Glowing promises can't hide dark turn of events in Iraq (USA Today)

[huckleberry]

With each passing day, the U.S. war in Iraq is looking bleaker and the Bush administration's rosy scenario less convincing.

Just how bad the insurgency in Iraq has become was underscored by a classified intelligence report prepared for President Bush in July and leaked this week. Its outlook for the country by the end of 2005 is tenuous stability at best, civil war at worst.

snip

As the U.S. presidential election approaches, the administration has good political reasons to paint the best possible picture of Iraq — particularly since it has few good options for bringing the insurgency under control any time soon. But a White House that hides the truth about a worsening conflict from the American public only loses support for its mission. Vietnam showed that.

This week, even some Republican senators began breaking ranks with the administration's upbeat assessments of the war. Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., described Iraq as "beyond pitiful. It's beyond embarrassing. It's now in the zone of dangerous."



more at
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2004-09-16-our-view_x.htm

[Cha]

1. That was July...how about some current info

getting "leaked" ..cause that's the only way we're going to hear about it!

"Glowing promises" are right! That's all bush does is promise..how many campaign promises of 2000 have come through except the tax cuts(and look where they got us).

[Skittles]

2. our soldiers and a lot of innocent Iraqis are paying a horrific price

this madness has got to stop

[Justice]

3. Bush people have lied about reason for escalating violence

We've heard the mantra this month = we expect violence to escalate until our election b/c the insurgents know this is only chance they have to stop us.

But the Intelligence Briefing reveals the truth -- the violence isn't related to our election. The Briefing says its outlook for the country by the end of 2005 is tenuous stability at best, civil war at worst.

More lies, more politicizing everything.

[Disturbed]

4. The War On Iraq is a disaster!

If they can't even secure their Green Zone they should start packing up.

Most Iraqis will not accept colonization. Will Iraq colonization efforts drag on through the US election?

[ItsMyParty]

5. L-E-A-K-E-D.....notice that word. I like that word. That word means

someone is playing for us inside the snake pit. Let the leaks keep coming.............

[yardwork]

6. It's very interesting that this report was suppressed since July

and even more interesting that it was leaked! Somebody close to the White House is trying to get the truth out.

I wrote to USAtoday.com and thanked them for this editorial.

[Just Me]

7. How come an assessment/report of facts is an "opinion" whereas

opinions are reported as news these days?

Ahhhh,...yes,...we are living in times where language is changing: up means down, in means out, peace means war, freedom means death, democracy means authoritarianism, etc.

[countmyvote4real]

8. Every day is opposite day under *

And it began with his “election.”

[MisterP]

10. the "let's enthusiastically repeat Moon & Murdoch but be skeptic about

prize-winning investigative journalism" syndrome--Wikipedia suffers from it, and Snopes.

[Fiendish Thingy]

9. Kerry's followup to his "Fantasyland" theme of today...

Could be to turn to Bush in the debates and say "you've ignored your own intelligence experts' pessemistic assessment of the Iraq war, instead supporting the fantasy that we're making steady progress. The last time you were in this state of denial, you ignored an intelligence memo titled 'Bin Laden determined to strike inside the US'. What will the consequences of your denial be this time?"

Hmmm, Fantasyland...maybe people could start sneaking into Bush rallies wearing "Fantasyland" T-Shirts...

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. You know we could all check if Disney

has them for sale. They could not even kick us out because of an anti bush message

But if many of us start wearing them... well who knows

[mazzarro]

15. I like your idea - maybe K-E campaign can put it out as a daily

briefing item. BTW welcome to DU, if I may say.

[The_Casual_Observer]

12. Somebody must have forged this

since it is a bush negative.

[truthisfreedom]

13. that's what they'll claim about the Kerry votes (any paper trail) when he

wins... forgeries.

[Joanne98]

14. Never forget: Republicans LIE about NUMBERS.......

By Mark Benjamin, UPI

Published: September 15, 2004

NEW YORK (UPI) Nearly 17,000 service members medically evacuated from Iraq and Afghanistan are absent from public Pentagon casualty reports commonly cited by newspapers, according to military data reviewed by United Press International. Most don't fit the definition of casualties, according to the Pentagon, but a veterans' advocate said they should all be counted.

The Pentagon has reported 1,019 dead and 7,245 wounded from Iraq.

The military has evacuated 16,765 individual service members from Iraq and Afghanistan for injuries and ailments not directly related to combat, according to the U.S. Transportation Command, which is responsible for the medical evacuations. Most are from Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The Pentagon's public casualty reports, available at www.defenselink.mil, list only service members who died or were wounded in action. The Pentagon's own definition of a war casualty provided to UPI in December describes a casualty as, "Any person who is lost to the organization by having been declared dead, duty status/whereabouts unknown, missing, ill, or injured."

~~~~~~~~

More:
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_di...

[saigon68]

16. Like 24 Marines and soldiers killed in the lasr 4 days

Its up to 1029 sept 16, 2004 plus hundreds of mercenaries 67 from Halliburton alone, and tens of Thousands of Iraqi civilians.