Or maybe they’d be better called “mill stones.”
November 2, 2003 — the second deadliest day of this fiasco for American troops. Sixteen dead per the Iraq Casualty Count, topping the 30 deaths on March 23.
May all the gods grant that by next year’s Day of the Dead, we can comfort ourselves in the knowledge that the pointless deaths have stopped. We have no such comfort this year.
(by Morgan, Mon, 3 Nov 2003 12:00 PM)…
As of the 27th, October has the highest hostile casualty count since “major combat operations” ended — 29 to July’s 28. It looks like July will continue to hold the overall post-Lincoln casualties/month record with 46, since October is currently at 38. At least, we can hope and pray.
(by Morgan, Tue, 28 Oct 2003 12:00 PM)…
…But how much flesh is another story.
A reminder of which coalition member nations have sent troops into Iraq (link was to apnews.excite.com/article/20030926/D7TQ81V00.html):…
The Iraq Coalition Casualty Count changed their categories, so I had to make a few changes to mine. The main change seems to be to count accidents caused by hostile fire as hostile, rather than just accidents. My calendar has been updated to show those accidents as hostile deaths as well.
Other changes I noticed: The two homicides are now listed as “hostile”; three of the nine “friendly fire” deaths are accounted under “hostile,” and I can’t account for the other six; the three possible suicides are counted under other categories.
(by Morgan, 21 Sep 2003 9:10 PM)…
I know, Tom Tomorrow, Daily Kos, Atrios (and here), The Left Coaster (who seems to have originated this round), and last but not least Roland’s Justice Log have already covered it, but (in my not-so-humble-opinion) it bears repeating :-).…
From the NY Times:
Bush Declares Violence in Iraq Tests U.S. Will, Aug. 26
He [Bush] made the case that failing to take the fight to terrorists wherever they are would expose the United States to attacks at home. “Our military is confronting terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan and in other places so our people will not have to confront terrorist violence in New York or St. Louis or Los Angeles,” he said.
Yet another example of Foreign Policy Made E-Z
Particularly the second-to-last panel. Do these mushheads actually believe that someone who wants to lay some 9/11 style hurt on the US is going to go to Baghdad instead?…
I finally have our Cafe Press story ready, with “Anyone But Bush Again ’04” merchandise (ed. note: cafepress.com/abba04 since closed). Half the proceeds will go towards booting the squatter out of the Oval Office, the other half to helping one family (us) survive the Bush economic policies. More details on the site.…
Here’s one I posted to several email lists about at the time, but didn’t put here because I was in a blogging lull :-). From the Washington Post, 27 July 2003 U.S. Adopts Aggressive Tactics on Iraqi Fighters:
…Col. David Hogg, commander of the 2nd Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division, said tougher methods are being used to gather the intelligence. On Wednesday night, he said, his troops picked up the wife and daughter of an Iraqi lieutenant general. They left a note: “If you want your family released, turn yourself in.” Such tactics are justified, he said, because, “It’s an intelligence operation with detainees, and these people have info.”
Press Briefing by Ari Fleischer, January 9, 2003
…Q: But it wouldn’t be disappointing, would it, if there were no weapons there?
MR. FLEISCHER: We know for a fact that there are weapons there.
Since my last post on the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, three more lives have been lost. One a Dane killed by “friendly fire,” one of ours to hostile fire, and yet another American soldier to heat stroke.…
