PALIN MEETS McCAIN STAFFERS WEARING ONLY A TOWEL

This Newsweek report sheds light on many things that never made the news including how Sarah Palin met McCain staffers at her hotel room on the night of the Republican Convention wearing only a towel.

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

Hackers and Spending Sprees
Highlights from NEWSWEEK's special election project.

Newsweek Web Exclusive
Nov 5, 2008 Updated: 5:01 a.m. ET Nov 5, 2008

URL: http://www.newsweek.com/id/167581

The computer systems of both the Obama and McCain campaigns were victims of a sophisticated cyberattack by an unknown "foreign entity," prompting a federal investigation, NEWSWEEK reports today.

At the Obama headquarters in midsummer, technology experts detected what they initially thought was a computer virus—a case of "phishing," a form of hacking often employed to steal passwords or credit-card numbers. But by the next day, both the FBI and the Secret Service came to the campaign with an ominous warning: "You have a problem way bigger than what you understand," an agent told Obama's team. "You have been compromised, and a serious amount of files have been loaded off your system." The following day, Obama campaign chief David Plouffe heard from White House chief of staff Josh Bolten, to the same effect: "You have a real problem ... and you have to deal with it." The Feds told Obama's aides in late August that the McCain campaign's computer system had been similarly compromised. A top McCain official confirmed to NEWSWEEK that the campaign's computer system had been hacked and that the FBI had become involved.

Officials at the FBI and the White House told the Obama campaign that they believed a foreign entity or organization sought to gather information on the evolution of both camps' policy positions—information that might be useful in negotiations with a future administration. The Feds assured the Obama team that it had not been hacked by its political opponents. (Obama technical experts later speculated that the hackers were Russian or Chinese.) A security firm retained by the Obama campaign took steps to secure its computer system and end the intrusion. White House and FBI officials had no comment earlier this week.

NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin's shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family—clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who was shocked when he got the bill. Palin also used low-level staffers to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards. The McCain campaign found out last week when the aides sought reimbursement. One aide estimated that she spent "tens of thousands" more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost. An angry aide characterized the shopping spree as "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast," and said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books.
A Palin aide said: "Governor Palin was not directing staffers to put anything on their personal credit cards, and anything that staffers put on their credit cards has been reimbursed, like an expense. Nasty and false accusations following a defeat say more about the person who made them than they do about Governor Palin."
McCain himself rarely spoke to Palin during the campaign, and aides kept him in the dark about the details of her spending on clothes because they were sure he would be offended. Palin asked to speak along with McCain at his Arizona concession speech Tuesday night, but campaign strategist Steve Schmidt vetoed the request.
The disclosures are among many revealed in "How He Did It, 2008," the latest installment in NEWSWEEK's Special Election Project, which was first published in 1984. As in the previous editions, "How He Did It, 2008" is an inside, behind-the-scenes account of the presidential election produced by a special team of reporters working for more than a year on an embargoed basis and detached from the weekly magazine and Newsweek.com. Everything the project team learns is kept confidential until the day after the polls close.

Among the other revelations from the special project:
The Obama campaign was provided with reports from the Secret Service showing a sharp and disturbing increase in threats to Obama in September and early October, at the same time that many crowds at Palin rallies became more frenzied. Michelle Obama was shaken by the vituperative crowds and the hot rhetoric from the GOP candidates. "Why would they try to make people hate us?" Michelle asked a top campaign aide.

On the Sunday night before the last debate, McCain's core group of advisers—Steve Schmidt, Rick Davis, adman Fred Davis, strategist Greg Strimple, pollster Bill McInturff and strategy director Sarah Simmons—met to decide whether to tell McCain that the race was effectively over, that he no longer had a chance to win. The consensus in the room was no, not yet, not while he still had "a pulse."

The Obama campaign's New Media experts created a computer program that would allow a "flusher"—the term for a volunteer who rounds up nonvoters on Election Day—to know exactly who had, and had not, voted in real time. They dubbed it Project Houdini, because of the way names disappear off the list instantly once people are identified as they wait in line at their local polling station.

Palin launched her attack on Obama's association with William Ayers, the former Weather Underground bomber, before the campaign had finalized a plan to raise the issue. McCain's advisers were working on a strategy that they hoped to unveil the following week, but McCain had not signed off on it, and top adviser Mark Salter was resisting.

McCain also was reluctant to use Obama's incendiary pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, as a campaign issue. The Republican had set firm boundaries: no Jeremiah Wright; no attacking Michelle Obama; no attacking Obama for not serving in the military. McCain balked at an ad using images of children that suggested that Obama might not protect them from terrorism. Schmidt vetoed ads suggesting thatObama was soft on crime (no Willie Hortons). And before word even got to McCain, Schmidt and Salter scuttled a "celebrity" ad of Obama dancing with talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres (the sight of a black man dancing with a lesbian was deemed too provocative).

Obama was never inclined to choose Sen. Hillary Clinton as his running mate, not so much because she had been his sometime bitter rival on the campaign trail, but because of her husband. Still, as Hillary's name came up in veep discussions, and Obama's advisers gave all the reasons why she should be kept off the ticket, Obama would stop and ask, "Are we sure?" He needed to be convinced one more time that the Clintons would do more harm than good. McCain, on the other hand, was relieved to face Sen. Joe Biden as the veep choice, and not Hillary Clinton, whom the McCain camp had truly feared.

McCain was dumbfounded when Congressman John Lewis, a civil-rights hero, issued a press release comparing the GOP nominee with former Alabama governor George Wallace, a segregationist infamous for stirring racial fears. McCain had devoted a chapter to Lewis in one of his books, "Why Courage Matters," and had so admired Lewis that he had once taken his children to meet him.

On the night she officially lost the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton enjoyed a long and friendly phone conversation with McCain. Clinton was actually on better terms with McCain than she was with Obama. Clinton and McCain had downed shots together on Senate junkets; they regarded each other as grizzled veterans of the political wars and shared a certain disdain for Obama as flashy and callow.

At the GOP convention in St. Paul, Palin was completely unfazed by the boys' club fraternity she had just joined. One night, Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter went to her hotel room to brief her. After a minute, Palin sailed into the room wearing nothing but a towel, with another on her wet hair. She told them to chat with her laconic husband, Todd. "I'll be just a minute," she said.

The debates unnerved both candidates. When he was preparing for them during the Democratic primaries, Obama was recorded saying, "I don't consider this to be a good format for me, which makes me more cautious. I often find myself trapped by the questions and thinking to myself, 'You know, this is a stupid question, but let me … answer it.' So when Brian Williams is asking me about what's a personal thing that you've done [that's green], and I say, you know, 'Well, I planted a bunch of trees.' And he says, 'I'm talking about personal.' What I'm thinking in my head is, 'Well, the truth is, Brian, we can't solve global warming because I f---ing changed light bulbs in my house. It's because of something collective'."

HERE IS WHAT PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA IS LOOKING AT IN IRAQ TODAY

President-Elect Barack Obama faces a daunting task of bringing the U.S. economy back on line, but he also is faced with wars in Iraq and Afghanistan which are still raging despite the hoopla dished out by the Bush Administration and their puppet mouthpiece FOX NEWS.

Here is just a sample of what took place on Wednesday, November 5 in Iraq and Afghanistan:

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

Baghdad:#1: Anti-bomb squad on Wednesday defused a bomb planted in central Baghdad, a security source said. “Anti-bomb squad defused the bomb planted in Abu Nawas street in central Baghdad,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.“The operation ended without casualties,” he said.

#2: An improvised bomb exploded Tuesday near the car of an Iraqi official, missing him but killing two people and injuring several others, police said. It was the latest in a series of apparent assassination attempts against Iraqi authorities. The attack on Ahmed Shyaa al-Barak, head of a government property and claims office, occurred amid bombing and shooting attacks in Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul that left nine people dead and dozens injured.

#3: Also on Tuesday, an explosive device also went off under a police commander's car in the Karrada neighborhood, killing him and wounding two other officers, police said.

#4: Two roadside bombs exploded in a market in the Qahira neighborhood in northern Baghdad, killing at least one person and wounding nine, police said.

#5: In eastern Baghdad, an improvised explosive device blew up in a parking garage in the neighborhood of Mashtal, killing at least four people and injuring 17, police said.

#6: A booby-trapped car exploded in another parking garage near Baghdad Technology University in central Baghdad, killing one civilian and injuring five, police said.

#7: A car bomb near a checkpoint on the road to Baghdad's airport killed four people and wounded nine on Wednesday, police said. Two policemen were among the dead and three policemen were among the wounded in the blast, which took place by a statue near a major checkpoint outside the heavily guarded airport, police said.

Amarra:#1: A policeman was killed and three more were wounded in a bomb explosion in central Amara, a security source said. “An improvised explosive device went off near the police station in central Amara, killing a policeman and injuring three,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.The deputy chief of the Missan police on Wednesday survived an attempt on his life, while a policeman was killed and four more were wounded in a bomb blast in central Amara, a security source said. “An explosive charge went off targeting the motorcade of Colonel Sadeq Abdul Aziem, killing a cop and injuring four,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq, noting that the deputy chief of police survived. A security source had said earlier a policeman was killed and three more were wounded in a bomb explosion in central Amara.

#2: The executive director of the Sadr office in Missan said on Wednesday that unknown gunmen stormed the office and locked up the staff in a room. “Four gunmen stormed the Sadr office in Awasha region in central Amara and confined the office’s staffs in a room and set the special office of the social committee on fire,” Sheikh Hadi al-Fridawi told Aswat al-Iraq.

Numaniya:#1: An armed group kidnapped a girl in north of Kut and took her to unknown place, a police source said on Wednesday.“Unknown gunmen kidnapped a girl in central Nuaamaniya district in north of Kut and took her to unknown place,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.

Riyadh:#1: Police found two dead bodies (man and woman) in Riyadh town (west of Kirkuk) on Tuesday night.Kirkuk:#1: Two bodies of a young man and a woman were found by police forces in southwest of Kirkuk, a police source said on Wednesday. “The bodies were found on late Tuesday in Mezher al-Aasi village in Riyadh district, southwest of Kirkuk,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.

Mosul:#1: In eastern Mosul, gunmen shot dead a policeman in a prison for political detainees, a police source said.

#2: Another policeman was also killed by gunmen in al-Shefaa district in western Mosul. Mosul is located some 405 kilometres north of Baghdad.

Afghanistan:#1: An Afghan villager at the scene of an apparent U.S. bombing says 23 children and 10 women attending a wedding party are among 37 Afghans killed during a U.S. fight with the Taliban. Kandahar province villager Abdul Jalil says he was hosting a wedding party for his niece when Taliban militants fighting U.S. forces took cover near his home. Jalil says 37 people were killed when U.S. warplanes later bombed the wedding party.

#2: Three children were killed and six injured when an old shell they were playing with exploded in Kabul on Wednesday, a source in the republic's interior ministry said.

#3: Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) backed by the U.S. -led Coalition forces have killed five insurgents during a combat security patrol in southern Afghan province of Helmand, said a Coalition statement received here on Wednesday. Insurgents engaged the combined patrol with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire in Nahr Surkh district of Helmand on Nov. 3, the statement said. The combined forces returned fire killing five, and "no ANSF, Coalition forces or civilians casualties were reported," it said.

#4: A roadside bomb killed four police when the device hit their vehicle in Logar province, 80 km (50 miles) south of Kabul, on Tuesday, a provincial official said.

#5: A rocket attack killed two civilians and wounded three more in a residential area in eastern Kabul overnight, a police official said. One civilian was killed and four wounded when an old bomb exploded in western Kabul, the official said.

VIDEO REPORT: TACKLING THE TALIBAN IN AFGHANISTAN

This short documentary shows U.S. Special Forces and Engineers involved in a firefight with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Excellent narration and fantastic war footage.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG7ksVUTjdc&feature=related

VIDEO OF MARINES SURVIVING SMALL IED ATTACK IN AFGHANISTAN

This is a video showing a U.S. Marine squad and how they survived a small IED attack in Afghanistan. Warning: Rough language.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/xLIvJqv7Mxo&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON ARROW TO ACTIVATE VIDEO

RAW VIDEO OF U.S. MARINES IN GUN BATTLE WITH TALIBAN

This is new and raw footage of the U.S. Marines in a gun battle with the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Plenty of live action.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/KT3YtP3qPLk&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON ARROW TO ACTIVATE VIDEO

YOU GOTTA SEE THIS VIDEO OF U.S. TROOPS IN COMBAT IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN

The attention in the United States is focused on the election, but there is still a war going on in Iraq and Afghanistan as this video points out in a graphic way. Plenty of action footage.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/nCTBeS7Eb1c&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON ARROW TO ACTIVATE VIDEO

SENSATIONAL ACTION VIDEO TRIBUTE TO U.S. ARMY IN IRAQ

This is a fabulous action video tribute to the U.S. Army in Iraq.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/yq88ee9IMsA&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON ARROW TO ACTIVATE VIDEO

DID WE REALLY WANT ANOTHER REPUBLICAN WHO DID THIS TO INNOCENT IRAQI CHILDREN?: WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEO

In just three days, we will go to the polls to elect the next President. Will it be the Republican, John McCain, who wants to continue to do things like are seen in this video to innocent Iraqi children, or will it be the Democrat, Barack Obama, who wants to end the war in Iraq and end this senseless violence?

The choice is yours.

WATCH THIS VIDEO AND THEN DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT.

http://www.youtube.com/v/0M2qOuUbdt8&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON ARROW TO ACTIVATE VIDEO.

GRUESOME VIDEO: TELL ME WHY: CHILD VICTIMS OF BUSH'S WAR ON IRAQ

The Iraq War has been going on for over 5 years now and nothing has really been accomplished.

Sure, the Iraqi tribal leaders rose up against Al Quaeda and drove them out of their towns and villages, but the U.S. military didn't have a damn thing to do with bringing a semblance of peace to Iraq.

What the Bush Administration and the U.S. Military did to Iraq is as bad as what the Nazis did to the Jews during the Holocaust.

Innocent Iraqi children were caught up in Bush and Cheney's wild ass dream of turning Iraq into a democracy, and this video shows you what Bush and Cheney did to Iraqi children.

Someday Bush and Cheney should be tried for war crimes. The whole Iraqi War was a waste of billions of dollars and thousands of lives and Bush and Cheney should be forced to pay for their war crimes.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/6dNg9vKsHmw&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON ARROW TO ACTIVATE VIDEO

DRAMATIC VIDEO: SPECIAL FORCES FIREFIGHT IN IRAQ

This video captures a number of firefights in Iraq as well as showing enemy combatants preparing rockets and IEDs for use against U.S. forces.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

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

CLICK ON ARROW TO ACTIVATE VIDEO

SEXUAL TRAUMA AFFLICTS 15 PERCENT OF U.S. VETERANS

Sexual trauma afflicts 15 pct of U.S. veterans

28 Oct 2008 04:00:13

Source: Reuters
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N27312542.htm

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

WASHINGTON, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Nearly 15 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans seeking medical care from the U.S. Veterans Affairs Department have suffered sexual trauma, from harassment to rape, researchers reported on Tuesday.

And these veterans were 1.5 times as likely as other veterans to need mental health services, the report from the VA found.

"We are, in fact, detecting men and women who seem to have a significant need for mental health services," said Rachel Kimerling of the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System in California.

The study, presented at a meeting of the American Public Health Association in San Diego, raises many questions.

Kimerling said in a telephone interview the term "military sexual trauma" covers a range of events from coerced sex to outright rape or threatening and unwelcome sexual advances.
Kimerling said for her purposes it is not necessary to find out what kind of sexual trauma occurred. Her study also did not determine when it happened.

"If you think about military service where you are living and working so closely with the same people, that even if it is not sexual assault ... it is possible that severe sexual harassment is just as traumatic," she said.

The study does not cover active-duty servicemen and women, as VA services are only available to discharged veterans.

A spokeswoman for the VA said about 40 percent of all discharged veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan have sought medical care of some sort from the VA, which has a universal screening program for military sexual trauma.

Kimerling said that may mean many veterans are unaware they can be helped and she said she hoped more would come forward to seek treatment.

"There are dedicated health care services for military sexual trauma at every VA facility across the nation," she said.

Sexual trauma can lead to depression, anxiety, substance abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder, Kimerling said.

"We know there are effective, evidence-based treatments for them that are used in VA," she added.

Most veterans who were affected were women, with more than one in seven women seeking health care services of some sort also reporting sexual trauma. Just under 1 percent of male veterans also reported military sexual trauma.

OCTOBER SURPRISE? U.S. ATTACKS SYRIA: 9 KILLED

Most insiders think the United States is going to launch some kind of an "October Surprise" as a way for the BUSH administration to help JOHN McCAIN in his bid for the White House.

This information was provided us via LORI PRICE, managing editor of CLG News http://www.legitgov.org/


US Attacks Syria, Nine Killed near Iraqi Border

27 Tishrei 5769, 26 October 08 08:14by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

(IsraelNN.com)

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/128087

Two to four United States helicopters attacked Syria, near the Iraqi border, Sunday evening, killing at least nine people. The site was near the target Israel bombed last year.

Foreign media reported that residents in the village of Al-Sukkariya, approximately 300 miles northeast of Damascus and about 10 miles inside Syrian territory and near the main border crossing from Syria into Iraq. Syrian government news agencies confirmed the attack, and a private Syrian television channel reported that nine men died and 14 were wounded.

Two of the helicopters reportedly landed in the village, where eight American soldiers jumped out and carried out the operation. The soldiers quickly returned to the helicopters, and all of the craft left the scene.

It was the first time the U.S. has attacked on Syrian land.

American military spokesperson Sergeant Brooke Murphy said officials are investigating the report.

The targets reportedly were construction workers and were civilians, including five people from one family, local residents reported to news agencies. Terrorists have used the nearby border crossing to transport weapons, money and guerillas to help Sunni opposition to the Iraqi government, backed by the U.S.

The Bush administration has charged Syria with not preventing Al Qaeda terrorists from infiltrating into Iraq.

IRAQ TROOP DEAL "CRUSHING DEFEAT FOR BUSH" VIDEO FROM REAL NEWS NETWORK

In an article on ipsnews.net, journalist and investigative historian Gareth Porter analyzed the final draft of the US Iraq Status of Forces Agreement on the US military presence in Iraq.

He states that the agreement “represents an even more crushing defeat for the policy of the George W. Bush administration than previously thought.” The deal not only calls for a clear deadline for a withdrawal of combat troops by 2011, it will also be unlikely the a residual non-combat force of US Troops would be allowed to remain in Iraq for training and support purposes.

Porter also states: “The clearest sign of the dramatically reduced US negotiating power is the willingness of the United States to give up extraterritorial jurisdiction over US contractors and their employees and over US troops in the case of major and intentional crimes that occur outside bases and while off duty.”

The Real News Network spoke to Gareth Porter. WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://therealnews.com/t/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=2613

THE END OF AMERICA----MUST SEE VIDEO BY AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR NAOMI WOLF

This video is an awakening to what has happened to America and what lies ahead for America.

Award-winning author Naomi Wolf takes you through a 75-minute video with several commercial breaks as she outlines how what has happened to America is exactly what happened in Germany under the Nazis in 1933.

The rights of American citizens are being taken away and you will see one example after another of how American citizens are being treated just like the citizens of Germany were treated in 1933.

There are examples of torture and how the Bush administration has twisted the words of the Constitution around to allow the torture of American citizens, and to claim anyone who doesn't follow the Bush doctrine can be called an "enemy combatant."

Throughout this video you will see scene after scene from vintage footage of Nazi Germany and how what is happening in the United States is an exact duplicate.

Naomi Wolf calls the "the closing society" and for good reason. The United States stands on the brink of destruction and there is one last chance Americans have at preserving America as the home of the brave and land of the free.

That day is November 4, 2008. A vote for McCain and Palin is a vote for another step toward a society similar to what happened to Germany under Nazi rule.

The choice is yours. The choice is now. A mis-step now will be "The End of America."

I highly recommend you watch it this video. It may be the most important 75 minutes of your life. Remember: there are several commercial breaks so don't close this video until you have seen it from start to finish and then go out and vote on November 4 for either a free society or a totalitarian society.

The choice is YOURS.

Commentary by BILL CORCORAN, editor of CORKSPHERE

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.snagfilms.com/films/watch/the_end_of_america/

SADR CITY: A TINDER BOX READY TO EXPLODE: WASHINGTON POST

The SURGE is over and now IRAQ, and in particular the SADR CITY neighborhood of BAGHDAD, stands ready to explode.

You could cut the tension in SADR CITY with a butter knife.

In Sadr City, a Repressed but Growing RageLimited by Cease-Fire, Mahdi Army Fighters Increasingly Restless as Iraqi Troops Go on Offensive

By Sudarsan RaghavanWashington Post Foreign ServiceThursday, October 23, 2008; A12

http://tinyurl.com/69jtpl

BAGHDAD -- Outside the tan, high-walled house, Shiite militiamen stood guard. Inside, men sat on a red carpet, their backs against a wall adorned with images of Shiite saints, their anger rising with each sentence. Hashim Naseer, a tribal leader, remembered how Iraqi soldiers arrested his brother early this month at a nearby park along with other Shiite fighters of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army.

"We thought this government was for Shiites, but now they have become worse than Saddam Hussein's regime," said Naseer, 40. "We placed much faith in the Iraqi security forces, but they are taking advantage of us."

Seven months after intense clashes with U.S. and Iraqi government forces rocked Baghdad's Sadr City enclave, a sense of betrayal and frustration flows through its sprawling expanse. Iraqi army units, backed by U.S. forces, are launching pre-dawn raids and arresting dozens of suspected militiamen, despite a deal between Sadr and Iraq's government. Residents, once fearful of the Mahdi Army militia, have become informants, and senior Sadrist leaders have been assassinated.

Yet the enclave, Sadr's largest popular base in the capital, has remained relatively calm. In interviews, Mahdi Army fighters insist they are shackling their rage and complying with Sadr's cease-fire, issued last year.

"Sayyid Moqtada al-Sadr told us: 'If they arrest you, do not do anything. If someone does bad things to you, don't retaliate,' " said Ahmed Abu Zahara, 37, a Mahdi Army commander, using an honorific for Sadr. "We are still obeying the Sayyid."

American and Iraqi officials have described Sadr's cease-fire as a key reason for Iraq's sharp drop in violence. They also cite the "surge" of 30,000 U.S. troops and the rise of the Awakening forces, made up mostly of Sunni former insurgents, who allied with U.S. forces for money and position.

Now, the surge troops have left. And concerns are growing that many Awakening fighters could rejoin the insurgency, as the Shiite-led government, long suspicious of the former fighters, takes control of the movement.

Read more: http://tinyurl.com/69jtpl

MENTALLY UNSTABLE SOLDIERS REDEPLOYED TO IRAQ

Stretched Thin, Army Puts Some Vulnerable Soldiers Back on the Frontlines

By BOB WOODRUFF, JAMES HILL and JAIME HENNESSEY
Oct. 23, 2008—

http://abcnews.go.com/International/WoodruffReports/story?id=6095812&page=1

Two weeks before his second deployment to Iraq last September, Army Specialist Michael DeVlieger broke down.

"At first, I thought it was something that everybody experienced," DeVlieger told ABC's Bob Woodruff, "and just through time and perseverance I guess it would pass." It didn't pass.

After an 11-day hospitalization, DeVlieger was given a diagnosis of major depressive disorder, three psychiatric prescriptions -- and deployment orders.

"Eighteen hours after he got out of the hospital, he deployed to Iraq," DeVlieger's wife, Christine DeVlieger, recalled. He left for Iraq despite Pentagon policy requiring that service members establish three months of "stability without significant symptoms" before deploying.

"I was a ticking time bomb," Michael DeVlieger said.

Citing privacy, officials at DeVlieger's base in Fort Campbell, Ky., declined to comment except to say there was a combat stress unit assigned to DeVlieger's base in Iraq.

'Stretched Too Thin'

More than 600,000 Americans have served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Psychological trauma is cumulative," explained Dr. Paul Ragan, a former Navy psychiatrist who is an associate professor of psychiatry at Vanderbilt University. More deployments can mean more mental stress, and for some, more mental illnesses, he said.

Army surveys show that for those soldiers deployed once, the rate of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder is 12 percent. For those deployed three or more times, the rate is 27 percent.

"People who have psychiatric symptoms, actively symptomatic with PTSD or depression, are being sent back to the very situation that caused their PTSD and depression," Ragan said.
The Army's chief psychiatrist, Dr. Elspeth Ritchie, agrees with the Rand Corp.'s estimate that 300,000 service members have demonstrated post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. Some are returning to the battlefront, although the Army is not keeping track of how many.

"I certainly would not want to lump all soldiers who have experienced post-traumatic stress disorder and say they are impaired and not able to do their job," Ritchie told Woodruff. "I think that would be very stigmatizing."

Many soldiers, as Ritchie points out, receive treatment and cope successfully with PTSD or depression.

"We have a number of reasons for sending the soldiers back to war -- we have a mission, clearly," Ritchie said.

The mission asks a lot of a few. Less than 1 percent of the population serves, and serves again.
"We know the Army is stretched too thin. We know how busy we are. We know we need more forces," Ritchie said.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/International/WoodruffReports/story?id=6095812&page=1

HEY, FOX NEWS: WHAT ABOUT THIS IN BAGHDAD TODAY?

FOX NEWS recently dispatched BILL HEMMER to Baghdad and as you would expect he provided nothing but glowing reports on how calm and wonderful everything is in the capitol city of IRAQ.

You spoke too soon FOX NEWS and BILL HEMMER.


Bomb kills 9 people in Baghdad

The Associated Press

Thursday, October 23, 2008

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/10/23/news/ML-Iraq.php

BAGHDAD: A suicide car bomber targeted an Iraqi minister during rush hour Thursday morning in Baghdad, killing at least nine people and wounding 14, officials said.

The blast underscored the continued dangers facing Iraqis despite a sharp decline in violence over the past year as insurgents defy security improvements. Militants have frequently targeted Iraqi government officials.

The attacker rammed the car into the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry convoy as it passed through the central Bab al-Sharji area, a ministry spokesman said.

The Shiite minister, Mahmoud Mohammed al-Radhi, escaped unharmed but three of his guards were killed, spokesman Abdullah al-Lami told the al-Arabiya TV station.

At least four other people were killed in addition to the guards, and 14 people were wounded, according to police and hospital officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information.

"It is the latest in a series of criminal acts that are targeting development process in Iraq," al-Lami said.

REMEMBER IRAQ?

It wasn't long ago that a story about the war in Iraq would at least make the front page of most newspapers, albeit under the fold, but now you can go through an entire newspaper, or watch an hour of cable news, and NEVER, NEVER, NEVER read or hear a word about the IRAQ WAR.

We still have 160,000 young AMERICANS in Iraq, and the Iraqi government has just turned down a plan that would have brought U.S. troops home, and so Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has gone on record saying the future of IRAQ will be left to the next President.

So BUSH walks out of the White House on January 20 and turns his back on the mess he has created which has so far cost 4,200 AMERICAN lives, and another 30,000 AMERICANS wounded. Some of them will be disabled for life and if JOHN McCAIN were elected President they would find their veteran benefits cut even more because that is what McCAIN has done in the past to legislation to help veterans.

But here is what took place TODAY in IRAQ. You'll not find this in any newspaper in the U.S. or on any cable news show.

Commentary by BILL CORCORAN, editor of CORKSPHERE.


44 Iraqis Killed, 14 Wounded; Mass Grave Found

Updated at 6:31 p.m. EDT, Oct. 22, 2008

http://www.antiwar.com/updates/?articleid=13630

For the fifth day in a row, a mass grave has been discovered. This one contained at least 34 victims. Overall, at least 44 Iraqis were killed and 14 more were wounded in violence across Iraq. No Coaltion deaths were reported. Meanwhile, a Shi'ite cleric has issued a fatwa against a controversial U.S.-Iraqi security pact.

A mass grave was discovered in Qaim, near the Syrian border. Police said it contained at least 34 bodies. Many of the victims are believed to be part of a group of police recruits who went missing three years ago. Two of the dead were women.

In Baghdad, a bomb killed one civilian and wounded three others in Bab al-Sharqi. Near Andalus Square, another bomber injured three more. Two people were wounded during a bombing in Mansour.

A bomb planted on a car injured one person in Zaafaraniyah. One dumped body was found.

Five large weapons caches were confiscated in Sadr City.

In Mosul, a car bomb killed four people and wounded three others. An Iraqi soldier was wounded in a drive-by shooting. A dumped body was found. Also, 21 suspects were arrested across the province.

One suspect was killed and another was wounded as they were allegedly planting a bombing in Zamar. Another four people were arrested.

In Balad Ruz, a bomb killed a policeman.

A decapitated body was found in Tuz Khormato. The victim was a Turkman who had been kidnapped a month ago.

FRIENDLY FIRE AIRSTRIKE KILLS 9 AFGHAN SOLDIERS---WASHINGTON POST

I hope I will never read another BS report about our precision bombing techniques. That is just another LIE sold to the unsuspecting American public about how the U.S. Air Force has the equipment to make precision bombing attacks.

Coalition Airstrike Kills 9 Afghan Soldiers, Officials Say

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/22/AR2008102200176.html?hpid=topnews

By Candace RondeauxWashington Post Foreign Service Wednesday, October 22, 2008; 10:12 AM

KANDAHAR AIR BASE, Afghanistan, Oct.22 -- Nine Afghan soldiers were killed and four others injured by a U.S. airstrike on an Afghan army checkpoint Wednesday in an apparent friendly fire incident in eastern Afghanistan, according to Afghan and U.S. military officials.

The predawn airstrike occurred after a convoy of coalition troops came under fire as they returned to their base in Khost province, according to a statement released by the U.S. military. Coalition soldiers called for air support after exchanging fire with Afghan troops near an Afghan army checkpoint in the Sayed Kheil area in what military officials said could be "a case of mistaken identity on both sides."

U.S. military officials did not release the nationalities of the coalition soldiers involved in the incident. But the majority of coalition forces based in eastern Afghanistan are U.S. soldiers.

HATED AL-QAEDA WEB SITE ENDORSES McCAIN---WASHINGTON POST

On Al-Qaeda Web Sites, Joy Over U.S. Crisis, Support for McCain

By Joby Warrick and Karen DeYoungWashington Post Staff WritersWednesday, October 22, 2008; A13

http://tinyurl.com/55dzu6

Al-Qaeda is watching the U.S. stock market's downward slide with something akin to jubilation, with its leaders hailing the financial crisis as a vindication of its strategy of crippling America's economy through endless, costly foreign wars against Islamist insurgents.

And at least some of its supporters think Sen. John McCain is the presidential candidate best suited to continue that trend.

"Al-Qaeda will have to support McCain in the coming election," said a commentary posted Monday on the extremist Web site al-Hesbah, which is closely linked to the terrorist group. It said the Arizona Republican would continue the "failing march of his predecessor," President Bush.

The Web commentary was one of several posted by Taliban or al-Qaeda-allied groups in recent days that trumpeted the global financial crisis and predicted further decline for the United States and other Western powers. In language that was by turns mocking and ominous, the newest posting credited al-Qaeda with having lured Washington into a trap that had "exhausted its resources and bankrupted its economy." It further suggested that a terrorist strike might swing the election to McCain and guarantee an expansion of U.S. military commitments in the Islamic world.

U.S. MARINES COMBAT VIDEO

The subject line says it all. U.S. Marines in combat.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/VNwuLq212WQ&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO ACTIVATE VIDEO

VIDEO MONTAGE OF IRAQ/AFGHANISTAN WARS: MUSIC BLACK STONE CHERRY'S RAIN WIZARD

JOHN McCAIN blurted out today that "victory has been achieved in Iraq" and it was totally overlooked by the media, but I'm sure the troops seen in this video montage from IRAQ and AFGHANISTAN will be happy to know at least half of the two wars is over.

The video features music by Black Stone Cherry's Rain Wizard.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/BKK1-Ey-eGY&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO ACTIVATE VIDEO

VIDEO OF MORE RACIST SUPPORTERS OF McCAIN AND PALIN

It is hard to believe that so many of the McCain/Palin supporters are RACISTS, and proud of it.

In this VIDEO you see and hear McCain/Palin supporters spout racial epithets about BARACK OBAMA.

The only thing missing in this video are MSNBC's JOE SCARBOROUGH and PAT BUCHANAN.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/zjx7rP2zw8Q&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW VIDEO TO ACTIVATE THIS UGLY VIDEO

FRIGHTENING VIDEO: McCAIN SUPPORTERS IN PA.CALL OBAMA A TERRORIST

It is absolutely frightening to listen to these McCain supporters going to a McCain rally put on public display how stupid they are. They call Obama a terrorist and much worse. This video was made at McCain rally in Bethlehem, Pa.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/itEucdhf4Us&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO VIEW THIS ANGRY MOB OF McCAIN SUPPORTERS.

ARMY TIMES: IRAQI PM SLAMS TOP U.S. SOLDIER FOR SAYING IRAN BRIBED IRAQI OFFICIALS.

Iraq’s PM slams top US soldier over comments

By Hamza Hendawi - The Associated PressPosted : Friday Oct 17, 2008 15:58:46 EDT

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/10/ap_Iraq_Odierno_101708/

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s prime minister slammed America’s top military commander in Iraq on Friday, saying he “risked his position” when he said Iran sought to bribe lawmakers to vote against a security agreement between Iraq and the United States.

“The American commander has risked his position when he spoke in this tone and has regrettably complicated relations,” Nouri al-Maliki told a group of visiting Kuwaiti journalists in an interview shown on Iraq’s state television. “The man is known to be good and kind, but how can he speak like this about a baseless case? What has been said is truly regrettable.”

Al-Maliki’s surprisingly strong-worded criticism of Gen. Ray Odierno underlined the touchiness of the issue of relations between Iraqi politicians and Iran, which the United States accuses of meddling in Iraq’s affairs, including the arming, training and financing of Shiite militants.

Many in Iraq’s Shiite political elite had lived in exile in Iran for decades when Saddam Hussein was in power, returning to Iraq after the 2003 ouster of the late dictator’s Sunni-led regime. Iraq’s largest Shiite party, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, was created in Iran in the early 1980s and its Iranian-trained militia, the Badr Brigade, fought on Iran’s side in its 1980-88 war with Iraq.

The country’s top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, is Iranian-born and remains a citizen of the Persian nation more than 50 years after he arrived in Iraq.

Iran has consistently opposed the U.S. presence in Iraq and made no secret of its opposition to the proposed U.S.-Iraqi security pact, which provides for the departure of American troops by 2012. Iran has called for its rejection and accused Washington of pressuring the Iraqi government to approve it.

The pact has yet to be approved by al-Maliki’s Cabinet before it goes to parliament for a vote.
Odierno, who last month succeeded Gen. David Petraeus as the overall commander of U.S. and allied forces in Iraq, told the Washington Post in an interview published Monday that U.S. intelligence reports suggested that Iran has attempted to bribe Iraqi lawmakers to derail the agreement, which is needed for U.S. troops to stay in Iraq after their U.N. mandate expires Dec. 31.

He said he had no definitive proof of the bribes, but that “there are many intelligence reports” that suggest Iranians are “coming in to pay off people to vote against it.”

The charge was repeated Wednesday in Baghdad by a U.S. military spokesman, Rear Adm. Patrick Driscoll, who said the military suspected that Iranian agents were trying to bribe Iraqi politicians to oppose the security pact, but that it had no reason to believe Iraqi politicians had taken the bribes.

“There are indicators that Iranian agents may come across the border and use money or other bribes to influence Iraqi politicians,” he said.

“It’s a whole different matter whether Iraqi politicians would accept that.”

But al-Maliki’s comments and a statement by his government issued late Wednesday branding Odierno’s comments “inappropriate” suggest that the Iraqis may want an official apology.

A senior Shiite lawmaker, however, says he doesn’t understand why the government is making such a fuss over Odierno’s remarks when it is an open secret that Iran has a strong lobby in Baghdad’s corridors of power, including the 275-seat parliament.

The lawmaker, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject and claims to have rejected Iranian overtures to win his goodwill, said Iran has consistently been pushing its “agenda” in Iraq and that it should be no surprise to anyone that it would use all means possible to torpedo the U.S.-Iraq security agreement.

IRAQIS STAGE MASS ANTI U.S. RALLY

The mainstream media never reports on Iraq anymore, and when they do mention Iraq they would have you believe everything is peachy keen.

Not so.

Iraqi people are opposed to any pact that keeps U.S. troops in Iraq and they want U.S. troops out of Iraq NOW.

Iraqis stage mass anti-US rally

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7677551.stm

Supporters of Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr have staged a mass demonstration in Baghdad in protest against plans to extend the US mandate in Iraq.

An estimated 50,000 protesters chanted slogans such as "Get out occupier!".

Iraqi and US negotiators drafted the deal after months of talks but it still needs approval from Iraq's government.

Under the agreement US troops would withdraw by 2011, and Iraq would have the right to prosecute Americans who commit crimes while off-duty.

The UN mandate for US-led coalition forces expires at the end of this year. About 144,000 of the 152,000 foreign troops deployed there are US military personnel.

Political battle
Chanting slogans and waving banners, tens of thousands of Shias, mainly young men, marched on the eastern suburb of Sadr City towards the centre of Baghdad.

The BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad says Moqtada Sadr's militant opposition to the US presence has strong grassroots support among many Shias - and this was a physical manifestation of that opposition.

He says leaders of the 30-strong Sadr bloc in the Iraqi parliament will have expressed that rejection at a meeting of Iraq's Political Council for National Security late on Friday.

The meeting of top political leaders and the heads of parliamentary factions was convened to discuss the draft agreement covering the US military presence after its mandate expires.

No decisions were taken but the Council is to meet again to hear back from military experts on what is a very complex and detailed document.

Our correspondent says its passage through parliament may follow naturally if it is approved by the Council, but this is by no means assured and a tough political battle is already shaping up.
In Washington, US defence chief Robert Gates has been courting support for the deal from key members of Congress - although their approval is not mandatory.

BOXES OF VETERAN BENEFIT CLAIM FORMS FOUND WAITING TO BE SHREDDED

VA claims found in piles to be shredded

By Rick Maze - Staff writerPosted : Thursday Oct 16, 2008 16:35:50 EDT
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/10/military_va_stopshredding_101608w/

Department of Veterans Affairs regional offices have been ordered to immediately stop shredding documents after an investigation found some benefits claims and supporting documents among piles of papers waiting to be destroyed.

Claims often include personal records supplied by veterans that are not duplicated in government files and might be difficult to replace, such as certificates for births, deaths and marriage.

In a statement, VA Secretary James Peake said only a handful of documents were found among piles of documents set aside to be shredded. But he is not pleased.

“I insist on the highest possible standards for processing and safeguarding information in VA’s custody,” Peake said. “It is unacceptable that documents important to a veteran’s claim for benefits should be misplaced or destroyed.”

Peake said three of VA’s 57 regional offices were involved, without naming them. Veterans of Foreign Wars said they were told four regional offices — in Detroit, St. Louis, St. Petersburg, Fla., and Waco, Texas — were identified as having documents in shredding bins that should not have been there.

VFW National Commander Glen Gardner said the problem could be significant.

“The VA inspector general conducted a routine investigation of Detroit’s mailroom and discovered five documents in the shredder bin, then three pieces are found in St. Louis, two in Waco, and some more in St. Petersburg,” he said. “The question that begs to be asked and answered is how many veterans had their disability and compensation claims disappear down a paper shredder?”

Peake said VA’s inspector general continues to investigate and that anyone who violated policies on protecting documents will be held accountable.

Among the records found waiting to be shredded were applications for disability compensation, education benefits, home loans and pensions for low-income veterans, officials said.

The halt in shredding was ordered by Patrick Dunne, the retired Navy rear admiral sworn in just weeks ago as VA’s new undersecretary for benefits.
Dunne’s order aims to prevent any documents from being destroyed until officials can determine if this is a widespread problem.

Continue reading here: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/10/military_va_stopshredding_101608w/

GRAPHIC VIDEO: FRIENDLY FIRE: ROUGH LANGUAGE, COVER-UP.

This video shows what is possibly a friendly fire incident in Iraq. The language is very rough. Watch the confusion as our GIs try to sort out what is happening inside a house in Iraq.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

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

CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW IN PICTURE TO ACTIVATE VIDEO

VIDEO: THE RACIST BIGOTED MCCAIN/PALIN MOB CAUGHT ON TAPE

This video is a clear indication a vast majority of the McCain/Palin supporters are racists and bigots.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/cI5YVFAdtRo&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW IN PICTURE TO ACTIVATE VIDEO

3 SOLDERS, 16 CIVILIANS KILLED IN INCREASED FIGHTING IN AFGHANISTAN

Official: Afghanistan suffering from Iraqi gains

By AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
(10-14) 08:11 PDT KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) --

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/10/14/international/i041155D66.DTL

U.S. military successes in Iraq have forced sophisticated and well-trained insurgents to pour into Afghanistan instead, part of the reason violence has spiked in Afghanistan, the Afghan defense minister said Tuesday.

In a demonstration of the increasingly deadly attacks, a roadside blast in the east where U.S. soldiers operate killed three NATO troops, while two separate roadside bombs in the south killed 16 Afghan civilians, officials said.

The Afghan defense minister, Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak, said terrorists who would have once fought in Iraq have been "diverted" to Afghanistan.

"The success of coalition forces in Iraq and also some other issues in some of the neighboring countries have made it possible that there is a major increase in the foreign fighters," Wardak told a news conference. "There is no doubt that they are (better) equipped than before. They are well trained, more sophisticated, their coordination is much better."

The top U.S. commander in eastern Afghanistan, Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Schloesser, told The Associated Press last month that he is seeing a spike in the number of foreign militants — including Arabs and Chechens — flowing into Afghanistan. He said militant Web sites have been encouraging fighters to go to Afghanistan instead of Iraq.