August was worst month for US in Iraq

[UpInArms]

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0907/dailyUpdate.html?s=ent2

The US military says that almost 1,100 soldiers were wounded during the month of August in Iraq, the highest total since the invasion of the country 18 months ago. Attacks on US troops averaged more than 100 a day in August. The Washington Post reports that the figure is a sign of the intensity and duration of the heavy urban fighting in cities like Najaf, Ramadi, Samarra, Falujah and the Sadr City slum section of Baghdad. Most of these cities remain under the control of insurgents despite the transfer of political authority to an interim national government.

"They were doing battlefield urban operations in four places at one time," said Lt. Col. Albert Maas, operations officer for the 2nd Medical Brigade, which oversees US combat hospitals in Iraq. "It's like working in downtown Detroit. You're going literally building to building."

The good news was that combat deaths (66), while the highest total since May, were not climbing as fast as the number of injured. Officials created the reintroduction of "heavy armored" equipment, like Abrams tanks and the Bradley fighting vehicles, for keeping the death toll down despite the intense fighting. There are no official figures available for the number of Iraqi insurgents and civilians killed or hurt.

<snip>

Roadside bombs killed three American soldiers in Baghdad, and a fourth soldier died in a blast near Mosul, the US military said on Tuesday. So far 990 US troops have died in Iraq, while more than 100 other troops from other nations have also died.

...more...

Iraq Casualties shows: 999

http://icasualties.org/oif/

[wolfgirl]

1. September is

apparently going to be worse than August....13 since Monday!?1

[Dhalgren]

2. We were jeered at by gutless supporters of this carnage

back in the spring of '03. They said, "where is that 'scary street fighting' you liberals were whining about? It didn't happen because USA is #1!"

Well, it's happening now. Every major city in Iraq is a shooting gallery. The "Green Zone" is the only "safe" place for US troops and they get shelled there regularly. This whole thing is so unbelievably stupid on every level that it staggers the imagination. All of the military "leaders" who have had a hand in this mind-numbing slaughter must be cashiered at once! These have to be the most inept, stupidest, under-achievers in US history! Their jobs were to plan the best operation they could and to resign if they were asked to put US troops in harms way in a situation that could not be remedied. These are idiots, lead by a madman, supported by fools.

[Cocoa]

5. the ultimate gloating column

Kathleen Parker's first column after Statue Day...

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/kathleen/parker041403.asp

What was that whimpering sound? Oh that. It's just the "Yes, but" crowd formerly known as the "antiwar pundits." Ignore them.

Saddam's statue had barely hit the ground in central Baghdad before America's armchair doomsayers began harrumphing a new caveat in which to couch this unseemly turn of events. One might almost think they didn't want Saddam to fall.

You couldn't help noticing the careful balance the antis tried to strike between reluctant admission and preachy admonition. The formula goes something like this: "Yes, we defeated Iraq, BUT . . . let's not get too carried away, it ain't over yet."

<snip>

It's also hard to be humble when you're right, but guess who is both? Guess who first cautioned against glibness, hubris, immodesty and arrogance? Those mean men Dowd can never bring herself to address as adults: her Bushy, Rummy and Wolfie. The lead players in this epochal drama have spoken with the restraint and authority of grown-ups undistracted by childish antics, either from the pacifist nursery or from exuberant Iraqis tasting freedom, in some cases for the first time. "Let them rant" or "Let them loot," as the case may be, is an attitude of tolerance born of higher sights.

more...

[daddybear]

3. November 2000

..was the worst day in American HISTORY, period.

[UpInArms]

4. December 12, 2000

the day that democracy died.

[daddybear]

7. Indeed!

May God use us to win it back in 2004.

[krkaufman]

6. Make that "credited"...

Officials credited the reintroduction of "heavy armored" equipment, like Abrams tanks and the Bradley fighting vehicles, for keeping the death toll down despite the intense fighting.

Well BULLY for the generals for getting the soldiers some of the equipment they've needed from day one.

[Rose Siding]

8. Ridiculous use of the phrase "the good news was..."

Pig lipstick. Why bother?

Might as well have been good news about car insurance premiums to the families of the 66 or, in fact, the families of all 999. (not to mention the 20-30 thousand Iraqi families)