Saturday, April 20, 2019

Another US service member dead in Iraq

When does the Iraq War end?  No one can answer that anymore than they can answer why US troops are still there.  One less troop is there today.




A U.S. service member died today in a non-combat incident in Iraq.


The US government released the following:


Operation Inherent Resolve non-combat related casualty

By CJTF-OIR/PAO | April 20, 2019

A U.S. service member died in a non-combat incident in Ninawa Province, Iraq, April 20. Further information will be released as appropriate.
It is CJTF-OIR policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities after the next of kin have been notified.  

The latest wave of the Iraq War began in March 2003.  Supposedly, it was to liberate Iraq from Saddam Hussein.  He was executed December 30, 2006.  US troops didn't leave then either. 

The reality is that they are in Iraq to prop up the US-installed leader who should do the US-bidding.  And this installation is like a graft or a transplant, until it's successful and not rejected, US troops have to remain on the ground.  Forever. 


The United States invaded Iraq not in response to a “vigorous missionary impulse,” but to avoid reckoning with this fact: Decades of wrongheaded policies in the Middle East had culminated on 9/11 in a cataclysmic episode of blowback.



That's Andrew J. Bacevich reviewing a book in THE NEW YORK TIMES.  Bacevich also notes:

Chalking up the debacle of Iraq to “the messianic tradition in American foreign policy,” as he does, simply won’t wash. It’s akin to writing off a vehicular homicide because the driver happens to be a known alcoholic.
The Iraq war was not a tragedy. It was more like a crime, compounded by the stupefying incompetence of those who embarked upon a patently illegal preventive war out of a sense of panic induced by the events of 9/11. An impulse to lash out overwhelmed any inclination to deliberate, with decisions made in a “hothouse atmosphere of fear and vulnerability.” Those to whom President George W. Bush turned for advice had become essentially unhinged. Iraq presented an inviting opportunity to vent their wrath.


The US government has no concern for the Iraqi people and it doesn't give a damn about US troops.

Families are separated, lives are destroyed, no one really cares.

That includes Joe Biden.  He doesn't care.  He hasn't called for an end to the war -- the Iraq War or any wars. 




  1. Compare how Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders voted: NAFTA Biden: for Sanders: against Invasion of Iraq Biden: for Sanders: against Patriot Act Biden: for Sanders: against Defense of Marriage Act Biden: for Sanders: against Repeal of Glass-Steagall Biden: for Sanders: against


Joe Biden.  Still flirting with running, still having nothing to offer the American people, still taking up oxygen when his constant waffling on running or not running is another indication of his failure to provide leadership.

How long you going to poll, Joe, before you can make a decision?


But then, as the Tweet above points out, when Joe does make a decision, it's usually the wrong one. 

Maybe that's what has prevented him from deciding so far?


In other news . . .



Wishing the Christians of the Kurdistan Region, Iraq and all who celebrate this holiday across the world, a happy and blessed Easter




The President of the KDP and the former president of the KRG extended Easter wishes.



  1. This keep in your prayers as they carry their crosses; reclaiming towns previously held by . Chaldeans remain zealous and demonstrate their hope through communal support and virtue.
     
  2. "Thousands took to the streets last weekend to commemorate Palm Sunday, and more will come out again for Easter. But the picture for Christians across northern Iraq is less hopeful."




The following sites updated:









Some Tweets from Third Party Watch


  • The Libertarian Party is asking you to call your senators; the Trump admin vetoed a bill withdrawing the US from Yemen “The president’s veto shows that he places the interests of Saudi Arabia.. above.. the American people” -Nicholas
  • The Libertarian Party is calling on Americans to call their senators. The Trump admin has vetoed a resolution implementing US withdrawal from Yemen, where the gov provided explosives, supplies, &...
  • A moment: Dems & Reps work together..to ban free IRS online tax filing. The slammed this duopoly move to protect corp profits "Is Congress looking out for the Donor Class or the Working Class?” -Justin Beth, co-chair
  • Members of the Libertarian Party gathered around the nation this week to protest wage expropriation.
  • 17 states. 26 protests. Libertarians nationwide gathered to fight wage expropriation “The monstrous levels of gov power we see [worldwide] are financed by systematic theft. Anyone who believes in liberty..in less gov is welcome join us”-Nicholas
  • 17 states, 26 protests, Libertarians around the country gathered leading up to Tax Day to protest wage expropriation. “The monstrous levels of gov power we see throughout the world are financed by systematic...
  • The Libertarian Party has joined in the condemnation of the extradition of Wikileaks' Julian Assange. "The 1st ammendment protects free speech & freedom of the press. That’s easy when the press is...
  • Footage from the protests outside the British Embassy in DC. Among the speakers, the 's Margaret & Kevin Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was arrested this morning for extradition to the US.
  • Today the UK agreed to hand over Wikileaks' Julian Assange. The will protest at the DC British Embassy & in NY City “Assange is being persecuted for... embarrassing [the] gov.. reps & dems... [not for] national security"