Deadly Days

[rodeodance]

make that 11 US troops dead.


----- Original Message -----
From: American Progress Action Fund
To: xxxx
Sent: Friday, January 06, 2006 9:54 AM
Subject: Progress Report:


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DAILY GRILL
"I think we've turned the corner , if you will."
-- Vice President Dick Cheney, 12/19/05

VERSUS

"Suicide bombers penetrated a line of police recruits in Ramadi and a crowd of Shiite pilgrims in Karbala Thursday, killing 125 civilians, a stark surge in post-election violence and the fourth deadliest day in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003."
-- Wall Street Journal, 1/6/06
http://www.americanprogressaction.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=klLWJcP7H&b=1331575&ct=1766455


IRAQ
Deadly Days

Yesterday, 140 people across Iraq were killed in attacks, including five American soldiers. It was the fourth deadliest day in Iraq since the war began in March 2003. Another six U.S. troops have died today. The total two-day death toll in Iraq rose to over 200. The attacks, apparently orchestrated by the terrorist leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab Zarqawi, "suggested that the insurgents would remain an important force in the country's future." The attacks follow a period of negotiated calm surrounding the recent parliamentary elections in Iraq. On December 14, 2005 -- a day before the Iraqi elections -- the number of U.S. casualties stood at 2,151. Now, at least 2,194 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the war -- a loss of 43 U.S. troops in nearly 20 days.

WHAT DOES THE VIOLENCE MEAN FOR U.S. TROOP LEVELS?: The increasing violence may halt the administration's plans to draw down troop levels (in December, Bush authorized the withdrawal of approximately 7,000 troops below the 138,000 baseline). The president has said, "The conditions on the ground will dictate our force level." Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Peter Pace, acknowledged that in fact more troops could be sent to Iraq if violence persisted. Given the deteriorating conditions, by his own metrics, Bush will be hard-pressed to argue that troop drawdowns are a result of a winning strategy in Iraq. (For a detailed plan about how to draw down troops and enhance national security check out Strategic Redeployment.)

STRAIGHT TALK FROM A TOP COMMANDER IN IRAQ: In an interview with the New York Times reports, Lt. Gen. John Vines, the top U.S. operational commander in Iraq, offered a blunt assessment of the situation on the ground that contrasts with public statements offered by President Bush. While Bush has said that Iraqi security forces are confronting "militias and armed gangs," Vines warned that the security forces themselves could be turning into such armed gangs and "militias for hire." Vines cautioned that if the Iraqi ministries "don't produce enough income to support their security forces, members of those forces could turn to ulterior purposes and could become militias or armed gangs." Bush has also sought to broadly categorize the election results as being successful, saying that "when 70 percent of the people show up to vote, that's a good sign." Vines, however, offered a deeper analysis: "The vote is reported to be primarily along sectarian lines, which is not particularly heartening."

BUSH'S PR STRATEGY FOR IRAQ: President Bush yesterday invited a bipartisan group of 13 former secretaries of state and defense to the White House to ostensibly elicit comments about his Iraq strategy. But, "Bush allowed 5 to 10 minutes for interchange with the group." The Washington Post reported, "The session in the Roosevelt Room came complete with a photo opportunity and presidential statement." "Harold Brown, defense secretary for President Jimmy Carter, said the meeting was clearly designed to provide a public relations boost to Bush." Indeed, the meeting was just the latest in a series of PR appearances by Bush, seeking to build consensus behind the idea that progress is being made in Iraq. On Wednesday, Bush openly-discussed a Pentagon briefing he received from Rumsfeld and Pace. On Monday, Bush visited wounded troops at the Brooke Army Medical Center to rally support for Iraq. The recent events follow a month of December in which Bush made a series of speeches to build support for his "Strategy for Victory in Iraq."

COST OF IRAQ WAR MAY EXCEED $2 TRILLION: A new study by Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard budget expert Linda Bilmes have calculated that the war is likely to cost the United States a minimum of nearly one trillion dollars and potentially over $2 trillion. The economists take into account lifetime disability and health care for the over 16,000 injured and "then goes on to analyze the costs to the economy, including the economic value of lives lost and the impact of factors such as higher oil prices that can be partly attributed to the conflict in Iraq." Said Stiglitz, "Shortly before the war, when Administration economist Larry Lindsey suggested that the costs might range between $100 and $200 billion, Administration spokesmen quickly distanced themselves from those numbers. But in retrospect, it appears that Lindsey’s numbers represented a gross underestimate of the actual costs."