DAMMIT!!! This Is What Our TVs Should Be Telling Us!!!

[leftchick]

I do not give a crap what kerry said! This is what matters....

Iraq is officially FUBAR! And McCain wants to send more to die in this fucking disaster??? The chimp says "we are winning"???

:argh:

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

2 US Troops Killed;
42 Shiites Kidnapped;
Wedding Bombed in Baghdad;
Maliki orders US Troops out of Sadr City

Iraqi guerrillas killed two US GIs on Monday, bringing the one-month death toll for October to 103.

Sunni Arab guerrillas near Tikrit north of Baghdad set up checkpoints, stopped minivans, and asked the passengers if they were from Shiite villages such as Balad. When the answer was yes, they kidnapped 42 persons.

Patrick Cockburn suggests that such actions are not random violence, but rather are part of a Sunni Arab strategy of surrounding and cutting off Baghdad.

Cockburn is correct. The Sunni Arab guerilla movements have been attempting to cut off Baghdad for some time, and have at times successfully imposed a fuel blockade on it. So far the blockade has been stacctto and not very successful. But if they really could blockade the capital, they could deprive the Iraqi police and army of fuel for their vehicles, and then execute them. This step could only come, of course, once the US begins withdrawing. Once that process starts, the Shiites had better start negotiating with the Sunni guerrilla groups, or else it wouldn't be long before the Green Zone fell.

Prime Minister Nur al-Maliki intervened on Tuesday to order that US troops dismantle the checkpoints that had blockaded the 3 million inhabitants of largely Shiite Sadr City for the past few days, interfering with shopkeepers' customers and even getting to the hospital. The US military had been searching in Sadr City for a kidnapped US GI of Iraqi heritage, and in the end Maliki responded to popular complaints that the blockade was too much. Al-Zaman says that cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's call for a general strike in Sadr City on Tuesday had been largely successful, and that most shops were shuttered. WaPo says that Mahdi Army militiamen forcibly closed schools and enforced the closure of shops, helping ensure that the strike succeeded.

http://www.juancole.com/

[RedEarth]

1. What does fubar mean?

[leftchick]

2. fucked up beyond all recognition

saigon68 totld me that about three years ago. It certainly is fitting now more than ever.

[RedEarth]

4. thanks... I've always wondered what that means... Iraq certainly fits

that description....

[ticapnews]

3. "It's German"

;)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120815/quotes

[walldude]

5. Things took a turn for the worse in Iraq yesterday, big time

yet I logged into DU this morning and there are still 20 Kerry threads on the first page of GD :eyes: I actually have to go the the UK paper Independant to get any "real" news.

[malaise]

6. Kick

Fugg Bushco!

[Poiuyt]

7. CBS News reporting that Iraq nearly out of control

CBS video: US to stay in Iraq 'longer than anyone's expected'; PM fears country 'nearly out of control'

David Edwards
Published: Tuesday October 31, 2006

Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki is telling his inner circle that the situation in Iraq is "nearly out of control," according to CBS News intelligence sources.

Pentagon sources tell the network that General Casey will require 100,000 more Iraqi troops than the 325,000 who were to be trained in order to secure the nation. The security situation, however, has worsened and Iraqi troops have proven to be less effective than their American counterparts. Additional American troops may be called up to help train the new Iraqi security forces, and the U.S. may also double the number of advisors in each Iraqi unit.

snip -

Prime Minister Maliki has ordered that all checkpoints in Baghdad be lifted. Lara Logan of CBS News reports that some American troops expect that violence will now increase and are left questioning why U.S. Commanders would allow checkpoints to be removed now. The move is widely seen as a victory for Muqtada al-Sadr of Sadr City, who controls one of the largest militias in Iraq.

The Inspector General warns that Iraqis don't even have the capacity to fund or maintain their army. The Pentagon is being called upon to provide better weapons and armored vehicles to Iraqi security forces. The Pentagon's Inspector General has found that 14,000 small arms provided to the Iraqis are now missing. The lost weapons were never registered and can not be audited.

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Video_CBS_says_US_to_stay_1031.html

[leftchick]

8. thank you

at least someone is reporting this. I hope Lara stays safe.

[leftchick]

9. the generals are predicting chaos....

I found this in LBN. It is ugly...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2589756

[conscious evolution]

10. K & R

:kick: