Gen. Barry McCaffery discusses a very important issue we are dealing with today. That is whether or not the Iraq war is really worth the $247 billion that it has cost the United States government so far. I believe the Millenium Development goals are a better use of the money. The MDG's are 8 goals which could be reached by 2015 by using a budget of around $40-60 billion. I personally believe it is a better way to be using the U.S. Military Budget instead of putting so many lives in danger in Iraq, which Gen. Barry McCaffery clearly stated as a major issue in Baghdad.

I'm thinking John Dean's new book, Conservatism without Conscience probably explains a lot, like our assinine foray into Iraq - because strife and terrorism helps prop up the authoritarian regime of BushCo - gots to have a boogy man, doncha know?

It's how he got re-elected - god forfend we should get out of a careening car driven by a drunken lunatic when we had the chance. Oh no, can't change "leaders" in the middle of the war - even if that was the reason for the war in first place, to perpetuate the BushCo experience.

Our government is nothing but a bunch of rank criminals, of the criminals and for the criminals.

America: stop being a craven coward and STAND UP!

I find myself propelled to respond to Olivia from "Illinois". Her perspective of cuurent conditions in N.O. is obviously from a closer seat on Filmore street. The tactics now employed in N.O. and even in foriegn policy, well, we are reapeatedly promised the ends justifys the means and history will recognize this argument. Reality is we, all of us, each and every one of us must understand the current history we are making and ask ourselves is this the way we want to be remembered? Are we procreating and perpetuating life and humanity? Question that must be addressed, in a democracy how can greed be good? How can a democracy survive if greed is the ultimate objective? 9/11 awoke quite a few people cast adrift in their own little self focused world. But one only needs to open one eye and gaze in any directon and see the storm clouds fast approaching. In a democracy, specifically designed into are own Constitution, a distinct seperation of powers is mandtaed so the fulcrum remains position in harmonic balance. But that fulcrum has edged closer and closer and closer to where? Is there balance any more? N.O. is a Federal National disaster area as is Iraq, Afaghanistan, the entire african continent as well as all our next door neighbors, south and north. People, if you really are serious about caring, about supporting our young men and women giving limb and life daily, we must educate ourselves, we must educate eacother, through education and communications all the worlds issues can be permanetly resolved without annhiliting eachother. We the people, having been given her Lady Liberty to illuminate to the galaxies the way to reason and fairness, we the people must be the people. It is our system and if it aint broke dont fix it, if it is, it aint gonna get fixed till we fix it. Lady Liberty surely could have been an easy target, was she? Why not? What did the towers represent that presented such a target? What did the Pentagon represent? The men who carried out these attacks where of calculating minds. They carefully planned their attack and where supplied with support. They wanted to make a point and until all of us can begin to digest all that we all will continue to be someones target. These are scary times people and fear is such an effective tool. Solutions, well impeachment in the middle of such a mud bog is not a good option, but it is an option, not much until November but its an option. All hell is breaking lose around the globe and we are watching Americans lose their loved ones, their jobs, their pensions and their homes, we have prisons packed to the rafters and still have gang warfare on american streets daily. Wow, yes we are making history, is this how we want to be recorded?
I dont think anyone reading this does either. What can we do? Pay it Forward. Do something for someone anyone, let someone yield in front of you in heavy traffic, say hello to your mailman, reach out to others and of course read and communicate with others. The expression of ideas is mankinds unique ability and yet we choose to isolate ourselves. Why do we need a bad guy? Are we not all born wearing the same white hats? We cant just pull out of anywhere, we need to get it together with some good intel and get policy makers that make decisions based on sound judgement rather than emotional greed. And we need to do this SWIFTLY. Tactic one, contain, secure, purge, restructure with reason and fairness. Tactic two, see tactic one. Or we could just keep going about our lives complacently and paying with blood through our noses. Give the gift that keeps on giving, teach someone to read. Leave the greed, take the lead. Lets build schools and hospitals not casinos and prisons. We have the ears of the auto execs, lets demand the complte removal of the personal internal combustionable transports from the marketplace. Lets move on solar and hydro projects, put folks to work, we must build not destroy, this is a leagacy that we should remebered for, is it not?

Well, how long before General McCaffrey starts getting attacked from the right? It seems that everyone who speaks the truth nowadays is villanized. Thank you General MacCaffrey for telling it like it is. We need to get our people out of Iraq now. Staying the course in Bush's war will be more and more deadly for our folks over there.

Bush has said diplomacy is the way to solve the current North Korean situation. Exactly what part of diplomacy does the warship he deployed to North Korea play? Has the Doomsday Clock been reset yet?

McCaffrey's remarks on Baghdad are interesting--just based on what I've seen on newscasts and read about what's going on there, I can believe what he says about that city's being the most dangerous place on earth, where an American driving through without security for a 24-hour period would not survive. Our troops there deserve our prayers.

Now for what could become a "Baghdad" here at home, if things don't come under control soon. In spite of the recent arrival of the Louisiana National Guard and state police, New Orleans finds herself in an escalating spiral of violent crime that not only darkens her life but threatens her very survival. Reason being, it could discourage evacuees from returning and tourists from visiting, if it gets to be serious enough it could even cause people who at first wanted to stay and rebuild to leave. Such crime saps the energy and resources she needs to heal.

I was mistaken when I recently opined that Mayor Nagin's calling in the Guard was the right idea, because their presence has turned out to an irritant, making a bad situation worse. Says a recent article in the Times-Picayune, "Shootings and stabbings haven't stopped...crack-slinging, opportunistic looting, and rough-trade prostitution continue to surface in the city's darker corners."

Chad Rogers, of The Dead Pelican, Louisiana's answer to the Drudge Report, describes the Guard presence in terms usually reserved for involvement in Iraq. He says it's a "recipe for quagmire, and we're headed there fast," and that there's no timetable for troop withdrawal, no exit strategy.

Rogers says Louisiana's National Guard is "immersed in a segment of Louisiana culture that it does not understand...street thugs have grown more resentful of the Guard's presence..." He adds in effect that it's impossible to militarily impose the rule of law on a poor, crime-ridden area and that the effort "will only lead to an ever-mounting increase in casualties and an open-ended urban war with no end in sight..." What a muddle--I can't think of an easy solution for such a situation.

Also in New Orleans, the heartbreaking news that bodies are still being found, and the parish coroner recently announced that there are 49 that remain unidentified, some of which had been found in homes being demolished--which must be painful for those left behind, still not knowing if they're dead or alive. I have to wonder if instead, had this been a New York coroner making this announcement regarding 9/11 victims, NBC Nightly would have cared enough to tell the story.

Brian - Thank you once again for anchoring the most complete and informative daily newscast on TV. It is a learning experience for us all - even those of us who are CSPAN and news junkies, like me. What I like best is that you and your crew go behind the news that is initially sent out there to find out what, if anything is being witheld. You tell as much of the story as you know and can discover, not just part of it. This is what makes Nightly News different. Keep up the good work - when I watch Nightly, I feel like I am back in my college Poly Sci classes, still learning.
Joan Chapman, Cheshire CT.

You won't see any of the arm-chaired media riding around in Baghdad for even 24 minutes! You know, the ones with the mantra of "stay the course" (by proxy) with someone else's sons and daughters.
The iceberg has been hit. Do we fill the lifeboats or let them follow the captain and his ship to the bottom?
I'm thankful that General McCaffrey has the courage to stand up and speak his mind!

My brother ships out for Iraq on Monday. My only brother. My little brother. Besides praying for his safety while holding my breath for the entire time he's gone, I will also be praying that men like McCaffrey and Murtha will be able to lift up the voice of wisdom to find a solution out of this horror. For the innocent families in Iraq, and the innocent families of America, the truth has got to win out.

It's such a shame that Bush turns a deaf ear to anyone, regardless of their level of expertise, once they stop regurgitating the party line.

Iraq is FIASCO, Mr. President. Stop treating us like stupid children. Either that or put your money where your mouth is and take a drive down the Avenue of the Welcomed Liberators. (Take Dick with you. Take your entire cabinet. Hell, take Congress.)

Well Brian, that is amazing that we get that account from Gen. Barry McCaffrey, but we get a rosey picture of how freedom and democracy is spreading from the GOP and the Bush Administration throughout Baghdad and Iraq. I would have to summarize that what Congressman Murtha and other Democrats have been saying and being swiftboated on is correct. We have become embroiled in someone else's civil war and if we do not get out soon we will be filling a lot more US body bags. It is Vietnam all over again thanks to the Bush administration. On another note why is there no outrage by the administration over the leaking of an ongoing investigation by the FBI in bombing the Holland and Lincoln tunnels. Isn't this helping the terrorists by devuldging this information like what the NY Times was accused of?