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Good thing that we ran…

We really helped a lot in Iraq!

Run America Run! The world is catching up to us and our lies…

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Has American credibility been severely damaged by the Iraq War? One day after the last US combat unit left the country, some in the German press say that it has. Commentators are pessimistic about Iraq’s ability to cope alone.

It has been seven and a half years since Shock and Awe, the military campaign launched by US and UK forces to topple Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. On Thursday, the last US combat unit crossed the border into Kuwait with far less fanfare than when those first coalition forces arrived in March 2003.

Just before dawn on Thursday morning the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division passed through the border posts at the Khabari Crossing to Kuwait. One soldier, Luke Dill, now a staff sergeant, had been part of the initial invasion back in 2003 when he was just 18 years old. Now aged 25, he told the Associated Press that he would proud for the rest of his life that “I came in on the initial push and now I’m leaving with the last of the combat units.”

Yet the cost of the war has been enormous both financially and in terms of human lives. Over 4,400 US troops and 100,000 Iraqi civilians died during the conflict. And the country is by no means completely pacified, with sectarian and ethnic tensions still present and insurgents thought to be regaining strength.

US President Barack Obama had pledged to bring the troops home during his election campaign. And by Aug. 31 there will be just 50,000 US troops in the country, a contingent which is to take on a non-combat role. Yet doubts persist that Obama can fulfil his promise to have all the soldiers out of the country by the end of 2011.

Read More of this great article…

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,712897,00.html

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Iraq war veteran kills family, then himself

A 23-year-old veteran of the Iraq war shot and killed his pregnant wife, their 13-month-old daughter and three dogs before turning the gun on himself, authorities said Thursday.

Police in Superior, Wis., said Thursday that they do not know why Matthew Magdzas killed his wife, April Oles-Magdzas, 26, and their daughter, Lila. Investigators believe the killings happened Tuesday.

Tessa Buscko, a former colleague of Oles-Magdzas, says her friend was due to give birth by Caesarean section Wednesday to the couple’s second daughter.

Police Capt. Chad La Lor told the Associated Press that Magdzas did not leave behind a suicide note and that investigators have found no evidence the couple had money problems or was unduly stressed by the pending birth of their daughter. There was no indication either had been unfaithful.

La Lor said investigators plan to subpoena Magdzas’s military medical records to see whether he had complained of or been treated for signs of post-traumatic stress disorder.

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BAGHDAD – A U.S. audit has found that the Pentagon cannot account for over 95 percent of $9.1 billion in Iraq reconstruction money, spotlighting Iraqi complaints that there is little to show for the massive funds pumped into their cash-strapped, war-ravaged nation.

The $8.7 billion in question was Iraqi money managed by the Pentagon, not part of the $53 billion that Congress has allocated for rebuilding. It’s cash that Iraq, which relies on volatile oil revenues to fuel its spending, can ill afford to lose.

“Iraq should take legal action to get back this huge amount of money,” said Sabah al-Saedi, chairman of the Parliamentary Integrity Committee. The money “should be spent for rebuilding the country and providing services for this poor nation.”

The report by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction accused the Defense Department of lax oversight and weak controls, though not fraud.

“The breakdown in controls left the funds vulnerable to inappropriate uses and undetected loss,” the audit said.

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