Sunday, July 17, 2016

Hejira

Today, the US Defense Dept announced:



Strikes in Iraq
Bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted eight strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of the Iraqi government:
-- Near Habbaniyah, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.
-- Near Mosul, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL mortar system, an ISIL supply cache, two ISIL assembly areas, an ISIL bunker and an ISIL vehicle-borne-bomb facility and suppressed an ISIL mortar position.
-- Near Qayyarah, a strike destroyed two ISIL mortar systems, 11 ISIL oil tankers, an ISIL supply cache and an ISIL assembly area.
-- Near Ramadi, three strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL mortar system and an ISIL bulldozer.
-- Near Tal Afar, a strike destroyed an ISIL vehicle-borne bomb.


 Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike.



Why?


No, not why do we think dropping bombs will bring peace.

We've asked that repeatedly.

But why drop bombs at all?

Why did Barack just decide to send more US troops into Iraq?

And why is he considering even more?

Stephen Kalin (REUTERS) reports, "Powerful Shi'ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr instructed his followers on Sunday to target U.S. troops deploying to Iraq as part of the military campaign against Islamic State."

So why drop more bombs?

Why send more US troops?

The highly popular cleric and movement leader says US troops are "a target for us."

So why?


And why is it that Barack -- elected in 2008 to end the Iraq War -- can continue it for two terms and never hold a prime time press conference taking questions on the continued war?

Why doesn't he have to go to Congress for authorization?


There are a lot of questions . . . but damn few answers.



I'm traveling in some vehicle
I'm sitting in some cafe
A defector from the petty wars
That shell shock love away
-- "Hejira," written by Joni Mitchell, first appears on her album of the same name




The number of US service members the Dept of Defense states died in the Iraq War is [PDF format warning] 4517 (including 20 in Operation Inherent Resolve which includes at least 3 Iraq War fatalities).


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