*IRAQ: latest news and developments

[Barking_Mad]

Much of this is from over the weekend

About 150 Arab fighters face death penalty in Iraq
Some 150 to 160 Arab fighters have appeared in Iraqi courts charged with carrying out terrorist attacks and could face the death penalty if convicted, the justice minister told AFP on Sunday.

Iraq Militant Group Kills Arbil Police Chief
An Iraqi militant group said it had assassinated the chief of police in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil and threatened to kill Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani, according to an Internet statement posted on Sunday

1 Police officer kidnapped, 1 found dead
Iraqi authorities said a police officer who worked for the U.S. military as a translator was kidnapped Sunday in Ramadi, while another policeman was found dead.

7 Iraqi guardsmen die in seperate attacks in Samarra
Seven Iraqi National Guardsmen were killed in two separate attacks by a car bomb and a land mine in and near the central Iraqi city of Samarra.

CIA secretly removes detainees from Iraq
The CIA has secretly moved as many as a dozen unidentified prisoners out of Iraq in the last six months, a possible violation of international treaties

Bomb kills 22 Iraqis, 6 U.S. soldiers wounded in ambush
Suicide bombers struck Iraqi security targets Saturday north and west of Baghdad, killing 22 Iraqis, officials said. Six U.S. soldiers were wounded in an ambush on the road to Baghdad airport -- one of the country's most dangerous routes

Moqtada Sadr Ready to Support Mujahideens in Fallujah
Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr expressed his readiness to support “the Mujahideens in Fallujah”, the Sunnite stronghold north of Baghdad, which is being under U.S. forces’ pressure for the last several weeks, AFP reported.

2 people killed in clashes in Iraq's Samarra
Two Iraqis were killed and four others wounded in clashes that broke out between US troops and insurgents in Samarra, north of Baghdad, police said on Sunday.

Two Explosions in Iraqi City of Baqouba, Seven Wounded
Two bombs exploded in the Iraqi city of Baqouba, northeast of Baghdad; seven people are wounded, RIA Novosti reported, referring to police sources.

Car Bomb Exploded Near Abu Graib Prison in Baghdad
A car bomb exploded near the Abu Graib Prison in Baghdad, RIA Novosti reported. Several cars were damaged as a result of the blast, including U.S. vehicles. The fate of the personnel in the cars is not clear for now.

 

[bigfish]

"Terrorists" in Falluja

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2004/713/re8.htm

Who are the terrorists in Falluja and how are they terrorising the civilian population? Nermeen Al-Mufti finds out

Relatives of Ateka Abdel Hamid, 24, did not know that this seven-month pregnant woman was a terrorist until the day she died. As the family collected the mutilated bodies of Ateka and her family, a United States spokesman boasted that the “multinational forces” killed a number of terrorists and Al-Zarqawi supporters during an offensive in Falluja. The terrorists, it turned out, were Ateka, her three-year-old son Omar, her husband Tamer and six other members of her family.

 

[ipsofacto]

Thank god they killed the three year old. He was, after all, a Muslim and an Iraqi. He probably would have grown up to be a terrorist anyway. So those brave US soldiers have done us all a favour by killing him and making the world a safer place. Right?

 

[bigfish]

Rebel militias deny holding British aid worker Hassan: Confusion surrounded the fate of the Iraq aid worker Margaret Hassan last night after main rebel groups denied being involved with her kidnap.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=575637

 

[ipsofacto]

Rebel militias deny holding British aid worker Hassan: Confusion surrounded the fate of the Iraq aid worker Margaret Hassan last night after main rebel groups denied being involved with her kidnap.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=575637

Which is, hopefully, good news. The psychos would slit her throat or exchange her for prisoners. Looks more likely to be simple gangsters who want loads of $ - and that, they know, can be found by those who want her back

 

[Barking_Mad]

Updates from last couple of days...

Bush to seek $70B more for wars
The Bush administration intends to seek about $70 billion in emergency funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan early next year, pushing total war costs close to $225 billion since the invasion of Iraq early last year.

Govt official killed in Iraq
A government official was gunned down on his way to work on Tuesday while a roadside bomb attack left one policeman dead in the central Iraqi town of Baqouba

British troops come under fire in south Iraq, no casualties
A group of newly-arrived British soldiers came under small arms fire near Iraq 's main southern city of Basra, without causing casualties...

Mahdi’s Army Has Handed Over 18, 000 Gun Units
Radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr’s Army of Mahdi has handed over 18,000 gun units in the Baghdad district of Sadr City, Al Sabbah newspaper reveals. The edition claims that arms have been put down in return of cash amounting to USD 5 million

US applying Geneva 'exceptions' in Iraq
The Bush administration has concluded for the first time that some non-Iraqi prisoners captured by American forces in Iraq are not entitled to the protections of the Geneva Convention, the New York Times has reported

Two Car Bombs Explode in Mosul
Two car bombs exploded in Northern Iraq’s city of Mosul, RIA Novosti reported, referring to the Qatar-based Al Jazeera TV channel. There is still no information about casualties and damages

Use of private contractors in war zones proves costly
Jerry Zovko's contract with Blackwater USA looked straightforward: He would earn $600 a day guarding convoys that carried food for U.S. troops in Iraq. ut that cost - $180,000 a year ...

US forces battle militants in Iraq's western city of Ramadi
At least three people were killed when clashes erupted between US forces and militants in the restive city of Ramadi on Monday, witnesses said.

Car bomb kills tribal leader in Iraqi city Mosul
A car bomb that exploded at the regional governorate building in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Monday killed a tribal leader and two of his associates, local government officials said.

Large explosion hits central Baghdad
A large blast erupted on Monday in central Baghdad, triggering a huge cloud of smoke over the western bank of the Tigris river.

MEDICAL CLINIC HIT BY INSURGENT ATTACK
The newly renovated Al Furat medical clinic was damaged when insurgents hit the structure with unknown caliber explosive munitions at approximately 5:30 a.m Oct. 24.

Three Australian soldiers wounded in Baghdad blast
At least two Iraqis have been killed and three Australian soldiers wounded when a car bomb exploded near an Australian Army convoy in Baghdad.

Twelve Iraqis Die in Car Bombs, Clashes
Car bombs and clashes killed 12 Iraqis Monday and three Australian troops were wounded in the first attack on their contingent since the end of the Iraq war.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Allawi partly blames massacre on US

BAGHDAD, Oct 26 (AFP) - Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said Tuesday that carelessness by some elements of the US-led military in Iraq was to blame for the killing of 49 unarmed army recruits and three drivers on Saturday. "I think it was because of gross negligence by some elements within the multinational forces," Allawi told the country's interim parliament, without giving details.

"The killings represent the epitome of what could be done to hurt Iraq and the Iraqi people," adding that a special investigation had been launched.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Iraq sulphur fire breaks records - The fire produced more of the polluting gas than most volcanic eruptions

A fire at an Iraq chemical plant has caused the largest recorded man-made release of sulphur dioxide, experts say. The fire, which broke out on 24 June 2003, produced more of the polluting gas than most volcanic eruptions. On average it generated about 21,000 tonnes of sulphur dioxide a day, which is half the daily emissions of the gas produced by the United States. The plume of smog was detected by a Nasa satellite, the researchers say in Geophysical Research Letters.

The fire, which was probably started deliberately, broke out at the Al-Mishraq state sulphured plant near Mosul. It burned for almost a month. Scientists monitored the blaze using satellite images. They calculated that a total of around 600,000 tonnes of sulphur dioxide was released by the fire. To put that figure in context, the giant eruption of the American volcano Mount Saint Helens in 1980, belched out about one million tonnes of sulphur dioxide. Although the team, from the University of Maryland in Baltimore, believe the fire will not have a long-lasting environmental impact, they say the fire caused about $40 million of damage to local crops - along with respiratory problems in local people.

 

[Barking_Mad]

From today....

Car bomb disarmed in Mosul
The U.S. military said Tuesday they had discovered a car bomb and secured the area before it detonated in the northern city of Mosul. “We do have confirmation of one car bomb,” said Capt. Angela Bowman, with Task Force Olympia.

PM warns of more violence
Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi warned Tuesday that violence would rise ahead of January polls, as his government said more than 560 people had been killed in suicide attacks between June and September.

Saudi foils infiltration into Iraq
Saudi security forces foiled an attempt by four Saudis to cross into Iraq through the border at Hafer al-Baten ... the four were arrested before they carried out their plan to infiltrate Iraq by land through Kuwaiti territory.

Militant group posts pictures of 11 Iraqi Nat. Guardsmen hostages
An Iraqi insurgent group said on its Web site Tuesday it had taken 11 Iraqi National Guard soldiers hostage and showed pictures of them in uniform. The Ansar al-Sunnah Army said the troops were captured ... between Baghdad and Hillah

UPDATE: Four car bombs hit Iraq city
Four car bombs exploded in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Tuesday, without causing any injuries, but two people were wounded by gunfire, the United States army and local medics said.

 

[bigfish]

Which is, hopefully, good news. The psychos would slit her throat or exchange her for prisoners. Looks more likely to be simple gangsters who want loads of $ - and that, they know, can be found by those who want her back

Looks more likely to be US agent provocateurs destabilising the situation in Iraq from where I'm standing ipso.

Given the recent history of Negreponti's Latin American death squads, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise to anyone that it's the US who are really behind most of the recent 'televised' beheadings of Americans and Brits. The idea that these atrocities are being perpetrated by just one man, the ever elusive Abu Masaab al-Zarqawi, alias "The Scarlet Pimpernel, alias "Emanuel Goldstein", is simply out of this world.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Two Iraqi officers killed in Baghdad?
‏‏

‏BAGHDAD, Oct 26 (KUNA) -- An Iraqi National Guard officer was killed here ‏Tuesday after unknown armed militias opened fire against his car, eyewitnesses ‏told KUNA.‏ Meanwhile, another Iraqi police officer was killed in Al-Ghazaliya area ‏west of here after an Iraqi police group was targeted by unknown gunfire which ‏also injured three other policemen who were rushed to the hospital.

Officials considering sending 20,000 more US troops to Iraq

(National-NBC) Oct. 26, 2004 - US officials are considering raising the number of American troops in Iraq by more than 20,000. They are concerned they won't get enough new troops from allies to help provide security for Iraqi elections in January. The goal is to raise the number of troops in Iraq from 138,000 to 160,000.

The increase would bring US troop presence in Iraq to its highest level since President Bush declared an end to major combat operations in May. A final decision is expected no later than December. No word on which units could be called.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Bit of an update on this story

Allawi blames US for massacre of Iraqi army recruits

Iyad Allawi, the interim Prime Minister of Iraq, today turned on the American-led forces occupying his country and blamed them for the deaths of 49 young Iraqi army recruits last weekend.

Taufiq Al-Yasseri, the head of the interim parliament's security committee, today told The Times: "I think it is very clear that this was a misjudgement by the US. They did not provide sufficient measures to protect these people. It is their responsibility, they are in charge of that camp and that area.

There is also a problem of corruption within the Iraqi security forces. Falah Al-Naqib, the Iraqi Interior Minister, said today: "With the problem of unemployment, a number of police are on the terrorist payroll, and are ready to attack a tank or a police post in return for money. "We have information that men get $500 for carrying out one operation and that an additional bonus is paid if a policeman or national guard is killed in the attack."

The Iraqi Defence Minister has now promised to set up an escort to accompany recruits on the road from Kirkush camp. More than 560 people have been killed and 1,200 injured in 92 suicide attacks in Iraq in the four months to September, according to official statistics. Dr Allawi warned the parliament of more violence and attacks against Iraqis between now and the January elections.

 

[ipsofacto]

Looks more likely to be US agent provocateurs destabilising the situation in Iraq from where I'm standing ipso.

That would come as no surprise, if true. The US were stupid enough to work 'hand in glove' with what became the Taliban in Afghanistan. The rationale of de-stabilizing Iraq has merit - the more chaotic the situation becomes the more need there is to continue the occupation using the puppet Allawi to effect an open invitation to 'Coalition' forces to remain. The problem is that there are now countless (and very well-armed) resistance groups who won't play ball. Ansar Al Sunnah Army, the Al-Tawid and Jihad Group, the Islamic Army in Iraq on the one hand and the Sunni Resistance movement also thrive in all the mayhem. Bush and Blair have walked into something that they simply didn't predict - the fact that the majority of Iraqis are against the occupation and against the US former exile Allawi who lived a very comfortable life in the UK and USA whilst hundreds of thousands of Iraqis were dying as a dirct result of those same countries' sponsorship of UN sanctions. I think Blair and Bush really believed that all they had to do was to walk in Iraq and all the local population would do was fall at their feet in gratitude for their liberation. They got it wrong. And I don't beleive they know how to get themselves out of the mess.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Long piece on the whole history of Fallujah in this occupation, well worth the read.

Why America Has Waged a Losing Battle on Fallujah

Marines were on the verge of taking the city in April when politics intervened. U.S. misjudgment, disagreement and shifting strategy ended up fanning the flames of the Iraqi insurgency. Fallujah - As soon as the women of Fallujah learned that four Americans had been killed, their bodies mutilated, burned and strung up from a bridge, they knew a terrible battle was coming.

They filled their bathtubs and buckets with water. They bought sacks of rice and lentils. They considered that they might soon die. "When we heard the news," said Turkiya Abid, 62, a mother of 15, "we began to say the Shahada," the Muslim profession of faith.

There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God.

 

[Barking_Mad]

You'd hardly believe it eh?

U.S. Is Said to Urge Its Iraqi Allies to Unite for Election

BAGHDAD — While publicly stressing the need for Iraqis to control their own destiny, the Bush administration is working behind the scenes to coax its closest Iraqi allies into a coalition that could dominate elections scheduled for January. U.S. authorities in Washington and Iraqi politicians confirmed that top White House officials have told leaders of the six major parties that were on the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council that it would be in the groups' common interest to present a unified electoral slate.

The U.S. effort to influence the parliamentary elections is highly sensitive, coming at a time when President Bush (news - web sites) daily expresses his desire to bring liberty and democracy to a nation that for decades has known only authoritarian rule. But the White House move stems from concerns that neighboring Iran is using its money and influence to try to sway the elections in its favor. One U.S. official in Washington said the administration now believes Iraq (news - web sites) needs a "negotiated resolution … a scaled-back democratic process."

Between the two conflicting key goals, "I see the arguments for stability now outweighing the calls for democracy," said the official, who declined to be identified.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Must read article about the British welcome in the north, foreign fighters and the infighting between Sunni and Shia with Shia being kicked out of their mosques. The start of something more serious?

Insurgents in Latifiyah eager to battle British

THE WASHINGTON TIMES

LATIFIYAH, Iraq — Anti-government forces in this city just south of Baghdad say they are preparing a grim welcome for Britain's Black Watch regiment when it moves north from Basra as early as this week.

"It'll be easy to beat the British because the British are weaker than the Americans," boasted Abdullah Al-Ashiq, the reputed head of resistance fighters in this city, the U.S. Marine defenders of which are being shifted for an anticipated offensive in Fallujah, an insurgent stronghold.

The British "are used to fighting against pathetic forces like the Mahdi's Army of Muqtada al-Sadr," he scoffed. "That means they haven't got good experience in real fighting. Just wait. The British will discover the difference between us and them — the hard way."

......Recently, hard-line Sunnis have used Latifiyah to shoot and rob Shi'ite pilgrims who trek southward to the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala — on the same road that the British soldiers must use now. The hard-liners have ruined many Shi'ite-owned shops and, just south of the city, destroyed the Sa'eed Faraj, a shrine revered by the sect. The contractor who started to rebuild it has been killed. "These people are not normal Sunnis who we can get along OK with," said a former Shi'ite shop owner. "They're from the Salafist sect, and they hate us." Some Shi'ites are so angry that they were happy to provide information that could help expose the terrorists.

 

[Barking_Mad]

No longer unknowable: Fallujah's April Civilian Toll is 600

Today the Iraq Body Count (IBC) website has published its analysis of the civilian dealth toll in the April 2004 siege of Falluja. This analysis leads to the conclusion that betweeen 572 and 616 of the approximately 800 reported deaths were of civilians, with over 300 of these being women and children.

A Falluja Archive carrying relevant and related excerpts from nearly three hundred contemporary news reports is also being made available on the website, and constitutes the largest publicly-available resource for investigators researching the human consequences of the siege. IBC's number for the civilian dead emerges from detailed and exhaustive analysis of these reports as well as others more recently published.

Press spokesman, John Sloboda said "Data recently released to the public by the Iraqi Health Ministry has allowed IBC to resolve a problem we have been struggling with for months: how to reconcile casualty figures reported by local doctors of 800 total dead with a much lower estimate (280 dead) produced in short order by the Iraqi Health Ministry (IHM), soon after US Gen. Mark Kimmitt told the press that the CPA would ask the Ministry to 'get a fair, honest and credible' figure. Details of our analysis are provided on the website, but it now appears incontrovertible that the IHM estimate was quietly withdrawn once media attention moved away from Falluja, leading us to conclude that their estimate was acknowledged to be flawed".

ICRC says it must be notified about Iraq prisoner transfers

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that it must be notified of every prisoner transfer under the Geneva Conventions, following reports that United States had transferred detainees out of Iraq (news - web sites). Asked about a report in the Washington Post saying the CIA (news - web sites) had secretly transferred foreign, non-Iraqi detainees abroad for interrogation, ICRC spokeswoman Antonella Notari said she could not confirm or deny the information.

"It is important that we are notified when a person who has been captured is transferred or freed," Notari told AFP. Notari declined to comment on the legal situation if transfers had taken place. "We would have to reexamine them on a case-by-case basis," she said. "It would depend on when these people have been arrested or, for example, if they are civilians or combatants," she added. Notari said the ICRC had not been informed by the United States of any new legal doctrine on foreigners detained in Iraq.

The New York Times reported Tuesday that a new legal opinion by the US government bars some non-Iraqi prisoners captured in Iraq from the protections of the Geneva Conventions. .........."If the Geneva Conventions don't apply, what does? And if he isn't a prisoner of war, what is he?" she added.

 

[Barking_Mad]

1 US soldier killed in bomb attack in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Oct. 27 (Xinhuanet) -- One US soldier was killed and another wounded in a suspected motorcycle bomb attack in a town in eastern Iraq on Wednesday, the US military said in a statement. "A 13th Corps Support Command soldier is dead and one is injured as the result of a suspected motorcycle bomb attack on their convoynear Sindiayah," the statement said.

Sindiayah is a small town in Diyala province east of Baghdad. Over 1,100 US servicemen have been killed in Iraq since last year's invasion.

 

[ipsofacto]

Fallujah's April Civilian Toll is 600


The fact that the huge majority of those deaths are civilian shows once again the propensity of the Coalition to lie. There were no 'precision strikes' in Fallujah. There were war crimes. Full stop. We have been reduced to the moral level of terrorists who decapitate hostages. The only difference between Coalition terrorists and the hostage takers is in the method used to murder their victims. Makes you feel proud to be British.

 

[Barking_Mad]

What? No!? You must be joking?! Would you believe it!?

Rumsfeld: Pentagon had no plans for Iraqi insurgency

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has implicitly admitted the Pentagon had no specific plans for handling a widespread insurgency in the aftermath of the US-led invasion of Iraq, but still insisted US pre-war planning was "good." The remarks, made on Tuesday in an interview with Cincinnati, Ohio, radio station, came amid a barrage of charges by Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry and his aides that the White House had failed to adequately plan for the possibility of a guerrilla war in Iraq.

"The postwar plan ... was designed to see that they were not able to destroy their oil wells, that they were not able to blow up their bridges, that they did not have massive humanitarian crisis with internally displaced people and refugees and food crisis, and that the war was conducted in a speedy way so that it would not run the risk of destabilizing neighboring countries," Rumsfeld said when asked to comment on the accusations. He said all those goals had been accomplished, but he did not mention guerrilla operations among the contingencies the military had planned for, and referred to them as a problem being handled on an ad hoc basis. "It is a truth that it requires continuously adapting what we're doing - our tactics and our strategies - to meet the problems on the ground, the security problem on the ground," Rumsfeld said. The comments dovetailed with other indications that the administration of President George W. Bush did not anticipate any serious resistance to US troops on the part of Iraqis following the overthrow of the government of Saddam Hussein.

.......In the lead-up to the war, the Central Intelligence Agency was reportedly so convinced Iraqis would warmly greet US troops that it proposed smuggling hundreds of small American flags into Iraq ahead of the invasion to give Iraqis something to wave at the soldiers. The CIA was then planning to capture the event on film and beam it throughout the Arab world, The New York Times reported last week, citing unnamed intelligence officials.

 

[bigfish]

The following is a letter from:

Kassim Abdullsattar al-Jumaily
President
The Study Center of Human Rights & Democracy

On behalf of the people of Fallujah and for:
Al-Fallujah Shura Council
The Bar Association
The Teacher Union
Council of Tribes Leaders
The House of Fatwa and Religious Education

To:

His Excellency Mr. Kofi Annan
Secretary General of the United Nations
New York

Fallujah 14 October 2004

Your Excellency

It is very obvious that the American forces are committing crimes of genocide every day in Iraq. Now, while we are writing to Your Excellency, the American forces are committing these crimes in the city of Fallujah. The American warplanes are dropping their most powerful bombs on the civilian in the city, killing and injured hundreds of innocent people. At the same time their tanks are attacking the city with heavy artillery. As you know, there is no military presence in the city. There had been no actions taken by the Fallujah resistance in recent weeks because the negotiations between representatives of the city and the Government which were going well. In this atmosphere, the new bombardment by America has happened while the people of Fallujah have been preparing themselves for the fast of Ramadan. Now many of them are now trapped under the wreckage of their demolished houses, and nobody can help them while the attack continues.

On the night of the 13th October alone American bombardment demolished 50 houses on top of their residents. Is this a genocidal crime or a lesson about the American democracy? It is obvious that the Americans are committing acts of terror against the people of Fallujah for one reason only: their refusal to accept the Occupation.

Your Excellency and the whole world know that the Americans and their allies devastated our country under the pretext of the threat of WMD. Now, after all the destruction and the killing of thousand civilians, they have admitted that there no weapons were found. But they have said nothing about all the crimes they committed. Unfortunately everybody is now silent, and will not even dignify the murdered Iraqi civilians with words of condemnation. Are the Americans going to pay compensation as Iraq has been forced to do after the Gulf war?

We know that we are living in world of double standards. In Fallujah, they have created a new vague target,: AL ZARQAWI. This is a new pretext to justify their crimes, killing and daily bombardment of civilians. Almost a year has elapsed since they created this new pretext, and whenever they destroy houses, mosques, restaurants, and kill children and women they said “we have launched a successful operation against Al-Zarqawi.” They will never say that they have killed him, because there is no such a person. And that means the killing of civilian and the daily genocide will continue.

The people of Fallujah assure you that this person, if he exists, is not in Fallujah and is probably not anywhere in Iraq. The people of Fallujah have announced many times that any person who sees Al-Zarqawi should kill him. Now everybody realises that this man is just a hypothetical hero created by the Americans. At the same time the representative of Fallujah, our tribal leader, has denounced on many occasions the kidnapping and killing of civilians, and we have no links to any groups committing such inhuman behaviour.

Excellency, we appeal to you, and to all world leaders to exert the greatest pressure on the American administration to stop their crimes in Fallujah and withdraw their army far away from the city. The city was very quiet and peaceful when its people ran it. We didn’t witness any disorder in the city. The civil administration was going well given its limited recourses. We simply didn’t welcome the occupation forces. This is our right according to the UN Charter, international law and the norms of humanity. If the Americans believe in the opposite, they should first from the UN and all its agencies before acting in a way contrary to the Charter they signed.

It is very urgent that your Excellency, along with the world leaders, intervenes in a speedy manner to prevent a new massacre.

We have tried to reach your representatives in Iraq, so as to ask them to be more active in this regard, but as you know they are living in the Green Zone where we cannot contact them. We want the UN to be involved in the situation in Fallujah so as to avoid a new massacre.

We have tried to reach you through different channels and by asking our friends to convey this letter to your office in New York or Geneva with the hope that it will reach you. At the same time we appeal to you to urge the UN agencies in Iraq to take an active role in protecting civilians and preventing the new massacre which the Americans and the puppet government are planning to start soon in Fallujah as well as many part of our country.

Best regards.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Corruption, laziness grip Iraq's police force

Payrolls across Iraq padded out with names of dead personnel, retirees, relatives inserted by serving policemen who pocket extra cash. Iraq's police force is haunted by "ghosts" who receive money but never come to work and slackers who make an appearance but are hopeless or corrupt, officials have said. Desperate to stamp out these problems and raise the quality of the Iraqi Police Service, a special committee has been established under the interior ministry to re-assess every policeman and woman to ensure they meet a new set of minimum standards, they explained.

....He was unwilling to reveal how much money has been wasted, but said it was a significant amount that could have helped fund vital equipment. However, he was confident that the qualifying committee would fix the problem.

other news from today and yesterday

Car Bomb Kills U.S. Soldier, Iraqi in Baghdad
A car bomb killed one American soldier on patrol and at least one Iraqi civilian in southern Baghdad on Thursday, the U.S. military said.

Large Explosion Heard in Central Baghdad
A large blast was heard in central Baghdad on Thursday, witnesses said

Three dead in Fallujah strike
THREE people died in a US air raid on the Iraqi rebel city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, overnight, hospital officials said today.

Gunmen kill TV anchorwoman working for satellite channel
Gunmen killed an Iraqi television anchorwoman Wednesday as she was traveling by taxi to her home in southeastern Baghdad, a station official said.

More Violence in Ramadi
Two people are reportedly dead and five wounded following clashes between American troops and insurgents in Ramadi, Iraq. This latest violence erupted overnight Wednesday.

Civilian killed in Baghdad blast
A CIVILIAN was killed and three others were injured when a roadside bomb hit an all-terrain vehicle, typically used by foreigners, in the Iraqi capital today ... The attack occurred along the main highway to Baghdad's international airport.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Mortar Attack on Check Point

The Check Point (CP) near As Suwayrah on the road from Al Kut to Baghdad came under mortar attack from terrorists yesterday. Ten mortar grenades impacted with the ground in the vicinity of CP. After that CP personnel retaliated fire, the attack stopped, reports AFP. No causalities or damages were reported. The enemies of Iraq have attacked on Multinational Forces many times to make the security situation worse in the country to place Iraqi citizens at risk there.

 

[Barking_Mad]

More re: dead in Fallujah

Elsewhere in Iraq, US aircraft bombed a suspected rebel safehouse in the insurgent stronghold of Falluja.The overnight strike in the northern part of the city targeted a "meeting site" used by suspected allies of Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the US military said in a statement. Falluja hospital officials confirmed two people had died and a third was injured in the assault. Residents said two brothers died in the airstrike and a third sibling suffered injuries. The victim's family denied the men were insurgents and relatives buried the dead men hours after the strike.

"My brothers were no fighters ... I was preparing to marry them off after the Falluja crisis ends, now I am burying them with my own hands instead," said family member Mahmoud Nasser. He said the men were simply guarding the property after their family evacuated the central Iraqi town. The US military is preparing for a major offensive in Falluja, 40 miles west of Baghdad, in the hope of restoring national security ahead of Iraq's planned January elections.

IRAQI SWAT TEAM ROLLS UP 18 INSURGENTS IN NORTHERN BABIL

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq – The Iraqi SWAT team, backed by elements of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, captured 18 insurgents during a sweep through the south-central Iraqi town of Haswah Oct. 27. The operation raised to nearly 500 the number of insurgents caught by Iraqi Security Forces and their Marine allies since the MEU arrived in northern Babil province three months ago.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Blair admits British troops may stay in US area for months

Tony Blair admitted yesterday that British troops could be in the American-controlled area of Iraq for months, contradicting assurances from his Defence Secretary that the soldiers were on a limited mission for "weeks not months".

His admission came as the 850-strong force of the Black Watch moved north to guard one of the routes to Fallujah, into the so-called triangle of death. The convoy of armoured vehicles, displaying Union flags, rolled to areas south and west of Baghdad to help the US and Iraqi forces prepare for the all-out assault on Fallujah, expected to start after next week's US presidential elections.

Americans prepare for the 'final assault' on rebel stronghold

For the American military, Fallujah is "the last battle", an overwhelming assault that will destroy the epicentre of the rebellion sweeping through the country, the beginning of the end of major American military action in Iraq. For the insurgents, Fallujah is a rallying cry. An American attack will, they declare, lead to retribution throughout Iraq, re-invigorating the resistance, just as an attack on the city did six months earlier. Talks are still taking place between Iyad Allawi's interim government and a delegation from Fallujah. But no one seriously believes they will lead to anything. The government's main condition is that the militant leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi be handed over. People in Fallujah say the demand is deliberately impossible to meet. The Americans, they say, with all their might and the offer of a $25m reward, have failed to capture or kill the man.

The question now is not if but when there will be an attack on Fallujah. The US military maintains that the date has not been influenced by the American elections on 2 November, and, even leaving political considerations aside, it is unclear if enough troops will be available for an offensive before then. The Americans have about 2,500 troops around Fallujah at present. In the battle to take another rebel stronghold, Samarra - seen as a dress rehearsal for Fallujah - 3,000 American and 2,000 Iraqi government forces were needed to fight 500 insurgents. Fallujah is estimated to contain between 2,000 and 2,500 militants, including al-Zarqawi's fighters and another group led by Omar Hadid. US military commanders are said to believe that a force of about 10,000 is necessary to take and hold the city.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Interesting article on the Iraqi police.........

Iraqi police placed in the firing line without weapons

The five policemen standing on the roof of the Albiya station had one pistol between them. They have not been issued with rifles or body armour. Three of them did not even have any documents to show they were in the police. All of them, however, have come repeatedly under fire.

Albiya has gained the reputation as a Fort Apache of Baghdad, one of the most bombed, mortared, rocketed and shot at police stations in the city. The last two blasts killed 38 policemen, injured 110 and demolished a part of the building. In recognition of the dangers the Americans sent some more weapons - the 215 officers now have one-third of a semi-automatic rifle each. These are the men, the Iraqi police and army, that the US and British government insist will take over security in Iraq, combating the ferocious rebellion, allowing their troops to be pulled out. They are already doing the bulk of the dying for the occupation forces, as last weekend's massacre of 49 recruits highlighted.

The fact that these men, who owe their positions to the US authorities, are so openly critical, is an indication of the growing anger here about the perceived indifference of the Americans to the horrendous rate of casualties among Iraqi security forces.

....At Albiya, Col Khaldoun Abdullah could hardly contain his mirth at American and British claims that his forces were ready and equipped to take over fighting the insurgents. "I keep on reading and hearing that we have been trained and we have been given the arms necessary by the Americans. But I somehow seemed to have missed all this," he said.

"I have officers going out to face men armed with the latest guns - call them terrorists, the resistance, what you will - unarmed. It is not just they who are in danger, but their families get attacked too. I have repeatedly asked for more protection, but hardly anything ever happens. It is not just the Americans, no one from our government came to visit this station after we had so many people killed." An officer came in, almost fell over attempting to execute an exaggerated salute, and then left after delivering some papers. "Look at that man, a new recruit sent to me," sighed the Colonel. "He is not so bad I suppose, just an idiot.

"But we have had people sent here who I would not trust at all. I have discovered that the Americans have made no checks on these men. Do you wonder why police stations and army barracks get blown up?"

 

[Barking_Mad]

Second Estonian soldier killed in Iraq

Estonia's peacekeepers in Iraq registered their second fatality this week when 28-year-old Arre Illenzeer was killed in a Baghdad explosion on the morning of Oct. 25. Five other Estonian soldiers were wounded in the incident.

Iraq explosives site saw high U.S. traffic - Infantry commander says theft after invasion force arrived 'very improbable'

WASHINGTON - The infantry commander whose troops first captured the Iraqi weapons depot where 377 tons of explosives disappeared said yesterday that it is "very highly improbable" that someone could have trucked out so much material once U.S. forces arrived. Two major roads that pass near the Al-Qaqaa installation were filled with U.S. military traffic in the weeks after April 3, 2003, when U.S. troops first reached the area, said Col. David Perkins. He commanded the 2nd Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division, the division that led the charge into Baghdad.

Perkins and others in the military acknowledged that some looting at the site had taken place. But he said a large-scale operation to remove the explosives using trucks almost certainly would have been detected........The Pentagon said in a statement, "The movement of 377 tons of heavy ordnance would have required dozens of heavy trucks and equipment moving along the same roadways as U.S. combat divisions occupied continually for weeks prior to and subsequent to the 3rd I.D.'s arrival at the facility."

 

[Barking_Mad]

Updates.

Video Shows Polish Woman Hostage in Iraq
Iraqi extremists in videotape aired Thursday by Al-Jazeera TV showed what they said was a Polish woman hostage held in Iraq ... the woman was a longtime Iraq resident with Iraqi citizenship and was believed to have been abducted Wednesday in Baghdad. ...

Group Claims to Kill Kidnapped Iraq Troops
An Iraqi militant group said on its Web site Thursday that it had killed 11 Iraqi troops taken hostage south of Baghdad. The Ansar al-Sunnah Army said it had beheaded one and shot the 10 others.

Navy SEAL cleared in Iraqi abuse
One member of an elite Navy SEAL team was found not guilty this week of abusing Iraqi prisoners, and the case against two others is set to go to the military equivalent of a grand jury hearing today.

Explosion near Zaytun camp in Iraq
The 2,800 South Korean troops deployed in the Kurdish autonomous region of Irbil in northern Iraq have been ordered not to leave their compound after an unidentified explosive device went off Wednesday just outside the base.

Gunmen kill Iraqi opposition politician
Gunmen have killed a senior Iraqi opposition politician, a party official said on Wednesday. Mohammad al-Ayash, the Iraqi National Congress party's chief for Sunni western Iraq, was killed on Tuesday as he left his Baghdad home ...

Former Iraqi ambassador to UAE killed in Baghdad
... four men pulled up out outside a house in central Baghdad yesterday and tried to force Qusay Mehdi Saleh, who was Iraq's ambassador to the United Arab Emirates until a month ago, into their car. When he resisted, he was shot twice ...

MNF Check Point Hit With Mortars
A Multi-National Force check point near As Suwayrah on the road from Al Kut to Baghdad, was attacked by anti-Iraqi force militants Oct. 27 with mortars.

1st Inf. Div. Soldier Killed in RPG Attack
An anti-Iraqi forces rocket-propelled grenade attack on a combat patrol south of Balad killed a First Infantry Division Soldier at about 12:40 p.m. Oct 28.

Suspected Car Bomb Kills One Soldier
One Task Force Baghdad Soldier died and two others were wounded when insurgents attacked their patrol detonating a possible vehicle-borne improvised explosive device this morning at about 7:30 a.m. in southern Baghdad.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Insurgents throw Latifiya residents out of their homes - ministry

LATIFIYA, 28 October (IRIN) - Shi'ite Muslims living in the volatile southern city of Latifiya have been thrown out of their homes by insurgents and told to go to the heavily Shi'ite city of Nasiriyah further south, Ministry of Displacement and Migration (MoDM) officials working on the problem told IRIN. The fighters, who are Sunni Muslims loyal to former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, sent messages to families in Latifiya telling them they would be killed if they didn't move out, said Emad, a worker at the MoDM who asked that his last name and position not be publicised for fear that he would also become a target.

"When they saw the terrorists in their city, they were afraid," Emad said. "They saw the killing of six Shi'ite truck drivers in Fallujah six months ago." Nasiriyah was seen as a safe place where some people had relatives, he said, adding that as many as 500 families may have moved there.

Latifiya and neighbouring Mamoudia are about 70 km south of Baghdad. Another road connects them directly to Fallujah, about 40 km west of the capital where many residents are believed to be loyal to Saddam Hussein. Two French journalists kidnapped on the road near Latifiya in September have not been released - the area is considered too dangerous for foreigners to visit. "The insurgents are trying to establish a Sharia [Islamic] state, according to their understanding. Maybe now families will not be allowed to move back to their homes in Latifiya," Emad said.

.........US troops said that in the past two weeks they had rounded up more than 800 suspected insurgents from the area around Latifiya near Hilla. Insurgents are believed to be using these cities because of their connection with Fallujah and the so-called Sunni Triangle cities of Ramadi and Samarra where other pro-Saddam loyalists are thought to be holding out.

What I told Wolfowitz: Eyewitness to failure in Iraq

Peter W. Galbraith - The Boston Globe Friday, October 29, 2004

WASHINGTON In 2003, I went to tell Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz what I had seen in Baghdad in the days following Saddam Hussein's overthrow.

For nearly an hour, I described the catastrophic aftermath of the invasion - the unchecked looting of every public institution in Baghdad, the devastation of Iraq's cultural heritage, the anger of ordinary Iraqis who couldn't understand why the world's only superpower was letting this happen.

I also described two particularly disturbing incidents - one I had witnessed and the other I had heard about.

On April 16, 2003, a mob attacked and looted the Iraqi equivalent of the Centers for Disease Control, taking live HIV and black fever virus among other potentially lethal materials. U.S. troops were stationed across the street but did not intervene because they didn't know the building was important.

When he found out, the young American lieutenant was devastated. He shook his head and said, "I hope I am not responsible for Armageddon." About the same time, looters entered the warehouses at Iraq's sprawling nuclear facilities at Tuwaitha on Baghdad's outskirts. They took barrels of yellowcake (raw uranium), apparently dumping the uranium and using the barrels to hold water. U.S. troops were at Tuwaitha but did not interfere.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Interesting read - also has some info on Bush's military record for those that are interested...

Two years before 9/11, candidate Bush was already talking privately about attacking Iraq, according to his former ghost writer

]Two years before the September 11 attacks, presidential candidate George W. Bush was already talking privately about the political benefits of attacking Iraq, according to his former ghost writer, who held many conversations with then-Texas Governor Bush in preparation for a planned autobiography. "He was thinking about invading Iraq in 1999," said author and journalist Mickey Herskowitz. "It was on his mind. He said to me: 'One of the keys to being seen as a great leader is to be seen as a commander-in-chief.' And he said, 'My father had all this political capital built up when he drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait and he wasted it.' He said, 'If I have a chance to invade….if I had that much capital, I'm not going to waste it. I'm going to get everything passed that I want to get passed and I'm going to have a successful presidency."

Herskowitz said that Bush expressed frustration at a lifetime as an underachiever in the shadow of an accomplished father. In aggressive military action, he saw the opportunity to emerge from his father's shadow. The moment, Herskowitz said, came in the wake of the September 11 attacks. "Suddenly, he's at 91 percent in the polls, and he'd barely crawled out of the bunker."

That President Bush and his advisers had Iraq on their minds long before weapons inspectors had finished their work - and long before alleged Iraqi ties with terrorists became a central rationale for war - has been raised elsewhere, including in a book based on recollections of former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill. However, Herskowitz was in a unique position to hear Bush's unguarded and unfiltered views on Iraq, war and other matters - well before he became president.