Mapleberry Blog

There's a LOT of sniping about the war in Iraq. The (non)-existence of WMDs, the threat Saddam Hussein posed, or didn't pose, going after (or not) Osama bin Laden, ad nauseum. And, while these are things worth discussing, arguing over, taking a stand on- they are, at this stage, mostly of academic interest. We (the US) did what we did, for whatever reasons we did them. Our troops are there in Iraq, and (to a distressingly smaller degree) in Afghanistan. That being the case, we need now to deal with the situation as it exists and leave motives and missed opportunities for later examination. There's a war on, after all, and a President to elect.

So what IS the situation on the ground? How is the war going? Is it being well-prosecuted? Is our self-declared War President performing as we need a war president to perform?

New Spasm of Violence Sweeps Iraq, Killing 110

By Ibon Villelabeitia

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least 110 people were killed across Iraq on Sunday in a sharp escalation of violence that saw gun battles, car bombs and bombardments rock the capital.

U.S. Stands by Iraq Election Schedule Despite Attacks

By Adam Entous

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -

With President Bush under fire from Democratic rival John Kerry over the mounting death toll in Iraq, Secretary of State Colin Powell defended the war while acknowledging, "This insurgency isn't going to go away."

Up to 7 Die in Clashes Over Ousted Afghan Governor

By Saeed Haqiqi and Sayed Salahuddin

HERAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Up to seven supporters of an ousted Afghan governor were killed and 20 wounded on Sunday in clashes with police and U.S. troops in the western city of Herat, which was placed under night curfew.

U.S. Deaths in Iraq Top 1,000, Aid Groups Eye Exit

By Ibon Villelabeitia

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Dozens of international aid agencies considered quitting Iraq on Wednesday following the abduction of two Italian women, and as the U.S. military death toll rose above 1,000.

A coordinator for foreign aid groups said he expected most of the remaining 50 or so organizations to pull out following the kidnapping of the Italians, in Iraq to help child victims of war, from their Baghdad office on Tuesday.

CIA hid dozens of Abu Ghraib `ghost detainees,' investigators say

By Jonathan S. Landay and Sumana Chatterjee
Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON - The CIA had dozens of Iraqi "ghost detainees" secretly held at Abu Ghraib prison - a number far higher than previously disclosed - so they could be hidden from Red Cross monitors, Army investigators said on Thursday.

Gen. Paul J. Kern and Maj. Gen. George R. Fay said they asked repeatedly for information on the detainees during investigations into the abuse of inmates at the Army-run facility outside Baghdad, but the CIA refused to answer.

On the basis of these, and so many more, stories of colossal military AND diplomatic incompetence, even if you're totally convinced that war in Iraq was and is the right thing, George W Bush is so clearly the wrong person to be Commander In Chief. As a war president, he's a dismal failure.

Un-elect him.