A new Defense Department report reveals that thousands of dead Iraqi troops are still on Iraq's payroll. Stuart Bowen, the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, says "There are continuing uncertainties about the true number ... who are present for duty at any one time,". "I would not call it a damning report. I would say it's reflective of the difficulty of assessing troop strength ... and, more importantly, capabilities," Bowen said in an interview Thursday. Bowen also said that at any given time only 70% of Iraqi troops are actually available for duty.
    OK so Iraq has less troops than had been reported. That means we still can't bring troops home which is costing us enormously. Only now we find out that some of our 20 billion dollar Iraqi training program money is being paid to dead Iraqi troops, supporting their families. 
    Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., who requested the report, said he found it "bizarre" that a Defense Department assessment as recently as September showed that Iraqis only estimated a need for 390,000 security forces — a number that jumped to nearly 573,000 by March.
    Is 390,00 security forces not large enough because some of them are dead? Obviously we can't trust the Iraqi government with our money or resources. 
    In a war that we shouldn't have entered we haven't been able to exit because of miss management by the U.S. and the Iraqi government. Where is the payback from oil we were promised in return for reconstruction and defense. Iraq needs to pay now! We can't afford to leave our troops in a country where the people don't have enough guts to stand up for themselves. Americans are free only because we fought for our rights! I guess Iraqis are gutless. I guess we want to raise them dependant on their government for their needs instead of letting them fight to institute a government for the people, by the people. They will never have a successful democracy unless they fight for it and earn it with their blood.
    So now I have succeded in changing my mind on staying in Iraq. After remembering that Americas success and freedom come only from the Americans that spilled blood for us, I now see that if we really want Iraq to succeed as anything other than a puppet government they have to pay with their own blood. We must leave Iraq now!

"The Republic was not established by cowards; and cowards will not preserve it ... This will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave."   Elmer Davis