This Is Not Acceptable!! Marines vs. Al Qaeda in Ramadi

[babylonsister]

Exclusive on CNN. These soldiers have to have hand-to-hand combat, coming at them from two different directions, and their superiors have acknowledged that there are not enough troops to do the job. So they are basically sitting ducks or moving targets.
I'm speechless and totally disgusted that the lives of the soldiers are apparently so cheap, though the soldiers soldier on, saying they'll do what has to be done.
Michael Ware reporting, saying the soldiers want their story told.
:grr: :nuke: :grr: :nuke:

[MadMaddie]

1. I was watching it too....

what more does it take for the American people to know our soldiars are sitting ducks.....

Impeach Rumsfeld now!!

[Cobalt Violet]

2. K & R.

So infuriating. :grr:

[Erika]

3. 2,709 U.S. troops now dead in Iraq

Up by 3 from last night. Cannon fodder approved by W and his Republican administration. The facts speak for themselves.

[TomInTib]

4. Did Ware actually say hand-to-hand?

Surely we are not reduced to CQC in Ramadi.

[babylonsister]

5. I don't know what CQC means, but I said 'hand to hand', as in

just about face-to-face, with lots of guns and things that kill.

[TomInTib]

9. Close Quarters Combat

Those poor kids.

There is no greater emotion than what one feels when looking a man right in the face as you kill him.

Those poor fuckin kids.

[babylonsister]

10. Amen, Tom. It's an untenable environment, and I saw/heard this

tonight.

[Selatius]

6. Are we sure they are all foreign Al Qaeda? Are we sure that they...

are not homegrown Iraqis who are pissed off we bombed their cities?

[babylonsister]

8. "We" aren't sure of anything, of that I'm sure of. But the fact that

the soldiers are being "used" this way, a way that very well could cost their lives, infuriates me.

[ComerPerro]

7. This can't stand. There must be some way we can blame Clinton

for this!

[happyslug]

11. I had a scary thought today....

On other post in DU, it was mentioned that this administration has been trying since MAY to reduce the price of Gasoline. They stopped buying oil for the Strategic Oil Reserves (It had been completely filled, for the first time ever, just prior to Katrina, but bush sold off a lot of the oil to reduce price right after Katrina). They had their buddies in the oil industry pump as much oil as possible to keep the price low.

I was wondering all Summer why the price of Gasoline did not raise. People were on vacation, often driving. OPEC was pumping all the oil it could to keep the price low. None of this was enough to drop prices during the summer, but oil production was and is tight. Why was the price not going up? At the time I attributed it to market forces, enough people had STOPPED buying gasoline so that the price would not go up. I saw a lot of people in my area riding bicycles (I live in a poor part of town). Next to me a a plumbing wholesalers and I have seen a shift in vehicles over the last 3-6 months, from almost all 3/4 to 1 ton trucks picking up plumbing parts to the lot is now filled about 1/2 with smaller SUVs and even Cars picking up plumbing parts. All together, less people driving, people using smaller and more fuel efficient vehicles, and increase production may have set the price for Summer at $3 a gallon.

I attributed the recent price drop to the end of the summer driving Season, which reduced the demand for gasoline, the continued effect of people not driving and driving more fuel efficient cars combined with steady oil production to cause a net decrease in the price of gasoline.

The Scary thought is that the above was affected by something else, by a HUGE drop in demand. The drop being from the US Military being told by Bush to reduce oil purchases. I read last year that 15% of all diesel fuel made WORLD-WIDE, is purchased by the US Navy (To use as bunker fuel in their ships AND as kerosene in their fighter planes). The Army and Air Force also uses a LOT of Fuel especially when performing Military operations.

What could Bush had told the military to do? Don't use our last non-Nuclear Carrier at all, reduce the number of diesel powered ships (Use out Nuclear powered Cruisers for jobs normally done by diesel powered Destroyers) and more important REDUCE FLYING MISSIONS. The Air Force was probably told the same. This can all be done for "Budgetary Reasons" and most military people outside the Pentagon would not even connect the two.

As to the Army, the concentration in Baghdad may be the result of the same policy. Get the Infantry within artillery range so that Helicopters and Planes do not need to be called out to provide fire support. Reduce the length of patrols so that less fuel is used. Send more men to secure the highway between Barsa and Baghdad so trucks can be used to haul supply instead of flying the supplies in. EVEN IF THIS MEANS THE RESISTANCE TAKES OVER THE REST OF IRAQ. The Resistance would see the panic and step up their attacks on US forces and our "Iraq army" (and intensify the ongoing Civil War as the US forces are withdrawn and the natives are left to fight among themselves).

That was and is my Scary thought, that the drop in the price of Gasoline is being produced do to reduce purchasing by the US Military do to orders from Bush to reduce purchases so with the less demand for oil the price of oil and gasoline will drop before November.

This also means no Attack on Iran till around or after a time period when such an attack would not affect gasoline prices before the November election. If the attacks occurs to early the price of gasoline would go up and affect the voters more than a push to back the President during the attack. I see the attack coming after the election (Remember the attacks right after the Presidential election in 2004). Now the attack could come as early as October 22, 2006, the next New Moon. Air attacks tend to be around the New Moon for with modern technology and GPS you do not need any moonlight and the darker it is the better for a night air attack. The following Full Moon is November 5. Night Vision goggles work better if you have some moonlight to see the ditches in the ground, the more moonlight the better to detect holes in the ground, thus ground attacks tend to occur around the Full Moon.

Thus the recent drop in price (and this summer's failure to get ot $4 a gallon) seems to be the product of US Government policy to reduce oil consumption by the US Military on a massive scale. The problem is this can only be done so far before our enemies make their moves against our forces do to our temporary weakness do to the need to conserve fuel. Thus right after the election I can see Bush unleashing the Military to make up for lost time AND SEE THE PRICE OF OIL GO THROUGH THE ROOF.

Next New Moon:
October 22, 2006
November 20, 2006

Next Full Moon:
October 7, 2006
November 5th, 2006
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/MoonPhase.html#y2006

[babylonsister]

12. I'm bookmarking this for the a.m. Thanks, happyslug...

and your name is making me really ... ha!

[happyslug]

13. It is only a thought, no hard evidence one way or another

I might be wrong, the drop in demand do to people using cars less and buying smaller cars may have been enough to reduce demand (along with Bush decision to STOP buying oil for the Strategic Oil Reserve in May 2006)

On the other hand if you would stand down the US Military (Put the US Navy in port and mothball the non-nuclear part), don't leave the Navy or Air Force Pilot fly their planes and tell the Army NOT to move around except by foot, you will drop world wide oil usage (Diesel fuel, Gasoline, Kerosene, and even Bunker fuel) by at least 5% (The US Military uses a LOT of FUEL). 5% is an important number for historically whenever you had a surplus of 5% of supply of oil over demand price tended to be low (Surpluses of more than 5% tend to push oil prices into the dumper, less than 5% surplus tend to push the price up)).

A few more comment, first the Oil exporting nations report about 10% more oil is exported than the Oil Importing nations says is imported. Some of this may be just plan error, but I suspect a good part of it is oil used by the US Military. The US does not count it as an import if the oil goes directly to an overseas base, and the country where that base is does not count it as an import for it is being used NOT by that country but the US Base in that Country (Figures don't lie but liars figure, the Bush Administration is NOT the only group that spin numbers when they can).

One last comment, after the Election in November 2004, Bush popularity started to drop, first over Fallujah (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/fallujah.htm), but really after Bush did NOTHING after Katrina. Bush and his advisers know Bush's numbers are in the dumper, and need to minimize that growing hatred of Bush. One way is to reduce the price of gasoline so that the high price of Gasoline will stop being a problem for Bush. They are indications that the drop is NOT working, while some people are switching back to Bush do to the drop of the price of Gasoline, others are saying it is an election gimmick.

As I said I have NOT seen any evidence to explain the recent drop in Gasoline and oil prices. Something is pushing the price lower. Part of that push is the traditional drop in Gasoline consumption do to the end of the Summer Driving Season. Part of that push is the switch to smaller cars, people using bicycles instead of cars, people taking mass transit etc. I just can NOT see why the price would drop below $2.50 do to all of those changes ($2.50 was the price of Gasoline last winter if you remember). Locally Gasoline prices are 30 cents lower than last winter (70 cents less than in July). I just have to say I suspect something more than the above is causing the drop in the price of oil, what it is I do not Know, but I suspect it is a drop in purchases by the US Military.

[bigtree]

14. kick