Security Incidents for 04/17/07

Photo: This photo came from the website Clearinghouse Infovlad. There are more pictures on the website, and they are reportedly from the bombing last Saturday in Karbarla. This is the true picture of war, a complete horror. War is terrorism.

In Country:

A group linked to al Qaeda said on Tuesday it had decided to kill 20 Iraqi troops and policemen whom it had kidnapped, after the government failed to meet a deadline to free female prisoners, according to a Web statement. On Saturday, the group said it was giving the government 48 hours to free all Sunni Muslim women held in Iraq's prisons, saying otherwise it would kill the 20 men, whose pictures it published. It also demanded that the government hand over to it Interior Ministry agents accused of involvement in the widely publicised alleged rape of a Sunni woman and other reported rapes and killings of Sunnis.

The number of Iraqis in urgent need of humanitarian assistance is estimated at 8 million, including 2 million refugees and 2 million internally displaced persons, a special conference highlighting the growing crisis was told Tuesday. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in a video address to delegates gathered in Geneva appealed to Iraq's neighbours, specifically Jordan and Syria, to keep their borders open as they struggled to cope with the refugee burden.

Baghdad:

South of Baghdad, gunmen killed a barber outside his shop, a security official said. Iraqi barbers are often targeted by extremists who believe the shaving of beards is un-Islamic.

In another attack, gunmen killed a professor at the Islamic Sciences University of Baghdad, Mohammed Ali Hamza, in the Saydiyah district in the southwestern part of the Iraqi capital, a security official said.

A roadside bomb in southeastern Baghdad went off near a U.S. army patrol causing damage to a tank, an eyewitness said.

U.S. troops killed three militants after their armoured vehicle was hit by an explosively formed projectile and they came under small arms fire in the southwestern Baghdad district of Qadissiya

In a sign that Shiite death squads are on the move again after more than two months of quiescence, 25 bodies, most tortured, were found dumped in Baghdad on Tuesday.

Kharkh Bank( western Baghdad) 14 : 5 in ( Doura), 4 in ( Amil) , 2 in ( Bayaa) , 2 in (Mamoun), 1 in ( Shulaa) . Rusafa Bank ( eastern Baghdad ) 11 : 5 in Jisr Diyala , 5 in Suleihk and 1 in (Sadr

Around 10.45 pm , clashes between gunmen and joint forces of the Iraqi army and the American took place killing one civilian and injuring another one.

Around 11.am ,two policemen were injured during clashes between gunmen and policemen on the main road of Mansour neighborhood ( 14th of Ramadhan street).

Around 11.30 am, clashes took place between the Iraqi arm and gunmen having one injury with the army side.

Around 12.00 pm, a roadside bomb targeted an American convoy near the road of Baghdad international airport ( in Amil district) having one vehicle damaged on the American side and one civilian injured ( a child).

Around 1.30 pm, mortar shelling targeted Amiriya neighborhood near the print (at Al-Amel Ashabi street)killing one civilian and injuring 4.

Around 1.30 pm, a civilian was killed by the American fire near Al-Qadisiya neighborhood without knowing the reasons behind that incident .

Around 2pm, 5 corpses were found in Jisr Diyala river ((east of Baghdad).

Around 2.15 pm, a roadside bomb exploded in Al-Qadisiya neighborhood without casualties .

Around 4.30 pm, gunmen attacked the headquarter of ( Iraqi Islamic party) in Amiriya neighborhood destroying the building without casualties .

Around 5 pm, gunmen attacked the headquarter of ( Iraqi Islamic party) in Ghazaliya neighborhood destroying the and the neighboring houses without casualties .

Around 5.30 pm, mortar shelling targeted Doura neighborhood ( street No.60) injuring 4 civilians.

Around 6 pm, a roadside bomb targeted a police patrol injuring 4 policemen.

Around 6.30 pm, gunmen attacked civilians in Al-Salam neighborhood near Amil ( west of Baghdad) killing one civilian and injuring 3.

In a sign that Shiite death squads are on the move again after more than two months of quiescence, 25 bodies, most tortured, were found dumped in Baghdad on Tuesday.

Diyala Prv:

In other violence, a sniper killed two policemen in central Baqouba, said Ahmed Fouad of the city's morgue.

At least two Iraqis were killed and five others wounded Tuesday when gunmen attacked two villages in north-eastern Baquba, independent Voices of Iraq news agency reported citing local residents. Gunmen allegedly tied to the al-Qaeda terrorist network in Iraq attacked the villages of Abu Sibaa and Mihwala 'in the early hours with small arms,' a witness told Voices of Iraq. The attack lasted for an hour.

Yesterday night ( Monday evening April 16) , a member of the town council of Hawija ( south west of Kirkuk) had been killed when gunmen attacked his car while he was on the way between Kirkuk – Biji ( north of Baghdad) and his son injured in the accident as he was with him in the car.

Around 10am, a roadside bomb targeted an Iraqi police patrol in Al-Baath neighborhood in Kirkuk injuring one policeman and a civilian.

Around 10.30 am, a roadside bomb targeted a police patrol in Domiz in Kirkuk having no injuries. Salahuddin

Around 1pm, the Iraqi army has the reporter Hilal Ahmadi in custody who is the spokesman of Al-Nasri party without knowing the reasons behind it.

Around 4 pm, a tanker driver who has a tank filled with oil and explosions made its way into Tal Al-Rumana police station in Amil neighborhood ( south Musil) having a big blast without any details.

Wasit Prv:

At least 25 gunmen were killed Tuesday in a wide- scale offensive by joint Iraqi-US troops in a town in the north of Wasit province, independent Voices of Iraq news agency reported citing an Iraqi security source. The operation targeted gunmen's strongholds, mostly orchards and thick bushes in Wasit, south-east of Baghdad, the source added. A number of vehicles used by the gunmen were set ablaze and a large amount of weapons were seized.

Diwaniya:

The bodies of four men, including three policemen, were found shot in and near the city of Diwaniya, 180 km (110 miles) south of Baghdad, police said

Sawayra:

The bodies of three men, two shot and the third decapitated, were retrieved from a river near the town of Suwayra, 40 km south of Baghdad, police said.

Basra:

A British soldier was wounded when a base came under attack in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, the spokeswoman for the Multi-National Forces in southern Iraq said on Tuesday

Meanwhile, the spokeswoman said "a British vehicle patrol came under small arms fire while conducting a raid in al-Markazi area in northern Basra." The patrol soldiers fired back and there were no casualties among the soldiers, she added. the British raid ended without any arrest as the suspected gunmen were not found in the area.

Director of Basra International Airport said that the airport stopped flights on Tuesday for security reasons, while eyewitnesses said that the British base in the airport was rocketed. However, eyewitnesses living near the airport said that it was attacked by Katyusha rockets. "One of the rockets landed on the runway and caused some damage," Nedal Jaber, a technician at the airport, told

Shurqat:

A man was killed while planting an explosive charge in an area of al-Shurqat town in Salah al-Din province, a security source in Tikrit said on Tuesday. "An explosive device a man was attempting to plant on the road in northern Shurqat town went off, killing him instantly," the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq

Hawija:

Three civilians were killed and four others, including an Iraqi policeman, were wounded when a car bomb went off in central Huweija district, 70 km southwest of Kirkuk, an Iraqi police source said on Tuesday. "The explosive vehicle, which blew up near a fuel station, caused severe damage to nearby buildings," the source, who asked not to be named, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq

Kirkuk:

A leader from the Jubur tribe was shot dead by gunmen west of the northern oil city of Kirkuk on Tuesday, police Captain Mahmud Atta said.

A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol wounded a policeman and two civilians in the oil city of Kirkuk, 250 km north of Baghdad, police said.

A hairstylist in Kirkuk was killed and a customer wounded in an attack by an armed group in Kirkuk, while other barbers received threats of death if they did not close down their shops, a police source said on Tuesday

Two policemen were wounded on Tuesday when an explosive charge went off near their patrol vehicle in central Kirkuk, 250 km northeast of Baghdad, a police source said.

Mosul:

Today, the deputy chief of Mosul police was killed in a drive-by shooting in the city's southern Thwara neighborhood. Col. Abdul-Karim Mahmoud al-Bachari died after gunmen in two cars showered him with bullets, said police Brig. Mohammed al-Wagga. Two of al-Bachari's guards were also killed, al-Wagga said.

Also in Mosul, a roadside bomb apparently targeting a U.S. patrol killed one civilian instead, al-Wagga said

Clashes were also reported near Sabreen mosque in eastern Mosul, but there was no immediate word on casualties.

Clashes erupted between gunmen and soldiers of a U.S. patrol in al-Wihda neighborhood in southeastern Mosul, an Iraqi police source said, not giving details about casualties

A suicide bomber driving a tanker targeting a police patrol east of Mosul killed one civilian and wounded four Iraqi soldiers, police said.

Nine bodies were found in different parts of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, morgue sources said

An Iraqi army soldier was killed and three others were wounded on Tuesday when an explosive charge went off in southwestern Mosul, 402 km north of Baghdad, a police source said.

Al Anbar Prv:

A Marine assigned to Multi National Force-West died April 16 while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar Province.

The military barracks of the Iraqi army came under an armed attack by unidentified gunmen but no information on casualties could be obtained, local residents in al-Halabsa village in Falluja said

Four blasts rattled the U.S. base in central Falluja at 6:00 pm on Tuesday," a source in the Falluja police department told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). "The attack coincided with three other strong explosions targeting the U.S. military base in al-Jeghefy neighborhood in northern Falluja," he said. "Strong blasts were heard and billows of black smoke were seen rising from the two bases," the source added, noting that U.S. Marine forces cordoned off the areas surrounding the two bases.

Meanwhile, two policemen and a citizen were killed and a police vehicle was destroyed in a bomb explosion in the city of Haditha, 170 km west of Ramadi, locals said. "A roadside bomb went off on a street in al-Dawaher neighborhood, south of Haditha, at 4:00 pm on Tuesday, targeting an Iraqi police patrol," an eyewitness told (VOI) over the phone. "The blast killed two policemen, while the police forces started a random shootout, killing a citizen," he added,

Seventeen decomposed bodies were found in a deserted school in Ramadi 110 km (68 miles) west of Baghdad, police said.

Thanks to whisker for ALL the links above.

REPORTS – LIFE IN IRAQ

Baghdad: Mapping the Violence

“The War Made Me Lose My Children and My Wife”

All three of Saleh Rabia'a's children have been killed in different incidents since the US-led invasion of Iraq began in 2003. As a result, his wife Samya developed mental problems. Living alone since Samya was taken to a mental hospital, 34-year-old Rabia'a, an engineer, is struggling to control his emotions and keep his own sanity. "I never imagined that the violence would come to my home. I've worked hard over the years to have my dreams realised - to marry a nice woman and to have many children. The dream was coming true until this war began and destroyed everything. "The war made me lose my children and my wife. During the initial invasion [April 2003], my eight-year-old son Omar was playing with some friends outside our home in [Baghdad's] Dora district when a stray bullet hit him in his head. We never knew where it came from but people said that it was probably fired by [former President] Saddam Hussein's officials who were in the area at the time, preparing to fight US troops. "A year later, my four-year-old son Ahmed was killed during an attack in Fallujah. He was with relatives in their house and couldn't come back to Baghdad because the roads were closed. A bomb destroyed the whole house, killing seven people including my son. "Those days were terrible. My wife started to become mentally disturbed. Doctors told me that her psychological problems were related to the impact the death of my sons had had in her life. “To make matters worse, in October 2006 my 11-year-old daughter Samira was killed as she was coming home from her school. A car bomb exploded near the shops she was passing by. She had serious injuries and died a few hours later. "Since then, I have tried to find a reason to live. I don't have parents and two months ago my wife had to be taken to a mental hospital for treatment. She couldn't stand the last death of her offspring and had what the doctors called a nervous collapse.

Iraqi Aid Workers Put Their Lives On The Line

As the United Nations calls for help for 4 million displaced Iraqis, researcher Greg Hansen describes the risks faced by the aid workers trying to help them. I just got off the phone with an Iraqi friend in Baghdad. Ahmed works for a humanitarian NGO. For the past couple of days he's been trying awfully hard to be invisible as he wends his way around car bombs and checkpoints to organise emergency assistance for the stricken and divided neighbourhoods of his beloved city. Even with a young family at home and excellent prospects abroad, Ahmed has decided to stay on in Baghdad, helping where he can to alleviate the suffering when the bombs go off, troops and insurgents open fire, or militias come calling in the night. "I am ready to go to Paradise," he says. For the most part, the people in Ahmed's neighbourhoods aren't internally displaced persons. Mostly they're internally stuck, fearful of leaving their homes to go to the market, clinic, pharmacy, or school down the street. Of course, many of Ahmed's own neighbours with the means to get out have fled, or are making just-in-case plans to leave. And who wouldn't, when lack of access to such basic needs as food, clean water, medical care and protection stretch a family's coping mechanisms past the limit?

NGO Statement On The Humanitarian Crisis in Iraq

Based on 2005 figures, nearly 5.6 million Iraqis were living below the poverty line and over 4 million people are food insecure and in dire need of different types of humanitarian assistance. Twenty-eight percent of Iraqi children suffer from malnutrition: the chronic malnutrition rate of children in food insecure households is 23%. One child in 10 suffers from chronic disease or illness. Children in Iraq have more chance of dying before the age of five than children in any other Middle Eastern country. Women are suffering because of unjust policies and from the militancy of intolerant groups. Special consideration should be given to single-headed households and youth, who are the most vulnerable.

UN Seeks Aid For 4 Million Uprooted Iraqis

The United Nations' refugee agency on Tuesday appealed for international aid for nearly 4 million Iraqis driven from their homes by conflict, and for those sheltering them inside and outside Iraq. About 2 million Iraqis have fled to Syria and Jordan, whose governments are struggling "without any meaningful support from outside," U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said at the start of a two-day international conference. Another 1.9 million Iraqis are uprooted within their homeland, racked by insurgency and sectarian violence. "It is time that the international community responded with genuine solidarity and unstinting aid to displaced Iraqis and to the states housing them," Guterres said. His agency, UNHCR, says up to 50,000 Iraqis flee their homes each month in an exodus linked to pervasive violence, poor basic services, loss of jobs and an uncertain future. Although the gathering is not a donor conference, U.N. officials hope it will put pressure on Western states to provide more financial help and take more Iraqi asylum-seekers. U.N. emergency relief coordinator John Holmes said relief needs extended to those still living in their own homes in a country that had already suffered from years of neglect, sanctions and war prior to the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. "Up to 8 million Iraqi civilians are now in urgent need of humanitarian relief. That is around 4 million more even than those who are internally or externally displaced." He said Iraq was the "second worst funded humanitarian crisis worldwide".

REPORTS – IRAQI MILITIAS, POLITICIANS, POWER BROKERS

In Iraq, A Parliament In Disarray

The stunning breach in security at Baghdad's heavily guarded Green Zone last week killed one Sunni lawmaker and, in the aftermath, revealed an increasingly disoriented and dysfunctional Iraqi government. Lawmakers met the day after a suicide bomber blew himself up in the cafeteria at the parliament building. Their meeting was intended to be an opportunity for solidarity and an act of defiance in the face of the threat to their institution and their personal safety. But, rather, Friday's session, and the political finger-pointing over the weekend, painted a picture of disarray. Many analysts say that Thursday's attack will only serve to further isolate the 275-member parliament from the people who elected it in December 2005. Already, the government is seen by many here to be too mired in sectarian bickering and personal animosities to operate as a functioning government. "A lot of Iraqis now are biting their fingers in regret because they voted these people in. Most [parliamentarians] have no real base of support and command little respect," says an Iraqi analyst who has been following the workings of parliament since its inception. He says the institution has rendered itself irrelevant largely due to the "incompetence and inexperience" of its members.

Shi’ite Political Fissures Widen

But the withdrawal of the Sadrists – who left in protest over the prime minister's refusal to set a date for the departure of US troops – highlights more troubling developments: widening fissures within the country's ruling coalition and a brewing Shiite fight for supremacy that threatens to unravel the leading political coalition, the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA). "The fragmentation of the Shiites, and the fights that are taking place, are much more serious than what gets talked about publicly," says Hosham Dawod, a Paris-based Iraqi academic and author. To win these fights – that have on occasion taken the form of armed confrontation and threaten to do so again – leading Shiite political figures are rallying popular support by clutching on big emotional causes. In the case of Mr. Sadr, it's taking on the US military presence. For the rival Fadhila Islamic party, it's confronting Iranian influence and meddling. And for the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) led by the influential Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, it's purging all remnants of the Saddam Hussein regime. Adding further complications is Iran's suspected support for both politics and violence, the role of the powerful tribes in this struggle especially in the south, and the emergence of well-armed Shiite splinter groups, some of which thrive on extortion and protection money. The stakes are immense. The political battle is about control. Each Shiite party wants power in Baghdad, the so-called mid-Euphrates provinces, Najaf and Karbala, which are home to Shiite Islam's holiest sites, and the southern province Basra with its vital oil resources and maritime facilities.

……But beyond the political jostling, analysts say, the ultimate fate of the Maliki government may depend on the outcome of the fight for power unfolding on the ground. "There is a real war going on between Shiites in Basra, Diwaniyah, Karbala, and Najaf, and it's a mess," says Jabar. He says Sadr's move Monday, as well as recent demonstrations, was simply a reaction to moves to dismantle his military capabilities, an effort being pursued cautiously by US forces, with the backing of Sadr's nemesis Hakim, who controls his own paramilitary group, the Badr Brigades.

REPORTS – US/UK/OTHERS IN IRAQ

Qaeda Group Says Iraq A “University of Terror”

The head of an al Qaeda-linked group in Iraq said the country had become a "university of terrorism", producing highly qualified warriors, since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. In an audio recording posted on the Internet on Tuesday, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, leader of the self-styled Islamic State in Iraq, said his fighters were successfully confronting U.S. forces in Iraq and have begun producing a guided missile called al-Quds 1 or Jerusalem 1. "The largest batch of soldiers for jihad ... in the history of Iraq are graduating and they have the highest level of competence in the world," Baghdadi said. He also sought to mend fences with other anti-U.S. insurgent groups in Iraq following reports of tensions between them. "From the military point of view, one of the (enemy) devils was right in saying that if Afghanistan was a school of terror, then Iraq is a university of terrorism," said the leader of the group set up last year by al Qaeda's Iraq wing and some other Sunni groups. "We would like to inform the mujahideen all over the world, and especially in Iraq, that the Quds (Jerusalem) 1 rocket has gone into the phase of military production," Baghdadi said, adding that its length, weight, range and precision "matches those of world powers".

Jordan, Syria Beg World To Help With Iraq Refugees

Jordan and Syria begged the international community on Tuesday to help them shoulder the burden of some 2 million Iraqi refugees straining their resources and economies. Senior officials from the two states were addressing a meeting convened by the United Nations to tackle the problem of nearly 4 million Iraqis driven by the conflict to seek refuge either inside or outside Iraq. "We, in the Syrian Arab Republic, are facing a huge mass of refugees ... this lays great pressure on the economy and infrastructure of our country," Vice Foreign Minister Fayssal Mekdad told the talks. Syria is hosting an estimated 1.2 million Iraqis -- a number equal to 12 percent of its own population -- and needs another $256 million to continue providing them with aid, health care and education over the next two years, Mekdad said in a speech. Mukhaimer Abu Jamous, secretary-general of Jordan's Interior Ministry, said 750,000 Iraqi refugees were costing his government $1 billion a year, stretching to the limit the resources of a country of just 5.6 million. "We hope that this important conference results in a clear and firm commitment by the international community to take part in shouldering the great burden," he said. U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres, who is chairing the two-day talks, said host countries in the region had vowed to keep open their borders. "Today it is clear that the countries of asylum have pledged that they would go on granting protection to Iraqis and that they consider to send Iraqis forcibly into the country against their will is not acceptable," he told a news conference at the end of the first day.

US Holds 18,000 Detainees in Iraq

In the past month, as a new security crackdown in Baghdad began, U.S. forces arrested another 1,000 Iraqis, bringing to 18,000 the number of detainees jailed in two U.S.-run facilities in that country. The average stay in these detention centers is about a year, but about 8,000 of the detainees have been jailed longer, including 1,300 who have been in custody for two years, said a statement provided by Capt. Phillip J. Valenti, spokesman for Task Force 134, the U.S. Military Police group handling detainee operations. "The intent is to detain individuals determined to be true threats to coalition forces, Iraqi Security Forces and stability in Iraq," Valenti said. "Unlike situations in the past, these detainees are not conventional prisoners of war." Instead, he said, they are "diverse civilian internees from widely divergent political, religious and ethnic backgrounds who are detained on the basis of intelligence available at the time of capture and gathered during subsequent questioning." Valenti said 250 of those in custody are third-country nationals, including some high-value detainees.

COMMENTARY

VT Murders Happen Every Single Day, Only Worse, In Iraq…. For Years Now

Larry Johnson put the whole thing in perspective rather quickly and to the point yesterday when the body count in the VTech shooting was still at 22. Even with the latest numbers of those murdered in Monday's shooting now at 33, it's dwarfed by Sunday's numbers in Iraq, where 65 lives were lost and 20 policemen were taken hostage. And yet, that has been happening virtually every day for years now in Iraq, where jerks like Cheney and McCain and Bush continue to tell us that "things are getting better" and it's the media who are failing to report the "good news."

Take a look at the wall-to-wall media coverage ever since the 33 tragic fatalities on Monday in America, and imagine what would be going on here if a VTech-sized tragedy or two or three happened every single day in this country for years on end. Imagine if it happened just two or three days in a row! (Not to mention the population of Iraq is less than 10% the size of the United States.) Would we blame the media for not reporting the "good news" each day? Or would we demand that something be done --- now --- to stop the carnage? As usual, Johnson's take, documented with AP's reports on killings in Iraq on Sunday, is worth reading and noting.

In a follow-up today, Johnson notes the failures of the cable news channels, in their continuous, wall-to-wall coverage, to point out the following: 1) "Bush is going to attend services for the victims of the Virginia Tech shooting today. When was the last time Bush did that for the troops? Oh, right, never!," writes Leslie below. 2) Bush has ordered the nation's flags flown at half-staff until Sunday. Did Bush order flags lowered after Katrina's devastation and the deaths of hundreds of people? 3) It was astonishing to watch news reporters rabidly attack Virginia Tech's president and chief of police. Why don't news reporters regularly attack Bush and Cheney like that?

Lest we be criticized for not taking the VTech shootings seriously, make no mistake, they are an indescribable tragedy. But so are the number of human beings killed every single day in Iraq, day after day after nightmarish day, since the United States needlessly invaded their country. And yet, the number one story reported by the media last week was Don Imus, followed by Anna Nicole, followed by the number one under-reported story: the death of our national conscience...

Sadr's Rising Star to Eclipse Bush's Surge?

"What must worry Washington more than the massive size of the demonstration on April 9," writes veteran analyst Dilip Hiro in this important piece, "was its mixed Shiite-Sunni composition and nationalistic ambience. The prospect of Sadr's appeal extending to a section of the Sunni community, with the tacit support of grand ayatollah Ali Sistani, is the nightmare scenario that the Bush administration most dreads. Yet it may come to pass."

OPINION: Iraq Has Two Virginia Techs Every Day

I keep hearing from US politicians and the US mass media that the "situation is improving" in Iraq. The profound sorrow and alarm produced in the American public by the horrific shootings at Virginia Tech should give us a baseline for what the Iraqis are actually living through. They have two Virginia Tech-style attacks every single day. Virginia Tech will be gone from the headlines and the air waves by next week this time in the US, though the families of the victims will grieve for a lifetime. But next Tuesday I will come out here and report to you that 64 Iraqis have been killed in political violence. And those will mainly be the ones killed by bombs and mortars. They are only 13% of the total; most Iraqis killed violently, perhaps 500 a day throughout the country if you count criminal and tribal violence are just shot down. Shot down, like the college students and professors at Blacksburg. We Americans can so easily, with a shudder, imagine the college student trying to barricade himself behind a door against the armed madman without. But can we put ourselves in the place of Iraqi students?

I wrote on February 26, 'A suicide bomber with a bomb belt got into the lobby of the School of Administration and Economy of Mustansiriya University in Baghdad and managed to set it off despite being spotted at the last minute by university security guards. The blast killed 41 and wounded a similar number according to late reports, with body parts everywhere and big pools of blood in the foyer as students were shredded by the high explosives. ' That isn't "slow progress" or just "progress," the way the weasels in Washington keep proclaiming. It is the most massive manmade human tragedy of the young century.

Quote of the day: “People have not been horrified by war to a sufficient extent ... War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige as the warrior does today.” - John Fitzgerald Kennedy