August 17, 2007 NPR:· Military analysts fear thousands of small arms declared missing after being issued by the U.S. to Iraqi security forces have likely fallen into the hands of insurgents.

The Big Lie:

Bush Traitors, Not Petraeus, Will Write September Report

[For months, Bush has been flooding the world with a repeated lie:  That he will hear from General Petraeus in September about how the war is going.  Guess what.  Is anybody out there really surprised?  T

August 15, 2007 By Julian E. Barnes and Peter Spiegel, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers [Excerpt]

According to the officials, Gen. David H. Petraeus is expected to propose the partial pullback in his September status report to Congress, when both the war’s critics and supporters plan to reassess its course. Administration officials who support the current troop levels hope Petraeus’ recommendations will persuade Congress to reject pressure for a major U.S. withdrawal.

The expected recommendation would authorize U.S. commanders to withdraw troops from places that have become less violent and turn over security responsibilities to Iraqi forces.

But it does not necessarily follow that Petraeus would call for reducing the overall number of troops in the country. Instead, he could move them to another hot spot, or use them to create a reserve force to counter any rise in violence.

Despite Bush’s repeated statements that the report will reflect evaluations by Petraeus and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, administration officials said it would actually be written by the White House, with inputs from officials throughout the government.

LIAR

TRAITOR

TROOP-KILLER

DOMESTIC ENEMY

UNFIT FOR COMMAND

UNWORTHY OF OBEDIENCE

(AFP/Jim Watson)

THIS IS THE ENEMY;

BRING THE WAR HOME NOW

MORE:

Another Stupid Lie From General Betrayus

August 16, 2007 AP

One of most significant shifts for U.S. forces recently has been recruiting allies among former Sunni insurgents areas such as the western Anbar province. "A pretty big deal," said Petraeus.

"You have to pinch yourself a little to make sure that is real because that is a very significant development in this kind of operation in counterinsurgency," he added.

"It’s all about the local people. When all the sudden the local people are on the side of the new Iraq instead of on the side of the insurgents or even al-Qaida, that’s a very significant change."

MORE:

Who Do You Believe?

Betrayus Or Your Lying Eyes?

August 16, 2007 AP

It also is not a new development that as coalition forces fight a problem in one area, militants rise up in another.

Odierno did not answer the question of whether he has enough troops to go after regrouping insurgents in isolated locations.

August 12, 2007 The Associated Press

"Large portions" of equipment, including guns, supplied to police in the western province of Anbar are missing from police stations, Marine officers told the U.S. Congress in May. 

The Pentagon says the Interior Ministry’s accounting of police equipment is unreliable.

IRAQ WAR REPORTS

Two U.S. Soldiers Killed, Six Wounded Somewhere Or Other In Iraq By Something Or Other

August 16, 2007 Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory, RELEASE No. 20070816-01

BAGHDAD —Two Multi-National Division-Baghdad Soldiers were killed during combat operations in an area north of the Iraqi capital Aug. 15. Six other Soldiers were wounded in the attack.

[Pathetic incompetence, as usual.  Roughly half of Iraq is "north of the Iraqi capital."]

Baghdad IED Kills One U.S. Soldier;

Two Wounded

August 17, 2007 Multi National Corps Iraq Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory RELEASE No. 20070817-10

BAGHDAD — One Multi-National Division-Baghdad Soldier was killed and two were wounded when a roadside bomb detonated during a patrol in an eastern section of the Iraqi capital Aug. 17.

Family Remembers Slain Soldier

08/05/2007 Michelle De La Rosa, Express-News

When Fernando Santos entered Adonia Santos’ life, she knew him as the younger boy who lived across the street and liked to laze around with her brothers.

"He was just this tall, scrawny, nerdy little kid who came around to hang out," she recalled during a phone interview from Fort Lewis, Wash., on Saturday.

In November, they would have been married 11 years.  

Fernando, a 29-year-old staff sergeant, had been scheduled to return from his second deployment to Iraq in June, but his stay was extended until October, Adonia said.  When he returned, the couple were supposed to start planning a ceremony to renew their vows.

But Fernando and two other soldiers were killed Thursday after a roadside bomb, called an improvised explosive device by the military, detonated near their patrol in eastern Baghdad.  A news release issued by military authorities in Baghdad said 11 other soldiers were wounded.  Four were treated for their injuries and released.

They were conducting combat operations against militias in that part of the nation’s capital.

Fernando was the 29th San Antonian killed in Iraq since the invasion. Six U.S. troops have died in the first four days of this month; 80 were killed in July, according to the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count.

Adonia, 34, said her husband was a strong man who tried to set a good example for others and tried to raise people’s spirits, often through humor.  He loved his children — three the couple had together, ages 6 months, 15 months, and 7 year, and Adonia’s 16-year-old son from a previous relationship — and valued time with his family when he wasn’t working, Adonia said.

"One of the last times that I talked to him, he was telling me that he was making plans that once he was back stateside, he was looking at changing his career path so he would be home more and wouldn’t be in the field or deployed so much," said Terrie Bradlaw, Adonia’s mother.

Fernando’s body will be returned to San Antonio, possibly this week.  He will be buried in San Fernando Cemetery No. 3 on Cupples Road, next to the grave of Albina Santos, the grandmother who raised him.

Daniel Santos, who is handling the funeral arrangements, said that was his nephew’s request.  Albina Santos and her husband, who also is deceased, raised Fernando virtually from the time he was an infant, after his mother left, said Gilbert Santos, Fernando’s father and Albina’s son.

Albina Santos was proud of her grandson’s military career, Daniel Santos said. And Fernando was excited about his success. Daniel Santos recalled one phone call from a jubilant Fernando.

"He matched his dad’s rank," Daniel Santos said. "He called that he was so happy that he was able to match his father’s rank.  That was one of his highlights."

Fernando attended John Jay High School in the Northside Independent School District but did not graduate, Adonia said. Instead, he earned his GED while working at Bill Miller Bar-B-Q to help support Adonia and her son, who was a baby back then.

"He was the best thing that ever happened to me," she said. "He was always, always wanting to make me happy."

When Fernando started hanging around with Adonia’s brothers, he was about 13, she said.  Several years later, they began dating.  After a 10-month courtship, they married in 1996 at Albina’s home.

In 1997, Fernando enlisted in the Army.  The couple had been at Fort Lewis since 2000, Adonia said.

She said her husband loved his job and cared about the men in his platoon.

"He schooled them on finances and parenting and marriage and investment," she said. "He wanted them to be OK when they got out, like you would your own child.  Everybody wanted to be him.  He was really funny, quirky.  He made everybody laugh.  He was strong."

Fernando was home for a two-week break in February when baby Victor was born. Fernando spent a week with the infant before returning to Iraq.

On Thursday, Adonia was feeding the baby and preparing him for a nap when a chaplain came to her door.  His words obliterated any plans for a ceremony to renew marriage vows.

There will still be a ceremony, this one a funeral farewell, and Adonia is sure many will attend.

Daniel Santos said the family will miss Fernando, but they are proud of him.

"I just want the people to recognize him, that he went out there and fought for his country, and proudly," he said.

'You’re More Than A Brother; You’re A Hero’

August 9, 2007 By Will Higgins, IndyStar

Zachariah Jared Gonzalez’s interest in food was serious enough that he planned to make a career of it.

When he joined the Army in 2002, after finishing at Hamilton Southeastern High School, he elected to be a cook.  It would be good practice for later, when he’d open a restaurant.

But soon Gonzalez had a change of heart.  He quit cooking and transferred to the infantry.  He’d been there a year and a month, patrolling Baghdad with Bravo Company of the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, when the vehicle he was riding in was blown up July 31 by an improvised explosive device.  He and two fellow soldiers were killed.

Gonzalez, 23, was buried Wednesday in Indianapolis.

He was the 93rd member of the military with ties to Indiana to be killed in the war in Iraq.

Gonzalez came from a large family, and many of his relatives participated in his funeral at St. Monica Catholic Church on the Northwestside.  An aunt read from the Bible, as did a cousin. Both of his brothers gave eulogies, Jacob recalling his brother’s perseverance.

"He loved to fish," Jacob said, "and he would never give up. We’d be leaving, and he’d still be fishing."

"We’re so proud of Zach," said his other brother, Seth. "You’re more than a brother. You’re a hero now."

Gonzalez was remembered as friendly, likable -- his Army buddies called him Gonzo -- but also as focused, with a serious side.

"He was self-directed," said Monsignor Paul Koetter, who officiated at the funeral. "He wanted to go somewhere in his life."

Gonzalez’s interest in cooking stemmed from his mother, Laura Galan Gonzalez, who taught her three sons as well as her daughter to be at home in the kitchen.

When they were young, she’d encourage them to find a recipe that interested them.  She’d take them shopping for the ingredients, then be on hand to answer questions as the children labored to turn the project into dinner.

"The cooking was social," Koetter said. "The kitchen would be full of people. It was all about family."

Despite his fondness for cooking, Gonzalez quickly began to see more pressing matters after joining the Army.  That’s when he moved from the kitchen to the front lines.

"I find that amazing," Koetter said.  "Most of us would be thankful to have a safe job. But for him to choose the infantry shows that when he believed in something, he needed to do something."

About 600 mourners filled the church, many sniffling as the service ended and Laura and Benedict Gonzales followed their son’s coffin out the door to the hymn "Here I Am Lord."

They buried him at Our Lady of Peace Cemetery on Haverstick Road.

Soldier’s Wife: 'He Was My Angel’

August 10, 2007 By Sharon Swanepoel, The Loganville Tribune

LOGANVILLE — To Megan Rojas-Gallego, the 20-year-old widow of Loganville fallen soldier Spc. Cristian Rojas-Gallego, theirs was a beautiful love story cut tragically short long before its time.

"He was my angel — the most wonderful man you could ever hope to meet," said Rojas, which is the name the family goes by.

"We never had an argument — not one in the whole time we were together. I was lucky enough to be married to the most wonderful man in the world and now I will have to get used to going on without him.  God must have needed him for another mission — his mission here is complete now."

The U.S. Army announced Sunday the 24-year-old soldier was one of three soldiers from the Stryker Brigade Combat Division out of Fort Lewis, Wash. killed Aug. 2 when an improvised explosive device detonated near their vehicle.

Cristian Rojas had been a Marine first and was on his fourth tour of duty in Iraq when he was killed in action after re-enlisting with the Army in 2006.

His young widow said she is relying on her strong faith and the support of family and friends, in particular those on the base at Fort Lewis, Wash. where she hopes to remain for the time being.

"I believe God puts you where he knows you need to be and I am surrounded by a wonderful circle of friends here," Rojas said.

The love story began two years ago today, when Rojas was a young single mom with two small boys.  She first met her husband while he was a Marine stationed at Twentynine Palms Marine Corps in California.

"I didn’t even know what a Marine was then," the California native said. "I was at a friend’s (house) dropping off clothes and he was there.  I thought he was an attractive man at first and then found out what a wonderful person he was.  We were married three months later on Nov. 9, 2005."

Rojas said her husband completely accepted her two boys, Raymond 3, and Taylor 2, as his own and was thrilled two months ago when she gave birth to their son, Eric, who she said is the spitting image of his dad.

"I am going to change his name to Cristian — Cristian Jose Rojas to honor his father," she said. "I have to be strong for the boys now.  He had a great life — a wife he loved and three beautiful boys.  I should have known it was too perfect."

Rojas said she had spoken to her husband over a video camera six hours before he was killed and she is grateful to have had that opportunity. She said they only spoke about the possibility of him not coming home once — when he had filled out the paperwork before being shipped out.

"I never wanted to speak about it and we just didn’t expect it to happen — he had already been to Iraq three times before," Rojas said. "But he told me he didn’t want me crying alone in a dark room if anything did happen.  'You will need to be strong for my boys.’ So that’s what I need to do."

Rojas said she does regret that her husband, a Columbian immigrant, never managed to complete his citizenship papers before his death.

"He was so proud of his service," she said. "He said it was an honor to serve this country and he was proud he was keeping us safe.  He really deserves to be made a citizen. He was supposed to put the papers in but I don’t know if he did before coming back when our son was born.  He left to go back June 27 and was only back 36 days when he was killed."

Derrick Corbett, deputy chief of staff for U.S. Rep. John Linder, (R-7) said there is a way Rojas can petition for her husband’s citizenship posthumously if the papers had not been filed.

"It is Form N-644 — Application for Posthumous Citizenship and can be filed by the spouse or parent," Corbett said.

Loganville Mayor Tim Barron said he had spoken to Georgia Sen. John Douglas to see what could be done to ensure citizenship for the young immigrant who had paid the ultimate price for his adopted country. The couple had lived in Loganville with the soldier’s parents for four months in 2006 before he re-enlisted with the Army.

Everman Soldier Killed By IED

Aug. 06, 2007 By ALEX BRANCH, The Star Telegram

Sgt. Dustin S. Wakeman wanted self-discipline.

After graduating from Everman High School in 2000, he took some college classes, but he didn’t apply himself like he thought he should.

The solution, he decided, was the U.S. Army.

"He told me he had to start listening to somebody," said his father, David Wakeman. "It was something he felt like he needed to do to make a better life for himself."

Sgt. Wakeman, 25, was killed Saturday in Hawr Rajab, Iraq, when the vehicle he was riding in was struck by an improvised explosive device, according to the Defense Department.

Two other soldiers were also killed.

Before his death, Sgt. Wakeman seemed to find the discipline he sought, his father said. He was trained as a medic and spoke of pursuing a career in medical services.

"He liked helping people," David Wakeman said.  "He found that fulfilling."

At Everman High School, Sgt. Wakeman was active in the band and the drama, math and science clubs.  After graduation, he was interested in engineering and took classes at Tarrant County College and the University of Texas at Arlington.

His best friend had a rock band, and Sgt. Wakeman spent a lot of time listening to them play, David Wakeman said.

He enlisted three years ago and was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division in Fort Richardson, Alaska. Sgt. Wakeman was deployed to Iraq in October, his father said.

Because of the time difference, Sgt. Wakeman wasn’t able to call home often, David Wakeman said.  When he did, he rarely spoke of the danger in Iraq, except to occasionally say, "I’ve seen some stuff."

The last time he called was about a month ago. His parents weren’t home.

"He left us a message talking about how disappointed he was we weren’t there," David Wakeman said. "He was sorry he missed us. We were really sorry, too."

Since his death, Sgt. Wakeman’s friends have filled his MySpace page with goodbyes. One was from another soldier, who wrote of seeing Sgt. Wakeman two minutes before he died.

"We were joking like always in the midst of chaos," the soldier wrote. "You were always there. I will remember the lunches, the nights out, and the conversations only we would get."

Another message was left by a woman, apparently the wife of another soldier.

"Thanks for being doctor to my husband," she wrote. "Watch over the guys left behind."

Sgt. Wakeman is also survived by his mother, Margaret, and brother, Zach, both of Everman.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

World Class Bullshit & Stupidity, Just For You:

Reporter And U.S. Officers Compete For Most Dimwitted Comments On The War

August 16, 2007 By Megan Greenwell, Washington Post Staff Writer [And pro-occupation propagandist] [Excerpts]

BAGHDAD -- When the sniper’s bullet hit Billy Edwards, his Army brothers did not hesitate. 

[How about his Army sisters?  Were there any around?  Did they "hesitate"?]

The 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division calls itself the "Send Me" brigade, and on Saturday, its soldiers were quick to send themselves

[What, they disobeyed orders and became a chaotic mob?  And if they were obeying orders, they did not "send themselves] to find the man who shot Pfc. William L. Edwards, a wide-eyed [thanks for making him sound stupid or naive] 23-year-old from Houston.

They quickly identified the house where they believed the assailant was hiding and moved in, just as the sniper knew they would

[Hoped maybe, but if they have resistance snipers who can foretell the future and "knew" what would happen, time to get the fuck out by the first available means of transportation.]

Inside the house, one soldier stepped on a pressure plate, detonating an estimated 30 pounds of explosives hidden under a stairwell.  In an instant, four troops were killed; four others were injured.  Edwards died later in the hospital.  The sniper escaped

The attack in Arab Jabour, southeast of Baghdad, was particularly savage, predicated on knowledge of the soldiers’ sense of duty to a fallen comrade. 

[Left this line in so the reader can gain a full understanding of the remarkable combination of stupidity and mindless sucking-up to U.S. occupation command this Bush propagandist regularly comes up with.  Does the reporter ever call U.S. military attacks on Iraqis "savage"?  Never.  Not once in any report from Iraq.  No, this racist piece of shit reporter only uses the term "savage" to describe Iraqis fighting to liberate their country. 

[Then comes the drooling sentimental idiocy about "duty to fallen comrades," out of some war movie or TV show.  The reason for trying to find the sniper is to avoid being the next KIA.  Duh.]

Military commanders say the number of similar incidents -- those in which soldiers are lured into a house rigged to explode -- has risen dramatically across Iraq in recent months.

"The enemy is continually evolving tactics," said Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commander of the U.S. offensive south of Baghdad, who described Saturday’s events in an interview. "In this case, our guys followed their instincts to chase this guy down and got trapped."

Saturday’s attack marked the first time that troops under Lynch’s command have been killed by a house-borne improvised explosive device, the official term for a house bomb. The tactic appears to have spread south from Diyala province, northeast of the capital, where three house bombs have killed several American troops in the past two months. The U.S. military typically classifies house bombs with other IED attacks, so the exact number of Americans killed by the devices is difficult to determine.

On Monday, troops in Baqubah, the capital of Diyala, held a memorial service for four soldiers killed there by a house bomb Aug. 6.  Twelve other troops were killed in that attack. 

[That’s what the reporter wrote.  Go figure what that means.  No report from central command that 16 U.S. troops were dead from one house bomb.  Somebody would have noticed, right?]]

Such mass-casualty attacks underscore the vulnerability of U.S. troops fighting enemies trained in guerrilla warfare and with extensive knowledge of Iraq’s often challenging terrain.  The growing use of house bombs is part of a larger pattern of more complex and coordinated attacks against U.S. forces

Officials attribute the increasingly sophisticated attacks to desperation on the insurgents’ part after troops became too successful at finding roadside bombs and other explosives.

"It’s a clear sign that they could not get to us by other means, and that’s a good sign," said Lt. Col. Michael Donnelly, a spokesman for the American operation in northern Iraq, describing the pattern of house bombs in that area.  "Obviously we’re countering the improvised explosive devices, and force on force, they know that they can’t fight us."

[Having a dim witted blow-hard idiot like this in command is a powerful asset for the resistance forces.  He whines about how guerrillas won’t volunteer to step forward so he in neat rows so he can kill them, telling the world by so doing that he is utterly lacking in even the most elementary counter-insurgency knowledge.   Incompetence in action, he couldn’t find his feet with both hands and a flashlight, let along command any group more advanced than Cub Scouts.  God, what a hopeless loser.]

[Then there’s this gem:  "Officials attribute the increasingly sophisticated attacks to desperation on the insurgents’ part…"    Hopefully, somebody will pick this up for Comedy Central.]

But ambushes and rigged houses can cause many more casualties than smaller improvised explosive devices, which rarely kill more than one or two people at a time.

Increasingly, Donnelly said, insurgents are creating a "daisy chain" of house bombs, in which an initial explosion can trigger blasts up and down a block.

Additionally, house bombs can be some of the most difficult explosives to detect because of the myriad ways they can be activated, Donnelly and others said.

Some insurgents use powerful bombs or other munitions; others rely on homemade explosives. The blast can be set off by a trip wire, a pressure plate or a remote device.

"They are hard to find, but there is generally some sort of telltale sign," Donnelly said. "We just look for the signs and then deal with it the best we can." 

After last week’s bombing in Baqubah, troops captured three suspected insurgents, who led them to several other rigged houses in the neighborhood.  Lynch said that although no one has been arrested since the Arab Jabour blast, troops have "refined their tactics" using lessons learned that day.

"We study the enemy, and we have a basic idea of how he uses these houses and how he plants initiators," Lynch said.  "As their tactics evolve, ours evolve."

[Wow!  Impressive!  Thanks to all that hard "study," the general has a "basic idea" about house bombs.  Get a house.  Plant a bomb in it.  Hide the bomb.  When enemy troops step on a pressure plate, they blow up.  Way to go General!!]

[And thanks for confirming that the resistance has the initiative, attacks at times and places of their choosing, and your tactics are defensive and always behind the curve:  "As their tactics evolve, ours evolve."]

"There is no question that there is still a serious threat," Donnelly said.  "But the gains we have made are tremendous.  In the end, we will win, and they will be marginalized and pushed out."

GUESS WHO’S WORRIED

GUESS WHO ISN’T

GUESS WHY

BRING THEM ALL HOME NOW

Iraqi citizens walk down a street patrolled by U.S. Army troops from 1st Battalion, 325 Airborne Infantry Regiment, attached to 2nd Brigade, 1st infantry Division in the Kazimiyah neighborhood of north Baghdad, Aug. 8, 2007.  (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS

Two More Canadian Soldiers Wounded By IED In Zhari;

"What’s Going On Zhari Is Very Worrying"

August 17, 2007 The Canadian Press

Two Canadian soldiers were slightly injured Friday after their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb, the Canadian military said.

Both soldiers were riding in a Track Light Armoured Vehicle, or T-LAV, along Highway 1 as part of a supply convoy for Canadian troops when they drove over the bomb.

Both suffered upper body injuries.  One was quickly released while the other was being held for observation, military officials said.

Friday’s attack took place just inside Kandahar province’s dangerous Zhari district, at a spot some 10 kilometres west of Masum Ghar. The village itself is in the province’s Panjwaii district.

The soldiers were taken by helicopter to a hospital at Kandahar Airfield 30 kilometres to the east.

The T-LAV sustained extensive damage and will be towed from the scene later, military officials said.

"What’s going on Zhari is very worrying," said [Lt.-Cmdr. Hubert] Genest.

Zhari district’s police chief was killed by a bomber earlier in the day. 

The bomber blew himself up as Khariudin Achakzai, the chief of Kandahar’s Zhari district, was coming out of his house with fiv