Saturday, February 09, 2008

Deaths and realities

Today the US military announced: "A Multi-National Division - North Soldier was killed as a result of injuries sustained from an explosion near the Soldier’s vehicle while conducting operations in At Tamim Province Feb. 8." And they announced: "Four Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldiers were killed when their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device while the Soldiers were conducting a combat patrol northwest of Baghdad Feb. 8" (both announcements carry a February 9th date). Between M-NF announcements and DoD naming the dead (often the dead never announced by M-NF), on the 9th day of the month the number of US service members killed in Iraq currently stands at 14. 3958 is ICCC's total since the start of the illegal war which is 42 away from the 4,000 mark.

In addition to questions of whether or not Moqtada al-Sadr's truce will be renewed, there's also Steve Lannen's "America's Sunni allies go on strike in Iraq's Diyala province" (McClatchy Newspapers):

Members of U.S.-allied citizen brigades, which are credited with helping to tamp down violence in many parts of Iraq, went on strike Friday in Diyala province, alleging that the provincial police chief there is running a death squad.
A leader of the group said that brigade members, most of them Sunni Muslims, wouldn't resume working with U.S. and Iraqi government forces until the Shiite police chief resigns or is indicted.
A curfew was imposed, and police throughout the province ended their patrols early to avoid clashes with the U.S.-funded concerned local citizens, or "popular committees" as they're known in Diyala, who staged demonstrations against the police chief. No casualties were reported.
The strike highlights the tenuous relationship between U.S.-allied Sunni-dominated citizen militias and the Shiite-dominated, U.S.-backed Iraqi security forces.

This is rewritten in parts. Wally and Cedric were having problems with their joint-post and wanted to wait. (It should be up now.) So Mike held this (rightly). Since I'm now back home, I'm redoing parts of this entry that was finished about fourteen hours ago (redoing it before it ever posted).

One thing that we can include now that wasn't available at 4:00 EST this morning is some of today's violence . . .

Bombings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad roadside bombing left two "police commandos" wounded, another Baghdad roadside bombing (possibly targeting "the bridge of Beirut intersection") left one person wounded and another Baghdad roadside bombing left two Iraqis wounded. Reuters notes a Mosul car bombing that wounded four people.

Shootings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 10 people shot dead in Diayla Province (following the strike noted earlier), an armed clash in Sulaimaniyah left 1 security guard dead and the Iraqi SWAT team killed Abu Omar al-Douri in a home invasion in Salahuddin.

Kidnappings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports Sheikh Mamdan Abdu Al-Samad Abdu Allah was kidnapped in Basra yesterday. Yesterday's snapshot noted 4 Christian missionaries with the Church of Norway were kidnapped, clarifies they weren't kidnapped, they were arrested. They have now been released. No explanation is given why they were arrested in Basra.

Corpses?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 4 corpses discovered in Baghdadd, 10 in Diyala Province and 5 outside of Kirkuk.

In Saturday's New York Times, only one article is about Iraq, Solomon Moore's "At Court-Martial, G.I. Sniper Tells of Ordering the Killing of an Unarmed Iraqi" which details what's come out during the court martial of Evan Vela. These include the admission that weapons are carried to plant on Iraqis who are killed -- as Michael A. Hensley testified, "It wasn't uncommon for us to have stuff like that out there" and it was carried around for "insurance." You learn that Mustafa Ghanni Nesir al-Janabi testified at the court-martial -- he's the son of Genei Nesir Khudair al-Janabi who was executed by the US military (while his hands were bound) and then a weapon (AK-47) was planted on the corpse and he was dubbed an 'insurgent.' The article maintains that that "fake explosives or other weaponary" was often left out in the open by the kill teams "to draw insurgents into the open, where American soldiers could kill them." The reality it's not just weapons that are being left laying around in order to shoot Iraqis for touching US property and had anyone bothered to tell the story of James Burmeister that would be public fact. (Christian Hill did in this country. He is the only reporter in this country to tell what Burmeister saw as part of the kill teams. No one else and certainly not Little Media.)

The following community sites have updated since yesterday morning:

Rebecca's Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude;
Cedric's Cedric's Big Mix;
Kat's Kat's Korner;
Betty's Thomas Friedman is a Great Man;
Mike's Mikey Likes It!;
Elaine's Like Maria Said Paz;
Wally's The Daily Jot;
Trina's Trina's Kitchen;
Ruth's Ruth's Report;
and Marcia's SICKOFITRADLZ

The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.














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