FROM MSNBC:

BAGHDAD - Four U.S. soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in southern Baghdad late Sunday, raising the death toll for American forces since start of the war to 4,000, according to the Pentagon.

The grim milestone was reached less than a week after the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion to topple former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and coincided with a spate of violence across Iraq on Sunday that left at least 61 people dead.

I don't really have anything else to say.  I voted today.  I voted for one of the candidates on the ballot in Oklahoma.  That's about it.  I haven't reached the 300 character requirement yet.  Got to keep going a bit longer.  I voted.  That's about it.  I guess I'm just tired of all of the candidate diaries and want the party united behind a candidate.

So in the last day or so, we've had a diary about somebody starting to detest one of the candidates, and a diary about somebody else starting to detest all the diaries that detest one or more of the candidates, and a diary about still another person who detests the diaries that detest the diaries...I think, unless this one is the first diary to detest diaries that detest...
Shit.
Umm, where was I?
It's getting pretty hard to keep track of all of the detesting and the detestable as they flow past.
It's like watching all of the Flip-flopping by Romney, Guilliani, Thompson, and all of the other members of the 'People who'll say anything to gain raw power,' which is the current appropriate spelling of that old english word 'republican.'
I haven't selected a candidate out of this bunch for whom to vote, but I'll tell you all a secret right after the flip.

I’m sick at home.
The docs say it’s some kind of incipient blood infection that has caused pneumonia as well as doing something to my kidneys.  I think that the vague feeling that death would be a release is only a side effect.  I’ll be OK in a couple of weeks.  I’ve got these huge horse pills to take, and I’ll be OK.  Thank God for health insurance that’s worth a damn.
My mother has cancer.  She too has excellent health insurance, and as a result she is getting the care she needs.  She has made remarkable progress.  It helps that she’s a fighter.

From the diaries, with minor edits. This is why we have to end this war. mcjoan

I know my wife hasn't seen the following headline yet, or there'd be one hell of an angry, angst-ridden email in my inbox: Oklahoma National Guard to Deploy to Iraq in 2008

It seems that my brigade has been given a warning order to prepare to deploy to Iraq in 2008, about six months after I get home.

I don't know if it's the full brigade, or just the parts that haven't deployed recently, but with the new change in army policy, I could conceivably go home this summer and turn around next January and go to Iraq.

Lovely.  Just fucking lovely.

A more complete article can be found at the website of our state's very right-wing newspaper--a paper so skewed it should be printed as a tabloid instead of a broadsheet--the Daily Oklahoman (registration required):

"We very rarely receive a notification of this sort and then a decision is made not to send them, although it has happened in the past," [Adujant General of Oklahoma, Major General Henry] Wyatt said.

And if I thought that my current deployment would make me less likely to go on this new one, boy did I have another thing coming:

About 85 percent of the soldiers in the 45th Infantry Brigade already have served combat deployments, most in Iraq or Afghanistan. Two of the brigade's units are deployed now. The 1st Battalion, 180th Infantry is in Afghanistan, and the 245th Engineer Company is in Iraq. Wyatt said these soldiers will have the experience that comes with being combat veterans, but he said it will also cause additional stress.

"We understand we're asking the families and employers and soldiers to deploy again," Wyatt said.

Erm, Ya think, Sir?!?

I don't know if I'm going to have to go or not.  I damn sure ain't volunteering.

Commanders already have re-evaluated training plans in light of the possible deployment. Wyatt said much of the brigade's pre-deployment training will be handled by the Guard before the troops are activated.

Wyatt said he has pushed the Army to put the brigade on alert and issue mobilization orders as soon as possible to allow commanders access to additional equipment and other resources the troops will need. He said he hopes official orders will come in by the end of February. Body armor and some weapons are in short supply to Oklahoma Guardsmen, as National Guard units nationally have shared their resources to equip troops deploying to combat areas.

"We will not let any soldier go ... unless they are fully-equipped with all of their equipment and have all the training they need to accomplish the mission," Wyatt said. "If we can't do that, then they're not going in."

Now, I don't want anyone to think that I disrespect my Adjutant General.  I've met him personally, and he's a good man.  He takes care of business, so I've no doubt that he'll take care of us as best he can.
Having said that, if I am going to Iraq, and I haven't heard for sure yet--no one has handed me orders, or looked me in the eye and said "you, 'soonergrunt' are going," I'd rather just stay on active duty rather than have my employer try to put me to work for six months and then find ANOTHER replacement for me.

I will not volunteer for this mission, but if ordered to go, I will go.  I know that there are those out there who would have me go AWOL or refuse to deploy.

I cannot do that.  I owe too much to these young men whom I promised I would lead and protect.  I do not believe that all war is wrong, so I cannot honestly petition to be a conscientious objector.  I also do not believe that just because I hate the president I have to right to refuse to live up to my oath.  I'm not a conservative, after all.  I have a family to feed, and soldiers to take care of.  I can do neither from prison.

I just hope that neither I nor one of my men are the last to die for a mistake.

Lovely.  Just fucking lovely.

From here in Afghanistan, where the booze doesn't flow, I hope that you all drank a glass or four for me.  Of course, since I'm not hung over, I've been thinking about some things that I'd like to discuss with you all.
I've been thinking about the future.  Specifically, the future of our party, our movement, and the netroots.
Now, I don't know any more about electoral politics than most of you, and I know a lot less than some of you.
But I have some ideas.  If you're interested, catch me on the flip-side.

I'm home for a few days from Camp Shelby, MS.  As many of you know, my National Guard unit has been prepping for almost two years to deploy to Afghanistan for one year.  The last of these entries is HERE.

The training for the last month has kept us very busy.  Some of it was useful, some less so.  We trained with weapons on ranges, attended classes on Afghan culture and language, learned how to assess a village for sewage, water, electricity, academics, and trash.  The SWEAT assessment allows coalition forces to begin to deliver services targetted to the communities in such a way as to deny the enemy inroads into the local communities.

The last entry in the series detailed the last drill my unit underwent in our preparation for our upcomming mission to Afghanistan.

Well, the current situation is that my unit has been officially mobilized.  We will move to our training area at Camp Shelby, Mississippi within the week.  We will be there for approximately three to four months, followed by a year long tour in Afghanistan.  I do not know the dates of departure for the tour, nor where my unit may be stationed.

This is part VII of a multipart series surrounding my National Guard unit's upcomming mission to Afghanistan.
Part VI is here.  Those who wish may find parts to the other parts of the series on that page.

This drill, the unit conducted some last-minute administrative tasks.  Our mobilization is very close now, and although I won't give exact dates, it is within the next 30 days.  We will be mobilizing to Camp Shelby, Alabama for train-up of three to four months, followed by deployment into Afganistan for one year, sometime this summer.

This is part VI in an ongoing diary regarding my National Guard unit's upcomming mission to Afghanistan.  At no time will I post any information which my reveal tactics, techniques, procedures, or any other information that I believe to be of a sensitive nature.
The preceeding diaries of this series can are:
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V

I'd like to hear from the military and veteran community on DK.  I'd love to know who else out there (there are many, I know) are either veterans, or still serving as either active duty or reserves.

This is part V of an ongoing series regarding my National Guard unit's preparations for an upcomming year-long deployment to Afghanistan.
Part IV, III, II, and I.

The December drill is traditionally a very laid back drill, and this one was not much different.  As per all of these diaries, I will not disclose any information of a classified or sensitive nature.

This diary is partly in response the Meteor Blades' diary What would you do in Iraq?
It is not meant to be a criticism or even a counterpoint.  It's more of a stream of conciousness brought on by the whole situation, and given some focus by his work

Somebody once said that the defining characteristic of Americans was their belief that they could solve any problem just by hard work, inventiveness, and sheer stubborness.  I think it was Alistair Cooke of the BBC, but don't hold me to that.
The progressive movement is defined in history and political science as a movement founded in the late 1880s that sought to overcome social problems through the application of scientific method by experts.
In that spirit, I'd like to take a few minutes of your time to talk about what I would do about Iraq and foreign- and defense-policy, had I the authority and power to whatever I wanted.

In an article today in the NY Daily News, we learn that the President is becomming more detached from reality on a daily basis.
As long as the hemoraging continues, the President continues to dig in ever deeper in order to refuse to do anything that looks like an admission of error.  As one reads the article, one comes to the inevitable conclusion that this second Bush II term resembles the Nixon administration's second term more and more every day.

The right-wing band, The Right Brothers, a creation of those hep-cats at rightmarch.com has come out with a CD, and a music video that they hope to play on MTV:

The Right Brothers, a conservative music duo out of Nashville, has released a new song that does what needed to be done: it tells the TRUTH. Titled Bush Was Right, the song hits the listener with fact after fact after fact - but the tune is so catchy, and the music is so driving, you can't help but sing along (especially on the chorus)!

The truth about Iraq... the truth about the economy... the TRUTH... set to music.

This is what the youth in America need. They're already bombarded with songs on the radio and videos on MTV that trash our President, conservative beliefs, and traditional American values.

Lyrics below the fold

This is part IV of an ongoing series about my unit's training for our up-comming mission to Afghanistan.  The previous parts are:
Part III
Part II
Part I

For many soldiers of my company, this was the first drill after the Katrina relief mission, so we added some fun and relaxation to our training schedule.

An MSNBC/WaPo article today gives us some encouraging news.  On every single topic except for one in a recent poll, voters favored Democrats over Republicans.  The one topic where we aren't favored is terrorism where we are, get this, TIED.
There is still the general perception that Democrats do not have any strong leaders, are not organized, and have no plan.

The article mentions that significant gains by Dems are likely in the House and the Senate, and that recapture of one or both houses isn't out of the question.

My ideas below the fold.

Mediaweek Magazine has the story of a shake-up at CNN.
The short version: Anderson Cooper's show is moving to 10:00 PM, and Aaron Brown's Newsnight is off.
The upshot--we get another hour of the craptacular Wolf Blitzer's Situation Room.