Hard slog - no end in sight.

   

via Reuters Alternet:

WASHINGTON, July 26 (Reuters) – The U.S. military, faced with unrelenting violence in Baghdad, may boost its force in Iraq by delaying the scheduled departure of some troops involved in routine rotations, officials said on Wednesday.

As has been done periodically during the 3-year-old war, the military would temporarily increase the size of the U.S. force by extending the overlap between newly arriving units and those leaving. [...]

… we can expect pantomime from the Democrats, despite:

WAR SUPPORT ERODING

Opinion polls show eroding U.S. public support for the war and Bush’s handling of it as congressional elections approach in November. The U.S. military death toll in the war, which began in March 2003, stood at 2,565 on Wednesday, with 19,157 wounded, the Pentagon said.

On Monday this week, the first name and face on the Lehrer list of the dead was a 50 year old service man.  Tuesday, there were 2 staff sargeants, a sargeant and a captain.  And of course all of the 20 year olds, 27 year olds, 30 year olds… it is now endless.  I just saw a report go by, the Iraqi death rate is 100 per day. 

Sounds low frankly, for the extended brutality …

Lighter note, via Angry Arab (many good snips), Hizbollah may be text messaging Orange cellular subscribers inside Israel.  Psy-ops Baby!

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Because I am about to sink in a cess pool of horror, there will be the occasional break, with a snip from pages 3/4 of the Jake Tapper interview with the Kidlet in Berkeley. 

I know some stomachs were NOT strong enough to read that far!… But I have on hip waders, Australian bush hat with full mosquito netting (no, I really do!, left from going down the Colorado when I was 20… ) white cotton gloves (absolutely needed for the jungles of in-ter-view land) and masses of bug repellant… I may survive…

and So:

TAPPER: You thought Kerry was going to win?

MOULITSAS: I thought Kerry was going to win. I thought Democrats were going to make gains in the Senate, in the House in 2002 and in 2004. I was wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. So, I’m hoping I’m wrong again.

TAPPER: But do you think the American people agree with you on most issues, or is that not even the point?

MOULITSAS: I don’t even begin to worry about that. It’s not an issue. And in fact, I’ve been starting to work out what, you know, what my political philosophy is, and it’s actually not necessarily in tune with the Democratic Party itself. [it's not even small "d" democratic! What a laugh! - MCat] It’s a very libertarian approach to politics where we don’t need government for a lot of things where government is involved in today.

TAPPER: So gun control, you don’t necessarily …

MOULITSAS: Oh, I’m very much against gun control and …

TAPPER: Really?

MOULITSAS: Oh, very much so. Yes. Absolutely. But I’m very much libertarian. I mean, personally, I do not like, say, abortion. I’m very much against abortion personally, but from my libertarian leanings indicate that I’m not going to be telling people what they should or should not be doing.

TAPPER: Well, a libertarian point of view on taxes might be that there shouldn’t — there should be as few taxes as possible and few government regulations as possible.

MOULITSAS: Well, I didn’t say I was a libertarian. [snip]

My.

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From Lebanon’s The Daily Star:

Hizbullah fighters and advancing Israeli troops fought pitched battles at the entrance to a key town in South Lebanon on Wednesday, in which at least eight Israeli soldiers were killed and 22 others wounded, the Israeli Army said.

Meanwhile, Israel bombed two apartment buildings in the coastal town of Tyre. It was unclear how many people had been killed and wounded in the attack as Civil Defense members were still pulling people out from the rubble as The Daily Star went to press.[snip]

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Christopher Dickey is up in Newsweek:

But, at American insistence, the ceasefire would have to be one that’s “lasting, permanent and sustainable.” Which means the flames searing Lebanon, threatening Israel and endangering the most volatile region in the world will go on for weeks, if not months, to come. The consolation prize: a promise of “immediate humanitarian aid.”  [...]

The bottom line: Hizbullah is winning. That’s the hideous truth about the direction this war is taking, not in spite of the way the Israelis have waged their counterattack, but precisely because of it.

As my source Mr. Frankly put it, “Hizbullah is eating their lunch.”

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Deepest Troat supplied this link, to a blog that updates the war on lebanon:  Updates on the Aggression Against Lebanon.

They display this map, as of 7/26/06 (link to 2 x size):

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All I am saying is it happened here in SF, I saw the fear, the panic that “one of their own” might lose.  That would be Newsom.. yeah I know.  Beloved as a ”liberal”…   But they sent in the troops.

Catch the CYA, early edition (I still say, watch the money in the Lamont campaign, there is not enough, never was):

CT-Sen: The Lieberman meltdown is over

by kos

Wed Jul 26, 2006 at 01:25:20 PM PDT

Bill Clinton is doing whatever he can to rescue Lieberman from defeat. He may pull it off, as the Clintons and their lobbyist and establishment and DLC friends band together in common cause against Lamont’s people-powered army.

Lieberman has no message or appeal to Connecticut voters? Bring in Bill. Lieberman has no ground troops in the state? Bring in paid field guys. The facts are unfriendly to Lieberman? Lie, obfuscate, distort. And to further bolster the Lieberman cause, continue outspending Lamont by millions to drown out his message.

That’s the game plan. On our side we have people. Which will triumph?

If we remain disengaged and indifferent, they will.

Get your friends and families involved.

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UPDATE: 10:30 pm, PT 

Maybe time to cry into our tea cups a bit.

Bamford is up with a mutli-pager at Rolling Stone.  [thanks Arcturus].  The next war, Iran. 

The problem, ever since these people wedged their way into office, over a not-all-that-interested Democratic party… the issue has been, who would stop them?  Stop us?

When Bush was running in summer and fall of ’00, I would often get the image – at some point I had seen a photographic depiction – of Bill Buckley, who had been CIA station chief in Beirut, held hostage with Terry Anderson but had been beaten, tortured and hung [think hanged is correct usage...].  And I would always think, we have enough enemies of our own, we don’t need all the extra ‘friends” and “enemies” that tag along with certain political entities.

 But, here we are.

Also, it has to be noted… from Howard. [thanks bay] Think I’ll be brief (why waste time?) and say Howard is spread too thin.  And I am not being kind and excusing him.  Totally off balance ever since he got that stupid Chair.

Ta-ta Howard.  Have a nice ride.

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from CSTAR [thanks!] a link to a website – Blogging Beirut - covering (natch) Beirut, WAR! issues.  Reading the left side bar, blogger is inside Beirut.

A quick mention, and likely I am behind the curve here, but I have found Reuters Alertnet fascinating.  Part of Reuters Foundation, it exists to track the global emergent situations from natural disaster to conflict – to whatever.  A section for NGO reports and issues – and breaking news, media watch.  And I have found some wonderful photographs there too…

Reuters Alertnet, Lebanon - Israeli Palestinian conflict -  Iraq in Turmoil - Afghanistan Reconstruction (that is what they call it… )

DIRE CONDITIONS

[V]illagers were running short of water, food and medicine, displaced people were sheltering in schools and patients were stranded in hospitals. “As people were afraid to go out, fearing bombardments, dead bodies had not been removed from the streets and others were still buried in rubble,” the ICRC said.

Israeli warplanes destroyed radio masts north of Beirut on Thursday and attacked three trucks carrying medical and food supplies to the east, security sources said. They said two truck drivers were killed. Israel accuses Lebanon’s eastern neighbour Syria of supplying Hizbollah with arms. Syria denies the charge.

Other Israeli aircraft blasted targets in the mainly Shi’ite south, and artillery batteries opened up from inside Israel.  [snip]

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UPDATE, 6:50 am PT

Never let it be said that Israel missed a chance to get the point, from the BBC:

“We received yesterday at the Rome conference permission from the world… to continue the operation,” Justice Minister Haim Ramon said.

His comments came before Israeli cabinet ministers decided not to launch a large-scale ground offensive.

Israel has launched fresh air raids, amid ongoing fighting in south Lebanon.

via Toronto Star, Zawahiri warning.

Ayman al-Zawahri, No. 2 to Osama bin Laden, said Al Qaeda now saw “all the world as a battlefield open in front of us.”

The Egyptian-born physician said the Hezbollah and Palestinian fighting against Israel would not be ended with “ceasefires or agreements.”

“The war with Israel does not depend on ceasefires … . It is a Jihad for God’s sake and will last until (our) religion prevails … from Spain to Iraq,” al-Zawahri said. “We will attack everywhere.”

Reuters Alertnet, CHRONOLOGY of communications from al Qaeda, Osama, Zawahiri, allies.

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UPDATE: 8:00 am

Nur al-Cubicle commentary on the Silence from Rome Conference.

In the background, Italy is about to withdraw its contingent from Iraq, so the country has zero credibiity with the Bush Administration and hence, with Israel. In fact, it is likely that Prodi, like Zapatero, now enjoys persona non grata status in Washington. But lack of influence does not preclude putting on an embarrasing dog and pony show and getting Condoleeza to show up for a sound bite and a photo-op. I should have liked to have seen Romano Prodi’s L’Unione coalition government come out of the conference smelling like roses, but it has humiliated itself by PR overreach. This is a disaster for L’Unione.

via Danny Schechter News Dissector, a run of quick links and snips:

FT: ”ONE IN FIVE LEBANESE A REFUGEE OF ISRAELI INVASION

”According to the FT, a fifth of the Lebanese are now refugees. Around 40,000 have headed to the port city of Sidon. “Food is not a big problem for now but there are looming shortages of medicines for chronic illnesses and hospitals are starting to get worried about primary care drugs such as painkillers and antibiotics while they have to care for an influx of wounded from the south,” says the paper. “The refugees who make it to Sidon are exhausted by the long and stressful journey. Their stories are often similar and tell of days of Israeli shelling, shortages of water and food, power outages and cut phone lines.”. . . www.ft.com

COMMENTARY: John Pilger: Empire: War and Propaganda

“The US role in supporting Israel’s military assault on Lebanon falls into a pattern of imperial tyranny, where history is rewritten to suit America’s needs while Europe stands cravenly by.”

informationclearinghouse.info

GREG PALAST: IT’S ABOUT OIL, STUPID  www.GregPalast.com

BLUMENTHAL: NEO-CON RESURGENCE  www.guardian.co.uk

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UPDATE:    9:00 am

via Truth Out, from the WaPo, Joshua Partlow on “Waiting to be Blown Up“:

“At this point, it seems like the war on drugs in America,” added Spec. David Fulcher, 22, a medic from Lynchburg, Va., who sat alongside Steffey. “It’s like this never-ending battle, like, we find one IED, if we do find it before it hits us, so what? You know it’s just like if the cops make a big bust, next week the next higher-up puts more back out there.”

    ”My personal opinion, I don’t speak for the rest of anybody, I just speak for me personally, I think civil war is going to happen regardless,” Steffey responded. [...]

    It was dark now save for one fluorescent light and the cigarette tips glowing red.

    ”I mean, if you compare the casualty count from this war to, say, World War II, you know obviously it doesn’t even compare,” Fulcher said.

“But World War II, the big picture was clear – you know you’re fighting because somebody was trying to take over the world, basically. This is like, what did we invade here for?”

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