Today in Iraq

War News for April 5, 2004 Bring ‘em on: Seven US soldiers killed, over 24 wounded in Baghdad firefight. Bring ‘em on: One US soldier killed, one wounded by roadside bomb near Mosul. Bring ‘em on: One US soldier killed, one soldier and five Iraqi civilians wounded by car bomb in Kirkuk. Bring ‘em on: One US Marine killed in action in al-Anbar province. Bring ‘em on: Shi’ite militia seizes control of Kufa after ICDC members flee. Bring ‘em on: US troops under mortar fire near Fallujah. Bring ‘em on: Four Iraqis killed, eight wounded in firefight with British troops in Amara. Bring ‘em on: One Italian soldier wounded in fighting in Nasiriyah. Bring ‘em on: One Salvadoran soldier killed, 14 Salvadorans wounded fighting in Najaf and Kufa. Bring ‘em on: Three Portuguese soldiers wounded in ambush in Nasiriyah. Bring ‘em on: Heavy fighting continues in Baghdad. Bring ‘em on: Shi’ite militia storm governor’s office in Basra. Bring ‘em on: Firefights reported as US Marines enter Fallujah. Bring ‘em on: Four insurgents killed by premature explosion of roadside bomb near Beiji. CPA closes Iraqi highways between Baghdad and Jordan indefinitely. Bad news gets worse. “The fighting erupted when five trucks of US soldiers and the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps (ICDC) tried to enter the district and were attacked by Sadr supporters, Amid said. Coming under fire, the ICDC, a paramilitary force trained by the Americans, turned on the US soldiers and started to shoot at them, according to Amid. The soldiers fled their vehicles and headed for cover and then began to battle both the Mehdi Army and the ICDC members, he said. Their vehicles were set ablaze.” Emphasis added. RNC East. "Inside the marble-floored palace hall that serves as the press office of the U.S.-led coalition, Republican Party operatives lead a team of Americans who promote mostly good news about Iraq. Dan Senor, a former press secretary for Spencer Abraham, the Michigan Republican who's now Energy Secretary, heads the office packed with former Bush campaign workers, political appointees and ex-Capitol Hill staffers. One-third of the U.S. civilian workers in the press office have GOP ties, running an enterprise that critics see as an outpost of Bush's re-election effort with Iraq a top concern. Senor and others inside the coalition say they follow strict guidelines that steer clear of politics… Senor jogged in a Thanksgiving Day race here wearing a ‘Bush-Cheney 2004’ T-shirt.” One US soldier dies of wounds received in Sadr City fighting. Commentary Analysis: “It was George W. Bush’s misadventure to get into something that he couldn’t finish. He is encumbered with his despicable neoconservative advisers, whose only desire is to find oil for Israel. Let us never forget the names of these neoconservatives who set out to assure the world that going to Iraq would be ‘a walk in the park,’ or ‘a cake walk,’ to use two of their catch phrases. Strangely, apparently none of these neoconservatives knows anything at all about the Middle East, and certainly not about Iraq. George W. Bush had never been near the country until after the war began. Nor apparently had Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, former Defense Board member Richard Perle, nor Deputy Assistant Secretary Douglas Feith, to mention just a few. And let us never forget the American servicemen and women who died or were maimed in the service of a 'wartime president' who had never gone to war.” Opinion: “A red, white and blue banner was unfurled on deck: ‘Mission Accomplished.’ That is the defining moment of the Bush presidency. Here's a president that led us into a quagmire, where American civilian and military lives are still jeopardized almost a year later, and he declared the war over.” Opinion: “But the administration has shown a truly remarkable ability to politicize everything. Disagree with the war in Iraq? You’re helping the terrorists. Disagree with out-of-control fiscal policies? You’re helping the terrorists. Want to know Saudi Arabia’s role in the Sept. 11, attacks? You’re helping the terrorists. Worried about your civil liberties? You’re helping the terrorists. Are you a teacher? I hate to inform you that you actually are a terrorist.” Casualty Reports Local story: Wyoming soldier wounded in Iraq. Awards and Decorations Local story: Nevada Marine posthumously decorated for valor. 86-43-04. Pass it on.