Naval Reservist From Centralia Killed In Iraq

By George Howell

LEWIS COUNTY - A Naval Reservist from Centralia, Regina Clark, was among those killed in a bloody attack June 23 in Iraq.

Four female Marines were killed Thursday when a suicide bomber attacked the truck that was carrying them. In addition, 11 other female marines suffered injuries in the attack.

The suicide bombing marked the most female casualties for the U.S. military in a single day since the war in Iraq started.

The news of Clark's death hit hard in her hometown.

Her mother, Melitta Fountain, said the military was her daughter's passion. Petty Officer 1st Class Clark worked as a mess cook in the Navy, serving three tours of duty.

"I really didn't want her to go this time," said Fountain, "I figured once was enough."

Clark, 42, and her mother spoke to each other Thursday, they talked about getting care packages in the mail. But just hours after their conversation, Clark was killed by a suicide car bomber.



Semper Fi my Sailor

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26th CMC and MOH Winner General Lou Wilson Passes Away

General Louis H. Wilson Jr., USMC (Ret), 26th Commandant of the Marine Corps who won the Medal of Honor for heroism during the Battle of Guam on July 25-26, 1944, passed away peacefully at his home in Birmingham, Ala., June 21.


General Louis H. Wilson Jr., USMC (Ret), MOH,
26th Commandant of the United States Marine Corps
(USMC art collection)

Semper Fi Sir

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Mine resistant ambush protected vehicles counter IEDs, ambushes

U.S. MARINE CORPS FORCES PACIFIC, CAMP H. M. SMITH, Hawaii (June 24, 2005) -- “Block off all their main and secondary supply lines for these are their main arteries, and ambush them along those routes for they are exposed and easy prey.”

These words from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi were cited by the Winds of Change website, showing the real danger for convoys traveling Marine supply lines in Iraq.


Snip

With its flat bottom and soft-skin plastic doors, if a humvee is directly hit by a land mine or IED, most likely the passengers inside will lose their life and the vehicle will be destroyed beyond repair, said Maj. Gert de Wet, Central Command plans officer.

“In 1968, South Africans in conjunction with Rhodesians started developing the technology to create new vehicles that would counter the land mine threat introduced in the Bush War in Southern Africa. They developed the technology that created a new modular design for their military vehicles. For example, the vehicle’s wheels could be blown off in a mine/IED blast, but the passengers and the rest of the vehicle survived,” said de Wet.


The Cougar, a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, is the next generation of combat vehicles and is currently being used in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The v-shaped hull assists deflection of a mine or improvised explosive device blast away from the vehicle’s capsule, keeping the passengers safe and the vehicle intact. The ballistic glass with gun ports allow the passengers to engage insurgents ambush attempts without leaving the cab. Photo by: official USMC photo


Lt. General Wallace C. Gregson, U.S. Marine Forces Pacific Commanding General, sought feedback from Marines working with the Cougar. The Cougar, a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, is also built to rollover and is equipped with multi-point, racing style harnesses, so if the vehicle rolled 360 degrees, the passengers inside would avoid injury. Photo by: official USMC photo


The Marine Corps decided to do business with Force Protection, located in South Carolina, the company that developed a version of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles named the Cougar. These vehicles are all designed from the ground up, specifically built to survive improvised explosive devices and ambushes. Photo by: official USMC photo

It's about freaking time!

Semper Fi

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Bush Trying to Win Over Americans on Iraq

By DEB RIECHMANN
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- As public support for his Iraq policy declines, President Bush is working to convince wary Americans that he has a military and political strategy for success in the war in which 1,730 U.S. troops have been killed.

In his radio address on Saturday, Bush warned that there is likely to be more tough fighting to come in Iraq. And, as he did in his meeting at the White House Friday with Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Bush urged Americans to share their confidence in a positive outcome to the war.

"The Iraqi people are growing in optimism and hope," Bush said. "They understand that the violence is only a part of the reality in Iraq."

In the Democratic radio response, Zbigniew Brzezinski, national security adviser in the Carter administration, alleged that the war has been conducted with "tactical and strategic incompetence."

We need to get out!

Semper Fi

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Young Republicans support Iraq war, but not all are willing to join the fight

By Adam Smeltz

Knight Ridder Newspapers

NEW YORK - Young Republicans gathered here for their party's national convention are united in applauding the war in Iraq, supporting the U.S. troops there and calling the U.S. mission a noble cause.

But there's no such unanimity when they're asked a more personal question: Would you be willing to put on the uniform and go to fight in Iraq?

In more than a dozen interviews, Republicans in their teens and 20s offered a range of answers. Some have friends in the military in Iraq and are considering enlisting; others said they can better support the war by working politically in the United States; and still others said they think the military doesn't need them because the U.S. presence in Iraq is sufficient.

Wimps! I joined at 17 and completed my senior before heading to boot camp.

Semper Fi

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DoD Identifies Marine Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Cpl. Carlos Pineda, 23, Los Angeles, Calif., died June 24 as a result of wounds sustained from enemy small-arms fire while conducting combat operations in Falluhah, Iraq.

Semper Fi my Marine

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Veterans' Affairs faces $1b budget gap

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Department of Veterans Affairs told Congress that its health care costs grew faster than expected and left a $1 billion hole in its budget this year, lawmakers said Thursday.

House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Steve Buyer, the Republican from Indiana, said the department can meet this year's health care costs by drawing on spare funds and money from other operations, including building construction.

But next year's health care budget falls well over $1 billion short, said Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho.

"I was on the phone this morning with Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson letting him know that I am not pleased that this has happened," said Craig, chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee.

"This shortfall results from either deliberate misdirection or gross incompetence by this administration and the Department of Veteran Affairs," said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington.


Sen. Patty Murray, flanked by Sen. Larry Craig, left, and Sen. John Rockefeller, right, discusses veterans' health care.

They (congress), must get this fixed, with so many injured coming home from two wars!

Semper Fi

DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Sgt. Joseph M. Tackett, 22, of Whitehouse, Ky., died June 23 in Baghdad, Iraq, of a non-combat related injury.

Semper Fi my Soldier

DoD Identifies Marine Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Lance Cpl. Holly A. Charette, 21, from Cranston, R.I., died June 23 from wounds sustained when a suicide, vehicle-borne, improvised explosive device struck her vehicle in Fallujah, Iraq.

Semper Fi my Marine

DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Sgt. Arnold Duplantier II, 26, of Sacramento, Calif., died June 22 in Baghdad, Iraq, where he was providing cordon security, and was attacked by enemy forces using small arms fire.

Semper Fi my Soldier

Claim: Global oil firms to divide up Iraq oil

Tom Burgis

As the costs of the Iraq occupation spiral, British and American oil companies meet in secret next week to carve up the country's oil reserves for themselves. Tom Burgis reports

Snip

Executives from BP, Shell, Exxon Mobil and Halliburton, Dick Cheney's old firm, are expected to congregate at the Paddington Hilton for a two-day chinwag with top-level officials from Iraq's oil ministry. The gathering, sponsored by the British Government, is being described as the "premier event" for those with designs on Iraqi oil, and will go ahead despite opposition from Iraqi oil workers, who fear their livelihoods are being flogged to foreigners.

Snip

But Iraqi oil workers are furious about the conference. "The second phase of the war will be started by this conference carving up the industry," said an outraged Hasan Juma'a, head of the Iraqi General Union of Oil Employees. "It is about giving shares of Iraq to the countries who invaded it - they get a piece of the action as a reward. The British government will back this action in order to pay its debt in Iraq."

Hasan, who represents 23,000 skilled oil workers, fears that deals struck at the conference will see profits from Iraq's massive oil reserves - the second richest in the world - lining the pockets of multinational corporations at the expense of the Iraqi people.

Snip

Greg Muttitt, a researcher with Platform, an independent environmental think thank, agrees. "The decisions on how to carve up Iraq are being made behind closed doors in Washington, London and Baghdad.


In the driving seat: with so much clear profit at stake, the question of who owns Iraq's biggest natural resource is hotly contended / Getty

I wonder if we'll see some oil pipe lines being damage due to this?

Semper Fi

AFX: US acknowledges torture at Guantanamo; in Iraq, Afghanistan - UN

GENEVA (AFX) - Washington has, for the first time, acknowledged to the United Nations that prisoners have been tortured at US detention centres in Guantanamo Bay, as well as Afghanistan and Iraq, a UN source said.

The acknowledgement was made in a report submitted to the UN Committee against Torture, said a member of the ten-person panel, speaking on on condition of anonymity.

'They are no longer trying to duck this and have respected their obligation to inform the UN,' the Committee member said.

'They they will have to explain themselves (to the Committee). Nothing should be kept in the dark,' he said.

UN sources said this is the first time the world body has received such a frank statement on torture from US authorities

Bushco has some explaining to do! It will start coming out and the wing-nuts who attacked Sen Durbin will have some explaining to do!

Semper Fi

Lawmakers turn up heat on Rumsfeld over war strategy

WASHINGTON — Worry in Congress about the course of U.S. strategy in Iraq boiled over yesterday into a scalding attack on Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and some of the toughest questioning of the Pentagon leader since the war began.

Snip

In the day's most dramatic confrontation, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., a leading critic of the Iraq campaign, told Rumsfeld that the war had become a "seeming intractable quagmire."

He recited a long list of what he called "gross errors and mistakes" in the U.S. military campaign and concluded with a renewed appeal for Rumsfeld to step down.

"In baseball, it's three strikes, you're out," Kennedy said before a session of the Armed Services Committee. "What is it for the secretary of defense? Isn't it time for you to resign?"

Rumsfeld paused, appearing to collect his thoughts and composure.

"Well, that is quite a statement," he responded, adding that none of the three four-star generals seated with him "agrees with you that we're in a quagmire and that there's no end in sight."



Semper Fi Ted

KUNA: Additional 600 British reserves called up for Iraq

MIL-UK-IRAQ-TROOPS
Additional 600 British reserves called up for Iraq

LONDON, June 24 (KUNA) -- A further 600 reservists are to be called up to support British military operations in Iraq, the British Government said Friday.

The call-up means that more than 10,000 part-time service personnel will have been deployed in Iraq since the invasion in March 2003, the Ministry of Defence said.

Semper Fi

DoD Identifies Army Casualties

June 22, 2005

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Spc. Nicholas R. Idalski, 23, of Crown Point, Ind., died June 21 in Ramadi, Iraq, where his unit was conducting combat operations and were attacked by enemy forces using small arms fire.

---

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Sgt. James D. Stewart, 29, of Chattanooga, Tenn., died June 21 in Ar Rutbah, Iraq, where an improvised explosive device detonated near his military cargo truck.

---

The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died on June 21 in Ramadi, Iraq, where their unit was conducting combat operations, and were attacked by enemy forces using small arms fire. Both soldiers were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo. Killed were:

Spc. Christopher L. Hoskins, 21, of Danielson, Conn.

Spc. Brian A. Vaughn, 23, of Pell City, Ala.

Semper Fi my Soldiers

AP: Suicide car bomber slams into U.S. Marine convoy west of Baghdad

BAGHDAD (AP) — A suicide car bomber slammed into a U.S. Marine convoy west of Baghdad and caused casualties, the military said Friday.

The attack happened Thursday night in Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad. The troops were assigned to the II Marine Expeditionary Force, the military said. No further information was made available.

Semper Fi my Marines

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Update 10:34

From Cnn

Marines killed in Falluja attack
Some of casualties are women, U.S. official says

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A suicide bomber in a vehicle killed two U.S. Marines and left four troops unaccounted for when it exploded near their convoy in Falluja, the volatile city west of Baghdad, a U.S. military official said Friday.

Thursday night's blast wounded 13, the military said.

Some of the casualties were women, the official said. The troops were assigned to the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force.

A Marine statement confirmed two Marines were killed and listed three Marines and a sailor as "duty status whereabouts unknown."


Smoke rises from a hill in Falluja.

The sailor is probably a Navy corpsman (medic) assigned to the Marines.

Semper Fi

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Update 11:00

CENTCOM: SVBIED HITS MARINE CONVOY IN FALLUJAH

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq – A convoy carrying Marines assigned to II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) was attacked with a suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device last night in Fallujah, Iraq.

A number of casualties were sustained.

Semper Fi

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Update 9:37

CENTCOM: FALLUJAH CONVOY ATTACK UPDATE

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq – Two Marines assigned to II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) were killed when their convoy came under attack June 23 in Fallujah. One Marine was killed by a suicide vehicle borne improvised explosive device. The other Marine was killed by small arms fire immediately after the car bomb attack.

Thirteen Marines were wounded in the incident.

Three Marines and a Sailor believed to be in the vehicle are currently listed as Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown pending positive identification. Further information will be released when their status is confirmed.

The Marines were enroute to Camp Fallujah after working at entry control points in the city of Fallujah.

Semper Fi

Sept. 11 families: Don't politicize tragedy

FOS11 Statement on Comments Made By Karl Rove

As families whose relatives were victims of the 9/11 terror attacks, we believe it is an outrage that any Democrat, any Republican, any conservative or any liberal, stakes a "high ground" position based upon the September 11th death and destruction. Doing so assumes that all those who died and their loved ones would agree. In truth, some would and some would not. By definition the conduct is divisive and, because it is intended to be self-serving and politicizes 9/11, it is offensive.

I agree, completely.

Semper Fi 9/11 Families

Report: U.S. docs tortured Gitmo POWs

Interrogators Cite Doctors' Aid at Guantánamo
By NEIL A. LEWIS

WASHINGTON, June 23 - Military doctors at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, have aided interrogators in conducting and refining coercive interrogations of detainees, including providing advice on how to increase stress levels and exploit fears, according to new, detailed accounts given by former interrogators.

Semper Fi

Anthrax test set for 100 children

By THOMAS D. WILLIAMS
Courant Staff Writer

The National Institutes of Health is under fire from critics over a plan to test two anthrax vaccines on children.

The trial will test and compare the reactions in humans to the vaccine manufactured by BioPort Corp. of Lansing, Mich., and another being developed by NIH. Bob Bock, an NIH spokesman, said the trial planned for 100 children in first and second grade will not occur until the vaccines are fully tested on 350 adults and shown to be safe for them.

Snip

"Children are involved in trials of vaccines that benefit children," she said, "but this vaccine will not do so." Fisher said based on the NIH announcement of "rare severe reactions" to BioPort's vaccine, she fears the parents of children used in the experiments will not be given proper warnings of the vaccine's potential for adverse reactions.

Snip

"I don't understand how they can do efficacy tests with children at the same time that we are discovering more and more U.S. soldiers who have been harmed by the vaccine," said Steve Robinson, executive director of the National Gulf War Resource Center for service members and veterans. "[NIH officials] want parents to want their children to be vaccinated against the anthrax terrorist attacks that have not happened."

Unbelievable! Doomsday people!

Semper Fi

Cheney sticks by remark that Iraq insurgency is in its "last throes"

US Vice President Dick Cheney refused to take back his remark that Iraq's insurgency was in its "last throes" despite the latest surge of violence in the occupied country.

Cheney said in an interview with CNN that political milestones and the training of Iraqi troops proved that progress was being made, and hit out at critics of the Bush administration's conduct of the post-war period.

"If you look at what the dictionary says about throes, it can still be a, you know, a violent period, the throes of a revolution," Cheney said.

"The point would be that the conflict will be intense, but it's intense because the terrorists understand if we're successful at accomplishing our objective, standing up a democracy in Iraq, that that's a huge defeat for them.

"They'll do everything they can to stop it."

Cheney compared the current stage of the Iraq conflict to the waning days of World War II when axis powers fought a fierce rearguard actions against the allies at the Battle of the Bulge in 1944 and and Okinawa in 1945.

Cheney, You're comparing Iraq to the wrong war, try Vietnam!

Semper Fi

Republican candidate calls Bush Admin 'Nazis,' quits party

Cary, NC - A candidate for North Carolina Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court has announced on her campaign's blog that she is leaving the Republican Party and denounced the Bush administration's policy on troop withdrawal from Iraq. Rachel Lea Hunter, a Republican and a candidate for Chief Justice, likens Bush’s administration to the “Nazis” and says that all who disagree with the administration are being branded as “traitors”.

Welcome to the Democratic party Ms. Hunter.

Semper Fi

Senior Taliban may be surrounded say Afghans

By Mirwais Afghan

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghan and U.S. forces surrounded an area in southwestern Afghanistan on Thursday where senior commanders of elusive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar could be hiding, Afghan officials said.

The operation, backed by U.S. helicopter gunships, followed a big U.S.-backed offensive that killed more than 100 militants in the same region of the border between Kandahar, Uruzgan and Zabul provinces in the past three days, the officials said.

Semper Fi

Texas governor caught on camera calling reporter 'mo-fo'

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) apologized Tuesday for using a vulgar expression that was captured on camera after a Houston TV interview.

Snip

Perry had just completed a series of interviews with local TV stations, and had repeated declined to give KTRK-TV reporter Ted Oberg details of his education proposal.

After the interview was over and Mr. Perry had said you're welcome and so long, Mr. Oberg acknowledged that Mr. Perry had successfully maintained the secrecy of his plan for another day: "Try as I may, Governor, I guess I can't win this one."

Mr. Perry looked off camera and appeared to mock Mr. Oberg, saying: "Try as I may, governor, I'm just not going to wait that long. ... "

Then the governor added as a sign-off: "Adios, mo-fo."

Unbelieveable, oh ya, Texas Republican Party Platform "The Republican Party of Texas affirms
the United States of America is a Christian Nation ..." State of Texas GOP Platform, 2004 . Very christian thing to say!

Semper Fi

House Ethics Chairman May Quit, Officials Report

By PHILIP SHENON

WASHINGTON, June 22 - The chairman of the House ethics committee, Representative Doc Hastings, Republican of Washington, is warning that he may resign from the post this summer because of a stalemate of months with Democrats over whether and how to conduct investigations of Representative Tom DeLay and other lawmakers, Republican Congressional officials said.

They said Mr. Hastings had told colleagues privately in recent weeks that he might step down out of frustration with what he considered intractability of Democrats on the panel and their repeated public attacks on his leadership.

Leadership? What leadership! Intractability with Democrats, yes!

Semper Fi

Woman Fired From Job For Taking Time Off To Spend With Husband On Leave From Iraq

A Jessamine County woman is looking for work after being forced to make a tough decision - take two days to spend time with her husband on leave from Iraq, or lose her job.

Shirley Blankenship thought 10 years of service at McClane Cumberland, a distribution company, was enough to get her a couple of days off to be with her husband David before he returned to Iraq.

"Ever since I worked for them they said we're for family," said Blankenship. "But they wasn't for my family."

Staff sergeant David Blankenship has spent eight years of service in the National Guard, the last six months as a member of the 213th transportation unit out of Paduca

Semper Fi

Rove Criticizes Liberals on 9/11

Snip

"Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers," Mr. Rove, the senior political adviser to President Bush.

Snip

Told of Mr. Rove's remarks, Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, replied: "In New York, where everyone unified after 9/11, the last thing we need is somebody who seeks to divide us for political purposes."

Rove, go back to yor hidey hole and stay there!

U.N. Uncovers Torture at Guantanamo Bay

By BRADLEY S. KLAPPER
Associated Press Writer

GENEVA (AP) -- U.N. human rights experts said Thursday they have reliable accounts of detainees being tortured at the U.S. base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The experts also said Washington had not responded to their latest request to check on the conditions of terror suspects at the facility in eastern Cuba. That request was made in April.

I wonder what the neocons will say about this?

Semper Fi

Rice: Terror Will Be Defeated in Ira

By ANNE GEARAN, AP Diplomatic Writer

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice declared Wednesday that defeating terrorism in Iraq would sound a "death knell" for terrorism elsewhere.

"Terrorism can be defeated in Iraq, it will be defeated in Iraq," Rice said at the close of an 80-nation conference on the reconstruction of postwar Iraq.

She is disconnected from reality. I heard a report on one of the 24 hrs news stations, a commander in Iraq said that its a "stalemate". Ite insurgency is not getting smaller or getting bigger.

Semper Fi

Contract that spawned Guantanamo prisons awarded to Halliburton during Cheney's tenure as CEO

John Byrne

Experts say firm may have built secret camps

A contract awarded to a Halliburton subsidiary in June 2000 while Vice President Dick Cheney was still at the helm of the firm spawned the detention centers at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, RAW STORY has discovered.

Payola.

Semper Fi

U.S. released retirement records after 9/11

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Social Security Administration relaxed its guidelines to turn over personal records to the FBI after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, according to documents released on Wednesday.

The Social Security Administration collects a wide range of information on U.S. citizens for retirement benefits. But Internal memos show it did little to ensure that sensitive earnings and medical information about citizens was properly safeguarded, said a lawyer who obtained the documents through the Freedom of Information Act.

"A law enforcement agent could collect a great deal of information for something that's very tangentially related to 9/11, or could state that it's related to 9/11 when it's not," said Marcia Hofmann, staff counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a civil-liberties watchdog.

Are we in the 1950's?

Semper Fi

House Republicans unveil Social Security plan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Republicans on Wednesday unveiled an alternative Social Security accounts proposal they hope will breathe new life into President Bush's flagging plan to restructure the retirement program.

Same plan, new package! It will not fix Social Security, and cost trillions to start.

Semper Fi

Bush tempers economic rosiness in outreach effort

LUSBY, Md. (Reuters) - President Bush tempered his rosy message on the U.S. economy on Wednesday, acknowledging the job worries of working families as part of a strategic shift to bolster his standing in the polls.

Bushco,

You give big tax breaks to the wealthy and big oil. You're pushing CAFTA, so more good America jobs can be out sourced. And now you're trying to get good poll numbers? It isn't going to work!

Semper Fi

W.House rejects call to fire public-broadcast head

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Wednesday rejected Democratic calls to fire the head of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, who is accused by critics of trying to politicize public television and radio programming.

Asked about a letter from Democratic senators seeking the ouster of corporation Chairman Kenneth Tomlinson, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said, "We continue to support him."

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is a federally funded nonprofit and the largest single source of funding for U.S. public television and radio programming. It is governed by a presidentially appointed board.

Keep up the heat Dems!

Semper Fi

Senate rejects mandatory emissions cuts

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Wednesday soundly rejected a plan to force American industry to cut greenhouse gas emissions, in a vote that came a day after lawmakers approved voluntary reductions.

The proposals to address global warming emerged in the Senate's debate of a broad energy bill to boost production of U.S. oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear and alternative energy.

Majority Leader Bill Frist said he wanted to wrap up the entire package by the end of this week. Yet to be decided were Democratic amendments that would require better fuel mileage for U.S. cars, including gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles.

After two days of debating how far the nation should go to curb emissions of greenhouse gases linked to global warming, the Senate bowed to pressure from industry groups who feared strict measures would be too costly and eliminate jobs.



Totally sucks! We need to address global warming now!

Semper Fi

Bush criticizes CAFTA foes as votes remain short

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush criticized as "economic isolationists" the opponents of a free trade agreement with Central America on Wednesday, as the White House and business groups struggled to win congressional votes for the pact.

After, loosing one job because it moved to Mexico under Nafta. I don't want Cafta! America is losing too many jobs to out sourcing. And what jobs are remaining, the companies are reducing workers benefits. If not, they too would go else were.

Semper Fi

Afghan and U.S. forces kill 32 Taliban, retake town

By Mirwais Afghan

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Hundreds of Afghan police backed by U.S. air strikes retook control on Tuesday of a district capital in southwestern Afghanistan that was overrun by the Taliban, killing 32 guerrillas, police said.

The guerrillas seized Mian Nishin, capital of the district of the same name in Kandahar province last week, capturing 30 police officers and a district chief. They executed eight policemen before announcing the release of the other 23 people.

About 400 police took part in the operation to force the guerrillas out of Mian Nishin, said deputy provincial police chief Salim Khan.

I hope the Afghans can hold it this time. By the way good work Afghan police.

Semper Fi

DoD Identifies Army Casualties

he Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died on June 17 in Al Qaim, Iraq, while conducting combat operations. Both soldiers were assigned to Headquarters, U.S. Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, N.C.

Killed were:

Master Sgt. Robert M. Horrigan, 40, of Austin, Texas.

Master Sgt. Michael L. McNulty, 36, of Knoxville, Tenn.

Semper Fi

DOD Identifies Army Casualty

he Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Pfc. Christopher R. Kilpatrick, 18, of Columbus, Texas, died June 20 in Tal Afar, Iraq, during convoy operations when enemy forces attacked his HMMWV with an improvised explosive device and small arms fire.

Semper Fi

CENTCOM: TWO SOLDIERS KILLED NEAR AR RAMADI

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq -- Two Soldiers assigned to 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), were killed in action June 21 by small-arms fire. The incident took place during combat operations near Ar Ramadi, Iraq.

Semper Fi Soldiers

U.S. troops swim against sea of Iraqi munitions

By Luke Baker

BAGHDAD, June 22 (Reuters) - Inspectors had little luck finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, but when it comes to the ordinary kind -- mortars, rockets, guns and bullets -- U.S. forces can barely deal with all they recover.

Semper Fi

Stars and Stripes: 1st AD units could deploy sooner than expected

By Jessica Inigo, Stars and Stripes
European edition,

Major units within the 1st Armored Division could be headed to Iraq earlier than expected.

In January, soldiers received an official e-mail from 1st AD headquarters telling them to expect to deploy between Nov. 1, 2005 and January 2006.

But 1st AD spokesman Maj. Michael Indovina said Tuesday that the 2nd Brigade Combat Team from Baumholder, Germany, now expects to deploy “in the fall,” which he described as anytime between September and November.

Semper Fi

National Guard and Reserve Mobilized as of June 22, 2005

This week, the Army, Air Force and Navy announced a decrease in the number of reservists on active duty in support of the partial mobilization, while the Marine Corps number increased. The Coast Guard number remained unchanged. The net collective result is 5,196 fewer reservists mobilized than last week.

The Marines are stretch too thin.

Semper Fi

Al Bawaba: IED attack on military convoy near Ramadi

Three American troops died by small-arms fire during combat operations west of Baghdad, the military said Wednesday.

Three car bombs exploded in western Baghdad on Wednesday, killing 19 people and wounding 48, police said.

Semper Fi

Centcom: SOLDIER KILLED NEAR AR RAMADI

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq – A Soldier assigned to 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), was killed in action June 21 by small-arms fire.

The incident took place during combat operations near Ar Ramadi, Iraq.

Semper Fi Soldier

Al-Qaida Announces Iraqi Suicide Squad

By MAAMOUN YOUSSEF
Associated Press Writer

Iraq's most feared terror group said Tuesday that it has formed a unit of potential suicide attackers who are exclusively Iraqis, an apparent bid to deflect criticism that most suicide bombers in Iraq are foreigners.

Al-Qaida in Iraq announced the unit in an Internet posting signed by Abu Maysara al-Iraqi, the group's purported spokesman. The statement could not be authenticated, but it appeared on an Islamic Web site known for carrying messages from militant groups.

Semper Fi

GOP leader caves to Bush on Bolton

By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Tuesday he would keep pressing for a vote on embattled U.N. nominee John Bolton's confirmation after President Bush insisted that throwing in the towel was not an option.

What a bunch of "numb nuts".

Semper Fi

Bush Rejects Detainee Abuse Commission

The White House on Tuesday rejected the proposed creation of an independent commission to investigate abuses of detainees held at the U.S. military prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and elsewhere.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the Pentagon has launched 10 major investigations into allegations of abuse, and that system was working well.

"People are being held to account," he said. "And we think that's the way to go about this."

McClellan said the Defense Department would continue to investigate any new allegations. And he noted that the Pentagon has appointed outsiders to some of its investigations.

The Pentagon considered a probe into the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in Iraq as independent. The investigation was headed by former Defense Secretary James Schlesinger, but its members were appointed by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who has been criticized in the scandal.

Democrats on Capitol Hill have increasingly called for an independent commission to look into detainee abuses. On Tuesday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said a commission is crucial to answering questions about the atmosphere that permitted abuses, troop training and the length of detentions at Guantanamo.

"These questions are important because the safety of our country depends on our reputation and how we are viewed, especially in the Muslim world," she said.

Of course, bushco does't wat a investigation. We'd find out what really happen!

Semper Fi

Bush didn't give Marine units in Iraq enough equipment

AMERICAblog

Snip

Marine Corps units fighting in some of the most dangerous terrain in Iraq don't have enough weapons, communications gear, or properly outfitted vehicles, according to an investigation by the Marine Corps' inspector general provided to Congress yesterday.

The report, obtained by the Globe, says the estimated 30,000 Marines in Iraq need twice as many heavy machine guns, more fully protected armored vehicles, and more communications equipment to operate in a region the size of Utah.

Thanks John for trying to get this to the forefront of the liberal blogs.

Semper Fi

Nonpartisan government watchdog to investigate White House contracts with media

Rep. Louise M. Slaughter (D-NY), Ranking Democrat on the House Rules Committee, told RAW STORY Tuesday morning that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has agreed to investigate possible contracts between various media and public relations entities and seven White House cabinet level departments.



MSM has turned into a Repug propaganda machine. Especially 24 hour news stations i.e. CNN and the like!

Semper Fi

Update 12:27

The Stakeholder has more. Go Read! Thanks Jesse Lee.

Marines win Iraq desert battle, war far from over

By Peter Graff

KARABILA, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. Marines claimed success on Tuesday in another battle against insurgents in the Iraqi desert but acknowledged that the war was far from over and that guerrillas would soon recover lost ground.

After four days of bombardment and street-to-street gunbattles, the Marines cleared Karabila -- a strategic way station near the main border crossing where the Euphrates flows in from Syria -- of foreign fighters who made it a base.

But U.S. officers and local people in the town, badly damaged by the fighting, said the insurgents would be back.

We won every battle in Vietnam, but did we win the war?

Semper Fi

Bush defends secret detention centers

By Tabassum Zakaria

President Bush on Monday defended the U.S. treatment of detainees and said the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks should stay in secret custody because he could provide valuable information to help protect Americans and Europeans.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, regarded by U.S. officials as the brains behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, has been held at an undisclosed location since he was captured in Pakistan in March 2003.

So did Stalin!

Semper Fi

Bush may temporarily install Bolton himself

Democrats Block Attempt to Confirm Bolton

By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press WriterMon Jun 20, 6:43 PM ET

Democrats blocked another attempt Monday by the Senate to confirm John Bolton to become U.N. ambassador, delivering a second-straight setback to President Bush even as he left the door open to temporarily installing Bolton on his own.

The Republican-run chamber fell six votes short of the 60 it needed to end Democratic delays that have prevented a roll call on confirming the tough-talking conservative. The vote was 54-38 in favor of ending the delays.

The tally left Bush facing stark choices — most of which could leave him appearing weak at a time he is facing sagging poll numbers and fighting lame-duck status six months into his final term.

Wielding a seldom-used power, he could install Bolton during the Senate's upcoming July 4 recess without the chamber's approval. Under the Constitution, the so-called recess appointment would only last through the next one-year session of Congress — in Bolton's case until January 2007.

Bushco used this with judge pryor.

Semper Fi

Bolton cloture vote fails; 54-38

Vote on Bolton delayed again

Democrats defeat move to close off debate

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Republicans failed for the second time Monday to move the Senate toward a vote on President Bush's nomination of John R. Bolton to be ambassador to the United Nations.


John Bolton's nomination as U.N. ambassador has been controversial.

Good!

Semper Fi

Federal agency lied, spied on air travelers

By LESLIE MILLER, Associated Press Writer

The federal agency in charge of aviation security collected extensive personal information about airline passengers even though Congress forbade it and officials said they wouldn't do it, according to documents obtained Monday by The Associated Press.

The Transportation Security Administration bought and is storing details about U.S. citizens who flew on commercial airlines in June 2004 as part of a test of a terrorist screening program called Secure Flight, the documents indicate.

"TSA is losing the public's trust," said Tim Sparapani, a privacy lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union. "They have a repeated, consistent problem with doing one thing and then saying they did another."

Somebody, please fire bushco!

Semper Fi

Republican: Democrats Demonize Christians

By ANDREW TAYLOR
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- The House passed a mammoth defense spending bill Monday evening, but only after a Republican congressman was forced to take back remarks accusing Democrats of "demonizing Christians."

The rhetorical warfare came as the House considered a proposal by Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., to put Congress on record against "coercive and abusive religious proselytizing" at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Rep. John Hostettler, R-Ind., criticized Obey and Steve Israel, D-N.Y., who offered a similar condemnation of academy officials earlier this year on another bill.

"Like a moth to a flame, Democrats can't help themselves when it comes to denigrating and demonizing Christians," Hostettler said.

Democrats leapt to their feet and demanded Hostettler be censured for his remarks. After a half-hour's worth of wrangling, Hostettler retracted his comments.

The imbroglio broke out as the House conducted an otherwise routine debate on a $409 billion spending bill to fund the Pentagon budget and provide an additional $45 billion for the war in Iraq.

Well thats the second Indiana congressman to piss off the dems. What a idiot (hostettler)!

Semper Fi

Judge to pick parent to bury Marine son

By OLIVIA MUNOZ, Associated Press Writer

The divorced parents of a Marine killed in the U.S. military's deadliest air crash of the Iraq war are fighting in court over where to bury their son.

The Detroit-area judge who will decide the case scheduled a July 15 hearing on Monday and said she does not want it to turn into a "three-ring circus."

The parents are arguing over the choice of cemeteries — a new national cemetery that has yet to open or a paternal family plot.

Lance Cpl. Allan Klein, 34, died in January along with 29 other Marine infantrymen and a medic in a helicopter crash. His remains are being kept in a Roseville crypt.

"We should be talking about the wonderful things he did for his country, his family and friends instead of ... where we're going to bury him," Judge Diane Druzinski said.

Klein's mother, Rae Oldaugh, wants her son buried in the new Great Lakes National Cemetery. Groundbreaking was held in October, but the cemetery is not expected to be ready for burials until August at the earliest.

Klein's father, Manfred Klein, apparently also wanted his son buried there but became frustrated by delays. The Klein family now wants to bury Allan in a private cemetery where one of his paternal grandparents is interred.

Manfred Klein said his son never specifically talked about what should happen if he died.

Parents fighting over their sons remains. What a tragedy!

Semper Fi

Forbes: US refuses to allow evacuation of Al-Arabiya's wounded reporter

DUBAI (AFX) - Television channel Al-Arabiya said US military authorities had refused to authorize the evacuation from Iraq of reporter Jawad Kazem, who was wounded by armed men Saturday in Baghdad.

In a statement received by Agence France-Presse, the Dubai-based TV station said its attempts to obtain permission for a medical aircraft to evacuate its journalist from Baghdad had met with 'a refusal from the American military authorities'.

In 'intensive' contacts with 'the Iraqi government, the Pentagon, the State Department and American Central Command (Centcom) in Qatar' Al-Arabiya had explained 'the gravity of the state of health' of Kazem and 'the need to transfer him out of Iraq in the hope of saving his life,' the statement said.

Semper Fi

Centcom: 1ST COSCOM SOLDIER KILLED BY IED

LSA ANACONDA, BALAD, Iraq – One 1st Corps Support Command Soldier was killed as a result of wounds sustained from an improvised explosive device attack while conducting a combat logistics patrol northeast of Tall Afar June 20.

Maybe your stomach is beginning to grawl, cheney? Iraq insurgency in 'last throes,' Cheney says

Semper Fi

CENTCOM: MARINE KILLED IN KARABILAH (confirmed)

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq – A Marine assigned to Regimental Combat Team-2, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), was killed in action June 18 by small-arms fire.

Anything yet cheney? Iraq insurgency in 'last throes,' Cheney says

Semper Fi

http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/Casualty_Report.asp?CasualtyReport=20050624.txt

TIKRIT, Iraq – Two Task Force Liberty Soldiers were killed, along with one Iraqi civilian and one detainee, who was being transported by the combat patrol at the time of the engagement, near Buhritz in Diyala Province about 11:30 p.m., June 17.

Snip

Five Iraqi police and one Task Force Liberty Soldier were also wounded in the fight. The wounded Iraqis were evacuated to Baqubah Hospital, while the injured Task Force Liberty Soldier was evacuated to a Coalition forces medical treatment facility.

Iraq insurgency in 'last throes,' Cheney says You hungry yet cheney? You're going to eat these words!

Semoer Fi

Iraq contractor 'killed' by insurgents

AP - Iraqi insurgents have claimed in a web posting that they killed a foreign contractor working for a US company along with six Iraqis in an ambush west of Baghdad.

The militant group Ansar al-Sunnah Army said its fighters attacked a convoy leaving a base near the town of Ramadi, killing the men and capturing two other Iraqis.

The claim could not immediately be confirmed.

Semper Fi

DoD Identifies Marine Casualty

he Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Lance Cpl. Adam J. Crumpler, 19, from Charleston, W.Va., died June 18 as a result of small-arms fire while conducting combat operations against enemy forces during Operation Spear in Karabilah, Iraq.

Semper Fi my Marine

DoD Identifies Army Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died on June 18 in Baqubah, Iraq, from injuries sustained on June 17 in Buritz, Iraq, when they were conducting a mounted patrol and their HMMWV was attacked by enemy forces using rocket-propelled grenades.

Killed were:

1st Lt. Noah Harris, 23, of Ellijay, Ga.

Cpl. William A. Long, 26, of Lilburn, Ga.

Semper Fi Soldiers

Marine dies

The Associated Press

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) _ A U-S Marine has been killed while taking part in a counter-insurgency campaign near Iraq's border with Syria. The military says the Marine was killed yesterday by small-arms fire.

Semper Fi

Dad picks up $600 tab for son's Iraq body armor

Raw Story

John Tod of Mesa had been prepared to face Father's Day worrying about his son's pending date with the war in Iraq. Then Uncle Sam stepped in with more disappointing developments. This full article can be read at the registration-restricted AZCentral.com.

Marine Pfc. Jeremy Tod, 19, called home with news that his superiors were urging him and fellow Marines to buy special military equipment, including flak jackets with armor plating, to enhance the prospects of their survival. The message was that such purchases were to be made by Marines with their own money.

"He said they strongly suggested he get this equipment because when they get to Iraq they will wish they had," Tod said. Total estimated cost: $600.

Tod said his son's call about two weeks ago from the Marine Corps Air Station-Yuma was a sobering reminder that the military is not prepared to equip Pfc. Tod and fellow Marines with the best equipment.

Besides the essential flak jacket with steel "trauma" plates, the shopping list for the 5-foot-5 155-pound Marine included a Camelbak (water pouch) special ballistic goggles, knee and elbow pads, a "drop pouch" to hold ammunition magazines and a load-bearing vest.

Tod, 45, is picking up the tab for a son who blew most of his savings on a new pickup truck. And dad says he is tempted to forward the bill to the Pentagon. "Or maybe I can write it off in taxes," he said with a grin.

Semper Fi

Reuters: Suicide bomber kills 20 in Baghdad restaurant-police

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed up to 20 people including five policemen and many plain-clothes security guards at a Baghdad restaurant close to the Green Zone government compound on Sunday, several police sources said.

A further 20 were wounded after the bomber walked into the restaurant during lunchtime on a street protected by numerous police checkpoints and a few hundred metres (yards) from one of the main public entrances to the fortified Green Zone.

Iraq insurgency in 'last throes,' Cheney says

We'll make you eat those words, Cheney.

Semper Fi

New benefit delay hits disabled vets

BY CHERYL L. REED Staff Reporter

The most seriously disabled veterans will now have to wait for their claims to pass a second review before they can receive any disability pay from the federal Veterans Affairs Department, according to a new policy ordered last week.

Veterans who have been granted disability for post-traumatic stress disorder or are judged to be 100 percent disabled or unemployable by one VA disability reviewer must now receive a second VA nod before the agency will grant any disability pay.

VA officials defended the policy, which went into effect immediately Tuesday and was issued to all 57 regional VA offices through a memo, a copy of which was obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.

"It's always good to have an extra set of eyes on this stuff," said Scott Hogenson, a VA spokesman.

Obama fears trend of denials

Denials for those same disabilities, though, do not require a second review. Veterans advocates, as well as Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), fear the new policy sends a message that VA disability reviewers are not to grant high-paying claims.

"It appears there's going to be a bias towards the denial of PTSD claims," said Obama, who serves on the Senate VA Committee.

I was bushco would just go away!

Semper Fi

Think Progress �� Bush Still Propagating Iraq/9-11 Myth

President Bush In His Radio Address Today: "We went to war because we were attacked, and we are at war today because there are still people out there who want to harm our country and hurt our citizens. [6/18/05]

VERSUS

President Bush In 2003: "We've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with the September 11th [attacks]." [9/17/03]

The deception continues...

Semper Fi

timesonline: British bombing raids were illegal, says Foreign Office

Michael Smith
A SHARP increase in British and American bombing raids on Iraq in the run-up to war “to put pressure on the regime” was illegal under international law, according to leaked Foreign Office legal advice.

The advice was first provided to senior ministers in March 2002. Two months later RAF and USAF jets began “spikes of activity” designed to goad Saddam Hussein into retaliating and giving the allies a pretext for war.

The Foreign Office advice shows military action to pressurise the regime was “not consistent with” UN law, despite American claims that it was.

The decision to provoke the Iraqis emerged in leaked minutes of a meeting between Tony Blair and his most senior advisers — the so-called Downing Street memo published by The Sunday Times shortly before the general election.

Democratic congressmen claimed last week the evidence it contains is grounds for impeaching President George Bush.

I think the British will soon tire of bushco's meddling in their politics.

Semper Fi

New U.S. move to scuttle climate deal

Mark Townsend in New York

Extraordinary efforts by the White House to scupper Britain's attempts to tackle global warming have been revealed in leaked US government documents obtained by The Observer.

These papers - part of the Bush administration's submission to the G8 action plan for Gleneagles next month - show how the United States, over the past two months, has been secretly undermining Tony Blair's proposals to tackle climate change.

The documents obtained by The Observer represent an attempt by the Bush administration to undermine completely the science of climate change and show that the US position has hardened during the G8 negotiations. They also reveal that the White House has withdrawn from a crucial United Nations commitment to stabilise greenhouse gas emissions.

The documents show that Washington officials:

· Removed all reference to the fact that climate change is a 'serious threat to human health and to ecosystems';

· Deleted any suggestion that global warming has already started;

· Expunged any suggestion that human activity was to blame for climate change.

Among the sentences removed was the following: 'Unless urgent action is taken, there will be a growing risk of adverse effects on economic development, human health and the natural environment, and of irreversible long-term changes to our climate and oceans.'

Another section erased by the White House adds: 'Our world is warming. Climate change is a serious threat that has the potential to affect every part of the globe. And we know that ... mankind's activities are contributing to this warming. This is an issue we must address urgently.' The government's chief scientific adviser, Sir David King, has dismissed the leaking of draft communiques on the grounds that 'there is everything to play for at Gleneagles.' However, there is no doubt that many UK officials have become exasperated by the Bush administration's refusal to accept the basic principle that climate change is happening now and is due to man's activities.

Unbelievable, how low can bushco go, to help big oil!

Semper Fi

Reuters: U.S. troops press offensive in western Iraq

By Peter Graff

KARABILA, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. troops, backed by Iraqi forces and U.S. and British aircraft, pushed into the northern section of a town near the Syrian border which they say has become a stronghold for foreign fighters.

Karabila, a near deserted town that was once home to 60,000 people, and other areas around the city of Qaim, are the focus of Operation Spear, one of two offensives launched in three days in the western desert against Sunni Arab rebels fighting the U.S. presence and new, Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad.

Along with Operation Dagger, closer to the capital near Tharthar lake, the high-profile assaults took place as President Bush, absorbing new criticism of his strategy in Iraq, asked Americans to show patience on what he called a "central front in the war on terror."

U.S. aircraft and helicopters were in action overnight. The U.S. military said Britain's air force has also taken part.

Semper Fi

DoD Identifies Marine Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the death of two Marines who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Lance Cpl. Erik R. Heldt, 26, of Hermann, Mo.

Capt. John W. Maloney, 36, of Chicopee, Mass.

Both Marines died June 16 when their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations near Ar Ramadi, Iraq.

Semper Fi Marines

Two US soldiers killed in Baghdad shootout

Two US Army soldiers were killed and one was wounded during a small arms skirmish with insurgents while transporting a detainee north of Baghdad, the military said today.

Semper Fi Soldiers

GOP senator: Bush 'not in reality'

Hit by friendly fire
With his polls down, Bush takes flak on Iraq from a host of critics--including some in his own party
By Kevin Whitelaw

Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel is angry. He's upset about the more than 1,700 U.S. soldiers killed and nearly 13,000 wounded in Iraq. He's also aggravated by the continued string of sunny assessments from the Bush administration, such as Vice President Dick Cheney's recent remark that the insurgency is in its "last throes." "Things aren't getting better; they're getting worse. The White House is completely disconnected from reality," Hagel tells U.S. News. "It's like they're just making it up as they go along. The reality is that we're losing in Iraq."

That's strikingly blunt talk from a member of the president's party, even one cast as something of a pariah in the GOP because of his early skepticism about the war. "I got beat up pretty good by my own party and the White House that I was not a loyal Republican," he says. Today, he notes, things are changing: "More and more of my colleagues up here are concerned."

Indeed, there are signs that the politics of the Iraq war are being reshaped by the continuing tide of bad news. Take this month in Iraq, with 47 U.S. troops killed in the first 15 days. That's already five more than the toll for the entire month of June last year. With the rate of insurgent attacks near an all-time high and the war's cost set to top $230 billion, more politicians on both sides of the aisle are responding to opinion polls that show a growing number of Americans favoring a withdrawal from Iraq. Republican Sens. Lincoln Chafee and Lindsey Graham have voiced their concerns. And two Republicans, including the congressman who brought "freedom fries" to the Capitol, even joined a pair of Democratic colleagues in sponsoring a bill calling for a troop withdrawal plan to be drawn up by year's end. "I feel confident that the opposition is going to build," says Rep. Ron Paul, the other Republican sponsor and a longtime opponent of the war.

I agree Sen. Hagal, Bushco is diconnected from reality!

Semper Fi