90 KIA a month, every month

One of many things I heard during the coverage of the Petraeus testimony before Congress today. I hadn't realized that this many people were dying. And this figure only includes those killed in action, not others who have died in ways considered not in combat. And of course it doesn't include those with permanent brain injuries or lost limbs. Terrible.

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What everyone is talking about, and what had Chris Matthews esp upset, is this exchange:

Republican Sen. John Warner asked Gen. David Petraeus whether the current strategy in Iraq "will make America safer."

Petraeus replied, "I believe that this is indeed the best course of action to achieve our objectives in Iraq."

Warner repeated his unanswered question: "Does that make America safer?"

Petraeus said, "I don't know, actually. … I have not stepped back. … I have tried to focus on what I think a commander is supposed to do, which is to determine the best recommendations to achieve the objectives of the policy for which his mission is desired."

The consensus seems to be that this will make a great campaign ad for the Democratic Presidential candidate, but less cynically, it does seem to call into question what the hell we're doing there.

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And all this on the day that Bush bragged in Australia that "We're kicking ass." Just when you thought the Lame Duck in Chief was harmless, he manages to be stupider than seems possible. He sets the bar lower and lower, it really is a gift.

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The other thing that seemed to have everyone in an absolute lather was MoveOn.org's "General Betray Us" ad. It's so shocking (that's sarcasm). They're only saying what so many people are thinking - it's a snow job (if you can call it that when they're fighting in temperatures that approach 130 degrees!) The response seems to me to confirm our worst fears about the reaction that will follow any honest discussion of this folly, which is hysterical questioning of the speaker's patriotism and insistence that the speaker doesn't support the troops. Sheesh. This absurd and overheated response is exactly why the Democrats have been so cautious in the discussion of Iraq.