Iraq, "Where Wings Take Dream"

Here (h/t Atrios) is evidence, and against this bleak scenario, here is an even bleaker one from the LA Times today (here)…

Batul Abdul Hussein thought her son, Wesam Saleh, was (a martyr). On Feb. 13, 2007, as U.S. and Iraqi troops began enforcing a new security plan to quell violence in Iraq, the 25-year-old policeman left for his night shift. He never made it home alive.

…

"In all the books of God, if someone is killed even by accident, their family should be compensated," said Hussein, 57, clutching a pale pink folder containing documents about her son's case. On the walls of her home are framed photographs of Saleh, who joined the police force in 2006.

Saleh was unmarried, so he always offered to ride in the front vehicle of police convoys, where it is most dangerous, Hussein said. That's where he was when gunfire hit his patrol.

U.S. officials say the military strives to avoid civilian and friendly-fire casualties. They say intelligence and technology help alert forces to the presence of noncombatants during missions. They also rely on Iraqi security officials to notify them of Iraqi police and military patrols.

But errors and accidents occur, and the system for allotting compensation often fails.

About 60% of claims filed to the U.S. military in recent years, for losses that vary from wrecked cars to civilian lives, were rejected, according to military records. Of 7,103 Iraqi claims filed with the United States in fiscal 2007, 2,896 were approved for payment, and a total of $8.4 million was paid. The previous year, 9,257 claims were filed; 3,658 of them, totaling just over $13 million, were paid.

The story notes that the Iraqi interior ministry is trying to get the government to pass a law “…to change this” (re: the fact that family members of those Iraqis accidentally killed by the U.S. military do not receive “martyr payments”). However, it should be kept in mind that we’re talking about the same Iraqi government that has failed to meet the milestones set out for it as a condition of “the surge.”

Also…

The stew of formal and informal fighting forces in Iraq, combined with insurgents' operations in civilian areas, presents extraordinary challenges for the Americans, said Navy Capt. Vic Beck, a military spokesman in Baghdad.

"The level of complexities can't be overstated," Beck said. "You're literally fighting to ensure you and your fellow soldiers come out alive."

But not to worry…The Almighty Petraeus will appear before Congress next month, and when he does, I’m sure our politicians and corporate media will be too busy admiring his presentation skills and shiny medals to bring stories like this to his attention (I’d love to be wrong, but I’m not holding my breath).

And besides, this kid deserved to get it. After all, his name was Hussein, wasn’t it?*

(*-sarcasm borne of disgust bordering on simmering rage over the fact that the war has "fallen off the radar" for way too many people in this country, assuming it was ever there to begin with – ed.)

Update 3/7/08: By the way, I'd been meaning to link to this NYT story on the war by Sheryl Gay Stolberg in particular for the following...

(A senior Bush administration) official, speaking on condition of anonymity to give a more candid picture of the administration’s plans for Iraq...

Translation: If we ask them about it point blank, all they'll do is lie to our face (but why would we not know that anyway at this point?).