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Iraqi Civilian Deaths ... caused by Bush's unprovoked war

 

Katrina Shifts Attention From Iraq War
(Robert Burns, The Associated Press, September 7, 2005)
Hurricane Katrina's devastating blow has put a spotlight on the military's helping hand and largely diverted Americans' attention from the mix of grim and hopeful events playing out in Iraq. . . . Even as thousands more troops poured into Louisiana and Mississippi on Tuesday to accelerate the search and rescue of stranded Katrina survivors, military officials in Iraq reported the deaths of four more U.S. troops and Marine jets bombed targets near the Syrian border where al-Qaida has expanded its presence. . . . At a Pentagon news conference Tuesday, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld stressed that the enormous effort being made in hurricane relief will not diminish the military's ability to fight wars in Iraq or Afghanistan. . . . During the news conference no one asked about developments in Iraq, such as the airstrikes near the border city of Qaim, major parts of which have fallen under control of al-Qaida-linked foreign fighters. . . . Lt. Gen. John Vines, the No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq, told reporters last Friday that only about 2,000 troops would be added in the weeks leading up to a scheduled Oct. 15 national referendum on an Iraqi constitution. Previously, U.S. officials had indicated that as many as 20,000 could be added, and Vines' remark sparked speculation that the demands of Katrina relief had forced the Pentagon to change plans. . . . The Pentagon has accelerated the return from Iraq of about 2,800 members of a Louisiana combat brigade, who are already beginning to arrive at Fort Polk, northwest of New Orleans. The unit had been scheduled to come home later this month, but its departure was hastened because of Hurricane Katrina. . . . Also, a few Mississippi National Guard infantry members are being sent home early, and any other service members who have close family or homes in the hurricane-devastated region may request emergency leave from their unit commanders. . . . "We're working to reunite the men and women in uniform that are deployed overseas with their families here at home," said Rumsfeld. "A number of the families that are stationed in that area obviously lost all their possessions." . . . Myers offered a spirited defense of the military's response to calls for help on the Gulf Coast. He said he told the service chiefs on Tuesday, after learning that levees in New Orleans had been breached, that they should consider what useful resources they could offer even before they were formally asked to help. . . . [COMMENT by Lorenzo: Why do you think the military didn't even beging to think about this problem until after the levees had been breached?] . . . Confusion persisted about the scale of the military contribution. . . . The Pentagon has insisted for days that no more than 5,200 active-duty Army soldiers, plus 2,000 Marines, would be sent to help with Katrina relief.

posted by LoZo 11:33 AM