Under the supervision of American forces, workers began building a wall to partition the Sadr City area of Baghdad on Thursday. (click here)The wall worked for a while with the Palestinians, maybe it will work in Baghdad long enough to call a truce ! Worth a try, right?Oh. The military is supposed to know what to do with USA Tax Dollars and personnel. I see. No. That isn't what happened when the USA military is used as an instrument of American politics under Neocons that can't get a grip of their own abuse of power !FACTBOX: Security developments in Iraq, April 19 (click here)BAGHDAD - A U.S. helicopter gunship fired a missile, killing two gunmen in eastern Baghdad on Saturday, the U.S. military said.
BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb killed one U.S. soldier when it struck his vehicle on Friday just north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said in statement.
SALAHUDDIN PROVINCE - A car bomb blast killed one U.S. soldier when he was conducting a patrol on Friday in Salahuddin province, north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said. BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb wounded two people on Friday in the Karrada district of central Baghdad, police said.
BAGHDAD - One Iraqi soldier was killed and four others wounded when a roadside bomb struck their patrol in Yarmouk district, in western Baghdad, police said.
BAGHDAD - Two bodies were found in different districts of Baghdad on Friday, police said.
BAGHDAD - A mortar bomb killed one person on Friday in al-Nidhal street, central Baghdad, police said.
MUSSAYAB - One body was found with gunshot wounds in Mussayab, 60 km (40 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.
(compiled by Aws Qusay; editing by Noah Barkin)
How are your Tax Dollars spent? Telling 'the truth' or giving reason for Active Duty Generals to retire?Cleric Suspends Battle in Basra by Shiite Militia (click here)...The substance of Mr. Sadr’s statement, released Sunday afternoon, was hammered out in elaborate negotiations over the past few days with senior Iraqi officials, some of whom traveled to Iran to meet with Mr. Sadr, according to several officials involved in the discussions.....
The Iraqi military are patrolling in Basra. There was no confrontation, no bloodshed. The presence of the Iraqi military, if not met with resistance is simply a return to 'status quo' yet the American newsprint insists there was this dominating battle that has surmounted any resistance and the people of Basra are now dominated. Propaganda in the Western Media of the USA is the only result of the days in Basra, nothing else. Give them something to believe.Basically, the Mahdi Army in Iraq just hasn't gotten around to picking up their weapons today. Maybe they won't bother. Ah. It must be the smell of napalm in the morning that did it....“One of the grossest of US errors in Iraq was to try to marginalise him (click here) and his movement,” writes Cockburn. “Had he been part of the political process from the beginning then the chances of creating a peaceful, prosperous Iraq would have been greater. In any real accommodation between Shia and Sunni, the Sadrists must play a central part.”...Blood in Basra and beyond (click here)Apr 17th 2008From The Economist print edition
Three accounts of the war in Iraq are defined by anger and wry humour
AT ITS worst, Iraq's rhythm of violence was so predictable that Oliver Poole, the Daily Telegraph's correspondent, reckoned he could tell the time in Baghdad by the nature of the explosions: mornings started with a “dull pop” as patrols were hit by roadside bombs planted overnight. Then came the suicide-bombers. Afternoons were the turn of the mortar teams who liked harassing the Americans in the protected Green Zone. Finally after sunset came the gunfire from military operations and extra-judicial killings.
Mr Poole's vivid “Red Zone” is one of several first-person British accounts that complement recent American books dissecting how the war went wrong. A fellow journalist, Jonathan Steele, has written a strong polemic against America's occupation of Iraq, while Britain's former man in the south, Sir Hilary Synnott, provides an insider's account of the hopelessness of trying to administer the country....Five people killed, 18 wounded by bombings in northern Iraq today (click here)
23 hours ago
BAGHDAD — Iraqi officials say bombings have killed at least five people in northern Iraq.
A spokesman says a roadside bomb meant for a U.S. patrol in Mosul missed its target and killed two civilians and injured 12 other civilians.
Police also say one civilian was killed and four others were wounded in a parked car bombing in Kirkuk.
They say a roadside bomb elsewhere in the city killed one Iraqi policeman and wounded two.
Police in the Diyala province say another roadside bomb killed a schoolboy in Baqouba.
Today's attacks cap a violent week that has raised concerns that suspected Sunni insurgents are regrouping.
