Dreamland Bits and Pieces

The Bush administration says plans by some of allies to reduce troop numbers in Iraq this year are a reflection of progress and a changing mission, not political fatigue with an unpopular war.

The wave of violence in Iraq this week that has killed more than 240 people, making it one of the darkest periods since the US-led invasion in 2003, has sparked real fears of a civil war. "This is a war against Shi'ites," said Rida Jawad al-Takia, a senior member of the party. "Apparently, to the terrorists, no Shi'ite child or woman should live. We are really worried. It seems they want a civil war."

There should be no doubt our tactics have changed. The United States is relying more on aerial bombing, most of it high altitude or stand off, rather than close air support for troops on the ground. Despite the promise of "precision" bombing, aerial strikes are anything but precise...a lot of insurgents, mostly Iraqis, are dying. But a bombing campaign cannot defeat an insurgency.....We do not have enough planes or pilots, not to mention bombs.

A secret Pentagon study has found that at least 80 percent of the marines who have been killed in Iraq from wounds to their upper body could have survived if they had extra body armor. That armor has been available since 2003 but until recently the Pentagon has largely declined to supply it to troops despite calls from the field for additional protection, according to military officials.

In a week when legislators are focused on the question of who else might be brought down by ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff’s cooperation with prosecutors, disgraced ex-US Rep. Duke Cunningham wore a wire to help investigators gather evidence against others just before copping his own plea. The identity of those with whom the San Diego congressman met while wearing the wire remains unclear, and is the source of furious—and nervous—speculation by congressional Republicans.

Posted on The Human Stain