The Common Ills: 'Improved' Iraq: Civilians killed in air strikes, assassination attempt on a military base

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

'Improved' Iraq: Civilians killed in air strikes, assassination attempt on a military base

Ahmed Rasheed, Saif Sameer, Michael Gregory and Andrew Roche (Reuters) report "suicide bombings and car bombs" have led to 23 deaths in Iraq today. That figure does not include the 2 corpses National Iraqi News Agency reports were dumped "in the Hurriah area, northwest of Baghdad." Nor does it include the dead from a Mosul air strike today. NINA reports Mosul Medical Center "received the bodies of 15 civilians, including six women and four children, [who] were killed in an air strike on the Mithaq area east of Mosul."

Strange, isn't it?

Every day the world has to wade through the garbage of the boasts coming from the US government, the Iraqi government, the British government and the Canadian government about how many strikes they did and how many terrorists they killed.

But when it's factually documented that civilians were killed?

No one wants to step forward.

Come on, big guys, don't be so shy.

15 deaths you can brag about.

Who's going to take credit?

The reality is and has always been, they're dropping bombs from the sky, they don't know how many they're killing and they don't know who these people are.

But these 'meaningless people' killed?

They do have meaning.

Their families and their friends know when they're killed and the western press can look the other way all it wants, the reality is that this breeds anger, resentment and, yes, violence.

It's not a 'smart' plan.

But Barack has no plan.

Supposedly, in the new year, early spring, a new 'plan' will be implemented.

Apparently, until then the same accomplish nothing actions will continue.

Iraq's Speaker of Parliament is Saleem al-Jobouri. He's been visiting Anbar Province to examine conditions there. All Iraq News reports his bodyguards stopped an "assassination attempt in Ain al-Assad Military Base."

News of the assassination attempt on an Iraqi military base comes two days after the US government announced that F-16 training for Iraqis would no longer take place in Iraq but instead in Arizona. Gareth Jennings (Jane's Defence Weekly) explains, "Iraq has ordered 36 F-16C/D Block 52 aircraft in all, the first of which were due to be delivered to Balad Airbase earlier this year. However, the deteriorating security situation on the ground meant that the DoD had to evacuate its contractors at the base, and postpone handing over the jets."

The following community sites -- plus Susan's On the Edge, Jody Watley, The Diane Rehm Show, The Pacifica Evening News and Antiwar.com -- updated: