iraq war

My first nomination belongs to some anonymous graffiti writers. While driving through a somewhat affluent neighborhood in Houston, I noticed that someone had taken the time to write "war" on the bottom of several dozen stop signs. I cannot imagine anyone looking at one these stop signs and...

"As for the question of whether the surge is working, I can only state what I witnessed: U.N. staff and those of non-governmental organizations seem to feel they have the right set of circumstances to attempt to scale up their programs. And when I asked the troops if they wanted to go home as...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/13/AR2008031303793_2.html Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the point of the surge to get the violence levels down to get the government working? I mean, if violence is leveling off, isn't that the best we can do from a...

Christopher Hitchens says yes Linda J. Bilmes and Joseph E. Stiglitz say no BTW, I'm in the middle of reading Hitch's book God is not Great, and I think I agree with almost everything he writes therein. On the Iraq war however, I have been convinced for a long time that it has not been worth...

This was an interesting article. If true, it's some of the best news out of Iraq I've seen since this whole war started. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/world/middleeast/04youth.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

More than one million Iraqis have died as a result of the conflict in their country since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, according to research conducted by one of Britain's leading polling groups. http://uk.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUKL30488579._CH_.242020080130?rpc=401&

The Bush administration led the nation to war on the basis of lies that it methodically propagated and that culminated in military action against Iraq on March 19, 2003. Not surprisingly, the officials with the most opportunities to make speeches, grant media interviews, and otherwise frame the...

Here's the story. Even with big cash bonuses, joining the army is becoming less and less attractive for those with other options. 15-month deployments, no end in sight. In the long term, these are the recruits that will make up the army and their "aptitude" is declining. This could degrade...

This could also go in Science, since it would be nice to have a stats comment. But most of the discussion has been in the politics section. Using the comments from: http://scienceblogs.com/deltoid/2008/01/ifhs_study_on_violent_deaths_i.php Regarding the new study published in the NEJM: The...

Data Bomb (National Journal) I suppose prostituting your institutional reputation is worth it if you can save lives that way. Of course it's a trick that cannot be repeated.

I remember Oliver making a similar statement (BTW, where has Oliver gone?), but I think it deserves one thread of its own. Since the US did not invade Iraq because of 911, not because of WMD, it is hard to give an explanation to the invasion. I just found a possible explanation here: Prior...

OK, so after Bush coerced the Iraq War spending into the Defense Budget Bill, it included an overlooked provision allowing people who suffered under Saddam to sue the current Iraq government for damages. I believe the sufferers include US soldiers from the first Gulf War. Bush Plans to Veto...

So much for the whole "supporting the troops" thing, huh? Wounded Vet Told To Pay Back Bonus I don't care what your position on the war is, this is completely unacceptable. This guy sacrificed his eye in the Army, and the Army thinks he owes them?

A guy I work with on occaison recently made the claim that at the outset of the Iraq war hundreds of US combat helicopters deliberately set about performing a massacre of Iraqi civilians in a concerted city-wide campaign in Baghdad. Now, I told him that this was ridiculous and at the start...

Now Australian companies are at it as well. [urlhttp://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Security-firm-involved-in-Iraq-shooting/2007/10/10/1191695938987.html[/url] A company that reportedly employs British, New Zealand, US and Australian special forces veterans. I feel safer in my bed knowing these...

A new Fox News/Opinion Dynamics Poll (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,299374,00.html) claims that overall, 11% of Americans think the world would be better off if the U.S. lost the war in Iraq. A couple of questions come to mind: I have yet to hear a satisfactory definition of winning in...

A White House official, being interviewed by The Telegraph, says... Oh, and shame on The Telegraph for quoting an unnamed source putting out the official message in the first place. I guess they're no more interested in accountability in news reporting than are their American counterparts...

Split from this thread for scientific input Reference Is it possible that about 20 deadly car bombings occur every day in Iraq for 2 years, but that 90% go unreported despite causing casualties, while the few that do get reported generate an average of 6 independent reports?

I can't be reading this right: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2066.html Iraq -- 5.26 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) Perhaps they got the decimal point in the wrong place: Ireland -- 7.79 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) Isle of Man -- 11.1...

Doing the rounds on some blogs: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49283-2004Sep25.html Compare and contrast?

Here is Thomas Friedman (columnist, NY Times) on Charlie Rose. He's explaining why we needed to go to war in Iraq ... or somewhere. I think this is a strong indication that Friedman is actually quite insane. I'm talking Dick Cheney Crazy. In a nutshell - We needed to go into that part of the...

There is an old adage that says "He who chases two rabbits at once will catch neither." This article (NY Times) and this video explain that the Taliban are having a resurgence in Afganistan, and are retaking territory that had previously been won. If we didn't have most of our army occupied...

The UK government threatens to make an independent judgement on Iraq. See http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article2339989.ece How dare they!

America's actions in Vietnam brought the term "boat-people" into our vocabulary. What about today's refugees? There may be 1.4 million Iraqi refugees in Syria Syria has a population of 20,314,747, according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syria 1.4/20 = 7 % That is a huge commitment. And...

In another gun related example of media ignorance, making the rounds of some of the more conservative blogs right now is this picture from Iraq: http://news.yahoo.com/photos/ss/events/iraq/082701iraqplane/im:/070814/photos_ts_wl_afp/140e13087c8865bec0c22bcf01aa597b The claim is this picture...

Writing in the CT forum.. I was thinking, is there a real danger of Islamism grabbing hold of Iraq in the future? The current mess, and the possibility of US forces being withdrawn, are both victories for the three main sectarian factions. Besides, if you lived in Baghdad right now, I can't...

I apologise for my increase in posting, I just have a lot I wish to document recently. There is one representative for someone who is critical toward the Bush Admin, American foriegn policy, Vietnam War, Iraq War etc, and I think many, like me, who share a certain amount of contempt for the...

I have moved few posts here, from the thread " Send to death, but no crime committed!! ", as we have started to talk about the legality of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, in a thread which was dealing about a different topic. Do you think that the U.S. led invasion of Iraq in 2003 was...

I suspect it quite a while that Al Qaidas strategies included the invasion of Iraq as a possible reaction for 9/11. Maybe because Iraq was a pain in the ass for America and Israel anyway, maybe to get rid of Saddam who didn't support their Ideologies, maybe because gaining support from Muslims...

So, I heard this discussion on the radio and the question was asked: If you knew then what we know now, would you have supported the invasion of Iraq in 2003? It didn't make any sense to me then, so my answer hasn't changed.