*IRAQ: latest news and developments

[Barking_Mad]

hmmm.........

Despite many challenges, life for the Iraqi people is a world away from the cruelty and corruption of Saddam's regime

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3676607.stm

 

[Barking_Mad]

Former General Sees 'Staying the Course' In Iraq as Untenable

The time to worry is when Washington politicians on all sides agree. So when John Kerry echoes President Bush in arguing that the United States "can't cut and run" from Iraq, maybe it's time to listen to someone who says we must.

Maybe it's time, in other words, to listen to retired Gen. William E. Odom. It is delusional, asserts the Army veteran, college professor and longtime Washington hand, to believe that "staying the course" can achieve President Bush's goal of reordering the Middle East by building a friendly democracy in Iraq. For the sake of American security and economic power alike, he argues, the U.S. should remove its forces from that shattered country as rapidly as possible.

"We have failed," Mr. Odom declares bluntly. "The issue is how high a price we're going to pay. ... Less, by getting out sooner, or more, by getting out later?"

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,SB108310695176695357-IZjf4NjlaV3o52sbHSIb62Bm4,00.html

 

[Barking_Mad]

Britain to send 4,000 troops to Iraq-paper
Sat 1 May, 2004 22:54

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain has decided to boost its troop strength in Iraq by up to 4,000, about 50 percent, to patrol the Shi'ite flashpoint town of Najaf, the Sunday Telegraph newspaper said. The Ministry of Defence, however, denied any such decision had been made. "We continue to monitor troop numbers in consultation with our coalition partners," a spokeswoman said.

Britain has said for more than a week that it is in discussions about possibly sending troops to replace 1,300 Spanish soldiers who withdrew from Najaf. The area has seen heavy fighting in recent weeks. The Sunday Telegraph quoted an unnamed Ministry of Defence official saying the decision had been made as a signal Britain remained committed to helping its coalition partners to quell tumult in Iraq.

"Not sending troops was never really an option because of the message it would have sent to the rest of the coalition," the official told the paper. "Plans have been drawn up for the deployment of at least three battle groups and a brigade headquarters to Iraq."

Experts have said that if Britain replaces the Spaniards it may also take command in the area, the south central sector of Iraq, from a Polish-led 15-nation division. That would amount to a major new commitment for Britain, which now has a 7,500-strong contingent further south in Basra, and would put it in control of security in most of Iraq's mainly Shi'ite south.

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=502957&section=news[/QUOTE]

 

[Raisin D'etre]

Iraqis hail Falluja "victory"

FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - Soldiers of the old Iraqi army led by one of Saddam Hussein's generals are patrolling Falluja, a year after George W. Bush declared the U.S. "mission accomplished" in ousting the Iraqi regime.

Cries of "victory over the Americans" echoed from minarets on Saturday and guerrilla gunmen celebrated in the streets under the green banner of Islam and Saddam-era Iraqi flags. Thousands who had fled a month of heavy fighting streamed back to their homes after U.S. Marines pulled back from their siege positions.

Mired in a confrontation that spilled blood on both sides and outraged Iraqi and Arab opinion, U.S. commanders withdrew to more distant positions on Friday. Security was entrusted to police and a new force of ex-soldiers under General Jasim Mohamed Saleh, formerly of Saddam's feared Republican Guard.

U.S. officers call it an experiment that may be reversed, while Marine commander Lieutenant-General James Conway said Saleh's 1st Battalion of the Falluja Brigade would tackle the insurgents and foreign fighters aiding them.

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=502879

 

[Barking_Mad]

Update for 3/5/04

05/02/04 ABCRadio: Two former Fiji soldiers killed in Iraq
Two former Fiji soldiers have been killed by insurgents in northern Iraq.

05/02/04 AP: U.S. hostage Thomas Hamill escapes
American hostage Thomas Hamill was found by U.S. forces Sunday south of Tikrit after he apparently escaped from his captors, the U.S. military said.

05/02/04 AP: U-S convoy attacked south of Najaf
A Shiite cleric's militia has attacked a U-S convoy south of Najaf, where the cleric is based.

05/02/04 VOA: 2 US Soldiers killed late Saturday near Amara
In southern Iraq, near the city of Amara, two U.S. soldiers died late Saturday when their convoy was hit by rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire.

05/02/04 Reuters: 2 US Soldiers and 2 ICDC were killed early Sunday
In the latest attacks, two U.S. soldiers and two members of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps were killed early Sunday in northwest Baghdad, the official said

05/01/04 AP: British Soldier Wounded
a British soldier was wounded Saturday in an ambush in the southeastern city of Amarah, the British military said

05/01/04 BBC: Six British soldiers hurt in Iraq
Six British soldiers have been injured after a foot patrol came under fire in the southern Iraqi city of Amarah.

http://lunaville.org/warcasualties/Summary.aspx

 

[Barking_Mad]

Attacks on US base in Najaf

Smoke was seen rising after militiamen traded fire with US troops at the base between Najaf and nearby Kufa, 80 miles south of Baghdad.

News network CNN reported that up to 30 mortar rounds were fired at the base where US troops had recently replaced Spanish and Latin American troops.

A CNN correspondent on the scene said there had been intense and almost constant fire on the US positions in Najaf for some three hours, with light arms and mortars.

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-13078560,00.html

 

[Walter Mitty]

French TV Screens images of US helicopter crew killing Iraqi's

PARIS, May 4 (AFP) - The French cable television station Canal Plus on Tuesday will broadcast images, stolen in Iraq, of a US army helicopter killing three Iraqis, one of them wounded, who do not appear to be posing any threat.

http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=25&story_id=7214

 

[Barking_Mad]

Total US dead for April: 140
Total US dead from May 1st to 3rd May (inclusive): 19
Total injured for April: 1073 (roughly 36 injured every day)
Total US dead: 760
Total dead since Bush said "Bring them on": 554
Total US wounded: 4133

05/04/04 AP: Coalition base and water purification plant in Iraq attacked
A base for multinational forces near the Iraqi holy city of Najaf (NAH'-jahf) came under mortar fire overnight. No reports of casualties.

05/04/04 RTE: Large blast near controversial Baghdad prison
There has been a large explosion in a western suburb of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, where the Abu Ghraib prison complex is located.

05/04/04 breakingnews: Shiite fighters launch attack on US base
Iraqi Shiite militiamen fired several mortar shells at a US base in Najaf early today and at a city hall guarded by Bulgarian troops in another Shiite city.

05/03/04 CJTF: Four 1st ID Soldiers Die in Vehicle Accident
Four 1st Infantry Division soldiers died from injuries sustained when their humvee rolled over during a combat patrol near Khalis. The accident occurred around 6:20 p.m., May 3.

05/03/04 Centcom: Marine Killed In Al Anbar Province (Confirmed)
One Marine assigned to I Marine Expeditionary Force was killed today as a result of enemy action in the Al Anbar Province while conducting security and stability operations.

05/03/04 AFP: Five Iraqis killed in Najaf clash
Five Iraqis have been killed during a fierce battle between militia and United States troops near Najaf amid further damaging revelations over the abuse of prisoners in US-run jails.

05/03/04 Reuters: U.S. Marine killed in W. Iraq -military
A U.S. Marine was killed in western Iraq on Monday, the U.S. military said in a statement.

05/03/04 AP:Army Blasts Iraq Rebels With Artillery
U.S. troops battling insurgents in west Baghdad pounded rebel positions with artillery fire Monday, the Army said.

05/03/04 AP: Oregon soldier wounded in Iraq
Former Florence resident Beverly Elliott, who now lives in Louisiana, said a single bullet passed through the legs of her son, 24-year-old Jason Mehlhoff, breaking both leg bones.

05/03/04 Centcom: 5 Sailors, 1 Soldier Killed (Confirmed)
Five U.S. Navy sailors and one U.S. Army soldier assigned to I Marine Expeditionary Force were killed May 2 in an indirect fire attack on a military installation in the Al Anbar Province

05/03/04 CanadianPress: Another Canadian taken hostage in Iraq
Another Canadian has been taken hostage in Iraq...officials believe Naji al Kuwaiti of Toronto was taken hostage

05/03/04 AFP: Iraqi policeman killed, six wounded in Najaf
An Iraqi policeman was killed and six people were hurt on Monday after an attack on a United States base outside the holy Shi'a city of Najaf, witnesses and a hospital doctor said.

05/03/04 Centcom: 1st Armored Division Soldier Killed, 2 Wounded
One 1st Armored Division Soldier was killed and two others wounded when they were attacked with small arms fire south of here May 3.

05/03/04 Xinhuanet: At least 10 mortar rounds fired at US military in Najaf
At least 10 mortar rounds were fired at the US military base in Najaf, some 160 km south of Iraqi capital of Baghdad, CNN reported Monday

05/03/04 CJTF: Task Force Danger Soldier Killed, 10 Wounded (confirmed)
A Task Force Danger Soldier was killed and 10 wounded during a suspected improvised explosive device attack and exchange of enemy small arms fire near Kirkuk at about 9:12 a.m. on May 2.

05/03/04 Centcom: 2 Soldiers Killed, 1 Wounded in Baghdad - May 2 (confirmed)
Two Task Force Baghdad Soldiers were killed and one was wounded during an improvised explosive device attack on their convoy in Baghdad around 5 a.m. May 2.

 

[Barking_Mad]

U.S. troops clash with Shiite militia

American military pounds rebel positions in west Baghdad with heavy artillery fire

NAJAF, Iraq - U.S. forces in Najaf came under their most intense attack yet by Shiite militiamen in a clash Monday that may have killed up to 20 Iraqis. But the military still held back from going after the militia's leader, a radical cleric, to avoid angering Iraq's Shiite majority.

The United States turned to a new commander for an Iraqi force taking control of Fallujah, considering Maj. Gen. Mohammed Latif, who opposed Saddam Hussein, to replace another general.

http://www.pjstar.com/news/topnews/b2ttg2r9047.html

 

[Barking_Mad]

Hopeful White House admits Iraq crisis could worsen

After the deadliest month yet for U.S. troops in Iraq, top Bush administration officials fear the situation will deteriorate in coming weeks as insurgents try to create turmoil amid the June 30 handover of power to Iraqis.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, White House officials said Monday they see reason to be hopeful that the situation will eventually improve. But they can't say when the turning point will come.

http://www.salon.com/news/wire/2004/05/04/iraq/index_np.html

 

[Barking_Mad]

Iraqi Human Rights Minister Resigns

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's U.S.-appointed human rights minister said Tuesday he had resigned to protest abuses of Iraqi detainees by American guards, and the interior minister demanded that Iraqi officials be allowed to participate in the running of prisons.

Abdul-Basat al-Turki said he resigned "not only because I believe that the use of violence is a violation of human rights but also because these methods in the prisons means that the violations are a common act." He did not say what day he submitted his resignation, but Iraqi news media said it was Sunday.

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/world/8587251.htm

 

[Barking_Mad]

Report in stating thatthe US are facing a demonstration outside the prison.

Baghdad, Iraq-AP -- Angry Iraqis have gathered outside Abu Ghraib (grayb) prison near Baghdad, demanding a U-S apology for the treatment of Iraqi prisoners.

People in the crowd chanted "democracy doesn't mean killing innocent people." Some yelled, "America and Israel are the enemies of God." They also hoisted a banner that said "Free women or we will launch jihad." Organizers of the protest want the U-S to punish all of the soldiers accused of abusing Iraqi prisoners, and to pay compensation to anyone who was abused. They also say human rights groups should be allowed to visit prisoners.

Some protesters say a low-ranking prison official promised them their demands will be met -- but they're skeptical.

http://www.kctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1841103

 

[redsquirrel]

Us Troops invade Najaf

Heavy fighting has broken out between US forces and Shia Muslim militiamen in the holy Iraqi city of Najaf.

US troops backed by armoured vehicles and helicopter gunships are said to have killed 41 fighters and retaken the governor's office.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3690669.stm

 

[freethepeeps]

Latif asks yanks to leave town.

"I want the American soldier to return to his camp. What I want more is that he returns to the United States," General Muhammad Latif told Reuters in an interview.

"They should leave very quickly, very quickly or there will be problems. If they stay it will hurt the confidence and we have built confidence. They should leave so that there will be more calm."

Wired

 

[Barking_Mad]

Looks like more trouble for the US.........Shooting prisoners from watchtowers...my oh my.

Red Cross Report to be released

GENEVA (Reuters) - The Red Cross discovered "serious violations" of the rights of Iraqi prisoners, with abuse so widespread it may be considered to have been tolerated by the U.S.-led coalition, the Wall Street Journal said on Friday.
In a confidential 24-page document, which was seen by the financial newspaper, the International Committee of the Red Cross said treatment in some cases was "tantamount to torture," particularly when interrogators were seeking information or confessions.

An official at the Geneva-based ICRC said the document, covering the period March-November 2003, was genuine, adding that the leak was a "major breakdown in confidentiality."

In a rare break with its normal practice, the ICRC said that it would release the full text at a 1400 GMT news conference. The use of ill-treatment "went beyond exceptional cases and might be considered a practice tolerated" by coalition forces, the newspaper quoted the ICRC as saying.

That differs sharply from the view of senior officials in the administration of President Bush that military higher-ups had not condoned abuse, the newspaper said. In the report, the ICRC said prisoners at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison were held in empty cells naked and beaten by soldiers. Three former military policemen at the prison told Reuters on Thursday that abuse was commonplace.

The aid group also said coalition forces fired on unarmed prisoners from watchtowers and killed some of them, as well as committing "serious violations" of the Geneva Conventions governing treatment of war prisoners, the Journal said.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5073940

 

[Barking_Mad]

Pentagon warned of inadequate control of private military contractors

WASHINGTON — A year before the Iraq invasion, the then-Army secretary warned his Pentagon bosses that there was inadequate control of private military contractors (search), which are now at the heart of controversies over misspending and prisoner abuse.

The author of that memo, retired Army chief Thomas White (search), said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press that the recent events show the Pentagon has a long way to go to fix the problems he identified in March 2002. "Clearly, there was a lot of work that had to be done and still needs to be done," White said Thursday.

In a sign of continued problems with the tracking of contracts, Pentagon officials on Thursday acknowledged they have yet to identify which Army entity manages the multimillion-dollar contract for interrogators like the one accused in the Iraq prisoner abuse probe. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld also acknowledged his department hasn't completed rules to govern the 20,000 or so private security guards watching over U.S. officials, installations and private workers in Iraq. No single Pentagon office tracks how many people — Americans, Iraqis or others — are on the department's payroll in Iraq.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,119272,00.html

 

[Barking_Mad]

Iraq's Rebel Cleric Defies Bush at Najaf Mosque

KUFA, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraq's rebel Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr defied U.S. troops closing in on his militia army, vowing in a Friday sermon to drive out the Americans as clashes in a nearby city left eight Iraqis dead.

"We won't allow you to control us. You will be forced out sooner or later," the young firebrand said in front of thousands of chanting supporters at the heavily guarded Kufa mosque just outside the holy city of Najaf, south of Baghdad. "You get your soldiers to beat prisoners with their guns. What kind of justice is that? What kind of humanity?" he declared, as a political storm built in Washington over abuse of Iraqis in U.S.-run jails in Iraq.

U.S. tanks swept in to key positions on Thursday in the boldest move yet to quell Sadr's month-long insurgency against U.S. occupation. U.S. troops kept a low profile around Najaf on Friday but clashes at Kerbala, another holy city northwest of Najaf, killed eight Iraqis, including three of Sadr's men, medical staff said.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5073968

 

[Barking_Mad]

'Abused' Iraqis launch action against MoD

Fresh allegations of abuse of Iraqi prisoners by British soldiers are to form part of a second legal action against the Ministry of Defence, lawyers confirmed yesterday.

The new cases follow the claims for compensation brought on Wednesday by the families of 12 Iraqis alleged to have been unlawfully killed by the British Army in Basra. Preliminary hearings in these cases are to begin at the High Court on Tuesday in front of Mr Justice Collins.

Phil Shiner, the solicitor representing all the claimants, said the new cases would be claims for personal injury suffered by Iraqi suspects during three days of questioning by the Army. The cases are expected to be heard in the High Court later this year. The claims include allegations of torture and savage games devised by the soldiers to force the seven men to talk.

In one of the men's accounts, the soldiers are accused of forcing the hooded suspects to stand in the middle of a circle of soldiers who then took it in turns to kick them against a wall. The winner was the soldier who kicked the suspect the furthest.

Kifah Taha, a 44-year-old engineer, the lead case in the personal injury action, describes how he was so badly kicked and beaten that he suffered acute renal failure.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=518943

 

[Barking_Mad]

Cleric seeks British soldier sex slaves

BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - A Muslim cleric in Basra is offering a reward of 100 pounds to any Iraqi who captures a British woman soldier and says she will be kept as a slave if handed over to religious leaders.

In a sermon to thousands of worshippers at Friday prayers in the southern, British-run city, Abdul-Satar al-Bahadli, a follower of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, also offered rewards for capturing members of Iraq's Governing Council.

"A 250,000 dinar reward will be given to whomever detains a female British soldier," Bahadli said. "She should be handed to the office of Sadr, the martyr, and she will be treated as a concubine."..........

.........Killing British and American soldiers or civilians would also carry a reward, worth about $12,000 (6,709 pounds), the statement said.


http://uk.news.yahoo.com/040507/325/et1ec.html

 

[Gumbert]

what the fuck!!!! Newsnight BBC 7th may

So, where are you warmongers? How do you explain the actions of your troops mo'fuckers...

Richard Perle appearing on British TV apologising for the teammate Rumsfeld looking haggard . Lets just say they've fucked up their plan big time.

:http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C9C70360-0C6E-4292-9E09-DA555DB24431.htm

Ooooops...

Financial times are screaming interest rate rise on oil.

oh no

jeez

what a proper fuck up. And to think I said to JC2 " enjoy the slaughter" and his retort was " fuck you junior" bless. True to form the US marines have been fucking the Iraqis, literally... Photos to prove it!!

Check google.

Daily mirror today....

TORTURE IS NEWS BUT IT'S NOT NEW

When I first went to report the American war against Vietnam, in the 1960s, I visited the Saigon offices of the great American newspapers and TV companies, and the international news agencies.

I was struck by the similarity of displays on many of their office pinboards. "That's where we hang our conscience," said an agency photographer.

There were photographs of dismembered bodies, of soldiers holding up severed ears and testicles and of the actual moments of torture. There were men and women being beaten to death, and drowned, and humiliated in stomach-turning ways. On one photograph was a stick-on balloon above the torturer's head, which said: "That'll teach you to talk to the press."

The question came up whenever visitors caught sight of these pictures: why had they not been published? A standard response was that newspapers would not publish them, because their readers would not accept them. And to publish them, without an explanation of the wider circumstances of the war, was to "sensationalise".

At first, I accepted the apparent logic of this; atrocities and torture by "us" were surely aberrations by definition. My education thereafter was rapid; for this rationale did not explain the growing evidence of civilians killed, maimed, made homeless and sent mad by "anti-personnel" bombs dropped on villages, schools and hospitals.

Nor did it explain the children burned to a bubbling pulp by something called napalm, or farmers hunted in helicopter "turkey shoots", or a "suspect" tortured to death with a rope around his neck, dragged behind a jeep filled with doped and laughing American soldiers.

Nor did it explain why so many soldiers kept human parts in their wallets and special forces officers who kept human skulls in their huts, inscribed with the words: "One down, a million to go."

Philip Jones Griffiths, the great Welsh freelance photographer with whom I worked in Vietnam, tried to stop an American officer blowing to bits a huddled group of women and children.

sleep well mate....

Good article the above though @ http://www.johnpilger.com/print

 

[Barking_Mad]

Meanwhile..........

Saturday's clashes took place in the cities of Amarah and Basra, the strongest show of force in the area in days by the al-Mahdi Army and perhaps an attempt to raise a diversion while the U.S military intensifies its crackdown on al-Sadr in his heartland, the holy Shiite cities of Najaf, Kufa and Karbala. U.S. forces have been gradually moving against al-Sadr strongpoints in those cities, and fighting has killed dozens over the past week.

U.S. troops backed by tanks entered Karbala from two directions on Saturday, blocking roads leading to the Imam Hussein Shrine at the city center. Most shops in the city were closed, and the streets were empty. Black-garbed al-Mahdi Army militia were out in force on Basra's streets, exchanging fire with passing British patrols and sparking skirmishes in several neighborhoods. A fierce gunbattle broke out in front of the Iraqi Central Bank, and gunmen seized a key bridge on the main route from the city to points south.

A group of gunmen assaulted the governor's building, and British troops moved in to reinforce the guards and take control of the building. British armored vehicles pursued large numbers of gunmen into Basra's impoverished Hanaya neighborhood. Unable to enter the district's small alleys, the British traded fire with militiamen firing from behind buildings...........

........At least two Iraqis were killed and three British soldiers wounded in the Basra fighting, a British military spokesman said.

Gunmen attacked a military convoy outside Amarah, lightly wounding two British soldiers and sparking shootouts in several parts of the city, as helicopter gunships hovered overhead to provide support. The troops swept briefly into al-Sadr's office, witnesses said. Witnesses reported nine militiamen killed in the fighting, and one child was killed when his house was struck by a projectile.



http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20040508_269.html

 

[Barking_Mad]

Iraqi scholars plan US opposition

Five-hundred Iraqis from across the political spectrum have been taking part in a Baghdad conference to discuss opposition to the US-led occupation. The organisers, calling themselves the United Iraqi Scholars Group, say the aim of their five-hour meeting was to work out a common platform on how to end the occupation.

If the people of Iraq, and the Arab world beyond, were hoping that the US-led invasion of Iraq and the collapse of its authoritarian Baathist regime would usher in an era of stability, peace and democracy, then they have been sorely disappointed.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3697225.stm

 

[Barking_Mad]

Attack disrupts Iraq oil exports

The US Army says Iraq has halted oil exports from its southern terminals after a sabotage attack on a pipeline. The pipeline - on the southern tip of the Faw Peninsula - was blown up on Saturday morning, a US Army spokesman told Reuters news agency. The US Army Corps of Engineers says the damaged pipeline is still ablaze.

The attack came just two weeks after coalition forces in southern Iraq foiled suicide boat attacks on oil tankers at the Basra terminal. The president of the South Oil Company, the company responsible for the oil industry in southern Iraq, told Reuters that Saturday's attack had drastically reduced Iraq's oil exports.

"The situation is not good," Jabar al-Leaby said. He said the attack affected flows to the al-Basra terminal. The al-Basra terminal, together with the smaller Khor al-Amaya terminal, in southern Iraq jointly export 1.6 million barrels daily.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3699491.stm

 

[Barking_Mad]

I think people should keep a keen eye on what's going on inside Iraq bar the torture photo's. I get the feeling much is being missed....

US Troops move in on Kufa, Brits destroy houses with helicopters?

The U.S. foray into Kufa was the deepest move yet into the city, a Mahdi Army stronghold. Several tanks pushed as close as 500 yards from Kufa's main mosque, trading fire with militiamen on both sides of the main road, witnesses said. Tanks also moved into the neighborhood on the other side of Kufa, trading fire with fighters. Two civilians were killed and 10 others, including two children, were wounded in the battles, hospital officials said. Three houses were destroyed. The tanks pulled out of the city in the afternoon.

"It was the first time the Americans came this far," said Odai Abdulkarim, 24, a mechanic who has a shop off the highway leading to the Kufa mosque, where Sadr regularly leads Friday prayers. "We are afraid for our families, afraid the rockets would hit our house." Also Sunday, scattered clashes occurred between U.S. and militia forces in the industrial area of Najaf, where Sadr sought refuge last month. Plumes of black smoke could be seen rising from the area. Iraqi police and U.S. tanks blocked the main road from Najaf to nearby Kufa, residents said.

The U.S. military has vowed to kill or capture Sadr and put down his militia, which has taken control of much of the holy cities of Kufa, Najaf and Karbala, south of the capital. But troops have been hampered by the nearby sites revered by Iraq's Shiite majority..........

........Several houses were destroyed in Amarah's Sadeq district, killing four civilians. Residents accused British helicopters of striking the neighborhood, but Clooney said no helicopters opened fire.


http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0510iraq-fighting10.html

you'll need to enter your 'postcode' and other bits to read this article.

 

[Barking_Mad]

U.S. Marines enter Falluja

FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - A U.S. Marine convoy has entered Falluja for the first time in more than a month, testing a shaky truce with insurgents in Iraq's most rebellious town, witnesses say. Marines, accompanied by Iraqi security forces entrusted with eventually taking over security, arrived at the mayor's office in the town centre in armoured vehicles and Humvees without incident. But the calm in Falluja has not eased the fears of Iraqi security forces, who worry they will suffer the fate of hundreds of their comrades killed by insurgents for cooperating with the Americans.

"We are glad you are here with us and that you liberated Iraq, but we would like the Americans to stay out and let us deal with the security," Falluja Police Capt. Hammed Alayash told Major-General James Mattis, commander of the 1st Marines Division. "I think it would be safer if we are not seen with foreign forces."

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=507746&section=news

 

[Barking_Mad]

US secret agents quiz boy over art

Secret service agents questioned a US high school pupil about anti-war drawings he did for an art class, one of which depicted George Bush's head on a stick. Another drawing portrayed Mr Bush as a devil launching a missile, with a caption reading: "End the war - on terrorism." The 15-year-old boy's art teacher at Prosser high school, in Washington state, turned the drawings over to a school administrators, who notified police, who called the secret service. "We involve the police anytime we have a concern," the Prosser school superintendent, Ray Tolcacher, told the Tri-City Herald newspaper.

Secret service agents interviewed the boy last Friday. The pupil, who was not arrested, has not been identified. The school district disciplined him, but Mr Tolcacher said he was not suspended. The drawing that drew most attention showed a man in what appeared to be Middle Eastern-style clothing, holding a rifle and a stick with an oversized head of the president on it. The secret service in Washington DC had not yet commented yesterday.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/antiwar/story/0,12809,1204922,00.html

 

[Bernie Gunther]

US armour and bombers destroy Sadr HQ

While we're all rather distracted by the torture incidents, it looks like the US is getting a few of the more messy jobs on its 'to-do' list quietly over with.

They just levelled Sadr's Baghdad HQ, apparently killing at least 35 Iraqis.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3700131.stm

 

[bigfish]

Fighting escalates in Iraq as US seeks to crush Shia rebellion

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/may2004/iraq-m10.shtml

The Coalition Provisional Authority and the US military continue to assert that the month-long uprising led by Sadr is isolated. There is every indication, however that the opposite is the case. On Friday, a joint Sunni-Shiite rally was held in support of al-Sadr in the Baghdad suburb of Adhamiya. Before an audience of thousands, a leading Sunni cleric declared: “They [the US] have tried to sow discord among us, as Sunnis and Shiites, but they have failed.” The crowd reportedly chanted “Moqtada” and “Sunni, Shiite, unite!”


The Shiite rebellion has severely undermined the morale of the US military. When the Bush administration launched the invasion of Iraq last March, it claimed that the Shiite population in particular would welcome American troops. Thirteen months on, the Shiite areas of the country are becoming the focus of the Iraqi national resistance to the occupation. Whatever the immediate fate of Sadr, it is now apparent to the US military that it will be confronting a never-ending and escalating guerilla struggle.


The fears in military circles were highlighted on Sunday in an article in the Washington Post, headlined “Dissension grows in senior ranks on war strategy.” Colonel Paul Hughes, who was a director of strategic planning in the early stages of the occupation, told the Post: “I lost my brother in Vietnam... Here I am, 30 years later, thinking we’ll win every fight and lose the war, because we don’t understand the war we’re in.” An unnamed military intelligence officer stated: “We are rapidly losing the support of the middle, which will enable the insurgency to continue indefinitely until our national resolve is worn down.”

 

[laptop]

Le Monde runs 8 pages on torture...

Le Monde Sunday/Monday 9/10 May has an 8-page dossier on torture in war.

So I've just read the best bits of Seymour Hirsh's New Yorker article, in French. Which is surreal. The original is currently available here.

And yes, Le Monde does acknowledge that the US may have borrowed a leaf from French forces' methods in Algeria.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Updates from the last two days

05/11/04 Reuters: Civilian convoy hit in Iraq, several people missing
Guerrillas attacked a 21-vehicle civilian supply convoy on its way to Baghdad from Jordan on Tuesday and several people are unaccounted for, a senior US military official said

05/11/04 Reuters: Body, possibly American, found in Baghdad
The body of a westerner, believed to be American, has been found in Baghdad, a senior US military official told reporters on Tuesday.

05/11/04 BGNES: Three Iraqis Killed in Bomb Attack in N.Iraq City Kirkuk
A bomb exploded in a crowded market in a Kurdish neighborhood of the northern Iraq oil city Kirkuk on Tuesday, killing three people and wounding around 22, Iraqi police said

05/11/04 Novinite: Russian Civilian Killed in Baghdad
A Russian civilian was killed and another two kidnapped by unknown assailants in an armed attack upon their car

05/10/04 DOD: Casualty Identified
Spc. Philip D. Brown, 21, of El Paso, Texas, died May 8 in Balad, Iraq, from injuries sustained west of Samarra

05/10/04 JapanToday: Dutch soldier killed in Samawah
A Dutch soldier was killed and another injured in a grenade attack Monday night in the southern Iraq city of Samawah

05/10/04 Centcom: U.S. Soldier dies from injuries
One Task Force Olympia Soldier died May 10 from injuries following a small-arms-fire attack on a patrol in western Mosul.

05/10/04 Centcom: One Soldier killed, wounded by IED near Samarra
One 1st Infantry Division Soldier was killed and another Soldier was wounded when an improvised explosive device exploded during a patrol near Samarra on May 8 at about 9:30 a.m.

05/10/04 LATimes: 5 troops injured in Saturday's clashes in Basra
Five troops in the U.S.-led coalition were injured in Saturday's clashes in Basra, and between 30 and 40 al-Sadr militia men wounded or killed, according to a senior coalition official.

05/10/04 wkyt: Kentucky Soldier Recovering From Attack In Iraq
22-year-old Corporal Adam Tapp was on patrol when he and a fellow soldier were shot last week.

05/10/04 Centcom: Soldier killed in collision
A 16th Military Police Brigade Soldier was killed in an accidental collision between the Soldier's Humvee and a U.S. tank southwest of Baghdad around 10:15 p.m. May 9. [/B]

05/10/04 Focus: Grenade Fire At Bulgarian Patrol In Iraq
A Bulgarian patrol of the contingent in Iraq was fired at with a grenadier launcher at 1:30 am today, bTV reported. There are no casualties

05/10/04 AFP: Six killed in Baghdad market blast
The bomb was concealed in a box of bananas in Baya market, western Baghdad, a police officer told AFP, giving a casualty toll of four dead and nine wounded. Witnesses said two more people, both policemen, also died. ?

05/10/04 BBC: Baghdad hotel hit by bomb blast
A bomb has exploded outside the Four Seasons Hotel in Baghdad, injuring up to eight people.

05/10/04 theaustralian: New Zealander killed in Iraq attack
ASSAILANTS have shot dead a New Zealander, a South African and an Iraqi working for a reconstruction firm in the northern Iraqi oil city of Kirkuk, police said today.

http://lunaville.org/warcasualties/Summary.aspx