Army Times complains about the "lip service" Bush is giving the troops:

In recent months, President Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress have missed no opportunity to heap richly deserved praise on the military. But talk is cheap — and getting cheaper by the day, judging from the nickel-and-dime treatment the troops are getting lately.

For example, the White House griped that various pay-and-benefits incentives added to the 2004 defense budget by Congress are wasteful and unnecessary — including a modest proposal to double the $6,000 gratuity paid to families of troops who die on active duty. This comes at a time when Americans continue to die in Iraq at a rate of about one a day.

Similarly, the administration announced that on Oct. 1 it wants to roll back recent modest increases in monthly imminent-danger pay (from $225 to $150) and family-separation allowance (from $250 to $100) for troops getting shot at in combat zones.

Then there’s military tax relief — or the lack thereof....

You get the picture. So do the troops and their families, particularly as the death toll of U.S. soldiers in Iraq has now exceeded 200.

[Ed. Note:] We mentioned the Army Times editorial yesterday, having found it on Daily Kos, but we thought it was subscription only so we didn't link to it. It turns out anyone can read it.

The death toll of U.S. soldiers in Iraq stands at over 200.

The deaths [of two American soldiers yesterday] bring to at least 63 the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq since major combat was declared over on May 1. The military has confirmed the identities of 138 soldiers killed before that date, for a total of 201 so far, while the names of several other casualties have not yet been made available. In addition, some 42 British troops have died in the current conflict.

San Francisco has dropped criminal charges against all but about 20 of the 407 war protesters .

....The decision was based largely on the difficulty in prosecuting individuals in what were essentially mass arrests. [Asst. District Attorney Messini] said the Police Department had indicated that it could not "establish the facts necessary to convict any of these individuals" because the arrest reports were too general.

"Identifying individual acts of the protesters arrested was continuing to be very problematic," Mr. Menesini said. "As a consequence, the district attorney felt it was in the interest of justice to just bite the bullet and stand up and do what was right. That is always difficult."

G.I. Killed, 8 Injured in One of Three Attacks in Iraq

There's been a similar headline every day for weeks--maybe months. Have we all just become so accustomed to news of death that we don't bother to protest? Daily Kos has been providing outstanding coverage of the post-war deaths of our troops--his latest is here. We hope you'll go over there and read and then get mad. Read Skippy on the subject too.

A State Department expert on weapons testified before congressional committees last week that the Bush Administration pressured him to distort some evidence in his analysis of the Iraq situation.

A top State Department expert on chemical and biological weapons told Congressional committees in closed-door hearings last week that he had been pressed to tailor his analysis on Iraq and other matters to conform with the Bush administration's views, several Congressional officials said today.

The officials described what they said was a dramatic moment at a House Intelligence Committee hearing last week when the weapons expert came forward to tell Congress he had felt such pressure. By speaking out, they said, the senior intelligence expert, identified by several officials as Christian Westermann, became the first member of the intelligence community on active service to make this sort of admission to members of Congress.

Reuters is reporting that Saddam Hussein's Information Minister, Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, better known as "Comical Ali", has been captured at a roadblock in a Baghdad suburb. Washington has not confirmed this and no sources for the report are provided.

The latest Washington Post/ABC News poll finds more Americans think the number of casualties in the Iraq war are unacceptable:

"Again thinking about the goals versus the costs of the war, so far in your opinion has there been an acceptable or unacceptable number of U.S. military casualties in Iraq?"

Acceptable: 51 compared with 66 in April
Unacceptable: 44% compared with 28 % in April

Evan Wright, an embedded reporter for Rolling Stone, traveled through Iraq with a platoon of Recon marines. Rolling Stone is publishing his account in two parts, the first of which is Killer Elite.

The report is definitely up close and personal, particularly as to the actions, reactions, thought processes and dialogue of the marines. It's also one that makes us wince repeatedly at their' giddiness and glee when it comes to killing the enemy.

It's worth the read, particularly for the chance to get inside the marines' heads. Be forewarned though-- these heads are a little twisted. Good job by Wright, and Part Two will be out shortly.

Update: Terry in the comments section has informed us that we should never call marines "soldiers" and vice-versa. So, we have edited the post to call the men "marines" throughout.

Update: There are more than a few marines contributing in the comments section of this post. Welcome to you all. One favor, if we use the f* word or other obscenities, we risk getting blocked at law firms and businesses by censoring software. So, if you're using a word that censors would pick up on, please use a * or two instead of a few letters. Eg, sh*t or f**ng --otherwise we have to go in and edit your comments and do it ourselves and it's too much work. But we're glad to have your viewpoint.

The U.S. is moving ahead with plans to set up a criminal court in Iraq:

Paul Bremer, the top American official in Iraq, told a news conference the new Central Criminal Court would be used for trials of Saddam loyalists who had committed crimes against occupying U.S. and British forces.

"One of the main reasons for my establishing this court is so that we can try people, in particular senior Baathists...who may have committed crimes against the coalition, who are trying to destabilize the situation here, and so we can do it rather quickly," Bremer said. "It could evolve into a tribunal to try people for crimes against humanity. That is a decision that the (future) Iraqi government should make."

The U.S. plans to open the Court next month. It is holding 1,300 prisoners out at the Baghdad airport. The court will try defendants for crimes committed after the start of the war. The court will be run by ten Iraqi judges and three prosecutors. Defendants presumably will be provided with counsel.

But, like everything else about the war with Iraq, the legality of the court is questionable:

The administration says that as the occupying power in Iraq, it has the right to issue orders which carry the force of law, and to try those who attack its forces as criminals.

But the United States has not officially declared the war over, raising potential confusion over whether attacks on occupying troops are governed by international rules of war.

A new BBC poll finds that the majority of the world is opposed to Bush and the Iraq war.

The poll, which surveyed more than 11,000 people in 11 countries, showed 57 percent of those asked had "a very unfavorable or fairly unfavorable attitude toward the American president," the British broadcaster said in a statement.

Some 56 percent felt the United States was wrong to attack Iraq, including 81 percent of Russian respondents and 63 percent of those polled in France.

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The Washington Post has been digging into the story of Private Jessica Lynch's capture by Iraqis and rescue by Americans. Here's some of what they found:

The Ambush:

Lynch was riding in a Humvee when it plowed into a jacknifed U.S. truck -- a precarious position that led to major injuries, including multiple fractures and compression to her spine, that knocked her unconscious, military sources said. The collision killed or gravely injured the Humvee's four other passengers.

....Lynch tried to fire her weapon, but it jammed, according to military officials familiar with the Army investigation. She did not kill any Iraqis. She was neither shot nor stabbed, they said.

The U.S. says Lynch was abused by her captors, but no details have been released, and witnesses detailed in the article say she was not--both believe her most severe injuries are from the car crash.

The Rescue:

Days later, tipped that Lynch was inside Saddam Hussein General Hospital in Nasiriyah, the CIA, fearing a trap, sent an agent into the facility with a hidden camera to confirm she was there and help draw a blueprint for her rescue, intelligence sources said.

The Special Operations unit's full-scale rescue of the private, while justified given the uncertainty confronting the U.S. forces as they entered the compound, ultimately was proven unnecessary. Iraqi combatants had left the hospital almost a day earlier, leaving Lynch in the hands of doctors and nurses who said they were eager to turn her over to Americans.

Lynch's doctors say she has no memory of the ambush, her capture or her treatment during her captivity. This is a very long, detailed article of her capture, condition, treatment and rescue, compiled by many sources.

Booth reported from Nasiriyah, interviewing Iraqi doctors and nurses in the hospitals where Lynch was treated, and Iraqi citizens who witnessed elements of the initial capture. Priest and Schmidt reported from Washington, interviewing military and intelligence officials with detailed knowledge of Lynch's capture and rescue, as well as officials close to the Lynch family.

It will be interesting to see how accurate the article is when more details emerge.

Update: An astute reader noticed that our subtitle"the capture" should have said "the rescue" - we've edited accordingly.

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On June 10, 2003, Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) gave a speech in the House of Representatives, 'Bush administration deceptions about Iraq threaten democracy'. You can read it here, courtesy of Smirking Chimp.