Posts filed under “Iraq War”
The End of the Iraq War: Facts, Figures and Statistics
Earlier today, the United States Military officially declared an end to the Iraq War which began in 2003 under President George W. Bush and has lasted for nearly 9 years. For most Americans, the end of the war comes as a relief and is a small reminder of why the country voted for Barack Obama [...]
Occupy Iraq comes to an end much to the dismay of John McCain
I’m not too sure why anybody is giving John McCain news coverage anymore, but apparently he’s not too happy that the Iraq War will come to a definitive end when the last American troop returns home in December: Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) says an agreement could have been reached to keep more American troops in [...]
Getting your money’s worth
The New York Times published an unflattering article yesterday on the practice of the government contracting out services to private companies. The article examined the findings of a study done by a nonprofit organization called the Project of Government Oversight, and found, in 33 of 35 occupations, the government actually paid billions of dollars more [...]
On Deficit-Financed Wars
This part of President Obama‘s Oval Office address was clearly aimed at Bush: Unfortunately, over the last decade, we’ve not done what’s necessary to shore up the foundations of our own prosperity. We spent a trillion dollars at war, often financed by borrowing from overseas. This, in turn, has short-changed investments in our own people, [...]
“Trying To Split The Difference Between The Irreconcilable”
How’s this for most succinct summation of last night’s Oval Office address? President Obama‘s Oval Office address was impressive and perplexing. Politically, I liked the clever pivot to the domestic economy, but he left me utterly confused about the mission in Iraq and Afghanistan. Are we to continue to spend trillions supposedly building “democracy” in [...]
Baby, Please Don’t Go!
Lt Gen Babaker Zebari is Iraq’s Army Chief of Staff. He believes that the planned US troop withdrawal (by the end of 2011) is premature. How premature? He thinks we need to stay around for another ten years. Iraq’s top army officer has criticised as premature the planned US troop withdrawal by the end of [...]
Long Live Democracy! And Journalism!
(1) Isn’t democracy wonderful? (Note: the article has been revised slightly since I pulled the quotes used here.) Seven weeks after Iraqis went to the polls, a special elections court disqualified a winning parliamentary candidate, likely reversing the narrow defeat of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s coalition and possibly allowing him the first chance to [...]
When Will They Ever Learn (Contd.)
Different war, same script. It’s always the same damn script. Calling it a case of “collateral murder,” the WikiLeaks Web site today released harrowing until-now secret video of a U.S. Army Apache helicopter in Baghdad in 2007 repeatedly opening fire on a group of men that included a Reuters photographer and his driver — and [...]
Dementia Or Disease?
With Little Bo Peep, it was her sheep. With Gramps McCain, it’s his marbles. And just like Little Bo Peep, he doesn’t know where to find them. Last time we looked in on Gramps, he was befuddled about what it takes to repeal a bill. Or, to be fair to him, that may just have [...]
Tony Blair: Experiments With Untruth
(1) Here’s the London Times, reporting on Tony Blair‘s appearance before the Chilcot inquiry into Britain’s involvement in the Iraq war: Tony Blair’s claims that Iran now poses as serious a threat as Saddam Hussein‘s Iraq have been dismissed as a “piece of spin” by the British ambassador to Tehran. Sir Richard Dalton was fiercely [...]