Seems like all the news coming out of Iraq is sadly reminiscent of the Vietnam period, full of lies, half-truths and hoped for results.
The death toll in Samara? '54 guerrila insurgents!' they say, or not, 'these were field statistics, no actual body count' they admit. The local Samara population says most of the dead are innocent bystanders. Army spokesman says 'you wouldn't expect the bad guys to send thier dead to the morgue'. So, they were able to recover thier dead during the biggest firefight in recent months? and take them where? and then doesn't that mean that the dead at the morgues are by definition not 'the enemy' but indeed innocent civilian casualties? can you have it both way unless you're spinning it into the ground? The recent New Yorker article on the course of the war quotes a GI as saying that they have been logging 'ghost patrols'. not actually going out, but reporting to superiors who want to hear good news what they want to hear, and not the reality. If this doesn't sound and look and stink more and more like the quagmire of Vietnam, than I don't know what would. There are other examples to relate, but these incidents are telling.

Peace Now!

US Out of Iraq!

Bring Our Boys & Girls Home!