In the wake of the deepening TexIraq fiasco,
Oil is now at $40, after the latest shock rise
as the aftershocks of the USSA torture photo's
resonated round the world.

So much for bringing 'stability' by invading,
bombing, slaughtering, filling mass graves
and recycling Saddam's torture chambers.

Our international reputation is shot to *****,
terrorism is on the rise, millions of NEW
enemies form a recruitment pool for Osama,
we are stuck in the TexIraqi quagmire where
there were no Al Qaeda, but now they flock to
shoot at us, and now have a reputation for War Crimes.

And the cost, in human misery and dollars,
continues to rise;

"The White House is playing down its request for
another $25bn in extra funding for operations
in Iraq and Afghanistan.

For its critics, this is an embarrassing U-turn
by an administration that had said it would not
need to ask for extra money until after the next
presidential election.

But the Pentagon may have carried out a more
significant about-face just 24 hours previously.

It announced that it was mobilising an additional
10,000 troops for Iraq, and a similar number to
follow, to keep up troop levels there until the
end of next year.

Amid all the furore over the prisoner abuse
controversy, the move has gone almost unnoticed.

It followed the bloodiest month for US forces
in Iraq since the invasion, with 129 combat
deaths among US troops."

And in another Vietnamesque Escalation, Britain
is to send another 4000 extra troops as well.

"The Job" changing continuously is coming undone.

"Reinforcements

Before the latest upsurge in violence in Iraq,
US strategy had been based on reducing its own
troop numbers, switching to lighter, more
mobile forces, and increasingly relying on
growing numbers of new Iraqi security forces.

All that has changed.

First, the head of US Central Command,
General John Abizaid, put plans to cut
the number of US troops to 115,000 on hold.

Some 20,000 soldiers were asked to stay on
an extra 90 days beyond the one-year deployments
they had expected, to keep numbers at about 135,000.

Then, as the violence continued to flare,
US commanders urgently called for an extra
40 or so tanks for additional firepower and
protection for their troops.

And General Abizaid barely hid his disappointment
at the poor performance of many of the new
Iraqi forces in the face of the new fighting."

There was no plan for post-invasion Iraq,
It has been revealed that the troops who entered
Baghdad had no instructions on what they were to
do! And the price of this shambles is counted in lives
and dollars squandered.

"Extra strain

Now the Pentagon says it is planning to
keep 135-138,000 troops in Iraq until the
end of next year.

Hence the call-up of additional forces,
so that those who were asked to stay on
longer in Iraq can return home.

COST OF THE WAR A YEAR ON
US military operations: $143bn*
Military operations (projected): $150bn-300bn
Reconstruction so far: $33bn (US $18.7bn)*
Reconstruction (projected): $50bn-100bn
Extra security: $40bn-80bn
Sources: CBO, CSIS, World Bank

* allocated for US fiscal years 2003-05
What is more, it is switching back to heavier
forces, with more tanks and armoured vehicles.


$40,000,000,000 to $80,000,000,000 for the army
of mercenary hired killers? No wonder branches of
USSA Military Inc, are springing up everywhere, it's
the most profitable privatization of death and
torture in the planets history!

And with no training in the Geneva
Convention, no military discipline, no clear chain
of command responsibility they are the perfect tool
for terror and control, if only they weren't
running amok on behalf of the real War Criminals*.

_____________________

* War Criminals

Former Liberal Party of Australia president
says Iraq war is criminal

A former Liberal Party president today called for
members of the US-led coalition of the willing to face a
war crimes tribunal.

John Valder, the Liberals' federal president in the mid-1980s,
said there was clear evidence that the war was a criminal act.

"This really was the most criminal act from the outset and now
look where it's got us," Mr Valder told ABC radio.

"I would have thought governments in any country that were
supporting this, be they the United States, Spain, Australia,
Britain or anywhere, should be out on their ear."

Mr Valder said there was scope for a war crimes tribunal.

"They were party to what has turned out to be an open act of
aggression against a third country that was in no way a threat to them,"
Mr Valder said.

"Their reasons for going in have proven to be absolutely baseless."

- AAP
_______


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