..............BUSH'S WAR..............

The classified National Intelligence Estimate states that the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped create a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept.11 attacks..

Documents released by the White House timed to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the Sept.11 attacks emphasixed the successes that the United States had made in dismantling the top tier of al-Qaeda."Since the Sept.11 attacks,America and its allies are safer, but we are not safe," one report, titled "9/11 Five Years Later:Success and Challenges."
"We have done much to degrade al-qaeda and its affilates and to undercut the preceived legitimacy of terrorism," the report said.
That document makes only passing mention of the impact the Iraq war has had on the global jihad movement."The ongoing fight for freedom in Iraq has been twisted by terrorist propaganda as a rallying cry," it stated.

RETIRED OFFICERS SAY RUMSFELD MUST GO
Recently retired military officers who served in Iraq blamed Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Monday for the morass there, said he should resign and urged senators to subpoena active generals to testify about their own similar concerns.
In extraordinary testimoney from former senior military men during wartime,retired Army Maj.Paul Eaton said Mr.Rumsfeld "continues to fight this war on the cheap" and denounced him as "incompetent."
Gen.Batiste, said Mr. Rumsfeld had surrounded himself with "like-minded and compliant subordinates," underestimated the need for ground troops despite arguments to the contrary and was so insistent that there wouldn't be an insurgency that "he threatened to fire the next person who talked about the need for a post-war plan."

MORE VETERANS REPORT STRESS SYMPTOMS
More than 1/3 of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans seeking medical treatment from the Veterans Health Administration report symptoms of stress or other mental disorders--coming as more troops face multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan-
has triggered concern among some veterans groups that the agency may not be able to meet the demand.

IRAQ COMBAT TOURS EXTENDED AGAIN.
The Army is stretched so thin by the war in Iraq that it is again extending the combat tours of thousands of soldiers beyond the promised 12 months-the second such move since August.Soldiers of the 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division had been expecting to return to their home base in Germany in mid-January.Instead, they will stay an extra 46 days in Iraq, until late February, the Pentagon announced Monday.
The soldiers are operating in western Anbar province,one of the most violent parts of Iraq.
The Pentagon also announced tht the 4th Brigade,1st Cavalry Division, based at Fort Hood,Texas, will deploy to Iraq 30 days earlier than scheduled,starting in late October.
"The Army is coming to the end of its rope in Iraq,"said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst at the Lexington Institute, a private research group."It simply does not have enough active-cuty military personnel to sustain the current level of effort."
Last month, the Army's 172nd Stryker Brigade was ordered to extend its tour in Iraq by up to four months.Some members of that unit had already returned to the brigade's home base in Alaska when the decision was announced.About 300 soldiers had to go back to Iraq, drawing public complaints from families.
Asked about the matter at a news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld declined to confirm the extension but said that "from time to time there may be" units required to stay in Iraq longer than sheduled.Mr. Rumsfeld also appeared to hint at other adjustments to the troop rotation plan.

WAR FORCING ARMY TO CUT BASE OPERATIONS
The Army is $500 million short of the money it needs to operate the bases this year because of the war in Iraq, forcing many posts to cut back on training,force protection and family support programs,House Democrats said Thursday.
Since June, some Army installations have had to close mess halls, reduce training time, and cut back on ammunition, equiptment, food and fuel to nondeploying units.
Funds for family support activities, including child care,gyms, bus services have also been cut, hurting morale for families whose loved ones are fighting overseas,the congressional Democrats said at a news conference.
The problem has been building for several years, with the Army underfunding its base operation accounts.When fiscal 2006 started last October, the Army had only 69% of the funds it needed for activites ranging from cutting frass and building maintenance to paying civilian workers to man security gates and equiptment warehouses.
The Army was counting on money from the Bush administration's $72billion emergency defense spending request to help cover those activities, but the Congress failed to pass the bill before the Memorial Day recess.


I would like to end this silent screaming rant by adding one more peice of information...
Mehtarlam, Afghanistan.
Sgt.1st Class Merideth Howard,52 became the oldest female soldier to die in combat..In 1996 she had been assigned to the Individual Ready Reserves, for soldiers without a unit.
In a first for the U.S. military-provincial reconstruction teams in Afghanistan were being filled by a mix of Navy,Air Force,Army,National Guard,and Reserve soldiers.
I'll tell you the truth..this is so fucking painful for me to write I will justtell you that you can google her name and all the information about her is there..I am just so motherfucking pissed about this right now, my teeth hurt...
The only thing I can say is........VOTE...VOTE ...VOTE...VOTE