Today in Iraq

War News for Saturday, October 23, 2004 Bring ‘em on: Ten Iraqi policemen killed, 40 wounded in car bomb attack near Ramadi. Bring ‘em on: Four Iraqis killed in roadside bomb ambush of US convoy near Latifiyah. Bring ‘em on: Two Iraqi children killed, four wounded by tank fire near Fallujah. Bring ‘em on: Heavy fighting reported near Baquba after US patrol ambush. Bring ‘em on: Five US soldiers wounded by car bomb in Mosul. Bring ‘em on: Two US soldiers, one Iraqi civilian wounded in fighting in Mosul. Bring ‘em on: Six US soldiers wounded by car bomb in Baghdad. Bring ‘em on: Three Danish soldiers wounded in two patrol ambushes near Basra. Bring ‘em on: Two Iraqi policemen wounded by car bomb at police station near Ishaqi. Bring ‘em on: Iraqi police break up pro-Sadr demonstration in Kufa. Bring ‘em on: Two US soldiers wounded by roadside bomb near Fallujah. Bring ‘em on: US air strikes, ground fighting continues in Fallujah. Bring ‘em on: Green Zone mortared in Baghdad. Bring ‘em on: Two Turkish truck drivers killed, two wounded in convoy ambush near Mosul. Bring ‘em on: Three Macedonian hostages executed by insurgents in Iraq. Bring ‘em on: Two oil pipelines ablaze near Baghdad. CENTCOM reports one US soldier died of a non-combat related injury near Tikrit. Australia orders soldiers moonlighting as civilian contractors out of Iraq. US soldier sentenced for going AWOL from Iraq deployment. Lieutenant AWOL’s flu vaccine fiasco impacts military readiness. Outsourcing. “The company, which quickly grew to garner security contracts worth $100 million in little more than a year, denies the charges. It argues that the managers confused sincere attempts to document jobs done in a hurry, in a war zone, with deliberate deception and that the company provided all contracted services for the agreed-upon price. The memos and a lawsuit filed by former employees cite several specific instances, including billing the Coalition Provisional Authority $157,000 for a helicopter pad that in fact cost $95,000, and repainting forklifts abandoned by Baghdad Airways and then charging the authority thousands of dollars a month, claiming that the forklifts were leased.” Blowback. “Intelligence officials fear that for a new generation of disaffected European Muslims, Iraq could become what Afghanistan, Bosnia and Chechnya were for European Islamic militants in past decades: a galvanizing cause that sends idealistic young men abroad, trains them and puts them in touch with a more radical global network of terrorists. In the past, many young Europeans who fought in those wars came back to Europe to plot terrorist attacks at home. ‘We consider these people dangerous because those who go will come back once their mission is accomplished,’ the intelligence official said. ‘Then they can use the knowledge gained there in France, Europe or the United States. It's the same as those who went to Afghanistan or Chechnya.’ Hundreds of young militant Muslim men have left Europe to fight in Iraq, according to senior counterterrorism officials in four European countries. They have been recruited through mosques, Muslim centers and militant Web sites by several groups, including Ansar al-Islam, the Kurdish terrorist group once based in northern Iraq.” Frivolous lawsuit. “Jay Ferriola, 31, of New York filed suit in Manhattan federal court on Friday seeking an injunction blocking the Army from enforcing an order returning him to active duty on Monday. The case names Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld and others as defendants. The suit charges that the Army's order, dated October 8, violates Ferriola's Constitutional rights against ‘involuntary servitude’ and is a breach of his contract with the military. An emergency hearing was set in the matter for Sunday.” Voting with their feet. “More than 800 former soldiers have failed to comply with Army orders to get back in uniform and report for duty in Iraq or Afghanistan, the Army said Friday. That is more than one-third of the total who were told to report to a mobilization station by October 17.” Commentary Editorial: “The abuses at Abu Ghraib went even further. But they grew out of an officially sanctioned lawlessness that Bush justified by claiming a special need for information in the ‘war’ on terror. A painful irony is that, last month, Miller reported the military is getting 50 percent more high-quality tips from Iraqi prisoners since the scandal forced it to drop some coercive measures, and use incentives instead. Bush's tough policy was illegal, immoral and ineffective. And accountability stops at the staff sergeant?” Analysis: “President Bush dislikes institutions like the United Nations and the International Criminal Court, which he believes impair American sovereignty. All his talk about coalitions is largely a sham. His touchstone is the use of unfettered military power to pursue American interests, not diplomacy or economic sanctions or the concerted pressure of like-minded allies.” Note to Readers I wanted to thank all who emailed me or posted their condolences in Comments over the death of my sister Marilyn. I appreciate your sympathy. Thanks. I also want to thank matt for running this hamburger stand during my absence and thank all the readers who posted news stories in Comments. YD From the Scientific Wild-Assed Guess Department The Bush campaign reports that Lieutenant AWOL plans to spend the day relaxing at his Texas pesthole near Crawford. While I realize that Shrubby himself has the work ethic of a ham sandwich, I find it hard to believe his handlers are going to let him sit on his ass ten days before an election. So my SWAG of the day is that Operation Jive Turkey II will soon be announced. YD 86-43-04. Pass it on.