Friday, August 10, 2007

Trying To Control The Optics

So Dubya received a “boost” in his approval rating from 32 to 36 percent? And his disapproval rating went down from 66 to 61 percent, huh?

I have news for CNN; those numbers still stink (dear God, am I sick of hearing variations on the "Bush bounce" narrative).

And those represent a sampling among Republicans only, by the way; the numbers from last time are unchanged among Democrats and independents.

And speaking of fluffing the war (when talking about Dubya, it’s Iraq first, last and in-between, though the fact that he is an utter cipher shapes people’s perceptions also of course), here is an annotated version of the latest commercial for Iraq 4 Evah! from Kevin Ferris of the Inquirer today (boy, would I love to find out whether or not Ferris actually served)…

“The surge is working it needs more time slow and steady progress the Iraqis need to stand up freedom is on the march sorry General Petraeus you’re dictating too fast for me Harry Reid makes me sick for saying the war is lost clap louder you goddamn chicken members of the Democrat Party yadda yadda yadda…”
Oh, and speaking of Petraeus, check this out here from Ferris’ screed…

"To be fair to them, they are dealing with fundamental issues that will shape Iraq for the foreseeable future, so it's somewhat understandable that there's a good bit of wrangling," (Petraeus) said to me in a telephone interview this week. "Provincial powers, for example. That's akin to our own debate during the creation of the U.S. about states' rights. And it took us more than a few years to resolve that."
Actually, General, that argument has never been "resolved," and it probably never will be.

More revisionist history. More garbage from this guy (though it is funny in a perverse way to hear Petraeus compare the horror of Iraq this way to a cause allegedly so near and dear to the coal-black hearts of Republicans).

Well, since neither CNN nor the Inquirer are going to report on what really matters concerning Iraq (and by the way, Sen. Dick Durbin, thanks for serving as a dupe here), please allow me to do so here (from this source)…

08/10/07 iol: Car bomb claims 11 lives (update)
A car bomb killed 11 people and wounded 45 others near a market in a Kurdish district of the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Friday, police said.

08/10/07 MoD Identifies Army Casualties
Lance Sergeant Casey and Lance Corporal Redpath were killed when their Snatch Armoured Land Rover was hit by an Improvised Explosive Device during an operation to the north of the Rumaylah oilfields, which is to the west of Basra City.

08/10/07 Reuters: 3 bodies found in Rutba
Police said they found the bodies of three people in the western Iraqi town of Rutba, near the Jordanian border.

08/10/07 Reuters: Gunmen kill son of the sheikh of the Bani Malik tribe
Gunmen killed Wisam al-Maliki, son of the sheikh of the Bani Malik tribe of Prime Minister Minister Nuri al-Maliki, in the southern Iraqi town of Garna, 80 km (50 miles) north of Basra, police said.

08/10/07 Reuters: 4 insurgents killed, 10 detained by U.S. forces
U.S. forces said they killed four insurgents and detained 10 others in operations in the provinces of Baghdad and Salahuddin.

08/10/07 AP: Roadside bomb kills 2 in Baquba
A roadside bomb also exploded near a minibus in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, killing two passengers and wounding four others, while another civilian was killed in a drive-by shooting as he was walking elsewhere in the city, police said.

08/10/07 AP: Car bomb strikes Kirkuk - 8 killed, dozens wounded
A car bomb struck a market in a Kurdish area in the northern city of Kirkuk on Friday, killing at least eight people and wounding dozens, police said...The attack in Kirkuk, a disputed oil-rich city that has seen a recent rise in ethnic tensions...

08/10/07 AP: Convicted Marine Details Ill-Fated Plan
Cpl. Marshall Magincalda and seven of his comrades were angry. For weeks, the squad had endured insurgent attacks, but lacked evidence against the man they suspected was responsible.

08/10/07 Newsweek: Scared Straight - Iraqi Style
Inside Iraq’s notorious Camp Cropper, an unusual pilot program is trying to reform youths who’ve been brainwashed for jihad. NEWSWEEK gets an exclusive look.

08/09/07 MNF: U.S. Helicopter executes forced landing, two injured
During an early morning raid Aug. 10, a U.S. helicopter executed a forced landing in Yusifiyah, ten miles south of Baghdad, while supporting a planned mission. Two U.S. Soldiers sustained non-life threatening injuries when the aircraft landed.

08/09/07 DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Spc. Donald M. Young, 19, of Helena, Mont., died Aug. 8 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations Aug. 7 in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion...

08/09/07 AP: Iraqi soccer player kidnapped
The goalkeeper of the Kirkuk soccer club was kidnapped as he was traveling from northern Iraq to visit relatives in Baghdad, a sports official said Thursday. Baha Abdul Karim Darweesh was seized by gunmen Monday on the outskirts of Khalis...

08/09/07 nzherald: Bomb attacks on US troops at highest level
Roadside bomb attacks on American troops in Iraq reached an all-time high last month, accounting for more than one third of all combat deaths. The increase in the number of casualties caused by the sophisticated explosive devices comes at the height...

08/09/07 MNF: MND-B Soldier dies from non-combat related cause
A Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldier died from a non-combat related cause Aug. 8. The Soldier’s name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin and release by the Department of Defense. The incident is under investigation.

08/09/07 AP: 7 pilgrims killed in scattered attacks
In scattered attacks reported by police, seven pilgrims were killed and four wounded when gunmen in a speeding car opened fire and threw hand grenades at them as they were en route to Baghdad from the Dabouniyah area, 75 miles to the southeast.

08/09/07 DoD Identifies Army Casualties (part 4)
Staff Sgt. Jacob M. Thompson, 26, of North Mankato, Minn...assigned to the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), Fort Lewis...died Aug. 6 in Baqubah, Iraq, of wounds suffered from an IED

08/09/07 DoD Identifies Army Casualties (part 3)
Sgt. Nicholas A. Gummersall, 23, of Chubbuck, Idaho...assigned to the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), Fort Lewis...died Aug. 6 in Baqubah, Iraq, of wounds suffered from an IED

08/09/07 DoD Identifies Army Casualties (part 2)
Cpl. Juan M. Alcantara, 22, of New York...assigned to the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), Fort Lewis...died Aug. 6 in Baqubah, Iraq, of wounds suffered from an IED

08/09/07 DoD Identifies Army Casualties (part 1)
Spc. Kareem R. Khan, 20, of Manahawkin, N.J...assigned to the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), Fort Lewis...died Aug. 6 in Baqubah, Iraq, of wounds suffered from an IED

08/09/07 KUNA: US forces kill four militants in Iraq
The US forces killed four militants Thursday and arrested a cleric in different operations in northern Baghdad, according to the US army.

08/09/07 AP: Murder charges against Marine tossed out
All charges were dropped Thursday against Marine Lance Cpl. Justin L. Sharratt, who had been accused of killing three Iraqi brothers in response to a roadside bomb attack in Haditha in 2005.

08/09/07 Reuters: Roadside bomb kills 3, wounds 2 in southern Baghdad
A roadside bomb killed three people and wounded two others in the southern Baghdad district of Bayaa, police said.

08/09/07 Reuters: 3 Iraqi soldiers shot in Baghdad's Yarmouk district
Gunmen shot and wounded three Iraqi soldiers in western Baghdad's Yarmouk district, police said.

08/09/07 Reuters: Mortar fire kills 1, wounds 2 in southern Baghdad
A mortar round killed one person and wounded two others when it landed on a residential area of southern Baghdad's Shi'ite Bayaa district on Wednesday, police said.

08/09/07 Reuters: Former Baath party member killed in Najaf
Gunmen on a motorcycle shot dead a former member of Saddam Hussein's Baath party in the holy Shi'ite city of Najaf, police said.

08/09/07 Reuters: Militants blow up two bridges in Salahuddin province
Militants blew up two small bridges in Salahuddin province in the past 24 hours, police said.

08/09/07 MoD: Leading Aircraftman Martin Beard killed in Iraq
It is with deep sorrow that the Ministry of Defence must confirm the death of Leading Aircraftman Martin Beard of No 1 Squadron Royal Air Force Regiment, in Basra, southern Iraq on Tuesday 7 August 2007.

08/09/07 MoD: Two British soldiers killed in Iraq on Thursday 9 August 2007
the Ministry of Defence must confirm the deaths of two British soldiers from 1st Battalion The Irish Guards in Basra...The soldiers were killed, and another two seriously injured, when an IED detonated next to their patrol just after midnight local time.

08/09/07 Reuters: Pilgrims flood Baghdad, pray for safety
Hundreds of thousands of Shi'ite pilgrims made their way on foot to a shrine in the north of Baghdad on Thursday, praying for safety at an annual rite marred by violence for the past two years. Pilgrims waved flags, chanted...

08/09/07 VOA: Iraq Tightens Security For Shi'ite Procession
Iraqi security forces in Baghdad are preparing for a major annual Shi'ite religious march, deploying additional police and banning cars from the streets until Saturday. During the holiday, hundreds of thousands of Shi'ite pilgrims march...

08/09/07 Xinhua: Over 2,000 Ugandans joins Iraq gold rush
More Ugandans joined the Iraq gold rush for better pay as another batch of 169 Ugandans has left for the war-torn country as security guards early this week. The batch left Uganda following a deal between Connect Financial Services...

08/09/07 WaPo: Wary about their intentions (part 2)
U.S. soldiers and commanders voiced wariness over the intentions of the former insurgents. "Some of them want to be reintegrated back in society, they want to push al-Qaeda out. Others want to be the next thug group that goes around...

08/09/07 WaPo: Sunni fighters find benefits in alliance with U.S (part 1)
cross Iraq, a variety of Sunni insurgent groups, political parties and tribes are coming forward to help provide fighters for local policing efforts, with an estimated 5,000 having been rallied in Baghdad alone in recent months...

08/09/07 MCT: Portrait of a suicide bomber
Suicide bombers in Iraq are overwhelmingly foreigners bent on destabilizing the government and undermining American interests there, two independent studies have concluded.

08/09/07 MNF: Non-combat-related Death
A Marine assigned to Multi National Force-West died Aug. 7 in a non-combat related incident in Al Anbar Province.
And by the way, I hope all of the politicians in Iraq and this country are each enjoying nice vacations. I’m sure our military serving in harm’s way would be highly gratified to know that.

Here's some pictures and music for the "enjoyment" of our civilian "experts" (set to "Dad's Gonna Kill Me," by Richard Thompson - again, "Dad" is military slang for Baghdad)...

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