Today in Iraq

War News for Saturday, November 13, 2004 Bring ‘em on: Insurgents retain control of Mosul amid heavy fighting. Bring ‘em on: Insurgents seize neighborhoods, police stations in Tal Afar. Bring ‘em on: Eight Iraqis killed by two car bombs in Hilla. Bring ‘em on: Heavy fighting continues in Fallujah. Bring ‘em on: Turkish truck driver killed in ambush near Balad. Bring ‘em on: Four US helicopters hit by ground fire near Fallujah. Bring ‘em on: One US soldier killed, two wounded in Baghdad patrol ambush. Bring ‘em on: One US soldier killed during combat operations in Mosul. Bring ‘em on: US helicopter shot down near Baghdad, three soldiers wounded. Bring ‘em on: Four Iraqis wounded in fighting near Baquba. Bring ‘em on: US contractor kidnapped in Baghdad. Bring ‘em on: Two US soldiers wounded by roadside bomb near Balad. Bring ‘em on: Four Iraqi civilians wounded by roadside bomb near Tikrit. Bring ‘em on: Three police checkpoints attacked and destroyed on Kirkuk – Tikrit road. Bring ‘em on: Oil and gas pipelines ablaze near Beiji and Kirkuk. Bring ‘em on: Two US soldiers wounded by sniper fire in Baghdad. US infantry battalion redeployed from Fallujah to retake Mosul. Iraqi interim government redeploys border guards to retake Mosul. Curfews imposed in Falluja, Ramadi, Samarra, Bayji, Hawija and Mosul, Baghdad and Najaf as November uprising spreads. Morning news round-up from al-Jazeera. Baghdad airport closed indefinitely to civil aviation. Netherlands will withdraw troops in March. Neocon ideologues vs. CIA analysts. “Transitions between CIA directors are often unsettling for career officers. Goss's arrival has been especially tense because he brought with him four former members of the intelligence committee known widely on the Hill and within the agency for their abrasive management style and for their criticism of the agency's clandestine services in a committee report. Three are former mid-level CIA officials who left the agency disgruntled, according to former colleagues. The fourth, Murray, who also worked at the Justice Department, has a reputation for being highly partisan. When senior managers have gone to Goss to complain about his staff actions, one CIA officer said, Goss has told them: ‘Talk to my chief of staff. I don't do personnel.’” Commentary Editorial: “All this again raises troubling questions over whether there are enough coalition troops on the ground to not only win the battles, but to secure the elusive peace. We know President Bush's answer to that question (that if commanders want more troops, they only need to ask). But with the situation that's developing, we must wonder, again, if it's the right answer. Offensive military operations have never been our problem; it's security afterwards.” Analysis: “According to official Pentagon spin, "hundreds and hundreds" of "terrorists" have already been killed in Fallujah. There's no proof - and there's no way to independently confirm it. Also because of the news blackout, nobody knows how many Fallujah civilians are dead. Sat-phone calls to Baghdad by trapped Fallujah civilians tell of rows of decomposing bodies littering the streets. Firdoos al-Abadi, the lady who is the head of the Iraqi Red Crescent's emergency committee, sums it all up: "It is a disaster inside Fallujah. There is no water, no electricity, no food. They [the Americans] are forbidding doctors from helping the people." The Red Crescent sent a convoy of four trucks to the city on Thursday with some first aid kits, food, blankets and tents. But a makeshift hospital set up in a mosque is helpless because the doctors are severely under-equipped.” Casualty Reports Local story: Maryland soldier killed in Iraq. Local story: Florida Marine killed in Iraq. Local story: Illinois Marine killed in Iraq. Local story: Pennsylvania soldier killed in Iraq. Local story: Illinois Marine killed in Iraq. Local story: California Guardsman killed in Iraq. Local story: Georgia Marine killed in Iraq. Local story: Florida Marine killed in Iraq. Local story: California Marine killed in Iraq. Local story: Kansas soldier wounded in Iraq. Local story: Ohio Marine wounded in Iraq. Local story: Kansas sailor wounded in Iraq. Local story: Texas contractor killed in Iraq.