[PenultimateManStanding]

I remember reading about that stuff, threadbear. A very dirty sordid affair. Perhaps a strong component of racism involved. But the objective was to root out communism. I know you say that Totalitarianism is no good wherever it is practiced. But what happens if one side is not bound by rules of decency and the other is? The decent side loses. Does this mean that the same tactics are being used again in Iraq? I don't know; this linked article doesn't say anything conclusive either. Maybe the US doesn't do that anymore and all that's happening in Iraq is that Uncle Sam is in over his head. Or maybe Uncle Sam says "screw that, we'll do what we have to". Maybe a new American regime will reveal all, maybe they won't, but in the meantime, all we have is dark insinuations and no facts. One thing is clear, the US isn't there to fail. This isn't Vietnam.

[threadbear]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PenultimateManStanding', ' ')Does this mean that the same tactics are being used again in Iraq? I don't know; this linked article doesn't say anything conclusive either. Maybe the US doesn't do that anymore and all that's happening in Iraq is that Uncle Sam is in over his head. Or maybe Uncle Sam says "screw that, we'll do what we have to". Maybe a new American regime will reveal all, maybe they won't, but in the meantime, all we have is dark insinuations and no facts. One thing is clear, the US isn't there to fail. This isn't Vietnam.

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('threadbear', '
')
There's a preponderance of evidence that Uncle Sam has never been worse, regarding human rights. Dark insinuations are a base requirement to even begin discussions about monsters who have felt free to operate in the shadows for too long.

[rwwff]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('threadbear', 'T')here's a preponderance of evidence that Uncle Sam has never been worse, regarding human rights. Dark insinuations are a base requirement to even begin discussions about monsters who have felt free to operate in the shadows for too long.

[Dreamtwister]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rwwff', 'D')o yall oppose Resource Wars, or do yall oppose Resource Wars run by Republicans.

[threadbear]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PenultimateManStanding', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('threadbear', '
')
There's a preponderance of evidence that Uncle Sam has never been worse, regarding human rights. Dark insinuations are a base requirement to even begin discussions about monsters who have felt free to operate in the shadows for too long.

[mekrob]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '
')I'm against pretending they aren't resource wars and doing nothing to diminish dependance on those resources.

[rwwff]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Dreamtwister', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rwwff', 'D')o yall oppose Resource Wars, or do yall oppose Resource Wars run by Republicans.

[Mesuge]

[Hundreds of Iraqi police poisoned] - apparently by some type bioweapon..

Hundreds of Iraqi policemen fell sick from poisoning Sunday at a base in southern Iraq after the evening meal breaking their daily Ramadan fast, and officials said they were investigating whether the poisoning was intentional.

An official with the Environment Ministry said 11 policemen had died. However, the governor of Wasit province -- where the poisoning took place -- denied any deaths, though he said some of the victims were in critical condition. There was no immediate explanation for the contradictory reports.

Some of the policemen began bleeding from the ears and nose after the meal , said Jassim al-Atwan, an inspector for the Environment Ministry, who was serving as a liaison in the investigation between the Health Ministry and the base, located in the town of Numaniyah.

"Hundreds of soldiers were poisoned after taking food and water in the iftar," Wasit Gov. Hamad al-Latif told the Associated Press, referring to the meal that breaks the sunrise-to-sunset fast during the Islamic holy month. "Investigations are under way to determine the cause."

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast ... index.html

--

Well, as we know the Iraqi police has got some cool US advisors such as the folks who trained death squads in Central America during 80s. There are reportedly factions inside the police squad which are pretty active in the "sectarian war" aka slaughter of civilians.

--

Washington Post Assistant Managing Editor and former Baghdad bureau chief Rajiv Chandrasekaran (DN, Friday, September 29th, 2006)

Rajiv, tell us about Jim Steele, the man who was hired as Paul Bremer's Chief of Security Forces.

RAJIV CHANDRASEKARAN: Well, you know, Jim Steele is a very shadowy guy, and it was hard to really understand what he was doing. He was brought in as a security adviser to Ambassador Bremer. He worked closely with Kerik (Police Chief/advisor). He often went on some of these overnight raids with him, and he never gave any media interviews. It was very difficult to ascertain what his role there really was. You know, those who have been, I think, following your reports over the years would probably recognize his name, because he did surface in the Iran-Contra investigations back in the 1980s.

AMY GOODMAN: Military adviser in El Salvador to, well, ultimately we're talking death squads there.
--

Iraq police brigade suspected of aiding abuctions pulled
POSTED: 1810 GMT (0210 HKT), October 4, 2006
.
..

Clear evidence of complicity

There is "clear evidence that there was some complicity in allowing death squad elements to move freely when, in fact, they were supposed to have been impeding their movement; that perhaps they did not respond as rapidly when reports were made," Caldwell said.

The brigade police officers "had not put their full allegiance commitment behind the government of Iraq," and instead, aligned with "some other elements outside" of the national police, he said.

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast ... index.html

--

Now, the neocon plan is to redraw the region and have three separate states, so it's clear who stands the benefit here..

{thread moved from Current Energy News since it isn't explicitly tied to hydrocarbon depletion - Shannymara}

[NEOPO]

Thank you for this.

I wonder how many Iraqi's are being killed by hired US security and such like blackwater.
IRAQ FOR SALE
40 BODIES HERE 60 BODIES THERE - usually people who arent violent, dont carry guns = easy target.

Install fear into the ENTIRE population.

"well ya know I am old school rockin it - the truth - well you know there's no stoppin it"

[Mesuge]

We might have it right:

developing..

The Iraq Study Group, co-chaired by James Baker, may recommend carving up Iraq into three highly autonomous regions, according to well informed sources..

www.freerepublic.com

[PenultimateManStanding]

Here's a couple of pieces saying that things are looking bad for the insurgents. That's probably the last thing a number of posters here would want to hear. But here they are; read, assimilate, debunk, flame, whatever.

New York Sun

WSJ Editorial Page

btw, an interesting quote from Victor Davis Hanson: "Thousands in Iraq accept that they have crossed the Rubicon, and they must either make their own democracy work or suffer a fate worse than that of the boat people and the butchered in Southeast Asia when the Americans left. "

[lateralus]

Iraq Coalition Casualty Count

Stats don't lie.

[Zardoz]

The President of The United States begs to differ:

Bush admits U.S. dissatisfaction with Iraq

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')n a somber but combative pre-election review of a long and brutal war, President Bush conceded Wednesday that the United States is taking heavy casualties in Iraq and said, "I know many Americans are not satisfied with the situation" there.

"I'm not satisfied either," he said at a speech and question and answer session at the White House 13 days before midterm elections.

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Zardoz', 'T')he President of The United States begs to differ:

Bush admits U.S. dissatisfaction with Iraq

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')n a somber but combative pre-election review of a long and brutal war, President Bush conceded Wednesday that the United States is taking heavy casualties in Iraq and said, "I know many Americans are not satisfied with the situation" there.

"I'm not satisfied either," he said at a speech and question and answer session at the White House 13 days before midterm elections.

[evilgenius]

The situation will never be stable because it isn't our goal to make it so. Democracy takes more than votes to call it a success. You have to foster a class of people that can compete in a civil fashion for power. A class for whom civil competition is really the only legitimate competition. Such a class of people requires the formative injunction brought about by free capitalism and the rule of law. Once a capitalist class rises up to compete for power a parliament can be formed, not before. We only want their oil and to keep the regional oil spigot open. We don't give a damn about the Iraqi people.

[neocone]

Finally....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15921476/

Now the lyrics of Front Line Assembly are most appropriate:

"...Oppression takes its toll
Rythm of violence
Clusters the air
There's no more control

Sky turns brighter
A lethal red
RPGs fly everywhere

Shattered dreams
Shattered hopes
And bodies everywhere!"

Mindphaser is the best song of all times!!!! FLA rules forever!!!

[KhanCEO]

OoOoOo that liberal is saying Iraq is worse than what it really is, we are making progess in Iraq. It wouldn't surprise me if Osama is controlling NBC to tell the american people that Iraq is a lost hope and then we go home so the terrorist will win. Those Liberals are the terrorists greatest asset.

(I Really Dont Believe What I Just Typed But There Are Crazy Stupid People In America That Would Believe What I Just Typed Was True)

Beware of stupid people, they breed

[Bas]

Good time to rerun that clip of bush saying "Mission accomplished" on that aircraft carrier