*IRAQ: latest news and developments

[Barking_Mad]

Blair Disputes Bush's Belief Iraq Rift Is Over

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Monday the Western rift over Iraq (news - web sites) was not over, disputing a central message of President Bush fence-mending mission to Europe. "There's no point in us standing here and saying, 'You know, all the previous disagreements have disappeared.' They haven't," Blair said with Bush at his side.

Blair's comments directly contradicted Bush's after a summit with European Union (news - web sites) leaders in Ireland last weekend.

"The bitter differences of the war are over," Bush had confidently declared. Many European states, including France and Germany, opposed last year's invasion of Iraq. Bush and Blair, the two closest allies in the war in Iraq, appeared together on the sidelines of a NATO (news - web sites) summit to celebrate the surprise early handover of power from the U.S.-led coalition to the Iraqi interim government. Blair acknowledged that the United States and Britain have been unable to "overcome the disagreement there was (with opponents of the war) about whether the conflict was justified." "Our honest belief is that the world will be a safer place if we're able to make this work. And I don't know whether we convinced people of this or not," Blair said.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Aside from the tragic murder/execution of the US soldier who was held hostage, these are the first reported deaths of US troops since the handover

Bomb kills U.S. marines in Baghdad

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A roadside bomb blast has killed three U.S. marines in Baghdad in the first reported fatal attack on U.S. forces in Iraq since the formal handover of sovereignty to an interim government. A U.S. military spokesman said two marines were also wounded in the explosion that wrecked a Humvee vehicle escorting a convoy carrying engineering equipment.

"I don't know why the terrorists want to kill us. We just want to help Iraqis," said a marine at the scene on Tuesday.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Iraqis to get legal custody of Saddam

Iraq's Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said today that Saddam Hussein will be transferred to Iraqi legal custody and face charges before an Iraqi court this week - but will remain in a US-run jail for now because his government does not have a suitable prison. Allawi promised an open proceeding when Saddam faces war crimes charges, including genocide. Eleven other "high-value detainees" also are expected to face justice, he told reporters during his first news conference since the US-led coalition handed over sovereignty to his government yesterday.

"I know I speak for my fellow countrymen when I say I look forward to the day former regime leaders face justice," he said. Saddam will be transferred to Iraqi legal custody on Wednesday and face an Iraqi judge on Thursday, Allawi said. However, the trials for Saddam and 11 others will not occur for months and he urged the Iraqi people to be patient. He acknowledged that more than 1 million Iraqis are missing as a result of events that occurred during the former regime - and that many Iraqis want justice done.

But he insisted that Saddam must receive a "just trial, a fair trial.....We would like to show the world that the new Iraq government means business and wants to do business and wants to stabilise Iraq and put it on the road toward democracy and peace," Allawi said. "We want to put this bad history behind us and move toward a spirit of national unity and reconciliation in the future."

 

[Barking_Mad]

Turkish hostages released by militants in Iraq

Three Turkish hostages have been released by militants in Iraq, who had earlier threatened to behead them, the foreign minister said today. "Our citizens have been released," Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told state television. "We've struggled a lot for their release. We are glad to hear this news."

His comments came after a report on Al-Jazeera television said an extremist group responsible for beheading two other foreign hostages had announced it was releasing the three Turks "for the sake of their Muslim brothers."

 

[Barking_Mad]

There are a few interesting articles from todays Independent about the 'transfer of power' in Iraq that you might find worth reading.

US abruptly cedes power in attempt to spike guns of insurgents

Main players in the new Iraqi Government

The history of handovers (and their hangovers)

What restored sovereignty means

America must accept that is cannot reshape the world

 

[nino_savatte]

The absence of a president or a similar figure leads me to conclude that Negroponte is actually in charge of the country.

 

[Barking_Mad]

What makes Blair think that the new virtually powerless Iraqi government will do any better than the largest military superpower in the world?

Blair tells Iraqis to keep the faith

Tony Blair has been given a stark message about the "hell" the people of Iraq are living through. The prime minister was giving an interview to the Iraqia TV station the day after sovereignty was handed over to the interim government.

The interviewer gave a graphic picture of security, saying his journey to Baghdad airport had been terrifying. But Mr Blair, in Istanbul, urged the Iraqi people to have confidence and faith, saying "they would make it".

The interviewer said to Mr Blair: "The Iraqi people are living in the middle of hell, there are no public services, there is no security." Mr Blair replied: "The enemy is not the people trying to make the country better, the enemy are the terrorists who are doing it." He said the important thing was to "get on top of this terrorism, and I think your new government will".

 

[Barking_Mad]

Straw admits - 'we really didnt have a clue what we were going to do'. The final quote from Blair is ironic to say the least........

Straw admits Iraq mistakes

THE US and British occupiers of Iraq made mistakes in the months following the end of major conflict last year, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said today. "With the benefit of hindsight there were decisions that were made - for example in respect of de-Baathification - which might have been done differently," Mr Straw said. "Of course in this transition some mistakes have been made and probably the de-Baathification went too far," Mr Straw told the BBC. Critics of the occupation say the decision to disband the 400,000-strong Iraqi army and to purge the state of members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party has contributed to chaos and helped fuel insurgency in post-war Iraq. Mr Straw declined to criticise decisions made by Paul Bremer, the former US administrator in Iraq, or Washington officials. But he conceded there had been "a great debate about the precise approach that should be adopted on the ground in Iraq post the major military conflict".

"Yes, of course in such situations some mistakes have been made. "But I believe overall the American and the British and all the other allied troops have worked very well," Mr Straw said. The handover of power to an Iraqi government yesterday, he said, was "a major step" in the country's reconstruction. "The violence will continue for some time," he said. "But it is my belief, and more important it is the Iraqis' belief, that they will be able to get through this period and establish a democratic Iraq."

........

Prime Minister Tony Blair said Iraqi people should have faith in their future, despite the continuing violence there. "We can only stay in Iraq insofar as you wish us to stay. If you don't wish us to stay, we have no right to be there."

 

[Barking_Mad]

'Failure to account' for Iraq cash

Iraqi money cannot be accounted for by occupying forces responsible for the funds, according to two new reports. Discrepancies are highlighted in the handling of $20bn (£11bn) generated from Iraq's oil and other sources since war ended last year. The Coalition Provisional Authority was given responsibility for the country's finances by the United Nations. The UN stressed that money in the Development Fund for Iraq must be shown to be used in Iraq's best interests.

It was understood that all revenues would be paid into a central fund. But both the charity Christian Aid and the Liberal Democrats are now criticising the CPA, saying no audit of how the money was used had been carried out until April of this year - two months before the handover of power. Christian Aid described the information regarding the allocation of money as "woefully inadequate". On 29 May, the CPA revealed $19.4bn (£10.7bn) had been paid into the DFI and spent on a wheat purchase programme, electricity and oil infrastructure programmes and equipment for Iraqi security forces, among other purchases.

The Coalition said $10bn (£5.5bn) of the total sum came from oil revenues. But, according to the Lib Dems, there is a shortfall of up to $3.7bn (£2.03bn) between the amount of oil revenue earned and the money paid into the DFI by the CPA. Iraq's oil resources generate billions of dollars each year and both studies insist it is not known how that money has been spent. Helen Collinson, from Christian Aid, said: "For the entire year that the CPA has been in power in Iraq it has been impossible to tell with any accuracy what the CPA has been doing with Iraq's money." In a separate study, the Liberal Democrats said the CPA was obliged to pay all oil revenues into the DFI, but there appears to be a significant disparity.

According to CPA figures, the DFI had received $10.8bn (£5.9bn) for oil revenue by 21 June this year. But research by the Lib Dems suggests oil revenues stand between $12.2bn (£6.7bn) and $14.5bn (£7.96bn). Christian Aid put the figure at $13bn (£7.1bn). Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman, Sir Menzies Campbell, said: "This apparent discrepancy requires full investigation." "Without concrete accounts from the CPA and the Iraqi transitional administration, questions will remain about how much has actually been earned and how much should rightfully be in the DFI." The two studies will be published to coincide with the transfer of power on Wednesday. Both investigations call on the CPA to reveal full details of expenditure and urge the British Government to exert some influence over the issue. They also demand that a transparent system of financial accountability is put in place by the new Iraqi Government.

 

[Barking_Mad]

11 wounded in airport mortar attack

Insurgents fired at least 10 mortar rounds at a US base on the outskirts of Baghdad International Airport, wounding 11 soldiers, two of them seriously, and starting a fire that burned for well over an hour. Elsewhere, a car bomb exploded outside the headquarters of the provincial police force in Samawah, 150 miles south of Baghdad, police said. Two people were wounded in the blast, which set two other vehicles ablaze.

Guerrillas struck the logistics base on the edge of Baghdad's airport, said Lieut Colonel Richard Rael. "We're OK," Rael said. "We'll get back to business as usual." A pall of black smoke hung over the airport for an hour after one of the 82 mm mortar rounds struck a petroleum products yard. There were no injuries from the fire.

The base has been subject to almost daily mortar attacks, but this was the first time the attacks caused significant casualties and damage. The attack came only days after the US coalition authorities handed over sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government. American officials have warned that the transfer of sovereignty would not stop assaults.

 

[Barking_Mad]

This is a piece form last week's NYT about the nature and ability of the insurgency. A must read I'd have said. I dont think you need to register to read it, if you do someone let me know and Ill post the whole piece up. Here's a snippet.

In Anger, Ordinary Iraqis Are Joining the Insurgency


AQUBA, Iraq, June 27 — At a teahouse in this palm-lined city, jobless men sit on wooden benches talking about killing American soldiers. "Tell us one benefit they've given us since they've come here," Falah, a 23-year-old man in a shabby checkered shirt, said to an Iraqi reporter. He boasted about driving a friend to stage attacks on American patrols. The two wait in a farm field by the main road. When the Humvees roll by, his friend fires a rocket-propelled grenade, Falah said. The two hit the ground. The soldiers open fire, but the Iraqis lie still until the patrol leaves. "I really didn't ask my friend whether they have a boss or not and whether they organize their work or not," he said. "I really don't care as long as I can take part and drive the Americans out of our country. We are all resistance." As Falah spoke, about a dozen men gathered around him. They nodded vigorously. This was Sunni-dominated Baquba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, where the resistance burns as fiercely as anywhere in Iraq.

With just days to go before the transfer of sovereignty to the Iraqis, American commanders concede that they are far from quelling a stubborn and increasingly sophisticated insurgency. It has extended well beyond Saddam Hussein supporters and foreign fighters, spreading to ordinary Iraqis seething at the occupation and its failures. They act at the grass-roots level, often with little training or direction, but with a zealousness born of anti-colonial ambitions. American commanders acknowledge that military might alone cannot defeat the insurgency; in fact, the frequent use of force often spurs resistance by deepening ill will.

"This war cannot be won militarily," said Maj. Gen. John R. S. Batiste, commander of the First Infantry Division, which oversees a swath of the northern Sunni triangle slightly larger than the state of West Virginia. "It really does need a political and economic solution." But the new government will find it tough to hammer out solutions to problems like high unemployment and lack of electricity any time soon. It will continue to come under attack, American troops will remain exposed, and the elections scheduled for January 2005 could be at risk. The Americans hope that the resistance will view the new government as legitimate, but insurgents are already assassinating Iraqi officials, and violence continues to inflame virtually every corner of the country. On Saturday, black-clad insurgents here attacked the offices of the Iraqi National Accord, the party of the new prime minister, Iyad Allawi. The interim government has to persuade the people that it can protect everyone. The insurgents have a much easier task, one they have performed with considerable success so far: sow enough fear into people to undermine confidence in authority.

..........

But no one stirs up popular support better than the hard-line clerics. Their mosques have become rallying points for the insurgency. "Is there a country that is subjected to occupation, abuse, looting and the stealing of his fortunes and killing of his people, but that when he raises his voice and says, `No!' it's called terrorism?" Sheik Shehab Ahmed al-Badri, the imam of the main Sunni mosque in Baquba, said in an interview on Friday. "The reality is that the new government represents the occupation and its desire to stay here," he said. "We want full sovereignty."

 

[Barking_Mad]

Here is the first US airstrike since the handover. I heard one report of this on BBC Radio, yet they didnt bother to question whether it was approved by the Iraqi government. Useless, truly useless......

7 killed in Fallujah strike

01/07/2004 09:47

Fallujah, Iraq - Seven people were killed and 17 injured in a US-led military strike on a suspected terrorist hideout and exchange of gunfire in the flashpoint city of Fallujah overnight, hospital sources said on Thursday, adding that some of the casualties were women and children.

"Seven dead bodies were transported to the hospital and 17 wounded were admitted, including women and children," said an employee at the registration counter who asked to remain anonymous. The toll was confirmed by doctor Rafaa Hiad, the head of the hospital in Fallujah, 50 kilometres west of Baghdad.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Updates from 01/07/04. Links to full stories here

07/01/04 CJTF-7: Confirmed: Marine Killed In Action Today
One Marine assigned to I Marine Expeditionary Force was killed in action today in the Al Anbar Province while conducting security and stability operations.

07/01/04 The Daily News: Wounded soldier returns home from Iraq
Holding his 7-week-old daughter, Faith, and playing with his 5-year-old daughter, Lauren, 1st Lt. Christopher Ayres looked more like a proud father than an injured Marine.

07/01/04 ABQJournal.com: Mortar Shells Hit N.M. Guard Base Yesterday
Most days, the mortar shells fall wide. On Wednesday, about a dozen aimed at a camp run by New Mexico guardsmen in Iraq connected.

07/01/04 Xinhuanet: Some 250 Iraqi scientists killed
A total of 250 Iraqi scientists were killed or assassinated since April 2003, local newspaper Al Mada reported Thursday.

07/01/04 Reuters: Marine Killed in Action in Western Iraq
A U.S. Marine was killed in action on Thursday in western Iraq, scene of clashes between American troops and insurgents on the outskirts of Falluja.

07/01/04 Toledoblade.com: Ex-Whitmer student injured serving in Iraq
U.S. Army Spec. Brendan Zahnle, 19, suffered a broken pelvis, a concussion, and internal injuries, his grandfather, Edward Estral, said. The accident occurred outside Tikrit ...

07/01/04 VOA News: Insurgents Launch 2 Deadly Bomb Attacks in Baghdad
Insurgents in Iraq have carried out two deadly roadside bomb attacks in Baghdad, Thursday.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Total coalition dead in June: 50
Total US dead in June: 42
Total US injured in June 381

Info here

 

[Barking_Mad]

Battalion Makes Ultimate Sacrifice

We had been told that we would take casualties but nobody never expected to take as many as we have," says Sgt. Joe Vasquez.

..........

"We were told when we came here that these guys, you know, they weren't very good on tactics," says Cpl. Marcus Waechter. In early April that myth was dispelled when a well coordinated ambush hit two humvees from Echo company. "In the first 30 seconds that whole hummer was dead," says Waechter. "I saw the bodies, the lifeless dead bodies hanging over the railing."

Both vehicles were raked with machine gunfire and RPQ's. In an instant, the squads radio operator Lance Cpl. Travis Layfield was killed along with Lance Cpl. Anthony Roberts and Pfc. Christopher Cobb and Kyle Crowley. Navy medic 'Doc' Mendez was treating the injured when he was killed along with Staff Sgt. Allan Walker.

"We collected all the dead bodies (and) loaded them up," says Waechter. "It was like a dream. I mean, you saw these people just hours before laughing, joking."

 

[Barking_Mad]

U.S. Marine reportedly a deserter

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The U.S. Marine who kidnappers are threatening to behead deserted the military because he was emotionally traumatized, and was abducted by his captors while trying to make his way home to his native Lebanon, a Marine officer said Tuesday.

The officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said he believed that Corp. Wassef Ali Hassoun was betrayed by Iraqis he befriended on his base and ended up in the hands of extremists. The officer said Hassoun, a 24-year-old Marine linguist who was born in Lebanon, was shaken up after he saw one of his sergeants blown apart by a mortar shell.

``It was very disturbing to him,'' the officer said. ``He wanted to go home and quit the game, but since he was relatively early in his deployment, that was not going to happen anytime soon. So he talked to some folks on base he befriended, because they were all fellow Muslims, and they helped sneak him off. Once off, instead of helping him get home, they turned him over to the bad guys.''

 

[Barking_Mad]

Robert Fisk's latest piece.

The Handover: Restoration of Iraqi sovereignty - or Alice in Wonderland?

So in the end, America's enemies set the date. The handover of "full sovereignty" was secretly brought forward so that the ex-CIA intelligence officer who is now "Prime Minister" of Iraq could avoid another bloody offensive by America's enemies. What is supposed to be the most important date in Iraq's modern history was changed--like a birthday party--because it might rain on Wednesday.

Pitiful is the word that comes to mind. Here we were, handing "full sovereignty" to the people of Iraq ? "full", of course, providing we forget the 160,000 foreign soldiers whom the Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi, has apparently asked to stay in Iraq, "full" providing we forget the 3,000 US diplomats in Baghdad who will constitute the largest US embassy in the world--without even telling the Iraqi people that we had changed the date.

Few, save of course for the Iraqis, understood the cruellest paradox of the event. For it was the new "Iraqi Foreign Minister" who chose to leak the "bringing forward" of sovereignty in Iraq at the Nato summit in Turkey. Thus was this new and unprecedented date in modern Iraqi history announced not in Baghdad but in the capital of the former Ottoman empire which once ruled Iraq. Alice in Wonderland could not have improved on this.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Al-Jazeera article on the new US EMbassy and the Government.....

"We shall see - but I think America is still controlling Iraq," said Majid, a Baghdad taxi driver.

Iraqi critics of the Bush administration's policy echo that sentiment.

"This government is just a puppet - the real power in the country is the US embassy," Rayad Umar, a former media director at the Interior Ministry, told Aljazeera.net. Besides overturning a serious image problem, Negroponte and his staff must somehow oversee the spending of around $18 billion in reconstruction in a dangerously hostile environment.

"What will be the function of an American embassy in a country which is run by America?" Edward Peck, US ambassador to Iraq from 1977 to 1980, told the Boston Globe newspaper on Saturday. "This embassy is going to have a thousand people hunkered behind sandbags. I don't know how you can conduct diplomacy in that way."

 

[jeff_leigh]

Iraqi interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's new government is considering offering an amnesty to Iraqis who fought the US-led occupation, possibly pardoning those who killed Americans

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E004843D-34B7-4248-BAF3-E277687B2FE2.htm

 

[Barking_Mad]

Army report confirms Psy-ops staged Saddam statue toppling

Jul 3 - An internal Army study of the war in Iraq has confirmed that the infamous toppling of the statue of Saddam Hussein in Firdos Square in central Baghdad on April 9, 2003 was stage-managed by American troops and not a spontaneous reaction by Iraqis. According to the study, a Marine colonel first decided to topple the statue, and an Army psychological operations unit turned the event into a propaganda moment.

At one point during the stunt Marines draped the statue of Saddam Hussein with an American flag. When the crowd reacted negatively to that gesture, the US flag was replaced with a pre-1990 Iraqi flag, missing the words "God is Great," by a sergeant from the psychological operations unit. The Marines brought in cheering Iraqi children in order to make the scene appear authentic, the study said. Allegations that the event was staged were made in April of last year, mostly by opponents of the war, but were ignored or ridiculed by the US government and most visible media outlets.

US soldiers charged with drowning Iraqi civilian

Jul 2 - Three soldiers from the US Army's Fourth Infantry Division have been charged with manslaughter in the drowning of an Iraqi civilian, US military officials announced today. The charges stem from a January death of Zaydon Ma'moun Fadhil Al-Samarai, an Iraqi truck driver. The soldiers allegedly handcuffed Al-Samarai and forced him over a bridge on the Tigris River in Samarra. Troops targeted Al-Samarai for allegedly violating a curfew order in the city. The incident came to light after Al-Samarai’s mother appealed for an investigation into her son’s death in an open letter to US President George Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Aljazeera reports.

A second Iraqi man, Marwan Al-Samarai, Zavdon Mah’moun’s cousin, survived the incident after swimming to the riverbank. A fourth solider is charged with assault because the second victim survived.

GAO Report: Iraqis worse off than before war

Jul 1 - In several key areas such as electricity output, overall security and the health of the judicial system, a report by the United States General Accounting Office says the US-led occupation has left Iraqis worse off than they were before the US invasion last year. Among the report's findings: the number of significant attacks by resistance groups skyrocketed from 411 in February to 1,169 in May; the new Iraqi civil defense, police and other security units are suffering from mass desertions, are poorly trained and ill-equipped; Iraq's court system is more clogged than before the war, and judges are frequent targets of assassination attempts; and in 13 of Iraq's 18 provinces, electricity was available fewer hours per day on average last month than it was before the war.

The GAO, which serves as the investigative arm of Congress, also reports that only $13.7 billion of the $58 billion pledged and allocated worldwide to rebuild Iraq has been spent, most of it going to run Iraq's government ministries.

Despite assurances of Iraqi 'sovereignty,' U.S. strikes Fallujah again

Jul 1 - US occupation forces unleashed yet another missile attack on the Iraqi city of Fallujah today, reportedly killing 13 people and wounding 10. An Aljazeera correspondent in the city reported that US fighter planes targeted a house in the Al-Jibail neighborhood located in the southwestern part of Fallujah. "The house was completely destroyed. It is basically rubble," a witness said. "The strike left a huge hole where the building was." The bodies of at least four of the victims were pulled from the wreckage of the house.

The US military claims it was attacking a safehouse used by foreign fighters loyal to Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, leader of the Al-Tawhid and Al-Jihad organization, which has claimed responsibility for a series of deadly car bombings, as well as the kidnapping and beheading last week of a South Korean contractor. But as with previous airstrikes in Fallujah over the past 10 days, there was no indication that Al-Zarqawi was in or near the targeted building. According to casualty figures released by the military since June 19, US airstrikes against Fallujah have killed more than 60 of Al-Zarqawi's fighters. But as with previous such strikes, the military has not produced any evidence that any of the victims were foreign fighters. Today the US also raised the reward for information leading to Al-Zarqawi's arrest from $10 million to $25 million.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Sadr renews Iraq resistance call

Radical cleric Moqtada Sadr says he will continue to oppose the occupation of Iraq by foreign forces and insists the new government lacks legitimacy. He said there would be no truce with those who co-operated with the US-led forces in Iraq, contradicting earlier conciliatory-sounding statements. Hours later, the interim government postponed again the unveiling of a new security law to tackle the insurgency. Mr Sadr had indicated his men would lay down their arms if offered an amnesty. Correspondents say it is not clear what prompted Mr Sadr's reversal or the cancellation of the news conference. Resistance is a legitimate right and not a crime to be punished

The declaration came in a statement distributed by Mr Sadr's office in the Shia holy city of Najaf, where his Mehdi army battled US troops until a cease-fire in June. "We pledge to the Iraqi people and the world to continue resisting oppression and occupation to our last drop of blood," the statement said. "Resistance is a legitimate right and not a crime to be punished."

 

[Barking_Mad]

Car Bomb in Iraqi Town Kills 13

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A car bomb exploded in the town of Khalis on Tuesday, killing 13 people attending a wake for the victims of a previous attack, hospital officials said. Ambulances raced to the blast site in Khalis, near the city of Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad. The attack occurred two days after gunmen fired at a building belonging to a city council official, killing two people and wounding two. Tuesdays attack targeted the wake for those killed Sunday.

"So far, we've received five of the dead," said Dr. Nasser Jawad Kadhim, the head of the morgue at Baqouba General Hospital. "Thirty-five of the injured have been hospitalized." Other hospital sources said 13 were killed.

Hungarians Want Troops Out Of Iraq

(CPOD) Jul. 6, 2004 – Many citizens of Hungary want their soldiers out of Iraq, according to a poll by Gallup. 62.9 per cent of respondents disapprove of their country’s involvement in the Iraqi conflict. Last year, the government of prime minister Peter Medgyessy of the Socialist Party (MSZP) committed 300 soldiers to the coalition effort in Iraq.

On Jun. 17, Hungarian soldier Richard Nagy was killed by a hidden road bomb. Nagy is the first casualty for the country’s contingent since the military operation began in March 2003. On Jun. 22, Medgyessy stated that his cabinet has no immediate plans to re-call the troops until their current tour of duty ends in December.

Polling Data

Do you approve or disapprove of Hungary’s participation in Iraq?

Approve
25.8%

Disapprove
62.9%

 

[Barking_Mad]

Iraq invasion shattered world's confidence in sovereignty: Malaysian leader

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Malaysia's prime minister criticized the United States ahead of his scheduled visit to Washington, saying the invasion of Iraq "shattered the confidence" of the world by showing that no country's sovereignty is safe from the most powerful nation.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi also said that military force had proved inadequate in destroying terrorist networks, and instead may be fuelling their growth. Abdullah's unusually blunt criticism of U.S. policy came less than two weeks before he is scheduled to visit Washington for talks with U.S. President George W. Bush. His comments were made in a speech to Malaysian diplomats on Monday and posted Tuesday on his official website.

"There is uneasiness worldwide that a single country is globally dominating all the military, economic, political and cultural dimensions of power," Abdullah said, without naming any country.

He said the United Nations had served as a vital protector of members' sovereignty, and called respect for national sovereignty "the fundamental foundation of the international system."

 

[Barking_Mad]

FOUR MARINES KILLED IN AL ANBAR PROVINCE

FALLUJAH, Iraq - Four Marines assigned to I Marine Expeditionary Force were killed in action July 6 in the Al Anbar Province while conducting security and stability operations.

The names of the deceased are being withheld pending next-of-kin notification.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Blasts rock central Baghdad

Four mortar rounds rocked a neighbourhood near the political party headquarters of Iraq's new interim prime minister on Wednesday, injuring six people an Interior Ministry official said.

The attacks on a stretch of Zeitoun Street in central Baghdad also hit near a home owned by interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, the official said on condition of anonymity. Allawi was not present at the home at the time, the official said.

The US Military had no immediate word on what caused the blasts.

The attacks came only hours Allawi was set to unveil a long-anticipated law giving him the authority to impose emergency measures to safeguard the country's security. The new law gives Iraqi officials the ability to institute martial law for limited periods of time and under special circumstances.

Iraq's interim prime minister signed a long-anticipated security law giving him expanded powers to use emergency measures to battle an ongoing insurgency shaking his country, an official in his office said Wednesday. As Prime Minister Iyad Allawi took his first decisive move to quell the chaos, a rash of violence broke out throughout the capital.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Quite a lot of fighting going on in Iraq

That danger was underscored by the violence Wednesday. Insurgents waged a running gunbattle with Iraqi forces in the streets near Martyrs' Square, the Interior Ministry said. At least two people were hurt, witnesses said. U.S. soldiers joined the fighting against the insurgents, a witness said. Health Ministry official Saad al-Amili said four people were killed and 20 injured in the battle.

U.S. armored personnel carriers moved to the scene of the fighting on the deserted Haifa street as two Apache helicopters hovered overhead. Interior Ministry officials said the helicopters fired on nearby buildings.

In another Baghdad neighborhood, four mortar rounds shook a neighborhood near the headquarters of Allawi's political party, wounding six people, an Interior Ministry official said. The attacks on a stretch of Zeitoun Street in central Baghdad also hit near a home used by Allawi, who was not there, the official said.

 

[Barking_Mad]

More stories, original links here

07/07/04 New Straits Times: Two Iraqi national guards killed in Baghdad gunbattle.
A heavy gunbattle broke out on the streets of central Baghad as insurgents shot at Iraqi national guards and US soldiers, supported by helicopters, minutes before the announcement of new security laws by the Iraqi government, witnesses said.

07/07/04 RFE-RL: Iraqi Soldiers Killed In Rocket Attack
The U.S. military has said five Iraqi soldiers were killed in a rocket attack last night on their base near Taji.

07/07/04 Iraq Pipeline Watch: Blast on Gas Pipeline July 6th
Head of the Northern Gas Company, Huner Hassan, said "A device exploded along the pipeline about 90 km (56 miles) south of Kirkuk, sparking a fire." He noted "This is going to affect electricity production for the country ..."

07/07/04 Aljazeera: Fighting erupts, Iraqi emergency law signed
Fighters have battled US troops and Iraqi security forces in central Baghdad as the interim government signed into effect a new emergency law giving itself wider powers to combat rebels.

07/07/04 WaPo: Group Admits Attack on U.S. Forces
Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's group has claimed responsibility for an attack on U.S. forces in western Baghdad earlier this week, according to a statement posted on an Islamic Web site Wednesday.

07/07/04 CJTF-7: One Soldier wounded in indirect fire attack
One Soldier assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division was wounded during an indirect fire attack in west Baghdad around 7 a.m. July 7.

07/07/04 CENTCOM: Vehicle accident near Ramadi kills one soldier
One 13th Corps Support Command Soldier was killed and four injured as the result of a vehicle accident near Ramadi at approximately 1 a.m. July 7.

07/07/04 AP: Insurgent group says they have abducted Egyptian truck driver
An insurgent group in Iraq said Tuesday they had kidnapped an Egyptian truck driver working in the country and released video to the al-Jazeera television station of the man.

 

[laptop]

I'm boggling over what an "indirect fire attack" might be.

Is one it where evil but invisible foreign forces fire at basically-decent-but-misled Iraqis to make them shoot at intrinsically democratic GIs?

 

[Barking_Mad]

I'm boggling over what an "indirect fire attack" might be.

heh I wondered the same thing. More doublespeak.

 

[Barking_Mad]

US troops die in Samarra attack

At least three US soldiers and an Iraqi guard have been killed in a mortar attack in Samarra, north of Baghdad. A US military spokesman said up to 20 American soldiers were hurt in the attack which destroyed a building used by the US and Iraqi troops. American troops responded with mortar fire after determining where the attack had originated, the US military said. The latest attack came a day after insurgents killed at least two Iraqi guards in clashes in central Baghdad.

edit: update:

Four U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Insurgents fired mortar rounds at an Iraqi National Guard headquarters in the city of Samarra on Thursday, killing four U.S. soldiers and one Iraqi guardsman, the military said. A fifth U.S. soldier was unaccounted for and 20 were wounded. The 10:30 a.m. attack destroyed a joint headquarters used by the Iraqi and American troops. Soldiers responded to the attack 25 minutes later, after 1st Infantry Division radar determined where it had originated. Soldiers counter-fired four 120 mm mortars in response.

U.S. troops secured the area around the national guard headquarters. The wounded soldiers were being evacuated to a Multinational Force hospital. The names of the soldiers killed in action are being withheld pending next of kin. Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, is located in the so-called Sunni Triangle, a hotbed of anti-coalition resistance. The city has been wracked by violence throughout Thursday.

In other parts of the city, machine gun fire slammed into a school and the neighborhood near a mosque, killing three people and injuring 20 others, said Dr. Abid Tawfiq Director of the Samarra General Hospital. Witness also reported seeing helicopters and tanks in the city. Earlier in the day, a roadside bomb in the city targeted a U.S. military convoy, wounding one U.S. soldier, said Maj. Neal O'Brien of the 1st Infantry Division.