It is eerie quiet right now in Iraq-

[Joe for Clark]

The only thing B*sh has ever said I thought truthful - is that this is going to be a bad summer.

I guess he can state the obvious pretty well. Thats something.

That province -Dialya - that is where it will probably break. If you were a "bad guy" - well, you can't go east and you can't go south. And we are and will squeeze the center. So -

It is a weird province you know. It is on the Iranian border - runs about 50 KLM NE of Baghdad all the way to the oil fields south of Kirkuk. Make no mistake - those oil field are where the money is.

It is one of those questions - do you think war is really about money or power??

I think and this is all IMO - the commander there is good. And if we don't knock them out there - we will have a hell of a time trying to pull out. They better hold that area or it is not good.

I'm logging out again -

I wish all of you the best you know!

Joe

[trashcanistanista]

1. Thank you for posting

and stay safe.

[Joe for Clark]

4. You know I learned that if you log out - your computer remembers

your password - I was stunned. I got a message in my inbox from the mods and I responded and it worked - I couldn't believe it!

So I am going back to the log out mode. I won't listen to CNN either now. It is easier for me.

Good luck to you.

Joe

[onethatcares]

2. we are on the same wavelength,

aside from the bombings of three bridges into baghdad, news reports have been eerily silent. I don't feel we can knock anyone out anywhere in the country. We're screwn.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

3. Quiet?

I suppose if you don't count all the explosions/gunfire.

[Joe for Clark]

5. Sure - how many of our kids died lately - what do tyou think is

coming now.

I only measure this in our kids lives now. I probably always did. I like those dumb kids.

Yeah, it is eerie quiet that way - relatively.

Joe

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

6. The Army just ID'd two more dead troops today.

A major mosque just got blown up.

And several hundred more Iraqis died.

[Joe for Clark]

7. I know. I watch the dead coming.

Always afraid one was my kid.

There is an emotional element to me - I cannot detach from.

I try and post only from an intellectual point of view now - hold the goddamn province or we have a hell of a time trying to extract the Mosul kids - it is really simple. Why do you think I need to shut up - from my point of view?? So I don't - at least I try not to - guess I have a big mouth.

They figured out how to take down the choppers. And they will mine the highway to hell.

I want those kids out of there. They don't belong there.

It is like that to me.

Joe



I WANT THOSE KIDS OUT OF THERE - ALL OF THEM.

[Breeze54]

16. lmao!

No shit!! If that's quiet, I hate to see when it's noisy!!

[Zodiak]

8. Heya Joe

You don't know me, but if you are there, thank you for your bravery and sense of duty and keep your head down! I like those dumb kids, too....I've taught a few of them and it rips my heart out knowing that their love of country has been used against them.

We've lost a lot lately.

The mosque thing is not good. The last time it happened, it began a long stretch of violence.

Just keep your and your buddies' heads down; we're trying to bring all of you home where you belong.

[Joe for Clark]

9. Oh - I know you - not your name -

You are just like me.

There was an edge - maybe I should have crossed over - and I pulled back.

Maybe I shouldn't have. I am so pro american - it is hard to do for me.

Man - there are so many interests going on simultaneously there right now - it is really hard to figure. Unless you think - this all has to do with money or power.

Not so complicated then.

Breaks in the oil fields south of Kirkuk - what 2/3rds of the countries output??

Joe

[Zodiak]

12. We will worry about the interests at play

you worry about getting home and bringing as many as your buddies with you as you can. Life is easier when you eliminate the complexities. You cannot afford complexities right now.

We all have our jobs to do.

Thanks for being here, Joe.......seriously. Sorry for you being there, though. Very sorry.

[laylah]

13. FYI Zodiac Ironfist,

Joe's son is there, not Joe Just thought you would like to know. That said, imvho, all this is about money AND power, with our soldiers as pawns.

[Zodiak]

19. lol...ok, Joe can worry about that stuff then

I confuse easily

[StarryNite]

10. War is a Racket

This is so very true...



WAR IS A RACKET

by Two-Time Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient:

Major General Smedley D. Butler, USMC

Chapter One

WAR IS A RACKET

WAR is a racket. It always has been.

It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.

A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small "inside" group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.

In the World War a mere handful garnered the profits of the conflict. At least 21,000 new millionaires and billionaires were made in the United States during the World War. That many admitted their huge blood gains in their income tax returns. How many other war millionaires falsified their tax returns no one knows.

How many of these war millionaires shouldered a rifle? How many of them dug a trench? How many of them knew what it meant to go hungry in a rat-infested dug-out? How many of them spent sleepless, frightened nights, ducking shells and shrapnel and machine gun bullets? How many of them parried a bayonet thrust of an enemy? How many of them were wounded or killed in battle?

more: http://www.lexrex.com/enlightened/articles/warisaracket.htm

[brokensymmetry]

11. Please tell us what you can...

safely, and within the limits of personal and operational
security, of course.

Best of luck to you, and those you're watching after.

K&R.

[Disturbed]

14. I am amazed that the Military has not blocked DU.

Best to you and hope you come home safely.

[Joe for Clark]

18. NOT ME - hell if it was just me I'd just shut up.

You worry alot more if its your kid - it is genetic I think. To protect your kids.

That they could block DU - good luck. If there was a group that thought as strong as us secondly - it is those kids!!! Military wants out as bad as we do - the world is upside down now.

Joe

[Joe for Clark]

15. I guess I could say this -

I am a business school grad that just likes studying such things. SO I guess this is all just IMO -

That the squeeze was likely to produce such results. That that commandeer in Dialya - he is very good and knew how to get a message thru.

He is getting reinforcements originally sent to Baghdad to him - damn he is good.

Understand - it is not that I don't think the service knew the right thing - but they had no balls.

The guy in Dialya - hes got balls. Of course he is right.

He will keep kids alive.

You have no idewa what I can't say. The summary will prove correct.

Joe

[Joe for Clark]

17. While I appreciate the votes - please do not do that.

Joe