This war is becoming pointless in all areas. One Iraqi people aren't helping the cause, they know who these people are that are attacking there own. We are sending are people over there to get blown up for a people that keep killing them selves. We are ref's in a fight were the fighters don't want to stop fighting, and as we keep trying to stop it we are getting hurt ourselves. Truthfully they need to have a civial war it would have them more foucused on there problem at hand, (unity) and accountability. We are not holding them accountable for whats going on. They can help more than what they are if they are helping at all. Help the countries that are asking and trully need help from genocide, cause the Middle East is just a rich mans dream to own , but the youth and solders die.

When will people in this country understand the giant mess we have made for no reason that benefits any of us. This incompetent administration is going to get us all killed and start world war 3. It will take 20 years for the U.S. to recover its image and friends in the world.

I have to agree with Damon. This war has become the quagmire John Murtha has been talking about. Our troops did what they were supposed to do, depose Saddam Hussein. Now we are trying to rebuild a police force and army that is saturated by sectarian militias with thier own agenda. It has been over three years now since the invasion and we are no closer to the goal of having the Iraqis stand up so we can stand down. I feel civil war is now inevitable and would go as far as saying it has already started. 6000 dead Iraqis in three mothns? How could you think otherwise. Our administration has failed us and we must hold them accountable.

At some point the American people will come to realize that they were complicit in unleashing this nightmare, not only in Iraq, but now in Lebanon. Because we bogged ourselves down in this tragically misguided and misrepresented foray, we are unable to exert any influence in the current unfolding disaster to the west. The American people elected the perpetrator of this misadventure, not once but twice, so much of it is on our shoulders. There are no excuses, either by the Bush administration or by the man in the street.

Maybe Damon needs to spend some time on the ground where I am, and talk to the civilians who were afraid to walk outside of their houses before the Iraqi Army started patrolling this area. Insurgencies take patience and a strong will to win, and unfortunately it sounds more and more like the American populace as a whole is lacking in those two areas.

This journalist writes, "It was like a war zone.", in the opening comments. Really?!!? I wonder what this journalist thought he/she was covering in Iraq?

can someone tell me if family members ie, brothers or sisters can service in the same combat area at the same time example 2 brothers serving in iraq at the same time serving close enough to see each other

At the time the set up the elections to establish a democratic government, why didn't they add a referendum to establish if the voters wanted the presence of the US troops? Now that would really be a democratic thing to see.

I think that Mr Thompson needs to do two things. First, realize that he shouldn't use his unclass email address from his ship for these type of comments. These should be done from the privacy of his home (not on the ship where the email can and probably is monitored). Second, try spell-checking first before posting a comment.

America had a civil war and look how we turned out ! A war left unfinnished is a war yet to come . Think North and South Korea .

U.S. TROOPS CAN'T LEAVE IRAQ

ALL FLIGHTS FOR TROOPS CANCELED

Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld met with members of Congress to request MORE U.S. troops for IRAQ, and to explain why all flights out of Baghad, which would have returned U.S. troops to the United States who were scheduled to leave IRAQ, have been canceled.

When are FOX NEWS, CNN and MSNBC going to transfer their reporters to IRAQ from Israel/Lebanon and start reporting on how our troops, who were at the end of their deployment, can't get out of IRAQ because all flights have been canceled?

The Israel and Hezbollah conflict is winding down and Israel is caving in and now plans to establish a buffer zone only one mile into Lebanon instead of 15 miles as previously announced.

So instead of trying to divert attention away from the MESS in IRAQ, it is high time all the reporters, who have been breathlessly reporting from Israel and Lebanon, be re-assigned to Baghdad where they can do some REAL reporting on what impacts on the 130,000 American troops we have deployed to IRAQ.

IRAQ continues to spiral out of control with over 100 civilians killed every single day and an average of two AMERICAN GIs killed every day. Nearly 2600 Americans have been KILLED in IRAQ and another 18,000 wounded. The violence in IRAQ has claimed the lives of over 50,000 IRAQI citizens.

ISN'T IT TIME FOX NEWS, CNN AND MSNBC START COVERING THE WAR IN IRAQ WITH THE SAME VIGOR THEY HAVE DEVOTED TO THE CONFLICT BETWEEN ISRAEL AND HEZBOLLAH?

But because the BUSH administration wants to divert attention away from the chaos in IRAQ, FOX NEWS, CNN and MSNBC have dutifully sent scores of reporters, and even anchors, to Israel and Lebanon to report on a conflict where not ONE AMERICAN GI is involved.

Bill Corcoran, Chicago, corkcol@aol.com

Im in the military and i havent been to Iraq yet. Thank GOD that I havent. I feel that this War is not necessary. Too many of our Soldiers are dying for the actions of others who are killing just for fun. This is not a game situation. I believe that if we just leave them be, they would stop the childishness. You cant help those who dont want to be helped. If they continue with theyre actions, there is no telling how long we would be over there cleaning up there mess.

We all know that it was for the oil we went to Iraq. The only problem is that the Bush administration and his family and friends are theones enjoying the fruites. The Gas prices have gone up the roof, eventhough we are getting almost free oil from Iraq. I support the Iraq invasion if it means cheap oil. So why are we not getting lower prices and why are the oil companies getting record profits?

If an internal resistance took out Saddam Hussein, this in-fighting would be the same result.

It is time the USA left Iraq to the Iraqis. Our presence there seems to be goading militants to move to the region and make a statement with violence.

That's very sad--about how streets that used to be beautiful and bustling with shops, etc. have become a war zone, and how so many of your friends and neighbors are leaving...

I don't know what can be done in Iraq to avert a bloody civil war, but it needs to be done by the Iraqis themselves, not by Americans or any other foreigners (and would it be too much to hope that the Iraqis can do it peacefully?) President Bush may have been well-intentioned, but he obviously didn't know that sending in American troops would have the unintended consequences of worsening violence in Iraq.

After all these years of dictatorship and then violence, Iraq and her people deserve to enjoy a better life in peace and freedom.

My hopes and prayers are with you that this will come about soon.

The saddness that we see every night on the news is
overwhelming. The very thought that we went there
to improve their lives, create a democracy....
Watch the news.. no one is selling from a flower cart, and no one is smiling.. anywhere.. they are
miserable, and they were miserable.. I think if the
truth be asked of these people, they were better
off before than they are now.. They live in complete fear, without electricity , water, and other
human comforts we take for granted. We went there
for the wrong reasons, Osama is playing poker somewhere in Syria, and we are all paying 3 bucks a gallon for gas.... What was BUSH thinking??
Bottom Line: He doesn't do his own thinking.
However those around him do, and they are ruining our country.

Hello,

This is to inform you of an effort to promote nornaml'cy for the citizens of Baghdad. This is Baghdad Night Life ( NightLife ), RMC website ( sub-domianed uder Tripod dot Com ).

Second'ly, I have also sent an open letter to its citizens with the hope a focus on commonalities could be promoted. This is on the home page of the site.

This effort is an Inter - City Cultural Communications website program between the cities of Baghdad, Iraq, and Ithaca, New York. Moreover, these websites and the program itself is to promote a conscious acceptance of the principles of cultural democracy. As such their are stipulations that any online community user can make suggestions, and that such suggestions will be followed up -immediately.

Inter - City Cultural Communications is part of an overall social science of conflict resolution and prevention in the field of Intercultural Communications.

Please advise [ you can also add and make suggestion too on this site ! ], and if possible transmit the open letter.

Yours,

Mr. Roger M. Christian
Ithaca, New York

At least you can get television coverage of these bombings. Here in the US, we are not getting much of this news, and unlike the Isrraeli war, all we get are statistics of the dead. It is amazing how much US censorship is going on in regards to the war in Iraq.

It's been three years since America invaded Iraq, supposedly to end the evil empire of Saddam Hussein, even though he was supported and armed by America previously. There were no weapons of mass destruction found, you know those deadly chemicals or nuclear weapons that somehow threatened America, nor was the regime in any way associated with Al-Qaeda. America lied its way into Iraq, and it lies that it cannot leave Iraq to its own fate, even though the current regime's widely publicized elections and formation of a constitution create those very tennants of independence. But wait, the new regime is not secular, as was Saddam's, nor is it stable, as was Saddam's. Yes, he was a villainous dictator, but no more so than many of America's puppet regimes in South America. Now there are reverberations throughout the Middle East that threaten world peace, and calls for Islamic Jihad. America has no friends in the Middle East other than Israel and Saudi Arabia, and perhaps the weak Jordan. If Bush continues to see Armagedon and his own life everlasting in the cradle of civilization, America will never need to strive for peace. And, sadly, Baghdad and Beirut and Tehran and Pyongyong and Damascus will never see their former glory or be able to flourish again.

It was a sad day when our President decided to invade Iraq. Now they & us are paying for it in lives & money. What a difference it would have been if we had done it the right way talking instead of fighting.

The war has been pointless from the beginning because it is based on a lie. The WMD's that Bush claimed Sadaam was developing to use against the US existed only in George's dreams and those dreams have become our nightmare. As presidents go, George Bush is far worse than Richard Nixon and he, along with his whole cabinet, should be kicked out and replaced.

The western and eastern mindsets are so vastly different. If you are going to remove a dictator and rebuild, you have to honor their culture while you are rebuilding. That means winning the minds and hearts of an oppressed people (this way of life is all they know)It doesn't happen overnight. Our own media has done more damage to our country's image than any bomb could every conceive of doing. They know that in this war the pen is mightier than the sword and so does the enemy. Not only are we trying to rebuild an entire country (infrastructure) but we are fighting an enemy much like vietnam. We don't know who is really our friend or enemy. We need to start applauding our soldiers' efforts and the fact that America is still in the business of caring.

I concur - The President started all of this with one lie that has grown into a world crisis that continues to take precedence over all other problems that need attention throughout the world. When our own government cannot conduct itself with honesty and moral turpitude, how dare we try to ram it down the throats of other countries? We need to clean out our own closets first.

As I sit here this evening ignorant in my freedom, to hear you state that they should just have a civil war blows my mind in a civil war only the strong survive. Are you strong enough to survive. I am not. I feel that we made this mess by following blindly what our faithless "fathers" provided this country as truth. I am appalled at the things that I hear and see but it is to late to walk away from. Thank you G.w.B. But what will happen to the women and children, they are the ones who will suffer for the arrogence of man.

Well Damon, there is a saying which I strongly beleive in: "You break it, You fix it"...

All the problems here started when your country occupied others. Have you heard Iraqis killing each other before the occupation? It's your country's will: Divide to Conquer. And that's exactly what is happening. Our beautiful country is destroyed becuase of the troops you are crying for. Hundreds and thousands are being killed since the occupation. Did you ask yourself for the reason? Even Saddam, the most tyrinnical figure in the world did not kill and destroy Iraq as the occupation did.