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What's happening in Iraq

From Talking Points Memo, here's a good rundown of the escalating chaos in Iraq.

Comments

# 1

[March 26, 2008 11:54 AM]

Henry

You can always trust information from a guy named "muckraker".

# 2

[March 26, 2008 12:14 PM]

Dan Radmacher

Yes, Henry, you usually can. Muckraking is a proud American tradition.

Generally, only those in power who have something to hide speak disparagingly of it.

Even Teddy Roosevelt, who coined the term, viewed muckrakers as a force for good against evil:

"There are, in the body politic, economic and social, many and grave evils, and there is urgent necessity for the sternest war upon them. There should be relentless exposure of and attack upon every evil man whether politician or business man, every evil practice, whether in politics, in business, or in social life. I hail as a benefactor every writer or speaker, every man who, on the platform, or in book, magazine, or newspaper, with merciless severity makes such attack, provided always that he in his turn remembers that the attack is of use only if it is absolutely truthful."

# 3

[March 26, 2008 1:03 PM]

Josh

Too bad the three sources here, TPM, Washington Post, and New York Times haven't been right yet about the war. And of course they all have the same anti-Bush agenda. But THIS time, we should trust them, right?

American casualties in Iraq reached the much-ballyhooed figure of 4000 despite the fact that three of the past four months have ranked 1,2, and 3 in terms of lowest casualty months in the entire war. Deaths have dwindled to an average of one per day, less than the homicide rate in New York City.


Let's put this figure in perspective, not with other wars, but just BATTLES of other past wars America has fought the past 100 years.

Battle of Iwo Jima, 1945: 6800 American deaths in 35 days

D-day Invasion, 1944: 6603 American deaths in 24 hours

Battle of Meuse-Argonne,
1918 26,277 American deaths in 47 days

Battle of Okinawa, 1945, 12,513 American deaths in 87 days

Tet Offensive, 1968, 4100 American deaths in 60 days

entire Iraq war: 4000 American deaths in 5 years.

Was FDR hounded for the tens of thousands of American deaths he oversaw? BTW, I am still trying to figure out what Hitler had to do with Pearl Harbor.


# 4

[March 26, 2008 1:20 PM]

Henry

Not to mention that the anti-war protests can brag of numbers in the dozens. They have become so frustrated at their irrelevence, they are resorting to terrorism by bombing recruitment centers. They just can't keep people from volunteering for this "unjust" war. And Congress has become strangely silent on the war now that the Democrats have taken power.

# 5

[March 26, 2008 1:36 PM]

Dan Radmacher

Josh: "BTW, I am still trying to figure out what Hitler had to do with Pearl Harbor."

I don't know, maybe something about that treaty he signed allying Germany with Japan and Italy in 1940 - before Pearl Harbor.

# 6

[March 27, 2008 11:16 PM]

Josh

Dan,
Do you have evidence that Hitler even knew about Pearl Harbor before the attack, let alone had something to do with it?

I did notice you don't have much to say about the casualty comparisons between this current war and some of our past battles. Why not?

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Recent comments

  • Dan, Do you have evidence that Hitler even knew about Pearl Harbor before the attack, ...more - Josh
  • Josh: "BTW, I am still trying to figure out what Hitler had to do with ...more - Dan Radmacher
  • Not to mention that the anti-war protests can brag of numbers in the dozens. They ...more - Henry
  • Too bad the three sources here, TPM, Washington Post, and New York Times haven't been ...more - Josh
  • Yes, Henry, you usually can. Muckraking is a proud American tradition. Generally, only those in ...more - Dan Radmacher

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