Major Iraq assaults on hold until after US election
Attacks on Iraq’s rebel-held cities will be delayed, officials say. But that could make it harder to allow wider, and more legitimate, Iraqi voting in January.
This lull by the US gives the insurgents time to rest, regroup, rearm, and plan new tactics. Thus, it guarantees pitched bloody battles with numerous US deaths once the elections are over. Not that Bush actually cares about US deaths and casualities, as this cynical manipulative move clearly shows.
And on the home front: Soldier sues to remain at home
A second California Guardsman challenges the military’s ‘stop-loss’ program, which extends enlistments to meet needs in Iraq.
The California National Guard soldier, identified as “John Doe” in a lawsuit filed Oct. 1 in U.S. District Court in Sacramento, contends that the military’s controversial “stop-loss” program to involuntarily extend enlistments is illegal when applied to National Guard soldiers, about 40,000 of whom are deployed in the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
Also, there are reliable reports that many soldiers are refusing to report for service to Iraq, and that their numbers are growing.