The cost of wars of choice

Late last month the Army released data showing the highest suicide rate among soldiers in three decades. At least 128 soldiers committed suicide in 2008. Another 15 deaths are still under investigation as potential suicides.
...
On Feb. 5, the Army announced it suspects 24 soldiers killed themselves last month, more than died in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan combined.

--Mark Benjamin and Michael de Yoanna in Salon

Let us not only pray for the peace of these souls and comfort for their loved ones but also strive to make our nation do right by our military men and women and veterans.

h/t to Digby
--the BB

It's not news.

That is a significant summary in the opening portion of a post by three McClatchy bloggers writing about Scott McClellan's book that seems to have generated lots of discussion and no new information. They do a great job of setting the record straight. Read it here.

It is so refreshing to see good reporting. Too bad folks were not paying attention to this crowd back when they were reporting the truth amid all the propaganda.

Sigh.

Oh, and Scotty... you and the horse you rode in on.

Tool.

UPDATE:
Glenn Greenwald has a few words on the subject also. Concluding yesterday's post:

Maybe Rutten should ask them how they did it since, according to Rutten, that was impossible. Speak to sources inside and outside the Government disputing the administration's claims. Give a platform to experts warning of the dangers of the invasion. Trumpet the multiple discrepancies between the administration's claims and what was available in the public record. Isn't this excruciatingly obvious? The Washington Post's Dan Froomkin adds more evidence here regarding the profound media failures.

How did Woodward and Bernstein uncover what the Nixon criminals did since they kept it secret? It must have been impossible! How did Dana Priest uncover the CIA Black Sites in Eastern Europe without being able to go there and visit them? How did Jim Risen and Eric Lichtblau find out that the Bush administration was eavesdropping on Americans without the warrants required by law? It's called "reporting": the process of finding out, through investigation, that which the Government seeks to conceal. Why does that need to be explained to the "media critic" of The Los Angeles Times? If he doesn't understand that, what does he understand?

[Emphasis mine]

--the BB

To the Hague!

What do you think the little boy who shoved firecrackers up frogs' butts and blew them up would grow up to be, anyway? Well, one might have hoped NOT President of the United States, but as election theft and and an inattentive public would have it, that's what happened.

ABC News reports:

"Well, we started to connect the dots, in order to protect the American people." Bush told ABC New s White House correspondent Martha Raddatz. "And, yes, I'm aware our national security team met on this issue. And I approved."

Three little words: "And I approved."

Indeed.

Physicians for Human Rights notes the following:

Techniques of psychological torture used have included sensory deprivation, isolation, sleep deprivation, forced nudity, the use of military working dogs to instill fear, cultural and sexual humiliation, mock executions, and the threat of violence or death toward detainees or their loved ones. A source familiar with conditions at Guantánamo told PHR that deprivation of sensory stimulation and over-stimulation led to self-harm and suicide attempts.

George W. Bush is a criminal on so many levels it would be difficult to list them all. He is certainly a war criminal in this, and so are the members of his National Security Council.

What have you done lately to oust them from office and hold them accountable?

h/t to Troutfishing. Read the whole article if you are up to facing the depravity of the whole thing.
--the BB

Irresponsible son of a bitch - ah, the memories

Remember this from just over six years ago? Less than six months after 9/11/2001?

March 13, 2002

So I don’t know where he is. You know, I just don’t spend that much time on him, Kelly, to be honest with you. I’m more worried about making sure that our soldiers are well-supplied; that the strategy is clear; that the coalition is strong; that when we find enemy bunched up like we did in Shahikot Mountains, that the military has all the support it needs to go in and do the job, which they did.

Q But don’t you believe that the threat that bin Laden posed won’t truly be eliminated until he is found either dead or alive?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, as I say, we haven’t heard much from him. And I wouldn’t necessarily say he’s at the center of any command structure. And, again, I don’t know where he is. I — I’ll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him. I know he is on the run. I was concerned about him, when he had taken over a country. I was concerned about the fact that he was basically running Afghanistan and calling the shots for the Taliban. (h/t Joe)

Courtesy of John Amato at Crooks and Liars

Remember, under this "Commander in Chief" we let bin Laden escape from Tora Bora and siphoned our troops and resources from Afghanistan and the Pakistan border into Iraq, where al Qaeda was not operating (sure, it is now, thanks to GWB).

NEVER forget the damage this man has done.
--the BB

Oh, by the way

Mr. Mukasey, the Attorney General of the United States, just told the Speaker of the House to go fuck herself. In very civil terms, of course.

What can I say? Only and idiot or a wimp would have confirmed him when we all knew he was one more White House tool. Now we're stuck with the slimy weasel.

There really seems to be no reason for any American to obey any law whatsoever any more. After all, the chief executive of the nation doesn't.

IMPEACH THEM ALL!

--the BB