*IRAQ: latest news and developments

[DJ Squelch]

Australian special forces have found 51 Mig fighter planes hidden at an airfield in western Iraq.Reuters

Last Saturday Brigadier General Vincent Brooks, spokesman for the U.S. Central Command, said U.S.-led forces had found 15 fixed-wing fighter aircraft beneath camouflage at Al Asad airfield northwest of Baghdad. Brooks said they appeared to be "in undamaged condition".

How did US intelligence with all that satellite imaging miss 51 Mig fighters, even camouflaged ones should of given some clues. Even though they were not used surely the US would of destroyed them if they had known of their presence.

Pro-American Iraqi politician Ahmad Chalabi on Sunday called for U.S. forces to remain in Iraq until the country holds elections, a process he said could take two years. here

 

[Loki]

Just listening to R4, apparantly the family killed at that checkpoint failed to stop because the marines shouted out "Stop" in English. In his defence the marine said, "everyone knows what 'Stop' means"

 

[proud american]

I just heard on he radio what was found in Uday's palace. Gold-Plated AK's, denist chairs, kiddy porn, heroin and syinges. Not exactly newsworthy but that guy was certainly twisted. Bad upbringing, you figure?

 

[whiterose]

All three of the orphanages in Nasiriya were trashed by looters as soon as the fighting stopped. Now a British aid agency is helping to re-open one of them.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2962039.stm

 

[whiterose]

Baghdad zoo animals get fed

Food donated by the Kuwaiti Government has arrived in Baghdad for the starving animals at the city's wrecked zoo.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2962431.stm

 

[Stibs]

A reporter for BBC TV news just claimed that one Baghdad hospital is taking in 15-20 children/hour, suffering from acute symptoms of diarrhea. The result of drinking foul water.

Does anyone know why Saddam Hus...sorry, Baghdad Airport is not receiving large planeloads of bottled water and medical supplies?

 

[whiterose]

Stibs - maybe not enough money to be made from water!

[The borders are still shut and the diplomats have yet to travel, but envoys from Pizza Hut and Burger King have arrived in Iraq.
The two fast food giants set up their first franchises inside the war-torn country, while many aid convoys waited on the borders for the war to officially end.]

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_772640.html?menu=news.wariniraq

 

[whiterose]

Fears mount of Iraqi border crisis

Fears of a humanitarian crisis have been sparked by the arrival of more than 1,000 people in a no-man's land between Iraq and Jordan.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2963699.stm

 

[bigfish]

Originally posted by Proud American

I just heard on he radio what was found in Uday's palace. Gold-Plated AK's, denist chairs, kiddy porn, heroin and syinges. Not exactly newsworthy but that guy was certainly twisted. Bad upbringing, you figure?

Are you sure those last three items didn't fall out of a GI's kit bag PA?

 

[whiterose]

Another wanted Iraqi arrested
The US say Muhammad Hazmaq al-Zubaydi - number 18 on a list of the 55 most wanted figures from Saddam Hussein's regime - has been arrested.
He was featured in Iraqi news film kicking and beating captured Shiite rebels.
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_772993.html?menu=news.wariniraq

 

[whiterose]

Rumsfeld Rejects Report Of Permanent Stationing In Iraq
The secretary said there has been no decision on what sort of "footprint" the U.S. military will have in the region. But, he added, the fact that there will be a "free Iraq" means there would be a smaller U.S. military presence.
----

According to the Times story, the Pentagon may never announce that U.S. troops had established permanent bases because what the military wants is perpetual access to the areas in question -- not permanent garrisons at the sites.
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/2126794/detail.html

 

[whiterose]

UAE to Build Water Plant in War-Hit Iraq City
Mon April 21, 2003 04:05 PM ET
ABU DHABI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates said on Monday it would build a water treatment plant in the southern Iraqi city of Basra to help alleviate a severe water shortage following the U.S.-led invasion

more --

http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=focusIraqNews&storyID=2598878

 

[whiterose]

U.S. Troops Slay Four Escaped Lions at Iraq Zoo
full story
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=focusIraqNews&storyID=2597528

 

[sub]

Originally posted by whiterose
UAE to Build Water Plant in War-Hit Iraq City
Mon April 21, 2003 04:05 PM ET
ABU DHABI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates said on Monday it would build a water treatment plant in the southern Iraqi city of Basra to help alleviate a severe water shortage following the U.S.-led invasion

more --

http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=focusIraqNews&storyID=2598878

This is good news...but, and big BUT, will the Americans let them???

Claims of "we won't allow any group that was neutral to help" still rings in my ears, but some of the relief agencies in....

It is my hope that the Americans will accept any and all help offered.

 

[Stibs]

Muhammad Hamza al-Zubaydi, Saddam's former Prime Minister and oppressor of the Shi'a uprisings, is arrested.

Arab Press

 

[Stibs]

Gorgeous George Galloway has been accused by the Daily Torygraph of receiving £375,000 by the Saddam regime.

The Torygraph claims that documents uncovered in Baghdad reveal that he was paid for services to Ba'athist Iraq.

The story was just announced on the BBC.

Here's The Scotsman's version.

Galloway denies the story, saying it is part of a smear campaign, and that he will sue.

 

[Stibs]

I work as an illustrator, mostly drawing caricatures.

Tonight I finished the first Saddam Hussein I've ever been commissioned to do. Whilst I was waiting for the scanned image to attatch to an e-mail, I posted on here and had a browse on the interweb.

And found this.

 

[whiterose]

US-trained troops 'caught looting in Baghdad'
Fighters of the US-trained Free Iraqi Forces have been arrested after they were allegedly found looting abandoned homes of members of Saddam Hussein's regime
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_773253.html?menu=news.wariniraq

 

[whiterose]

US tried to discredit work of UN weapons inspectors says Blix
Dr Blix continued: "I think it has been one of the disturbing elements that so much of the intelligence on which the capitals built their case seems to have been shaky and there are some flagrant cases.
----
"I think that is very, very disturbing. Who falsifies this? And is it not disturbing that the intelligence agencies that should have all the technical means at their disposal did not discover that this was falsified?"
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_773055.html?menu=news.wariniraq

 

[Stibs]

Kurds have begun evicting Arabs from their homes in Kirkuk:

StarTribune

Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Iraqi Arabs are being ousted from their homes in and around the ethnically mixed city of Kirkuk as the Kurds retaliate for decades of repression by Saddam's government. The newly emboldened Kurds say they are reclaiming lands seized from them in the past 30 years. Their property was often given to Arabs whom the government resettled in Kirkuk to blunt Kurdish influence.

But the evictions are creating a new group of homeless: Iraqis, who in some cases have lived in the area for decades. And the problem could escalate as thousands of displaced Kurds return from refugee camps in the north.

U.S. soldiers from the Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade moved into an Arab neighborhood in the southeastern part of the city in recent days to guard against evictions. But their commander said they are stretched too thin and got started too late to prevent many of the seizures.

"Our biggest fear is that these kinds of incidents are going to raise the temperature significantly in the city," said Hania Mufti of Human Rights Watch. "This may, in turn, lead to inter-ethnic violence."

Also from Hania Mufti of Human Rights Watch , written before American forces started the second front in northern Iraq:

"Kirkuk is a disaster waiting to happen. If a plan for the gradual and orderly return of these displaced civilians is not drawn up soon and implemented before the ground offensive begins, there is a real possibility that the city will erupt into inter-ethnic violence."

Ho-hum

 

[DJ Squelch]

Soldiers and members of the media have been caught trying to smuggle items looted in Iraq back into the US and the UK. AP News

Customs bureau officials said an unidentified U.S. serviceman attempted to ship a rifle, pistol, and AK-47 assault rifle - all gold-plated - taken from an Iraqi government facility to a military base in the United States. The items were seized last Friday at London's Heathrow Airport.
An unidentified Boston Herald reporter attempted to bring a painting, wall ornament and other items into the country through Boston's Logan International Airport on Saturday, federal authorities said.

&
Two members of Ahmed Chalabi's pro-US Iraqi National Congress (INC) and one member of his militia, the Free Iraqi Forces, were shot dead by US Marines trying to protect a bank in Baghdad
The Independent

 

[Barking_Mad]

War-ravaged Nasiriya is caught in a deadly cycle: with no electricity to pump water, locals are breaking into the underground pipes, allowing raw sewage to seep into the system. The danger of a cholera outbreak is a real one.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2969283.stm

 

[whiterose]

US soldiers accused of stealing Saddam's secret cash
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_773551.html?menu=news.iraqaftermath

 

[whiterose]

U.S. Troops Learn Not to Mess with Iraqi Flag


http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=focusIraqNews&storyID=2613863

 

[Miss Caphat]

American journalists caught smuggling looted goods back into the states

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationw...s,0,7783165.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines

 

[wizard61]

Originally posted by Miss Caphat
American journalists caught smuggling looted goods back into the states

Was it a CNN guy? It might have been his paycheck from his second job...

 

[joe dick]

Originally posted by wizard61
Was it a CNN guy? It might have been his paycheck from his second job...

christ, you mean you pro-war cheerleaders aren't paid? you actually believe in what you say?... shudders.

 

[extra dry]

from www.msn.com



UK reluctant about Iraq UN inspectors
LONDON (Reuters) - The government is signalling that, like its United States ally, it does not want to see United Nations inspectors return to Iraq to help search for alleged weapons of mass destruction. British and U.S. troops have yet to discover any chemical or biological weapons in Iraq. London and Washington said their existence was the major reason for waging the war. Asked if chief inspector Hans Blix's team should return to Iraq to independently verify any discoveries, should they be made, Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon hedged. "We've always said that it's important there should be an independent element in verification," he told BBC Radio on Thursday. "We have not necessarily specified that that should be the United Nations. There could be other countries who could identify ... particular chemicals, precursors for nerve agents or gas." Most of the 15 Security Council members want U.N. inspectors to return to Iraq and finish the job, but the White House said on Tuesday it wanted to avoid any deal to link lifting U.N. sanctions against Iraq with a return of U.N. arms experts. However, U.N. resolutions firmly link the two issues. Britain believes any discovery of banned weapons in Iraq would have more validity if an independent body verified them but, like Washington, appears to have cooled to Blix and his team. "There needs to be an independent verification," Hoon said. "That could be through the United Nations. I'm equally saying it could be through some other objective source of information provided by another country, not part of the coalition." The United States has blamed Blix for not delivering tougher reports on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.



Like errrr what is going here?





The UN inspectors found on WMD before the war and now the usa and uk do not them to return because........they may still find no WMD. But an 'independent' ie CIA team may find weapons.

 

[whiterose]

FACTBOX-List of Casualties in Iraq War
Thu April 24, 2003 07:27 AM ET

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=focusIraqNews&storyID=2620559

 

[Barking_Mad]

Saed Mohammed, a truck driver from the southern city of Basra, said the delay and the heat would destroy about half his truckload of ripe tomatoes, a loss of about $100.

Khadim Adai, whose wait was already double the time of his prewar journey, threw five dead chickens from the crates of poultry loaded on his pickup truck.

"How do the Americans expect us to live if they wreck the way we make a living?" he asked


http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=focusIraqNews&storyID=2622181