What will Patraeus say about Iraq?

General Patraeus testifies to Congress tomorrow, giving an update on Iraq, the "Surge" and the latest string of violence. The yahoo article from Nancy Youssef (McClatchy's chief Pentagon correspondent)here outlines these pitfalls, just in the past few weeks:

Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki launched in the southern port city of Basra and in Baghdad two weeks ago. Instead of ridding the city of rogue Shiite Muslim militias, the operation exposed the frailty of the U.S.-trained Iraqi military, emboldened rebel Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr and his fighters and showcased Iran's powerful influence on Iraq's security and politics.

Click on the title link to order a transcript .pdf from NHPR tomorrow.

The U.S. Embassy in Iraq Update

Here is a link for a blog post by Jill over at Writes Like She Talks. It contains a link for a new article about the size (80 football fields) scope (a city within a city, while most iraqis don't have necessities) and cost (568 million sound like enough?) of the project.

So I guess the occupation of Iraq is going alright?

Sorry, you have to click on the title link to see the post and article!

Iraq War, Blackwater, Military Industrial Complex, Corruption

This is a good video from the Bill Moyers journal. It outlines some of the corruption, politicking, and private scandal that is the Iraq Occupation [it is a war no more]. Namely:

*2008 -- Will be the most expensive year to date for this military plan. [When I am older, I will refuse to pay for this sham]

* 6 Billion in contracts under criminal review.
* 88 Billion in contracts audited for criminal fraud.
* Shey Assad- Dept. of Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy -- "We have not done a good job at educating our leadership...on the ground on "doing contracting""
* 630 Private companies are under U.S government employment in Iraq [Bigger than Blackwater]
* There is no financial reporting
*Whistleblower Rober Isakson talks about a scheme where hee was asked to file fake invoices for work. The company allegedly recieved 10 million for 3 million worth of work [ahhh. America]
* Condi Rice is holding off the release of key Blackwater documents.

Thanks Bill for keeping it real :)