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Weekend of Death and Destruction Dents Bush's Hopes of Turning the Tide in Iraq
WASHINGTON - President George Bush's hopes for making progress with his new Iraq strategy suffered a double blow when there was an upsurge in violence over the weekend and fresh political turmoil in the country.
Twenty-three Iraqi army recruits were killed yesterday the day after a truck bomb killed 150 people in Armili, the second worst attack on civilians since the US invasion in 2003.
The flare-up came as the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, on whom Mr Bush is dependent, faced renewed pressure from both Shia and Sunni parliamentarians. The latter disclosed they are planning a vote of no-confidence on July 15.
The US administration had been looking for respite after the full deployment of an extra 30,000 troops ordered to Iraq by Mr Bush in January. But US defence department statistics for May published yesterday showed there were 6,039 violent incidents, the highest since November 2004.
Both Mr Bush and Congress have set a series of benchmarks for Mr Maliki to reach but the Bush administration is reconciled to the fact that the Iraqi leader will not make it. The benchmarks included a deal to share oil revenue between Shia, Sunnis and Kurds, which might have helped with political reconciliation.
The lack of a deal will make it politically difficult for Mr Bush in September when the US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, and the US ambassador, Ryan Crocker, are due to report on progress. The Democrats are to embark on a new attempt in September to bring US troops home and lack of progress on the benchmarks could swing some disillusioned Republicans behind them.
The fragility of Mr Maliki's position was underlined yesterday when officials in the radical Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's movement yesterday condemned statements made by him. Mr Maliki said on Saturday that Saddam Hussein loyalists and criminal gangs had infiltrated the Sadrist movement. His comments were among his harshest criticisms against his former allies who helped his Dawa party take the premiership.
Sheik Ahmed al-Shaibani, an aide to Mr Sadr, said: "This government is at the edge of an abyss. It will collapse."
The Sunni bloc proposing the no-confidence motion claim there will be enough votes to bring him down.
The Bush administration, which settled on Mr Maliki against the advice of the British government, has long ceased to have any confidence in him. Earlier this year, it contemplated engineering a replacement, a move that had to be abandoned when no suitable alternative could be found.
A suicide truck bomber killed the 23 army recruits yesterday in the Sunni Arab city of Haswa in the second devastating attack by suspected al-Qaida militants in two days.
In Basra, a British soldier was killed by an improvised bomb on Saturday. British troops have suffered 31 deaths so far this year, making it already the deadliest year for the British military since 2003. About 600 US troops have died since January.
Sunday's killing of young men who had just signed up to join the Iraqi army in Falluja and were driving in a truck when another truck crashed into them appeared to be the latest incident in a sharpening struggle in Anbar province between al-Qaida and Sunni Arabs who used to host them. Sunni tribal leaders and nationalist insurgents have been turning against al-Qaida because of its indiscriminate attacks on civilians and its effort to create sectarian and ethnic conflict.
The victims on Saturday in Armili, near the northern town of Tuz Khurmatu, were mainly Turkmen Shia Muslims, a group which is rarely targeted. A bomber drove a truck full of vegetables with explosive hidden under its cargo. As women and children crowded round to buy them, the truck detonated, sending nails and metal in all directions. Some 30 houses and 20 shops were levelled. Beside the dead, at least 240 people were wounded.
"I was close to the middle of the market when a violent explosion hit the place and the sky filled with black smoke," said Amir Bayati. "When I arrived at the spot, I saw pieces of human bodies on the ground ... My brother Khalid was dead under the rubble. This is our destiny in the new Iraq, to get killed according to our identity.
"I can't comprehend what has happened. My entire family was killed in one moment," said Abbas Kadhim, who told reporters from the Reuters news agency that the blast levelled his house, killing his wife, his two sons aged six and eight, his parents and also a brother. "There is no value left in my life...I have asked God why I didn't just die with them so I wouldn't have to go through this torture."
US forces mounted an offensive in the neighbouring province of Diyala and around its capital, Baqubua, this spring and al-Qaida fighters appear to have moved north to escape. US commanders estimated that as many as 500 insurgent fighters were in Baqubua before the operation. About 110 were captured or killed.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007
30 Comments so far
Show Alldavepepper, the US military base and Bush ranch in Paraguay appear to be myths:
http://usinfo.state.gov/media/Archive/2006/Jan/12-623470.html
We should not continue to propagate these untruths.
"I can't comprehend what has happened. My entire family was killed in one moment," said Abbas Kadhim, who told reporters from the Reuters news agency that the blast levelled his house, killing his wife, his two sons aged six and eight, his parents and also a brother. "There is no value left in my life…I have asked God why I didn't just die with them so I wouldn't have to go through this torture."
Neo-con calculated chaos, insanity, death, destruction.
What Bush and his cronies have unleashed on our world is unforgivable. Countries outside the USA should consider war crimes and the trials that go with them.
We have destroyed Iraq for generations to come. While I agree that other countries should try Bush, Cheney, etc...with war crimes, there is only one problem; Bush opted out of the Internaltional Criminal Court for just that reason. We can only hope our own country presses for Impeachment, and soon!
Almost all of the Arab leaders knew this would happen. They warned us that a war would destabilize the region. It was those damn American "think tanks" that said otherwise.
Stupid, stupid American politicians. Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. This was a little boy's revenge for an attempted assassination against his father. Now so many people have died needlessly for his selfishness. This is Bush's legacy, hundreds of thousands of lives because of his arrogance and stupidity.
It is time for change. Begin the impeachment process, then remove the incumbents from congress and curtail the lobbyists. No more politicians with corporate experience. No more stupid country boy politicians.
I, an American citizen, apologize to the Iraqi people for the destruction and suffering caused by my government.
But, gee, didn't I just hear the military say (via media propaganda) that the surge appeared to be working and we just can't up and leave so soon...now that it is starting to work, we must give it more time. Bah!
It doesn't appear to be working for the 200+ people killed this last weekend, does it?
It is truly pathetic that the White House continues to justify our presence in Iraq when it's obviously causing more harm than good. We must leave now, regardless the consequences. It is a losing battle, one that should have never been fought in the first place. Impeach those who have gotten us into this mess now.
I don't opt out of the ICC, let the people vote on the U.S. joining the International Criminal Court!
We have killed all of them with the depleted uranium we have spread all over Iraq. They will all begin to suffer from radiation posioning and over time will die from it. It may take as long as thirty years, but they will all die a long and slow, painful death.
We will see.
By using the word we, I mean our government, our military, our leaders,___ those all add up to we, us Americans. And I was always so proud to be one.
Proud? What Earthly difference does it really make anymmore? The people of the world hate us now for what we have done and for what we are continuing to do. If anyone does not believe we have literally murdered everyone in Iraq with our insane use of DU, then they just do not comprehend the danger.
Once again, until someone shuts me up, go to Google and ask for (depleted uranium) and read every article you can find on the subject. Beware of those who deny, they either are afraid to admit it, are ignorant, or have monetary interests to continue the killing.
Using DU is the worst war crime in the history of mankind and it's use is the supreme term for___ weapons of mass destruction.
NO NO folks, no leaving until the oil law is written and signed. No leaving until every last dollar is transfered to the Halliburton-MIC. No leaving until bush can blame the exit entirly on the Dems and the "troops", for failing to win the TACTICAL battle. The strategic battle has been brilliant - create CHAOS - loot and steal BILLIONS for Cheney's friends and the Carlyle group.
Sickening - I am ashamed to be an American.
PLEASE CALL your congressional reps and tell them to IMPEACH THE WAR CRIMINALS IN THE WHITE HOUSE
Bush, Cheney, Rice & Gonzales!!!
this is as good a time as any for us to turn up the heat on the bastards!
Next June we will read about more Iraqis and Afghani's and NATO and American forces killed.
More destruction will be done to whatever infrastructure is left, a new "plan" will certainly be hatched to fix the mess.
Some variation of "stay the colurse" will be parroted by the MSM, Senate, congress, and of course our beloved chimp and his handler.
IT HAS BEEN THE SAME STUPID AND MONOTONOUS CRAP FOR 4 YEARS RUNNING! If ever there was a better example of insanity by doing the same thing and expecting some different outcome, I am at a loss to find it.
fet·ish 1. an object regarded with awe as being the embodiment or habitation of a potent spirit or as having magical potency.
2. any object, idea, etc., eliciting unquestioning reverence, respect, or devotion: to make a fetish of high grades.
3. Psychology. any object or nongenital part of the body that causes a habitual erotic response or fixation.
i put this up here b/c it's part of the reason for our iraq invasion & conduct of the war. every one knows we invaded iraq for a # of reasons, oil, israel, stupidity, revenge, domestic politics, imperialism, etc. but one primary reason is our fetish for military technology. this partially explains our use of DU: we fetishize the technology, w/o regard for the soldiers, civilians, environment, etc. afflicted by the fallout. we invest hundreds of billions of dollars a year in the technology of warfare, and since ronny raygun w/his star wars idiocy have deluded ourselves into thinking wars are won w/technology. of course, our society in general fetishizes technology & violence. these impulses take on a life of their own and override other (rational/pragmatic/humanitarian/moral/legal/etc.) concerns; the military bureaucracy & its techno-gadgets, once unleashed, once created in the first place, demand to be used.
just some thoughts.
All I hear is talk. Y'all talk the talk.
What does it take to get y'all to walk the walk?
The French walked the walk in 1789.
The Russians walked the walk in 1917.
The Spaniards walked the walk in 1936.
The Iranians walked the walk in 1978.
All were grass-roots popular movements against a dictatorial oligarchy.
But Americans, uh, uh. They are just led like sheep and talk the talk, and keep talking, and talking, and talking.......
RE: WHY IRAQ? OIL? REVENGE?
wdmax3 July 9th, 2007 1:10 pm
"Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. This was a little boy's revenge for an attempted assassination against his father."
Not my view. IMO, this was a little fascist's bid to boost his sinking poll numbers after Afghanistan: by whipping up war hysteria, the Cheney shadow govt. sought to advance its agenda w/the ultimate goal of permanent right wing rule.
May every chickenhawk neocon who supported this illegal, immoral debacle rot in hell.
RE: PROGRESSIVES TALKING BUT NOT "WALKING THE WALK"
Shane July 9th, 2007 3:57 pm
All I hear is talk. Y'all talk the talk. What does it take to get y'all to walk the walk? The French walked the walk in 1789...."
But Americans...They are just led like sheep and...keep talking..."
You are failing to analyze a problem. U.S. progressives criticize Americans for being "led like sheep," with good reason: the post-industrial labor groups that - in other settings - have belonged to grassroots and class movements are, in the U.S. atomized and disenfranchised. As a result they are "led like sheep" by corporate media and mainstream politicians - that is, where they are responsive to politics at all.
And progressives - progressives bemoan the absent working/populist class of other historicial settings - with good reasons...and, absent ties with these groups, are reduced to talk.
Any concrete, constructive suggestions how U.S. progressives might form relationships with their ideal brothers and sisters, and "walk the walk," Shane?
Bush, Cheney, and their neo-Nazi cabal should be tried in the ICC, convicted of crimes against humanity, and jailed for life. No country has the balls to carry out these trials though, unfortunately. Bush has bough a 98,000 acre ranch in Paraguay, near an American military base, an area known to be a haven for Nazi war criminals after WW2. How fitting is that!!! He knows he is guilty of war crimes, so maybe Paraguay will provide refuge to him. And Blair?? Oh yes, he has turned from war criminal into peace envoy!!!! Wow, what a screwed up world we live in.
Thank you, Baska. Now that we are all in a frenzy of self falgellation, (we did not do this--- It is being done in our names and with our money, but I seriously doubt any participant in this discussion supported this war at any point.) This was brought about by the neocon puppet idiots, and their puppeteers. Figure out who, beyond the immoral war profiteers who stood from day one of this madness to benefit.
Not even Bu$h the inferior could have believed this latest surge would work - unless you mean stall while the oil rights are stolen are allow the facade of doing something to hide the obvious fact that they made massive mistakes that they can't admit.
The more likely result of this war is to destabilize the entire mid east oil supply and all of Israel's neighbors.
Nice work dumbass!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Donkey Hote.___ I agree with you. However, many citizens of other countries may say to Americnas who deny responsibility, "If you live in a shit house, you smell like shit".
Hard to take, but they would have a valid point.
baska wrote: Any concrete, constructive suggestions how U.S. progressives might form relationships with their ideal brothers and sisters, and "walk the walk," Shane?
1) 2 words: General Strike
2) An illegal million-man march on the White House, Congress, and K-street lobbyists.
The way to get attention is to overwhelm DC police, to the point where the Administration shows it's true totalitarian colors by ignoring posse comitatus and calls in the military for protection.
That's my suggestion. Any others? Now y'all ready to walk the walk, or just keep on flappin' your gums?
"Sunni tribal leaders and nationalist insurgents have been turning against al-Qaida because of its indiscriminate attacks on civilians and its effort to create sectarian and ethnic conflict".
So, perhaps the U.S. government and Al-Qaida, are working together again?
Seems they have a common goal!
Dear Mr. Kahdim.
Please accept my condolences.
Sincerely, Spike Baldwin
"Plunderers of the world, after they, laying everything waste, run out of land, they probe even the sea: if their enemy has wealth, they have greed; if he be poor, they are ambitious; neither East nor West has sated them; alone of mankind they covet poverty with the same passion as wealth. Robbery, butchery, rape they misname empire: they make a wasteland and call it peace."
Gaius Cornelius Tacitus: 56 -117 AD.
From "De vita et moribus lulii Agricolae".
Put into the mouth of a British chieftain, Calcacus, responding to the Roman conquest of Britain.
We have but liar, phony, and fraud in chief, and for that we need to be eternally thankful. But maybe a little impeachment and removal and "a little paint,' as the "Boss"
says would be a good thing to get us some democracy back in bargain.
CLARIFICATION--the word "one" should come between the words "but" and "liar."
Rick-I see a link there too.
Chaos does create confusion, and everything gets lost in the fog.
Rick July 10th, 2007 6:44 am
Al Qaida is a creation and tool of the CIA who armed, trained and supported them during the Afghan war against the Russians. They have never stopped working together. After all, where is Waldo...er, Osama?
Not waldo but aldo here. Many time I had been the joke around waldo. But this is no place for joking. How many children, how many family have died. I have one but only one daughter and god know, even though I don't believe in god, how I would be the first suicide bomber to volounteer if I would loose her to american forces or other insane dihumanized group. What do you think this men will become after loosing all his family but a suicide bomber. STAR WARS/ THE REBELION/ THE FEDERATION humm, its like a deja vue.
Why aren't these stories in American MSM? Why aren't the pictures? The horrors visited on other peoples by American foreign policy is whitewashed so that the electorate does not wise up. This has been going on for generations and you are astounded by the generosity of a world that is ready to forgive and forget.
The average American is far more interested in that dimbulb Paris Hilton than the thousands of families that have been destroyed, children cut into ribbons, and cultures destroyed by their tax dollars. My God! Take back your government from this corrupt, neo-fascist corporatocracy, Americans.
And look at this, Bush the Moron is now trying hard to pin thr blame on the quisling Maliki for the monumental disaster and war crime that is Iraq.
The reaon it is not true, is because Bush Sr and Bush Jr have denied it is true. Therefore, it is not true. Case closed.