Iraq - Today..*and tomorrow?*

[Ocean Breeze]

Sunni Arabs Launch Political Campaign to Kick US Out

By Juan Cole

10/27/05 "ICH" -- -- Three small Sunni parties formed a coalition list on Wednesday. The Iraqi Islamic Party, the National Dialogue Council and the People's Gathering will join forces to contest the December 15 elections.

Before anyone gets too excited about this development, it should be noted that Reuters goes on to report,


' "Our political program will focus more on getting the Americans out of Iraq," Hussein al-Falluji, a prominent Sunni who took part in talks on the constitution, told Reuters. "Our message to the American administration is clear: get out of Iraq or set a timetable for withdrawal or the resistance will keep slaughtering your soldiers until Judgment Day." '

How this is good news for the Bush administration I do not understand, but that is the way that Rupert Murdoch will spin it on Fox Cable News.

The other thing to remember is that most Sunni Arabs in Iraq are not followers of the Iraqi Islamic Party, which is a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood mainly based in Mosul. A lot of Sunni Arabs are still secular Arab nationalists. Al-Hayat pointed out recently that there is a fair Baath constituency in Iraq still, which some parties are angling for. Even among religious Sunnis, opinion polls show that Hareth al-Dhari of the Association of Muslim Scholars is far more popular than Muhsin Abdul Hamid of IIP.

Still, the Sunni Arabs will certainly improve their position in parliament on December 15.

Al-Hayat says that Muqtada al-Sadr is attempting to form a coalition list that will run with Sunni Muslims in Anbar. There has been a pan-Islamic tinge to the cooperation of hardline Shiite nationalist Muqtada with hardline Sunni nationalists such as the Association of Muslim Scholars.

AP is reporting that the Sadrists will largely stay in the United Iraqi Alliance. It also says that Grand Ayatollah Sistani is not endorsing the largely Shiite UIA this time around, having been disappointed by the performance of the Jaafari government. Personally, I think that the control of 9 provinces by the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq and its allies gives the UIA such a strong party "machine" in the provinces that they no longer need Sistani's endorsement to win.

AP also says that the Iraqi National Congress, which leans more to the secular side (but actually you could say it just leans to any side that benefits it at any time), has split from the UIA. Unless it gets a big infusion of foreign money and buys a lot of votes, I'd be surprised if the INC can win more than a handful of seats running on its own in a free election.

The Iraqi Electoral Commission has released the distribution of seats by province. The distribution seems to me grossly unfair to the Kurds and incredibly generous to the Sunni Arabs, but it is unlikely that the Sunni Arabs will be able to take advantage of this opportunity, because so many of them reject the idea of elections in the shadow of foreign military occupation, while others will be afraid to come out and vote, for fear of guerrilla reprisals. About 35 seats will not be contested by election as I understand it, but will be appointed in some way. That would leave about 230 in play in the elections.

How the 230 would be apportioned in the election can only be guessed out. But let me just do a thought experiment to see what is likely to happen. I am not making tight predictions, just thinking heuristically to get the likely lay of the land.

Below, I am going to arrange the seats by likely ethnic outcome:

Sunni Arabs:

Al-Anbar 9 Salahuddin 8 Ninevah 19

I think the Sunni Arab lists will get all the seats in Anbar and Salahuddin, for 17. I think they will pick up about 10 in Ninevah (they would get more, but the turnout may be light among Sunni Arabs, throwing a disproportionate number of seats to the Kurds and perhaps Shiite Turkmen). So that is 27.

Other places the Sunnis could pick up some seats are:

Babil 11 Baghdad 59 Diyalah 10

However, if the constitutional referendum was any guide, the Sunni Arabs seem unlikely actually to compete well in these mixed provinces. Again, in provinces such as Anbar and Salahuddin where they are the vast majority, light turnout will still produce Sunni seats in parliament. But in the mixed provinces, light Sunni turnout would allow Shiites to pick up most of the seats. I think this is what will happen. From the three provinces above, the Sunni Arabs could pick up as few as 15 seats. They could also get a few seats here and there elsewhere.

So, the Sunni representation in the new parliament could increase from the current 17 to more like 45 to 50. But I think this is the upper range. Obviously, this group could easily be outvoted by the Shiites and Kurds.

The Kurds

Duhok 7 Erbil 13 Sulaimaniyah 15 Kirkuk 9

The Kurds will get almost all the seats in the three northern provinces where they predominate, for a total of about 35. I suspect they will get about 5 of the Kirkuk seats, though it could be more if there is light Sunni Arab turnout. Call it 40.

They can also pick up some seats from some mixed provinces, say 7 or so from Ninevah and a few from Diyalah. There are said to be a lot of Kurds in Baghdad province (several hundred thousand), and they could get 5 or so there. Call it 55.

So, I think the Kurds will be cut down from their current 78 seats to only about 50 or 55, and they they will have only a few more seats than the Sunni Arabs or perhaps only be equal to them.

The Shiites:

Basra 16 Karbala 6 Maysan 7 Muthanna 5 Najaf 8 Qadisiyah 8 Dhi Qar 12 Wasit 8

I believe that the Shiite religious parties will dominate all of the Shiite-majority provinces. There are 70 seats above, and all but a handful will go to the United Iraqi Alliance or its successors. (The Basra middle class could vote for Iyad Allawi's secular list or for the INC. But it has been devastated as a constituency by decades of poor economy, with many of its members driven into poverty or abroad. It is easy to be surprised in making these prognostications, but if the secular parties got more than 3-5 seats from Basra, I would be astonished. I doubt anyone in Dhi Qar or Wasit would vote for them, and certainly not in Karbala or Najaf).

Then let's revisit the mixed provinces:

Babil 11 Baghdad 59 Diyalah 10

The religious Shiites could pick up as many as 60 of these 80 seats. Remember that they may also pick up stray seats in mixed provinces such as Ninevah and Kirkuk. So the religious Shiites could have 130 seats easily. They need 138 for a simple majority. They could get it. But in any case they will be close to a simple majority, and would probably only need to find a couple of small lists with which to ally in order to form a government. Moreover, there is the wild card of the 35 or so appointive seats. If any of them go to the religious Shiites, it would clench it.

You could also imagine an alliance of the Shiite fundamentalists with the Iraqi Islamic Party on issues such as Islamic law. If that development occurred, I suspect it would hasten Kurdish secession, since the Arabs could consistently outvote the more secular-leaning Kurdish bloc if they united.

 

[Ocean Breeze]

Iraqis Forced to Take in Uninvited Troops

Email this story

Printer friendly format


By ANTONIO CASTANEDA
Associated Press Writer

October 27, 2005, 2:42 PM EDT


HADITHA, Iraq -- The Marines call it a necessary evil -- taking over houses and buildings for military use. For the Iraqis who become unwilling hosts, it can be anything from a mild inconvenience to a disruption that tears apart lives.

In a recent offensive in Haditha, the headmaster of one school where Marines were based pressed them for a departure date so he could resume classes. At another school, Marines fortified the building with blast walls and sandbags for long-term use.



A trembling woman wept when Marines tried to requisition her home to set up an observation post with a view of a nearby road where a bomb had been planted. The Marines quickly left, using her neighbor's rooftop instead.

"We try to be respectful and not destroy anything in their homes," said Cpl. Joseph Dudley of Los Gatos, Calif., with the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment. "We just borrow their house and try to complete our missions."

Requisitioning homes or other buildings has been widespread in Iraq for U.S. troops on missions who stay far away from bases, sometimes for several days or weeks. During major offensives, the temporary bases deep inside cities allow troops to send out more patrols and respond quickly to attacks rather than going all the way back to bases on the outskirts of town.

Some homeowners politely treat the Marines as welcome guests. During an offensive in May, one man whose home was being used served rounds of tea to the Marines while his wife remained discreetly out of sight. He let the tired troops catch naps on his living room couch and floor, then waved goodbye to them from his front doorsteps when they left to search more houses.

But the Marines also run the risk of alienating residents.

Dhiya Hamid al-Karbuli, a truck driver from a village near the Syrian border, said he fled with his wife, six children, his brother, sister and mother after U.S. troops commandeered their home last month.

"They broke into my house before Ramadan and they are still there," he told The Associated Press by telephone from his brother's home in Baghdad. "We were not able to tolerate seeing them damage our house in front of our very eyes.... I was afraid to ask them to leave."

"They were eating our food. They took all the food from the refrigerator, and used all our stored junk food too. The major gave me $20 so we could shop for ourselves and for them. It was not enough."

Sometimes the Iraqis are allowed to stay in one room in their home; other times they have to move in with relatives or neighbors until the forces leave.

"You see that place up there," one Marine said to his platoon leader during a recent offensive in Haditha, pointing to a two-story hilltop house with columns.

"Yeah, that looks good. I've been looking at that," replied his captain, before trudging up the hill to explain to the owners that the platoon would be camping inside for several hours.

In a school courtyard, a handful of Marines sang gospel hymns in unison as they filled sand bags. In another building, Marines rested on dusty tile floors, their heads leaning against the walls. Some read paperbacks while others flipped through magazines with unclad women splashed on the covers. Johnny Cash's rendition of "Sunday Morning Coming Down" resonated from small speakers a Marine had brought along.

Most U.S. troops in Iraq live in air-conditioned, relatively comfortable bases with such luxuries as Internet access and widescreen televisions. But others have to rough it, particularly when patrolling western Iraq, a turbulent area the size of West Virginia where few bases are within city centers.

Running water and electricity are prized but unreliable amenities in these temporary homes. A shower is usually a bottle of water dumped over someone's head and baby wipes to scrub off layers of dirt. Crude toilets are fashioned from wooden pallets and benches.

"That will go down as one of the more unpleasant memories of my life," said one Marine leaving a latrine with walls of camouflage netting.

Marines often are packed into small rooms, sleeping in rows with their weapons and backpacks brimming with gear alongside them and eating an endless series of prepackaged meals. A Marine suffering with a cough can keep his entire unit awake through the night.

Some Marines seem to relish the difficult conditions, boasting that they are better than other harsh deployments in Somalia or Afghanistan. For others, the rough accommodations evoke fond memories of childhood camping expeditions.

For the Iraqis, the intrusion can be disruptive, especially when troops conduct nighttime drills with loud but harmless explosions and armored vehicles pass through at all hours of the day.

Many Iraqis also fear the makeshift barracks in their neighborhoods will attract insurgent attacks, possibly putting them in the crossfire. Checkpoints can also make it difficult to travel to local markets.

Some Marines buy the Iraqi families sodas, or purchase snacks and other goods for their fellow troops from local merchants, injecting a little money into poor neighborhoods.

Lounging in new quarters, the troops reminisce about other places they've used, from air-conditioned luxury to bare shelters.

Talk of the "pink hotel," a home in the city of Hit, brought smiles to the faces of some Marines who recalled the soothing flow of the Euphrates River outside.

Then Capt. Timothy Strabbing of Hudsonville, Mich., also of the 3rd Battalion, reminded them of the house near Fallujah where they had set up a checkpoint. "All it had were dirt floors. It was the nastiest place," he said.

* __

 

[Ocean Breeze]

‘had no policy’ in place to rebuild Iraq
By Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington
Published: October 30 2005 21:01 | Last updated: October 30 2005 23:47



The US government had “no comprehensive policy or regulatory guidelines” in place for staffing the management of postwar Iraq, according to the top government watchdog overseeing the country’s reconstruction.


The lack of planning had plagued reconstruction since the US-led invasion, and been exacerbated by a “general lack of co-ordination” between US government agencies charged with the rebuilding of Iraq, said Stuart Bowen, the special inspector-general for Iraq reconstruction, in a report released on Sunday.


His 110-page quarterly report, delivered to Congress at the weekend, has underscored how a “reconstruction gap” is emerging that threatens to leave many projects planned by the US on the drawing board.


“Nearly two years ago, the US developed a reconstruction plan that specified a target number of projects that would be executed using the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund.


“That number was revised downward [last year]. Now it appears that the actual number of projects completed will be even lower,” Mr Bowen says in his report.


Increasing security costs were “the most salient” reason behind the shortfall, he concluded.


While 93 per cent of the nearly $30bn (€25bn, £17bn) the US has appropriated for reconstruction has been committed to programmes and projects, more than 25 per cent of the funds have been spent on security costs related to the insurgency.


The largest expected increase in costs to complete planned projects had occurred in the Project and Contracting Office (PCO), which manages projects in the oil, electrical, security and water sectors and has been allocated $4.6bn in reconstruction funds.


While in most sectors PCO data indicated that project costs would not exceed initial estimates, Mr Bowen found that oil sector-related costs had been under-estimated by about $790m.


Conflicting data also showed “possible funding anomalies”, because although the PCO reported that more than 85 per cent of oil projects were on or ahead of schedule, other data showed that the cost of completing the tasks was increasing beyond initial estimates.


The report said a separate agency given the job of assisting the Iraqi government in training and equipping security forces – a job for which it was allocated $835m – had spent 14 per cent more than originally estimated.


The special inspector-general also highlighted a stark increase in non-military deaths in connection to Iraq’s reconstruction. The number of non-Iraqi contractor deaths from all countries rose to 412 for the period of March 2003 to September 2005. That compared to 120 deaths up until Sptember last year.


While the most successful post-conflict reconstruction effort in US history – the reconstruction of Japan and Germany following the second world war – began being planned in the months after the US entered the war, Mr Bowen found that “systematic planning” for the post-hostilities period in Iraq was “insufficient in both scope and implementation”.

 

[Ocean Breeze]

Published on Monday, October 31, 2005 by Reuters
Seven US Troops Killed in Iraq, Anger at US Bombing
by Alastair Macdonald

BAGHDAD - Seven U.S. troops were killed by bombs near Baghdad, the military said on Monday, making October the bloodiest month for Americans in Iraq since January.

In the far west, where U.S. marines have been fighting for months to stem a flow of foreign Arab fighters and funds coming through Syria, local doctors and tribal leaders accused American forces of killing some 40 civilians in an air strike.

The military said it knew of no civilian deaths and believed it had killed an al Qaeda leader targeted by precision bombing.

Two roadside bombings near Baghdad on Monday killed six soldiers and the military announced a Marine had been killed by a similar device near Falluja on Sunday.

That made October, which saw Iraqis vote for a constitution and put Saddam Hussein on trial, the worst month for U.S. forces since January, when attacks by Sunni Arab rebels surged before an election that brought Kurds and majority Shi'ites to power.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warned at the weekend of a similar increase in bloodshed before another parliamentary vote in December, although officials hope a decision by Sunni leaders not to repeat their January boycott of the voting may deprive the militants of support within Saddam's once dominant minority.

Militants claiming to speak for some nationalist rebels have said they held fire around the Oct. 15 constitutional referendum to encourage a big Sunni turnout and may do so again, despite disappointment that Sunnis narrowly failed to veto the charter.

However, foreign-influenced Islamist radicals like al Qaeda show no sign of letting up. A suicide bomber lured Shi'ites to their death with a truck laden with dates on Saturday, killing 30 in a small town north of Baghdad, and there are fears of more violence around this week's end of the holy month of Ramadan.

"LIBERATION CALL"

Launching one of two big Sunni-led blocs expected to figure prominently among dozens of parties on the Dec. 15 ballot, one leader set the tone for his campaign by calling for an end to U.S. occupation and criticising rivals who returned from exile after Saddam's fall as beholden to Washington or religion.

"We are ... working for the liberation of our country," Saleh al-Mutlak said, launching his Iraqi Unified Front as a secular pan-Iraqi bloc. "You won't find anyone in our group who rode into Iraq on an American tank or on a sectarian horse."

Various secular groups accuse the ruling United Alliance, led by Islamists once exiled in Tehran, of seeking to bring Iraq under the influence of fellow Shi'ites in non-Arab Iran.

The order parties appear on the lengthy ballot paper will be drawn by lot on Tuesday. Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari said that, unlike in January, up to a million Iraqis living abroad may not be able to vote due to the cost and a tight schedule.

Monday's roadside bomb that killed four soldiers near Yusufiya, just south of Baghdad, was among the most lethal of recent weeks. U.S. commanders have been voicing concern about increasing power and sophistication of such bombs.

Devices capable of penetrating armoured vehicles have become more common this year, based on technology U.S. and British officials say has been introduced from Iran.

"We see an adversary that ... continues to develop some sophistication on very deadly and increasingly precise standoff-type weapons," Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita said.

Two soldiers were killed in a similar attack near Balad, 60 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad, and the military said a marine was killed by a bomb near Falluja, to the west, on Sunday.

A week after the U.S. death toll since the 2003 invasion passed the 2,000 mark, it rose to at least 2,026 with the attacks; they brought to 93 the number of Americans to die in October, the highest since 107 died in January.

AIR STRIKE

Near the Syrian border on Monday, U.S. aircraft bombed a house close to Karabila before dawn in what the military said was a precision strike on an al Qaeda leader.

Hospital doctors in nearby Qaim said 40 people were killed and 20 wounded, many of them women and children.

"Civilian deaths cannot be verified and hospital officials frequently make such claims," U.S. spokesman Colonel David Lapan said. "We believe the targeted terrorist leader was killed."

U.S. forces in Tal Afar, further north on the border and the site of a fierce battle in September, accused insurgents of holding the local population in a "grip of fear", in a statement detailing what a military spokesman said were rebel atrocities.

Twelve bodies were found shot in the head in a shallow grave along with two who had been beheaded, the military said. A mentally handicapped boy was forced to throw hand grenades at Iraqi troops, and another boy confessed to murder and holding the feet of people while militants cut their heads off.

Before the election, a further hearing is scheduled in the trial of Saddam and seven co-defendants, including his brother Barzan al-Tikriti, on charges of crimes against humanity.

Prime Minister Jaafari said on Monday that Barzan would have access to cancer treatment which he had demanded. Jaafari did not say he would be freed as he had requested, however

 

[Ocean Breeze]

Death and Chaos in Iraq

U.S. aircraft bombed a house near the Syrian border before dawn on Monday in what the military said was a precision strike on an al Qaeda leader.

A local hospital doctor in the Iraqi town of Qaim said 40 people were killed and 20 wounded, many of them women and children, and a tribal leader said there were no guerrillas
See Eli on how typically disgusting this bombing and the manner in which the bombing is reported are.

The US has had it's worst month this year for casualties in Iraq since January:
Seven U.S. troops were killed in three roadside bombings near Baghdad, the military said on Monday...[...]

That made October, which saw Iraqis vote for a constitution and put Saddam Hussein on trial, the worst month the Americans have suffered since January, when violence surged in advance of a parliamentary election.[...]

A week after the U.S. death toll since the 2003 invasion passed the 2,000 mark, it rose to at least 2,025 with the deaths of four soldiers in an attack on a patrol near Yusufiya, just south of Baghdad, and two in a similar incident near Balad, 60 km (40 miles) to the north of the capital.

It brought to 92 the number of Americans to die in October, the same as in August and the highest since 107 died in January.
And in Basra, a huge car bomb has just exploded:
A car bomb exploded Monday night in a commercial district of Iraq's second-largest city of Basra, and it appeared at least 20 people had been killed and 40 injured, police said.

The blast went off about 8:30 p.m. in an area filled with shops and restaurants, many of them packed with people out for the evening during Ramadan festivities, Lieutenant-Colonel Karim al-Zaidi said.

 

[no1important]

US launches new offensive in Iraq

Several thousand US and Iraqi troops have begun a new operation on Iraq's Syrian border against militants from the al-Qaeda in Iraq group.

Some 2,500 American marines and other troops, as well as about 1,000 Iraqi government soldiers, are deployed around Husayba, the US military said.

It is the first time Iraqi troops have been used on a major scale in the western Anbar province, it added.

Operation Steel Curtain comes after two offensives there last month.

Click link at top for rest.

Operation "Steel Curtain" is that a name for the press to latch onto? Is the real goal to intimidate Syria? or to try and draw Syria in so they have an excuse to invade?

The freedom fighters must just be shaking in their boots, I guess the American death toll will increase with this. This is just an attempt to get the heat off the going on's in Washington latly, thats all. They come up with a fancy name for Cnn to use. :roll:

 

[gopher]

“It has indeed been a trying hour for the Republic; but I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of war. God grant that my suspicions may prove groundless."

- U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 21, 1864, (letter to Col. William F. Elkins) Ref: The Lincoln Encyclopedia, Archer H. Shaw (Macmillan, 1950, NY)

 

[jjw1965]

U.S. Should Repay Millions to Iraq, a U.N. Audit Finds

An auditing board sponsored by the United Nations recommended yesterday that the United States repay as much as $208 million to the Iraqi government for contracting work in 2003 and 2004 assigned to Kellogg, Brown & Root, the Halliburton subsidiary.More...

 

[Ocean Breeze]

U.S. Should Repay Millions to Iraq, a U.N. Audit Finds

An auditing board sponsored by the United Nations recommended yesterday that the United States repay as much as $208 million to the Iraqi government for contracting work in 2003 and 2004 assigned to Kellogg, Brown & Root, the Halliburton subsidiary.More...

is there ANY ONE that "they"don't cheat or steal from??? That almighty buck. .......and how the US worships it. "They" don't have an ounce of ethics or standards. :evil:

the US pay back??? In which world??? :evil:

 

[Nascar_James]

Looks like we're (US and Iraqi troops) taking it to the terrorists around the Syrian border ...

US Led Forces Strike Al Qaeda Stronghold

AP Associated Press:

By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 20 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - About 3,500 U.S. and Iraqi troops backed by jets launched a major attack Saturday against an insurgent-held town near the Syrian border, seeking to dislodge al-Qaida and its allies and seal off a main route for foreign fighters entering the country.

U.S. officials describe the town of Husaybah as the key to controlling the volatile Euphrates River valley of western Iraq and dislodging al-Qaida in Iraq, led by Jordanian terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

The U.S.-led operation includes about 1,000 Iraqi soldiers, and the offensive will serve as a major test of their capability to battle the insurgents — seen as essential to enabling Washington to draw down its 157,000-strong military presence.

Thunderous explosions shook Husaybah early Saturday as U.S. Marines and Iraqi scouts, recruited from pro-government tribes from the area, fought their way into western neighborhoods of the town, 200 miles northwest of Baghdad, residents said.

As fighting continued throughout the day, U.S. jets launched at least nine airstrikes, according to a U.S. Marine statement. The U.S. command said there were no reports of casualties among American or Iraqi forces.

However, the military said Saturday that three more U.S. troops had been killed elsewhere in Iraq.

One soldier was killed Friday by small-arms fire south of Baghdad, and another died the same day when the vehicle in his patrol was hit by a mine near Habaniyah, 50 miles west of the capital. The third soldier was killed Saturday in a traffic accident in southern Iraq.

Those deaths raised to at least 2,045 the number U.S. service members who have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

Also Saturday, five Iraqi police were killed and three wounded when a roadside bomb exploded in northern Baghdad, hospital officials said.

And 11 members of a Kurdish Shiite family — including an infant — were killed and three wounded when gunmen sprayed their minibus with automatic weapons' fire northeast of Baghdad, police said.

The relatives were returning to their home in the Baghdad area after visiting a family cemetery near Balad Ruz, about 50 miles away. Shiite Muslims traditionally pay their respects to their dead during the three-day Eid al-Fitr holiday, which marks the end of Ramadan and ends for most Shiites on Sunday.

The attack's motive was unclear, but tensions between Shiites and Sunnis have been on the rise in the area, with extremists from each community targeting the other.

Elsewhere, a 65-year-old male detainee died Saturday of natural causes at a U.S. military prison camp in southern Iraq, the U.S. military announced. Camp Bucca is located near the southern port city of Umm Qasr near the Kuwaiti border.

U.S. commanders hope the Husaybah offensive, code-named "Operation Steel Curtain," will restore control of western Anbar province ahead of the parliamentary election Dec. 15 and enable Sunni Arabs there to vote.

Sunni Arabs form the vast majority of the insurgents, and U.S. officials hope that a strong Sunni turnout next month will encourage many of them to lay down arms and join the political process.

However, some Sunni Arab politicians and tribal leaders complained that the Husaybah operation was endangering civilians in the overwhelmingly Sunni area and could lead to greater instability throughout Sunni sections of the country.

"We call all humanitarians and those who carry peace to the world to intervene to stop the repeated bloodshed in the western parts of Iraq," said Sheik Osama Jadaan, a Sunni tribal leader. "And we say to the American occupiers to get out and leave Iraq to the Iraqis."

Husaybah, a poor Sunni Arab town of about 30,000 people, is the first stop in a network of communities that the U.S. military suspects al-Qaida of using to smuggle fighters, weapons and explosives from Syria down the Euphrates valley to Baghdad and other cities.

Many Husaybah residents are believed to fled the town after weeks of fighting between Iraqi tribes that support the insurgents and those that back the government.

The U.S. military says foreign fighters comprise only a small percentage of the insurgent ranks, which also include supporters of Saddam Hussein and Sunni Arabs opposed to the Americans and their Shiite and Kurdish allies.

However, foreign Islamic extremists are blamed for many of the spectacular suicide attacks that have killed hundreds of Iraqis in recent months. And foreign extremists are seen as more likely to continue the fight regardless of whether Iraqi Sunnis gain a measure of political power in the coming vote.

Most Sunni Arabs boycotted the Jan. 30 election of Iraq's current interim parliament, but many members of the minority voted in the Oct. 15 referendum that adopted the country's new constitution. Many Sunnis also plan to vote in the Dec. 15 ballot, hoping to increase the low number of seats they control in the National Assembly now dominated by Shiites and Kurds.

In Baghdad, Fakhri al-Qaisi, a prominent Sunni politician running on a hardline ticket was shot Saturday as he was driving home. Doctors at Yarmouk Hospital reported him in critical condition.

Meanwhile, suspected insurgents shot and killed a Palestinian working as a security guard in Beiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad, police said. Insurgents frequently target Iraqis and others working for the Americans.

Al-Qaida in Iraq warned this week that foreign diplomats should leave Iraq or face attacks. The militant group also threatened to kill two kidnapped Moroccan Embassy employees who disappeared Oct. 20 while driving to Baghdad from Jordan.

On Saturday, Arabic language Al-Arabiya TV showed interviews with the families of the Moroccans, begging for their release.

"I plead with my brothers, the Muslim mujahedeen in the name of the Islamic law and in the name of justice, because Abdelkrim is a religious man," said Leqaa Abbas, wife of embassy staff member Abdelkrim el-Mouhafidi.

 

[Reverend Blair]

bout 3,500 U.S. and Iraqi troops backed by jets launched a major attack Saturday against an insurgent-held town near the Syrian border

Thunderous explosions shook Husaybah early Saturday

As fighting continued throughout the day, U.S. jets launched at least nine airstrikes,

How many women and children died in this one NASCAR? 50? 100? I notice that article contains a careful count of all of the American soldiers killed elsewhere, what is this cowardice your country has in regard to counting how many they kill with their reckless bombing?

 

[Ocean Breeze]

Looks like we're (US and Iraqi troops) taking it to the terrorists around the Syrian border ...

sounds more like where one group of terrorists meets another. :evil:

ain't KILLING GRAND??? NOT!!


How many more must die before the u.s.r "terrorist" group is "satisfied"??? Just REMEMBER who the invading terrorists are.....and who they are aiming to CONQUER. Ya see , how in heck is anyone (with any brains) supposed to buy into their crap about this being about the "Iraqis"??? What a load that was and still is.

 

[Nascar_James]

bout 3,500 U.S. and Iraqi troops backed by jets launched a major attack Saturday against an insurgent-held town near the Syrian border

Thunderous explosions shook Husaybah early Saturday

As fighting continued throughout the day, U.S. jets launched at least nine airstrikes,

How many women and children died in this one NASCAR? 50? 100? I notice that article contains a careful count of all of the American soldiers killed elsewhere, what is this cowardice your country has in regard to counting how many they kill with their reckless bombing?

As far as I can tell, this ongoing operation (code named Steel Curtain) so far has produced no civilian casualties except for the terrorists and no caualties on the Iraqi/US forces.

Rev, 1000 Iraq troops are involved in this operation. They are helping rid their country of the terrorist elements around the town of Husaybah, a strategic hit in reducing overall Al Qaeda presence in Iraq. If the Iraqi Forces are successful in this operation, we will have come one step closer to ensuring that Iraqis are almost capable of defending their country themsleves.

These operations are essential. Just look at what the terroists are doing ... 11 members of a Kurdish Shiite family — including an infant — were killed and three wounded when gunmen sprayed their minibus with automatic weapons' fire northeast of Baghdad. The relatives were returning to their home in the Baghdad area after visiting a family cemetery near Balad Ruz, about 50 miles away.

 

[Ocean Breeze]

As far as I can tell, this ongoing operation (code named Steel Curtain) so far has produced no civilian casualties except for the terrorists and no caualties on the Iraqi/US forces.

this boggles the mind. How do you identify them" terrorists".?? Do they have a tatoo that brands them as such?? Or wear color coded scarves???Seems those fighting AGAINST the INVADING US......have changed in name more often than some people change their socks.

begs the question: why in heck did you create the mess so that any terrorist groups would infiltrate so easily?? Rather stupid, don't cha think??

What 's with the code named operations??? This is reality , real life and blood. Not some movie.

 

[Nascar_James]

As far as I can tell, this ongoing operation (code named Steel Curtain) so far has produced no civilian casualties except for the terrorists and no caualties on the Iraqi/US forces.

this boggles the mind. How do you identify them" terrorists".?? Do they have a tatoo that brands them as such?? Or wear color coded scarves???Seems those fighting AGAINST the INVADING US......have changed in name more often than some people change their socks.

begs the question: why in heck did you create the mess so that any terrorist groups would infiltrate so easily?? Rather stupid, don't cha think??

What 's with the code named operations??? This is reality , real life and blood. Not some movie.

Ocean, they terrorize the lives of ordinary civilians ... that's why they are tagged as terrorists. I mean what normal human being deliberately fires automatic weapons at a minibus killing and wounding 11 innocent civilian members of a family including an infant. All these folks were doing is driving home from the cemetary.

From the outskirts, it appears Operation Steel Curtain or Iron Fist (Depending on how you look at it) is the largest Iraqi operation since Fallujah (about a year ago). I hear the troops did encounter stiff resistance today as they assaulted an insurgent stronghold on the Syrian border. The operation will no doubt continue.

 

[Reverend Blair]

RE: Iraq - Today..*and to

Fallujah is widely considered to have been a war crime, Nascar. Collective punishment, the use of banned weapons, attacks on hospitals and mosques, the murder of unarmed civilians, the mistreatment of prisoners, the abuse of dead bodies, the killing of civilians trying to escape the fighting.

To try to compare something to Fallujah and to try to portray both in a positive light is to celebrate the commission of war crimes. You do that while complaining that the other side is almost as bad as you are.

 

[Reverend Blair]

These operations are essential. Just look at what the terroists are doing ... 11 members of a Kurdish Shiite family — including an infant — were killed and three wounded when gunmen sprayed their minibus with automatic weapons' fire northeast of Baghdad.

How many civilians died from your bombs, James? How many infants are laying dead or dying in Husaybah today? How many innocents are missing limbs? How many wounded enemies have been executed like they were in Fallujah? How many men, women, and children have been taken hostage by your government to be tortured in your secret facilities?

What platitudes can you offer to answer that, James? Will you tell me once again how terrible the insurgents are? Will you insist that your crimes are justified because you are American? I've heard it all before. I'm not buying it.

 

[Ocean Breeze]

Ocean, they terrorize the lives of ordinary civilians

and your planes and bombs don't???? How would you like to live in Iraq with all this heavy metal in the sky and with it erupting now and then when one least expects it??? That is living in terror.......(IMHO) This has been going on for years now....with no end in site. How about the Iraqi mental health ??

and let's not confuse terrorism with war........yet again.

 

[Nascar_James]

These operations are essential. Just look at what the terroists are doing ... 11 members of a Kurdish Shiite family — including an infant — were killed and three wounded when gunmen sprayed their minibus with automatic weapons' fire northeast of Baghdad.

How many civilians died from your bombs, James? How many infants are laying dead or dying in Husaybah today? How many innocents are missing limbs? How many wounded enemies have been executed like they were in Fallujah? How many men, women, and children have been taken hostage by your government to be tortured in your secret facilities?

What platitudes can you offer to answer that, James? Will you tell me once again how terrible the insurgents are? Will you insist that your crimes are justified because you are American? I've heard it all before. I'm not buying it.

Firstly Rev, it appears there have not been any civilian casualties in Husaybah since the beginning of the operation. In your comment on how many civilians are dying from our bombs ... the difference is that we try to avoid civilian casualties wheras the terrorists deliberately kill innocent civilians. That is why they are labeled terrorists. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out. As I've noted earlier, innocent casualties of war that are not caused deliberately are in accord with the Geneva Convention. So we are not doing anything illegal. We are simply helping the Iraqi troops go after the terrorists.

 

[Ocean Breeze]

We are simply helping the Iraqi troops go after the terrorists.

is THAT what you're doing??? :roll: you got more spin than a kitchen center. :? What will it be next week??