FOX NEWS SAYS IRAQI INSURGENTS USING "PREGNANT" GIRLS AS SUICIDE BOMBERS

You know things are heating when the "surge" in Iraq is showing signs of collapsing because FOX NEWS, the propaganda branch of the Bush White House, starts licking their chops at the "news" there is a "terror alert" because the insurgents in Iraq are supposedly using young female suicide bombers who wear fake "belly bomber" gear to make them appear to be pregnant.

John Gibson of FOX NEWS' "The Big Story" was practically ecstatic at the thought female "belly bombers" might move from Iraq to the United States.

FOX NEWS has a long history of cranking up scare tactics when things start going "south" for President Bush and the Republicans.

There have been a series of reports indicating the "surge" in Iraq is imploding. Two bombs went off in Anbar Province on Tuesday. Anabar Province was hailed by the Bush adminsitration, the U.S. military and FOX NEWS as a model for the effectiveness of the "surge."

There has also been an uptick in the deaths of U.S. troops in Iraq. Five U.S. troops were killed outside of Baghdad on Monday, and the total for February is 23 U.S. deaths and 80 wounded.

You can expect to hear about more "terrorist alerts" from the Bush administration and FOX NEWS as the race for POTUS (President of the United States) heats up, and the "surge" in Iraq cools down.

The Bush administration used scare tactics to lead the U.S. into war with Iraq. The original "scare tactic" was Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) and Saddam Hussein was connected to the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in New York City.

Neither, of course, proved to be true so the Bush adminsitration and their mouthpiece FOX NEWS started announcing "terror alerts" as a way of keeping the American public on edge.

When the "surge" showed signs of working, the "terror alerts" disappeared. But now that the "surge" is collapsing (see video below in another thread) and so it was expected the Bush White House and their Ministry of Propaganda, FOX NEWS, would come up with female "belly bombers" in Iraq even though there isn't any independent proof there are female "belly bombers."

Remember, a few weeks ago a U.S. General in Iraq said the insurgents were using young girls with Downs Syndrome as suicide bombers, but when the doctors in Iraq took a closer look at the bodies of the victims it became obvious the U.S. General was a little hasty in his announcement that the suicide bombings were carried out by young females with Downs Syndrome.

You are going to be hearing more and mor about "terror alerts" and you are also going to be hearing more and more about how the insurgents are using Iraqi females wearing fake padding to make them appear to be pregnant, but is a way to hide an explosive belt.

The Bush adminstation and FOX NEWS have honed the art of scaring Americans to a fine science and there is every indication they have started the propaganda again.

Commentary by Bill Corcoran, editor of CORKSPHERE http://corksphere.blogspot.com/ the blog that tells the truth about what is happening in Iraq and not Bush White House and FOX NEWS spin.

SURGE IN IRAQ IS TEMPORARY (VIDEO)

Click on link provided below to see and hear a video interview with Joost Hiltermann.

Joost Hiltermann is the Deputy Program Director, Middle East and North Africa for the International Crisis Group. He writes policy-focused reports on the factors that increase the risk of and drive armed conflict. His specialty is the crisis in Iraq.

J. Hiltermann: Surge may keep Iraq "stable" till US elections but policy leads to more violent civil war

Here is the video of an interview with Joost Hiltermann:

http://therealnews.com/web/index.php?thisdataswitch=0&thisid=961&thisview=item#

IRAQ CAR BOMBS KILL MANY: TWO CBS NEWSMEN KIDNAPPED

Conditions in Iraq continue to spiral out of control.

At least 22 have been killed in two separate car bombings in Anbar Province, the Province that President Bush, General David Petraeus and FOX NEWS claims is a model of how well the "surge" has been working.

Two CBS Newsmen have also been kidnapped from a hotel in the Southern city of Basra, Iraq.

The events on Tuesday underscore again how violence in Iraq is on the upswing and all the boasting about how well the "surge" ia doing was overblown at best and most certainly premature.

Reported by Bill Corcoran, editor of CORKSPHERE, http://corksphere.blogspot.com/, the blog that brings readers the latest from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

IRAQ CAR BOMBS KILL 22 IN ANBAR PROVINCE. TWO CBS NEWSMEN KIDNAPPED

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=326586

Big News Network.com

Attackers have managed to penetrate heavy security in Iraq to leave two car bombs near a group of Sunni tribal leaders belonging to the Awakening Council.22 people were killed at the meeting of the U.S allies, in the western Anbar province, where the so-called Awakening Council movement against al-Qaeda emerged last year.

The blasts were also near the offices of one of Iraq's most powerful Shiite politicians, Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim. But Iraqi authorities said the apparent target was the Sunni tribal heads.

Meanwhile, two journalists working for CBS News have been kidnapped by gunmen from the Palace Sultan Hotel in the southern Iraq city of Basra.Hotel staff say they were forced at gunpoint to leave the hotel by a gang of about 10 gunmen.The men in civilian clothes arrived at the hotel during the day and made inquiries about who was staying there, returning later to take away the journalists.

The Association of Iraqi Journalists has appealed to the kidnappers to release the two men.

NO MASS RETURN OF TWO MILLION IRAQI REFUGEES

The lies keep coming out of the Bush administration and then repeated by the Bush administration parrot, FOX NEWS, about how many Iraqi refugees are returning to their homes.

FOX NEWS keeps getting away with pumping out lies about conditions in Iraq because it appears as though nobody in the media is willing to take on FOX NEWS and call them exactly what they are: LIARS.

But this blogger isn't.

We will continue to point out how FOX NEWS is nothing more than a mouthpiece for the Bush Administration, and their lack of reporting on the true conditions in Iraq is an insult to every man and woman serving in the United States milary and their families back in the United States.

Commentary by Bill Corcoran, editor and host of this blog.

Iraq: Propaganda Isn't Enough for Refugees to Return

By Patrick Cockburn, Independent UKPosted on February 11, 2008, Printed on February 12, 2008

http://www.alternet.org/story/76653/

To show that Iraq was safe enough for the two million Iraqi refugees in Syria and Jordan to return, the Iraqi government organized a bus convoy last November from Damascus to Baghdad carrying 800 Iraqis home for free.

As a propaganda exercise designed to show that the Iraqi government was restoring peace, it never quite worked. The majority of the returnees said they were returning to Baghdad, not because it was safer, but because they had run out of money in Syria or their visas had expired.

There has been no mass return of the two million Iraqis who fled to Syria and Jordan or a further 2.4 million refugees who left their homes within Iraq. The latest figures from the UN High Commission for Refugees show that, on the contrary, the number of people entering Syria from Iraq was 1,200 a day in late January "while an average of 700 are going back to Iraq from Syria."

The reasons people are not going back, despite new stringent visa regulations in Syria, are that they know Baghdad is very dangerous, the chances of making a living are small and there is a continuing lack of electricity and water.

Click on link above to read the full story.

GI WHO ATTEMPTED SUICIDE SENT BACK TO IRAQ

A U.S. soldier who attempted suicide has been sent back to Iraq.

This move by the United States Army underscores why Defense Secretary Robert Gates said after the initial draw down of 30,000 troops from Iraq the Army would have to reevaluate the situation on the ground in Iraq before withdrawing anymore troops.

The problem in Iraq is the there has been a steady increase in the number of insurgent attacks both in Baghdad and the rest of Iraq.

The withdrawal of 30,000 troops will bring the troop level in Iraq back down to 130,000 which was the number of troops deployed to Iraq before the "surge" began.

Sending a GI back to Iraq who has attempted suicide indicates how desperate the U.S. Army is for additional troops in Iraq.

Many of those assigned to Iraq are on their third and fourth rotations and the Army is stretched thin and the equipment is wearing out.

However, the mainstream press in the United States continues to ignore the dire circumstances in Iraq.

It is the job of this blogger, Bill Corcoran, Chicago, editor of CORKSPHERE, http://corksphere.blogspot.com/ to not let stories like this one go unreported.


Soldier, After Bipolar Treatment and Suicide Attempts, Sent Back to Iraq

Published: February 11, 2008 7:30 AM ET

http://tinyurl.com/yo42q2

FORT CARSON A Fort Carson soldier who says he was in treatment at Cedar Springs Hospital for bipolar disorder and alcohol abuse was released early and ordered to deploy to the Middle East with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team.The 28-year-old specialist spent 31 days in Kuwait and was returned to Fort Carson on Dec. 31 after health care professionals in Kuwait concurred that his symptoms met criteria for bipolar disorder and “some paranoia and possible homicidal

tendencies,” according to e-mails obtained by a Denver newspaper.The soldier, who asked not to be identified because of the stigma surrounding mental illness and because he will seek employment when he leaves the Army, said he checked himself into Cedar Springs on Nov. 9 or Nov. 10 after he attempted suicide while under the influence of alcohol.

He said his treatment was supposed to end Dec. 10, but his commanding officers showed up at the hospital Nov. 29 and ordered him to leave.“I was pulled out to deploy,” said the soldier, who has three years in the Army and has served a tour in Iraq.Soldiers from Fort Carson and across the country have complained they were sent to combat zones despite medical conditions that should have prevented their deployment.

Late last year, Fort Carson said it sent 79 soldiers who were considered medical “no-gos” overseas. Officials said the soldiers were placed in light-duty jobs and are receiving treatment there. So far, at least six soldiers have been returned.

Read the rest of the story by clicking on link above.