2,200 US troops dead

[Jersay]

Black Hawk crash kills all 12 aboard; 5 U.S. marines slain in separate attacks
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

at 12:01 on January 8, 2006, EST.
By SAMEER N. YACOUB

BAGHDAD (AP) - A U.S. Black Hawk helicopter crashed in northern Iraq, killing all 12 Americans believed to be aboard, while five U.S. marines were slain in separate weekend attacks, the military said Sunday.

The deaths came as Iraqi police said a kidnapped French engineer was released by his captors.

The UH-60 Black Hawk crashed just before midnight Saturday about 12 kilometres east of the insurgent stronghold of Tal Afar, a northern city near the Syrian border, the officials said. The military also did not say what caused the crash.

It was the deadliest helicopter crash in Iraq since a CH-53 Sea Stallion crashed in bad weather in western Iraq on Jan. 26, 2005, killing 31 U.S. service members.

In Saturday's crash, records indicated that eight passengers and four crew members were aboard, the officials said, but they did not say how many were members of the U.S. military.

The Black Hawk was part of a two-helicopter team moving between bases when communications were lost, the military said. A search and rescue operation was launched and the helicopter was found about noon Sunday, the military said.

Three marines were killed Sunday by small arms attacks in Fallujah, 40 kilometres west of Baghdad, the military said.

On Saturday, two marines were killed by roadside bombs in separate incidents, the military said. One blast occurred about 80 kilometres west of Baghdad, while the other happened about 50 kilometres north of the capital.

With the latest marine deaths, at least 2,199 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the war in 2003, according to an Associated Press count. That toll did not include those killed aboard the Black Hawk.

In other violence Sunday, five people were killed in separate attacks in Baghdad, including a policeman killed by a suicide car bomber that targeted an Interior Ministry patrol. Seven others were wounded.

The Association of Muslim Scholars, a major Sunni clerical group, said U.S. troops raided their headquarters at Baghdad's Umm al-Qura mosque before dawn Sunday. The association is thought by some to be close to some insurgent groups.

"The Americans bear the responsibility for this assault," said Sheik Younis al-Ekaidi. "This crime came as punishment for the association's position on the occupation and its position on the latest elections."

A U.S. military official said the raid was conducted because of a tip from an Iraqi citizen that there was "significant terrorist related activity in the building" and six people were detained.

"The time of day was chosen to minimize impact on the mosque, a time when there wouldn't be worshippers, and a minimum number of people in the surrounding area," said Lt.-Col. Barry Johnson.

The French engineer, Bernard Planche, was pushed out of a car near a checkpoint in a Baghdad suburb, apparently freed by nervous captors who then fled, Iraqi police said Sunday.

Planche, 52, was kidnapped Dec. 5 on his way to work at a water plant. He was found Saturday night near the checkpoint in the Abu Ghraib neighbourhood, said Maj. Falah al-Mohammadawi.

President Jacques Chirac "is delighted by the happy outcome," France's presidential Elysee Palace said. He personally gave the news to Planche's daughter, Isabelle, and his brother, Gilles.

Planche worked for a non-governmental organization called AACCESS. His captors had released a video of him sitting between two armed men. Arab news channel Al-Arabiya, which broadcast an excerpt of the video, said the militants denounced the "illegal French presence" in Iraq and demanded the withdrawal of French troops from the country. France has not sent forces to Iraq.

The name of a previously unknown militant group, called "Monitoring For Iraq," was shown in the corner of the video.

Insurgents have kidnapped more than 250 foreigners in the past two years, aiming to force U.S.-led troops to leave Iraq or prevent Arab nations from strengthening their ties with the Baghdad government.

In an effort to help draw Sunni Arabs into the political process as a way to dampen the violence, U.S. officials for months have been communicating directly or through channels with members of the disaffected minority connected to the insurgency.

A Western diplomat on Saturday reported a recent "uptick" in those contacts.

Those insurgents "sense that the political process does protect the Sunni community's interest," the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The Iraqi government is talking directly to all militant groups who are willing to communicate, but no commitments have been made to any of them, said Wafiq al-Samarie, an adviser on security affairs to President Jalal Talabani.

"Yes, many groups are communicating with us. We are listening to them and providing them with advices with open arms and transparency," he said.

Al-Samarie, a Sunni Arab and a former intelligence chief under Saddam Hussein, spoke to reporters after a meeting between Talabani and Adnan al-Dulaimi, head of the Sunni Arab Iraqi Accordance Front.

Iraq's fractious political groups, meanwhile, could form a coalition government within weeks, Talabani said Saturday.

Talabani, a Kurd, offered a timeframe on the formation of a government after meeting with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who said Iraqis remain optimistic despite a violent week that saw nearly 200 people killed in two days.

Talabani said it should be easier to form a new government than it was after the January 2005, elections, when it took nearly three months.

In other violence Sunday:

-Gunmen assassinated a member of former prime minister Ayad Allawi's secular Shiite Iraqi National List in Baghdad, police 1st Leut. Mohammed Kheyoun said.

-A gunman was killed when clashes broke out between militants and Iraqi police, Maj. Musa Abdul Karim said.

-Militants opened fire on a vehicle in Baghdad, killing the driver, police Capt. Qasim Hussein said.

-Gunmen killed a policeman in western Baghdad, Capt. Qassim Hussein said.

http://start.shaw.ca/start/enCA/News/WorldNewsArticle.htm?src=w010811A.xml

And wasn't this at a time that Bush wanted to withdraw forces?

 

[NickFun]

We must not forget the 30,000 Iraqi soldiers and over 100,000 civilians who have died. A human life is a human life.

 

[Jersay]

Exactly

 

[earth_as_one]

Yes, people are dying in Iraq and that's sad. But I'm sure America's leaders can see the silver lining in this dark cloud. The value of Halliburton (HAL) shares have tripled since the beginning of this war! Cheney and the rest of the war profiteers in the Bush administration are making a killing off this war. Instead of crying, I'm sure they are laughing all the way to the bank.

References

...Cheney still owns �more than 433,000 Halliburton stock options, including 100,000 shares at $54.50 per share, 33,333 shares at $28.125 and 300,000 shares at $39.50 per share

http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=23898

google search HAL and see the 5 yr graph

Cheney's stake in Halliburton was worth $8.66 million at the start of the war. Today its worth worth $38.368 million. Can you say "KA-CHING! KA-CHING!"?

Assuming 100,000 soldiers and civilians died in this war, Cheney made about $300 per victim. And that's just Cheney.

Investing in War
The Carlyle Group profits from government and conflict
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20030421/shorrock

 

[jimmoyer]

It is inconsequential that some of your observations
are inaccurrate, but what is quite consequential
and quite overwhelming is the power of your
indictment --- your post being one of the multitude
in its condemnation.

I am overwhelmed by it.

All I know is that sometimes the fury of righteous
condemnation causes some new mistakes.

But it is fruitless to argue why this is so, regarding
the matter of Iraq.

And so the matter becomes more of what we do
now. Now what ?

I see an interesting solution:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/06/AR2006010601482.html

By Zbigniew Brzezinski
former National Security advisor to Jimmy Carter

Some Sunnis, once they were aware that the U.S. occupation was drawing to a close and that soon they would be facing an overwhelming Shiite-Kurdish coalition, would be more inclined to accommodate the new political realities, especially when deprived of the rallying cry of resistance to a foreign occupier.

In addition, it is likely that both Kuwait and the Kurdish regions of Iraq would be amenable to some residual U.S. military presence as a guarantee against a sudden upheaval. Once the United States terminated its military occupation, some form of participation by Muslim states in peacekeeping in Iraq would be easier to contrive, and their involvement could also help to cool anti-American passions in the region.

In any case, as Iraqi politics gradually become more competitive, it is almost certain that the more authentic Iraqi leaders (not handpicked by the United States) -- to legitimate their claim to power -- will begin to demand publicly a firm date for U.S. withdrawal. That is all to the good. In fact, they should be quietly encouraged to do so, because that would increase their popular support while allowing the United States to claim a soberly redefined "Mission Accomplished."

The requisite first step to that end is for the president to break out of his political cocoon. His policymaking and his speeches are the products of the true believers around him who are largely responsible for the mess in Iraq. They have a special stake in their definition of victory, and they reinforce his convictions instead of refining his judgments. The president badly needs to widen his circle of advisers. Why not consult some esteemed Republicans and Democrats not seeking public office -- say, Warren Rudman or Colin Powell or Lee Hamilton or George Mitchell -- regarding the definition of an attainable yet tolerable outcome in Iraq?

Finally, Democratic leaders should stop equivocating while carping. Those who want to lead in 2008 are particularly unwilling to state clearly that ending the war soon is both desirable and feasible. They fear being labeled as unpatriotic. Yet defining a practical alternative would provide a politically effective rebuttal to those who mindlessly seek an unattainable "victory." America needs a real choice regarding its tragic misadventure in Iraq.