Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
ralphwiggum

The Iraq thread 3

Recommended Posts

During the actual invasion war logistics were a big problem. If you remember, small bands of Fedayeen militia managed to cut off all supplies to the troops advancing to Baghdad for several days. US Marines went several days with very little or no food at all. So yes, logistics seems to be the weak link for the US forces. If convoys are consistently attacked, it could develop to a significant problem. And not just for the occupation forces but for the Iraqi citizens as well.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote[/b] ]Bush Names Negroponte As Iraq Ambassador

Wasn´t that the guy who was US ambassador in Honduras from 1981 to 1985. In Honduras, Negroponte played a prominent role in assisting the contras in Nicaragua in their war with the left-wing Sandinista government but was accused of acquiescing to human-rights abuses by a Honduran death squad funded and partly trained by the CIA.

Best choice ?

No, not at all.

Additionally, it was reported that the US embassy in Iraq will be the largest in the world with around 3,000 staff.   wow_o.gif

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

what so do you expect it takes alot of people to man an air base plus america needs to station its troops somewhere before it invades iran and syria tounge_o.gif

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Additionally, it was reported that the US embassy in Iraq will be the largest in the world with around 3,000 staff.   wow_o.gif

Only 3,000? I was expecting somewhere along the lines of 140,000 biggrin_o.gif

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thailand said it will get it´s troops out of Iraq if the security situation doesn´t improve.

So it´s :

Spain

Honduras

Thailand

who are not willing to reinforce the "coalition of the willing" in Iraq anymore.

I only have a german source so far.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

So if Taiwan leaves then there is Polish, British, Ukraine, Japanese and US troops in Iraq?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I've heard Portugal is seriously considering withdrawing now and that there are some discussions going on in Poland.

Quote[/b] ]So if Taiwan leaves then there is Polish, British, Ukraine, Japanese and US troops in Iraq?

No, there are actually quite many small countries with insignificant contributions. Full List

Basically there are 140,000 US troops. Slightly more than 10,000 British. The remaining 15,000 is divided among two dozens of countries.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Additionally, it was reported that the US embassy in Iraq will be the largest in the world with around 3,000 staff.   wow_o.gif

Only 3,000? I was expecting somewhere along the lines of 140,000 biggrin_o.gif

Yeah, I forgot to include settlers.  wink_o.gif

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Contractors (or mercenaries) are the third largest group in Iraq....

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

WTF...

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm....ison_dc

Quote[/b] ]

Mortar Barrage on Baghdad Prison Kills 21

16 minutes ago  Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo!

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Insurgents fired mortar bombs at a Baghdad prison run by U.S.-led forces in Iraq (news - web sites) Tuesday, killing 21 detainees, the U.S. military said.

A military spokesman said initial reports indicated that all the casualties at the Abu Ghraib jail, just west of Baghdad, were prisoners, but could not say if they were held as suspects for criminal or guerrilla activities.

The spokesman said more than 100 people had been wounded in the attack.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The attackers probably want to help, letting the prisoners escape.

But now they killed prisoners

Ah well mistakes can be made wink_o.gif

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
The attackers probably want to help, letting the prisoners escape.

But now they killed prisoners

Ah well mistakes can be made  wink_o.gif

Well the good thing is that now the US have 21 frewer problems.

STGN

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Looks like the cost of the war is starting to show:

Possible F-22 for Oil Programme

Quote[/b] ]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon (news - web sites) may have to scrap its premier fighter jet program to help pay for the war in Iraq (news - web sites), Sen. John McCain, an influential member of the Armed Services Committee, said on Sunday.

"It's obvious that we're paying a heavy price, I think, for not having had enough troops there from the beginning," the Arizona Republican said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

McCain said both the U.S. Army and the Marine Corps must be expanded overall, a position at odds with President Bush (news - web sites)'s administration. The United States has about 135,000 troops in Iraq, a number that McCain, an influential member of the Armed Services Committee, said must rise.

As part of a broad overhaul of U.S. priorities, he said, the Pentagon may have to scrap the $71 billion Air Force program to buy F/A-22 air-to-air fighters built by Lockheed Martin Corp. .

"We may have to cancel this airplane that's going to cost between $250 million and $300 million a copy," said McCain, floating what could become a major new legislative hurdle to a top Air Force priority.

McCain led a drive that stalled what has become a $23.5 billion plan to lease up to 20 and buy up to 80 modified Boeing Co. 767s as mid-air refueling tankers. The plan is on hold pending reviews due next month at the Pentagon.

"We've got to change the way we do business and put the priority where it belongs," McCain said. "And that is making sure that we succeed in Iraq."

Republican Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas, chairman of the Intelligence committee, said the United States needed more specially trained forces in Iraq.

"People that are in there have to know what the heck we're doing," Roberts said on the CBS program Face the Nation. "If we do have those troops, yes, let's send them."

The Air Force hopes to buy at least 277 F/A-22 fighters, which it describes as key to dominating the skies in future combat. It is about to enter operational testing en route to replacing the F-15C.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has resisted calls for any lasting increase in the U.S. occupation force in Iraq and argued against permanently boosting the size of U.S. armed forces unless sought by military commanders themselves.

Last week, Rumsfeld said the Pentagon may postpone the departure of some troops supposed to be heading home now. The Pentagon originally had planned to decrease the numbers to about 115,000 in coming months.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote[/b] ]Bush Names Negroponte As Iraq Ambassador

Wasn´t that the guy who was US ambassador in Honduras from 1981 to 1985. In Honduras, Negroponte played a prominent role in assisting the contras in Nicaragua in their war with the left-wing Sandinista government but was accused of acquiescing to human-rights abuses by a Honduran death squad funded and partly trained by the CIA.

Best choice ?

That was no accident that Negroponte was appointed to be the Iraq ambassador.   The fact of the matter is that he knows how to work with the CIA and he knows how to brutally crush opposition groups.   The Bush administration has them there because almost certainly they plan on reviving the old Cold War death squad tactics that the CIA encouraged all over Latin America, South East Asia and Africa.

However, in the case of Iraq, it can be strongly argued that *some* of these tactics may be necessary in order to infiltrate and assassinate militant leaders with the creation of an Iraqi secret police.  This is what just about all of our Middle East allies do in their countries...most of our allies in the Middle East are dictatorships and not democracies, and almost all of them have powerful secret police and intelligence agencies that keep them in power and that crush militant groups.  

So Negroponte has the experience to do this.  

It's very sad that it has come to this, but its a sign that the Bush administration is desperate for results.

It's also a sign that their won't be much democracy in Iraq because as in Latin America such death squads tend to indiscriminantly murder both militants and peaceful opposition political, religious, and labor leaders and members of those groups.  

It may or may not work.  But the sad fact is that its going to be a very bloody few years with Negroponte running things in Iraq.  His main hurdle will be building a powerful and loyal Iraqi secret police force.  If he fails to understand Iraqi culture and fails to develop methods of filtering out spies from Iraqi and Al-Qaeda associated militant groups, then such secret police/death squad will fail miserably.

I think what will happen is that he will use only one ethnic group to carry out the dirty work.  Perhaps Kurdish or maybe Shi'ite if the situation with Sadr calms down... but many Shi'ites have ties to Iran so that may not work...but who knows....the Iranians might back such a plan actually since they use similar terror tactics in Iran to crush opposition.

As long as they see the Shi'ite majority in power and if it improves relations with the US (and perhaps strengthens their influence in Iraq) then there may be some secret alliances formed.

Time will tell... but almost certainly expect death squads to be trained and formed.

American democracy and freedom in action....ah....ya can almost hear the screams of freedom now.

sad_o.gif

Chris G.

aka-Miles Teg<GD>

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

If the Bush Administration were really thinking of training up death squads for Iraq (certainly an illegal and unpopular activity) then bringing in a man known and even reknowned for having links with such dealings in the past to run things would seem the most cackhanded and blatantly obvious way of doing it (admittedly not so out of character for TBA). Negroponte has done many other things in his career and it could be seen as part of attempts to internationalise the Iraq reconstruction project (he having been UN ambassador).

I really think there is too much of a media spotlight in Iraq right now for the US to train death squads for the streets of Baghdad. It would be an immensely risky strategy, most of all domestically. Ill start to believe it when i encounter some evidence not before.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Just watched a mini-interview with an author who was in an interview with Bush. He talks about some thing the President said.

Apparantly, Bush never seeked advice from his father. But instead, he seeked his advice and wisdom from a 'higher' father.

So, yeah. The leader of one of the most powerful nations in the world hears voices.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

that is Bob Woodwards and he also made that statement on 60 minutes on Suday.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Maybe accurate quoting would help:

Quote[/b] ]

From <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/15/60minutes/main612067.shtml" target="_blank">60 Minutes: Woodward Shares War Secrets

</a>:

Having given the order, the president walked alone around the circle behind the White House. Months later, he told Woodward: “As I walked around the circle, I prayed that our troops be safe, be protected by the Almighty. Going into this period, I was praying for strength to do the Lord's will. I'm surely not going to justify war based upon God. Understand that. Nevertheless, in my case, I pray that I be as good a messenger of his will as possible. And then, of course, I pray for forgiveness."

Did Mr. Bush ask his father for any advice? “I asked the president about this. And President Bush said, ‘Well, no,’ and then he got defensive about it,†says Woodward. “Then he said something that really struck me. He said of his father, ‘He is the wrong father to appeal to for advice. The wrong father to go to, to appeal to in terms of strength.’ And then he said, ‘There's a higher Father that I appeal to.’"

Quote[/b] ]So, yeah. The leader of one of the most powerful nations in the world hears voices.

Sometimes these voices come in the form of gossip, rumors and misquotes.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Damn sad_o.gif

Bombs hit Basra police stations (BBC)

Quote[/b] ]¨

Rush-hour blasts probably caused by car bombs have hit three police stations in Iraq's second city of Basra, killing at least 40 and injuring scores.

Two school buses, one of them apparently full of children, were destroyed in one of the attacks, an AP correspondent reports from the scene.

A British officer said the three attacks had been near-simultaneous.

....

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

No official source yet but coaltion is bombing Falluja right now.

While the Dominican Republic decided to pull out of Iraq:

Dominican Republic to Pull Out of Iraq

Quote[/b] ]The Dominican Republic will pull its troops out of Iraq (news - web sites) early, in the next few weeks, following the lead of Spain and Honduras, Gen. Jose Miguel Soto Jimenez said Tuesday.

The announcement came just two days after President Hipolito Mejia pledged to keep the country's 302 troops in Iraq until their one-year committment ended in August.

"The troops in Iraq will be coming back in the next couple weeks," the Dominican Armed Forces general said.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote[/b] ]FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) About 35 Iraqi insurgents attacked U.S. Marines in northern Fallujah just after daybreak Wednesday, setting off a heavy gunbattle, the military said. There was no immediate word on casualties.

The attack began with a massive barrage of rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire. Explosions were heard throughout the city. Marine forces here were put on high alert.

The attack comes following Monday's announcement of an agreement aimed at ending hostilities in the embattled city. U.S. officials have warned that if guerrillas don't comply with a call by city leaders to disarm, Marines may launch an all-out assault to take the city.

AFP

As I said before this incident,it sounded unlikely the resistance would give up so easily their stronghold for which they fighted so much time.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

U.S. Troops, Iraq Rebels Clash in Falluja

Quote[/b] ]U.S. forces and Iraqi insurgents traded machinegun fire, mortars and grenades for four hours in Falluja early Wednesday, killing six civilians and breaking a tentative cease-fire, residents said.

They said the clashes erupted in the town's Golan district at around 6 a.m. Marine patrols moved from street to empty street, putting up intense barrages of automatic fire.

The fighting erupted hours after Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the truce in the battered city of 300,000 people west of Baghdad would not hold indefinitely.

U.S. snipers, concealed behind rooftop parapets, pumped round after round into buildings, film shot by U.S. journalists with the Marines showed. Missile-firing Black Hawk helicopters blasted unseen targets with machinegun and cannon fire.

An F-16 jet flew overhead and a huge dust cloud rose in the air, possibly the result of a heavy bomb.

Residents said six unarmed civilians were killed and 10 wounded by U.S. fire. There was no independent confirmation of the toll nor of who was responsible for the casualties.

U.S. officials, who say troops do not target civilians, declined comment. ABC television journalists with the 1st Marine Division said troops told them there had been casualties in the four-hour battle but it was unclear how many on either side.

Rumsfeld said days of talks involving Iraqi and Sunni Muslim leaders, Falluja officials and representatives of the U.S. governing authority in the city did not include Iraqi insurgents who have been confronting U.S. troops.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

A danish citizen feared kidnapped a couple of days ago has turned up dead, most likely murdered. The Iraqi police found his body two days after his disappearance but did not notify the Danish Foreign Department until now. He leaves a wife and a five year old boy behind.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Update on Basra car bombings..

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tm....iraq_52

Quote[/b] ]

BASRA, Iraq - A series of car bombs ripped through police stations and an academy during rush hour Wednesday morning, killing at least 60 people, including schoolchildren, and wounding scores in the bloodiest attacks to hit this mainly Shiite city since the U.S.-led occupation began a year ago.

Quote[/b] ]

Iraqis pulled charred and torn bodies from mangled vehicles in front of the Saudia police station, located by Basra's crowded main street market. Two vans carrying schoolchildren were destroyed, one carrying kindergardeners, the other carrying middle-school girls. Dead children, burned beyond recognition, were taken to hospital morgues.

Quote[/b] ]

Casualty figures were hard to determine amid the chaos. Al-Sumeidi said more than 60 people were killed and 100 wounded, but Basra Gov. Wael Abdul-Latif said the death toll was at least 68, including 16 children and nine policemen, with 200 injured.

sad_o.gif  sad_o.gifsad_o.gif

Update on Fallujah:

Quote[/b] ]

Meanwhile, an agreement aimed at bringing peace to Fallujah, 35 miles west of Baghdad, met troubles only a day after its implementation began. A heavy battle broke out Wednesday morning on the city's north side, where up to 40 insurgents attacked Marine positions, commanders said. Nine insurgents were killed, and three Marines were wounded, a spokesman said.

Quote[/b] ]

As of noon, no guerrillas had turned in any heavy weapons, the most crucial tenet of the agreement in U.S. eyes, said Marine Lt. Col. Brennan Byrne. The U.S. military has warned it may resume its assault on Fallujah if the agreement falls through

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
Sign in to follow this  

×