If the agent government does not meet our demands within 48 hours we will behead
An Islamic militant group said in an Internet statement it abducted three relatives of Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and threatened to kill them in 48 hours if the state did not halt a raid on Fallujah and free prisoners.
"Body parts everywhere" in Fallujah but word is, many of the insurgents already departed Fallujah for other cities. And here's a disturbing note:
A little later I’m talking with someone on the street who told me that earlier today someone offered him $3,000 for his car. I looked at his car, and it would maybe earn $500 on a good day. He said, “They told me they wanted to use it as a bomb.”
Iraqi troops desert their posts, torn by orders from commanders and outrage from their countrymen.
Destroy it, then build it up again. Your tax dollars at work.
Meanwhile, America's most decorated military veteran calls out President Bush to hold those accountable for the many grievous, even criminal, mistakes that have occurred in Iraq on their watch. Also, his note about how the ambitious former mayor who dodged the Vietnam draft should be rapped on the head.
Finally, The Economist takes a look at the Lancet medical journal study, that estimated 100,000 civilian death toll in Iraq and concludes that their mark may be an accurate estimate.
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By: Charles M. Province
A protest raged on a courthouse lawn,
Round a makeshift stage they charged on,
Fifteen hundred or more they say,
Had come to burn a Flag that day.
A boy held up the folded Flag,
Cursed it, and called it a dirty rag.
An OLD MAN pushed through the angry crowd,
With a rusty shotgun shouldered proud.
His uniform jacket was old and tight,
He had polished each button, shiny and bright.
He crossed that stage with a soldier's grace,
Until he and the boy stood face to face.
"FREEDOM OF SPEECH", the OLD MAN said,
"Is worth dying for, good men are dead,
So you can stand on this courthouse lawn,
And talk us down from dusk to dawn,
But before any Flag gets burned today,
This OLD MAN IS GOING TO HAVE HIS SAY!!
My father died on a foreign shore,
In a war they said would end all war.
But Tommy and I wasn't even full grown,
Before we fought in a war of our own.
And Tommy died on Iwo Jima's beach,
In the shadow of a hill he couldn't quite reach
Where five good men raised this Flag so high,
That the WHOLE WORLD COULD SEE IT FLY.
I got this bum leg that I still drag,
Fighting for this same old Flag.
Now there's but one shot in this old gun,
So now it's time to decide which one,
Which one of you will follow our lead,
To stand and die for what you believe?
For as sure as there is a rising sun,
You'll burn before this Flag burns, son.
Now this riot never came to pass.
The crowd got quiet and that can of gas,
Got set aside as they walked away
To talk about what they had heard this day.
And the boy who had called it a "dirty rag",
Handed the OLD SOLDIER the folded Flag.
So the battle of the Flag this day was won
By a tired OLD SOLDIER with a rusty gun,
Who for one last time, had to show to some,
THIS FLAG MAY FADE, YET THESE COLORS DON'T RUN
"It's the Soldier"
By: Charles M. Province
IT IS THE SOLDIER
It is the Soldier, not the Reporter,
who has given us Freedom of the Press.
It is the Soldier, not the Poet,
who has given us Freedom of Speech.
It is the Soldier, not the Lawyer,
who has given us the Right to a Free Trial.
It is the Soldier, who salutes the Flag,
who serves under the Flag,
and whose coffin is draped by the Flag,
who allows the Protestor to burn the Flag