*IRAQ: latest news and developments

[Barking_Mad]

Iraqi dead and injured between 30th September - 14th October.

Over 15 days I found reports that totalled -

375 Iraqi dead
674 Iraqi injured

Those numbers are of course only reports that I have managed to find and is by no means accurate in so far as its a very minimum number. Using these figures a very rough estimate would suggest at least 12,000 have died and 21,568 have been injured since the end of the initial invasion.

 

[Barking_Mad]

U.S. Warplanes Pound Insurgent Stronghold

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. warplanes pounded the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah on Friday, a day after the city's leaders suspended peace talks and rejected the Iraqi government's demands to turn over terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Jets and artillery hammered the city through the night in an apparent effort to quash terrorists suspected of planning attacks timed with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins Friday. Last year, Ramadan saw a surge in violence. Allawi warned Wednesday that Fallujah must surrender al-Zarqawi and other foreign fighters or face military attack. Talks then broke down Thursday when city representatives said that was an "impossible condition" since even the Americans were unable to catch him, said Abu Asaad, spokesman for the mujahedeen council of Fallujah.

"Since we exhausted all peaceful solutions, the city is now ready to bear arms and defend its religion and honor and it's not afraid of Allawi's statements," Asaad told Al-Jazeera television. However, he used the Arabic word for "suspend," implying that the talks could resume later.

"Military operations didn't even stop when the negotiating delegation was in Baghdad," Asaad said. "Dozens are killed every day. Entire families have been eliminated."

 

[Barking_Mad]

Car bomb explodes in Baghdad, killing one, injuring eleven

BAGHDAD, Iraq A Baghdad car bombing has killed one person and injured at least eleven others. The blast happened near a police station in southwest Baghdad today.

An Interior Ministry spokesman says initial reports indicate that five policemen were among those injured in the mid-morning explosion. The spokesman says the real target may have been nearby patrols. A hospital official says 12 people were brought in and one of them died. The rest are in critical condition.

Rebels have been targeting Iraqi security forces, who are seen as collaborators with U-S. troops.

Fallujah Clerics 'call for Jihad and civil disobedience'

U.S. troops detained Fallujah's top negotiator in the peace talks, witnesses said. Khaled al-Jumeili, an Islamic cleric, was arrested he left a mosque after Friday prayers in a village about 10 miles south of Fallujah, they said. There was no immediate U.S. comment.

Fallujah clerics insisted al-Zarqawi was not in the city and called for civil disobedience across Iraq if the Americans try to overrun the insurgent bastion.

If civil disobedience won't stop the attack, clerics said they would proclaim a jihad, or holy war, against multinational forces ``as well as those collaborating with them.''

Some Iraqis 'back attack on Fallujah'

...some Iraqis elsewhere in the country say that's the best thing that could happen to Falluja, a town which has become synonymous with Iraq's insurgency over the past 18 months. "Allawi must attack Falluja in whatever way necessary because they are the main reason for instability in Iraq," said Iman Jadoa, 40, a clerk from the southern Shi'ite city of Basra.

"They must be made to pay," she said.

Others questioned why it was that no suicide car bombs ever blow up in Falluja, and said the city needed to be taught a lesson if the whole of Iraq is to be pacified before elections are due to be held in January. "I consider any invasion of Falluja a great step -- that's where the terrorists are," said Samkoo Mohammed-Ali, a university student in the peaceful Kurdish city of Suleimaniya.

"Why are there no bombings in Falluja? It's because a mosquito doesn't sting itself. The government must quickly take over Falluja so Iraq can genuinely live in peace and be reconstructed," he said.

 

[Barking_Mad]

From a Kurdish website......

Kurds still victims of Saddamites

Mosul (KurdishMedia.com) 15 October 2004: Four children died and two were critically injured when a mine exploded in the Dumiz town between Dohuk city and Faida town last Tuesday, along the main road towards Mosul.

One eye witness explained how some children were torn to pieces by an explosion while playing in the fields around their houses. Another witness claimed that the fields were checked and cleared of mines since the return of deported Kurds last year and it must have been recently planted.

The eye witness, who did not want to be named, feared that the targeting of Kurdish political personalities in the nearby city of Mosul have widened now to reach civilians, especially those who dared to return to their confiscated homes.

 

[sihhi]

From a Kurdish website......

Kurds still victims of Saddamites

How do they know it was Saddamites and not Arab Sunni Islamicists?

 

[laptop]

US troops 'refused Iraq mission'

The US military has confirmed it is investigating allegations that members of a reserve US army unit in Iraq refused to undertake a convoy mission.

...

Teresa Hill of Dothan, Alabama, told the Associated Press news agency that her daughter Amber McClenny who serves in the platoon had phoned on Thursday morning to ask her to help.

"This is a real, real big emergency," Ms McClenny said. "I need you to contact someone. I mean, raise pure hell."

"We had broken-down trucks, non-armoured vehicles and ... we were carrying contaminated fuel.

"They are holding us against our will. We are now prisoners," she added.

'Isolated incident'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3748390.stm

They'll be regretting letting troops have phones and email - but they'll not be taking them away. As this drags on, direct communications from and among troops are going to make a huge difference - unlike any previous war...

 

[fanta]

They'll be regretting letting troops have phones and email - but they'll not be taking them away. As this drags on, direct communications from and among troops are going to make a huge difference - unlike any previous war...

Didn't this sort of thing happen in Vietnam? In some ways it is good if it is true because it might be the begining of a real swell in popular resentment towards the war in the military and among ordinary Americans at home.

 

[laptop]

Didn't this sort of thing happen in Vietnam? In some ways it is good if it is true because it might be the begining of a real swell in popular resentment towards the war in the military and among ordinary Americans at home.

I think this discussion should go to your thread rather than wipe out this strand...

 

[bigfish]

From the BBC piece:

The official said the soldiers involved were not under arrest or detained and he described the incident as isolated.

Typical of the BBC lie machine to relay verbatim the bollocks of some scumfuck official.

Elsewhere we discover that the incident is by no means an isolated one.

Discontent rife in US military ranks

Lance Corporal Carlos Perez, 20, stated: “Sometimes I see no reason why we’re here.... We’re supposed to be looking for Al Qaeda. They’re the ones who are supposedly responsible for the September 11 attacks. This has no connection at all to September 11 because this war started just by telling us about all the nuclear warheads over here.... I’ve only been here two months, but every time you go out people give you bad looks and it just seems like everybody wants to shoot you.”


Lance Corporal Edward Elston, 22, said: “I feel we’re going to be here for years and years and years.... I think it’s going to get a lot worse. It’s going to be like a Palestinian-type deal. We’re going to stop being a policing presence and then start being an occupying presence.... We’re always going to be here.”


Lance Corporal Jonathon Snyder, 22, said: “Every day you read the articles in the States where it’s like ‘Oh, it’s getting better and better’ but when you’re here you know it’s worse every day.”


Private Kyle Maio, 19, told the Post: “Stuff’s going on here but they [the government and media] won’t flat out say it. They can’t get into it.”


An element in the anger is the steadily mounting toll of dead and wounded. Far from casualties decreasing as time goes on, more Americans were killed in August and September than during the invasion itself. Of the 1,100 marines in the First Battalion, Second Marine Regiment, four have been killed and 102 wounded since it arrived in Iraq on July 28—a casualty rate approaching 10 percent.

 

[nino_savatte]

Fierce fighting around Falluja, also unconfirmed report of explosions at US base.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3750552.stm

 

[Barking_Mad]

Inside besieged Falluja

Falluja's most popular kebab restaurant used to be the place to go at the end of the day to break the Ramadan fast - but that was bombed by the Americans this week. Many families have used a lull in the bombing to leave the city. Fighters are engaged in skirmishes with US forces in the eastern and southern areas. US positions are about half a kilometre from Falluja. The people of Falluja are very clannish - but they have also always been very religious and right now faith is a stronger bond than family. Two elements have been running the affairs of the city - the police force and local militias. Relations between the two are good - I have seen policemen on the streets chatting to the fighters.

In fact, relations between local fighters and police have always been good - a deal struck some months ago means the police are welcome in the city provided they do not take orders from the Americans. There are more police on the streets than usual - possibly to protect the property of residents who are leaving the city. But the risk of looting is small - the local militias have a reputation for being very tough with the criminals. I am not aware of any foreign fighters in Falluja. If there are any foreigners here, they have blended in very well with the locals. Foreigners used to frequent the city in the past, but many of them were forced to leave under a deal the city's leaders struck with the government. Ninety-nine percent of the fighters here are Fallujans. Local clan leaders are broadly opposed to any kind of foreign presence in the city because they fear they may be spies.

Hospitals have all but run out of supplies and most people know this. Hospital workers clean the floor after receiving fresh casualties. But still the injured are being taken there - just so that they can be near the doctors and receive some comfort. The Iraqi health ministry has not sent any extra supplies. Food supplies are also running out. All shops are shut.

 

[tim]

Seven dead in Baghdad Cafe bombing

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3751642.stm

 

[Barking_Mad]

Falluja hit by new air strikes

US warplanes again pounded targets in the Iraqi city of Falluja overnight, as a campaign against militants continues. The US military said it struck several buildings linked to the network of wanted militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The raids aimed to "thwart the Zarqawi terrorist network plans to attack the Iraqi government and its people during Ramadan", a statement said. "Multiple secondary explosions indicate a significant amount of explosives or ammunition inside the houses," it said. There was no initial word on casualties. The US has said its near-nightly bombardment of Falluja has killed dozens of insurgents blamed for a wave of violence in the so-called Sunni triangle and elsewhere.

Doctors and locals in the town say many civilians, including children, have died in the attacks. Residents are reported to have been leaving the city in droves, as rumours spread of an impending US assault. If the US bombing stops, that would be another positive indication and the negotiating channels could be reopened Falluja is out of the control of US or Iraqi government forces, but both have signalled their intention to regain the upper hand before elections are due to be held across Iraq in January.

Report: Bush Blocked Plan for Muslim Iraq Force

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States rejected a Saudi plan for an all-Muslim force to protect U.N. election staff in Iraq because the force would not have been under U.S. command, New York daily Newsday reported Monday.Saudi Arabia announced it hoped to organize such a force last July during a visit by Secretary of State Colin Powell but several Muslim countries, including Indonesia, Egypt and Pakistan also were cool to the idea because they would serve under U.S. command, and because of the increasing violence in Iraq.

The United Nations also was uncertain whether it wanted its staff protected by a force of all one religious group rather than its usual multilateral approach, U.N. sources said. But Newsday said Crown Prince Abdullah personally lobbied President Bush to agree to deploy a unit of several hundred troops from Muslim nations to help prepare for January elections.Washington, the newspaper said, turned down the proposal because the troops would have been under U.N. control under the Saudi plan rather than the U.S. commanders who lead the multinational force now intended to ensure security in Iraq.

A senior U.S. administration official in Washington blamed the Iraqi government for the plan's failure, saying it did not want troops from neighboring countries deployed inside Iraq. In addition, the plan contained no real commitment by other Arab nations to contribute troops to the force, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Special Forces unit to deploy

FORT CARSON, Colo. — More than 1,000 soldiers from the 10th Special Forces Group will deploy to the Middle East this fall, The (Colorado Springs, Colo.) Gazette reported Saturday. The newspaper said several Army sources had confirmed the deployment, though how long the troops will be gone and exactly where they are headed was not disclosed. Maj. Rob Gowan, spokesman for U.S. Army Special Forces Command at Fort Bragg, N.C., said the force has traditionally kept troop movements confidential.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Just a small snippet from a Guardian piece largely about Fallujah -

It has emerged that the former top US commander in Iraq complained last winter to the Pentagon that a poor supply situation was threatening the army's ability to fight.

The Washington Post said Lt Gen Ricardo Sanchez wrote in a letter to top army officials that the lack of key spare parts for tanks, helicopters and other systems was such a severe problem that "I cannot continue to support sustained combat operations with rates this low."

 

[Barking_Mad]

Worth the read given the lack of information re: Basra and the south of Iraq.

In Iraq, the peaceful south gets deadlier with every day

In the past three months, British forces in Iraq have been attacked more often than at any time since the invasion. It is a largely untold story, however, since few British journalists have been able to get on the ground to report the situation for fear of kidnap, and it can be difficult to get access to the military.....

......Amara has been under almost non-stop attack since late summer when the rebel Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr declared holy war on British forces. The leadership of the town - tribal and divided in its nature - has pledged allegiance to Sadr.

In August, one unit was shot at more than any British battle group since the Korean war. In what has been dubbed the Battle of Cimic House, the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment came under siege at an HQ set up in the downtown home of the former governor of Maysan province; in 10 days they were bombarded with 428 mortar rounds, 57 rocket-propelled grenades and countless 107mm rockets, and 86 small-arms attacks were counted. The troops fired 30,000 rounds of ammunition, more than was used in the whole of last year's "war" phase. There is no accurate record of the number of Iraqi casualties, but the soldiers I spoke to expected it to be high....

......One evening I drove with British soldiers through downtown Basra, escorting a couple of American National Guards to the Basra Palace compound. Traffic was heavy, and the larger American sat twitching in the back. He wished he had taken the "chopper" the few miles up the road. An ambulance approached, its blue lights cutting through the darkness. A soldier up on top of our Land Rover waved the ambulance on. Peering out of the window on the back door, the American panicked: "Whoa," he said, "they should have shot that guy." No vehicle, ambulance or otherwise, can drive past a US convoy for fear of suicide bombers.

 

[Barking_Mad]

More death and destruction, this sounds particularly bad.

HUGE IRAQ MORTAR ATTACK

Iraqi authorities say more than 100 Iraqis killed or wounded in a mortar attack on the National Guard headquarters north of Baghdad. Six mortar rounds fell on National Guard offices in an early morning attack in Mashahidan, 25 miles north of Baghdad. There was no breakdown on the number of those killed and injured. American Blackhawk helicopters evacuated all the injured, police said.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Town encircled

US and Iraqi forces have also surrounded the town of al-Dhuluaiya, north of Baghdad, raiding homes, detaining scores of suspected insurrectionists and calling in helicopter strikes on suspected hideouts in surrounding orchards, Iraqi officials said.

Residents have been prevented from entering or leaving the town, Aljazeera has learned. Al-Dhuluaiya is about 20km south of the town of Samarra, where US and Iraqi forces carried out a massive offensive this month to restore control. There was no word on casualties from either military operation.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Not much reconstruction money has been spent and what has been has gone down the 'security' drain - 30% of it apparently.

.....a report issued last week at the same time as the Duelfer report has gotten virtually zero attention, but sheds all sorts of light on what’s really happening in Iraq. The State Department report discussed the amount of money spent so far on reconstruction in Iraq. In January, George Bush said that the U.S. government would spend $12.7 billion rebuilding Iraqi infrastructure by October 1, 2004. Well, October 1st has come and gone, and the U.S. has spent only $1.22 billion -- less than 7 percent of the amount allocated for reconstruction in Iraq.

More shocking was the breakdown of how that $1.22 billion was spent. Estimates vary, but the consensus is as follows: 30 percent was paid for security, 6 percent for profits paid to contractors like Halliburton and Bechtel, 12 percent for insurance and non-Iraqi employees (i.e., U.S. executives), 10 percent diverted to the Coalition Provisional Authority and the U.S. Embassy for their overhead expenses, and, horribly, 15 percent lost to corruption, fraud, and mismanagement. That leaves a tiny 27 percent for reconstruction projects, or a total of $329 million – only 2.5 percent of that original $12.7 billion promise.

For comparison, $4.4 billion was originally budgeted for fixing Iraq's electrical system and $2.3 billion for water projects and sanitation -- the two most critical needs in the country. And, while George W. Bush brags about how we've built hospitals in Iraq, he's just fantasizing again; of the $286 million budgeted for healthcare in Iraq, only $2 million has been spent.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Attack on pipeline halts Iraq's oil exports

An attack on a pipeline in northern Iraq has halted exports of oil via Turkey, Iraq's state oil company said on Tuesday. A huge explosion in the early hours of Tuesday destroyed the pipeline at a refinery in Beiji, around 220km north of Baghdad, a company employee confirmed. Firefighters were battling to control the flames. The pipeline runs from the oilfields around Kirkuk to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

 

[slaar]

Senior UK Aid Worker Kidnapped

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3756192.stm

A repeat of the Ken Bigley affair with a high ranking aid official would put a different spin on things.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Like they'd let that happen.

Bush: I would accept Islamic Iraq

US President George W Bush has said he would accept an Islamic government in Iraq as the result of free elections.
Mr Bush told the Associated Press in an interview that he would accept such a result if elections were open and fair.

"I will be disappointed. But democracy is democracy," he said during an interview given on Air Force One.

"If that's what the people choose, that's what the people choose," he said. Free elections are expected in the country next January.

 

[Barking_Mad]

An interesting piece by the NY Times on the amount of troops in Iraq and how insufficient numbers have led to the current problems.

The Strategy to Secure Iraq Did Not Foresee a 2nd War

........Huddling in a drawing room with his top commanders, General Franks told them it was time to make plans to leave. Combat forces should be prepared to start pulling out within 60 days if all went as expected, he said. By September, the more than 140,000 troops in Iraq could be down to little more than a division, about 30,000 troops. To help bring stability and allow the Americans to exit, President Bush had reviewed a plan the day before seeking four foreign divisions - including Arab and NATO troops - to take on peacekeeping duties.

.....At a Pentagon meeting early in 2003 with former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, former vice chairmen and their successors, he voiced concerns that the United States would not have sufficient troops immediately after the dictator was ousted. He cautioned that it was important to have enough troops to deal with the unexpected. At the White House, officials also were thinking about how many troops would be needed.
What Went Wrong?

For some who served in Iraq, the summer of 2003 was a time of lost opportunities. Now there is a passionate debate about what went wrong.

"Combat is a series of transitions, and the most critical part of an operation is the transition from combat to stability and support operations," one general said. "When you don't have enough combat power, you end up giving the enemy an opportunity to go after your vulnerabilities."

 

[Barking_Mad]

Transport trouble for troops

Blowing sand. Blistering heat. Shrapnel-spewing roadside bombs. The U.S. Army says it does its best to keep its hard-pressed vehicles and helicopters running despite these conditions, but soldiers say Iraq sometimes trumps their best efforts. Now maintenance is at the heart of the controversy over an Army Reserve unit that refused to carry fuel along one of Iraq’s most dangerous stretches of road.

........The Army’s fleet of Black Hawk helicopters, which dates as far back as the late 1970s, requires lots of maintenance to keep flying. The helicopters’ engines and rotors suffer even more than land vehicles from blowing sand and the heat, and the craft are in higher demand than ever to ferry passengers trying to avoid Iraq’s ambush-prone roads.

........."There are difficulties getting spare parts, it’s a bit more of a wait than we’re accustomed to, like back when we were in garrison," Ritter said on his base near the ancient ruins of Babylon in central Iraq. "When you’re in a combat zone, you should have the priority on parts, but it seems like you’re not really getting the priority down here."

In the western town of Qaim, a U.S. Marine complained that his unit lacked vehicles and protection - as well as troops - to replace those killed and destroyed by roadside bombings, ambushes and anti-tank mine blasts. "We need more vehicles, more armor, more bodies," said Cpl. Cody King, 20, of Phoenix, Ariz., of the 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment.

 

[Barking_Mad]

UPDATE: Four Iraqi guards, US contractor killed in Iraq attacks

Four Iraqi national guards and a US contractor were killed and 89 people wounded in two mortar attacks in and around Baghdad on Tuesday in the latest deadly strike against US and Iraqi forces, officials said.

U.K. charity reports Iraq chief kidnapped

Care International charity said on Tuesday its head of operations in Iraq had been kidnapped in Baghdad ... Margaret Hassan, who has been working for the British charity in Iraq for more than a decade, was kidnapped on Tuesday morning.

U.S. Forces Bomb Falluja, Release Police

U.S. forces freed the police chief of the rebel-held city of Falluja on Tuesday after warplanes bombed what the military said were houses and arms dumps used by America's top enemy in Iraq.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Well its only taken 16 months, but at last a paper attempting to cover the amount of Iraqi dead - in just one week. It covers the same period I tried to cover, but with more 'success'. I made a count of 82 dead - the NYT counted 208 in the same week.

A single week's tally of death for Iraqis

BAGHDAD It began with the killing of two Iraqi civilians in a suicide bomb attack against a U.S. military convoy in the northern city of Mosul a week ago Monday. It ended Sunday evening, when a car bomb killed seven Iraqi police officers and civilians at a Baghdad cafe where the police officers had apparently broken their fast during this month of Ramadan. A weeklong effort to tally Iraqi casualties shows soldiers, insurgents, politicians, journalists, a judge, a medic and restaurant workers among the victims.

During the seven days from Oct. 11 to 17, an estimated 208 Iraqis were killed in war-related incidents, significantly higher than the average week; 23 members of the U.S. military died over the same period. The deaths of Iraqis, particularly those of civilians, have become an increasingly delicate topic. Early this month, the Health Ministry, which had routinely provided casualty figures to journalists, stopped releasing them. Under a new policy that the government said would streamline the release of the figures - which were clearly an embarrassment to the government as well as to the Americans - only the secretariat of the Council of Ministers is now allowed to do so.

"It's a political issue," a senior Health Ministry official said last week.

This account was pieced together from partial tallies by the Iraqi government, reporting by Iraqi employees of The New York Times in Falluja, Mosul and Najaf, and counts from hospitals, news agencies and the U.S. military.....

 

[laptop]

A guide to American thinking...

Just decided to check in on my old home town.

Three-part series on the future of the US in Iraq in the Philadelphia Inquirer (for which you now need to register). PM me if you need an address in Philly

As a (lowly) editor, I see signs of heavy pressure to repeat the official line, especially in the first few pars of the first part and most of the second. But...

1. http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/9937387.htm
   

   In March 2003, days before the start of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, American war planners and intelligence officials met at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina to review the Bush administration's plans to oust Saddam Hussein and implant democracy in Iraq.
   
   Near the end of his presentation, an Army lieutenant colonel who was giving a briefing showed a slide describing the Pentagon's plans for rebuilding Iraq after the war, known in the planners' parlance as Phase 4-C. He was uncomfortable with his material - and for good reason. The slide said: "To Be Provided."

2. http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/9945924.htm
   

   Asked if Chalabi's role in the administration's missteps in Iraq had been exaggerated, a senior intelligence official thought for a moment, then said no.
   
   "Everything he touched, he corrupted," added the former CPA official.

3. http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/9953966.htm
   

   "If you really want to control the situation in Iraq, you have to treat this as major war scenario, and we need a quarter of a million more troops," said former British infantry officer Charles Heyman, an analyst for Jane's Consultancy in London. "The problem is, you're up against the limits of Western military power. We have the technology, but we don't have the boots to put on the ground."
   ...
   Retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni, who commanded U.S. forces in the Middle East until 2000, believes U.S. troops could be in Iraq for up to 10 years. He said he would call in more counterintelligence teams and ask Arab countries to send English-speaking officers as advisers and planners

 

[Pickman's model]

"If you really want to control the situation in Iraq, you have to treat this as major war scenario, and we need a quarter of a million more troops," said former British infantry officer Charles Heyman, an analyst for Jane's Consultancy in London. "The problem is, you're up against the limits of Western military power. We have the technology, but we don't have the boots to put on the ground."

the limits of western power? fucking hell! mao was right! yankee imperialism really is a paper tiger!

 

[laptop]

paper tiger!

:virtual_tiger:

 

[Barking_Mad]

.............

Army Still Stretched By Iraq
More than 27 percent of the military's active duty troops are overseas, and more than half of them are in combat zones, numbers not seen since the Vietnam War.

Car Bombing Near Baghdad Airport, 2 US soldiers & 2 Iraqis injured
An explosion along the main highway to Baghdad's airport has injured two Iraqi police officers and two U-S soldiers.

US air strikes kill Iraqi family of six
An American air raid on the Iraqi city of Falluja has killed six members of the same family. US planes fired two rockets into the house of a couple and their four children early on Wednesday. Another rocket hit a teachers' training college in the rebel city, but failed to explode. A US military statement said the raids targeted houses used by forces of the militant leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, whom the US is keen to capture. The family had just returned to their home overnight after fleeing the city a week earlier, a neighbour told the Associated Press. The US military has been waging a sustained campaign to root out militants. Falluja is out of the control of US or Iraqi government forces, but both have signalled their intention to regain the upper hand before elections, which are due to be held across Iraq in January.

Number Of Wounded In Iraq Tops 8,000
The number of U.S. troops wounded in Iraq since military operations began in March 2003 has topped the 8,000 mark, according to figures released by the Pentagon

Shia leader cuts ties with Sadr
A senior religious leader in Iran has severed ties with radical Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr for encouraging his followers to fight US troops. Grand Ayatollah Kazem Haeri, one of the top authorities in Shia Islam, said Mr Sadr was no longer his representative in the holy city of Najaf. A spokesman said that Mr Sadr's actions no longer reflected the ideas of the Grand Ayatollah's teachings. But he praised a scheme to disarm Shia militias in Baghdad's Sadr City slum.

Speaking on behalf of the Grand Ayatollah in the Iranian seminary town of Qom where he lives, his brother, Mohammed Hossein Haeri, told the BBC that Mr Sadr had not been blamed for damage to Najaf's holy shrines during heavy fighting in August. The Grand Ayatollah wholly blamed the US and British for damage to the shrine, his spokesman said. But Mr Haeri stressed that direct fighting with US forces was not a correct move. The Grand Ayatollah is considered the successor of Moqtada Sadr's father, the Ayatollah Muhammad Sadeq Sadr, and acted as the younger Sadr's spiritual guide.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Military Flashes More Steel In Iraq

For the first time in the Iraq war, according to military officials, U.S. aircraft last week directly bombed a mosque. The airstrike northwest of Ramadi ended an intense firefight in which insurgents, holed up inside the shrine with heavy weapons, held off the U.S. Marines for three hours. Precision-guided munitions set the Sharqi mosque ablaze, but left it standing.

"The Marines couldn't even get close to the building to do anything because of the firepower that was coming out of there," making the mosque a legitimate target, says a senior military official in Baghdad. "The only way to stop this was with a strike."

The incident illustrates how U.S. and Iraqi forces over the past three months have adopted increasingly tough tactics against a dug-in insurgency: raiding mosques, dropping bombs and firing rockets in cities, and conducting large-scale infantry sweeps into urban "no-go zones."