Under the cover of a thick sandstorm Sunday, suspected Shiite militiamen unleashed a barrage of rocket or mortar fire at Baghdad's fortified Green Zone and attacked U.S. and Iraqi soldiers.
The U.S. military said this morning that its forces had killed at least 38 gunmen in a series of clashes since Sunday, some of the fiercest fighting in days in Shiite-dominated parts of the capital.
They included 22 fighters killed with tank and gun fire, when a large group swarmed a checkpoint manned by U.S. and Iraqi soldiers Sunday, the military said in a statement. At least one other checkpoint, a combat outpost and several patrols were also attacked with small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades, the military said.
Hospital officials in Sadr City, the vast Shiite district that has been the focus of recent fighting, said they had received 24 dead and more than 100 wounded since 8 a.m. Sunday. The victims included women and children, they said. The hospitals regard all patients as civilians unless they arrive in military uniform, making it impossible to determine how many of the victims may have been fighters.
The U.S. military said this morning that its forces had killed at least 38 gunmen in a series of clashes since Sunday, some of the fiercest fighting in days in Shiite-dominated parts of the capital.
They included 22 fighters killed with tank and gun fire, when a large group swarmed a checkpoint manned by U.S. and Iraqi soldiers Sunday, the military said in a statement. At least one other checkpoint, a combat outpost and several patrols were also attacked with small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades, the military said.
Hospital officials in Sadr City, the vast Shiite district that has been the focus of recent fighting, said they had received 24 dead and more than 100 wounded since 8 a.m. Sunday. The victims included women and children, they said. The hospitals regard all patients as civilians unless they arrive in military uniform, making it impossible to determine how many of the victims may have been fighters.
The above is from Alexandra Zavis' "Mortars rain on Green Zone during Iraq sandstorm" (Los Angeles Times). On the issue of war funding, Zachary Coile (San Francisco Chronicle) reports the following:
House Democratic leaders are putting together the largest Iraq war spending bill yet, a measure that is expected to fund the war through the end of the Bush presidency and for nearly six months into the next president's term.
The bill, which could be unveiled as early as this week, signals that Democrats are resigned to the fact they can't change course in Iraq in the final months of President Bush's term. Instead, the party is pinning its hopes of ending the war on winning the White House in November.
Bay Area lawmakers, who represent perhaps the most anti-war part of the country, acknowledge the bill will anger many voters back home.
"It's going to be a tough sell to convince people in my district that funding the war for six months into the new president's term is the way to end the war," said Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma, a leader of the Out of Iraq Caucus who plans to oppose the funding. "It sounds like we are paying for something we don't want."
As long as we're posting videos, here's one of The CBS Evening News reports from last week on the VA scandal (text can be found here).
House Democratic leaders are putting together the largest Iraq war spending bill yet, a measure that is expected to fund the war through the end of the Bush presidency and for nearly six months into the next president's term.
The bill, which could be unveiled as early as this week, signals that Democrats are resigned to the fact they can't change course in Iraq in the final months of President Bush's term. Instead, the party is pinning its hopes of ending the war on winning the White House in November.
Bay Area lawmakers, who represent perhaps the most anti-war part of the country, acknowledge the bill will anger many voters back home.
"It's going to be a tough sell to convince people in my district that funding the war for six months into the new president's term is the way to end the war," said Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma, a leader of the Out of Iraq Caucus who plans to oppose the funding. "It sounds like we are paying for something we don't want."
As long as we're posting videos, here's one of The CBS Evening News reports from last week on the VA scandal (text can be found here).
And Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Working Class Barack" went up yesterday.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
alexandra zavis
the los angeles times
the cbs evening news
zachary coile
the san francisco chronicle
