Monday, December 01, 2003
War News for December 1, 2003
Bring ‘em on: Major firefight in Samarra kills 54 Iraqis, wounds five US soldiers.
Bring ‘em on: Three Iraqi insurgents killed while planting roadside bomb near Kirkuk.
Bring ‘em on: Iraqi Arab politician kidnapped in Kirkuk.
Bring 'em on: One US soldier killed in ambush near Habbaniyah.
Analysis: Bremer is out of touch with reality. “Bremer's inability to grasp the significance of Sistani's message of June was also an outcome of the isolation of all the personnel of the CPA, even from those Iraqis who haven't been part of the expatriate membership of the IGC.”
Report from Hilla.
Insurgents place bounty on British police chief in Basra.
Life in Bremer's CPA compound. "They rarely travel outside the safety zones without an armed escort, or must sneak away at the dead of night in contravention of strict rules on personal safety."
Analysis: Retired US general comments on Samarra battle: “Gathering in large numbers, either to show that they had a force that was different than before, that it's actually a fighting force, not just a bunch of people that vanish and disappear. That they wanted the population, almost, to see them and they were willing to die.” Well, General, since this is about the best observation I’ve heard yet from any of the talking heads, I won’t tell everybody about the time the wild boar ate your combat boots while we were in the field at Hohenfels.
Losing hearts and minds.
Eight civilians killed, 60 wounded in Samarra battle.
First nationwide poll finds 73% of Iraqis have no faith in the Coalition Provision Authority. Other results are at the link.
Here's how Voice of America spins the poll story. When the US media gets done with this story, you'll think the Iraqis have elected Lieutenant AWOL Caliph of Baghdad.
Commentary
Opinion: The need for a draft to support Bush’s War becomes more apparent.
Opinion: Operation Jive Turkey. “While serving chow, Bush spilled the beans about a new reason for our being in Iraq in the first place, since the search is still going on for a good one. It’s not because of WMDs. It’s not to fight terrorism. It’s not to take out Saddam Hussein. It’s not to show the U.N. what a spine looks like. It’s not to turn all those camel herders into ward bosses. No. It’s because we slogged our way there, and now that we are there, we might as well stay.”
Casualty Reports
Local story: More about a Texas soldier killed in Iraq.
Local story: Pennsylvania soldier wounded in Iraq.
Local story: Iowa soldier killed in Iraq.
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