Sunday, November 19, 2006

Meanwhile in Iraq

Baghdad Shi'ite militant says fighting for all Iraqis: "Sunnis are as much my brothers as Shi'ites. My only enemies are the occupiers," he said during the encounter in Sadr City, the sprawling Baghdad slum where U.S. and Iraqi forces have been hunting him as, effectively, Public Enemy No. 1 for months.

A terrible legacy of hatred and death: This is the hell we have bequeathed to the Arab peoples of Iraq.

At least 59 killed (Sunday) as U.S. occupation grinds on: A total of 11 bodies were brought to Baquba hospital, the victims of assassinations and executions in Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad

At least 37 killed (Saturday) in another bloody day of U.S. occupation: Police found 20 bodies in different areas of western Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.

Bomb kills 20 people in an Iraqi city : A suicide bomber in a minivan killed 20 people and wounded 46 after detonating the explosives near a crowd of day laborers in a southern Iraqi city, police said.

Major battle in Iraq's Baqouba kills 18: Iraqi resistance and American forces fought Sunni insurgents in an hours-long street battle Saturday in the increasingly violent city of Baqouba

Allawi shapes up as Iraq's iron man: A FORMER Iraqi prime minister who is tipped to return as a “strongman” leader if Baghdad’s faltering government falls has challenged the American-led coalition’s objective of creating a western-style democracy even though the country is in turmoil.

Kissinger: Iraq Military Win Impossible : Military victory is no longer possible in Iraq, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said in a television interview broadcast Sunday.

General: Cut Iraq strength by one-third: The U.S. would have to slash combat forces in Iraq to 10 brigades by Christmas to keep the Army from breaking, said retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey.

Intervention in Iraq 'pretty much of a disaster' admits Blair,: Tony Blair conceded last night that western intervention in Iraq had been a disaster. In an interview with Al-Jazeera, the Arabic TV station, the prime minister agreed with the veteran broadcaster Sir David Frost when he suggested that intervention had "so far been pretty much of a disaster".

In case you missed it: Blair planned Iraq war from start: INSIDE Downing Street Tony Blair had gathered some of his senior ministers and advisers for a pivotal meeting in the build-up to the Iraq war. It was 9am on July 23, 2002, eight months before the invasion began and long before the public was told war was inevitable.

Congress to probe UK's claims on Iraq uranium : British intelligence reports on Saddam Hussein's alleged efforts to buy uranium ore from Niger will be at the centre of new American investigations into the Iraq war by the newly elected Democrat-run Congress.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi : Bringing the War to an End is my Highest Priority as Speaker: I told my colleagues yesterday that the biggest ethical issue facing our country for the past three and a half years is the war in Iraq.

In case you mised it: "An American Killing Field": Dr. Dahlia Wasfi, speaks of the reality of life in Iraq under U.S. occupation. 6 Minute Video.

Iraq: At least 39 killed as U.S. occupation continues: Police found 14 bodies bearing signs of torture and bullet wounds in different parts of Baghdad, police said.

Locals Accuse U.S. of Massacre in Ramadi: U.S. killed 35 civilians when they shelled several homes in the Al-Dhubat area of the city.

Interpreters used by British Army 'hunted down' by Iraqi death squads : At least 21 have been kidnapped and shot in head over the past three weeks, their bodies dumped in different parts of the city

Austrian Mercenary Killed, American Wounded In Iraq: An Austrian was killed and an American was seriously wounded after their convoy of security contractors was hijacked in southern Iraq, an Iraqi police officer said Friday.

Military may ask $127B for wars : The Bush administration is preparing its largest spending request yet for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a proposal that could make the conflict the most expensive since World War II.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich: Cut Off Iraq War Funding: Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) explains why cutting off funding for the Iraq war is the only way to truly protect American troops.

Gwynne Dyer: Radical steps needed to escape Iraq quagmire: The full panoply of American power was unleashed upon Iraq, and the results have been profoundly unimpressive. This doesn’t just mean that the US loses in Iraq. It means its leverage elsewhere is severely diminished as well.

Iraq's state involved in kidnappings?: New allegations from Iraq's education minister that the state may be complicit in mass kidnappings.

Sunni Urged to Quit Iraqi Government: The influential Association of Muslim Scholars on Friday called on Sunni politicians to quit Iraq's government and parliament, a day after the Shiite interior minister issued an arrest warrant for the association's leader.

Iraq Sunni cleric rejects arrest : BBC Baghdad correspondent David Loyn says Mr Dhari is an Iraqi nationalist who is opposed to any co-operation with America and is also against government proposals to give an amnesty to anyone who gives up the insurgency.

Soldier avoids execution for rape / murder: A soldier was sentenced Thursday to 90 years in prison with the possibility of parole for conspiring to rape a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and kill her and her family.

I hate Iraqis, rape accused tells military court: One of four US soldiers accused of raping a 14-year-old Iraqi girl showed little remorse, and even smiled during a confession to charges he conspired to kill her and her family.

Contractor’s Boss in Iraq Shot at Civilians: : Two former employees of an American private military contracting company have claimed in a Virginia court that they witnessed their supervisor deliberately shoot at Iraqi vehicles and civilians this summer, and that the company fired them for reporting the incidents.

US army 'seized Iraqi homes' : A leading Iraqi lawyer has accused the US army of throwing 211 families, including his, out of their homes.

Dutch military in Iraq abuse row : Military interrogators from the Netherlands abused dozens of Iraqi prisoners following the 2003 invasion, according to a Dutch press report.

Report: Baker met with Syrians to discuss cooperation on Iraq: Former United States Secretary of State James Baker, co-chairman of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group examining strategic options in Iraq, has met several times with Syrian officials to discuss cooperation with the U.S., The New York Times reported on Saturday.

US Jews 'angered' by Olmert: "Six days after voters resoundingly rejected the Bush administration's Iraq policies, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, speaking at the White House, just as resoundingly endorsed the war," The Jewish Week said. "A wide range of Jewish leaders anxiously dismissed Olmert's words praising the administration for bringing 'stability' to Iraq.

US army 'seized Iraqi homes': A leading Iraqi lawyer has accused the US army of throwing 211 families, including his, out of their homes. Al-Alwan has accused the US army of seizing the whole neighbourhood of al-Soufiya in the centre of al-Ramadi and using the houses for military purposes. The press desk of the US army command in Iraq did not respond to repeated requests to comment on the claim made by al-Alwan.

Sunni urged to quit Iraqi government: The influential Association of Muslim Scholars on Friday called on Sunni politicians to quit Iraq's government and parliament, a day after the Shiite interior minister issued an arrest warrant for the association's leader.

Five seized after convoy hijack: British and US forces have mounted raids across southern Iraq after four Americans and an Austrian were abducted when trucks in a civilian convoy they were guarding were hijacked. And Iraqi police said they shot dead an American in civilian clothes and wounded another after the men killed two police officers who had stopped their unmarked vehicle.

Iraq rape soldier jailed for life: A US soldier has been jailed for 90 years after pleading guilty to his part in the rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl and the killing of her family in Iraq. James Barker, one of four American soldiers accused in the March 12 rape and murder of Abeer Qassim al-Janabi, pleaded guilty at a court martial in Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

Iraq government in crisis as staff abducted, tortured: Kidnappers tortured many of the dozens of hostages seized from a government building and killed some of them, a minister said, warning that Iraq no longer had an effective government.

Violence in Iraq at almost satanic levels, says CIA director, Audio & Transcript: In the United States, the top spy says violence in Iraq has reached almost satanic levels, and he fears the Iraqi Government is not capable of bringing it under control.

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