Death toll for Iraq contractors reaches new high.
By on May 19th, 2007 at 10:08 am
Death toll for Iraq contractors reaches new high.
“Casualties among private contractors in Iraq have soared to record levels this year, setting a pace that seems certain to turn 2007 into the bloodiest year yet for the civilians who work alongside the American military in the war zone, according to new government numbers.” At least 146 were killed in the first three months of the year, the highest since the war began.
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917, along with more than 12,000 wounded
May 19th, 2007 at 10:10 amConditions in Iraq are harsh, and many civilians who arrive there, drawn by patriotism, a sense of adventure or the lure of money, are overwhelmed by the environment. If they raise questions about the 12-hour workdays, the lack of armor plating on trucks or the periodic shelling of bases, supervisors often tell them to pack up and go home.
Cynthia I. Morgan, a Tennessee trucker who spent more than a year in Iraq as a convoy commander, said that the common answer from her bosses to such complaints was, “Aisle or window, chicken or pasta†— meaning “Get on the next plane out of here.â€
window and Pasta for me please he he he he
May 19th, 2007 at 10:11 amPadilla fingerprint match questioned
set up – So Obviously set up from the beginning
MIAMI – Seven fingerprints on a purported al-Qaeda training-camp application came back as matches to alleged terrorist operative Jose Padilla, a government expert testified yesterday.
But Secret Service fingerprint specialist John Morgan also acknowledged under defense questioning that there was no way to be certain when the fingerprints were placed on the “mujahedeen data form” recovered by the CIA in Afghanistan.
Defense lawyers theorize that Padilla, 36, a U.S. citizen and former Chicago gang member, may have touched the form during his confinement at a Navy brig in Charleston, S.C. He was held for 31/2 years as an enemy combatant before his indictment in late 2005 in the Miami terrorism-support case.
Although the form was one of dozens found in a binder in late 2001, it was not analyzed for Padilla’s fingerprints until August 2006, Morgan said. The fingerprints appear only on the front of the first page and back of the last page, possibly indicating that the form had been simply handed to Padilla at some point, defense lawyers say.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/nation_world/7569192.html
May 19th, 2007 at 10:13 am3415 DoD Identifies Army Casualty (previously unannounced )
May 19th, 2007 at 10:19 amhttp://icasualties.org/oif/
3415 DoD Identifies Army Casualty (previously unannounced )
May 19th, 2007 at 10:21 amMy brother is home from there, on R & R. He says things over there are getting worse, a lot worse. He said there are Green zone attacks every day.
Unfortunately because a good paying job cannot be had in this country he went there. He’s a skilled welder and has been for years and years, he cleans air conditioners there for Kellog Brown and Root.
I hope he makes it through over there once he goes back.
It’s the only place he can make a decent living.
This country is in deep trouble.
May 19th, 2007 at 10:24 am3415 + 917 = 4332 US killed in Iraq
26,000 + 12,000 = 38,000 US wounded in Iraq
Bush is a big liar and so is congress for hiding the TRUE figures
May 19th, 2007 at 10:26 amto understand just how bad things really are read this article
‘Welcome to
May 19th, 2007 at 10:29 amTehran’ – how Iran took control of Basra
It is just one of the great tragedies of this horror that these contractors have lost their lives. What compounds their losses is the fact that they have unwittingly participated in what will be considered from a historical point of view as one of the worlds greatest Frauds.
May 19th, 2007 at 10:40 amIf one combines the stated 160 thousand troops with the 100 thousand plus “contractors” it seems to be closing 300 thousand folks. Now, given the fact that our “Military” is being paid at a paupers wage and their families are elegible for food stamps while the “contractors” Are getting enormous salaries — where is this all going? How many of our “military” have been killed while protecting our “contractors”?
Every single death is a horror and even more so when considered in the framework of the lies that caused them to occur.
When will this end?
The amount of tragedies is staggering and lest not forget the 650,000 Iraq men women and children that have been killed…I agree with billjpa and Jay about these losses and the worst part is that it is bush’s war, unnecessary, preemptive and illegal…The only way to end it is to impeach bush and cheney…
I don’t have as much empathy for the contracter’s and their crew’s as I do our servicemen and the Iraq people however…My thinking is they are there by choice and profit, while the Iraq people and our servicemen don’t have a choice, the Iraq people are poor and live there and our servicemen and women are sent there rather they like it or not….All life is precious but when one makes the choice for profit it was their choice..Blessings
May 19th, 2007 at 11:00 amMany of these “contractors”, perhaps half or so, are actually soldiers in Bush’s private army. They operate entirely outside of any legal framework.
May 19th, 2007 at 11:39 amThis headline makes no sense.
By definition, whenever someone dies, the death toll “reaches new high.”
May 19th, 2007 at 11:44 amCool, only 83 more need to die before it will be a pretty round number and the media will actually pay attention to it. It’s sad that it takes a thousand to die before it warrants front page type coverage when 917 should be enough.
May 19th, 2007 at 11:47 amNo sympathy or pity for the mercenaries, even if they are only cleaning A\C ducts or driving rigs. I care even less than that for the jackbooted pigs that are lawlessly thugging their way around the country. They are all raking in big paychecks at the expense of America’s Service Men and
May 19th, 2007 at 11:53 amWomen.
#13, our armed forced is not “volunteer,” either. That’s a myth. Most of them went into it for the money or the benefits – some of them naively thinking they won’t ever have to face combat.
May 19th, 2007 at 12:00 pmI meant “forces.” sorry.
May 19th, 2007 at 12:01 pmI have no sympathy for greedy contractors.
May 19th, 2007 at 12:10 pm“Most of them went into it for the money or the benefits – some of them naively thinking they won’t ever have to face combat.”
You are right. A large portion of our military come from poor communities and their prospects for employment are bleak. So the look to the military as the only possible way out. And if they joined naively thinking they would not be sent into combat, that was probably because that was what they were told by the recruiter. The recruiters routinely lie to recruits and even counsel them on how to pass drug tests.
I firmly believe the reason why the Republics are against abortion is that they want more cannon fodder. They want to force poor women into having a child they can’t afford but once the child is born that poor woman is on her own. The Republics who force her to have the child also want to deny her any help in supporting the child. So the child grows up in poverty and sees the military as their way out of the poverty trap.
May 19th, 2007 at 12:11 pmYep! Kate, I believe you are correct….Blessings
May 19th, 2007 at 12:19 pmIf all they want is cannon fodder, why are they against cloning?
The number of dead in this debacle passed atrocious a long time ago but it seems like it is going to take something more drastic before the populace pays attention.
May 19th, 2007 at 2:55 pm>I firmly believe the reason why the Republics are against abortion
> is that they want more cannon fodder.
interesting hyptothesis… I’ve never heard that one before but it does make sense..
May 20th, 2007 at 4:28 amI think it is terrible that these mercenaries are being killed. (How insensitive of me to be critical of people who just want higher pay for killing others.)
jon
May 20th, 2007 at 4:37 pmConnecting the dots: from human behaviors to ecosystem decline
http://StudentsForTheEarth.org