Civilian deaths in Iraq drop overnight

[hereshoping]

<p>

None of them have been shot at for me, thank you.

</p>

<p>

Sorry, the soldiers volunteered to get shot at. They choose, for themselves, to get shot at.

</p>

<p>This–from a person who is employed by the U.S. government.</p>

[VoxDei]

<p>No wonder he spends so much time here. He’s workin’ fer the guvmnt! On the taxpayer’s dime!!</p>

[garland]

<p>So says the voice of God.</p>

[fundingfather]

<p>

Sorry. The soldiers volunteered to get shot at. They chose, for themselves, to get shot at.

</p>

<p>Yes, that’s right and most of them don’t want to pull out of Iraq but yet you feel presumptuous enough to demand that they be pulled out because “you support the troops”.</p>

[citygirlsmom]

<p>Have you TALKED to the soidlers, ff, didn’t think so, many many are asking what they are doing there, imagine that</p>

<p>guess some here love this war but won’t go or send their own kids…</p>

[sjmom2329]

<p>Well, actually we DO know people who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, and they seem proud to serve their country.</p>

[sjmom2329]

<p>

@citygirlsmom

guess some here love this war but won’t go or send their own kids…

Now, I thought we’d been through this already. Parents don’t SEND their adult children ANYWHERE, and most of us are too old to serve. Find a new refrain.</p>

[citygirlsmom]

<p>ah, nice dodge</p>

[citygirlsmom]

<p>serving your country for a good cause is very different from fighting a non winnable battle and spinning your wheels</p>

<p>Bush can’t even tell us what victory is and if you read the predictions from the “planning” phase, it was SOOO far of the mark it would be laughable if it weren’t so sad</p>

[sjmom2329]

<p>What do you mean, “nice dodge?” You asked about whether or not people actually talk to those serving in the armed forces. My husband does on a regular basis. You made yet another comment about people who support the military not having kids in the service and I answered that the question doesn’t make sense. You really have no idea of what people may do to support this country, but I’m pretty sure you don’t have any involvement.</p>

<p>The fact remains that there is some positive news about Iraq, and you can’t seem to acknowledge it.</p>

[namaste]

<p>^Exactly. The tide will turn, and Bush will be right in the end :)</p>

[kluge]

<p>…and they’ll find the secret stash of WMD’s, and the Iraqis will throw flowers at the feet of the American liberators, and all those people who have the nerve to claim that the Emperor has no clothes will be exposed as haters of freedom!</p>

[pearlygate]

<p>@ above:</p>

<p>sorry I can’t resist to post this</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR2iZ0GuIyI[/url]”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR2iZ0GuIyI&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[fundingfather]

<p>Have you TALKED to the soidlers, ff, didn’t think so, many many are asking what they are doing there, imagine that</p>

<p>But yet the latest survey of a large sample shows less than 20 percent of the current military wants to withdraw. But, I’m sure that since this data doesn’t support your view you will choose to use anecdotal data from those who are in the minority. What else is new.</p>

<p>When you have kids of your own there you can speak for them. Until you do, you should let those brave enough to volunteer speak for themselves.</p>

[Allmusic]

<p>FF, Do YOU have children of your own there?</p>

<p>After all, then you would be able to speak with greater authority on all the good things that are happening (or not, as is definitely the case).</p>

[fundingfather]

<p>Be careful what you wish for. I don’t think you would be happy with a foreign policy that is controlled by those in the military or who have family in the military.</p>

[conyat]

<p><a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/17/AR2007021701172.html[/url]”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/17/AR2007021701172.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Article is about conditions, described as “neglect” at Walter Reed’s outpatient facility for wounded soldiers.</p>

<p>

Staff Sgt. John Daniel Shannon, 43, came in on one of those buses [carrying wounded soldiers] in November 2004 and spent several weeks on the fifth floor of Walter Reed’s hospital. His eye and skull were shattered by an AK-47 round. His odyssey in the Other Walter Reed [the attached outpatient facility] has lasted more than two years, but it began when someone handed him a map of the grounds and told him to find his room across post.</p>

<p>A reconnaissance and land-navigation expert, Shannon was so disoriented that he couldn’t even find north. Holding the map, he stumbled around outside the hospital, sliding against walls and trying to keep himself upright, he said. He asked anyone he found for directions.</p>

<p>Shannon had led the 2nd Infantry Division’s Ghost Recon Platoon until he was felled in a gun battle in Ramadi. He liked the solitary work of a sniper; “Lone Wolf” was his call name. But he did not expect to be left alone by the Army after such serious surgery and a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder. He had appointments during his first two weeks as an outpatient, then nothing.</p>

<p>"I thought, ‘Shouldn’t they contact me?’ " he said. "I didn’t understand the paperwork. I’d start calling phone numbers, asking if I had appointments. I finally ran across someone who said: ‘I’m your case manager. Where have you been?’ </p>

<p>“Well, I’ve been here! Jeez Louise, people, I’m your hospital patient!”

</p>

<p>Soldiers with their own psychological problems have been put in charge of suicidal patients; amputees are required to report in rain, snow and ice for 7 am formation and can’t have umbrellas; soldiers with brain injuries get no help in keeping appointments; and mice, roaches and mold are everywhere. </p>

<p>

“We’ve done our duty. We fought the war. We came home wounded. Fine. But whoever the people are back here who are supposed to give us the easy transition should be doing it,” said Marine Sgt. Ryan Groves, 26, an amputee who lived at Walter Reed for 16 months.

</p>

<p>

The soldiers feel like they are not getting proper respect

according to a DAV service officer who works with the wounded in the facility.</p>

[Hindoo]

<p>A lull in civilian casualties is a good thing. Believing that such a lull would last for more than a few days seems a bit naive. Here’s an AP item on Iraq’s surge-induced serenity, posted earlier this evening. Surge or no surge, we’re going to be reading alot more of these hideously gruesome stories in the days, weeks, months, and God help us, years to come.</p>

<p>BAGHDAD, Iraq - A twin bombing left 11 dead in northern Iraq and U.S. aircraft went in action Saturday against Sunni insurgents west of Baghdad, as Iraqi officials claimed early success in the campaign to restore order in the capital.
The bombers struck in a Kurdish neighborhood of the oil city of Kirkuk, about 180 miles north of Baghdad, as streets were filled with cars and pedestrians.
Police and witnesses said the first blast occurred near shops and a bus depot. Minutes later, a suicide car bomber attacked the same area. Terrified shoppers fled screaming in panic amid burning cars and debris. A restaurant owner lay screaming on the sidewalk, his body soaked with hot cooking oil after one of the blasts hurled him onto the curb.
Eleven people were killed in the two blasts and 65 were wounded, police Brig. Gen. Sarhat Qader said.</p>

[Allmusic]

<p>FF, I am not happy in the slightest with foreign policy contolled by chicken hawks either.</p>

[Hindoo]

<p>The surge is working.</p>

<p>BAGHDAD, Iraq - Two car bombs exploded in an outdoor market in Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least 56 people and injuring scores in the deadliest attack since U.S. and Iraqi forces began a major security push around the capital last week.
The twin blasts tore through the open-air market in the mostly Shiite district of New Baghdad. The death toll was reported by police and ambulance service officials on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media.
At least 127 people were injured, said a police official. The explosions toppled wooden vendors’ stalls and utility poles, and blood pooled in the debris.
A third car bomb in the mostly Shiite area of Sadr City killed at least one person and injured 10, police said.
The U.S. military reported the deaths of two American soldiers, one of them in Baghdad who was killed when an insurgent hurled a grenade at his vehicle. The other soldier died when a patrol came under fire north of Baghdad, the statement said, without giving a specific location.</p>