a few bad snapples

WAR
* sgrena was actually on "a secured road that you can only enter through the Green Zone and is reserved exclusively for ambassadors and top military officials", not the famously dangerous BIAH road. the shots that killed calipari and hit sgrena *came from behind*, and the driver was the only person not hit. (u might remember that the photos released were all from the front). go watch the demnow interview with naomiklein. intriguing. LINK

* juancole: "Likewise, the Spanish declined to move against the Sadr Movement for fear of massive turbulence, so the US sent in special ops forces to arrest an aide to Muqtada al-Sadr anyway. (It is just unimaginable that the US would endanger the 1200 Spanish troops in Najaf in this high-handed way. It has been alleged to me by someone who should know that Dan Senor played a key role in this move)." LINK
wtf is ari3 doing calling the shots??? 'karl and karen do it, why cant i?'

* heres more on that attack that apparently killed 85 'insurgents' the other day at a 'terrorist training camp'. "UP to 40 fighters were seen today at a Iraq lakeside training camp attacked by US and Iraqi forces a day before and said they had never left, an AFP correspondent who visited the site said." LINK
curious.

* more on that bogus story about the heroic iraqi army killing 85 furrners in a terrorist training camp. wapo, umm, backpedals: "I would tell you that somewhere between 11 and 80 lies an accurate number." LINK

* "US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair should be tried as war criminals for their role in the heinous crimes and abuses, from the use of banned weapons, raping of Iraqi women to the stealing of the body parts of Iraqi resistance fighters, according to Iraqi legal experts."

* "Elsewhere, a friendly-fire incident near the Syrian border between Iraqi police and army left five dead.
Iraqi police and army traded fire in Rabia, 130 kilometers (80 miles) northwest of Mosul, leaving three soldiers and two police dead, Major General Mohamed al-Jaburi told AFP." LINK
bummer. theres an oz slang expression for a mistake: blue (i think thats the spelling) - which makes the whole -blue-on-blue thing just a little bit funnier

* "The Bush administration's decision to sell F-16 fighter planes to Pakistan is likely to be as warmly greeted in Fort Worth as it is in Karachi.
That's because Lockheed Martin Corp. has said it needs new orders for the jet before this fall, or it will have to take action to close the production line there that employs about 5,000 workers." LINK
hmmmm - at least the sales werent for warmongering purposes... or maybe its just one of those win/win dual-purpose thingies. oh yeah, of course: the deal is "a happy juxtaposition of the wants and needs" of an ally in the war on terrorism and Lockheed's troubled F-16 line."
and if thats not enough:
"Despite the concerns Indian officials expressed yesterday about news of the sale to Pakistan, the analyst said the prospect of both countries (india/pak) buying F-16s is a positive. "Two countries that have F-16s have never fought a war.""
praps we should sell them to syria and iran real quick.

* meanwhile:
"Rumsfeld described Venezuela’s agreement to buy military hardware from Russia as a threat to the hemisphere. “Certainly I’m concerned,” he said, referring to the arms deal, which involves the purchase of 100,000 AK-47 rifles as well as 10 military helicopters from Moscow." LINK venezuela is a democracy. pakistan is a military dictatorship.

* meanwhile: "Tehran also is seeking approval for a U.N.-funded satellite network that Iran says it needs to fight drug smugglers, stoking U.S. worries it could be used to spy on Americans in Iraq or Afghanistan — or any U.S. reconnaissance in Iran itself." LINK
ummm - the ams are worried that the iranians might spy on the ams spying in iran.

* some people are surprised by this:
"Despite recommendations by Army investigators, commanders have decided not to prosecute 17 American soldiers implicated in the deaths of three prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2003 and 2004" LINK