Bombs, Bullets Kill More Than 50 in Iraq (demands for occupiers to leave)

[rodeodance]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060225/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_ylt=AuiR_98bn.aa9IWpIeVwsaCs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--

Bombs, Bullets Kill More Than 50 in Iraq

By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer 11 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Bombs and gunfire killed about 60 people as another daytime curfew Saturday failed to halt violence that has claimed nearly 200 lives since the destruction of a Shiite shrine set off a wave of retribution against Sunnis and pushed Iraq toward civil war.

In an unusual round of telephone diplomacy,President Bush spoke with seven leaders of Shiite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish political parties in a bid to defuse the sectarian crisis unleashed by the bombing of the Shiites' Askariya shrine in Samarra.

........On Saturday, al-Sadr's movement joined Sunni clerics in agreeing to prohibit killing members of the two sects and banning attacks on each other's mosques. The clerics issued a statement blaming "the occupiers," meaning the Americans and their coalition partners, for stirring up sectarian unrest.

"We demand that the occupiers leave or set a timetable for the withdrawal," the statement said.

[FtWayneBlue]

1. "We demand that the occupiers leave or set a timetable."

Good. As some have said,
"Let's give redeployment to the periphery a chance."

[Danmel]

2. It's not good

It was predictable but it is really bad. We can say I told you so, but those are real people dying. Not good at all.

[rodeodance]

3. and these deaths happened during a curfew.

[acmavm]

4. Of course it's not good. Do you think anyone here believes the deaths

of innocent people who just want their country back is GOOD?

The US presence will just keep everything in complete chaos. You know what the Iraqi's need now? A strongman, a thug who can take control of the government and maintain a careful balance of power between all these warring factions.

Wait, that sounds familiar. Where is that faint humming noise coming from? Seems like it's saying 'everything that goes around comes around'.

Don't lecture me, don't even think about it, regarding his barbaric treatment of the Shi'ites while he was in power. Because as we all see now, the Shi'ites like to use the same tools of repression and murder to maintain their upper hand. WE NEVER SHOULD HAVE DESTABILIZED THE HUSSEIN GOVERNMENT.

The brain dead simplistic solution would be to break the country up into three parts. (Like that's even an option.)

Any way you look at this mess, we're screwed. But we need to get out and let them sort it out for themselves. We've brought the Iraqi people nothing but misery, suffering, and death.

Nice legacy isn't it?

[LynnTheDem]

18. Our legacy; Iraqis WORSE OFF NOW than they were under Hussein.

And that is a (foretold, forewarned) fact.

[JanusAscending]

5. This STINKS OF CIA !!!

Wouldn't this be an easy way out of Iraq for bushco!!! God forbid he admits he was wrong, but doesn't want to look like we are running away with our tails between our legs!! Make the Iraqi's so pissed at us that their new "democracy" orders us out of the Country!! Think about it, while you pray for our troops safety!! It's about time for the coward that calls himself the pResident to crawl away and under a rock, the stinking lying mother that he is!:nuke: P.S. Instead of calling on the telephone (so unusually calm:sarcasm: ) why doesn't he drag his ass over there and talk to them in person?? He's the one who wanted this war!!

[gizmo1979]

6. It's clearly out of control.

How long before complete chaos takes hold?How long have we been in Iraq?We have achieved nothing.It must be very disheartening for the young troops there.

[IndianaGreen]

7. We lost the war a long time ago, and now the Iraqis are about

to lose what little they have left in a civil war. Only the most stubborn neocons and their allies among the neolibs remain in denial!

[gizmo1979]

8. Alas they are the ones in charge.

All we can do is watch in dismay as all the lives and money go right down the toilet.

[mom cat]

10. Neo-con stated policy: Make the region a cauldron:

"One can only hope that we turn the region into a cauldron, and faster, please. If ever there were a region that richly deserved being cauldronized, it is the Middle East today. If we wage the war effectively, we will bring down the terror regimes in Iraq, Iran, and Syria, and either bring down the Saudi monarchy or force it to abandon its global assembly line to indoctrinate young terrorists. That's our mission in the war against terror." Michael Ledeen

http://www.irmep.org/dp_world.htm

They have done it ... and the Iraqis know who is to blame.

[ninkasi]

21. In my opinion, IG

we lost the war before we set foot in Iraq. The whole fiasco was predictable to all but the most zealous neocons. There was never a way to "win" invading a country under false pretenses, especially considering the incompetence , greed, and arrogance of this administration.

We have unleashed hell in an unstable region, and we will unfortunately pay the price, even though so many of us were against it. Again, Bush and his cronies will escape unscathed, with billions stolen from American taxpayers in their pockets.

[henslee]

9. This certfiable disaster that everyone saw coming is owned by this Admin &

most of the democratic party.

[Massachusetts]

12. Bingo!

[John Q. Citizen]

15. Considering that a majority of the Dems voted against war powers,

I fail to see how you can pin it on "most of the Democratic Party."

[henslee]

16. I can pin it on the Dems in the senate, majority of whom voted in favor

of it.

[John Q. Citizen]

19. No argument there. What was it,

a majority by 2 or 3, in the Senate, something like that?

But in the house, a very large majority of the Dems voted against it.

SO when we take our Dem members of congress as a whole, a very large majority voted against the war.

This is something that is not widely stated.

In fact, many people keep repeating the erroneous meme that "A majority of Dems voted for the war."

[High Plains]

11. So...when does our Congress quit providing money for this war?

Not another dime for this disaster.

[rodeodance]

14. but bush will be asking for money shortly. AGAIN

[stillcool]

13. Who benefits?...

February 24, 2006
Who Benefits?
The most important question to ask regarding the bombings of the Golden Mosque in Samarra on the 22nd is: who benefits?

The horrific attack which destroyed much of the Golden Mosque generated sectarian outrage which led to attacks on over 50 Sunni mosques. Many Sunni mosques in Baghdad were shot, burnt, or taken over. Three Imams were killed, along with scores of others in widespread violence.

This is what was shown by western corporate media.

As quickly as these horrible events began, they were called to an end and replaced by acts of solidarity between Sunni and Shia across Iraq.

This, however, was not shown by western corporate media.

The Sunnis where the first to go to demonstrations of solidarity with Shia in Samarra, as well as to condemn the mosque bombings. Demonstrations of solidarity between Sunni and Shia went off over all of Iraq: in Basra, Diwaniyah, Nasiriyah, Kut, and Salah al-Din.

...all those concerned with "civil-war"...please read the whole post at the link below....and for those concerned with 'conspiracy theorists' the other link is for you...


http://dahrjamailiraq.com/weblog/archives/dispatches/000365.php
http://www.serendipity.li/cia.html

[lyonn]

22. dahr's report was interesting, food for thought

Are the Sunni's and Shiite's really calling a truce and demand the occupiers leave? Is the bush phone call bs? Who really did the bombing? There are so many questions which we probably will never know for sure the answers.

Do the Iraqis, Sunni, Shiite, etc. really want us out? My guess is Yes! But what is the truth.

[stillcool]

23. I have done a lot of reading of late...

and am convinced that I know nothing. History...my own history...is faulty. The Pentagon's "psy-ops leakage" seems to be flowing freely.

http://www.aliveness.com/kangaroo/L-overclass.html
http://www.serendipity.li/cia.html

[LynnTheDem]

17. "We demand that the occupiers leave..."

"We demand that the occupiers leave..."

Oh no we can't do that! We have to stay and make things right, coz only we can do that, only we know what's good for those little Iraqi people!

:sarcasm:

Told ya 3 fucking years ago...as did the majority of Iraqis. Think maybe FINALLY the majority of Americans will bloody listen?

[Critters2]

20. But the real story is

It's Mardi Gras time in NOLA!!!

Sorry, I watch too much CNN.

Go on. You were saying something about violence...?