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Other bad news from Iraq. |
BobaFett
Joined: Jan 06, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: Kamino (wish it would be Lund)
PM, WWW
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i would suggest more a political thread, where we could discuss several political happenings. we have here the chance, based on so many members from so many coutries, to share different opinions in the same things. we could have onfos from the frontline from first hands. europe, asia, americas, africa etc always online. think easto can handle it next to the mobile biz.
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gelfen
Joined: Nov 22, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: Melbourne, Australia
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News Summary:
Italy has reaffirmed its place in the coalition, committing its troops until Iraqi self-rule commences despite three Italian hostages still being held (the fourth was murdered). The Italian Foreign Minister has expressed "prudent optimism" that the hostages will be released.
Iraqi security forces, some in flack jackets and others in blue uniforms, have re-entered Fallujah to oversee the weapons amnesty (handover of weapons by insurgents to Iraqi and coalition security forces). US troops are allowing 50 families per day to return to Fallujah, and are under orders not to fire on anyone carrying weapons unless they are actively aiming or loading them. If the weapons surrender does not proceed as expected coalition forces are prepared to "resume major hostilities on short notice".
Guerilla forces have bombarded Baghdad's largest prison with mortar shells, killing 22 prisoners suspected of belonging to the anti-American insurgency or Saddam Hussein's former regime in what may have been an attempt to spark a riot with American guards or a prison break.
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Regarding earlier discussion, it is a shame that the US and the UN do not apply their resolve equally to all breaches of UN resolutions. The bias in reporting of the Israeli-Palestine issue is due at least in part to the prevailing governemtn policy, but also to the relative population of Israeli (or even Jewish) vs. Palestinians (or Muslims) in any given Western country. The news reports are always taylored to suit the audience. You see it in every country. for instance in the US whenever there is a murder, it's always a bigger fuss when it's a white middle-class victim vs. an African-American/Hispanic/Native American victim. Now you notice the reporting is usually Israeli armed forces (i.e. an organised army in uniform - which implies legitimacy) vs. Hamas (religious extremists - implying a non-legitimate force)
In that particular conflict the US chose a side early on, partially based on the demographics of their own population, and partially because at the time the Holocaust was still pretty fresh in everyone's mind so it was easier to make the Israelis out as a sympathetic cause. It also helped that a portion of the Palestinian side were such extremists, denying the right of Jews to even exist let alone have a sovereign nation. Unfortunately, history has shown that whenever a western power tries to get involved in regional politics they make a pig's ear out of the whole mess. It's just not possible to carve up chunks of a country and hand it over to someone else without expecting a reaction. Suffice to say that BOTH Israel and Palestine are entitled to sovereign states of their own, but it ain't gonna happen in the near future.
With the passing of time the real issues are lost and it's become about revenge for the most recent "atrocity", which sparks vengeance in return, and on and on in a vicious circle.
Anyway, back to the Iraq issues....
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gelfen
Joined: Nov 22, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: Melbourne, Australia
PM |
An interesting opinion piece here in Melbourne newspapar The Herald Sun about the UN "Oil for Food" scheme in Iraq (see below).
Latest News (extracts from AAP reports):
Five suicide bombers killed at least 68 people - including 20 children - around the Iraqi city of Basra while US forces battled insurgents in the Sunni Muslim stronghold of Fallujah.
Car bombs exploded outside three police stations early on Wednesday in the main southern city of Basra. Two hours later, two blasts at a police academy in nearby Zubeir killed three Iraqi policemen and at least 14 other people were wounded, including five British soldiers. "At least 68 people are known dead with 20 of those children" in the blasts in Basra and Zubair, said a spokeswoman for the US-led coalition. About 100 people were injured. A spokeswoman for British forces in the city said suicide bombers were believed to have been used. Basra provincial Governor Wael Abdel Latif said the attacks had the "hallmark" of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. But Brigadier Nick Carter, commander of British troops in Basra, said it was only certain that the bombers were from outside the city and "quite possibly" outside Iraq. US officials have warned that al-Qaeda may attempt to trigger conflict between Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims ahead of the June 30 handover of sovereignty.
In Fallujah, 17 Iraqis died and three US Marines were wounded in renewed clashes, which US forces said threatened an uneasy ceasefire. Nine insurgents were killed and three Marines wounded during a gunbattle lasting more than two hours. Eight insurgents were killed during a clash Tuesday evening. Fighting in the town this month has left about 600 Iraqis dead, according to hospital sources. A ceasefire sealed Monday called for joint patrols in the town and the handover of heavy weapons, but the coalition warned that fighting could start at "short notice" if there was little progress.
The hostage crisis mounted when a Danish businessman kidnapped in Iraq last week was found dead, the Danish foreign ministry said. The man was captured while travelling on a road near a village outside Baghdad. Two others with him were not taken hostage. Denmark has 500 troops in Basra under the British command.
Security problems drove a wedge into the US coalition after Spain announced its withdrawal. Spain's decision prompted Honduras to pull out its 368 troops and the Dominican Republic its 300 troops. The United States has 135,000 troops in Iraq, backed by 25,000 international soldiers. In Washington, General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said more US forces might have to be sent to Iraq where the situation had become "serious". The US military has already extended the tour of duty for 20,000 troops to counter the insurgents. But Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said his country's 3,000 troops would remain past June 30, despite threats to kill three Italian hostages. Outgoing Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller said however that Spain's decision had forced Warsaw to consider its future in Iraq. Poland leads the 9,000 multinational troops that patrol part of southern Iraq. Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra faced growing domestic pressure to withdraw his 451 troops. Thailand's senate voted Tuesday to keep them in Iraq, but the ultimate decision rests with the prime minister.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami warned that a US attack on the Shi'ite holy cities of Najaf and Karbala would be "suicide" and cautioned against killing firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. "I do not think they will make such an error, because if they did they would be caught up in a storm," Khatami said. Sadr, leader of a rebellion against occupation forces and who is wanted in connection with the murder of a rival cleric, has been holed up in Najaf for two weeks. US forces gathered outside Najaf have been given the order to "capture or kill" Sadr.
The UN Security Council unanimously approved a probe into allegations of corruption in the UN program that oversaw Iraqi oil sales under Saddam Hussein. The council passed a resolution calling on all UN member nations to cooperate with a "full and fair investigation". A Baghdad newspaper in January published a list of more than 200 people it said had profited from the sale of Iraqi oil, whose revenues were supposed to go to help Iraqi people offset the effect of international sanctions. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan vowed to "get to the truth" concerning the allegations. The 57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference will hold a special meeting in Kuala Lumpur which is expected to raise new opposition to US policies in Iraq and the Middle East. The meeting will seek a bigger UN role in Iraq, perhaps including peacekeeping troops from Muslim countries, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said. However, Annan said he saw no role for UN peacekeepers in Iraq because of the security risks, meaning the Security Council would have to approve an international force after Iraqis begin self-rule.
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gelfen
Joined: Nov 22, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: Melbourne, Australia
PM |
*gee, this thread sure has dropped in popularity*
Australian Prime Minister John Howard attends a dawn service in Baghdad to commemorate ANZAC Day, and commits Australian troops to Iraq until at least June 30th 2005. With 850 Australian military personnel in Iraq, the Prime Minister is also considering sending more troops.
Howard's secret ANZAC mission
PM's secret mission to salute troops
PM makes war pilgrimage
In other news:
Suicide boat bombings targeting the key oil industry have forced the closure of Iraq's biggest terminal, losing the country nearly 1 million barrels a day in exports, the oil minister said. Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulloum told reporters that the Al-Basra Oil Terminal remains closed since the attacks and will open on Monday at the soonest. The Al-Basra terminal was one of two terminals targeted in the attacks. The other, smaller terminal, Khawr al-Amaya, reopened. The Al-Basra terminal unloads up to 900,000 barrels a day of Iraq's total current exports of around 1.6 million barrels per day, he said. He would not say how much that production was worth.
*now how does that help Iraq if the only source of wealth the country has is destroyed? i mean seriously, do these guys have a working brain cell between them?*
Combined US-Iraqi security patrols continue in Fallujah. Both US Marines and Iraqi troops have expressed fears for their own safety as they attempt to push deeper into the city, since guerrilla forces have so far not returned their weapons. US forces have also toned down warnings of resumed hostilities around Fallujah despite this non-compliance with the ceasefire agreement.
The US is also preparing to enter Najaf, in an attempt to gain control of the city and clamp down on the militia of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr without outraging Iraq's Shi'ite majority. The US military is vowing to impose control in Najaf and bring Sadr to justice for allegedly murdering a rival cleric. But Shi'ites might be angry over any entry into Najaf, even one limited to the more modern areas away from the holy shrines at the city's heart. The US has pledged not to interfere with religious institutions and holy areas, and are seeking to avoid the large scale conflicts seen in other areas of Iraq.
In the latest US deaths, a soldier was killed when a roadside bomb hit his patrol in eastern Baghdad. A US coast guardsman also died of wounds suffered the night before in a suicide boat attack on oil facilities in the Gulf that killed two Navy sailors.
Mortar attacks in the northern city of Mosul killed two Iraqis outside a hotel, and an explosion outside a hospital killed two Iraqis, wounding 10 others, the US military said.
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Gee, does that beat me? I only got two pair - two aces, and another two.
[ This Message was edited by: gelfen on 2004-04-26 03:46 ] |
boto43
Joined: Nov 23, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: Trnava-Nitra,Pardubice CSSR
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Seven us soldiers were killed yesterday. Other us tanks to IRQ to establish forced democracy. Muslims are ready to kill us everywhere. Gelen ur thread is not up to date I am afraid. Btw who is goin to travel to muslim country for vacation. I stay at home this year. So what good news from Iraq.  |
gelfen
Joined: Nov 22, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: Melbourne, Australia
PM |
i stopped updating once people stopped reading (and it was never my thread).
there is some good news here
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boto43
Joined: Nov 23, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: Trnava-Nitra,Pardubice CSSR
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No1 cares about the us military presence in Iraq. Almost every1 knows now thats unjustice act of us governmet.we can hardly help to improve things. Everything depends upon USA.see you
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tranquil
Joined: Dec 15, 2001
Posts: > 500
From: Oslo, Norway
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Lets continue this one here too.
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Tranquil
The proud owner of a black P800!
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[ This Message was edited by: tranquil on 2004-05-05 05:58 ] | |
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Posted: 2004-04-20 21:26
