Just think. Pretty soon we will have a wonderful working democracy in Iraq and our troops can leave.

It is the lack of support for others that has brought out the worse in people. I am sure this firefight was one of many, but to think of all the people that live this way daily is very sad. A democracy in Iraq is not something we will ever see, but it is worth the effort to try to make peace again in a very Holy place. We should not give up on showing the truth in a world full of lies. Thanks for the eye opening blog. Some people wonder what is really going on over in Iraq and you seem to put it in words that we can understand.

No one wants to see the dead civilian bodies. The conservatives and the liberals don't want to believe civilians are being killed in large numbers. The conservatives don't want to believe that our invasion of Iraq started it all. The liberals don't want to believe because our pullout would increase it. Both groups are caught in their own tar pits.

I was in Viet Nam and saw dead civilians that never made the newspapers. The Stars and Stripes was only concerned with military matters. The civilians were killed in the countryside, where there were no reporters.

Reporters in Iraq are reporting what really happens during warfare. Civilians get killed in large numbers. But, since it has never been reported before, most people have great difficulty in believing it. But, I've seen it. I have the memories. And, will till I die.

The gunbattles are just a symptom of freedom - stuff happens

"Freedom's untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things." – "stuff happens," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on looting in Iraq after the U.S. invasion, April 11, 2003

Was Iraq safer under Saddam or is it now safer under Bush?

As I read your piece re: the current situation in Iraq, it only served to reinforce what I feel about the country and the people who live there. Unfortunately, there was a reason Saddam Hussein was in charge ... he was the only one big enough and bad enough to keep the peace. The end result of removing him from power is now obvious ... factions and religious sects are now making a bid for power and control. It would appear there are forces at play here who intend these battles for control do not end. As horrible and brutal as Saddam's regime was, gun battles didn't break out across the city on a regular basis. Especially between government departments. How bizarre will this new Democracy be?

Cut and run, stay the course, mission accomplished?

The conservative spin media only talks about the patronizing episodes where the Iraqis pretend to love you. Inviting you in for tea is not love. Taking your candy is not love...they're just being polite, playing along or like your candy but hate you. I feel bad for conservatives who get suckered into thinking that the dislike of American troops is limited to "dead enders".

Well, we're doing Iran a favor. Dubya wins a cookie.

Wow, it truly is a lawless place. Although not supportive of our invasion, we just can't leave it or maintain the status quo. Can we still save the situation? Can we increase the number of troops by 75,000 or so, tell Americans to start sacrificing across the board, increase taxes to pay for it, and ultimately create a situation that will enhance stability in the region?

Please note that this war was not a mistake by the Bush administration. This war was well calculated to gain the oil revenue from Iraq. Saddam was shipping all of his oil to Russia and China. We can not have that. Americians need to come to grips with the fact that these Iraqis are dieing so we can have an aditional, reliable source of oil. Think about that next time you full your tank. It is not gas that you are pumping but the blood of men, women and children of third world countries.
God Defend America (and the oil companys!)

David.

John from Tampa - Thank you for reminding me of that inspirational quote by Rummy. My nephew just came back from his second tour in Iraq - hoping it will be his last. Bring them all home or send Bush's daughters to join our troups.

One of the US Generals said it best, "They have to start loving their children more than they hate each other." Until then, the bloodshed will continue. This is not an ideal we can enforce, it has to be a choice by them. Right now, no they probably aren't as safe as they were with Saddam, but I think you have to agree that the world is a safer place with Saddam out of power, and once democracy takes hold in Iraq, the fighting will hopefully end and the population will be free.

Reading that story just helps solidify the fact to me that there will never be peace in the mid east. There never has been. Why start now?

This will never end in Iraq. Had it not been for our involment, this may never have happened. I tend to believe, as much as I hate to admit it, that some countries are better off under a dictatorship. We have created a terrorist state.

Realistically, I think the poignant question is how it is that this militia is operating, and under what authority it is allowed to operate.

I read reports like and wonder, "is this typical or atypical? Do these kinds of sectarian violence exist everywhere or just in some places? Are these incidents increasing, deceasing, or have an ebb and flow? Would the majority of Iraq citizens and public workers actually engage in such a firefight as described above or a small number? How can we measure the significance of the described situation at the Baghdad City Morgue against the entire backdrop of sectarian relations? I don't think its possible to know the answers to any of these questions ... having said that, I believe the problems in Iraq are probably underreported .... We Americans have put our foot in the bear trap and good intentions aside, now we're stuck for the foreseeable future. Leave or stay, we should face the possibility we've unleased social forces comparible to what happened to Yugoslavia when it broke up... with no way of predicting what outcomes will emerge.

This isn't just about the gunfight, it is clearly deeper then that, and sadly it is also a reflection of just how bad things are in Iraq.

One of the signs of a civil war is the fight for control of the government, and when you have two Iraqi governmental agencies attacking each other we see that the reality is that Iraq is in the throes of a civil war.

The reality is on the ground, while the fiction continues to come from this Whitehouse.

So, according to the Rumsfeld dictum that "freedom is untidy", these fire fights should be ignored. Better yet, let's celebrate them is they are a symptom of liberty. Iraq has never had it so good, huh? And when the U.S. forces leave, I suppose the next chapter will be free elections, universal support of Western democratic ideals, a unified Iraq, and whatever fairy tales the Bush administration wishes us to believe.

Thank you for this blog entry. We were never justified in invading Iraq, and we've introduced greater instability and anti-American sentiment than before the invasion. Worse, equilibrium will not be democracy, but a chaotic civil war that will determine whether the Sunnis or Shiites prevail... and neither will want a democracy. They'll just want more guns, and play lip service to whomever will supply them (Iran, USA, Syria, etc.).

Every single night that we get into our warm and safe beds, everytime we sit down to a sumptous meal with friend or family and know that we have the freedom to feel safe and enjoy, please think of some war torn soul on the other side of the earth and send them a sincere prayer.

Make no mistake, if there is civil war in Iraq, it is because we went in, not if we pull out.

Speaking of sleeping in warm, safe beds, the yokels of this administration are sleeping during the waking hours in Iraq, literally and figuratively.

The irony is that Bin Laden wanted to lure the US into Afghanistan, confident that a protracted struggle would destroy the US forces. He had reason to be confident, as he was part of the fighting force that decimated the invaders from the USSR. The irony is that Afghanistan fell apart quickly, as the locals wanted to restore civilization... something they didn't have since the pre-Soviet invasion.

We were justified in that war. That nation freely hosted the terrorists, with the cooperation out in the open.

The irony is that Bin Laden could NEVER have even prayed for something as stupid as a US invasion of Iraq (not a Qaeda ally, nor a terrorist-friendly state, nor even a haven of crazed religious fanatics). And yet this is where the Bush administration failed: He gave Bin Laden the war he wanted, on Bin Laden's terms. Bush gave Bin Laden a breeding ground for recruitment, a rallying point for other extremists to unify, a "Soviet-style Afghanistan" where our beloved troops are openly marked targets, and even elevated Al Qaeda to a point where it has a sense of legitimacy, as Al Qaeda had little support in the Arab world. Now it does, thank you Mr. Bush.

The key to fighting terrorists is to pick venues where you can win. You have to draw them out, or intensify the search for their leadership. The key to winning the hearts and minds is forming a wedge between the extremists and the general populace. We cannot acheive this goal with CIA prisons and arbitrary invasions.

Just how many more american lives will be lost and how many more billions of dollars will be wasted in this bloody mess called Iraq, just so the ones who got us into it will not have to admit they screwed up by invading Iraq in the first place ???
To those of you who were cheerleaders and supported this war to begin with, you have no right to bitch now, after all you got the war you wanted, did'nt you ??

This just adds to all that we are hearing about the situation in Iraq. I dont think anyone should ever wonder if this situation is better then during times of Hussain? Look at iraq now. Its a place where there is no order, functions of government are fighting against each other and people are affraid for their lives. There are 1500 inonncent people being killed every month in Baghdad alone. Just look at the facts. This was unthinkable during Hussain times. Yes, maybe he ruled with iron fist, but people could live, children could play and there was peace. Let the coalition leave, and let Sadr rise to power and rule iraq the same way that Husain did. It will take him some time to restore peace in his lands, but it will be sooner then what coalition could ever achieve by any means.

Bush is like the bully on the playground I used to know when I was in elementary school. If you did not play
the games by his rules he would not allow anyone to play.
Bush says if congress does not authorize his NSA spying operation, he will just SHUT IT DOWN.
Bush says if congress does not pass legislation to allow him (CIA) to continue torture as a method of interrogation of detainees, he will have everyone STOP INTERROGATING DETAINEES.
Bush says if congress does not pass legislation authorizing Military Tribunals the way he wants the rules of evidence to be , he will NOT HAVE ANY TRIALS for the detainees.
Bush says our military will say in IRAQ even if there is a civil war and 500 of our troops are being killed
each month by NON TERRORISTS.

Bush sure reminds me of that bully which one day a much bigger kid showed up and then things went back
to normal where games and rules were decided by the majority of the kids.

It's amazing to me that all this time has passed, and yet we are no closer to safer Iraq. I wonder, if we had accomplished the Millenium Development Goals, would we have the same issues to battle?

As an American citizen I feel responsible for what my government has done in my name. Even though I didn't vote for any of those war-mongering chickenhawks, I realize that we are all in this together as American Citizens. The right thing to do is to accept that half of us dropped the ball, and start working together to fix the problems.

But you know what? I don't feel much like being adult anymore. I feel like saying "Screw you, Bush-voters! This is YOUR problem, YOU can fix it!". Why? Because of the lies continuing to spew from Bush and his administration. And the people who voted for him are still sucking it up. Can you believe Bush is still implying that Iraq had anything to do with 9/11? Can you believe his people are stuttering on about "terrorism in Iraq" and acting as if it justifies their invasion? Hello! The terrorists arrived AFTER you half-wits invaded!

I feel bad for the Iraqis who are suffering because my fellow citizens in fly-over country got too worked up over gay marriage and fear of terrorists who would never attack their un-important areas.

However, I'm begining to just not care. I want to make the people who supported this imperialistic venture pay for their poor decisions. You want to keep the troops over there...costing us lives and dollars for lie? You can sign up and help out. Chickenhawk scumbags...no terrorist wants to blow up your dirt-farm in east-bumble-freak. But you don't care, right? As long as gas and food is cheap and you get gov't handouts to have children.

bleh. I gotta stop reading the news.