Deadliest Day in Iraq in 2 Years

And this is at current troop levels.

Associated Press:

At least 20 service members were killed in military operations in Iraq on Saturday in the deadliest day for U.S. forces in two years, including 13 who died in a helicopter crash and five slain in an attack by militia fighters in the holy city Karbala, military officials said.

Saturday's toll was the third-highest of any single day since the war began in March 2003, eclipsed only by 37 U.S. deaths Jan. 26, 2005 and 28 on the third day of the U.S. invasion. U.S. authorities also announced two U.S. combat deaths from Friday.

The heavy toll comes at a critical time of rising congressional opposition to President George W. Bush's decision to dispatch 21,500 additional soldiers to the conflict to try and curb sectarian slaughter. The first reinforcements are already arriving in Baghdad and the surrounding areas.

Meanwhile, 10,000 troops advocate for withdrawal, not escalation.

United Press International:

Some 50 active-duty officers and other troops, including veterans of the current Iraq war, announced Tuesday that they would hand-deliver their petition, entitled an "Appeal for Redress," to Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, and other members of Congress, AppealforRedress.org said in a statement Tuesday.

"Rather than escalating troop levels, the appeal calls on Congress to put an end to the war and bring the troops home," the statement said.

"With the recent call for an escalation of troops in Iraq, Congress should listen to those of us who have been there and who will be directly affected by this policy change," said Seaman Jonathan Hutto, co-founder of the Appeal for Redress group.

"Any troop increase over here will just produce more sitting ducks, more targets," said Sgt. Ronn Cantu who is on active service in Iraq and was quoted in the group's statement.

Clearly, escalation will just mean more bad days. Any actual progress will be unlikely. As we build up, so does the insurgency -- all we're doing is extending the conflict.

Which, of course, is the entire purpose of escalation. There's a reason why people are calling it Operation Run Out the Clock -- Bush is hoping the war ends after he leaves office. He's more concerned with his own place in history than he is with the lives of american soldiers and iraqis.

Tags: news | politics | war | Iraq | Bush | military | disaster | troop surge

Griper Blade: God Hates Democracy -- 'Patriot Pastors' and Their Jihad

We know how good Pat Robertson is at making predictions. So this little bit from December of 2005 shouldn't really surprise us any.

Media Matters:

ROBERTSON: We've won the war already, and for the Democrats to say we can't win it -- what kind of a statement is that? And furthermore, one of the fundamental principles we have in America is that the president is the commander in chief of the armed forces and attempts to undermine the commander in chief during time of war amounts to treason. I know we have an opportunity to express our points of view, but there is a time when we're engaged in a combat situation that carping criticism against the commander in chief just doesn't cut it. And I think that yes, we have freedom of speech -- of course we do -- but this has gone over the top and I think the Republicans are -- well, they've taken advantage.

OK, so it's not so much a prediction -- "We've won the war already..." It's more of a completely incorrect assessment of the situation. Pat's direct line to God must've had some line noise or something, because that's so obviously wrong. At least, as Pat is likely to define 'win,' anyway.

What got me thinking about Pat's BS in 2005 was an article by Sarah Posner titled As Bush's War Strategy Shifts to Iran, Christian Zionists Gear Up for the Apocalypse. The question it brought up to me was how all of these people on the 'rapture right' can get away with calling themselves patriotic (even going so far as to have a 'patriot pastor' movement), when they all hope that the next war will bring about the destruction of the United States and the end of democracy? And what sort of patriot is it who who believes they're working toward these ends?...

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Tags: news | politics | Iran | war | Middle east | religious right | rapture | Patriot Pastors | treason