Additionally, the war in Afghanistan has been going badly and there needs to be a 'refit' to stop the advancement of the Taliban, al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden there and in Pakistan.
So as a reaction to all this the focus by the USA is to save face and provide not political stability, but, humanitarian aid. The country known as Iraq will more than likely disintegrate and the only aspect of international relations with the new provinces will be to support efforts to care for their populous.
The USA has to assume this posture in order to survive with some kind of international value in the face of overt aggression by the Bush/Cheney crony war machine. The casualities in Iraq continue to mount in Baghdad as well as Kurdistan (click here) and I am anticipating a statement by the New Prime Minister of Australia regarding any Aussie redeployment in support of Afghanistan potentially, but, emphatically leaving Iraq. Perhaps that will come when accepting the oath of office and Howard has finally been dismantled.
Twin Bombings Kill at Least 26 in Iraq (click here)
Baghdad Car Bomb Kills Nine, Wounds 30
US troopers inspect the wreckage at the site of a car bomb explosion in the northern district of Bab al-Muazzam in Baghdad.
FACTBOX: Security developments in Iraq, Nov 25
Sun Nov 25, 2007 6:35am EST
(Reuters) - Following are security developments in Iraq at 6 a.m. EST on Sunday.
* denotes new or updated items.
* MOSUL - A roadside bomb targeting a U.S. patrol wounded six people in the city of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
* FALLUJA - Police detained four gunmen after an attack that wounded a policeman in southern Falluja, 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad, police said.
* BAGHDAD - A car bomb killed nine people and wounded 30 near the Health Ministry in Bab al-Muadham street in central Baghdad, police said.
BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb wounded two civilians in the Waziriya district of northern Baghdad, police said. A second roadside bomb exploded when Iraqi security forces arrived on the scene, killing one soldier and wounding six others, police said.
BAGHDAD - Four bodies were found in different districts in Baghdad on Saturday, police said.
BALAD - Iraqi army and U.S. forces arrested two gunmen during operations on Saturday in different areas in Iraq, the U.S. military said.
(Editing by Paul Tait)
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSANW52752420071125
Iraq: Parked car bomb kills at least 2, wounds 10 in central Baghdad
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
BAGHDAD
A parked car bomb exploded near a medical complex in Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least two people and wounding 10, police and hospital officials said.
The blast occurred about 9:30 a.m. in the central Bab al-Muadham neighborhood, where the Health Ministry and the central morgue are located.
Elsewhere in the capital, a roadside bomb apparently aimed at a police patrol in northeastern Baghdad missed its target but wounded three civilians, police said.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1195546718092&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Blasts Kill At Least 12 in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Nov 25--At least 12 Iraqi civilians were killed and 44 others wounded in a series of bomb attacks across the capital Baghdad Sunday, security officials said.
A bomb exploded in a parked car near a medical complex, killing at least nine Iraqi civilians and wounding more than wounding 30 others.
The bomb went off in the central Bab al-Muadham neighborhood, near the Health Ministry and the central mortuary.
Police and hospital officials said the nine killed were civilians but two Iraqi soldiers were among the 31 wounded.
The death toll rose after several injured people died in the hospital.
In another early morning attack, two people were killed and six others wounded when a roadside bomb struck a truck carrying blast walls in southeast Baghdad, security officials said.
The third attack was coordinated, with a roadside bomb exploding in Al-Waziriyah, killed one person, and a second exploding minutes later when Iraqi soldiers arrived at the scene.
Six soldiers were wounded in the second blast along with two civilians, the officials said.
The latest bomb attacks come two days after a Baghdad pet market was bombed with explosives hidden in a carton used by vendors to carry birds, killing 13 people.
Elsewhere in the capital, a roadside bomb apparently aimed at a police patrol in northeastern Baghdad missed its target but wounded three civilians, police said.
The spate of attacks has dealt a blow to an increased sense of confidence about improved security in the capital and surrounding areas.
The US military has warned it is too early to claim victory in security operations clamping down on insurgents.
http://www.alalam.ir/english/en-NewsPage.asp?newsid=041030120071125134413
US to Withdraw 5,000 Troops from Iraq
By VOA News
25 November 2007
U.S. military officials says the improved security situation in Iraq will enable the withdrawal of five-thousand American soldiers by next month - the first reduction in overall troop strength since the surge of U.S. forces began early this year.
U.S. military spokesman, Admiral Gregory Smith, said Saturday an Army brigade that has been operating in Diyala Province will be returning home, and other forces already in Iraq will relocate into the province.
U.S. officials have said they could withdraw about 20,000 U.S. troops by July, if the security situation in Iraq permits.
In violence Sunday, Iraqi police say a car bomb exploded near a medical complex in Baghdad, killing nine people and wounding at least 30.
Elsewhere in the capital, authorities say a bomb, apparently aimed at a police patrol, wounded at least two civilians.
http://voanews.com/english/2007-11-25-voa2.cfm
American deaths
The Pentagon has released the names of the following US service members killed recently in Iraq and Afghanistan.
November 23, 2007
According to an Associated Press count, at least 3,874 members of the US military have died since the Iraq war began in March 2003. At least 28,489 have been wounded, the military says.
more stories like this
In Afghanistan, at least 401 US personnel have died and 1,797 have been wounded.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2007/11/23/american_deaths/
Why the American invasion and occupation of Iraq is a war crime
Imagine if one of every 8 Americans was killed, wounded or displaced following an invasion by another country? Just try and imagine it. In Iraq that is the reality. The truth about Iraq is that our bombing, invasion and occupation brought about the deaths of a large percentage of the population, probably on the order of 1 million at least, out of a population of about 27 million. Add to that another 2 million forced to flee the country, a couple million more forced to flee to other homes inside the country. The loss of breadwinners and protectors. The emotional and mental anguish of millions more. I wouldn’t call it a Holocaust, that is reserved for the special case of what Nazi Germany did to Jews, homosexuals, some Christians, gypsies and intellectuals. But I have no quarrel with those who do call it a Holocaust. What we allowed our government to do, in many cases cheering it on from the sidelines, was a horrible war crime, the worst of the 21st century, and it’s repercussions will be with us always. Yes, Saddam Hussein was a terrible man, but in removing him we became even worse if judged by the fruits of our actions.
As Mark Weisbrot writes for AlterNet in an article titled “Holocaust Denial, American Style…”
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad’s flirtation with those who deny the reality of the Nazi genocide has rightly been met with disgust. But another holocaust denial is taking place with little notice: the holocaust in Iraq. The average American believes that 10,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed since the US invasion in March 2003. The most commonly cited figure in the media is 70,000. But the actual number of people who have been killed is most likely more than one million.
This is five times more than the estimates of killings in Darfur and even more than the genocide in Rwanda 13 years ago.
The estimate of more than one million violent deaths in Iraq was confirmed again two months ago in a poll by the British polling firm Opinion Research Business, which estimated 1,220,580 violent deaths since the US invasion. Read entire article.
That’s why Bush / Cheney should be impeached, and their actions repudiations by formerly duped Americans willing to face the truth about our country.
http://www.knoxvoice.com/blogs/truthserum/2007/11/24/why-the-american-invasion-and-occupation-of-iraq-is-a-war-crime/
Entire Article
http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/68568/
TRUDY RUBIN: WILL GAINS IN IRAQ LAST?
Things are better.... That's the cautious word I'm hearing out of Baghdad and other towns from Iraqi friends and colleagues.
People are afraid to hope too much or think ahead. But they can move about their own neighborhoods -- where American troops now patrol -- go out at night, and even visit a restaurant.
Iraqis I know who fled their homes are still afraid to go back. Violence is down to early-2006 levels -- before the most horrendous wave of sectarian killings that followed a bombing by Sunni militants of a holy Shiite shrine. But car bombs still explode, civilians still die violent deaths, and some provinces remain troubled.
So Iraqis ask -- as do U.S. civilian and military officials -- whether these gains can be consolidated and expanded. Or will they crumble in 2008 when U.S. troops are set to draw down sharply because the Army can't sustain surge levels anymore?
The answer depends on whether these security gains encourage Iraqi political progress. Gen. David Petraeus has made clear that the higher troop levels were meant to create breathing room for Iraq's Sunni and Shiite leaders to reach a modus vivendi.
Senior U.S. commanders are frustrated that Iraq's Shiite-led government won't reach out to former Sunni foes. The United States is now paying many former Sunni insurgents to protect their local areas. But the Iraqi government fears these insurgents will morph into new Sunni militias that will fight the government once the Americans draw down.
The lack of political reconciliation at the top leaves many wondering whether tactical military gains can be turned into strategic progress....
Deadly market bombing shatters new quiet in Baghdad
CONFLICT IN IRAQ: Insurgents appear to be disputing reports of security
(11-24) 04:00 PST Baghdad --
A bomb hidden in a box filled with birds exploded amid shoppers strolling through a colorful pet bazaar Friday, killing as many as 15 people, wounding dozens and raising fears that the capital's stretch of relative calm has ended.
More deadly violence occurred north and south of Baghdad as insurgents appeared intent on sending a message to U.S. and Iraqi officials that their recent expressions of confidence in the nation's security were premature.
Last week, the U.S. military said civilian deaths in Baghdad were down 75 percent since June, when the last of 28,500 additional American troops deployed to Iraq this year arrived. The Iraqi government proclaimed that the drop in civilian deaths and bombings indicated that Baghdad had emerged from its sectarian war....
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/11/24/MNS7TI1NV.DTL
