As U.S. escalates the Iraq war, Britain continues pullout.

Dick Kazan Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 10:36 am

As President Bush escalates the Iraq war, adding 21,500 more U.S. troops to the 140,000 already there, British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced a further pullout of British troops from Iraq.

British voters and members of his own Labour Party want the British troops out of Iraq as soon as possible. On Wednesday [2/21/07], Prime Minister Blair announced, "The actual reduction in forces will be from the present 7,100 - itself down from over 9,000 two years ago and 40,000 at the time of the conflict - to roughly 5,500."

In response, U.S. National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe characterized President Bush's response to the British troop withdrawal as "a sign of success" in Iraq.

And Vice President Dick Cheney told ABC News, "I look at it and what I see is an affirmation of the fact that in parts of Iraq ... things are going pretty well."

Meanwhile, in conjunction with the Iraqi government, Denmark said it will pullout its 460 soldiers in August and instead offer surveillance helicopters and civilian advisors.

And Lithuania said it is "seriously considering" pulling out its 53 soldiers from Iraq.

Dear reader, the American allies are by their actions, trying to tell the Bush Administration what the American voters tried to tell him in November. That the U.S. military occupation of Iraq has caused horrific death and destruction and it should be stopped, not escalated and the U.S soldiers brought home.

But he refuses to listen, nor does he listen to Iraqi Prime Minister Nori al-Maliki and the duly elected government of Iraq. And instead of acting to end this war by withdrawing its funding, the U.S. Congress takes no action, other than to debate meaningless "non-binding" resolutions.

It is a very difficult time but we must keep the faith and make our voices heard. During the Vietnam war, massive and ongoing rallies helped give Congress the courage to withdraw that war's funding.

Today, organizations like Military Families Speak Out [MFSO] are bringing pressure to bear on Congressmen but they need our support. Can you take a few minutes to write a letter or call your Congressman and let him or her know what you think? Or perhaps like me, you will publicly light a candle in memory of all who have died or been seriously wounded in that war and on behalf of the pain their families bear.

I know it seems hopeless but it's not. There is a Supreme Being and within that Being, there is hope. But if we as mankind are to grow, we must learn to peacefully resolve our differences and when events have gone terribly wrong, to accept responsibility and take non-violent action together to stop them. As Gandhi said, "The victory is in the doing," and together we must do.

Dick

[Source of quotes: MSNBC.com, 2/21/07]


Dick Kazan Posted: Mon Feb 26, 2007 1:03 pm

"Suicide Blast Kills Dozens At University in Baghdad: As the Shiite-dominated campus is struck again, Sadr calls the U.S.-Iraqi security plan a failure." [Los Angeles Times front page headline, 2/26/07]

A suicide bomber blew up at least 40 Iraqis, most of them women waiting in line for classrooms to take their midterm exams.

One student described the scene. "There were bodies scattered in pools of blood near the gate." He checked the students, all of them dead and most mutilated by the blast.

"I saw female students weeping and wailing for the friends they lost and male students who cried harder," he said. "This is the first time I see men cry like this. I prayed to God that either he lift this ordeal or take my soul. It was really painful seeing all this chaos."

Widely followed Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr called upon the Iraqi government troops and police to take control of the security and to rid themselves of the "invaders," meaning the U.S. troops.

This latest incident followed one on the same campus January 16th in which at least 70 students were killed by car bombs.

And elsewhere near Baghdad, on Saturday a bomb blew-up 37 Iraqis, as the bloodshed continues with no end in sight. And in Baghdad, police found 15 more bodies.

Since the newest U.S.-Iraqi security plan for Baghdad took affect February 13th with additional checkpoints and thousands more U.S. and Iraqi troops the violence has been endless. And violence is expanding elsewhere in Iraq because some of the troops were withdrawn and placed in Baghdad.

In the end, the U.S. will leave Iraq, hopefully not as chaotically as it fled Vietnam in 1975. And the Iraqis will decide for themselves, the form and conduct of their government. It is a question of how extensive will be the death and destruction before we reach this point but the result of this war is inevitable. The U.S. military occupation is a colossal failure and each day that failure grows.

American allies now realize it and most of the world knows it. But President Bush continues to sacrifice American, allied and Iraqi lives rather than seek peace and withdraw the troops, as family after family loses their loved ones. Perhaps you and I will take a few moments today to pray for those who are paying so severe a price as we hold them dear in our hearts.

Dick