we have

some good news:

we have some

bad news:

AP Count: Deaths in Iraq Nearly Double Pre-Surge Level

By Steve Hurst, The Associated Press
BAGHDAD This year's U.S. troop buildup has succeeded in bringing violence in Baghdad down from peak levels, but the death toll from sectarian attacks around the country is running nearly double the pace from a year ago. Some of the recent bloodshed appears the result of militant fighters drifting into parts of northern Iraq, where they have fled after U.S.-led offensives. Baghdad, however, still accounts for slightly more than half of all war-related killings - the same percentage as a year ago, according to figures compiled by The Associated Press. The tallies and trends offer a sobering snapshot after an additional 30,000 U.S. troops began campaigns in February to regain control of the Baghdad area. It also highlights one of the major themes expected in next month's Iraq progress report to Congress: some military headway, but extremist factions are far from broken. In street-level terms, it means life for average Iraqis appears to be even more perilous and unpredictable. The AP tracking includes Iraqi civilians, government officials, police and security forces killed in attacks such as gunfights and bombings, which are frequently blamed on Sunni suicide strikes. It also includes execution-style killings - largely the work of Shiite death squads. ......

here is some perspective on things

and it's VERY thorough

All-time Highs in Iraq: Escalation by the Numbers
By Tom Engelhardt, Tomdispatch.com.

.........This September, General David Petraeus, our escalation commander in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, our escalation ambassador there, will present their "progress report" to Congress. ("Progress" was another word much favored in American official pronouncements of the Vietnam era.) The very name tells you more or less what to expect. The report has already been downgraded to a "snapshot" of an ongoing set of operations, which shouldn't be truly judged or seriously assessed until at least this November, or perhaps early 2008, or ...........

..........Estimated number of U.S.-(taxpayer)-paid private contractors in Iraq: More than 180,000, again undoubtedly an all-time high. That figure includes approximately 21,000 Americans, 43,000 non-Iraqi foreign contractors (including Chileans, Nepalese, Colombians, Indians, Fijians, El Salvadorans, and Filipinos among others), and 118,000 Iraqis, but does not include a complete count of "private security contractors who protect government officials and buildings," according to State Department and Pentagon figures obtained by the Los Angeles Times.........

..........Number of trucks on the road each day as part of the U.S. resupply operation in Iraq: 3,000.
Number of attacks from June 2006 through May 2007 on U.S. supply convoys guarded by private-security contractors: 869, a near tripling from the previous twelve months.........

..........Percentage of dollars annually appropriated by the U.S. government and spent on Iraq-related activities: More than 10 percent, or one dollar out of every 10, according to the CBO's Sunshine.
Estimated monthly cost of the Iraq (and Afghan) Wars: $12 billion -- $10 billion for Iraq -- a third higher than in 2006, according to the non-partisan Congressional Research Service...........

....Estimated number of bullets fired by U.S. troops for every insurgent killed in Iraq (or Afghanistan): 250,000, according to John Pike, director of the Washington military-research group GlobalSecurity.org......

...........Cost of a coffin in Baghdad: $50-75. Cost of a coffin in Saddam Hussein's time, $5-10..;.

..Number of unidentified bodies, assumedly murdered by death squads, found on the streets of Baghdad in June 2007: 453, a rise of 41 percent over January 2007, the month before surge operations began, according to unofficial Iraqi Health Ministry statistics taken from morgue counts......

i mean i only picked out a FEW of the figures in this article. i highly recommend it. it's long but you have nothing else to do (do you?) read it!

snow vs petraeus vs king george vs THE AMERICAN PEEPS

it's so hard to keep track of untruths. one is telling us this the other is telling us that. NONE of it is GOOD though

from americablog
we have this: White House Spokesman Tony Snow contradicted General Petraeus
by
makeprofilelink("John Aravosis (DC)");
John Aravosis (DC) · 6/14/2007 11:28:00 AM ET

Yesterday, White House spokesman Tony Snow is now flatly contradicting General Petraeus, telling reporters that it's basically absurd to think that we'll be able to judge the efficacy of the Iraq surge by this September. Unfortunately, that's exactly what General Petraeus told Bush - that by September we'll have a good idea of how the surge is going...............

uh oh

Pentagon: Violence in Iraq rising despite ‘surge’
Civilian, military deaths rose during first 3 months of operation, report finds

to da liebs: "WHEN ARE WE GOING TO GET OUT OF HERE"

liebs, WAKE THE EFF UP. we do NOT want our men and women in iraq and THEY sure as SHITE do NOT want to be their either. GET THEM HOME NOW

Lieberman talks to troops in Baghdad

By Leila Fadel
McClatchy Newspapers

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Spc. David Williams, 22, of Boston, Mass., had two note cards in his pocket Wednesday afternoon as he waited for Sen. Joseph Lieberman. Williams serves in the 82nd Airborne Division from Fort Bragg, N.C., the first of the five "surge" brigades to arrive in Iraq, and he was chosen to join the Independent from Connecticut for lunch at a U.S. field base in Baghdad.
The night before, 30 other soldiers crowded around him with questions for the senator.
He wrote them all down. At the top of his note card was the question he got from nearly every one of his fellow soldiers:
"When are we going to get out of here?"
The rest was a laundry list. When would they have upgraded Humvees that could withstand the armor-penetrating weapons that U.S. officials claim are from Iran? When could they have body armor that was better in hot weather? .............

PROGRESS MY BIG FAT ASS

a liebs posting on my connecticut blog today where he says we're 'making progress'

picture: Sen. Joe Lieberman walks with Maj Gen. Joseph Fil Jr., commander of U.S. troops in Baghdad, left, at a Joint Security Station in southeast Baghdad.

more SURGE news

how long are we going to allow this to continue? i'm asking. i'm not asking those that think in a similar vein to me. i'm asking the liebermans of the world. you know the one's who kiss the kings ass. i'm asking THEM. how long?

Death Squad Tolls In Baghdad Rising Again

By Cernig
The surge is failing in one of its primary aims, curbing death squad killings in Iraq.
In the first 11 days of this month, there have already been 234 bodies - men murdered by death squads - dumped around the capital, a dramatic rise from the 137 found in the same period of April. Improving security in Baghdad and reducing death-squad activity was described as one of the key aims of the US surge of 25,000 additional troops, the final units of whom are due to arrive next month.Meanwhile the insurgents in Diyala have been successfully attacking the US military's much-vaunted Stryker armored vehicles. You know, the ones Rummy said would be perfect for the job and that came with an $11 billion pricetag..............