Just an Iraq Thread

[Rex Kickass]

7 times out of 10, I agree with you. I'll even agree that France and Russia had economic interests in a Saddam Hussein led Iraq, however - that being said, Russia and the US met and Putin made that very clear. If Russia thought they could have gotten one penny more out of Iraq reconstruction, they would have come to our side.

 

But I think what we're seeing here is a fundamental switch in foreign policy by the Bush administration and that was seen with great alarm, and for good cause, around the world. The idea of pre-emptive war is a bit chilling. And I can honestly say that major powers, or in the case of France - former major powers, find this unsettling to the status quo of how things go on the part of the major players in the world. In a world where the big players need to be more stable, this as seen as a much more unpredictable switch.

[DBAHO]

I was shocked how much other stuff there was besides the $350 million.  I was also trying to find a total for all of the military equiptment that we using as relief aid also... I remember reading that one of the choppers we have down there costs $4000 per hour just to operate.

Gotta agree with you there, well for all of the big countries anyways. I still couldn't find anythin on original donations though (although I didn't look very hard).

[southsider2k5]

7 times out of 10, I agree with you. I'll even agree that France and Russia had economic interests in a Saddam Hussein led Iraq, however - that being said, Russia and the US met and Putin made that very clear. If Russia thought they could have gotten one penny more out of Iraq reconstruction, they would have come to our side.

 

But I think what we're seeing here is a fundamental switch in foreign policy by the Bush administration and that was seen with great alarm, and for good cause, around the world. The idea of pre-emptive war is a bit chilling. And I can honestly say that major powers, or in the case of France - former major powers, find this unsettling to the status quo of how things go on the part of the major players in the world. In a world where the big players need to be more stable, this as seen as a much more unpredictable switch.

 

I can't argue with that much at all.

[KipWellsFan]

Hey guys "Just an Iraq Thread"

 

-Suicide Bombing at Baghdad recruit center kills 16

-3 Baghdad police killed in gunfight

-Head of the Nation party's two sons assassinated

 

courtesy foxnews.com

BAGHDAD, Iraq  — A bomber blew himself up in a crowd of Iraqis outside an army recruitment center Tuesday, killing 21 other people and injuring 27 more, the U.S. military said. It was the deadliest attack in the Iraqi capital since last week's election.

 

There were conflicting reports about the attack, which occurred at an Iraqi National Guard (search) headquarters at the Muthana airfield. Iraqi officials blamed the explosion on mortar fire and officials at Baghdad's Yarmouk Hospital said they had received 16 bodies from the scene, all of them army recruits.

 

But witnesses reported only one explosion, and the U.S. military said the blast was caused by a bomber.

 

Elsewhere, three police officers were killed in clashes in Baghdad's western Ghazaliya neighborhood, scene of numerous clashes and assassinations over the past six months.

 

Also Tuesday, assailants sprayed a politician's car with gunfire, killing two of the man's sons, an Interior Ministry official said. The politician, Mithal al-Alusi, who heads the Nation party, escaped unhurt.

 

He gained notoriety last year after he was expelled from the Iraqi National Congress party for attending a terrorism conference in Israel. Al-Alusi is one of the candidates who ran in Iraq's landmark Jan. 30 elections.

[Rex Kickass]

I can't argue with that much at all.

 

You will assimilate.... or wait, will I?

[southsider2k5]

You will assimilate.... or wait, will I? 

 

There are plenty of why's and how's, but in general I agree with you there.

 

Hold me, I am afraid

[Rex Kickass]

It's all part of my agenda.

 

Stage one: Love the French Again.

Stage two: ?

Stage three: Profit!

[southsider2k5]

It's all part of my agenda.

 

Stage one: Love the French Again.

Stage two: ?

Stage three: Profit!

 

BRILLIANT!

[Texsox]

In the good old days of the cold war a country could cast it's fate in one of two directions. Be friends with the US or USSR. Either way, you could be a little twerp and know that a major super power would back your action. If your crops failed, someone would provide some food. If you suddenly had something of value, "your bully" would protect you.

 

Now it's a one country game. Fear us. We can take on anyone and win. If we decide you need democracy, we'll kill as many people as necessary until you have democracy. We are #1 and not afraid to shove our weight around. Shape up or you're history. The sooner the rest of the world realizes that, the better we'll all be. :finger world. We got it all!

Edited February 8, 2005 by Texsox

[Rex Kickass]

Til China and India come around.

[KipWellsFan]

Hey guys "Just an Iraq Thread" 

 

-Suicide Bombing at Baghdad recruit center kills 16

-3 Baghdad police killed in gunfight

-Head of the Nation party's two sons assassinated

 

courtesy foxnews.com

 

-also a US Soldier was found dead yesterday

-along with the two sons of the Nation party's head his bodyguard was killed too

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/02...main/index.html

 

----

 

-journalist of the US funded Al-Hurra and son killed

-now estimated between 13000 and 17000 insurgents in Iraq, as opposed to earlier statement that there were approximately 5000

-senior official or interior ministry kidnapped

 

courtesy cnn.com

 

Iraqi TV journalist gunned down

Basra man worked for U.S.-financed network

Wednesday, February 9, 2005 Posted: 1339 GMT (2139 HKT)

 

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Masked gunmen killed an Al-Hurra television correspondent and his 6-year-old son on Wednesday in the southern city of Basra, an Iraqi army official said.

 

The gunmen sprayed journalist Abdul Hussein Khazaal with bullets in the al-Maaqal neighborhood as he stood outside his house, the official said. Khazaal was standing near a car at the time, waiting for bodyguards to retrieve something inside the house.

 

Khazaal's wounded son later died in a hospital.

 

Al-Hurra is an Arab-language TV channel financed by the United States.

 

Launched in February 2004 Al-Hurra, or The Free, was tailored for Arab audiences to compete with other regional stations like Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya, The Associated Press reported.

 

Although President Bush said its mission was to "cut through the hateful propaganda that fills the airwaves in the Muslim world," some Muslim clerics have denounced it as propaganda, AP reported.

 

Also Wednesday, a senior official with Iraq's Interior Ministry had been kidnapped, police said.

 

Col. Riyadh Gatte Elawi was abducted as he left his house for work in the al-Dora neighborhood of Baghdad, police said.

 

'Up to 17,000 insurgents'

A senior military official said Tuesday that the U.S. military faces between 13,000 and 17,000 insurgents in Iraq, the large majority of them backers of Saddam Hussein and his Baath Party.

 

The official told CNN the bulk of the insurgency is made up of 12,000 to 15,000 Arab Sunni followers of Saddam's Baathists.

 

Of those, the source said 5,000 to 7,000 are considered "committed" fighters, with the rest considered "fence-sitters," criminals or "facilitators" who contribute material support or sanctuary to the guerrillas.

 

The official said about 500 other fighters have come from other countries to battle U.S.-led forces in Iraq, while another group of fewer than 1,000 are believed to be followers of Jordanian-born Islamic terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

 

Members of Congress have been pressing senior officers for an assessment of the strength of the insurgency since Iraq's January 30 elections.

 

The numbers are considerably higher than the 5,000 fighters that Gen. John Abizaid, head of the U.S. Central Command, estimated in November 2003. The Pentagon cautioned, however, that trends are difficult to track.

 

The official who provided Tuesday's estimate said the U.S. military believes it killed between 10,000 and 15,000 guerillas in combat last year -- perhaps as many as 3,000 during the November push to retake the western Iraqi city of Falluja from insurgents.

 

But because others join the insurgency to replace those killed, Pentagon analysts have difficulty matching the current number against previous assessments.

[KipWellsFan]

Iraq Election Results to Be Delayed

[southsider2k5]

Iraq Election Results to Be Delayed

 

Wow a post without reference to deaths.

[mreye]

Wow a post without reference to deaths.

Must have hurt him.

[KipWellsFan]

Included in Bush administrations 80 billion war funding request is to up Poland's military aid from 67 million to 100 million for their contribtions to Iraq.

 

courtesy foxnews.com

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,146896,00.html

 

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

 

WASHINGTON — President Bush said Wednesday he will ask Congress for $100 million to help modernize the armed forces of Poland, (search) a staunch ally in the war in Iraq -- a nearly 50 percent increase over last year .

 

During an Oval Office meeting with Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski (search), Bush said he was confident that Congress would approve the money. The United States gave Poland $67 million in military aid last year.

 

"Poland has been a fantastic ally because the president and the people of Poland love freedom," Bush said. "I know the people of your country must have been thrilled when the millions of people went to the polls" in Iraq.

 

The money will be part of the estimated $80 billion war funding request the White House is expected to submit to Congress next week.

 

Poland has taken command of a multinational security force in central Iraq (search) that currently includes about 6,000 troops --among them more than 2,400 Polish soldiers. Poland, however, recently disclosed plans to withdraw about 800 of those troops, leaving about 1,600 there until the end of the year.

 

Is there somewhere you can find out what else is included in this new 80 billion dollar request?

[KipWellsFan]

-Iraq borders closing for 5 days starting February 17

 

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/02...main/index.html

 

Borders to be closed

Iraq's borders will be closed for five days starting February 17, although no specific reason was given for the closure in an announcement from the office of the interim prime minister.

 

The announcement said the move was recommended by Iraq's National Security Council "to enhance the security and guarantee the Iraqi citizens' safety."

 

The period coincides with Ashura, a major Shiite religious holiday. Attacks during the holiday last year killed more than 180 people and wounded at least 500 others in Baghdad and Karbala.

 

Airports will remain open for international traffic, the government said.

 

---------------------------------

 

-3 Iraqi civilians killed in car bombing

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/02...main/index.html

 

----------------------------------

 

This is f***ed I'm getting all this info from this article on Foxnews.com and the title is Baghdad Blast Kills Two, Wounds Two. I count 34 deaths here but information is obviously pretty vague.

 

-the bodies of 20 shot truck drivers are found south of Baghdad

-police lieutenant in Baqouba killed

-5 bodies of Iraqi national guard found, men who had recently gone missing

-2 insurgents killed north of Ramadi by US Forces

-video released showing 4 policeman being killed execution style

-dead body found in Mosul riddled with bullets

-car bombing in Kirkuk kills 1 Iraqi civilian

-hospital receptionist in Baghdad killed by gunmen

 

 

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,146949,00.html

[KipWellsFan]

Dumsfeld oh sorry I mean Rumsfeld visits Iraq

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/02/1...d.ap/index.html

[KipWellsFan]

Also on Thursday 6 Iraqi policeman were killed in a gunfight.

 

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/02/10/...main/index.html

 

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Insurgents attacked Iraqi police in Baghdad in a battle Thursday that left six Iraqi police officers dead and 20 wounded, the U.S. military said.

 

The fighting began Thursday afternoon when a police unit encountered mortar and gunfire in the Iraqi capital's southern neighborhood of Salman Pak, said officials with the U.S.-led multinational forces.

 

The subsequent gunbattle lasted almost two hours, officials said. About 20 cars were ablaze after the fighting ended.

 

The multinational forces treated the injured and took them to medical facilities. Patrols are in pursuit of the insurgent gunmen, authorities said.

 

EDIT: Fox News is now reporting Iraqi insurgence cost more than 50 lives today.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,146949,00.html

Edited February 11, 2005 by KipWellsFan

[mreye]

Dumsfeld oh sorry I mean Rumsfeld visits Iraq

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/02/1...d.ap/index.html

And you wonder why no one takes you seriously. :rolly

[DBAHO]

And you wonder why no one takes you seriously.  :rolly

What if he mis-spelt Iran instead of Iraq?

[mreye]

What if he mis-spelt Iran instead of Iraq? 

This wasn't a spelling error.

[DBAHO]

This wasn't a spelling error.

I know, some may agree with him, some may not. Simple as that.

[mreye]

I know, some may agree with him, some may not. Simple as that.

I don't care that he calls him Dumsfeld. But, he wanted to start this thread as a serious dicussion about Iraq. He's contradicting himself. That's all.

[YASNY]

I don't care that he calls him Dumsfeld. But, he wanted to start this thread as a serious dicussion about Iraq. He's contradicting himself. That's all.

 

He seems to be the only one enjoying this thread.

[KipWellsFan]

He seems to be the only one enjoying this thread.