Viewing is recommended for 'Mature Audiences Only'!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j538D4B5SCM
Within this Video, I am making a plea for Insurgents to end the Killing and Sectarian Violence in Iraq.
The People of Iraq deserve Peace... and it is important for us as an International Community, to work together toward helping them reach that goal.The 2003 Invasion by Coalition Forces, succeeded in putting an end to the Regime of Saddam Hussein.
However, it has come at a very high price to the Iraqi People, with many believing they are worse off now, than what they were under Saddam.In the interest of World Peace... the International Community needs to speak out in one voice, and state categorically that the killing and violence in Iraq is totally unacceptable.
Withdraw the Coalition Forces from Iraq... and replace them with International Peacemakers whose only aim is to help the People of Iraq live Dignified, Peaceful lives !We are an International Community... Working together, we can make 'World Peace' a reality !!!
Saturday, March 22, 2008
WARNING: THIS VIDEO CONTAINS IMAGES FROM THE IRAQ WAR NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN
VIDEO EXPLAINS WHY SURGE SUCCESS IN IRAQ IS ONLY TEMPORARY
The airwaves in the United States are filled with pundits and wannabe foreign policy experts who would want you to believe they know exactly what is going on with "the surge" and how successful it has been.
Jooest Hilterman, on the other hand, is Deputy Director for the International Crisis Group, and in this video he explains in detail why the "surge" is only a temporary success in the overall stability of Iraq.
If you are interested in the future of Iraq, and I must assume you are or you wouldn't have logged on my blog, this video is one you should watch.
Bill Corcoran, editor of CORKSPHERE.
Success of surge in Iraq is temporary
http://therealnews.com/web/index.php?thisdataswitch=0&thisid=961&thisview=item
J. Hiltermann: Surge may keep Iraq "stable" till US elections but policy leads to more violent civil war
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.
NEW BOOK DETAILS HOW BUSH THREATENED ALLIES BEFORE THE WAR
Pressure On Allies Before War
By Colum LynchWashington Post Staff WriterSaturday, March 22, 2008; A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/22/AR2008032201020.html
UNITED NATIONS -- In the months leading up to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the Bush administration threatened trade reprisals against friendly countries who withheld their support, spied on its allies, and pressed for the recall of U.N. envoys that resisted U.S. pressure to endorse the war, according to an upcoming book by a top Chilean diplomat
.
The rough-and-tumble diplomatic strategy has generated lasting "bitterness" and "deep mistrust" in Washington's relations with allies in Europe, Latin America and elsewhere, wrote Heraldo Muñoz, Chile's ambassador to the United Nations, in his book "A Solitary War: A Diplomat's Chronicle of the Iraq War and Its Lessons," set for publication next month.
"In the aftermath of the invasion, allies loyal to the United States were rejected, mocked and even punished" for their refusal to back a U.N. resolution authorizing military action against Saddam Hussein's government, Muñoz wrote.
But the tough talk dissipated as the war effort worsened and President Bush came to reach out to many of the same allies that he had spurned. Muñoz's account suggests the U.S. strategy backfired in Latin America, damaging the administration's standing in a region that has long been dubious of U.S. military intervention.
Muñoz details key roles by Chile and Mexico, the Security Council's two Latin members at the time, in the run-up to the war. Then-U.N. ambassadors Juan Gabriel Valdés of Chile and Adolfo Aguilar Zínser of Mexico helped thwart U.S. and British efforts to rally support among the council's six undecided members for a resolution authorizing the U.S.-led invasion.
Click on link for full story.....
NAMES OF GIS KILLED IN IRAQ CONFIRMED BY DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
U.S. Deaths Confirmed By The DoD:
3992
Reported U.S. Deaths Pending DoD Confirmation:
4
Total
3996
DoD Confirmation List
Latest Coalition Fatality: Mar 22, 2008
03/22/08 MNF: MND-B Soldiers attacked by IED
Three Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldiers were killed when an improvised explosive device struck their vehicle during a patrol northwest of Baghdad March 22. Two Iraqi civilians were also killed in the attack.
03/21/08 DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Sgt. Gregory D. Unruh, 28, of Dickinson, Texas, died March 19 in Mandali, Iraq, of injuries suffered in a vehicle accident. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Hood, Texas.
03/21/08 MNF: Coalition force Soldiers attacked by IDF (Baghdad)
A Coalition force Soldier was killed from wounds sustained from indirect fire south of Baghdad March 21. Four Soldiers were also wounded in the attack.
THE PRESS FIDDLES WHILE IRAQ BURNS: REPORT ON INJURED GI
If I didn't know better, I would think an arrangement has been made by everyone in the mainstream media to back off all coverage of the war in Iraq. Even a story about a young GI recovering from his wound is given a pass by the media, but not by this blogger. Here is the report on events in Iraq on Saturday.
Casualty Reports:Army Staff Sergeant Calvin Stroupe, 28, was on duty in Iraq when a rocket-propelled grenade hit his jeep over the weekend. Stroupe suffered a concussion, broken ribs and bleeding in the brain. Stroupe spent three days in intensive care but is expected to recover. He’s already ready to return to work.
Violence across Iraq on Saturday:
Diyala Prv:Khalis:#1: At least one policeman and two civilians were wounded on Saturday as fighters belong to the anti-Qaeda Popular Committees opened fire at a checkpoint manned by Iraqi police in Diala, central Iraq, a security source said. "The attack took place near Sarajiq village of al-Khalis district," the source, who requested anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq- Voices of Iraq
Three civilians were killed including a policeman and two other civilians were wounded when a check point of the local supporting committees opened fire on their car in Sarajiq village in Salam district, part of Khalis town 9miles north of Baquba around 9:00 a.m. local police of Salam district said.
Hilla:#1: One body was found with gunshot wounds to the head in Hilla, 100 km (60 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.
#2: Four Katyusha missiles fell on a U.S. base in Hilla while five others in its environs on Friday night but left no casualties, a police source in Babel province said on Saturday."Four Katyusha rockets fell on a house of a member of the former Baath Party command, which the U.S. intelligence corps took as headquarters in southern Hilla," the source, who asked not to be named, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq
Latifiya:#1: One decapitated body was found in Latifiya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.Mahaweel:
#1: Police found two bodies with signs of torture and gunshot wounds in Mahaweel, 75 km (45 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.
Basra:#1: Unknown gunmen abducted on Saturday the son of Basra Engineering College's dean, eyewitnesses said.An eyewitness and relative of the hostage told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq that unidentified armed men kidnapped Zuhair Salih Ismael, son of Professor Salih Ismael, Basra Engineering College's dean, from Al-Tanoma area – east of Basra city, and took him to an unknown place.
Samarra:#1: An American helicopter mistakenly opened fire on an Awakening Councils’ group patrol in Salahudin province, killing six fighters of the group, a provincial police source said Saturday. The incident took place at dawn in the Um al-Talayeb village south of the city of Samarra, some 120 km north of Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. Two more fighters of the patrol were wounded by the helicopter attack and were transported by the US ground forces to their base for treatment, the source said.
Kirkuk:#1: In Kirkuk, some 250 kilometres north of Baghdad, at least one civilian was killed and nine others were injured when a bomb targeting an Iraqi patrol went off in the al-Dahab al-Aswad area, security sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur. Sources said that the vehicles of Iraqi police officers were damaged in the attack.A civilian was killed and five policemen were injured in an IED explosion in al Tayran square in downtown Kirkuk city on Saturday morning.
Kurdistan:#1: The Iranian shelling of border areas in northern Iraq is ongoing but left no casualties, the chief of the border district of Zarawa said on Saturday. "The Iranian artillery shells, which began on Wednesday, are targeting the villages of Rizka, Mardo, Shinawa, Sorkola, Basti, and Spikola of the Qalaat Daza border district, (160 km) northeast of Sulaimaniya. The attacks left no casualties but forcibly-displaced inhabitants of eight villages," Azad Wasso told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq
Afghanistan:#1: Afghan police backed by U.S. troops killed three Taliban fighters and captured three more in a 40-minute gunbattle in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, a Reuters witness said. The firefight erupted after some 40 Afghan police officers, backed by a small team of U.S. mentors entered a village in the Shajoy district of Zabul province. Taliban fighters fired on the troops before retreating to a nearby hill on motorcycles. The police and U.S. mentors chased the militants and surrounded them.
#2: In northern Afghanistan, the governor of Khanaqa district in Jowzjan province was killed in a knife attack on Saturday, a provincial spokesman said, blaming Taliban insurgents
.#3: A commander of the highway police in the northern province of Kunduz was shot dead in an ambush late Friday, said the provincial police's General Mohammad Ayob Salangi, who blamed the attack on the Taliban.
And so it goes in Iraq on a daily basis, but the mainstream media, President Bush and his parrot FOX NEWS, continue to tell the American public everything is peachy in Iraq. They are lying.
SURE "THE SURGE" IS WORKING. LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED IN BAGHDAD ON SATURDAY
When is the mainstream media and mostly FOX NEWS going to realize the success of "the surge" is more than a myth it is a downright LIE. Here is what happened in Baghdad on Saturday alone:
MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a Coalition force Soldier in indirect fire south of Baghdad on Friday, March 21st. Four other soldier were wounded in the attack.
MNF-Iraq is reporting the deaths of two Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers in an improvised explosive device in an northwest neighborhood of Baghdad on Saturday, March 22nd. One other soldier were wounded in the attack and two Iraqi civilians were killed in the attack.
USA Today is reporting that the injured soldier died later from his wounds.
Baghdad:#1: Four civilians were wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off in southeastern Baghdad on Saturday, an Iraqi police source said. "An IED went off on the main road in al-Mashtal area, southeastern Baghdad, wounding four civilians who were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment," the source, who refused to be named, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq
#2: Two soldiers were killed when their vehicle was struck while on patrol in Baghdad while a third injured in the attack died later of his wounds, the military said in a series of statements.
#3: The military had earlier reported the death on Friday of another soldier, who sustained injuries in a rocket or mortar attack south of Baghdad. Four other soldiers were wounded in Friday’s "indirect fire" attack, it said. The US military uses the term "indirect fire" to refer to rocket or mortar attacks.
#4: A civilian was killed and three others were wounded in an IED explosion that targeted a bus in al Amin area in east Baghdad around 7:00 a.m.
#5: Around 8:00 a.m. two mortar shells hit the amusement club in al Yarmouk neighborhood in west Baghdad. No casualties were reported.
#6: Three civilians were wounded in an IED explosion in al Kam Street in Adhemiyah neighborhood in north of Baghdad around 11.00 a.m.
#7: Around 1:00 p.m. an IED exploded in Mansour neighborhood west Baghdad. Six people were wounded including two members of Sahwa council in Mansour.
#8: Police found three bodies in Baghdad as the following (1 body in Mansour, 1 body in Baladiyat and the last body was found in Palestine Street.
But FOX NEWS and the bulk of the mainstream media still try to convince the American public "the surge" is working. Amazing! Simply Amazing.
THINGS ARE GETTING WORSE IN IRAQ---MUCH, MUCH WORSE.
Earlier today we reported three U.S. servicemen were killed by a bomb near Baghdad, and now AP is reporting a U.S. helicopter opened fire on a checkpoint near Baghdad killing six members of a Sunni group who were working with U.S. troops.
The Bush administration and their propaganda mouthpiece, FOX NEWS, continue to LIE to the American public about the worsening conditions in Iraq.
Any success in Anbar Province, the "home" of "the surge," is do to Sunni tribal leaders getting together and running Al Qaeda and terrorists out of the region and not U.S. military forces. The U.S. military was used simply as a backup, but had nothing to do with Al Qaeda and the terrorists abandoning Anbar Province.
Do President Bush, Vice President Cheney and FOX NEWS ever look at reports like the following:
03/22/08 Reuters: Decapitated body found in Latifiya
One decapitated body was found in Latifiya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.
03/22/08 Reuters: Two bodies found in Mahaweel
Police found two bodies with signs of torture and gunshot wounds in Mahaweel, 75 km (45 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.
03/22/08 AP: Iraqi security forces battle Shiite gunmen
Iraqi security forces battled Shiite gunmen south of Baghdad on Friday, raising tensions among rival factions of the country's majority religious community and straining a seven-month cease-fire proclaimed by the biggest Shiite militia.
03/22/08 Reuters: Body found in Hilla
One body was found with gunshot wounds to the head in Hilla, 100 km (60 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.
03/22/08 AP: 6 US-allied fighters killed in airstrikes targeting checkpoints
A U.S. airstrike struck checkpoints manned by U.S.-allied Sunni fighters north of Baghdad on Saturday, killing six guards and wounding two, Iraqi police said.
03/22/08 LATimes: Laid-off Iraqi fighters demand jobs - or else
A man in a dusty track suit elbowed his way through the crowd that formed as soon as U.S. soldiers pulled up in this war-damaged village on Baghdad's southern outskirts.
03/22/08 AP: Roadside bomb kills 3 U.S.soldiers, 2 Iraqis
Three US soldiers and two Iraqi civilians were killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq today. The three soldiers' deaths, which brought the number of American soldiers killed since the US-led invasion in 2003 to 3,996
03/22/08 KUNA: Iraqi killed, six wounded in Kirkuk blast
An Iraqi civilian was killed on Saturday and six citizens were wounded, including policemen, when an explosive device targeting a police patrol blew up in Kirkuk, northern Iraq.
And if Bush, Cheney and FOX NEWS can't bring themselves to read the TRUTH about IRAQ, perhaps someone lock them in a room and force them to read this report:
Bomb kills 3 US service members; new tensions with pro-American Sunnis
The Associated Press
Saturday, March 22, 2008
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/22/africa/ME-GEN-Iraq.php
BAGHDAD: A roadside bomb killed three American soldiers north of Baghdad on Saturday, pushing the U.S. death toll in the five-year conflict to nearly 4,000.
Also Saturday, Iraqi authorities reported that a U.S. air strike north of the capital killed six members of a U.S.-backed Sunni group — straining relations with America's new allies in the fight against al-Qaida.
Two Iraqi civilians also died in the roadside bombing, which occurred as the Americans were patrolling an area northwest of the capital, the U.S. military said in a statement.
Two of the soldiers were killed in the blast and the third died of wounds, the statement said. The soldiers were assigned to Multinational Division-Baghdad, the statement said, but gave no further details.
The latest deaths brought to 3,996 the number of U.S. service members and Pentagon civilians who have died since the war began on March 20, 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
With the war entering its sixth year, President George W. Bush paid tribute Saturday to America's fallen service members, saying in his weekly radio address that they will "live on in the memory of the nation they helped defend."
Speaking for the Democrats, however, Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey called on Bush to "face the reality" in Iraq and "tell us the truth" about the cost of the conflict as America is struggling with a faltering economy and mounting casualty tolls.
U.S. officials have pointed to a number of positive signs, including a 60 percent drop in violence since Bush ordered 30,000 U.S. reinforcements to Iraq early last year. Iraqis have also made some limited progress in power-sharing deals among rival Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish communities.
However, U.S. military commanders have been careful to point out that security gains are fragile and that major violence could erupt abruptly.
Much of the progress has been due to a move by thousands of Sunnis to abandon the insurgency and join pro-U.S. defense groups — known as "awakening councils." Another was a ceasefire called last August by firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, leader of the feared Mahdi Army militia.
On Saturday, a U.S. attack helicopter fired on two checkpoints manned by U.S.-allied Sunni fighters near Samarra, 95 kilometers (60 miles) north of Baghdad, killing six and injuring two, Iraqi police said.
The U.S. military said an AH-64 Apache helicopter fired on the positions after five people were "spotted conducting suspicious terrorist activity" in an area notorious for roadside bombs.
"Initial reports suggested the attack may have been (at) a Sons of Iraq checkpoint," the military said, using a term for the armed U.S.-backed groups. "The incident is currently under a joint Iraqi-Coalition Force investigation."
Click on link above to read complete story
SAUDI KING DOESN'T LIKE CHENEY'S BELLIGERENT ATTITUDE ON IRAN
Vice President Dick Cheney visited Saudi Arabia in hopes of drumming up support for going to war with Iran, but instead Cheney found the Saudi King was not impressed with Cheney and most of all didn't care for Cheney's belligerent attitude.
Saudi king rejects Cheney's belligerency
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=48452§ionid=351020104
Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah in a meeting with visiting US Vice President Dick Cheney has rejected any US military strike against Iran. King Abdullah in a meeting with the US vice president is against any US military strike against Iran, Saudi official sources say.
Cheney who arrived in Saudi Arabia on Friday discussed Iran's nuclear program and its increasing influence in the Middle East with senior Saudi officials, DPA reported. Saudi Arabia, along with other Persian Gulf Arab countries, sees negotiations as the best way to resolve the standoff between the US and Iran.
The king also told Cheney that the Middle East should be free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.
PENTAGON URGES DELAY IN U.S. TROOP REDUCTIONS IN IRAQ
President Bush has been boasting about how troop reductions will continue in Iraq, but now the Pentagon is urging a halt to anymore troop withdrawals from Iraq due to increased violence.
By STEVEN LEE MYERS
THE NEW YORK TIMES
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/22/world/middleeast/22policy.html?ref=worldspecial
WASHINGTON — Senior military commanders have presented the Bush administration with proposals to put off any plans for further reductions of troops in Iraq at least until the end of summer. At the same time, the proposals would limit new deployments to 12 months, instead of 15 months now, military and administration officials said Friday.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates met for a second day in closed sessions with the Pentagon’s top officers to outline recommendations to be presented to President Bush on Wednesday.
Mr. Bush is to discuss the proposals with the senior commander in Iraq, Gen. David H. Petraeus, in a videoconference on Monday and is expected to make a decision about any additional withdrawals before he leaves on April 1 for a five-day trip to Ukraine, Romania and Croatia, the officials said.
Last September, facing intense pressure from Democrats and even some Republicans in Congress, Mr. Bush announced that he would withdraw five combat brigades and two Marine battalions by July. Those reductions, not yet complete, would effectively return the number of troops in Iraq to roughly 140,000, a level slightly higher than before Mr. Bush ordered the buildup that became known as the “surge.”
Mr. Gates’s spokesman, Geoff Morrell, said four more departing brigades, each with more than 3,000 troops, had yet to leave Iraq, making it difficult to assess the effect on security in Iraq of the reduction of troops ordered last fall. There are now 155,000 American troops in Iraq, down from a peak of 170,000 last fall.
BREAKING NEWS: 3 U.S. SOLDIERS KILLED NEAR BAGHDAD
Three US soldiers killed in Iraq
9 minutes ago
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080322/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrestustoll_080322085410;_ylt=AhYu707Ve2W5s9rJ7_zAULZX6GMA
BAGHDAD (AFP) - The US military announced on Saturday the deaths of three soldiers, including two who were killed in a roadside bombing in Baghdad that also left two Iraqis dead.
The two were killed when their vehicle was struck while on patrol in Baghdad. The attack also wounded one soldier who was taken to a US medical facility for treatment, a statement said without giving further details.
The military had earlier reported the death on Friday of another soldier, who sustained injuries in a rocket or mortar attack south of Baghdad.
Four other soldiers were wounded in Friday's "indirect fire" attack, it said. The US military uses the term "indirect fire" to refer to rocket or mortar attacks.
The latest death brings the military's losses in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion to 3,995, according to an AFP tally based on independent website icasualties.org.
At least 97 percent of losses have occurred since US President George W. Bush announced the end of "major combat" in Iraq on May 1, 2003, as the military became caught between raging anti-American insurgency and brutal sectarian strife unleashed since the toppling of Saddam Hussein.
According to icasualties.org, 81.3 percent of the soldiers killed have died in attacks by Al-Qaeda in Iraq fighters, Sunni insurgent groups loyal to Saddam and radical Shiite militias.
The remainder died in non-combat related incidents.
