Gates has been 'stumping' for a power base to insure oil contracts. He literally has told Afghanistan they are on their own and Iraq continues to be occupied for the reasons of USA oppression of Iraqi will. The revolt by the Iraqi legislature is against the continued interference of their free will by the USA and the only way it will be releaved is to have the USA leave. Literally, other countries have to be allowed into Iraq to assess the USA genocide and the sooner the better.
The last week is clearly a 'campaign' to continue a lead up to a pre-emptive strike against Iran. Someone has to stop them, they are killers, just that simple. Someone needs to move against the USA at the United Nations. This is hideous. Iran and Iraq are no more a threat to the USA or the region than the man in the moon. Any escalation of war outside Iraq's borders will cause complete collapse of civilizations and the entire region will become unstable. If Bush is stating Iran is a threat to the region, shouldn't that come from the leaders of the region to the United Nations for a plan to stop Iran? I don't hear an outcry by any King or Prince or President. I find the entire approach of the issue an insult by the Bush White House to the integrity of the international community and an afront to the National Intelligence Estimate of the USA intelligence service.
Iraq
Female suicide bomber kills 16 in Iraq
1 hour ago
BAQUBA, Iraq (AFP) — A female suicide bomber attacked the office of a local front against Al-Qaeda in Iraq's restive Diyala province on Friday, killing at least 16 people and wounding 27, security officials said.
The powerful explosion shook the town of Muqdadiyah, 100 kilometres (60 mile) north of Baghdad, near the provincial capital Baquba at around 10 am (0700 GMT), they said.
"The explosion was caused when a female suicide bomber detonated her vest in the office of the local Awakening group," said Baquba police official Lieutenant Colonen Najim al-Soumaidaie, referring to a group of local Sunni Arabs who have taken up arms against Al-Qaeda in central Diyala province.
Dr Hussein Abdullah of the Baquba hospital said 16 bodies and 27 wounded people had been brought to the facility.
"Of those killed 10 were from this (Awakening) group and five others were civilians," a security official in Baghdad said.
The wounded included 15 from the Awakening group, he added.
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g5E-BOscLE3ufG3agVbFH33RDRuA
Nine killed in attack on Iraq checkpoint-police
Thu Dec 6, 2007 11:14am EST
BAGHDAD, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Nine policemen were killed in an attack by suspected al Qaeda gunmen on a checkpoint outside a town in Iraq's volatile Diyala province on Thursday, police said.
Another seven were wounded in the attack outside Qarah Tappah, 130 km (80 miles) north of the capital Baghdad. The gunmen attacked the checkpoint using two vehicles but few other details were immediately available.
Al Qaeda and other Sunni Islamist insurgents have moved into Diyala and other areas north of Baghdad after being driven out of western Anbar province and many areas of the capital during a security crackdown this year. (Baghdad newsroom; editing by Sami Aboudi)
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL06388124
U.S. toll in Iraq
Friday, December 7, 2007
PrAs of Thursday, at least 3,886 members of the U.S. military had died in Iraq since the beginning of the war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The latest deaths reported by the military:
Hernandez, Eric J., 26, Army Sgt., Waldwick, N.J.
White, Dewayne L., 27, Army Pvt., Country Club Hills, Ill.
Snyder, Adam P., 26, Army Capt., Fort Pierce, Fla.
For a list of all U.S. troops who have died in Iraq, see sfgate.com/ZCQ.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/07/MNGI5TQ5PC.DTL
New rules for Iraq security firms
Private security firms have been the subject of complaints from Iraqis
The US Pentagon and state department have agreed on procedures which they say will improve oversight of private security contractors operating in Iraq.
The move gives US military commanders a greater role in co-ordinating the movements of private security staff guarding US diplomats and the military.
The deal also sets new standards for inquiries into alleged rule breaches.
It comes in response to an incident in September involving the Blackwater firm in which 17 Iraqis were killed.
Contractors will still have the right to use deadly force to defend themselves and others if they believe they face serious harm.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7130147.stm
Iraqi bombing kills at least 12 in revenge attack
By LEILA FADEL
McClatchy Newspapers
A woman bent on avenging the deaths of her sons strapped explosives to her chest Friday and blew herself up outside a meeting of Sunni Muslims who'd turned against the militant group al-Qaida in Iraq, killing at least 12 and wounding at least 17.
The explosion in Muqdadiyah was one of three violent acts Friday in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad, that left at least 24 people dead and 21 wounded. The attack came days before the U.S. military is scheduled to withdraw one of the five combat brigades that were ordered to Iraq as part of the American troop buildup. The withdrawal will lower the number of U.S. troops in Iraq by 5,000.
U.S. and Iraqi officials differed on the number of dead and injured in Muqdadiyah. Iraqi police said 16 people died and 28 were wounded. The American military put the number at 12 and 17, respectively.
A second attack occurred just north of Muqdadiyah, killing six Iraqi soldiers and five members of another Sunni group that had turned against the Islamic extremists. Again, American and Iraqi accounts differed, with the U.S. saying the deaths were caused by men armed with AK-47 rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. Iraqi police said the fatalities were due to a car bomb that targeted a checkpoint manned by the Sunni group and the Iraqi army.
The third attack came in the village of Mansuriyah, west of Muqdadiyah, where a homemade bomb killed a police officer and wounded four other people.
http://www.kansascity.com/451/story/394476.html
Murdochracy, Rudd Labor And Australian complicity In Iraqi Genocide
By Dr Gideon Polya
08 December, 2007
Countercurrents.org
Permitted by king-maker media mogul Rupert Murdoch but not supported by his newspapers in Australia, the new Rudd Labor Australian Government (sworn in on Monday 3 December 2007) will only PARTLY remove Australian forces from Iraq, making Rudd Labor clearly and unequivocally complicit in the continuing Iraqi Genocide (post-invasion excess deaths 1.5-2 million). Rudd Labor is thus renewing Australian complicity in the Iraqi Genocide and going against the wishes of an overwhelming majority of Australians who oppose Australia’s participation in the Iraq War.
As reported by the UK Guardian newspaper (1 December, 2007: http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2220119,00.html ), even before he was sworn in as PM, Australia’s new leader Kevin Rudd had stated “"The combat force in Iraq we would have home by around about the middle of next year". However that means committing Australian forces to over 6 months more in Occupied Iraq and will leave hundreds of Australian defence personnel indefinitely in Occupied Iraq and the Gulf.
http://www.countercurrents.org/polya081207.htm
IRAQ REPORT At a glance
The latest news in the Iraq war:
Bombing: A woman bent on avenging the deaths of her sons strapped explosives to her chest Friday and blew herself up outside a meeting of Sunni Muslims in Muqdadiyah, killing at least 12 and wounding at least 17. It was one of three violent events in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad.
Blackwater prosecutions: U.S. prosecutors investigating the Sept. 16 shooting deaths of 17 Iraqi civilians have narrowed their focus to as few as three Blackwater Worldwide bodyguards and have given others immunity for cooperating, The Associated Press reported.
Audit: Pentagon auditors said they could not account for millions of dollars worth of rocket-propelled grenades, armored vehicles, ammunition, and other supplies and equipment that were to be used to train and equip Iraqi security forces.
Resignation: State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard, who has been accused of improperly interfering with investigations of private security contractor Blackwater USA and with other investigations, resigned Friday.
http://www.star-telegram.com/279/story/348720.html
