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Politics : Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kerry -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: CalculatedRisk who wrote (59410)	4/5/2005 9:19:10 PM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 81568

Iraq Prepares to Name Kurd New President Blogs for Bush Iraq's newly elected parliament will choose a new president tomorrow, which, according to Iraqi officials, is "the next step in building Iraq's first democratically elected government in 50 years." <<< Lawmakers put the finishing touches Tuesday on an agreement making Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani president and Shiite Adel Abdul-Mahdi and interim President Ghazi al-Yawer, a Sunni Arab, his two vice presidents. On Thursday, the 275 lawmakers elected Jan. 30 likely will name Shiite leader Ibrahim al-Jaafari prime minister, clearing the way for lawmakers to begin focusing their attention on writing a permanent constitution by their Aug. 15 deadline. >>> Posted by Matt blogsforbush.com apnews.myway.com

To: CalculatedRisk who wrote (59410)	4/5/2005 9:22:36 PM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 81568

"March was a horrible month for our brave men and women in Iraq" Unfortunately, the facts loudly speak otherwise (see the last paragraph)........ Someone Should Tell Them to Move On 04/04 05:08 PM Beltway Buzz Eric Pfeiffer Reporting The right of dissent is fundamental to freedom. But as the great Harlan Ellison is fond of saying, you are not entitled to your opinion – you are entitled to an informed opinion. In their latest fundraising email to supporters MoveOn edges toward the line of American betrayal while leaving the facts behind. Criticizing the administration’s request for an additional $82 billion in Iraq-Afghanistan/anti-terror funding, MoveOn points out that $600 million will go towards an Iraq embassy and “an absence of an exit strategy” that will “worse, not improve the situation in Iraq.” The vast majority of Democrats have already signaled their support for the funding request. Even John Kerry indicates he will support the bill. Still, MoveOn writes: <<< “The situation continues to worsen. In February of this year there was an average of 70 attacks per day by insurgents. A year ago, the average number of attacks per day was 14. Similarly, the number of insurgents has more than tripled over the last year.” >>> All non-partisan indicators contradict MoveOn’s claims. Since the Iraqi elections, U.S. CASUALTIES have significantly dropped and support for insurgents evaporates as the Iraqis segue into sovereign power. For MoveOn to cash-in on the sacrifice of Iraq's heroes shows where their true intentions and desires lie.

To: CalculatedRisk who wrote (59410)	4/5/2005 9:23:24 PM
From: lorne	Respond to of 81568

CR. You said...." ROFLOL. Bush's Iraq policy is a failure so far ... but lets give it a year and then decide."..... You find that something to laugh at?....very strange thing to say. And in any case the post I made did not mention Iraq only other countries that are effecting change due to IMO what is going on in Iraq at this time. Why do you think so many islamic countries are suggesting and making changes within their countries regarding human rights?

To: CalculatedRisk who wrote (59410)	4/5/2005 9:25:36 PM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 81568

Hat tip to carranza2..... Fatalities have clearly trended down as the insurgency fizzles. The figures on the wounded, from your source ( edit icasualties.org ), show this trend even more explicitly: Period Wnd-RTD Wounded 19-Mar-03 thru 03-Apr-03 115 426 04-Apr-03 thru 02-Apr-04 963 1484 03-Apr-04 thru 09-Apr-04 59 222 10-Apr-04 thru 16-Apr-04 119 242 17-Apr-04 thru 23-Apr-04 138 96 24-Apr-04 thru 03-May-04 193 76 04-May-04 thru 11-May-04 82 116 12-May-04 thru 18-May-04 100 93 19-May-04 thru 24-May-04 73 85 25-May-04 thru 31-May-04 86 114 01-Jun-04 thru 09-Jun-04 121 10 10-Jun-04 thru 16-Jun-04 71 54 17-Jun-04 thru 22-Jun-04 79 54 23-Jun-04 thru 29-Jun-04 64 59 30-Jun-04 thru 20-Jul-04 209 201 21-Jul-04 thru 03-Aug-04 183 100 04-Aug-04 thru 11-Aug-04 56 133 12-Aug-04 thru 17-Aug-04 129 92 18-Aug-04 thru 24-Aug-04 152 41 25-Aug-04 thru 31-Aug-04 84 142 01-Sep-04 thru 07-Sep-04 114 -4 08-Sep-04 thru 14-Sep-04 81 138 15-Sep-04 thru 21-Sep-04 116 52 22-Sep-04 thru 28-Sep-04 62 57 29-Sep-04 thru 05-Oct-04 87 111 06-Oct-04 thru 12-Oct-04 86 46 13-Oct-04 thru 19-Oct-04 90 64 20-Oct-04 thru 26-Oct-04 77 57 27-Oct-04 thru 03-Nov-04 60 77 04-Nov-04 thru 09-Nov-04 83 88 10-Nov-04 thru 16-Nov-04 120 378 17-Nov-04 thru 23-Nov-04 267 103 24-Nov-04 thru 30-Nov-04 184 42 01-Dec-04 thru 07-Dec-04 62 152 08-Dec-04 thru 14-Dec-04 50 28 15-Dec-04 thru 22-Dec-04 65 72 23-Dec-04 thru 04-Jan-05 176 95 05-Jan-05 thru 11-Jan-05 67 53 12-Jan-05 thru 18-Jan-05 36 94 19-Jan-05 thru 25-Jan-05 106 14 26-Jan-05 thru 01-Feb-05 86 62 02-Feb-05 thru 08-Feb-05 39 62 09-Feb-05 thru 15-Feb-05 53 44 16-Feb-05 thru 22-Feb-05 69 32 23-Feb-05 thru 01-Mar-05 75 76 02-Mar-05 thru 08-Mar-05 31 34 09-Mar-05 thru 14-Mar-05 55 4 15-Mar-05 thru 22-Mar-05 83 43 23-Mar-05 thru 29-Mar-05 54 44 Total 5610 5958 But the 1/04 to 1/05 goes from 52 to 127 and the 2/04 to 2/05 CASUALTIES go from 23 to 60. One doesn't look at month to month comparisons, but at trends. The 1/05 figures were for the pre-election violence. The 1/04 figures do not show the strength of the insurgency which was exhibited later in 2004, not at its beginning. The trend was this: lots of violence during 2004, peaking in 1/05 immediately before the election. After that, it has trended down, as reflected in both the fatality and the wounded statistics from your own source. Your method--comparing 1/04 to 1/05, then making a judgment--is not only simplistic but palpably wrong. You of course loaded the highest and the lowest months interms of CASUALTIES but didn't bother to to look at a trend. Your analysis is not worth much if you don't acknowlege that for obvious reasons--the failed attempt to derail the election-- violence was extremely high in 1/05. But in that fact lies another matter you fail to recognize. Violence was as extreme in 1/05 as it has ever been in IRAQ yet it did not prevent a huge number of IRAQis--more in percentage terms than vote in our own elections--from making the election a huge success. Message 21199115