A fuel tanker that was part of a British convoy burns after it came under attack in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. British troops should be withdrawn from Iraq once Iraqi forces have been trained, regardless of the security situation, according to the co-chairman of a commission looking into Britain's policy in Iraq.(AFP/Essam Al-Sudani)
Security Incidents
BAGHDAD — A Task Force Marne Soldier was killed when a land mine detonated during a dismounted patrol today. (Saturday) Reuters places what appears to be the same incident "south of Baghdad."
One Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldier was killed and another wounded when an explosively-formed penetrator detonated near their patrol during combat operations in an eastern section of the Iraqi capital July 14.
Other Security Incidents
Baghdad (and environs)
Two Australian mercenaries killed, on injured, in roadside bomb attack "8 km southeast of the capital. The three men worked for BLP International, a private company based in the United Arab Emirates which provides protective security services.
Gunmen kill a police lieutenant in the neighborhood of al-Ilam in western Baghdad. The assailants escape.
One civilian killed, two injured when roadside bomb attack misses a police patrol in the Jesr Diyala area in southern Baghdad.
Xinhua also reports a Roadside bomb attack on a U.S. patrol in Zaafaraniyah, in south Baghdad, not known if there were casualties as troops cordoned off the area. This does not appear to correspond to any incidents announced by the U.S.
And, police find 8 unidentified bodies at various places, with signs of torture.
Car bomb in al-Hurriya Square in central Karrada kills three and injures four. The toll is expected to rise.
AP reports a car bomb in "Hussein Square," that kills 10 and injures 25. I'm guessing this is the same incident.
At least three people, including an Iraqi officer in a checkpoint, were killed and a number others wounded when gunmen opened fire at them on Sunday morning, local residents in al-Bayaa area, western Baghdad said. The attack caused the road to be closed and residents are appealing for a safe alternative route.
Transit drivers in the al-Jihad neighborhood went on strike, demanding protection from sniper attacks.
Banjwin (or Panjwin), northeast of Sulaimaniya
Six border guards, one civilian killed in attack on a checkpoint. The Mayor blames the militant group Ansar al-Islam. This group has been operating in the Iranian border region of Kurdistan since before the U.S. invasion. It had supposedly changed its name to Ansar al-Sunnah, presumably in response to the emerging sectarian conflict, and begun to operate in southern Kurdistan and the disputed areas to the south. Violence of this nature in the Kurdish heartland has become uncommon. It's not clear whether there is any significance to the Mayor using the old name. Reuters, however, says that all 7 dead were border guards, and most curiously, says the mayor attributes the attack to a group called the "Kurdistan Brigade," supposedly "linked to" al Qaeda. AFP says that Ansar al-Islam changed its name to "al Qaeda in Kurdistan," and that the death toll is 7 border guards and one civilian. I'm afraid I can't sort this out for you, but it's entirely possible that the group splintered. Note that this is the group which Colin Powell, in his speech to the UN Security Council, claimed was evidence of a "link" between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda -- although the group was in fact dedicated to the overthrow of the Iraqi regime and its leader, Mullah Krekar, had been given asylum in Norway because Saddam was trying to kill him.
Aziziyah
Gunmen shot dead the wife and 8-year-old son of the mayor of Aziziyah, a predominately Shi'ite town 55 km (35 miles) southeast of Baghdad.
Nasiriyah
Three police killed, two injured, in gunfight.
Badra (Wasit Province)
24 Iranians being held for entering Iraq illegally escape from prison. Police say they have recaptured four.
Baiji
Turkish driver of a fuel tanker killed by roadside bomb. (Interesting that they can't hire Iraqis to do this, for whatever reason. -- C)
Mosul
Motorcade of Iraqi National List legislator Osama al-Nejefi attacked, damage to vehicles but no casualties reported.
Tal Afar
Two civilians killed, three wounded by roadside bomb. Also, one policeman killed, one injured in an ambush.
Fallujah
Former Lt. Colonel in the Baathist army assassinated.
Other News of the Day
Alright then: Iraqi prime minister says U.S. troops can go 'anytime they want'. We've won! Time for the parade. Excerpt:
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki shrugged off U.S. doubts of his government's military and political progress Saturday, saying Iraqi forces are capable and American troops can leave "anytime they want." At a news conference Saturday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said his government needs "time and effort" to enact the political reforms that Washington seeks.
One of his top aides, meanwhile, accused the United States of embarrassing the Iraqi government by violating human rights and treating his country like an "experiment in a U.S. lab."
snip
"We are not talking about a government in a stable political environment, but one in the shadow of huge challenges," al-Maliki said. "So when we talk about the presence of some negative points in the political process, that's fairly natural."
Al-Maliki said his government needs "time and effort" to enact the political reforms that Washington seeks -- "particularly since the political process is facing security, economic and services pressures, as well as regional and international interference." But he said that if necessary, Iraqi police and soldiers could fill the void left by the departure of coalition forces.
"We say in full confidence that we are able, God willing, to take the responsibility completely in running the security file if the international forces withdraw at anytime they want," he said.
One of al-Maliki's close advisers, Shiite lawmaker Hassan al-Suneid, bristled over the American pressure, telling The Associated Press that "the situation looks as if it is an experiment in an American laboratory [judging] whether we succeed or fail."
He sharply criticized the U.S. military, saying it was committing human rights violations and embarrassing the Iraqi government through such tactics as building a wall around Baghdad's Sunni neighborhood of Azamiyah and launching repeated raids on suspected Shiite militiamen in the capital's slum of Sadr City.
He also criticized U.S. overtures to Sunni groups in Anbar and Diyala provinces, encouraging former insurgents to join the fight against al Qaeda in Iraq. "These are gangs of killers," he said.
In addition, he said that al-Maliki has problems with the top U.S. commander, Gen. David Petraeus, who he said works along a "purely American vision."
"There are disagreements that the strategy that Petraeus is following might succeed in confronting al Qaeda in the early period but it will leave Iraq an armed nation, an armed society and militias," al-Suneid said.
National Security Advisor Muwafaq al-Rubaie tells a Saudi newspaper that hundreds of Saudi citizens await trial in Iraq. Excerpt:
Riyadh, Jul 15, (VOI) – Over 160 Saudis were tried in Iraq and hundreds are still awaiting trial, Iraqi National Security Advisor Muwafaq al-Rubaie said in an interview with the Jeddah-based Okaz newspaper.
On the official number of Saudis in Iraq, al-Rubaie revealed that hundreds of Saudis have entered Iraq after the U.S-led invasion in 2003. Many of them were killed in suicide operations and others are still being held in Iraqi prisons and detention camps, in addition to those killed during the past four years," he added.
"The issue was open for discussion with Saudi officials and we set up a hotline with them to follow up on developments," al-Rubaie said in reference to Saudi prisoners in Iraq.
Commenting on terrorism-inciting fatwas (religious edicts), al-Rubaie said that both sides agreed on the necessity of condemning fatwas justifying or promoting terrorism.
During the interview, al-Rubaie indicated that Iraq's stability is part and parcel of the region's stability, adding, "What threatens Iraq's security will directly threaten Saudi Arabia's." He said that most of the recruits for armed groups in Iraq are Saudis who came from neighboring countries.
And indeed, U.S. military sources concur. Excerpt:
By Ned Parker, LA Times Staff Writer -- Although Bush administration officials have frequently lashed out at Syria and Iran, accusing it of helping insurgents and militias here, the largest number of foreign fighters and suicide bombers in Iraq come from a third neighbor, Saudi Arabia, according to a senior U.S. military officer and Iraqi lawmakers.
About 45% of all foreign militants targeting U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians and security forces are from Saudi Arabia; 15% are from Syria and Lebanon; and 10% are from North Africa, according to official U.S. military figures made available to The Times by the senior officer. Nearly half of the 135 foreigners in U.S. detention facilities in Iraq are Saudis, he said.
Fighters from Saudi Arabia are thought to have carried out more suicide bombings than those of any other nationality, said the senior U.S. officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the subject's sensitivity. It is apparently the first time a U.S. official has given such a breakdown on the role played by Saudi nationals in Iraq's Sunni Arab insurgency.
He said 50% of all Saudi fighters in Iraq come here as suicide bombers. In the last six months, such bombings have killed or injured 4,000 Iraqis.
The situation has left the U.S. military in the awkward position of battling an enemy whose top source of foreign fighters is a key ally that at best has not been able to prevent its citizens from undertaking bloody attacks in Iraq, and at worst shares complicity in sending extremists to commit attacks against U.S. forces, Iraqi civilians and the Shiite-led government in Baghdad.
The NYT's John Burns (who is not often welcome here) tells the story of Khalid W. Hassan, an Iraqi reporter working for the Times who was murdered by unknown assailants, for unknown reasons.
Libertarian Ron Paul, running for the Republican presidential nomination, warns that the administration might stage a phony Tonkin-style attack or a terrorist attack, to regain support for the Iraq war or an attack on Iran. This seems to be baseless, and perhaps irresponsible speculation, but I link it here because it is news that a sitting member of Congress would say this. -- C
AP's Sharon Cohen tells the story of severely burned troops being cared for at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. Excerpt (it's a tough read):
Brooke's burn center also treats civilians. But these days there is a steady flow of wounded from Iraq and Afghanistan - more than 570 thus far, of which only about 6 percent have died. Many survivors, however, are permanently scarred. Some also suffer from blast-related wounds, such as head injuries or fractures. Others can't walk, sign their names or tie their shoes.
"We now have an entirely new population of burn survivors ... with oftentimes lifelong and life-changing injuries," says Dr. Evan Renz, a Brooke surgeon.
Some will recover. Others will learn new ways to become independent.
"You have to believe that you're doing the best thing for the patient by helping them survive," Renz says. "You have to believe that in the end, when all is said and done, they will be glad they made it through."
There are always people, he says, who will look at severely burned patients and ask why put them through all the agony.
"We try not to judge too much," he says. "When you're talking about how far should you go to save someone's life, I think in the case of these tragic injuries you have to be realistic. You have to look at what can be done. Just because we can do it, should we do it?"
It isn't terrorism when the guy is wearing a uniform, right? Bomb-laden "Reaper" drones headed for Iraq. Excerpt:
BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AP) — The airplane is the size of a jet fighter, powered by a turboprop engine, able to fly at 300 mph and reach 50,000 feet. It is outfitted with infrared, laser and radar targeting, and with a ton and a half of guided bombs and missiles.
The Reaper is loaded, but there is no one on board. Its pilot, as it bombs targets in Iraq, will sit at a video console 7,000 miles away in Nevada.
The arrival of these outsized U.S. "hunter-killer" drones, in aviation history's first robot attack squadron, will be a watershed moment even in an Iraq that has seen too many innovative ways to hunt and kill.
That moment, one the Air Force will likely low-key, is expected "soon," says the regional U.S. air commander. How soon? "We're still working that," Lt. Gen. Gary North said in an interview.
The Reaper's first combat deployment is expected in Afghanistan, and senior Air Force officers estimate it will land in Iraq sometime between this fall and next spring. They look forward to it.
State Department orders its 1,000 employees in the Green Zone to wear body armor at all times while not in a hardened structure. They denied this, but McClatchy obtained the memo, which they describe as an "undiscussable security breach."
Quote of the Day
You have by now heard the remark — instantly added to our through-the-looking-glass lexicon of the 21st century, a time when we suddenly started referring to this country as “the homeland,” as if anybody here has used that term since Charles Lindbergh or the German-American Bund in 1940. Michael Chertoff’s “gut feeling.” . . .[T]here is the explanation of choice for those millions of us who have heard the shrill and curiously timed cries of “wolf” over the past six years — what we’ve called here “the Nexus of Politics and Terror” — that there isn’t anything cooking, and your “gut feeling” was actually that you’d better throw up a diversion soon on Mr. Bush’s behalf or something real — like the Republicans’ revolt about Iraq, and the nauseating “gut feeling” that we have gotten 3,611 Americans killed there for no reason — was actually going to seep into the American headlines and consciousness.
It’s impossible to prove a negative, to guarantee that you and your predecessors deliberately scared the American public just for the political hell of it — even though your predecessor, Mr. Ridge, admitted he had his suspicions about exactly that. Suffice to say, Mr. Chertoff: If it ever can be proved, there will be a lot of people from Homeland Security and other outposts of this remarkably corrupt administration who will be going to prison.
-- Keith Olbermann
0 comments:
Post a Comment