Going down memory lane: Monday, August 13, 2007

What seems to be a life time ago when I just started documenting our wars back some time in 2003 I was very much desponded on how much true and factual information was actually available not just in the daily newspapers but also in the on-line press's. I decided to undertake this project even though it seemed futile from the get go. I closed my business and decided to become a full time researcher with the goal of finding and trying to publish my work so anyone with interest could quickly read the war news of the day without skimming through loads of on-line articles.
With in a year I had accumulated a vast amount of data and have reached out to not only the press but other people who had the same general interest. Several of whom are E-iraq, Icasuialties, anti-war, etc. One in particular which I started reading was published very early in the morning was considered a somewhat jehadist site but was actually run by a Chief Warrant Officer who went by the handle of YankeeDoodle. Here I cannibalized much because he got through the fluff quickly and had sound war details posted. Most of his readers have moved on like he has but here we are today in Iraq so I'll stop my memories here and post something. but here's a copy of his first blog way back in 2003 which unlike my sophomoric writing skills was most excellent:

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Monday, June 30, 2003
Operation Desert Sidewinder” begins. From CENTCOM: “Coalition forces continued aggressive patrols and raids throughout the country over the last 24 hours, conducting 1,317 day patrols and 1,053 night patrols. They also jointly patrolled with the Iraqi Police conducting 213 day patrols and 161 night patrols. The total patrols and raids resulted in 128 arrests for various criminal activities including one murder arrest in Baghdad.” US patrol ambushed near Fallujah. Embedded reporter wounded. Three Iraqi civilians killed in vehicle collision. US troops under RPG attack near Fallujah. Press report on “Desert Scorpion.” Iraqis detained, motorbikes in Fallujah confiscated. Chalabi says Saddam Hussein is behind attacks on Americans. Raids conducted in Mosul on June 28th. “The homes belonged to suspected associates of Abu Ammash (Wahabi Extremists). The soldiers detained 15 individuals and confiscated four AK-47 rifles, one 9mm pistol, one hand grenade, one artillery round.” Who is the “Iraqi Resistance?” Two views. The Players: Analysis/biographies of potential Iraqi leaders and internal conflicts. Amnesty International questions US detention policy in Iraq. Guardian (UK) commentary: “Bush and Blair promised justice in Iraq. Another lie.” Investment risk analysts warn of "an even chance” of open revolt in Iraq. Commentary: “The Rumsfeld team has substituted wishful thinking for facts.” Afghanistan: Rocket attack on military compound near Jalalabad. Previous attacks have been attributed to Taliban and Al Qaeda. Afghanistan: A sense that things “are beginning to unravel.” Home front: Bush administration snoozing on the homeland defense job. Bush fundraising fundraising in Florida. Comic relief: The view from NewsMax.
# posted by yankeedoodle : 6/30/2003 11:53:00 AM

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(1) The British Ministry of Defense has announced the death of a 1st Battalion, the Royal Anglian Regiment soldier from wounds he received in an attack on his patrol base northeast of Sangin in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, on Saturday, August 11th. He was flown to Camp Bastion for treatment, but died there. Five other soldiers were injured in the incident.

(2) The AFP news service is reporting the deaths of three soldiers from the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan on Sunday, August 12th. They were killed in a roadside bomb blast in the eastern province of Nangarhar near the Pakistani border. An Afghan interpreter was also killed, and another coalition soldier wounded. The three dead coalition soldiers are presumed to be Americans as the bulk of that force is made up of Americans.

(3) NATO's International Security Assistance Force website is reporting the death of a NATO soldier in a non-hostile vehicle roll-over in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, August 12th. Three other soldiers were injured in the accident. We are assuming the death to be American for now as the bulk of NATO forces in that part of the country are American.

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Security Incidents for Monday, August 13, 2007


Baghdad:
#1: Meanwhile, the heavily-fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad, where the Iraqi government and the US and British embassies are based, came under mortar fire on Monday morning. The mortar shells fell near the Qadissiyah housing compound but no casualties were reported, police sources told VOI.

#2: A FIJIAN national working as a security guard in Iraq is believed to be dead and three of his colleagues are seriously injured following an attack on the convoy they were escorting from Baghdad to Mosul at the weekend. One of the three injured is an American national. The guards are all employees of the American security firm, CSS Global Iraq.

#3: Around 2 p.m. mortars hit Zayouna neighborhood (east Baghdad) near Maysloon intersection killing one and injuring three people


Diyala Prv:
Khanaqin:
#1: In Khanaqin town in northern Diyala province, an explosive charge detonated overnight near a police patrol, killing at least five policemen, including a local police chief, and wounding four others, reported the independent news agency Voices of Iraq

The bombing, followed by a salvo of rocket fire, happened late on Sunday near Nafit Khana, 20 kilometres (about 12 miles) south of Khanaqin in Iraq’s volatile province of Diyala, said border guard Brigadier General Nadhim Shariff.


Hilla:
#1: Gunmen killed one Iraqi soldier in central Hilla 100 km (62 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.


Iskandariya:
#1: Police said they recovered a body from the Euphrates river and found another one Iskandariya 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad on Sunday


Tikrit:
#1: Bombers blew up an empty house belonging to colonel Esam al-Azzawi, head of a police academy, in Tikrit 175 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Dijla:
#1: Kidnappers seized the mayor of the town of Dijla, near Tikrit, police said


Samarra:
#1: Gunmen killed three civilians on Sunday when they opened their fire in central Samarra 100 km (62 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Al Zap:
#1: Gunmen killed the head of the Sunni Arab Al-Jubour tribe and wounded two of his sons when they burst into his house on Sunday night in al-Zap 35 km (20 miles) southwest of the northern city of Kirkuk, police said.


Kirkuk:
#1: A roadside bomb exploded near Ghurnadha bridge downtown Kirkuk injuring two people, yesterday night.

#2: Around 9.45 p.m. of Sunday, mortars hit Arafa neighborhood not far away from the police station in the area injuring one resident.


Afghanistan:
#1: A suicide bomber targeted a U.S.-led coalition convoy in eastern Afghanistan on Monday. The blast in Khost province killed the bomber, said Gen. Mohammad Ayub, the provincial police chief. There were no immediate reports of casualties among the U.S. forces.

#2: Afghan security forces clashed with the Taliban militants in the south, leaving nine militants dead, officials said Monday. In the south, Afghan police and army soldiers battled militants Sunday in Kandahar province's Shohrawak district, said provincial police chief Sayed Agha Saqib. The joint Afghan forces thwarted a planned militant ambush at the district chief's compound, and the ensuing clash left nine militants dead, Saqib said. Authorities recovered the militants' bodies and weapons, he said. During a cleanup operation after the battle, a roadside bomb hit a police vehicle in the same district, killing five officers and wounding two others, Saqib said.

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