AP Dozens killed in Iraq; 8 U.S. troops die

[rodeodance]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060828/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_ylt=AiCyTz4NmtdA_FUlL7zCan.s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3OTB1amhuBHNlYwNtdHM-
Dozens killed in Iraq; 8 U.S. troops die

By ELENA BECATOROS, Associated Press Writer 10 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Violence in Iraq left nearly 50 people dead Monday in a suicide car bombing and clashes between Shiite militia and Iraqi security forces, a brutal contradiction of the prime minister's claim that bloodshed was decreasing.


The deaths followed a day of bombings and shootings on Sunday, when more than 60 people were killed across the country, from the northern city of Kirkuk to the capital Baghdad and down to the south in Basra. The dead included eight American soldiers, one of the deadliest weekends for the U.S. military in recent months.

In the city of Diwaniyah, gunbattles between Iraqi forces and militiamen of the Mahdi Army loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr left at least 34 people dead and about 70 wounded, Iraqi officials said.

The fighting broke out late Sunday night when Iraqi soldiers conducted raids in three neighborhoods to flush out the militiamen and seize weapons, said army Capt. Fatik Aied.

He said the fighting continued Monday.

[rodeodance]

1. "Some 10,000 Iraqis have been killed in the last four months alone "

But American forces have also been wary of confronting the Mahdi Army because of al-Sadr's clout over the government and his large following among Shiites, who are in a majority in Iraq.

Some 10,000 Iraqis have been killed in the last four months alone in unrelenting attacks by Sunni and Shiite extremists on each other's communities, as well as bombings and shootings by Sunni Arab insurgents.

[rodeodance]

4. 4.4 stars

.....RECOMMEND THIS STORY

Your Recommendation:

Average (163 votes)
4.4 stars

[katinmn]

2. 10,000 Iraqis killed ??!!

Jesus.:cry: For what?

[rodeodance]

3. no, 4 months,

[katinmn]

6. Ok. That's averages out to 2500 per month

:cry:

Better get more coffee to cry in. It's gonna be a long day.

[MikeyJones]

21. For civil war......

not trying to sound cruel or anything but these people have been massacring each other for hundreds of years. We made the stupidest mistake of getting in the middle of it without thinking.

[katinmn]

37. They haven't been killing each other to this extent

although US media likes to paint the picture as them being poor savages. In actuality, Iraq had the highest rates of literacy in the Middle East until the US started bombings and economic sanctions in the 1980s.

Several Iraqis have told me that under Saddam people never discussed whether they were Shia or Sunni. Yes, he was an evil dictator but there was not daily violence like there is now. Most Iraqis were glad Saddam was deposed, but they sure don't want a foreign occupier who has made it impossible to work or go to school and which has raided the money meant for rebuilding the infrastructure that the US destroyed.

Now that it's a free-for-all and considering:
* 70% unemployment
* all the jockeying for position in the US puppet government
* the open borders inviting America-haters from every dang country
* Iraq has been colonized by the British and now the U.S. and its borders shaped arbitrarily by
Westerners

they have a world-class mess on their hands and Prince George would like to leave it to the next US president to clean up.

What a fuckwad is George. What an injustice the US has dealt these poor people.

[lumpy]

49. ".......These people have been massacring

each other for hundreds of years." Such a broad statement needs a reply. The area known today as Iraq
has been invaded throughout history; by Persia(Iran),Turkey(Ottoman Empire) until the invasion by the United Kingdom(England) from 1918-1940. It is more like they have been massacred by more outsiders than through civil war. To blow off the reality of Iraq history by saying they have "been massacring each other for hundreds of years" is wrong on your part; either that or you lump all Mideast peoples as being one and the same.

[marmar]

5. The Bush administration is drenched in blood...

What inhabits the White House is pure evil.

[rodeodance]

7. I do not get cable. abc. ABC announed SIX deaths this am (no details)

[qanda]

11. NBC said eight died over the weekend

Like it was nothing. Just sickening!

[wellst0nev0ter]

24. Try Nine

Per WP :puke:

[rodeodance]

41. yes, one of the radio announcers said that also

[civildisoBDence]

35. DUHbya's hands would be covered in blood

except that the blood just slides off, what with all the oil.

News and commentary, left to right

[eccles12]

US soldiers are never "killed" they just "die."

More and more ways for the media to spin away the horrors of this horrendous invasion.

[saigon68]

15. "BRING EM ON" shouted the AWOL CHIMPANZEE

[Drum]

26. ...

[saigon68]

32. Nice graphic

[rodeodance]

8. kick for the troops--and their families

[marmar]

9. Here's another report:

Suicide bomber hits Iraqi ministry amid insurgent blitz
08-28-2006, 10h01
BAGHDAD (AFP)



An Iraqi soldier approaches one of the vehicles destroyed after two near simultaneous suicide car bomb attacks in the ethnically mixed northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk. A suicide car bomber struck at the nerve centre of Iraq's embattled security forces, killing 14 people and injuring 45 more in an attack on the interior ministry.
(AFP)

A suicide car bomber struck at the nerve centre of Iraq's embattled security forces, killing 14 people and injuring 45 more in an attack on the interior ministry.

The attack came as Interior Minister Jawad Bolani was due to hold a meeting with police chiefs, and capped off a torrid 24 hours of carnage in which more than 60 Iraqis and five American soldiers had already been killed.

A security official told AFP that eight police commandos were among those killed when the bomber detonated his cargo of explosives near a checkpoint outside the ministry's tightly-guarded compound in downtown Baghdad.

The blast was the latest blow to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's campaign to convince Iraqis and the world that his government and security forces are up to the task of bringing peace to his bitterly divided country.

"The violence is on the decrease, and our security ability is increasing," Maliki said in an interview Sunday with CNN. "I want to assure he who loves Iraq that Iraq will never be in a civil war."

As he spoke, however, the death toll was mounting across the country as members of the three biggest of Iraq's rival ethno-religious communities -- Sunni Arabs, Shiites and Kurds -- came under attack.

The complete story is at: http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=139520

[bemildred]

10. Doesn't sound good at all:

Dr. Mohammed Abdul-Muhsen of the city's general hospital said 34 bodies were brought in — 25 Iraqi soldiers, seven civilians and two militiamen. He said at least 70 people were injured, but could not immediately give a breakdown.

Fatik said the militiamen were using rocket-propelled grenades and automatic assault rifles. At least 10 militiamen had been arrested, he said.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

16. BBC was reporting that Mahdi's were better armed than US forces.

[0007]

12. Stack 'em high on the yahoo pile!

Grass Bush

Pile the bodies high in Austerlitz and Waterloo Iraq
Shovel them under and let me work--
I am the grass; bush; I cover all.

And pile them high in Gettyburg Baghdad
And pile them high in Ypres and Vedum Mossoul and Al Fallaujah

Two years, ten years, and passengers ask the conductor:
What place is this?

I am the grass bush.
Let me work.

Carl Sandburg


Support the war - Donate a Son a Daughter
The GOP working for a better America
God Bless America

[Zynx]

13. 10,000 dead Iraqis in 4 months?!!!!!

In this country that would mean a murder rate of 300,000 a year!

[rodeodance]

14. problem is that they are killed 'over there' so they do not killed 'here'

[Whoa_Nelly]

17. 2638

:cry:

[alcibiades_mystery]

25. No, the current count includes these

n/t

[Whoa_Nelly]

28. So, the current count is 2630?

A link would be helpful to verify the count.

Thanks

[alcibiades_mystery]

29. The current count is 2628

That includes the 8 from this weekend:

http://icasualties.org/oif/
http://icasualties.org/oif/prdDetails.aspx?hndRef=8-2006

[Whoa_Nelly]

30. Thanks n/t

[jazzjunkysue]

18. Major Combat Operations are Never Over: This is eternal war.

Have a nice day.

[The Wizard]

19. But

freedom's on the march.
Mission Accomplished, yeah right.

[coalition_unwilling]

42. There's "light at the end of the tunnel": William

Westmoreland, Saigon, November 1967

[me b zola]

53. "A free nation is a peaceful nation"

That statement would be fine if it wasn't coming out of the mouth of the person responsible for waging wars of aggression. War is peace.

[MikeyJones]

20. Who else thinks the clashes between the Mehdi Army and police look funny?

To me it's a Shia power struggle between al-Sadr and the Badrs. They're duking it out in between fist fights with the Sunnis. It's a real fucking mess over there right now.

Of course if you listen to our vice pissident Darth Cheney then you'll get the idea we need to "stay the course" and watch helplessly as our precious American blood is spilled on those filthy Arab streets.

Time to pull out now no questions ask before we accidently impregnate the situation into world war three. We need immediate regime change in Washington. These bastards are in power for roughly another 2 and a half years and that scares the living shit out of me.

Kerry warned us of a "back door draft" during the debates and with the recent comments from the veterans' association regarding our status in Iraq and the calling up of stop-lossed marines to fill the vacancies and the holes just continue to show the flaws and holes in neoconservative ideology and repression that so permeate Washington's halls.

Fuck it, we have to stop these bastards at all costs before they bring the draft back to fill the ranks to fight their corporate wars for them.

If they do bring it back I'll happily burn my card and walk straight to the jail and turn myself in. I'd rather proudly and patriotically defy the Bush administration with my head up proud than bow to their insane policies.

[truthisfreedom]

34. "precious American blood is spilled on those filthy Arab streets"?

how about "dusty Arab streets"?

[rodeodance]

38. dusty and bloody

[lumpy]

52. Those 'filthy Arab streets' were

rather pristine before the US and their 'coalition' got busy to 'scrub' them. And now 'precious' American blood is less 'precious' to those who support continuing this Bush abomination.
Sad you now have to worry about losing your precious blood if a draft becomes the order of the day.

[lumpy]

51. Sunni vs.Shia, throw in the Kurds and

any other faction, then maybe one can realize that Saddam really had a job on his hands. He dealt with those problems with swift justice, repugnant perhaps to Westerners, but nevertheless he had Iraq under control. He lost ground in his war with Iran (now our enemy) but the country was recovering and advancing toward more secular freedom. The US/Uk went way over their heads by not understanding the ethnic differences to be found in Iraq. And the US is paying a heavy price morally and finacially for the fiasco known as Mission Accomplished.

[Az_lefty]

22. Good Lord, I have friends that just re-deployed back over there...

I cannot believe the total fuck-up our idiot prez has created.

[mainer]

23. Look! We have our own military version of "Comical Ali"!

"The U.S. military said eight U.S. soldiers were killed Saturday and Sunday in and around Baghdad, seven of them by roadside bombs and one by gunfire. More than 2,600 U.S. military personnel have died since the beginning of the

U.S. military authorities said there was less violence than before.

"We have reduced the amount of violence," military spokesman Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell told reporters in Baghdad. "We are actually seeing progress out there."

[Vinca]

27. Just a couple of minutes ago I heard CNN reporting on how much

better things have gotten. Can I have another glass of Kool-Aid, please?

[ckramer]

31. Golfer

[madmunchie]

33. My son is over there and he told me that they were on the highest

security level because of threats of unsurgents storming military bases.

He is in Kurdish country, where it is "safe", he only hears 1 - 2 bombs going off daily (some of the time only 1 or 2, many times there are more). Real safe huh?

[Nebulous Abstraction]

36. I don't know about you guys, but the more time that goes by,

the more I am convinced that this dubious military endeavor was f*cked-up by design. The architects of this madness should all be bullwhipped and thrown to a pack of wild dogs.

[Kailassa]

43. Welcome to DU.

I'm certain it was, a country in chaos can't defend itself.

There have been many indications that the americans and english
have carried out false-flag operations to set the sunnis and
shiites at each other's throats.

They will attempt to do the same in america if they think they
need to to keep control of the country.

[lumpy]

50. Say what you may, Saddam had

Iraq under control to a point through his secularist ideas; the only chance Iraq ever had for independence and modernization was happening under Saddam until the Western powers(UK & US) decided they just couldn't let this happen for whatever reason. Iraq's gripe with Kuwait over territory was just the perfect excuse for the US to jump in and solve Iraq's problems for them; then comes the move by the US and UK to really put the finishing touches on what has become the pillage and downfall of Iraq. It has been suggested that Iraq be partitioned by the big boys. That should be just as successfull as it has been in Palestine...not.

[Kailassa]

59. We're in agreement here.

Saddam was no angel, but he understood his country and had its interests at heart.

Sanctions killed far more Iraqis that Saddam ever did, and this invasion has
made a wreckage of the social structures, just as it has much needed utilities.

And America first gave Saddam the green light to invade Kuwait.

And nothing Saddam did compares with the horror of what America did to Fallujah.

[Amonester]

55. I am (not the only one) having a much better idea:

All PNAC'ers, plus Bu$h, his brain..... and his lapdog (BLiar)

Right in the middle of the clusterf**k they created.
On a street "corner" in Baghdad.
All alone (together)....
Unarmed.

To see how long true justice would take...

[rodeodance]

39. k

[rodeodance]

40. k

[cliss]

44. THIS IS GOING TO STOP, DU:ers

This is a BLACK HOLE, a DANTE'S INFERNO, a GAPING MAW that threatens to suck this entire country into this maelstrom.

WE NEED TO GET OUT OF THERE.

We can consider ourselves lucky if we can escape with as little damage as Viet Nam, but I doubt it. I think this time we've gone over the edge. Bush and Cheney opened the gates of Hell on this one.

The people in Washington probably realize this, as we speak. We will get out of there because we have no other choice.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

56. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

57. Deleted message

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[roamer65]

45. Iraq is just "bait" for the Iranians

The real goal of the neocons was and still is war with Iran. All of this chaos in Iraq is being allow to happen for a reason. They're attempting to bait the Iranians into an invasion. Tada...then they'll would have the war they were looking for in the first place. Ironic thing though, they just might end baiting a NATO member (Turkey) in as well.

[krispos42]

46. Wisconsin soldier killed in Iraq

A 21-year-old soldier from Two Rivers, Wis., has been killed in Iraq, his aunt confirmed today.
Associated Press
Last update: August 28, 2006 – 4:29 PM

TWO RIVERS, Wis. — A 21-year-old soldier from Two Rivers has been killed in Iraq, his aunt said Monday.
Army Pfc. Shaun Novak was killed Sunday in an explosion while he was riding in an armored vehicle, Sheila Halverson said.

<more>

http://www.startribune.com/722/story/640243.html

Damn damn damn. 21 years old with a 15-year-old brother about to start school.

This one had not been updated on the Iraqi casualties list yet at:
http://icasualties.org/oif/BY_DOD.aspx

[Name removed]

47. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[mkb]

54. Caring Really Counts Alot

     The white-haired erudite old gentleman at the beginning
of the movie "The Sand Pebbles" made the statement,
"...I bequeath China to you youngsters, in the hope that
you can comprehend what so many people are going to have to
die for; the good, the bad, the innocent."
     Of course war isn't inevitable, but no one in their right
mind can believe that the situation is not accurately
represented by the quote above.  The overclass is always
interested in war rather than peace, if for no other reason
than they don't do much of the fighting.
     If you let the injustice of the world stop you from
continuing down the right path, you should think of the words
our friend Scott wrote "...if you get mad that's just
another job well done...".
     How true, getting mad probably won't do those of us
trying to make best of it any good.  Is riling up people the
only thing that some people are any good at?  I heard the talk
show host Michael Medved say we can't have negotiations in
this conflict.  On Stan Goff's website, I said that we should
call people like him Stewart, because they are good at the ART
of making people STEW.
     I hope you don't get too discouraged, because at least
for most of us, things are manageable.  We must use the
advantages we have to continue to work for the best outcome
possible, as so many others have throughout history.
     I hope you will continue to find ways to do good, always
being aware of the dangers of exposing your identity to
others. 

[IndianaGreen]

58. US troops shoot indiscriminately at civilians, 7 killed

Meanwhile, new allegations of indiscriminate killings by U.S. troops surfaced Monday. Relatives and neighbors of seven civilians shot dead during a gun battle in a Baghdad neighborhood on Sunday said U.S. soldiers had stepped out of their vehicles and randomly fired at their car.

"The soldiers decided to kill everyone on the streets, and my mother was one of them," Mohammed Sabah al-Dulaimi, 19, an engineering student said in a telephone interview. "They were angry. There's no other reason for killing. They took revenge."

Dulaimi's mother, Suad Jodah Yaseen, was returning from work in a company car, which stopped some distance away from the scene where a roadside bomb had struck a U.S. military vehicle, according to her brother, Hadi Jodah Yaseen, 50.

"But random shooting by American soldiers hit her in the head and the chest, and one bullet pierced her chest and came out of the back," Yaseen said.

Lt. Col Barry Johnson, a U.S. military spokesman, confirmed that seven civilians were killed Sunday in Ghazaliyah, a volatile western Baghdad neighborhood where U.S. forces have bolstered their efforts to tame sectarian violence. But he said the civilians were caught in the crossfire of a gun battle between U.S. troops and insurgents.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/28/AR2006082800039.html

[Kailassa]

60. There are not enough tears to go round.

:cry: :cry:

[pinniped]

61. Dammit, them terra dudes are influencing the western media again.

Bastards!

[Hubert Flottz]

62. The Uncivil War...

If it isn't a civil war, then it damned sure is uncivil war.

uncivil, adj, 1. Discourteous; rude or impolite.