An Iraqi militant group linked to al Qaeda vowed on Saturday to widen its attacks to all parts of Iraq instead of just focusing on Baghdad, after Washington announced plans to beef up its forces in the capital.
The leader of the self-styled Islamic State in Iraq, a body set up by al Qaeda's Iraq wing and other Sunni militant groups in October, said in a Web recording the campaign would stop only "when (U.S. President George W.) Bush signs a surrender accord".
"We today announce a strategy ... which is wider and wiser with God's power. It does not involve Baghdad alone but all parts of the Islamic state," said the speaker, identified as Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, leader of the group.
In January Bush said he would send 21,500 more U.S. soldiers to Iraq in an effort to crack down on sectarian killings and insurgent attacks, especially in Baghdad.
Baghdadi said Bush was giving Muslim fighters a chance "to slaughter the wounded crusader giant and take advantage of the collapsing morale of its soldiers and commanders".
The authenticity of the tape could not be verified, but it was posted on Web sites used by al Qaeda and other insurgent groups in Iraq.
Baghdadi called on other Sunni Muslim militant groups to join his "state" to unify insurgent ranks.
He warned neighbouring Syria against helping the United States fight the insurgents, arguing that Washington would have acted against Damascus had it not been busy with the war in Iraq.
"The Baathists in Syria should realise that if not for the mujahideen in Iraq they would have been on the gallows, therefore we warn them ... not to help Washington to stop the jihad in Iraq. This is not in their benefit in any way," he said.
Baghdadi said Sunni Islamists would benefit from a possible U.S. strike against Shi'ite Iran, in which he said Washington might use tactical nuclear weapons to neutralise Tehran's nuclear programme.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Defense Leaders: Iraq Debate Focuses Not on Whether to Win, But How
Debate about operations in Iraq is completely appropriate, Defense Secretary Robert W. Gates said today, but he added that he believes those debates center not on whether there’s any option except to win, but on the best way to reach that objective.
“I don’t know anyone on (Capitol) Hill who thinks that failure … in Iraq … would have anything other than very serious and negative consequences for the United States and for the region,” Gates told reporters during a Pentagon roundtable briefing. He went on to define failure as “leaving Iraq in chaos.”
“So I think what people are trying to do is figure out what is the … best, constructive way forward to avoid that outcome in Iraq,” he said. “And I think that’s what the debate’s about.”
The debate also focuses on the best way to “incentivize the Iraqis to take responsibility for their own future,” Gates said. “I think that’s a good debate to have.”
Iraq continues to struggle with a complex set of challenges, Gates acknowledged, but he said the term “civil war,” oversimplifies the situation. He called the “civil war” label “a bumper-sticker answer to what is going on in Iraq,” that really doesn’t fit the circumstances.
Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, agreed with Gates’ assessment, noting that conditions in Iraq don’t meet “civil war” criteria. “The Iraqi army is loyal to the central government,” he said. “You do not have ‘Iraqi army of the north fighting Iraqi army of the south’ and other things like that.”
Gates reiterated the view he expressed during his Dec. 5 Senate confirmation hearing, when he cited four separate and distinct situations in Iraq.
“I believe there are essentially four wars going on in Iraq,” he said. Shiia-on-Shiia violence is occurring mostly in the south. Sectarian violence is centered on Baghdad, but occurs in other regions, too. An insurgency is under way, and al Qaeda is continuing its operations and attacking all those targets.
Both leaders said focusing on the best way ahead in Iraq is far more productive than trying to pin a label on the situation there.
“It’s a very complex issue, and putting a bumper sticker on it really doesn’t help solve the problem,” Pace said. “The question is, ‘Where are we? Where should we be? And how do we get from where we are to where we’re supposed to be? And that is what the new plan is all about.”
Gates told reporters he’s “comfortable” supporting President Bush’s orders to send additional troops to Iraq to support that plan, despite objections by some in Congress.
“The president is the commander in chief of the armed forces. The president has given the direction. We are carrying out his orders,” the secretary said.
“Sometimes a president has to take a long view, and sometimes that puts him in opposition to public opinion and to sentiment in Congress,” he said.
Gates offered a reminder that when President George H.W. Bush announced plans to remove Saddam Hussein’s army from Kuwait, only 15 percent of the American people supported the decision. “After it was successful, 90 percent approved of it,” he said.
“I don’t know anyone on (Capitol) Hill who thinks that failure … in Iraq … would have anything other than very serious and negative consequences for the United States and for the region,” Gates told reporters during a Pentagon roundtable briefing. He went on to define failure as “leaving Iraq in chaos.”
“So I think what people are trying to do is figure out what is the … best, constructive way forward to avoid that outcome in Iraq,” he said. “And I think that’s what the debate’s about.”
The debate also focuses on the best way to “incentivize the Iraqis to take responsibility for their own future,” Gates said. “I think that’s a good debate to have.”
Iraq continues to struggle with a complex set of challenges, Gates acknowledged, but he said the term “civil war,” oversimplifies the situation. He called the “civil war” label “a bumper-sticker answer to what is going on in Iraq,” that really doesn’t fit the circumstances.
Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, agreed with Gates’ assessment, noting that conditions in Iraq don’t meet “civil war” criteria. “The Iraqi army is loyal to the central government,” he said. “You do not have ‘Iraqi army of the north fighting Iraqi army of the south’ and other things like that.”
Gates reiterated the view he expressed during his Dec. 5 Senate confirmation hearing, when he cited four separate and distinct situations in Iraq.
“I believe there are essentially four wars going on in Iraq,” he said. Shiia-on-Shiia violence is occurring mostly in the south. Sectarian violence is centered on Baghdad, but occurs in other regions, too. An insurgency is under way, and al Qaeda is continuing its operations and attacking all those targets.
Both leaders said focusing on the best way ahead in Iraq is far more productive than trying to pin a label on the situation there.
“It’s a very complex issue, and putting a bumper sticker on it really doesn’t help solve the problem,” Pace said. “The question is, ‘Where are we? Where should we be? And how do we get from where we are to where we’re supposed to be? And that is what the new plan is all about.”
Gates told reporters he’s “comfortable” supporting President Bush’s orders to send additional troops to Iraq to support that plan, despite objections by some in Congress.
“The president is the commander in chief of the armed forces. The president has given the direction. We are carrying out his orders,” the secretary said.
“Sometimes a president has to take a long view, and sometimes that puts him in opposition to public opinion and to sentiment in Congress,” he said.
Gates offered a reminder that when President George H.W. Bush announced plans to remove Saddam Hussein’s army from Kuwait, only 15 percent of the American people supported the decision. “After it was successful, 90 percent approved of it,” he said.
Army Prepares to Snag Insurgents Fleeing Baghdad
American and Iraqi forces posted north of Baghdad are preparing checkpoints to net any insurgents who flee Iraq’s capital city to avoid an expected anti-terrorist dragnet there, a senior U.S. military officer told Pentagon reporters today.
“Because of the pressures in Baghdad, we believe that the threat forces will try to move to Saladin (province) and find safe havens and try to wait out the operations down in Baghdad,” Army Col. Bryan Owens, commander of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team with headquarters in Tikrit, Iraq, told reporters here during a satellite-enabled news conference.
President Bush has authorized deployment of more than 21,000 additional U.S. soldiers and Marines to Baghdad and parts of western Iraq to assist in stemming sectarian violence. Most of those troops will be posted to Baghdad to help Iraqi forces round up insurgents.
Owens’ unit, part of the 82nd Airborne Division from Fort Bragg, N.C., was deployed for its second tour in Iraq in August. The 3rd Brigade is assigned to Multinational Division North and works with Iraqi security forces and U.S. State Department provincial reconstruction teams in Salahaddin province to provide stability and resuscitate the local economy, he said.
Owens’ troops are establishing fortified traffic checkpoints across his area of operations that will be manned by Iraqi soldiers and police, he said.
The 3rd BCT’s soldiers also are conducting “operations into known and suspected safe havens to try to find these threat forces,” the colonel said.
Salahaddin province encompasses an area about the size of Vermont and is home to 1.2 million Iraqis, mostly Sunni Arabs with some Shiias and Kurds, Owens said. Major cities in the province include Tikrit, Balad, Samarra and Bayji, he said.
Violence in the province has decreased since the outbreak of sectarian strife that followed the bombing of the Golden Mosque in Samarra last February, Owens noted. Today’s relative peace, he said, can be credited to the province’s governor, who secured an anti-violence agreement from local tribal sheiks last fall.
The 3rd BTC and its Iraqi partners have been preparing for an inflow of insurgents from Baghdad during the past several days, Owens said. So far, he noted, things are relatively quiet.
“I wouldn’t say we’ve had a significant flow (of insurgents) from Baghdad,” Owens said, “but we continue to work and monitor according to our plans.”
“Because of the pressures in Baghdad, we believe that the threat forces will try to move to Saladin (province) and find safe havens and try to wait out the operations down in Baghdad,” Army Col. Bryan Owens, commander of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team with headquarters in Tikrit, Iraq, told reporters here during a satellite-enabled news conference.
President Bush has authorized deployment of more than 21,000 additional U.S. soldiers and Marines to Baghdad and parts of western Iraq to assist in stemming sectarian violence. Most of those troops will be posted to Baghdad to help Iraqi forces round up insurgents.
Owens’ unit, part of the 82nd Airborne Division from Fort Bragg, N.C., was deployed for its second tour in Iraq in August. The 3rd Brigade is assigned to Multinational Division North and works with Iraqi security forces and U.S. State Department provincial reconstruction teams in Salahaddin province to provide stability and resuscitate the local economy, he said.
Owens’ troops are establishing fortified traffic checkpoints across his area of operations that will be manned by Iraqi soldiers and police, he said.
The 3rd BCT’s soldiers also are conducting “operations into known and suspected safe havens to try to find these threat forces,” the colonel said.
Salahaddin province encompasses an area about the size of Vermont and is home to 1.2 million Iraqis, mostly Sunni Arabs with some Shiias and Kurds, Owens said. Major cities in the province include Tikrit, Balad, Samarra and Bayji, he said.
Violence in the province has decreased since the outbreak of sectarian strife that followed the bombing of the Golden Mosque in Samarra last February, Owens noted. Today’s relative peace, he said, can be credited to the province’s governor, who secured an anti-violence agreement from local tribal sheiks last fall.
The 3rd BTC and its Iraqi partners have been preparing for an inflow of insurgents from Baghdad during the past several days, Owens said. So far, he noted, things are relatively quiet.
“I wouldn’t say we’ve had a significant flow (of insurgents) from Baghdad,” Owens said, “but we continue to work and monitor according to our plans.”
US Military Kills 7 Terrorists in Afghanistan
The U.S. military in Afghanistan says coalition forces have killed up to seven militants preparing to launch a rocket attack in Paktika province, near the Pakistani border.
A military statement says coalition forces fired mortars and carried out airstrikes after spotting a group of militants setting up rockets in Bermel district of the eastern province Friday.
The military says a ground patrol went to the site and confirmed that two militants died on the spot and another five were presumed dead.
On Thursday, the United States gave thousands of weapons and hundreds of armored vehicles to Afghanistan's army as it braces for renewed fighting with Taleban insurgents in the coming warmer months.
Afghanistan is working to build its army into a 70,000-strong force by the end of 2008.
Also Thursday, Britain announced the deployment of an additional 800 troops to southern Afghanistan, where Taleban fighters are most active. This will bring the number of British troops in the war-torn country to 5,800.
Britain's Defense Secretary Des Browne said the country's overall deployment in Afghanistan will only increase by 300 soldiers since the military will reduce its manpower in Kabul by 500.
Taleban forces have historically renewed attacks when temperatures warm and Afghanistan's mountain snows melt.
A military statement says coalition forces fired mortars and carried out airstrikes after spotting a group of militants setting up rockets in Bermel district of the eastern province Friday.
The military says a ground patrol went to the site and confirmed that two militants died on the spot and another five were presumed dead.
On Thursday, the United States gave thousands of weapons and hundreds of armored vehicles to Afghanistan's army as it braces for renewed fighting with Taleban insurgents in the coming warmer months.
Afghanistan is working to build its army into a 70,000-strong force by the end of 2008.
Also Thursday, Britain announced the deployment of an additional 800 troops to southern Afghanistan, where Taleban fighters are most active. This will bring the number of British troops in the war-torn country to 5,800.
Britain's Defense Secretary Des Browne said the country's overall deployment in Afghanistan will only increase by 300 soldiers since the military will reduce its manpower in Kabul by 500.
Taleban forces have historically renewed attacks when temperatures warm and Afghanistan's mountain snows melt.
Four Al-Qaeda Terrorists killed in Iraq
US troops have killed four militants linked to Al-Qaeda in a series of raids and detained dozens more.
In an operation targeting Al-Qaeda operatives in the former rebel bastion town of Fallujah in western Iraq, troops killed three militants, the US military said Saturday. Ten other suspects were detained.
In a raid at Tarmiyah, on the northern outskirts of Baghdad, another militant was killed while running towards troops while holding what appeared to be a grenade, it said.
"Coalition Forces told the man to get on the ground. The man complied at first and then got back up and charged toward coalition forces with what appeared to be a grenade," the statement said, adding that the troops killed him.
"Upon searching the man, coalition forces determined the man was charging at them with a rock in his hand instead of a grenade." (Didn't there mommy ever tell them never bring a rock to a gun fight, LOL, J.R.)
Eight others were detained in Tarmiyah, and 11 more suspects were detained in a number of other raids, the US military said.
In an operation targeting Al-Qaeda operatives in the former rebel bastion town of Fallujah in western Iraq, troops killed three militants, the US military said Saturday. Ten other suspects were detained.
In a raid at Tarmiyah, on the northern outskirts of Baghdad, another militant was killed while running towards troops while holding what appeared to be a grenade, it said.
"Coalition Forces told the man to get on the ground. The man complied at first and then got back up and charged toward coalition forces with what appeared to be a grenade," the statement said, adding that the troops killed him.
"Upon searching the man, coalition forces determined the man was charging at them with a rock in his hand instead of a grenade." (Didn't there mommy ever tell them never bring a rock to a gun fight, LOL, J.R.)
Eight others were detained in Tarmiyah, and 11 more suspects were detained in a number of other raids, the US military said.
SENATE VOTE ON TROOP SURGE MAY NOT HAPPEN
Senate Republican leaders are now saying they will block next week's Iraq debate with a procedural vote on Monday afternoon. Unless an agreement is reached between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell before Monday at 5:30 pm, it's unlikely that there will be any votes on any resolutions.
Republican leaders say Democrats have yet to give them assurances that they'll be able to have votes on resolutions they prefer which support the President's Iraq strategy. Democratic leaders say they've made various offers. Obviously the two sides can't reach an agreement.
Read more at firstread.msnbc.msn.com ...
Republican leaders say Democrats have yet to give them assurances that they'll be able to have votes on resolutions they prefer which support the President's Iraq strategy. Democratic leaders say they've made various offers. Obviously the two sides can't reach an agreement.
Read more at firstread.msnbc.msn.com ...
Air Strike Targets al Qaeda Leaders; Insurgents Captured
A coalition air strike targeted al Qaeda leaders today in Iraq, and Iraqi and coalition forces detained 45 terrorists and foiled attacks throughout Iraq this week, military officials reported.
Coalition forces targeted the leadership of an al Qaeda in Iraq-related car bomb network during today’s air strike operation near Arab Jabour.
Intelligence reports indicated that this network is responsible for a large and devastating number of car-bomb attacks in the Baghdad area. It also is responsible for roadside-bomb and sniper attacks against the Iraqi people and Iraqi and coalition forces, officials said.
Coalition officials said they believe several key terrorist leaders were killed during the air strike, but that results are still being assessed.
In another operation, coalition forces yesterday captured a suspected insurgent allegedly responsible for planning and conducting several improvised-explosive-device and car-bomb attacks in western Baghdad and Fallujah. The capture occurred in the Abu Ghraib district, east of Baghdad International Airport. Three additional suspected insurgents were detained by coalition forces.
Elsewhere, soldiers of the 1st and 9th Iraqi Army Divisions detained 11 suspected insurgents yesterday in northeastern Ramadi during operations with coalition advisors to capture the leader of an insurgent cell network.
The Iraqi-led operation was targeting a man who is believed to be running two cells conducting IED attacks and murders against Iraqi civilians and Iraqi security forces, officials said. The cell leader is suspected of being directly involved in the deaths of two Iraqi soldiers.
In Ramadi, coalition forces used precision-guided munitions in two separate incidents during hostile actions today and yesterday. Eighteen insurgents were killed in the attacks.
In both instances, coalition forces were attacked with small-arms fire from several insurgent positions. Coalition forces returned fire, and when the attacks did not cease, used machine-gun fire and tank main-gun rounds. The insurgent attacks continued and coalition forces used precision-guided munitions to halt the attacks.
In other news, coalition forces killed a foreign terrorist facilitator and detained 29 suspected terrorists while conducting operations yesterday throughout Iraq.
In Tarmiyah, coalition forces detained 18 suspected terrorists who reportedlyre a involved in al Qaeda kidnapping operations, IED emplacement and terrorist safe-house activities.
Intelligence reports indicated that a foreign-fighter network involved in vehicle hijackings, kidnappings and insurgency funding was operating in Muhammadi. As coalition forces approached the targeted area, one armed man chambered a round and attempted to fire at ground forces. Coalition forces shot and killed the armed terrorist and detained one suspected terrorist.
Coalition forces also detained five suspected terrorists northwest of Rutbah tied to foreign fighter activities in Syria and Iraq.
Four suspected terrorists were captured by coalition forces in the Baghdad area with ties to car bomb manufacturing and emplacement and foreign terrorist facilitation.
One suspect with ties to al Qaeda in Iraq was detained in Tikrit.
In a separate operation, special Iraqi army forces captured a suspected death squad leader yesterday during operations with coalition advisors in southern Baghdad.
The death squad leader allegedly is responsible for carrying out kidnappings and murders against innocent Iraqi civilians in the Hai al Aamel, Bayaa and Sayidiyah neighborhoods. The leader and his cell are implicated in the kidnapping of three Iraqi civilians Dec. 10 and burning them alive.
In another operation, coalition forces, with the help of a local imam and the Iraqi army, detained two suspected terrorists and uncovered a weapons cache yesterday inside a mosque near Tarmiyah.
Intelligence reports indicated that al Qaeda in Iraq foreign-fighter facilitation cells were operating in the area and were using the mosque for weapons storage.
The local imam and Iraqi army personnel entered the mosque and secured the two suspects, handing them over to coalition forces for questioning. The weapons cache consisted of several AK-47s and 10 60 mm mortar rounds.
In Baghdad, Iraqi national police and Multinational Division Baghdad troops discovered two caches in a joint operation in al Doura, a southern neighborhood, yesterday.
The munitions caches included multiple side-arms, an AK-47 with 3,000 rounds, a complete IED, 15 pounds of homemade explosives, two pounds of plastic explosives, a 125 mm projectile with detonation cord and fuse, 239 57 mm projectiles, and various protective gear.
An explosive ordnance team destroyed the confiscated materials at the site.
Elsewhere, the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army, took quick action and prevented a car bomb attack on their compound when a member of al Qaeda attempted to penetrate the perimeter of the post Jan. 31 in Muqdadiya, Iraq.
At about 8:30 a.m., a fuel truck attempted to breach the gate of the compound. The guards immediately attempted to stop the truck with small-arms fire, killing the driver. The car bomb detonated outside the compound.
The detonation wounded 13 Iraqi army soldiers.
Coalition forces targeted the leadership of an al Qaeda in Iraq-related car bomb network during today’s air strike operation near Arab Jabour.
Intelligence reports indicated that this network is responsible for a large and devastating number of car-bomb attacks in the Baghdad area. It also is responsible for roadside-bomb and sniper attacks against the Iraqi people and Iraqi and coalition forces, officials said.
Coalition officials said they believe several key terrorist leaders were killed during the air strike, but that results are still being assessed.
In another operation, coalition forces yesterday captured a suspected insurgent allegedly responsible for planning and conducting several improvised-explosive-device and car-bomb attacks in western Baghdad and Fallujah. The capture occurred in the Abu Ghraib district, east of Baghdad International Airport. Three additional suspected insurgents were detained by coalition forces.
Elsewhere, soldiers of the 1st and 9th Iraqi Army Divisions detained 11 suspected insurgents yesterday in northeastern Ramadi during operations with coalition advisors to capture the leader of an insurgent cell network.
The Iraqi-led operation was targeting a man who is believed to be running two cells conducting IED attacks and murders against Iraqi civilians and Iraqi security forces, officials said. The cell leader is suspected of being directly involved in the deaths of two Iraqi soldiers.
In Ramadi, coalition forces used precision-guided munitions in two separate incidents during hostile actions today and yesterday. Eighteen insurgents were killed in the attacks.
In both instances, coalition forces were attacked with small-arms fire from several insurgent positions. Coalition forces returned fire, and when the attacks did not cease, used machine-gun fire and tank main-gun rounds. The insurgent attacks continued and coalition forces used precision-guided munitions to halt the attacks.
In other news, coalition forces killed a foreign terrorist facilitator and detained 29 suspected terrorists while conducting operations yesterday throughout Iraq.
In Tarmiyah, coalition forces detained 18 suspected terrorists who reportedlyre a involved in al Qaeda kidnapping operations, IED emplacement and terrorist safe-house activities.
Intelligence reports indicated that a foreign-fighter network involved in vehicle hijackings, kidnappings and insurgency funding was operating in Muhammadi. As coalition forces approached the targeted area, one armed man chambered a round and attempted to fire at ground forces. Coalition forces shot and killed the armed terrorist and detained one suspected terrorist.
Coalition forces also detained five suspected terrorists northwest of Rutbah tied to foreign fighter activities in Syria and Iraq.
Four suspected terrorists were captured by coalition forces in the Baghdad area with ties to car bomb manufacturing and emplacement and foreign terrorist facilitation.
One suspect with ties to al Qaeda in Iraq was detained in Tikrit.
In a separate operation, special Iraqi army forces captured a suspected death squad leader yesterday during operations with coalition advisors in southern Baghdad.
The death squad leader allegedly is responsible for carrying out kidnappings and murders against innocent Iraqi civilians in the Hai al Aamel, Bayaa and Sayidiyah neighborhoods. The leader and his cell are implicated in the kidnapping of three Iraqi civilians Dec. 10 and burning them alive.
In another operation, coalition forces, with the help of a local imam and the Iraqi army, detained two suspected terrorists and uncovered a weapons cache yesterday inside a mosque near Tarmiyah.
Intelligence reports indicated that al Qaeda in Iraq foreign-fighter facilitation cells were operating in the area and were using the mosque for weapons storage.
The local imam and Iraqi army personnel entered the mosque and secured the two suspects, handing them over to coalition forces for questioning. The weapons cache consisted of several AK-47s and 10 60 mm mortar rounds.
In Baghdad, Iraqi national police and Multinational Division Baghdad troops discovered two caches in a joint operation in al Doura, a southern neighborhood, yesterday.
The munitions caches included multiple side-arms, an AK-47 with 3,000 rounds, a complete IED, 15 pounds of homemade explosives, two pounds of plastic explosives, a 125 mm projectile with detonation cord and fuse, 239 57 mm projectiles, and various protective gear.
An explosive ordnance team destroyed the confiscated materials at the site.
Elsewhere, the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army, took quick action and prevented a car bomb attack on their compound when a member of al Qaeda attempted to penetrate the perimeter of the post Jan. 31 in Muqdadiya, Iraq.
At about 8:30 a.m., a fuel truck attempted to breach the gate of the compound. The guards immediately attempted to stop the truck with small-arms fire, killing the driver. The car bomb detonated outside the compound.
The detonation wounded 13 Iraqi army soldiers.
Friday, February 02, 2007
WaPo Columnist: US Troops 'Naive Mercenaries' -- What Do We Really Owe Them?
With Democrats in congressional power, are leftists feeling suddenly empowered to express formerly taboo views? First came a column in the Los Angeles Times arguing we have overreacted to 9-11. Now comes Washington Post columnist William Arkin to express contempt for our troops and question how much we really owe them after all.
Excerpts from The Troops Also Need to Support the American People:
"I've been mulling over an NBC Nightly News report from Iraq last Friday in which a number of soldiers expressed frustration with opposition to war in the United States. I'm all for everyone expressing their opinion, even those who wear the uniform of the United States Army. But I also hope that military commanders took the soldiers aside after the story and explained to them why it wasn't for them to disapprove of the American people."
"These soldiers should be grateful that the American public, which by all polls overwhelmingly disapproves of the Iraq war and the President's handling of it, do still offer their support to them, and their respect."
"Through every Abu Ghraib and Haditha, through every rape and murder, the American public has indulged those in uniform, accepting that the incidents were the product of bad apples or even of some administration or command order."
"We pay the soldiers a decent wage, take care of their families, provide them with housing and medical care and vast social support systems and ship obscene amenities into the war zone for them, we support them in every possible way, and their attitude is that we should in addition roll over and play dead, defer to the military and the generals and let them fight their war, and give up our rights and responsibilities to speak up because they are above society?"
DEFIBRILLATOR ALERT: "The recent NBC report is just an ugly reminder of the price we pay for a mercenary - oops sorry, volunteer - force that thinks it is doing the dirty work. The notion of dirty work is that, like laundry, it is something that has to be done but no one else wants to do it. But Iraq is not dirty work: it is not some necessary endeavor; the people just don't believe that anymore."
"They are young and naïve and are frustrated with their own lack of progress and the never changing situation in Iraq. Cut off from society and constantly told that everyone supports them, no wonder the debate back home confuses them."
"America needs to ponder what it is we really owe those in uniform."
Don't think the Washington Post didn't know what they were getting when they hired Arkin to write a column. Arkin is a man who once wrote a book divulging the secret locations of nuclear bases around the world.
Mark was in Iraq in November. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net
Talk Show America 2/2/2007
Download the MP3
Listen Via Pop Up Player
February 02, 2007 08:34AM
Jay Are Blasts Wash. Post Columnist Who Wrote: US Troops 'Naive Mercenaries"-What Do We Really Owe Them ?, US Militray Official in Iraq: Bloggers Assure Truth Gets Through MSNM Filter, Poll: Most Say Iraq Matters to Security of U.S., Sgt. in Afghanistan: Stop the BS, "Let's Get it Done"
Excerpts from The Troops Also Need to Support the American People:
"I've been mulling over an NBC Nightly News report from Iraq last Friday in which a number of soldiers expressed frustration with opposition to war in the United States. I'm all for everyone expressing their opinion, even those who wear the uniform of the United States Army. But I also hope that military commanders took the soldiers aside after the story and explained to them why it wasn't for them to disapprove of the American people."
"These soldiers should be grateful that the American public, which by all polls overwhelmingly disapproves of the Iraq war and the President's handling of it, do still offer their support to them, and their respect."
"Through every Abu Ghraib and Haditha, through every rape and murder, the American public has indulged those in uniform, accepting that the incidents were the product of bad apples or even of some administration or command order."
"We pay the soldiers a decent wage, take care of their families, provide them with housing and medical care and vast social support systems and ship obscene amenities into the war zone for them, we support them in every possible way, and their attitude is that we should in addition roll over and play dead, defer to the military and the generals and let them fight their war, and give up our rights and responsibilities to speak up because they are above society?"
DEFIBRILLATOR ALERT: "The recent NBC report is just an ugly reminder of the price we pay for a mercenary - oops sorry, volunteer - force that thinks it is doing the dirty work. The notion of dirty work is that, like laundry, it is something that has to be done but no one else wants to do it. But Iraq is not dirty work: it is not some necessary endeavor; the people just don't believe that anymore."
"They are young and naïve and are frustrated with their own lack of progress and the never changing situation in Iraq. Cut off from society and constantly told that everyone supports them, no wonder the debate back home confuses them."
"America needs to ponder what it is we really owe those in uniform."
Don't think the Washington Post didn't know what they were getting when they hired Arkin to write a column. Arkin is a man who once wrote a book divulging the secret locations of nuclear bases around the world.
Mark was in Iraq in November. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net
Talk Show America 2/2/2007
Download the MP3
Listen Via Pop Up Player
February 02, 2007 08:34AM
Jay Are Blasts Wash. Post Columnist Who Wrote: US Troops 'Naive Mercenaries"-What Do We Really Owe Them ?, US Militray Official in Iraq: Bloggers Assure Truth Gets Through MSNM Filter, Poll: Most Say Iraq Matters to Security of U.S., Sgt. in Afghanistan: Stop the BS, "Let's Get it Done"
Senior U.S. Military Official in Iraq : Bloggers Assure Truth Gets Through MSM Filter
Blogs such as NewsBusters play a key role in helping the truth getting through the filter of the mainstream media. That was the view that Rear Admiral Mark Fox expressed to this blogger today.
I had the opportunity to participate in a conference call for bloggers with RADM Fox, a Silver Star recipient who scored the first Navy MiG kill in Operation Desert Storm, and who now serves as the Communications Director for MNF-I in Baghdad. Given the chance to ask a question, I naturally focused, given NB's mission, on MSM coverage of the war.
I cited to Admiral Fox the headline and opening paragraph of the New York Times story on the recent battle in Najaf in which Iraqi-US forces killed over 200 enemy fighters and captured more than 400. Predictably, the Times sought to cast the success in the most negative possible light.
The Times headline read: "Missteps by Iraqi Forces in Battle Raise Questions". The article's opening sentence: "Iraqi forces were surprised and nearly overwhelmed by the ferocity of an obscure renegade militia in a weekend battle near the holy city of Najaf and needed far more help from American forces than previously disclosed, American and Iraqi officials said Monday."
I invited Admiral Fox to comment on the Times coverage. His response:
"The good news is, the truth ultimately comes out. And I would applaud the efforts of people like you who assure that the truth ultimately gets through what some people call the mainstream media filter. Our collective view here at the Multi-National Force is that the incident at Najaf demonstrated very clearly the growing capability of the Iraqi security forces."
Admiral Fox stated that a small group of Iraqi police initially encountered the hostiles and relayed the information to the 8th Iraqi Army. Given the size of the forces they were facing, the provincial governor requested MNF support, which was provided in the form of a ground patrol and air support including AC-130s.
Said Admiral Fox: "Rather than characterizing it as 'they were almost overrun', the Iraqi troops did exactly what they were trained to do and what American troops are trained to do in similar circumstances. I think it's a success story for Iraqi security forces and for the provincial Iraqi control process." Admiral Fox noted that sovereignty was only transferred to Najaf province in December, so this was early on in the process. The Admiral concluded by calling Najaf "a good news story."
That won't stop the NY Times and others in the MSM from spinning this and other stories negatively, of course. But NB and others in the blogosphere will be there to help set the record straight.
Mark was in Iraq in November. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net
I had the opportunity to participate in a conference call for bloggers with RADM Fox, a Silver Star recipient who scored the first Navy MiG kill in Operation Desert Storm, and who now serves as the Communications Director for MNF-I in Baghdad. Given the chance to ask a question, I naturally focused, given NB's mission, on MSM coverage of the war.
I cited to Admiral Fox the headline and opening paragraph of the New York Times story on the recent battle in Najaf in which Iraqi-US forces killed over 200 enemy fighters and captured more than 400. Predictably, the Times sought to cast the success in the most negative possible light.
The Times headline read: "Missteps by Iraqi Forces in Battle Raise Questions". The article's opening sentence: "Iraqi forces were surprised and nearly overwhelmed by the ferocity of an obscure renegade militia in a weekend battle near the holy city of Najaf and needed far more help from American forces than previously disclosed, American and Iraqi officials said Monday."
I invited Admiral Fox to comment on the Times coverage. His response:
"The good news is, the truth ultimately comes out. And I would applaud the efforts of people like you who assure that the truth ultimately gets through what some people call the mainstream media filter. Our collective view here at the Multi-National Force is that the incident at Najaf demonstrated very clearly the growing capability of the Iraqi security forces."
Admiral Fox stated that a small group of Iraqi police initially encountered the hostiles and relayed the information to the 8th Iraqi Army. Given the size of the forces they were facing, the provincial governor requested MNF support, which was provided in the form of a ground patrol and air support including AC-130s.
Said Admiral Fox: "Rather than characterizing it as 'they were almost overrun', the Iraqi troops did exactly what they were trained to do and what American troops are trained to do in similar circumstances. I think it's a success story for Iraqi security forces and for the provincial Iraqi control process." Admiral Fox noted that sovereignty was only transferred to Najaf province in December, so this was early on in the process. The Admiral concluded by calling Najaf "a good news story."
That won't stop the NY Times and others in the MSM from spinning this and other stories negatively, of course. But NB and others in the blogosphere will be there to help set the record straight.
Mark was in Iraq in November. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net
Sgt. in Afghanistan Stop the BS and "Let's Get It Done"
I am tired of Democrats saying they are patriotic and then insulting my commander in chief...
I am tired of Democrats who tell me they support me, the soldier on the ground, and then tell me the best plan to win this war is with a “phased redeployment” (liberal-speak for retreat) out of the combat zone to someplace like Okinawa.
I am tired of senior officers and commanders who fight this war with more of an eye on the media than on the enemy, who desperately needs killing.
I am tired of the decisions of Sergeants and Privates made in the heat of battle being scrutinized by lawyers who were not there and will never really know the state of mind of the young soldiers who were there and what is asked of them in order to survive.
I am tired of CNN claiming that they are showing “news,” with videotape sent to them by terrorists, of my comrades being shot at by snipers, but refusing to show what happens when we build a school, pave a road, hand out food and water to children, or open a water treatment plant.
I am tired of Code Pink, Daily Kos, Al-Jazzera, CNN, Reuters, the Associated Press, ABC, NBC, CBS, the ACLU, and CAIR thinking that they somehow get to have a vote in how we blast, shoot and kill these animals who would seek to subdue us and destroy us.
I am tired of people like Meredith Vieria from NBC asking oxygen thieves like Senator Chuck Hagel questions like “Senator, at this point, do you think we are fighting and dying for nothing?” Meredith might not get it, but soldiers do know the difference between fighting and dying for something and fighting and dying for nothing.
(Excerpt) Read more at blackfive.net ...
I am tired of Democrats who tell me they support me, the soldier on the ground, and then tell me the best plan to win this war is with a “phased redeployment” (liberal-speak for retreat) out of the combat zone to someplace like Okinawa.
I am tired of senior officers and commanders who fight this war with more of an eye on the media than on the enemy, who desperately needs killing.
I am tired of the decisions of Sergeants and Privates made in the heat of battle being scrutinized by lawyers who were not there and will never really know the state of mind of the young soldiers who were there and what is asked of them in order to survive.
I am tired of CNN claiming that they are showing “news,” with videotape sent to them by terrorists, of my comrades being shot at by snipers, but refusing to show what happens when we build a school, pave a road, hand out food and water to children, or open a water treatment plant.
I am tired of Code Pink, Daily Kos, Al-Jazzera, CNN, Reuters, the Associated Press, ABC, NBC, CBS, the ACLU, and CAIR thinking that they somehow get to have a vote in how we blast, shoot and kill these animals who would seek to subdue us and destroy us.
I am tired of people like Meredith Vieria from NBC asking oxygen thieves like Senator Chuck Hagel questions like “Senator, at this point, do you think we are fighting and dying for nothing?” Meredith might not get it, but soldiers do know the difference between fighting and dying for something and fighting and dying for nothing.
(Excerpt) Read more at blackfive.net ...
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Most Say Iraq Matters to Security of U.S.
The latest FOX News Poll finds that most Americans believe the situation in Iraq makes a difference to their security here in the United States — a sentiment often repeated by President Bush. Even so, a majority continues to oppose the president’s plan to send more troops to Iraq.
Fully 77 percent of Americans believe that what happens in Iraq matters to their security here in the United States, including majorities of Democrats (66 percent), independents (79 percent) and Republicans (90 percent).
Congress has been considering a non-binding resolution expressing opposition to the president’s plan to send more troops. By almost two-to-one Americans think passing such a resolution would do more harm than good: 47 percent say it is more likely to encourage the enemy and hurt troop morale, compared with 24 percent who think it would make a positive difference to U.S. policy toward Iraq.
Fully 77 percent of Americans believe that what happens in Iraq matters to their security here in the United States, including majorities of Democrats (66 percent), independents (79 percent) and Republicans (90 percent).
Congress has been considering a non-binding resolution expressing opposition to the president’s plan to send more troops. By almost two-to-one Americans think passing such a resolution would do more harm than good: 47 percent say it is more likely to encourage the enemy and hurt troop morale, compared with 24 percent who think it would make a positive difference to U.S. policy toward Iraq.
Seven Terrorists Killed in Iraq, 10 Detained; Weapons Caches Found
Coalition forces killed seven suspected terrorists and detained 10 more, and troops discovered six weapons caches during recent operations in Iraq.
In two separate operations yesterday, Multinational Division Baghdad aircraft engaged insurgents placing roadside bombs around northwestern Baghdad. The aircraft killed seven terrorists in the operations, military officials said.
A day earlier in Iraq, soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment "Golden Dragons," 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, detained 10 suspected terrorists and discovered a weapon cache while patrolling Rushdi Mullah. The cache contained eight AK 47 assault rifles, a medium machine gun and a fake Iraqi police badge.
Soldiers from Troop B, 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, found two weapons caches Jan. 30 in a palm tree grove near Route Tampa, a main Baghdad highway.
The first cache contained a rocket-propelled-grenade launcher, five RPG rounds and two RPG warheads, a roll of copper wire with a blasting cap and triggering mechanism, 23 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition and 16 quarter-pound bags of homemade explosive. The second cache, found 20 yards away, yielded an additional 100 pounds of homemade explosives.
That same day in the Iraqi capital, soldiers from the Scout Platoon and Company D, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment "Polar Bears," 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division found a weapons cache containing two AK 47 assault rifles.
Elsewhere in Iraq that day, soldiers from Company D discovered two more weapons caches southwest of Rushdi Mullah. The caches contained a rocket, one homemade rocket-propelled-grenade launcher, a modified rifle with a scope, a crate of AK 47 ammunition, and an improvised explosive device detonator.
In two separate operations yesterday, Multinational Division Baghdad aircraft engaged insurgents placing roadside bombs around northwestern Baghdad. The aircraft killed seven terrorists in the operations, military officials said.
A day earlier in Iraq, soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment "Golden Dragons," 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, detained 10 suspected terrorists and discovered a weapon cache while patrolling Rushdi Mullah. The cache contained eight AK 47 assault rifles, a medium machine gun and a fake Iraqi police badge.
Soldiers from Troop B, 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, found two weapons caches Jan. 30 in a palm tree grove near Route Tampa, a main Baghdad highway.
The first cache contained a rocket-propelled-grenade launcher, five RPG rounds and two RPG warheads, a roll of copper wire with a blasting cap and triggering mechanism, 23 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition and 16 quarter-pound bags of homemade explosive. The second cache, found 20 yards away, yielded an additional 100 pounds of homemade explosives.
That same day in the Iraqi capital, soldiers from the Scout Platoon and Company D, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment "Polar Bears," 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division found a weapons cache containing two AK 47 assault rifles.
Elsewhere in Iraq that day, soldiers from Company D discovered two more weapons caches southwest of Rushdi Mullah. The caches contained a rocket, one homemade rocket-propelled-grenade launcher, a modified rifle with a scope, a crate of AK 47 ammunition, and an improvised explosive device detonator.
Report: Iran Years From Nukes
Iran is two to three years away from having the capacity to build a nuclear weapon, a leading security think tank said Wednesday. But the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies said domestic opposition to outspoken President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could still help put the brakes on its nuclear development efforts.
"There are signs that political and economic pressure is having an impact in Tehran," said John Chipman, the institute's chief executive, speaking at the launch of the its annual publication, "The Military Balance."
Although Chipman said Iran could be as little as two years away from a bomb, other authorities say it could take Tehran significantly longer to reach that point.
Both John Negroponte, the head of national intelligence for the U.S., and Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, have said Iran is perhaps four years from the capacity to produce a nuclear weapon.
While Iran could conceivably build a bomb in two years, a three-year time frame was more likely, said Mark Fitzpatrick, a nonproliferation expert at the institute. He said estimates floated by U.S. intelligence were conservative.
Chipman said Wednesday that Iran was on track to complete its goal of producing 3,000 centrifuges for producing highly-enriched uranium by the end of March or shortly thereafter. Many centrifuges had been obtained from the black market, he said.
Iran ultimately plans to expand its program to 54,000 centrifuges, which spin uranium hexaflouride gas into enriched uranium, a metal.
Iran says it aims to produce nuclear fuel to generate electricity. But if Iran chose, it could use the massive array of centrifuges to make enough weapons-grade material for dozens of nuclear warheads a year.
"There are signs that political and economic pressure is having an impact in Tehran," said John Chipman, the institute's chief executive, speaking at the launch of the its annual publication, "The Military Balance."
Although Chipman said Iran could be as little as two years away from a bomb, other authorities say it could take Tehran significantly longer to reach that point.
Both John Negroponte, the head of national intelligence for the U.S., and Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, have said Iran is perhaps four years from the capacity to produce a nuclear weapon.
While Iran could conceivably build a bomb in two years, a three-year time frame was more likely, said Mark Fitzpatrick, a nonproliferation expert at the institute. He said estimates floated by U.S. intelligence were conservative.
Chipman said Wednesday that Iran was on track to complete its goal of producing 3,000 centrifuges for producing highly-enriched uranium by the end of March or shortly thereafter. Many centrifuges had been obtained from the black market, he said.
Iran ultimately plans to expand its program to 54,000 centrifuges, which spin uranium hexaflouride gas into enriched uranium, a metal.
Iran says it aims to produce nuclear fuel to generate electricity. But if Iran chose, it could use the massive array of centrifuges to make enough weapons-grade material for dozens of nuclear warheads a year.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Iran Building Missiles With North Korea That Reach U.S.
Iran and North Korea are cooperating in the development of long-range missiles that could reach the U.S., according to a Pentagon official.
Army Brig. Gen. Patrick O’Reilly, deputy director of the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency, said in a speech on Monday that the Iranians are working on a space launcher that would help them develop an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of reaching the U.S., the Washington Times reported.
"Not only North Korea, but Iran has shown some significant developments in their missile systems,” Gen. O’Reilly said in the speech, delivered to the George C. Marshall Institute.
"They are working in concert with the North Koreans. They have made a claim that they are working toward developing a space launch capability, which also would give them an ICBM capability.”
Missile Defense Agency briefing materials said Iran "could have an ICBM capable of reaching the U.S. before 2015.”
North Korea has already tested a missile said to have a range of more than 6,000 miles, and Iranians were on hand during Pyongyang’s unsuccessful test launch of a missile last July.
Gen. O’Reilly said the U.S. missile defense system is designed to counter missiles from "rogue states” targeted at the U.S., according to the Times.
Army Brig. Gen. Patrick O’Reilly, deputy director of the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency, said in a speech on Monday that the Iranians are working on a space launcher that would help them develop an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of reaching the U.S., the Washington Times reported.
"Not only North Korea, but Iran has shown some significant developments in their missile systems,” Gen. O’Reilly said in the speech, delivered to the George C. Marshall Institute.
"They are working in concert with the North Koreans. They have made a claim that they are working toward developing a space launch capability, which also would give them an ICBM capability.”
Missile Defense Agency briefing materials said Iran "could have an ICBM capable of reaching the U.S. before 2015.”
North Korea has already tested a missile said to have a range of more than 6,000 miles, and Iranians were on hand during Pyongyang’s unsuccessful test launch of a missile last July.
Gen. O’Reilly said the U.S. missile defense system is designed to counter missiles from "rogue states” targeted at the U.S., according to the Times.
Economy Grows 3.5 Percent in 4th Quarter
The economy snapped out of a sluggish spell and grew at a faster-than-expected 3.5 percent pace in the final quarter of last year as consumers ratcheted up spending despite a painful housing slump.
The fresh snapshot of business activity, released by the Commerce Department Wednesday, underscored the resilience of the economy; it has managed to keep on moving despite the ill effects of the residential real-estate bust.
The economy's performance in the October-to-December quarter, which followed two quarters of rather listless activity, exceeded analysts' forecasts for a 3 percent growth rate.
The economy opened 2006 on a strong note, growing at a 5.6 percent pace, the fastest spurt in 2 1/2 years. But it lost steam during the spring and late summer. It grew at a 2.6 percent pace in the second quarter and then a weaker 2 percent pace in the third quarter. The fourth-quarter's rebound ended the year on a positive note.
For all of 2006, the gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 3.4 percent. That was an improvement from a 3.2 percent showing in 2005 and the strongest showing in two years.
That's even more impressive considering the economy was hit by the housing slump. Investment in home building for all of last year was slashed by 4.2 percent, the most in 15 years.
GDP measures the value of all goods and services produced within the United States and is the best barometer of the country's economic standing.
The fresh snapshot of business activity, released by the Commerce Department Wednesday, underscored the resilience of the economy; it has managed to keep on moving despite the ill effects of the residential real-estate bust.
The economy's performance in the October-to-December quarter, which followed two quarters of rather listless activity, exceeded analysts' forecasts for a 3 percent growth rate.
The economy opened 2006 on a strong note, growing at a 5.6 percent pace, the fastest spurt in 2 1/2 years. But it lost steam during the spring and late summer. It grew at a 2.6 percent pace in the second quarter and then a weaker 2 percent pace in the third quarter. The fourth-quarter's rebound ended the year on a positive note.
For all of 2006, the gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 3.4 percent. That was an improvement from a 3.2 percent showing in 2005 and the strongest showing in two years.
That's even more impressive considering the economy was hit by the housing slump. Investment in home building for all of last year was slashed by 4.2 percent, the most in 15 years.
GDP measures the value of all goods and services produced within the United States and is the best barometer of the country's economic standing.
33 Detained in Iraq; Insurgent Training Site Destroyed
Coalition forces detained 33 insurgents and destroyed a terrorist training facility this week in operations across Iraq.
In raids in Iraq yesterday:
-- Coalition forces in Karmah captured 11 suspected terrorists, including a high-level al Qaeda courier with ties to senior al Qaeda in Iraq personnel.
-- Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, with Iraqi army troops, detained seven suspected insurgents near Baghdad. The insurgents are allegedly responsible for acts of terrorism in the region.
-- Coalition forces detained four suspects responsible for facilitating foreign fighter movement in Bayji.
-- Coalition forces in Baghdad captured three individuals with ties to senior al Qaeda in Iraq leadership.
-- Coalition forces detained three suspected terrorists, including the leader of an IED cell, in Ramadi.
Also this week in Iraq, soldiers from Company D, 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, and Iraqi army soldiers found and destroyed a suspected insurgent training site Jan. 27 while patrolling northwest of Samarra.
At the site, combined forces found 20 rocket-propelled grenade launchers, one 82 mm mortar tube with a base plate, four 60 mm mortar tubes with base plates, a car battery and more than 7,000 large caliber machine gun rounds. An explosive ordnance disposal team destroyed the weapons and buildings.
In Baghdad on Jan. 27:
-- Paratroopers from 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), with Iraqi police, discovered two large weapons caches, containing 669 57 mm mortar rounds.
-- Fifteen Iraqis died when two car bombs detonated in a New Baghdad commercial district.
-- A Sunni mosque was damaged during heavy fighting between insurgents and neighborhood residents in a southwestern section of the city.
In a separate operation that day, paratroopers of Company A, 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, with Iraqi army soldiers, found and secured an IED west of Iskandariyah.
The day before, paratroopers from Companies A and C, 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division had detained five suspected insurgents attempting to emplace an IED in a town 20 miles south of Baghdad.
In raids in Iraq yesterday:
-- Coalition forces in Karmah captured 11 suspected terrorists, including a high-level al Qaeda courier with ties to senior al Qaeda in Iraq personnel.
-- Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, with Iraqi army troops, detained seven suspected insurgents near Baghdad. The insurgents are allegedly responsible for acts of terrorism in the region.
-- Coalition forces detained four suspects responsible for facilitating foreign fighter movement in Bayji.
-- Coalition forces in Baghdad captured three individuals with ties to senior al Qaeda in Iraq leadership.
-- Coalition forces detained three suspected terrorists, including the leader of an IED cell, in Ramadi.
Also this week in Iraq, soldiers from Company D, 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, and Iraqi army soldiers found and destroyed a suspected insurgent training site Jan. 27 while patrolling northwest of Samarra.
At the site, combined forces found 20 rocket-propelled grenade launchers, one 82 mm mortar tube with a base plate, four 60 mm mortar tubes with base plates, a car battery and more than 7,000 large caliber machine gun rounds. An explosive ordnance disposal team destroyed the weapons and buildings.
In Baghdad on Jan. 27:
-- Paratroopers from 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), with Iraqi police, discovered two large weapons caches, containing 669 57 mm mortar rounds.
-- Fifteen Iraqis died when two car bombs detonated in a New Baghdad commercial district.
-- A Sunni mosque was damaged during heavy fighting between insurgents and neighborhood residents in a southwestern section of the city.
In a separate operation that day, paratroopers of Company A, 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, with Iraqi army soldiers, found and secured an IED west of Iskandariyah.
The day before, paratroopers from Companies A and C, 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division had detained five suspected insurgents attempting to emplace an IED in a town 20 miles south of Baghdad.
New Iraq Report Makes Case for Victory
A new report on Iraq was released today that covers many subjects not touched on by the Iraq Study Group. Titled Citizens Report on Iraq: Attainable Victory vs. the Propaganda of Defeat, the report was conceived, researched and authored by independent citizens with experience in Iraq who are concerned that the American people and politicians are ill-informed about the situation in Iraq.
The 86-page report is available for download at the Free Republic website:
http://www.freerepublic.com/CitizensReportonIraq.pdf
Citizens Report on Iraq
In the Citizens Report on Iraq, readers will learn that progress is being made in Iraq; there are large areas of Iraq that are safe and prospering; that the enemy is being killed and wounded in astounding proportion to American casualties; that the reporting on Iraq by the dominant media is universally despised as inaccurate and misleading by those fighting for Free Iraq -- Americans and Iraqis alike; that the so-called antiwar movement, including the organizers of this past weekend's protest in Washington, is led by terrorist supporting Marxists as part of a global alliance seeking America's defeat in the Global War on Terror and that a prominent White House correspondent has allied herself with one of these groups.
The report includes frank interviews with dozens of Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans, their families and several Gold Star parents. Those who think their support for President Bush and victory in Iraq has waned will be sorely disappointed.
The report also includes an overview of captured Saddam Hussein era Iraqi government documents that demonstrate Saddam's commitment to international terrorism and research in to Weapons of Mass Destruction, including nuclear weapons.
Contributors include a history professor, an American contractor who has spent the past three years in Iraq, an Iraqi living in Baghdad, and numerous soldiers who spoke frankly on condition of anonymity.
The information in the report was gathered from original research andinterviews, publicly available government reports, blog entries, news articles and transcripts.
The 86-page report is available for download at the Free Republic website:
http://www.freerepublic.com/CitizensReportonIraq.pdf
Citizens Report on Iraq
In the Citizens Report on Iraq, readers will learn that progress is being made in Iraq; there are large areas of Iraq that are safe and prospering; that the enemy is being killed and wounded in astounding proportion to American casualties; that the reporting on Iraq by the dominant media is universally despised as inaccurate and misleading by those fighting for Free Iraq -- Americans and Iraqis alike; that the so-called antiwar movement, including the organizers of this past weekend's protest in Washington, is led by terrorist supporting Marxists as part of a global alliance seeking America's defeat in the Global War on Terror and that a prominent White House correspondent has allied herself with one of these groups.
The report includes frank interviews with dozens of Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans, their families and several Gold Star parents. Those who think their support for President Bush and victory in Iraq has waned will be sorely disappointed.
The report also includes an overview of captured Saddam Hussein era Iraqi government documents that demonstrate Saddam's commitment to international terrorism and research in to Weapons of Mass Destruction, including nuclear weapons.
Contributors include a history professor, an American contractor who has spent the past three years in Iraq, an Iraqi living in Baghdad, and numerous soldiers who spoke frankly on condition of anonymity.
The information in the report was gathered from original research andinterviews, publicly available government reports, blog entries, news articles and transcripts.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Poll of The Day
Please take the following Poll:
By going to this this C-Span website: http://capitalnews.org/
Do you think a resolution against the Iraq Troop buildup will "embolden the enemy?"
By going to this this C-Span website: http://capitalnews.org/
The results as of 5:00 PM Est:
Yes - 55 %
No - 45%
Please go there and vote now and show C-Span and those who would vote for the non-binding resolution are sending a signal to the enemy that we are ready to quit.
Lets show the left that we will not condone defeat.
I took the poll folks, please help me send a message to C-Span that we don not support defeat and that we strongly support the President and the US Military.
Thanks ,
Jay Are
Iraq: 300 militants killed in battle
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi officials said Monday that 300 militants were killed in a fierce battle between U.S.-backed Iraqi troops and insurgents allegedly plotting to kill pilgrims at a major Shiite Muslim religious festival. Elsewhere, bombings and mortar attacks targeting Shiites killed at least 15 people.
The fighting that began Sunday near the Shiite holy city of Najaf had largely subsided by Monday as Iraqi security forces frisked suspects while others patrolled elsewhere on the battlefield.
A U.S. helicopter crashed during the fight, killing two American soldiers whose bodies were recovered, the military said. The statement did not give any information on why the aircraft crashed — the second U.S. military helicopter to go down in eight days.
Ahmed Deaibil, a spokesman for Najaf province, said the fighting had continued until 4 a.m. Monday, but U.S. and Iraqi forces still had the area surrounded and had seized heavy machine guns, ammunition and other weapons.
Citing reports from commanders on the ground, he said 300 militants had been killed and 13 arrested, while the casualty toll for Iraqi forces was three soldiers and two policemen killed and 30 wounded.
Brig. Gen. Fadhil Barwari also said 300 militants had been killed, including 30 Afghans and Saudis, and 20 were captured. Iraqi security officials said earlier that one Sudanese was among the fighters detained.
The figures could not be independently confirmed. The Iraqi Defense Ministry, which oversees the army, said it could not yet give a casualty toll because sporadic fighting was ongoing.
Attacks, meanwhile, struck Shiite targets in the Baghdad area as the Islamic sect marks Ashoura, the holiest day in the Shiite calendar commemorating the 7th century death of Imam Hussein. The celebration culminates Tuesday in huge public processions in Najaf, Karbala and other Shiite cities.
A prominent Shiite leader said that setting up federal regions in Iraq would solve the country's problems, adding that while Shiites are being subjected to mass killings, they should not retaliate by using violence.
Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the Shiite bloc in the 275-member parliament, spoke at a Shiite mosque in central Baghdad to mark Ashoura. "I reaffirm that the establishing of regions will help us in solving many problems that we are suffering from. Moreover, it represents the best solution for these problems," he said.
Al-Hakim said his concern cut across sectarian lines.
"I sympathize with our Sunni brothers in their ordeal with the terrorists as I sympathize with the Shiites in their ordeal with the terrorists," he said. "I condemn the killing of Sunnis as I condemn the killing of the Shiites."
Mortar rounds rained down on a Shiite neighborhood in the Sunni-dominated town of Jurf al-Sakhar, 40 miles south of Baghdad, Monday morning, police spokesman Capt. Muthanna Khalid said. He said 10 were killed, including three children and four women, and five other people were wounded.
A wounded boy lay next to his blood-stained father at a hospital in the nearby town of Musayyib, while six bodies were covered with blankets in the morgue.
The strike came a day after mortar shells hit the courtyard of a girls' school in a mostly Sunni Arab neighborhood of Baghdad, killing five pupils and wounding 20. U.N. officials deplored Sunday's attack, calling the apparent targeting of children "an unforgivable crime."
No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but a Sunni organization, the General Conference of the People of Iraq, blamed Shiite Muslim militias with ties to government security forces. The group said the mortar shells bore markings indicating they were manufactured in Iran, which U.S. officials accuse of supporting Shiite militias.
Authorities said Iraqi soldiers supported by U.S. aircraft fought all day Sunday with a large group of insurgents in the Zaraq area, about 12 miles northeast of the Shiite holy city of Najaf.
Provincial Gov. Assad Sultan Abu Kilel said the assault was launched because the insurgents planned to attack Shiite pilgrims and clerics during ceremonies marking Ashoura.
Officials were unclear about the religious affiliation of the militants. Although Sunni Arabs have been the main force behind insurgent groups, there are a number of Shiite militant and splinter groups that have clashed from time to time with the government.
Iraqi soldiers attacked at dawn and militants hiding in orchards fought back with automatic weapons, sniper rifles and rockets, the governor said. He said the insurgents were members of a previously unknown group called the Army of Heaven.
"They are well-equipped and they even have anti-aircraft missiles," the governor said. "They are backed by some locals" loyal to ousted dictator Saddam Hussein.
The mortar attacks and bombings appeared to be part of the sectarian reprisal killings that have pushed Iraq into civil warfare over the past year, violence that President Bush hopes to quell by sending up to 21,500 more American soldiers to Baghdad and surrounding areas.
The fighting that began Sunday near the Shiite holy city of Najaf had largely subsided by Monday as Iraqi security forces frisked suspects while others patrolled elsewhere on the battlefield.
A U.S. helicopter crashed during the fight, killing two American soldiers whose bodies were recovered, the military said. The statement did not give any information on why the aircraft crashed — the second U.S. military helicopter to go down in eight days.
Ahmed Deaibil, a spokesman for Najaf province, said the fighting had continued until 4 a.m. Monday, but U.S. and Iraqi forces still had the area surrounded and had seized heavy machine guns, ammunition and other weapons.
Citing reports from commanders on the ground, he said 300 militants had been killed and 13 arrested, while the casualty toll for Iraqi forces was three soldiers and two policemen killed and 30 wounded.
Brig. Gen. Fadhil Barwari also said 300 militants had been killed, including 30 Afghans and Saudis, and 20 were captured. Iraqi security officials said earlier that one Sudanese was among the fighters detained.
The figures could not be independently confirmed. The Iraqi Defense Ministry, which oversees the army, said it could not yet give a casualty toll because sporadic fighting was ongoing.
Attacks, meanwhile, struck Shiite targets in the Baghdad area as the Islamic sect marks Ashoura, the holiest day in the Shiite calendar commemorating the 7th century death of Imam Hussein. The celebration culminates Tuesday in huge public processions in Najaf, Karbala and other Shiite cities.
A prominent Shiite leader said that setting up federal regions in Iraq would solve the country's problems, adding that while Shiites are being subjected to mass killings, they should not retaliate by using violence.
Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the Shiite bloc in the 275-member parliament, spoke at a Shiite mosque in central Baghdad to mark Ashoura. "I reaffirm that the establishing of regions will help us in solving many problems that we are suffering from. Moreover, it represents the best solution for these problems," he said.
Al-Hakim said his concern cut across sectarian lines.
"I sympathize with our Sunni brothers in their ordeal with the terrorists as I sympathize with the Shiites in their ordeal with the terrorists," he said. "I condemn the killing of Sunnis as I condemn the killing of the Shiites."
Mortar rounds rained down on a Shiite neighborhood in the Sunni-dominated town of Jurf al-Sakhar, 40 miles south of Baghdad, Monday morning, police spokesman Capt. Muthanna Khalid said. He said 10 were killed, including three children and four women, and five other people were wounded.
A wounded boy lay next to his blood-stained father at a hospital in the nearby town of Musayyib, while six bodies were covered with blankets in the morgue.
The strike came a day after mortar shells hit the courtyard of a girls' school in a mostly Sunni Arab neighborhood of Baghdad, killing five pupils and wounding 20. U.N. officials deplored Sunday's attack, calling the apparent targeting of children "an unforgivable crime."
No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but a Sunni organization, the General Conference of the People of Iraq, blamed Shiite Muslim militias with ties to government security forces. The group said the mortar shells bore markings indicating they were manufactured in Iran, which U.S. officials accuse of supporting Shiite militias.
Authorities said Iraqi soldiers supported by U.S. aircraft fought all day Sunday with a large group of insurgents in the Zaraq area, about 12 miles northeast of the Shiite holy city of Najaf.
Provincial Gov. Assad Sultan Abu Kilel said the assault was launched because the insurgents planned to attack Shiite pilgrims and clerics during ceremonies marking Ashoura.
Officials were unclear about the religious affiliation of the militants. Although Sunni Arabs have been the main force behind insurgent groups, there are a number of Shiite militant and splinter groups that have clashed from time to time with the government.
Iraqi soldiers attacked at dawn and militants hiding in orchards fought back with automatic weapons, sniper rifles and rockets, the governor said. He said the insurgents were members of a previously unknown group called the Army of Heaven.
"They are well-equipped and they even have anti-aircraft missiles," the governor said. "They are backed by some locals" loyal to ousted dictator Saddam Hussein.
The mortar attacks and bombings appeared to be part of the sectarian reprisal killings that have pushed Iraq into civil warfare over the past year, violence that President Bush hopes to quell by sending up to 21,500 more American soldiers to Baghdad and surrounding areas.
Iran's Role in Iraq Will Be Exposed
New evidence of Iran's role in Iraq will be made in Baghdad by the chief spokesman for the multinational forces in Iraq, Major General William Caldwell. The Directorate of National Intelligence worked over the weekend to clear new intelligence and information that sources inside the intelligence community said would implicate Iran in deliberately sending particularly lethal improvised explosives to terrorists to kill coalition soldiers.
The intelligence community is currently debating whether to make the new evidence, which it plans to declassify, available on the Internet.
The plan to present the evidence will coincide with a presentation this week by Ambassador Khalilzad to the press detailing the charges against Iranian operatives affiliated with the country's Quds Force arrested in the last six weeks in three raids.
The decision to go public with new evidence on Iran's role in fomenting Iraq's civil war and in working with terrorists killing American soldiers marks a change in strategy for the Bush administration, which has until now provided scant evidence to the public about Iran's role in the Iraq conflict. Since the president unveiled his new war strategy on January 10, leading Democrats have challenged claims of Iran's role and intentions in the Iraq war.
For example, Senator Rockefeller, the chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, told the New York Times following the president's speech that he believed it was " Iraq all over again," suggesting the administration was manufacturing or politicizing intelligence to start a war with Iran. More recently, the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Rep. Reyes, a Democrat from Texas, has said he was going to review the administration's claim that Iran was manufacturing the improvised explosive devices.
(Excerpt) Read more at nysun.com ...
The intelligence community is currently debating whether to make the new evidence, which it plans to declassify, available on the Internet.
The plan to present the evidence will coincide with a presentation this week by Ambassador Khalilzad to the press detailing the charges against Iranian operatives affiliated with the country's Quds Force arrested in the last six weeks in three raids.
The decision to go public with new evidence on Iran's role in fomenting Iraq's civil war and in working with terrorists killing American soldiers marks a change in strategy for the Bush administration, which has until now provided scant evidence to the public about Iran's role in the Iraq conflict. Since the president unveiled his new war strategy on January 10, leading Democrats have challenged claims of Iran's role and intentions in the Iraq war.
For example, Senator Rockefeller, the chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, told the New York Times following the president's speech that he believed it was " Iraq all over again," suggesting the administration was manufacturing or politicizing intelligence to start a war with Iran. More recently, the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Rep. Reyes, a Democrat from Texas, has said he was going to review the administration's claim that Iran was manufacturing the improvised explosive devices.
(Excerpt) Read more at nysun.com ...
Iraqi cult leader killed in Najaf battle
The leader of an Iraqi cult who claimed to be the Mahdi, a messiah-like figure in Islam, was killed in a battle on Sunday near Najaf with hundreds of his followers, Iraq's national security minister said on Monday.
Women and children who joined 600-700 of his "Soldiers of Heaven" on the outskirts of the Shi'ite holy city may be among the casualties, Shirwan al-Waeli told Reuters. All those people not killed were in detention, many of them wounded.
Authorities were on alert on Monday as hundreds of thousands of Shi'ite Muslims massed in the area to commemorate Ashura, the highpoint of their religious calendar, amid fears of attacks by Sunni Arab insurgents linked to al Qaeda.
But Sunday's battle involved a group of a different sort.
The final casualty toll, put by other Iraqi officials at 300 gunmen, was still being calculated, Waeli said, putting the initial figure at about 200. Searchers were still scouring the area where U.S. tanks, helicopters and jets reinforced Iraqi troops during some 24 hours of fighting.
"He claimed to be the Mahdi," Waeli said of the cult's leader, adding that he had used the full name Mahdi bin Ali bin Ali bin Abi Taleb, claiming descent from the Prophet Mohammad.
He was believed to be a 40-year-old from the nearby Shi'ite city of Diwaniya: "He was killed," Waeli said.
The group, which other Iraqi officials said included both Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims as well as foreigners, had planned an attack on the Shi'ite clerical establishment in Najaf on Monday, the climax of Ashura.
"One of the signs of the coming of the Mahdi was to be the killing of the Ulema (hierarchy) in Najaf," Waeli said. "This was a perverse claim. No sane person could believe it."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Women and children who joined 600-700 of his "Soldiers of Heaven" on the outskirts of the Shi'ite holy city may be among the casualties, Shirwan al-Waeli told Reuters. All those people not killed were in detention, many of them wounded.
Authorities were on alert on Monday as hundreds of thousands of Shi'ite Muslims massed in the area to commemorate Ashura, the highpoint of their religious calendar, amid fears of attacks by Sunni Arab insurgents linked to al Qaeda.
But Sunday's battle involved a group of a different sort.
The final casualty toll, put by other Iraqi officials at 300 gunmen, was still being calculated, Waeli said, putting the initial figure at about 200. Searchers were still scouring the area where U.S. tanks, helicopters and jets reinforced Iraqi troops during some 24 hours of fighting.
"He claimed to be the Mahdi," Waeli said of the cult's leader, adding that he had used the full name Mahdi bin Ali bin Ali bin Abi Taleb, claiming descent from the Prophet Mohammad.
He was believed to be a 40-year-old from the nearby Shi'ite city of Diwaniya: "He was killed," Waeli said.
The group, which other Iraqi officials said included both Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims as well as foreigners, had planned an attack on the Shi'ite clerical establishment in Najaf on Monday, the climax of Ashura.
"One of the signs of the coming of the Mahdi was to be the killing of the Ulema (hierarchy) in Najaf," Waeli said. "This was a perverse claim. No sane person could believe it."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Cowardly Death Squad Leaders Flee Iraq ahead of Surge
According to Fox News, Death squad leaders have fled Baghdad to evade capture or killing by U.S. and Iraqi forces before the start of the troop "surge" and security crackdown in the capital.
According to a former Iraqi minister most of the leaders loyal to Al-Sadr have gone into hiding in Iran.
Among those said to have fled is Abu Deraa, theShiite militia leader whose appetite for sectarian savagery has been compared to that of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, who was killed last year.
The Former minister who did not want to be named, said that Prime Minster Nouri Al-Maliki had encouraged them to leave Baghdad. He further stated that weapons belonging to the Mahdi Army have been hidden inside the Iraqi Interior Ministry to avoid confiscation.
It looks like it's time for a trip to the Interior Ministry Building to look for those weapons. If they are found Al-Maliki will have a lot of explaining to do, both to President Bush and the Iraqi People.
According to a former Iraqi minister most of the leaders loyal to Al-Sadr have gone into hiding in Iran.
Among those said to have fled is Abu Deraa, theShiite militia leader whose appetite for sectarian savagery has been compared to that of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, who was killed last year.
The Former minister who did not want to be named, said that Prime Minster Nouri Al-Maliki had encouraged them to leave Baghdad. He further stated that weapons belonging to the Mahdi Army have been hidden inside the Iraqi Interior Ministry to avoid confiscation.
It looks like it's time for a trip to the Interior Ministry Building to look for those weapons. If they are found Al-Maliki will have a lot of explaining to do, both to President Bush and the Iraqi People.
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