Monday, March 15, 2010

2 US service members died in Iraq over the weekend

Last night, we noted the death of 1 US service member. There were two deaths. Margaret Griffis (Antiwar) explains there were two deaths, "At least nine Iraqis were killed and 10 more were wounded in attacks across northern Iraq. One U.S. soldier was killed and two others were wounded during a mortar attack on a base in Diyala province. Another U.S. soldier died of non-combat causes in Ninewa province." The US military has still not posted any press release on the deaths. The two deaths bring the total number of US service members killed in the Iraq War to 4383.

A.N.S.W.E.R.

The Iraq War continues and hits the seventh year anniversary mark this week. Oren Dorell (USA Today) reports:

Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan is restarting her campaign against wars in Iraq and Afghanistan today, setting up tents and teaching protest seminars near the Washington Monument.
Dubbed "Camp OUT NOW," the protest is geared to pressure President Obama and Democrats, whom Sheehan says have abandoned the anti-war cause now that they have control of the White House and Congress.
"Obama said there'd be one combat battalion coming home per month, and that has not happened," Sheehan says. "We still have significant troops in Iraq, and he's ramped up in Afghanistan.
"I don't think this is what people understood they were voting for. I think they were voting for a change."

For more information, you can visit Peace of the Action which explains:

The only way to peace is through the people.
Camp OUT NOW is the boldest and bravest action ever envisioned by and for peace.
Camp OUT NOW's stated objective is to: "Clog Washington, DC every week day through diffuse Civil Resistance (CR) actions to have the effect of tampering with 'business as usual' in the Capital of the United States of America."

Our demands are simple:

* Troops out of the Middle East, which includes drones, permanent bases, contractors and torture/detention facilities.
* Reparations for the peoples of these war torn regions and a fully funded VA system to reintegrate our soldiers healthfully into our society.

Most of the rest of the world is aware that the US is a Military/Corporate Empire and that the spread of this Empire is harmful globally to peace, the environment, and economic health. Part of Camp OUT NOW's mission is to bring awareness to Americans about the profound cost to all of us from this Empire.
We need as many people as possible who realize that time is running short for us to truly affect change by commitment and dedication to humanity through the end to the US Empire (and its subsidiaries).
Beginning March 1[5]th, we will erect a tent city on the grounds of the Washington Monument as a base camp for our actions, community gathering and activites.
Your commitment can range from the entire action: Until our demands are met; or any other chunk of time that you are available.
Acts of civil resistance will begin on Monday, March 22nd and we will end when the troops start to come home.
Individual commitment will entail an at least a once a week CR mission and support to the group at large through contributing to the running and infrastructure of our encampment and the care and feeding of activists.

We'll again note Amanda Kim Stairrett (Killeen Daily Herald) report from this weekend:

More than 700 names line the black granite walls of the 1st Cavalry Division's Iraq war memorial. Of those, 169 fell while serving with the 1st Cavalry-led Multinational Division-Baghdad from 2004 through 2005, 492 fell during the 2006 to 2008 surge years and 69 fell during the division's latest deployment to Iraq from late 2008 to early 2010.

Tom Bonnett (Sky News) reports that the Basra wall the British military constructed to honor the 179 deaths has been "re-erected near the Armed Forces Memorial in Alrewas, Staffordshire".



Bonnie reminds that Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Fall On Your Swords For Prince Barry" went up last night.

We'll close with this from Tim King's "Video from the Other Side: 'The Cowboys in Iraq'" (Salem-News):

Welcome to Iraq, the land of PTSD, where there are plenty of IED's, but no WMD's.
This miserable war is not the average American's fault, but at what point does every American admit where the fault really lies?
And what are our Combat Veterans to do?
They are damaged by this war, fighting the Veterans Administration for compensation for their injuries in the war, and the war is continuing.
The word war is certainly one of the first many toddlers learn; the offspring of deployed combat forces, I know how that makes me feel. In addition to all of the ongoing casualties in Afghanistan, our last report on American losses overseas included four individuals killed in Iraq.
I guess the government plans to just keep sending more and more and more. It keeps Haiburton and KBR in business, that's for sure.
This video is not new, in fact is it over five years old.

"The Cowboys in Iraq" is a video made by Iraqi resistance which shows scenes of death and violence.

The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.