Iraq war into 6th year, same old story...

[Phanatic]

I don't mean dying.

Hitler had a great line about that. Something along the lines of one of his generals coming to him and reporting high casualties in a manner that indicated the general was afraid to be the messenger of bad news. Hitler's response was "that's their job...to die."

He was right. The war is won by the side most willing to die.

First job is to die, second job is to kill.

I'll see your Hitler and raise you a MacArthur

No one won a war by dying for their country, they won it by making the other side die for theirs.

If by MacArthur you really meant Patton then good job...

[Sgt PSN]

Eh, I knew it was one of those 2.  If you google it with and without quotations you get a hit for each one.  Oh well. 

[ice grillin you]

Attacks in Baghdad Kill 13 U.S. Soldiers in 3 Days
Officials Cite Troops' Increased Exposure in Capital

By Amit R. Paley
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 5, 2006; A01

BAGHDAD, Oct. 4 -- Thirteen U.S. soldiers have been killed in Baghdad since Monday, the American military reported, registering the highest three-day death toll for U.S. forces in the capital since the start of the war.

The latest losses -- four soldiers who were killed at 9 a.m. Wednesday by small-arms fire -- are part of a recent spike in violent attacks against U.S. forces that have claimed the lives of at least 24 soldiers and Marines in Iraq since Saturday, the military said.

The number of planted bombs is "at an all-time high," said Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell, a military spokesman, defying American efforts to stanch the vicious sectarian bloodshed in Baghdad that threatens to plunge the country into civil war.

"This has been a hard week for U.S. forces," Caldwell said. "Unfortunately, as expected, attacks have steadily increased in Baghdad during these past weeks." Independent databases showed the three-day toll for American troops to be the highest in Baghdad so far.

U.S. military officials said the surge in violence could be partly attributed to the increased exposure of American forces as they patrol the dangerous streets of Baghdad to try to quell reprisal killings between Shiites and Sunnis. The number of troops in the capital has been doubled since June to support the Iraqi government's new security plan, said Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, another military spokesman.

"When you go into bad neighborhoods, you'll have more attacks," said Lt. Col. James A. Gavrilis, a Special Forces officer and expert on the Iraqi insurgency. "If we have more people in one area, there will be an opportunity." He said enemy fighters "are reacting to an opportunity to attack."

Ali al-Dabbagh, a spokesman for the Iraqi government, said another likely cause for the spike in American troop deaths was a recent call by the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, encouraging Iraqis to "eliminate the infidels and the apostates" during the current holy month of Ramadan.

Seventy-four soldiers and Marines were killed in Iraq in September, representing the highest monthly toll since April, when 76 died, according to the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count.

Army Maj. Gen. James D. Thurman, commander of the Multinational Division Baghdad, said two weeks ago that attacks against U.S.-led coalition forces in Baghdad had reached an average of 42 a day -- with about six causing casualties or equipment damage -- up from 36 or 38 attacks.

The disclosure of heavy American losses came on another day of horrific violence for Iraqis, with at least 59 people killed in separate incidents across the country, Iraqi police said. The single deadliest attack took place at 11 a.m. in Ramadi, a Sunni insurgent stronghold in western Iraq, when a suicide bomber blew up his car at an Iraqi army base, killing at least 19 people and wounding 10, according to a police official.

Caldwell also announced yesterday that an entire Iraqi police brigade -- comprising an estimated 800 to 1,200 officers -- had been pulled out of service and placed under investigation for alleged complicity with death squads. On Sunday, gunmen burst into a food factory in Amil, a Baghdad neighborhood under the brigade's control, and kidnapped 26 workers.

"There is clear evidence that there was some complicity in allowing death squad elements to move freely when, in fact, they were supposed to have been impeding their movement," Caldwell said. "The government of Iraq had lost trust and confidence in the 8th Brigade, 2nd National Police Division's ability to serve the public due to their poor performance and alleged criminal wrongdoings."

The move appeared to represent a new effort by Iraqi officials to root out corruption in the Iraqi security forces, which are widely believed to be infiltrated by militias and death squads that do more to exacerbate sectarian tensions than protect citizens. Caldwell said the brigade will undergo "anti-militia, anti-sectarian violence and national unity training."

The brigade's commander might be charged with a crime, and the head of the unit's second regiment has already been arrested, said Brig. Abdul Kareem Khalaf, an Interior Ministry spokesman. "They are both under investigation to know how all this happened without the security forces interfering to stop it," he said.

Also on Wednesday, a top aide to Moqtada al-Sadr said the anti-American cleric has specific information that U.S.-led coalition forces plan to launch a major attack on Sadr City, a Shiite slum in Baghdad filled with his followers.

"They want to turn it into mass graves similar to the previous ones conducted by the former regime," said the aide, Sahib al-Amery. "The occupation forces want to start a sectarian crisis on the pretext that there are Shiite militias."

The United States and Sadr have clashed frequently since the 2003 invasion, and some military officials have been calling for more aggressive moves against the Sadr-controlled Mahdi Army, which is considered to be a militia by nearly everyone in Iraq.

[SD_Eagle5]

The best part is I am about to apply to OCS and there is a really good chance that I will be an officer, that just goes to show how farged up the Army is now.

Lifer

[Drunkmasterflex]

The best part is I am about to apply to OCS and there is a really good chance that I will be an officer, that just goes to show how farged up the Army is now.

Lifer

We shall see.

[SD_Eagle5]

As Han Solo once said: "Better you than me"

[Butchers Bill]

Can't believe I beat DIO to this one:

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/10/10/D8KM6GL80.html

[Diomedes]

Cheney can talk all he wants about victory, no one is listening.  The U.S. has failed in Iraq.  Utterly failed.  750,000 refugees, thousands and thousands of dead innocent people, all that money wasted, stolen and given to massive war corporations, all those dead U.S. soldiers.  All the wounded, who will no doubt be forgotten by the U.S. government, just as all veterans have (expect when a parade is on order).

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/10/20/iraq.sadr.ap/index.html

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- The Shiite militia run by anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr seized total control of the southern Iraqi city of Amarah on Friday in one of the boldest acts of defiance yet by one of the country's powerful, unofficial armies, witnesses and police said.<snip>

[Diomedes]

"I think the Iraqi people owe the American people a huge debt of gratitude and I believe most Iraqis express that." - Bush on 60 Minutes.

[Seabiscuit36]

I caught it last night mostly because i wanted to see the parents of the Duke Case.  Bush was showing 60 minutes different landmarks in DC, he was reading a book about the history of Washington, DC.  I used to like Bush but he looked like a 10 year old kid who just did a class report, and telling everyone he knew about what he learned. 

[Event Horizon]

Bush has to get off his ass and realize poll numbers are meaningless to him now. Hw can't be re-elected. Just completely flatten most of the mid-east. Pave it over and take the oil. Why the hell not? Who could stop us if we had the will to do it completely?

Yes, he can.

We don't have the will to do what's necessary now.

[PhillyGirl]

President Bush, on a collision course with Congress over Iraq, said today "I'm the decision-maker" about sending more troops to the war.

[Diomedes]

Scumbag.

[SunMo]

take it easy, she's just re-posting a quote.

[Diomedes]

weak