Friday, March 30, 2007
Who Will Blink First ?
The battle over the Iraq appropriations bill is heating up. President Bush has made it clear that he intends to veto it. And the strategy for winning public support will be to emphasize the pork included in the bill (see below). True that one man's pork could mean bread on the table for another. However, even as a supporter of troop withdrawal deadlines I feel uncomfortable about some of the "other spending measures". While the American public has become tired of the war and lost faith in the president, how will the veto play out is a question mark. Democrats are not likely to be able to muster the two-thirds majority to override it.
Washington Post
- Reid pushed the war spending bill through on a largely party-line 51 to 47 vote yesterday. The measure would fund operations in Iraq and Afghanistan but also require Bush to begin withdrawing combat troops from Iraq within four months, with the goal of a pullout by the end of next March.
- The bill includes billions of dollars for domestic priorities, such as Hurricane Katrina aid and agricultural disaster relief, as well as $100 million for security at the 2008 Republican and Democratic conventions -- a widely mocked provision that critics tried to strike from the measure.
- The dueling events on opposite ends of Pennsylvania Avenue left the executive and legislative branches hurtling toward a high-stakes collision, with neither side showing signs of backing down. Both sides, in fact, appear to be relishing the confrontation to some extent, gambling that they can outmaneuver the other, galvanize the most passionate forces within their parties, win over public opinion and force an eventual resolution on their terms.
© Associated Press
If the chart appears too small, go to: CNN.com
Overriding Presidential Veto
Override of a veto - The process by which each chamber of Congress votes on a bill vetoed by the President. To pass a bill over the President's objections requires a two-thirds vote in each Chamber. Historically, Congress has overridden fewer than ten percent of all presidential vetoes. |
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Veto Warning
The neocons' dream turned into a nightmare a long time ago. President Bush's war in Iraq has become a disaster for the Iraqis and for us at home. But he must have blinkers and earplugs on to be oblivious of the change in the hearts and minds of American people. Or, worse, he is determined to disregard public opinion. E.J. Dionne,Jr. in the Post: "Within three weeks, the United States could face a constitutional crisis over President Bush's war policy in Iraq. The president and his allies seem to want this fight. Yet insisting upon a confrontation will be another mistake in a long line of bad judgments about a conflict that grows more unpopular by the day."
Excerpts An Antiwar Tide on the Rise Washington Post Last week's narrow House vote imposing an August 2008 deadline for the withdrawal of American troops was hugely significant, even if the bill stands no chance of passing in the Senate this week in its current form. The vote was a test of the resolve of the new House Democratic leadership and its ability to pull together an ideologically diverse membership behind a plan pointing the United States out of Iraq. Oddly, the president's harsh rhetoric against the House version of the supplemental appropriations bill to finance the Iraq war may have been decisive in sealing Pelosi's victory. "The vehemence with which the president opposed it made it clear to a lot of people that this was a change in direction and that it was significant," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen (Md.), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Tom Matzzie, the Washington director of MoveOn, saw the Bush effect rallying his own antiwar membership. "Bush is our worst enemy," Matzzie said, "and our best ally." With most counts showing Senate Democrats needing only one more vote to approve the call for troop withdrawals next year, antiwar pressures are growing on Sens. John Sununu (R-N.H.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Norm Coleman (R-Minn.). All face reelection next year, as does Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.), who is already seen as leaning toward the withdrawal plan. Bush might still win this Senate vote and a reprieve for his war policy. But the president's refusal to acknowledge that the country has fundamentally changed its mind on the war makes it impossible for him to work with Congress on a sensible approach to a withdrawal that will happen some day -- with or without a constitutional showdown. |
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Not Just Another Book About Iraq - "The Long Road Home" By Martha Raddatz
"A Story of War and Family" * And a Poem by Robert Frost
There is no question that we have become somewhat jaded. In the fifth year of Bush's war there are times when we would rather not think about it. But think and protest we must. Bad enough that we were conned into the mess, to remain silent would only make it worse. Most of the politicians lining up for 2008 are gingerly dancing around the issue, but facing up to the shame of complicity in letting it happen is the only honorable choice.
So far, in the Month of March 70 American soldiers have lost their lives in Iraq. In reviewing ABC Correspondent Martha Raddatz's new book, Andrew Carroll writes: "The timing is hardly ideal for yet another Iraq book. Americans are burned out on the war not just politically but aesthetically. After a wave of books, articles, news reports, documentaries and blogs, Iraq has become a tired, repetitive story with no happy ending in sight. So hand over $24.95 for one more war story? Because, as it turns out, Martha Raddatz's The Long Road Home is a masterpiece of literary nonfiction that rivals any war-related classic that has preceded it. This tale of an ambushed American platoon might well be the Black Hawk Down of the Iraq war."
Excerpts: The Washington Post The chief White House correspondent for ABC News, Raddatz was in Baghdad when she learned about a platoon of 1st Cavalry Division soldiers who had embarked in April 2004 on what they thought would be a routine community-outreach mission (they were assisting with sewage disposal, to put it delicately) in the massive Shiite slum of Sadr City. Without warning, the once pro-U.S., Saddam Hussein-hating enclave erupted into an anti-American shooting gallery. The 1st Cav platoon was pinned down by members of the firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Shiite militia, the Mahdi Army -- hundreds of them. The Long Road Home details the increasingly desperate and unquestionably heroic attempts to save the troops and reclaim order in an impoverished district that's home to some 2.5 million Iraqis. There isn't a hint of political bias in the book, but by focusing on this pivotal firefight, Raddatz illuminates a key moment when Iraq's sectarian strife mutated into the ferocious, unrelenting insurgency it is now. Raddatz doesn't flinch at depicting the carnage of war; the book contains descriptions of violence so graphic they are literally gasp-inducing, but the bloodshed is not gratuitous. At one harrowing point, Raddatz relates how a young soldier was shot in the head with such force that the round slammed through his Kevlar helmet and ricocheted several times through his skull. The soldier, a devout Christian and Humvee mechanic named Casey who volunteered to help the trapped platoon, also happened to be Cindy Sheehan's son. What distinguishes The Long Road Home from other war books is that Raddatz seamlessly shifts from the troops in the crossfire to the anxious souls who stand watch over the loneliest post in any conflict: the spouses, parents and children on the home front. (Cindy Sheehan makes a relatively brief appearance as Casey's grieving mother, but the future antiwar activist is hardly a central character.) Far from interrupting the flow of the story, the profiles of the loved ones back in the States give us a richer understanding of the soldiers in Iraq and infuse the narrative with greater tension. Stephen "Dusty" Hiller, a 25-year-old specialist, had recently learned that his wife was pregnant with their first son. The night after he charged into Sadr City with one of the lead rescue teams, the doorbell rang at his home back in Fort Hood, Tex. His wife, Lesley, went to answer it, and the exchange that followed is as gut-wrenching as any battle account: "She opened the door and saw an army chaplain. Another officer in uniform was with him. There wasn't a chance for either visitor to say a word. ".'No!' Lesley yelled. She was frantic, panic-stricken. 'You all got the wrong house!' "She slammed the door. * One hopes that The Long Road Home will further spotlight the sacrifices made by U.S. troops and their families. But this book should not be read out of a sense of obligation to these men and women, and it won't succeed merely because of Raddatz's prominence. No, this is a book that will last, and it will do so for the same reason that any great work endures -- because, through the strength and grace of its prose, it pulls us into a world that is simultaneously foreign and familiar and makes us care about the individuals who inhabit this place long after we have closed the covers. And because, one by one, we will pass the book along to others with the only words of praise that really matter: "Here, you've got to read this." Andrew Carroll is the editor of "Behind the Lines," "Operation Homecoming" and "Grace Under Fire: Letters of Faith in Times of War," which will be published this month. |
The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.
Then took the the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black,
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way.
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
--Robert Frost
Friday, March 23, 2007
Incests do not take place in Mississippi
It didn't work in South Dakota, now it is Mississippi's turn. In 2006, the good people of S. Dakota voted against draconian anti-abortion law proposed by Governor Mike Rounds and the Christian Right. Now who else but Haley Barbour, former chairman of the Republican National Committee, currently governor of Mississippi, has become the champion of anti-abortionists by signing a bill that would ".......criminalize abortion in the event that the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the 1973 decision that legalized the procedure."
Part of a strategy -- cynical strategy -- the goal is to take the issue to the Supreme Court in the hope of overturning Roe v. Wade. They think that with recent appointments by President Bush the court could side with them.
Washington Post The only exceptions to the state ban would be in cases of rape or if the pregnancy threatened the woman's life. The bill has no exception for pregnancies caused by incest. |
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Spring, Another Spring
Spring
Nothing is so beautiful as spring--
When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush
Thrush's eggs look like little low heavens, and thrush
Through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring
The ear, it strikes like lightning to hear him sing:
The glassy peartree leaves and blooms, they brush
The descending blue; that blue is all in a rush
With richness; the racing lambs too have fair their fling.
What is all this juice and all this joy ?
A strain of earth's sweet being in the beginning...
--Gerard Manley Hopkins
The weather forecast was wrong; it didn't rain last night. This spring morning the sky looks as though we might get some rain. For us in the San Francisco Peninsula, rainfall this season has been about 60% of norm. But rain or not, the trees and gardens in the neighborhood leave no doubt about the arrival of spring. The foothills look inviting. Whatever outdoor activities give you pleasure, make the most of it.
Los Gatos Creek in February
One can reach Los Gatos Creek trail from downtown and walk south to Lexington Reservoir (about 2.5 miles) or make a left turn and go up to St. Joseph's Hill. Scenic and not too demanding, the trail is popular with local residents. Close proximity of Hwy 880 is a minus but after a few minutes on the trail it becomes just a noise in the background.
Mural under Freeway Overpass and a Bench to admire it
©Musafir"The first known settlers of Los Gatos were the Ohlone Indians. Thought to have inhabited the area for more than 10,000 years, they lived along the Los Gatos Creek near today's Vasona Park."
Source: http://www.los-gatos.org/main/history.html
Source: http://www.los-gatos.org/main/history.html
The Meadow
©MusafirRowers on Lexington Reservoir
©MusafirA picnic table overlooking the reservoir
©MusafirBench with a great view looking east
©MusafirThe inscription reads: In loving memory of John Dean - We have all been blessed with his "Best Gifts"
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Four Years - 3218 Dead
A 'Cop Out' Editorial in Washington Post
A let down -- The Post's editorial Lessons of War. Tomorrow will mean the end of the fourth year of the Bush Administration's euphemistically named Operation Iraqi Freedom. And my favorite newspaper, The Washington Post, comes out with a wishy-washy, CYA editorial!
Clearly we were insufficiently skeptical of intelligence reports. It would almost be comforting if Mr. Bush had "lied the nation into war," as is frequently charged. The best postwar journalism instead suggests that the president and his administration exaggerated, cherry-picked and simplified but fundamentally believed -- as did the CIA -- the catastrophically wrong case that then-Secretary of State Colin L. Powell presented to the United Nations. |
Go to Iraq Coalition Casualties.org to see the list of dead soldiers (names and dates). From Marine Major Jay Thomas Aubin, 36, March 21,2003, to Raymond J. Holzhauer, 19, Marine Lance Corporal, Mar 15, 2007 -- so many of them in their 20's; some under 20 -- and ask yourself: Knowing what we do today did the president and his administration lie or they "exaggerated, cherry-picked and simplified" the case for going to war?
Saturday, March 17, 2007
On the Road to 2008 - The World of P.G. Wodehouse
Gussie Fink-Nottle Loved Newts
An overcast Saturday morning but Yahoo's weather man (or woman ?) predicts a sunny afternoon.
In response to a message in which I wrote "I'd rather take Gussie Fink-Nottle", friend KCR commented last week about Ipsos poll and the GOP contenders, among them Newton Leroy Gingrich who has yet to make an official declaration about his candidacy. "As for newt lovers, we too would take the harmless Fink-Nottle over the sliver-haired (and tongued) Newt any time. But we dont have that luxury. Old Gussie never surfaced again after his nuptials with the saintly Madeline. We suspect he is comfortably ensconced in English rustica and takes refuge from his wife's views on elves and fairies by escaping to the local pub where he regales the local citizenry with long dissertations on the sex lives of newts."
Like KCR, Newt Gingrich I can do without. He is a scumbag and so is his former friend in the House -- Tom DeLay of Sugarland, TX. Gussie Fink-Nottle and other characters created by the late P.G. Wodehouse are different creatures. Jeeves, Bertie Wooster, Honoria Glossop, Bingo Little -- they can make one smile, brighten a day when the headlines scream about deaths in Iraq, the machinations of the smarmie Alberto Gonzales and other Bushies. Give me Eggs, Beans and Crumpets by Wodehouse.
*****
Monday, March 12, 2007
Yellow Freesias in a Blue & White Vase from Lahore, Pakistan
 © musafir |
Back in 2005, a few months after I began participating in the blogosphere, posts by a few other bloggers caught my attention. Like my own, their blogs didn't attract thousands of readers every day. We were just making use of a mass medium to let ourselves go. Whether it was politics, personal observations about society and the nation, friends, books, movies, work, school, sharing our joys......and sorrows, blogs provided an outlet to express our feelings and we took it.
Among the bloggers that I established contact with was a young woman from Lahore, Pakistan. Bright, funny, irreverent. I was amused and impressed by her comments. "Contact" means e-mail and an occasional snail mail. The university which she attends is more than 2,000 miles away. That does not matter. What does is that despite the great difference in age and our circumstances there is a bond between us.
"M" is currently enrolled in a Master's program and would probably continue her studies for a doctorate. She went home for holidays last December and, on her return, sent me a blue and white ceramic vase that she carried all the way from Lahore. I am making good use of it, especially now that the bulbs I planted in fall are blooming. Sweet Peas will follow a month later.
Then there is "S", a recent acquaintance, in Brighton,UK, passionately involved in protesting the injustices in the Middle East. Marty in Florida who shared my views about Bush and the Republicans, and who encouraged me to write about Auschwitz and the holocaust. And "f", the Zen Buddhist in Texas, who has decided to stop blogging but continues to express herself in wonderful, sometimes quirky, digital photographs.
If it were not for the blogosphere I wouldn't have known any of them.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Spring is Around the Corner
Sitting quietly, doing nothing
Spring Comes, and the grass grows by itself
---Zenrin Kushu
Source: The World of Zen by Nancy Wilson Ross
Nine days away but the weather certainly feels like spring. No rain in the long-range forecast. Still cool but sunny and the sky is often, not always, blue. Flowers are blooming and the Gingko trees on my street are sprouting new leaves as they do each year.
Great time to enjoy the outdoors. About a month ago, before we got some heavy rains, JHL and I went back to Los Trancos trail in Foothills Park. It was damp but Buckeye Creek was far from full. The rainfall this year stands at just above 50% of the norm. Didn't see chanterelles, but found some oyster mushrooms; delicious.
Los Trancos Trail © musafir
A 7.5 mile loop, the trail climbs towards Skyline in the west, makes a hairpin bend and returns to the valley floor.
The Lynn Torin Bench, Los Trancos Trail, Foothills Park © musafir
Inscription on the plaque reads: "In Honor of our Daughter Lynn Torin - Nature nourishes, enriches and lifts the spirit". JHL crossing a footbridge on the Los Trancos Trail © musafir
© musafir
Signs of Spring in early-February! Don't know the name of the plant. If a reader does, please send me an e-mail.During a stop for lunch © musafir
Overlooking Boronda Lake shortly before sunset © musafir
Bench presented by M/M Max Strassman to the City of Palo Alto, December 2000Saturday, March 10, 2007
Destruction of A Street Full of Bookstores, Baghdad, Iraq
And A Reporter Who Felt the Pain * Exorcising G.W. Bush
Sudarsan Raghavan of The Washington Post has been filing reports from Iraq that stand apart from others. Last September he wrote about the booksellers of Mutanabi Street, Baghdad. See: Bookstores on Mutanabi Street.
Most of Mutanabi Street disappered in smoke and flames from a car bomb that exploded on the morning of Monday, March 5th. Mr. Raghavan's report describes the horrors, and the pain of the survivors.
Excerpts:
Washington Post BAGHDAD, Mar. 5 -- Two firemen emerged from the thick curtain of black smoke that covered the pavement on Monday, carrying a soft, shapeless corpse wrapped in a green tarpaulin. In their path was what was left of Mutanabi Street, Baghdad's literary heart. Bookstores in ruins. Balconies torn from oatmeal-colored buildings, some still on fire. Mangled cars with cracked windshields. The sounds of weeping mingled with the smell of burned flesh, as shards of paper seemed to flutter endlessly down from the sky. At 11:40 a.m., a car bomb exploded on this storied street, killing as many as 26 people and injuring dozens, according to police officers at the scene. It shattered an area once known for liberal ideas, an intellectual haven that in the heady days after the U.S.-led invasion pulsed with the promise of freedom. Solemn as pallbearers, the firemen walked through the landscape of twisted metal and debris, their feet crunching shattered glass. Behind them, the tower of smoke and ash billowed above the capital. One placed the charred body on a pushcart. The other covered it with a long sheet of white paper, as if he were tucking a child into bed. As they rolled the cart up the street, a young man in a black checkered sweater and light-blue jeans ran past. Tears streamed down his face. "Where is my family? What happened to my family?" he screamed. As the young man in bluejeans cried, a friend clutched his shoulder and took him into his home for comfort. Others watched as firefighters tried to rescue two people trapped inside a burning building. "The roof is going to collapse," one onlooker predicted. Ten minutes later, the young man emerged onto the street, his face a mask of anguish. "Where is my family?" he asked no one in particular. As he watched, another fireman rolled a pushcart bearing a body, this one covered in a blue tarpaulin. "All we do is sell books," said Amer Kasim, 38, struggling for an explanation. |
Iximche, Guatemala
In other news today, a despatch from AP in the Washington Post covers an interesting fact...that Mayan priests in Guatemala intend to "........purify a sacred archaeological site to eliminate "bad spirits" after President Bush visits next week, an official with close ties to the group said Thursday."
Not a believer in evil spirits but I can understand the Guatemalan priests' feelings about our president. Talk about bad karma. He has it in spades.
Friday, March 09, 2007
On the Road to 2008: Newtie Decided to Test The Waters
Fish or Cut Bait ?
Mr. Newton Leroy Gingrich, better known as Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House (1995-1999), co-author of the Republican Party's policy document Contract With America , political analyst and reported to be a consultant to the Dept of Defense, has been mentioned often as a potential presidential candidate. The Post has published details of an interview to be aired today in which Mr. Gingrich admits an extramarital affair to Focus on Family's Rev. James Dobson.
You could have knocked me down with a feather! Newtie, a chest-thumping champion of moral values like many other Republicans, was carrying an affair with an aide during the days when he was castigating President Clinton about his dalliance with Monica Lewinsky. What next?
You could have knocked me down with a feather! Newtie, a chest-thumping champion of moral values like many other Republicans, was carrying an affair with an aide during the days when he was castigating President Clinton about his dalliance with Monica Lewinsky. What next?
Seriously though, Mr. Gingrich's affair was not a secret. Bringing it up now, and with no less than James Dobson, a pillar of the Christian Right, makes it clear that Mr. Gingrich is getting ready to throw his hat into the ring for 2008 election. If his admission does not cause too much wave among the conservatives then we can expect his official entry in the race in the near future. Christian Right is very flexible about right and wrong when it comes to one of their own. Their God is merciful to Republican sinners who repent......and they do -- publicly -- whenever they are exposed or whenever it becomes necessary. Contesting a presidential election is strong enough reason for doing so.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
A Pardon for "Scooter" Libby, A Pardon for the President
Steve Bell 2007steve.bell@guardian.co.uk
President Bush has, reportedly, decided to stay away from pardoning "Scooter" Libby because of political impact on 2008 election. Even some Republicans are wary about the idea. It would raise a firestorm but it could happen. Although he did not appear in court, the facts that came to light during the Libby trial were damning for Vice President Cheney. And the president himself has been tainted by exposure of lies and manipulation of the media orchestrated between the White House and the vice president's office. So, a pardon for "Scooter" Libby would clear the slate for Vice President Cheney and for President Bush. It is not off the table regardless of the reports.
William Jefferson Clinton, our 42nd president, faced impeachment for diddling with Monica Lewinsky. We now have a president who took the nation to war against Iraq based on lies and exaggerations. As of today 3,188 soldiers have died in Iraq (including 24 so far in the month of March). The President talks about bravery of our soldiers. But it was his administration that allowed the deplorable conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center to happen. And in recent days facts have emerged about the Justice Department's systematic purging of attorneys who were perceived to be "unfriendly" to the goals of the Bush Administration. Then, of course, there was Katrina. President Bush is not going to be impeached; he will ride into the sunset after the 2008 election, uttering claptrap. But he ought to be.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
The Libby Case Ends in Guilty Verdict
I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby and the Aspens in the West
A feather in the cap for Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. The jury's verdict -- guilty on four counts out of five -- leaves no doubts that it was Fitzgerald's masterful summation that persuaded the jurors to make their decision.
No matter how they spin it, the verdict is a blot on Vice President Cheney, that he was deeply involved in smearing former Ambassador Joseph Wilson for his disclosure about fictitious claim by the Bush Administration that Iraq had purchased yellowcake uranium from Niger. Libby is taking the fall but Vice President Cheney played a major role in going after Ambassador Wilson and disclosure of the fact that his wife, Valerie Plame, was an undercover CIA officer. The facts raise questions about the role of the White House. Another example of how far the president and his aides were prepared to go to justify the war -- the war that has become like a ball of fat stuck in the president's throat.
*****
No matter how they spin it, the verdict is a blot on Vice President Cheney, that he was deeply involved in smearing former Ambassador Joseph Wilson for his disclosure about fictitious claim by the Bush Administration that Iraq had purchased yellowcake uranium from Niger. Libby is taking the fall but Vice President Cheney played a major role in going after Ambassador Wilson and disclosure of the fact that his wife, Valerie Plame, was an undercover CIA officer. The facts raise questions about the role of the White House. Another example of how far the president and his aides were prepared to go to justify the war -- the war that has become like a ball of fat stuck in the president's throat.
Libby has hidden talents. In a letter to the former NY Times reporter Judith Miller, who was serving a sentence in prison for refusing to testify, Libby wrote: “Out West, where you vacation, the aspens will already be turning. They turn in clusters, because their roots connect them. Come back to work—and life,”. Poetic. He could use his time in prison to write about the aspens and such things or scatological erotica. See Scooter's Sex Shocker, The New Yorker Nov.7,2005.
Washington Post A federal jury today convicted I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby of lying about his role in the leak of an undercover CIA officer's identity, finding the vice president's former chief of staff guilty of two counts of perjury, one count of making false statements and one count of obstruction of justice, while acquitting him of single count of lying to the FBI. The verdict, reached by the 11 jurors on the 10th day of deliberations, culminated the seven-week trial of the highest-ranking White House official to be indicted on criminal charges in modern times. Under federal sentencing guidlines, Libby faces a probable prison term of 1 1/2 to three years when he is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton June 5 |
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Signs of Spring
"As the newly reborn sun races across the sky, the days become longer, the air warmer and, once again, life begins to return to the land. Twice a year, day and night become equal in length."
Temperature is still wintry in the San Francisco Bay area. Nineteen days to go and more rains expected next week. But there are signs, very welcome signs, of spring in the neighborhood.
Cherry tree in bloom
© MusafirDaffodils
© MusafirWhite Magnolias
© MusafirPink Magnolias
© MusafirAccacias
© MusafirThursday, March 01, 2007
Army Private Matthew T. Zeimer,18, and 78 More - February 2007
Names by Date - "Sorrowing lies my land"
Bare facts: The war began March 10, 2003. 79 American soldiers died in February 2007. Total todate 3163. Wounded 10509.
Source: Iraq Coalition Casualties
How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
---Bob Dylan
David C. Armstrong, 21, Army Private 1st Class, Feb 01, 2007 Tyler Butler,21, Army Private 1st Class, Feb 01, 2007 Michael C. Mettille, 44, Army Sergeant Major, Feb 01, 2007 Eric R. Sieger, 18, Army Specialist, Feb 01, 2007 Terry J. Elliott, 34, Marine Gunnery Sergeant, Feb 01, 2007 Richard O. Quill III, 22, Marine Corporal, Feb 01, 2007 Matthew G. Conte, 22, Navy Hospitalman, Feb 01, 2007 Jason Garth DeFrenn, 34, Army Chief Warrant Officer, Feb 02, 2007 Terrence D. Dunn, 38, Army Staff Sergeant, Feb 02, 2007 Kevin C. Landeck, 26, Army Captain, Feb 02, 2007 Alan E. McPeek, 20, Army Specialist, Feb 02, 2007 Keith Yoakum, 41, Army Chief Warrant Officer, Feb 02, 2007 Matthew T. Zeimer, 18, Army Private, Feb 02, 2007 Ronnie L. Sanders, 26, Army Staff Sergeant, Feb 03, 2007 Clarence T. Spencer, 24, Army Private, Feb 04, 2007 Randy J. Matheny, 20, Army National Guard Sergeant, Feb 04, 2007 Brandon J. Van Parys, 20, Marine Lance Corporal, Feb 05, 2007 Brian A. Browning, 20, Army Private 1st Class, Feb 06, 2007 Joshua J. Frazier, 24, Marine Sergeant, Feb 06, 2007 Joseph J. Ellis, 40, Marine Sergeant Major, Feb 07, 2007 Jennifer J. Harris, 28, Marine Captain, Feb 07, 2007 Jared M. Landaker, 25, Marine 1st Lieutenant, Feb 07, 2007 Jennifer M. Parcell, 20, Marine Corporal, Feb 07, 2007 Travis D. Pfister, 27, Marine Sergeant, Feb 07, 2007 Thomas E. Saba, 30, Marine Corporal, Feb 07, 2007 James Rodney Tijerina, 26, Marine Sergeant, Feb 07, 2007 Tarryl B. Hill, 19, Marine Reserve Private 1st Class, Feb 07, 2007 Matthew P. Pathenos, 21, Marine Reserve Lance Corporal, Feb 07, 2007 Gilbert Minjares Jr., 31, Navy Petty Officer 1st Class, Feb 07, 2007 Manuel A. Ruiz, 21, Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class, Feb 07, 2007 Ross A. Clevenger, 21, Army National Guard Specialist, Feb 08, 2007 James J. Holtom, 22, Army National Guard Sergeant, Feb 08, 2007 Raymond M. Werner, 21, Army National Guard Private, Feb 08, 2007 Leeroy A. Camacho, 28, Army Specialist, Feb 09, 2007 James J. Regan, 26, Army Sergeant, Feb 09, 2007 Eric Ross, 26, Army Staff Sergeant, Feb 09, 2007 lan W. Shaw, 31, Army Staff Sergeant, Feb 09, 2007 Donnie R. Belser Jr., 28, Army Captain, Feb 10, 2007 Russell A. Kurtz, 22, Army Sergeant, Feb 11, 2007 Robert B. Thrasher, 23, Army Sergeant, Feb 11, 2007 Dennis L. Sellen Jr., 20, Army National Guard Specialist, Feb 11, 2007 Allen Mosteiro, 42, Army Sergeant 1st Class, Feb 13, 2007 Nickolas A. Tanton, 24, Army Private 1st Class, Feb 13, 2007 Branden C. Cummings, 20, Army Private 1st Class, Feb 14, 2007 Ronnie G. Madore Jr., 34, Army Specialist, Feb 14, 2007 John D. Rode, 24, Army Sergeant, Feb 14, 2007 Carl Leonard Seigart, 32, Army Sergeant, Feb 14, 2007 Daniel T. Morris, 19, Marine Lance Corporal, Feb 14, 2007 Todd M. Siebert, 34, Marine Captain, Feb 16, 2007 Chad E. Marsh, 20, Army Private 1st Class, Feb 17, 2007 Justin T. Paton, 24, Army Private 1st Class, Feb 17, 2007 Christopher K. Boone, 34, Army National Guard Specialist, Feb 17, 2007 William C. Spillers, 39, Army National Guard Sergeant 1st Class, Feb 17, 2007 Brian A. Escalante, 25, Marine Lance Corporal, Feb 17, 2007 Matthew S. Apuan, 27, Army Sergeant, Feb 18, 2007 Kelly D. Youngblood, 19, Army Private, Feb 18, 2007 Blake H. Howey, 20, Marine Lance Corporal, Feb 18, 2007 Matthew C. Bowe, 19, Army Private 1st Class, Feb 19, 2007 Adare W. Cleveland, 19, Army Private 1st Class, Feb 19, 2007 Pedro J. Colon, 25, Army Sergeant, Feb 19, 2007 Shawn M. Dunkin, 25, Army Sergeant, Feb 19, 2007 Montrel S. Mcarn, 21, Army Specialist, Feb 19, 2007 Brett Witteveen, 20, Marine Reserve Private 1st Class, Feb 19, 2007 Richard L. Ford, 40, Army Sergeant, Feb 20, 2007 Louis G. Kim, 19, Army Specialist, Feb 20, 2007 Clinton W. Ahlquist, 23, Marine Sergeant, Feb 20, 2007 Travis Wayne Buford, 23, Army Private 1st Class, Feb 22, 2007 Joshua R. Hager, 29, Army Staff Sergeant, Feb 22, 2007 Rowan D. Walter, 25, Army Private 1st Class, Feb 22, 2007 David R. Berry, 37, Army National Guard Staff Sergeant, Feb 22, 2007 Jeremy D. Barnett, 27, Army Sergeant, Feb 24, 2007 Ethan J. Biggers, 22, Army Specialist, Feb 24, 2007 William J. Beardsley, 25, Army Sergeant, Feb 26, 2007 Anthony Aguirre, 20, Marine Lance Corporal, Feb 26, 2007 Lorne Henry Jr, 21, Army Specialist, Feb 27, 2007 Daniel Lee Coffey,21. Rifleman, Feb.27, 2007 |
