*IRAQ: latest news and developments

[lostexpectation]

Bomb targets parliament chief inside Baghdad's `green zone'

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/16073587.htm

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A bomb exploded Tuesday in an armored car belonging to the speaker of parliament, wounding the American security guard who was driving it out of a parking area in the government ``green zone'' and disrupting a parliamentary meeting nearby, a parliamentary aide said.

 

[Barking_Mad]

202 dead from the Sadr City explosions

 

[snorbury]

F-16 fighter shot down/crashed Fallujah

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C6878806-6BE7-469A-89BC-48BE72ECB339.htm

the americans say it can't have been shot down, it woz too fast

 

[corporate whore]

Marine Corps report says US military unable to win in Anbar province

The U.S. military is no longer able to defeat a bloody insurgency in western Iraq or counter al-Qaeda's rising popularity there, according to newly disclosed details from a classified Marine Corps intelligence report that set off debate in recent months about the military's mission in Anbar province.

Between al-Qaeda's violence, Iran's influence and an expected U.S. drawdown, "the social and political situation has deteriorated to a point" that U.S. and Iraqi troops "are no longer capable of militarily defeating the insurgency in al-Anbar," the assessment found.

..."the potential for economic revival appears to be nonexistent" in Anbar, the report says. The Iraqi government, dominated by Iranian-backed Shiites, has not paid salaries for Anbar officials and Iraqi forces stationed there. Anbar's resources and its ability to impose order are depicted as limited at best.

"Despite the success of the December elections, nearly all government institutions from the village to provincial levels have disintegrated or have been thoroughly corrupted and infiltrated by Al Qaeda in Iraq," or a smattering of other insurgent groups, the report says.

 

[Luther Blissett]

Among its recommendations, the Iraq Study Group advised that Iraq privatize its oil industry and to open it up to international companies. Author and activist Antonia Juhasz writes "Put simply, the oil companies are trying to get what they were denied before the war or at anytime in modern Iraqi history: access to Iraq's oil under the ground."

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/07/1452236

 

[TAE]

Among its recommendations, the Iraq Study Group advised that Iraq privatize its oil industry and to open it up to international companies.

I was waiting for that one.

 

[TAE]

Here's a story with some christmas cheer:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/22/eveningnews/main2293878.shtml

 

[laptop]

Here's a story with some christmas cheer:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/22/eveningnews/main2293878.shtml

Um. Where's this An-Nil, I ask myself?

According to this it's an industrial area, not residential... and this claims to be a report from the resistance and lists a bombing there...

Anyways, I smell the hand of a US Army press officer... not that there mayn't be pockets of people living side-by side relatively OK...

 

[Barking_Mad]

......

A promising Iraqi province is now a tinderbox

AQUBAH, IRAQ — When U.S. forces killed the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab Zarqawi, six months ago in a village near here, they hoped security would improve in this strategic province just north of Baghdad.

Instead, security has collapsed in Diyala province, which now ranks as one of Iraq's most troubled regions. Insurgent attacks have more than doubled in the last year. Violence has devastated the provincial police force and brought reconstruction to a virtual standstill.

Assassinations have claimed the lives of mayors, tribal chieftains, police officials and judges, including a Shiite Muslim member of the provincial council who was killed Tuesday. Many government officials here sleep on cots in their offices because driving home is too dangerous.

And Iraqi security forces have been implicated in so many abuses that the U.S. commander here recently gave his Iraqi counterpart an angry lecture, likening the Iraqi troops to an "undisciplined rabble."

U.S. and Iraqi officials interviewed in recent days blamed the sharp downturn on a combination of U.S. neglect and abuses by the Iraqi army. U.S. troops largely disengaged from security here for weeks at a time, they say, handing the reins to Iraqi forces who proved to be abusive and ineffective.

U.S. commanders are attempting a sharp change in strategy, hoping that a classic counterinsurgency campaign, combining reconstruction aid with a more active U.S. presence, can turn the situation around.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Terrified US Soldiers beat 10 year old boy in Fallujah

FALLUJAH —. Ten-year-old Yassir aimed a plastic gun at a passing US armored patrol in Fallujah, and shouted "Bang! Bang!" Yassir did not know what was coming. "I yelled for everyone to run, because the Americans were turning back," 12-year-old Ahmed who was with Yassir told IPS.

The soldiers followed Yassir to his house and smashed almost everything in it. "They did this after beating Yassir and his uncle hard, and they spoke the nastiest words," Ahmed said.

It is not just the children, or the people of Fallujah who are frightened.

"Those soldiers are terrified here," Dr. Salim al-Dyni, a psychotherapist visiting Fallujah told IPS. Dr Dyni said he had seen professional reports of
psychologically disturbed soldiers "while serving in hot areas, and Fallujah is the hottest and most terrifying for them."

Dr. Dyni said disturbed soldiers were behind the worst atrocities. "Most murders committed by US soldiers resulted from the soldiers' fears."

Local Iraqi police estimate that at least five attacks are being carried out against US troops in Fallujah each day, and about as many against Iraqi government security forces. The city in the restive Anbar province to the
west of Baghdad has been under some form of siege since April 2004.

That has meant punishment for the people. "American officers asked me a hundred times how the fighters obtain weapons," a 35-year-old resident who was detained together with dozens of others during a US military raid at their houses in the Muallimin Quarter last month told IPS.

"They (American soldiers) called me the worst of names that I could understand, and many that I could not. I heard younger detainees screaming under torture repeating 'I do not know, I do not know,' apparently replying to the same question I was asked."

US soldiers have been reacting wildly to attacks on them.

Several areas of Fallujah recently went without electricity for two weeks after US soldiers attacked the power station following a sniper attack.

Thubbat, Muhandiseen, Muallimeen, Jughaifi and most western parts of the city were affected. "They are punishing civilians for their failure to protect themselves," a resident of Thubbat quarter told IPS. "I defy them to capture a single sniper who kills their soldiers."

Many of those killed in the ongoing violence are civilians. The biggest local complaint is that US forces attack civilians at random in revenge for
colleagues killed in attacks by the resistance.

More than 5,000 civilians killed by US soldiers have been buried in Fallujah cemeteries and mass graves dug on the outskirts of the city, according to the Study Center for Human Rights and Democracy, a non-governmental organization based in Fallujah.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Reports collated by iCasualties suggest at least 434 civilians have died thus far this month

http://icasualties.org/oif/IraqiDeaths.aspx

 

[Barking_Mad]

Tragic

U.S. soldier accused of murder had been diagnosed as homicidal

An Army private charged with the slaughter of an Iraqi family was diagnosed as a homicidal threat by a military mental health team three months before the attack.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/16420329.htm

 

[Aldebaran]

I find it amazing that soldiers are recorded to have stress & fear -related mental health problems while nobody seems ti be able to imagine the horrific fear, stress and grieve these same soldiers and their Holy Bush War puts on the Iraqis.
Iraqis who who fight the invaders are all "Al Qaeda" and "terrorists", right? Even an Iraqi child playing soldier is a terrorist.

salaam.

 

[Grandma Death]

Bush orders another 20,000 troops for Iraq.

Source

Not entirely sure if the man who has fucked the whole country over has the solution to the problem that he has created.

 

[teqniq]

Just seen this on bbc website.... Looks like maybe they're looking for more excuses...

 

[Barking_Mad]

.......

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The Baghdad morgue took in about 16,000 unidentified bodies last year, the bulk of them victims of death squads and other sectarian violence, a source at the morgue told Reuters on Sunday.

About 1,350 bodies were received in December, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the Iraqi government has banned officials from releasing data on casualty rates. As throughout the year, between 80 and 85 percent of these were victims of violence.

The morgue data -- for Baghdad only -- suggest that a figure of 12,320 civilian deaths in "terrorist violence" in 2006, given two weeks ago by Interior Ministry sources, does not include all the victims of the bloodletting in Iraq. The Interior Ministry statistics exclude violent deaths classed as "criminal".

Since the morgue statistics also do not take account of the many deaths outside Baghdad, nor indeed of all violent deaths in the capital, the total death toll is certainly higher.

A Health Ministry official told the Washington Post last week that nearly 23,000 civilians and police were killed in the year, according to Health Ministry data. A deputy minister said he could not confirm the figures.

The Interior Ministry said 1,231 policemen were killed.

The United Nations has added Health Ministry data for the country as a whole to Baghdad morgue figures to come up with figures showing 3,700 civilians were killed in October alone -- or about 120 people a day.

The Iraqi government has called that an exaggeration but given no comparable official figures of its own. No U.N. data are yet available for the period since October.

While the total death toll remains disputed, no officials challenge the indications given by various sets of data that killings have increased markedly in the past year, notably since the destruction of a major Shi'ite shrine in February.

The Interior Ministry figures showed three and a half times more civilian deaths in December than in January.

No data were available for November, but in October the morgue took in about 1,600 bodies, down from a peak of 1,815 in July.

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/art...-IRAQ-MORGUE.xml&WTmodLoc=World-C1-Headline-1

 

[corporate whore]

Almost 80 dead in market bomb

At least 72 people were killed and at least 134 wounded after two nearly simultaneous bombs struck a predominantly Shiite commercial area in central Baghdad Monday in the deadliest attack in two months, said Deputy Health Minister Hakim al-Zamili.

20 US soldiers dead in one day

At least 20 American service personnel were killed in military operations Saturday in one of the deadliest days for U.S. forces since the Iraq war began, and authorities also announced two U.S. combat deaths from the previous day.
The day's worst loss came from the crash of a U.S. Army helicopter northeast of Baghdad that killed 13 service members. An attack Saturday night blamed on militiamen in the city of Karbala killed five soldiers. Roadside bombs killed another soldier in the capital and one in Nineveh province north of Baghdad.

 

[taffboy gwyrdd]

A superb piece featuring Patrick Cockburn. Wont do a Cut and Paste odyssey as it really is long, but well worth reading.

I had no idea for example that in November troops from one ministry attacked another ministry in Iraq. The government there is at war with itself, hopelessly factionalised and Cockburn makes the point that most Iraqis identify more with entities other than the gerrymandered state.

http://www.socialistreview.org.uk/article.php?articlenumber=9916

 

[q_w_e_r_t_y]

Iraq to remove squatters from homes of refugees
BAGHDAD, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Thursday
Iraqi security forces would start to remove squatters from Baghdad homes
they have illegally occupied since the owners fled sectarian intimidation
and ethnic cleansing.

"Today or tomorrow we will start arresting those who are living in the homes
of refugees to open the way for their return," he told parliament in a speech
seeking support for a major U.S.-backed security crackdown in the capital.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/KAR534019.htm

Troops Died After, Not In, Sneak Attack
Contrary to U.S. military statements, four U.S. soldiers did not die repelling a sneak attack at the governor's office in the Shiite holy city of Karbala last week. New information obtained by The Associated Press shows they were abducted and found dead or dying as far as 25 miles away.

The brazen assault 50 miles south of Baghdad was launched Jan. 20 by a group of nine to 12 militants. They traveled in black GMC Suburban vehicles _ the type used by U.S. government convoys, had American weapons, wore new U.S. military combat fatigues and spoke English.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/26/ap/world/mainD8MT1R2G0.shtml

 

[TAE]

BBC News - Iraqi soldiers charged with rape
BBC News - US soldier admits murdering girl

 

[dylanredefined]

The Irans have just sezied another royal navy boarding team in the al shatt.

 

[oake]

Iraq to allow Saddam regime officials back into government jobs

Former members of Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath party who lost their jobs in the wake of the 2003 invasion will be allowed to take up posts in the government and security forces under a new law designed to foster reconciliation between Iraq's Shia and Sunni Arabs.

The US has been putting intense pressure on the Shia-led government to meet a series of benchmarks designed to bring Iraq's once all-powerful Sunni Arabs back into the fold and take the sting out of the insurgency, which is raging in many Sunni areas of the capital and beyond.

Leading Sunni figures hope the bill will also encourage the return to Iraq of thousands of Sunnis who have fled abroad since 2003. Under the new legislation, which will be sent to parliament by Iraq's president, Jalal Talabani, a Sunni Kurd, and prime minister Nuri al Maliki, a Shia Arab, those who do not find new employment will be eligible for state pensions.

The bill covers Ba'ath party members who served in Saddam's civil service and military organisations. But it excludes Ba'athists who have been charged with or are wanted for crimes committed under the former regime. According to the law, there would be a three-month challenge period after which former Ba'ath party loyalists would be immune from legal punishment for their actions under Saddam.

Link

Interesting.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Hmmmm...

BAGHDAD - The renegade cleric Muqtada al-Sadr urged Iraqi forces to stop cooperating with the United States and told his guerrilla fighters to concentrate their attacks on American troops rather than Iraqis, according to a statement issued Sunday.

The statement, stamped with al-Sadr's official seal, was distributed in the Shiite holy city of Najaf on Sunday — a day before a large demonstration there, called for by al-Sadr, to mark the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad.

"You, the Iraqi army and police forces, don't walk alongside the occupiers, because they are your archenemy," the statement said. Its authenticity could not be verified.

In the statement, al-Sadr — who commands an enormous following among
Iraq's majority Shiites and has close allies in the Shiite-dominated government — also encouraged his followers to attack only American forces, not fellow Iraqis.

"God has ordered you to be patient in front of your enemy, and unify your efforts against them — not against the sons of Iraq," the statement said, in an apparent reference to clashes between al-Sadr's Mahdi Army fighters and Iraqi troops in Diwaniyah, south of Baghdad. "You have to protect and build Iraq."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070408/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

 

[Barking_Mad]

Seems Sadr is going for the nationalist card....

"The faithful should participate in a demonstration in Najaf on April 9, demanding that the occupiers withdraw from our lands. They should carry or wear Iraqi flags," said a statement released by al-Sadr's office.

On Sunday, Iraqi flags flew from most houses and shops in Sadr City. Drivers and motorcyclists affixed them to their vehicles. Police escorted convoys of pickup trucks overflowing with young boys waving Iraqi flags, en route to Najaf.

http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070408/NEWS01/704080340/1002

The Baghdad-Najaf road was packed on Sunday with hundreds of vehicles crammed with passengers waving Iraqi flags and chanting religious and anti-U.S. slogans.

"No, no, no to America ... Moqtada, yes, yes, yes," they chanted as they converged towards Najaf.

Sadr himself is not expected to attend the gathering -- he has not appeared at a large public gathering in months. A statement is likely to be read out on his behalf.

Protesters in the southern town of Samawa clashed with Iraqi police on Sunday after they were stopped from getting to Najaf. One protester stabbed a policeman and police retaliated by firing shots in the air to disperse the crowd, witnesses said.

Monday's protest is expected to attract tens of thousands of Iraqis angry at the violence that grips their country, four years after U.S. forces ousted Saddam. Demonstrations will begin at a mosque in nearby Kufa, then move to Najaf.

"Our feeling is like the feeling of any Iraqi who calls for sovereignty and freedom," said 27-year-old Baghdad resident Abbas Kadhem, an electricity store owner who arrived in Najaf.

"We are answering the call of Sayyed Moqtada al-Sadr to spread freedom and to demand that the occupation forces leave."

Sadr late last month said Iraq had "endured difficult years because of this oppressive occupation that claims it removed the destroyer (Saddam Hussein) to bring the ghost of a fake democracy" to the country.

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=BAY845674

 

[lostexpectation]

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=bd3_1176184242
its not chemicals factory its an explosives factory,

get over it

 

[disownedspirit]

9 Marines dead in Baghdad

BBC link here
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6586501.stm

worst loss of US life in one attack since 2005 according to the beeb

Not baghdad at all but diyala pronvince

 

[Stavrogin]

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gangsofiraq/view/

not sure if they've been posted before and it's old news i guess... but the lack of understanding is amazing

 

[teqniq]

Riverbend and family leaving Iraq

Riverbend has a new post on her blog and maybe the last from Iraq:

.....On a personal note, we've finally decided to leave. I guess I've known we would be leaving for a while now. We discussed it as a family dozens of times. At first, someone would suggest it tentatively because, it was just a preposterous idea- leaving ones home and extended family- leaving ones country- and to what? To where?

more here

 

[laptop]

Uh-oh...

In Baghdad, the US military fired an artillery barrage on Sunday morning targeting what reports say were insurgent positions in the south of the city.

The series of loud blasts was heard throughout Baghdad and lasted for about a quarter of an hour.

- tagged on the end of a BBC story

So, are the US shelling neighbourhoods? Are they doing it often now?

 

[Bernie Gunther]

Uh-oh...



So, are the US shelling neighbourhoods? Are they doing it often now?

"Precision weapons" innit?