35 Bodies Found Executed in Baghdad, Kut
10 Coalition Troops dead in 2 Days
AP and Reuters report that 33 bodies, most showing signs of torture, were found in the streets of Baghdad on Monday. The victims were likely victims of reprisal killings from the opposite branch of Islam. Another two bodies were found in the southern Shiite city of Kut.
Iraqi security forces said that they killed 14 Sunni Arab guerrillas planning to attack pilgrims to the sacred Shiite city of Karbala.
12 Coalition troops have been announced killed in the past two days. SBS writes:
' Meanwhile at least 10 US and two British troops have died in Iraq in a two-day period, most of them killed in rebel attacks.
The latest deaths brought the US military's losses in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion to 2,651, according to an AFP count based on Pentagon figures.
The British military also said that two of its soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb attack near the main southern city of Basra on Monday, while a third was seriously wounded.
The latest British casualties brought the military's losses in Iraq since the invasion to 117, a military spokesman said. '
Al-Hayat reports [Ar.] that Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, himself a Kurd, defended on Monday the decree issued by Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani forbidding the flying of the Iraqi flag in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Senior Iraqi ministers are planning a trip to Iran. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki may follow them, according to the Iranian press. But al-Sharq al-Awsat says that he denies it.
Meanwhile, in the US, former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami told Barbara Slavin that the US should stay in Iraq until the new (Shiite-dominated) government is stronger.
Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani called Monday on the Iraqi Pilgrimage Board to employ upright criteria in choosing Iraqis to go on pilgrimage. He urged that the major political parties and religious movements not be given quotas.
(Goodies in Iraq tend to be distributed by political party, in a sort of spoils system. Sistani is saying that that is not the right way to choose pilgrims.
Bush's refusal to rethink his Iraq strategy may have an unexpected side effect-- of uniting the Democrats.
I know that it sounds absurd to talk about Democrats uniting. But if W. could unify the Iraqi Sunnis--who are notorious for their feuds and infighting-- he can unify the Democrats.
posted by Juan Cole @ 9/05/2006 12:30:00 AM
|
Facebook
4 Comments:
Since the Iraq situation is so bleak I don't know that I could call your blog enjoyable exactly, but I am grateful that it's here.
And not only is it informative, but it's useful! If I'm feeling sleepy on night shift I just read your latest from the Middle East. Should, for some reason, that not be stimulating (i.e. frightening) enough I just add Sic Semper Tyrannis plus or minus No Quarter. On really slow nights I can finish off with Global Guerrillas,, and, like Macbeth, banish sleep completely.
It must be very difficult for you (and your wife) to witness the destruction of places and peoples with which you are familiar. I am grateful that you continue to share your knowledge.
BUSH THE "UNITER"
(President Bush softly sings.)
I miss Arafat in the Springtime,
I miss Saddam in the fall,
Lebanon‘s a mess, it‘s in splinters,
I had no idea at all.
Our only pal, Saudi’s being squeezed cause of Palestine,
And Hugo’s kissing sheiks, what gall,
Rummy says they fight less in the winter,
I had no idea at all.
Condi says this mess is a great opportunity,
Some laugh, but what constitutes reality, is my call,
Every planetary wide entity hates us, look Mom, I really am a ‘Uniter’,
Bombs Away, bombs away, you’all.
So what is the emerging "unified Mideast policy" of the Dems, as distinct from that of the GOP? Really, how is "phased redeployment" different, in practice, from "stay the course"? Would the Dems curtail funding with or without any signs of stabilization? Don't both parties have the same stance on Israel? Regarding Iran, aren't the Dems happier to be the loyal opposition than to take blame for watching the mullahs get nukes? If Rumsfeld resigns, imagine if Bush nominates a Dem as his replacement. That would be clever revenge. What would the unfortunate soul do?
QUESTION FOR BUSH:
Sir, many people around the globe are confused by your comparison of violent extremists from the Middle East and Fascist Nazis from WWII. Many consider such a comparison hypocritical and deliberately mis-leading, given your own militant, nationalistic, far-right agenda.
Of course, your grandfather, Prescott Bush, was convicted of trading with the Nazis during WWII. Like many wealthy US citizens, Prescott Bush was keen to take advantage of lax post-Depression laws and investment opportunities in Germany as Hitler rose to power.
Indeed, there was a concerted effort by the some of the wealthiest US citizens to ensure that the US did not enter WWII. Many even wanted to enter on the Axis's side, rather than join the Allies. This caused President Roosevelt to warn that "among us today a concentration of private power without equal in history is growing."
Sir, you have stripped US citizens of their civil rights, in defiance of the US Constitution. You have invaded a foreign country on the basis of lies, in defiance of international law. You have overseen the secret rendition, torture and detention without trial of prisoners, in defiance of the Geneva Convention. You have burdened generations of US children with astronomical debts while handing out tax breaks to the richest of the rich.
Is it not true, sir, that you, in fact, are the real Fascist? The real Nazi? The real Terrorist?
Post a Comment
<< Home