New Year's Eve Open Thread

There won't be many more posts tonight....but here's a musical interlude to ring in the New Year from Pink:
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"Faces of the Dead"

This isn't just a number. These were real people. The NY Times has a mosaic with the picture and basic info. about every single member of the military killed in Iraq so far. The Times is probably breaking some Bush administration rule by honoring the war dead. Over the next day or two, take some time and look at the pictures. We won't see the pictures of the ten of thousands injured, but think of them, too.

If Bush proceeds with his plan to escalate his war, the numbers will increase dramatically. Read the rest of this post...

Opposition grows to the Bush/McCain/Lieberman plan to escalate the war in Iraq

First, we agree with Atrios: "A 'sustained surge' is an escalation."

So, besides McCain and Lieberman, who else is supporting Bush's plan for a major escalation of the quagmire in Iraq? An Associated Press report on the talk shows has Lugar and Specter sounding very skeptical:

Two prominent Senate Republicans bucked the White House on Sunday, expressing skepticism about more U.S. troops in Iraq and support for greater dialogue with Iran, Syria and others in the region.

Sen. Richard Lugar, the outgoing chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urged the president to consult with lawmakers before announcing a new strategy on Iraq that could call for additional troops in Iraq.

If Bush were to act with without involving the new Democratic-controlled Congress, he can anticipate "a lot of hearings, a lot of study, a lot of criticism," Lugar said....

...Sen. Arlen Specter, just back from a trip to the region, also questioned the wisdom of sending in more troops, saying he has not seen an administration plan that would justify it. "If there is a road map to victory, then I would be prepared to listen to what the president has to say about more troops," he said.

In addition, Vilsack and John Edwards stated their opposition this morning:

Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack said the U.S. should not make a "big mistake even bigger by suggesting a surge of troops in some way, shape or form is going to make Iraq safer or better."

Former North Carolina senator John Edwards, described the troop-increase idea as the "McCain doctrine" - after a chief advocate, Sen. John McCain - and said he believes the Arizona Republican is "dead wrong."

I think Edwards is on to something there. McCain wants this, let him own it.

Talking Points Memo reports that even Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM), reliable Bush puppet in Congress, is against the escalation.

Very few Republicans have questioned their President over the Iraq war. Now, many seem to be keeping their distance from his latest developing plan. If they had done their jobs for the past four years, maybe things wouldn't be this bad. But things are this bad -- and Bush seems determined to make it worse. Read the rest of this post...

3000

A horrible milestone. Reuters reports that the U.S. death toll in Iraq has reached 3,000.

This is so wrong. So, so wrong. Read the rest of this post...

Too many to bear

Juan Cole -- who is really worth the daily read -- on the upcoming tragedy of 3,000 deaths in Iraq, both the importance of the number and also what it obscures. Read the rest of this post...

Guantanamo: a continued national disgrace

I'm shocked -- shocked!! -- to hear that there's a dearth of due process in Guantanamo Bay. Hard to imagine that an institution with virtually no transparency or oversight might be prone to unfair legal practices.

I have a good friend who worked at Guantanamo; as with many other similarly secretive things, it's worse than most people imagine. Read the rest of this post...

Sunday Talk Shows Open Thread

Lots to cover this week in what would be a slow news week. But, we've got the announcement of John Edwards, the Hussein execution, the deadliest month in Iraq this year, the death of Gerald Ford. Lieberman will be pushing his pro-war, pro-escalation views on CNN. At this point, he should be getting some of the credit blame for the death toll in Iraq, too. He and McCain are Bush's biggest boosters when it comes to the disastrous Iraq war. Maybe Wolf should ask him how he feels about the 3,000 dead U.S. soldiers:

ABC's "This Week" _ Former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., presidential candidate; wife, Elizabeth Edwards.

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CBS' "Face the Nation" _ Alexander Haig, former Ford White House chief of staff; journalists Ben Bradlee of the Washington Post and Tom DeFrank of the New York Daily News; Gerald Ford biographer James Cannon.

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NBC's "Meet the Press" _ Former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw; journalist Bob Woodward.

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CNN's "Late Edition" _ Feisal al-Istrabadi, Iraq's deputy ambassador to the United Nations; Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn.

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"Fox News Sunday" _ Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind.; former Gov. Tom Vilsack, D-Iowa, presidential candidate.

Watch and document. Read the rest of this post...