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Archives from month » July, 2007

IRAQ BODY COUNT – ONGOING – 7/27/07

July 27, 2007 – Friday

1581 days into the war

U.S. MILITARY DEATHS IN IRAQ: 3645
U.S. MILITARY WOUNDED IN IRAQ: 26953

IRAQI CIVILIAN DEATHS
(MINIMUM): 67945
(MAXIMUM): 74336
(LANCET ESTIMATE) 600,000

COST OF THE WAR SO FAR (ROUNDED TO THE NEAREST MILLION): $446,756,000,000

Please note that the above figures, from the IBC website, are NOT estimates of total Iraqi civilians killed as a result of the US invasion and its aftermath. Rather, they are a count of Western-reported verifiable violent deaths, and likely to be a small percentage of the true figure. Les Roberts, author of the Lancet Report, believes the actual number may now be as high as 1,000,000.

RED DAVE


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Nintendo Gameboy Is A Terrorist Tool!

Nintendo Gameboy machines have all the wires and components that you would see in an explosive device, huh? Maybe Nintendo Gameboy machines are explosive devices! Maybe this whole "video game" thing is just a terrorist plot to smuggle bombs into every neighborhood in the United States.

Flights at the Long Beach Airport in California were delayed and passengers were evacuated from the terminal yesterday… because someone wanted to play video games.   Is the explanation that simple?

Maybe not.  It was a Gameboy video game machine that triggered the Homeland Security alert.  Someone packed a gameboy in their luggage, and failed to inform the Transportation Security Administration, and when it was found, security officials worried it might be a bomb.

A government official explained, <i>”It certainly was nothing but it certainly looked like something. It had all the wires and components that you would see in an explosive device.”</i>

Nintendo Gameboy machines have all the wires and components that you would see in an explosive device, huh?  Maybe Nintendo Gameboy machines <b>are</b> explosive devices!  Maybe this whole “video game” thing is just a terrorist plot to smuggle bombs into every neighborhood in the United States.

I mean, what’s the alternative explanation?  That the Department of Homeland Security is so incompetent that it doesn’t know how to tell the difference between a bomb and a video game?  Naw, that couldn’t possibly be true!


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IRAQ BODY COUNT – ONGOING – 7/26/07

July 26, 2007 – Thurssday

1580 days into the war

U.S. MILITARY DEATHS IN IRAQ: 3640
U.S. MILITARY WOUNDED IN IRAQ: 26953

IRAQI CIVILIAN DEATHS
(MINIMUM): 67945
(MAXIMUM): 74336
(LANCET ESTIMATE) 600,000

COST OF THE WAR SO FAR (ROUNDED TO THE NEAREST MILLION): $446,475,000,000

Please note that the above figures, from the IBC website, are NOT estimates of total Iraqi civilians killed as a result of the US invasion and its aftermath. Rather, they are a count of Western-reported verifiable violent deaths, and likely to be a small percentage of the true figure. Les Roberts, author of the Lancet Report, believes the actual number may now be as high as 1,000,000.

RED DAVE


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IRAQ BODY COUNT – ONGOING – 7/25/07

July 25, 2007 – Wednesday

1579 days into the war

U.S. MILITARY DEATHS IN IRAQ: 3637
U.S. MILITARY WOUNDED IN IRAQ: 26806

IRAQI CIVILIAN DEATHS
(MINIMUM): 67945
(MAXIMUM): 74336
(LANCET ESTIMATE) 600,000

COST OF THE WAR SO FAR (ROUNDED TO THE NEAREST MILLION): $446,188,000,000

Please note that the above figures, from the IBC website, are NOT estimates of total Iraqi civilians killed as a result of the US invasion and its aftermath. Rather, they are a count of Western-reported verifiable violent deaths, and likely to be a small percentage of the true figure. Les Roberts, author of the Lancet Report, believes the actual number may now be as high as 1,000,000.

RED DAVE


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Army Invades American Neighborhoods With Helicopter Wood Rays!

They turned my mailman into a wooden statue, and I said nothing, because I was not a wooden statue. They turned my neighbor into a wooden statue, and I said nothing, because I was not a wooden statue. Then, when they turned me into a wooden statue, there was no one left to speak for me, because everyone was a wooden statue.

Have you ever wondered why the population of so many small towns in America is getting smaller, even as the population of the United States grows larger? Oh sure, the “population experts” say that young people are leaving small towns to go to the cities, but think about it: Have you ever actually seen most of the people who have left your home town after high school in order to go to the city? Maybe you’ve seen one or two of them, but what ever happened to the rest?

Yes, everyone says that those people are happy off living somewhere else, having successful careers. Think about it, though. How do you know it’s true? Don’t those stories just seem a little bit too convenient, all wrapped up so neat and tidy?

It’s been keeping me up nights, just thinking about it, and thinking about it, until the wee hours of the morning. Think about it long enough, and it starts to become clear that these stories are all just efforts to explain away a deeper, more terrifying truth: The American Army is invading small towns with helicopters mounted with ray guns that turn people into wooden statues.

It’s the only explanation.

You may not believe me, but I have proof. I have this photograph. Seeing is believing.

American Army Helicopter Wood Death Ray

They turned the kid around the corner into a wooden statue, and I said nothing, because I was not a wooden statue. They turned my mailman into a wooden statue, and I said nothing, because I was not a wooden statue. They turned my neighbor into a wooden statue, and I said nothing, because I was not a wooden statue. Then, when they turned me into a wooden statue, there was no one left to speak for me, because everyone was a wooden statue.


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Game of Nations Quotation

Before I go to sleep I like to read a few pages of something, anything, to take my mind away from the days events. This summer I have been reading Miles Copeland’s 1969 The Game of Nations: the Amorality of Power Politics, about Egypt’s leader Gamal Abdel Nasser and the events between his rise to power in 1952 and the 1967 Six Day War between the Arabs and Israel. Last night’s page was particularly effective. I fell asleep on page 206 (literally “on” the page) with all the lights on. I offer here a selection from p. 204:

A player of limited popular resources such as Nasser is understandably tempted to use fanatics, whereby, as has been proved time and again in history, small minorities can cause majorities to make concessions to them out of all proportion to their numbers or the strength of their arguments–if, indeed, they have any clear arguments at all. When entirely on their own (and this is rare), fanatics sooner or later make such nuisances of themselves that the majority clamps down on them, paying whatever price it takes. In the hands of nonfanatical leadership, however, they can become a weapon of flexibility and finesse. They can be brought to a halt just short of suicide, while their willingness to go to suicidal lengths is so manifestly genuine that the opponent cannot know where they will halt–or even be sure that they will halt. The nonsense they talk can be polished up so that it not only makes a modicum of sense, but seems to be on a high moral plane. So long as the more vocal members keep their mouths shut (or can be kept away from direct contact with journalists) a fanatical movement can be excellent public relations material. They are “a valiant body of men fighting for their beliefs against overwhelming odds.” They are sometimes as valuable dead as they are alive. They are beautifully expendable.

One hundred and two more pages left. It’s going to be a restful summer.

Note: for biographical information on Miles Copeland see here and here.


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What Every American Should Know About Iraq

Published on Friday, June 15, 2007 by CommonDreams.org

What Every American Should Know About Iraq

by David Michael Green

Some people think that anyone who disagrees with the American invasion and occupation of Iraq is either a bleeding-heart liberal appeaser, a George W. Bush hater, a blame America firster, an underminer of the troops, a traitor, or a geopolitical naif.

To those who see opponents of the war as fitting into one, several, or all of these categories, I say read this page. I will make no arguments herein, nor even commentary. I will twist no data nor spin any tales. I will even include some of the comments and arguments made by the administration and its supporters.
Instead of arguing against the war, I will try to offer a fairly complete account of the relevant facts one might wish to consider when evaluating America’s policy in Iraq. Especially for those who continually claim that they, more than others, have the best interests of the troops at heart – but actually for all citizens in a democracy – it is incumbent upon us to educate ourselves about this most important of national policies.

Those troops are being maimed and are dying on our behalf every day. The very least we can do is spend a brief amount of our time learning about this question so that we can decide whether their continued sacrifices are justified.

So, in that spirit – and as the Founders themselves said – “let Facts be submitted to a candid world”.

This is the best short summary I know of of US involvement in Iraq

RED DAVE


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IRAQ BODY COUNT – ONGOING – 7/24/07

July 24, 2007 – Tuesday

1578 days into the war

U.S. MILITARY DEATHS IN IRAQ: 3636
U.S. MILITARY WOUNDED IN IRAQ: 26806

IRAQI CIVILIAN DEATHS
(MINIMUM): 67945
(MAXIMUM): 74336
(LANCET ESTIMATE) 600,000

COST OF THE WAR SO FAR (ROUNDED TO THE NEAREST MILLION): $445,907,000,000

Please note that the above figures, from the IBC website, are NOT estimates of total Iraqi civilians killed as a result of the US invasion and its aftermath. Rather, they are a count of Western-reported verifiable violent deaths, and likely to be a small percentage of the true figure. Les Roberts, author of the Lancet Report, believes the actual number may now be as high as 1,000,000.

RED DAVE


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I Can’t Have a Frappucino For Nine More Cents!

If Starbucks won't restrict the increase in the price of its drinks to eight cents per cup of premium venti, then I'll have to take drastic measures... and make my coffee at home, for between 20 and 50 cents per cup. Don't make me do it!

Terrible, terrible news from Xinhua today: Starbucks is planning to raise the price of its drinks by nine cents.

This is unjust! I can’t afford to pay nine cents more for a four dollar cup of coffee! Eight cents, maybe, but not nine cents. I’m on a fixed income, after all.

If Starbucks won’t restrict the increase in the price of its drinks to eight cents per cup of premium venti, then I’ll have to take drastic measures… and make my coffee at home, for between 20 and 50 cents per cup. Don’t make me do it!


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A Short Guide to Iraq

Published by the US Government for our troops, in 1942, this is a fascinating look backwards and forwards.

A Short Guide to Iraq

RED DAVE


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