Today in Iraq

War News for September 21 and 22, 2004 Bring ‘em on: Two US hostages executed by insurgents. Bring ‘em on: Two US Marines killed in fighting in al-Anbar province. Bring ‘em on: One US soldier killed in roadside bomb ambush near Tikrit. Bring ‘em on: Eleven Iraqis killed, “dozens” wounded in Baghdad car bombing. Bring ‘em on: US helicopter shot down near Nassiriyah; three crew members wounded. Bring ‘em on: Ten Iraqis killed, 92 wounded in heavy fighting, air strikes in Sadr City. Bring ‘em on: One Iraqi detainee killed in insurgent attack on Abu Ghraib. Bring ‘em on: US air strikes reported in Fallujah. Bring ‘em on: Four Iraqis killed in fighting with US troops near Samarra. Bring ‘em on: Four US soldiers wounded in car bomb attack on US convoy in Baghdad. Bring ‘em on: Two Iraqi civilians wounded by US patrol near Samarra. Bring ‘em on: One Iraqi killed; five civilians, two police wounded by two roadside bombs near Baquba. Bring ‘em on: US troops raid al-Sadr offices in Najaf. Haifa Street. “Until last week, the world knew little about Haifa Street. Then came the spectacular car bombs in front of the Iraqi police station, and suddenly, Haifa was Iraq’s newest war zone. But to the soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 9th Cavalry Regiment, who must patrol the sector that includes Haifa Street, that area has been an all-out war zone for months. In fact, soldiers with the 1-9 Cav don’t call it Haifa Street. To them, it’s ‘Grenade Alley,’ or ‘Purple Heart Boulevard.’” Sovereignty. “Two Iraqi female prisoners being held by U.S. authorities in Iraq will not be released imminently, the U.S. embassy in Baghdad said on Wednesday. ‘The two women are in legal and physical custody of the multinational forces in Iraq and neither will be released imminently,’ a spokesman for the U.S. embassy said. Senior officials in the Iraqi Justice Ministry said earlier on Wednesday that at least one of the two, microbiologist Rihab Taha, could be freed as early as Wednesday following a review of her detention status.” I seem to remember that part of the “sovereignty” deal was that the Iraqi interim government would receive legal custody of detainees. Sovereignty, Part Deux. “After This Week arranged with Allawi's office for Sunday's interview, the U.S. State Department called ABC to say that the office of U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte in Baghdad had decided that the interview would not happen until this coming Sunday, after Allawi's U.S. visit. This attempt by the U.S. embassy to exercise sovereignty over the prime minister raised interesting questions about just what was actually transferred on June 28 when sovereignty was supposedly given to the Iraqi government. The White House recognized the inconvenience of such questions. The interview occurred.” More money. The Pentagon has begun tapping into its $25 billion emergency fund for the Iraq war to prepare for a major troop rotation and intense fighting this fall, administration officials said on Tuesday, despite the White House's initial insistence that it had enough money…. Bush has so far spent $120 billion in Iraq, not including the $25 billion contingency fund, and officials said he could seek another $50 billion in February. With the rate of spending in Iraq already at more than $1 billion a week, the Pentagon may not have enough money to ‘get past Christmas,’ let alone wait until February, said John Pike, a defense analyst with GlobalSecurity.org. He said the White House could need closer to $75 billion next year.” Allawi campaigns for Lieutenant AWOL. “The Bush administration began an intensive campaign this week to present Prime Minister Ayad Allawi of Iraq as the face of his nation and a symbol of progress, even as the violence in the country has been mounting and doubts have been growing that elections can be held there in January.” Coalition of the squabbling. “Bulgarian Defense Minister Nikolai Svinarov has accused the Polish command in Iraq of failing to consult him on a plan to redeploy the Bulgarian troops stationed at Karbala, the Bulgarian daily 24 Hours reported Tuesday. Bulgaria alone will decide whether to relocate its troops in Iraq, and ‘our country will not allow decisions to be imposed on us,’ Svinarov said on Monday in a sharply worded letter to his Polish counterpart, Jerzy Szmajdzinski. He was referring to the transfer of 480 Bulgarian troops announced by Polish Major General Andrzej Ekiert.” Fried Rice. "’There's no evidence that the Iraqis are falling into civil war,’ Rice told NBC television's ‘Today’ show, claiming progress is being made despite the recent wave of car-bombings and hostage-takings. She insisted that ‘there's a political process underway in Iraq that has already brought into power a very good government.’" Commentary Editorial: “Mr. Bush has never exhibited much respect for the United Nations at the best of times. But the United States now desperately needs the partnership of other nations on Iraq. Without substantial help from major nations, the prospects for stabilizing that country anytime soon are bleak. American soldiers and taxpayers are paying a heavy price for Washington's wrongheaded early insistence on controlling all important military, political and economic decision-making in post-invasion Iraq. “ Casualty Reports Local story: Pennsylvania soldier killed in Iraq. Local story: Pennsylvania soldier dies from wounds received in Iraq. Local story: North Carolina Marine killed in Iraq. Local story: Tennessee soldier killed in Iraq. Local story: Arkansas soldier killed in Iraq. 86-43-04. Pass it on.