The Iraq thread 4

[Balschoiw 0]

Quote[/b] ]Are the Iraqi armed forces armed with US army weapons? I thought they were only armed with AKs etc.

Not really.

Quote[/b] ]Weapons contracts for the new Iraq are coming fast and furious. Iraq bought 50,000 handguns in a $19 million contract from the Austrian manufacturer Glock for Model 19 sidearms, and defense leaders have an option to purchase an additional 50,000 handguns.[197] A shipment of 421 UAZ Hunter jeeps was delivered from Russia; armored cars came in from Brazil and Ukraine.[198]

In March, the CPA laid the groundwork for Iraq to purchase C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft, Iroquois helicopters and reconnaissance aircraft from U.S. manufacturers to be delivered Spring 2005.[199] U.S. weapons manufacturers shipped tens of thousands of handguns, assault rifles and machine guns to the Iraqi security services in July and August 2004.[200]

Quote[/b] ]I remember when the left celebrated that the death count in Iraq had passed 2000, arguments were put forth that over 2000 troops had actually not died from fighting. There are many causes of death, a major one being accidents.

And the relevance to the current discussion apart from trying to go for another liberal bashing is ??

[Messiah 2]

britain also supplied a large number of armoured land rovers for the iraqi police

[Ironsight 1]

Quote[/b] ]Troops feared dead in Basra crash

A British helicopter has crashed in Basra, with the Ministry of Defence confirming there are "casualties".

Police in the southern Iraqi city said the aircraft had crashed into a house after being hit by a rocket.

The MoD said there were casualties but could give no further details. Iraqi firefighters told Reuters news agency they had seen four bodies at the scene.

British soldiers deployed in the city sealed off the area as hundreds of Iraqis rushed to see the incident.

"We can confirm that there has been a helicopter crash in Basra," said a British military spokesman in the city.

"British troops are on the scene assisting and emergency services are present," he added.

The MoD said it was too early to know what had caused the crash, but they were investigating all possibilities.

Video footage from Iraqi television showed orange flames and large plumes of black smoke curling into the sky.

British troops were seen running through the streets, firing shots into the air.

The footage also showed hundreds of Iraqis near the scene of the crash waving their arms in the air and throwing stones.

Maj Sebastian Muntz, in Basra, said the crowds had now been cleared from the streets.

Although the scenes in Basra were "horrible", he said the situation for the British troops there had got much better recently.

'Escalating situation'

But defence analysts argued that British soldiers in the area were facing an increasing threat.

Ex-Commander of UK forces in Bosnia, Col Bob Stewart, said there was an "escalating situation" in Basra.

"It seems to be the first missile attack against a British military helicopter. The threat has always been quite severe but it has got worse in recent months."

The BBC's Jim Muir in Iraq said roadside bombs were common in the area but rocket attacks relatively rare.

He said if it was confirmed a missile had hit the helicopter, it would be one of the most serious incidents since British forces deployed in Basra three years ago.

[wildo 0]

Aye just read about that on yahoo

It says that UK troops fired into the crows with baton rounds and downed atleast 3 people one appearing to be dead

Wildo

[Messiah 2]

bbc reports nothing like that... early days yet to comment on what did or didnt happen... curious to know what kind of helicopter it was

[harley 3 1185 0]

Four people have died in the unrest around the crash site, including two children. An AFV and troops were targeted by Iraqis with petrol bombs.

"A disturbing development" says the BBC. Disturbing, but not exactly unprecedented or unexpected.

[Messiah 2]

should be interesting to see how Basra reacts to this... whilst i'd be fairly confident in saying that the british troops reacted in self defence and feared for their safety and the safety of others, past instances show that the iraqi people can be quicker to judge and react (understandably of course) - however the death of two children is regretable in every sense - are there any indications that any of these deaths were caused by british forces, or if they were a result from the mob?

[wildo 0]

Quote[/b] ]As troops in Warrior armoured battle vehicles, some with riot shields, cordoned off the area, youths chanting "Victory to the Mehdi Army" threw rocks and then petrol bombs. Soldiers used foam to douse fires ignited on their vehicles.

British military spokesman, Squadron Leader Al Green, said troops counted about 60 rounds fired in the air from the crowd -- not uncommon in Iraq -- and said no British shot was fired.

A local journalist said he was hit in the leg by a British plastic round and saw troops aim their ordinary rifles. He said he saw at least one man dead. Witnesses said a second man may have died in a car, the windscreen of which was smashed and bloodied.

Several people, including children, were wounded when a mortar round later struck a house nearby, witnesses said.

Thats from yahoo

Seems insurgents mortared the place randomly aswell?

Wildo

[Messiah 2]

interesting, as the bbc states:

Quote[/b] ]

In Baghdad, two children were killed and a woman injured when a mortar landed on their house in the north of the city

perhaps one of them has the information a little muddled up

[Warden 0]

Sky News reported that British troop fired above the crowd and that fire was returned.

Ive heard it was a lynx.

[Messiah 2]

yeah, i had my suspicions it being a lynx, and now the BBC is claiming it was a lynx too

[EiZei 0]

http://www.rferl.org/feature....fd.html

Quote[/b] ]

Afghanistan, Iraq Near Top Of Infant Mortality Table

The study by the U.S.-based independent charity Save the Children says the African nation of Liberia has the world's highest newborn mortality rate, with 65 out of 1,000 babies dying.

The report says Liberia is followed by Afghanistan, where 60 out of every 1,000 babies die.

Behind them come Iraq and Sierra Leone, with 59 of 1,000 newborns dying, and Pakistan, which has a rate of 58 deaths.

Worse.. than africa? Shit.

[deanosbeano 0]

looks like things change quickly depending on the survey, according to wikipedia it aint the case or maybe if we give to liberia cause they been quiet lately they wont do stupid things ?? psyops lol.

global infant mortality rate.

[EiZei 0]

looks like things change quickly depending on the survey, according to wikipedia it aint the case or maybe if we give to liberia cause they been quiet lately they wont do stupid things ?? psyops lol.

global infant mortality rate.

Well, it's from the last not to mention it's the cia world factbook which in my opinion is not as reliable as a lot of people seem to think.

[Balschoiw 0]

Me wonders on which facts the TBA still claims that Iraq is a sucess story...

Right now it looks like the country is falling apart and the influence of US forces on that is 0.

The victims of this are the Iraq people, on a high daily rate:

Sectarian Killings 'Destabilize' Iraq Unity

Quote[/b] ]BAGHDAD — The city morgue here received 1,091 homicide victims in April, most of them the result of sectarian killings that have become "no less dangerous than terrorism," Iraq's president said Wednesday.

"These daily crimes will create an environment of mutual suspicion between the nation's sons and destabilize our national unity," President Jalal Talabani warned in a statement issued by his office. Each victim leaves behind "an orphan, weeping mother, a suffering father or a suffering wife," he said.

Talabani acknowledged that the morgue statistics only accounted for bodies discovered in and around Baghdad and that the total number of civilian deaths was probably far higher.

During the first three months of the year, at least 3,800 civilians were killed in Baghdad, according to statistics compiled by the Los Angeles Times based on information from the morgue and police and hospital officials. That is the highest level of slain civilians since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein more than three years ago.

The majority of the victims in recent months appear to have been Sunni Arabs. Community leaders allege that death squads linked to Shiite militias have been carrying out kidnappings and assassinations in their neighborhoods.

The urgency of Talabani's warning was underscored by continuing violence Tuesday and Wednesday and sectarian tensions that reached into the Iraqi parliament.

The Council of Representatives, which meets in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, has been struggling to reach agreement on appointments to key government ministries, the last stage in forming a unity government that politicians hope will help stabilize the country.

Lawmakers were distracted this week after a fracas sparked by a cellphone ring tone demonstrated simmering tensions between the Sunni and Shiite blocs.

A fight broke out Monday in the lobby of the parliament building after the cellphone of a female Shiite lawmaker began ringing with a Shiite prayer chant. It apparently interrupted a broadcast interview being given by the speaker of the parliament, Mahmoud Mashadani, who is Sunni. A bodyguard he sent to get the phone turned off allegedly attacked the legislator's aide who was holding the phone.

The incident set off two days of recriminations, which culminated Wednesday in an angry exchange between the lawmaker, Ghufran Saidi, and Mashadani, who briefly suspended the parliamentary session, drawing the ire of Shiite lawmakers.

The speaker later revealed that one of his bodyguards had been attacked Tuesday, setting off speculation that it was retaliation for the scuffle a day earlier. But lawmakers played down that theory.

Saidi on Wednesday lashed out at Mashadani and his bodyguards, whose behavior she said "reminded me of the former regime when they were violating the dignity of our houses."

Meanwhile, violence continued across Iraq.

Workers at an electrical plant in Baqubah discovered four bodies inside a parked car Wednesday, Police Lt. Mohammed Hadi said. When police arrived to investigate, the car exploded, killing six electrical workers and a police officer.

Just north of the city, gunmen ambushed and killed an Interior Ministry intelligence officer and his two bodyguards, Hadi said.

In Mosul, two car bombings targeted U.S. military convoys; one Iraqi bystander was killed.

In Ramadi, a center of the Sunni-led insurgency in western Iraq, four off-duty police officers were killed Wednesday. Off-duty officers, who are not allowed to carry weapons, are frequent targets.

In Baghdad, a prominent former Baath Party member was assassinated in Sadr City, a massive Shiite neighborhood under control of Muqtada Sadr's Al Mahdi militia.

In east Baghdad, a bomb targeted an Iraqi police commando convoy, killing one officer.

And in the northeastern neighborhood of Shaab, authorities discovered an unidentified body that had been blindfolded, handcuffed and shot in the head.

Kurdish officials in Sulaymaniya announced Wednesday the escape of five terrorism suspects from a heavily guarded prison complex. The prison is managed by the U.S. military and guarded by Iraqi and U.S. forces.

A Kurdish government spokesman said the escapees were three Iraqis, one Palestinian and a Syrian.

The Susa Castle prison fortress, about 15 miles northwest of Sulaymaniya, is isolated by five security belts. U.S. and Iraqi officials said they were investigating the escape.

I´m wondering how long it will take until the TBA realizes that they have messed up a complete region with their actions. Iraq is lightyears away from a stable country. The downward spiral is getting faster every day and all we hear from Washington are optimistic views.

Kind of ridiculous....if you are not an Iraqui...

[POPKA 0]

This explains alot about this war to me:

Link wars.htm

[herman01 0]

Thats funny, You should post in the Military Humor Thread

[Baphomet 0]

Where did you get those moneys from!?

[IrishGuy 0]

[Balschoiw 0]

Things you can be proud of:

Brass suspected of Iraq cover-up

Quote[/b] ]WASHINGTON -- Two influential legislators who have been briefed on the U.S. military's investigation into the deaths of 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians said Sunday they suspect that senior officers were involved in covering up evidence of war crimes by the Marine unit involved.

Neither lawmaker -- Sen. John Warner, R-Va., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., a former Marine and a leading authority on military issues -- said he had direct evidence of top officers trying to suppress information.

But both said the delay in launching a formal investigation into the incident in the western town of Haditha led them to suspect officers up the chain of command had a role in attempting to keep the incident under wraps. They added that they expected congressional hearings on the killings would focus on the military's reaction to evidence of an atrocity.

The killing of unarmed civilians, including women and children, occurred Nov. 19, but a formal investigation was not launched until reporters from Time magazine handed over video taken by an Iraqi journalist to military authorities in late January. "It goes right up the chain of command," said Murtha. "Who said, 'We're not going to publicize this thing; we're not even going to investigate it'? Until March, there was no serious investigation. There was an investigation right afterward, but then it was stifled."

Saturday, the Los Angeles Times reported that a special unit of Marine intelligence specialists took photographs of the scene shortly after the incident, evidence that was turned over to the military chain of command.

But Time magazine reported Sunday that there is another set of photos taken by the Marines allegedly involved in the incident. The magazine quoted John Sifton, an investigator with Human Rights Watch, as saying one photo taken by a Marine with his cellphone shows Iraqis kneeling before being shot. Sifton did not return a call seeking comment Sunday.

Meanwhile, Sunday in Iraq a tribal chief who challenged Iraq's most feared terrorist and sent fighters to help U.S. troops battle al-Qaida in western Iraq died in a hail of bullets, The Associated Press reported. Shootings and bombings killed nine people and wounded 35 across the country Sunday, and the bodies of 10 more people were found in Baghdad.

Executions Saddam style. Way to go !

[Raproboter 0]

The new My Lai? I hope this will open some peoples eyes. It's about damn time that some members of the US-Gouverment hand in their resignation (Rumsfeld). This war is getting out of control.

[sanctuary 19]

I really pity the iraqi people, on one hand they have an army that get them in "collateral damage" without a second thought, while in the other side there are people that kill them by setting bombs where they live.

...While you read or hear in the media lots of people playing the "apologist" for a side or another.

I wonder if they will be able to live without fearing for their life one day.

[Bernadotte 0]

Quote[/b] ] ...they suspect that senior officers were involved in covering up evidence of war crimes by the Marine unit involved.

Semper Fi!!  

[herman01 0]

The men that usually send us to war do not have any idea of the horrors that are war. The sad part to it all is that we all could be capable of such atrocities when placed in the same situation. War has just been glorified throughout history. Im just as guilty as Hollywood though, I mean this is an BIS furom in which they only make war simulator games which in my defense I mainly just download add ons and play around with them.

by the way Bal they still think that trickle down econmics work even thought there has been no extra tax revenue creating are record setting national debt. If WWIII started from this situation they would still defend their decison. They are just greedy politicians.

[Monkey Lib Front 10]

Executions Saddam style. Way to go !

Yes because this is institutionalized and a daily occurance, i'm not defending it because it's abhorent.