This is exactly what Bush wanted. To trash any kind of ceasefire and escalate the war AGAIN.

The Iraqi government is foolish, they allow American ideas to destroy the ground work for peace among their people. I think the 'trust' of the Maliki government is gone this time. I don't believe there will be any settlement this time. The Sistani Shia didn't start this, their central government did. The Iraqi government is killing its people. The only person that can stop this is the one that stopped it before and that is the Grand Ayatollah al Sistani.

Sheik Salman al-Feraiji, right, Muqtada al-Sadr's chief representative in Sadr City, takes weapons from a group of Iraqi policemen in Sadr City, Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, March 29, 2008. Some 40 policemen in Sadr City handed over their weapons to al-Sadr's local office Saturday. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

What purpose does the killing serve? Only to rid Iraq of its ethnicity.

The Maliki government openly states it is unsuccessful in 'defeating' long established militias. So when the violence against the Shia began, The Green Zone Iraqis lost all the ground they ever made in bringing the people of Iraq together. Any diplomatic process was trashed and a ceasefire was then violated between the Sistani Shia and The Green Zone Iraqis.

...Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, conceded failure in his bid to crush rebel fighters in Basra today, offering an extended deadline and cash incentives for the surrender of heavy weapons.
Shi'ite militias are still resisting government forces
As Mr Maliki issued his offer the security forces admitted they had lost control of a major city north of Basra....

There is a definate military strategy in killing. It isn't just a defense. Killing eliminates those one cares to destroy. That is what is occurring in Iraq today. It is not a matter of defense, prior to the attacks on the Shia there was no reason for a defense. There was a ceasefire and there was quiet.

So, the 0pen aggression against the Southern Shia of Iraq was due to pure desire to destoy the ethnic community that existed there. No diplomatic channels were pursued to hand over criminals within the communities of Iraq.

So, what now will this achieve? It will only kill more people in an attempt to reduce those that participate in the Sistani Shi'ite militias. Will the escalation of killing stop? Perhaps if the Grand Ayatollah makes a public statement, but, the intention here is to attempt to repeat Fallujah. The Shia won't lay down arms, they already tried that and it didn't get them anywhere. The aggressions against them today are proof of that.

Let's make something real clear here. The "Propaganda of the Day" purports that Maliki is attempting to eliminate criminals from Basra.

The Grand Ayatollah al Sistani

By what law, is the Grand Ayatollah a criminal? Because in this supposed attempt by the Green Zone Iraqis to rid Basra of its ciminal element and its militias an attempt was made on the life of Sistani's assistant and if that was successful he would have been next. This is NOT a police effort to root out criminals, this is ETHNIC CLEANSING. Who tried to assassinate them? Then you'll have your answer !

The senseless affairs of George Walker Bush - Yesterday there was lack of violence, today people die.

Slaughter and ethnic cleansing accelerates in Iraq (click here)
This was Basra about two years ago. A turmoil of killing and murder. It ended and there was quiet when the ceasefire was called six months ago.

Government operations in Basra caused the Sistani Shi'ites concern when members of their communities, supposedly criminals, were being arrested. True to form the Southern Sistani Shi'ites became alarmed at a government that could be the 'shadow return of Saddam' and a government hostile to them again. A warning was issued by the Southern Iraqi Shia and with that the Iraqi military moved against them, targeting specifically the Sistani Shia and Sistani himself.

Iraqi cleric warns of end to ceasefire (click here)
Updated Wed Mar 26, 2008 1:33pm AEDT
The Iraqi Shi'ite cleric, Moqtada al Sadr, is warning he'll call an end to his six month ceasefire order, if operations continue against members of his militia.Our Middle East correspondent, Ben Knight, reports the ceasefire, called last August, has been credited with helping to reduce the level of violence in Iraq.But members of his Mehdi army militia have been growing increasingly angry over the arrest of several of its members in recent weeks. Early on Tuesday, the Iraqi army entered several neighbourhoods in the port city of Basra controlled by the militia. Iraq's government says it's a mission to rout out criminal gangs who've taken hold since British forces left in December. But Moqtada al-Sadr says if it continues, he'll call for civil revolt across the country.


Today, as was predicted, in response to the Iraqi governments RETREAT from peace initiatives with the Southern Sistani Shia, there is a return to violence.

Why?

There is absolutely no reason for the return to killing and escalated violence. The risk of returning to such a state of uncontrolled violence and escalating death of innocent people is senseless, but, Bush simply loves killing people, especially when his media provides the basis of support at home.

The ceasefire was too much good news in the Green Zone and while there was enjoyed quieting across the country and a return to some form of economic awakening; the people that distain the presence of the leadership of the Grand Ayatollah were simply disgruntled and sought to instigate trouble. By sending in police to arrest people in a sensitive area of Basra, those that lust for the oil saw an opportunity to justify killing to achieve dominance over the oil rich region of Iraq.

The violence in Basra is due to oil. There is no other reason. If the Iraqi government under Maliki truly wanted to remove people believed to be criminals it needed to work within the 'ETHNIC' infrastructure that existed to make in roads of cooperation.

It is just too convenient for any 'Green Zone' Iraqi to 'dial up' support for attacks against their own people.

People in responsibility in the central core of "The Western" approved Iraqi Infrastructure such as Hakim are warlords. They lust after wealth, they have their own militias to protect and propagate their interests and they distain an entire populous of people that are peace abiding and seek only to worship Allah in their own puritanical definition of 'wholesomeness.' The central authorities in Baghdad's Green Zone need to realize how delicate 'the quiet' actually is and cooperate in PROTECTING the peace and PROTECTING the lives of the innocent INSTEAD of allowing the innocent to die for some cockamamie idea of 'control.'

US air strike kills five in Sadr City (click here)

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 03:42:04

A Hellfire missile fired from a US military helicopter during fighting in Baghdad's Sadr City has killed 5 civilians and wounded 4 others. The attack was conducted early on Friday as US Ground forces called for the air strike after coming under small-arms fire while clearing a main supply route, said the US military. A US military spokesman put the death toll of the attack at four but Iraqi police and hospital officials in Sadr City said five civilians were killed. According to a British military spokesman, coalition jets have also bombed the sites , used by Iraqi fighters, in the southern Iraqi city of Basra on Friday. MHE/HAR

The Iraqi Constitution calls for the establishment of three provinces. It would seem as though the 'idea' was a bad one when the reality of the control of Southern Iraq's oil falls into hands of an Entire Provice of Sistani Shi'ites. I can't think of any better people to have control over that province considering they have existed there for millenium and define their presence in methods of peace when they are allowed to live as they do within their own ETHNIC preferences. What exactly was the 'idea' behind the provincial constitutional dictates? To 'eventually' change the ETHNIC content of the provinces and make them homogenous? To eventually make Iraq a 'melting pot' likened to that of the history of the USA? The USA melting pot was achieved through immigration and not forced acceptance of military imposition.

It has been my view and will continue to be my view that the Bush Puppet Government is a false face to an Iraq that is capable of peaceful coexistance among its ethnic constitutents. The attacks into Basra were never necessary. A return to violence in Southern Iraq is completely uncalled for and was triggered by greed and the distain for the ethnicity of the people there.

What have the Southern Sistani Shia, with a longevity and tenacity through the entire country of Iraq unmatched by any other for their entire existance, learned from this experience? They have learned they still have a government willing to kill them. They haven't learned anything else. They have learned they are still the targets of hate without respect for their own ethnic authority. They have learned that 'here again' they have to be willing to die in order to live.

The Holy Men of the Southern Shia have acted in the only way they can and worked within the dictated infrastructure of the 'molded' Iraqi government that began with Bremer. They have acted honorably in negotiations with the Maliki authority including those that have come before him and without hesitation to attempt to stop the killing of their people while maintaining a militia that has protected them from the days of Saddam.

This attack by the Maliki government is reprehensible. It only PROVES the inappropriate presence of the USA military in Iraq and its willingness to kill for the simple request of doing so. The Green Zone Iraqis don't care about their people, but, simply 'the wealth' of their people and the pursuit of their own ethnic ideologies.

The most stable places in Iraq prior to Bush's War were the south and north of that country. Today the Shia of the South are under attack by their own government and the Kurds of the north are under attack by the USA ally, Turkey. People's lives are irrelivant to the oil. If that isn't completely obvious today than I don't know what is.

The joke of all jokes. Iraq has yet another 'defining' moment. How many does that make now?

The Australian Dollar as converted against the USA dollar. Not a pretty sight ! Exchange rate is one Australian Dollar to 1.08838 USA. Around the middle of December the exchange rate was one Australian Dollar to 1.16863 USA. Pretty soon the Australian Dollar will be worth more than the USA Greenback.

Ironic appearance of the Australian Prime Minister during the day of Bush's worst hour when he declared war on the Shia. Rudd is pulling his troops and his support of the Iraq war. Interesting picture, more interesting moment. Rudd came to talk some sense into Bush over the economic collapse the USA market and dollar. It must have worked, Hank Paulson came out with YET ANOTHER strategy to stop the globally sinking the ship !

See, Mr. Rudd knows the issue is the war and not the Iraq people. He seeks ways to assist Iraq, but, without killing the very people "The West" was supposed to free from tyranny and fear. Bush has a timeline, but, its running out and therefore before the Democrats win in November and remove USA military from Iraq, he's in a hurry to reduce the population of 'trouble makers' and make Iraq safe enough for him to run his oil businesses.

Rudd defends his lengthy visit as he begins US talks (click here)
...Mr Rudd said he had made Australia's position — which is for a withdrawal of Australian combat troops by mid-year — "abundantly clear" to the President before and since last year's election. The challenge for the future was "how do we partner with America and our other friends and allies in providing other forms of assistance to the Government of Iraq?"...

The only defining moment this is 'this time' is the beginning of genocide of the Sistani Shia. Maliki never thought much of that political constituency anyway. You know they kill off their opposition in Africa, Kenya was a good example of that this year, so why not get rid of the people that make the Bush Puppet Government answer to them. The Sistani Shia are people of resolve, they survived Saddam Hussein. The Question is will they survive the Bush Genocide? Oil is the goal and nothing stands in the way of Walker Bush or Cheney. They are melting down an entire planet to achieve derricks in the Arctic Ocean, does anyone believe a majority of Shia in Iraq are valued over the oil? No.

Abdul Aziz al-Hakim

He cares little for the central government EXCEPT for the influence he has in that position which is backed up by his powerful Shi'ite militia, the Badr Brigade.

He rules 'by the gun' and 'the gun' in the hands of his Shi'ite militia is what has insured his longevity. In many ways his tactics are those of an 'inbedded terrorist' with the same tactics as al Qaeda. It is difficult to say why militias exist in Iraq, EXCEPT, that when men like Hakim have their personal militias there is no choice but for others to exist to protect people from a totalitarian regime AGAIN.

The most interesting aspect of this to note is that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is on his way back to Baghdad to stop the killing of the Southern Shi'ites aligned with the Grand Ayatollah and his Cleric.

In other words, Hakim took advantage of the absence of Maliki to kill the Mahdi Army by forcing issues 'on the ground' in Basra in the face of any plea by the Shi'ite leaders there for a continued ceasefire. Quite literally, the American forces are doing the bidding of the Badr Brigade when the Iraqi military could not carry out a victory for Genocide of the Sistani Shia.

Bush is a fool and one willing to do anything, on any grounds, with propaganda to cover his tracks to secure his political regime in the USA. War is the 'currency' of the Republican Party these days and to fail in any way at that 'game' is to insure the disruption of Republican power in the Executive Branch and otherwise.

So what exactly is happening in Iraq? Survival. The Sistani Shia are still trying to survive. First it was the disruption of water to the wetlands by Saddam and it was the militias of the Shia that rebelled causing the deaths of 50,000 of them in 2002. Today, the Hakim Shia are anchored into power rather than standing up for moral principles. If you would recall, the Imam Ali Mosque, the center of Shia beliefs and worship, was under attack and it took the Grand Ayatollah to stop that massive killing as well.

Now, the Grand Ayatollah is being targeted directly as is his Cleric and the people that worship with them. The Grand Ayatollah is a man of peace and always has been but he and his Cleric have stood any and all 'seductions' of Bush's Political Machine in Baghdad and remained 'leaders of their people' rather than 'sell outs' to the Bush Puppet government in Baghdad.

When the first governing body of Iraq was being chosen, it was at the time when al Sadr was under attack in Najaf. He was asked to join with the first 100 members, soon to be 200+, nearly 300 members of the Central Government and to come out of danger of his soon to be destroyed Mosque if indeed the Grand Ayatollah did not appear. Sadr refused. He stated the work of the central authority was corrupt. And it is. Absolutely corrupt. He, having lost so many members of his family under Saddam, has known corruption and the result 'over time' of it's dynamics. It was he that had his newspaper shut down by Bremer and at that moment felt the 'ingrained' corruption that would become the 'status quo' of Iraq.

The Sistani Shia are the most devout of the Shi'ites. They are a gross minority. They are more preoccupied with prayer and daily living under the gaze of their Holy Men to walk in harmony with Allah. They are a unique Shia and need the protections and not the attacks of the USA, or without that reality a possibility, the protections of the United Nations and the World Courts.

The Sistani Shia did nothing to deserve these attacks, except, defend themselves as they easily can do. An army of 60,000 is no small army and they manage to protect themselves without the benefit of aircraft or otherwise. Now, the Bush military is turning an unrising against the Iraqi military directed to kill them on behalf of people like Hakim into a slaughter. The USA has no interest in the deaths that are occurring today with the 'over powered' American war in Iraq. They are literally killing for the purpose of eliminating any threat to the Badr Brigade. The American military under the command of George Walker Bush are a 'killing machine' and not an extension of diplomacy.

What is occurrring Basra is a profound effort at annihilation of the Sistani Shia, for absolutely no reason except they are trying, still today, to survive.

It's absolutely amazing how stupid and ludicrous Bush, Cheney and their generals are. According to the USA miltiary in Iraq, they entered the frey because they were 'asked.' No discretion, just asked. Amazing. Today is the day the USA, unannouced, will kill Sistani Shia because they were asked. No other reason. Simply amazing. Sort of like throwing a puppy over a cliff. No sound reason, just a good day to do it.

This is a training film produced by the Badr Brigade. Their intent on destroying American armored vehicles with the most powerful IEDs in Iraq.

The Badr Brigade has direct ties to the Iraqi Central Government through a man by the name of Abdul Aziz al-Hakim. Abdul Aziz al-Hakim is a surviving member of the original Iraqi Governing Council appointed by Bush and Bremer in December 2003. It is Mr. Hakim that has the authority to influence the killings of the Mahdi Army. It is probably his Badr Brigade that attempted to assassinate the Grand Ayatollah al Sistani and managed to seriously wound Sistani's Assistant.

Bush loves to kill Shi'ites. Not all Shi'ites, primarily the ones connected with the Mahdi Army

The darnest thing about it that the Mahdi Army aren't the ones connected to Iran. The Badr Brigade are connected to Iran and openly are known to have trained there. Why would the Badr Brigade be 'immune' from Bush's bombs? There is a reason. Next entry.

Americans are trying to stop the Iraq War in any way they can !

Iraqis hold poster of Iraq's Muqtada al-Sadr during a massive protest in Sadr City, Baghdad, against PM Maliki, Thursday, 27 March 2008 (click here)
Shi'ite radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has called for a political solution to the crisis that has led to fierce fighting between his followers and Iraqi forces in Baghdad and southern Iraq.
In a statement released Thursday in the holy Shi'ite city of Najaf, Sadr said he wants everyone to pursue political solutions and peaceful protests and a stop to the shedding of Iraqi blood.
However, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki vowed to continue the military offensive in Basra "to the end" with no negotiations or retreat....


What the heck is the Iraqi government thinking? They are acting in gross contempt of the democratic principles being called for, there is no reason to kill people. Democracies are not built when people are murdered by their own governments. The people aren't the issue, the puppet government of Bush is the issue. The killing needs to stop. There simply is no reason for it. This is outrageous !


...Shortly afterwards, Iraqi authorities imposed a three-day curfew in Baghdad in a bid to contain violent clashes that have left more than 100 people dead....


Protesters Shut Down Army, Navy Recruiting Offices (click title to entry)
About 20 Macalester College students are taking part in a demonstration outside neighboring Army and Navy recruiting offices on the U of M's East Bank, a move that has effectively shut down the businesses for the day....


What happens if Baghdad fails to meet these benchmarks? (click here)

What happens is that the Iraqi government doesn't get their billions of USA money anymore and there will be a troop reduction. That's what will happen.

And there is no way the Iraqi Benchmarks are close to being met. The Iraqi government are attacking their own people, shutting off food and water (Just like Saddam did in 2002 causing the death of 50,000 Iraqis in an uprising after he attempted to starve them to death.) forcing them into greater hardship and taking advantage of that hardship by sending in troops to kill them. Sounds like Saddam all over again, if anyone asks me.


Iran and Russia won't get involved because to do so would INSURE George Walker Bush a third term in office due to the provisions of the Patriot Act. It's going to be up to the nations of the region to stop the attacks on these people.

The speech today by George Walker Bush served only one purpose and that was to continue the oil wars in the Middle East

The fighting has also spread to Baghdad, where there were further rocket attacks on the Green Zone today

Bush is attempting another Fallujah and advancing the slaughter of the Shi'ites. Basra is under attack this time. It controls the oil in Southern Iraq and Bush wants it. The turbulence of Basra and the interruption of the oil from that city is why oil spiked to $107.00 a barrel. Bush is going to kill more Shi'ites and he is masking that truth by stating they are the problem along with Iran. So the USA is carrying out a greater genocide of people and causing more and more ethnic tensions. There was a ceasefire by the Mahdi Army, now they have no choice but to fight and their Cleric is still calling for a peaceful resolve. Is that what Bush stated today in his speech? No. He stated there was more problems. That is not the case, but, then when has he ever told the truth regarding Iraq. Iraq is a chronic oil war and a training ground for Al Qaeda because of the USA occupation.


Smoke billowed into the sky from the exploded oil pipeline seven miles to the south of Basra

Al-Sadr urges solution to Iraq violence (click here)
3 hours ago
Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr wants a "political solution" to the crisis that has led to deadly clashes between his followers and government security forces this week in Baghdad and the oil-rich south.
In a brief statement released in the holy Shiite city of Najaf, south of Baghdad, al-Sadr said he wants "everyone to pursue political solutions and peaceful protests and a stop to the shedding of Iraqi blood".
The statement was relayed to the media by al-Sadr's close aide Hazem al-Aaraji.

The American Public is completely censored from the realities of the Bush Offensive in Iraq, by chronic dramas of the Democratic primaries and the collapsed economy. The Right Wing Nuts of the Republican Party are even spinning the economic collapse of the USA and the USA dollar that they are calling it 'The Perfect Storm.' The Perfect Republican Storm that cost people their homes is supposed to get so terrible that the entire 'socialized system' of government entitlements will implode, like Social Security. In other words, "The Perfect Republican Storm" will serve not just as a recession but a complete collapse of the federal fiscal infrastructure and shut down all the entitlements they absolutely hate. Won't that be something. The part of the USA economy that is still surviving is partly from the government payouts to the SSI system. What's going to happen with the bonuses we are all going to get this year? Imploded along with SSI?

But, to return to the Bush speech and away from the political and 'money starved' USA; its primary to add justification to the 'Genocide of the Shia of Southern Iraq' to secure their oil away from them. It's just that simple. There was virtually no trouble in Southern Iraq until the USA invaded Basra. The Genocide of the Shia is only based in Republican Greed. Dead Iraqis for Oil, quite a program this time, huh?

Areas of Baghdad fall to militias as Iraqi Army falters in Basra (click here)

Iraq’s Prime Minister was staring into the abyss today after his operation to crush militia strongholds in Basra stalled, members of his own security forces defected and district after district of his own capital fell to Shia militia gunmen.
With the threat of a civil war looming in the south, Nouri al-Maliki’s police chief in Basra narrowly escaped assassination in the crucial port city, while in Baghdad, the spokesman for the Iraqi side of the US military surge was kidnapped by gunmen and his house burnt to the ground.
Saboteurs also blew up one of Iraq's two main oil pipelines from Basra, cutting at least a third of the exports from the city which provides 80 per cent of government revenue, a clear sign that the militias — who siphon significant sums off the oil smuggling trade — would not stop at mere insurrection....

The attacks on Basra are unjustified, yet, because of the Shia having such a stronghold on it, it became a target for the oil greed of this Commander and Chief. He stated he believed in the 'provincial' process of the Iraqi people, yet, through this attack he directly has authorized the killing of people that have established a Shia Province in Southern Iraq.

Iraqi lawmakers to hold emergency session Friday (click here)

Thu Mar 27, 2008 6:23pm EDT
Reuters) - Iraqi lawmakers will hold an emergency session on Friday to discuss ways of ending violence in the oil city of Basra, where security forces have launched a crackdown on Shi'ite militia, the parliament's speaker said. ''Today...";
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi lawmakers will hold an emergency session on Friday to discuss ways of ending violence in the oil city of Basra, where security forces have launched a crackdown on Shi'ite militia, the parliament's speaker said.
"Today (Thursday) we reviewed the situation in Basra. We agreed to hold an emergency session tomorrow to discuss the Basra situation and how to resolve it," speaker Mahmoud Mashhadani told Reuters.
U.S.-backed Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki vowed on Thursday that security forces would battle Shi'ite militia in Basra "to the end" despite huge demonstrations to demand his resignation.
Mehdi Army Fighters loyal to cleric Moqtada al-Sadr remained in control of much of Basra, Iraq's second biggest city and main oil hub, defying a three-day government offensive that has led to violence spreading across the south and Baghdad.
Mashhadani said representatives of Shi'ite and Sunni parties in parliament, including lawmakers loyal to Sadr, had agreed to attend the special session starting at 3 p.m. (8 a.m. EDT).
Authorities have imposed a three-day curfew in the capital to contain the clashes.
(Reporting by Ross Colvin; editing by Ibon Villelabeitia)

The Washington Post had an interesting point of view in that most of what is occurring with this White House is spin. They are right, but, I sure didn't expect to hear it from the 'kiss-ass' Washington Post. This is finally a move in the right direction by the press and they need to keep going. The fact is that a full one-third of the Iraqi people are in sincere poverty and this blog has addressed that with the same assertion that IF there were to be further hardship to the Iraqi people there could be a genocide collapse of those most at risk for failure from the Iraqi infrastructure. The global community needs to call for a halt to this attempt to destroy a community of Shia in order to advance a 'Western Conceptualized Government.'

Spinning the Bloodshed in Basra (click here)

...There is plenty of reason to doubt the White House spin. Just look at what's happening on the ground, compare that to what the U.S. military is saying about it, and recall the administration's many previous statements of optimism about Iraq....

The Iraq Centralized Government has tried this before, but, this time they are being more bold and attempting to kill Ayatollahs as well to rid the Shia majority of the South of their most peaceful and influential Holy Men. Bush needs to knock it off. This is a full front attack against the Southern Shia of Iraq.

In Iraq, Sistani's Deputy Seriously Wounded In Assassination Attempt (click here)
Abd Al-Wakil Al-Idani, deputy to Shi'ite leader Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, has been seriously wounded in an assassination attempt in the city of Basra.
It was reported that he is currently in intensive care and is not yet out of danger.
Source: Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, London, March 20, 2008

Something tells me the USA and Iraqi government really pissed of the Shia this time ! Any one have those C-5s ready for take off out of Baghdad International Airport? No? Why not? I mean the Green Zone has been breached and it has been breached for some time now. So, this might be the time to call a retreat actually! You know, sort of like the escape off the roof tops in Vietnam kind of retreat. I'd have that 'back up plan' up and running if I were responsible for American lives over there.

Diplomats told to take cover in Baghdad (click here)
3/27/2008, 7:12 p.m. EDT
By MATTHEW LEE

The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department has instructed all personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad not to leave reinforced structures due to incoming insurgent rocket fire that has killed two American government workers this week.
In a memo sent Thursday to embassy staff and obtained by The Associated Press, the department says employees are required to wear helmets, body armor and other protective gear if they must venture outside and strongly advises them to sleep in blast-resistant locations instead of the less secure trailers that most occupy.
"Due to the continuing threat of indirect fire in the International Zone, all personnel are advised to remain under hard cover at all times," it says. "Personnel should only move outside of hard cover for essential reasons."...

It would be a very wise decision for George Walker Bush and Richard Cheney to get out of the affairs of Iraq and stay out. Before they invaded Basra, things were actually looking up ! So much for, to quote Bush, "Iraqi mothers that want the same thing that American mothers want, peace." It looks as though the Iraqis won't be able to get any peace until their oil wells are finally dry.

Sistani meets U.N. officials in Najaf (click here)
Published: March 13, 2008 at 11:48 PM
NAJAF, Iraq, March 13 (UPI) -- Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ali al-Sistani stressed the need for reconciliation and free and fair Iraqi elections in a meeting with senior U.N. officials.Sistani met with head of the U.N. Assistance Mission in Iraq, Staffan de Mistura, in Najaf to discuss the increased humanitarian and political activities UNAMI is overseeing in Iraq, the mission said in a statement.Sistani spoke at length with de Mistura on the challenges Iraq continues to face on the political and reconciliation front.The meeting focused on the importance of Iraqi national reconciliation and Sistani called for increased consultation between U.N. officials and his ruling council of clerics, the Marja'iya.Sistani also stressed the need for the Iraqi people to conduct free and fair elections in the future that met international standards of transparency.

end

I'll be back ...

... with an analysis regarding Bush's speech today that you won't find anywhere in the media.

Antarctica Ice Chime

March 27, 2008
6:00 PM
Antarctica Temperature Satellite

March 27, 2008
6:00 PM
Antarctica Jet Stream / Vortex Satellite

March 27, 2008
6:00 PM
Antarctica

The warmest reporting stations in Antarctica :

King Sejong

Elevation :: 33 ft / 10 m

Lat/Long Coordinates :: 62.2 S and 58.5 W

Time :: 2:00 PM EDT

Temperature :: 34 F / 1 C

Conditions :: Overcast

Humidity :: 81%

Dew Point :: 30 F / -1C

Wind :: 12 mph / 18 km/h from the SE

Wind Gust :: -

Pressure :: 29.12 inches / 986 hPa (Falling)

Visibility :: 9.0 miles / 15.0 kilometers

UV :: 1 out of 16

Dinamet-Uruguay

Elevation :: 33 ft / 10 m

Time :: 7:35 PM GMT

Lat/Long Coordinates :: 62.2 S and 58.8 W

Temperature :: 34 F / 1 C

Conditions :: Overcast

Humidity :: 62%

Dew Point :: 26 F / -3 C

Wind :: 8 mph / 13 km/h from the SE

Wind Gust :: -

Pressure :: 29.17 in / 988 hPa (Falling)

Visibility :: 7.0 miles / 12.0 kilometers

UV :: 1 out of 16

Clouds :: Mostly Cloudy 1280 ft / 390 m
Overcast 11811 ft / 3600 m
(Above Ground Level)

The coldest reporting stations

Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica (Airport)

Lat/Lon: 90.0° S 0.0° E

Elevations :: 9285 ft / 2830 m

Time :: 2:00 PM EDT

Temperature :: -81 F/ -63 C

Conditions :: Low Drifting Snow

Wind :: 10 mph / 17 km/h from the East

Wind Gust :: -

Pressure :: in / hPa (Falling)

Visibility :: 5.0 miles / 8.0 kilometers

Clouds :: Few 5906 ft / 1800 m
(Above Ground Level)

Vostok, Antarctica

Elevation :: 11220 ft / 3420 m

Time :: 2:00 PM EDT

Temperature :: -75 F / -60 C

Conditions :: Mist

Humidity :: 40%

Dew Point :: -82 F / -63 C

Wind :: 14 mph / 22 km/h from the West

Wind Gust :: -

Pressure :: in / hPa (Falling)

Visibility :: 1.0 miles / 2.0 kilometers

March 26, 2008
9:00 PM
Antarctica

March 26, 2008
6:00 PM
Antarctica Jet Stream Satellite

March 26, 2008
9:00 PM
Antarctica Temperature Satellite

The Wilkins' Ice Sheet is near the Ronne Ice Shelf which is served by The Weddell Sea

The complications of such a melt down reaches beyond one single ice sheet. Antarctica is a 'biotic dynamic' and the loss of one ice sheet can very easily be an indication to much greater issues in the near future.

The weather at Scott Base, Ross Island, Antarctica (Crystal Ice Chime) is

The 'melting' of Earth's ice is consistent at both poles, at this rate, future generations (if surviving) will never know what ice caps are !

March 26, 2008
1928 gmt
North Pole

Glacier shrinking on Cumberland Peninsula, Baffin Island, Canadian Arctic

January 28, 2008

BAFFIN ISLAND ICE CAPS SHRINK BY 50 PERCENT SINCE 1950S, SAYS CU-BOULDER STUDY

A new University of Colorado at Boulder study has shown that ice caps on the northern plateau of Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic have shrunk by more than 50 percent in the last half century as a result of warming, and are expected to disappear by the middle of the century.
Radiocarbon dating of dead plant material emerging from beneath the receding ice margins show the Baffin Island ice caps are now smaller in area than at any time in at least the last 1,600 years, said geological sciences Professor Gifford Miller of CU-Boulder's Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research. "Even with no additional warming, our study indicates these ice caps will be gone in 50 years or less," he said.
The study also showed two distinct bursts of Baffin Island ice-cap growth commencing about 1280 A.D. and 1450 A.D., each coinciding with ice-core records of increases in stratospheric aerosols tied to major tropical volcanic eruptions, Miller said. The unexpected findings "provide tantalizing evidence that the eruptions were the trigger for the Little Ice Age," a period of Northern Hemisphere cooling that lasted from roughly 1250 to 1850, he said.
A paper on the subject was published online in Geophysical Research Letters and featured in the Jan. 28 edition of the American Geophysical Union journal highlights. Authors on the study included Miller, graduate students Rebecca Anderson and Stephen DeVogel of INSTAAR, Jason Briner of the State University of New York at Buffalo and Nathaniel Lifton of the University of Arizona.
Located just west of Greenland, the 196,000 square-mile Baffin Island is the fifth largest island in the world. Most of it lies above the Arctic Circle.
The researchers also used satellite data and aerial photos beginning in 1949 to document the shrinkage of more than 20 ice caps on the northern plateau of Baffin Island, which are up to 4 miles long, generally less than 100 yards thick and frozen to their beds. "The ice is so cold and thin that it doesn't flow, so the ancient landscape on which they formed is preserved pretty much intact," said Miller.
In addition to carbon-dating plant material from the ice edges, the researchers extracted and analyzed carbon 14 that formed inside the Baffin Island rocks as a result of ongoing cosmic radiation bombardment, revealing the amount of time the rocks have been exposed, he said. The analysis of carbon 14 in quartz crystals indicated that for several thousand years prior to the last century, there had been more ice cover on Baffin Island, Miller said.
The increase of ice extent across the Arctic in recent millennia is thought to be due in large part to decreasing summer solar radiation there as a result of a long-term, cyclic wobble in Earth's axis, said Miller. "This makes the recent ice-cap reduction on Baffin Island even more striking," he said.
Funded primarily by the National Science Foundation, the study is among the first to use radiocarbon samples from rocks for dating purposes, Miller said. The radiocarbon portion of the study was conducted at INSTAAR and the University of Arizona.Temperatures across the Arctic have been rising substantially in recent decades as a result of the build up of greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere. Studies by CU-Boulder researchers in Greenland indicate temperatures on the ice sheet have climbed 7 degrees Fahrenheit since 1991.

The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Wind Chime) continues to melt

Lat/Lon: 58.8° N 137.0° W

Elevation :: 33 ft / 10 m

Time :: 1:17 PM EDT

Temperature :: 37 F / 3 C

Conditions :: Overcast

Windchill :: 37 F / 3 C

Humidity :: 81%

Dew Point :: 32 F / 0 C

Wind :: Calm

Pressure :: 29.81 inches / 1009 hPa (Steady)

Visibility :: 10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers

UV :: 0 to 16

Clouds :: Overcast 3800 ft / 1158 m

end

The Antarctica Ice Sheets, at least where they used to be !

Changes in the extent and stability of Antarctic ice shelves prompted NSIDC to begin a monitoring program of the major ice streams and outlet glaciers along the Antarctic coast. (click here).

This archive spans back to the late 1980's. We began by using data from the AVHRR Polar 1km data set and in 2001 switched to MODIS level 1B data. Currently 19 areas are being monitored year round. This archive is a selected subset of scenes, generally the clearest and most informative scenes available.

Citing these data: Scambos, T., J. Bohlander, and B. Raup, compilers. 2001, updated current year. Images of Antarctic ice shelves. Boulder, CO: National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Digital media.

For more information on this data set contact NSIDC User Services.

When Antarctica melts it means there is instability of the climate. There is no other 'profound' meaning.

Glacier-ice shelf interactions: In a stable glacier-ice shelf system, the glacier's downhill movement is offset by the buoyant force of the water on the front of the shelf. Warmer temperatures destabilize this system by lubricating the glacier's base and creating melt ponds that eventually carve through the shelf. Once the ice shelf retreats to the grounding line, the buoyant force that used to offset glacier flow becomes negligible, and the glacier picks up speed on its way to the sea. Image by Ted Scambos and Michon Scott, National Snow and Ice Data Center, University of Colorado, Boulder.

A critical feature of an ice shelf is the "grounding line," the point where the underside of the ice shelf detaches from land and floats on the ocean water. If an ice shelf retreats to the grounding line, the shelf's shape changes. More ice protrudes above the water line, and the ocean water exerts little buoyant pressure on the ice. As a result, the flow of the glacier meets very little resistance. In the 18 months following the Larsen Ice Shelf disintegration, glaciers feeding that ice shelf accelerated between three- to eight-fold (Scambos et al. 2004 and Rignot et al. 2004). Similar mechanisms are at work in the Jakobshavn Ice Stream in Greenland (Joughin et al. 2004).

How "W"rong could they be? Any regrets?

This is the collapse of the Larson B Ice Sheet which occurred March 20002 (click here)

This occurred after this article appeared in the BBC News (see below):

Thursday, 27 December, 2001, 20:16 GMT
Low probability of ice collapse (click here)

By Christine McGourty, science correspondent, in the Antarctic
Scientists think there is just a one in 20 chance that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) will collapse in the next 200 years.
More data on the ice sheet is urgently required to be more certain about the future of the ice sheet and possible future sea-level rises
Dr David Vaughan, Bas The integrity of the WAIS is crucial to future sea levels; if all the ice melts in this region of the White Continent, it could raise the oceans by several metres.
The 5% probability of disintegration has been worked out by researchers commissioned by the British Government. Their work will be published in the journal Climate Change next month.
It is the first time a risk assessment of a WAIS collapse has been attempted....

Now, fast forward past the collapse of the Larsen B and following an extremely warm climate in Antarctica this year. I tracked it right here on this blog. The Wilkins Ice Sheet has collapsed in images released today. Bush stated in 2003, "There is no such thing as global warming and carbon dioxide could never be a toxic gas." Really? Does anyone doubt the Wilkins Ice Sheet will completely collapse? If you still don't 'GET IT' then it's because you were educated under "NO Child Left Behind !"

Antarctic ice shelf disintegrating as result of climate change, say scientists (click here)

While the area of collapse involves 160 square miles at present, a large part of the 5,000-square-mile Wilkins Ice Shelf is now supported only by a narrow strip of ice between two islands, said CU-Boulder's Ted Scambos, lead scientist at NSIDC. "If there is a little bit more retreat, this last 'ice buttress' could collapse and we'd likely lose about half the total ice shelf area in the next few years." ...

Global warming blamed for ice shelf collapse (click here)
Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 26/03/2008
An ice shelf of 5,000 square miles in western Antarctica has started to collapse, scientists said.

The disintegration of the Wilkins ice sheet, the largest on the Antarctic Peninsula to be threatened, is more evidence of rapid climate change on the continent, they claimed.
Satellite images from the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre show the rapid disintegration of the Wilkins ice shelf
The British Antarctic Survey said the ice shelf was "hanging by a thread".
Satellite images from the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre showed an iceberg measuring 25.5 miles by 1.5 miles - the size of the Isle of Man - broke off last month.
A large section of the sheet, a broad plate of permanent floating ice around 1,000 miles south of South America, is now held together by a four-mile strip of ice.
The collapse of the shelf had been predicted, but is happening more quickly than expected, scientists said. It is thought the warming of the atmosphere, which has been happening several times faster on the Antarctic Peninsula than the global average, has melted more surface ice, which is weakening the shelf....