Iraq War
March 19, 2008 3:59 AM Subscribe
This post was deleted for the following reason: there are all sors of ways to note this anniversary that dont start a fight. this is not one of them. -- jessamyn
Tell me more about this "War In Iraq". It sounds like a bad thing.
posted by Jofus at 4:22 AM on March 19, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by Jofus at 4:22 AM on March 19, 2008 [1 favorite]
An anniversary worth remembering, but the Central Casting agitprop sound detectable in the 'deathday' term used in the post is in poor taste. It looks more like schoolyard graffiti to me than Goya. What makes me sad is that there is so much more heat than light around Iraq that facts and any real sense of what is going on now has long since been eclipsed. People also have had five years to get beyond the few rights and many wrongs of the initial invasion to consider where we are now and what the responsibilities of the powers that did invade to the people of Iraq are. Few have and much remains obscure in self righteous rage and/or patriotic guff. ‘Troops Out!’ may stoke a civil war, genocide or force political reconciliation. I for one do not know, but suspect the former. The ‘Rivers of Babylon’ column by Nibras Kazimi in Prospect seems an interesting, less politicised look at the day to day realities of Iraq today compared to the shouting which has taken over most media. On this day, people should look to the future, calm their tempers and think hard rather than just scream.
posted by The Salaryman at 4:26 AM on March 19, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by The Salaryman at 4:26 AM on March 19, 2008 [1 favorite]
And in related news, this years annual Bring your daughter to war day was a huge success!
posted by DreamerFi at 4:34 AM on March 19, 2008
posted by DreamerFi at 4:34 AM on March 19, 2008
And the neo-cons can smugly smile over a job well done. There are 140+ thousand U.S. soldiers in Iraq, dozens of permanent military bases, and a simmering insurgency which provides just enough death to justify continued presence whilst not seriously threatenting that presence. They have sold the public on the idea that a sudden withdrawl would result in genocide further providing support for the continued occupation.
Iran is being confronted, lots of oil is under American boots, and better than even odds that Hillary Clinton or John McCain will gain the white house, maintain the status quo or amp it all up.
The first five years of the New American Century is going better than they ever dreamed.
Happy deathday indeed.
posted by three blind mice at 4:48 AM on March 19, 2008 [6 favorites]
Iran is being confronted, lots of oil is under American boots, and better than even odds that Hillary Clinton or John McCain will gain the white house, maintain the status quo or amp it all up.
The first five years of the New American Century is going better than they ever dreamed.
Happy deathday indeed.
posted by three blind mice at 4:48 AM on March 19, 2008 [6 favorites]
Don't forget the military dollars flowing to Halliburton, Blackwater, etc. Not to mention tax cuts for the same people.
"Fiscal responsibility" == "screw those pesky poor people"
posted by DU at 4:52 AM on March 19, 2008
"Fiscal responsibility" == "screw those pesky poor people"
posted by DU at 4:52 AM on March 19, 2008
I'm wishing you an unhappy birthday / 'cause you're evil / and you lie
posted by Admiral Haddock at 5:06 AM on March 19, 2008
posted by Admiral Haddock at 5:06 AM on March 19, 2008
Meanwhile, in an alternate reality 'Bush says Iraq war was worth it'
posted by Jakey at 5:24 AM on March 19, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by Jakey at 5:24 AM on March 19, 2008 [1 favorite]
With the exception of Vietnam, can anyone tell me of a country which the US has occupied where it has closed its bases and gone home? Just one?
I can't think of one since WWII, maybe even before that. We still have a base in Germany. Japan. We still have a base in Cuba, ferchrissakes.
I predict that there will still be a massive US military base in Iraq in the year 2100.
posted by mullingitover at 5:34 AM on March 19, 2008
I can't think of one since WWII, maybe even before that. We still have a base in Germany. Japan. We still have a base in Cuba, ferchrissakes.
I predict that there will still be a massive US military base in Iraq in the year 2100.
posted by mullingitover at 5:34 AM on March 19, 2008
Mission Accomplished!
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 5:36 AM on March 19, 2008
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 5:36 AM on March 19, 2008
The Philippines.
Robert Fisk has a great piece: The only lesson that we ever learn is that we never learn on the war today.
posted by sien at 5:42 AM on March 19, 2008
Robert Fisk has a great piece: The only lesson that we ever learn is that we never learn on the war today.
posted by sien at 5:42 AM on March 19, 2008
I don't like to make political statements.
posted by blue_beetle at 6:10 AM on March 19, 2008
posted by blue_beetle at 6:10 AM on March 19, 2008
Bush is going to make a speech on the Iraq War today. According to the pre-released excerpts he will say the war was worth it. He needs to replace the word "it."
The Iraq War was worth two million Iraqi refugees.
The Iraq War was worth hundreds of thousands of civilians dead and wounded.
The Iraq War was worth each of the four thousand American soldiers killed.
The Iraq War was worth the 30,000 American soldiers wounded.
The Iraq War was worth $110 / barrel oil.
The Iraq War was worth $600 billion (direct costs).
The Iraq War was worth the international humiliation.
If he can say this, I will say "gutsy speech." Gutsy speech, you psycho.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 6:12 AM on March 19, 2008 [6 favorites]
The Iraq War was worth two million Iraqi refugees.
The Iraq War was worth hundreds of thousands of civilians dead and wounded.
The Iraq War was worth each of the four thousand American soldiers killed.
The Iraq War was worth the 30,000 American soldiers wounded.
The Iraq War was worth $110 / barrel oil.
The Iraq War was worth $600 billion (direct costs).
The Iraq War was worth the international humiliation.
If he can say this, I will say "gutsy speech." Gutsy speech, you psycho.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 6:12 AM on March 19, 2008 [6 favorites]
We can all agree that 3 trillion cost financed by loans from the Saudi's and China is not in our strategic best interests and does not further national defense.
posted by ewkpates at 6:18 AM on March 19, 2008
posted by ewkpates at 6:18 AM on March 19, 2008
He also needs to replace the phrase "Iraq War" with whatever it is we've gained by paying all those prices. The safety was worth it? The humanitarianism was worth it?
What exactly did we buy with our trillion dollars and hundreds of thousands of dead?
posted by DU at 6:22 AM on March 19, 2008
What exactly did we buy with our trillion dollars and hundreds of thousands of dead?
posted by DU at 6:22 AM on March 19, 2008
From the Fisk article:
And until we learn to leave these Muslim peoples alone, our catastrophe in the Middle East will only become graver. There is no connection between Islam and "terror". But there is a connection between our occupation of Muslim lands and "terror".
posted by adamvasco at 6:38 AM on March 19, 2008
And until we learn to leave these Muslim peoples alone, our catastrophe in the Middle East will only become graver. There is no connection between Islam and "terror". But there is a connection between our occupation of Muslim lands and "terror".
posted by adamvasco at 6:38 AM on March 19, 2008
I'm wishing you an unhappy birthday / 'cause you're evil / and you lie
Hey, don't involve The Smiths in this. Even if it is one of their crappier songs.
5 years, eh? So now the war in Iraq has lasted longer than US involvement in WWII. From a pro-war perspective, it has taken longer to defeat a bunch of guys with Anarchist Cookbook bombs and old Russian guns than it did to defeat the Wehrmacht. Of course, we know that they're not trying to "defeat" anyone rather than establish a permanent presence in Iraq with American kids thrown into the pointless meat grinder for McCain's 100 years, but what would the git-'er-done dipshit response to that one be? Sure, they think the war is against TURR'ISM, but can even they say with a straight face that even their imagined spectre of TURR'ISM is a greater force than European Fascism and Imperial Japan was?
posted by DecemberBoy at 6:38 AM on March 19, 2008 [1 favorite]
Hey, don't involve The Smiths in this. Even if it is one of their crappier songs.
5 years, eh? So now the war in Iraq has lasted longer than US involvement in WWII. From a pro-war perspective, it has taken longer to defeat a bunch of guys with Anarchist Cookbook bombs and old Russian guns than it did to defeat the Wehrmacht. Of course, we know that they're not trying to "defeat" anyone rather than establish a permanent presence in Iraq with American kids thrown into the pointless meat grinder for McCain's 100 years, but what would the git-'er-done dipshit response to that one be? Sure, they think the war is against TURR'ISM, but can even they say with a straight face that even their imagined spectre of TURR'ISM is a greater force than European Fascism and Imperial Japan was?
posted by DecemberBoy at 6:38 AM on March 19, 2008 [1 favorite]
Freedom continues to be on the march!
You did not specify in which direction freedom is marching.
posted by Mister_A at 6:38 AM on March 19, 2008
You did not specify in which direction freedom is marching.
posted by Mister_A at 6:38 AM on March 19, 2008
"The only lesson we learn from history is that we do not learn from history."
- Pat Buchanon
posted by dragonsi55 at 6:50 AM on March 19, 2008
- Pat Buchanon
posted by dragonsi55 at 6:50 AM on March 19, 2008
This makes me sick.
I thought I had "outrage-fatigue".
I was wrong.
posted by Dizzy at 6:51 AM on March 19, 2008
I thought I had "outrage-fatigue".
I was wrong.
posted by Dizzy at 6:51 AM on March 19, 2008
And in related news, this years annual Bring your daughter to war day was a huge success!
Funny! See, when I was a kid that wasn't just an annual thing. Actually, it just meant both of my parents were in the same room.
posted by miss lynnster at 6:54 AM on March 19, 2008
Funny! See, when I was a kid that wasn't just an annual thing. Actually, it just meant both of my parents were in the same room.
posted by miss lynnster at 6:54 AM on March 19, 2008
Five Years Later, Iraqis Still Lack Basic Services, Believe Surge Has Made Security Situation Worse.
posted by ericb at 6:56 AM on March 19, 2008
posted by ericb at 6:56 AM on March 19, 2008
I predict that there will still be a massive US military base in Iraq in the year 2100.
Cheney, McCain vow long-term presence in Iraq.
posted by ericb at 6:59 AM on March 19, 2008
Cheney, McCain vow long-term presence in Iraq.
posted by ericb at 6:59 AM on March 19, 2008
March 14, 2008: Iraq American Death Count: Public Largely Unaware
"A new poll from the Pew Research Center finds a staggering drop in the public awareness about fatalities in Iraq:posted by ericb at 7:02 AM on March 19, 2008'Public awareness of the number of American military fatalities in Iraq has declined sharply since last August. Today, just 28% of adults are able to say that approximately 4,000 Americans have died in the Iraq war. As of March 10, the Department of Defense had confirmed the deaths of 3,974 U.S. military personnel in Iraq.
In August 2007, 54% correctly identified the fatality level at that time (about 3,500 deaths). In previous polls going back to the spring of 2004, about half of respondents could correctly estimate the number of U.S. fatalities around the time of the survey.'
Here's a link (small pdf) to a talk given to some German parliamentarians recently by the author of the "Baltimore" report mentioned in the Guardian article. The chart comparing the US administration's preferred estimate of the Iraq violent death rate to violent death rates in Baltimore and Detroit is particularly illuminating. I'm not certain of the strict statistical validity of the comparison, but surely it indicates that the government figures seriously fail the reality check.
posted by Jakey at 7:05 AM on March 19, 2008
posted by Jakey at 7:05 AM on March 19, 2008
Stop calling it a war. It hasn't been a war for a long time.
We won the war. It took about 3 weeks. Shock and awe, boot-in-the-ass and all that.
It's a fucking OCCUPATION. We are losing the occupation. America kicks ass at winning wars. It's our occupations where get our shit kicked around and then tuck our tails and head home.
posted by i_am_a_Jedi at 7:11 AM on March 19, 2008 [3 favorites]
We won the war. It took about 3 weeks. Shock and awe, boot-in-the-ass and all that.
It's a fucking OCCUPATION. We are losing the occupation. America kicks ass at winning wars. It's our occupations where get our shit kicked around and then tuck our tails and head home.
posted by i_am_a_Jedi at 7:11 AM on March 19, 2008 [3 favorites]
« Older Art of TekkonKinkreet | Food For The Soul Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by not_on_display at 4:22 AM on March 19, 2008