Today in Iraq

War News for March 17, 2004 Bring ‘em on: One Iraqi killed, five wounded in rocket attack on Baghdad mosque. Bring ‘em on: Iraqi police colonel, two bodyguards killed near Mosul. Bring ‘em on: US troops attacked near Ramadi. Bring ‘em on: US troops mortared near Kirkuk. Bring 'em on: Many casualties reported as bomb destroys central Baghdad hotel. US allies fear revenge attacks for role in Iraq. Honduras to withdraw troops from Iraq. IGC minister says coalition are not doing enough to ensure the security of Iraqis. Civilian casualties. “It has been nearly a year since the war in Iraq started, but U.S. military commanders are just beginning to reckon with the volume of civilian casualties streaming in for assistance. Twice a week, at a center in Baghdad, masses of grief-weary Iraqis line up, some on crutches, some disfigured, some clutching photographs of smashed houses and silenced children, all ready to file a claim for money or medical treatment. It is part of a new compensation process unique to this war.” Zapatero tells off Lieutenant AWOL: "’The occupation is a fiasco. There have been almost more deaths after the war than during the war,’ he said. ‘The occupying forces have not allowed the United Nations to take control of the situation.’" Lies and the lying liars. “US President George Bush and his four top advisers made a combined total of 237 misleading public statements on the threat posed by Iraq. The claim was made in a congressional report released on Tuesday. Compiled by Democratic staff of the House Government Reform Committee, the report examined assertions made by Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice.” Commentary Opinion: “We never should have invaded Iraq, but now we have a responsibility to the Iraqi people not to leave them in a new world of chaos that we created. Even the CIA warns of the very real threat of civil war in Iraq. Is this the president's definition of ‘Mission Accomplished?’” Opinion: “We proved that the world’s mightiest nation could stand virtually alone and still have its way, but at what price? Can we afford to be reckless and independent gunslingers in future conflicts? Does such arrogance erode our leadership in the war against terror? If the Iraqis ever get around to thanking us for what we did, we would do well to remind them that they were the lucky recipients of a series of unprecedented political and strategic blunders that, at great cost to us, worked to their long-term benefit.” Opinion: “Ever since Sept. 11, 2001, I have been behind a war on terrorism. Let me specify -- a war on terror that I thought would oust Osama bin Laden. This war in Afghanistan was apparently just fuel in the fire for a Bush administration that wanted to rid the world of Saddam Hussein. The administration, in my opinion, sidetracked from the true goal of the war on terror to complete its own agenda.” Casualty Reports Local story: Massachusetts soldier killed in Iraq. Local story: Missouri soldier wounded in Iraq. Local story: Ohio soldier wounded in Iraq. Local story: Florida soldier wounded in Iraq. Local story: Minnesota soldier wounded in Iraq. Local story: Tennessee Marine wounded in Iraq. 86-43-04. Pass it on.