Bunch of pessimists and America-haters... what about the good news coming out of Iraq? _________________________ From the current lead article on the Coalition Provisional Authority's home page: Baghdad -- In April 5th remarks, Ambassador Bremer lauded the Iraqi Minister of Municipalities and Public Works, Nasreen Barwari, praising her for rehabilitating 14 water treatment plant, replacing 22 kilometers of leaking pipes, replacing 200 kilometers of local water distribution networks and rehabilitating sewage treatment plants in Najaf and Hillah." From the most recent press release posted on the CPA web site: Baghdad – April 2, 2004 – Today at Al Shaab Stadium in Central Baghdad, Ambassador L. Paul Bremer, The Administrator for the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), joined Ahmed Al-Samarrai, President of the National Olympic Committee of Iraq (NOCI), in unveiling the new official logo for the Iraqi Olympic Team. From the White House's Iraq "Fact of the Day": The Ministry of Education is back in the hands of Iraqis today. The Ministry has made remarkable progress in reforming the country's schools. From Centcom's "Iraqi Freedom News Features": BAGHDAD, Iraq –Students of the city’s 14th of July Girls’ School received an unexpected gift when Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, handed out 500 backpacks loaded with school supplies, candy and other items.
They forgot to mention, few girls went to school due to the rampant raping and kidnapping of females...
Capitalism trumps patriotism. http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0406/p02s01-usmi.html . . . In the post-9/11 world, demand for the commandos is not only soaring within the military. Private firms and government organizations - including the CIA - are luring away troops with bigger salaries. "It is a very lucrative opportunity right now for special operations folks to get out and take very high-paying jobs" with private security firms, says General Brown. A 20-year veteran leaving Special Operations receives about $23,000 in retirement pay, but can earn $100,000 to $200,000 in private industry, military officials say. . . .
Another one... some reports (Sky News) say as many as 120 US soldiers killed. Fox says at least 12... _________________ Deadliest Day in Iraq Since War's End Tuesday, April 06, 2004 FALLUJAH, Iraq — With 12 U.S. servicemen killed in Ramadi, 4 in Abu Ghraib and 2 in separate attacks in Baghdad — a total of 18 — Tuesday, April 6, has become the deadliest day for U.S. forces in Iraq since the end of major combat operations was declared on May 1, 2003. The highest previous toll so far, 17, involved soldiers killed in helicopter crashes. An "extremely intense" battle is taking place in Ramadi (search), another Sunni Triangle hotbed of guerrilla activity 24 miles west of Fallujah, and at least 12 U.S. Marines have been killed, Pentagon and military officials told Fox News on Tuesday. At least 100 fighters in the army of Muqtada al-Sadr (search), the fiery anti-American Shiite Muslim cleric wanted on a murder charge, charged a U.S.-led coalition compound, officials said. A defense official told Fox News that there have been "significant" U.S. deaths from the fighting in Ramadi — the official later set the figure at at least 12 U.S. casualties. Fighting was so intense that commanders went to the unit headquarters to pull people who wouldn't normally fight into the combat, military sources said. In the fighting — the worst seen in the area or Iraq in recent months — one Marine estimated some 80 people were killed in initial exchanges but it was unclear how many of those were Iraqi. The Associated Press said some sixty-four Iraqis died in the violence Tuesday. "This is not like any other firefight we've seen so far," military sources in Iraq said. "There are bullets flying all over the place." A U.S. official in Washington said all American officials in Iraq, including those working for the Coalition Provisional Authority (search), have been told since Monday to remain inside their compounds due to security worries. Meanwhile, al-Sadr, sought by U.S. and Iraqi forces, announced Tuesday that he had left the mosque in the city of Kufa, south of Baghdad, where he has been holed up for the past two days, surrounded by armed militiamen. U.S. administrators on Monday declared al-Sadr an "outlaw" and announced a warrant for his arrest. He was demanding to speak to high-level coalition officials Tuesday and said he would not negotiate his surrender. Operation Vigilant Resolve Moves Into Fallujah Ramadi is located west of Fallujah in the southwestern corner of the so-called Sunni Triangle, which is full of Saddam Hussein loyalists. Fallujah is the city where four American civilians were killed last week and their corpses mutilated by a cheering mob. Earlier Tuesday, U.S. troops who were surrounding Fallujah began to move into the urban areas of the city, encountering heavy fire as they approached. U.S. warplanes firing rockets destroyed four houses in the besieged city of Fallujah late Tuesday, witnesses said. A doctor said 26 Iraqis, including women and children, were killed and 30 wounded in the strike. The rockets destroyed the houses in two neighborhoods in the city after nightfall Tuesday, the witnesses said. Rafie al-Issawi, a doctor at Fallujah General Hospital, said the hospital received the bodies of 26 dead along with 30 wounded soon after. He said their wounds suggested they had been in the destroyed houses. The deaths bring the total death toll among Iraqis in Fallujah on Tuesday to 34, including eight during heavy street fighting during the day. About 1,300 U.S. Marines and more Iraqi forces are looking for those responsible for last week's mob attack. Known as Operation Vigilant Resolve (search), the hunt is on in the Anbar province (search), which stretches from Baghdad to the Jordanian and Syrian borders. "It will be a methodical effort to find the individuals involved" in last week's grisly acts, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told reporters during a Pentagon briefing Tuesday. Rumsfeld said U.S. troops have captured a number of people in Fallujah in the last 36 hours. "They have photographs of a good many people who were involved in the attacks against the individuals and they have been conducting raids in the city against high-value targets," Rumsfeld said. A force of Marines pushed into an eastern Fallujah neighborhood Tuesday, clashing with guerrillas; gunmen carrying automatic weapons were seen in the streets. Guerrilla gunfire set one vehicle ablaze and a soldier inside was killed, said witness Issam Mahmoud. There was no confirmation of the death. Troops broke into houses in the neighborhood, carrying out searches, and entered a mosque, witnesses said. On the northern side of Fallujah, eight Marines and one Navy Corpsman were on foot patrol when they came under fire from fighters in a three-story building 60 feet away. An RPG exploded nearby and about 100 AK-47 bullets were fired at them. One hit a Marine in the head and his comrades were called in for reinforcements and combat evacuation. An Abrams tank, accompanied by a combined anti-armor team vehicle, came to the rescue, firing .50-caliber machine guns into the building for cover. The wounded Marine was successfully evacuated and his condition was improving. "He can talk, he'll make it," a Marine medic said. Bush: 'We'll Stay the Course in Iraq' Amid the new violence, President Bush vowed that the United States would stick to its timetable to turn over control of Iraq to an interim government on June 30. "We'll stay the course in Iraq — we're not gonna be intimidated by thugs and assassins, we're not gonna cut and run," Bush said Tuesday in Arkansas. "We understand a free Iraq is a historic opportunity to make the world more peaceful." L. Paul Bremer (search), the U.S. civilian administrator in Iraq, noted that in popular opinion polls, 90 percent or more of Iraqis support "a democratic Iraq where power comes not from the barrel of a gun." "The political process is well under way with broad consultations with the Iraqi people. The interim government will be in place well before June 30," the date to hand over government operations to the Iraqis, Bremer told Fox News. Elsewhere in Iraq Among other recent developments: — The military announced that on Monday, five Marines died in Fallujah and three U.S. soldiers of the 1st Armored Division were killed while patrolling Baghdad. Four out of the five Marines were not directly involved in the Fallujah operation and were killed by an improvised explosive device about 15 miles away near Abu Ghraib (search) prison. — Soldiers from the 1st Infantry Division also conducted a raid near Baqubah Tuesday and captured 12 individuals, including the leader of the insurgent cell suspected of conducting attacks against coalition forces using improvised explosive devices. — Fifteen Iraqis were killed in Nasiriyah (search) and another 15 were killed in Amarah, coalition military officials said. — In Nasiriyah, fighting was reported Tuesday between Italian troops and al-Sadr backers. A coalition spokeswoman told the Italian media that at least 15 Iraqis were killed. She said insurgents used civilians as human shields, and two children and a woman were among the dead. — A coalition spokesman said Tuesday that fighting overnight between al-Sadr followers and British troops in Amarah left 15 Iraqis dead and eight wounded. — In Kut, a Ukrainian soldier was killed and five were wounded when militants attacked an armored personnel carrier, the Defense Ministry said. Ukraine has about 1,650 troops in Iraq, the third-largest contingent among countries that didn't take part in major combat operations. — About 500 Japanese soldiers stationed in Samawah have been ordered to halt work on repairing roads and other humanitarian activities outside of their camp until after festivities for the Shiite holy day of Arbaeen on April 11, Kyodo News reported.
From Sky News... 130... (but it's Murdoch so who knows) ___________________ 130 SOLDIERS KILLED IN IRAQ - REPORTS A Pentagon source has said up to 130 US troops have been killed in fierce fighting in Iraq. The large scale battle, described as "intense", has taken place in the town of Ar Ramadi, 20 miles west of Fallujah. Sky News' David Chater said: "None of this is official yet - none of it is confirmed." But he added: "It sounds very much like this is being carried out by men who are militarily trained." Chater described the attack as "highly sophisticated".
The most appropriate thing to do now is hand over autonomy to a democratically elected council (not this provisional puppet council BS we have now), and send real contractors who have no political interests in Iraq while maintaining a security presence for the time being. The GOP pro-business gambit failed. We can hedge our bets and salvage some credibility now and have a moderately distrustful government in the future or another Shah of Iran on our hands.
Invisible hand, You don't understand. Chalabi is a US citizen or at least was one. If memory serves me, Chalabi e is a neocon who studied under their favorite university, the the U of Chicago. He has known some of the boys for years. He is their favorite Iraqi-American. Wouldn't it be wild if Chalabi even voted for Bush or his daddy? It might have been possible!! Who wants to be the last to die for Chalabi?
This is so depressing. I really hope that it is 12 and not 120 that were killed in combat today. We find out that Bush had been planning on invading Iraq since before 9/11, you'd think they would have done a better job than they did. The guy is one crappy 'war president'. Mission Accomplished A-hole
You know, one thing I believe we absolutely must do as a nation is welcome back these brave soldiers with all our hearts when this mess is finally over (as far as our significant troop presence). I really admire the guys and gals over there risking their lives in Iraq, and I don't hold them one iota responsible for the bad decisions which have led to this mess. God bless them all.
I always try not to be a dittohead, but in this case I will make an exception and shout out a huge DITTO!!!
Dude I heard 20, but that still freaking floored me. I really thought the casualty rate slowed down but I guess the liberal media just doesn't report it as much.
You know, one thing I believe we absolutely must do as a nation is welcome back these brave soldiers with all our hearts when this mess is finally over This is true. It wasn't their fault. Most were kids who just wanted to get tuition money or escape a dead end job. Virtually no elite college grads over there. Think of poor Jessica Lynch who just wanted to get money to go and train to be an elementary school teacher. She enlisted, if I recall, when the local Walmart in her small town didn't hire her. Once they realize how stupid it all was, there will be a lot of mental health problems, despite the welcome. We should also work to keep more from joining up so that they aren't put in this predicatment. We should support those who are conscientious objectors and wish to drop out or not go for additional tours.
That or exposure to depleted uranium shells. There's still the slightest of hope that stable leadership exists in Iraq. Wilder things have happened and hopefully the troops sacrifice and determination won't be in vain.
Here here. More reasons for the opposition (Iraq war) crowd to continue raising our voices for our troops, many of whom don't get to make a decision (or maybe even voice an opinion) regarding this debacle.
