War Glance
Saddam Hussein was hanged for killing 148 Shi'ite men and boys in Dujail in 1982. But today, some people in this town on the Tigris say they miss life under the Iraqi dictator because they felt more secure.
Even some of those from Dujail whose family members were murdered and imprisoned during Saddam's iron-fisted rule seemed seduced by the idea of a strong leader after years of chaos, bloodshed and deprivation since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
"If someone like Saddam came back, I'd not only support him, I'd invite him to dinner. My uncle was killed in 1982 in the Dujail incident. Still, life then was a million times better than now," said Saad Mukhlif, a Shi'ite.
War-weary Saddam victims miss his iron rule
Afghanistan Facing "Downward Spiral"
The situation in Afghanistan now is the worst since the U.S.-led invasion of 2001 and the country is in danger of a "downward spiral" into violence and chaos, according to an intelligence report draft.
The nearly completed National Intelligence Estimate, the work of 16 intelligence agencies, says Afghanistan's deterioration has accelerated alarmingly in past two months. Bush administration officials say privately that Afghanistan is now the single most pressing security threat in the fight against terrorism.
TVNL Comment: Keep talking about Willian Ayers and nobody will notice this.
Pentagon sees reconciliation with Taliban, not Qaeda
The United States would be prepared to reconcile with the Taliban if the Afghan government pursued talks to end the war, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday.
But he said Washington would not consider any negotiations with al Qaeda.
Webb Urges Halt To U.S. Propaganda In Iraq
Saying the United States should not be spending hundred of millions to "… propagandize the Iraqi people," Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) today sent a letter asking Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to halt contracts that would pay civilian defense contractors $300 million to produce pro-American news stories, entertainment programs and public service advertisements inside Iraq.
Mullen: Afghanistan military situation will worsen next year
The highest-ranking U.S. military officer warned Thursday that the situation in Afghanistan will likely get worse next year and that it will take time to turn it around because it has been headed in "the wrong direction" for the last two years.
Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the security situation in Afghanistan cannot improve until there's economic and political development in Afghanistan and the U.S. and its coalition partners have embraced a strategy that links Afghan and Pakistani issues.
TVNL Comment: How many more people will die because of the 'wrong direction' the US has taken for the past eight years? Just asking.
New U.S. intelligence report warns 'victory' not certain in Iraq
A nearly completed high-level U.S. intelligence analysis warns that unresolved ethnic and sectarian tensions in Iraq could unleash a new wave of violence, potentially reversing the major security and political gains achieved over the last year.
U.S. officials familiar with the new National Intelligence Estimate said they were unsure when the top-secret report would be completed and whether it would be published before the Nov. 4 presidential election.
TVNL Comment: You KNOW this will not be completed before the election. Someone, please send this to John McCain before he repeats his goal for 'victory' in Iraq again.
30 Civilians Died in Afghan Raid, U.S. Inquiry Finds
An investigation by the military has concluded that American airstrikes on Aug. 22 in a village in western Afghanistan killed far more civilians than American commanders there have acknowledged, according to two American military officials.
The military investigator’s report found that more than 30 civilians — not 5 to 7 as the military has long insisted — died in the airstrikes against a suspected Taliban compound in Azizabad.
The investigator, Brig. Gen. Michael W. Callan of the Air Force, concluded that many more civilians, including women and children, had been buried in the rubble than the military had asserted, one of the military officials said.
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