bn880 5 Posted April 24, 2004 [mg]http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,348692,00.jpg[/img]Anyone had a look into this book yet? Albert, what is the problem with your CIA? I can't exactly follow why it changes so quickly and why it is 2 boxes too low today. You know threat levels don't change with your mood. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Balschoiw 0 Posted April 24, 2004 Weekend time: Dozens of Iraqis Killed by Rockets, Bomb Quote[/b] ]Volleys of rockets struck the capital's crowded Shiite Muslim neighborhood of Sadr City on Saturday, hitting a busy market, smashing into a home and killing at least seven Iraqis. Outside Baghdad, insurgents rocketed a U.S. military base, killing five soldiers. Besides the deaths in the Sadr City rocket strikes, at least 26 Iraqis were reported killed in a bombing at Tikrit, clashes between Polish troops and Shiite militiamen in Karbala, U.S. raids overnight in Sadr City, and a roadside bombing south of Baghdad. Five American solders were killed around dawn when two rockets fired from a truck hit the U.S. base at Taji, 12 miles north of Baghdad, Air Force Lt. Col. Sam Hudspath said. U.S. helicopter gunships then destroyed the truck, the military said. Six soldiers were wounded in the attack, three of them critically, the military said. The deaths, along with the combat death of a Marine announced Saturday, brought to 107 the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq (news - web sites) since the beginning of April. Since the U.S.-led invasion last year, 715 American military personnel have died in Iraq. The pre-dawn fighting in Sadr City, in eastern Baghdad, came when U.S. troops sought to capture suspected Shiite militiamen, sparking a battle that the military said killed one or two Iraqis. During the fighting, three Iraqi girls were badly burned when a shell exploded in their bedroom where they slept. Hours later, a volley of three rockets was fired into Sadr City, a slum of more than 1 million people. One hit the neighborhood's crowded souk, known as Chicken Market, where hundreds had gathered for morning shopping. Human flesh could be seen among scattered merchandise and burned cars. At least six Iraqis were killed and 38 wounded, said Yassin Abdel-Qader, a doctor with the area's Health Directorate. A few hours later, a rocket struck a two-story house in Sadr City, smashing through the roof and down to the ground floor, killing a woman as she took an afternoon nap and wounding her daughter. At least two more rockets exploded later on a main street on the edge of Sadr City, breaking windows but causing no casualties. It was not immediately known who was behind the rocket assault on the predominantly Shiite district, which is a stronghold of the al-Mahdi Army militia of anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The neighborhood is named for al-Sadr's father, a cleric who was murdered by Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s agents. U.S. commanders have blamed Sunni Muslim insurgents for military-style rocket attacks on U.S. bases in the past. But people in the neighborhood blamed the Americans for Saturday's rocket barrages, which came after the overnight clash. After the rocket strike, residents chanted: "Long live al-Sadr! America and the Governing Council are infidels!" In other violence Saturday: _A roadside bomb exploded near a bus in Haswa, 30 miles south of Baghdad on Saturday, killing 13 Iraqis, including at least one child, and wounding 17 people, a hospital official said. The bomb was planted in the ground and went off as a bus carrying 21 people was passing, said police officer Ali Mahmoud. _Polish troops clashed overnight with Shiite militiamen in the city of Karbala, killing five, a spokesman for the multinational peacekeeping force in south-central Iraq said. A day earlier, an attack on Bulgarian troops in the city killed one soldier. _A roadside bomb destroyed a car carrying Iraqis near a U.S. base on a downtown street in the northern city of Tikrit, the hometown of Saddam and a center for anti-U.S. resistance. Four Iraqis — two policemen and two civilians — were killed and 16 people were wounded, the U.S. military said. _An Iraqi woman working as a translator for the U.S. military and her husband were fatally shot as they drove to a U.S. base, a hospital official said. _ In Haswa, 30 miles south of Baghdad, a roadside bomb struck a U.S. military convoy, setting off shooting that caused civilian casualties, witnesses said. U.S. helicopters were seen taking American casualties away, the witnesses said. There was no immediate comment from the military. _Gunmen attacked a U.S. convoy near the city of Kut, and an armored vehicle was reported burned. Witnesses also said they saw American casualties. The Pentagon (news - web sites) announced Friday that 595 U.S. soldiers have been wounded in the past two weeks, raising the total number of wounded in combat to 3,864 since the start of the conflict. Also on Friday, the United Nations (news - web sites)' envoy said the 25 members of Iraq's U.S.-picked Governing Council should be excluded from a planned caretaker government that is supposed to take nominal sovereignty from the U.S.-led occupation on June 30. While a group of "technocrats" runs the interim government, the council members should spend the next nine months campaigning for elections due by the end of January, said the envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi. Washington has thrown its backing behind Brahimi's proposal, suggesting the United States is prepared to allow the removal of Iraqis it had put forward to run the country. and Boat Attacks Iraq's Main Oil Terminal -UK Military Quote[/b] ]BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - At least one boat attacked Iraq (news - web sites)'s main oil terminal offshore in the Gulf on Saturday, a British military spokesman said. Asked about an unconfirmed report that two boats exploded at the Basra terminal in suicide attacks, Major Ian Clooey told Reuters: "We are just getting reports that there has been an incident at the Basra offshore terminal. There are no firm details yet but we know of at least one vessel involved." Iraq is almost completely dependent on the Basra terminal to export around 1.9 million barrels per day, providing badly needed state funding. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Albert Schweitzer 10 Posted April 24, 2004 [mg]http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,348692,00.jpg[/img]Anyone had a look into this book yet? Albert, what is the problem with your CIA? Â I can't exactly follow why it changes so quickly and why it is 2 boxes too low today. Â You know threat levels don't change with your mood. Â Yours is constantly fixed to level three, you are just lazy! Okay level one might not be okay today. But yesterday it definetly was. Since only one person got killed in combat. Today, well I have to have a look at Iraq coalition casualties. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
denoir 0 Posted April 24, 2004 Today, well I have to have a look at Iraq coalition casualties. Today's count was <s>7 US soldiers</s> Â 9 US soldiers and about 40 Iraqi civilians. Just another working day in Iraq Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quicksand 0 Posted April 25, 2004 Quote[/b] ]BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Four schoolchildren were killed by gunfire in Baghdad on Sunday, shortly after a roadside bomb ripped through a U.S. military vehicle, witnesses said. Some witnesses said the children, all aged around 12, were shot dead by U.S. troops who had opened fire randomly after the blast on Canal Street in eastern Baghdad. This could not be independently confirmed and the U.S. military had no immediate word on the incident. "I saw a child lying on the street with a bullet hole in his neck and another in his side," said a driver who witnessed the incident. "He had his schoolbag on his back. Some 15 minutes later his relatives came and took his body away." The targeted Humvee was part of a military convoy driving through the street. Two soldiers in the Humvee were evacuated from the scene by military medics, they said. REUTERS 4 more insurgents killed,right? I`ve heared of tens of reports of US soldiers shooting indiscriminatly and killing civillians after roadside bombs explode from Iraqi witnesses and from journallists own words. Shouldn`t there be a serious investigation on the soldiers who killed the civillians?I guess that`s just wishful thinking,after reading the AFP report where the Marine was telling how he asked his partner to step aside and let him shoot the unarmed Iraqi I shouldn`t be surprised at anything. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Balschoiw 0 Posted April 25, 2004 Congress: Iraq fight preventable Quote[/b] ]The Bush administration’s repeated failure to consult with Congress and answer questions about prewar planning for Iraq may have contributed to some of the serious missteps that have plagued the yearlong occupation, critics charge. The administration admits no errors and contends it has repeatedly given Congress what it has sought. But after days of complaints on Capitol Hill this past week that the administration was repeating the same mistakes as it approaches a crucial turning point in Iraq, administration officials appeared to be more forthcoming. At a hearing near the end of the week, they provided far more insight into plans for the June 30 transfer of power to an interim Iraqi government. “I assume they are getting the message,†said Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., who has thumped the administration repeatedly over its lack of cooperation. But Biden, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a supporter of the war in Iraq, and other lawmakers warned there are multiple concerns about the administration’s approach to Iraq and to congressional oversight. Sen. Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I., said at Thursday’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing the war could be lost because the administration lives in “a culture of denial†that simply ignores inconvenient facts. While the condemnation from Chafee was especially strong, it echoes complaints from members of both parties about the White House’s Iraq campaign from the very beginning. Critics describe a pattern of poor planning, unnecessary secrecy, insulated thinking, self-deception and even arrogance. And opportunities to correct some of those flaws, they say, were lost because attempts by Congress to assert its constitutional role of oversight were seen as interference — not a way to guard against costly errors. ... Democrats would argue that Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz put that attitude on full display Tuesday when Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., asked for a copy of a critical, internal Pentagon report examining the state of Iraqi security forces — a defining issue in the transfer of power. “I can assure you I will do my best to see if it is appropriate to release it,†Wolfowitz said. Reed exploded. “We are constitutionally required to supervise the activities of the Department of Defense. We have just as much of a right to get this information as you do, and you seem to be saying we don’t,†Reed said. So following the "either with us or against us" plan congress members are now not with the TBA anymore. Suicide bombers target vital oil link I already posted something about the attack on the Basra terminal. Here are some more details: Quote[/b] ]SUICIDE bombers last night used boats in a new bid to bring further chaos to the British-controlled south of Iraq. Three attempts were made to destroy tankers near Basra’s offshore oil terminal by exploding boats packed with explosives. The terminal was last night closed as police and troops investigated the attacks but early reports suggested there were no casualties and little serious damage. The technique will, however, cause widespread concern to British troops as it represents a disturbing new tactic and follows last week’s devastating suicide attacks in the city, which claimed 74 lives. British military spokesman Major Ian Clooey said one boat had been tied up alongside a ship at the terminal when it exploded. A second boat was intercepted by a US-led coalition warship as it approached an exclusion zone around the terminal. A team was sent to investigate but the boat exploded before it could be examined. The other boat was detonated alongside two oil tankers near the Abbott oil facility south of Iraq’s main port, Umm Qasr. "All workers were evacuated. We are concerned about the possibility of more attacks," an official stationed in the Faw Peninsula said. Iraq is almost completely dependent on the terminal to export around 1.9 million barrels of oil per day, providing badly needed state funding. Iraqis investigate Halliburton over allegations of bribery Quote[/b] ]Iraq's Governing Council is investigating fraud claims against Halliburton, the US construction giant which has won the lion's share of contracts to rebuild the bombed-out country.The probe centres on allegations that staff working for the Houston-based company took bribes for awarding sub-contracts in Iraq. In January the company, which was run by US Vice-President Dick Cheney between 1995 and 2000, sacked two employees over the allegations and reported the incident to the Pentagon. In an exclusive interview with The Independent on Sunday, Iraq's minister of public works, Nasreen Berwari, said: "Members of the Iraqi Governing Council are posing questions. I am worried about any companies having such allegations. I am yet to hear what is the real story. I always look for the real story." Asked whether the US-appointed Governing Council would press for Halliburton to be stripped of some of its contracts if it uncovered wrongdoing, Dr Berwari said: "We would take that very seriously and we will pursue that." The Pentagon has launched a separate criminal investigation into claims that Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root overcharged for transporting fuel into Iraq from Kuwait. Halliburton and Kellogg Brown & Root have emerged as the biggest winners in the aftermath of the war. Together they have netted $9bn (Å5bn) worth of Iraqi reconstruction contracts. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bn880 5 Posted April 25, 2004 [mg]http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,348692,00.jpg[/img]Anyone had a look into this book yet? Albert, what is the problem with your CIA? I can't exactly follow why it changes so quickly and why it is 2 boxes too low today. You know threat levels don't change with your mood. Yours is constantly fixed to level three, you are just lazy! Okay level one might not be okay today. But yesterday it definetly was. Since only one person got killed in combat. Today, well I have to have a look at Iraq coalition casualties. No man, not lazy, busy but I think the level is definately 3. Threat alerts are there to Warn or Predict the seriousness of upcoming events, not to shift _after_ attacks have taken place. diss Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Albert Schweitzer 10 Posted April 25, 2004 See, yours still hasnt changed. You cant run always on full alert just because you are afraid of not having been cautious enough. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billybob2002 0 Posted April 25, 2004 Quote[/b] ]4 more insurgents killed,right? I`ve heared of tens of reports of US soldiers shooting indiscriminatly and killing civillians after roadside bombs explode from Iraqi witnesses and from journallists own words. Shouldn`t there be a serious investigation on the soldiers who killed the civillians?I guess that`s just wishful thinking,after reading the AFP report where the Marine was telling how he asked his partner to step aside and let him shoot the unarmed Iraqi I shouldn`t be surprised at anything. Update on that: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm....tack_dc Quote[/b] ]He said an investigation into the incident was under way, but "we strongly suspect the shooting from the rooftops was responsible for any casualties." Quote[/b] ]Kimmit told a news conference schoolchildren were rifling through the Humvee when the soldiers returned and shooed them away. Quote[/b] ]The children had left their nearby school to look at the Humvee and they and some passersby were "celebrating" the attack near the vehicle when the deadly shots were fired. Quote[/b] ]Witnesses said four schoolchildren, all around 12, were killed in the gunfire, which they blamed on the U.S. soldiers, but officials at a nearby hospital said they had received only the bodies of a man and a teen-ager. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billybob2002 0 Posted April 25, 2004 http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1504&ncid=1504&e=1&u=/afp/20040425/ts_afp/iraq_worldwrap_040425160012 Update on Basra boat bombings: Quote[/b] ]Three US sailors were killed in the operation to stop three speed boats laden with explosives from wreaking widespread damage at Iraq's key oil terminal in the southern city of Basra. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Balschoiw 0 Posted April 25, 2004 Does anyone know what kind of protection those installations like oil rigs or ports have ? Wich naval units guard them ? And how many of them are there ? Actions like this could do a seriouse harm to the vital oil role in this. Naval movements can be monitored pretty easy if you set up ban zones wich I assume has been done in Iraq. So will this be a thing we will see more often from now on ? With terrible effectson the environment and the Iraqi money ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
denoir 0 Posted April 25, 2004 Najaf, watch out for Najaf. Troops massing. Al Sadr in the centre with well-armed militia. The most holy Shiia city in Iraq. And when I say "holy", I'm not joking - it's apparently very important to them. Do the Fallujah mosque bomb dropping routine here and you can count on a country-wide Shiite uprising. Al-Sadr has truly managed to get him some great PR, thanks to Bremer and his merry men. Before he used to be an insignificant radical with few supporters. Now he has thanks to clumsy politics from the occupation regime made a name for himself. If he takes his final stand in Najaf, it may very well result in a country wise uprising. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billybob2002 0 Posted April 25, 2004 Quote[/b] ]Do the Fallujah mosque bomb dropping routine here and you can count on a country-wide Shiite uprising. You mean the wall bombing? Anyway, Najaf is touchy. Sadr and his militia should meet the troops in a open battlefield.... http://news.yahoo.com/news?tm...._dc_336 Quote[/b] ]"A dangerous situation is developing in Najaf, where weapons are being stockpiled in mosques, shrines and schools," Dan Senor, spokesman for the U.S.-led administration in Iraq, told a news conference." Some brave fighters................. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theavonlady 2 Posted April 25, 2004 Actions like this could do a seriouse harm to the vital oil role in this. Naval movements can be monitored pretty easy if you set up ban zones wich I assume has been done in Iraq. So will this be a thing we will see more often from now on ? With terrible effectson the environment and the Iraqi money ? A bit of information: Quote[/b] ]Raid disrupts Iraqi oil exportsAttacks on oil supplies have plagued Iraq's reconstruction Iraq's main oil export terminal is still shut after being targeted in a suicide boat attack on Saturday, the Iraqi oil minister has said. Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulloum said the al-Basra terminal had suffered a power cut and would not resume operations until Monday at the earliest. He said a smaller terminal, Khor al-Amaya, had reopened on Sunday. Exports stopped after three boats blew up near the terminals, but no major structural damage was reported. The disruption at al-Basra means a loss of nearly one million barrels a day in exports. Earlier, Iraq's oil marketing chief Shamkhi Faraj said two tankers were loading at al-Basra and another at Khor al-Amaya. Economic lifeline The vital terminals jointly export 1.6 million barrels daily. "The order was issued earlier today to resume pumping and loading is normal," said Mr Faraj, head of the State Oil Marketing Organisation. But he said there would have to be "more safeguards and more patrolling" after the boat attacks. The two terminals lie about 160km (100 miles) from the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr, which remained open after the attack. Two American sailors were killed and five were injured when they tried to board one of the intercepted boats. A third US sailor died of his wounds on Sunday. It was the first maritime attack on Iraqi oil installations since the March 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, but onshore oil pipelines have been targeted repeatedly by saboteurs. One official described the vessels as "suicide speedboats". The US military says a team of investigators will try to establish the launching point of the attacks. An eight-man coalition interception team was approaching one of the boats when it exploded, flipping the coalition boat and killing two crew members, said the US navy's Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet. Five other crew were injured, said a spokeswoman. The blasts came at the end of a grim day of attacks and explosions across Iraq, in which scores of people died. Symbolic target As a target, the Basra terminal had everything, says the BBC's Lucy Williamson. Not only politically important, the oil exported through the southern port of Basra is economically crucial to the country. It is also symbolically linked in the minds of many Iraqis to the reasons behind the invasion, she says. The attack appeared to resemble the October 2000 bombing of the warship USS Cole off Yemen, when 17 US sailors died. In that incident, blamed on al-Qaeda, two suicide bombers rammed a small boat packed with explosives into the side of the ship as it was refuelling. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Balschoiw 0 Posted April 25, 2004 Let´s say he has 2 percent of Iraq´s population behind him like recent investigations showed. That doesn´t mean they would follow him like sheep. They share his opposition but they don´t want to do things that harm their own people. Those are different ones than Sadr´s men. I don´t believe in a countrywide spread of hatred because of Sadr. He´s just not "heavy weight" enough for this. What makes the deal is his hiding place. It´s a really holy town. If there´s gonna be another Falluja with mass-punishment actions the US will have ALL against them. Every single Iraqi believer or from Iran or anywhere will go mad. But that´s the route US is already on. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
miles teg 1 Posted April 25, 2004 You mean the wall bombing? Anyway, Najaf is touchy. Sadr and his militia should meet the troops in a open battlefield....http://news.yahoo.com/news?tm...._dc_336 Quote[/b] ]"A dangerous situation is developing in Najaf, where weapons are being stockpiled in mosques, shrines and schools," Dan Senor, spokesman for the U.S.-led administration in Iraq, told a news conference." Some brave fighters................. Why would Sadr in his men meet US forces in open battle. Â That would be the utmost in stupidity. Â Sadr is fighting extremely intelligently as far as guerilla and political tactics go. Â He has America by the balls and he knows full well that an attack on him is going to trigger a nation-wide revolt by Shi'ites everywhere. Â Keeping weapons in mosques, shrines, and schools makes perfect sense both tactically and politically. What you expect him to store these weapons in areas easy for the US to attack? The US generals keep saying that they will stay away from the center of the city where the holy sites are, but that is where Sadr has many of his men holed up from what I understand. Â If not then perhaps Bremer has come to some kind of secret agreements with Al-Sistani and other Shi'ite clerics who will keep Sadr's men out of the most sacred areas of the city. Â Even so, it'll be a big gamble and I'm not sure if Sistani or other Shi'ite clerics will be able to hold back the tide of Shi'ite anger towards the US forces if we attack Sadr. Â It's a huge gamble Bremer is taking and for one hope that he is not doing this without consulting with all of the Shi'ite clerics and political leaders and making agreements with them as well as coordinating things with them. Â After consulting with friends of mine in Iran, they mostly agree that Sadr needs to be taken care of by the US if the US is going to have any success in Iraq... and its pretty obvious that Sadr is highly unstable from the wildly shifting comments he makes each day. Â I also hope that Bremer is consulting with Iran on this issue as well as they have a lot of influence in the area. Â But perhaps not because of that idiotic "axis of evil" speech Bush made. Â So who knows whats going on behind the scenes. Â Only history will tell whether Bremer was an incredibly saavy diplomat or a bumbling idiot beauracrat without a clue. Â Chris G. aka-Miles Teg<GD> Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billybob2002 0 Posted April 25, 2004 Quote[/b] ]Why would Sadr in his men meet US forces in open battle. That would be the utmost in stupidity. That's why I put..... Quote[/b] ]I also hope that Bremer is consulting with Iran on this issue as well as they have a lot of influence in the area. Â But perhaps not because of that idiotic "axis of evil" speech Bush made. I heard (don't know if true) that Iran has their own agenda for Iraq that does not follow Bremer and co. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Balschoiw 0 Posted April 25, 2004 Thx Avon. So those installations will be a big target for the time to come. How are they defended. I´ver never seen how those rigs are defended properly. Any info on that ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Balschoiw 0 Posted April 25, 2004 Quote[/b] ]I heard (don't know if true) that Iran has their own agenda for Iraq that does not follow Bremer and co. That must be the reason why an iranian delegation is moderating in the conflict since 2 weeks already. They were not asked by the US , they were asked by Iraqi Interim government. It´s a good thing for now. Not for later, just for now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theavonlady 2 Posted April 25, 2004 I heard (don't know if true) that Iran has their own agenda for Iraq that does not follow Bremer and co. Quote[/b] ]Iraq The ModelThursday, April 15, 2004 :: I've been visiting the BBC Arabic site in the last few days and I found a forum where people from many Arab countries –including Iraq- post their opinions about some hot topics, the main of those is Iraq and terrorism of course. I wasn't surprised to see that most Arabs (especially from Egypt, Palestine, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Syria) are forming one side of the debates while Iraqis and people from the rest of the gulf countries are taking the other side. But I was surprised when I found that the almost all the Iraqis who took part in the debates are on our side, maybe 95% of Iraqis expressed their rejection to the violent behavior of some Iraqis and condemned the terrorists attacks on both Iraqis and the coalition saying that the Arab world must stop supporting the terrorists and the thugs from inside Iraq. It's also surprising that many of those Iraqis live in areas that are recognized to have a public anti American attitude in general like A'adhamiya, Diyala and Najaf. I feel that those people are still afraid to voice their points of view in public in such hostile atmospheres but the internet is providing them freedom and safety to say whatever they believe in. Here, I translated three of the posts made by Iraqis and for those who can read Arabic or have a way to translate web pages, here's the link. "What's happening in Fallujah and Baghdad now is the doings of the enemies of Iraq and his people and I mean our "brother Muslims and Arabs" who fear that the fire might reach their kingdoms and let Iraqis go to hell. Iran is supporting Muqtada while our Arab brothers are sending us human bombs to kill our children and all this is in the name of Islam and Arab nationality and the satellite channels are tearing apart and distorting the reputation of every honest Iraqi patriot saying that he's a dirty American agent, so for god sake, enough of what you're doing to Iraq and Iraqis. We did nothing to harm you, so what is this all about?". Zahawi-baghdad "To put things clear, we should know who is supporting Sadr, they're a bunch of lost men who spent their lives serving in Saddam's army and he found no one else to support him. The solid truth is that those thugs need to be taught a lesson and this may be in various ways. Iraq must be saved from those men in any possible way". Abdul Hussein – Hilla "The martial show for the Mahdi army that Muqtada made is tearing apart the national unity and therefore Iraq needs the liberating forces to remain to prevent the country which was the origin of civilization from being ruled by fanatics who can see no far than their chins". Saad Yaseen-Diyala. - posted by Omar @ 20:45 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
denoir 0 Posted April 25, 2004 I heard (don't know if true) that Iran has their own agenda for Iraq that does not follow Bremer and co. They do indeed have an agenda of their own but that does not decrease their influence. Iran is a key factor in controlling the Shiites. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
miles teg 1 Posted April 26, 2004 That's a good article AL. Â But I can tell you what most anti-American/Jewish Arabs will say seeing that. Â They will say that the "Iraqi's" posting on the web page are CIA agents or Arabs paid by the CIA to post such things. Â I don't believe that, but you can bet money that many Arabs will believe it was written by the CIA or Israeli agents. Â The rule of thumb in a debate is that when you can't explain something terrible, shocking, stupid, or unjust that happens, you just blame it on Israel or America. Â Â What I thought was funny about the articles was that it mentions that Sadr calls his army the "Mahdi Army". I can assume that he thinks he is the "Mahdi" who is supposed to be the savior of Islam who will unite all Muslims. If so then the Mahdi is pretty disappointing. Maybe he's counting on Jesus to come and bail him out. Chris G. aka-Miles Teg<GD> Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theavonlady 2 Posted April 26, 2004 That's a good article AL. Â But I can tell you what most anti-American/Jewish Arabs will say seeing that. Â They will say that the "Iraqi's" posting on the web page are CIA agents or Arabs paid by the CIA to post such things. No fooling! Quote[/b] ]Leading Egyptian Journalist: The Jews are Behind Every Disaster or Terrorist ActIn an article in the Egyptian government daily Al-Gumhouriyya titled 'The Secret Israeli Weapon,' deputy editor Abd Al-Wahhab 'Adas accused the Jews of perpetrating all terrorism throughout the world, including the Madrid bombings. The following are excerpts from the article:(1) 'The Zionist Jews are Behind All the Violent and Terror Operations that have Occurred Everywhere In the World' "If you want to know the real perpetrator of every disaster or every act of terrorism, look for the Zionist Jews. They are behind all the violent and terror operations that have occurred everywhere in the world. [They do this] first of all in order to slap [the label of the attacks] on the Arabs and Muslims, and second to harm them, distort their image, and represent them to the world as terrorists who endanger innocents. What is even more dangerous is that after every terror operation they perpetrate, they leave a sign, clue, or traces meant to show that the perpetrators are Arab Muslims. More old fashioned blood libels in the above link. For those of you truly concerned, don't worry. Avon's family ate only blood-free matzas this past Passover holiday. Quote[/b] ]What I thought was funny about the articles was that it mentions that Sadr calls his army the "Mahdi Army". It seems that he's not the only one using the term: Quote[/b] ]Editor of Kuwaiti Dailies Ahmad Al-Jarallah's Recent Editorials on the Middle East....... In an April 15, 2004 article, Ahmad Al-Jarallah took to task Kuwaiti Muslim extremists, and called on the government to aggressively oppose them: "We should not be deceived by radicals who are planning to mold Kuwaiti society according to their beliefs. The Salaf movement of Kuwait - whose members think they constitute the majority in Kuwait - has recently expressed its support for Muqtada Al-Sadr and his so-called 'Al-Mahdi Army' in Najaf, Karbala, and Nassiriya. ........ Both article quotes above are just partial snippets. In the meantime, the Coalition Forces blink again: Quote[/b] ]U.S. Extends Fallujah Cease-Fire 2 DaysAP - 1 hour, 8 minutes ago The U.S. military extended a cease-fire for Fallujah on Sunday for at least two more days, backing down from warnings of an all-out Marine assault and announcing that American and Iraqi forces would begin joint patrols in the city. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quicksand 0 Posted April 26, 2004 Quote[/b] ]That's a good article AL. But I can tell you what most anti-American/Jewish Arabs will say seeing that. They will say that the "Iraqi's" posting on the web page are CIA agents or Arabs paid by the CIA to post such things. I don't believe that, but you can bet money that many Arabs will believe it was written by the CIA or Israeli agents. No shit,what the hell could they belive after the Iraqis on that site are calling the US army "liberation force".That after two wars,thousands of civillians killed,and not even geting to the current situation after all the promises they made,and the 1991 Shia rebellion when the Americans let Saddam sloughter them one by one after they promissed to help. I wonder who is more far-fecthed arabs calling this articles fake or people who actually belive Iraqis would call US army "liberation force" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Balschoiw 0 Posted April 26, 2004 Hey Avon, looks like Brahimi is behind the shift in US policies on Falluja: Quote[/b] ]Brahimi warns US against use of force in FallujahWASHINGTON: The United Nations envoy, who is helping draft an Iraqi interim government, urged President George W Bush’s administration on Sunday to "tread carefully" in besieged Fallujah and avoid alienating an already angry populace. As for Najaf that also is under near siege by US forces, Lakhdar Brahimi warned of a disaster if American soldiers enter the city to hunt down a radical cleric. "This is a city with a lot of history. It is charged with a huge, huge quantity, if I might, if that’s the word for it, of history," Brahimi said on ABC’s "This Week." "Sending the tanks hauling into a place like this is not the right thing to do, and I think the Americans know that extremely well now," he said. Brahimi, in an interview taped on Friday in Paris, said as a diplomat, he considers military force the wrong answer for any problem. That’s especially the case with Fallujah and Najaf, he said. Bush consulted in a conference call on Saturday with senior national security and military advisers about the city, a senior defence official said. Brahimi said he wanted to add his voice "to that of a lot of other people in pleading for (US forces) to tread carefully" when it comes to Fallujah. Before leaving Iraq, he described the siege as unacceptable collective punishment of Fallujah’s people for the misdeeds of a few. Brahimi said: "When you surround a city, you bomb the city, when people cannot go to hospital, what name do you have for that? And you, if you have enemies there, this is exactly what they want you to do, to alienate more people so that more people support them rather than you. In this situation, there is no military solution. There is never any military solution to any problem. Even when you have total victory, you’ve got to end up talking to people," said Brahimi. Brahimi warns US against use of force in Fallujah Share this post Link to post Share on other sites