As everyone already knows General David Petraeus will be visiting Congress to give -his-{nope} -gwb's-{nope} cheney's report on the -surge-{nope} escalation, long ago passing any discription for the word 'surge'.
As we also already know the -surge-{nope} escalation was brought on to give time for what everyone one refers to as the political process to take hold. That doesn't seem to be what's happening and frankly many thought it wouldn't.
Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds drift further apart as U.S. battles insurgents
And lets make clear those 'insurgents' are not all al-Qaida, and al-Qaida is still a small presence within that country. Although when one doesn't understand who their fighting everyone comes under one umbrella and labeled the same, and it works great for PR back here.
Another 60,000 flee every month. They leave behind a Baghdad radically altered from before the war, when Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds and Christians lived side by side. Now, a neighborhood becomes calm only after its minority community has fled. Armed men keep outsiders away.
As many already know, one we've followed, who's been living in and posting about, Riverbend and her family, have finally gotten out as well, to Syria, to join the already well over 2.5million refugee's living in neighboring countries, with some 2million refugee's still living within the borders of Iraq.
You can watch video's on the refugee's plight Here, Here and Here, you will find a few links in the description for written reports as well at each.
Ethnic Cleansing Has Been Going On With The Occupation Forces Unable To Stop It!
We are now over two-and-a-half months into the surge of offensive operations made possible by the surge of forces, and I want to share with you my view of how I think we’re doing. This letter is a bit longer than previous ones, since I feel you deserve a detailed description of what I believe we have -- and have not accomplished, as Ambassador Crocker and I finalize the assessment we will provide shortly to Congress.
I don't want to speak bad about Petraeus, he seemed to have a real care for his troops and the intelligence his rank requires. But if he's allowing himself, redux Vietnam, to be controlled by the civilian leadership we've gone down this road already, in the past and to many times in the near past and present.
We need Real Truth from the General, All Layed Out In Plain English, not what's reported to be a short opening report than just answering questions, and lets hope this won't be another attoney general like testimony.
I for one do not want to watch another General, like General Powell, sit in the limelights and spin a tail of 'once upon a time'!
Lets take a look at a few recent reports ourselves, before we hear the -Petraeus-{nope} -bush-{nope} cheney report this week.
Alliances are made in Guerilla/Insurgent Wars, and they are broken, than made with others or even with the same. Friends become enemies, enemies become friends, and the circle goes round and round the longer the conflict goes on. This happens, especially as an occupying force tries to get some sort of control, because a power vacume has been created and this being readily recognized causes diiferant forces and individuals to want to fill that vacume and take local control or total control. Occupying forces and puppet governments cannot fill that void nor control, for long, what will eventually take place.
This first video, of once rogue Iraqi forces, shows what are now considered Elite Forces working side by side with American forces, but still fighting the mostly sectarian conflict with our military troops helping them. New friends, once enemies, how long will the friendship last.
I don't watch CBS News, sorry Katie, but one I try to catch, when I find out she's got a report up is Lara Logan. This young lady is a throwback to great journalism. She gets out of the Greenzone and right into the middle of the story, and you understand what she's reporting and what she leaves out verbally, but is still there in her reporting.
Iraq's best soldiers are caught in the middle of constantly shifting alliances that make this war increasingly complicated for them - and for the United States.
As one commander says in the report:
"The way they surgically take down these targets, the way they treat everyone with respect and dignity, they are phenomenal and I would put them up against anybody," says a Green Beret commander. "Even Americans?" asks Logan. "Even Americans," he replies.
Be careful what you say commander for it may come to be.
Remember everyone, we helped install Saddam, gave him the support to build his military and special forces, that surpressed his internal enemies and any others deemed the need to surpress and control, they did the dirty work.
Here is another great reporter that also takes her shots outside of the relative comfort of the Greenzone, Martha Raddatz, and gives some very moving and important reports, and like Logan you understand the point even if she doesn't say the decriptive words. There are to few, in todays multi-media, that are actually professional journalists reporting what really are the important stories. Alot of 'pretty faces' but lacking the needed drive of a professional.
Here's a report from Raddatz that should make everyone stop and think.
Inside an Iraqi facility imprisoning kids accused of trying to kill Americans.
Exclusive Tour of Iraqi Youth Detention Center
Military Boosts Detention Programs to Counter al Qaeda Youth Recruitment
The children, aged 11 to 17 years old, are accused of crimes ranging from theft to killing Iraqis or Americans.
These kids{?} were born under a surpressive regime we once supported, they grew up under extremely tight sanctions, and they've so far survived the destructive devestation of the invasion and occupation. They have grown well beyond their years, for their childhoods never really existed.
And as said in the report:
Doug Stone. "We have IED builders ... have those that have been behind ... parts of assassination groups."
It only takes a few, who don't become model citizens, that take out in search of the means for revenge, Criminal Terrorism, only a few!
We are looking at the possible future we, as we like to think of ourselves 'responsible adults' are leaving, for others to contend with! Not the same vision that our parents, and theirs, had of the World to leave to their children.
The Real News sent out links to a recent video reports, from Iraq, by Pepe Escobar.
Based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Pepe Escobar writes The Roving Eye for Asia Times Online. He has reported from Iraq, Iran, Central Asia, U.S. and China.
Part 1
Why did President Bush go to Iraq?
Pepe Escobar says the "surge" is failing.
"This trip is part of a campaign of manufacturing consent about success in Iraq and diverting attention from the obvious failures of the surge plan. Which is something that, especially Americans, have no idea because American mainstream media does not show what's really happening on the ground in Iraq."
Part one of a two part interview, Senior Editor Paul Jay talks with Pepe Escobar.
Part 2
Does Bush want Saddam without the mustache?
Pepe Escobar on the fate of the Maliki government and the quest for a new oil law
"Nobody is in control of this process and this government is finished. In fact it's been finished for a few months now."
In part two of a two part interview Pepe Escobar talks with Senior Editor Paul Jay about the current state of Iraqi leadership.
"Of course we are interested to maintain this language, because at the end, this is the language of Jesus Christ." Father Toufic Eid of St. Sergius Church
A side effect of the Iraq war, we've all learned, is that troops who would have died in the past are coming home alive--alive, but sometimes less than whole.
The following is an original recent post at fellow Veteran Mike Ferner's site. You can find out more about Mike at his site.
He wouldn't mind this being passed on as the poem within speaks volumes of how many of us Veterans started our growing feelings about the coming War and they've grown more intense these last 5yrs. as the Body Counts, Military and Civilian, have grown! As well as the numbers Maimed and the , once again, reports of the treatment given to those returning wounded, maimed, physically and mentally!
Those feelings started growing even before the 'Shock and Awe' campaign started dropping the bombs and sending in the destructive missiles, for many of us knew what was to come. The weekend of 'Shock and Awe' some 400 of us were at, the already planned, Operation Dire Distress {pdf report} at American University in Washington D.C. as Iraq was getting pummeled with Death and Destruction and sent into the start of the abyss of the Hell on Earth that continues today and for the forseeable future, and has brought the threat to our National Security, as well as our allies, as seen in recent reports, from the hatreds it has instilled!
St. Louis – His government broke his heart but it could not break Air Force veteran Charles Powell’s spirit. Fighting back tears, the 64 year-old vet stood tall and resolute in front of 400 of his comrades, describing in verse the final steps of a painful disillusionment.
Each summer during the national convention of Veterans For Peace, time is reserved for a Veterans’ Speakout, where any member can rise to say whatever is on their mind.
When the veterans gathered in 2002, prior to the invasion of Iraq, George Bush and the hawks of Washington were pounding away on the war drums. That year, Powell, who had served on a Titan ICBM launch crew during the Cuban missile crisis, read his poem titled, “I Won’t Let Them Take My Flag.” He noted the warmongers were “again waving my flagas a buildup to invasion, and he countered what he felt was a manipulation of the national symbol with the following lines reminiscent of the great Langston Hughes.
“But to me ‘Old Glory’ still stands for the liberty, justice and solidarity yet to come. So I still wave it too. I wave it for health care, education, housing and food for all. I wave it for peace and love and I wave it for hope. Most of all, I wave it for the America yet to be.”
After four and a half years of war in Iraq, Veterans For Peace convened again this summer and Charles Powell was there as always. As his turn came at the Speakout microphone he struggled a few seconds to compose himself. Then, in a clear voice growing more determined as he spoke, Powell mirrored the pain, regret and anger in the hearts of so many who listened.
I WILL SALUTE NO MORE FOREVER
As a child I learned to Worship that piece of colored cloth.
My family, my school, the movies, TV taught me to believe that fragment of fabric stood for good things.
I watched my father, a World War II Army veteran, give homage to that wad of material.
As an airman I saluted that banner for the four years I served in the Air Force where I stood ready to help launch Titan Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles on command.
Then I became aware that the wonderful things for which that clump of colors is suppose to represent, have not been achieved.
I came to know that awful, unlawful, unwise and immoral acts have occurred under the stars and stripes.
But I still clung onto the belief and hope that someday, somehow conditions would change and the good things for which that rag is still supposed to stand would yet be realized.
However, I’ve been forced to come to my senses.
Now we have: preemptive war, the Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act, stop loss, neglect of returning veterans, ignored infrastructure, billions of dollars squandered on war and occupation, extraordinary rendition, secret imprisonment, warrantless domestic spying, disenfranchisement of voters, stolen elections, torture, suspension of habeas corpus and denial of due process.
So, even though hearing “America The Beautiful” still increases my heartbeat.
Although seeing those stripes still brings a lump to my throat.
Even though the sight of those stars continues to bring tears to my eyes.
I won’t pledge to it anymore.
I won’t remove my cap.
I won’t stand in respect.
I won’t wave it.
I will salute no more forever.
Mike, who can be reached at his site Mike Ferner, is a member of Veterans For Peace and a freelance writer from Ohio.
Riverbend posts, finally, after a couple of months of silence while preparing to leave Baghdad.
Baghdad Burning ... I'll meet you 'round the bend my friend, where hearts can heal and souls can mend...
We waited for hours, in spite of the fact that the driver we were with had ‘connections’, which meant he’d been to Syria and back so many times, he knew all the right people to bribe for a safe passage through the borders. I sat nervously at the border. The tears had stopped about an hour after we’d left Baghdad. Just seeing the dirty streets, the ruins of buildings and houses, the smoke-filled horizon all helped me realize how fortunate I was to have a chance for something safer.
As we crossed the border and saw the last of the Iraqi flags, the tears began again. The car was silent except for the prattling of the driver who was telling us stories of escapades he had while crossing the border. I sneaked a look at my mother sitting beside me and her tears were flowing as well. There was simply nothing to say as we left Iraq. I wanted to sob, but I didn’t want to seem like a baby. I didn’t want the driver to think I was ungrateful for the chance to leave what had become a hellish place over the last four and a half years.
Talk of the Nation, September 3, 2007 · Retired Gen. Joseph Hoar talks about his op-ed that appeared in The New York Times on Friday {8-31-07}, in which he argues that the United States needs to open its doors to more Iraqi refugees.
Retired Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Hoar, is the former commander in chief of U.S. Central Command.
In the Generals op-ed he writes:
FOR more than a year, men and women in our armed forces have been urging the United States to bring to safety the Iraqi translators and others who have worked beside them and are now the victims of retaliation.
And adds the obvious:
It is shameful that more than four years into this war, Iraqis working at our embassy cannot count on the United States to protect them or to help them find a new home when their work with us has made it impossible to survive in their own country.
And another obvious:
Similarly, it is both cruel and foolish for the United States to ignore the plight of more than two million others who have fled and are struggling to survive in Syria and Jordan.
Shown in this video, from the UNHCR, found at their site:
Iraq's Exodus of Pain
As well as this video:
And a few of the reports posted there as well:
Iraq: Rate of displacement rising This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis -- to whom quoted text may be attributed -- at the press briefing, on 28 August 2007, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
UNHCR and UNICEF issue joint appeal to get Iraqi children back to school Friday 27 July, 2007 GENEVA -- UNICEF and the UN refugee agency today issued a $129 million joint appeal aimed at getting tens of thousands of uprooted Iraqi children back in school. Warning that a generation of Iraqis could grow up uneducated and alienated.
More can be found on the plight of the Iraqi refugees at the UNHCR Website.
The General goes on to add this obvious as well:
Dealing with the refugee crisis is vital to the national security of the United States. Continuing indifference to suffering that we had a strong hand in causing will turn our Muslim supporters against us. More important, it repudiates the fundamental values of our country and costs Iraqis their lives.
For those that just don't seem to get those points what more can one say to convince you of the already known facts of what has been happening, in the present, and what occurred in the past, and not the past of just that region, but the meddleing of the so called powerful in that and other regions of this planet!
The general ends with this:
As a key part of that strategy, the United States must reach out to Iraq’s neighbors — including Syria — and demonstrate a willingness to help support and take in refugees, starting with those who risked their lives to stand with us.
We must not only reach out to Iraq's neighbors on the issue of the refugee's, which must start Now, but also all the region to help stem the growing sectarian violence that is occurring in Iraq. We, for we created this destructive mess, must sit down with the leaders, political and religious, and ask for their help in attempting to quiet the growing hatreds within Iraq, this should have been started Long Ago!
We broke it and the only way to attempt to bring about the stability needed can be found Only with the help of the Entire Region!
It's September. Four and a half years in, the author, a former infantryman, went back to Iraq to profile the president's surge. Here's what he found... By Brian Mockenhaupt {for more from this author} 8/29/2007
Brian Mockenhaupt
Watching soldiers on a mission can be poignant. Watching soldiers on a mission spiraling toward failure is devastating. Outside a house in western Baghdad's once-upscale Ghazaliya neighborhood, next to a broken Iraqi Humvee, I enjoyed this rare bit of clarity, and in a moment I saw why Iraq is such a mess. It's not the obvious choices -- sectarian hatred or Al Qaeda or meddling by Iraq's neighbors -- but something much more pedestrian, exceptionally mundane: flat tires.
There is nothing we can do for the estimated 1,028,907 Iraqi's who have died since the U.S. invasion, and we will never completely know exactly how many have been killed, one never does when one invades and destroys a country!
But there is Plenty we can, and should, do for those who survive the hell on earth we forced on an innocent people. It is our Overwelming Responsibility!
With Extremely Strong Apologies to the World Community, for what is now and probably coming, we may be able to garner some help in fulfilling that Responsibility!
Recently Angelina Jolie, Goodwill Ambassador to UNHCR visited displaced Iraqi refugee's inside Iraq and in Syria.
Below is a report from Newsweeks Christopher Dicky on the extraordinary imagery released after that UNHCR recent trip.
A. Jolie - Iraq's Exodus of Pain
And here's a few reports from the UNHCR's website of that visit.
Angelina Jolie visits Iraq and Iraqi refugees 28 August 2007 UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador witnesses humanitarian crisis DAMASCUS – UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie has visited Iraq and Syria to see first-hand the plight of hundreds of thousands of families uprooted by the ongoing conflict in Iraq.
There is an estimated, well over, 1.9million displaced Iraqi refugee's within the country, and growing!
The following is an UNHCR video report about their plight, in their own words.
Iraq's Exodus of Pain 2
And on top of that 1.9million Iraq refugee's there's an estimated over 2million who have fled the country and now live in the surrounding neighbors countries, Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey as well as those with the ability to have moved to other countries.
Iraq's Exodus of Pain 3
Here are afew reports on the plight of those refugees.
Iraq: Rate of displacement rising This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 28 August 2007, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
UNHCR and UNICEF issue joint appeal to get Iraqi children back to school Friday 27 July, 2007 GENEVA – UNICEF and the UN refugee agency today issued a $129 million joint appeal aimed at getting tens of thousands of uprooted Iraqi children back in school. Warning that a generation of Iraqis could grow up uneducated and alienated.
More can be found on the plight of the Iraqi refugees at the UNHCR Website
This is an extremly huge problem, that we've created, and it's only going to grow and grow!
This from above
Warning that a generation of Iraqis could grow up uneducated and alienated.
are what we are leaving the next couple of generations, Worldwide, to contend with because of the hatreds we have instilled!
