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

To: Dan B. who wrote (67880)	10/3/2005 11:30:46 AM
From: Skywatcher	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 81568

From the 'Republicans killing our youth' Dept: HADITHA DAM, Iraq - Cpl. David Kreuter had a new baby boy he'd seen only in photos. Lance Cpl. Michael Cifuentes was counting the days to his wedding. Lance Cpl. Nicholas Bloem had just celebrated his 20th birthday. Travis Williams remembers them all — all 11 men in his Marine squad — all now dead. Two months ago they shared a cramped room stacked with bunk beds at this base in northwest Iraq, where the Euphrates River rushes by. Now the room has been stripped of several beds, brutal testament that Lance Cpl. Williams' closest friends are gone. For the 12 young Marines who landed in Iraq early this year, the war was a series of hectic, constant raids into more than a dozen lawless towns in Iraq's most hostile province, Anbar. The pace and the danger bound them together into what they called a second family, even as some began to question whether their raids were making any progress... ...Marine commanders say the large-scale raids in western Anbar province have kept the insurgency off-balance, killing hundreds of militants and leaving a dwindling number of insurgent bases in the area... ..."Personally, I don't think the sweeps help too much," he said quietly on a recent day, sitting in a room at the dam, crowded with Marines resting from a late mission the night before. "You find some stuff and most of the bad guys get away."..."I think the most frustrating thing is there's no sense of accomplishment," Williams said. "You're biding your time and waiting. But then you lose your friends, and it's not even for their own country's freedom." news.yahoo.com .

To: Dan B. who wrote (67880)	10/3/2005 2:46:29 PM
From: Skywatcher	Respond to of 81568

Paying For Rumsfeld's Mistakes By Paul Rieckhoff, HuffingtonPost.com. Posted October 3, 2005. First he screwed up by failing to get our troops the body armor they needed. Now Rumsfeld is failing them again by disregarding reimbursement legislation. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, inadequate body armor was issued to thousands of troops. I know -- I was one of them. I commanded thirty-seven infantrymen who rode into Baghdad in the spring of 2003 with outdated, inferior flak jackets. Later I learned that as many as 40,000 other troops went to Iraq with the same substandard gear. One of them was Spc. Richard Murphy, who said, "When my company landed in theatre in May, I was one of the few soldiers equipped with body armor effective at stopping powerful AK-47 ammunition. My mother, an elementary school art teacher, shipped the bullet-proof ceramic plates to me from the States. Other soldiers weren't so lucky, having to raid buildings and patrol dangerous streets while wearing inferior Vietnam-era flak jackets." Richard didn't have the proper equipment to fight effectively in a war zone, so his mother bought it for him on Ebay. This is a true story. And there are countless others like it. Thousands of troops and military families paid out of their own pockets to increase their survivability and that of their subordinates. From the day we launched Operation Truth, we've worked hard to shed light on this issue. We took it to the media, demanding legislative action. And someone in Washington responded. After learning about stories like Rich's, Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT) created legislation last year to force the DOD to reimburse troops, their families, and charitable groups for such purchases. President Bush signed the bill into law in October 2004, but the Department of Defense has never complied with this provision. First, Rumsfeld screwed up by failing to get our troops the equipment they needed. Now he is failing them again by disregarding the reimbursement legislation. Full story here. I can hear the ghost of Gomer Pyle somewhere yelling "Well surprise, surprise!" Maybe a few hundred bucks spent on body armor isn't much to Secretary Rumsfeld, who makes about $175,700. But a few hundred dollars is a big deal to Richard Murphy. Last year his salary as a Specialist (E-4) was about $20,000. Thankfully, Senator Dodd is not giving up. Last week he held a press conference, "to announce that he will introduce an amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill directing the Department of Defense to comply with existing law that requires military personnel and others to be reimbursed for purchasing essential military equipment for Troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan." If you want an easy way to really support the Troops, use this easy link to contact your Senators today and tell them to support Senator Dodd and this important amendment. Not yet convinced to do something? Check out this incredible video. During a routine patrol in Baghdad June 2, Army Pfc. Stephen Tschiderer, a medic, was shot in the chest by an enemy sniper, hiding in a van just 75 yards away. The incident was filmed by the insurgents. "Tschiderer, with E Troop, 101st "Saber" Cavalry Division, attached to 3rd Battalion, 156th Infantry Regiment, 256th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, was knocked to the ground from the impact, but he popped right back up, took cover and located the enemy's position. "After tracking down the now-wounded sniper with a team from B Company, 4th Battalion, 1st Iraqi Army Brigade, Tschiderer secured the terrorist with a pair of handcuffs and gave medical aid to the terrorist who'd tried to kill him just minutes before." More on this here. Pfc. Tschiderer had new body armor. Without it, he would probably be dead. We as troops don't "go to war with the Army we have." We go to war with the Army we are given by Rumsfeld. He and his DOD bureaucrats have failed our troops again, but you can help fix the problem. They say that they support the troops. Now it is time to make them put their money where their mouth is. Paul Rieckhoff is the executive director and founder of Operation Truth, and a veteran of the war in Iraq, where he served as a platoon leader with the Third Infantry Division

To: Dan B. who wrote (67880)	10/3/2005 4:23:38 PM
From: Orcastraiter	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 81568

While I can find lots of Baghdad Bob stuff, I'm finding it difficult to find what was actually said from/by Saddam's Iraq on 09/11/2001 (or soon thereafter), everything seems now to center around Baghdad Bob's famously funny remarks later, as the war progressed into Baghdad. However, I really don't need a link, for I heard it myself and know I speak truth. Once again you dodge the point. And once again you provide no proof of Saddam saying anything. Baghdad Bob didn't even show up on the scene until Bush began to focus on Iraq and the war was imminent. If you say they had a crowd cheering in the street that should be easy enough to prove. You say further that Saddam promised more. That too should be easy to prove if it were so. Prior to asking you for a link, I did my own extensive google search on your assertion. I found nothing. I remember shots of Palestinians dancing in the streets after 9-11. And certainly there were folks all over the middle east who expressed approval, from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Jordan, Syria and probably even in Iraq. And in all these places there were people that expressed shock and horror as well. Certainly after 9-11 the majority of the sentiment in the world and even in the middle east was one of abject horror at the events. Officially condolences and expressions of sorrow came from most middle east countries. Although as near as I can tell Saddam remained silent. Since that time, Bush has squandered that support, and has literally turned the entire world against us. To this you applaud! And you say that the world is safer...but it is sadly not safer. It's a more divided world than when Bush took office. He's not a uniter...he's a divider, and that is proven in fact. As usual, you rely on your own "memory of the truth" to guide you. That's a dangerous thing to do considering the propaganda soup you sip. Orca

To: Dan B. who wrote (67880)	10/3/2005 5:42:21 PM
From: Orcastraiter	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 81568

I did however find this from the famous girl blogger on riverbend: Someone asked me whether it was true that the ‘Iraqi people were dancing in the streets of Baghdad’ when the World Trade Center fell. Of course it’s not true. I was watching the tv screen in disbelief- looking at the reactions of the horrified people. I wasn’t dancing because the terrified faces on the screen, could have been the same faces in front of the Amiriyah shelter on February 13… it’s strange how horror obliterates ethnic differences- all faces look the same when they are witnessing the death of loved ones. riverbendblog.blogspot.com Sounds like more of the truth than your shameful Bush apologist rap-trap. Here's a woman writing from the heart of Baghdad. She knows more about Iraq than newsmax...no doubt. Orca