Five Years After "Mission Accomplished"

Five years ago today, President George W. Bush gave his now infamous "Mission Accomplished" speech on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln.

On the day of his speech, one hundred thirty-nine (139) U.S. soldiers had lost their lives in the Iraq War.

In the five years since his speech, three thousand nine hundred and twenty-six (3,926) of our nation's soldiers have died in Iraq.

Well, I guess for a President who in 8 years has destroyed our economy, approved of and encouraged torture, and has managed to not double but TRIPLE the price of gasoline during the course of his two terms, the deaths of nearly 4,000 U.S. soldiers AFTER he declared "Mission Accomplished" makes absolute sense.

Just when you think things can't get worse, they do.

And they will continue to get worse if we elect McCain as the next commander-in-chief.

This video created by MoveOn.org says it best...

One Year Later

One year ago today, I decided to take a very small step towards keeping myself informed about the War in Iraq.

As obsessed as I am with pop culture, I'm trying to avoid becoming one of those people who knows nothing about the sacrifices being made by U.S. soldiers half a world away, and yet they know everything about who was just insulted by Simon, Auf Wiedersehened by Heidi and told to pack their knifes and leave Big Brother's house because the tribe had spoken.

I decided one year ago to add a section to my blog sidebar that shows the number of U.S. Soldiers who have lost their lives in the Iraq War since March, 2003.

As more of our soldiers die in Iraq, that section of my blog gets longer and longer. Maybe someone visiting my blog will see the number of lives lost, notice how often the numbers increase, and possibly take some time to acknowledge and give thanks to the men and women who bravely served and are serving our country. Maybe they will learn more about the current status of the war, which is, contrary to the lack of media coverage, not over.

On March 28, 2007, the number of U.S. Soldiers

who lost their lives in the Iraq War was 3,244.

On March 28, 2008, the number is 4,004.

That's 760 men and women who lost their lives fighting the War in Iraq.

To those who might say that this number is low and that since the number of U.S. soldiers dying in Iraq has decreased in the past year, this is an indicator that "The Surge" is working, the mission is almost (for the second time) accomplished, and even though the President lied to all of us to start this war, it truly was and is for the best... if you might say that...

That number - - Seven Hundred and Sixty - - refers to PEOPLE. Our friends and family members. They gave their lives for what little stability and what little democracy that presently exists in Iraq.

They are more than numbers. They are heroes. If our culture was based on common sense and not 15 minutes of crash and burn fame, our soldiers would be our nation's celebrities. Not a Survivor or an American Gladiator.

Four Thousand and Counting

This just in...


"BAGHDAD -- Four U.S. soldiers were killed when a bomb hit their vehicle in south Baghdad late Sunday, bringing the number of U.S. service members killed in the Iraq war to 4,000.



"The grim milestone came at a time when attacks against the U.S. military are ebbing and officials have claimed significant progress against Iraq's deadly insurgency and sectarian violence. It was reached about 10 p.m. on a day when more than 60 Iraqis were killed and dozens injured in attacks in Baghdad and north of the capital."

Four thousand of our nation's men and women are dead. And notice that, on a day when four of our soldiers are killed, 60 Iraqis lost their lives.

When was it the George said "Mission Accomplished?" Oh, that's right. He said that on April 30, 2003. Nearly five years ago.

Wow, "Mission Accomplished" and yet still, people - - Americans and Iraqis - - are dying every day. And we're worried about some governor who slept with a whore? America never ceases to amaze me.

Montel No Longer a Friend of Fox

My buddy Shirley Heezgay posted about this, as did Daily Kos and Toweleroad, but just in case you missed it, Variety reported on January 30th that...

"Montel Williams is calling it a wrap after 17 years in daytime. Fate of "The Montel Williams Show' was sealed when key Fox-owned stations opted not to renew it for the 2008-09 season."

Not a huge story, in the grand scheme of things. Until you take into account that Montel was on "FOX & Friends" on January 26th - - just four days prior to his show being canceled - - and took a segment where he was being asked to comment about the passing of Heath Ledger and began to ask his own questions about why the media was more concerned with one celebrity death than they were the twenty-eight American soldiers who lost their lives in Iraq from January 1st to January 26th.

Mr. Williams was particularly upset that no one was mentioning the names of any of those 28 U.S. soldiers. Check it out...



I guess I shouldn't even be shocked by the actions of FOX anymore. But look what happens when someone talks outside the party line.

Maybe he knew his show wasn't going to be picked up. Maybe not. Either way, Montel deserves praise for shining a spotlight on just how out of touch the American media has become with what is truly important to our country.

Our troops are important, not our celebrities.

Veteran's Day

Today, November 11th, is Veteran's Day.

It's important that we remember that.

It's important that we take time today to reflect on those brave men and woman who have served and are serving in our armed forces.

I've sung her praises before, but in my opinion, there is no better way to honor this day than to read this post entitled "Thoughts on Veteran's Day" from Ramblings from the outside of nowhere.

As always, it is beautifully written and passionate.

Thank you to her and to all veterans. Thanks to them on this day and every day.

UPDATE: I just read another incredible post that also honors this day and one of the brave soldiers who fought for our country. Please visit Thomas MacEntee's post entitled, "Kenny's Choice: A Veteran's Day Tribute" from Destination: Austin Family.

Another Reminder

Once again, my new blogger friend Shirley Heezgay has introduced me to something that I had to add to ARE YOU THERE, BLOG?

It's a counter that estimates the number of Iraqi deaths that have occurred due to the U.S. invasion since the beginning of the War in Iraq in March 2003.



As you can see, the current estimated number is One Million Eighty-Seven Thousand Five Hundred and Thirty-Seven Iraqi deaths.

This information comes from Just Foreign Policy and they state on their site...

"The number is shocking and sobering.

"It is at least 10 times greater than most estimates cited in the US media, yet it is based on a scientific study of violent Iraqi deaths caused by the U.S.-led invasion of March 2003."

As I've said before, I place this information and the information tracking the number of U.S. troops who have lost their lives during the War in Iraq since March 2003 on my blog to remind myself and others that we are indeed at war.

Several people, several families. several parts of this country need no such reminder because they have lost loved ones dear to them - - men and women who gave their lives bravely and courageously for something they believed in with all their hearts: our country and our freedom.

But there are other people, other families, other parts of this country who are moving through our present time more concerned with who was booted off of DANCING WITH THE STARS than the fact that our brothers and sisters, our fathers and mothers, our sons and daughters are fighting in a war halfway around the world.

Yesterday in Chicago, for instance, the Chicago Sun-Times printed a full-page picture of Alderman Tom Tunney on the front cover, because apparently, the fact that Mr. Tunney was stopped by the police for talking on his cell phone and then made arrangements to have his driver's license returned to him is more important than a war being waged where lives are being lost.

There may not have been any huge or significant breaking news items with regards to the War in Iraq yesterday, but making Alderman Tunney the focus of their newspaper proved once again why the Sun-Times is second-rate newspaper in the Second (or is it third?) City.

The Planted Last Question

Keith Olbermann does it again.

One of the rare voices shouting out against President George W. Bush. Once again, everyone needs to hear Mr. Olbermann's words.



It's refreshing to listen to intelligent commentary again, isn't it?

Thanks to the person who commented on President Bush Playing and brought this clip to my attention.

H.G. Wells Tells It Like It Is

Today is H.G. Wells' birthday.

Not only did he give write a novel that turned into a brilliant vehicle for Claude Rains...

...And I'm talking about THE INVISIBLE MAN, not RAWHIDE, ok?

Can you imagine an episode of RAWHIDE written by H.G. Wells? Talk about WAGON TRAIN TO THE STARS...

He also wrote THE ISLAND OF DOCTOR MOREAU which was turned into a "please gouge my eyes out of my head before I have to see any more of this crap" vehicle for Marlon "The Hutt" Brando.

And also, he wrote this sentence, which reads as if it could have been written two hours ago...

As if just this minute, someone asked H.G. Wells his thoughts on this week's failed attempt in the Senate to force a pullout of U.S. troops from Iraq, and he replied...

"It is not reasonable that those that gamble with men's lives should not stake their own."

- H.G. Wells

Just when you thought the human race had made a little progress, everything old is new again.

The "Petraeus" Report

Last night on THE DAILY SHOW, Jon Stewart had this to say about General Petraeus and the report he gave which, oddly enough, had General Petraeus' name on the cover but was not written by him.

And here I've been told all my life that plagiarism is wrong. Hmmm...

Anyway, here's Jon Stewart's take on The "Petraeus" Report...

"By the way, this wasn't just a 'guesses and estimations' type thing; the general had hard data.

"He backed up his arguments with real numbers - - charts of sectarian death, graphs of car bombs, tables of troop levels.

"Because it's an important reminder that our troops and the Iraqis aren't just fathers, sons, mothers and sisters - - they're also statistics.

"Remember that."

-Jon Stewart on THE DAILY SHOW, 9/11/07

Smell that, President Bush? That's sarcasm.

Is it me or is it a sad day when The Court Jester is the only person with the guts, the skill and the knowledge to tell The Emperor that he isn't wearing any clothes?

President Bush Playing

Don't fuck with Keith Olbermann.

Watch this. All of it. Now.

3,665 And Counting...

I just updated the section of my blog where I track the number of U.S. Soldiers who have lost their lives in the Iraq War since March, 2003.

The current total as of today, August 4th, is Three Thousand, Six Hundred Sixty-Five U.S. Soldiers who have died in this war.

Again, that is not some random number. Those are people. Our people. Our friends, our family, our loved ones. Our people.

I previously updated this section on July 31st - - only four days ago - - and in those four days twelve U.S. Soldiers died. Twelve!

What the fuck do we - - the citizens of the United States - - have to do to convince our elected officials that we want this war to end now? Elections didn't work. Blogging and bitching isn't working. What will work? Good old fashioned protesting in the streets? That hasn't done much to change the Washington Elite's opinion on Immigration Reform, now has it?

Maybe screaming and shouting and DEMANDING the impeachment of Bush and Cheney will help us end this war. Shirley Heezgay posted about this site a few days ago - - ImpeachBush.org. Maybe casting our vote on this site will help. I will try anything to get America to care about men and women dying half a world away in a war our leaders lied to get us into. I'll do anything to get America and Americans angry.

It's such an old joke now that it's bordering on the pathetic, but if it takes me putting on a shitty, blue dress and a beret, getting down on my knees and blowing both Bush and Cheney to get someone to start impeachment proceedings on these two morally corrupt, smug destroyers of The Constitution, then bring me my knee pads and put those withered cocks in my mouth. I've had it with waiting and talking and debating.

Listen up, Democrats: Grow a pair of balls and fight back. Somebody somewhere must stop these motherfuckers in The White House. It's already too late for 3,665 of our own people. How many more have to die until we admit we have no idea what we're doing over there and get the Hell out?

Let's get our house in order before we try to change the world to be just like us.

The Cost of War

A couple of weeks ago, fellow blogger YinYang sent me a link to the National Priorities Project's web site.

The description on their home page reads...

National Priorities Project analyzes and clarifies federal data so that
people can understand and influence how their tax dollars are spent.

Currently, the cost of the Iraq War to the citizens of the United States of America is over 439 billion dollars.

Of course, the loss of the lives of our U.S. soldiers is a much greater cost than that.

The number of U.S. Soldiers who have lost their lives in the Iraq War since March, 2003 as of today is Three Thousand Five Hundred and Eighty-Two.

That's 3,582 PEOPLE.

A belated thanks to YinYang for sending me to the site. I had added a counter from the National Priorities Project site which displays the current cost of the Iraq War to this blog.

Since the government isn't asking the majority of the country to sacrifice for this war - - and the leaders of this country are sacrificing NOTHING to continue the War in Iraq - - let's remember the daily cost this war has in dollars and more importantly in human lives.

And my sincere sympathies go out to those U.S. citizens who are sacrificing the most for this war - - our United States soldiers and the mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, wives, husbands and lovers whose loved ones have died fighting this war.

"Bring Them Home Now."

3,474 And Counting...

During the course of this month - - May 2007 - - One Hundred Twenty-Three (123) United States soldiers lost their lives fighting the War in Iraq.

As you can see from the chart below (found at the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count) this is the third highest monthly death count since the war began in March 2003.

Earlier this week on Memorial Day, Cindy Sheehan announced that she was giving up her brave and courageous fight to bring our troops home and end the war. Ms. Sheehan's announcement came in a diary entry on Daily Kos entitled "Good Riddance Attention Whore."

Why such a horrific title? Because those were some of the milder things said about Ms. Sheehan by Liberal bloggers. Not Conservative right-wingers, mind you. Liberals.

The following is just one portion of Ms. Sheehan's diary entry. It focuses on her son, Casey, who lost his life fighting the War in Iraq...

"The most devastating conclusion that I reached this morning, however, was that Casey did indeed die for nothing.

"His precious lifeblood drained out in a country far away from his family who loves him, killed by his own country which is beholden to and run by a war machine that even controls what we think. I have tried every since he died to make his sacrifice meaningful.

"Casey died for a country which cares more about who will be the next American Idol than how many people will be killed in the next few months while Democrats and Republicans play politics with human lives.

"It is so painful to me to know that I bought into this system for so many years and Casey paid the price for that allegiance. I failed my boy and that hurts the most."

Ms. Sheehan ends her entry perfectly.

"It’s up to you now."

Mission Accomplished?

I just found this in the Chicago Tribune's "Images in the News" section...

A protester dressed as the Grim Reaper displays a tally of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq during a rally on April 29, to mark the fourth anniversary of President Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech in Washington, DC.

President Bush is expected to veto the Iraq funding bill this week that
includes a timetable for the withdrawal of troops.

Next year, if we are still in this war with no schedule for the withdrawl of our troops, I suggest that instead of one Grim Reaper carrying a sign with the number of U.S. soldiers killed in the War in Iraq, we march on Washington with one Grim Reaper per U.S. soldier killed.

Can you imagine if 3,351 Grim Reapers had stood outside of the White House yesterday?

Of course, waiting until one year from yesterday would mean that another thousand of our soldiers would be killed and we simply cannot wait that long.

One more day is too long.

18 Days

I have keeping track of the number of United States soldiers losing their lives in The Iraq War for only 18 days.

In 18 days, 55 men and women have been killed in Iraq.

Fifty-five of our own soldiers killed in eighteen days.

George W. Bush leaves the Office of the Presidency on January 20, 2009.

That is 645 days from now.

If we stay in Iraq and the rate of U.S. casualties remains the same as it has been over the past 18 days, an additional 1,971 United States soldiers will lose their lives.

The majority of the country is against this war and our occupation of this country.

We cannot wait until President Bush leaves Office to begin a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq.

Bring our troops home.

Now.

The Numbers Keep Growing

In the short time that I have been making an effort to track the increase in U.S. Soldier Casualties in the Iraq War...

...a period of only 6 days...

...I have been horrified to watch the death count rise nearly every single time that I check the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count web site.

In 6 days, the number of United States soldiers who have lost their lives fighting the War in Iraq increased from 3,244 to 3,257!

That amounts to THIRTEEN U.S. soldiers dead in only SIX days!

This is only the number of soldiers who have died. Many others are wounded each and every day.

The increase is shocking.

I said that I was going to keep track of the these figures on my blog, but before today, I didn't quite know how to do it. At first, I thought I would include an update at the end of each post. Then, I decided to create a special section that would show the number of U.S. soldiers who had died along with some general information about the most recent individuals who lost their lives in Iraq.

But our soldiers are being killed so quickly - - much faster than I realized - - so now, I have decided to leave each update's casualty number in that section of my blog - - with newer updates being added to the top of the old updates - - to give some small visual reference to these horrific casualty rates.

Look at the column - - even with only four updates on it - - and then tell me which of these is America's true tragedy:

1) Howard Stern promoting Sanjaya on AMERICAN IDOL?

or...

2) American soldiers losing their lives in a war we have no hope to win?

Keeping Informed

Similar to a point she made back in February, Rosie O'Donnell brought up another interesting disparity in media coverage on THE VIEW this past Monday...

"This has been all over the news. It really started on March 16 and since then 15 cats and one dog have died, and it's been all over the news.

And you know, since that date, 29 soldiers have died, and we haven't heard much about them. I think that we have the wrong focus in the country.

That when pets are killed in America from some horrific poisoning accident, 16 of them, it's all over the news and people are like, 'The kitty!' It's so sad.' Twenty-nine sons and daughters killed since that day, it's not newsworthy. I don't understand.

I'm sure that pet owners all over the country have already written hate mail to Rosie for bringing this up....

...and some quick research I have done online brought me to a web site which makes a strong case to attribute hundreds more dog and cat deaths to pet food contaminated with the rat poison, aminopterin, which was distributed by Menu Foods...

And by the by, am I the only person on the planet who immediately thought of 9 to 5 when I heard that the pet food was contaminated with rat poison?

I kept thinking that Menu Foods would issue a statement saying...

"I thought it was "Skinny & Sweet." It looks just like "Skinny & Sweet." Except for the little skull & crossbones on the label.

Yeah, that's sort sick... and not a funny enough pay off. I'll get back to my point.

I understand that the word needed to get out to save more pets from being killed by this company's insane mistake, but Rosie's point is valid - - we don't seem to care very much about our own troops being killed or wounded in this senseless war. Or maybe more to the point, it seems as if we care MORE about other issues than our own men and women dying half-way around the world.

And I am just as guilty of this as anyone else.

The media is a mirror displaying our cultural interests. They thrive on supplying us with stories, pictures and video clips featuring the people, places and things we demand to see. And it works in reverse - - if we don't want to see it, they won't supply us with it.

If they aired AMERICAN IDOL and it's ratings fell below a syndicated re-run of MAMA'S FAMILY, you can bet your sweet ass that IDOL would be cancelled faster than you could say, "Seacrest out!"'

And four years into this war, America has lost it's interest...

...what little interest it had in the politics of war entered into through lies and falsified information, but I digress...

Since a draft is not in effect for the Iraq War, it seems that only certain sections of the country are truly experiencing it's full effects. Those communities are dealing with the death of loved ones. They are taking care of their sons and daughters who have been injured in a war that the vast majority of our country no longer supports.

The rest of us read scattered reports or see brief news stories about the number of U.S. troops killed this month in Iraq, but since so few of us read a full newspaper or sit down to watch the 6 o'clock news in 2007, we click away from the news that holds no interest for us. The news we don't care about.

And I'm at the front of pack - - incredibly guilty of not keeping myself informed.

So, I informed myself.

I found a couple of web sites - - Iraq Coalition Casualty Count and AntiWar.com - - both of which provide tons of information about the war and what is happening to the incredible men and woman serving our country in Iraq.

And to make sure that I don't lose track of the fact that our nation is at war, I am going to do something that some might find too morose for this blog...

...but then again, if those people don't like it, they don't have to read it, now do they?

I am going to try my damnedest to post a small amount of information about each U.S. soldier killed in Iraq from now until the end of the war. At the very least, I will post their rank, their age and any information about how they died.

Hopefully, it will help me remember that we're at war, that good people are fighting and giving their lives for our country and that I need to do everything in my power to make sure that our government is working day and night to end the war, stabilize the horrific mess they have made of Iraq, mend relations with the other nations of the world, and above all else, that they bring our troops home as soon as possible.

___________________

Since the War in Iraq began in March of 2003, 3,244 U.S. soldiers have lost their lives.