Iraq: Winning the Unwinnable War

By losing the trust of the Iraqi people, the Bush administration has already lost the war. Moderate Iraqis can still win it, but only if they wean themselves from Washington and get support from elsewhere. To help them, the United States should reduce and ultimately eliminate its military presence, train Iraqis to beat the insurgency on their own, and rally Iran and European allies to the cause.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=2647

Soldiers For The Truth, operated by retired Army Colonel David Hackworth, published a series of four articles about F Comany, 425th Infantry, Michigan Army National Guard. The e-mails sent by soldiers in the unit to SFTT and other media outets describe very serious leadership and morale problems among U.S. troops fighting in the Iraq War.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=2651

A disturbing national disgrace: America now faces a growing population of homeless Iraq War veterans. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Veterans Affairs Secretary Nominee Jim Nicholson should be forced to tell us how many combat veterans are homeless, how many recent war veterans have psychological problems, and what our government is doing to provide healthcare for those veterans.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=2649

According to the article below, President George Bush misled Pope John Paul II about the Iraq War. What the article fails to mention is how Bush's envoy to the Vatican, former Republican Party leader Jim Nicholson, faces Senate confirmation in the next few weeks to head the Department of Veterans Affairs. Nicholson should be questioned about any role he may have played possibly misleading the head of the Catholic Church about the Iraq War -- especially since he may be responsible for their combat-related healthcare and disability benefits.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=2648

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7272417

U.S. Officer Tells of Order to Lie in Abuse Probe:

A senior U.S. Army officer ordered soldiers to lie to investigators probing an incident in which two Iraqi civilians were pushed from a bridge and one may have drowned in the Tigris River, an army major testified...

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=7259429


From Information Clearing House

Fort Wayne News-Sentinel

01/09/05

U.S. Rep. Howard Coble, a Greensboro [NC] Republican and close ally of President Bush, says the United States should consider pulling out of war-ravaged Iraq. Coble is one of the first members of Congress to suggest a withdrawal publicly. The 10-term congressman said in an interview with the News & Record of Greensboro that he's 'fed up with picking up the newspaper and reading that we've lost another five or 10 of our young men and women in Iraq.' Support among Coble's 6th District constituents has also waned, his office said. The dean of the state's congressional delegation said he arrived at his position only after many months of searching in vain for evidence that the Bush administration had a post-invasion strategy to deal with the transition to Iraqi self-government...

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/10604843.htm


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Alarm Among Veterans Groups: Buyer and Republicans Plan Major VA Cuts

In a statement Thursday, [Rep. Steve] Buyer said he wants to focus the Veterans Administration "on its core constituency to honor our commitment to ensure that VA benefits and health care are sustainable in the future." That set off alarms among veterans advocates in Washington that there could be moves to trim the VA health care system.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=2640