Iraq Criticizes Senate Vote;
72 Killed in Violence
An Iraq government spokesman has criticized the Senate vote for a withdrawal of troops from Iraq. (I was going to complain about Iraqi interference in US domestic politics. Then I thought, well, it is only fair that they return the favor.)
All 8 Democratic presidential contenders support a rapid withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.
Former CIA director George Tenet's memoirs contain slams at Vice President Cheney for rushing the country to war with questionable assertions.
Junior officers in the US military are beginning to speak out against the top brass and the mistakes the latter have made in Iraq. Lt. Col. Paul Yingling warns that the US faces the possibility of losing in Iraq.
Guerrilla violence killed about 72 Iraqis on Thursday.
Reuters reports political violence in Iraq on Thursday:
Police found 26 bodies in Baghad. Police found 3 bodies in Kirkuk. In Baghdad, guerrillas used a car bomb to kill at lease 6 and wound 15 in a district near Baghdad University.
Iran is playing hard to get and is still not sure it will attend the Sharm El Sheikh conference on Iraq to be held in early May. Washington had envisaged a conversation there between Secretary of State Condi Rice and the Iranian delegation.
With Blair going out, Labour Party politicians are ordering a rethinking of the UK's commitment to having troops in Iraq.
The USG Open Source Center paraphrases items from the Iraqi Press for April 26:
' Al-Bayyinah runs on the front page a 70-word report citing Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Political Advisor Sadiq al-Rikabi confirming that Al-Maliki will independently nominate the candidates for the vacant ministerial posts and reject the demands of political blocs regarding the upcoming cabinet reshuffle.
Al-Bayyinah carries on the front page a 100-word exclusive report confirming that a seminar will be held in Baghdad University on 28 April to discuss the proposed Oil and Gas Bill. The report adds that parliament member Haydar al-Abadi, former Planning Minister Mahdi al-Hafiz and other Iraqi experts will attend the seminar.
Al-Bayyinah publishes on the front page a 500-word editorial praising late Shaykh Usamah al-Karbuli, Abd-al-Sattar Abu-Rishah and other Al-Anbar tribal chiefs for maintaining the unity of Iraqis and confronting the Al-Qa'ida Organization and other Takfiris in the governorate. . .
Al-Bayyinah carries on the front page a 600-word exclusive report citing sources close to the Association of Muslim Scholars confirming that the Jordanian Intelligence Agency has notified Association Chairman Harith al-Dari to stop his political activities against the Iraqi Government on the Jordanian territories. . .
Al-Zaman runs on page 3 a 300-word report entitled "Al-Fadilah Party Criticizes Government for Keeping Silent About Threats Against Basra Governor." . .
Al-Zaman publishes on page 4 a 550-word report entitled "Salah al-Din Tribal Chiefs Demand Activation of National Reconciliation Project; Al-Shakti: Force Alone Will Not Restore Security, Constitution Should Be Amended." . .
Al-Zaman publishes on page 4 a 200-word report entitled "Iraqi Al-Tawafuq Front Proposes To Postpone Voting on Gas and Oil Bill Until After Amendment of Constitution." . .
Al-Mu'tamar runs on the front page an 80-word report saying that Al-Fadhila Islamic Party has demanded that parliament establish a neutral committee to investigate the situation in Basra. (OSC plans no further processing)
Al-Mu'tamar runs on the front page a 220-word report citing President Jalal Talabani demanding that the sectarian dispute in Tal Afar is contained. . .
Al-Mu'tamar runs on the front page a 40-word report saying that the Iraqi al-Tawqfuq Front withdrew from parliament yesterday to protest the national security law, which they described as illegal. . .
Al-Zaman carries on the front page a 240-word report citing a high-ranking police officer, who requested anonymity, confirming that joint Iraqi-US forces are imposing tight siege around Al-Tahrir District of Ba'qubah to search for Iraqi Islamic State Chairman Abu-Umar al-Baghdadi. . .
Al-Sabah carries on page 4 a 75-word report citing a security source in Wasit denying that Iranian forces have occupied a border police station in Al-Kut. . .
Al-Sabah carries on the front page a 140-word report citing eyewitnesses coming from Maysan saying that the security situation in the governorate is deteriorating, especially assassinations against women. . .
Al-Mada runs on the front page a 120-word report saying that, in the first day of utilizing the technical equipment and explosive sonar, three car bombers and an improvised explosive device were detected. . .
Al-Mada runs on the front page a 110-word report on an Al-Qa'ida operative who recruits 12-year-old children to commit acts of suicide. . .
Al-Manarah runs on page 4 a 200-word report entitled "Basra Teachers Union Declares Open Strike in All Schools in Governorate."
Al-Manarah devotes all of page 5 to a report on the expanded symposium organized by the Civil Society Center in Central and Southern Governorates to discuss the proposed Freedom of Journalism in Iraq Bill.
Al-Bayyinah publishes on page 2 a 200-word report on the demonstration staged by the Passengers Transportation State Company's workers demanding salary increase. . . '
Labels: Iraq War
posted by Juan Cole @ 4/27/2007 12:30:00 AM
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http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2488848.ece
27 April 2007 06:06
Home > News > World > Middle East
Serving British soldier exposes horror of war in 'crazy' Basra
By Terri Judd
Published: 27 April 2007
A British soldier has broken ranks within days of returning from Iraq to speak publicly of the horror of his tour of duty there, painting a picture of troops under siege, "sitting ducks" to an increasingly sophisticated insurgency.
"Basra is lost, they are in control now. It's a full-scale riot and the Government are just trying to save face," said Private Paul Barton.
The 27-year-old, who returned from his second tour of Iraq this week along with other members of 1st Battalion, the Staffordshire Regiment, insisted that he remains loyal to the Army despite such public dissent. He said he had already volunteered to go to Afghanistan later this year.
But, he said, he felt strongly that somebody had to speak out: "I want people to see it as it is; not the sugar-coated version."
His public protest is a sign of the groundswell of anger among the troops, and predictions that more will come forward to break the traditional covenant of silent service. Just last month, Pte Steve Baldwin, 22, a soldier in the same regiment, spoke to The Independent about the way he had been "pushed aside" since being injured by a roadside bomb which killed three others during the Staffords' first tour of Iraq in 2005.
And on Monday, Cpl Richard Bradley also chose to air his views on television: "Blokes are dying for no cause at all and blokes are getting injured for no cause at all."
Reacting to Pte Barton's comments, many soldiers on websites appeared stunned but in agreement. One said: "When I arrived back last year, I was utterly depressed by what I had seen out there and the lack of any progress ... any journo sticking a microphone in my grid would have been given enough soundbites to retire on. And I would probably be in the Tower of London.
"I can only imagine that the situation 12 months on is even worse, and it would not surprise me if this is repeated over the coming months by more guys coming back from their third and fourth tours to that midden."
Pte Barton felt so strongly that he telephoned his local paper, the Tamworth Herald, to speak of the "side you don't hear".
The regiment lost one soldier, Pte Johnathon Wysoczan, 21, during its tour, but 33 more were injured. "I was the first one to get to one of the tents after it was hit, where one of my mates was in bed. The top of his head and his hand was blown off. He is now brain damaged.
"We were losing people and didn't have enough to replace them. You hear about the fatalities but not the injuries. We have had four who got shot in the arm, a bloke got blown up twice by roadside bombs and shot in the neck and survived."
Most, he said, endured at least one "lucky escape" during their tour. "I had a grenade chucked at me by practically a five-year-old kid. I had a mortar land a couple of metres from me."
The regiment was based in the Shatt al-Arab hotel base, which was handed over to the Iraqi army on 8 April. Of the 40 tents in the base, just five remained unscathed by the end of the tour, he said. "We were just sitting ducks ... On the last tour we were not mortared very often. This tour, it was two to three times a day. Fifteen mortars and three rockets were fired at us in the first hour we were there."
He added: "Towards the end of January to March, it was like a siege mentality. We were getting mortared every hour of the day. We were constantly being fired at. We basically didn't sleep for six months. You couldn't rest. Psychologically, it wore you down.
"Every patrol we went on we were either shot at or blown up by roadside bombs. It was crazy."
He insisted that the insurgents appeared to be considerably better trained, funded and equipped than had been the case during their first tour of duty.
"Last tour, I never fired my rifle once. This time, I fired 127 rounds on five different occasions. And, in my role [providing medical support], I shouldn't have to fire." He added: "We have overstayed our welcome now. We should speed up the withdrawal. It's a lost battle. We should pull out and call it quits."
Yingling's piece is goofy to the point of idiocy: it assumes that 300 million Americans are to be led around by the nose by some uber-class of generals and politicians.
A democratic society should and must only fight wars of self defense. The problem isn't the generalship. The problem isn't our failure to control an independent society of 25 million people; we have no business controlling Iraq.
As I have said before, you can't "win" a rape, and an unprovoked war of aggression amounts to a rape.
In case there are some that still needed proof, Tenet's characterization of Cheney's role makes it clear that Bush is merely a bumpkin on the bowsprit of the neocon ship of state.
"All 8 Democratic presidential contenders support a rapid withdrawal of US troops from Iraq."
Iraq supposed to be liberated from Baathist oppression that for large part was caused by the U.S. and world support for decades to Saddam and his Baathist dictatorship, ignoring the suffering, human right abuse and genocide committed against the population while shaking hand and exchanging the cash that was stolen from the Iraqis people, left them impoverished, destitute and indebted.
Ending the Illegal occupation is a must. It can be gracefully set by a withdrawal timetable for troops and bases or drip the last penny you got down the Iraqi gutter. Only fools will have other options.
But withdrawal is not enough. Monetary compensation for the Iraqi State damages must be paid and for those suffered from this illegal occupation, since the U.N. was part of this, all signatory countries should be held liable. Also bringing to justice all those that lied, been part of the shock and Awe planners that committed this Jewish-American genocide on the Iraqi Nation, that is by far suppressed the suffering Jews supposedly suffered at Auschwitz must also be brought to trial by an International Tribunal.
Those regimes that provided financial support to Saddam and his Baathist regime must also be held liable and the debt must be cancelled since the Iraqi Baathist regime came to power illegally by the military coup and not by the ballot box and should have not been recognized by other countries as representative of the Iraqis.
Anything less will not suffice and will not be just. Anyone dreams, plans or even think that this is going to end short of this outcome is an idiot. Don’t be so naïve to think you can just pack your bags and leave. PELOSI, you want out!! You can, but first bring in those Jewish criminals that plotted this crime.
I can fully understand why the Iraqi government would want the US troops to stay on in Iraq indefinitely - there is absolutely no way that Iraq will, in the foreseeable future, have a national military force that is anything but sectarian... The sectarian, tribal and religious factions in Iraq demand and receive the loyalty of the various brigades of Iraqi forces put together by the US-led coalition - this is the main reason why the US can not "step down" as Iraqi forces "step up," to use that unfortunate Texas Two-Step that El Presidente Arbusto prescribed last year as a response to the Al Anbar shuffle... That strategery, as with everything else Bushiites have tried in their last Eight 6-month fantasy foibles, has withered under the heat of the Iraqi reality...
Dr. Cole:
Lt. Col. Yingling's article is a damning indictment of our general officer corps. Of course, it makes one wonder whether Lt. Col. Yingling has a chance at "Col." Yingling.
"Yingling's piece is goofy to the point of idiocy: it assumes that 300 million Americans are to be led around by the nose by some uber-class of generals and politicians."
Where have you been? What do you think has been going on here for at least the last 60 years? Do you think there was a groundswell for Truman's war in Korea?
Yingling's point is the obligation of generals to provide professional military advice to the elected leadership. That has nothing to do with leading people around by their nose. In any event, that's clearly what's been happening for decades ( While I don't think Yingling's piece "assumes" that, if he did, he'd clearly be right based on our history (heck, going back a lot further than Korea--the Mexican-American and Spanish-American wars come to mind. "You provide the prose pose and I'll provide the war," said Charles Foster Kane.).
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