It's June 2006 in Iraq...

"Probably half of them were bad guys and we just never knew, so it really doesn't cross my mind."

Yeah, that four year old boy was definitely probably a bad guy.

Am I the only one who finds this rather upsetting?

Military prosecutors plan to file murder, kidnapping and conspiracy charges against seven Marines and a Navy corpsman in the shooting death of an Iraqi civilian in April, a defense lawyer said Thursday.

The eight men are being held in the brig at Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base north of San Diego, said Jeremiah Sullivan III, who represents one of the men.

The men served in Iraq with the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, and are members of the battalion's Kilo Company. The highest-ranking serviceman is a staff sergeant.

Sullivan said he learned from Marine Corps attorneys that the charges have been drafted and official charging documents could be given to the men as early as Friday.

Although I find this incident upsetting, I hardly find it surprising. This is war. Lots of people are going to get killed, some under "just" circumstances and some "not." Moreover, it being a guerilla rebellion, there are in some ways more chances for total innocents to be hurt or killed. I feel fairly comfortable that US government policy is to avoid deaths of non-combatants, just as I know that there will be both trigger-happy yahoos in the army, and individuals who snap under pressure. Nor am I surprised that there was a "local" cover-up, given (a - big picture) the ridiculous situation the US military has been put in by the government , and (b - at the human level) the apparent circumstances of the event, i.e., for whatever reason, one particular attack and death on their side caused this group of soldiers to snap. I just think it's unrealistic to expect that people WON'T snap in that environment -- that's one of the reasons wars are so fucked up.

For me, the real outrage will come if no-one is punished for what happened.

"Iraq to Free Detainees in Bid for Reconciliation"

BBC headline

"Violent Baghdad deaths top 6,000 [this year]"

hmm... hard to have reconciliation when 1,400 people were killed in May in sectarian violence in Baghdad alone (and that's considered an undercount). Isn't the killing supposed to stop before the reconciliation can take place? Releasing 2,500 Sunni inmates doesn't seem like the best approach to stopping the killing. Well, I'll leave it to the experts.

On Sunday 12 Iraqi students traveling to Baqubah to take their final exams were dragged from a bus and killed because they practiced the wrong religion. The next day gunmen dressed in police uniforms kidnapped 56 people near the bus station in central Baghdad and hauled them off in pickup trucks.

This is an Iraqi nightmare, and America seems powerless to stop it. What would you think if you were the parent of one of those dead Iraqi children? You would want the United States, the nation that broke the fragile bonds that once held Iraq together, to act more effectively to control this violence. And you would want Iraq's so-called government of national unity to behave like one and stop the killers who are devouring the decent people of Iraq. And if neither the Americans nor the Iraqi government could protect your children, you would turn to the militias.

Meanwhile, my fellow American citizens continue to die.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5058304.stm

Well, let's think about this... People are willing to die in suicide bombings because it kills their enemy. Hanging yourself isn't going to take any of the enemy with you, but obviously it does some propaganda damage. It seems extreme, but, fine, I'll grant you it's a conceivable proposition but hardly a convincing one. Suggesting that it's proof they were "committed Jihadists" and therefore a danger to the US? Moreoever, let's just think about the logical conclusions of this: essentially doing ANYTHING short of sitting in prison and rotting is by definition an attempted attack -- you're not allowed to contact the outside world, for fear of signals being passed; suicide is not a mark of desperation...

This is so fucking ridiculous.
(Still and again)

As indicated in that news story, there is no doubt whatever that al-Qaeda would like to draw not just Iran, but the entire Islamic world into a war with the west. This would destroy the current power structure and create a multitude of opportunities for alQ to fill the power vacuum with their own brand of Islamic fundamentalism.

They calculate that there is no way the western powers can conquer them or co-opt them and given enough time and determination, they will prevail. Given how small they are, they are leveraging their resources very effectively so far.

It is instructive to compare bin Laden with the historic 'Old Man of the Mountain' who started the organization of Assassins during the Crusades. There is good reason to believe that bin Laden draws inspiration and instruction from that figure and his organization.

Even if alQ in Iraq struggles, even if they are bad nasty men, nothing that alQ in Iraq says or does can change crappy US leadership and deeply flawed US decision making into ice cream and lollipops. For $1 billion a week we sure as shit better be getting some positive results.

http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=272

"Currently, half of the public (50%) says that the U.S. should bring its troops home from Iraq as soon as possible, compared with 44% who say we should stay there until the situation has stabilized. The number favoring an immediate withdrawal is up only slightly from January (48%), but represents the highest measure of support for a troop pullout since the war began... 55% OF AMERICANS FAVOR THE U.S. ESTABLISHING A TIMETABLE FOR WHEN TROOPS SHOULD BE WITHDRAWN FROM IRAQ, about the same number that expressed that view in December. And by two-to-one (61%-30%), more say their bigger concern is that the U.S. will wait too long to withdraw its troops from Iraq as opposed to leaving too soon before a stable democracy is in place."

Even if I did misread your post, you didn't answer my question, Shakey.

Short news item, "Tip of the Spear"

'Wash Post' Obtains Shocking Memo from U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Details Increasing Danger and Hardship

The subject of the memo is: "Snapshots from the Office -- Public Affairs Staff Show Strains of Social Discord."

--"Personal safety depends on good relations with the 'neighborhood' governments, who barricade streets and ward off outsiders. The central government, our staff says, is not relevant...People no longer trust most neighbors."

--One embassy employee had a brother-in-law kidnapped. Another received a death threat, and then fled the country with her family.

--Iraqi staff at the embassy, beginning in March and picking up in May, report "pervasive" harassment from Islamist and/or militia groups. Cuts in power and rising fuel prices "have diminished the quality of life." Conditions vary but even upscale neighborhoods "have visibly deteriorated" and one of them is now described as a "ghost town."

--Two of the three female Iraqis in the public affairs office reported stepped-up harassment since mid-May...."some groups are pushing women to cover even their face, a step not taken in Iran even at its most conservative." One of the women is now wearing a full abaya after receiving direct threats.

The traitorous leaks continue.

If we do shows every Sunday talking about every mistake, we're going to lose this war."

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC (My dad's real Senator!)

it's like mccain saying "this is an act of war" on sep 12, 2001 - wacko thugs suddenly receive the legitimacy the muslim world has always scoffingly denied them

Even if I did misread your post, you didn't answer my question, Shakey."

Oh Don... no majority wants an immediate pull out, and if you'd READ MY POST CORRECTLY you would've realized I didn't say any such thing in the first place, nor did I imply it, and you wouldn't have asked your question because it is stupid and completely beside the point. Thanks for playing.

I'm curious about whether or not your position on the war is changing.

If I were going to summarize my take on where you have been (which is probably simplified and not entirely fair to you), it would be that the war is vital to win, that we've been doing a terrible job of fighting it, and that we have to turn things around and win it. Fire Rumsfeld, bring in more troops, etc.

I agree with you that losing or pulling out is almost unthinkable. When I read things like that cable, or blog posts from Iraq the Model, I imagine the Iraqis who are friendly to us being taken out and shot. The woman who was told she'd have to wear something to cover in her head to ride in the cab - specific people. I mean, when I hear Murtha on TV talking about pulling out, that's what I think of. That's the question I'd ask him, if I were Tim Russert. What about the people they'll take out and shoot?

And from a more detatched place, I wonder about the security structure of the region. We've used Iraq as a buffer for Iran. What happens if that goes away? That buffer been the lynch pin of our regional policy since the fall of the shah. It's one of the main reasons we didn't "finish the job" in Gulf War I. What's it going to do to us if the buffer collapses?

But it looks to me like things are melting down so much that we're probably moving past a point of no return. The chances of this administration doing anything dramatic enough to make a difference seem to be almost nil.

I think we're f***ed. We're in a war that we can't afford to lose, and we can't win it. I don't think there's any way to avoid taking horrific damage over the next several years. A lot of good people will have to live in hell because of what we've done in Iraq. A lot of good people will be killed, and we will share in the blame along with their murderers. Domestically, we'll tear each other apart with recriminations, with finger pointing, with really vicious politics. In the Middle East, we'll have strengthened Iran's hand enormously through an unforced error on our part. And in the rest of the world, confidence in both our morality and our competence - both key qualifications for leadership - will be shaken tremendously.

I am very worried about further erosions of civil liberties and constitutional government in the years to come. I see that as the most important issue facing us - the need to preserve our system, and hand it down to the next generation. But I don't see any public awareness of the issue, or much support at all for my position.

If we get into horribly polarized fights like the ones we had during the Vietnam meltdown, I think a lot of very bad stuff could happen to us. That's the environment in which I worry that real losses of liberty here at home will be possible, or even likely.

I guess what it all comes down to, for me, is this: is it possible to manage the collapse? To make it less painful? If there is a storm coming, is it possible to prepare for it? I really hope I'm wrong about all of this - that Democracy takes root in Iraq, and that Bush goes down as the greatest president ever.

And in other news, 100 (or so) people abducted from buses.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5103358.stm
Yep, the insurgents are or the back foot now...what a fcking horrible mess.