I am sorry to all the folks out there that are in fact retarded, I mean this figuratively, not literally, well maybe a little literally. The Pentagon has decided almost 5 years after the war in Iraq started that they should start tracking weapons sent to Iraq. According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office tens of thousands of rifles, pistols, helmets, body armor, and other weaponry has vanished into thin air, and the Pentagon can not account for them.

Now this is where I wonder just how stupid the people at the top are in the US. We are suppose to be fighting a bunch of people that do not have uniforms, are civilians, what the hell are we doing arming them? You are telling me that 5 years after this Charlie Foxtrot started you are just now starting to track guns? How many of these unaccounted guns have killed our soldiers?

The Times (UK) is reporting that the numbers are staggering

• 110,000 rifles
• 80,000 pistols
• 135,000 pieces of body armor
• 115,000 helmets

This just shows the level of incompetance within the leadership of this nation. It saddens me that the military is run by …

VOANews.com

A report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office says tens of thousands of rifles, pistols and other items sent to Iraq are unaccounted for. As VOA’s Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon, officials are promising to keep closer track of weapons sent to Iraq.

The report does not say the missing weapons have gone astray, into the hands of insurgents or onto the open market. Rather, it says that in its haste to provide the material to Iraqi forces in the midst of a war, the U.S. military command in Iraq did not keep close enough track of rifles, pistols, body armor and helmets intended for the Iraqi army and police forces.

Pentagon Spokesman Bryan Whitman spoke about the report on Monday.

“One should not assume that just because you cannot provide a strict audit paper trail that those weapons are necessarily not being used for their intended purposes which is for the Iraqi security forces,” he said.

Whitman says he is not aware of any of the U.S. weapons or other equipment being found in the possession of insurgents or in any of the thousands of insurgent weapons caches coalition and Iraqi forces have found around the country. But Whitman acknowledges, as the department does in a letter at the end of the GAO report, that it needs to improve its inventory system in Iraq.

In his speech today, that he inflicted on the poor men and women of the Air Force at Charleston Air Force Base, Bush started back with his same old song and dance.

The stats on his speech

95 - al Qaeda or al Qaida
40 - terror or terrorist
22 - attack
1- - strategy
0- - plan

Wow, you would think that this was from 2 or 3 years ago, oh wait it was. Same old shit, different day.

Today in a news conference out “president” said that Americans were crazy, and that is why they want the war in Iraq over. Bush said, “First of all, I understand why the American people are — you know, they’re tired of the war. People are — there’s war fatigue in America. It’s affecting our psychology. I’ve said this before. I understand that. This is an ugly war.”

It is not the American people that have a psychological issue, it is you George. You keep telling us that everything is going great, whole we have over 3,600 dead American soldier and according our own National Counter-terrorism Center, “Al-Qaida Better Positioned to Strike the West.” What did these men and women die for? The head of the CIA, a 4-star General I remind you, said that instability in Iraq is “irreversible“. The”escalation” is turning out to be a huge failure, as General Hadden says “irreversible.”

So Bush, who is crazy, the whole world is telling you that Iraq is a disaster, your own appointees are telling you it is a failure. Your fellow countryman are screaming at you to stop killing our troops and pissing away our money. George, for the love of god, level with the American people, tell us why we are in Iraq? Drop the bullshit about terror, because we lost that war, what is the truth, and what event needs to happen so that you will end this disaster?

So much for supporting the troops. up a while back and the U.S. Army mental health experts concluded that the troops are becoming very damaged goods in Iraq. In order to preserve their mental sanity it was recommended that the US troops be given one month away from theater for every three months in the year. This is not a novel idea, it is not some kooky crazy shrinks sitting in air-conditioned rooms pulling stuff out of their asses, it is the same formula we used in World War II (by the way, we won that one). Never in recent US military history have troops been forced to stay in theater for so long.

The response of US command was, “no.” The Army Times is reporting

Instead, commanders are trying to give troops to 2 to3 days inside the heavily fortified bases after eight days in the field, said Brig. Gen. Joseph Anderson, chief aide to the ground forces commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno.

The general isn’t talking about the same fortified areas that are being shelled by the insurgents and a far greater frequency than ever before and the level of accuracy never attained. The troops get to spend eight days on the front line, and in return they get three days as sitting ducks. WOW sign me up.

At the same time the commanders on the ground are showing they don’t give a crap about the ground troops in other morale booster hits the newspapers. Although the Secretary of Defense recently announced that all troops would be spending 15 months in theater, that is not enough, and extensions will soon be announced.

So let’s recap, highly trained and skilled army physicians have made a recommendation in order to preserve our troop strengths, the U.S. Army command brass has told on the show their plan up their ass, and if they think they’re stressed now on the current 15 months deployment, they ain’t seen nothing yet

This war has decimated our military, 30% of our soldiers and Marines are coming back mentally damaged, and unable to cope with life. The U.S. Army has shoved them into dark corners and denied them the medical care they so desperately need, this is life in the military under George Bush. As someone who served I can honestly say I would take 50 Bill Clinton’s over one George Bush.

Today several human rights groups published a paper in a 39 people who have been disappeared by the United States all over the world. Last September “President” George Bush exclaimed on national television that 11 suspects that were held in illegal secret CIA prisons had been turned over to the US military, his exact statement was, “So I’m announcing today that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Abu Zubaydah, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, and 11 other terrorists in CIA custody have been transferred to the United States Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay.” Now the interesting thing about this announcement was that until that day the administration denied that the CIA even had secret prisons. One of the interesting tidbits from that same press conference was Bush also telling us, “The current transfers mean that there are now no terrorists in the CIA program.” So the statement begs the question, if the illegal CIA rendition program has no terrorists in it, then where are the 39 missing people?

Now one of the most disturbing things that came out of this report was the following statement…

Also according to Mohammed, he and Majid were detained in the same place where two of Khalid Sheik Mohammed’s young children, ages about 6 and 8, were held. The Pakistani guards told my son that the boys were kept in a separate area upstairs, and were denied food and water by other guards. They were also mentally tortured by having ants or other creatures put on their legs to scare them and get them to say where their father was hiding.

That is the best we can expect from the United States under the Bush of ministration, under Bush, the once beacon of human rights, now condones tortures children. Six and eight-year-olds are now considered terrorists to Bush, and it is okay to torture them. What the flop happened to my American.

So it is being reported that it is unlikely that any of the stated goals for the surge will be meet. I guess that leave only the unstated goals, but those are secret. I suspect they are something like: bilk a billion dollars from US Treasury Department, Create more chaos so that [fill in contractor name here] can steal, and also give Republicans more ammo to scare Americans into voting for them… So my thought is this, if the military is saying that we CAN NOT win, and the goals laid out by Bush when he jammed this surge down our collective gullets, will not be meet. The Democrats have have failed us, they have shown that will take it in the most dirty of ways, then why are we there? I think every life lost from this point out is murder. Why wait for the report, bring them home NOW!!!!!

The LA Times Has More.

U.S. military leaders in Iraq are increasingly convinced that most of the broad political goals President Bush laid out early this year in his announcement of a troop buildup will not be met this summer and are seeking ways to redefine success.

In September, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top American commander in Iraq, is scheduled to present Congress with an assessment of progress in Iraq. Military officers in Baghdad and outside advisors working with Petraeus doubt that the three major goals set by U.S. officials for the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki will be achieved by then.

Enactment of a new law to share Iraq’s oil revenue among Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish regions is the only goal they think might be achieved in time, and even that is considered a long shot. The two other key benchmarks are provincial elections and a deal to allow more Sunni Arabs into government jobs.

With overhauls by the central government stalled and with security in Baghdad still a distant goal, Petraeus’ advisors hope to focus on smaller achievements that they see as signs of progress, including local deals among Iraq’s rival factions to establish areas of peace in some provincial cities.

And the Democrats are going to send Bush a blank check? Are they okay with signing it in the blood of our soldiers?

itv

Seven US soldiers were killed in four separate attacks - mainly roadside bombings in Iraq on Tuesday.

The US military confirmed three were killed and four were wounded in the single worst attack when their patrol was hit by “multiple improvised explosive devices”.

Elsewhere, at a press conference held in Baghdad, US military spokesman Major General William Caldwell confirmed that the Iraqi police have found a body that may have been one of the missing soldiers.

Maj Caldwell said that they were yet to confirm the body’s identity and that families would be contacted before details released to the media.

Why are we there again? Why are the Democrats going to hand Bush a blank check on this failed cluster fuck? Nine are dead in the past 48 hours, over 80 troops dead this month so far.

Long ago there was an event, it happened sometime around Sept 11th, and it was real tragic. Some guy went to war with the US, and we went to war with him. Then Bush wanted to go to war with Iraq, and we did not care anymore. The tragic event went unpunished…

From Reuters via Yahoo (bolds are mine)

An anti-U.S. Afghan rebel leader said he had information that Osama bin Laden is alive but keeping a low profile by not issuing statements, according to a video aired on Sunday.

The al Qaeda leader’s long silence has fuelled speculation that the world’s most-wanted fugitive may have died.

“Based on information I have, I believe Osama is alive,” said Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, whose forces operate in southeastern Afghanistan near Pakistan, in the undated video broadcast on Al Arabiya television. His remarks were dubbed into Arabic.

“I also believe that it is good that he … does not appear in the media, and that it is wise that no statements or tapes are issued even after a long while,” said Hekmatyar, without elaborating.

Hekmatyar, a former Afghan prime minister, is on a U.S. wanted list and leads an insurgency separate from the Taliban Islamist movement against the Afghan government and foreign troops under the command of NATO and the U.S. military.

Bush said he would veto the still forming Iraq war funding bill if it is not exactly what he wants, period. The Democrats, who are in control of the House and Senate are crafting a bill that would fund the troops for a very short time, and then leave open the door for them to choose not to continue funding beyond a set point.  Bush said he will veto it, even if it means that the troops will be in harms way.

You see people are missing the point, Bush’s point. This funding has NOTHING to do with the troops, their equipment, their welfare, or anything. If that were the point, Bush would have made sure years ago that those things were taken care of. They are not, so this is not about that, what this is about is Bush’s desire to keep the doors to the treasury wide open for the countless contractors that are stealing billions. This is why he will choose to HURT the troops by vetoing the funding the Congress has passed for him, because he had NO DESIRE at all for this quagmire to end. He will resist ANY effort to end it because he has no feelings towards death, and his buddies are getting rich beyond belief.

Bush has chosen again to use the troops as pawns for his game, HE will allow, not the democrats, to go without because he can not let this war end. He would rather YOUR children die on the streets of Baghdad because they mean nothing to him, they are just fodder that take the fire as contractors rape the nation dry. Bush will not leave Iraq until they pass the “Oil Revenue Sharing” bill that he is forcing on them, that will give US Oil companies exclusive rights to their oil for the next 30 years, our troops are just a thorn in the side, and as far as Bush, and the Republicans are concerned, if they do without, so be it.

it has been a rather deadly weekend for our troops in Iraq, this weekend 12 of our brave men will not be coming home in the same manner in which they were sent. Eight soldiers were killed today, 4 yesterday, and 28 this month, keeping in mind the month is only six days old.  According to Bret Hume of Fox News this Sunday morning this is to be expected, that sending more troops into a civil war means more will die, and to point out the increase in troops deaths is un-American and the terrorist when, you know the same crap Fox News than spouting for the last five years.

As much as I believe they will fold under the nonexistent pressure of rhetoric, I wish the Democrats would keep sending President Bush the same bill they sent him last week.

Interestingly, House minority leader John Boehner said on Fox news Sunday that the GOP’s patient with the president’s war plan is not unlimited, and if things don’t change by this fall they will think about maybe doing something to save our troops from the nightmare that Bush has sent them to.  You know the bill that Bush just vetoed requested the troops are pulling out at October, and if I recall Octobers in the fall.  Little does Boehner know key in the Democrats are on the same page.

On May 1, 2003, President Bush stood underneath a “Mission Accomplished” banner and announced that “Major combat operations have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.”

Here’s a by-the-numbers look at the situation then, compared to the situation now:

Well so much for that great “War on Terror” we were fighting, because a new report released this evening has shown that terrorist attacks are up 25% over last year, and 40% more people are dead in those attacks. Solid proof that Bush is “War on Terror” really was nothing more than an excuse for him to go into Iraq. If you’ll recall Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 (no matter what Cheney says), it had nothing to do with Osama bin Laden (Saddam Hussein was a secular leader, he feared Islam because it would not allow him to do what he wanted), and up until just a few years ago were friends of the US.

So I can only assume that we have lost the war on terror, or we never went to go fight it anyway. given that Bush has squandered the resolve of the American people, we are gaining nothing from the war in Iraq, and our President and his cultlike followers has forgotten all about Afghanistan, I say we just bring everybody home, arrest George Bush for war crimes, and go in and clean up the mess after those countries that we so screwed up get done imploding. As bleak as this sounds it is my opinion is the only option the “President” has given us.