Wednesday: 35 Iraqis Killed, 60 Wounded

Updated at 8:21 p.m. EDT, July 28, 2010 At least 35 Iraqis were killed and 60 more were wounded, mostly in two attacks against Shi’ites in Baghdad and Karbala. At a British inquiry, General Richard Dannatt said that the simultaneous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan nearly broke the British military in 2006, when he took over as commander. Also, P.M. Maliki blamed foreign influence for a political impasse that many Iraqis view as his party’s own creation.

Tuesday: 7 Iraqis Killed, 38 Wounded

Updated at 6:10 p.m. EDT, July 27, 2010 Admiral Mike Mullen arrived in Iraq, where he lauded Iraq’s “stunning progress” in security over the last three years, while new attacks left at least seven Iraqis killed and 38 more wounded. Parliament again delayed meeting thanks to a political impasse that threatens long-term security. Meanwhile, inquiries and investigations in the U.K. and U.S. further underscore the lack of accountability in the build-up to the war and in the U.N.’s Oil-for-Food program. Also, the amount of classified documents related to the Iraq War that WikiLeaks is reportedly holding could be three times larger than what was just released on Afghanistan.

The Five-Sided House of Usher

The tea leaves tell me we’re about to experience a seismic event that will produce the next collapse of our five-sided House of Usher, the Pentagon. The last time we saw a temblor of that magnitude was in November 2006. Just before the mid-term election, young Mr. Bush assured us that then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld … Continue reading “The Five-Sided House of Usher”

Mullen’s Mulligans

In golf and other sports, a "mulligan" is a second chance to get something right, sometimes referred to as a "do-over." In most sports, one do-over is all you get, and sports are just games. In war, humanity’s deadliest undertaking, the folks in charge of the Pentagon keep asking for another mulligan, and the president, … Continue reading “Mullen’s Mulligans”