BREAKING: 20 U.S. service members killed in Iraq

YAHOO NEWS ^ | 20 JANUARY 2007 | AP

[PSYCHO-FREEP]

Has any body considered the timing? This is a Media Hit piece right at the critical time when the issue of Troop reinforcements comes to a vote in Congress.

The Media left out enemy casualties on purpose. They want it to look like we got waxed!

So, let's keep the Knee Jerking to a minimum if at all possible. Stop demonizing the President until the facts are out in the open. Even in that event, let's stop demonizing the President period. We are at WAR and he is Commander in Chief. Nobody ever promised this to be a Picnic in the first place!

[LAChicka]

Agreed, how about being frustrated with the President and disgusted with the terrorists?

That being said, Prayers for our troops and their families.

[DCPatriot]

Do you think the Blackhawk was hit by a missle? They're not saying.

[Red Steel]

Lt. Col. Josslyn Aberle, a U.S. spokeswoman, said the cause of the crash had not been determined. Navy Capt. Frank Pascual, a member of a U.S. media relations team in the United Arab Emirates, told Al-Arabiya television that the helicopter was believed to have suffered technical troubles before going down.

The crash that claimed 13 American lives appears to be a mishap and not from enemy action.

[mosquewatch.com]

If our guys get killed with a gun or a missile, does it matter? They end up dead,we are in a police action while Muslims are fighting a civil are between the Sunni and Shia . Make no mistake It is a civil war, it's been going on for 1400 years.

[Pro-Bush]

FWIW, ABC news reported the Blackhawk was having mechanical problems prior to the crash.

[TomGuy]

Wire services also reported that U.S. forces used helicopters to drop Iraqi forces into an attack that killed 15 Sunni insurgents in southern Baghdad. The targets were members of the Omar Brigades, a Sunni group with links to al-Qaeda that is known for kidnappings and murders of Shiites.

from dallasnews.com

===

Khalaf said 15 insurgents were killed and five captured in an intense battle at two abandoned houses taken over by Sunni gunmen, who he blamed for a series of kidnappings and killings in a bid to cleanse the once-mixed Dora neighbourhood of Shiite residents.

from The Canadian Press

[mosquewatch.com]

I do not and have never "Demonized" the President. What you call "demonizing", I call a difference of opinion on President Bush's policies.

It really is that simple.

[BW2221]

I hate to break this to you, but the U.S. action in Iraq has gone on longer that this country's involvement in WWII and what do we have to show for it?

[LibFreeUSA]

-"Make no mistake It is a civil war, it's been going on for 1400 years.

I couldn't agree with you more. Vietnam was the same thing, but we (Kennedy and Johnson) sold it as a "fight against communism". They sucked us (U.S. policy) into making it a stand against "communism", consequently the 'stakes were raised' and if we pulled out (which we wound up doing, because Nixon was smart enough to realize the mess those RATs got us into) then it took on another dimension.

We are seeing the same stupid crap play out again. YES!!! I relly mean what I say, because we went in to stop a madman with WMDs, now this quagmire is a "war against terror" (ooops, no, they' stopped calling it that now).

Look, I say let's get the hell out of there and let them kill each other off, but not before we give them ONE BIG BLAST OFF SEND OFF before we go, to pay them back for the 3000 we've lost so far!

[Hoosier-Daddy]

The blood is on the hands of the Media and the Democrats. The enemy can see what's going on. We who work for a living don't have time to get out there in mass protest about how the Dems and the Media portrait the war and want us to lose.

[PSYCHO-FREEP]

I think you are confusing Civil with Tribal. These Tribal factions have been at war since the days of Muhammad.

[Lancey Howard]

I think it's high time we sent our soldiers and Marines out there to kick some behind (after brushing up on their "thirteen rules of engagement, of course).

[TomGuy]

I hate to break this to you, but the U.S. action in Iraq has gone on longer that this country's involvement in WWII and what do we have to show for it?

$1Billion cost per week, at last estimate -- for a war we were told could cost around $40 Billion, for a war we were told Iraqis would pay for with their oil. Yet, it seems that it is the US that is writing the checks.

===

Pentagon sees US war cost in Iraq rising

WASHINGTON: The steadily rising Iraq war price tag will reach about $8.4 billion a month this year, Pentagon spokesmen said on Thursday, as heavy replacement costs for lost, destroyed and aging equipment mount.

The Pentagon has been estimating last year’s costs for the increasingly unpopular war at about $8 billion a month, having increased from a monthly “burn rate” of around $4.4 billion during the first year of fighting in fiscal 2003.

[Article date January 20, 2007]

[PSYCHO-FREEP]

This war cannot be compared to any other as far as time.

If you want to compare the body count however, this war is a picnic compared to World War 2. (1.2 million casualties in 4 years)

Vietnam lasted 9 years and we lost 10 times what we have lost here. We either fight and win in Iraq, or we run for cover and fight here in the US later. But I will guarantee the body count to be 100 times greater if allow it to come here.

[mosquewatch.com]

I don't compare this too the Vietnam war, it has some similarities, but not the same thing. I believe President Bush , had the best of intentions, and he thought "all Muslims would unite".

He was wrong, and so was I.

They will never unite. Sunni / Shia will always be at war.

I don't call it a quagmire, I just call it like it is, a mess. To be honest, our best of intentions will not mean a thing in the long run.

[NRA2BFree]

For the love of God, enough is enough!!! It's time to unleash the wrath of the US military, and quit using our troops as policemen. They are warriors and winning wars is what they do. It's time we bomb the crap out of that "un-holy city" and the one that Sadar uses to prepare for terror attacks against our troops.

President Bush had better quit trying to win their hearts and minds and stomp the crap out of them, and he better do it immediately! Why send more of our troops in to be killed if we aren't going to give them the full force of the military to win this war!! He's more worried about them, than he is about our troops. Before anyone cries or whines that I'm being mean or anti-Bush, save your breath. I'm mad and I'm fed up seeing our troops die when we aren't giving them the support they need. The war is right, but the way he's fighting it is wrong!!

Prayers up for their loved ones. May God comfort them and give them strength in the difficult days ahead.

[mosquewatch.com]

You are correct.

[Rb ver. 2.0]

"Khalaf said 15 insurgents were killed and five captured in an intense battle at two abandoned houses taken over by Sunni gunmen,"

So, we know now that the worth of sparing two abandoned houses from 500lb bombs is five soliders. We can't keep spending that kind of capital for such little profit.

[PSYCHO-FREEP]

You are right, this is like the Catholics going against the Protestants, except they kill who doesn't agree with them.

They are united against us, they want us dead. Period.
If we leave and let the Mullahs take control, it will be Iran times 1000. They will gather strength, numbers and technology and go after us till we no longer exist.

Why is this fact so difficult for most people to see?