"IRAQ WILL SWIM IN A LAKE OF BLOOD," CLERIC WARNS

A leading figure in the movement led by Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said the group would not pardon anyone if their leader is harmed.

"In the event Sadr is harmed, Iraqi will them swim in a lake of blood," warned Sheikh Sadeq al-Hasnawi.Hasnawi is one of the top officials leading the movement in Sadr's absence.

Cleric: Iraq Will "Swim in a Lake of Blood" if Sadr is Killed

By Nidhal al-Laithi, AzzamanPosted on March 3, 2008, Printed on March 4, 2008

http://www.alternet.org/story/78336/

He said the cleric was currently in Iran "studying and mediating" in the religious city of Qom, which is the Iranian equivalent of Iraq's holy city of Najaf where Shiite clerics are educated and trained.

Hasnawi made the remarks in response to unconfirmed reports that Sadr was poisoned and was being hospitalized in Tehran.

"These reports that Moqtada al-Sadr has been poisoned are merely rumors spread by those who would like to see him disappear from the arena by having him assassinated," said Hasnawi.

Click on link for complete story

SOLDIER ON SIXTH TOUR TO IRAQ INJURED: U.S. SERVICEMEN KILLED IN HELICOPTER CRASH IN IRAQ

The death and casualties of American military personnel continues in Iraq. Below is the story of Staff Sgt. Scott Adams who was on his SIXTH tour to Iraq when a bomb ripped through his vehicle, and in Northern Iraq a U.S. service member was killed in a helicopter crash.

Iraq is still a cauldron of death and destruction and the American public are being misled by a media who no longer figure the Iraq war is worth covering.

Here is just a sampling of what took place in IRAQ and AFGHANISTAN and back in the United States on Tuesday, March 4.


SIXTH TOUR OF IRAQ GI WOUNDED AND IS IN REHABILITATION

Staff Sgt. Scott Adams Last January, on that sixth tour, Adams was on patrol near Baghdad when a bomb ripped through the vehicle he was in. In the moments after the Humvee caught on fire. "That didn't work for me because I was doused in diesel (fuel), and the white phosphorus was on there, plus all the uneven gear that was on there," Adams said in an interview from his temporary home in San Antonio. "One of the soldiers tackled me and put me out with a fire extinguisher." The last thing Adams remembers was the nurse and doctor arguing over taking his temperature. "And I don't remember anything from that point until the end of February, because I was in a coma," said Adams. When Adams woke up, he was burned over 47 percent of his body. His back was broken in eight places. A blood clot ran the entire length of one leg, and that's just the start. Adams developed sleep apnea, can't remember things, and has post-traumatic stress disorder. And his arms were so limited, he couldn't feed himself without extra-long utensils.


Reuters is reporting the death of a US service member in a helicopter crash in Northern Iraq on Tuesday, March 4th. Seven other passengers were killed according to the U.S. military. The AP is reporting that the helicopter was carrying six Iraqis and two foreigners.Security incidents:

Baghdad:#1: Five U.S. soldiers were wounded in an improvised explosive device attack that targeted their patrol in southern Baghdad on Tuesday, a spokesman for the Multi-National Force (MNF) said. "The IED attack also wounded one civilian who happened to be near the explosion site," Abdul-Latif Rayan said in exclusive statements to Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq

Diyala Prv:Baquba:#1: Gunmen killed a civilian as he was leaving his house in Baquba.Buhruz:#1: Gunmen wearing Iraqi army uniforms kidnapped a civilian in Buhruz. His dead body was found today.

Basra:#1: Gunmen killed a police officer from Nassiriyah police and three of his body guards in centralDour:#1: Two members affiliated to local anti-Qaida Awakening Council armed groups were killed and three others injured in shootings in Salahudin province on Tuesday, a provincial police source said. The two anti-Qaida fighters were killed Tuesday when unknown gunmen showered their car with bullets while they were driving in the al-Dour town, 15 km east of Tikrit, the capital of the province, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.Yathrib:#1: In a separate incident, three more anti-Qaida fighters were wounded when another armed group attacked their checkpoint on Monday night in the town of Yathrib, 70 km north of Baghdad, the source said.Al Hassan:#1: Gunmen killed two civilians in Al Hassan village; the deceased were relatives of a leader of an awakening council.

.#3: Three policemen were killed in a roadside bomb explosion in Mosul on Tuesday, a Ninewa security spokesman said. An improvised explosive device (IED) went off next to a passing police patrol in al-Jammal neighborhood, east Mosul, leaving three policemen and two civilians wounded," Brig Khalid Abdel Sattar, spokesman for Ninewa operation's command, said.#4: Meanwhile, the security official noted "an IED blew up targeting a U.S. troop patrol in Suq al-Maash neighborhood, west Mosul, causing no casualties to either military forces or civilians."

Afghanistan:#1: A suicide attack on a government office guarded by Afghan and NATO troops in eastern Afghanistan left two alliance soldiers dead and four more wounded, a U.S. military spokesman said Tuesday. The bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into the gates of the building in the Yaqoubi district of Khost province on Monday, causing a guard post to collapse and trapping soldiers inside, officials said. The explosion also killed two Afghan civilians and wounded three Afghan policemen, said provincial police chief Gen. Mohammad Ayub.

#2: A suicide car bomber attacked a government building Tuesday in eastern Afghanistan, killing a policeman. The car bomber tried to hit a government building in the Tani district of eastern Khost province, but Afghan guards opened fire toward the car, said Khost Gov. Arsallah Jamal.A policeman was killed and five other people, including an Afghan soldier, were wounded in the explosion that followed, said district police chief Guldat Hamim.

ON THE HOME FRONT MILITARY PERSONNEL HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN VARIOUS CRIME ACTS.

#1: A soldier killed two other soldiers -- including a New Hampshire native -- and poured acid on their bodies in an attempt to dispose of them, a prosecutor said Monday.more stories like this.

Spc. Ivette Gonzalez Davila, 22, of Bakersfield, Calif., was ordered held without bond for investigation of aggravated first-degree murder as well as kidnapping. She was accused of taking the married couple's 6-month-old girl. The victims were identified as Timothy Miller, 27, originally of Nevada, and Randi Miller, 25, of Laconia, N.H. Timothy Miller was apparently shot in a bathtub at the couple's suburban Parkland home, while Randi Miller was shot on a bed and then moved to the bathtub, police said in court documents.

#2: Some Arkansas National Guard members were injured when a severe thunderstorm struck Camp Shelby, Mississippi. The guard members are training at the facility in preparation for deployment to Iraq.High winds and a possible tornado damaged a barracks building at Camp Shelby. Fourteen guard members suffered minor injuries. All were treated and released from local hospitals

U.S. MARINE TOSSES PUPPY OFF CLIFF IN IRAQ (SEE VIDEO)

No story has caused more of on an outrage in the United States and all across the world as the video of a U.S. Marine throwing a puppy off a cliff in Iraq.
The video shows the Marine smiling after tossing the puppy off the cliff.

However, this type of behavior is not an isolated case and we have listed other videos of similar behavior toward dogs in the Iraq war zone by U.S. military personnel.

MSNBC news just ran this video with a warning to viewers about the graphic details. MSNBC also reported the Marine in the video is now stationed in Hawaii.

Smiling US Marine throws puppy off Iraq hill

By Bonnie Malkin
Last Updated: 12:30pm GMT 04/03/2008

http://tinyurl.com/24qq2r

The American army is investigating shocking footage of a grinning Marine throwing a yelping puppy into a gully in Iraq.

The clip, which has prompted fierce criticism of the military, appeared on video sharing site YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP1fgVST2vA

It showed two Marines dressed in combat gear, one holding the young dog by the scruff of its neck.

The dog, which looks about eight weeks old, is motionless.

"Cute little puppy, huh?", one Marine can be heard saying.

"Oh so cute, so cute little puppy," the other responds in a child-like voice.

The Marine holding the dog then turns and throws it into the ravine below. The animal can be heard yelping until it hits the ground.

A spokesman for the American military condemned the video as "shocking and deplorable" and said an investigation was underway into the incident.

Marine spokesman Major Chris Perrine said the culprit was believed to be based in Hawaii.
"We do not tolerate this type of behaviour and will take appropriate action," he said.

As the Marine investigation continues, there are already YouTube videos suggesting it was a fake:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0xjY-4CMdI

Torture of dogs in the Iraq war zone is not an isolated case:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i60f3vnlDw

Here is another one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7Vns7_20k8

WHEN A REPORTER WRITES WHAT HE SEES IN IRAQ

Stars and Stripes has long been considered the voice of the United States military all across the world. And yet when Stars and Stripes reporters report on what they have witnessed with their own eyes in Iraq, they are taken to task by some readers.

Here is an explanation of such an instance as printed in Stars and Stripes http://blogs.stripes.com/blogs/readerscorner/when-reporter-writes-what-he-sees


A Feb. 10 article by a Stars and Stripes reporter, written from Iskandariyah, Iraq, inspired two letters to the editor. Both expressed shock. One writer was shocked that Stripes would publish a report that supposedly made American soldiers look bad. The other was shocked by what the soldiers did.

Reporter Michael Gisick followed GIs into an Iraqi home and recorded what happened. A woman and her teenage daughter were in the home; on the wall was a poster with the face of controversial Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. When a sergeant showed irritation at seeing the poster, the teenage girl was dirisive, her words "dripping attitude." The story said some of the soldiers and their interpreter started calling her "a bitch," and one of them cut al-Sadr's countenance from the poster.

The first letter, from Sgt. Stephen Tressler in Baghdad, accused Stripes of "smearing our troops" by reporting what the soldiers called the girl and by showing them cutting the poster. The second letter, from Sgt. James P. Hallberg, of Support Area Anaconda, Iraq, did not complain about the reporting, but criticized the actions of the U.S. party. "Is this the behavior that's going to teach Iraqis about democracy and freedom of speech?" he asked.

Reporter Gisick wrote what he saw. Should a reporter always do that? The military poses few restrictions on embedded reporters; they are told to observe security considerations but otherwise their reporting is little fettered, or should be. In practice, most reporters avoid reporting gratuitous statements or actions they encounter -- those with no context of the circumstance being covered.

What the Stripes reporter witnessed, it seems to me, had context: Troops regularly interact with Iraqis, sometimes with some tension, and they can react to such episodes. The article in question was straightforward, without characterizing the troops' actions one way or another.

I asked the Middle East bureau chief, Joe Giordono, for his take on it. "We emphasize to our reporters: write what you see, without passing judgment on it, and putting it into context," he said. "So,l ironically, we sometimes get it from both sides: readers (mainly civilian) who think that embedded reporters are limited in what they write, and readers (mainly military) who think that embeds report too much."

INNOCENT IRAQI TEENAGER KILLED BY U.S. APACHE HELICOPTER

It is a story that happens all too often in Iraq. An innocent civilian is mistaken as an insurgent and they are gunned down by U.S. military forces.

Only this time it was an innocent Iraqi teenager who was the victim of U.S. military air strike by an Apache helicopter.

Is this any way to win the "hearts and minds" of the Iraqi people?

US Regrets Killing Innocent Teen Near Samarra
An Iraqi teenager was killed during an attack by coalition forces south of Samarra , officials said.

Apache pilots attacked six people digging on a road known to have a past history of bomb attacks on Iraq and coalition forces, according to a news release issued Saturday by Multi-National Corps—Iraq. Iraqi and coalition soldiers were ordered to take a look at the area.

Forty people in a nearby house said six boys were digging roots for firewood. No one was detained and no evidence was found of bomb materials, officials said. [Their “regrets” will not stop them from doing it again and again….. and the vast majority of the air strikes in Iraq were not against “insurgents” or “terrorists” but against ordinary Iraqis trying to survive.

US military has made videos of bombing Iraqis who were just as innocent (as far as the video shows) as this teenager. The real terrorists are the ones dropping the bombs. – dancewater]