The U.S. military has recovered the remains of the last U.S. service member missing in Iraq, ending a nearly six-year ordeal involving shadowy militants and a tragic love story, his family said Sunday.
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Showing posts with label Iraq War. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iraq War. Show all posts
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Epidemic: Over 400,000 Traumatic Brain Injuries for Vets Coming from Iraq and Afghanistan
America faces a huge challenge in caring for the shocking number or traumatized war vets.
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Saturday, August 07, 2010
Military dog comes home from Iraq traumatized
Gina was a playful 2-year-old German shepherd when she went to Iraq as a highly trained bomb-sniffing dog with the military, conducting door-to-door searches and witnessing all sorts of noisy explosions.
She returned home to Colorado cowering and fearful. When her handlers tried to take her into a building, she would stiffen her legs and resist. Once inside, she would tuck her tail beneath her body and slink along the floor. She would hide under furniture or in a corner to avoid people.
A military veterinarian diagnosed with her post-traumatic stress disorder — a condition that experts say can afflict dogs just like it does humans.
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Thursday, June 25, 2009
Memo Reveals US Plan to Provoke an Invasion of Iraq
Those of you who believed the "Invade Iraq to keep U.S. safe from Iraq" should feel pretty stupid now. If you don't, there's something wrong with you.
A confidential record of a meeting between President Bush and Tony Blair before the invasion of Iraq, outlining their intention to go to war without a second United Nations resolution, will be an explosive issue for the official inquiry into the UK's role in toppling Saddam Hussein.
The memo, written on 31 January 2003, almost two months before the invasion and seen by the Observer, confirms that as the two men became increasingly aware UN inspectors would fail to find weapons of mass destruction (WMD) they had to contemplate alternative scenarios that might trigger a second resolution legitimising military action.
Bush told Blair the US had drawn up a provocative plan "to fly U2 reconnaissance aircraft painted in UN colours over Iraq with fighter cover". Bush said that if Saddam fired at the planes this would put the Iraqi leader in breach of UN resolutions.
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A confidential record of a meeting between President Bush and Tony Blair before the invasion of Iraq, outlining their intention to go to war without a second United Nations resolution, will be an explosive issue for the official inquiry into the UK's role in toppling Saddam Hussein.
The memo, written on 31 January 2003, almost two months before the invasion and seen by the Observer, confirms that as the two men became increasingly aware UN inspectors would fail to find weapons of mass destruction (WMD) they had to contemplate alternative scenarios that might trigger a second resolution legitimising military action.
Bush told Blair the US had drawn up a provocative plan "to fly U2 reconnaissance aircraft painted in UN colours over Iraq with fighter cover". Bush said that if Saddam fired at the planes this would put the Iraqi leader in breach of UN resolutions.
Read more
Monday, June 15, 2009
Fifteen Months After Bloodbath in Iraq, Young Veteran Takes His Life
On March 7, 2007, Army Spc. Trevor Hogue was inside his barracks in Baghdad, describing his morning on the battlefield.
"I saw things today that I think will mess me up for life," Hogue typed to his mother, Donna, as she sat at her computer thousands of miles away from Iraq, in Granite Bay.
That day the young soldier, whose assignment included driving a Humvee through perhaps the most dangerous ZIP code on the globe, saw his sergeant blown to pieces. He saw the bodies of half of the men in his platoon torn apart. Heads were cut off and limbs severed. It happened 30 yards in front of him, and he had never been so afraid, he told his mom.
"My arms are around you," Donna Hogue wrote. "You'll be alright."
But Hogue never really recovered. Last week, he committed suicide by hanging himself in the backyard of his childhood home. He was 24 years old.
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"I saw things today that I think will mess me up for life," Hogue typed to his mother, Donna, as she sat at her computer thousands of miles away from Iraq, in Granite Bay.
That day the young soldier, whose assignment included driving a Humvee through perhaps the most dangerous ZIP code on the globe, saw his sergeant blown to pieces. He saw the bodies of half of the men in his platoon torn apart. Heads were cut off and limbs severed. It happened 30 yards in front of him, and he had never been so afraid, he told his mom.
"My arms are around you," Donna Hogue wrote. "You'll be alright."
But Hogue never really recovered. Last week, he committed suicide by hanging himself in the backyard of his childhood home. He was 24 years old.
Read more
Thursday, May 21, 2009
"My Son Is a Murderer" -- The Gut-Wrenching Realities Facing Military Moms
In 2004, Susan Galleymore traveled 7,472 miles from Alameda, Calif., to deliver a message to her Army Ranger son stationed on a military base in Iraq's Sunni Triangle.
"Don't do anything you'll regret or be ashamed of because it will haunt you for the rest of your life," she told him.
The devastation and despair she witnessed, and the stories she heard in taxis and coffee shops along the way made her realize how disconnected Americans are from the realities of war and occupation -- even those of us who like to think we are well-informed.
She decided that she couldn't return to California and continue life as usual.
Over the next few years, she traveled to Israel, the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria to interview mostly mothers about their personal stories and everyday struggles.
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"Don't do anything you'll regret or be ashamed of because it will haunt you for the rest of your life," she told him.
The devastation and despair she witnessed, and the stories she heard in taxis and coffee shops along the way made her realize how disconnected Americans are from the realities of war and occupation -- even those of us who like to think we are well-informed.
She decided that she couldn't return to California and continue life as usual.
Over the next few years, she traveled to Israel, the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria to interview mostly mothers about their personal stories and everyday struggles.
Read more
Monday, June 02, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Iraqi Widows and Orphans Left Stranded
The car exploded near a popular ice cream parlor, sending flames and shrapnel through the busy square and killing 17 people.It was another deadly explosion quickly forgotten by the outside world. But Aug. 1, 2007, changed the life of 28-year-old Maysa Sharif. It was the day she became one of nearly a million Iraqi women who have lost husbands as the country has suffered through three wars and Saddam Hussein's murderous regime.
Such vast numbers of widows would tax any society, and all the more Iraq's. With virtually no safety net and few job opportunities, most widows have little choice but to move in with their extended families and depend on their largesse.
Continued...
Saturday, April 12, 2008
US Lawmakers Invested in Iraq, Afghanistan Wars
U.S. lawmakers have a financial interest in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, a review of their accounts has revealed.
Members of Congress invested nearly 196 million dollars of their own money in companies that receive hundreds of millions of dollars a day from Pentagon contracts to provide goods and services to U.S. armed forces, say nonpartisan watchdog groups.
David Petraeus, the top U.S. general in Iraq, is to brief the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees on Tuesday and Wednesday. The latest findings are unlikely to have a significant impact on this week’s proceedings but could stoke anti-incumbent sentiment in this year of presidential and legislative elections.
Lawmakers charged with overseeing Pentagon contractors hold stock in those very firms, as do vocal critics of the war in Iraq, says the Centre for Responsive Politics (CRP).
Continued...
Members of Congress invested nearly 196 million dollars of their own money in companies that receive hundreds of millions of dollars a day from Pentagon contracts to provide goods and services to U.S. armed forces, say nonpartisan watchdog groups.
David Petraeus, the top U.S. general in Iraq, is to brief the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees on Tuesday and Wednesday. The latest findings are unlikely to have a significant impact on this week’s proceedings but could stoke anti-incumbent sentiment in this year of presidential and legislative elections.
Lawmakers charged with overseeing Pentagon contractors hold stock in those very firms, as do vocal critics of the war in Iraq, says the Centre for Responsive Politics (CRP).
Continued...
Friday, April 11, 2008
Would You Close Your School To Pay For Iraq?
Because the Bridge Street School in Northampton, Mass., may have to close for lack of funds, while we continue to waste billions on a failed foreign policy.
My town is facing a shortfall in our school budget between $800,000 to $1 million. We are forced with a choice between closing an entire school, which doesn't even make up the entire gap, or a series of cuts across the entire school district, including teaching positions, school buses, special education, music and arts education and supplies.
We're not alone in Massachusetts. The Boston Globe reports: Across Massachusetts, cities and towns face the prospect of deep cuts in what appears to be the grimmest fiscal year since 2003. Local revenue and state aid can't keep up with such rapidly rising expenses as employee health insurance, heating oil, and even street paving. School costs, like special education requirements, are sapping local budgets. And now beleaguered residents are seeing home values dip even as taxes continue to rise.
And it's not just Massachusetts, school budgets are being squeezed across the nation.
Continued...
My town is facing a shortfall in our school budget between $800,000 to $1 million. We are forced with a choice between closing an entire school, which doesn't even make up the entire gap, or a series of cuts across the entire school district, including teaching positions, school buses, special education, music and arts education and supplies.
We're not alone in Massachusetts. The Boston Globe reports: Across Massachusetts, cities and towns face the prospect of deep cuts in what appears to be the grimmest fiscal year since 2003. Local revenue and state aid can't keep up with such rapidly rising expenses as employee health insurance, heating oil, and even street paving. School costs, like special education requirements, are sapping local budgets. And now beleaguered residents are seeing home values dip even as taxes continue to rise.
And it's not just Massachusetts, school budgets are being squeezed across the nation.
Continued...
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Body of War - Trailer
By Geoffrey Millard
t r u t h o u t | Review
With Iraq documentaries having fared poorly at the box office, a new film, "Body of War," could mark a turning point because it brings to the big screen a subject that has yet to be broached by a major movie. "It's the voice of a soldier," said Ellen Spiro, co-director of the film. Spiro co-directs with long-time TV talk show host Phil Donahue, who said, "We are not saying we are better, but we are different," when asked about comparing "Body of War" with other Iraq documentaries.
The film's subject is paralyzed Iraq war veteran Tomas Young, who was shot through the spine in Iraq on April 4, 2004. Young's transformation from war veteran to antiwar hero (as the movie poster boasts) is mixed well with the speech of Senator Byrd (D-West Virginia) against the resolution giving President Bush the power to invade Iraq. Also tallied throughout, are the names of the aye votes on this resolution, of which there were 77.
By the end of the film, the audience knows the arguments made for and against war from the Senate floor, but much more moving is the personal connection formed with Young. His personal life is opened up from his marriage (and its eventual collapse) to his erectile dysfunction. The audience watches the middle Young brother go off to war as Tomas watches from his wheelchair. The credits reveal Young's brother comes home safely from that deployment, only to be redeployed in September of 2007. He remains in Iraq, trying to keep the phone conversations with his brother on the light side.
The film ends on a touching moment, with Byrd and Young both admitting they have little control over their respective days. After the initial credits roll, the names of all 23 senators and 133 representatives voting against the resolution are shown on the screen; and at the premier in Washington, DC, a sold-out crowd rose to their feet in roaring applause.
Not appearing in the film is the friendship developed between Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder and Young, which blossomed out of Vedder writing an original song for the movie and putting together its star-studded soundtrack (all proceeds of which are being donated to Iraq Veterans Against the War, an organization to which Tomas belongs). The soundtrack features artists one may expect on an antiwar CD like Michael Franti and Neil Young, but also some surprises like Bruce Springsteen and Ben Harper. It is also quite musically diverse, with artists ranging from Bright Eyes to Immortal Technique.
"Body of War" opened in Washington, DC, on the four-year anniversary of Young being shot, and is now showing in theaters throughout the country.
See interview with Phil Donahue HERE.
t r u t h o u t | Review
With Iraq documentaries having fared poorly at the box office, a new film, "Body of War," could mark a turning point because it brings to the big screen a subject that has yet to be broached by a major movie. "It's the voice of a soldier," said Ellen Spiro, co-director of the film. Spiro co-directs with long-time TV talk show host Phil Donahue, who said, "We are not saying we are better, but we are different," when asked about comparing "Body of War" with other Iraq documentaries.
The film's subject is paralyzed Iraq war veteran Tomas Young, who was shot through the spine in Iraq on April 4, 2004. Young's transformation from war veteran to antiwar hero (as the movie poster boasts) is mixed well with the speech of Senator Byrd (D-West Virginia) against the resolution giving President Bush the power to invade Iraq. Also tallied throughout, are the names of the aye votes on this resolution, of which there were 77.
By the end of the film, the audience knows the arguments made for and against war from the Senate floor, but much more moving is the personal connection formed with Young. His personal life is opened up from his marriage (and its eventual collapse) to his erectile dysfunction. The audience watches the middle Young brother go off to war as Tomas watches from his wheelchair. The credits reveal Young's brother comes home safely from that deployment, only to be redeployed in September of 2007. He remains in Iraq, trying to keep the phone conversations with his brother on the light side.
The film ends on a touching moment, with Byrd and Young both admitting they have little control over their respective days. After the initial credits roll, the names of all 23 senators and 133 representatives voting against the resolution are shown on the screen; and at the premier in Washington, DC, a sold-out crowd rose to their feet in roaring applause.
Not appearing in the film is the friendship developed between Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder and Young, which blossomed out of Vedder writing an original song for the movie and putting together its star-studded soundtrack (all proceeds of which are being donated to Iraq Veterans Against the War, an organization to which Tomas belongs). The soundtrack features artists one may expect on an antiwar CD like Michael Franti and Neil Young, but also some surprises like Bruce Springsteen and Ben Harper. It is also quite musically diverse, with artists ranging from Bright Eyes to Immortal Technique.
"Body of War" opened in Washington, DC, on the four-year anniversary of Young being shot, and is now showing in theaters throughout the country.
See interview with Phil Donahue HERE.
Army Is Worried by Rising Stress of Return Tours to Iraq
Well, DUHHHHHH!
Hell, people get stressed out over gas prices, a fight with their spouse, rush hour traffic and their in-laws just to name a few. You mean to tell me that the the Army did not anticipate the impact the stress of a friggin war was going to have?!! Somehow, I'm not surprised. Oh how my heart breaks for the kids that are stuck over there in this perpetual war.
Army leaders are expressing increased alarm about the mental health of soldiers who would be sent back to the front again and again under plans that call for troop numbers to be sustained at high levels in Iraq for this year and beyond.
Among combat troops sent to Iraq for the third or fourth time, more than one in four show signs of anxiety, depression or acute stress, according to an official Army survey of soldiers’ mental health.
Continued...
Hell, people get stressed out over gas prices, a fight with their spouse, rush hour traffic and their in-laws just to name a few. You mean to tell me that the the Army did not anticipate the impact the stress of a friggin war was going to have?!! Somehow, I'm not surprised. Oh how my heart breaks for the kids that are stuck over there in this perpetual war.
Army leaders are expressing increased alarm about the mental health of soldiers who would be sent back to the front again and again under plans that call for troop numbers to be sustained at high levels in Iraq for this year and beyond.
Among combat troops sent to Iraq for the third or fourth time, more than one in four show signs of anxiety, depression or acute stress, according to an official Army survey of soldiers’ mental health.
Continued...
Monday, March 24, 2008
U.S. toll in Iraq hits 4,000 as four soldiers killed
Four U.S. soldiers were blown up in Baghdad, pushing the U.S. military death toll in Iraq to 4,000 just days into the sixth year of a war that President George W. Bush says the United States is on track to win.Continued...
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Bush's War
From the horror of 9/11 to the invasion of Iraq; the truth about WMD to the rise of an insurgency; the scandal of Abu Ghraib to the strategy of the surge -- for six years, FRONTLINE has revealed the defining stories of the war on terror in meticulous detail, and the political dramas that played out at the highest levels of power and influence.Now, on the fifth anniversary of the Iraq invasion, the full saga unfolds in the two-part FRONTLINE special Bush's War, airing Monday, March 24, from 9 to 11:30 P.M. and Tuesday, March 25, 2008, from 9 to 11 P.M. ET on PBS (check local listings). Veteran producer Michael Kirk (The Torture Question, The Dark Side) draws on one of the richest archives in broadcast journalism -- more than 40 FRONTLINE reports on the war on terror. Combined with fresh reporting and new interviews, Bush's War will be the definitive documentary analysis of one of the most challenging periods in the nation's history.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Friday, August 31, 2007
No End In Sight
Democrats are trying to find a way to end the occupation of Iraq, but George Bush is once again running a propaganda campaign to brainwash Americans into keeping the occupation going... forever.
That's why it's essential for all of us to see No End in Sight, a remarkable and powerful film that will give you the facts you need to demolish Bush's latest lies.
That's why it's essential for all of us to see No End in Sight, a remarkable and powerful film that will give you the facts you need to demolish Bush's latest lies.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Another Poll Reflecting Bush Administration is a Failure
CBS News Poll:
HOW IS THE WAR GOING?
Well 22%
Badly 77%
U.S. TROOP LEVELS IN IRAQ SHOULD
Increase 11%
Keep the same number 17%
Decrease 26%
Remove all troops 40%
DIRECTION OF THE COUNTRY
Wrong track 75%
Right direction 19%
HOW IS THE WAR GOING?
Well 22%
Badly 77%
U.S. TROOP LEVELS IN IRAQ SHOULD
Increase 11%
Keep the same number 17%
Decrease 26%
Remove all troops 40%
DIRECTION OF THE COUNTRY
Wrong track 75%
Right direction 19%
Friday, May 04, 2007
We The People
Please, call your representatives in the House and the Senate. Tell them that concessions are unacceptable. The American people want the troops out of Iraq. Ask that they support submitting the same bill again and again until George Bush accepts that he will not get a blank check to wage an unwinnable occupation in the midst of a civil war.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
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