Today in Iraq

DAILY WAR NEWS FOR MONDAY, July 24, 2006 The comic book cover shown (…) was created by Latuff of Brazil. In his country, there are actual Iraqi resistance clubs that hold regular meetings and discuss the latest news of the resistance. (See more Iraq cartoons by Carlos Latuff) SECURITY INCIDENTS Baghdad: An Iraqi soldier was killed and three wounded when a roadside bomb went off near their patrol in the western Mansour district of Baghdad. A civilian was killed and three policemen wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near a police patrol in the Waziriya district of Baghdad. One Iraqi soldier was killed and two wounded Monday in one of three Baghdad bombings in which one civilian was also killed. The bodyguard of a Sunni politician was shot dead in west Baghdad. Four mortar bombs fell in the southern Baghdad suburb of Abu Dshir, killing two civilians and injuring seven more. Earlier, one civilian and one soldier were killed in a series of bomb attacks which injured seven people. The technical director of the Dora power station was shot dead. The bodies of at least 23 murder victims were discovered in west Baghdad, including eight found shot dead and dumped by the roadside in the southwest of the city. Karbala: Gunmen killed an agricultural engineer near the city of Kerbala, 110 km (68 miles) southwest of Baghdad. Hilla: Gunmen attacked a group of civilians, killing two and wounding 17, near the city of Hilla, 100 km (60 miles) south of Baghdad. Samarra: A suicide bomber targeted police in the southern city of Samarra, killing himself and a male bystander. A car bomb targeting a police patrol exploded in Samarra killing two civilians and wounding 17 others, seven of them policemen. Kut: An Iraqi was shot dead by gunmen near the city of Kut 170 km (105 miles) southeast of Baghdad. Mosul: Five Iraqi soldiers were killed and four wounded when a car driven by a suicide bomber exploded near their patrol in Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad. Gunmen killed the local head of the Turkmen Front, a small political party, along with his three bodyguards in Mosul. A civilian was wounded when a roadside bomb went off near a U.S. military patrol in Mosul. Four civilians were shot dead after gunmen opened fire on them in Mosul. Tikrit: A lawyer and a tribal leader were killed when attackers fired on them as they sat at a café in Tikrit. Taji: Three people were were gunned down in Taji, north of the. >> NEWS Hundreds of radical Shiite Muslims, some wielding assault rifles and rocket launchers, marched Friday in support of the Hezbollah movement and its leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, in the capital's Sadr City district, home to loyalists of Shiite fundamentalist cleric Muqtada Sadr. "Here we are, ready for your orders, oh Muqtada and Nasrallah," they chanted before Friday prayers, while holding up posters depicting both Shiite militia leaders as well as flags of Lebanon, where Israel is fighting Hezbollah militants. "Woe to you, Israel! We will strike you!" US forces have committed butchery in Iraq and should leave, the speaker of the country's parliament has said. Mahmoud al-Mashhadani was speaking on Saturday at a UN-sponsored conference on transitional justice and reconciliation in Baghdad. "Just get your hands off Iraq and the Iraqi people and Muslim countries, and everything will be all right," he said in a speech as the conference opened. "What has been done in Iraq is a kind of butchery of the Iraqi people." He also criticised US support for Israeli attacks against Lebanon. (See below "Good News from Iraq") Bush and al-Maliki will consider adding more U.S. and Iraqi troops in Baghdad and other ways to counter surging violence when they meet at the White House on Tuesday. (See below "Robbing Ramadi to Pay Baghdad") Britain plans to send nearly 300 new armoured vehicles to better protect the country's troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, Defence Secretary Des Browne said. >> REPORTS "NO BLOOD, NO FOUL": SOLDIERS' ACCOUNTS OF DETAINEE ABUSE IN IRAQ I. Task Force 20/121/6-26/145 Camp Nama, Baghdad (...) Sergeant "Jeff Perry"3 was an interrogator with the special task force at Camp Nama during the first half of 2004. He told Human Rights Watch about his experiences there, about abuses he saw, and about his efforts to report the abuses. (...) Jeff described the interrogation facility at NAMA as "a normal-sized building, maybe even a small building," with five interrogation rooms: the black room, the blue room, the red room [also known as the wood room], the soft room, and the medical screening room (reportedly the same room used for the initial medical screening of Saddam Hussein immediately after his capture; parts of the video footage of the screening were televised internationally). Jeff said detainees were also taken outside the building for interrogations, into a courtyard between that building and another one. Jeff described the black room, where the harshest interrogations would take place: The black room was 12 by 12 [feet]. It was painted black floor to ceiling. The door was black, everything was black. It had speakers in the corners, all four corners, up at the ceiling. It had a small table in one of the corners, and maybe some chairs. But usually in the black room nobody was sitting down. It was standing, stress positions, and so forth. The table would be for the boom box and the computer. We patched it into the speakers and made the noise and stuff. Most of the harsh interrogations were in that room. . . . Sleep deprivation, environmental controls, hot and cold, water. . . . I never saw anybody who was hot, you know, but it was cold a lot of times or we used cold water, we poured cold water onto them. [Certain times interrogators would] take clothes from the prisoners and so forth. . . loud music, strobe lights-they were used as well. Jeff said that some interrogators would beat detainees in the black room-hitting and kicking them during interrogations. read in full... >> COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS SADDAM HUSSEIN ON A FEEDING TUBE Saddam Hussein is on the 17th day of a hunger strike and has just been taken to a hospital and put on a feeding tube. I remember when people were making fun of him because it was reported that his hunger strike had lasted for exactly one meal. But the reason I'm posting this isn't that, and isn't to report news which most of you will have heard or will hear. It's to point out the negative - that you (or I) haven't heard a word about this for the last two weeks. Which is an indication of just how much is going on in Iraq and Lebanon and Gaza and elsewhere, so much so that the fact that Saddam Hussein had been on a hunger strike for a week, or for 10 days, or for 14 days, wasn't even significant enough to make the news. And with 100 people a day being killed in Iraq, 50 or more a day in Lebanon, a dozen or so a day in Gaza, and a small number of Israelis, I don't even intend this as a criticism of the media, not a major one anyway. link IRRELIGIOUS QUESTIONS Sistani had issued the following announcement concerning the onslaught on Lebanon on July 16, 2006, calling upon "The world community needs to move on to stop the continuation of this flagrant aggression". There is not a single mention of the United States of America. . The following are a few questions that might be posed to him (as he is an authority to respond): - Who is supporting Israeli to the hilt militarily, financially, diplomatically and politically? - Who is claiming that what is happening to Lebanon are merely "birth pangs of a new Middle East" and that "Israel should ignore calls for a ceasefire"? - Who is rushing a delivery of precision-guided bombs to Israel in order to swiftly replenish those American munitions that were dropped by Israel on the heads of Lebanese civilians, villages and cities? - Who occupied Iraq? - Who initiated, encouraged and promoted the original death squads in Iraq? - Who has forcefully wedged religious strife into the Iraqi society that is leading to the death of thousands of Iraqis every month as a consequence of it? Hence, - Who issued an edict in March 2003 exhorting the faithful "not to fight the American soldiers" who were in the process of occupying Iraq, and has not, till now, rescinded it? (It should be noted that all edicts, and only those issued after the occupation, are posted on the www.sistani.org site) - What will be the position of his eminence in the event that the conflict does expand to include an Israeli/American attack on Iran itself, as the neoconservatives and the Israeli government have been clamoring for? What will be the position of his eminence's religious/political parties? Will they defend those that are protecting them in the 'Green Zone' or scramble to assist their political mentors in Tehran? These humble questions were posted to the sistani.org page where his eminence is hoped to answer them. They were posted under the section of "abortion". link ROBBING RAMADI TO PAY BAGHDAD Continuing the misadventures of our Godot-esque inability to reduce troop levels in Iraq, the New York Times reports tonight:

The top American commander for the Middle East said Friday that the escalating sectarian violence in Baghdad had become a greater worry than the insurgency and that plans were being drawn up to move additional forces to the Iraqi capital. "The situation with sectarian violence in Baghdad is very serious," Gen. John P. Abizaid of the Army, the head of the United States Central Command, said in an interview on Friday. "The country can deal with the insurgency better than it can with the sectarian violence, and it needs to move decisively against the sectarian violence now." . . . General Abizaid flew to Camp Falluja to meet with Marine commanders who oversee the vast Sunni-dominated Anbar region in western Iraq. The region is one of the most violent in the country. Insurgents' attacks here seem to be as numerous as ever. But the prospect that sectarian strife could set off a broader civil war that would overwhelm Iraq's capital has been a greater worry for top American commanders. . . . The shifting of additional forces to the Baghdad area is expected to come at the expense of troop levels in other parts of the country.

In other words, because we have so few combat forces available in Iraq, the only way the U.S. can even try to stem the chaos in Baghdad is to deprive commanders in insurgent-dominated Anbar province even further. It would be too generous to classify this as a game of whack-a-mole with far too many moles and too few hammers. If you compared it to a fire engulfing a house, with an overwhelmed man racing from one end to the other wondering where to pour his lone bucket of water, you might be closer to the mark link GOOD NEWS FROM IRAQ While we were following the Zionists crimes in Lebanon, there is a big development in Iraq. Iraq announces peace plan, refuses foreign interference

What we need is reconciliation between Iraqis only - there can be no third party,

(For young readers and people who can't read between the lines that means the US should keep their tentacles away from Iraq domestic affairs) Much better news is:

The speaker of the Iraqi parliament Al-Mashhadani said: The U.S. occupation is butcher's work under the slogan of democracy and human rights and justice..... Leave us to solve our problems........We don't need an agenda from outside.

Iraqi Demands U.S. Stay Out Of Politics This is by the way for the first time the government admitted that the previous reconciliation plan was US orchestrated Yesterday on Al-Arabyia Al-Mashhadani said:

If Iraqis killed Americans, then it is a legitimate resistance against the occupation,

The news getting better and better: Al-Maliki is canceling his visit to meet Bush,

The United States along with its allies gave the green light for Israeli troops to commit these crimes," said Sheik Sabah Saadi, a lawmaker who belongs to the Fadhilla Party, one of the main parties within the Shiite bloc. "Canceling the trip is support for the Lebanese people, who are suffering very much from the Israeli attacks.

Prime Minister Is Pressured To Cancel Visit To Washington link GOP WINS. FACTS NO LONGER MATTER The latest Harris poll includes the following: 50% of Americans believe that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction when the U.S. invaded (this relapse after 36% in February). 64% of Americans believe that Saddam Hussein had strong links with Al Qaeda. link DEATH MASK: THE DELIBERATE DISINTEGRATION OF IRAQ The recent revelations about the virulent spread of death squads ravaging Iraq have only confirmed for many people the lethal incompetence of the Bush Regime, whose brutal bungling appears to have unleashed the demon of sectarian strife in the conquered land. The general reaction, even among some war supporters, has been bitter derision: "Jeez, these bozos couldn't boil an egg without causing collateral damage." But what if the truth is even more sinister? What if this murderous chaos is not the fruit of rank incompetence but instead the desired product of carefully crafted, efficiently managed White House policy? Investigative journalist Max Fuller marshals a convincing case for this dread conclusion in a remarkable work of synthesis drawn from information buried in reams of mainstream news stories and public Pentagon documents. Piling fact on damning fact, he shows that the vast majority of atrocities now attributed to "rogue" Shiite and Sunni militias are in fact the work of government-controlled commandos and "special forces," trained by Americans, "advised" by Americans and run largely by former CIA assets, Global Research reports. We first reported here in June 2003 that the U.S. was already hiring Saddam's security muscle for "special ops" against the nascent insurgency and re-opening his torture haven, Abu Ghraib. Meanwhile, powerful Shiite militias - including Talibanic religious extremists armed and trained by Iran - were loosed upon the land. As direct "Coalition" rule gave way to various "interim" and "elected" Iraqi governments, these violent gangs were formally incorporated into the Iraqi Interior Ministry, where the supposedly inimical Sunni and Shiite units often share officers and divvy up territories. read in full... THE VULNERABLE LINE OF SUPPLY TO US TROOPS IN IRAQ American forces in Iraq are in danger of having their line of supply cut by guerrillas. Napoleon once said that "an army travels on its stomach." By that he meant that the problem of keeping an army supplied is the prerequisite for the very existence of the force. A 21st-century military force "burns up" a tremendous volume of expendable supplies and continuously needs repairs to equipment as well as medical treatment. Without a plentiful and dependable source of fuel, food, and ammunition, a military force falters. First it stops moving, then it begins to starve, and eventually it becomes unable to resist the enemy. In 1915, for example, this happened to British forces that had invaded Mesopotamia. A British-Indian force traveled up the line of the Tigris River, advancing to Kut, southeast of Baghdad. They became besieged there after their line of supply was cut along the river to the south. Some 11,000 troops ultimately surrendered, after the allies suffered another 23,000 casualties trying to rescue them. (…) At present, the convoys of trucks supplying our forces in Iraq are driven by civilians - either South Asians or Turks. If the route is indeed turned into a shooting gallery, these civilian truck drivers would not persist or would require a heavier escort by the US military. It might then be necessary to "fight" the trucks through ambushes on the roads. This is a daunting possibility. Trucks loaded with supplies are defenseless against many armaments, such as rocket-propelled grenades, small arms, and improvised explosive devices. A long, linear target such as a convoy of trucks is very hard to defend against irregulars operating in and around their own towns. The volume of "throughput" would probably be seriously lessened in such a situation. A reduction in supplies would inevitably affect operational capability. This might lead to a downward spiral of potential against the insurgents and the militias. This would be very dangerous for our forces. Are there alternatives to the present line of supply leading to Kuwait? There may be, but they are not immediately apparent. (…) What about air resupply? It appears that only 5 to 10 percent of day-to-day military deliveries into Iraq are currently transferred by air. Inside Iraq, local deliveries by air probably amount to more. In a difficult situation, the tonnages delivered could be increased, but given the bulk in weight and volume of the needed supplies, it seems unlikely that air resupply could exceed 25 percent of daily requirements. This would not be enough to sustain the force. Compounding the looming menace of the Kuwait-based line of supply is the route followed by the cargo ships en route to Kuwait. Geography dictates that the ships all pass through the Strait of Hormuz and then proceed to the ports at the other end of the Gulf. Those who are familiar with the record of Iran's efforts against Kuwaiti shipping in the Iran-Iraq War will be concerned about this maritime vulnerability. read in full… >> REYOND IRAQ Afghanistan: Hundreds of Taliban fighters firing rocket-propelled grenades on Monday attacked a district headquarters in southwestern Afghanistan, killing three police and wounding seven. About 400 Taliban militants riding in about 35 pickup trucks arrived in the town late Sunday and launched a heavy assault on a district police and administration headquarters using dozens of machine guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, said Gen. Sayed Aga Saqib, provincial police chief. The militants fled back toward neighboring Helmand province after a five-hour battle, carrying an unknown number of militant casualties with them from a bloodstained battleground. The clash left three police dead, and seven wounded, he said. A remotely donated car bomb seriously wounded two U.S.-led coalition soldiers Monday as they patrolled with Afghan army soldiers in Daman district of southern Kandahar province, on the main highway toward the capital Kabul. A van had appeared to have broken down on the road, then exploded as the patrol passed, said coalition spokesman Maj. Scott Lundy. Afghan officials said it was a suicide attack but the coalition said initial reports showed the bomb was remotely detonated from a house. The nationality of the two coalition soldiers has not been revealed, however witnesses say they were American. ISRAEL'S MILITARY STUNNED BY THE FAILURE OF ITS AIR WAR Israel's new chief of staff, an air force general, believed that most of Israel's future operations would be conducted from the air. Military leaders were convinced that with superior communications and air power they did not even need new U.S. "bunker buster" munitions to root out terror leaders in underground hideaways. Today, this vision of air power as a panacea has been shattered. Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz and his advisers have been stunned by the failure of Israel's air war against Hizbullah, which has shrugged massive air bombings on its headquarters in Beirut to maintain the rocket war against the Jewish state. "Air power is not the answer here," a senior officer said. 'You have to go from one Hizbullah [weapons] bunker to another. Some of these bunkers are seven meters deep and can't be destroyed by aircraft, even if you could find them." The air force learned that lesson in Beirut as fighter-jets sought to destroy Hizbullah headquarters, Middle East Newsline reported. Officials acknowledged that 23 tons of munitions failed to penetrate the thick walls of the underground command headquarters constructed by Iran. read in full... QUOTE OF THE DAY: “[Condoleeza Rice visiting Lebanon today] talked about the need for Lebanon ‘regaining sovereignty over all its territory’. As in Iraq, sovereignty for an Arab country seems to consist of killing those of its citizens we don't approve of.” -- Whatever It Is I’m Against It blog