Let's Be Real... Obama Is No Lincoln He's Just a Typical Copperhead
Gateway Pundit — All of the Lincoln comparisons really need to stop. Cut-and-run Obama is no Abe Lincoln. He's just your typical Copperhead like the democrats of 1864. Although the country's sacrifice was much greater in 1864 when 625,000 Americans lost their lives than in Iraq where we've lost 4,227 Americans, the democratic party and their leader Barack Obama remain the same. Today's democrats are much like the ...

Anthrax is Delicious! Or, Bush Kept Us Safe Unless You Count Thousands of Dead Americans
The BRAD BLOG — ... As to Bush having kept us safe beyond the 15 killed and 20 injured in the dozens of terror attacks on American soil since 9/11 as mentioned above, to date 4,230 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq. Additionally, 172 American civilian ...

Anthrax is Delicious! Or, Bush Kept Us Safe Unless You Count the Thousands of Dead Americans
The BRAD BLOG — ... As to Bush having kept us safe beyond the 15 killed and 20 injured in the dozens of terror attacks on American soil since 9/11 as mentioned above, to date 4,230 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq. Additionally, 172 American civilian ...

Matt Stewart: Lessons from the Losers -- How Not to Cave
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... It's essential to draw a distinction between rigidly opposing a terrible idea and opposing a pretty good idea. The Iraq War was a terrible idea ...

Free Elections, Free Press
Dean's World — ... inch of Iraq’s second biggest city. … Under former leader Saddam Hussein, printing presses needed government permission for anything they put out, said Abdul Mahdi al-Aamiri, manager of Basra’s Alghadeer printing company. “The huge difference democracy has made to our business - you can’t even compare to how we were before,” he said. PM Maliki looks to do well on a law-and-order ticket capitalizing on the huge gains in security: Maliki, whose own Dawa Party was founded by ...

Obama Announces Iraq Withdrawal Plans
Outside The Beltway | OTB — ... tactical adjustments. But our enemies should be left with no doubt: this plan gives our military the forces and the flexibility they need to support our Iraqi partners, and to succeed.” He added: “Under the Status of Forces Agreement with the Iraqi government, I intend to remove all U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of 2011. We will complete this transition to Iraqi responsibility, and we will bring our troops home with the honor that they have earned.” I think that’s appropriate. Casualty levels among U. S. troops in Iraq and among Iraqi civilians have fallen dramatically ...

Midday open thread
Daily Kos — ... for fucking up the country and leaving that turd on Obama's lap? Oh, and once again, we won the war in Iraq! Just don't tell the troops that are still dying every month in that country even though the war is over. ...

This Week: In Memoriam
Crooks and Liars — ... In addition, the Pentagon has released the names of four service members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The total number of allied service members killed in Iraq now totals 4,256, in Afghanistan, ...

Nation’s major newspapers ignore Iraq war’s sixth anniversary.
Think Progress — Today marks six years since former President Bush launched the invasion of Iraq — a preventative war of choice based on “intelligence fixed around the policy.” Since that time, hundreds of billions of dollars have been spent, over 4,000 U.S. servicemen and women and hundreds more from coalition countries have died (tens of thousands more physically and mentally wounded), nearly 100,000 (or more) Iraqi civilians have parished and nearly 5 million have been displaced. Yet the New York Times, Washington ...

Iraq War 6-year Anniversary Reminder to Not Forget We Will Be There for a Lot Longer
BuzzFlash.org - Progressive News and Commentary with an Attitude | Fight Ignorance: Read BuzzFlash — ... be in Iraq that much longer. The August 2010 timetable plus the news of keeping 35,000-50,000 soldiers in Iraq doesn't give much light for that hope. The 6th anniversary symbolically means iron or wood objects, though this site mentions candy. We have plenty of iron still in Iraq. Wood? Maybe a wooden stake that can scare our troops out of Iraq. And candy? Not the time for candy. But here are some other symbolic reminders of the anniversary. 4,260 U.S. Military Fatalities in Iraq 31,217 U.S. Military Maimed ...

Kristol Complains That Obama’s Iran Message Is ‘Weak’ And ‘Embarrassing’
Think Progress — ... that the U.S. has now now “joined the rest of the world and practicing the diplomacy of talk.” Watch it: Its is sad to see that Kristol hasn’t learned from any of the Bush administration’s foreign policy mistakes. He still appears to be happily wedded to neoconservatism, the results of which are on full display, most notably in Iraq, where after six years of war, Americans and Iraqis are still dying because of the most disastrous foreign policy ...

Kristol Complains That Obama?s Iran Message Is ?Weak? And ?Embarrassing?
The Hollywood Liberal — ... statement by the President of the United States.” Fox News’s Brit Hume piled on, complaining that it “appears” that the U.S. has now “joined the rest of the world and practicing the diplomacy of talk.” Watch it: It is sad to see that Kristol hasn’t learned from any of the Bush administration’s foreign policy mistakes. He still appears to be happily wedded to neoconservatism, the results of which are on full display, most notably in Iraq, where after six years of war , Americans and Iraqis are still dying because of the most disastrous foreign policy ...

I’d Stay and Be a Tourist but Can’t Take the Gun Play
Obsidian Wings — ... tallies, 412 Iraqi civilians were killed in March, up from 346 in February which was itself up from 296 in January (iCasualties puts those numbers at 252, 202 and 187, respectively).  While it is certainly good news that US fatalities are on the wane, that positive storyline should be tempered (if not rendered moot entirely) by the fact that Iraqi civilian deaths are climbing steadily.  After all, according to Goldfarb's narrative, we're currently fighting in Iraq to safeguard the Iraqi population.  So shouldn't civilian death rates be the real metric with which to judge ...

I’d Stay and Be a Tourist but Can’t Take the Gun Play
PoliGazette — ... tallies, 412 Iraqi civilians were killed in March, up from 346 in February which was itself up from 296 in January (iCasualties puts those numbers at 252, 202 and 187, respectively).  While it is certainly good news that US fatalities are on the wane, that positive storyline should be tempered (if not rendered moot entirely) by the fact that Iraqi civilian deaths are climbing steadily.  After all, according to Goldfarb’s narrative, we’re currently fighting in Iraq to safeguard the Iraqi population.  So shouldn’t civilian death rates be the real metric with ...

Shhh... US Deaths in Iraq Drop to Single Digits
Gateway Pundit — The number of American troops killed in Iraq in March dropped to single figures for the first time since the war began in 2003. The US lost 9 soldiers and marines in March. Click to Enlarge Source- Iraq Casualties In a sane world when a country wins a war and fatalities drop to single digits it makes headlines and is celebrated. ...

This...
Upper Left — ... …has happened 4226 times. SSgt Philip Myers, USAF, is the first we've officially been allowed to recognize and honor on his return. ...

Suicide bombing kills five American soldiers in Iraq in the deadliest attack in 13 months.
Think Progress — ... here in 13 months and the second in Mosul since February, when four soldiers were killed in a suicide car bomb attack against their patrol.” So far this year, 50 Americans have been killed in Iraq. ...

The "Value" of "High Value" Information
Daily Kos — ... . That was high value information they tortured to obtain that they chose to ignore, high value information that did little to save any American lives. Instead, it's taken 4274 of them. ...

April (Was)The Cruellest Month (So Far in 2009)
TalkLeft — ... Two American Marines and a sailor were killed during a military operation in Anbar ... on Thursday “while conducting combat operations against enemy forces,” the [military command] statement said. ... The deaths brought the total for American troops in April to 18, according to the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, making it the deadliest month for American forces in Iraq since September. ...

This Week: In Memoriam
Crooks and Liars — ... . In addition, the Pentagon has released the names of five servicemembers killed in Iraq: Army CSM Benjamin Moore, Jr, 43, of Waycross, GA Army SSG Leroy O Webster, 28, of Sioux Falls, SD Marine Sgt James R McIlvaine, 26, of Olney, MD Marine SSgt Mark A Wojciechowski, 25, of Cincinnati, OH Navy PO2 Tyler J Trahan, 22, of East Freetown, MA According to iCasualties, the total number of allied servicemembers killed in Iraq is 4,602 ; in Afghanistan, that number is ...

How Dare He?
Obsidian Wings — ... He might have forgotten about the 4,287 American lives that have been lost because of him and the administration he was a part of -- not to mention the 318 other coalition troops, and God alone knows how many Iraqis. But I have not. And I don't think I'm alone. ...

How Dare He?
Political Animal — ... to think that torture is immoral, does not work, and makes us less safe, not more. I've said all that many, many times before. What I do want to say is just this: Dick Cheney forfeited the right to lecture anyone on their willingness to sacrifice American lives the day he decided to deceive us into an unnecessary war. He might have forgotten about the 4,287 American lives that have been lost because of him and the administration he was a part of -- not to mention the 318 other coalition troops, and God alone knows how many Iraqis. But I have not. And I don't think I'm ...

Wilkerson, Cheney and the Torture Lies that Took Us to Iraq
Daily Kos — ... As of today, 4,294 Americans have paid for Dick Cheney's torture regime with their lives in Iraq. The Cheney/Bush torture regime certainly didn't keep those Americans safe. ...

This Week: In Memoriam
Crooks and Liars — ... , 60, of Scottsdale, AZ Army CPL Ryan C McGhee, 21, of Fredericksburg, VA According to iCasualties, the total number of allied servicemembers killed in Iraq is 4,614 , in Afghanistan, ...

Obama raising car prices and killing people is just for starters
Patterico's Pontifications — ... of 800 excess deaths annually is roughly the number of US troops killed annually during the peak years of the Iraq war. Indeed, the estimated cumulative death toll of 46,000 in 2001 suggests that CAFE standards inflict casualties on the magnitude of Vietnam. The lapdog media, however, does not devote time to reporting the grim milestones when people die in fuel-efficient cars. ...

Obama raising car prices and killing people is just for starters
Hot Air » Top Picks — ... of 800 excess deaths annually is roughly the number of US troops killed annually during the peak years of the Iraq war. Indeed, the estimated cumulative death toll of 46,000 in 2001 suggests that CAFE standards inflict casualties on the magnitude of Vietnam. The lapdog media, however, does not devote time to reporting the grim milestones when people die in fuel-efficient cars. The supposed benefits of this regulation are explained by the ...

This Week: In Memoriam
Crooks and Liars — ... Mickey Mouse Wayne Allwine. In addition, the Pentagon released the names of 4 servicemembers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Army SPC David A Schaefer Jr, 27, of Belleville, IL Army SSG Esau I De la Pena-Hernandez, 25, of La Puente, CA Army SGT Carlie M Lee, III, 23, of Birmingham, AL Air Force 1st Lt Roslyn L Schulte, 25, of St. Louis, MO According to iCasualties, the total allied forces killed in Iraq is now 4,618, in Afghanistan, 1,153. During this same week, Iraq Body Count notes the deaths ...

Memorial Day
Obsidian Wings — ... To all those who died in combat operations -- the 4300 reported dead in Iraq, the 687 reported dead in Afghanistan, those who killed themselves during or because of their service, or whose deaths are in some other way attributable to their service in combat: we honor you, and we will not forget. ...

Memorial Day
Political Animal — Memorial Day To all those who died in combat operations -- the 4300 reported dead in Iraq, the 687 reported dead in Afghanistan, those who killed themselves during or because of their service, or whose deaths are in some other way attributable to their service in combat: we honor you, and we will not forget. Every Memorial Day (and not only then), I try to remind myself of what it means that people who serve in the military are willing to fight and die when our civilian leaders ask them to, whether they agree with those leaders or not. That's a stunning act ...

Cheney: Iraq war ’saved lives.’
Think Progress — ... thinking in that period, in those months after 9/11. … I think it was a sound decision to make. I think it was an important part of our overall strategy in the Global War on Terror. I think it saved lives. Watch it: Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction. He had no links to al Qaeda. And the Iraq war has resulted in the deaths of more than 4,300 American soldiers and roughly 100,000 Iraqis.

As U.S. Troops Prepare for Withdrawal, Violence Erupts in Iraq
BuzzFlash.org - Progressive News and Commentary with an Attitude | Fight Ignorance: Read BuzzFlash — ... , top U.S. commander in Iraq, maintains that "[t]his is the right time to transition security of the cities to the ISF [Iraq Security Force] who are ready for this task." American deaths in Iraq have reached 4314 .  A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT

Saddam Hussein Considered ‘Security Agreement’ With U.S. To Counter Threat From ‘Fanatics’ In Iran
Think Progress — ... President Bush, Vice President Cheney and numerous members of the Bush administration repeatedly cited the (now debunked) threat from Iraq’s supposed WMD program and Saddam Hussein’s alleged links to Al-Qaeda as the main justifications for launching the invasion of Iraq more than six years ago. The U.S. could end up spending trillions of dollars in Iraq and today, 130,000 U.S. troops remain there, 4,321 have died (4,639 total from coalition forces), and more than 30,000 have been wounded. ...

This Week: In Memoriam
Crooks and Liars — ... of Glenwood, IL Army SGT Brock H Chavers, 25, of Bulloch, GA Army SPC Chester W Hosford, 35, of Hastings, MN Army SPC Issac L Johnson, 24, of Columbus, GA Navy AO Darren Ethan Tate, 21, of Canyon, TX Marine Sgt Michael C Roy, 25, of North Fort Myers, FL Army PVT Lucas M Bregg, 19, of Wright City, MO Army SPC Gregory J Missman, 36, of Batavia, OH According to iCasualties, the total number of allied servicemembers killed in Iraq is now 4,640, in Afghanistan, 1,240. During this same week, Iraq Body Count lists 123 Iraqi ...

The costs of Iraq
Newshoggers.com — ... With US combat troops withdrawing from Iraq's cities it is time to compare the 4639 coalition casualties with the predictions made by ...

Prior to the Invasion of Iraq, America Was Like a Runaway Train
LiberalOasis : The Blog — ... So, the White House "knew" that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction prior to the invasion. They had information from multiple sources which stated that Saddam Hussein was not reconstituting a nuclear, biological or chemical weapons program. Yet we still went to war. Why? Don't President Bush and Vice President Cheney need to answer this question in front of the American people? With over 4300 Americans dead, shouldn't Bush and Cheney have to say something to us and to the families of those who have died beause of these actions? ...

Prior to the Invasion of Iraq, America Was Like a Runaway Train
The Hollywood Liberal — ... All of this is recounted in Ron Suskind’s book, The Way of the World . So, the White House “knew” that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction prior to the invasion. They had information from multiple sources which stated that Saddam Hussein was not reconstituting a nuclear, biological or chemical weapons program. Yet we still went to war. Why? Don’t President Bush and Vice President Cheney need to answer this question in front of the American people? With over 4300 Americans dead , shouldn’t Bush and Cheney have to say something to us and to the families of ...

Iraq: Progress Continues In Absence Of Media Attention
Classical Values — Iraq: Progress Continues In Absence Of Media Attention Remember Iraq? You're not seeing it in the headlines nearly as much these days, and the reasons are all good. Most auspiciously, the withdrawal of U.S. forces from the major cities has not precipitated a return to the violence of 2005-2007, as many feared. At 200-400 a month, Iraqi deaths (civilian and security forces) are still tracking well below the levels of a year ago , a vast improvement over the thousands per month that died from 2005-2007 and the many thousands per month that died violently under Saddam's reign, and ...

Iraq: Progress Continues In Absence Of Media Attention
Dean's World — ... Most auspiciously, the withdrawal of U.S. forces from the major cities has not precipitated a return to the violence of 2005-2007, as many feared. At 200-400 a month, Iraqi deaths (civilian and security forces) are still tracking well below the levels of a year ago, a vast improvement over the thousands per month that died from 2005-2007 and the many thousands per month that died violently under Saddam’s reign, and among the lowest numbers recorded at any time in Iraq (some context: Iraq’s current levels of violence would be unacceptable in wealthy countries like the ...

This Week: In Memoriam
Crooks and Liars — ... SFC Alejandro Granado, 42, of Fairfax, VA Army SFC Severin W Summers III, 43, of Bentonia, MS Army PVT Keiffer P Wilhelm, 19, of Plymouth, OH Navy PO3 Anthony C Garcia, 21, of Tyndall, FL Marine LCpl James D Argentine, 22, of Farmingdale, NY Marine LCpl Travis T Babine, 20, of San Antonio, TX Marine Cpl Christian A Guzman Rivera, 21, of Homestead, FL Marine Sgt Jay M Hoskins, 24, of Paris, TX According to iCasualties, the number of allied servicemembers killed in Iraq is now 4,648 , in Afghanistan, ...

This Week: In Memoriam
Crooks and Liars — ... Adam F Benjamin, 34, of Garfield Heights, OH Army PFC William Z Vanosdol, 23, of Pinson, AL Army SPC Matthew D Hastings, 23, of Claremore, OK Army SPC Paul E Dumont Jr, 23, of Williamsburg, VA Army SSG Clayton P Bowen, 29, of San Antonio, TX Army PFC Morris L Walker, 23, of Chapel Hill, NC Army 1SG Jose S N Crisostomo, 59, of Inarajan, GU Army PFC Brian M Wolverton, 21, of Oak Park, CA According to iCasualties, the total number of allied servicemembers killed in Iraq is now 4,651 , in Afghanistan, ...

A Reality Check In Iraq
Classical Values — ... probably overblown and to some extent their premises are probably baseless. At least half of Ignatius' piece sounds like typical Iraqi political conspiracies, which as a rule run the gamut from improbably contradictory to downright bizarre. Anonymous sources are extremely unreliable (remember the burning Sunnis story? Jamil Hussein?) Sectarian suspicions are such that half of Sunnis think the Shia are working for Iran, while Shia are happy to claim the same of Sunnis and Syria. But look at the numbers . At 240 deaths, July 2009 had the 4th-fewest deaths since they started ...

Sigh. If only the Beltway hadn't hated earth tones.
Corrente — This guy, remember, was wooden and offputting; he sighed too much and wore earth tones and threatened to put Social Security in a lockbox. AlterNet points out that Al Gore was right. But the Beltway wanted a President they could have a beer with...  Read more… Hey, that worked out so well for us all, didn't it?

This Week: In Memoriam
Crooks and Liars — (h/t Heather at VideoCafe ) This Week with George Stephanopoulos marks the passings of award-winning writer Larry Gelbart , Nobel laureate Norman Borlaug , and entertainment columnist Army Archerd . In addition, the Pentagon released the names of 10 servicemembers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Army 2LT Darryn D Andrews, 34, of Dallas, TX Army SGT Randy M Haney, 27, of Orlando, FL Army SSG Michael C Murphrey, 25, of Snyder, TX Air Force 1st Lt Joseph D Helton, 24, of Monroe, GA Marine Capt Joshua S Meadows, 30, of Bastrop, TX Army SSG Shannon M Smith, 31, of Marion, OH Army PFC Thomas F ...

Paul Rieckhoff: "Immeasurable Courage and Uncommon Valor"-- Sgt. First Class Jared C. Monti
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... to the family of Sergeant First Class Jared C. Monti. The Medal of Honor is the nation’s highest decoration for military valor. It’s received, not won. And it’s a distinction so rare that in 150 years, less than 3,500 servicemembers have received it. To put it in perspective, this is less than the number of troops that have bravely given their lives during the Iraq war. ...

Steven Waldman: Battle Fatalities in the Fight Over Health Care Reform
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — A recent study in the Journal of American Public Health concluded that 45,000 people die each year for lack of health insurance. Another study in 2002, from the Institute of Medicine, put the number at 18,000. Still another, put it at 22,000. As a back of the envelope calculation, that means that somewhere between 300,000-650,000 people died prematurely between 1994, when the last major health care reform effort was defeated, and today. If you take the low end of that estimate, more Americans died from congressional inaction on health care than died during those years as a result of ...

Five more reasons…
Upper Left — ...that the right way in Afghanistan is out. AP via NYT... The military says five U.S. troops have died in attacks in southern Afghanistan, where American and NATO forces have ramped up operations against the Taliban.Damn. And no, it's not over in the other over there, either. ...

The Unthinkable Victory
Dean's World — Breaking news: the Iraq war is still over — and won. I think this makes it official: the liberal Brookings Institution is apparently no longer bothering to update their Iraq Index, with the last update having been done on September 1st. Final score: 8500-11000 MW of power (vs. 4000 prewar), vastly improved access to potable water, something like five hundred times as many cellphones, a million people with Internet access in a country that previously had essentially none, a tripling of GDP, billions in foreign investment, national debt halved, thousands of trained judges. Even the endemic fuel shortages ...

The Unthinkable Victory
Classical Values — The Unthinkable Victory Breaking news: the Iraq war is still over -- and won. I think this makes it official: the liberal Brookings Institution is apparently no longer bothering to update their Iraq Index, with the last update having been done on September 1st ...

Maintaining Commitments to Iraq and Afghanistan
Outside The Beltway | OTB — Month to date there have been four U. S. casualties in Iraq. Each death remains a tragedy but that’s a far cry from a year ago or two years ago. Fatalities in the Iraqi security forces have declined, too, each month of this year seeing fewer casualties than in the corresponding month of last ...

Shields: I’m ‘Nostalgic’ For A ‘Manly Man’ President Who Will ‘Kick Some Tail And Ask Questions Afterwards’
Think Progress — Since reports emerged last month that top commander in Afghanistan Gen. Stanley McChrystal asked President Obama for upwards of 40,000 additional troops to continue the war there, the right wing has been attacking the President for taking time to make a decision on his new strategy. “It is absolutely unconscionable,” Liz Cheney said yesterday on Fox News, that Obama “is denying our troops on the ground in Afghanistan the resources that they need to prevail to win that war.” Also during that time, Obama has made reflective gestures to those who have fallen in the wars he is now ...

Hoffman ?Un-Concedes? The NY-23 Election After Prodding From His ?Mentor? Glenn Beck
The Hollywood Liberal — Hoffman ?Un-Concedes? The NY-23 Election After Prodding From His ?Mentor? Glenn Beck On Nov. 3, Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman conceded the special election in New York’s 23rd district after finding out that he was losing considerably to Democrat Bill Owens, who has already been sworn in and cast an important vote for health care reform. However, “a standard process of correcting human errors in election […] Doug Hoffman On Nov. 3, Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman conceded the special election in New York’s 23rd district after finding out that he was losing considerably to Democrat Bill ...

Grim Statistics
Talking Points Memo — The 140 Army suicides so far this year equal the total from all of 2008 -- and almost equal the 142 U.S. troops from all the services killed in Iraq so far this year. ...