WARNING: GRAPHIC NEW VIDEO: HUNDREDS KILLED BY US STRIKES IN SADR CITY. GRAPHIC IMAGES OF BABIES AND YOUNG CHILDREN.

It is has been five long years since President Bush stood on the deck of the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln under a banner proclaiming "Mission Accomplished" and told the world that the United States had won the war in Iraq.

Since that day, 3,926 of the 4,061 Americans KILLED in Iraq have been KILLED in the war Bush said was OVER.

In this NEW VIDEO from THE REAL NEWS NETWORK, foreign correspondent Pepe Escobar narrates a story of death and mayhem at the hands of US troops on the civilians of Sadr City in Baghdad.

Link to THE REAL NEWS NETWORK graphic video: http://therealnews.com/web/index.php?thisdataswitch=0&thisid=1434&thisview=item&renewx=2008-05-02+09%3A52%3A22

Many of the images are of young babies and small children and anyone watching this video should be warned the footage is EXTREMELY GRAPHIC.

Hundreds killed by US strikes in Sadr City

Transcript:PEPE ESCOBAR, THE REAL NEWS ANALYST:

It’s been five years since George W. Bush proclaimed Mission Accomplished in Iraq. Now take a very good look at these images. Yes, they are disturbing. You won’t see them on Western TV networks. And no, there’s not a hint of mission accomplished about them. These are innocent civilians-– poor Shi’ite Arabs living in the three million-strong Sadr City in Baghdad, one of the largest slums in the world.

As The Real News has reported Sadr City is being walled in–- transformed into a gulag, and pounded relentlessly by US air strikes. The Pentagon-–and the Iraqi government–-say they are “protecting the Green Zone” by attacking Sadr City.As if that traumatic scene of the helicopter leaving the roof of the US embassy in Saigon in 1975 was rattling too many military minds.

1745 Iraqi civilians were killed in April-– against 159 policemen and 104 soldiers. Over 400 people were killed in Sadr City alone. Only 10% were guerrillas.

This carnage is a direct consequence of Dick Cheney’s recent tour of the Middle East, Iraq included.

This carnage is a direct consequence of Gen. David Petraeus’ surge.

These are victims of a vicious political battle between the al-Maliki government in Baghdad, supported by the al-Hakim family, and the US, against Muqtada al-Sadr, who they fear will win the next elections in October-–because, of course, he is immensely popular.

And in the big picture, these deaths are a graphic example of how the sophisticated Pentagon machine plans to deal with “problematic” urban slums in the future. We wall them, we isolate them, and we bomb the hell out of them. Who cares about collateral damage? It may be very harsh to say, but that's how it is.

Pepe Escobar: New strategy to fight resistance--Wall-in a section of the city and bomb it

Friday May 2nd, 2008

Based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Pepe Escobar writes The Roving Eye for Asia Times Online. He has reported from Iraq, Iran, Central Asia, US and China. He is the author of the recently published Red Zone Blues. Pepe is a regular analyst for The Real News Network.

DISCLAIMER:Please note that TRNN transcripts are typed from a recording of the program; The Real News Network cannot guarantee their complete accuracy.