Bruce Brugmann

The Guardian Iraq War casualty report (1/29/07): 2 U.S. soldiers killed, 36 Iraqi civilians killed and 2 Iraqi policemen killed.

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Compiled by Paula Connelly

U.S. military:

2: U.S. soldiers were killed when their helicopter was shot down during a clash between Iraqi militants and U.S. backed Iraqi troops, according to BBC news.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6308821.stm

3,301: Killed since the U.S. invasion of Iraq 3/20/03

Source: http://www.icasualties.org/

For the Department of Defense statistics go to: http://www.defenselink.mil/

For a more detailed list of U.S. Military killed in the War in Iraq go to:
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties/2007.01.html

Casualties in Iraq

Iraqi civilians:

36: Iraqi civilians were killed today in multiple instances of civil war related violence, according to BBC news.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6308821.stm

98,000: Killed since 3/03

Source: www.thelancet.com

55,073 – 60,754: Killed since 1/03

For a week by week assessment of significant incidents and trends in Iraqi civilian casualties, go to A Week in Iraq by Lily Hamourtziadou. She is a member of the Iraq Body Count project, which maintains and updates the world’s only independent and comprehensive public database of media-reported civilian deaths in Iraq.

Source: http://www.iraqbodycount.net

A Week in Iraq: Week ending 28 January 2007: http://www.iraqbodycount.org/editorial/weekiniraq/28/

For first hand accounts of the grave situation in Iraq, visit some of these blogs:
www.ejectiraqikkk.blogspot.com
www.healingiraq.blogspot.com
www.afamilyinbaghdad.blogspot.com

Iraq Military:

2: Iraqi policemen were killed during a clash between Iraqi militants and U.S. backed Iraqi troops, according to the New York Times.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/29/world/middleeast/29iraq.html?ref=todayspaper

30,000: Killed since 2003

Source:http://www.infoshout.com

Journalists:

151: Killed since 3/03

Source: http://www.infoshout.com/

Refugees:

Border policies are tightening because one million Iraqi refugees have already fled to Jordan and another one million to Syria. Iraqi refugees who manage to make it out of Iraq still can’t work, have difficulty attending school and are not eligible for health care. Many still need to return to Iraq to escape poverty, according to BBC news.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6293807.stm

1.6 million: Iraqis displaced internally

1.8 million: Iraqis displaced to neighboring states

Many refugees were displaced prior to 2003, but an increasing number are fleeing now, according to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ estimates.

Source: http://www.unhcr.org/iraq.html

U.S. Military Wounded:

47,657: Wounded since 3/19/03 to 1/6/07

Source: http://www.icasualties.org/

The Guardian cost of Iraq war report (1/29/07): $362 billion for the U.S., $45 billion for California and $1 billion for San Francisco.

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Compiled by Paula Connelly

Here is a running total of the cost of the Iraq War to the U.S. taxpayer, provided by the National Priorities Project located in Northampton, Massachusetts. The number is based on Congressional appropriations. Niko Matsakis of Boston, MA and Elias Vlanton of Takoma Park, MD originally created the count in 2003 on costofwar.com. After maintaining it on their own for the first year, they gave it to the National Priorities Project to contribute to their ongoing educational efforts.



Cost of the War in Iraq
(JavaScript Error)


To bring the cost of the war home, please note that California has already lost $45 billion and San Francisco has lost $1 billion to the Bush war and his mistakes. In San Francisco alone, the funds used for the war in Iraq could have hired 21,095 additional public school teachers for one year, we could have built 10,960 additional housing units or we could have provided 59,011 students four-year scholarships at public universities. For a further breakdown of the cost of the war to your community, see the NPP website aptly titled “turning data into action.”

The Guardian cost of Iraq war report (1/26/07): $361 billion for the U.S., $45 billion for California and $1 billion for San Francisco.

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0

Compiled by Paula Connelly

Here is a running total of the cost of the Iraq War to the U.S. taxpayer, provided by the National Priorities Project located in Northampton, Massachusetts. The number is based on Congressional appropriations. Niko Matsakis of Boston, MA and Elias Vlanton of Takoma Park, MD originally created the count in 2003 on costofwar.com. After maintaining it on their own for the first year, they gave it to the National Priorities Project to contribute to their ongoing educational efforts.



Cost of the War in Iraq
(JavaScript Error)


To bring the cost of the war home, please note that California has already lost $45 billion and San Francisco has lost $1 billion to the Bush war and his mistakes. In San Francisco alone, the funds used for the war in Iraq could have hired 21,095 additional public school teachers for one year, we could have built 10,960 additional housing units or we could have provided 59,011 students four-year scholarships at public universities. For a further breakdown of the cost of the war to your community, see the NPP website aptly titled “turning data into action.”

The Guardian Iraq War casualty report (1/26/07): 15 Iraqi civilians killed

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0

Compiled by Paula Connelly

Casualties in Iraq

Iraqi civilians:

15 Iraqi civilians were killed today when a bomb went off at a crowded animal market in Baghdad today, according to the Associated Press.

Source: http://www.thestar.com/News/article/175356

98,000: Killed since 3/03

Source: www.thelancet.com

54,432 – 60,098: Killed since 1/03

For a week by week assessment of significant incidents and trends in Iraqi civilian casualties, go to A Week in Iraq by Lily Hamourtziadou. She is a member of the Iraq Body Count project, which maintains and updates the world’s only independent and comprehensive public database of media-reported civilian deaths in Iraq.

Source: http://www.iraqbodycount.net

A Week in Iraq: Week ending 21 January 2007: http://www.iraqbodycount.org/editorial/weekiniraq/27/

For first hand accounts of the grave situation in Iraq, visit some of these blogs:

www.ejectiraqikkk.blogspot.com
www.riverbendblog.blogspot.com
www.healingiraq.blogspot.com
www.afamilyinbaghdad.blogspot.com

U.S. military:

3,284: Killed since the U.S. invasion of Iraq 3/20/03

Source: http://www.icasualties.org/

Here are the names of some of the soldiers that were killed this week in Iraq, according to the New York Times:

BROWN, Nicholas P., 24, Specialist, Army; Huber Heights, Ohio; First Cavalry Division.
HILL, Ryan J., 20, Pfc., Army; Keizer, Ore.; First Infantry Division.
JOHNSTON, Gary S., 21, Sgt., Marines; Windthorst, Tex.; Third Marine Expeditionary Force.
KASHKOUSH, Michael M., 24, Sgt., Marines; Chagrin Falls, Ohio; Third Marine Expeditionary Force.
KINGMAN, Jonathan P. C., 21, Sgt., Army; Nankin, Ohio; First Infantry Division.
MATUS, Andrew G., 19, Lance Cpl., Marines; Chetek, Wis.; First Marine Expeditionary Force.
STOUT, Brandon L., 23, Specialist, Army National Guard; Grand Rapids, Mich.; 46th Military Police Company.
WIGGINS, Michael J., 26, Staff Sgt., Army; Cleveland; 79th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Battalion.
WILSON, Jamie D., 34, Staff Sgt., Army; San Diego; 25th Infantry
Division.

Here are some additional names of soldiers killed this week, according to CNN.com:

Sgt. 1st Class Keith A. Callahan, 31, of McClure, Pennsylvania, 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division.
Staff Sgt. Hector Leija, 27, of Houston, Texas, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team)

For the Department of Defense statistics go to: http://www.defenselink.mil/

For a more detailed list of U.S. Military killed in the War in Iraq go to:
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties/2007.01.html

Iraq Military:

30,000: Killed since 2003

Source:http://www.infoshout.com

Journalists:

151: Killed since 3/03

Source: http://www.infoshout.com/

Refugees:

1.6 million: Iraqis displaced internally

1.8 million: Iraqis displaced to neighboring states

Many refugees were displaced prior to 2003, but an increasing number are fleeing now, according to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ estimates.

Source: http://www.unhcr.org/iraq.html

U.S. Military Wounded:

47,657: Wounded since 3/19/03 to 1/6/07

Source: http://www.icasualties.org/

The Guardian Iraq War casualty report (1/25/07): 26 Iraqi civilians killed

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Compiled by Paula Connelly

Casualties in Iraq

Iraqi civilians:

26 Iraqi Civilians were killed today in Karradah, Iraq when a suicide car bomb was detonated in a marketplace, according to the Associated Press.

Source: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/4500170.html

98,000: Killed since 3/03

Source: www.thelancet.com

54,432 – 60,098: Killed since 1/03

For a week by week assessment of significant incidents and trends in Iraqi civilian casualties, go to A Week in Iraq by Lily Hamourtziadou. She is a member of the Iraq Body Count project, which maintains and updates the world’s only independent and comprehensive public database of media-reported civilian deaths in Iraq.

Source: http://www.iraqbodycount.net

A Week in Iraq: Week ending 21 January 2007: http://www.iraqbodycount.org/editorial/weekiniraq/27/

U.S. military:

29: Killed this weekend (1/19/07- 1/21/07):

2: Killed 1/19/07; 25: Killed 1/20/07; 2: Killed 1/21/07

3,284: Killed since the U.S. invasion of Iraq 3/20/03

Source: http://www.icasualties.org/

The weekend death toll of 27, with 25 deaths on Saturday, made Saturday the third-deadliest day for U.S. forces since the war began, according to the New York Times.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/22/world/middleeast/22iraq.html?ref=middleeast

Here are the names of the soldiers killed on Saturday, January 20, 2007:

Four soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb detonated near their Humvee in Karma, Iraq, according to CNN.com:

Spc. Jeffrey D. Bisson, 22, of Vista, California, 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.
Sgt. Sean P. Fennerty, 25, of Corvallis, Oregon, 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.
Sgt. Phillip D. McNeil, 22, of Sunrise, Florida, 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.
Spc. Toby R. Olsen, 28, of Manchester, New Hampshire, 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.

Five soldiers were killed while repelling an attack on the Provincial Joint Coordination Center in Karbala, Iraq, according to CNN.com:

Spc. Johnathan B. Chism, 22, of Gonzales, Louisiana, 2nd Battalion, 377th Parachute Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.
Pfc. Shawn P. Falter, 25, of Cortland, New York, 2nd Battalion, 377th Parachute Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.
Capt. Brian S. Freeman, 31, of Temecula, California, 412th Civil Affairs Battalion, Army Reserve.
1st Lt. Jacob N. Fritz, 25, of Verdon, Nebraska, 2nd Battalion, 377th Parachute Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.
Pvt. Johnathon M. Millican, 20, of Trafford, Alabama, 2nd Battalion, 377th Parachute Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.

Three soldiers were killed in three separate incidents, according to CNN.com:

Lance Cpl. Luis J. Castillo, 20, of Lawton, Michigan, 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve.
Pfc. Ryan J. Hill, 20, of Keizer, Oregon, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division.
Pfc. Allen B. Jaynes, 21, of Henderson, Texas, 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division.
Twelve soldiers were killed in Baghdad on Jan. 20, when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter they were in crashed, according to the Department of Defense.
Col. Brian D. Allgood, 46, of Oklahoma, who was assigned to the 30th Medical Brigade, European Regional Medical Command, Heidelberg, Germany.
Staff Sgt. Darryl D. Booker, 37, of Midlothian, Va., who was assigned to the 29th Infantry Division, Virginia Army National Guard, Sandston, Va.
Sgt. 1st Class John G. Brown, 43, of Little Rock, Ark., who was assigned to the Arkansas Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 185th Aviation Regiment (Air Assault), 77th Aviation Brigade, Camp Robinson, Ark.
Lt. Col. David C. Canegata, 50, of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, who was assigned to the Virgin Islands Army National Guard, Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands.
Command Sgt. Maj. Marilyn L. Gabbard, 46, of Polk City, Iowa, who was assigned to Joint Forces Headquarters, Iowa Army National Guard, Camp Dodge, Johnston, Iowa.
Command Sgt. Maj. Roger W. Haller, 49, of Davidsonville, Md., who was assigned to the 70th Regiment, Regional Training Institute – Maryland, Maryland Army National Guard, Reisterstown, Md.
Col. Paul M. Kelly, 45, of Stafford, Va., who was assigned to the Joint Force Headquarters of the Virginia Army National Guard in Blackstone, Va.
Staff Sgt. Floyd E. Lake, 43, of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, who was assigned to the Virgin Islands Army National Guard, Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands.
Cpl. Victor M. Langarica, 29, of Decatur, Ga., who was assigned to the 86th Signal Battalion, Fort Huachuca, Ariz.
Capt. Sean E. Lyerly, 31, of Pflugerville, Texas., who was assigned to the Texas Army National Guard’s 36th Combat Aviation Brigade, 36th Infantry Division, Austin, Texas.
Maj. Michael V. Taylor, 40, of North Little Rock, Ark., who was assigned to the Arkansas Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 185th Aviation Regiment (Air Assault), 77th Aviation Brigade, Camp Robinson, Ark.
1st Sgt. William T. Warren, 48, of North Little Rock, Ark., who was assigned to the Arkansas Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 185th Aviation Regiment (Air Assault), 77th Aviation Brigade, Camp Robinson, Ark.

For the Department of Defense statistics go to: http://www.defenselink.mil/

For a more detailed list of U.S. Military killed in the War in Iraq go to:
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties/2007.01.html

Iraq Military:

30,000: Killed since 2003

Source:http://www.infoshout.com

Journalists:

94: Killed since 3/03

Source: www.cpj.org

Refugees:

1.6 million: Iraqis displaced internally

1.8 million: Iraqis displaced to neighboring states

Many refugees were displaced prior to 2003, but an increasing number are fleeing now, according to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ estimates.

Source: http://www.unhcr.org/iraq.html

U.S. Military Wounded:

47,657: Wounded since 3/19/03 to 1/6/07

Source: http://www.icasualties.org/

The Guardian cost of Iraq war report (1/25/07): $361 billion for the U.S., $45 billion for California and $1 billion for San Francisco.

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0

Compiled by Paula Connelly

Here is a running total of the cost of the Iraq War to the U.S. taxpayer, provided by the National Priorities Project located in Northampton, Massachusetts. The number is based on Congressional appropriations. Niko Matsakis of Boston, MA and Elias Vlanton of Takoma Park, MD originally created the count in 2003 on costofwar.com. After maintaining it on their own for the first year, they gave it to the National Priorities Project to contribute to their ongoing educational efforts.



Cost of the War in Iraq
(JavaScript Error)


To bring the cost of the war home, please note that California has already lost $45 billion and San Francisco has lost $1 billion to the Bush war and his mistakes. In San Francisco alone, the funds used for the war in Iraq could have hired 21,095 additional public school teachers for one year, we could have built 10,960 additional housing units or we could have provided 59,011 students four-year scholarships at public universities. For a further breakdown of the cost of the war to your community, see the NPP website aptly titled “turning data into action.”

The Guardian Iraq War casualty report (1/24/07): 5 American Civilians killed

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0

Compiled by Paula Connelly

Casualties in Iraq

U.S. military:

Five American contractors working for Blackwater private security firm were killed Tuesday (1/23/07) when their helicopters were attacked in Baghdad, according to the New York Times.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/24/world/middleeast/24iraq.html

29: Killed this weekend (1/19/07- 1/21/07):
2: Killed 1/19/07; 25: Killed 1/20/07; 2: Killed 1/21/07

3,284: Killed since the U.S. invasion of Iraq 3/20/03

Source: http://www.icasualties.org/

The weekend death toll of 27, with 25 deaths on Saturday, made Saturday the third-deadliest day for U.S. forces since the war began, according to the New York Times.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/22/world/middleeast/22iraq.html?ref=middleeast

Here are the names of the soldiers killed on Saturday, January 20, 2007:

Four soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb detonated near their Humvee in Karma, Iraq, according to CNN.com:

Spc. Jeffrey D. Bisson, 22, of Vista, California, 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.
Sgt. Sean P. Fennerty, 25, of Corvallis, Oregon, 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.
Sgt. Phillip D. McNeil, 22, of Sunrise, Florida, 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.
Spc. Toby R. Olsen, 28, of Manchester, New Hampshire, 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.

Five soldiers were killed while repelling an attack on the Provincial Joint Coordination Center in Karbala, Iraq, according to CNN.com:

Spc. Johnathan B. Chism, 22, of Gonzales, Louisiana, 2nd Battalion, 377th Parachute Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.
Pfc. Shawn P. Falter, 25, of Cortland, New York, 2nd Battalion, 377th Parachute Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.
Capt. Brian S. Freeman, 31, of Temecula, California, 412th Civil Affairs Battalion, Army Reserve.
1st Lt. Jacob N. Fritz, 25, of Verdon, Nebraska, 2nd Battalion, 377th Parachute Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.
Pvt. Johnathon M. Millican, 20, of Trafford, Alabama, 2nd Battalion, 377th Parachute Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.

Three soldiers were killed in three separate incidents, according to CNN.com:

Lance Cpl. Luis J. Castillo, 20, of Lawton, Michigan, 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve.
Pfc. Ryan J. Hill, 20, of Keizer, Oregon, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division.
Pfc. Allen B. Jaynes, 21, of Henderson, Texas, 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division.

Twelve soldiers were killed in Baghdad on Jan. 20, when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter they were in crashed, according to the Department of Defense.

Col. Brian D. Allgood, 46, of Oklahoma, who was assigned to the 30th Medical Brigade, European Regional Medical Command, Heidelberg, Germany.
Staff Sgt. Darryl D. Booker, 37, of Midlothian, Va., who was assigned to the 29th Infantry Division, Virginia Army National Guard, Sandston, Va.
Sgt. 1st Class John G. Brown, 43, of Little Rock, Ark., who was assigned to the Arkansas Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 185th Aviation Regiment (Air Assault), 77th Aviation Brigade, Camp Robinson, Ark.
Lt. Col. David C. Canegata, 50, of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, who was assigned to the Virgin Islands Army National Guard, Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands.
Command Sgt. Maj. Marilyn L. Gabbard, 46, of Polk City, Iowa, who was assigned to Joint Forces Headquarters, Iowa Army National Guard, Camp Dodge, Johnston, Iowa.
Command Sgt. Maj. Roger W. Haller, 49, of Davidsonville, Md., who was assigned to the 70th Regiment, Regional Training Institute – Maryland, Maryland Army National Guard, Reisterstown, Md.
Col. Paul M. Kelly, 45, of Stafford, Va., who was assigned to the Joint Force Headquarters of the Virginia Army National Guard in Blackstone, Va.
Staff Sgt. Floyd E. Lake, 43, of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, who was assigned to the Virgin Islands Army National Guard, Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands.
Cpl. Victor M. Langarica, 29, of Decatur, Ga., who was assigned to the 86th Signal Battalion, Fort Huachuca, Ariz.
Capt. Sean E. Lyerly, 31, of Pflugerville, Texas., who was assigned to the Texas Army National Guard’s 36th Combat Aviation Brigade, 36th Infantry Division, Austin, Texas.
Maj. Michael V. Taylor, 40, of North Little Rock, Ark., who was assigned to the Arkansas Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 185th Aviation Regiment (Air Assault), 77th Aviation Brigade, Camp Robinson, Ark.
1st Sgt. William T. Warren, 48, of North Little Rock, Ark., who was assigned to the Arkansas Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 185th Aviation Regiment (Air Assault), 77th Aviation Brigade, Camp Robinson, Ark.

For the Department of Defense statistics go to: http://www.defenselink.mil/

For a more detailed list of U.S. Military killed in the War in Iraq go to: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties/2007.01.html

Iraqi civilians:

98,000: Killed since 3/03

Source: www.thelancet.com

54,432 – 60,098: Killed since 1/03

For a week by week assessment of significant incidents and trends in Iraqi civilian casualties, go to A Week in Iraq by Lily Hamourtziadou. She is a member of the Iraq Body Count project, which maintains and updates the world’s only independent and comprehensive public database of media-reported civilian deaths in Iraq.

Source: http://www.iraqbodycount.net

A Week in Iraq: Week ending 21 January 2007: http://www.iraqbodycount.org/editorial/weekiniraq/27/

Iraq Military:

30,000: Killed since 2003

Source:http://www.infoshout.com

Journalists:

146: Killed since 3/03

Source: www.rsf.org

Refugees:

1.6 million: Iraqis displaced internally

1.8 million: Iraqis displaced to neighboring states

Many refugees were displaced prior to 2003, but an increasing number are fleeing now, according to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ estimates.

Source: http://www.unhcr.org/iraq.html

U.S. Military Wounded:

47,657: Wounded since 3/19/03 to 1/6/07

Source: http://www.icasualties.org/

NEW BLOG

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Order re Motion to Intervene.pdf

The Guardian cost of Iraq war report (1/24/07): $360 billion for the U.S., $45 billion for California and $1 billion for San Francisco.

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0

Compiled by Paula Connelly

Here is a running total of the cost of the Iraq War to the U.S. taxpayer, provided by the National Priorities Project located in Northampton, Massachusetts. The number is based on Congressional appropriations. Niko Matsakis of Boston, MA and Elias Vlanton of Takoma Park, MD originally created the count in 2003 on costofwar.com. After maintaining it on their own for the first year, they gave it to the National Priorities Project to contribute to their ongoing educational efforts.



Cost of the War in Iraq
(JavaScript Error)


To bring the cost of the war home, please note that California has already lost $45 billion and San Francisco has lost $1 billion to the Bush war and his mistakes. In San Francisco alone, the funds used for the war in Iraq could have hired 21,095 additional public school teachers for one year, we could have built 10,960 additional housing units or we could have provided 59,011 students four-year scholarships at public universities. For a further breakdown of the cost of the war to your community, see the NPP website aptly titled “turning data into action.”

Bruce Blog: Casualty Report

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@@http://www.sfbg.com/blogs/bruce/2007/01/attention_president_bush_on_th_2.html@@

The Guardian cost of war report (1/23/07): $360 billion for the U.S., $45 billion for California and $1 billion for San Francisco.

-
0

Compiled by Paula Connelly

Here is a running total of the cost of the Iraq War to the U.S. taxpayer, provided by the National Priorities Project located in Northampton, Massachusetts. The number is based on Congressional appropriations. Niko Matsakis of Boston, MA and Elias Vlanton of Takoma Park, MD originally created the count in 2003 on costofwar.com. After maintaining it on their own for the first year, they gave it to the National Priorities Project to contribute to their ongoing educational efforts.



Cost of the War in Iraq
(JavaScript Error)


To bring the cost of the war home, please note that California has already lost $45 billion and San Francisco has lost $1 billion to the Bush war and his mistakes. In San Francisco alone, the funds used for the war in Iraq could have hired 21,095 additional public school teachers for one year, we could have built 10,960 additional housing units or we could have provided 59,011 students four-year scholarships at public universities. For a further breakdown of the cost of the war to your community, see the NPP website aptly titled “turning data into action.”

The Guardian Iraq War casualty report (1/23/07): 88 Iraqi civilians killed

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0

Compiled by Paula Connelly

Casualties in Iraq

U.S. military:

29: Killed this weekend (1/19/07- 1/21/07):

2: Killed 1/19/07; 25: Killed 1/20/07; 2: Killed 1/21/07

3,280: Killed since the U.S. invasion of Iraq 3/20/03

Source: http://www.icasualties.org/

The weekend death toll of 27 made Saturday the third-deadliest day for United States forces since the war here began, according to the New York Times.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/22/world/middleeast/22iraq.html?ref=middleeast

The DOD confirmed the deaths of the following American service members this week, according to the New York Times on January 23, 2007:

BOREA, Russell P., 38, Sgt. First Class, Army; El Paso; First Cavalry Division.
CASTILLO, Luis J., 20, Lance Cpl., Marines; Lawton, Mich.; Fourth Marine Division.
CORBETT, Jason J., 23, Specialist, Army; Casper, Wyo.; 25th Infantry Division.
JAYNES, Allen B., 21, Pfc., Army; Henderson, Tex.; Second Infantry Division.
NEAL, Jacob H., 23, Cpl., Marines; San Marcos, Tex.; Fourth Marine Division.
RECHENMACHER, William J., 24, Specialist, Army; Jacksonville, Fla.; First Cavalry Division.
SCHOCKMEL, Collin R., 19, Specialist, Army; Richwood, Tex.; Second Infantry Division.
VALDIVIA, Jennifer A., 27, Petty Officer First Class; Cambridge, Ill.; Naval Security Force, Naval Support Activity.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/us/23list.html

For a more detailed list of U.S. Military killed in the War in Iraq go to: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties/2007.01.html

For the Department of Defense statistics go to: http://www.defenselink.mil/

Iraqi civilians:

98,000: Killed since 3/03

Source: www.thelancet.com

At least 88 Iraqi civilians were killed Monday when two car bombs exploded in a crowded downtown marketplace in Baghdad, according to the New York Times on January 23, 2007.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/world/middleeast/23iraq.html?ref=todayspaper

54,432 – 60,098: Killed since 1/03

For a week by week assessment of significant incidents and trends in Iraqi civilian casualties, go to A Week in Iraq by Lily Hamourtziadou. She is a member of the Iraq Body Count project, which maintains and updates the world’s only independent and comprehensive public database of media-reported civilian deaths in Iraq.

Source: http://www.iraqbodycount.net

A Week in Iraq: Week ending 21 January 2007: http://www.iraqbodycount.org/editorial/weekiniraq/27/

Iraq Military:

30,000: Killed since 2003

Source:http://www.infoshout.com

Journalists:

146: Killed since 3/03

Source: www.rsf.org

Refugees:

1.6 million: Iraqis displaced internally

1.8 million: Iraqis displaced to neighboring states

Many refugees were displaced prior to 2003, but an increasing number are fleeing now, according to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ estimates.

Source: http://www.unhcr.org/iraq.html

U.S. Military Wounded:

47,657: Wounded since 3/19/03 to 1/6/07

Source: http://www.icasualties.org/

Has Hearst forgotten about Josh Wolf–soon to be the longest jailed journalist in U.S. history?

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By Bruce B. Brugmann

I was delighted to read in the Saturday (Jan. 20) San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco “added her voice to a growing list of lawmakers urging Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to drop the prosecution of two Chronicle reporters who face l8 months in prison for refusing to name their sources for stories about steroid use in professional sports.”

I was also delighted to see that she sent a three paragraph letter calling on Gonzales to withdraw the subpoenas of Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada asking them to identify their confidential sources.
I was further delighted to see that the letter came after she met in her new Capitol Hill office with Chronicle Editor Phil Bronstein and Fainaru-Wada.

And I was delighted to see that the Chronicle, in a story by Zachary Coile of the Chronicle Washington Bureau,
gave it prominent display and a nice head (“Pelosi urges halt to prosecution of Chronicle writers”) and a nice subhead (“Letter to attorney general also calls for federal shield law”) on the upper right corner on page four.

However, I was startled and quite annoyed to find that, suddenly, the Chronicle/Hearst and Pelosi seemed to forget that there is a third journalist involved in a similar government subpoena case, Josh Wolf, who is the only U.S. journalist presently in jail and will soon be the longest jailed journalist in U.S. history.

Pelosi and her office staff have refused to meet with Wolf’s mother or his supporters, saying to her and to the Guardian that she can’t interfere in a judicial matter.
To its credit, the Chronicle up to now has covered the Wolf case thoroughly and supported him editorially.
What happened?

I sent the following questions off by email to Bronstein and
Coile: What happened to the Wolf case? Why wasn’t it mentioned in your story? Did you ask Pelosi or any other congresspeople to support Wolf and ask that he be released from jail on the same basis you are using to keep your reporters out of jail? If not, why not? If they don’t answer me, I hope they explain their apparent double standard to Josh’s mother (see her appeal below, written before the story appeared.) I hope they refresh their editorial judgment that the journalistic principle of resisting government subpoenas applies equally to Hearst reporters and freelance journalists such as Wolf and Sarah Olson. B3

SF Chronicle: Pelosi urges halt to prosecution of Chronicle writers Letter to attorney general also calls for federal shield law

E-mail from Josh Wolf’s mother:

Subject: Please write to congress NOW to support Josh

There is a move in Congress to rescind the subpoena’s which put the two SF Chronicle reporters under grand jury contempt charges, but no mention or attention is being paid to Josh’s case, a similar first amendment issue, where he has already been in jail for 150 days.

Below is a sample letter to use to send to John Conyers and Tom Davis (representing the House Judiciary Committee), Nancy Pelosi (who represents Josh’s district) and California senators, Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein. Representative Dennis
Kucinich is also aware of and interested in Josh’s case.

January 19, 2006

To Representative John Conyers

From Liz Wolf-Spada
PO Box 2235
Wrightwood, CA 92397
liz_wolf_spada@yahoo.com
760-964-6101

Dear Representative Conyers,

While I find it commendable that Congress is finally getting involved in the questionable legality of grand jury subpoenas of journalists, I am appalled that no mention has been made of my son’s case. Josh Wolf is not facing a subpoena. HE HAD BEEN
INCARCERATED FOR 150 DAYS ALREADY FOR REFUSING TO COMPLY WITH THAT SUBPOENA.
Josh Wolf is an independent journalist who reports on local San Francisco activities, with a special interest in protests and demonstrations. He has been reporting on these events on his web site for over three years and has a large following. One of his
videotapes from a protest of June 8, 2002, is currently being used to prosecute cases of police brutality against jailed protestors.
Unlike the Chronicle reporters, Josh does not have a large corporate media conglomerate backing him or paying his bills. He was not given a stay, but was immediately put in jail on August 1, 2006, when Judge William Alsup ruled him in contempt for refusing to turn over unpublished video footage and for refusing to testify. Since then, Josh’s lawyer, Martin Garbus, has offered to give the unpublished material to the US Attorney in exchange for them dropping the subpoena to testify. The US Attorney refused this offer. The judge refused to view the tape to see if it had any relevance to the supposed investigation into an alleged attempt to burn a police car. The police car in question suffered only a broken taillight.
Josh cannot get permission from his sources to testify. His sources are the large group of dissidents in San Francisco who are exercising their first amendment rights to free speech and assembly. The attempt to intimidate Josh to name names of people
present at that protest not only goes against our rights to a free press, but it goes against our rights to free speech and assembly.
I urge you to petition Attorney General Gonzales to dismiss this contempt charge against Josh Wolf and release him from prison, where he has been held in coercive custody for 150 days.
Sincerely,

Liz Wolf-Spada
(mother of jailed journalist, Josh Wolf)

Attention President Bush on the eve of your State of the Union Address: Your war has cost $360 billion. How many more billions will it take? The Guardian cost of war report.

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Compiled by Paula Connelly

Here is a running total of the cost of the Iraq War to the U.S. taxpayer, provided by the National Priorities Project located in Northampton, Massachusetts. The number is based on Congressional appropriations. Niko Matsakis of Boston, MA and Elias Vlanton of Takoma Park, MD originally created the count in 2003 on costofwar.com. After maintaining it on their own for the first year, they gave it to the National Priorities Project to contribute to their ongoing educational efforts.

To bring the cost of the war home, please note that California has already lost $45 billion and San Francisco has lost $1 billion to the Bush war and his mistakes. In San Francisco alone, the funds used for the war in Iraq could have hired 21,095 additional public school teachers for one year, we could have built 10,960 additional housing units or we could have provided 59,011 students four-year scholarships at public universities. For a further breakdown of the cost of the war to your community, see the NPP website aptly titled “turning data into action.”


Cost of the War in Iraq
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Attention President Bush on the eve of your State of the Union Address: 29 soldiers were killed over the weekend because of your war and your mistakes. How many more will be killed? The Guardian casualty report.

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Compiled by Paula Connelly

Casualties in Iraq

U.S. Military:

29: Killed this weekend (1/19/07- 1/21/07):

2: Killed 1/19/07; 25: Killed 1/20/07; 2: Killed 1/21/07

3,280: Killed since the U.S. invasion of Iraq 3/20/03

Source: http://www.icasualties.org/

The weekend death toll of 27 made Saturday the third-deadliest day for United States forces since the war here began, according to the New York Times.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/22/world/middleeast/22iraq.html?ref=middleeast

The DOD confirmed the deaths of the following American service members this week, according to the New York Times on January 23, 2007:

BOREA, Russell P., 38, Sgt. First Class, Army; El Paso; First Cavalry Division.
CASTILLO, Luis J., 20, Lance Cpl., Marines; Lawton, Mich.; Fourth Marine Division.
CORBETT, Jason J., 23, Specialist, Army; Casper, Wyo.; 25th Infantry Division.
JAYNES, Allen B., 21, Pfc., Army; Henderson, Tex.; Second Infantry Division.
NEAL, Jacob H., 23, Cpl., Marines; San Marcos, Tex.; Fourth Marine Division.
RECHENMACHER, William J., 24, Specialist, Army; Jacksonville, Fla.; First Cavalry Division.
SCHOCKMEL, Collin R., 19, Specialist, Army; Richwood, Tex.; Second Infantry Division.
VALDIVIA, Jennifer A., 27, Petty Officer First Class; Cambridge, Ill.; Naval Security Force, Naval Support Activity.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/us/23list.html

For a more detailed list of U.S. Military killed in the War in Iraq go to: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties/2007.01.html

For the Department of Defense statistics go to: http://www.defenselink.mil/

Iraqi Civilians :

98,000: Killed since 3/03

Source: www.thelancet.com

54,432 – 60,098 : Killed since 1/03

For a week by week assessment of significant incidents and trends in Iraqi civilian casualties, go to A Week in Iraq by Lily Hamourtziadou. She is a member of the Iraq Body Count project, which maintains and updates the world’s only independent and comprehensive public database of media-reported civilian deaths in Iraq.

Source : http://www.iraqbodycount.net

A Week in Iraq: Week ending 21 January 2007: http://www.iraqbodycount.org/editorial/weekiniraq/27/

Iraq Military :

30,000 : Killed since 2003

Source : http://www.infoshout.com

Journalists :

146 : Killed since 3/03

Source : www.rsf.org

Refugees :

1.6 million : Iraqis displaced internally

1.8 million: Iraqis displaced to neighboring states

Many refugees were displaced prior to 2003, but an increasing number are fleeing now, according to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ estimates.

Source: http://www.unhcr.org/iraq.html

U.S. Military Wounded:

47,657: Wounded since 3/19/03 to 1/6/07

Source: http://www.icasualties.org/

The Iraq casualty report: How many more will die for Bush’s mistakes?

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By Bruce B. Brugmann

As a former infantryman (hell, advanced infantryman, during the Cold War of l958-60), I can tell you that my heart breaks every time I read the daily statistics of the fallen and the dead in Iraq, military and civilian.

Young men just like the four young men listed as dying yesterday: usually young men, some young women, usually young, privates and sergeants and specialists and second lieutenants, not many older officers, from the little towns and rural communities around the country.

And I know, once Bush’s surge strategy starts putting more young men into the neighborhoods and the crossfire of a bitter sectarian civil war, that the statistics of the dead and wounded is likely to rise dramatically and keep rising dramatically. And so the question remains: how many more will die because of Bush’s mistakes?

We will regularly run a snapshot of the war casualties from the best sources that we can find. This is today’s compilation by Paula Connelly of the Guardian staff. B3

Casualties in Iraq

U.S. Military:
4: Killed 1/17/07

Names:

Anderson, Ian C., 22, Sgt., Army; Prairie Village, Kan.; First Cavalry Division.
Cooper, John E., 29, Sgt., Army; Ewing, Ky.; First Cavalry Division.
Daily, Mark J., 23, Second Lt., Army; Irvine, Calif.; First Cavalry Division.
Grimm, Matthew T., 21, Specialist, Army; Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.; First Cavalry Division.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/18/world/middleeast/18iraq.html

3,037: Killed since the U.S. invasion of Iraq 3/20/03

Source: http://www.sunmt.org/intro.html

For a complete list of U.S. Military killed in the War in Iraq go to: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties/2007.01.html

Iraqi Civilians :
98,000: Killed since 3/03

Source: www.thelancet.com

53,954 – 59,571 : Killed since 1/03

Source : http://www.iraqbodycount.net

Iraq Military :
30,000 : Killed since 2003

Source : http://www.infoshout.com

Journalists :
146 : Killed since 3/03

Source : http://www.ifex.org

Refugees :
1.6 million : Iraqis displaced internally
1.8 million: Iraqis displaced to neighboring states

Many refugees were displaced prior to 2003, but an increasing number are fleeing now, according to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ estimates.

Source: http://www.unhcr.org/iraq.html

Barbara and Angela socked it to ’em! Keep it up!

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By Bruce B. Brugmann

Last Thursday, Jan.llth, when Sen. Barbara Boxer confronted Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice over the casualties in the Iraq War, the San Francisco Chronicle reported four more soldiers died in the civil war.

On Friday, when the right wing commentators yelled “slime” at Barbara and tried to change the subject by updating the swiftboat routine, the Chronicle reported “At least l9 people were reported killed or dead nationwide Friday, including l0 bullet-riddled bodies found in Baghdad and an Iraqi journalist who was killed in a drive-by shooting in the northern city of Mosul. KhudrYounis al-Obaidi was the second journalist killed this year.”

Meanwhile, even the Chronicle helped change the subject by playing the Boxer/Rice story big on on its Friday Jan. l3th front page. Carla Marinucci lead posed a naive and irrelevant question: Was Boxer’s “heated confrontation” with Rice “a case of ‘vicious feminine politics–as some critics have suggested–or merely the politics of frank talk in tough times?”

Marinucci wrote that Boxer, during her questioning of Rice, said she wanted to focus attention on the human consequences of the decision.

“Who pays the price? I’m not going to pay a personal price. My kids are too old, and my grandchild is too young” to serve, Boxer told Rice. “You’re not going to pay a price, as I understand it, within immediate family. So who pays the price? The American military and their families.”

Boxer’s statement was right on target, as were those of many other senators (Democrat and
Republican) who attacked the war and Bush when she appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
But the swiftboaters were out in gale force, not to discuss the Bush casualties or the issues of a war gone to hell, but to try to change the subject and attack Boxer, whose major sin it appears is that she happens to have been right about the war almost from the beginning. The New York Post/Murdoch called her comments “a low blow.” Tony Snow, the White House spokesman and former Fox News/Murdoch personality, said the comments were “outrageous” and said that Boxer had made “a great leap backward for feminism.” Fox News/Murdoch commentator Karen Hanretty whacked Boxer for talking about Rice’s “breeding history.”
Fox/Murdoch ran screaming heads all day Friday saying “Will Boxer Apologize?” and “Boxer slimes Rice.”
And Bill O”Reilly, the FoxNews/Murdoch star of slither and slime, took up the issue Friday night with Angela Alioto.

Boxer, to her immense credit, refused to apologize in the Marinucci story. “This is just typical of what they do…
the Bush administration always goes after me, and anyone who has been against the war from the start,” she said. “It’s ‘kill the messenger.'” Boxer said she will continue to be tough on the issue of the war because the “focus (on casualties) is crucial.”

Alioto, to her immense credit, stood up to Reilly on his Fox program, ably defended Boxer, got in some nice punches and kept making the casualties point by saying that “we fight wars with other people’s children” and “if everybody in Congress had a child in Iraq, we wouldn’t be in Iraq.”

The back and forth was delicious: O’Reilly: She (Boxer) denigrated Secretary Rice because Secretary Rice…

Alioto: That is not true.

O’Reilly: …doesn’t have any children.

Alioto: She would have said the same thing to a man. She would have said the same thing to a man. (See the full transcript below.)

Good for Barbara. Good for Angela. Keep it up. Keep the pressure on.

Meanwhile the Ballis report came in this morning with this count:

+U.S. Military killed in action in Iraq today (l/l5/O7): 2

+Current Total: 3,029

+Wounded total to (l/l0/07): 22,834

Wounded (l2/28 to l/l0/07): 120

See the Guardian editorial “Cut off the war money” in our current issue and on our website. We will regularly publish a snapshot of the statistics of military, civilian, and journalist casualties that tell this tragedy that grows grimmer by the day. B3

Boxer comments to Rice draw fire from the right – Senator says she won’t apologize for ‘strong message’

Friday Night Fights: Bill O’Reilly Takes on Liberal Extremists Over Boxer’s Statements | NewsBusters.org

Introducing the Edward R. Murrow of the Bush crisis in 2007: Keith Olbermann of MSNBC

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By Bruce B. Brugmann

The mainstream media who helped President Bush march us into war in Iraq have a lot to answer for.

One of the most eloquent answers these days comes from Keith Olbermann, who has become a passionate critic of the war and the Bush administration as the host of MSBNC’s “Countdown.”
He has night after night laid out some of the most scalding commentaries ever made on televsion by a major broadcast figure against a wartime president.

On Thursday night, after the President’s Wednesday night address to the nation on Iraq,
Olbermann rose to the occasion with an editorial titled “Bush’s Legacy: The President Who Cried Wolf,” with the subhead “Bush’s strategy fails because it depends on his credibility.”

For those of us who remember the way Edward R. Murrow started his War II radio broadcasts, “This is London,” Olbermann had the chilling ring of Murrow authority and credibility.

He started in on Bush with a lead that caught the essence of one of the most serious crises in American history: “Only this president, only in this time, only with this dangerous, even messianic certitude, could answer a country demanding an exit strategy from Iraq, by offering an entrance to Iran.”

And he ended with a flourish of trumpets, “You have lost the military. You have lost the Congress to the Democrats. You have lost most of the Iraqis. You have lost many of the Republicans. You have lost our allies.

“You are losing the credibility, not just of your presidency, but more importantly of the office itself.

“And most imperatively, you are guaranteeing that more American troops will be losing their lives, and more families their loved ones. You are guaranteeing it!

“This becomes your legacy, sir: How many of those you addressed last night as your ‘fellow citizens’ you just sent to their deaths.

“And for what, Mr. Bush?

“So the next president has to pull the survivors out of Iraq instead of you?”

Perhaps, as the crisis deepens by the day in Washington, Olbermann should start his evening commentaries by saying, “This is Washington.” Last night he ended his commentary with the trademark Murrow phrase, “Good night and good luck.” Let us wish all the good luck in the world to Olbermann and MSNBC in keeping him and his kind of distinguished commentary on the air. (This is the full text of his commentary, carried by truthout.org. Note also his other commentaries.) B3

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011207A.shtml

So Bush, like LBJ in Vietnam, is sending more troops into Iraq. So the Guardian will regularly print the surging casualty reports. How many more will die because of Bush’s mistakes?

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By Bruce B. Brugmann

On April 2, 2003, as Bush started a preventive war and invaded a small country that posed no danger to the U.S., the Guardian publshed a cover story predicting the U.S. would soon be mired down in the “The New Vietnam,” as our front page head put it. As our editorial warned at the time, “Taking Baghdad will afterward be difficult and bloody–and ruling the divided nation will be, to make a phenomenal understatement, something of a trick…All of this will only lead to increased anti-U.S. anger in the Arab world, more fertile ground for groups like Al-Qaeda to recruit new members, and less security for people in the U.S.”

In his television address Wednesday night, Bush virtually admitted that the horrors the Guardian (and many others) had predicted had come to pass and were “unacceptable” to the nation and to Bush.
Bush’s answer: send in more troops. This hasn’t worked in the past, it won’t work now, and it won’t work in the future. The U.S. can never be an occupying army in the middle of a brutal civil war. The electorate knows this and demanded a change in the polls and the November election. No matter.
Bush decided to escalate and war and the killing.

So the Guardian will regularly run the casualty reports and the statistics that demonstrate that we’ve lost the war, our only option is to accept defeat, and our only solution is a phased withdrawal that minimizes the military and diplomatic losses as quickly and as much as possible.

Meanwhile: to date, 3,020 U.S. military have been killed and 22,834 wounded because of Bush’s mistakes. (See the Maia and George Elfie Ballis report below and their web site for more (see http://www.sunmt.org/intro.html> link below). Specifically:

+U.S. Military killed in action in Iraq Wednesday:4

+Current Total: 3,020

+Wounded total (to l/10/07): 22,834

+Wounded (l2/28-l/l0/07): 120

To update John Kerry’s phrase during the Vietnam War, how many more soldiers will be killed and how many more soldiers will be wounded because of Bush’s mistakes? How many more lives and families of National Guardsmen will be disrupted because of Bush’s mistakes? How many more Iraqi civilians will be killed because of Bush’s mistakes? And who will continue to be the aiders and abetters and enablers as this Bush descent into the maelstrom continues? Keep the pressure on. B3

KILLED IN ACTION

Major Michael Lewis Mundell, 47, U.S. Army, Brandenburg, Kentucky
S/Sgt. Charles D. Allen, 22, U.S. Army, Wasilla, Alaska
Spec. Jeremiah Johnson, 23, U.S. Army, Vancouver, Washington
Petty Officer 3rd Class Lee Hamilton Deal, 23, U.S. Navy, West Monroe, Louisiana
S/Sgt. Alessandro Carbonaro, 28, U.S. Marine Corps, Bethesda, Maryland
S/Sgt. Emmanual L. Lagaspi, 38, U.S. Army, Las Vegas, Nevada
Cpl. Ross A. Smith, 21, U.S. Marine Corps, Wyoming, Michigan
PFC. Javier Chavez, Jr., 19, U.S. Marine Corps, Cutler, California
Lance Corporal Steven L. Phillips, 27, U.S. Marine Corps, Chesapeake, Virginia
Spec. Allan D. Kokesh Jr., 21, U.S. Army, Yankton, South Dakota
Spec. Patrick W. Herried, 29, U.S. Army, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Cpl. Brandon S. Schuck, 21, U.S. Marine Corps, Safford, Arizona
PFC. Jacob D. Spann, 21, U.S. Marine Corps, Columbus/Westerville, Ohio
CPL. Orville Gerena, 21, U.S. Marine Corps, Virginia Beach, Virginia
Lance Corporal David S. Parr, 22, U.S. Marine Corps, Benson, North Carolina

Although it may not be immediately apparent, every action that we take brings about change. Every word of protest uttered, every letter written, every phone call made, every peace vigil attended; all have a cumulative effect and contribute to the desired result.

We hold the lives of our troops in Iraq in our hands.
We have the power to end this tragic war.
Stand up and speak out for peace at every opportunity.

Please redistribute these casualty reports to your friends, family, elected representatives, and e-mail list. Additional
e-mail recipients welcome.

From Jim Landis of Mariposa mailto:landis@yosemite.net

globalmilitaryspending.jpg

Smiling Seriously,
Maia & George Elfie Ballis
SunMt
559.855.3710

Clickhttp://www.sunmt.org/intro.html for latest SunMt dream and adventures.

Click mailto:mail@sunmt.org to send us roses, raspberries and/or questions.

Click mailto:allianceeditor@comcast.net to subscribe to free weekly email newsletter on progressive actions in Fresno.

Bush is the kind of guy ‘who reserves a hotel room and then asks you to the prom’

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By Bruce B. Brugmann

Maureen Dowd, in her Wednesday New York Times column, had a telling quote:

“With the surge, as with the invasion of Iraq, W. is like the presumptuous date ‘who reserves a hotel room and then asks you to the prom,’ as my friend Dana Calvo put it.”

On the eve of Bush’s speech to surge, escalate, and accelerate in Iraq, she ended her column with Ted Kennedy and his apt remarks after his speech Tuesday to the National Press Club about his legislation that would require Congressional approval before troop levels can be increased. (See previous blog.)

She quoted Kennedy as saying, “‘The horse will be out of the barn by the time we get there. The president makes his speech now. We’re going to get the appropriation request probably the end of January, early February.'”
He said it could take eight more weeks for Congress to act. “‘By that time, the troops will already be there. And then we’ll be asked, are we going to deny body armor to the young men and women over there?'”

In other words, Dowd points out, “the president will ask us to the prom once he reserves the hotel room.” B3

The McClatchy Strib: RIP? WTF? Pruitt’s Folly, big-daily blues, and the invasion of the stripper-flippers

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By Bruce B. Brugmann

The above head was on the best analysis so far of the McClatchy sale of the Minneapololis Star Tribune to an unknown New York private equity firm with no newspaper holdings nor experience.
It was written by Steve Perry, longtime editor of City Pages, the alternative paper in Minneapolis, and ran in Monday’s edition.

It is a classic alternative press story by an editor who is also good reporter and it shows once again the indispensable value of an alternative paper that is fulfilling its real mission to be alternative to and competitive with the local monopoly daily. No other daily or magazine, in Minnesota or probably anywhere else, will do this kind of excellent media criticism and local power structure reporting and analysis. And nobody will follow the story as City Pages will undoubtedly do.

Let me cite one paragraph of Perry’s report to make the point. Perry sets Pruitt up with some self-immolating quotes and asks the question: “So again: How exactly does selling off this paper at this moment, for considerably less than prevailing industry standards would have dictated, constitute prudent fiscal management?”

Perry provides some answers: “Mike Meyers thinks he knows the answer: It makes no sense at all. The paper’s 57-year-old economics reporter is a figure legendary around the newsroom for his gruffness, acuity, and anti-sentimentality. (‘Don’t ask me how I feel about the sale,’ he growled by way of a howdy=do when I phoned him.
‘I don’t deal in feelings. What matters is the set of facts surronding the sale, which are very clear.’) He has no compunction about sharing his theory of events (‘no, on the record. I hate people who go off the record’), which is simple and to the point: McClatchy management fucked up and put itself in a position where it had to sell something to pay its tax bill.”

And then Meyers and Perry lay out their answer to the question headline that led the story: “PRUITT’S FOLLY: IS THERE A SMOKING GUN IN THE STRIB FIRE SALE?”

Note: Why is the silence out here so deafening–owners, managers, staff, unions– in commenting publicly on the capers of the Galloping Conglomerati (Hearst, Singleton, McClatchy, Gannett, Stephens) who are moving as quietly as they can, sealing key documents in a critical federal court case, to set up a regional monopoly? If anybody knows anybody who wants to talk publicly, let us know at the Guardian. Meanwhile, I am getting no comment from Hearst corporate via Chronicle Publisher Frank Vega and Chronicle Editor Phil Bronstein. Soon, I will tell you why. B3

City Pages: The McClatchy Strib: RIP. WTF?

Kennedy: “Is there any American in this country who thinks the United States Senate would vote to support sending American troops into a civil war in Iraq today?

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By Bruce B. Brugmann

This is a quote that makes the critical political point:

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Massachusetts), in an interview published in the New York
Times on Tuesday, continued, “Is there any American that believes this? I don’t think so, but that is what’s happening, and we have to do everything we can to to insist on accountability.”

Kennedy said he will introduce legislation on Tuesday to require the president to get new Congressional authority before sending more troops to Iraq, according to a story by Jeff Zeleny. Kennedy is proposing the first bill in the Senate that would prohibit paying for an increase in American troops over their level on Jan. l. The Kennedy plan is intended to provide Democrats with a road map on how to proceed in Iraq.

Kennedy said that Congress interceded during conflicts in Vietnam and Lebanon, and Democrats should not hesitate to do so in Iraq.

“By law,” the article said, “Congress can limit the nature of troop deployment, cap the size of military deployments and cut financing for existing or prospective deployments.” To those who claim Congress ought not to cut off funds or intercede, the article pointed out that “since l970, there have been dozens of occasions in which Congress has tried to step into military action, from Haiti to Bosnia to Kosovo,” and it pointed its source as a memorandum being circulated Tuesday to Congress by the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank.

The memorandum, linked below, cites specific examples of congressional intervention from the l970 Church-Cooper amendment that prohibited the use of any funds for the introduction of U.S. troops into Cambodia to the June l998 Congressional prohibition of funding for Bosnia after June 30, l998. It also included additional examples where congressional efforts to influence policy were not enacted into law, from a l994 move by then Senator Jesse Helms to prohibit funding for any U.S. military operations on Haiti to the prescient 2002 move by Rep. Spratt to require the president to seek congressional authority before using military force against Iraq without a UN resolution.

As the memo sums up, the “defeated provisions reflect attempts by Congress to shape the president’s policy on military deployments. Taken alongside the several examples listed above that were enacted into law, they demonstrate that the president should expect that Congress can and will shape U.S.
policy as it relates to military deployments.”

So: there is plenty of precedent and no excuse for Congress not to fight back fast and effectively to the president’s upcoming surge speech. Nancy? Nancy Pelosi to her credit is speaking up and rightlyi calling the surge “escalation” and proposing that Democrats consider blocking funds for any increase in troops. Keep it up. Support the Kennedy proposal or anything stronger. Keep the pressure on Nancy and the Congress. If these moves don’t work, as they probably won’t, then the question is: impeachment or continuing to waste the blood and treasure of the U.S. in a civil war without end. Alas, there is no other choice. B3

Center for American Progress: Congressional Limitations and Requirements for Military Deployments and Funding

The case of the multiplying ironies for the Hearst, Singleton, McClatchy, Gannett, and Stephens chains

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By Bruce B. Brugmann

As attentive B3 blog readers will remember, I sent my previous blog raising the tantalizing questions about why Hearst et al were for sunlight in Santa Clara County Superior Court and for darkness in San Francisco federal court to Hearst corporate in New York City via Chronicle Publisher Frank Vega and Editor Phil Bronstein.

No reply as yet. However, a short Chronicle follow story was relegated from the front page of the Friday business section to the bottom left of the second page of the Saturday business section (see link below). Once again, the Chronicle reported without blushing that its attorneys argued that records in the backdating scandal involving the Mercury Interactive Corp. ought to be unsealed. Chronicle attorneys asked “to have the documents made public, arguing they would shed light on how the Mountain View company manipulated stock options,” according to the story.

Good point. So the ironies continue: how can the Chronicle argue to unseal Santa Clara County court records to shed light on financial manipulations and at the same time argue in San Francisco federal court to keep sealed the records of its financial manipulations with Singleton et al? Why don’t they explain the irony? After all, these financial records would shed some light on a story that is terribly important for the staffs of all Hearst/Singleton newspapers in Northern California, their communities, the free press, and the First Amendment. Back to Hearst corporate, Vega, and Bronstein. (Watch for a more complete report on manipulations and ironies by G.W.Schulz by G.W. Schulz in Wednesday’s Guardian and website.)

Note to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat/New York Times: you are now the only non-Hearst/Singleton daily in the Bay Area. Why don’t you start acting “competitive” and start covering the story your “competitors” are censoring. B3

SF Chronicle: Judge to hear Mercury arguments

Tantalizing question: How can the Chronicle/Hearst say one thing in superior court in Santa Clara County and the opposite in federal court in San Francisco?

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By Bruce B. Brugmann

In Friday’s San Francisco Chronicle, below the fold in the business section, there was a tantalizing head with a tantalizing lead that raised a tantalizing question: how can Hearst say one thing in Santa Clara Superior Court and another in federal court in San Francisco in a similar public records case?

The head: “Media seeking backdating info, Mercury Interactive documents provide details on practice.” The lead:
“A Santa Clara County Court judge will hear arguments today from media companies, including the Chronicle, seeking to unseal documents related to stock options backdating at Mercury Interactive Corp.”

The story: Chronicle reporter Carolyn Said wrote that the Chronicle and the Recorder and Bloomberg News went into court “requesting access to court filings related to widespread manipulation of stock options at Mountain View’s Mercury, which makes business software.” At the end of the story, Said reported that “the three media outlets are seeking to unseal documents Mercury provided in the shareholder lawsuit under a confidentiality order. They say the documents might reveal the inside story on how backdating occurred.”

Good for Hearst, the Recorder, and Bloomberg News and Karl Olson, the Hearst media attorney who made a strong case to open the records. He even told the judge that as he was driving from San Francisco to Santa Clara for the hearing he realized what a beautiful sunny day it was. “Sunshine is the best bet,” he said. We hope they win. The judge said he would consider arguments in hte case.

Meanwhile, in federal court in San Francisco, Hearst is taking the opposite side of the issue in a similar records sealing case. Significantly, this case involves Hearst itself and Singleton (and their chain newspaper allies McClatchy, Gannett, Stephens) in the Reilly vs. Hearst antitrust case. The chain gang is stonewalling so hard and so high that the Guardian and the Media Alliance were forced to go into federal court to try to unseal the records and shed sunlight on this major national story: the deal that would destroy newspaper competition in the Bay Area and impose regional monopoly. The First Amendment Project in Oakland is handling the suit.

Ironically, Reilly and the Guardian are using the same argument Hearst used in Santa Clara to unseal the Hearst records in San Francisco: that they will “reveal the inside story” of how Hearst and Singleton secretly cooked up the monopolizing deal. As our Dec. 27 editorial put it, “The way the big chains have set things up, there’s no way for the public to find out much of anything–except what Hearst and MediaNews want us to know. Under the terms of a court order the chains wrote and got approved anything–evidence, briefs, depositions, even legal motions–the newspaper barons want to mark secret is automatically sealed…In other words, the newspapers–which, after all, are accused of trying to violate antitrust laws and create a media monopoly in the region–have complete control of what information does and doesn’t come out of the trial. That’s exactly how they want it–and that’s exactly how things will go if they get their way.”

And so the questions still tantalize: how can Hearst be for sunshine in Santa Clara Superior Court and for darkness in San Francisco federal court? How can Hearst report these stories with obvious contradictory positions without comment and without blushing? Don’t the contradictory positions hurt not just the Hearst case in Santa Clara but the journalistic and public interest arguments in all open records court cases? I am posing these questions by email to Hearst corporate in New York via Chronicle Publisher Frank Vega and Editor Phil Bronstein.” Check our Wednesday Guardian paper and website for a bigger story on the backdating scandal and Hearst ironies by reporter G.W. Schutz. He covered the hearing for the Guardian. B3

SF Chronicle: Media seeking backdating info – Mercury Interactive documents could provide details on practice

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