Robert Scheer
from “The Nation”

The parade of political tourists to Iraq in recent weeks, during which easily impressed pundits and members of Congress came to be dazzled by the wonders of the troop surge, probably ensures that this murderous adventure will continue well into the next presidency–even if the Democrats win.

For example, Kenneth Pollack, a top national security adviser in the Clinton Administration whose 2002 book, The Threatening Storm: The Case for Invading Iraq, convinced many Democratic politicians to support the war, now finds renewed optimism after the surge. In a July 30 New York Times op-ed article, “A War We Just Might Win,” which he coauthored after spending eight days in Iraq, Pollack gushed, “We traveled to the northern cities of Tal Afar and Mosul. This is an ethnically rich area, with large numbers of Sunni Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen. American troop levels in both cities now number only in the hundreds because the Iraqis have stepped up to the plate. Reliable police officers man the checkpoints in the cities, while Iraqi army troops cover the countryside.”

So much so that a town forty miles northeast of Tal Afar was the scene, on August 15, of the deadliest attack of the war–a quadruple bombing left more than 500 dead and 1,500 wounded, and most of the buildings in ruin. What about those “reliable” police officers and Iraqi army troops whose presence in the area Pollack found so reassuring? If Pollack was asked about that on any of the talk shows that routinely feature him as an expert, I have not found the footage.

read more HERE

By JENNIFER DOBNER
The Associated Press

HUNTINGTON, Utah - Relatives of six miners trapped deep inside a Utah coal mine are holding out hope the sixth - and last - borehole will provide the miracle they’ve craved for more than two weeks.

Other holes drilled into the Crandall Canyon mine have failed to reveal signs of life. The sixth hole is to be drilled Thursday into an area where the miners were last believed to have been working.

“This is the last hole,” mine co-owner Bob Murray said at a news conference Wednesday night. Drilling it, he said, will “bring closure to me that I could never get them out alive.”

But Jackie Taylor, whose daughter Lacee dates one of the six men missing since an Aug. 6 cave-in, said relatives and friends are insisting that more be done.

She issued a plea Thursday for the rescue effort to continue, even though three men died trying to tunnel toward the miners.

“We are so appreciative to all of the rescue members and their families. Don’t get us wrong, we are so appreciative,” Taylor told NBC’s “Today.” “Our love and our prayers go out to all of their family members. But our family members are still under there. They’re underground. We need that closure in our lives also.”

Punching through the fifth borehole Wednesday, rescuers found only a 6-inch void in the mine 1,500 feet down, federal officials said.

By BUSHRA JUHI
The Associated Press

BAGHDAD - Suspected al-Qaida fighters attacked a Sunni village east of Baqouba on Thursday and killed a village leader who had led the community in an uprising against the terrorist organization, witnesses and police said.

At the same time Timim, a nearby Shiite village, came under attack, again by suspected al-Qaida fighters. A total of 15 people, including seven women, were killed and 22 wounded in the two assaults, said Baqouba police Brig. Ali Dlaiyan.

Ten attackers were killed as villagers fought back, he said. A joint U.S.-Iraqi force had blocked the region.

The attack by about 25 gunmen on the Ibrahim al-Yahya village began at 6:30 a.m. when the fighters exploded a bomb at the house of Sheik Younis al-Shimari, destroying his home and killing him and one member of his family. Ten people were wounded, including four other members of the family and passers-by. Some of the wounded were hit by gunfire.

“They were shouting Allah Akbar and Curse be upon the Renegades,” said Umm Ahmed, who was among the three women wounded in the attack. She refused to give her full name fearing retribution. “This attack will cause the uprising against them to spread to other villages.”

A police vehicle rushing to the attack scene crashed and two policemen were killed, according to officials in the Diyala provincial police force who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

read more HERE

Heading home today…..hidey hey!!