Archives for October 2006

62 Dead, Dozens Wounded as Rice Visits; Warner: Iraq going Sideways; Mahdi Army makes Hospitals Bases Senator John Warner says that Iraq is “drifting sideways” and that many communities do not have potable water. He is one of the few American politicians I have heard talking about the lack of services in much of the […]

Insurgent Leader Offers Talks with US Demands Withdrawal Timetable Dr. Ibrahim al-Shammari of the Islamic Army of Iraq offered talks with the US if Congress will set a withdrawal timetable. IAI was at one point allied with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s “Monotheism and Holy War” guerrilla group, but appears itself to be indigenous Iraqis. The USG […]

Top Ten Victory Celebrations by Republicans in Congress The Republicans in Congress appropriated $20 million for a victory celebration for Iraq and Afghanistan, but couldn’t use it in 2006 for obvious reasons. That item started me thinking of other things that the Republican Party could spend $20 million of the taxpayers’ money to celebrate. 10. […]

4 US Troops Killed Najafi: Beware US-Baath Alliance Guerrillas killed four more US troops in Iraq on Wednesday, using small arms fire. This brings the 3-day total since Monday to 13, which is highly unusual. Since Saturday, 21 US troops have been killed. The Guardian reports that Iraq’s education system in large swathes of the […]

23,416 US Casualties in Iraq War 21 GIs killed since Saturday Campaign Against Sadr City Looms Al-Zaman reports that 21 US troops have been killed in Iraq since Saturday, with 8 killed on Monday alone. As of Tuesday, 23,416 US troops have been wounded or killed in the Iraq War. If you really want to […]

Lies and Cover-Ups are not “Being in Denial” Foleygate, Ricegate and Insurgencygate The right wing of the Republican Party has a problem with the truth. The American press corps has an addiction to euphemisms. Bob Woodward called his book “State of Denial.” The press around the book raises the question of whether President George W. […]

2 GIs, 1 British Soldier Killed 113 Bodies Found Debaathification Targets Interior 10 American and British troops were killed or announced dead in Iraq over the weekend, an unusually high number over three days. There is an enormous discrepancy between the casualty figures reported by al-Zaman [The Times of Baghdad] (Ar.) and those of the […]

Sadrists Accuse Sunni Politicians of Ties to Terror 86 Dead in Political Violence The Sadr movement is calling for removal of some Sunni Arab cabinet ministers of the Iraqi Accord Front IAF) after a bodyguard of IAF leader Adnan Dulaimi was implicated in a plot to set off a string of car bombs in Baghdad, […]

Craig Murray on Manufacturing Terror Oil, Lily Pad Bases and Torture The Bush administration has been about “the Greater Middle East” (including Central Asia). It has been about basing rights in those areas. It says it is fighting a “war on terror” that is unlike past wars and may go on for decades. It has […]