Progress Pond

And the rocket’s red glare….

…the bombs bursting in air, gave proof thru the night that our flag was still there.  

Oct 7, 2005 — BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Six U.S. Marines were killed by roadside bomb blasts during combat operations in Iraq, the U.S. military said on Friday, bringing the total U.S. military death toll to at least 1,948 since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.


roadside bomb, ramadi  (jim macmillan 2005)

A military statement said four marines died when a bomb went off in Gharma, near Falluja, on Thursday. Falluja, about 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad, is a stronghold of Sunni Arab opposition to U.S. occupation and the Shi’ite-led government.

Two more marines were killed on Thursday by a roadside bomb while on patrol in the vicinity of Qaim near the Syrian border, where the U.S. forces are conducting a major combat operation aimed at flushing out militant fighters, a separate military statement said.


contact, ramadi (jim macmillan 2005)

An email from an Army officer serving in Ramadi, his battalion lost 11 in 10 days:

They make level IV side armor, too, that we don’t have. Of all the guys that have been shot and killed here, all have been through the side of the armor where there’s no plate. That’s where the snipers are aiming for, and hitting. my two guys who got hit by a sniper … one went through the side (no plate) and he survived by the grace of god. The other moved at the last second and the bullet hit the plate right no its edge.


searching for a sniper, mosul

Side armor is one thing. But Paul, we have no reserve here. Every avilable troop is on the line every day. We have no offensive capability because to launch an operation in one sector would mean pulling the troops out of another sector. While they are bullshitting with the numbers, we need 3 times as many troops as we have here just to be able to protect ourselves. We don’t have the people to clear out the bad neighborhoods, so we just keep going over there and getting killed, 1, 3 or 5 guys at a time.


patrol, samarra

And don’t get me started on the bankrupt leadership in theater. We know the enemy only does one thing well: IEDs. but they keep sending us everywhere up the roads in these stuipid vehicles. roads where you have no choice of what direction to travel. They’re slightly wider than the vehicle and raised. You’re such an easy target.

Where’s the air assualt infantry?? Why must we play right to the enemy’s strength 1000 times a day? We never try anything else.

Where are the apaches? As far as i can tell, we have one cobra and one huey … 40 year old technology at best. A platoon of apaches could end this thing in a week, b/c no one could stick their head out to shoot, or trigger an IED. We’re not even trying. It’s pathetic.


memorial camp, ramadi (jim macmillan 2005)

America! America! God shed his grace on thee, and crowned thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea…

‘War on terror’ costs U.S. $7B monthly: report

The ‘war on terror’ is costing Americans approximately $7 billion US every month. According to a new Congressional report, the bill could exceed half a trillion dollars by 2010.

The Washington-based Congressional Research Service says $5.9 billion of that monthly outlay is being spent on military operations in Iraq.

That’s a billion-dollar, 19 per cent increase from the Pentagon’s last estimate.

According to the report by one of Congress’ investigative arms, the estimated total of $570 billion US by 2010 is a conservative estimate that “assumes a gradual drawdown in U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

Addressing a receptive audience at the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington, Bush said he would fight as long as necessary to defeat “the enemies of humanity.”

“We will never back down, never give in, and never accept anything less than complete victory.”

all photographs, Jim MacMillan, Phildelphia
Thanks to oofer for HuffPo link.

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