Where’s the Outrage?

According to the National Priorities Project, we’ve spent $248 billion of the war in Iraq. 2,314 Americans have died. What have we accomplished? We have removed Saddam Hussain from power. Unfortunately, his trial has become an Iraqi version of the Montel Williams show. The biggest problem, for me, is that Iraq has diverted attention away from Afghanistan. We have not rebuilt, built, infrastructure in Afghanistan. Therefore, there is no disincentive not to grow poppy. Afghanistan is currently the number one producer of heroin in the world. Afghanistan receives more income from the sale of heroin than from any other single source. There were more American deaths in Afghanistan last year than there were during the invasion of Afghanistan. The Taliban are regrouping and reforming.

Some neoconservatives will try to convince us that Afghanistan is a success story and that is too early to tell in Iraq. Success in Afghanistan, for me, would be a stable government, the complete and total destruction of the Taliban (this includes killing or capturing the Taliban leaders). Success in Iraq, would include peace and prosperity for the Iraqi people. Outside of the Kurds in the north I’m not sure that any of the Shi’ites or Sunnis would say that they have obtained peace and prosperity.

Tags: 9-11, Afghanistan, Iraq, Mess O'Potamia (Iraq/Iran/Israel/Palestine), War on Terror by ecthompson
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T.O. is now a Dallas Cowboy. The Cowboys have also picked up an offensive tackle. It looks like they are going to pass this year to open up the run. With the Giants and Redskins being somewhat weak on the corners and strong in the front 7 it will going to be interesting in the East again this year.

Tags: Sports by ecthompson
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Yesterday, the New York Times broke a story on an elite special forces operation called task force 6 — 26. This unit operated before and after the Abu Ghraib revelations.

Before and After Abu Ghraib, a U.S. Unit Abused Detainees
By ERIC SCHMITT and CAROLYN MARSHALL
As the Iraqi insurgency intensified in early 2004, an elite Special Operations forces unit converted one of Saddam Hussein’s former military bases near Baghdad into a top-secret detention center. There, American soldiers made one of the former Iraqi government’s torture chambers into their own interrogation cell. They named it the Black Room.

In the windowless, jet-black garage-size room, some soldiers beat prisoners with rifle butts, yelled and spit in their faces and, in a nearby area, used detainees for target practice in a game of jailer paintball. Their intention was to extract information to help hunt down Iraq’s most-wanted terrorist, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, according to Defense Department personnel who served with the unit or were briefed on its operations.

The Black Room was part of a temporary detention site at Camp Nama, the secret headquarters of a shadowy military unit known as Task Force 6-26. Located at Baghdad International Airport, the camp was the first stop for many insurgents on their way to the Abu Ghraib prison a few miles away. [Read more →]

Tags: Al Qaeda, Iraq, Mess O'Potamia (Iraq/Iran/Israel/Palestine), Torture by ecthompson
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Where’s the outrage? Just hit the airwaves in Asheville, North Carolina and the Internet. The topic of my first show was border security. My guests were former Senator Bob Graham and P.J. Crowley from the Center for American progress. My guests were excellent. They were knowledgeable in their fields. They were extremely informative. You too can check out where’s the outrage? On 880 a.m. in Asheville, Saturday mornings at 9 a.m.

Tags: Domestic Issues, Other Political Thoughts by ecthompson
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