An AFP editorial disguised as a news story. Why?

Because there wasn't a single mention that the US casualty figures (29 killed) were the third lowest since the war began and that they continued their steady downward trend since the surge began last summer.

As terrible as each death is - one month does not make a trend. 20% of the deaths were in two spectacular bombings. You remember - the ones where AQI used women with Downs Syndrome to carry out the murders.

AFP's editors are grasping at straws - praying mightly that the new strategy will fail and that the US & its allies will lose.

These are the kind of folks who would have surrendered to the Nazis after the first few days of the Battle of the Bulge.

Oh, I forgot. They did surrender to the Nazis a couple of years earlier.

NMBill, I googled Firesign Theater, and they are newly released on CDs and DVDs. Good to know.

kathyodat

Only 635 civilians killed. Where is the sound of champagne bottles uncorking. It's probably a thousand but who
does body counts? Our choice is simple while being seemingly impossible. Can human beings renounce
violence as a way of getting what they want. Cooperation and democracy are both hard work and have no where
near the capital returns as war. Are "we" ready to renounce war???? It really has to happen with "us" first you
know. When each one of us here can renounce violence in our own lives, then the leaders will hear us. Until
then, we're just shooting the breeze.

g l tirebiter:

The US is supposed to be protecting these innocents as a condition of invading and occupying a country - in this case illegally.

They are really doing a good job, ey?

BTW the reports on the Downs Syndrome turned out to be fabrications of the PR of the imperialist invaders

tirebiter

Get your facts straight first:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080220/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_bombers

Hey George Leroy! Don't crush that dwarf; hand me the plyers! - Firesign Theater

tirebiter, you're missing the point. People will always resist an illegal invasion and occupation. Would you? And even if you're fearful of being active, would you give passive support to the resisters? The only Iraqis on our side are the puppets we put in power. The puppets tried to rush through the oil cartel production sharing agreements but the Iraqis, unlike Americans, are well informed and didn't buy it.

McCain is right about the 100 year occupation. As long as we try to take their oil, they will resist. And that's why we're there. Even Greenspan for goodness sake admitted that. Years ago I saw a sign carried by a San Francisco protester "How did our oil get under their sand". Our greed will destroy us. Look at what it's already doing to our economy, and this is just the beginning.

kathyodat

The new strategy has failed. This war was supposed to protect our country. Instead all it's done is bankrupt our nation and leave us dependent on China's largesse. After the post-surge drawdown, we'll still have more troops there than we did in January 2007. If we stay there 100 years, as John McCain suggests, as well as increase the number of troops in Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc., who's going to pay for it? We're doing exactly what bin Laden hoped we do, exhausting ourselves in a futile bid to control the world.

NMBill, is Firesign Theater still around, or are we hearing a blast from the past? It's still relevant today! Thank you!

kathyodat

WHEN IN DOUBT, BRING UP HITLER.

You will find all those albums at itunes. About the crew?

I donno!

"Iraq Violence Surges in February"

I'm shocked. Simply shocked. My God! Iraq may, once more, become a campaign issue!

Whatever is Hillary to do?

Civilian casualties don't matter and the surge has been primarliy about shipping bales of shrinked wrapped cash to groups that were mining humvees and relentlessly attacking the US Oil security forces. Elder Busch refused credit for slaughtering 100Ks of Iraqi's so it's unlikely Jr is ever going to admit 1 million dead. So, the convenient surge of lies is ongoing, with the military making up stories and widespread indiscriminate killing. Back home, the idea is to frame things in win/lose, an easy to understand lie, so that the public are further motivated to ignore a complete disaster.

Bane, but here's the thing...

Just the other morning while driving to work and listening to All Things Considered, I turned to Mrs. Clemsy and remarked, "Goodness! There blowing people up in Baghdad again!"

Just the number of 'reported' incidents are on the rise, and it's been obvious throughout the month.

Hang back, regroup, rethink, all the while getting paid in crisp Benjamins for doing so, then start it up again. Meanwhile, the guys we're paying not to do this will just shrug their shoulders when questioned and then have a good laugh at how stupid Americans insist on being.

THAT IS WHAT THEY CALL LONG TERM LOGISTICS

Tirebiter was right I think in bringing up Hitler. We invade another country for no reason except oil. We set up secret prisons and hold prisoners without habeus corpus or really any legal representation. We start kidnapping and torture as a matter of course. We use the fear and terror we create to justify spying on our own citizens. We create huge lists of terrorists. We operate in secrecy whenever possible. We even start using this weird Germanic diction: the "homeland." Why don't we keep track of the Iraqui dead? Because in the racist republican lexicon, they are not really human. They literally don't count. The neo-cons are neo-fascists. And there is no denying a fascist shift in this already right fading country. Meanwhile Halliburton, Bechtel, Texaco and their Kuwaiti cohorts keep raking in the cash. Good job Tirebiter. You have a mind like a beat trap.

It wouldn't surprise me one bit, if that number of dead isn't double the number stated. They are burying humans over there, two to a grave, whom they were unable to identify by name. There was a docuumentary on the subject last month on TV. The Iraqi operating one mass grave yard, said in sadness, that when Saddam was in power, they had up to ten a month, now it's hundreds. They put the bodies in clean white sheeting and bury them two to a grave, four feet deep, and they treat them with respect before filling in the open holes.

~TIREBITER~ like the ~Lizard~ and ~Mr. Obvious~, is one of the new Neo-Con Trolls who are now posting comments here. There are about a dozen new ones here at C/D now. They make comments such as ~Tirebiters~ here, to put sand in the gears and hope to eventually disgust and run off progressive and take over the site.

They also at times will post decent comments on some threads, in order to build up friendships, so if attacked they garner sympathy from some others who are unaware of their true purpose. They also often say they are qualified doctors, scientists, etc. They are Neo-Con scum.

Kem, even scum doesn't deserve that kind of association.

bush and mccain are right; the surge is working. Oil is surging over $100/barrel. Corporate oil and war profiteering earnings are also surging. Don't worry that our reputation in the world is surging to the bottom of the barrel.

Patrick:

You fell for the myth of the three Gods, one of which is a pigeon.
You fell for the Lincoln myth and the FDR myth
You probably believe in virgin births
You fell for the myth of the resurrection
You think everyone who thinks you aren't right is a neo-con troll
You fell for the myth of 9-11
You fell for the man-made global warming myth
you obviously have fallen for the myth of America the good: "we own Iraq"

Is there any myth you don't fall for?
You should try for a degree in mythology.

lizard,

Cant' forget the myth that scientists know more than politicians, corporate CEOs and right-wing radio commentators.

Oh, and the myth that the Earth is round and is not the center of the universe. I can't believe we fell for that one! ho ho ho!

What about the myth that you know what you're talking about? Luckily we haven't fallen for that one yet!

GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli forces killed 60 people in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, the bloodiest day for Palestinians since an uprising against Israeli occupation began in 2000.

Israel, which lost two soldiers, seemed ready to press home its fiercest assault since it pulled troops back to the borders of the coastal enclave in 2005. It blamed Hamas Islamist rocket fire on Israel for provoking four days of fighting, in which dozens of civilians have been among the 95 Palestinians killed.

The U.N. Security Council prepared to meet in New York and a U.N. official in Gaza appealed for international action to end the "inhuman suffering" of its 1.5 million people.

A day after an Israeli official warned Gazans of a "shoah" -- which typically means holocaust -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a sworn enemy of Gaza's Hamas rulers, called it "more than a holocaust".

---------------------------------------

Prescot Bush helped pay for the first Holocaust.
George Bush and the AIPAC are helping pay for the second.

I just got back from hearing one of the twenty something guys who had served in Iraq speak on the "war". Most news outlets have not been telling the story of what's really been going on over there just in case there was any doubt.
http://ivaw.org./wintersoldier
p.s. and oh by the way, NO, the Iraqi people do not want us over there.

my dear friend Kem, remember the mantra: don't feed the trolls.

kathyodat

Just in case not everyone knows this, or followed the link provided by peoplefirst - Tirebiter's assertion that "AQI used women with Downs Syndrome to carry out the murders" is false. This rumor was blathered very loudly by right-wing commentators (and is still being blathered by trolls), but even the US has admitted the bombers did not have Downs syndrome.

I'm not feedin em Kathy, I'm pointin em out. You know how fast rodents breed and they're very destructive.

I see the "Doctor" "PHD", "Scientist" is trolling here.

Kathyodat: I'm confused. You are a friend of aggressive, intrusive, foul mouthed Patrick? I had you pegged as cool. And am I one of the trolls you don't want to feed? Hmmm. I like your comments. And I love firesign theater. Ruthlessly, I wonder where Ruth is? I wonder why there is so much desire to create enemies and get into fights. Why does a difference of opinion get you called a moron and idiot. Isn't this the same us vs them mentality that got us into this mess in the first place? There are trolls everywhere, and evil people, and shills for this and that. Suspicion and anger and a desire to demean the opponent. How utterly senseless, when posters are all amongst the brightest people, including Mr.Patrick, who obviously means well and genuinely seems to care. Alas, disagreeing with him invites a stream of invective and anger and personal allusions.

Hey ~Kathy~, go to last Saturdays article titled, "GM Exec Says, Global Warming Is A Crock Of Shit". About 400 commnets were posted. Doctor Lizard posted over 60 on monday, and another 20 on other threasds. He agreed with the GM exec as he also denies the global warming issue. Several other bloggers told the liz off and did it quite well. He went from being a practicing MD to a scientist. He's a nutcase besides being a troll. He's attempting to make friends here.

Which progressive site is it that banned you and you are so proud of that ~Lizard~? Ever since you have been trolling here at CD. Your kind of Neo-con detractors don't deserve any civility or respect.

That artilce about the General Motors exec is in the archives. ~Namaste~ really nailed Lizard good. Now maybe we can return to this good article and blog some decent comments about the subject and leave Abraham Lincoln alone.

The so called surge was never intended for the Iraqi people it was to bring American casualties down for political – election reasons.

Not good news for McCain, whose credibility rests on his "I told you so" assertion that the surge is working.

According to the DOD casualty site U.S. Soldier's death are also on the rise. A low of 23 in Dec., 40 in Jan., 29 in Feb. Between Dec. 30 and Feb. 24 there were 72 American G.I.s killed!

Bush and company are just trying to save some American lies (not lives).

Nutsy Bush and the great coward Cheney have blundered into the greatest nightmare in US military history and are completely clueless about extricating the nation (from the mess.) They have no doubt both drifted into insanity, without a cure. Maybe psychotropic drugs are the answer. Bush should be placed in Iraq to lead, as commander-in-chief implies. The Iraqi's would hang him high, in the style of the tyrant Saddam, (or Clint Eastwood).

lizard, so you think man made global warming is a myth?

You think Kem believes we are entitled to Iraq's oil?

Where's the proof?

I appreciate you liking my comments, but I don't approve of you or Kem throwing bricks at one another. I think we get further with civil discourse.

And yes, I am Kem's friend, even if I don't always approve of his behavior. Maybe if I knew you better I would be a friend of yours, while not always approving of your behavior.

kathyodat

brant cloyd, Bush and Cheney aren't concerned about extricating us from the Iraq mess. They have no intention of leaving until we have extricated all of Iraq's oil. Iraqis will continue to die until we can help ourselves to their oil without resistance, or they sign the production sharing agreements which they show no sign of doing. Would we do any less in their position?

I wonder if Americans were fully aware of what we are doing if they would feel ashamed? I shouldn't even have to wonder, but I do.

I know Americans want to think of themselves as decent people, but they accomplish it by looking the other way.

kathyodat

This is off subject again, but should be importnat. That comment by ~Lizard~ that I wish to see us take over Iraq's oil, is a prime example of why he and others who have recently invaded this site, should be shunned entirely.

Police use such tactics to disrupt left wing, or progressive organizations, before you know it, they have us fighting one another and it's all to their delight and for the Bushies and Neo-cons benefit.

Never, ever, have I ever said anything here at CD about the war and occupation of Iraq, but that it was and is, an illegal act and a crime against humanity. You who know me all know that is so. So here comes the Lizard with his lies and disruptive comments. Not all of his are, but many. He and his friends are working together here,they are smart. Now some may say I or we should ignore them. That's like ignorng a rattle snake in the tent.

I can do that, I lived 71 years before I ever heard of Common Dreams. I may ignore from now on. But don't be surprised, to see this fine forum horribly disrupted someday. It already is happening, like a plague. New comers have already made comments here, after reading posts from the Lizard and his friends, that if this is the type of forum we have, they want no part of it.

The truth is, we have spread so much depleted ammo, __ (DU) __ in Iraq, that we have killed everyone who has been there, or lives there. Most aren't dead yet, but we certainly have shortened their lives, includeing any Americans who have been there. The radiation levels in downtown Baghdad for just one example, are over 2,000 times normal uraniun backround readings.

If it were 20 over, it would be a serious health concern. Here are two links on the subject, of over a million available on the internet. The first can be read in less than two minutes. The second is very detailed and should probably be printed to read and absorb. They are most enlightening and very important.

http://www.gulfwarvets.com/du_blowinginthewind.htm

http://www.uraniumweaponsconference.de/background.htm

Those thinking this article has some kind of problem because one month doesn't equal a trend are off-base.

I believe it was David Michael Green who wrote, sarcastically, that it doesn't matter if you lit your neighbors house on fire and turned it into a raging inferno, as long as the flames steadily decrease.

So spare me the heart warming stats about declining deaths on either "side" of the fight. Iraq shouldn't be burning, and the reasons the fire was started must be addressed. There will be no winners in this war, everybody loses, especially Iraqi children.

I suppose that doesn't matter to a lot of the "true patriots" out there though.

Aside from the constant annoying fact that Muqtada al-Sadr's cease fire isn't factored into the decrease in violence on the MSM,

who wants to take bets on how soon after the presidential changing of the guard in 09, this ceasefire ceases?

Mr. Patrick: Thank you for this very useful link.

No, Mr.Patrick that is not what I meant. I was referring to your idea that we now own Iraq and have to fix it. I did not mean to misrepresent you and I'm sorry if that was the impression. I know you are against the war. I know you are a good person. We disagree on various things but that doesn't mean I find you objectionable. I only object to your hostility.

So put down your gun and let's talk. Your DU point is precious. Thank-you. Keep them coming, you are a jewel.

Not exactly the kind of surge the White House was talking about, eh?

Beforkids: I do not believe that global warming is man made. I do not believe it should be ignored either. I do not believe Kem Patrick is in favor of robbing Iraq. i believe in an electrical society. i also believe the posters at CD are thoughtful and well-meaning. i do not believe it is necessary to make enemies out of those who disagree with me. i am quite tolerant with religious people, for example, even though I believe religion is a scourge. Above all, I believe in tolerance and compassion. I have been called a moron, an idiot, a liar, a troll, an invader,and unworthy to be on this site. i have said no such thing to anyone. The only times I have been rude, were after repeated insults and personal attacks. I have not, however, used such insults.

The Iraqis have been dying daily in large numbers and being wounded by larger numbers, including women and children. Do you ever see anything in the MSM about that?

When Sadr decides his patience is over, the violence will escalate even further.

We need to get out of that hell-hole we created now, so that the Iraqis will stop resisting the illegal invasion and keep their oil and our soldiers will be spared more dead and wounded comrades.

McCain is right it will be a 100 years of war. We will be bankrupt and no longer a country long before that 100 year benchmark comes up! Unless some sanity returns to this country and people start using their brains. I don't look for that to happen anytime in the near future. I look for there to be another term of warmongering Republican's and a bigger mess by the time it's over. Because most Democrats won't stick together and commit themselves to seeing this crime family out of office. Instead they fight among themselves over candidates and play infantile games. If their candidate isn't the Democratic candidate they are going to vote for McCain! Myself I don't care which one wins. I will vote for the one who comes out on top! Because there isn't anyone else to vote for. Republican's are no longer an option!

When Bush began his quest to invade Iraq, Colin Powell advised him 'several times', that if we invaded Iraq, we'd "OWN" it. Those were Powell's words. ___ By that "own it" statement, he meant, the United States would be FULLY responsible for the people of Iraq and of their infacstructures, schools, medical facilities, etc, that we destroyed during any invasion of that country. That premise of course is spelled out in the Geneva Conventions but it s vague in some respects. Human decency does not need the Geneva Conventins to function civilly as humanity should. __"Do unto others". __ We humans are all relatives.

Bush either ignored Colin Powell, or ASSUMED, as fools are often wont to do, that there would be NO problem in that regard and pressed on with his plans to invade Iraq. After all, Bush proclaimed, the war would not be an expensive conquest and the Iraqi's oil would pay for it anyway and the citizens of Iraq would love us and greet us with open arms. __ Bush mis-calculated several things, just a little bit.

Powell was replaced by a "yes woman" and here we are, six years later with more than a million dead Iraqis and that number will esculate greatly over time. Their ifastructures are wasted, schools destroyed, about four million Iraqis have fled the country, their hospitals are little more than buildings full of dying people, we have contaminated the entire country with radio-active waste and we owe China four trillion borrowed dollars, we wasted, fightig an unust and illegal war.

~Doctor Lizard~ what you just wrote, is directly opposite of the hundreds of comments you made on several other threads all these past six weeks. ___ Now suddenly, you desire to sound like a reasonable person. A dramatic change on your part. Sort of Like the person who is caught red handed with their fingers in the cookie jar and they humbly explain it was all a mistake.

Your opinions on global warming for example and the cause for that disaster, are not progressive, or sensible thinking by the vast majority here BTW. Your comments are Neo-con thinking. That is why you have been labeled a Neo-Con troll by several others here, not just by Kem Patrick.

You have an agenda, how you manage to have a viable medical practice and spend most of your time blogging comments here is a mystery to me and many others, but that's YOUR business, blog on to your heart's content, I and others question it. I'm a retired old fart and my time is not important for any sick patients, so I blog on daily also.

You have an agenda Lizard __ but,__ as Namaste so well stated: "When someone's agenda goes so far, as to actually thwart an open discussion and just add sand to the gears, those people are beyond minor irritations __and rightfully labeled as saboteurs and trolls. ___ It is all about another's beliefs and respecting and trusting in people's common desire to share openly and HONESTLY. ___ When one violates those norms, there are natural consequenses: Anger, shunning and combative attitudes."

Perhaps you could visit the archives ~Lizard~ and go over ALL of your prior posts and 'perhaps' you will find, that indeed you do start pissing contests with your words and see that the descriptive words in the paragraph above fit you to a T.

Now if you are sincere with your last blog here, I will accept that and we can attempt to get along and perhaps even learn from one another. That's why most of us are here. Stop trolling and I'll stop questioning your common sense and honesty.