Tag: ISIS

by Lowell Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, October 12.  ISIS Rears Its Head, Adding to Chaos...

by Lowell Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, October 8. Chaos in Syria, Washington after Trump call...

by Lowell Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, March 23.  Israel's Netanyahu to play Trump card in...

by Lowell Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, December 23.  Indonesia tsunami: 222 dead and 'many missing'...

by Lowell Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, November 25. 235 Killed in Attack on Sufi Mosque...

by Lowell Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, June 16. Trump lashes out after reports of obstruction...

Yes, liberals are "just like ISIS," because as everyone knows, liberals love enslaving and raping women and girls; want to establish a caliphate (or...

Though tempting to believe American military power turned the tide in Iraq when President Bush sent in additional troops and that today that same resolve can save an illegitimate government, neither is true. We learned this lesson in Viet Nam. The military answer is simple. Obama's political choice is not.

Two important forces converged at the moment George Bush decided to throw more troops into the fray against the growing Iraqi insurgency. Neither were military. Neither were affirmations of support. It was the story of choosing the lesser evil as perceived by the Iraqi people.

American military forces committed atrocities that alienated the most important factors in any insurgency: the hearts and minds of the populace. It is a convenient fact that the American people were never allowed to grasp the full impact of Abu Ghraib and other moral lapses committed by our troops and their leadership. That failed leadership extends, by the way, all the way to Washington D.C. and is not limited to the principal resident of the White House. But as my Australian officer classmate, Mal Reardon, liked to aver, "Winners are grinners."

If you love America, you should read this even though it won't be pleasant. But for you super-patriots who love a place that doesn't exist, beware of cognitive dissonance.

In the fall of 2003 the rules of engagement for the invasion of Iraq included sweeping suspected regime sympathizers into custody. The term sympathizer was applied broadly and interpreted by at least one unit to include reporters for Arab news media. As told to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in Iraq After The Invasion, one reporter from al Jazeera was taken into custody when he responded to an explosion of a mini-bus in Diyala province north of Baghdad.  He had been detained before and thought it would be the same questions and same result: release after an hour or two. This time was different; he was taken to a prison that had been infamous as a site of torture and execution under the Hussein regime: Abu Ghraib. We had taken part of the facility and used it as a military prison.