I swear to God I don't know why we even bother to fight but we have strong convicted men who more valor than most mistake us not to have.
U.S. checking if body found in river is missing soldier
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/05/23/iraq.main/index.html
Showing posts with label iraq. Show all posts
Showing posts with label iraq. Show all posts
23 May, 2007
17 May, 2007
What for democracy?
Here's what it comes down to. In a year, America will be electing a new president. This president will bear the biggest burden of responsibility in easing the country out of this huge mess in the Middle East. More soldiers will die, more people will die and oil prices will fluctuate like a mother. Americans will get blamed more. And for what. It's sad that our country is in this mess that's been going on for centuries. And it's substantially more tragic to see the reality that a majority in the Middle East still just can't hold their peace. Do the Iraqi majority really want democracy? Seems like for a time, Saddam Hussein had sectarian violence fractionally under control. But he was a dictator and did get his hands bloodied by killing many innocents while in the process of quelling unrest. Now that he's gone and the U.S. military has gotten involved, we might as well have painted bullseyes on our soldiers' foreheads. Look at Lebanon. After 20 years, they're at it again. Last summer's war is proof that there are more people living there who have no strength in upholding economic or social progress, undecided and at the brink of another civil war. Two years after Hariri's murder, their government is deadlocked into moving towards a tribunal that was supposed to prosecute those involved in his untimely demise. Let's see what it's government and divided people will do next to set the country back another twenty years when elections come around. As for Palestine, Hamas and Fatah just broke their truce again. So far eighteen Palestinian people died after three days of fighting and Israel was also taunted into this clash by causing an airstrike since it took place along their border. People here are so disillusioned that it's futile to hope that this eye for an eye strategy is clearly doing excessive damage. This is not a holy war. This is about power and the use of religion to proliferate propaganda over nothing more than a struggle to shift power to other selfish politicians. Sad it is that Bush and Cheney arethe worst people to carry out diplomatic missions on our behalf but one thing's for sure. These men don't have a mind sick as that of Ahmadinejad who will twist things around to benefit his agenda. Yes, his agenda. What makes me so ill that the Muslim community is blind to his politics. Doesnt anyone see his predominantly Shiite agenda? He is Shiite, people. Who doesnt see Iran's involvement in smuggling arms to Iraqi insurgents and to Hezbollah(who are predominantly Shiite) in Lebanon? Iraq's future will literally disintegrate if it fails to make a decision on its alliances. They dont have to love Americans; they just have to understand that we are not out to get them the way Iran has plans to manipulate and conquer them. I dont see Iran proactively helping to quell the violence in Iraq. Did they deploy troops trying to quell the sectarian divide? NO. This concludes my latest entry. No disrespect to Shiites on my last comment. But anyone like Ahmadinejad who has a lofty agenda and is Shiite is highly likely to take advantage of his religious status to gain votes. In the end, if Shiites continue to follow him blindly, they'll realize he is no longer the man for the masses like he originally claimed.
01 May, 2007
Have pen, will veto
Democrats send Iraq timeline to Bush
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070501/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_iraq;_ylt=AqDgMpGSC3DNHSgTFDJ14sKs0NUE
Bush says that failure in Iraq is not option and he'll veto whatever comes to the table that sets a limit to fighting the war in Iraq. While the sad truth is it's all downhill from here. People are counting the days until he leaves office. He just wants his swan song played out. I'm sad for all the lives that were lost but we have to soldier on despite the futile attempts to quell violence in the middle east. I have family and friends fighting this war. There are people who fight and dont fight to make a difference. I belong to the latter. I hate guns. But if I have to as a last resort I 'd use it to defend my country. I'm proud of the military persevering despite this ill-fated agenda but it's time for a different strategy.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070501/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_iraq;_ylt=AqDgMpGSC3DNHSgTFDJ14sKs0NUE
Bush says that failure in Iraq is not option and he'll veto whatever comes to the table that sets a limit to fighting the war in Iraq. While the sad truth is it's all downhill from here. People are counting the days until he leaves office. He just wants his swan song played out. I'm sad for all the lives that were lost but we have to soldier on despite the futile attempts to quell violence in the middle east. I have family and friends fighting this war. There are people who fight and dont fight to make a difference. I belong to the latter. I hate guns. But if I have to as a last resort I 'd use it to defend my country. I'm proud of the military persevering despite this ill-fated agenda but it's time for a different strategy.
Sectarian divisions further deepening
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/05/01/iraq.office/index.html
New revelations. But this isnt new. The U.S. is just caught in a big mess it can't handle at this stage. Everyone deserves justice but Iraqis have no definition and cannot get to an agreement on how to achieve it. No matter how many times the U.S. gets blamed for getting involved, the issue that sticks out like a sore thumb is the glaring reality of sectarian divisions.
New revelations. But this isnt new. The U.S. is just caught in a big mess it can't handle at this stage. Everyone deserves justice but Iraqis have no definition and cannot get to an agreement on how to achieve it. No matter how many times the U.S. gets blamed for getting involved, the issue that sticks out like a sore thumb is the glaring reality of sectarian divisions.
25 April, 2007
Iraqi government failing
Finally Iraq taking responsibility...
With sectarian violence continually on the rise, this has to be dealt with by the Iraqis on their own. The U.S. can continue to assist and lose more troops but they are just moving targets like the locals amidst the chaos. It's so sad.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi politicians -- frustrated by violence throughout the country and the glacial pace of parliamentary lawmaking -- say the nearly one-year-old government is failing.
Iraqi lawmakers told CNN the government's impotence and inability to bring peace to the chaotic environment is basically structural, and not the product of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish legislator, was quoted in the USA Today newspaper as describing al-Maliki as weak, but in an interview with CNN, he said, "It's not Maliki, it's the whole government."
That government, he said, is failing on many fronts, such as providing security, fostering reconciliation and offering public services. (Watch patrol in 'no man's land' help dying woman )
He believes Iraq, not the U.S. government, should set deadlines for goals, and the government must "deliver" them or resign.
Hasan al-Shimmari, a Shiite member of the United Iraqi Alliance's Fadhila party, said the government is weak because the political process and the government's structure are "based on partisan allocation of ministries."
"The Maliki government should be strengthened by correcting the political process and allocating ministries democratically," he said.
Hasan al-Sneid, a UIA parliament member who is close to al-Maliki, blamed political forces and parliament for problems, but he praised al-Maliki's efforts to foster reconciliation among Sunnis and Shiites.
Another legislator pointed to Baghdad's two-month-old security plan as evidence of the government's inefficiency.
The plan is "not working," according to Maysoon al-Damalouji, a secular Sunni lawmaker.
She said many people believed that services would be restored to neighborhoods "cleansed" by U.S. and Iraqi troops. However, once troops leave a cleansed region, militias move back in and take revenge on people who have cooperated with the troops.
Al-Damalouji believes that the essential problem is the division of parties by sectarian affiliation.
Suicide bombers kill 9 U.S. soldiers
Nine U.S. paratroopers were killed Monday when a pair of suicide bombers attacked a small U.S. patrol base in Diyala province, the U.S. military said. (Watch how Diyala province is becoming a major battleground )
It was the deadliest attack on U.S. ground forces in Iraq since December 2005.
U.S. military officials said initial reports indicate insurgents used two 30-ton dump trucks full of explosives to attack what they call a combat outpost. The massive blast resulted in the northern and western walls of the compound collapsing. Remains of several troops were recovered from the rubble.
An additional 20 U.S. soldiers were wounded in the attack.
The direct assault is a departure from the usual tactics of the insurgents, who in the past have been more inclined to use hit-and-run sniper attacks, or launch mortars from a distance.
The Islamic State of Iraq, the insurgent umbrella group that includes al Qaeda in Iraq, claimed responsibility for the attack in a posting on an Islamist Web site.
The same insurgent group claimed responsibility for the suicide attack at Iraq's parliament complex two weeks ago.
The insurgents said that the U.S. confirmation of the Diyala attack "is a rare confession by the Americans about an operation against their soldiers" and that "God guided the soldiers of ISI to a new method of explosion."
The Diyala region is emerging as a major battleground in the Iraq war, along with Baghdad and Anbar province, with insurgents shifting their operations into the area.
The Diyala attack has jolted the Army's 82nd Airborne Division, based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where all the dead and wounded soldiers are based, according to the U.S. military.
A Fort Bragg spokesman, Maj. Tom Earnhardt, said the Diyala attack is "the worst incident we've had in the whole global war on terrorism."
Other developments
At least 15 people were killed and 25 were wounded Tuesday in a suicide truck bombing north of Ramadi, police in the Anbar provincial capital said. The bomber struck a police patrol, killing at least four officers. Women and children were among those wounded, police said.
President Bush said Tuesday he will veto a war spending bill that sets a deadline for U.S. troop withdrawals to begin. The House of Representatives and Senate agreed Monday on a bill that requires a pullout of troops to begin by October 1. (Full story)
Thousands of Iraqis took to the streets of Baghdad on Monday to protest a concrete wall surrounding Adhamiya, a Sunni neighborhood in Baghdad. The U.S. and Iraqi militaries said the wall is a temporary structure to prevent insurgent attacks. But many Baghdad residents fear walls will exacerbate the sectarian divide fueling the insurgency in the Iraqi capital. (Watch why the wall is controversial )
CNN's Yousif Bassil, Arwa Damon, Jomana Karadsheh, Octavia Nasr, Jomana Karadsheh and Brian Todd contributed to this report.
With sectarian violence continually on the rise, this has to be dealt with by the Iraqis on their own. The U.S. can continue to assist and lose more troops but they are just moving targets like the locals amidst the chaos. It's so sad.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi politicians -- frustrated by violence throughout the country and the glacial pace of parliamentary lawmaking -- say the nearly one-year-old government is failing.
Iraqi lawmakers told CNN the government's impotence and inability to bring peace to the chaotic environment is basically structural, and not the product of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish legislator, was quoted in the USA Today newspaper as describing al-Maliki as weak, but in an interview with CNN, he said, "It's not Maliki, it's the whole government."
That government, he said, is failing on many fronts, such as providing security, fostering reconciliation and offering public services. (Watch patrol in 'no man's land' help dying woman )
He believes Iraq, not the U.S. government, should set deadlines for goals, and the government must "deliver" them or resign.
Hasan al-Shimmari, a Shiite member of the United Iraqi Alliance's Fadhila party, said the government is weak because the political process and the government's structure are "based on partisan allocation of ministries."
"The Maliki government should be strengthened by correcting the political process and allocating ministries democratically," he said.
Hasan al-Sneid, a UIA parliament member who is close to al-Maliki, blamed political forces and parliament for problems, but he praised al-Maliki's efforts to foster reconciliation among Sunnis and Shiites.
Another legislator pointed to Baghdad's two-month-old security plan as evidence of the government's inefficiency.
The plan is "not working," according to Maysoon al-Damalouji, a secular Sunni lawmaker.
She said many people believed that services would be restored to neighborhoods "cleansed" by U.S. and Iraqi troops. However, once troops leave a cleansed region, militias move back in and take revenge on people who have cooperated with the troops.
Al-Damalouji believes that the essential problem is the division of parties by sectarian affiliation.
Suicide bombers kill 9 U.S. soldiers
Nine U.S. paratroopers were killed Monday when a pair of suicide bombers attacked a small U.S. patrol base in Diyala province, the U.S. military said. (Watch how Diyala province is becoming a major battleground )
It was the deadliest attack on U.S. ground forces in Iraq since December 2005.
U.S. military officials said initial reports indicate insurgents used two 30-ton dump trucks full of explosives to attack what they call a combat outpost. The massive blast resulted in the northern and western walls of the compound collapsing. Remains of several troops were recovered from the rubble.
An additional 20 U.S. soldiers were wounded in the attack.
The direct assault is a departure from the usual tactics of the insurgents, who in the past have been more inclined to use hit-and-run sniper attacks, or launch mortars from a distance.
The Islamic State of Iraq, the insurgent umbrella group that includes al Qaeda in Iraq, claimed responsibility for the attack in a posting on an Islamist Web site.
The same insurgent group claimed responsibility for the suicide attack at Iraq's parliament complex two weeks ago.
The insurgents said that the U.S. confirmation of the Diyala attack "is a rare confession by the Americans about an operation against their soldiers" and that "God guided the soldiers of ISI to a new method of explosion."
The Diyala region is emerging as a major battleground in the Iraq war, along with Baghdad and Anbar province, with insurgents shifting their operations into the area.
The Diyala attack has jolted the Army's 82nd Airborne Division, based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where all the dead and wounded soldiers are based, according to the U.S. military.
A Fort Bragg spokesman, Maj. Tom Earnhardt, said the Diyala attack is "the worst incident we've had in the whole global war on terrorism."
Other developments
At least 15 people were killed and 25 were wounded Tuesday in a suicide truck bombing north of Ramadi, police in the Anbar provincial capital said. The bomber struck a police patrol, killing at least four officers. Women and children were among those wounded, police said.
President Bush said Tuesday he will veto a war spending bill that sets a deadline for U.S. troop withdrawals to begin. The House of Representatives and Senate agreed Monday on a bill that requires a pullout of troops to begin by October 1. (Full story)
Thousands of Iraqis took to the streets of Baghdad on Monday to protest a concrete wall surrounding Adhamiya, a Sunni neighborhood in Baghdad. The U.S. and Iraqi militaries said the wall is a temporary structure to prevent insurgent attacks. But many Baghdad residents fear walls will exacerbate the sectarian divide fueling the insurgency in the Iraqi capital. (Watch why the wall is controversial )
CNN's Yousif Bassil, Arwa Damon, Jomana Karadsheh, Octavia Nasr, Jomana Karadsheh and Brian Todd contributed to this report.
15 April, 2007
More deaths in Baghdad
This article headline reads "At least 45 die in Baghdad sectarian bombings ".
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18116217/
How about adding the word "more" after 45? And does anyone notice how many times reports like this note which sects were targeted?
The U.S. is just caught in the midst of a lost cause in Iraq. Sad.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18116217/
How about adding the word "more" after 45? And does anyone notice how many times reports like this note which sects were targeted?
The U.S. is just caught in the midst of a lost cause in Iraq. Sad.
13 April, 2007
U huh We did it--Al Qaida
Al-Qaida-linked group claims Iraq blast
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070413/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_ylt=AgFuIE82uiTxwQ7LKtaNxQVvaA8F
An inside job? This took place in the Green zone. Lots of possibilities.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070413/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_ylt=AgFuIE82uiTxwQ7LKtaNxQVvaA8F
An inside job? This took place in the Green zone. Lots of possibilities.
12 April, 2007
Iraq's Sectarian Divide
No one wants to see the sectarian divide that erodes Iraq's road for peace. Take a look at the map posted on CNN.http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2005/iraq.transition/
(click on the link on this page called Baghdad's sectarian divide) Doesnt this give you dejavu on similar divisions in Lebanon during last summer's war between Israel?
At this point, I think no matter what the U.S., Britain or any stereotypically branded Western country does (thank you radical Islam), there is no recognizable period of stability for a majority of countries in the Middle East these days that signify that they do want democracy. There will always be this terribly frustrating mix of cultural dichotomies, religious beliefs and archaic traditions that plague countries like Iraq, Lebanon and Iran to name a few. So why should the U.S. stay in Iraq? As an American I feel proud knowing that I live in a democracy and that despite all the prejudices that are still evident in this country, a majority DO have an awareness that things are far better here than they are in the Middle East. I think it is downright unfair to convince Americans to believe that they're fighting for Iraqi people's rights to a fair democracy when these people are still closely tied to nations who continue to undermine their desire to achieve freedom. It's like treating a victim who still cherishes the victim mentality and uses it for their own benefit. One minute they're friends to the U.S. and the next the U.S. becomes this evil force that invaded their country for political gain. Everyone is scum while they remain the victims.
26 February, 2007
Iraq VP dodges death
So if anyone says this is the work of the West then this is a new stretch to go at greater lengths to pin everything against us.
Iraqi vice president dodges bomb; 10 die click here for article
Iraqi vice president dodges bomb; 10 die click here for article
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