Limbaugh: Still Ten Pounds of Shit in a Five-Pound Sack

Rush Limbaugh, undated file photo.

I'd like to meet the estimable (as in, "Guess how much of a douchebag he is") Rush Limbaugh one day.

And kick him square in his shriveled little nuts.

Once again, for the record, this fuckmook avoided going to Vietnam. But he thinks he can talk shit about people who have had their ass in the grass and then criticize the leaders who put them there. Bull. Fucking. Shit.

"Phony soldiers."

Christ, he's a rotten excuse for a human being.

Surprise!

He might have given a more honest assessment.

That Petraeus guy that all the Republicans and the media types love so much?

Yeah, he's a lying tool.

I was shocked, too. Who would ever think that a general would tailor his public report to support his civilian superiors' positions, no matter how untrue his public presentation was?

No one could have anticipated the failure of the general's honesty.

Video Goodness

Watch. Cry. Laugh. Pray.

More Good Fucking News

Head x-ray of Paul Wolfowitz, Iraq War Architect

Iraq continues to be teh bestest furrin policy decision evah!!!1!!

The Turkish army has 140,000 soldiers along its border with northern Iraq as part of a "great mobilisation", Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said on Monday.

Turkey's armed forces have urged its government to allow an incursion into neighbouring, mainly Kurdish, northern Iraq to crush up to 4,000 Turkish Kurdish militants who use the region as a base to attack security and civilian targets inside Turkey.

Rumours of a possible Turkish incursion have rattled financial markets and have drawn warnings from the United States, Ankara's NATO ally, to stay out of Iraq.

"There is a great mobilisation on Iraq's northern international border that the security services and intelligence (agencies) estimate at more than 140,000 military personnel with all sorts of equipment," Zebari told a news conference.

Asked to confirm the number, Zebari, who is himself a Kurd, said it was 140,000.

While Turkey has not said how many troops had been sent to the border, it had been believed to be in the tens of thousands.

Tensions have soared along the mountainous border region following an upsurge in attacks across Turkey that Ankara has blamed on Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants.

Once again, it's so comforting to have "the grown-ups" in charge. These serious, manly Republicans are so much better than the squishy, effete Democrats, who wouldn't have the cojones to bog us down in an unwinnable war in the Middle East, occupying a country that didn't have anything to do with the al-Qaeda attacks almost six years ago. Thank Jeebus for the strong, visionary Republicans who have the guts to do what those weak-ass Democrats can't.

Great. Just Great.

We'd better hire these people in a hurry.

Well, it was bad enough that we had to worry about al-Qaeda. Now it's worse. Zombie al-Qaeda.

The U.S. command in Baghdad this week ballyhooed the killing of a key al Qaeda leader but later admitted that the military had declared him dead a year ago.

A military spokesman acknowledged the mistake after it was called to his attention by The Examiner. He said public affairs officers will be more careful in announcing significant kills.

The incident shows the eagerness of the command to show progress in dismantling al Qaeda at a time when Democrats and some Republicans are pressing President Bush to withdraw troops from Iraq. Army Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander, has declared al Qaeda enemy No. 1 in Iraq.

Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner began his Monday news conference with a list of top insurgents either killed or captured in recent operations. He said they had been eliminated "in the past few weeks" and were "recent results."

"In the north, Iraqi army and coalition forces continue successful operations in Mosul," he told reporters. "Kamal Jalil Uthman, also known as Said Hamza, was the al Qaeda in Iraq military emir of Mosul. He planned, coordinated and facilitated suicide bombings, and he facilitated the movement of more than a hundred foreign fighters through safe houses in the area." All told, Bergner devoted 68 words to Uthman's demise.

Uthman was indeed a big kill, and the military featured his death last year in a report titled "Tearing Down al Qaeda."

"The more we can bring down al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations, the greater probability of reducing violence," Army Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, the command's chief spokesman said, in 2006.

Uthman was listed in the 2006 news release as "the chief of military operations [in] Mosul."

When The Examiner pointed out that Uthman's death had been announced twice, a command spokesman said in an e-mail, "You are correct that we did previously announce that we killed him. This was a roll up to show an overall effort against [al Qaeda in Iraq]. We can probably do a better job on saying 'previously announced' when we do long-term roll ups to show an overall effort."

Note the lame attempt by government officials to allay civilian panic. Which is more likely, after all? That the US Government made a mistake with respect to Iraq, or that terrorist zombies are coming to bite us all?

I say we need to bite them there, or we'll be biting them here. Or something like that. Just get me a high-paying gig with the American Enterprise Institute, and I'll start churning out plans for battling the zombies while continuing to cut taxes on the wealthy.

Think about This

The next time some asshole tells you about why "sacrifice" is necessary in the War on Terra, think about this.

What the Fuck?

Elephant in the room? What elephant in the room?

Uh, Mitt? You might wanna think about coming up with something to say about that whole war thing. People seem to care about it.

And at another forum in West Des Moines, Republican Steven Faux, 54, was left cold after telling Romney that his son's National Guard unit was on the verge of deployment to Iraq. The candidate does not mention the war in his stump speech.

Describing himself as a "worried parent," Faux, a Drake University professor, called the war a "mess" and asked Romney how he would fix it.

Romney responded by voicing support for President Bush's recent troop buildup, saying it had a "reasonable prospect of success." He outlined risks of a quick U.S. withdrawal but offered no hint of how he would proceed if Bush could not stabilize Iraq.

Wow. Just...wow.

That's about as politically tone-deaf as a person can be.

Don't Forget to Make a Wish

Hubris has a birthday, too.

Happy Mission Accomplished Day, everyone!

I know this guy is glad that the mission is over:

Watch Jon Stewart Hand John McCain His Own Ass



Wow. McCain's just imploding. Let's see--he told Stewart that he brought him an IED, that he'd kick his dog, and that the Baghdad markets are great, 'cause they take plastic (what's the odds on them accepting AmEx?). Then he implies that the audience wants the US to lose (whatever the hell losing means when you're refereeing a three-way civil war).

Maybe McCain knows he has as much of a chance as Dole in 1996. Maybe he's mad about his upcoming (and continuing) fundie ass-kissing. Maybe he's just lost the capacity to be funny. Or perhaps it's a combination of these factors.

Whatever it is, he's in for a long year and a half if this keeps up.

At any rate, the more inept the Republicans are, the better it is for you, me, and everyone else who doesn't have bank accounts in the Caymans.

As the Iraqis Stand Up...

Cluster bomb.


Cluster fuck.

George Bush, June 2005:

"Our strategy can be summed up this way: As the Iraqis stand up, we will stand down."

Things today are somewhat different:

WASHINGTON - Military planners have abandoned the idea that standing up Iraqi troops will enable American soldiers to start coming home soon and now believe that U.S. troops will have to defeat the insurgents and secure control of troubled provinces.

Training Iraqi troops, which had been the cornerstone of the Bush administration's Iraq policy since 2005, has dropped in priority, officials in Baghdad and Washington said.

No change has been announced, and a Pentagon spokesman, Col. Gary Keck, said training Iraqis remains important. "We are just adding another leg to our mission," Keck said, referring to the greater U.S. role in establishing security that new troops arriving in Iraq will undertake.

But evidence has been building for months that training Iraqi troops is no longer the focus of U.S. policy. Pentagon officials said they know of no new training resources that have been included in U.S. plans to dispatch 28,000 additional troops to Iraq. The officials spoke only on the condition of anonymity because they aren't authorized to discuss the policy shift publicly. Defense Secretary Robert Gates made no public mention of training Iraqi troops on Thursday during a visit to Iraq.

In a reflection of the need for more U.S. troops, the Pentagon decided earlier this month to increase the length of U.S. Army tours in Iraq from 12 to 15 months. The extension came amid speculation that the U.S. commander there, Army Gen. David Petraeus, will ask that the troop increase be maintained well into 2008.

U.S. officials don't say that the training formula - championed by Gen. John Abizaid when he was the commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East and by Gen. George Casey when he was the top U.S. general in Iraq - was doomed from the start. But they said that rising sectarian violence and the inability of Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki to unite the country changed the conditions. They say they now must establish security while training Iraqi forces because ultimately, "they are our ticket out of Iraq," as one senior Pentagon official put it.

Could some enterprising reporter ask the President about this? When will our Great Mesopotamian Adventure come to an end?

Thanks, But No Thanks

If no one else will take the "War Czar" job, maybe they should give John Connor a call. He could beat SkyNet, right?

Retired USMC General John Sheehan to Bush: Go find some other patsy upon whom to pin your failed war.

The day-to-day work of the White House implementation manager overseeing Iraq and Afghanistan would require a great deal of emotional and intellectual energy resolving critical resource issues in a bureaucracy that, to date, has not functioned well. Activities such as the current surge operations should fit into an overall strategic framework. There has to be linkage between short-term operations and strategic objectives that represent long-term U.S. and regional interests, such as assured access to energy resources and support for stable, Western-oriented countries. These interests will require a serious dialogue and partnership with countries that live in an increasingly dangerous neighborhood. We cannot "shorthand" this issue with concepts such as the "democratization of the region" or the constant refrain by a small but powerful group that we are going to "win," even as "victory" is not defined or is frequently redefined.

It would have been a great honor to serve this nation again. But after thoughtful discussions with people both in and outside of this administration, I concluded that the current Washington decision-making process lacks a linkage to a broader view of the region and how the parts fit together strategically. We got it right during the early days of Afghanistan -- and then lost focus. We have never gotten it right in Iraq. For these reasons, I asked not to be considered for this important White House position. These huge shortcomings are not going to be resolved by the assignment of an additional individual to the White House staff. They need to be addressed before an implementation manager is brought on board.

Translation: You, Mr. Bush, have shit the bed. There is no way to un-shit it. And I'll be goddamned if I roll around in your stank-ass sheets. Enjoy your cluster fuck, sir, for I will have no part of it.

Although the general is far more politic than I would be, I agree with what he says. Who wouldn't?

Lots of News, Little of It Good

Iraq is a giant fucking death trap that's probably gonna get worse.

Insane people are trying to start a war with another country for no good goddamn reason.

Donald Rumsfeld has not, as yet, been remanded to the loving custody of the Federal Penitentiary system.

For some reason, these neoconservative cocksuckers still have influence in the world.

But hey, at least this moron's happy:

Lookit, ma. I outsmarted dis fish.

And some people still think we're the acme of creation.

Music by which to Ponder Today's News



And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda.

Make sure you check out this story in the LA Times, too.

Sweet Jesus

Six, this is point. Sir, this is fucked.

From Editor & Publisher:

AP Disputes Military Claims on Deaths of Americans in Iraq

BAGHDAD Contrary to U.S. military statements, four U.S. soldiers did not die repelling a sneak attack at the governor's office in the Shiite holy city of Karbala last week. New information obtained by The Associated Press shows they were abducted and found dead or dying as far as 25 miles away.

The brazen assault 50 miles south of Baghdad was launched Jan. 20 by a group of nine to 12 militants. They traveled in black GMC Suburban vehicles - the type used by U.S. government convoys, had American weapons, wore new U.S. military combat fatigues and spoke English.

In a written statement, the U.S. command reported at the time that five soldiers were killed while "repelling the attack." Two senior U.S. military officials as well as Iraqi officials now say three of them were found dead and one mortally wounded in locations as far as 25 miles east of the governor's office.

The U.S. officials said they could not be sure if the soldiers were killed as the attackers drove them to the place where they abandoned the Suburbans or afterward. Iraqi officials said the men were killed just before the vehicles were abandoned.

The daring commando team also took an unclassified U.S. computer with them as they fled with the four soldiers and left behind an American M-4 automatic rifle, senior U.S. military officials said.

The new information has emerged after nearly a week of inquiries. The U.S. military in Baghdad repeatedly declined comment on reports that began emerging from Iraqi government and military officials which suggested a major breakdown in security at Karbala site.

The two senior American military officials now confirm the reports, gathered by The Associated Press from five senior Iraqi government, military and religious leaders. The U.S. military also has provided additional details from internal military accounts.

None of the American or Iraqi officials would allow use of their names because of the sensitive nature of the information.

The U.S. officials, who had seen incident reports of the assault, said the documents indicated two of the soldiers were found in one of the Suburbans at one location and two others in a second Suburban elsewhere. The exact locations were not specified, they said.

The five Americans killed that day ranged in age from 20 to 31.

Bring 'em home.

Bring 'em home now.

This is fucked. Fucked in so many ways. And it's only going to get worse, until Bush is no longer in the White House.

Wagering

So, when Saddam Hussein finally shuffles off this mortal coil, how long do you think it'll take for the video to make it to YouTube?

I'm guessing six hours.

The delay is because electricity is so spotty in Iraq.

Estimates? Leave 'em in the comments.

Depressing Milestone

It's quite probable that, before January 1st, the 3000th US soldier will meet his or her untimely end in Iraq. If not before the first, then certainly very soon afterwards.

Why, again, is this going to happen?

Worth Ten Thousand Words

Caption contest! Come up with a good one for this photo:

My submission: "When's th' movie comin' out?"

I know you can do better than that. Leave 'em in the comments.

Madness

Right-wing sleepover

Read this from a person who calls himself Dr. Sanity. Then weep.

These words are what neoconservatism stands for in the truest sense. It acknowledges the reality of human nature, both the good and the bad; but chooses the good; it seeks truth from history and uses it to better the world now--not by imposing useless utopian fantasies, but by supporting human freedom and individuality and opposing tyranny wherever it is found; it recognizes that all men and women are entitled to life, libery (sic) and the pursuit of happiness; and it understands that freedom is often messy and chaotic, while tyranny is orderly and deadening to the human soul.

Deadening to the human soul, huh?

This little excerpt illustrates, I believe, the emptiness, idiocy, and downright insanity of the supporters of the neoconservatives and their war. Deadening to the soul?

I'm certainly glad all of these people aren't having their souls deadened by tyranny anymore.

I shouldn't have to mention this, but I will anyway. Of course tyranny is awful. But the "chaotic freedom" that Dr. Sanity so cherishes (for others) is not an improvement--not in Iraq, anyway, and that's the best example we've got right now. Over and over again, humans have shown that they prefer repressive authoritarian governments to anarchy (that's how the goddamn Taliban came to power in Afghanistan). Yes, tyranny is bad. But chaos is worse. It doesn't take any kind of advanced degree to figure this shit out. What has happened in Iraq is a crime of the highest order. The obscene, paternalistic, deluded experiment in nation building is not some noble calling that "the West" undertook because of our love of freedom. It's a fucking crime. Period.

So is Dr. Sanity a liar, an idiot, or a madman?

I suggest choosing "All of the above."

The Idiots Who Rule Us

Read this, asshole.

Forty years too late, George W. Bush finally made it to Vietnam. If you know anything about George W. Bush, you won't be surprised to find out that he started spewing idiotic blather as soon as someone shoved a microphone in front of his slack jaw.

In his first day in the capital of a country that was America’s wartime enemy during his youth, President Bush said today that the American experience in Vietnam contained lessons for the war in Iraq. Chief among them, he said, was that “we’ll succeed unless we quit.”

--snip--

“The Maliki government is going to make it unless the coalition leaves before they have a chance to make it,” he said of Iraq’s prime minister. “And that’s why I assured the prime minister we’ll get the job done.”

With emotional imagery to deal with on every side here, it is no surprise that Mr. Bush’s national security team has spent great effort drawing distinctions between the war that their generation grew up with, and the one that they ordered.

--snip--

“Historical parallels of that kind are not very helpful, and I don’t think they happen to be right,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters the other day. “This is a different set of circumstances, with different stakes for the United States.”

Stephen J. Hadley, the president’s national security adviser, struck a similar note last week when he suggested that the “domino effect” that Americans worried about in the 1960’s and 70’s — the fear that neighboring countries would fall to Communism’s lures — was nothing compared to the problems today.

“There were discussions about dominoes, some which fell, some which didn’t fall,” he said. But, he added, “Most men and women in America believe that it is important that we not fail in Iraq; that the consequences of an Iraq that descended into chaos would be an Iraq that would be a safe haven for terrorists.”

Ultimately, he said, that “could result in 9/11-type attacks against the United States.”

In private, Mr. Bush says there is another big difference between then and now — the draft. There is little question that by signing up to be a pilot in the Texas Air National Guard, the risk was low that he would end up in Vietnam as a 23-year-old. But according to an academic called into the White House recently, Mr. Bush said the administration could never have sustained this effort in Iraq, politically, without an all-volunteer force. He declined to be named because he was relaying a private conversation.

Just once, it would be nice not to have important foreign policy decisions left to morons like these.

If Barbara Tuchman were still alive, she'd be furiously writing another section of that book. Iraq is an exercise in pursuit of policy contrary to self-interest that makes Vietnam look like child's play.

This would be funny if it weren't for, you know, the dead and maimed.

UPDATE: Check out Keith Olbermann's lessons for Mr. Bush. Honestly, I had no idea that Keith Olbermann would turn into this generation's Edward R. Murrow. But here's the proof.

Body Counts

We dance in Iraq these days.

I'm sure you've heard about the study in The Lancet (subscription required) concerning the "excess mortality" in Iraq following the 2003 invasion.

The crude mortality rate in the pre-invasion period was 5·5 per 1000 people per year (95% CI 4·3–7·1) and for the overall post-invasion period was 13·3 per 1000 people per year (10·9–16·1)...

--snip--

Post-invasion excess mortality rates showed much the same escalating trend, rising from 2·6 per 1000 people per year (0·6–4·7) above the baseline rate in 2003 to 14·2 per 1000 people per year (8·6–21·5) in 2006 (figure 2 and table 3). Excess mortality is attributed mainly to an increase in the violent death rate; however, an increase in the non-violent death rate was noted in the later part of the post-invasion period (2005–06). The post-invasion non-violent excess mortality rate was 0·7 per 1000 people per year (−1·2 to 3·0).

Of the 302 conflict-related violent deaths reported, 300 (99%) were post-invasion (table 4). An increase in violent death rates was seen in the post-invasion period (figure 2). Analysis for trend showed that this rate for violent deaths increased significantly in every period after the invasion (p<0·0001)>--snip--

Most violent deaths were due to gunshots (56%); air strikes, car bombs, and other explosions/ordnance each accounted for 13–14% of violent deaths. The number of deaths from gunshots increased consistently over the post-invasion period, and a sharp increase in deaths from car bombs was noted in 2006.Violent deaths that were directly attributed to coalition forces or to air strikes were classified as coalition violent deaths. In many other cases the responsible party was not known, or the households were hesitant to specifically identify them. Deaths attributable to the coalition accounted for 31% (95% CI 26–37) of post-invasion violent deaths. The proportion of violent deaths attributable to the coalition was much the same across periods (p=0·058). However, the actual number of violent deaths, including those that resulted from coalition forces, increased every year after the invasion.

Using what appear to be solid methods, the researchers claim that, since the March 2003 invasion, there have been 655,000 deaths that can be attributed to said invasion.

655,000.

Here's a Washington Post article that sums up the major points.

If there had never been an Iraq invasion, by this count, then 655,000 people would not have died.

Of the total 655,000 estimated "excess deaths," 601,000 resulted from violence and the rest from disease and other causes, according to the study. This is about 500 unexpected violent deaths per day throughout the country.

The survey was done by Iraqi physicians and overseen by epidemiologists at Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health. The findings are being published online today by the British medical journal the Lancet.

The same group in 2004 published an estimate of roughly 100,000 deaths in the first 18 months after the invasion. That figure was much higher than expected, and was controversial. The new study estimates that about 500,000 more Iraqis, both civilian and military, have died since then -- a finding likely to be equally controversial.

Both this and the earlier study are the only ones to estimate mortality in Iraq using scientific methods. The technique, called "cluster sampling," is used to estimate mortality in famines and after natural disasters.

While acknowledging that the estimate is large, the researchers believe it is sound for numerous reasons. The recent survey got the same estimate for immediate post-invasion deaths as the early survey, which gives the researchers confidence in the methods. The great majority of deaths were also substantiated by death certificates.

This is what we've done in Iraq, folks.

Just something to think about.

Glenn Greenwald, as always, has excellent analysis. Ditto Juan Cole.