastar found out he would have to enter Lebanon, he spoke with his subordinates and informed them he will not take part in the mission.  By evening he faced a disciplinary procedure and was sent to prison.

Pastar's girlfriend said that Amir believes Israel should not operate inside Lebanon, which is a foreign state.  "He thinks it's an act that hurts civilians and jeopardizes civilians on both sides of the border," she explained.  She also admitted that the decision not to serve was very difficult and complex in light of the national consensus regarding the war.

"It's not easy refusing to take part in this, especially when you're the first one to do so," she said.

Nitzan also said that while Amir gave a lot of thought to this move, he eventually decided he is willing to go to jail in order to stay true to his principles.

There are other soldiers like Amir who feel the same as he does but they avoid reserve duty in other, indirect manners, Nitzan stated.  Amir refused to do this and be tried for absenteeism, she explained.

In a separate incident a disagreement erupted between an officer in the armored corps and his commanders.

The officer, who is currently in compulsory duty, received instructions to help repair a stranded tank near the south Lebanese village of Maroun Ras.

In view of the fact that the crew of the tank was not inside, the officer was convinced that sending soldiers to fix the tank in daylight would unnecessarily place his men at risk.

Eventually, the officer's commanders yielded and the repair was carried out during night hours, without the difference of opinion reaching the level of refusing a military order.

VICTORY!

“HOPE  TO SEE  YOU  IN COURT  MR  BLAIR,  YOU  AND BUSH  LIED”

[This is a message to Americans from Rose Gentle.  Her son Gordon was killed in Iraq.  She leads a campaign to bring all the Scots and other troops home from Iraq, now.  T]

From Rose Gentle

To: GI Special

Sent: July 31, 2006

Subject: victory

FAMILIES OF FOUR  SOLDIERS  KILLIED  DURING