Today in Iraq

DAILY WAR NEWS FOR FRIDAY, March 16, 2007

Photo: Shi'ite worshippers chant slogans during a demonstration after Friday prayers in Baghdad's Sadr City March 16, 2007. Thousands of residents attended a protest opposing U.S. military checkpoints in Sadr City, protesters said. REUTERS/Kareem Raheem (IRAQ)

Bring 'em on: Five U.S. army were killed and three others wounded in military operations in the capital Baghdad and Salah al-Din province on Thursday, coinciding with the U.S. House of Representatives' approval on a plan to withdraw soldiers by the end of 2008, the U.S. army announced on Friday.

A U.S. soldier was killed by an explosion when his patrol was attacked in Salahaddin province on Thursday, the U.S. military said. Another soldier was wounded

OTHER SECURITY INCIDENTS

Baghdad:

Mortar bombs killed one person and wounded five in Zaafaraniya in southern Baghdad, a police source said.

A civilian was killed and four others were wounded when a roadside bomb went off in Shoala neighborhood, northwest of Baghdad, a police source said.

A guard working for the minister of housing was killed by gunmen in Kadhimiya neighborhood north Baghdad at 9 am Baghdad Local Time (BLT).

A roadside bomb went off in the southern Saidiya district of Baghdad on Wednesday, killing two people, police said. A suicide car bomb targeting an Iraqi army check point killed one Iraqi soldier and wounded two civilians in the western Yarmouk district of Baghdad, police said.

17 anonymous bodies were found in Baghdad. 15 bodies were found in Karkh, the western part of Baghdad in the following neighborhoods (7 bodies in hay Al Amil, 2 bodies in Dora, 2 bodies in Hurriya, 2 bodies in Yarmook, 1 body in Saidiya and 1 body in Baiya’a.) tow bodies were found in Rosafa, the eastern part of Baghdad in the nbeighborhoods of Selikh (one body ) and another body in Sader city.

Kirkuk:

A roadside bomb blew up next to a police patrol, killing two policemen and wounding three in the centre of Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, a police source said.

Tikrit:

Unidentified gunmen attacked a U.S. army patrol in central Tikrit, capital of Salah al-Din province, setting a Hummer vehicle on fire, a security source in Tikrit said on Friday.

A police source in Tikrit police directorate said that insurgents killed the administrative director of Salah Al Deen police directorate near his house in AL Qadisiya neighborhood north Tikrit city today afternoon.

Iraqi police patrol found a body of a kidnapped policeman . the body was found near Door city south Tikrit.

Missan:

A member of the Missan Chamber of Commerce board of directors was killed on Thursday night by unidentified gunmen fire in central Amara, 380 km southeast of Baghdad, an eyewitness said on Friday.

Hilla:

One man was killed and 12 others injured in a mortar attack by unidentified gunmen on Friday in neighborhoods in central Hilla, 100 km south of Baghdad, a source from Babel police command said.

A curfew was imposed all over the city of Hilla, 100 km south of Baghdad, after the Sadrists , followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, announced staging a demonstration after the Friday noon prayer protesting raids and arrests by security forces, a police source said.

Basra:

A British patrol came under an attack with RPG-7 missiles on Friday with no reports of casualties, the spokeswoman for British forces in southern Iraq said on Friday.

A total of eleven captives fled al-Shuaaiba jail, 45km west of Basra, after exchanging their clothes with their visiting relatives, the spokeswoman for the Multi-National forces in southern Iraq said on Friday.

The spokesman of Basra police directorate said that unknown insurgents killed a policeman in Al hartha area north Basra city.

Muqdadiya:

A group of insurgents broke up the bus station of Muqdadiya kidnapped 3 civilians and took them to the orchards while tow other civilians were injured by fire opened by another insurgent group in Al Askari neighborhood.

A source in the 5th Iraqi army division said that 4 insurgents were killed and 10 others were arrested in a combined military operation in Muqdadiya town early morning today. The source confirmed that another group arrested Emad Mohammed Al Jobori known as the sniper of Al Mansoriya and three of his assistants during a searching raid north Muqdadiya town.

Diyala Prv:

At least 15 people, including four policemen, were wounded when a suicide attacker detonated explosives strapped to his body in Diala province, 57 km northeast of Baghdad, a security source said.

Two civilians were killed by gunmen who targeted a car in Olibat neighborhood in Khalis town 15 KMs north Baquba city.

Police patrols in Baquba city found the body of a kidnapped policeman thrown downtown the city. The source said that the policeman was kidnapped few days ago.

A source in Kanaan city (20Kms south east Baquba city) said that insurgents killed today afternoon 5 guards working in tow fuel stations in Kanaan city and burnt their bodies. The insurgents bombed the two fuel stations. The 5 victims were both Shiite and Sunnis from the tribes of Dahkliya, Zehirat and Al Obid.

A source in the Iraqi army 5th division said that 10 Iraqi army soldiers were injured (4 are seriously injured) when a suicide car bomb attacked an under construction check point west Baquba city.

Kefil:

Gunmen set fire to an office of the political movement of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in the town of Kefil, south of Hilla, on Wednesday night, police said.

Dinwaniya:

Clashes erupted between insurgents and police when they attacked a police station in the town of Dhuluiya. Five insurgents were killed, including Syrian and Saudi fighters, Interior Ministry spokeaman Abdul-Kareem Khalaf told Reuters. A police officer was killed and another wounded.

Police found the bodies of three people, shot dead, on Wednesday in the town of Dhuluiya, 80 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

Balad:

U.S. forces targeting al-Qaeda militants in Iraq killed two insurgents and detained 11 others during a raid east the town of Balad.

Mosul:

A car bomb killed two people and wounded 11 others in the city of Mosul, 390 km north of Baghdad.

A car bomb targeting a police patrol wounded a policeman in the northern city of Mosul, police said.

>> NEWS

A radical Shiite cleric called on his supporters to resist U.S. forces in Iraq, and a local militia commander blamed an attack against the mayor of Sadr City on a faction unhappy about cooperation with Americans.

"The occupiers want to harm this beloved (Sadr City) and tarnish its name by spreading false rumors and allegations that negotiations and cooperation are ongoing between you and them," Muqtada al-Sadr said in a statement read to worshippers by Sheik Haider al-Jabri. "I am confident that you will not make concessions to them and will remain above them. Raise your voices in love and brotherhood and unity against your enemy and shout 'No, no America.'"

The statement read in the main Shiite district in Baghdad came a day after gunmen opened fire on the convoy carrying Mayor Rahim al-Darraji in eastern Baghdad, seriously wounding him and killing two of his bodyguards, police and a local official said.

Al-Darraji was the principal negotiator in talks with U.S. officials that led to an agreement to pull Shiite fighters off the streets in Sadr City, a stronghold of the feared Mahdi Army, and a local commander said suspicion fell on a group of disaffected militiamen who are angry about the deal.

Some 2,600 soldiers from a combat aviation unit will go to Iraq ahead of schedule, part of the support troops the Pentagon has said are needed to back the extra combat units President Bush is sending there.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates approved the deployment of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division combat aviation brigade 45 days earlier than planned, meaning they will go around May, a Defense Department official said Friday.

The approval will mean roughly 30,000 troops eventually will go to Baghdad and Anbar Province in the Bush administration's buildup to crack down on rising sectarian violence and insurgents, said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the information.

The new aviation unit will provide transport helicopters and gunships to assist ground brigades already flowing in for the buildup. Officials said that Gen. David Petraeus, the new U.S. commander in Iraq, wanted the buildup to move as quickly as possible.

A coroner accused the US military of a criminal breach of the international law of armed conflict after the "friendly fire" death of a British soldier in the early days of the Iraq war.

Andrew Walker ruled that Lance Corporal Matty Hull was unlawfully killed when two US jets mistakenly attacked his clearly-marked convoy in southern Iraq and criticised the Pentagon for failing to cooperate fully with the inquest.

>> REPORTS

Five Resistance groups reportedly form unified command and common organization, in opposition to call to join al-Qa'idah.

In a dispatch posted on Thursday, Quds Press reported that a source close to the Resistance organization the Islamic Army in Iraq, one of the largest Resistance groups, said that five major Resistance groups had agreed to unite their armed efforts and political positions.

The source told Quds Press that leaders of the Islamic Army, the Army of the Mujahideen, the Army of the Rashideen, the 1920 Revolution Brigades, and the Islamic Resistance Front (Jami') held meetings over three consecutive days to reach agreement on uniting their efforts in resisting the occupation and its stooges and uniting their political positions. The groups will also take one common name and chose a general commander, according to the source.

The source told Quds Press that the organizations will announce the conclusion of their discussions, the new name for the group and the name of their commander in a joint communiqué. He said that all the groups had agreed to set up a united front organization and a united Shura (Consultative) Council.

The move comes two days after a voice message issued by the Amir of the group known as the Islamic State of Iraq – a prominent member in which is the al-Qa'idah organization – in which he called on all the Iraqi Resistance groups to join the "Islamic State of Iraq and take oaths of allegiance to him.

read in full…

>> COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

Truth About Iraqis: HOW SADR AND THE US HELPED EACH OTHER KILL IRAQIS ...

I have read with utter disgust some of the reports on so-called anti-war websites which have pronounced that Muqtada Sadr is the true face of Iraqi resistance.

But Muqtada flees to Iran every time he hears his father wail from hell (read: US forces enter Iraq for some or that security sweep) or the Iraqi resistance manage to take out some of his commanders.

Iran, as everyone in Iraq knows, is one of the major two players in Iraq, seeking to rid my people of their heritage. They still blame Arabs for their Qadisiya losses 1400 years ago. They still blame every nationalist in Iraq for the war against them.

Fanatical, maniacal, Iran and the mullahs who run it are responsible for more carnage than the US military.

Despite the blunders and massacres committed by US troops, the US is seen to be the lesser of two evils in Iraq, more civilized than the Safavids.

read in full…

Gorilla's Guides: SCENES FROM AN IRAKI CHILDHOOD

This photo is from Iskandariya, 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq. It was taken today Marc 15th 2007. A car bomb exploded as a bus was passing. The bomb killed at least four people and wounded 24 others it also destroyed this child’s home. Al-Askandariya is 40 km south of Baghdad, and 50km north of Hilla. It is mostly Shia and is where the American FOB Kalsu is located.

As you can see the photograph shows a young girl standing in the ruins of her home. Her home was destroyed by the car bomb targeting the bus.

The bus was targeted because it was taking employees of the government run, mechanical industries plant to work. Specifically the Hateen Munitions Complex. The bombing was part of the ongoing campaign by guerillas resisting the American invasion to make American invaded Irak so chaotic, so ungovernable, so horrific, that the American invaders leave.

Americans never understand this so I will spell it out for them in terms that not even an American can fail to understand. Your invasion is so hated that those resisting your invasion consider no sacrifice to be to great to get rid of you. They have adopted the American tactic of simply ignoring all civilian casualties as “collateral damage.”

There are many reasons why military analysts call car bombs “the poor man’s airforce” and one of them is that those who use the weapon do not care even slightly that they are killing civilians. As a Muslim and an Iraki I find it disgusting that Muslims and Irakis would sink to the level of the American military. As a parent I am outraged that the presence of your troops has resulted in this child’s life being put in danger and her home being ruined.

I am tired of hearing American lies that the corrupt, cynical, and brutal invasion of my country that your country carried out on the basis of a pack of lies that nobody who know Irak believed was carried out for any reason other than seize control of Irak. I am tired of hearing the American lie that the loathsome American presence is necessary to prevent civil war.

Here is the truth. The civil war and the sectarian attacks are caused by the presence of your hated and hateful troops. Nothing that America does will make Irak “better.” Every second that your hated and hateful soldiers, your hated and hateful hated “diplomats,” your hated and hateful ”consultants,” and your despicable security contractors mercenaries stay in Irak leads to more death, more destruction, more ruined children’s lives.

read in full…

>> BEYOND IRAQ

Lenin's Tomb: THE UNIVERSAL CONFESSION

Oh fucking please. Having tortured Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM from here on in, because terror suspects having complete names is an unaffordable extravagance), elicited the answers they required (or perhaps not) and released their very own transcript, officials in the Bush administration are saying that maybe KSM 'exaggerated' a bit. No doubt the multinational guffaw at the finding that their suspect is guilty of every substantial outrage for the last twenty five years (barring his work for the CIA in Afghanistan) has prompted this. But, seriously, fuck off! KSM lied? The man who was being tortured? He lied? The whole point about torture is that it elicits false confessions, usually ones fed to the suspect by the interrogator.

Let's go over the list: 9/11; plot to kill Jimmy Carter, and other former presidents (why?); "the assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II" (why?); managing an anthrax and biological weapons cell; cut off "with my blessed right hand the head of the American Jew Daniel Pearl"; 1993 WTC bombing; planning the Richard Reid shoe-bombing plot; the killing of American soldiers in Kuwait; the Bali bombings; plot for a post-9/11 series of 'Independence Day'-style attacks on American monuments; plot to bomb the Panama Canal; plan to attack U.S. military ships and oil tankers in the Straits of Hormuz, the Straits of Gibraltar and the Port of Singapore; plot to bomb suspension bridges in New York City; plan to use burning fuel trucks to take down the Sears Tower (how?); a plot to destroy Big Ben, Canary Wharf tower and Heathrow Airport; attempt to attack Thai nightclubs frequented by US soldiers; a post-9/11 plot to blow up the New York Stock Exchange; plot to use Saudi planes to blow up Israeli buildings; plot to attack US embassies in Indonesia, Austrial and Japan; sending "several mujahadeen" to Israel to survey potential targets; bombing a Mombasa beach resort in 2002; attempt to hit an Israeli plane departing from Kenya with a rocket; plot to attack Nato headquarters in Brussels; plans to attack nightclubs visited by the US in South Korea; Operation Bojinka, plan to take down 12 American airliners; plot to assassinate General Musharraf; plan to attack an oil company in Sumatra which is allegedly owned by Kissinger; plot to attack Nato headquarters; plot to attack nuclear power plants in the US; plot to attack American, British and Jewish targets in Turkey.

And he 'exaggerated' a bit. What's the point of such an obvious pack of lies? The extraction of false confessions is not about persuading people of the veracity of some story or other, although it may do that. In the interrogation process, the attempt is to get the torture victim to accept the irrelevance of their own conceptions of fact and fiction, and to award the interrogator the right to determine what is true and what is not. Analogously, the release of this information is an assertion of power's right to narrate, it's permission to determine the 'facts', however absurd. Further, it contains the assertion that imprisonment in Guantanamo and torture in a secret cell is what elicits the 'truth'.

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Well that's the war on terror all wrapped up. we can all get back to enjoying our freedoms. -- comment by paul | 16 Mar, 14:43 | at the above post