What really tugged at my heart strings were the children playing in the barbwire! I'm glad that our tax paying reconstruction money is being invested to win the hearts and minds of the Irag people. You leftist, America haters should be ashamed of yourselves for being blind. You should know that this war is going last as long as it takes to bleed the treasury dry, transfer the money to our hand selected organizations and allow us to find a way to pass the blame onto those whom we want to carry the "not tough enough on national security" tag. Why you "American Haters" you just want America taken over by Terrorists like yourselves.

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Sorry everyone, I guess the propaganda machine that is really trying to sell the beauty of this war is starting to flood the deepest regions of my psyche. "I will obey, I will obey and say what you tell me to say Dear Leader".

Conchita thank you for that link! I'm going to check that site out more. I really do appreciate that link!

That link Conchita posted really does show the reality of what happens to nations that try to gain WMDs without purchasing first from the U.S., harbor terrorists, accept money, weapons and chemical agents from superpower nations especially the U.S., live in tyranny, have a tyranist leader who was put into power by the U.S., hate our freedoms, want to destroy America, want to kill us in our supermarkets, will not share your oil so our companies can plunder the profits, don't believe in our so-called version of God, are planning mushroom clouds over a major U.S. city, etc...

Joining us, now, from Baghdad, CNN's own Kyra Phillips.

Kyra, you've had a chance to hear what Senator McCain and his delegation have to say today. First of all, update our viewers, Kyra, on what their bottom line is.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's what's interesting, Wolf. And this is what I'm taking away from all of this, as I listen to these politicians and also go out onto the streets throughout Baghdad and greater Baghdad, is that it's very easy to go into certain areas and say things are improving.

For example, I went into Dora Market yesterday with General David Petraeus. Things are improving. Shops are opening up. But, still, Al Qaida is active in the area. They're still dealing with a death squad.

So, I could see a John McCain coming forward today, like he did, saying, look, I'm not saying this is mission accomplished, but there's still a lot going on. There's still a lot of challenges. There's still a lot of danger.

It's the easy answer, Wolf, for anybody. There are improvements going on throughout this country, but, also, there are incredible security challenges and violence that plagues this country.

BLITZER: Kyra, when you went out with General Petraeus this weekend and you walked around some streets in Baghdad, describe for us how much security he and you had.

PHILLIPS: I would probably say triple the presidential entourage, Wolf.

(LAUGHTER)

Now, I'm exaggerating a little bit, but in all seriousness, outer, inner, and perimeter security; sniper teams, personal security guards, humvees, helicopters -- you name it.

That man cannot travel this country without security. And he even said to me, you know, we'd be in a lot of trouble -- all these men around me would be in a lot of trouble if anything happened to me.

There's a great responsibility. He is the general commanding all U.S. forces in Iraq. He has to have security. Anywhere he goes, he must be protected because he's the man in charge of all the military action that's happening in this country.

So, yes, we went through Dora Market, and we had security everywhere. He wore a soft cap. I didn't wear a helmet. We felt comfortable. Why? We had lots of security.

BLITZER: But for average -- I take it then -- correct me if I'm wrong, Kyra, and you've been there for a few weeks now -- for a U.S. soldier to simply leave his or her base and get into a car and drive to a coffee shop...

PHILLIPS: No, forget it.

BLITZER: ... go to a restaurant and just meet with a bunch of friends. That's outrageous?

PHILLIPS: No. That's a pipe dream, Wolf. I mean, I wish -- even driving down the streets of Baghdad, you see the closed-down restaurants.

People aren't going to -- whether you're a journalist, whether you're military, whether you're a leader in this country, whether you're an Iraqi civilian, you are taking a risk.

Reid is in DC, playing poltics and making very, very, very, very studpid statements.

Fine. The implication is: Winning cannot be defined. So we'll never get there because (pace Gertrude Stein):

There is no there there.

Is Victory like the famous Justice's definition of pornography?

I know it when I see it.

Whatever happened to the Powell Docrtine? It wasn't that long ago that it was considered wisdom for the ages.

BAGHDAD -- U.S. soldiers with the 82nd Airborne Division in a Baghdad district are "building a three-mile protective wall on the dividing line between a Sunni enclave and the surrounding Shiite neighborhood," according to a U.S. military press release issued Wednesday.

Troops with the 407th Brigade Support Battalion began constructing the wall on April 10 and will continue work "almost nightly until the wall is complete," the release read.

Throughout the land of pundits, you can hear the sound faintly but it's clear. It goes, "Things are looking better in Iraaaaaaaq. The surge is woooorrrrking..."
...
...he even walked the streets of Baghdad on Sunday whilst flanked by more firepower than the goddamn Death Star. Though Newsweek later reported:

"Less then 30 minutes after McCain wrapped up, a barrage of half a dozen mortars peppered the boundaries of the Green Zone, where the senators held their press conference."

But it's working, damn your eyes! Flip through the prime time talking head shows this week and you'll hear it.

Seriously, it's bordering on psychotic to believe that President Bush, a man who couldn't describe the difference between Shi'ites and Sunnis before the war, could somehow be the first commander-in-chief in the history of warfare to overcome a guerrilla insurgency without a 10-to-1 advantage and nearly four years after losing the initiative on the battlefield.

No matter what degree of doubt the White House sprinkles into the water supply, the numbers don't lie. March sadly posted the highest number of civilian deaths in Iraq this year: 1,808. By this or any other measure, it's not working. No military effort will ever work in Iraq. Ever.

I know this post is off topic but thank you all for allowing me to participate in your community discussions.

And yes, Jim I even appreciate (but I don't quite understand your humor) your active participation. Your steadfast drumbeating messages really helps many of us refine our debate skills in order to counter the Warmongering side of our American culture and without you there would only be other paid propagandists coming here to "rattle the sabre". Stay hard cat! I'm sure sometime in your 80's you will be rewarded generously for your dedication!