More than half a billion dollars earmarked to fight the insurgency in Iraq was stolen by people the U.S. had entrusted to run the country's Ministry of Defense before the 2005 elections, according to Iraqi investigators.And if that ain't enough for you, check out this video. Or read this article:
Iraq's former minister of finance says coalition members like the U.S. and Britain are doing little to help recover the money or catch suspects, most of whom fled the country. The 60 Minutes investigation also turned up audio recordings of a suspect who seems to be discussing the transfer of $45 million to the account of a top political adviser to the interim defense minister.
On Sunday and Monday, the U.S. military announced the deaths of seven soldiers and a Marine, bringing the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq this month to 86 -- the fifth-highest total in any single month since the war began. The only higher monthly tolls were 137 in November 2004, 135 in April 2004, 106 in January 2005, and 96 in October, 2005. Attacks against U.S. and Iraqi forces in Baghdad have increased more than 40 percent since midsummer, U.S. military officials say.It is so bad in Iraq right now that even Bush himself is claiming that he never took the position that we have to "stay the course" there. I'm trying to remember a time when he didn't take that position.
UPDATE: Kos scores some great points at BushCo's expense:
You've got to love Republicans claiming that they were never for "stay the course". I mean, it takes some serious gumption to get up and lie so blatantly to people who know you are full of shit. But nope, they have no apparent sense of shame.If this whole "let's back away from our stay the course mantra and hope no one notices" plan was Karl Rove's idea, then I am definitely not impressed.
The funniest part of the whole mess is that "stay the course" was their own framing. It's their words. It's not like the Democrats outframed the GOP on this one. They outframed themselves.
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