Grade-A "American" Brand Freedom

So, my conservative blogging counterparts at My 2 Cents and theANTILiberalBlog 10th Cent continue to believe and spout on about the situation in Iraq. Let's take a gander at what they are saying:

"Troops in Iraq is helping create Democracy." - theANTILiberalBlog, yesterday

"We liberated 50 million Iraqi citizens, removed a brutal dictator, and neutralized the threat that he represented." - My 2 Cents, last week

Huh, that is interesting. Here is a photo, from today, which shows a building being blown apart by an American air strike...is this part of our effort to "create Democracy?":

In addition, here are other developments in Iraq from the last day (from CNN.com):

▪The United Nations Thursday held events in several nations in memory of victims of last year's terrorist bombing of U.N. headquarters in Baghdad. Thursday is the anniversary of the attack, which killed 22 people, including top U.N. envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello, and injured more than 100 others. In addition to Baghdad, U.N. officials held observances in New York, Switzerland and Jordan.

▪A mortar Thursday struck the roof of a building housing the office of John Negroponte, U.S. ambassador to Iraq, wounding two people, a U.S. Embassy spokesman said. Negroponte was not in the building at the time, said spokesman Bob Callahan. The building is in Baghdad's Green Zone, a compound of governmental headquarters.

▪Two Polish soldiers were killed and five injured when their vehicles crashed early Thursday as they were trying to escape an ambush in the central Iraqi city of Hillah, a military spokesman said. (Full story)

▪Armed militants Wednesday said they would kill a Western journalist who was kidnapped in Iraq if U.S. forces do not withdraw from Najaf within 48 hours. In a videotape aired on Al-Jazeera, journalist Micah Garen, 36, was surrounded by five armed, masked militants. Garen was kidnapped last Friday in the southern city of Nasiriya while working on a documentary on antiquities in Iraq. (Full story)

▪A U.S. soldier was killed Wednesday when a patrol was attacked in eastern Baghdad and a Marine died after a vehicle accident in western Iraq's Al Anbar province, the U.S. military said. The number of U.S. troops killed in the Iraq war stood at 951 as of Wednesday. Of those, 709 have died in hostile action and 242 from nonhostile activity, according to the U.S. military.

▪Two detainees were killed and five others were wounded Wednesday during a fight involving more than 200 prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison on the outskirts of Baghdad, according to the coalition press office. A news release said "lethal force" was used after verbal warnings and "nonlethal rounds" failed to break up the brawl.

▪An Army report will recommend that approximately two dozen military intelligence personnel face possible disciplinary action in the Abu Ghraib abuse scandal, military sources said. The report, expected to be released as early as next week, will find that the abuse was not ordered by senior commanders as part of approved interrogation practices, the sources said. (Full story)

▪In Mosul, at least six Iraqis were killed and 21 others were wounded Wednesday when a missile struck the main commercial center, police said.

Some peace and freedom. Supporting the troops and supporting the war is one thing, ignoring facts and events for a political soundbite is another.