King of ♧ killed in battle

Saddam aide Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri 'killed' in Iraq

Excerpt:

Fugitive Iraqi militant leader Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, who was right-hand man to Iraq's ex-leader Saddam Hussein, has been killed, Iraqi officials say. They say he died in fighting in Salahuddin province, north of Baghdad. His supporters have denied the claim. Douri, 72, led the Naqshbandi Order insurgent group, a key force behind the recent rise of Islamic State (IS). He was deputy to Saddam Hussein, who was ousted when US-led forces invaded Iraq in 2003 and executed in 2006. Douri was regarded as the most high-profile official of Saddam Hussein's Baath party to successfully evade capture after the invasion, and had a large bounty on his head for years. He was the King of Clubs in the famous pack of cards the US issued of wanted members of Saddam Hussein's regime after its defeat.

More: Paraded in a glass coffin, the King of Clubs returns to Baghdad: Body of ISIS commander who was former Saddam henchman is handed over to authorities. Part of gang known on the famous deck of cards (of which my son, who served in Iraq, brought home with him.). Wiki article

How an Emir's insult ignited a decade of war: Will turn every Iraqi woman into a $10 prostitute

FBI Agent: Hussein Didn't Expect Invasion

Excerpt:

"What really triggered it for him, according to Saddam, was he had sent his foreign minister to Kuwait to meet with the emir al-Sabah . . . to try to resolve some of these issues. And the emir told the foreign minister of Iraq that he would not stop doing what he was doing until he turned every Iraqi woman into a $10 prostitute. And that really sealed it for him, to invade Kuwait," Piro said in the interview, according to CBS.

Comment: Old news for some, but new to me. Image sources: Wiki and screen capture. Wiki on George Piro

The "Do-Gooder" US Foreign Policy releases "The Howling Man"

There’s a lesson here for do-gooders everywhere
Excerpt:

The Southern tradition is to deal with life as it is rather than forcing the world to conform to some abstract ideal. As Richard Weaver once noted, “The Southerner accepts the irremediability of a certain amount of evil and tries to fence it around instead of trying to stamp it out and thereby spreading it. His is a classical acknowledgment of tragedy and of the limits of power.” That reminds me of a classic Twilight Zone episode, “The Howling Man.” Thinking he is helping an innocent man cruelly imprisoned by religious fanatics, a tourist unwittingly frees the Devil. There’s a lesson here for do-gooders everywhere:

Laura Ingraham: ‘Iraq Is Worse Off’ Now Than Under Saddam
Excerpt:

Ingraham contended that military action in the country — even to prevent genocide and oppression — seems to always backfire. “We try to do all these things in Iraq, now Iraq is worse off,” she said. “I mean, I hate to say that, but Iraq is worse than before we went into Iraq.” “Christians are gone, there’s no sense of order at all,” she explained. “Saddam Hussein is gone, that’s a good thing. But what’s left? A more emboldened Islamic State, not contained, apparently, even by U.S. airstrikes.”

Army colonel: Don't go back to Iraq
Excerpt:

We fought long and hard, spending over $25 billion to train and equip Iraqi security forces. We helped them develop a working government based on democratic principles. And while it might be wholly appropriate for the U.S. to provide humanitarian aid to those under siege, it's the responsibility of the Iraqis to protect Iraq. As someone who helped train these forces, I know they have the capability to stand and fight. The training wheels have to come off. While it is frustrating and painful to watch militants take over a third of the country, we must focus on the here and now. The responsibility is to our soldiers who spent 13 years at war accomplishing what they were asked to do, often at a great cost. I fought to help my Iraqi friends and fellow soldiers establish a rule of law, and we achieved remarkable results. Civilian casualties fell from an estimated 29,380 in 2006 to 4,153 in 2011. In Diyala province, we went from 1,500 violent acts a month to less than 250. What is happening now should not detract from that success.

Comment: In Syria, in Libya, in Iraq ... our involvement has backfired.

Iraq War personalities ... then and now

Iraq War personalities ... then and now

• Jessica Lynch
• Hans Blix
• Colin Powell
• Tariq Aziz
• Ahmed Chalabi
• Tony Blair
• Gen. Tommy Franks
• Josh Rushing
• Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks
• Paul Bremer
• Farris Hassan
• Lynndie England
• Mohammed Al-Rehaief
• Ali Hassan Al-Majid
• Mohammed Saeed Al-Sahaf ('Baghdad Bob')

My personal favorite: Roger Peet (son)

• Joined the Marines and went to boot camp one week after High School graduation (June 2001)
• Was in combat training at Camp Pendleton on 9/11/2001
• Served in Iraq in 2004
• Discharged from the USMC in 2008
• Joined the Minnesota National Guard (Staff Sergeant)
• Graduated with an Associate Degree from Normandale Community College in 2010
• Graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the U of M in 2012
• Hired by Seagate in 2012
• To be a Father in July 2013

Roger Peet returns from Iraq

Comment: Kathee found the video ... first upload to YouTube.

Christmas in Iraq

Iraqi Christians Lie Low on Christmas

Excerpt:

As they gathered to celebrate the birth of Jesus, the congregation here first contemplated death, represented by a spare Christmas tree decked with paper stars, each bearing a photograph of a member of a nearby church killed in a siege by Islamic militants in October.

The congregants on Friday night were fewer than 100, in a sanctuary built for four or five times as many. But they were determined. This year, even more than in the past, Iraqi’s dwindling Christian minority had reasons to stay home for Christmas.

“Yes, we are threatened, but we will not stop praying,” the Rev. Meyassr al-Qaspotros told the Christmas Eve crowd at the Sacred Church of Jesus, a Chaldean Catholic church. “We do not want to leave the country because we will leave an empty space.”

...

Throughout Iraq, churches canceled or toned down Christmas observances this year, both in response to threats of violence and in honor of the nearly 60 Christians killed in October, when militants stormed a Syrian Catholic church and blew themselves up. Since the massacre, more than 1,000 Christian families have fled Baghdad for the Kurdistan region in northern Iraq, with others going to Jordan or Syria or Turkey. Though the exact size of Iraq’s Christian population is unclear, by some estimates it has fallen to about 500,000 from a high of 1.4 million before the American-led invasion of 2003. Iraq’s total population is about 30 million. This week, a new threat appeared on a Web site that said it represented the Islamic State of Iraq, a militant group that claimed responsibility for the October church siege. The Web site referred to a church in Egypt that it said was holding two women because they had converted to Islam, and vowed more carnage. “We swear to God, if there are only two of us left,” the text read, “one of the two will keep fighting you.”

Comment: So much for "nation building". Christians have less rights today than under Saddam Hussein.

'Nam vet killed serving country in Iraq

60-year-old is oldest Army soldier killed in Iraq

Excerpt:

A 60-year-old Vietnam War veteran killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq has become the oldest Army soldier to die in that conflict, the military said Thursday.

Maj. Steven Hutchison, of Scottsdale, Ariz., served in Vietnam and wanted to re-enlist immediately after the 9/11 terror attacks, but that his wife was against it, his brother said.

Richard Hutchison told The Associated Press on Thursday that when she died, "a part of him died" so he signed up in July 2007.

"He was very devoted to the service and to his country," Richard Hutchison said.

He described him as a great big brother and friend. "I didn't want him to go," he said through tears, adding that he loved his brother "so much."

The Pentagon said Steven Hutchison was killed in Iraq on Sunday. Army spokesman Lt. Col. Nathan Banks said Thursday that Hutchison was the oldest Army soldier killed in Iraq.

An Associated Press database of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan shows that Hutchison is the oldest member of any service branch killed since the wars broke out.

Hutchison served in Afghanistan for a year before deploying to Iraq in October, heading a 12-soldier team that trained the Iraqi military, his brother said. Later, he was assigned to help secure Iraq's southern border.

Hutchinson, who grew up in California, taught psychology at two state colleges then worked at a health care corporation in Arizona before retiring and re-entering the service, his brother said.

He was part of the 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kan.

Comment: Thank you Maj. Steven Hutchison for serving your country over three decades!

Welcomed w flowers ... farewell by a shoe

Iraqis Pick Up Their Shoes: Reaction From Around the Country

Comment: Reactions to yesterday's shoe throwing incident from around Iraq. No excerpts. Worth a read.

Bush ... quick reactions.

Comment: Still has a sense of humor too! Iraqi journalist hurls shoes at 'dog' Bush

Putting the Iraq war in perspective

Marine motorcycle deaths top their Iraq combat fatalities

Excerpt:

Motorcycle accidents have killed more Marines in the past 12 months than enemy fire in Iraq, a rate that's so alarming, it has prompted top brass to call a meeting to address the issue, officials say.

Twenty-five Marines have died in motorcycle crashes since November -- all but one of them involving sport bikes that can reach speeds of well over 100 mph, according to Marine officials. In that same period, 20 Marines have been killed in action in Iraq.

The 25 deaths are the highest motorcycle death toll ever for the Marine Corps.

Gen. James Amos, the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, told CNN that commanders are trying to drill down on what "we need to do to help our Marines survive on these sport bikes."

Comment: Recommended to me by my son, who served in the USMC for 6 years including 1 tour in Iraq. From Roger, "I think this puts the war in Iraq into perspective."

Iraq War Revisionism and the American Left

Liberals Try To Rewrite Lead-up To Iraq War

Excerpts:

Many Americans today take the idea that the Iraq War was a terrible mistake as an axiom. It has become distressingly commonplace to hear of President Bush's "lies" in making the case for war, that the reasons for invading Iraq were flimsy and circumstantial or worse, outright deceptive. President-elect Barack Obama rode his early opposition to the war all the way to the Democratic nomination against New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, who refused to recant her vote in favor of the war.

History is being rewritten before our eyes.

It wasn't known, it must be remembered, until after the war against Saddam Hussein's regime had concluded, that weapons of mass destruction would not be located in Iraq. Hussein's ownership of such weapons wasn't exactly a contested point before the war; even the governments of countries that opposed military action, including France, Russia and Germany, believed that Iraq possessed stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons and made statements to that effect.

Already in violation of the original Gulf War truce, Iraq's regime routinely defied round after round of United Nations-sponsored resolutions, culminating in an ultimatum in Security Council Resolution 1441 demanding that Saddam comply with his obligations or face "serious consequences" -- diplomatic language for war. President Clinton embraced a policy of regime change toward Iraq in the late 1990s by signing the bipartisan Iraq Liberation Act into law and would go on to use Iraq's weapons program as a justification for bombing the country. It is an utter farce to proclaim that any rational political figure was harboring any doubts about the existence of Saddam's weapons programs.

...

Ever sinceHussein became president of Iraq, he'd initiated war against his neighbors (until a U.S.-led coalition put a stop to it), first against Iran and then against Kuwait and in the grimmest of ways. We speak here of a man who, according to reports, had his agents give his opponents acid baths during the Gulf War, of a man who attempted ethnic cleansing against his own people, of a man whose own bureaucrats would systematically round up and murder political dissidents. Why have human rights groups not hailed the Iraq War as long overdue?

The answer is that modern anti-war activists are in the deranged state of mind that tells them that they can't opposeHussein if Dick Cheney also opposes him. Their moral outrage is reserved for the Republican Party, rather than for a dictator who slaughtered his own people, defied treaties, granted Islamic terrorists safe harbor and sparked international aggression.

According to news reports coming out of Iraq -- the monthly American casualties in Iraq are now down to single digits, the Maliki government is meeting many of the political checkpoints set up for it, and the Iraqi people have embraced freedom. The obstacles are falling down one by one. Will the final obstacle -- left-wing revisionism in the United States -- finally fall, too?

Comment: Entire editorial is a worthwhile read. We hear so much about "the failed policies" of the Bush administration!

Like Son, Like Father

Father joins up after sniper killed son deploys to Iraq

Excerpt:

Joining the Air Force Reserve, after a 17-year break in his military service, was Martinez’s way of making sense of and coping with his son's death, a way to remember him by being around young men his age serving their nation. Nobody forced this on Martinez, except maybe the sniper who put one well-placed bullet in Spc. Francisco G. Martinez on March 20, 2005, in Ramadi.

Comment: I commend this man!

Why we cannot abandon Iraq

Purported bin Laden message: Iraq is 'perfect base'

Excerpt:

Al-Jazeera broadcast on Thursday an audiotape on which a voice identified as Osama bin Laden declares "Iraq is the perfect base to set up the jihad to liberate Palestine."

The voice calls on "Muslims in neighboring countries" to "do their best in supporting their mujahedeen brothers in Iraq."

"My speech to you is about the siege of Gaza and the way to liberate it," he said.

"The Gaza siege is a direct result of Annapolis," he adds, apparently referring to the site of November's summit in Annapolis, Maryland, where Israeli and Palestinian leadership agreed to work toward a two-state plan.

He accused Arabs who supported the plan of having become "partners in this horrendous crime."

And he predicted, "Palestine will be restored to us, with God's permission, when we wake up from our slumber and adhere to our faith and sacrifice our souls and belongings for it."

The speaker called for armed revolt in the Middle East.

Comment: What's Obama's ('get out of Iraq now!') response to this?

The truth about Hillary's Iraq vote

In Defending War Vote, Clintons Contradict Record

Excerpts:

Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton have repeatedly invoked the name of Senator Chuck Hagel, a longtime critic of the Iraq war, as they defend Mrs. Clinton’s 2002 vote to authorize the war.

In interviews and at a recent campaign event, they have said that Mr. Hagel, Republican of Nebraska, helped draft the resolution, which they said was proof that the measure was more about urging Saddam Hussein to comply with weapons inspections, instead of authorizing combat.

Mrs. Clinton repeated the claim Sunday during an interview on “Meet the Press,” saying “Chuck Hagel, who helped to draft the resolution, said it was not a vote for war.”

....



It was the White House proposal, not Mr. Hagel’s, that Mrs. Clinton supported, explaining in an Oct. 10, 2002, speech on the Senate floor that it was time to tell Saddam Hussein that “this is your last chance — disarm or be disarmed.”

The repeated references to Mr. Hagel by the Clintons make it clear that they are trying to distance her from the Bush administration’s handling of Iraq, by associating her with a persistent critic of the war.

Bill Clinton has raised the claim at least twice, including in an April 2007 interview on “Larry King Live” and, most recently, at a campaign event in New Hampshire just before the Democratic primary there.

“Chuck Hagel was one of the co-authors of that resolution, the only Republican Senator that always opposed the war, every day, from the get-go,” Mr. Clinton said on Jan. 7. “He authored the resolution to say that Bush could go to war only if they didn’t cooperate with the inspectors.”

Comment: The facts below:

U.S. Senate Roll Call: A joint resolution to authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against Iraq.

On October 11, 2002, Clinton voted in favor of the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq, commonly known as the Iraq War Resolution

Is this any way to treat a patriot?

Trashing Petraeus: MoveOn.org, and the new standards of Democratic debate

Excerpt:

Important as was yesterday's appearance before Congress by General David Petraeus, the events leading up to his testimony may have been more significant. Members of the Democratic leadership and their supporters have now normalized the practice of accusing their opponents of lying. If other members of the Democratic Party don't move quickly to repudiate this turn, the ability of the U.S. political system to function will be impaired in a way no one would wish for.
Well, with one exception. MoveOn.org, the Democratic activist group, bought space in the New York Times yesterday to accuse General Petraeus of "cooking the books for the White House." The ad transmutes the general's name into "General Betray Us."

"Betrayal," as every military officer knows, is a word that through the history of their profession bears the stain of acts that are both dishonorable and unforgivable. That is to say, MoveOn.org didn't stumble upon this word; it was chosen with specific intent, to convey the most serious accusation possible against General Petraeus, that his word is false, that he is a liar and that he is willing to betray his country. The next and obvious word to which this equation with betrayal leads is treason. That it is merely insinuated makes it worse.

Denny Burk on: "General Betray Us"

Politics reached a new low in the run-up to General Petreaus’ testimony before Congress yesterday. The editors at The Wall Street Journal excoriated the slanderous tactics used against Petreaus and have called for congressional Democrats to repudiate MoveOn.org’s full-page ad in The New York Times which renamed the general “General Betray Us.”

Comment: Image is from Denny Burk site!

When you look up traitor in the dictionary ... you see Kucinich's picture!

An exaggeration? Perhaps. You decide!

Clip: Kucinich on Syrian TV

Transcript: The U.S. Must Pay Reparations to the People of Iraq

Comment: From MEMRI

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) is an independent, non-profit organization providing translations of the Middle East media and original analysis and research on developments in the region. Copies of articles and documents cited, as well as background information, are available on request.

A responsibility to the Iraqi people

Baird sees need for longer U.S. role in Iraq

Excerpt:

"I believe that the decision to invade Iraq and the post-invasion management of that country were among the largest foreign-policy mistakes in the history of our nation. I voted against them, and I still think they were the right votes," Baird said in a telephone interview from Washington, D.C.

"But we're on the ground now. We have a responsibility to the Iraqi people and a strategic interest in making this work."

Baird, a five-term Democrat, voted against President Bush ordering the Iraq invasion — at a time when he was in a minority in Congress and at risk of alienating voters. He returned late Tuesday from a trip that included stops in Israel, Jordan and Iraq, where he met troops, U.S. advisers and Iraqis, whose stories have convinced him that U.S. troops must stay longer.


Comment: As unpopular as this war has become, my own view about early pullout mirrors Congressman Baird's.

1943 Army Guide to Iraq

The Army Knew Iraq … About 60 Years Ago

Excerpt:

In 1943, U.S. servicemen stationed in Iraq were issued a pocket-size 41-page book entitled “A Short Guide to Iraq.” In straightforward prose, the book gave American soldiers a primer to help them through the cultural snarls and byways of the country in which they were stationed. They learned a little history, a little geography and a smattering of vocabulary and grammar.

United States Army Instructions for American Servicemen in Iraq during World War II

Comment: Am going to buy for my Son who served in Iraq w the USMC.

I know the Iraq war is unpopular ... but

William Kristol: Moment of Truth for the President

Excerpt:

The best strategy for the president is to hold firm. There is every reason to believe that he can survive the current calamity-Janes of the Republican party (does anyone really imagine that a veto-proof majority will form in the Senate this week or next?). This nonsense will pass, Congress will go on recess, and Petraeus will have a chance to continue to produce results--and the president and his allies will have a chance to gain political ground here at home. Why on earth pull the plug now? Why give in to an insane, irrational panic that will destroy the Bush administration and most likely sweep the Republican party to ruin? The president still has a chance to emerge from this as a visionary who could see what the left could not--but not if he gives in to them. There is no safety in the position some in the Bush administration are running towards.


Iraqi leaders warn of catastrophe if US goes

Excerpt:

Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari led the charge, warning US lawmakers that their calls for a timetable for the departure of the 155,000 American troops could lead to the collapse of the Iraqi state and to yet more bloodshed.

"We held discussions with congressional delegations and explained to them the dangers of a rapid withdrawal, which would leave a security vacuum. It might lead to civil war, partition, collapse or a regional war," he said.

"There are some people who disagree with this assessment, but it's the responsibility of the United States and other countries to stand with the Iraqi government and the Iraqi people," he insisted.



Comment: Pulling out early could be would be disasterous for Iraq!

The end of Hillary as security hawk

The end of Hillary as security hawk


Excerpt:

This week's vote in Congress to fund the Iraq war without timetables or withdrawal dates is being portrayed as a "defeat" for Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats. No doubt it is in the short-term and partisan Beltway frame of reference, but in the larger sense it is a victory for American interests and the Framers of our Constitutional order.

Hamilton and Madison knew what they were doing when they gave the bulk of the war powers to the President, and it's hard to imagine a more telling vindication of their wisdom than this year's Iraq debate. Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Harry Reid claim to oppose the war and want it to end, yet they refused to use their power of the purse to end it. Instead, they tried every legislative gimmick imaginable to hamstring President Bush's war strategy without actually having to take responsibility for cutting off funds.

....


The vote marks the end of Mrs. Clinton's post-9/11 positioning as a national security hawk. Her 2002 speech supporting war in Iraq was among the most forceful in the Senate, and for a while she admirably stuck with that conviction. But as the antiwar furies have built in her party, she has bent with them and now says and does whatever it takes to deny Mr. Obama or John Edwards any running room to her left. Perhaps this will win her the Democratic nomination, but it will complicate her Presidency if she ever does make it to the Oval Office.

....

Whatever his mistakes as a war leader, Mr. Bush at least hasn't betrayed our allies or troops in the field for the sake of reviving his poll numbers. He was also right to defend the war powers of the Presidency against Congressional micromanagement. His obligation now is to do whatever it takes to succeed in Iraq so that the men and women fighting this war will not sacrifice in vain.