SUNDAY IN IRAQ: 35 IRAQIS KILLED, 62 WOUNDED, SQUATTERS TOLD TO LEAVE THEIR HOMES IN BAGHDAD

At least 35 Iraqis were killed and another 62 were wounded in the latest attack. A female suicide bomber attacked a government center in Baquba at the end of the work day, leaving behind dozens of casualties. No Coalition deaths were reported.

http://www.antiwar.com/updates/?articleid=13028

A female suicide bomber blew herself up outside the Baquba governmental center, killing 17 people and wounding 42 others. A number of policemen were among the casualties The explosion occurred as the courthouse was winding down proceedings for the day. In an unrelated incident, three gunmen were detained in connection with the kidnapping and murder of three family members this week.

In Baghdad, three dumped bodies were recovered. U.S. forces killed six suspects and wounded another in several incidents on Friday; they had been observed trying to plant roadside bombs in various locations around the New Baghdad neighborhood.

A roadside bomb near Kirkuk killed three and wounded two more. Two women were among the dead. Another bomb, this one in al-Wasiti, left no casualties. In nearby Fashka village, a roadside bomb killed four people.

In Mosul, one policeman was killed and another was wounded in a drive-by shooting. Fourteen people were wounded during a suicide car bombing at a checkpoint in Wihda.

A bomb hidden in a bag injured two people at a market in Hilla.

Also, Iraqi courts have ordered that 20,000 detainees be freed. This includes people convicted of petty crimes but does not potentially innocent inmates held in Coalition prisons. Amnesty laws have been a point of contention between Sunni Arabs, who feel they have been unjustly targeted, and the Shi'ite majority government. Tens of thousands more out on bail or otherwise accused of crimes have had their warrants dropped as well.

Squatters in Baghdad have been given a deadline to leave occupied homes so that their owners may return home to claim them. They will be forcibly evicted after the deadline. Between four and five million Iraqis are thought to have left the country or been internally displaced due to sectarian attacks, the U.S. invasion, or other violence.

FRANK RICH: NOW THAT WE'VE WON THE WAR, LET'S COME HOME

THE Iraq war’s defenders like to bash the press for pushing the bad news and ignoring the good.

Maybe they’ll be happy to hear that the bad news doesn’t rate anymore. When a bomb killed at least 51 Iraqis at a Baghdad market on Tuesday, ending an extended run of relative calm, only one of the three network newscasts (NBC’s) even bothered to mention it.The only problem is that no news from Iraq isn’t good news — it’s no news.

Source: New York TimesNow That We’ve ‘Won,’ Let’s Come HomeBy FRANK RICHJune 22, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/22/opinion/22rich.html?h

The night of the Baghdad bombing the CBS war correspondent Lara Logan appeared as Jon Stewart’s guest on “The Daily Show” to lament the vanishing television coverage and the even steeper falloff in viewer interest. “Tell me the last time you saw the body of a dead American soldier,” she said.

After pointing out that more soldiers died in Afghanistan than Iraq last month, she asked, “Who’s paying attention to that?”Her question was rhetorical, but there is an answer: Virtually no one.

If you follow the nation’s op-ed pages and the presidential campaign, Iraq seems as contentious an issue as Vietnam was in 1968.

But in the country itself, Cindy vs. Michelle, not Shiites vs. Sunnis, is the hotter battle. This isn’t the press’s fault, and it isn’t the public’s fault. It’s merely the way things are.

In America, the war has been a settled issue since early 2007. No matter what has happened in Iraq since then, no matter what anyone on any side of the Iraq debate has had to say about it, polls have consistently found that a majority of Americans judge the war a mistake and want out.

For that majority, the war is over except for finalizing the withdrawal details. They’ve moved on without waiting for the results of Election Day 2008 or sampling the latest hectoring ad from moveon.org. . .http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/22/opinion/22rich.html?h...
Continue reading at link above.

EXPLOSION NEAR GREEN ZONE KILLS 4 INJURES 12

Baghdad - At least four people were killed and 12 wounded in separate incidents across Iraq, police and media reports said Saturday.

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/214021,four-killed-12-injured-in-iraq-violence--summary.html

Police told the Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency that three people were killed and 10 wounded when an explosive device was detonated in Baghdad's Harithiya district in the late hours of Friday.

Sources said that the vehicle was parked on the side of a road leading to Baghdad's Green Zone.
The Green Zone is located in central Baghdad where the British and the US embassies are located as well as several governmental offices and ministries.

In another incident, militants shot dead an Iraqi taxi driver who worked in Baghdad's Baiaa area, security sources told VOI.

Meanwhile police discovered three bodies of members of the same family in the Tahrir area of the city of Baquba, some 60 kilometres north of the capital, sources told VOI.

Sources said the three, who had been shot, were abducted by militants after refusing to follow their orders.

CORRUPTION PROBE HALTS REBUILDING IRAQI CITY WITH YOUR TAX DOLLARS

It is isn't bad enough the Iraq war has cost the U.S. taxpayer over 3 TRILLION dollars, but now there are more and more reports coming out showing all kinds of corruption with the rebuilding of Iraqi cities we destroyed and a waste of U.S. taxpayer money.

Once again, the media in the United States plays CYA for the Bush administration and reports such as the one below get little or no attention in the mainstream media.

This is YOUR MONEY folks and it is being squandered in Iraq while our bridges and highways are in terrible shape, schools need renovation and we have a medical system that has left 47 MILLION Americans without any health care.

And on top of the total mess we have created in Iraq with our invasion and occupation, the Bush administration is rattling the sabre and threatening to come to the defense of Israel if Israel decides to attack Iran.

If you think gas prices are high now, just wait until you see what happens if we end up going to war with IRAN.

COMMENTARY BY BILL CORCORAN, EDITOR OF CORKSPHERE

Probe halts rebuilding of Iraqi city
Mayor, police chief investigated in scam to sell stored oil on black market
The Associated Press
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25287847/

FALLUJAH, Iraq - U.S.-funded reconstruction in a one-time Sunni insurgent stronghold has been suspended because of a corruption probe, including allegations that the mayor and police chief were involved in a multimillion-dollar oil smuggling ring, The Associated Press has learned.
The problems in Hit, a dusty, ramshackle western town along the Euphrates River, provide a glimpse of the challenges in rebuilding a country where years of war and misrule have destroyed the social fabric.

Reconstruction is a key part of the U.S. military strategy against both Sunni and Shiite extremists, but many projects have long been dogged by mismanagement and allegations of corruption.

The U.S. government suspended its efforts in Hit this month after the police chief, Col. Salah Rasheed al-Gaoud, was fired for his alleged role in the scheme, U.S. and Iraqi officials familiar with the investigation told the AP.

Officials also confirmed that the mayor, Hikmat Jubair al-Gaoud, was under investigation. Marine Lt. Col. Chris Hughes, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Anbar province, said the mayor's current whereabouts were unknown and that it was unclear whether he fled the country.

But a man identifying himself as the mayor told the AP when contacted on al-Gaoud's mobile phone that he was still in Hit and "still in my job as the mayor."
"There is a committee that it is investigating the case of stealing oil and its work has not finished yet," he said Thursday.

Among the reconstruction projects that have been suspended are repairs to the town's dilapidated infrastructure, including street repairs, sewerage upgrade and school construction.
U.S. military officials said reconstruction projects in Hit would remain on hold during the investigation, which Iraqis said was being conducted by the Ministry of Interior.

Click on link http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25287847/ to read full account.

137 U.S. SOLDIERS BECOME ILL FROM CHEMICALS GUARDING KBR OIL PLANT IN IRAQ

Witness says U.S. soldiers ill after exposure to chemical

Workers allege contractor knew risks

By FARAH STOCKMANTHE BOSTON GLOBE
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/367940_chemical21.html

WASHINGTON -- U.S. soldiers assigned to guard a crucial part of Iraq's oil infrastructure became ill after exposure to a highly toxic chemical at the plant, witnesses told a Democratic Policy Committee hearing Friday on Capitol Hill.

"These soldiers were bleeding from the nose, spitting blood," said Danny Langford, an equipment technician from Texas brought to work at the Qarmat Ali Water treatment plant in 2003. "They were sick."

"Hundreds of American soldiers at this site were contaminated" while guarding the plant, Langford said, including members of the Indiana National Guard.

Langford is one of nine Americans who accuse KBR, the lead contractor on the Qarmat Ali project and one of the largest military contractors in Iraq, of knowingly exposing them to sodium dichromate, an orange, sandlike chemical that is a potentially lethal carcinogen. Specialists say even short-term exposure to the chemical can cause cancer, depress an individual's immune system, attack the liver, and cause other ailments.

Friday's hearing -- one among several organized to hold contractors accountable for alleged malfeasance in Iraq -- was chaired by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. "Hundreds of U.S. troops, who may not even know of their exposure to sodium dichromate that could one day result in a horrible disease, cancers, and death," he said.

Roughly 250 American soldiers were believed to have come in contact with the chemical, according to Defense Department documents. Sodium dichromate is the same substance that poisoned residents in Hinkley, Calif., an episode made famous by the movie "Erin Brockovich" in 2000.

In Iraq, the chemical was used as an antirust coating for pipes that supply water to the oil fields. After the 2003 U.S. invasion, looters raided the Qarmat-Ali facility; afterward, the chemical was found strewn around the facility and its grounds.

Langford and his former colleagues have said KBR supervisors initially told them the chemical was a "mild irritant." The company, however, eventually acknowledged that sodium dichromate was a potentially deadly substance and moved to clean up the site.
KBR has denied any wrongdoing.

After KBR began cleaning up the site, it tested its workers for exposure. The U.S. military took blood and urine samples from 137 soldiers and civilians who were at the plant.

BREAKING NEWS: LATEST DEATHS OF U.S. AND COALITION TROOPS IN IRAQ, AND FLAREUP OF VIOLENCE ACROSS IRAQ

There has been no letup in the violence and deaths of U.S. soldiers and coalition troops as Friday draws to a close in Iraq.

Naturally, the mainstream media and especially FOX NEWS don't mention the deaths of U.S. troops in Iraq of the number of acts of violence in provinces all across Iraq.

Source: http://warnewstoday.blogspot.com/

UPDATE: One Soldier was killed and five wounded in three roadside bomb attacks on Coalition force patrols in Diyala province June 20. All the injured were medically evacuated. No further details given at this time, including the affiliation of the casualties.

CJTF-101 is reporting the death of a coalition service member from gunfire in Helmand province on Thursday, June 19th. No other details were released.

CJTF-101 is reporting the death of a second coalition service member gunfire in Helmand province, Afghanistan on Thursday, June 19th. In this updated release there were two soldiers killed in the same incident and another soldier was wounded. No other details were released.

The Washington Post (Reuters) is reporting the death of a soldier from a suicide bomber attack in the Girishk district, Helmand province, Afghanistan on Friday, June 20th. An Afghan interpreter and five civilians were also killed in the attack. No other details were released.

In an updated article, The Daily Record reports that David McCullie was a United Nations troubleshooter who died of a heart attack at his living quarters in Baghdad. he was the UN's chief of general services in Iraq, Kuwait and Jordan. He was a grade seven field officer - the equivalent of a brigadier general in the army.June 18 airpower summary:

Baghdad:#1: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused the United States and its allies of plotting to assassinate him during a visit to neighbouring Iraq in March, state radio reported on Friday. "Based on reliable intelligence, our enemies had plans to kidnap and kill your servant (Ahmadinejad). But we intentionally made last minute changes in our schedule," the radio quoted Ahmadinejad telling a meeting of clerics in the Shi'ite holy city of Qom on Thursday.

#2: U.S. forces killed four militants and detained 18 others on Thursday and Friday during operations around Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

#3: Thursday Two unidentified bodies were found in Baghdad today; one in Ur neighbourhood and one in Kasra wa Atash.

#4: A roadside bomb targeted a US military convoy in Beirut Square, northeast Baghdad at 10 a.m. No casualties were reported.

#5: A roadside bomb targeted a US military convoy in Doura, south Baghdad at 11 a.m. No casualties were reported.

Diyala Prv:#1: An Iraqi soldier was killed Friday and three more, including a police officer, were wounded when an explosive device targeted their patrol in the northern city of Baquba, media reports said. Security sources told the Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency that the bomb went off in the main road leading to Naqib area, southern Baquba.

#2: Gunmen blew up two houses in Ashti neighbourhood, al-Saadiyah district , to the northeast of Baquba Thursday evening. Both houses were empty as they were blown up by remote control, but a civilian passer by was in the vicinity and was injured by the blast.

Bahraz:#1: Unidentified gunmen killed a university student in southern Diala late Thursday, a police source said. "Suspected al-Qaeda gunmen opened fire on a university student in al-Abara region in Bahraz district, south of Baaquba, killing him instantly,” he source, who asked for anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq.

Kut:#1: The al-Zahraa hospital’s morgue in Kut received on Friday an unidentified female body, a medical source said.“The 40-year-old body bore signs of stabbing and torture,” the source, who asked to be unnamed, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq.

Iskandariya:#1: Police found two decomposed bodies inside a mosque two years after they were kidnapped in Iskandariya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

Dalouiya:#1: Three policemen were wounded on Friday when an improvised explosive device went off targeting their patrol in Dalouiya, said a police source. “An explosive charge was detonated near a police patrol in Dalouiya, wounding three policemen. Who were rushed to the city’s hospital for treatment,” Colonel Mohammed al-Juburi told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq, noting that their health condition is stable.

Balad:#1: U.S. troops killed four suspected al-Qaida militants and detained 18 others in raids north of Baghdad targeting al-Qaida bombing networks in Iraq, the U.S. military said on Friday. In a series of operations on Friday near the town of Balad, some 80 km north of Baghdad, U.S. troops, at one location, were attacked by small arms fire from a nearby rooftop, prompting the troops to fire back, killing four attackers, a military statement said.

Mosul:#1: Five policemen were wounded on Friday afternoon in a suicide car bomb attack on a checkpoint in southeastern Mosul, a senior security source said. “A car rigged with explosives driven by a suicide bomber, went off at 12:00pm on Friday targeting a police checkpoint in al-Wehda neighborhood in southeastern Mosul, injuring five policemen,” the source, who wished to remain anonymous, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq. “Police forces opened fire at the driver, killing him instantly before hitting the checkpoint,” he explained.

ONE U.S. SOLDIER KILLED, FIVE WOUNDED IN ROADSIDE BOMB BLAST NEAR BAGHDAD

US military: American soldier killed in Iraq

US military: 1 American soldier killed, 5 wounded by roadside bombs northeast of Baghdad

StaffAP News
http://wiredispatch.com/news/?id=220640

Jun 20, 2008 09:36 EST

The U.S. military says an American soldier has been killed and five others wounded by roadside bombs northeast of Baghdad.

A statement says the soldiers were struck Friday in three bombings on U.S patrols in the volatile Diyala province.

At least 4,102 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003. That's according to an Associated Press count.

The names of the soldiers have not been released pending notification of relatives.

CNN REPORTS: SUCIDE BOMBER KILLS 5 IN AFGHANISTAN

Children among dead in Afghan suicide blast

Three children among the dead, according to local police chief

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A suicide bomb exploded near a U.S.-led coalition military convoy in Afghanistan on Friday, killing 5 civilians, a coalition soldier and an Afghan soldier, military and police officials said.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/06/20/afghanistan/index.html

Three children were those killed, Police Chief Mohammed Hussein Andiwal of the southern Helmand province said. Another five civilians were wounded.

The number of casualties was lower than initially reported.

A man with explosives strapped to his body jumped on to the convoy from a roof above the road in the town of Gereshk at about 9am, Andiwal said.
A Taliban spokesman claimed one of his group's fighters carried out the attack in front of the Afghan government's intelligence office.

A coalition spokesman confirmed the soldiers' deaths but did not give the nationality of the coalition soldier who was killed.
Another U.S. military spokesman, Lt. Col. Paul Fanning, said the convoy was part of the coalition's mission to train Afghan police officers.

Read full story here http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/06/20/afghanistan/index.html

CBS NEWS: FEMALE WOUNDED WARRIORS THRIVE TOGETHER

(CBS)As my producer, Tony Maciulis, and I were on our way to cover the first camp exclusively for wounded women veterans for tonight’s piece on “The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric,” I remember thinking, “Am I ready for this?”

Female Wounded Warriors Thrive Together
Posted by Kelly WallaceKelly Wallace is a CBS News correspondent based in New York.
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/06/19/couricandco/entry4195938.shtml

I wanted to prepare myself for what I expected would be an emotionally difficult shoot, spending time with women who’ve lost limbs and arms and women who were told they would never walk again.

I couldn’t imagine what they have been through and were still going through. I assumed some would be bitter and feeling sorry for themselves, others angry. How wrong I was. Consider this – the five women we met, brought together by the Wounded Warriors Project and the Adaptive Sports Foundation, were asked to demonstrate anger during a motion therapy exercise. They all looked at each other and laughed.

That’s right.

They laughed because they didn’t know what anger looked or felt like. They weren’t angry.

“I think it’s because you love life more when you stare it in the face,” said retired Army Sgt. Diane Cochran, a mother of three who spent three years in the hospital after her humvee rolled over in Afghanistan. Doctors never expected her to walk again. “We couldn’t even fake it and express it in some form or fashion. It’s that powerful,” said retired Army Capt. Leslie Smith, who lost part of her leg to a blood disorder while serving in Bosnia. No anger, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been tough times, especially adjusting to life, no longer as a soldier, but as a woman with scars everyone can see. “It’s that American society for women is so visually oriented and what you see on the outside is what you get,” said Leslie. “And I know for myself, I struggled very much with that in the beginning because I didn’t feel like a whole person anymore.”

Retired Army Spec. Danielle Green-Byrd, a former college basketball star at Notre Dame, lost part of her left arm to a rocket-propelled grenade in Iraq. She told us everyday things, like putting her hair in a ponytail, are still difficult. “Even putting on a bra, a bra, that can be a challenge but I do it. A skirt. I’m starting to wear skirts now. That’s a challenge. You figure out ways. And I think this has taught me how to be very, very patient with myself. Very patient,” she said.

By 2020, one out of every five veterans under the age of 45 will be a woman like Danielle, Leslie and Diane.

The question we raise in our story is whether the Department of Veteran’s Administration is prepared to deal with an influx of women returning from war. Can VA hospitals which have provided care for men for decades give women the same level of care?

The women we met were new to the VA system and were for the most part satisfied with the care they had received but were concerned about the future, wondering whether the VA will truly be able to handle women’s needs. "I think everything is a learning process,” said Nancy Schiliro, a retired Marine Lance Cpl. who lost her right eye after an attack in Iraq. “It’s just a shame that we have to use this conflict as a learning process for them.”

The VA is convening a summit this weekend, bringing together hundreds of women veterans to discuss what’s working and what more needs to be done, in the areas of health care, military sexual trauma and readjusting to civilian life. We sat down with a panel of women leaders at the VA and the message was – we are gearing up, we are on the case. We learned the VA is surveying facilities around the country to find out what’s needed, providing sensitivity training to doctors on how to deal with women and even helping doctors re-learn skills such as how to give gynecological exams.

What I found most amazing about the wounded women veterans we met is that, besides not being angry, each of them says they are doing more with their lives now than they did before they were seriously injured. “I’m very proud to be a wounded warrior, amputee, and it makes life so much better,” said Leslie.

What we also saw firsthand is how weekends like the retreat we were lucky enough to attend really help heal the wounds you see and the wounds you don’t. “When you are serving, you are with all men,” said Nancy. “So you think that you’re alone in this little journey of yours and think, ‘God, I am the only female and I am injured. How is anyone going to understand me?’,” she said. “And when you meet women like this, it makes you feel better that you’re in great company and you’re not alone out there.”

Bravo Wounded Warriors and the Adaptive Sports Foundation for giving these women a chance to be women again.

Thanks to Emily Lamont for giving me the heads up on this story.

BREAKING: MIDDLE EAST ONLINE: IT'S CRAZY, BUT U.S IS GOING TO BOMB IRAN

Bomb Iran? What's to Stop Us?

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/opinion/?id=26545


Unlike Iraq, which was prostrate after the Gulf War and a dozen years of sanctions, Iran can retaliate in a number of dangerous ways, launching a war for which our forces are ill-prepared, says Ray McGovern.

It’s crazy, but it’s coming soon – from the same folks who brought us Iraq.

Unlike the attack on Iraq five years ago, to deal with Iran there need be no massing of troops. And, with the propaganda buildup already well under way, there need be little, if any, forewarning before shock and awe and pox – in the form of air and missile attacks – begin.

This time it will be largely the Air Force’s show, punctuated by missile and air strikes by the Navy. Israeli-American agreement has now been reached at the highest level; the armed forces planners, plotters and pilots are working out the details.

Emerging from a 90-minute White House meeting with President George W. Bush on June 4, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the two leaders were of one mind.

Meanwhile, Iranian Prime Minister Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claims the United States planned to kidnap him and kill him when he visted Iraq recently.

Continue reading here http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/opinion/?id=26545

SO IRAQ WAR WAS ALL ABOUT OIL. 4,100 AMERICAN LIVES LOST FOR BIG OIL COMPANIES IN U.S. REMEMBER WHO WAS A CEO OF A BIG OIL COMPANY? YEP, CHENEY

As Keith Olberman and Rachel Maddow discussed Thursday night on MSNBC's "Countdown," after all the blather about WMDs, capturing Saddam, democracy for Iraq, the invasion and occupation of Iraq was really all about oil and establishing an American colony in the Middle East with Shell, Exxon, Mobil and others in charge of the country.

Americans knew this all the time, but the mainstream media kept lying to the American public and over the course of five years 4,100 Americans have been killed and another 30,000 wounded and all Washington EVER cared about was allowing big oil companies from the United States to takeover the oil rich fields of Iraq.

And guess who is one of the biggest honchos in the oil industry in the United States. None other than Dick "Darth Vader" Cheney, the former CEO of Halliburton, who do oil exploration.

Surprise, surprise, surprise.

Yes, 4,100 DEAD Americans to save the ass of Dick Cheney who used six deferments to avoid military service for himself during the Vietnam War years.

When, as Lou Dobbs said Thursday night, is it time to bring up President Bush and Vice President Cheney on WAR CRIMES?

I'd say RIGHT NOW!

BILL CORCORAN, CORKSPHERE EDITOR


4 western oil companies in final stages of signing deals in Iraq

Baghdad - Voices of Iraq
Thursday , 19 /06 /2008 Time 11:16:42
http://www.aswataliraq.info/look/english/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrArticle=82976&NrIssue=2&NrSection=1


Baghdad, Jun 19, (VOI)- Four Western oil companies are in the final stages of negotiations this month on contracts that will return them to Iraq, the International Herald Tribune newspaper said on Thursday.

"Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP - the original partners in the Iraq Petroleum Company - along with Chevron and a number of smaller oil companies, are in talks with Iraq's Oil Ministry for no-bid contracts to service Iraq's largest fields, according to ministry officials, oil company officials and an American diplomat," the paper added.

"The deals, expected to be announced on June 30, will lay the foundation for the first commercial work for the major companies in Iraq since the American invasion, and open a new and potentially lucrative country for their operations," it also said.

"The no-bid contracts are unusual for the industry, and the offers prevailed over others by more than 40 companies, including companies in Russia, China and India.

The contracts, which would run for one to two years and are relatively small by industry standards, would nonetheless give the companies an advantage in bidding on future contracts in a country that many experts consider to be the best hope for a large-scale increase in oil production," the newspaper explained."There was suspicion among many in the Arab world and among parts of the American public that the United States had gone to war in Iraq precisely to secure the oil wealth these contracts seek to extract.

The Bush administration has said that the war was necessary to combat terrorism. It is not clear what role the United States played in awarding the contracts; there are still American advisers to Iraq's Oil Ministry," according to the paper.

Click on this link http://www.aswataliraq.info/look/english/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrArticle=82976&NrIssue=2&NrSection=1 to continue reading.

WASHINGTON POST: GENERAL ACCUSES BUSH WHITE HOUSE OF WAR CRIMES OVER DETAINEE TORTURE

The two-star general who led an Army investigation into the horrific detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib has accused the Bush administration of war crimes and is calling for accountability.

By Dan FroomkinSpecial to washingtonpost.comWednesday, June 18, 2008; 12:44 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2008/06/18/BL2008061801546.html

In his 2004 report on Abu Ghraib, then-Major General Anthony Taguba concluded that "numerous incidents of sadistic, blatant, and wanton criminal abuses were inflicted on several detainees." He called the abuse "systemic and illegal." And, as Seymour M. Hersh reported in the New Yorker, he was rewarded for his honesty by being forced into retirement.

Now, in a preface to a Physicians for Human Rights report based on medical examinations of former detainees, Taguba adds an epilogue to his own investigation.

The new report, he writes, "tells the largely untold human story of what happened to detainees in our custody when the Commander-in-Chief and those under him authorized a systematic regime of torture. This story is not only written in words: It is scrawled for the rest of these individual's lives on their bodies and minds. Our national honor is stained by the indignity and inhumane treatment these men received from their captors.

Click on link above for full story.

NOT EXACTLY WHAT FOX NEWS' LAURA INGRAHAM REPORTED: CHARGES DISMISSED IN MARINE HADITHA CASE---KINDA

Laura Ingraham, who now hosts the "Just In" show on FOX NEWS and her guest Michelle Malkin, the Conservative blogger, were ecstatic over the news a military Judge dismissed the charges against a Marine officer who had been charged with allowing his troops to murder innocent Iraqi civilians in Haditha, Iraq.

Ingraham neatly sidestepped one very important point in the court ruling. Namely, the one Marine who led the assault on the Iraqi civilians is still facing charges.

To set the record straight, here is the COMPLETE story of the trial and what was not reported by Ingraham and her guests on FOX NEWS' "Just In."

The bottom line is there were 24 Iraqi civilians killed and they didn't kill themselves.

So before Laura Ingraham, Michelle Malkin and the FOX NEWS "Just In" producers breakout the champagne they might want to wait until they hear what is the determination of the military court regarding the one Marine, who led the squad involved in the Haditha incident, that resulted in the death of a number of 24 Iraqi civilians.

COMMENTARY BY BILL CORCORAN, EDITOR OF CORKSPHERE
Former Cpl. (E-4) United States Army Combat Engineers, Korean War veteran

Charges dismissed in Haditha case
Judge finds that a general overseeing the case was improperly influenced

The Associated Press
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25211958/

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - A military judge dismissed charges Tuesday against a Marine officer accused of failing to investigate the killings of 24 Iraqis.

Col. Steven Folsom dismissed charges against Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani after finding that a four-star general overseeing the case was improperly influenced by an investigator probing the November 2005 shootings by a Marine squad in Haditha.

"Unlawful command influence is the mortal enemy of military justice," Folsom said. "In order to restore the public confidence, we need to take it back. We need to turn the clock back."

Chessani, of Rangely, Colo., was the highest-ranking officer to face a combat-related court-martial since the Vietnam War.

The charges were dismissed without prejudice, meaning they can be refiled, but Folsom barred Marine Forces Central Command from future involvement in the case.

One Marine still faces prosecutionOf eight Marines originally charged in the case, only one is still facing prosecution in the biggest U.S. criminal prosecution involving Iraqi deaths to come out of the war.

The incident occurred after a Marine was killed by a roadside bomb.

Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, who faces voluntary manslaughter charges, and a squad member shot five men by a car at the scene. Investigators say Wuterich then ordered his men to clear several houses with grenades and gunfire, leaving women and children among the dead.

Wuterich has pleaded not guilty.

Folsom's ruling comes two weeks after Gen. James Mattis took the stand — a rare courtroom appearance for such a high-ranking officer — to address the judge's initial finding that there was evidence of unlawful command influence in the case.

Investigator became adviserCol. John Ewers, the military lawyer who investigated the killings and took Chessani's statement, later became a top legal adviser to Mattis and sat in on briefings that helped Mattis decide who would be charged.

Mattis testified he never talked with Ewers about Haditha, although Ewers was present during a number of legal meetings where Haditha and Chessani were discussed.

Military policy prohibits Ewers from offering legal advice because he also was an investigator in the case.

Mattis approved the filing of charges against Chessani when he was both commander of the Marine Corps Forces Central Command and the commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton. He has since been promoted and serves as commander of both NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Transformation and commander of U.S. Joint Forces.

Four enlisted Marines were originally charged with counts related to the killings and four officers were charged in connection with the investigation, including Chessani.

CNN REPORT: EXAM REVEALS IRAQI DETAINEES WERE TORTURED

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former terrorist suspects detained by the United States were tortured, according to medical examinations detailed in a report released Wednesday by a human rights group.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/18/gitmo.detainees/index.html

The Massachusetts-based Physicians for Human Rights reached that conclusion after two-day clinical evaluations of 11 former detainees, who had been held at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and in Afghanistan.

The detainees were never charged with crimes.

"We found clear physical and psychological evidence of torture and abuse, often causing lasting suffering," said Dr. Allen Keller, a medical evaluator for the study.

In a 121-page report, the doctors' group said that it uncovered medical evidence of torture, including beatings, electric shock, sleep deprivation, sexual humiliation, sodomy and scores of other abuses.

The report is prefaced by retired U.S. Major Gen. Antonio Taguba, who led the Army's investigation into the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal in 2003. Watch why a rights group says there's evidence of torture »

"There is no longer any doubt that the current administration committed war crimes," Taguba says. "The only question is whether those who ordered torture will be held to account."

Over the years, reports of abuses at Abu Ghraib and allegations of torture at Guantanamo prompted the Bush administration to deny that the U.S. military tortures detainees.

Since only 11 detainees were examined "the findings of this assessment cannot be generalized to the treatment of all detainees in U.S. custody," the report says.

However, the incidents documented are consistent with findings of other investigations into government treatment, "making it reasonable to conclude that these detainees were not the only ones abused, but are representative of a much larger number of detainees subjected to torture and ill treatment while in U.S. custody."

Four of the men evaluated were arrested in or taken to Afghanistan between late 2001 and early 2003 and later were sent to Guantanamo Bay, where they were held for an average of three years before being released without charge, the report says. The other seven were detained in Iraq in 2003 and released within a year, the report says.

All the subjects told examiners that they were subjected to multiple forms of torture or ill treatment that "often occurred in combination over a long period of time," the report says.

Click on http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/18/gitmo.detainees/index.html to read full account

THE UNTOLD STORY OF IRAQ WAR LOSERS: WIDOWS

IRAQ: Home to Too Many Widows

By Ahmed Ali and Dahr Jamail*BAQUBA, Jun 18 (IPS)
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42858

Just about everyone in Iraq is a loser as a result of the occupation, but none more than women.

One of the more obvious signs of that is the very large number of widows.

The Asharq al-Awsat Arab media channel estimated in late 2007 there were 2.3 million widows in Iraq. These include widows from the 1980-1988 war with Iran in which half a million men were killed, the U.S.-led invasion and occupation of Iraq, and from 'natural' causes. The news outlet cited the Iraqiyat (Iraqi women) group as a source for their figure. For a widow, all things are the same, dark. "Being a widow means being dead in Iraq today," a professor from Diyala University, speaking on condition of anonymity, told IPS. "This is because of the tremendous responsibilities cast upon her."

The widows have become victims of the occupation, but also of social codes. Women are not supposed to commit mistakes, and when they do, their mistakes are rarely forgiven. Women are easily accused of doing 'bad things', regardless of proof. Widowed women have a tough struggle on their hands, beyond the loss they have had to live through. They are not easily allowed to work, or even to carry out normal daily activities. "When a woman breaks these rules, she loses the respect of others, or might be spoken of badly," a local trader told IPS. "This is because much of rural Iraqi society is primitive and undereducated." Like most others, the trader did not want his name used, for fear of retribution. "Islam gives respectable freedom to the woman when she loses her husband," a religious cleric told IPS. "But because of their ignorance, people place severe restrictions on the woman."

Millions of lives have been shattered during the occupation. Two groups, Just Foreign Policy in the U.S. and the Opinion Business Research group in Britain estimate the total number of Iraqis who have died due to the occupation to be at least 1.2 million.

Click on link http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42858 to continue reading story.

THIS IS WHAT WE ARE FIGHTING IN IRAQ: GIRL 8 USED AS SUICIDE BOMBER

The U.S. military in Iraq has confirmed a story about an eight-year old Iraqi girl who was strapped with explosives and blew herself up and killed an Iraqi Army Captain in Mosul last month.

There is no solution to the occupation/war the United States is fighting in Iraq other than to pull ALL U.S. troops out of Iraq ASAP.

Sen. John McCain keeps saying he would pull our troops out of Iraq when the killing of Americans stops.

When will that be? Can McCain guarantee no more U.S. troops are going to be targeted by insurgents?

Of course not.

There are far too many different factions in Iraq and there is no ONE group that speaks for all of Iraq so if one insurgent group were to "surrender" there are ten or twenty more groups who won't surrender and the war will continue as long as U.S. forces are in Iraq.

If the Iraqis are willing to sacrifice an eight-year old girl as a suicide bomber, then any hope of hammering out some kind of "surrender" is totally out of the question.

COMMENTARY BY BILL CORCORAN, EDITOR OF CORKSPHERE


Girl, 8, used as bomber kills Iraqi captain

http://www.iraqinews.com/security/girl-8-used-as-bomber-kills-iraqi-captain.html?Itemid=126#top

Spokesmen for both the US and Iraqi military have confirmed that a girl strapped with explosives was the cause of a blast that killed an Iraqi captain and injured four soldiers south of Baghdad.

Iraqi Army Lt Ahmad Ali said the explosives were detonated yesterday as the girl approached the Iraqi commander in Youssifiyah.

Ali said from the scene that "the bomb was detonated by remote control, killing Capt Wassem Al Maamouri and injuring four soldiers."
He said authorities imposed a curfew and American troops are searching for those responsible.
Maj John Hall said US reports indicated one Iraqi solider was killed and seven wounded.
Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki ordered a new assault on Al Qaida in the main northern city of Mosul yesterday, the jihadists' last urban bastion in Iraq according to US commanders.
Al Maliki travelled to Mosul with top aides to take command of the US-backed drive against Al Qaida in the province, defence ministry spokesman Maj Gen Abdul Kareem Khalaf said.
"Operation Umm Al Rabiain (Mother of Two Springs) has just started against those threatening the civilian population and attacking Iraqi forces in Mosul," defence ministry spokesman Khalaf told AFP.
"This operation is targeting terrorists and criminals," he said, alluding to Al Qaida, which has been accused of a string of major attacks across Nineveh province of which Mosul is the capital. Earlier this week, security forces announced a "new phase" in their operations in Nineveh, which borders both Syria and Turkey.
Officials said they advanced from the preparatory stage of the campaign to a full-scale offensive on Wednesday in a bid to flush out Al Qaida in Iraq.

TUESDAY: 75 IRAQIS KILLED, 120 WOUNDED

The mainstream media in the United States could barely brings themselves to mention the spate of suicide bombings in Iraq that claimed the lives on 75 Iraqis as well as wounding 120 others.

Tuesday: 75 Iraqis Killed, 120 Wounded
Updated at 11:57 p.m. EDT, June 17, 2008
http://www.antiwar.com/updates/?articleid=13003

At least 75 Iraqis were killed and 120 more were wounded in a spate of bombings and other attacks. The heaviest toll occurred at a Baghdad bus stop around dinnertime. No Coalition deaths were reported today. Meanwhile, Turkey claimed to have stopped a force of PKK rebels from entering the country via northern Iraq.
In Baghdad, 51 people were killed and over 80 more were wounded when a bomb exploded next to a two-story building containing shops and residential apartments in Hurriya; the blast ignited a fire that killed many of the victims. In Ghadeer, a roadside bomb blasted a police commando patrol, wounding three policemen and one civilian. Gunmen on motorcycles shot dead a policeman in Jamiya. In Mansour, gunmen killed a civil servant and wounded a companion. In Zaafaraniyah, a roadside bomb injured a civilian. Also, three dumped bodies were found.
An arms cache was found in Sadr City.
A suicide bicycle bomber attacked an Awakening Council (Sahwa) checkpoint, killing four of the U.S-backed fighters and wounding two civilians in al-Saba Abkar, which is just north of Baghdad.
A car bomb outside police headquarters in Baquba left one policeman dead and 21 others wounded.
In Mosul, U.S. forces killed four people they claim were al-Qaeda militants, but police and mourners say the four were three brothers and their father; four other family members were arrested. Gunmen stormed a home and shot a woman dead. An off-duty policeman was shot and killed in a separate incident in Bab al-Toub. Also, a local TV anchor was shot dead.
A roadside bomb exploded near Kut in Aziziya killed a police colonel and two bodyguards. Four other policemen were wounded in the blast and as many as six other people were also injured. Six people were abducted in the incident that lured the police to that location.
Police commandos fired upon a group of police recruits in Samarra. One of the recruits was killed and another was wounded.
Gunmen killed the brother of a commissioner near Udhaim.
Three brothers were abducted from a fake checkpoint near Mandali.
Police detained five people and confiscated weapons in Basra.
In Missan province, 38 IEDs were defused ahead of a security crackdown.
An arms cache was seized in Karbala.
A municipal worker was killed during a drive-by shooting in Tuz Khormato.

WE HAVE VIDEO OF DEADLY CAR BOMB THAT KILLED 51 IN BAGHDAD ON TUESDAY

This video shows the after effects of the car bomb that killed 51 Iraqi civilians in a market in Baghdad on Tuesday and plans that are going to be launched against the Mahdi militia.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/multimedia/video.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10517003&content_media_id=5005600

PENTAGON: SHOOTING OF REUTERS JOURNALIST IN IRAQ JUSTIFIED

Pentagon: Shooting of Reuters journalist in Iraq justified
Pentagon finds that US soldiers were justified in shooting of Reuters journalist in Iraq

LOLITA C. BALDORAP News
Jun 17, 2008 13:54 EST
http://wiredispatch.com/news/?id=216199

The 2005 shooting death of a Reuters journalist in the midst of a firefight in Baghdad was justified because U.S. soldiers believed the camera protruding from an unmarked car was a rocket propelled grenade, the Pentagon's internal watchdog has concluded.

In an 82-page report, the Defense Department's inspector general also said that Reuters safety practices contributed to the death of sound technician Waleed Khaled, and the wounding of cameraman Haider Kadhem.

While the report was critical of how the initial investigation was conducted — saying the military unit's investigating officer did not follow correct procedures — it nevertheless concluded that a "preponderance of evidence establishes that the cameraman and driver took actions during the incident that reasonably led U.S. soldiers to believe they were confronting hostile intent."

Reuters Editor-in-Chief David Schlesinger said he believes the inspector general took the case seriously and came up with positive recommendations.

"We are never satisfied when a journalist is killed in the course of covering a story," he said. "I welcome the recommendation that the military and media engage together to better ensure the safety of journalists on the front line."

MAINSTREAM MEDIA FAILS AMERICAN PUBLIC AGAIN ABOUT IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN

Day after day the mainstream media, and especially FOX NEWS, hide from the American public what is REALLY going on in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This is the ONLY war to my knowledge which has received so little attention in the American press.

By reading newspapers or watching TV you would never have any idea we have 160,000 troops in Iraq and another 30,000 in Afghanistan.

And to add insult to injury, many of the cable news stations, and again FOX NEWS, allow Republican politicians and pundits to go on the air and boast about how well things are going in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It is our job as a blogger reporting on what is really taking place in Iraq and Afghanistan to post information which proves the mainstream media in the United States is LYING to the American public, and most of all letting down the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and their families back in the United States.

The following is a list of incidents that took place on Tuesday alone in both Iraq and Afghanistan which prove the mainstream media has been LYING to the American public.

The stories have been sourced by http://warnewstoday.blogspot.com/ and additional information on each event can be obtained by clicking on the part in BLUE.

COMMENTARY BY BILL CORCORAN, EDITOR OF CORKSPHERE.


Reported Security incidents:Baghdad:#1: A suicide bomber on a motorcycle has struck a Baghdad checkpoint manned by US-allied fighters, killing one and wounding four. The attacker detonated his explosives in the Sunni area of Silaikh in northern Baghdad, according to police and hospital officials.In a fresh attack on members of tribal police known as Awakening Councils, a suicide bomber riding a motorcycle targeted a checkpoint manned by council members in Saba Abkar, north of Baghdad, police told VOI. Four council members were killed and two civilians were injured in the bombing.#2: A roadside bomb targeted a police commando patrol, wounding three policemen and one civilian in Ghadir district of eastern Baghdad, police said.Three policemen were injured when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off near their patrol vehicle in southeastern Baghdad, security forces said on Tuesday."An explosive charge planted by unknown men on the main road in al-Ghadeer neighborhood, southeastern Baghdad, detonated near a police patrol vehicle, wounding three patrolmen," an Iraqi police source, who requested anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq-Voices of Iraq.#3: A car bomb struck a busy market in a mainly Shiite area in Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 11 people, officials said, the deadliest such attack in three months. The attack occurred just before 6 pm. As the market in the northwestern Hurriyah neighborhood was packed with shoppers preparing for their evening meals.Iraqi police officials say at least 51 people were killed in a car bombing in a mainly Shiite section of Baghdad. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information, say 75 people were wounded in Tuesday's attack in the northern neighborhood of Hurriyah. Witnesses say the car that exploded was parked near a two-story building with shops on the bottom floor and residential apartments on top.#4: A civil servant was killed and another wounded when the car they were travelling in was attacked by armed men in the west Baghdad district of Mansour, police said.Around 5 p.m. gunmen attacked two employees of the prime minister's office in Al Nisour square killing one and injuring one in their car.#5: Police found three dead bodies throughout Baghdad, one in Palestine Street, one in Haifa Street and one in Atifiyah.#6: Around 4 p.m. A roadside bomb targeted civilians in Zafaraniyah neighborhood injuring one civilian.Diyala Prv:#1: One person was killed and 21 others were wounded on Tuesday in a car bomb explosion that ripped through central Baaquba city, a local security source said. "A car rigged with explosives detonated inside a garage opposite to the police command headquarters in downtown Baaquba city, killing one person and wounding 21 others, including 11 police personnel," the source, who requested anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq-Voices of Iraq.#2: Three brothers were kidnapped at a fake checkpoint in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad, police said.Today, unidentified gunmen shot down Ali Haydar al-Azzawi, the brother of Diala's public commissioner for civil society organizations, in al-Adheem district, after they had kidnapped," the source, who preferred to remain unnamed, told Aswat al-Iraq-Voices of Iraq.Kut:#1: Chief of al-Aziziya district and one of his companions were killed on Tuesday and ten others were wounded in a bomb explosion targeting his motorcade north of Kut, a police source said. “An explosive charge went off targeting the motorcade of Colonel Saleh Mahdi, chief of al-Aziziya police department, killing him and his companion Lieutenant Mohammed Wali Mryoush and wounding ten more of his companions in al-Aziziya district, north of Kut,” the source, who asked to remain unnamed, told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq.A roadside bomb killed a police colonel and his two guards and wounded four other policemen as they pursued gunmen in a car chase just outside the town of Kut, 150 km (95 miles) southeast of Baghdad, police said.Aziziyah:#1: Around 12:30 p.m. gunmen attacked two vehicles, a mini-bus and a truck, in the town of Aziziyah. They kidnapped 6 men from the vehicles and then set the vehicles on fire. Police headed to the scene and a roadside bomb detonated in the area of the kidnapping killing police Colonel Ali Mohammed and injuring 6 other policemen.Samarra:#1: A police volunteer was killed and another was wounded by police fire in Salah al-Din's Samarra city, a source from the joint coordination center said on Tuesday. "This morning, forces from the Interior Ministry opened fire on a group of new volunteers seeking to join local police forces in Samarra at the headquarters of the mayor's office and Samarra operations center, in an attempt to organize the volunteers," the source, who requested anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq-Voices of IraqTuz Khurmato:#1: A municipal worker was killed in a drive-by shooting in Tuz Khurmato, 170 km (105 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.Mosul:#1: US troops killed the four suspected members of al-Qaeda hiding in a building in the northern city of Mosul on Tuesday, after the suspects refused to surrender, a US military statement said. Four other suspects on the scene were detained, one of them for 'his alleged role in manufacturing and distributing bombing components,' according to the statement.A police official told the Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency that US troops killed four people from the same family and arrested four in a dawn raid on their home in al-Mahata area, in south Mosul. The victims include the father and his three sons, the unnamed official said. It is not clear whether the incident was related to the raid cited in the US military statement, in which four people were killed and four captured.#2: Also in Mosul, gunmen killed a television presenter Mohialdin al-Naqib as he was leaving his home north of the city to go to work, police officials told VOI. Al-Naqib, 50, worked with Nineveh's television and radio station, which is part of the state-owned Iraqi Media network.#3: Unidentified gunmen on Tuesday afternoon killed a policeman near his house in central Mosul, a security source said. "Unknown armed men shot and killed a policeman near his house in Bab al-Toub region in central Mosul," the source told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq.#4: Gunmen broke into a house and shot dead a woman, in Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.Kurdistan:#1: The Turkish military said on Tuesday it had opened fire on 21 Kurdish PKK fighters trying to enter Turkey from northern Iraq. The General Staff, in a statement on its internet site, said its forces opened fire on the guerrillas late on Monday 3 km (2 miles) inside northern Iraq and most of them had been "neutralised".Afghanistan:#1: Taliban militants blew up bridges and thousands of residents fled villages near Kandahar Tuesday ahead of a possible offensive by Afghan and NATO troops, officials and locals said. A Taliban commander said hundreds of fighters had massed in the villages in Arghandab district since late Monday, many of them having escaped from the southern city's main jail at the weekend in a brazen insurgent attack. The Taliban had blown up one bridge "so far" in the district, he said, adding that hundreds of Afghan soldiers had been deployed in Arghandab "to clear the insurgents from the area." An Afghan army general, Aminullah Patyali, said the rebels had reportedly destroyed several bridges and laid many landmines. One of the mines exploded, killing two Taliban, he said.Taliban fighters stormed onto the doorstep of Afghanistan's second-largest city yesterday, seizing villages, bombing small bridges, and scattering landmines to keep Canadian and international troops at bay. The head of the Kandahar provincial council and brother of President Hamid Karzai said the rebels claimed control of numerous villages and were rumoured to be planning attacks on a bigger target: Kandahar city. "There are also strong rumours that they will attack Kandahar city at strategic points -- my house, the government's house, the police station."By Tuesday, a tribal elder from the area reported, Taliban fighters had taken control of 18 villages, dug trenches and laid mines. Mr. Laity said NATO aircraft dropped leaflets urging residents of the area to remain indoors. He denied reports that the leaflets urged people to flee. In any event, the tribal elder said, Taliban forces were preventing people from leaving after an early exodus of villagers fleeing in fear of hostilities. Earlier reports from families in the area said they had been told by the Taliban to leave, an indication the Taliban intended to make a stand and fight. A government spokesman, Parwez Najib, confirmed the news that Taliban fighters had infiltrated parts of Arghandab. “There is not fighting yet,” he said. Afghan and foreign forces are aware of the presence of the Taliban, he added.#2: Four people have been killed in a gun attack in north-western Pakistan, officials say.Officials say the gunmen opened fire at the four Shia Muslim men in the main market in the town of Hangu. The identity of the killers and the motive of the killing remains unclear, according to the police. A senior official in Hangu in North West Frontier Province told Reuters news agency that Tuesday morning's attack "appeared" to be sectarian. "The men were from the same family and they were killed on the spot," Quresh Khan said.#3: A Polish patrol was fired at on the road from Ghazni to the Airborne military base, central Afghanistan, Monday night. None of the Polish troops involved in the incident were hurt, reports the Radio Information Agency (IAR). Two Polish armoured vehicles were fired at from machine guns and grenades were thrown at them. The machines were damaged as a result, but could safely return to the Airborne base.#4: Afghan forces backed by air power support of foreign troops have killed 30 Taliban fighters in Afghanistan's eastern Khost province, a local official said Tuesday.

TOLL FROM BAGHDAD CAR BOMBING RISES TO 129

Baghdad, Jun 17, (VOI) - The casualty toll from the western Baghdad car bombing on Tuesday rose to 129, a military spokesman said.

http://www.aswataliraq.info/look/english/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrArticle=82793&NrIssue=2&NrSection=1

“The toll from the car bomb that struck al-Hurriya district, north Baghdad, on Tuesday rose to 42 killed and 87 wounded,” Brig. Gen. Wassem Atta, spokesman for Baghdad's security plan, told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI).The spokesman noted “most of the casualties are civilians including women and children,” but he did not elaborate on further details..Atta in an earlier statement said “six civilians were killed and 37 were wounded, including women and children in the bombing that took place in northern Baghdad."Earlier, a police source said a car bomb went off on Tuesday in northern Baghdad, leaving an unspecified number of casualties, including women and children."Security forces sealed off the area and prevented vehicles and pedestrians from entering, while ambulances rushed the wounded to nearby hospitals for treatment," he added.

FABULOUS VIDEO: 101st AIRBORNE TALK ABOUT THE MISSION IN IRAQ. LOTS OF ACTION. INSIDE LOOK AT HOW MILITARY OPERATES IN IRAQ: STRONG LANGUAGE

Video: GuardianFilms and BBC Newsnight present ...
Sean Smith, the Guardian's award-winning war photographer, spent nearly six weeks with the 101st Division of the US army in Iraq. Watch his haunting observational film that explodes the myth around the claims that the Iraqis are preparing to take control of their own country.Contains some strong language.Video: GuardianFilms and BBC Newsnight present ...
Function VBGetSwfVer(i)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/video/page/0,,1927660,00.html

HEARTBREAKING VIDEO YOU MUST SEE: BAGHDAD'S CHILDREN ALSO SUFFER FROM PTSD AND KIDNAPPINGS

VIDEO---FINAL COUNTDOWN FOR IRAQI CHILDREN

Baghdad's last refuge for orphaned and traumatised children is in danger of closing later this month when it finally runs out of funds. The man who runs it says he will take the children, many of them orphaned by the violence, into his own home rather than see them on the streets. His co-worker has already been murdered by a death squad. In the second in a series of three films about the ordinary lives of people in Baghdad, GuardianFilms and ITN look at what has happened to the city's most vulnerable children.Full Iraq coverage

http://www.guardian.co.uk/video/page/0,,2038665,00.html