Today in Iraq

War News for April 1, 2004 Bring 'em on: US convoy attacked in Fallujah. Bring 'em on: Three British soldiers wounded by roadside bomb near Basra. Bring 'em on: US fuel convoy attacked near Baghdad. Bring 'em on: One demonstrator killed as Iraqi police open fire in Basra. Bring 'em on: Nine US soldiers wounded in rocket attack near Kirkuk. Bring 'em on: One US soldier wounded by roadside bomb near Baghdad. Bring 'em on: Car bomb in Ramadi kills six Iraqis, wounds five. Al-Jazeera clarifies earlier report of six US soldiers killed in Samarra. Medical evacuarions from Iraq exceed 18,000. "The new data, through March 13, is nearly two-thirds higher than the 11,200 evacuations through Feb. 5 cited just last month to Congress by the same official, William Winkenwerder Jr., assistant secretary of defense for health affairs." High-profile Baghdad trade fair cancelled due to deteriorating security. Imagery from Fallujah "too graphic" for US TV executives. Of course, the same networks constantly replayed grisly footage from Mogadishu. March 2004. "Including five U.S. Army soldiers killed on Wednesday when a roadside bomb exploded next to their armoured vehicle convoy west of Baghdad, at least 50 American troops and two civilian Defence Department employees died in Iraq in March, according to Pentagon figures. That total does not include the four U.S. civilian contractors slain in the restive city of Falluja on Wednesday. Their bodies were burned and mutilated by a jubilant crowd, and two corpses were left dangling from a bridge." Poor security drives occupation costs higher. "In a quarterly report made public on Wednesday online at www.cpa-ig.org, Bowen said security ate up 10-15 percent or more of the total costs of Iraqi contracts, and he predicted more funding would be needed to cover this." Commentary Editorial: "The government continues to set minimum or inadequate standards in providing care for Americans who risk their lives to serve the nation. A recent Pentagon memo told Army physicians to scale back on examinations offered to troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan -- including routine blood tests, electrocardiograms and X-rays. An ill-prepared government is cutting corners and putting its own soldiers at risk." Opinion: "So, if Al Qaeda's goal was to totally isolate America — along with Israel — as the number-one enemy of Islam, Bush helped them accomplish this. And since Bush had destroyed the post-9/11 coalition, Al Qaeda was also safer to go forth and multiply in this now-splintered world. Even Iraq, which Al Qaeda had been unable to penetrate with the tyrannical Saddam at the helm, was turned into a haven and breeding ground for terrorists." Analysis: "The result has been a disastrous occupation in which security remains an agonizing problem. The administration's current inability to arrange a viable political transition is but the most recent illustration of its foolishness in launching an invasion in the first place. Had the president and his inner circle welcomed advice, their own Middle East experts could have warned them that there was no German option for Iraq." Opinion: "How long will it be before we lose our stomachs for this sort of butchery? How long must we listen to the rationalizations of those in charge, like this Duelfer fellow who is now in charge of "looking" for weapons of mass destruction that do not exist? Unlike his predecessor, who declared Iraq to be devoid of WMD, this latest White House lapdog still says he believes that some kind of arsenal will turn up, which is pure rhetoric with no substance at all to back it up. In other words, it's the party line." Casualty Reports Local story: Maine Guardsman killed in Iraq. Local story: California Marine killed in Iraq. Local story: Pennsylvania soldier wounded in Iraq. Local story: Pennsylvania soldier wounded in Iraq. 86-43-04. Pass it on.