BAGHDAD (AP) - The Iraqi government has dismissed about 1,300 soldiers and policemen who deserted or refused to fight during last month’s offensive against Shiite militias and criminal gangs in Basra, officials said Sunday.

Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf said 921 police and soldiers were fired in Basra. They included 37 senior police officers ranging in rank from lieutenant colonel to brigadier general.

The others were dismissed in Kut, one of the Shiite cities where the fight had spread.

Last month, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered the security forces to confront armed groups in Basra, Iraq’s second largest city.

But they met fierce resistance and the attack quickly ground to a halt as fighting flared across the Shiite south and Baghdad.

Full Story Here:
1,300 Iraqi Troops, Police Dismissed

1,300 Iraqi troops and police are dismissed?? For desertion?? DISMISSED??

They deserted in time of WAR, they should be lined up and SHOT!!

That’s numbers coming close to being half of a combat brigade folks, a brigade is 3,500 troops, and we have many brigades in Iraq, and they are waiting on the Iraqi army to STAND UP so that they can come home, but the Iraqis have desertions in these kinds of numbers, and ALL that gets done is a dismissal, a mere slap on the wrist??

These are the people that OUR troops are fighting and dying for, our sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, moms, dads, husbands and wives, and many friends as well, and this is what we can expect from the Iraqi army and police??

It’s time to re-think this Debacle in Iraq, I have NEVER voted for a Democrat in my life, but if that’s what it takes to get our troops OUT of Iraq, then by God I WILL vote Democrat this go round, and make NO mistake, I know that over all, a vote for the Dems is a bad thing, but voting for a Democrat is exactly what you’ll be doing if you vote for John McCain, a Democrat without the name, a candidate that is nothing more than a RINO, and the one thing that John McCain guarantees is this, we’re going to stay in Iraq, fighting and dying for a people that will NOT stand and fight for themselves…

We were attacked by the Taliban and their cohorts on 9-11-01, and I never balked so much as once when we went to Afghanistan to take on that bunch of thugs, but Iraq was NOT about the Taliban or al-Qaida, not in it’s inception, Iraq was simply George W. Bush having a temper tantrum because Saddam defied his wishes and threatened ‘Daddy’, and after several changes of mission statement and definition, we’re still there, in Iraq, an entire nation that is NOT worth the life of so much as ONE of our fine men and women in uniform…

I know there will be many that disagree with this post, but quite frankly, I DON’T CARE, if you can’t open your eyes and see what us being in Iraq has done to this nation, and what George W. Bush has brought upon this nation by taking us TO Iraq, then you are truly one of the blind Bush Bots, and if that offends you, feel free to click out of this blog and stay clicked out!!

I personally feel that those who support the Debacle in Iraq are doing a dis-service to our military members, if we are going to go to war, anywhere in this world, we owe it to our men and women in uniform to prosecute that war in the most expeditious manner possible, and to get them home safely, as soon as possible, and that has NOT been the case in Iraq, we are still conducting a tit for tat, a travesty which we have no apparent desire to end…

And once again the war fighting skills of the Iraqi army make it quite apparent as to exactly WHY we rolled over Saddam and his Republican Guard in such short order, the Iraqis WILL NOT FIGHT, they will conduct insurgent and guerrilla operations, they WILL persecute defenseless people, they will dominate and murder those that won’t fight back but IF there is a challenge made against the Iraqi army, they, as a whole, show their true colors and run like dogs…

Any nation or people that refuses to fight for it’s own freedom is NOT worth fighting FOR, not by us or any other nation, a people that will not stand in their own defense are not worth defending!!

Support Iraqi Freedom?? Screw Iraq AND it’s freedom, bring our troops home NOW, or deploy them to a place where they can actually do some good in the War on Terror, and not leave them act as stand-ins and IED fodder for some insurgency and their civil war!

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WASHINGTON (AP) - Behind the Pentagon’s closed doors, U.S. military leaders told President Bush Wednesday they are worried about the Iraq war’s mounting strain on troops and their families. But they indicated they’d go along with a brief halt in pulling out troops this summer.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff did say senior commanders in Iraq should make more frequent assessments of security conditions, an idea that appeared aimed at increasing pressure for more rapid troop reductions.

The chiefs’ concern is that U.S. forces are being worn thin, compromising the Pentagon’s ability to handle crises elsewhere in the world.

In the war zone itself, two more American soldiers were killed Wednesday in separate attacks in Baghdad, raising the U.S. death toll to at least 4,003, according to an Associated Press count. Volleys of rockets also slammed into Baghdad’s Green Zone for the third day this week, and the U.S. Embassy said three Americans were seriously wounded. At least eight Iraqis were killed elsewhere in the capital by rounds that apparently fell short.

If past performance is any indicator, the Bush Bot sites will be posting how this story is likely nothing more than another lie designed to denigrate their god, The Bush, and his magnificent warfighting skills.

And those couldn’t have been real rockets hitting the Green Zone, it must have been explosive charges planted by the MSM because the news that’s been coming out of Iraq is just too good, and we all know that the MSM plants stories like this to demoralize the troops and to keep the Bush Bots screaming LIAR and TRAITOR as loud as they can when folks like me post these stories, not to mention, the reports of continues death and destruction show the public what is really going on in Iraq.

The Joint Chiefs are particularly concerned about Afghanistan and an increasingly active Taliban insurgency.

The United States has about 31,000 troops in Afghanistan and 156,000 in Iraq.

And IF we had a president that could actually put at least 2 cognizant thoughts together and not get tongue tied in the process, or commit some other obvious gaff, we might have actually stayed engaged IN Afghanistan and completed that job instead of traipsing off to Iraq on GW’s Big Adventure.

One of the leading advocates of Bush’s troop buildup last year, military historian Frederick Kagan of the American Enterprise Institute, said in an interview Wednesday that security conditions in Iraq, while better, are not good enough to justify any commitment to troop reductions beyond July.

“The military reality is that it’s virtually inconceivable that it will make sense to draw down below 15 brigades this year,” Kagan said.

Wait, what?? According to the Bush Bots that claim to be in the loop and have access to all sorts of glowing reports, and in some cases have made vague reference to being privy to classified information, everything is just rosy in Iraq and the world is a lovely place, everyone is ready for a group hug and a round of Kumbaya, so you just have to know that this can’t be an accurate story, the Bots have told us otherwise, our troops are being kept in Iraq to train the Iraqis and that’s all, the Surge was a glowing success and everything is just lovely, right??

Mullen and Gates have said repeatedly that in addition to reducing troop levels in Iraq, they want to shorten tour lengths for soldiers from 15 months to 12 months as soon as possible. A decision to do that is expected, perhaps shortly after Bush reaffirms that the number brigades in Iraq will be cut to 15 by July. The Army calculates that at that point it could drop tours to 12 months and still give units at least 12 months at home to recover, retrain and rearm before deploying again.

Former Sec. of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said it best, “You don’t go to war with the army you want, you go to war with the army you have” but what do you say about going to war when you don’t have to, and in the ensuing process, wearing your army down to a point where inefficiency is the order of the day and funding for that war is bleeding your citizens dry??

I also have to wonder, will the same people that blasted ME for saying things were NOT as advertised in Iraq do the same to Kagan for speaking the truth?? Will there be a cry that these people are traitors?? Are the DoD guys fake military officers?? Are the stories coming from the Pentagon coming from professional writers that are being paid by the word and only write in an effort to disrespect America??

Some people are so blinded by their desire to support The Bush that they just can’t look at any opposing opinion, they can’t stand it when their fantasy lover is shown as the lackluster, and less than desirable leader that he really is as we continue to be consumed by his Debacle in Iraq.

None of our leaders can agree on the best way to handle the Debacle in Iraq either, an all around consensus is needed but I seriously doubt that one will be reached, there are too many opinions and egos in play, and the most powerful, and possibly the most destructive ego is that of the president himself.

Ask yourself these questions and post your ideas and opinions in the comments section and tell me how, in your opinion, do we end the Debacle in Iraq, and do so with a victory for us and the Iraqi people, and end it while maintaining at least some honor. Do we send in more troops and just blast the hell out of anything that even remotely looks like an insurgent? Do we withdraw and leave Iraq on it’s own? Do we maintain a long term presence and carry on as we have, waiting, hoping and praying that the Iraqis will find the guts to stand on their own and stave off the insurgent hordes of radical Islam?

I have an idea that we’re going to be in Iraq for many years to come and we’ll spend countless more BILLIONS, perhaps even into the TRILLIONS of U.S. tax dollars on this ill-advised undertaking and we will likely lose many more fine young troops in this audacious adventure.

Full Story Here:
Military Tells Bush of Troop Strains

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Authors Note: Bold and Italics in the original story were made by me to highlight certain words and/or phrases.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House scolded the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Friday for staging a phony news conference about assistance to victims of wildfires in southern California.

The agency — much maligned for its sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina over two years ago — arranged to have FEMA employees play the part of independent reporters Tuesday and ask questions of Vice Adm. Harvey E. Johnson, the agency’s deputy director.

ON DEADLINE: More on the FEMA masquerade

The questions were predictably soft and gratuitous.

“I’m very happy with FEMA’s response,” Johnson said in reply to one query from an agency employee.

Full Story Here:
FEMA workers posed as reporters

I would have gotten up from my death bed to write this, FEMA is a JOKE, a very bad, terribly mismanaged JOKE and we’re paying for it, you’re doing a heck of a job Brownie, words that have become synonymous with You’re fired…

I’m going to cover a few things other than just FEMA in this post but FEMA is directly connected in the entire topic, I am to the point that I have to vent, just a little…

FEMA, and the state of Louisiana showed the nation what incompetence truly looked like when Katrina hit the gulf coast, Bush didn’t rush right down to New Orleans and Mississippi like he did to California this week, federal money has been slow to go to Louisiana to fuel their recovery and everywhere I read I see people making comparisons to New Orleans and the So-Cal fires, well, there is NO comparison other than the fact that they are both natural disasters, right there is where ANY similarity in them ends…

I have seen many comments on the New Orleans Times-Picayune saying that Louisiana will continue to be ignored until they, the state of Louisiana, seat a Republican Governor, I see the same people saying that the reason So-Cal is receiving the massive response to their disaster is because they have a Republican Governor, and the truly terrible part is the ones, and there are MANY, screaming that it’s all about race, New Orleans didn’t get the response they needed because of New Orleans being a majority black city and because California is populated by rich, white Republican voters, and to that I say BULL SHIT!! Yes, there are some rich white folks in California but to the people throwing out the assumptions that this is the reason California is getting a bit more rapid response, I say again, BULL SHIT!!

FEMA messed up in their response to New Orleans but the root cause of that massive failure was the response made by Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco, she turned down an initial offer by Pres. Bush for IMMEDIATE federal help in the form of troops and the supplies that they could have almost immediately moved into the New Orleans area, but Blanco turned Bush down in her belief that Louisiana could handle the aftermath of Katrina all on it’s own and in what I saw as an attempt by her to prove that a FEMALE and Democratic Governor could seriously get the job done, and I think that Blanco may have forgotten that 3,500 members of the Louisiana Army National Guard were already under federal orders and in a period of out processing from Kuwait and making their return to Louisiana after having spent a year in Baghdad, and perhaps she didn’t realize that even if the 256/156 BCT had been able to return to Louisiana immediately, they were still under federal orders for a given period of time after their deployment…

Bush made mistakes in Katrina but the 1st responsibility falls on the state itself, NOT to FEMA or the U.S. military, and I know that many believe So-Cal got a much more expedient response, but their Governor was ‘Johnny on the spot’, he was all over this thing and he exhibited great leadership, and yeah, he did make a couple of off hand comments towards Blanco and the Louisiana response to Katrina but he only spoke the truth, Louisiana initially dropped the ball in New Orleans and FEMA quickly followed up with their own fumbling and bumbling, thus, in my mind at least, bringing to light the fact that we are NOT prepared as a nation, if FEMA and the Feds can’t contain a regional issue like Katrina and can’t respond in an honest manner, you know, like NOT hosting and populating their own press conference, how can we possibly hope that they could get this nation under control in the event of a massive attack or nationwide natural disaster and be what they are supposed to be, the one and only, Federal Emergency Management Administration??

We need a hell of a lot more than political spin, we need to lose the comparisons of disasters and we ALL need to work together to make this nation as safe and as prepared as possible, stop the finger pointing, stop the in-fighting, stop the politics and racial slurs, either get with the program and become a part of the solution or keep doing what you are doing and remain a part of the problem…

Demand that Bush remove incompetent managers within his administration, and the very 1st thing that could be done to help resurrect FEMA from it’s own pile ashes would be the immediate firing of Michael Chertoff, he can’t handle disaster, and that’s because he IS a disaster, his organization has NO scruples, as has been glaringly pointed out by this fake press conference, and that little character flaw falls directly on the man in charge of the agency itself, Chertoff, and yes, I know, many are going to say that Bush himself needs to be removed, and I could not agree more, but he could help his own cause by placing people in positions of authority that could actually DO a job the way it needs to be done, and by removing them and placing BETTER people in the position if they don’t, and by appointing capable advisers and then actually listening TO that sage advice…

God Speed California, you WILL recover, but PLEASE, do us all a favor will you?? Cut the damned brush so this crap doesn’t happen again, a snail darter or some desert rodent or some other little furry critter is NOT worth all this BS with the wild fires, it could be avoided by a little bit of land clearing, no point in being a tree hugger if all you’re going to have is a burned out tree to hug…

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WASHINGTON — President Bush asked Congress today for $550 million to help Mexico and Central America fight drug trafficking amid escalating violence, particularly on the Texas-Mexico border.

The funding request, part of a two- to three-year package that would total about $1.4 billion, is included in a $46 billion proposal for additional funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“It delivers vital assistance for our partners in Mexico and Central America who are working to break up drug cartels, and fight organized crime, and stop human trafficking,” Bush said at the White House, shortly after calling Mexican President Felipe Calderon.

Mexico would receive the lion’s share of the aid package, $500 million, and Central America would get $50 million, officials said.

The aid package for Mexico, which officials have been negotiating since Bush met with Calderon in Merida, Mexico, last March, would include funds for additional Mexican military helicopters and other surveillance aircraft, drug-sniffing dogs and telecommunications equipment.

Full Story Here:
Bush seeks $550 million for Latin America’s drug war - Houston Chronicle

Well my oh my, the Little Prince wants a big wad of money to wage a war on drugs in Latin America, isn’t that special??

I guess someone forgot to tell him, we’ve been doing that for at least 3 decades that I am personally aware of, and from stories I’ve heard, we were involved in the narcotics trade uh, oops, WAR on drugs a long time before that, if rumors are to be believed that is, I have no personal knowledge of that your honor, really!!

The Mexicans can buy their own helicopters, dogs and telecommunications equipment, contrary to popular belief, Mexico is NOT broke, they have huge oil revenues and the money that they confiscate from drug raids can go to the purchase of all that 1st class equipment el Presidente’ Bush wants to give to his amigos…

If Bush is sincere about stopping the flow of illegal drugs into the USA all he has to do is enforce the sovereignty of our borders, coast lines and air space, and I don’t mean some little half-assed effort, the inbound CAN be stopped, much as can the flow of ILLEGAL aliens into this nation, and if you think about it, if you shut down the drug flow and stop the wetbacks at the same time, you kill 2 birds with one stone, and WE, the American people, WIN…

But Bush isn’t going to do ANYTHING that will change the status of our border with Mexico, and quite likely he’ll give his amigos any amount of money they want, I mean, hey, it’s just money, U.S. TAX dollars, and we have DEEP pockets, right??

We might as well send it to Mexico to be stolen and misused…

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NEW ORLEANS - After struggling for months to come up with $1.1 billion for stage one of New Orleans’ hurricane rebuilding plan, city officials faced with growing public frustration intend to move ahead with a drastically scaled-back first step of $216 million.

The blueprint being released Friday by city Recovery Director Ed Blakely is far more modest than the one he issued in March. But he said it will at least get the rebuilding started and give the public desperately needed signs of progress — which, in turn, will encourage private investment in New Orleans.

“Plans help you make progress,” Blakely said.

The plan — the general outlines of which were approved by the City Council earlier this year — is not the radical remaking of the city urged by some urban planners who wanted to see a New Orleans with a much smaller footprint, and with people moved out of flood-prone areas.

Instead, it largely embraces Mayor Ray Nagin’s settle-where-you-will philosophy, while also endorsing the removal of blight and the creation of parks, affordable apartments and vibrant communities.

All I can come up with is one thought, New Orleans is SINKING, why do these numb-skulls want to dump billions of dollars into rebuilding it?? It’s not going to be there that much longer, why should the taxpayers of this nation have to finance a half-assed rebuilding and a massive cash theft?? That’s what you’ll get if you hand Louisiana politicians $6.1 billion dollars, and I think someone in the Federal government may have realized that little fact…

And let’s face one more fact, that $6.1 billion would take away from Mr. Bush’s war effort in Iraq, he can’t allow that to happen now can he??

By one estimate, rebuilding New Orleans could cost $14.4 billion in private and government money and take at least a decade.

Well, look at the bright side, spread over a decade that’s only $1.4 Billion a year, not too bad if you say it really fast, I just wonder how many hurricanes will hit New Orleans in that 10 year period?? Do you suppose that there will be a Cat 4 or 5 blast New Orleans off the map and take those billions of dollars with it??

But two years after Katrina laid waste to much of the metropolitan area, the rebuilding is slow, stymied by red tape, bureaucratic infighting and what some see as a lack of political leadership.

Lack of political leadership?? Wait a minute, the have ‘Chocolate Ray’, the Dark Knight of New Orleans, and his faithful minion, Chief Warren J. Riley, and oh yeah, the re-elected William ‘Cold Cash’ Jefferson himself, how much more competent leadership can you possibly have?? Throw in Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco and hell, you have a ‘four of a kind’, 4 Dems, ALL crooks with their hands out taking anything and everything that’s not nailed down, how can the MSM be so cold hearted as to call that a ‘lack of leadership’??

That is New Orleans leadership at it’s very best…

Full Story Here:
New Orleans scales back on rebuild

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