Four More

With the news that four more U.S. soldiers were killed yesterday in Iraq, the Associated Press tells us that:

At least 44 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq in April, making it the deadliest month for U.S. forces since September.

Which was the deadliest month since August, which was the deadliest month since June, which was the deadliest month since May, which was the dealiest month since...

And John McCain "is fine" with another 100 years of this as long as, "Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed."  Of course McCain refuses to answer the all important question; just how long is he willing to let Americans be injured, harmed, wounded or killed?  

•  As Win Smith...

  nice to see this getting so much airplay.  Apparently Rev. Wright and Hilton Paris' change of therapists is "newsworthy."

  by mayan on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:31:33 AM PDT

  •  Don't forget Miley Cyrus!

    by Sam Spencer for County Commissioner on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:32:24 AM PDT

    •  Did these soldiers happen to be..

      green berets...green ber...green..green..green bras...

      oooh green bra. (pant)

      Oh hell, what was I asking about?

      by God loves goats on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:44:58 AM PDT

    •  Apathy is because there's no draft

      As long as it's someone else's loved one, most people don't care.  That's why we need a draft.  And Bush and his damn war have so destroyed our Army we need a draft to rebuild it.  Alternative service in the inner city or New Orleans or building trails in our forest would be fine too.  Compulsory national servie will tie us together as Americans, something in light of recent political events we so desparately need.

      But no politician will have the courage to say so, and it would be their political death warrant to do so.  Like raising taxes with a multi-trillion dollar deficit and a dollar getting more and more worthless in world markets every day.  So much nicer to fiddle while Rome burns, and enjoy the bread and circuses.

      by Navy Vet Terp on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 11:14:49 AM PDT

  •  As Win Smith "said"...

    Damnit.  Sorry for the typo. This topic gets me 1/2 cuh-razy.

    by mayan on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:32:33 AM PDT

•  Where's the ActBlue for those who would cut funds

  for the war? My guy Neal should be on the list.

  This has to end. Period.

  by Sam Spencer for County Commissioner on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:31:54 AM PDT

•  I Thought He Already Said 100 Years

  Or was it 50? Or 60? Or a million? Once again, THIS is what Dems needs to be talking about - not attacking each other. We're gonna screw around and lose this if we're not careful. I'm getting a bad bad feeling.

  by CityLightsLover on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:32:13 AM PDT

  •  Yes, we need to get the hell out of Iraq--

    yesterday. I am sick of boilermakers, bitter gate, Rev. Wright, and all the other distractions. Every one of these soldiers leaves behind a family. Those families will never be the same. We need to do something so that we are not creating more widows, widowers, and motherless and fatherless children.

    by blue jersey mom on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:35:10 AM PDT

    •  As a fatherless child from WWII, I agree with

      you blue jersey mom and I can state: That loss is with that child all of his/her life.  All those empty Father's Days; the 'Father-Daughter' dinners and dances in school years; the empty place on a wedding day; and no one there to call "Daddy."
      I have never forgotten....

      by Jbeaudill on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:48:16 AM PDT

      •  Jbeaudill, I am so very sorry.

        by blue jersey mom on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 11:02:56 AM PDT

        •  Blessings, and thank you, I think

          this is why I feel so strongly about wars and what happens to individuals and families for it did affect me all of my life, and I only came to terms with it when in my thirties and already a mother myself then, three times over. Even now tears still haunt my eyes and as resilient as children can be there are losses that can never be recompensed; losing a parent as a young child is one of them.  I think of the thousands of children here and in Iraq whose lives will have the loss of such love, caring and guidance because of the impetuosity and arrogance of George W. Bush.

          by Jbeaudill on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 04:31:31 PM PDT

    •  HRC hoists brews while soldiers die. Yes, let's

      hear more about Reverend so and so, and bowling scores.

      by Cartoon Peril on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 12:02:16 PM PDT

  •  That would be the second 100yr tour of duty

    by elbamash on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:40:41 AM PDT

•  Meanwhile, numerous US casualties today

  in Sadr City fighting.

  At least 28 militants have been killed during battles in the Sadr City area of Baghdad, the US military has said.

  The deaths come during intensified fighting in the Iraqi capital between militants loyal to Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr and US and Iraqi forces.

  The US military said a number of its soldiers had been wounded during Tuesday's fighting.

  Clashes flared up on Sunday after militia members attacked coalition positions during a sandstorm.

  [snip]

  Doctors in the area's two hospitals said on Tuesday that they had received a stream of casualties throughout the day, the BBC's Patrick Howse reported from Baghdad.

  [snip]

  Meanwhile, militants continued to use rockets and mortars to bombard the Green Zone, the complex in Baghdad that houses government buildings and foreign embassies.

  On Monday, four US soldiers were killed by rocket and mortar fire in the east of the capital.

  by Mogolori on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:33:37 AM PDT

  •  Are we sure about this?

    I mean really, I watched the news all morning and didn't see shit about any of this.
    I'm pretty sure that means it didn't happen.
    Everything is fine.

    by God loves goats on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:40:29 AM PDT

    •  Silly person... you were watching

      American television.  This is a British television link.

      American television discontinued news production shortly after 9/11, of course.

      by Mogolori on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:50:41 AM PDT

      •  Yeah, I've taken

        to watching the BBC in the morning for my news.  Sure, I care about Britney's custody issues as much as the next maroon but some times I want to know what's going on in the world.  I used to watch the French news in the evening but I think it disappeared from my international channel.

        by conlakappa on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 12:40:17 PM PDT

•  And the RNC wants to complain about that ad?

  They should run it every hour, on the hour.

  by BA BarackUS on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:34:47 AM PDT

  •  RNC wants to complain

    because for the first time in memory, the DNC is not ready to concede the issue of national security to the Republicans and give the Republican nominee a free pass.

    by deaniac83 on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:48:55 AM PDT

    •  And it's a damn good thing they don't.

      Conceding national security to the RNC while Bush taunts the public with Osama bin Boogeyman... who are they fooling?

      by BA BarackUS on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 11:06:47 AM PDT

•  That's not what what McCain said.

  Well that's not what he meant anyway.  What he meant was that..um..you know...we..ah..he meant to say if..if..
  Oh fuck it, Republicans don't do nuance anyway.
  100 years it is.

  by God loves goats on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:36:11 AM PDT

  •  McCain's "honor" won't permit him to withdraw

    So keep your heads down, boys. We'll be turning a corner any Friedman Unit now.

    by Joe Beese on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:41:53 AM PDT

    •  whenever you hear the word "honor" get ready for

      something really stupid and/or cowardly.

      by Cartoon Peril on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 12:04:09 PM PDT

  •  Brilliant

    Republicans indeed DO NOT DO NUANCE.  They have been very strong on that not doing of nuance for years, which is why after having successfully whittled the media and voter attention span down to a packet size of two to five words at most, they are now crying in a fit of red-faced rage that their candidate can be defined as "100 Years in Iraq" and they can't (credibly) claim that it's "out of context," because, well, they've never given a shit about context.  Nuance.  Or long sentences.

    What a juicy development.  Hoist so firmly on their own petard.  That's gotta hurt.  I'm glad it does.

    by slippytoad on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:42:29 AM PDT

  •  100 yrs after our troops aren't dying

    that's what McCain said.
    What he didn't say was how many years he is willing to stay IF our troops continue to die.

    And McCain (nor Bush) have never clearly explained how our initial mission to remove WMDs and to not stay one day more than necessary morphed into a permanent presence in a country that was (and is) known to hate that sort of occupation with a deadly passion.

    by chrisc on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:48:55 AM PDT

    •  Sorry..

      That explanation was waaaay too long.

      by God loves goats on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:55:06 AM PDT

•  So how's that surge working, McCain?

  by djtyg on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:36:35 AM PDT

  •  Does this mean that the SURGE is over?

    Or it didn't work?

    Is Patraeus a liar?

    Is W a liar?

    by Flippant on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 11:01:23 AM PDT

•  Ah well, you know he didn't mean it

  he was tired, it was the middle of the night and he had a senior moment. It happens a lot especially to him.

  by notquitedelilah on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:37:21 AM PDT

•  The Straight Talk Excess says...

  So averaging about 66 American deaths per month, I'd say that declaring that you are fine with "another 100 years" equals about 80,000 dead American kids.

  by EKO on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:37:42 AM PDT

  •  That's only ~20,000 more

    Than in Vietnamn.

    But we're also talking about this thing costing us, ultimately, about 20 trillion dollars.  Or, if you use the figure of 3 trillion for the first 5 years, that's 60 trillion dollars.

    Either figure is equally as absurd.  We do not have that kind of public expenditure to waste on Iraq.  A fraction of that could probably give us cars that run on kitten farts and nuclear fusion generators that run for a thousand years on three thimbles of water.

    And that would end all of the chaos in Iraq for sure, as the big wet glop of oil they're all fighting over would be worthless.

    by slippytoad on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:45:34 AM PDT

    •  And he forgot to mention...

      ...that the 30,000 seriously injured soldiers, Marines and airmen that now fill the army and veteran care systems would not have survived their wounds in the Viet Nam war, so this war is just as bloody and costly as Viet Nam.  Why does John McCain hate the troops?  Nobody can convince me that he doesn't, because his actions speak louder than his campaign rhetoric...

      by Ken in MN on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:51:55 AM PDT

      •  Not to mention those forgotten in all ...

        ...that stats: the dead and maimed Iraqis. But then, for McCain, the Iraqis are just ragheads, the same way he sees all Vietnamese as "gooks."

        by Meteor Blades on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:59:17 AM PDT

•  "to answer the all important question;

  just how long is he willing to let Americans be injured, harmed, wounded or killed?"

  Yes...he's already answered it...another 100 years.

  by TKH on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:37:48 AM PDT

•  If the Dems don't get their act together,SuperD's

  --are you listening?; this will go on forever, B/C MacCain will be president.

  by Phil S 33 on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:38:07 AM PDT

•  I lost a friend on April 7.

  Jason C. Kazarick, Specialist/E4, age 30. The only soldier I knew sent to Iraq, and he ended up in Sadr City.

  How ironic and sad that of the half million or so soldiers rotated in and out of Iraq, the only one I knew is now gone.

  At the funeral, the Brigadier General they sent to offer condolences didn't even pronounce his name correctly. Sure glad to know how much they care.

  John McCain is a self serving politician, ignorant of his actions. I can only pray that the democrats don't fuck this thing up.

  by wardeo on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:39:09 AM PDT

  •  RIP

    Jason Kazarick.

    by operculum on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:54:30 AM PDT

    •  Thanks for the link.

      I have a picture of Jason from better times. I remember the day he came by once he enlisted. It took everything in me to not come down on him about his decision; I was amazed that he saw the need. I never did find out if it was for patriotism or simply to get out of Pittsburgh. When he came back from basic training, as a sniper, he wanted to go to Iraq to shoot someone. Never heard directly from him again, but he left plenty of us wondering, what good has this war been? It changed a perfectly good person to someone I didn't know, and the results were tragic.

      So many people are untouched by this war. This direct connection has been painful.

      by wardeo on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 11:08:55 AM PDT

      •  My condolences

        on the loss of your friend.

        Except for the profiteers and the politicians, this war/occupation hasn't done anyone any good, most certainly not those who are in it.

        by operculum on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 11:23:44 AM PDT

  •  This is terrible, disheartening news.

    My condolences to you, your network of pals, and his family.

    If you want to diary a tribute, I would encourage you to do so....  If you don't, understood.  Thanks for mentioning your friend, and that he was in Sadr City.  Fighting is raging there today; I've linked to the Beeb's coverage upthread.

    Peace.

    by Mogolori on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:57:55 AM PDT

•  people don`t care

  Everyone seems to have accepted that we are stuck in Iraq. Unless we start seeing 100 a month being killed I don`t think Iraq will get much coverage.

  by JOEL1954 on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:39:33 AM PDT

  •  People do care.

    People just aren't informed. And I hold "people" on this site responsible as well. We know better. Why not write a letter to the editor of your local paper about the useless war in Iraq, about the bush torture decison, then "generals for rent" issue or any number of outraqes committed by this administration? Why not? Anything you say here is just "preaching to the choir"!

    by irate on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:48:29 AM PDT

    •  Good idea for a Diary, irate. If ...

      ...say, all the people who comment today on any Diary were to take five minutes to pen a quick note to their local paper, we'd have thousands of letters in the mail by Wednesday. Write it up! I'll Rec'd. And I'll write (another) letter to the local rag - the newspaper I used to work for.

      by Meteor Blades on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:57:37 AM PDT

      •  I've considered this, now I will act.

        I've already had one anti-war letter printed in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Both irate and Meteor have helped me decide to act. I'll be penning a letter in the hopes that my tragedy, as removed from the scope of the big picture it is, may help bring home the reality of this mistake.

        Who will be the last mother be to bury their child for a mistake?

        by wardeo on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 11:14:50 AM PDT

    •  It would be nice if they did care, but the polls

      keep saying they don't.

      Time and again,  as these scandals have broken over the last 7 years,  even those Americans who've bothered to keep themselves (at least somewhat) informed simply haven't gotten outraged about them.

      Americans have repeatedly said that most of us don't care about things like the erosion of civil liberties,  as long as we perceive them as only affecting "other people" (doubly so if it only happens to "bad guys",  like the military kangaroo^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hcommissions at Gitmo).

      If the American people really cared,  it would be the Republicans,  not the Democrats,  agonizing over whether to get on the impeachment bandwagon.

      by Ran Talbott on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 06:00:24 PM PDT

•  McCain = The Hundred Years War

  Reinstate the draft and we'll be out in a year.

  by ZeroSum on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:42:07 AM PDT

  •  Start with Republicans under 26, over in 1 week.

    by Cartoon Peril on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 12:06:06 PM PDT

•  Four more years!(?)

  what a crime ,what a waste.

  by irate on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:43:01 AM PDT

•  I just checked out Wolf Blitzer...

  ...and his "best panel on TV" discussing the "100 years" commercial:

  Wolfie tried to make the case that McCain's context was that it would be ok only if soldiers were not being killed.  Specifically, McCain said we should have soldiers in a country where Al Qaeda is regrouping and planning attacks on Americans.  But in that context, we will never get to a point where our soldiers aren't being killed - if Al Qaeda is planning attacks on Americans, they'll certainly attack the local Americans first, won't they?

  by AnotherMassachusettsLiberal on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:43:14 AM PDT

•  get out and protest

  I've been trying to make it to a protest, an hour a week, since the anniversary. The two that have stood on that corner since last August, rain or shine, finally are getting some of us Johnnie come latelys. The one gentleman said, when it's just us two, people drive by and think we're crazy, when it's 10 or more, we're starting a movement. Don't let them think we're crazy!

  by Nicoletta on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:44:30 AM PDT

•  Thanks for keeping our military dead

  in the public eye Barbin.  I, too, saw the article in paper this a.m., sitting comfy with my tea, and knowing there were families around this country who are suffering from the loss of loved ones and their injured ones, both undergoing therapy while family struggles for VA funds and aid and those who face lives forever changed adapting to life without limbs or sight or whole minds.  Let's say my tea time was not so comfy by the time I finished the article and our country should not be comfy with on-going deaths of our military at the rate of 2-3 per day in what clearly is a civil war.
  So, once again, my morning is with pen in hand, writing our elected representatives, pleading to bring the troops home, another exercise in personal futility. For shame to the administration, for shame to the Congress!

  by Jbeaudill on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:45:37 AM PDT

•  But, but, but...

  ...THE SURGE IS WORKING!  WHY DO YOU HATE AMERICA???

  (Which leads to the observation that the surge is only working to get more people to hate America...)

  by Ken in MN on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:47:59 AM PDT

•  The media is helping

  to turn the handle of the meatgrinder.

  The second-tier pimps, and more than one first-tier member, of the Iraq war are still routinely called in to 'analyze' the war and denounce war critics and alternative plans to resolve the war.

  by LeftHandedMan on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:48:06 AM PDT

  •  And right now, on my TV screen

    Newt Gingrich is analyzing the Democratic prospects for the White House, and everyone around him is nodding 'yes' a lot.

    by LeftHandedMan on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:49:28 AM PDT

•  He never will

  Of course you'll never get that answer to that vital question from McCain. He's too busy huddling with Rudy "63M spent, 3.1M owed, 1 delegate won" Giuliani, when he's not on the phone to his pal Don Imus, telling him how good a job he's doing.

  by GregLMarotta on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:50:02 AM PDT

•  Just a little while longer and the U.S. ...

  ...military fatality count in Iraq will reach 4196, which is how Americans in uniform died in the Philippine-American War (1899-1902).

  by Meteor Blades on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:51:59 AM PDT

•  Barb

  Kossack GregMitch reports elsewhere of another U.S. casualty. It won't make any DoD list from Iraq, but I'd bet that's what killed him. link

  Even after so many tragic final chapters in the lives of so many U.S. military personnel in Iraq or veterans back home, the brutally frank opening line in a newspaper obituary from five days ago seemed particularly haunting: "Donald P. Christy, Lt. Col, USAF, passed away April 21, 2008 in Colorado Springs after an extended bout of anxiety and depression."

  Further on, the obit mentioned that in 2004 "Don served a tour of duty as the Deputy Commander at Baghdad Airport in Iraq"--which must have been one of the most stressful jobs in all of Iraq at that time, in light of insurgent attacks and the controversy over a prison based there.

  The little-noted obituary does not reveal how Christy died, or exactly why. But the report comes on the heels of a Veterans Administration coverup of the shockingly high number of suicide attempts by vets (1000 a month) and a Rand Corp. study revealing that 300,000 who served in Iraq or Afghanistan now suffer from various mental problems. It's not, however, if this is another case of suicide.

  The Christy obit, which presumably was composed by his family (he leaves parents, two sons, an ex-wife) was published in the Colorado Springs Gazette last Thursday, and picked up by Legacy.com, which also carries a tribute board. Christy was 42. Internment took place this morning with full military honors at the Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the charity of choice.

  Christy hailed from Johnson City, N.Y., and his obit explains that after returning to the U.S. following his Baghdad Airport posting, "he attended the Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and was then reassigned to the Air Force Space Command in Colorado Springs."

  by Carnacki on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:52:35 AM PDT

  •  So many of those which, of course ...

    ...will never be added to the official total fatalities from this war.

    Just as we will never know how many Iraqis have wound up prematurely dead because of the invasion and occupation.

    by Meteor Blades on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:54:26 AM PDT

•  Welcome to John McCain's

  Surge. It is working, it is working, he says.

  Huh?

  by africa on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:53:48 AM PDT

•  Each One Of Those Four (Along With the 4000)

  Represent a whole family irrevocably and totally changed FOREVER, with consequences which will extend into the future directly for at least fifty years.  

  It simply boggles my mind to think about it...

  This is the reality of War, even when it is done antiseptically by cynical politicians who are skilled at sequestering the general public away from the immediate consequences.

  by terry2wa on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:55:20 AM PDT

•  The Maverick

  "just how long is he willing to let Americans be injured, harmed, wounded or killed?"

  At least until a Democrat is elected.  Then the occupation will be bad again, and the media will call him a maverick for saying so.

  by Ptizelov on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 11:00:31 AM PDT

•  The Democrats Now Own This War

  And yet the Democrats in Congress will continue to fund the Iraq occupation well into 2009.

  From the San Francisco Chronicle, House Democrats work on huge Iraq money bill:

  The debate is shaping up as a key test for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

  The San Francisco Democrat, who opposed the war from the start, faces fierce criticism from the anti-war left for refusing to cut off funding for the war. She's trying to hold together a caucus split between anti-war lawmakers, who'd prefer a showdown with the White House, and conservative Democrats, who believe cutting off the war funding would make the party look weak on national security and put its majority at risk.

  How many more American soldiers need to die in Iraq to make the Democrats seem strong?

  by Magnifico on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 11:04:20 AM PDT

•  It wasn't four more

  it was  more..... from today.

  And a good number of them were probably children.

  by dancewater on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 11:07:09 AM PDT

•  This is what makes me mad as

  a wingnut confronted with a fact.

  Of course McCain refuses to answer the all important question; just how long is he willing to let Americans be injured, harmed, wounded or killed?  

  They're sputtering about the Democratic ad that features McCain saying it's OK to stay in Iraq for a hundred years, because they claim it misrepresents his meaning. Yet he's not willing to say how long we should stay while we're losing dozens of soldiers a month and hundreds are being maimed.

  Give us a @#$(%&# date other than a hundred years or ten thousand years if you've got one, McCain, you  lying liar.

  by Cowalker on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 11:11:58 AM PDT

•  and here is a picture of one

  who did not make it.  Our tax dollars at work.

  by dancewater on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 11:14:03 AM PDT

•  The Clintons are just plain stupid

  It's idiotic to think that you should run the same kind of blue state-swing state strategy that has lost us the last two elections in a year in which the Republican incumbent has a 28% approval rating, the economy is sliding into recession, there is a looming financial crisis, we're mired in endless war and 80% of the people think we are headed in the wrong direction.

  Choosing to try to eke out a narrow win rather that press our advantage when Republicans are disorganized, disheartened and disliked is political malpractice.

  Earth to Hillary: It isn't morning in America. And just because it worked for you and Bill 16 years ago doesn't mean it's a good strategy now.

  by expatjourno on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 11:30:42 AM PDT

•  The Price is Going to Be HIgh

  And horrible.  But it is going to sink in over the next few months that the so called "surge" accomplished nothing.  Yes there was a temporary decline in American troop casualties, but that was after the worst months of casualties since this illegal occupation began.  The numbers are going to creep higher each month, especially as 25 or 30 thousand troops are rotated home with no replacements.  What is McCain going to say when the average number returns to 60 or 70 a month?

  by feebog on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 11:43:15 AM PDT

•  surge for a hundred years

  It appears to me that as long as you make Iraq a giant prison, with our soldiers as the prison guards, there will be continued deaths. Iraqi's need to be free to determine their destiny, we need to be free to determine our destiny, which should be free of our addiction to middle east oil! We also need to speak out against all these companies that are benefitting from tax payer dollars, but are off shore, Halliburton, that if our tax payer dollars are funding this "war on terror" then the companies that benefit, need to be paying their share of taxes.

  by Nicoletta on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 12:21:23 PM PDT

•  Other news - heavy artillery

  In other news, the US is using heavy artillery in Baghdad.

  AP reports:

  Officials at the Imam Ali and al-Sadr general hospitals said about 25 people had died, with several dozen wounded. The officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to release the information, said most of the victims were civilians.

  Stover said U.S. forces targeted gunmen in the area with rockets fired from a guided multiple-launch rocket system, which fires high-explosive warheads weighing 200 pounds. He said 28 extremists were killed.

  "We have every right to defend ourselves," he said. "The problem is they're using houses, rooftops and alleyways (as cover)."

  These MRLS rockets are heavy artillery.  They are a larger version of katyusha or qassam rockets that the US quickly denounces when used by Iraqi or Palestinian fighters.  The US is using heavy artillery in the middle of a dense urban slum, and causing massive civilian casualties.  

  This is a war crime.

  by weasel on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 12:28:54 PM PDT

  •  Your moniker is well-chosen

    The rockets our soldiers are firing are guided by their own built-in GPS system that typically gets them within 10 feet of their intended target.  The ones being used in Iraq now are equipped with a warhead that can be set to explode only after it's penetrated the roof or wall of a building,  containing the blast and minimizing the harm to nearby innocents.

    The Qassam and Katyushas are unguided missiles,  and the people firing them can't even be sure what town they're going to hit.  Their warheads are designed to maximize the harm to nearby innocents.

    The only "war crime" here is your assault on the truth.

    by Ran Talbott on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 12:21:32 PM PDT

•  I hope you do a diary on this subject each day

  until the election.

  So many great questions about the cost of McSame and his 100 years in Iraq.

  by Sam Loomis on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 02:31:51 PM PDT

•  We need to get the hell out of Chicago!

  I'm a soldier myself but at least we have a fighting chance. Martial law needs to be called in Chicago. 30 public school kids alone have died since September. Chicago loses more people due to murder per year than what we lose due to Iraq and Afghanistan combined per year.

  Soldiers appreciate your support but where's the outrage against local leaders in Chicago not dealing with an obvious issue. If we truly valued human life we would bring these gangs down. Police and even swat don't have the firepower.

  by projectscm on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:55:41 PM PDT