*IRAQ: latest news and developments

[Barking_Mad]

Turkish Drivers Attacked in Iraq

'We came under armed attack without warning while we were on a road near Telafer, Mosul,' says driver Erensoy. Nine Turkish drivers said that Iraqi Kurdish peshmergas opened fire on their convoy with automatic rifles while they were travelling in northern Iraq but they managed to escape and crossed into Syrian territory, Anatolia news agency said yesterday.

Turkish drivers and workers have increasingly become a target of Iraqi insurgents and Ankara strives to take measures in cooperation with Turkish companies operating in Iraq to prevent such attacks.

Northern Iraq is under control of Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and Massoud Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party. But the drivers did not say which group the attackers belonged to.

Police chief in town near Kirkuk, two guards gunned down: Iraqi police

KIRKUK, Iraq, Oct 7 (AFP) - The chief of police in a town near Kirkuk was shot dead Thursday in front of his house along with two security guards, police in this oil-rich northern Iraqi city said.

"Colonel Rashid Ali al-Bayati, 49, was killed with two of his guards in an attack by two men on a motorbike as he returned home from work," said General Anwar Hamad, national guard chief in Taamin province where Kirkuk is located.

 

[bigfish]

Iraqi Resistance Report for events of Tuesday, 5 October through Friday, 8 October 2004

http://www.williambowles.info/iraq/iraq_5_101004.html

Resistance captures US woman soldier in al-Latifiyah, after killing eight members of an American patrol.


At about 6:30pm Friday evening, Iraqi Resistance forces attacked a US patrol of three Bradley armored vehicles and three Humveees in al-Musayyib town near al-Latifiyah. The Resistance destroyed one armored vehicle and disabled a Humvee. Eight men aboard the vehicles were killed. The rest of the patrol fled, leaving behind one US servicewoman whom the Resistance captured and took to an unknown destination.


At 8pm Friday night the Resistance issued statements in al-Latifiyah and al-Yusufiyah carrying the picture of the captive servicewoman, and stating that she is an American of Jewish origin.


The correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam reported Friday night that the Americans had massed more than 3,000 Marines in the area of al-Yusufiyah and al-Latifiyah south of Baghdad. About 1,500 had actually gone into action in the areas.


The massing of troops in the area is aimed at closing a pincer around al-Fallujah, as can be seen by the US practice of setting up command posts wherever they penetrate into the area. The purpose of the tactic being to secure American lines of supply for when they attack al-Fallujah.


The Resistance, for its part, has massed some 800 men according to Mafkarat al-Islam’s sources, and they have prevented the Americans from fully carrying out their aims.


The battles currently raging in the area are among the largest ever since the American occupation of Baghdad in spring of 2003, in terms of the numbers of forces and the extent of their deployment.


Two US intelligence agents and five American troops killed in Mosul ambush.


Resistance forces attacked a black US intelligence GMC vehicle that was being escorted by Humvees and a Bradley armored vehicle in the at-Tudh area in Mosul at 3:30pm Friday afternoon. Two persons aboard the spy car were killed in the attack in which the Resistance fired rocket-propelled grenades, automatic weapons, and BKCs. Two Humvees were also destroyed, killing five Americans aboard them.


Twenty-two helicopter loads of US casualties pour into Baghdad from provinces Friday.


A source employed inside the US occupation headquarters in the Republican Palace in Baghdad, known to the Americans as the “green zone,” told Makfarat al-Islamon Friday that from early morning until 4pm about 22 US Red Cross Black Hawk helicopters landed near the Ibn Sina Hospital. The helicopters were bringing wave after wave of US dead and injured from various places in Iraq to the occupied capital for shipment home or hospital treatment.


Five Americans died in ambush, US troops kill Iraqi family in revenge.


Three powerful Austrian explosive bombs blew up in the at-Tarimiyah area 25km north of Baghdad, destroying a US Humvee and disabling another. Resistance fighters then opened fire on the members of the patrol on the damaged vehicle with their RPG7s, killing five American soldiers, and causing the remainder of the patrol to panic and flee some 500 meters from the scene of the attack. There the Americans began firing indiscriminately on Iraqi civilians, killing one man, his wife, and their three children after setting their Kia ablaze.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Sexual assaults haunt victims after military discharge

ANDALE, Kan. (AP) - At 22, Natalie Longee is already a veteran in the war on terror. She has guarded prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and escorted truck convoys in Iraq. She has heard the bombs, survived ambushes and seen the cost of war first hand. And she is traumatized. But it's not the war that has her most rattled. It is the fear than she will be raped again.

Six months since her military discharge, Longee joins the ranks of veterans seeking help from the trauma of sexual assaults perpetrated by fellow soldiers. "I am not just scared of bombs," Longee said. "I'm scared people are going to come in. I am scared of rape happening again."

The Department of Veterans Affairs now routinely asks all veterans that come to it for services whether they suffered sexual trauma in the military. What the VA found was that that between 20 and 25 percent of women veterans told them they were sexually assaulted, said Carol O'Brien, director of the Center for Sexual Trauma Services at the Bay Pines VA Medical Center in St. Petersburg, Fla. Between 1 and 2 percent of men also said they experienced a sexual assault.

Major Assaults Delayed

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration will delay major assaults on rebel-held cities in Iraq until after U.S. elections in November, say administration officials, mindful that large-scale military offensives could affect the U.S. presidential race. Although American commanders in Iraq have been buoyed by recent successes in insurgent-held towns such as Samarra and Tall Afar, administration and Pentagon officials say they will not try to retake cities such as Fallujah and Ramadi - where insurgents' grip is strongest and U.S. military casualties could be the greatest - until after Americans vote in what is likely to be a close election.

"When this election's over, you'll see us move very vigorously," said one senior administration official involved in strategic planning, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Once you're past the election, it changes the political ramifications" of a large-scale offensive, the official said. "We're not on hold right now. We're just not as aggressive." U.S. officials point out that there have been no direct orders to commanders in the field to pause operations in the weeks before the Nov. 2 election. Top administration officials in Washington are simply reluctant to sign off on a major offensive in Iraq at the height of the political season.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Iraqi Shia rebels surrender arms

Fighters loyal to radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr have begun handing over their heavy weapons in the Sadr City area of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. The militiamen are receiving cash payments in return for rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and other weapons. Also under the deal, political prisoners are to be released and reconstruction money will be pumped into the area.

US forces have agreed to end their air and artillery strikes on Sadr City. Meanwhile, two American soldiers have been killed and five others wounded in a rocket attack in southern Baghdad. And hospital sources in the northern city of Mosul say two Iraqis were killed and 18 others wounded when a suicide car bomber attacked a US military convoy.

Extra BBC piece on this here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3733314.stm

 

[Barking_Mad]

Mosque on Fire After U.S. Air Strikes in West Iraq

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. marines engaged in heavy clashes with scores of insurgents near a mosque in western Iraq on Monday, leading to U.S. air strikes which damaged the shrine and left it ablaze, the U.S. military said.
A U.S. military spokesman said marines came under fire from around 100 insurgents near the town of Hit, about 107 miles west of Baghdad, and engaged in an hour-long firefight.

"Some of the anti-Iraqi forces took up fighting positions in a mosque," the spokesman in Baghdad said.

"Air strikes were called in on the mosque position. The mosque is partially damaged and is currently on fire," he said.

It was not immediately clear if it was a Sunni or Shi'ite Muslim mosque, but the vast majority of people in Anbar province, which includes the town of Hit, are Sunni Muslims. The area has been a bastion of rebel activity over the past 18 months, particularly around the towns of Falluja and Ramadi, which lie just east of Hit. Hit is on the main road that follows the Euphrates river toward Syria, a route that U.S. forces suspect is used by foreign fighters to enter Iraq and bring supplies to guerrillas.

U.S. forces have engaged in fighting near mosques previously in the Iraq conflict, most notably around the Imam Ali shrine in the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf earlier this year, but relatively little damage has yet been done to shrines. Insurgents often accuse U.S. forces of damaging mosques, while the U.S. military says guerrillas use the holy sites as shields from which to attack them.

News

An Iraqi militant group, Ansar al-Sunna, has posted video footage on its website showing a Turkish contractor and his Iraqi translator being beheaded for working for the US in Iraq

Two American soldiers have been killed and five others wounded in a rocket attack in southern Baghdad

Two Iraqis and a US soldier were killed and at least 17 others wounded in the northern city of Mosul when a suicide car bomber attacked a US military convoy.

Report Cites US Profits in Sale

Major American oil companies and a Texas oil investor were among those who received lucrative vouchers that enabled them to buy Iraqi oil under the United Nations oil-for-food program, according to a report prepared by the chief arms inspector for the Central Intelligence Agency. The 918-page report says that four American oil companies - Chevron, Mobil, Texaco and Bay Oil - and three individuals including Oscar S. Wyatt Jr. of Houston were given vouchers and got 111 million barrels of oil between them from 1996 to 2003. The vouchers allowed them to profit by selling the oil or the right to trade it.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Iraqis fear a boycott of election by Sunnis

BAGHDAD Leaders of Iraq's crucial Sunni Arab minority say they have failed to generate any enthusiasm for nationwide elections scheduled for January, and are so fearful of insurgent violence and threats that they can meet only in private to talk about how - or even whether - to take part.

The leaders among the Sunni Arabs, who had dominated Iraqi politics since the nation's birth in 1920, also said in interviews here that many prospective Sunni voters were so suspicious of the American enterprise in Iraq, and so infuriated by the chaotic security situation in the Sunni-dominated areas, that they were likely to stay away from the polls in large numbers.

.......

"What elections are you talking about?" said Raad Rahim Ahmed, 50, a resident of Samarra who said U.S. soldiers had killed his wife and two children when they cleared the city of insurgents last week. "I've lost my entire family," he said. "Why should I trust this government? Why should I vote at all?"

Leaders of Iraq's crucial Sunni Arab minority say they have failed to generate any enthusiasm for nationwide elections scheduled for January, and are so fearful of insurgent violence and threats that they can meet only in private to talk about how - or even whether - to take part. Already, one of the largest independent Sunni groups, the Association of Muslim Scholars, has announced that it will not take part in the elections. The group claims to represent 3,000 Sunni mosques around the country.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Poll: Aussies, Brits, Italians say Iraq war increased terrorism danger

WASHINGTON-- More than two-thirds of the people living in Australia, Britain and Italy - three countries allied with the United States in the Iraq war - believe the war has increased the threat of terrorism.

Leaders of those countries - prime ministers Tony Blair of Britain and John Howard of Australia and Premier Silvio Berlusconi of Italy - all get low marks from their people for their handling of the war on terrorism, an Associated Press-Ipsos poll shows.

More than half of those in the United States, 52 percent, believe the Iraq war has increased the threat of terrorism, while three in 10 in the United States think it has decreased the threat - a view promoted by President Bush.

``In the context of the presidential campaign in the United States, this is undeniably a blow for George W. Bush, since it shows that a majority of Americans don't agree with the main justification for his policy in Iraq,'' said Gilles Corman, research director at Ipsos-Inra of Belgium, who studies public opinion trends across Europe.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Nuclear assets 'vanish' in Iraq

Equipment and materials that could be used to make nuclear arms have been vanishing in Iraq since the invasion, the United Nations has warned. Satellite images show entire buildings have been dismantled without any record being made, said Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog.

Iraq's US-backed leaders have not reported to the UN on the state of nuclear plants despite a duty to do so. But they have asked the UN to help sell off unwanted nuclear material. Inspectors from Mr ElBaradei's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), who established that Saddam Hussein had abandoned any nuclear weapons programme before the war, have not been allowed to move about Iraq freely by the US.

Apart from a couple of limited checks on the main nuclear facility at Tuwaitha last June after reports of looting - and with no teams now on the ground - the IAEA has to rely on satellite imagery and other sources.

Exodus of Iraqi Christians in full flood as targeted killings grow

It was midnight in Baghdad, not a time to be out in this place of violence. But the workers from the Baghdad Hunting Club had almost made it back home through the deserted streets when the tyres of their Kia minibus were shredded by a burst of gunfire.The shots had come from a black Opel saloon which had tracked them from the club - a prestigious haunt of Iraq's new rich - after finishing the late shift. Four men, their faces covered by keffiyehs, slid open the door of the minibus and sprayed the occupants with Kalashnikov fire.

 

[Barking_Mad]

US and Iraqis raid Sunni centres

US and Iraqi forces have raided mosques in a western rebel stronghold, after US warplanes flattened a popular restaurant in another town overnight. Seven mosques were targeted for allegedly supporting rebels in a range of activities in the town of Ramadi. Two people were killed in the strike on Haji Hussein kebab shop in Falluja, which the US said was targeting supporters of Abu Musab Zarqawi. However, local residents said it had no connection with the Jordanian militant.

The pre-dawn raids on Ramadi prompted fire fights that left two Iraqis dead, reports said. The mosques were suspected of "harbouring known terrorists, storing illegal weapons caches, promoting violence against the Iraqi people and encouraging insurgent recruitment," a US military statement said. The leader of the influential Muslim Scholars' Association in Anbar province, Sheikh Abdul Aleim Sadi, was detained at one of the mosques, residents said.

"Zarqawi does not come here. Where is Zarqawi? We have not seen Zarqawi," one man shouted from the crowd which gathered at the site. Residents of Falluja have been holding talks with members of the US-backed interim government about a possible ceasefire in Falluja.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Basra Blast Targets British Convoy

A bomb exploded outside the complex of the British and American consulates in the southern Iraqi city of Basra today. There were no casualties reported, said Police Captain Mushtaq Taleb. The bomb, planted in a bin about 30 yards outside the fence of the complex, blew up as a British convoy of three civilian cars drove out, Taleb said. The American and British consulates in Basra are based inside one of the palaces of former president Saddam Hussein.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Mosul suffers acute medicine shortage

BAGHDAD, Oct. 12 (Xinhuanet) -- Iraqi medical sources in Mosul said the city is suffering an acute shortage of medicine and medical supplies of all kinds, Al Sabah Al Jadid newspaper reported Tuesday. Medical institutions in the governorate are giving partial services to the patients because of the shortage, especially the surgical materials, said Rabee Yassein Khalil, director of healthdepartment in the governorate.

The pharmacy of the governorate only has 15 percent of the actually needed medicine and the acute shortage has become anobstacle for huge numbers of visitors of medical departments, Khalil added. He pointed out the medicine shortage might cause a health disaster in the governorate if it is not dealt with quickly.

Five killed as US troops clash with insurgents

United States warplanes have dropped a huge bomb on the Iraqi rebel city of Fallujah after US marines clashed with insurgents on the eastern fringes of the Sunni Muslim bastion. Hospital sources said five people were killed and four wounded. Insurgents inside the city fired at US troops patrolling on the borders of Fallujah, the military said. The marines "called in air support that dropped a 500 pound (250 kilograms) bomb, (and) at that point the fighting ceased," he said.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Iraqi Kurds ready to fight for Kirkuk: Barzani

ANKARA, Oct 12 (AFP) - Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani said Tuesday that the oil-rich city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq had a Kurdish "identity" and vowed to fight any force attempting to oppress its people, whether Kurds or other ethnic groups.

Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), was speaking after talks in Ankara with Turkish leaders, who are worried that the Iraqi Kurds are plotting to take control of the city, which also has a large population of Turkmens, a community with Turkish roots.

"If anyone, if any regime or system wants to continue the Arabization or oppression of the people of Kirkuk, we will defend their rights and we are ready to fight for them," Barzani told AFP through an interpreter.....

....In an apparent bid to placate Ankara, Barzani promised that Iraqi Kurds would work for peaceful co-existence between the ethnic groups of Kirkuk.

"Our position is that the identity of Kirkuk is part of Kurdistan. But it is an Iraqi city," he said. "The promotion of co-existence and fraternity (in Kirkuk) has to be a priority for everybody. We are working in that direction."

Poland has repatriated 34 soldiers from Iraq for psychiatric problems

WARSAW, Oct 12 (AFP) - Poland, one the major contributors to the US-led coalition in Iraq, has repatriated 34 soldiers from its 2,500-strong force for psychiatric problems, a defence ministry official said Tuesday.

"PTSD syndrome (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) has been diagnosed among seven soldiers in the first contingent (in 2003), 23 in the second, and four in the current one," Colonel Miroslaw Karasek told journalists.

All of these soldiers have been brought back to Poland, he said on the sidelines of a conference in Warsaw on psychological support for soldiers on foreign missions.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Iraq says open to UN inspectors

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.N. nuclear inspectors are welcome to return, an Iraqi minister has said in response to concerns of an "apparent systematic dismantlement" of Saddam Hussein's once-vigorous nuclear programme.

Science and Technology Minister Rashad Omar was responding to an International Atomic Energy Agency report on Monday that neither Baghdad nor Washington appeared to have noticed the disappearance of nuclear equipment and materials once closely monitored by the agency.

"The locations that belong to the Science and Technology ministry are secure and under our control," Omar told Reuters on Tuesday.

He said nothing had gone missing since a looting spree after last year's U.S.-led invasion, which the United States and Britain said was to rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction. Both countries now admit Saddam had no banned weapons.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Updates...........

Explosion In Eastern Baghdad Kills Three
Three Task Force Soldiers were killed last night at approximately 10:00 p.m. in eastern Baghdad when an improvised explosive device detonated on their convoy. No other casualties occurred in the incident.

Franks: U.S. Should Have Hired Iraqis
The United States should have quickly reformed the Iraqi army after most of its soldiers walked off the battlefield and got them "working for us," retired Gen. Tommy Franks said Tuesday.

U.S. and Iraqi forces strike rebel strongholds
The U.S. military staged a series of aggressive strikes on Tuesday in insurgent strongholds west of Baghdad, including firing missiles into the streets of Fallujah and conducting raids alongside Iraqi commandos in seven mosques in Ramadi

US, insurgents clash in Fallujah
United States warplanes have dropped a huge bomb on the Iraqi rebel city of Fallujah after US marines clashed with insurgents on the eastern fringes of the Sunni Muslim bastion. Hospital sources said five people were killed and four wounded.

73 Afghans arrested in Iraq
The Iraqi national guards announced the arrests of 73 Afghans who have entered the country illegally through Iran, said Al Mashriq newspaper Tuesday.

Intelligence Men 'Killed by Zarqawi'
The group behind the beheading of British hostage Ken Bigley has killed two Iraqi intelligence officers. The Tawhid and Jihad group, led by Abu Musab al Zarqawi, posted a video of the beheading on the internet.

 

[Gumbert]

Meet the people of Fallujah..

PART 1: Losing it

US forces have not set foot in Fallujah since early May.The Iraqi city is firmly in the hands of a determined anti-US resistance, which now includes the very man the Americans sent in to solve their problem in the first place. (Jul 15, '04)

PART 2: The fighting poets

Fallujah celebrated the withdrawal of US troops from the city after a month-long siege with a gathering of poets, who waxed lyrical about their beloved city, now free from the "infidel". Then the city's leading cleric weighed in, and his message, stripped of any poetic niceties, was unmistakable: Fallujah, and Iraq, are now haram for the Americans, religiously prohibited until judgment day. (Jul 16, '04)

PART 3: The Fallujah model

A brigadier, a politician and a councilor represent just a few of the many faces of the resistance in Fallujah, which is divided between those who support the ceasefire with occupation forces that ended a month's fighting in the city, and those who want to continue the struggle throughout Iraq "and all the way to Jerusalem". (Jul 19, '04)

PART 4: All power to the sheikh

Sheikh Dhafer al-Ubeidi is the de facto mayor of Fallujah, with his mosque serving not only as a pivotal religious center in Iraq's "city of mosques", but also as the command center for the resistance. When Dhafer speaks, people listen, although he does have a problem with the local mujahideen. (Jul 20, '04)

PART 5: The tongue of the mujahideen

Although he politely denies it, Sheikh Dhafer al-Ubeidi is the real leader of Fallujah and played an indispensable part in its resistance to US-led forces. His job is far from done, though, and nor is that of the soldiers who guard the city in a variety of Saddam-era uniforms, and the harried policemen who want more money. (Jul 21, '04)

PART 6: Mean and clean streets

Two German journalists, foolishly wearing local dress, are inches away from being burned alive by Fallujah's mujahideen on suspicion of being spies, before being rescued by police. Angered at being denied, the mujahideen return to their part of town, where strict Islamic law applies. (Jul 22, '04)

PART 7: Radicals in the ashes of democracy

A range of graphic video discs glorify the success in winning back Fallujah from the Americans, but hijackings and kidnappings continue, with the finger pointed at the increasingly marginalized and lawless mujahideen: the US war in Iraq, meant to democratize the region, has instead radicalized it. This is the concluding article in the series. (Jul 23, '04)

 

[Barking_Mad]

Marine in Iraq: 'It's worse every day'

.........he was quoted in the Washington Post, saying, "Every day you read articles in the states when it's like 'Oh, it's getting better and better.' But when you're here, you know it's worse every day."

In July, his platoon — the 81s, named for the size of its mortar rounds — was deployed to Camp Iskandariyah, in Babil Province, about 30 miles southwest of Baghdad. The fighting there has been fierce, even though it's drowned out by headlines from places like Fallujah, Samarra and Sadr City. Since the Marines entered Babil Province, 102 of their ranks have been wounded. Four have been killed.

Nearly every day, the Marines encounter roadside bombs. Hardly a day passes without their camp coming under rocket or mortar attack.

Every day in the Corps, the saying goes, is a holiday — a holiday in hell. When the 81s go out on patrol, the Post quoted the soldiers as saying, they seldom accomplish anything. One Marine told the reporter, "You don't really know who you're fighting." Other Marines said that by the time they respond to an attack, the insurgents have disappeared, and they're left with nobody to fight.

They hear their officers telling them that once they train Iraqi security forces, they'll be able to leave. They think that's nonsense — although you'd be hard pressed to find a Marine who uses that word in lieu of a more descriptive term. The soldiers believe the Iraqis are nowhere near being able to take over for the Marines and may never be. Some of the Iraqi police, in fact, have changed sides and have joined the insurgents.

US forces trade fire with insurgents in Ramadi

Iraq Witnesses and hospital officials say at least eight people have been killed in gunfights between U-S forces and insurgents in the Iraqi city of Ramadi.

Bodyguard died in Iraq 'as he lived, living life to the fullest'

A South African is killed every month in Iraq, yet US dollar payments continue to lure thousands of locals who flock to the country to help restore "peace and order".

3 killed, 8 wounded in 2 US air strikes on Fallujah

Three people were killed and eight wounded in latest US air strikes on two neighborhoods in Fallujah on Thursday, witnesses and medics said.

Two Turkish drivers abducted in Iraq

Iraqi police were quoted as saying that the Turkish drivers were abducted with their trucks on the highway near Samarra, some 100 km north of Baghdad.

Blasts Kills 4 DynCorp Employees, 2 State Department officials injured

Four Americans killed in bombings in the Green Zone in Baghdad on Thursday were all employees of the private U.S. security firm DynCorp, two U.S. officials said Thursday.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Iraqi woman tells of US abuse

A WEALTHY Iraqi businesswoman said to have been the last female prisoner at Iraq's infamous Abu Ghraib prison said she saw soldiers there abuse other prisoners, it was reported today. Houda Al-Azzawi also said that, while held in another detention centre before being transferred to Abu Ghraib, she was beaten, deprived of food and sleep and had her shoulder dislocated by a guard, French newspaper Le Monde reported.

The newspaper did not specify the nationality of the guards alleged to have mistreated her. Ms Al-Azzawi, 49, was arrested by US forces on December 22 and accused of financing the Iraqi resistance, the newspaper said. She was initially held in the Adhamiya detention centre, sharing a cell with her sister, who also was arrested along with their three brothers, the newspaper said.

One night, the dead naked body of one of the brothers was thrown into the cell, on top of the sister, Nahla, the newspaper said.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Brown freezes kidnap group's assets

Chancellor Gordon Brown has ordered financial institutions to freeze any funds held on behalf of the terror group which kidnapped and murdered Ken Bigley in Iraq. Mr Brown told the Bank of England, acting as agents for the Treasury, to instruct all financial institutions to put a hold on "any funds which they hold for or on behalf of the group Jama'at al-Tawhid Wa'al-Jihad (JTJ)".

It will now be a criminal offence for any financial institution to deal in any way with funds held by JTJ and any existing funds cannot be released.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Iraqi president: vote could be postponed

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's president said in an interview published Thursday that the Jan. 31 date for Iraqi elections is "not sacred" and the vote could be postponed if if a lack of security threatens the fairness of balloting. President Ghazi al-Yawer's comments, made in an interview with the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, represent a departure from a major policy goal of both the U.S. and Iraqi governments. President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi have insisted the election will proceed as planned despite the growing security crisis.

"All of us are intensively working to bring security and the rule of law to every part of Iraq so there can be elections," al-Yawer, a Sunni Muslim, was quoted as saying. "Yes, it's scheduled for Jan. 31, but that date is not sacred."

Truce talks on Iraqi rebel city of Fallujah break down

FALLUJAH, Iraq, Oct 14 (AFP) - A delegation from the rebel city of Fallujah cut off negotiations with the government Thursday to protest threats by Prime Minister Iyad Allawi to invade the city if residents do not surrender foreign fighters. "We were taken aback by Allawi's comments ... since there was no mention of Zarqawi during the talks," said one of the delegates, who gave his name as Abu Ahmed.

........Before Allawi made his demand, delegate Sheikh Khaled Hamud had been saying that, after weeks of talks, they were close to mediating a solution between some elements of the insurgency in the city and the government that would allow the return of Iraqi forces.

Security concerns loom over Iraq donors

TOKYO, Oct 14 (AFP) - Iraq's donors said Thursday the insurgency in the country was the biggest obstacle to reconstruction, as the interim government appealed for firmer world support for historic elections in January.

A joint statement by the 57 countries and institutions at the two-day meeting in Tokyo urged faster aid to Iraq, as much of the pledged assistance has been held up because of the widespread violence. "We identified security as the biggest challenge to be overcome," said Japanese envoy Akio Shirota, who chaired the conference. "That led to detailed discussions on ways and means to bring about the nationwide elections on time," Shirota told reporters. "Very strong wishes to bring about the elections are expressed by donors."

Four soldiers die in Baghdad, Ramadi attacks

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Four soldiers died in multiple attacks in Baghdad and Ramadi on Thursday, the U.S. military said. One soldier was killed in central Baghdad on Thursday when his patrol came under attack while another soldier died when a roadside bomb exploded in the eastern part of the city, the U.S. command said Thursday.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Robert Fisk's latest piece

Future generations will struggle to escape the legacy of the disaster in Iraq

the British thought they could fix the Middle East in 14 days. And so we laid the borders of Iraq and laid out the future for what Churchill would, much later, refer to as the "hell disaster'' of Palestine. I'll always remember the way that Macdonald, talking to me in his Sevenoaks home 26 years ago, turned to me during our conversation. "In Palestine, I failed,'' he said. "And that is why you are in Beirut today.''

And he was right, of course. Had we really "fixed" the Middle East, I wouldn't have spent the last 29 years of my life travelling from one bloody war to another amid the lies and deceit of our leaders and the surrogates they appointed to rule over the Arabs. Had we really "fixed" the Middle East, Ken Bigley would not have been murdered in Iraq last week.

Can we escape? Can we one day say--both the West and the peoples of the Middle East--"Enough! Let us start again!'' I fear we cannot. Our betrayals and our broken promises--to Jews as well as Arabs--have created a kind of irreversible disease, something that will not go away and cannot and will not be forgiven for generations.

Look, for example, how we egged on Saddam to invade Iran in 1980, how we patronised him for eight terrible years with export credits and guns and aircraft and chemicals for gas. Looking back now, we were doing something else. By supporting Saddam's war, we were helping an entire generation of Iraqis to learn to fight--and die.

 

[Jessiedog]

*Off topic*

Thanks for your sterling work in keeping us informed on this thresd Barking_Mad.

Thanks.



Woof

 

[Kaka Tim]

*Off topic*

Thanks for your sterling work in keeping us informed on this thresd Barking_Mad.

Thanks.



Woof

Seconded.

 

[Barking_Mad]

You're welcome - I read the vast majority of these articles, so it seems pointless not to put them up for everyone who wants to read them to do so. Of course Id rather not be doing this at all........

 

[Barking_Mad]

A couple of pieces here linked from David Hackworth's site - he is a former Vietnam vet. The second piece - linked from the first is definately worth the read.

Muzzling Soldiers Is Nothing New

Politicians and military commanders were lying about how wars were progressing long before the sword and the shield first clashed. And the long distances and delayed communications made censoring what was reported to citizens no big stretch. After all, from the Greek Wars to Gettysburg, it took months for letters and casualty lists to travel by runner, boat, pony and finally, rail. By the time the bad news arrived from the front, the dead were buried and the battle long over. But as war morphed from cannonballs to aircraft to missiles, communications also zoomed along – from printing press, telegraph, radio, TV and satellites to the Net.

A Sergeant Speaks The Hard Truth - Why We Cannot Win

by Sgt. Al Lorentz

Before I begin, let me state that I am a soldier currently deployed in Iraq, I am not an armchair quarterback. Nor am I some politically idealistic and naïve young soldier, I am an old and seasoned Non-Commissioned Officer with nearly 20 years under my belt. Additionally, I am not just a soldier with a muds-eye view of the war, I am in Civil Affairs and as such, it is my job to be aware of all the events occurring in this country and specifically in my region.

I have come to the conclusion that we cannot win here for a number of reasons. Ideology and idealism will never trump history and reality....

....Here are the specific reasons why we cannot win in Iraq.

First, we refuse to deal in reality. We are in a guerilla war, but because of politics, we are not allowed to declare it a guerilla war and must label the increasingly effective guerilla forces arrayed against us as "terrorists, criminals and dead-enders."

This implies that there is a zero sum game at work, i.e. we can simply kill X number of the enemy and then the fight is over, mission accomplished, everybody wins. Unfortunately, this is not the case. We have few tools at our disposal and those are proving to be wholly ineffective at fighting the guerillas.

 

[Barking_Mad]

And one more on the the draft.....

Uncle Sam Will Soon Want Your Kids

Recently, when John Kerry brought up the possibility of a return to the draft, SecDef Donald Rumsfeld was quick to respond that Kerry was full of it.

But my take is that Kerry is right on the mark. Not only because Rummy has been flat wrong on every major military call regarding Iraq, but because this is a war that won’t be won by smart weapons or the sledgehammer firepower we see every night on the tube. Right now – with both our regular and Reserve soldiers stretched beyond the breaking point – our all-volunteer force is tapping out. If our overseas troop commitments continue at the present rate or climb higher, there won’t be enough Army and Marine grunts to do the job. And thin, overworked units, from Special Forces teams to infantry battalions, lose fights.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Reimposing Controls on the Iraqi Press

When Iyad Allawi, Iraq's prime minister, recently addressed the U.S. Congress, he predicted that the coming elections in Iraq would be free and fair. But back in Baghdad, at virtually the same time, a new agency that Allawi set up has been threatening to chasten and tame the Iraqi press, putting into doubt a vital element of a comprehensive voting process. Without a diverse press, capable of educating voters as to various sides of the political debate, capable of commanding popular respect, the integrity of the election would be suspect.

The Higher Media Council, as the new agency is called, is headed by Ibrahim Al-Janabi, a close friend of the prime minister. Established in August, the council is in the regressive process of emulating Saddam Hussein's Ministry of Information.

Bush to Aid 'Moderate' Parties in Iraq Election

The Bush administration plans to give strategic advice, training and polling data to what it deems as "moderate and democratic" Iraqi political parties with candidates running in the country's upcoming elections, government documents show. The administration said its goal is to help the parties "compete effectively" in the campaign and "increase their support among the Iraqi people" in national, regional and provincial elections scheduled for January, according to the State Department documents obtained by Reuters on Friday.

The White House had no immediate comment on who would qualify for the party-building support and it was unclear from the documents who would make those determinations. Non-governmental groups expected to take part in the efforts said they understood that religious groups and communist parties would be eligible for help. U.S. President George W. Bush has made the upcoming elections his top priority in trying to stabilize Iraq amid a worsening insurgency and to shore up support for the war at home.

........

The State Department's intelligence agency will spent $1 million on its monthly polls to assess "which candidates and parties are attracting the most support from the Iraqi people." After lawmakers objected, the White House was forced last month to scale back a plan proposing a covert CIA operation to aid U.S.-friendly candidates in the elections. White House officials said they were concerned that countries like Iran would try to influence the outcome. Congressional aides said similar political party-building programs have been undertaken in Afghanistan, where the country's U.S.-backed president, Hamid Karzai, is the favorite to win in elections there on Saturday. The White House denies that U.S. support and protection gives Karzai an unfair advantage.

 

[Barking_Mad]

It never ceases to amaze me the amount of news that goes virtually unnoticed unless you actvely go looking for stuff. Example.....

Shells from Syria fired at troops in Iraq

QAIM, Iraq - American troops stationed along Iraq's border with Syria are coming under increasing mortar attack from shells fired from Syrian territory, but it's unclear who's responsible, U.S. officers said Thursday.

The 82 mm mortar rounds have been fired at U.S. and Iraqi positions in and around Husaybah in the far west of Iraq's Anbar province, said Lt. Col. Chris Woodbridge, commander of the 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment.

"Who exactly is firing these mortars, we do not know. But what we do know is that the point of origin of these rounds is on the Syrian side of the border," said Woodbridge, 39, of Brooklyn.

 

[Barking_Mad]

More RPG and IED fodder The article reminds me of the recruitment scene in F-9/11

Recruiting the young, the brave

Let's face it. It's a sales job. They're selling American teens adventure, success in life, confidence, courage and commitment. And an occasional war. "I feel kind of scared about Iraq," said Monserrat Ramirez, 16, a Fullerton, Calif., Union High School junior, after agreeing to talk to a female Marine recruiter last week. "But she said they'd teach you to be brave and strong. It seems fun. I'd have lots of opportunities to do different stuff and be brave."

Marine recruiters say the war has caused about a 20 percent drop-off in recruits.

 

[Barking_Mad]

US war planes pound Iraqi city

US warplanes and helicopters have launched air and ground strikes on the rebel-held Iraqi city of Falluja. The fierce attacks came hours after peace talks between local leaders and the interim government were suspended. Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi had warned the city would face an offensive unless it handed over militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his followers. The US said the attack was part of ongoing operations and was not the start of a move to recapture the city.

 

[Barking_Mad]

US dead stands at 1089 - US injured 7,862. This number is very unrepresentitive of the real total (of injured) as the DoD only counts people injured on the battlefield - the true number runs into 10,000+ quite easily.

I have some numbers that Ive been unscientifically collating on the Iraqi dead and injured since the 30th September, but they're at work - Ill post them up tomorrow morning.