In Iraq, Success Means Surviving The Death Squads

This whole damn Administration needs to be locked up for War Crimes, as the blood on their hands, especially those of Rumsfeld & Rice, grows redder by the day

Rice, Rumsfeld Tout New Iraq Government

``I came away most encouraged,'' Rumsfeld said after he and Rice spent a day meeting with Iraqi politicians and U.S. military and diplomatic advisers in the capital city.

Rice called the priorities and commitment of Iraq's newly selected prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, ``refreshing and really heartening.''

The double-barreled show of support for Iraq's first permanent democratic government was meant to resonate in Iraq and among Americans, whose frustration with the war effort has helped drive President Bush's poll numbers to new lows.

A four-month political stalemate had sapped support for U.S. involvement in Iraq. The administration remains under election-year pressure from the public and many in Congress to draw down its forces there.

``There is no question but that as the new government is formed and the ministers are in place, that it's appropriate for us to begin discussions with the new government about the conditions on the ground and the pace at which we'll be able to turn over responsibility in the provinces,'' Rumsfeld said.

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Rice said the United States has an obligation to be ready to do what will best help the emerging Iraqi leadership tackle persistent violence and such grinding problems as petty corruption and poor electricity.

The secrecy surrounding the two leaders' visit and the omnipresent security precautions inside the fortified U.S. government complex underscored the dangers and difficulties the Iraqi leaders inherit.

And here's the wonderful "Freedom" our "War President" has brought the Iraqis, the need to hide from the now widespread Death Squads

Iraqis faking their IDs to hide religious affiliations

In a country defined by religious and ethnic tensions, especially after the Feb. 22 bombing of the revered Shiite Askariya mosque in the mostly Sunni city of Samarra, al-Dulaimi has joined a growing number of Iraqis who think that changing their names is about survival.

For many, it's a big step. In Iraq, people define themselves by their tribes and their families, and one's name often includes reference to them all: a first name, followed by one's father's name, followed by one's grandfather's name, followed by a tribal name. Some who've taken the step describe a sense of shame at shunning their names or tribes, even on fraudulent papers.

But with stacks of bodies turning up daily in what U.S. and Iraqi officials agree are religious and ethnic killings, many think they have little choice except to disguise their religious roots, especially when those roots are hinted at through a name on a citizenship card, the main form of ID that Iraqis carry.

Dear God, there's not a level of Hell deep, hot or miserable enough for Our President & his lackeys to roast in permanently, an appalling group of bloodthirsty cowards each and every one