AP VIDEO: MCCAIN FLUBS ON IRAQ TIMELINE

GOP hopeful Sen. John McCain flubbed again and this time it was on the impact of "the surge" on security conditions in Iraq. McCain failed to mention the Sunni Awakening had already started clearing Al Qaeda and other terrorist elements from Iraqi neighborhoods before "the surge" was initiated.

WATCH VIDEO HERE: http://wiredispatch.com/news/?id=263881

Click on diamond-shaped arrown in center of pic to activate video

AP REPORTS: IRAQ PASSES ELECTION LAW, BUT DOUBTS RISE ELECTION WILL BE HELD THIS YEAR

Iraqis cast doubt on elections

Disputes stall draft law setting guidelines, allocating funds for election

The Associated Press
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25801070/

BAGHDAD - Iraq's parliament passed a law Tuesday meant to pave the way for provincial elections despite a Kurdish boycott, but critics warned it's unlikely the vote will be held this year as had been expected.

U.S. officials see the voting as another key step in national reconciliation, but the draft law setting guidelines and allocating funds for the elections has been stalled by political disputes as Iraq's myriad ethnic and sectarian factions jockey for power.

The sticking point on Tuesday was a Kurdish objection to an item in the new law that calls for a secret ballot to decide on a power-sharing arrangement in the disputed oil-rich city of Kirkuk.
The Kurds and two deputy parliamentary speakers walked out of the chamber in protest, but the parliament went ahead with the line-by-line vote and passed the law with a quorum.

Deputy parliamentary speaker Khalid al-Attiyah, a Shiite, said the secret ballot was unconstitutional and accused the lawmakers of "arm-twisting."

Read more here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25801070/

CNN REPORTS: SEXUALLY ASSAULTED FEMALE TROOPS STRUGGLE TO RECOVER

Female troops have been raped, sexually harassed while on duty in Iraq

15 percent walking into VA test positive for military sexual trauma

VA opens 16th inpatient ward specializing in treating military sexual victims

Female veteran to daughter in military: Don't let your guard down with male soldiers

YORK, Pennsylvania (AP) -- It took Diane Pickel Plappert six months to tell a counselor that she had been raped while on duty in Iraq. While time passed, the former Navy nurse disconnected from her children, and her life slowly unraveled.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/07/22/military.women.sexual.assault.ap/index.html

Carolyn Schapper says she was harassed by a fellow Army National Guard soldier in Iraq to the extent that she began changing clothes in the shower for fear he'd barge into her room unannounced, as he had on several occasions.

Even as women distinguish themselves in battle alongside men, they're fighting off sexual assault and harassment. It's not a new consequence of war.

But the sheer number of women serving today -- more than 190,000 in Iraq and Afghanistan -- is forcing the military and Department of Veterans Affairs to more aggressively address it.

The data -- incomplete and not up-to-date -- offer no proof that women in the war zones are more vulnerable to sexual assault than other female service members or American women in general. But in an era when the military relies on women for invaluable and difficult front-line duties, the threat to their morale, performance and long-term well-being is starkly clear.

Of the female veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan who have walked into a VA facility, 15 percent have screened positive for military sexual trauma,

The Associated Press has learned. That means they indicated that while on active duty, they were sexually assaulted, raped or sexually harassed, receiving repeated unsolicited verbal or physical contact of a sexual nature.

In January, the VA opened its 16th inpatient ward specializing in treating victims of military sexual trauma, this one in New Jersey. In response to complaints that it is too male-focused in its care, the VA is making changes such as adding keyless entry locks on hospital room doors so female patients feel safer.

Rape victim felt numb when returning home

Depression, anxiety, problem drinking, sexually transmitted diseases and domestic abuse are all problems that have been linked to sexual abuse, according to the Miles Foundation, a nonprofit group that provides support to victims of violence associated with the military. Since 2002, the foundation says, it has received more than 1,000 reports of assault and rape in the U.S. Central Command areas of operation, which include Iraq and Afghanistan.

In most reports to the foundation, fellow U.S. service members have been named as the perpetrator, but contractors and local nationals also have been accused.

Read more here: http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/07/22/military.women.sexual.assault.ap/index.html

WE HAVE NAMES OF 4 U.S. SOLDIERS CHARGED IN DEATHS OF DETAINEES IN IRAQ

4 US soldiers charged by military over deaths of detainees in Iraq last year

The Associated Press
Tuesday, July 22, 2008

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/07/22/america/US-Iraq-Deaths.php

BERLIN: Four soldiers have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder in the deaths of detainees in Iraq in 2007, a U.S. military spokesman said Tuesday.

Staff Sgt. Jess Cunningham, Sgt. Charles Quigley, Spc. Stephen Ribordy and Spc. Belmor Ramos of the 172nd Infantry Brigade were charged under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, said Lt. Col. Eric Bloom, spokesman for the Army Joint Multinational Training Command in Grafenwoehr, Germany. The men's hometowns were not given.

Their case now has to be reviewed to determine whether it should be referred to a court-martial, Bloom said. No date has yet been set for a hearing.

In a statement, the Army said the charges "relate to an incident that occurred during April-May 2007 in Baghdad, Iraq."

The statement gave no further details but, in an earlier release, the Army had said the allegations related to "the deaths of several detainees who were captured as part of combat operations last year."

That statement, released in January, said that "preliminary findings indicate the deceased detainees were not persons detained in a detention facility."

CNN: OBAMA: STABILITY ULTIMATELY IN HANDS OF IRAQIS

NEW: Sen. Barack Obama: Iraq political progress needed to match security success

Obama set to meet with king in Amman, Jordan

Jordan is U.S. ally that has received Iraqi war refugees

Senators stop off in Iraq's Sunni-dominated Anbar province before Jordan

SOURCE: http://tinyurl.com/5hwrcd

(CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama said Tuesday he was pleased with the reduction of violence in Iraq since the deployment of more U.S. troops, but added it was a result of several factors, not just the "surge."

"We don't know what would have happened if the plan that I preferred in January 2007 -- to put more pressure on the Iraqis to arrive at a political reconciliation, to begin a phased withdrawal -- what would have happened had we pursued that strategy," Obama said after landing in Amman, Jordan.

"I am pleased that as a consequence of great effort by our troops -- but also as a consequence of a shift in allegiances among the Sunni tribal leaders as well as the decision of the Sadr militias to stand down -- that we've seen a quelling of violence," he said.

But, Obama said, a functioning Iraq ultimately will depend on the capacity of the Iraqi people to unify themselves, get beyond sectarian divisions and set up a government that works for the people.

"There is security progress. Now we need a political solution," he said. Watch Obama describe his plan for Iraq »

Obama's stop in Jordan is the latest on his trip through the Middle East. So far, Obama also has been through Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq. The senator from Illinois will visit Israel before embarking on the European leg of his trip, which will take him through Germany, France and the United Kingdom. See the stops on Obama's trip »

Back in the United States, Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, has been criticizing Obama for his opposition to the surge, which began in 2007 when President Bush ordered nearly 30,000 additional troops to Iraq as part of a campaign to secure Baghdad and its surrounding provinces.

"He railed against it. He voted against the surge, and he said it would fail," McCain told CBS. "He was wrong there, and there's very little doubt in my mind that he will see for himself that he had a gross misjudgment and he will correct that."

The McCain campaign continued its criticism in a statement released after Obama's news conference in Jordan.

McCAIN IS WRONG ON EVERYTHING ABOUT IRAQ INCLUDING "THE SURGE"

Troop Agreement Misses Deadline

Provincial Law Misses Deadline

Bombings in Mosul, Diyala, Fallujah

SOURCE: http://juancole.com/

First there was going to be a status of forces agreement between the US and Iraq, which would be ratified by the Iraqi parliament and would grant the US long-term bases. Private security guards and US troops would be immune from Iraqi law. US commanders would launch operations at will, would decide who a terrorist was, and would arrest and imprison Iraqis at will.Then al-Maliki went to Iran for consultations. And Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani forbade a giveaway of Iraqi sovereignty.

And the Sadrists began demonstrating every Friday. Then the US launched a unilateral operation in al-Maliki's home town and killed his cousin.So the private contractors won't have legal immunity. And the agreement will be just for a year, not long-term. And it won't be ratified by the Iraqi parliament, so it is just a vague agreement between two executives.

It won't stipulate long-term arrangements, but its interpretive context will be one in which the Iraqi leadership has expressed a desire for US troops to leave in 2010. It isn't clear if US troops will have legal immunity or whether they will have full freedom of action or whether they will be able to arrest and incarcerate Iraqis at will.And now, it won't be signed by the deadline of July 31.You have to wonder whether the Iraqis and the Americans in the end won't have to go back to the UN for a troop mandate again.

The Iraqis want out from under the UN but don't want to recognize that the American presence detracts from their sovereignty. D'oh.No provincial election law again on Monday. Maybe Tuesday. Maybe not.The Iraqi legislative calendar is more like "Waiting for Godot" than it is like . . . a legislative calendar.

John McCain thinks that Iraq and Pakistan have a common border.[Hat tip to Think Progress.]Hey, everybody, ask McCain if he'll pull out US troops by 2010 if that is what the Iraqi government says it wants.McCain keeps boasting about being "right" about the "surge" and saying Obama was "wrong."Look, it is more important that McCain was consistently wrong.

He was wrong about the desirability of going to war against Iraq.

He was wrong about it being a cakewalk.

He was wrong about there being WMD there.

He was wrong about everything.

And he was wrong about the troop escalation making things better.

The casualty figures dropped in al-Anbar, where few extra US troops were ever sent.

They dropped in Basra, from which the British withdrew.

Something happened. Putting it all on 30,000 extra troops seems a stretch. And what about all the ethnic cleansing and displacing of persons that took place under the nose of the "surge?"

McCain has been wrong about everything to do with Iraq. And he is boasting about his wisdom on it!

Guerrillas used a tractor bomb to kill 7 persons and wound 8 others in Diyala Province near Iran, where there is a lively contest for power among Shiites, Sunni Arabs and Kurds.

Reuters reports other recent political violence in Iraq:
' * MOSUL - A suicide car bomber killed two private security contractors serving as bodyguards to members of the Kurdish Democratic Party in an attack on their convoy in Mosul . . . The blast also wounded eight civilians nearby.

MOSUL - Gunmen killed two people when they opened fire on their vehicle in southeastern Mosul, police said.MOSUL - Gunmen killed two brothers and their cousin in a drive-by shooting in northern Mosul on Sunday, police said. . . .

MOSUL - One body was found with gunshot wounds to the head in western Mosul, police said. . .

BAGHDAD - A parked car bomb killed one person and wounded four others on Sunday in Alawi district, central Baghdad, police said.

FALLUJA - Five people were wounded by two roadside bombs exploding within minutes of each other on different streets in central Falluja, 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad, police said.

REUTERS REPORTS: KURDS WALKOUT OF IRAQI PARLIAMENT

BAGHDAD, July 22 (Reuters) - Iraq's parliament passed a provincial elections bill on Tuesday, but a walkout by Kurdish lawmakers over the disputed oil city of Kirkuk could mean the law may not ratified by the presidency.

Kurds make up one of the three main groups in parliament, and their boycott of the vote over a dispute on how the elections law would deal with Kirkuk means the bill could be sent back to parliament.The law is meant to pave the way for polls seen as vital to reconciling Iraq's Sunni Arabs, who boycotted the last provincial elections in 2005, with its other communities."Today parliament passed the provincial elections law, in the absence of the Kurdish alliance, which walked out," Hanin Qado, a lawmaker from the ruling Shi'ite alliance, told Reuters.Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L22936003.htm

REPUBLICANS ARE SCREAMING FOUL, NY TIMES DID McCAIN A FAVOR BY "SPIKING" HIS OP-ED WHICH WOULD HAVE EMBARRASSED HIM.

New York Times Spares McCain Embarrassment By Spiking Op-Ed

By Jason Linkins
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/21/inew-york-timesi-spares-m_n_114117.html

As anyone who hasn't been living under a boulder knows by now, John McCain has always enjoyed an extra-special relationship with the press, who care for the Presidential nominee as one might nurture an orphaned lamb, doing him no end of solids.

For example, even though Barack Obama has consistently led in the polls since clinching the Democratic nomination, we are told that this is Good For McCain, because according to something written on the Ancient and Illuminated Manuscript of Press Corps Conventional Wisdom, Obama should be leading by more, and his waste should smell like Springtime in Vermont.

Also, when McCain visits Europe, it burnishes his Presidential pedigree, but if Obama does so, it makes him look un-American.

Now, however, the McCain camp is angry at their special friend, specifically the New York Times, because the paper of record spiked an op-ed column that McCain had prepared in response to a similar offering from Obama. McCain's surrogates are flush with outrage over this.

But I've now read the piece, and it's pretty clear to me that the Times' decision, if anything, is in keeping with the press' traditional friendly relationship. The Times put bros before prose, and in so doing, spared McCain no end of embarrassment, because the op-ed is rivetingly dumb and laden with inaccuracies. None of which would have come to my attention if the candidate had done the smart thing and kept his mouth shut! But since he wants the attention, let's give it to him.

In January 2007, when General David Petraeus took command in Iraq, he called the situation "hard" but not "hopeless." Today, 18 months later, violence has fallen by up to 80% to the lowest levels in four years, and Sunni and Shiite terrorists are reeling from a string of defeats. The situation now is full of hope, but considerable hard work remains to consolidate our fragile gains.

An inauspicious beginning! Surely the last thing McCain, as an Iraq War advocate, needs to be doing right now is pointing out that four years ago, things were really horrible in Iraq, and after an Olympic season of Surge and sturm and drang, we've only managed to almost get the level of horror back to where it was when it was horrible.

Progress has been due primarily to an increase in the number of troops and a change in their strategy. I was an early advocate of the surge at a time when it had few supporters in Washington. Senator Barack Obama was an equally vocal opponent. "I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq is going to solve the sectarian violence there," he said on January 10, 2007. "In fact, I think it will do the reverse."

As all "Surge" proponents tend to do, McCain overlooks a situation that was unfolding in Baghdad contemporaneously with the "Surge," namely a massive campaign of sectarian cleansing that expelled people from their homes, hardened neighborhoods, and created a massive internal displacement problem.

Violence dropped as a result of the factions getting what they wanted - the people they were killing out of their neighborhoods.

Also, isn't it time that McCain stopped getting credit for being an "early advocate" of the Surge that President Bush was going to implement anyway? I was an early advocate and a vocal supporter of all of the Washington Redskins Superbowl victories, but you don't see me asking for a ring!

Now Senator Obama has been forced to acknowledge that "our troops have performed brilliantly in lowering the level of violence." But he still denies that any political progress has resulted.

I think that when Obama denies that any political progress has resulted, it's probably because no political progress has resulted. Indeed, the "Surge" was supposed to "create space" for the Iraqi government to reach a level of functionality. What's the impediment? Well, according to a majority of Iraqi legislators, that "space" has been occupied by the occupation.

They said so in the letter they sent to Congress, attesting to this:

Likewise, we wish to inform you that the majority of Iraqi representatives strongly reject any military-security, economic, commercial, agricultural, investment or political agreement with the United States that is not linked to clear mechanisms that obligate the occupying American military forces to fully withdraw from Iraq, in accordance with a declared timetable and without leaving behind any military bases, soldiers or hired fighters.

I don't know...it seems like Obama might be aware of this!

Perhaps he is unaware that the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad has recently certified that, as one news article put it, "Iraq has met all but three of 18 original benchmarks set by Congress last year to measure security, political and economic progress." Even more heartening has been progress that's not measured by the benchmarks. More than 90,000 Iraqis, many of them Sunnis who once fought against the government, have signed up as Sons of Iraq to fight against the terrorists.

Nor do they measure Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki's new-found willingness to crack down on Shiite extremists in Basra and Sadr City--actions that have done much to dispel suspicions of sectarianism.

Wow. That's a mouthful of nonsense to parse. It's not the U.S. Embassy in Iraq who's made such a claim, it's "Surge" architect and editorial-page-welfare recipient Fred Kagan who's contended that the Iraq has had benchmark success. This is a claim that CNN Reporter Michael Ware has already debunked. In truth, on benchmarks, it would be more accurate to say McCain has it precisely backwards.

PRIZE-WINNING MIDDLE EAST REPORTER DAHR JAMAIL SAYS FALLUJAH ABOUT TO EXPLODE WITH VIOLENCE

Fallujah, the second largest city in Iraq and one that the Bush Administration and the U.S. military point to as a model of how "the surge" has worked, is about to explode into massive violence, according to veteran Middle East reporter Dahr Jamail.

Parts of Fallujah have been walled off and tension is mounting as more and more incidents of violence can be seen each day.

On Monday alone, here is what happened in Fallujah:

Al Anbar Prv:Fallujah:#1: A bomb exploded inside the garden of the house of the father of Falluja police deputy chief Lieutenant Colonel Esa Sayer in al Shurta district in downtown Falluja city west of Baghdad around 6:00 a.m. Five people were injured including a 5 years kid who was seriously injured.

#2: A bomb exploded inside the garden of the house of CPT Asif Ghazi, an officer in Falluja police. The explosion took place in al Mualimeen district in downtown Falluja around 6:00 a.m. the explosion caused damages to the house. No casualties reported. Two other bombs were found near the house and there were detonated under control.

#3: (?) Five people were wounded by two roadside bombs exploding within minutes of each other on different streets in central Falluja, 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad, police said


The Third Siege of Fallujah

By Dahr Jamail and Ali Al-Fadhily, IPS News
Posted on July 21, 2008, Printed on July 21, 2008
http://www.alternet.org/story/92198/

FALLUJAH, Jul 21 (IPS) -- U.S. and Iraqi forces are preparing another siege of Fallujah under the pretext of combating "terror," residents and officials say.

Located 69 km west of Baghdad, the city that suffered two devastating U.S. attacks in 2004 has watched security degrade over recent months.

"Ruling powers in the city fighting to gain full control seem willing to use the security collapse to accuse each other of either conspiracy (in lawlessness) or incapability of control," Sufian Ahmed, a lawyer and human rights activist in Fallujah told IPS.

"They suddenly changed their tone from saying that the city was the safest in Iraq to claiming that al-Qaeda is a serious threat. Fallujah residents know their so-called leaders are using security threats to terrify them for their own political interests."

In the face of U.S. military claims of improved security, violence has been rising by the day this month. The city has now been placed under tight curfew while U.S. and Iraqi military forces prepare for a new offensive, according to the local Azzaman daily.

Iraqi security forces have established new checkpoints around the city and are forbidding movement of people and traffic. Pick-up trucks are roaming the city warning residents that al-Qaeda has once again infiltrated Fallujah.

Iraqi police officers insist that the situation is under control despite the "occasional incidents that take place all over Iraq."

The indications on the ground belie these claims. "The Americans and their allies transferred our leader, Colonel Fayssal al-Zoba'i from his post because they have bad plans for the city," a major in the Fallujah police force told IPS. "He has all the right to keep his post because he was the one who led us to defeat the insurgency while the Americans failed. They (the U.S. military) seem to have a plan to destroy the city again."

Iraqi police and troops from other areas are being deployed in the city in what police officials say is a build-up for a huge offensive. U.S. occupation forces are on the ready in nearby bases.

The government in Baghdad has made it clear that direct U.S. military involvement is critical for an "imminent offensive" in Fallujah, sources in the Iraqi military have been quoted as saying in Iraqi media.

The two U.S. sieges of the city during 2004 led to the destruction of approximately 75 percent of the city, thousands of civilian deaths, and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people, according to the Fallujah-based Iraqi NGO Monitoring Net for Human Rights.


Some officers in the Fallujah police believe Iraqi politicians are using the threat of "terror" for election purposes, ahead of provincial elections scheduled for October.

"The resignation of Colonel Fayssal is not yet definite," another police officer, speaking on terms of anonymity, told IPS. "But I agree that the Americans and the Islamic Party are planning something bad for the city before the provincial elections."

The officer added, "We learned that such plans could not be conducted in a quiet atmosphere, so politicians are adding gas to the fire just to make sure they win the elections. We, policemen and citizens, will be the victims as usual." Residents fear parties will use the violence to accuse one another, and perhaps sabotage the election itself.

A police spokesman told IPS that "the media is exaggerating things once more" in speaking of another military operation in the city. The spokesman declined to give his name.

Everyone IPS spoke with in the city expressed fear of an impending attack.

There are meanwhile no signs of improvement of any other kind in Fallujah.

Walls now divide the city into sectarian sections, with poverty, unemployment and suffering on all sides.

HOTTEST NEW VIDEO: OBAMA MEETS WITH TROOPS IN KUWAIT.SINKS A 3-POINT RANGE BASKETBALL SHOT

You may have seen portions of this tape on your TV, but this is the whole video including Barack Obama sinking a 3-point range basketball shot as he visited with U.S. troops in Kuwait.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bimTBZPYvWM

MILITARY FAMILIES FROM FORT CAMPBELL, KY TELL ABOUT THE HORRORS LONG WARS HAVE TAKEN ON THEIR FAMILIES

With the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan lasting longer than five and seven years respectively, the toll on families of the GIs deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan---sometimes on their third and fourth rotation---are suffering even despite the Army's attempts to help them.

The Associated Press talked with families of soldiers deployed to Iraq from Fort Campbell, Kentucky and their stories are heart-breaking.

Below is the first a three-part series by AP of what is not getting reported in the rest of mainstream press about the havoc caused on families by two wars that are showing no signs of ending soon.


As Wars Lengthen, Toll On Military Families Mounts

Last Update: 10:22 am

http://tinyurl.com/5ved92

EDITOR'S NOTE - With troops fighting on foreign soil since late 2001, the United States is learning about the long-term toll of modern war on the home front. In the first of a three-part package of stories, The Associated Press examines some of the consequences for military families. By DAVID CRARY= AP National Writer= FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) -

Far from the combat zones, the strains and separations of no-end-in-sight wars are taking an ever-growing toll on military families despite the armed services' earnest efforts to help.

Divorce lawyers see it in the breakup of youthful marriages as long, multiple deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan fuel alienation and mistrust. Domestic violence experts see it in the scuffles that often precede a soldier's departure or sour a briefly joyous homecoming.

Teresa Moss, a counselor at Fort Campbell's Lincoln Elementary School, hears it in the voices of deployed soldiers' children as they meet in groups to share accounts of nightmares, bedwetting and heartache. "They listen to each other. They hear that they aren't the only ones not able to sleep, having their teachers yell at them," Moss said.

Even for Army spouses with solid marriages, the repeated separations are an ordeal. "Three deployments in, I still have days when I want to hide under the bed and cry," said Jessica Leonard, who is raising two small children and teaching a "family team building" class to other wives at Fort Campbell. Her husband, Capt. Lance Leonard, is in Iraq.

Those classes are among numerous initiatives to support war-strained families. Yet military officials acknowledge that the vast needs outweigh available resources, and critics complain of persistent shortcomings - a dearth of updated data on domestic violence, short shrift for families of National Guard and Reserve members, inadequate support for spouses and children of wounded and traumatized soldiers. If the burden sounds heavier than what families bore in the 20th century's longest wars - World War II and Vietnam - it is, in some ways.

Today's wars entail a deployment pattern of two, three, sometimes four overseas stints of 12 or 15 months - a schedule virtually unheard of in the past. "It's hard to go away, it's hard to come back, and go away and come back again," said Dr. David Benedek, an Army psychiatrist. "That is happening on a larger scale than in our previous military endeavors."

Almost in one breath, military officials praise the resiliency that enables most of these families to endure while acknowledging that the wars expose them to unprecedented stresses and the risk of long-lasting scars. An array of studies by the Army and outside researchers say that marital strains, risk of child maltreatment and other family problems worsen as soldiers serve multiple combat tours.

Continue read here: http://tinyurl.com/5ved92

WHAT FOX NEWS VIEWERS THINK IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN BARACK OBAMA'S TRIP TO BAGHDAD

While the WHOLE world is focused on Sen. Barack Obama's trip to Baghdad, and how his trip will impact on the lives of 160,000 young Americans serving in the military in Iraq, the FOX NEWS web site (http://foxnews.com/) features a block of "Most Read" articles by FOX NEWS viewers.

Here is what FOX NEWS viewers think are the most important stories:

Plea Deal Unlikely Before First Gitmo War Crimes Trial
ElectionHQ: James Dobson May Endorse McCain- Financial Outlooks Reflect Different Strategies
Paulson Braces Public for Tough Times Ahead
Bus Explosions Kill 2, Wound 14 in Southwest China
Woman Accused of Stealing Baby Charged With Homicide
Apparent Conjoined Barn Swallows Found in Arkansas
Pope Meets Clergy Abuse Victims in Australia
Zimbabwe Power-Sharing Talks Deal Struck
Investigator Into Madeleine McCann Probe Pens Book
$20,000 Earrings Found in New York Trash Dump
Tropical Storm Cristobal Weakens- Tropical Storm Dolly Forms in Western Caribbean
Landslide in Guatemala Kills 12 Family Members
Group Ordains Three Female Catholic Priests
Report: Genetic Similarities More Common Than Thought
Harrington Wins Second British Open PHOTOS
Racial Mix in U.S. Cities Marks End of White Flight Subscribe to RSS
Katie Holmes Shows Off Her New Severe Bob
B-52 Bomber Carrying 6 Crew Members Crashes Off Guam
Missing Fort Bliss Soldier Found Alive, Sister Says
French Tourist Allegedly Beats Daughter Into Coma Against Roman Monument
Paulson Braces Public for Tough Times Ahead
Changing Racial Makeup in U.S. Cities Marks the End of White Flight
Scientist’s Quest for ‘Megafish’ Leads Him to Giant Freshwater Stingray
Pop Tarts: Jessica Simpson's Super-Sexy (and Smelly) Photo Shoot
$20,000 Earrings Found in New York Trash Dump
Apparent Conjoined Barn Swallows Found in Arkansas
Activists: 9 Iranians Convicted of Adultery Set to Be Stoned to Death
Report: Genetic Profiles More Common Than Once Thought
'Dark Knight' Sets Weekend Box-Office Record With $155.34M
Rice: Iran Not Serious at Nuke Meeting, Could Face New Sanctions
Pa. Woman Accused of Stealing Baby Charged With Homicide
Bus Explosions Kill 2, Wound 14 in Southwest China

Amazing, but not one mention of Sen. Barack Obama's trip to Baghdad.

FOX NEWS continues to feed their audience "tabloid"news and that is why the average FOX NEWS viewer hasn't got a clue what is going on in the world.

Bill Corcoran, EDITOR: CORKSPHERE: url http://corksphere.blogspot.com/

IRAQ NEWS SOURCE REPORTS AL-MALIKI AND OBAMA HAVE MET

Maliki, Obama tackle future of U.S. military presence in Iraq – source

Baghdad - Voices of Iraq
Monday , 21 /07 /2008 Time 1:09:06
http://www.aswataliraq.info/look/english/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrArticle=86499&NrIssue=2&NrSection=1


BAGHDAD, July 21 (VOI) – Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and visiting U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama discussed a number of topics including the future of U.S. military presence in Iraq, according to a cabinet media source on Monday.

"Maliki received Obama as soon as he arrived in Baghdad and the two sides discussed the possibility of U.S. troop cuts in Iraq," the source, who asked that he is name not be revealed, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI).The source said the Illinois Senator would possibly meet other Iraqi officials today.Earlier in the day the U.S. army's media advisor Abdellatif Rayan told VOI Obama arrived in the Iraqi capital as part of a tour he started with Afghanistan earlier this week.Obama had pledged to withdraw U.S. combat troops from Iraq if he won the presidential elections to be held next November.The U.S. White House hopeful had paid a single visit to Iraq in January 2006.

CNN: DEADLY CAR BOMB GOES OFF IN BAGHDAD AS OBAMA ARRIVES

Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama arrived in Baghdad and hours later a car bomb went off in Baghdad killing a civilian and wounding four others as a sign that peace in Iraq is still very fragile.

Baghdad hit by deadly car bomb

Story Highlights
NEW: Barack Obama arrives in Iraq for talks with Iraqi officials, U.S. commanders
U.S. military kills two relatives of Salaheddin governor
Police official, who's governor's brother, says dead includes governor's son
U.S. military says troops encountered two armed men, killed in "self-defense"

http://tinyurl.com/5dl5vv


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A car bomb blew up in Baghdad, killing a civilian and wounding four others, an Interior Ministry official said.

The Sunday attack underscored the fragility of relative calm in the Iraqi capital; violence levels have dropped sharply in Baghdad and across the country over the past few months.

Early Sunday in northern Iraq, U.S. forces killed two relatives of Salaheddin's governor Hamad al-Qaisi and identified them as members of al Qaeda in Iraq.

But a Baiji police official who is al-Qaisi's brother said the two males were al-Qaisi's 16-year-old son and the teenager's cousin. Lt. Col. Saad al-Qaisi said the two were "executed," as they headed to morning prayers.

Al-Qaisi said his nephew, Hussam Hamad al-Qaisi, and Badri Khalaf Issa walked out of a house next door to the building that was being raided by the U.S. military at around 3:30 a.m. He said the young men "were taken and executed" by the military.

WASHINGTON POST: OBAMA ARRIVES IN BAGHDAD: "SURGE" TROOPS LEAVE WITH DOUBTS THAT PEACE WILL HOLD

Democratic Presidential hopeful Barack Obama has arrived in Baghdad, and many of the "surge" troops are leaving, but according to the Washington Post the troops are not sure that peace will hold in the war torn country.

What many people don't know is the United States has been arming the various militia groups and this could lead to an all out civil war when the U.S. leaves Iraq and there is nobody left to hold the fragile peace together.

For 'Surge' Troops, Pride Mingles With Doubt: Soldiers Leave a More Secure Iraq but Are Unsure if Hard-Won Gains Will Hold

By Ernesto Londoño
Washington Post Foreign ServiceMonday, July 21, 2008; A01
http://tinyurl.com/6ymm6h

BAGHDAD -- This time last year, Capt. Wes Wilhite's men were getting ready to move into an abandoned house in western Baghdad wedged between cells of Sunni insurgents to the south and strongholds of Shiite militias to the north.

Violence in the Iraqi capital seemed unstoppable. U.S. military vehicles were getting attacked with armor-piercing roadside bombs almost daily, and a raging sectarian war was Balkanizing once-mixed neighborhoods.

"A slaughterhouse," is how Steve Murrani, an interpreter working with Wilhite's men, described it.

The soldiers, who came to Iraq as part of President Bush's troop increase, began returning home last week. They leave with sunburned faces, calloused hands, tattered boots. On their wrists they wear black metal bracelets inscribed with the names of five soldiers killed on a clear afternoon in March, just as progress was starting to seem irreversible.

For more from the Washington Post, click here: http://tinyurl.com/6ymm6h

TIMELINE. TIMETABLE, TIME HORIZON. WHATEVER. DID SOMEONE GET TO IRAQI PM?

Everyone from George Bush to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Democratic Presidential hopeful Barack Obama has got a different spin on the the word "time."

Last week the Iraqi PM said he wanted a "timeline" for U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq.

Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama wants a "timetable."

And now the Bush administration is calling for a "time horizon."

It appears as though all these leaders and prospective leaders have too much "time" on their hands.

Der Spiegel quoted the Iraqi PM as saying he agreed with Obama's 16-month plan for troop withdrawals from Iraq, but now al-Maliki is saying he was misunderstood.

Could it be that someone from the Bush White House told the puppet leader of Iraq to get back in line with President Bush or face having funding cut off?

It sure looks like it.

COMMENTARY BY BILL CORCORAN, EDITOR OF CORKSPHERE


Iraqi PM denies supporting Obama pullout proposal

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki did not back the plan of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to pullout American forces from Iraq and his comments to a German magazine on the issue were misunderstood, the government's spokesman said on Sunday.

According to Ali al-Dabbagh, Maliki's remarks to Der Spiegel were translated incorrectly. The German magazine said on Saturday that the Iraqi leader endorsed Obama's proposal that American soldiers should leave Iraq within 16 months. The interview was released on Saturday.

"U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right time frame for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes," Der Spiegel quoted Maliki as saying.

According to Reuters, Dabbagh conveyed statements by Maliki or any other member of the government should not be seen as support for any U.S. presidential candidate.

Maliki's remarks were published a day after the White House said he and U.S. President George W. Bush had agreed that a security agreement currently being negotiated between them should include a "time horizon" for withdrawal of U.S. troops.

Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)

THEY'RE GANGING UP ON BUSH: BRITISH PM JOINS IRAQI PM ON OBAMA PLAN FOR TROOP PULLOUT FROM IRAQ

Brown backs Obama on 2010 Iraq troop pull-out

Last updated at 02:52am on 20.07.08
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23518247-details/Brown+backs+Obama+on+2010+Iraq+troop+pull-out/article.do#readerComments

Gordon Brown has privately backed American presidential candidate Barack Obama’s plan for all foreign troops to be pulled out of Iraq by summer 2010.

Downing Street sources say that the UK is ‘working to the same end’ as Mr Obama, who has said that he would remove all US troops from Iraq within 16 months if he won the presidential election in November.

The disclosure came as Mr Brown paid a surprise visit to Baghdad yesterday for talks with the Iraqi government.

His meeting with Iraqi premier Nouri al-Maliki, President Jamal Talabani and General David Petraeus, the head of the American military operation, came 24 hours before Mr Obama was also expected to arrive in Baghdad.

Mr Brown and Mr Obama are due to meet in Downing Street later this week.

But any suggestion of a tacit ‘deal’ between the two men is likely to be greeted with fury by Mr Obama’s presidential rival, John McCain, who has not pledged to withdraw American troops.

The complete withdrawal of UK troops on the same timetable would come as a relief to the British Armed Forces, who have complained about the pressure of maintaining 4,000 troops in Iraq and 8,000 in Afghanistan.

Britain has retained a larger troop presence in Iraq for longer than anticipated because of delays in training Iraqi forces to take their place.

However, the task has become easier in recent months because of a dramatic improvement in the political and economic situation in Basra, where the British troops are stationed.

Mr Brown yesterday set out four key objectives for the British operation in Iraq.

These were transferring responsibility for security to Iraqi people, the holding of democratic local elections, economic and social development and transferring the country’s airports from military to civilian use.

He said: ‘We are making very significant progress.

'There have been great steps made since my last visit in December.’

Publicly he refused to say when the last British soldier would leave Iraq.
‘I’m not setting an artificial timetable, but there has been significant progress,’ he said.

U.S. MARINES VIDEO IN IRAQ WITH REAL FOOTAGE: WARNING GRAPHIC

The media would have you believing the war in Iraq is OVER, but there are still pockets of resistance and there is talk of a big offensive right around the time of the elections in the United States.

This VIDEO shows the U.S. Marines in action in Iraq...a country that is far from total peace:

http://www.youtube.com/v/C_LTvGSHHh4&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW IN PICTURE TO ACTIVATE VIDEO

REAL COMBAT VIDEO FOOTAGE FROM AFGHANISTAN---THE NEW HOT SPOT

Afghanistan has emerged as the new "hot spot" for American troops and this video shows an American combat patrol under heavy attack in a mountainous area of Afghanistan.

The war in Afghanistan is going to be fought in the hills and mountains of Afghanistan unlike Iraq which was a war conducted mostly in urban areas.

Watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/v/Emr1tFK5wBc&hl=en&fs=1

Click on diamond-shaped arrow in center of picture to activate video.

NEW GRAPHIC VIDEO: ATTACK ON MARINE CONVOY IN FALLUJAH. VERY GRAPHIC

This new video shows an attack on a U.S. Marine convoy in Fallujah where hostilites have heated up despite what FOX NEWS and the Bush administration are telling AMERICANS

http://www.youtube.com/v/fUFg0wYtZXg&hl=en&fs=1

Click on diamond-shaped arrow in picture to activate video. WARNING: VERY GRAPHIC

FIRST VIDEO REPORT OF 9 U.S. SOLDIERS KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN

AP has released the first video of the attack in Afghanistan which killed 9 U.S. soldiers. The Army is investigating whether intelligence was lacking and the soldiers were walking right into a trap.

See VIDEO here: http://www.youtube.com/v/gOqDdobMbf0&hl=en&fs=1

Click on diamond-shaped arrow in picture to activate video

BRAND NEW VIDEO: AP REPORTS VIOLENCE UP SHARPLY IN AFGHANISTAN AS WAR ENTERS 7TH YEAR

The war in Afghanistan and casualties from the war are up sharply as this video from the Associated Press tells.
The video was released four days ago and reports on the nine U.S. servicemen killed in Afghanistan a week ago.

See video here: http://www.youtube.com/v/j9IC_tSj-co&hl=en&fs=1

CBS REPORTS: IRAQI PM SUPPORTS OBAMA'S PLAN FOR TROOP WITHDRAWAL

Iraqi PM Supports Obama's Withdrawal Plan

BAGHDAD, July 19, 2008
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/07/19/iraq/main4275137.shtml

(CBS/AP) In an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel, Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said he supported a plan proposed by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq within 16 months.

When asked when he thinks U.S. troops should leave Iraq, al-Maliki told the magazine, "As soon as possible, as far as we are concerned." He added, "U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama is right when he talks about 16 months." Al-Maliki deferred, however, from offering outright support for Obama's candidacy. "Of course, this is by no means an election endorsement," he said. "Who they choose as their president is the Americans' business."

The prime minister, who has spoken of setting a timetable for U.S. withdrawal - an option that has been anathema to the White House - discounted the Bush adminstration's concerns. "So far the Americans have had trouble agreeing to a concrete timetable for withdrawal, because they feel it would appear tantamount to an admission of defeat," al-Maliki told Der Spiegel.

WE REPORT: YOU DECIDE. WHO IS TELLING THE TRUTH ABOUT IRAQ AND OBAMA'S TRIP TO IRAQ?

RUPERT MURDOCH not only owns FOX NEWS but he also owns the New York Post. As would be expected, the New York Post slams Barack Obama's trip to Iraq and lies to their readers about the success of "the surge." The New York Post, naturally, believes everything Republican candidate for President John McCain says about Iraq.

Following this propaganda piece in the New York Post, we present to our blog readers the REAL TRUTH ABOUT IRAQ including the latest list of casualties from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Rupert Murdoch and his "news" empire continue to LIE to the American public about IRAQ through FOX NEWS and the New York Post as well as scores of other media outlets the foreign-born Rupert Murdoch owns.

We begin with the NEW YORK POSTS' propaganda piece followed by the TRUTH about Iraq from the TRUE source of events on the ground in Iraq, Iraq Today, http://warnewstoday.blogspot.com/

COMMENTARY BY BILL CORCORAN, EDITOR OF CORKSPHERE


BARACK'S IRAQ TRIP
Posted: 4:38 amJuly 19, 2008

http://www.nypost.com/seven/07192008/postopinion/editorials/baracks_iraq_trip_120597.htm

Barack Obama is headed for the front - including a stop in an Iraq that would look far different had Washington adopted the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee's strategic imperatives.

Indeed. For the troop surge so vehemently opposed by Obama has clearly succeeded - as GOP candidate John McCain declared yesterday.

"We have succeeded in Iraq - not 'we are succeeding' - we have succeeded in Iraq," said McCain.
"The strategy has worked, and we now have the Iraqi government and military in charge of the major cities in Iraq. Al Qaeda is on [its] heels and on the run."

McCain has every good reason to be outspoken about the good news.

Back when Gen. David Petraeus and President Bush announced plans for the surge, McCain went way out on a limb and endorsed it - indeed, he'd long been pushing for precisely such a strategy.

Democrats, with Obama to the fore, predicted a military disaster and piles of American corpses. (Indeed, even many Republicans were afraid to back the Petraeus plan openly.)

But McCain, a combat veteran who's made repeated trips to the front, knew otherwise.

As for Obama, until recently he was still insisting that the surge would fail.

Now he knows otherwise - which is why his aides moved quickly to purge all signs of his earlier opposition from his campaign Web site.

Fact is, as McCain rightly notes, "If we had done what Sen. Obama wanted to do, there would be no situation to evaluate because we would've lost."

"There would be chaos," he added. "There would be an increase in sectarian violence. There would be widening Iranian influence - and we would be facing disaster."

So it's a good thing that Sen. Obama is headed for Iraq and Afghanistan. He'll probably learn something important about how the war is being conducted.


Maybe he'll even come to realize that this hard-won success is too fragile to be put at risk by a too-hasty retreat.

Something John McCain also has understood all along.

AND THEN THERE IS THE TRUTH ABOUT IRAQ WHICH THE NEW YORK POST AND FOX NEWS ARE INCAPABLE OF TELLING.

THE FOLLOWING U.S. CASUALTIES AND ACTS OF VIOLENCE IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN HAPPENED ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY AND STAND IN STARK CONTRAST TO THE LIES PUT FORTH BY THE NEW YORK POST AND FOX NEWS.


SOURCE: http://warnewstoday.blogspot.com/

Casualty Reports:Army Sgt. Matthew Gobble, 24, who was injured in Afghanistan was hit by shrapnel from a rocket-propelled grenade during an attack by Taliban insurgents against a U.S.-led outpost near Pakistan. The shrapnel sprayed across much of Gobble’s body, his father said. “It was basically his entire left side from his head all the way down to his feet,” he said. Gobble was flown to Germany, where he underwent surgery to remove the shrapnel and repair cartilage and ligaments.

U.S. Army Spc. Aaron Davis, 21, and his comrades in the 173rd Airborne Brigade. According to military officials, 200 insurgents fired on the base with machine guns, grenades and mortars. He had been hurt in the leg and head, she said. She did not have details about the injuries, but noted that her son had already been presented with the Purple Heart. He remained in a hospital Friday in Italy and at some point will be flown to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

Reported Security incidents:Baghdad:

#1: Friday One unidentified body was found in Baghdad by Iraqi Police today in Amil neighbourhood.

#2: A roadside bomb wounded four civilians in central Baghdad, police said.Around 3 pm a roadside bomb targeted an American patrol in Karrada neighborhood. 4 Iraqi people were injured.

#3: Around 7 am a roadside bomb targeted an American patrol near Ghadeer bridge in Zayuna neighborhood. One Humvee was damaged with no casualties reported.Diyala Prv:

Khalis:#1: Meanwhile, an official source in Diala police told VOI that security forces found on Saturday three headless bodies in al-Karama neighborhood, al-Adhim district, al-Khalis, (150 km) north of Baaquba. "The three bodies were of brothers that had been kidnapped on Wednesday," the source said, not giving more details.

Nassiriya:#1: An explosive charge on Saturday detonated near a police patrol vehicle in southern Thi-Qar province, causing no casualties or damage, a local police media and relations director said. "An improvised explosive device (IED) planted in downtown Souk al-Shoyoukh district (30 km south of Nassiriya city) blew up while a police patrol car was passing by, causing no casualties or damage," Colonel Sadiq al-Mashrafawi told Aswat al-Iraq- Voices of Iraq.

Tikrit:#1: Gunmen killed three policemen in an attack on their patrol outside Tikrit, 150 km (95 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.Sulaiman Bek.#1: A roadside bomb targeted a patrol for the south oil company guards in Sulaiman Beck in Tuz Khurmatu ( south of Kirkuk and northeast of Tikrit) Friday night. 4 guards were injured.Sulaimaniyah:#1: Police found two dead bodies for a woman a her daughter in Sulaimaniyah city today.

Mosul:#1: Two Iraqi armed forces members died and eight others were wounded Saturday in a car bomb explosion in northern Iraq, military sources said. The incident happened in the mainly Kurdish city of Mosul, al-Sumaria Iraqi Satellite TV reported.

#2: A handcuffed body was found with gunshot wounds on Friday in western Mosul, police said

.#3: Gunmen killed one person on Friday just outside his house in northern Mosul, police said.#4: A sniper shot dead a policeman at a checkpoint in central Mosul, police said.

Afghanistan:#1: Meanwhile, the chief police of Kandahar told Deutsche Presse- Agenture (dpa) Saturday that a roadside blast in southern Afghanistan killed four policemen and wounded another. Khan Mohammad - a police official in Kandahar province - said the blast struck a patrol in Maiwand district of restive Kandahar province on

Saturday.#2: In another development, two French aid workers were kidnapped at gunpoint on Friday in central Afghanistan, officials said Saturday. The two were abducted when a group of armed men entered into their organization's guesthouse in Neli, capital of Daikundi Province, late Friday, said Mohammad Nadir, the provincial police chief. "The armed men tied up the guards and dragged the aid workers into their vehicles," he said. The two French nationals were employed at the Action Contre la Faim (ACF) (Action Against Hunger) organization providing aid relief to Afghan communities at risk of acute malnutrition, the organization said in its website.

#3: A suicide bomber wounded one policeman when he detonated his explosives next to a passing police convoy in Daman district of Kandahar province on Saturday, district chief Mohammad Rasul said

.#4: Taliban militants attacked the district headquarters in Garda Serai district in the eastern province of Paktia on Saturday, wounding four policemen and capturing two more, district police chief Enayatullah said.

#5: One Afghan security guard was killed and three more were wounded on Saturday when their vehicle, which was providing security for a NATO supply convoy, struck a roadside bomb on the main highway between Khost and Paktia provinces in the east of the country, a district chief Lutfullah Baba Karkhel said.

CNN: OBAMA IS IN AFGHANISTAN

Obama makes first trip to Afghanistan

Story Highlights
Sen. Barack Obama arrives in Afghanistan for first stop of global tour
Obama's visit comes as U.S. officials want to send more troops to region
Obama also expected to visit several countries in Middle East, Europe

http://tinyurl.com/6zynek

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama arrived Saturday in Afghanistan on the first stop of his tour of the Middle East and Europe, aimed at boosting the U.S. Democratic presidential hopeful's foreign policy credentials, his campaign confirmed.
The U.S. senator from Illinois also plans to visit Iraq, although details of the trip have have not been made public for security reasons.
Obama spoke briefly to a pool reporter about his trip just before leaving Washington.
"I'm looking forward to seeing what the situation on the ground is," Obama said. "I want to, obviously, talk to the commanders and get a sense, both in Afghanistan and in Baghdad of, you know, what the most, their biggest concerns are. And I want to thank our troops for the heroic work that they've been doing."
Asked if he would have tough talk for the leaders of Afghanistan and Iraq, Obama said he was "more interested in listening than doing a lot of talking."
"I think it is very important to recognize that I'm going over there as a U.S. senator. We have one president at a time, so it's the president's job to deliver those messages," Obama said. Watch Obama's foreign policy adviser discuss overseas trip »
The fight in Afghanistan has become a more pressing issue on the political radar. Three times as many coalition soldiers and other military personnel have died in July in Afghanistan than in Iraq.
On Sunday, nine U.S. soldiers were killed in a fight with about 200 Taliban militants in eastern Afghanistan. It was the deadliest attack on U.S. troops in Afghanistan in three years.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday that U.S. officials are looking for ways to send more troops to Afghanistan, amid the resurgence of violence nearly seven years after the ousting of the Taliban government.
Gates said the hope is to send additional forces "sooner rather than later."

NEW VIDEO: LAURA INGRAHAM LOSES IT BEHIND THE SCENES AT FOX NEWS

Laura Ingraham, the ultra-Conservative talk radio host, lasted just one week at FOX NEWS and this video could be the reason why. Four of her producers QUIT after one week.

http://www.mydamnchannel.com/Harry_Shearer/Found_Objects/FoundObjectsLauraIngraham_823.aspx

LAURA INGRAHAM LOSES IT BEHIND THE SCENES AT FOX!
by Bob Carson

First it was the infamous "Do it live" Bill O'reilly clip, now we see Laura Ingraham lose it behind scenes. In this video, Laura can be seen yelling and complaining at just about everyone on the set. It's no wonder 4 of her producers/assistants have left in the last few months.
These tirades are relatively mild compared to what Laura said behind the scenes about Diane Sollee, a guest on Ingraham's radio show, but they are none-to -less amusing. One thing I have to agree with Laura on- "This is a train wreck." I'm going to try to embed the video. If that doesn't work, the link below leads you to it.

WATCH LAURA INGRAHAM LOSE IT HERE:

http://www.mydamnchannel.com/Harry_Shearer/Found_Objects/FoundObjectsLauraIngraham_823.aspx

Comment: We hope we contributed to Laura Ingraham's downfall at FOX NEWS when we pointed out how she and Conservate blogger Michelle Malkin failed to provide all the facts re the Marines who were charged with killing innocent civilians in what became known as the "Haditha Street Incident."

Bill Corcoran, Editor: CORKSPHERE url: http://corksphere.blogspot.com

BIOLOGICAL WARFARE AGAINST U.S. TROOPS: WATCH VIDEO

HALLIBURTON, the company which Vice President Dick Cheney was once CEO, has been providing food, water and other supplys for U.S. troops in Iraq, but this VIDEO tells the alarming story on how HALLIBURTON has been providing contaminated water and food to U.S. troops.

HALLIBURTON has been making money hand over fist off the Iraq War and the U.S. taxpayer is absorbing the cost of Dick Cheney's former company reaping huge profits.

Watch former HALLIBURTON employees talk about what they saw when they were in Iraq working for HALLIBURTON here: http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/369.html

This is how George Bush and Dick Cheney support the troops.

And you can thank Congress for it too while you're at it. Simple biological warfare - poisoning the troops' water supply - is the most cost effective way of neutralizing the effectiveness of an armed force.

The problem is how do you get to the supply?

In Iraq, that's no problem. Bush and company have brought in private contractors to provide the water supply to troops and the private contractor,HALLIBURTON, Dick Cheney's former employer, has deemed it unnecessary to provide uncontaminated water to US troops serving in Iraq.

Take the money? Sure.

The actual safety of the water? Not our concern. Neither the flag-waving rabble-rousers of the Bush administration nor the gutless, venal cowards in Congress seem to care about the problem.

Too busy gearing up for the attack on Iran I guess.