More US troops expected to die in Iraq

AP

Americans have opened nearly 1,000 new graves to bury U.S. troops killed in
Iraq since Memorial Day a year ago. The figure is telling — and expected to rise in coming months....

By the end of Saturday at least 100 American troops had died in the first 26 days of May, an average of 3.85 deaths a day. At that pace, 119 troops will have died by the end of the month, the most since 137 soldiers were killed in November 2004, when U.S. troops were fighting insurgents in Fallujah.

As of Saturday, May 26, 2007, at least 3,451 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

This Memorial Day we remember the dead, and the politicians who killed them. Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

We are a government of very dishonest men. Read the rest of this post...

In a blatant lie, Cheney tells West Point grads they'll have the equipment and supplies they need

As John notes below, the Bush administration refused to provide IED-proof vehicles that troops in Iraq desperately wanted. Think Progress has the video of a last night's CBS News report on "the outrageous delay" in getting the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles to Iraq. These types of stories about sending troops to the Iraq war without proper equipment have been pervasive. Yet, today, Dick Cheney had the audacity to assure the graduating class at West Point that he and George Bush would make sure they had "all the equipment, supplies, manpower, training and support" they needed for "victory."

Note to West Point grads: Just because Dick Cheney says something doesn't mean it's true. On this one, Cheney is lying not only to the new officers, but to all the current and future officers and soldiers -- and to all Americans:

Click To Play

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In a war that Bush and Congress won't stop, eight more soldiers dead

The death toll is mounting rapidly in Iraq. It's been getting worse, despite Bush's prediction that “It could be a bloody — it could be a very difficult August.” In August? How about April and May? How many deaths does the guy need before he thinks it's bloody and difficult. How many deaths before Bush and Congress stop the war?

The war is pretty fricking bloody and difficult now:

Five U.S. soldiers were killed in four separate attacks across Iraq on Thursday, most of them by roadside bombs, the U.S. military said on Friday.

The U.S. military also reported the death of another soldier on Tuesday in a roadside bomb attack near Tikrit, 175 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad.

May is on track to be one of the bloodiest months for the U.S. military since the invasion to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003, with more than 90 killed so far.

April was the worst month this year for the U.S. military, when 104 soldiers were killed.

The total death toll for the U.S. military since the invasion now stands at 3,440.

Apparently, George Bush isn't swayed by these deaths. Not bloody and difficult enough for him yet.

On this Memorial Day weekend, as we honor the war dead, let's not forget the words of Laura Bush from April 2007 that "no one suffers" more than George and Laura Bush watching the Iraq war. No one:

Click To Play

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Denmark, Norway, Finland and Canada are the lands of opportunity

Remember when the US used to be that land? There is something seriously wrong in America if opportunity and mobility is better found elsewhere. It's also interesting to see that Old Europe offers more mobility, even with the social services being offered that don't exist in the US. CEOs in Europe tend to make considerably less than US CEOs (Big Oil CEOs in the US make around eight times the annual compensation of their European counterparts) and it's pretty obvious that European companies are holding their own in business.

While income is not the only measure of economic mobility, the findings challenge the historical presumption that each successive generation will be wealthier, said Morton.

“Today’s data suggest that during a 30-year period of economic expansion, a rising tide did not lift all boats,” Morton said in a release accompanying the report, “Economic Mobility: Is the American Dream Alive and Well?”

Of course, the men who run American companies don’t have too much to complain about. CEO pay increased to 262 times the average worker’s pay in 2005 from 35 times in 1978, according to the report’s analysis of Congressional Budget Office statistics.

Is the US really better off with this gross discrepancy? Read the rest of this post...

It's kind of hard to lose the debate with numbers like these

Reuters

According to a CBS News/New York Times poll, 76 percent of Americans believe the war is going somewhat or very badly for the United States and only 20 percent said Bush's recent troop increase is making a positive difference.

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Obama responds to McCain and Romney about Iraq

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1,106 IED deaths on Bush's head

1,106 US troops died since the time they begged George Bush for IED-proof vehicles, vehicles that actually exist, and Bush ignored them because he didn't want to spend the money (or because he wanted to use the IEDs as an excuse for war with Iran?). Check out the chart of growing IED deaths, and check out how many occurred AFTER the troops begged Bush for the vehicles in February 2005 (shown in yellow). The total number in yellow is 1,106.

Some Memorial Day message for their families - Bush was too cheap to save your kid.


(click map to enlarge)

Map courtesy of icasualties.org Read the rest of this post...

Saturday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Bob Geiger has a great collection of editorial cartoons this week. Seems no one is spared -- especially Bush.

The poem of the week is "Take the I Out" by Sharon Olds.

Enjoy the weekend, the cartoons and the poem.

Then, start threading the news. Read the rest of this post...

Bush thumbs nose at world on global warming

Tony Blair strikes out again, proving the worthlessness of his "special relationship" with Bush just as he prepares to step down. Bush will never give an inch on global warming so it's up to responsible leaders in the US and around the world to isolate him and his 28% support and work around the guy. If states like Utah can start moving in this direction, the tide is turning.

The tone is blunt, with whole pages of the draft crossed out and even the mildest statements about confirming previous agreements rejected. "The proposals within the sections titled 'Fighting Climate Change' and 'Carbon Markets' are fundamentally incompatible with the President's approach to climate change," says another red-ink comment.

This is embarrassing for Mr Blair, who said on Thursday with some confidence that the US was moderating its position on climate change as the summit approached. Before visiting the White House this month, the prime minister suggested that he was close to persuading George Bush to accept the establishment of carbon trading schemes, one of five main proposals drawn up ahead of the G8. But Washington rejected the sections on carbon trading, saying to back trading schemes would imply acceptance of emission caps.

A diplomatic source said the German EU presidency and the US government appeared now so far apart it was hard to see how negotiators could reach anything other than a meaningless agreement in Heiligendamm in just under two weeks.

The G8 leaders should not give Bush anything at all unless he's willing to move forward and he's not interested in this. Any concession given to Bush will only be manipulated and rubbed in their noses, much like he did this past week on the Iraq spending bill. If this means no announcement, fine, but give him nothing. Concessions by others will be considered a victory for Bush. Read the rest of this post...

Detention of Suu Kyi extended in Myanmar

Another sad day for human rights and democracy as the world community speaks against the continuing detention. Big Oil has to be happy though since their business won't be disrupted. Read the rest of this post...

US to China: Regulate your food or we will ask you again

Considering the meek approach of the US to negotiating with China, why would they bother to listen? Because the Bush administration has so brilliantly failed to move China on their currency valuation and other trade issues, the US has little choice but to continue purchasing Chinese products, tainted or not, so to even suggest they are being firm is laughable. In the deeper drive for profit big business has left themselves with few alternatives and the FDA has expressed no interest in stepping up monitoring so this is it, like it or not.

Unless the FDA decides to get back in the business of monitoring - including large scale rejections of tainted products - the US consumer will remain on the front line of food safety. It would obviously be beneficial for everyone if China did a better job of delivering quality but realistically that will not change quickly and they are free to do what they want to do. This always comes back to the US companies who are purchasing this junk and the FDA who is too clueless to do anything about it because it was gutted by the GOP congress. Read the rest of this post...