Clearly smarting under charges that they are “failing” to tell the good news
in Iraq, the major TV network and cable channels appear to have abandoned any
effort to report what is going on in Iraq. Fearful of being accused of
undermining the war effort, the TV side of journalism apparently decided to punt
and do nothing. Fortunately, the print media and wires continue to tough
it out. Working from the info collected on www.icasualties. org, I have
assembled a snapshot of the first five days of April in Iraq. It is not a
pretty picture. While it certainly could be worse, the facts on the ground
make it very tough to argue that the U.S. is making progress in securing
Iraq.
Here is a summary of the last five days (the specific news reports are posted
at the end of this article). During the period of 31 March thru 4 April
the following occurred:
- There were 39 shootings/ ambushes that killed 144 people.
- There were 25 major bombings that left 40 people dead.
- There were 5 mortar attacks killing 3 people.
- Four people, including a physician and the brother of a Sunni lawmaker,
were kidnapped.
- One U.S. military helicopter was shot down. The crew died in the
crash.
- There were three major attacks on oil pipelines.
All violence is relative. In the United States our cable networks have
no trouble spending weeks covering the disappearance of a teenager in
Aruba. In fact, the saturation coverage of the disappearance of Natalie
Holloway would lead a visitor from Mars to conclude that she was some sort of
goddess and that our very security depended on finding her. Compare that
coverage with the actual events in the last five days in Iraq.
If we had 25 car bombings in New York City and Washington, could George
Bush’s White House get away with chiding the media for not focusing on the good
news in the United States? Based on the lingering shock from the four
terrorist strikes on September 11, 2001, I wager that news coverage would be
borderline, if not full blown, hysteria in this country if we were experiencing
what the Iraqis are confronting on a daily basis.
The problem is not what the news media is reporting. The real problem
is that the White House continues to delude itself into believing that the
problems in Iraq can be solved simply by managing the news. The events on
the ground in Iraq, however, reflect centuries of deep seated sectarian and
ethnic strife. If we cannot create effective security forces or provide
such security ourselves, the Sunnis, Shias, and Kurds in Iraq will seek
protection from their own militias. A functioning government requires, at
a minimum, that the people be protected. If it cannot fulfill that task
then the government has little chance of being accpeted as legitimate.
Until that problem is solved Iraq will remain in the throes of a low-grade, but
escalating, civil war.
NEWS ARTICLES FROM WWW.ICASUALTIES. ORG
SHOOTINGS/ EXECUTIONS
03/31/06
Reuters: Gunmen kill five civilians in Baqubah
BAQUBA – At least five civilians were killed when gunmen fired on
their car near Baquba, about 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad.
AP: Soldiers find 6 more bullet-riddled bodies
Earlier in the day, soldiers discovered the bullet-riddled bodies
of six men, aged between 25 and 30 and wearing handcuffs, in western Baghdad,
police said.
Reuters: Policeman killed in Falluja
A policeman was killed when gunmen fired on his patrol in Falluja
50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad, police said.
04/01/06
AP: Sunni sheikh killed in
Basra A Sunni sheikh was killed by armed men in a speeding car when he
left his home in the southern city of Basra. His brother, who was with him, was
wounded, a Sunni official said.
AP: Two more bodies found, handcuffed man shot
Police discovered two more bodies of young men shot in the head
and wearing handcuffs in Baghdad. Witnesses also told police they saw three
gunmen in a BMW pull a handcuffed man out of the car and shoot him near a
highway in west Baghdad.
AP: Shop owner killed in Iskan
neighborhood
In
the western Iskan neighborhood, gunmen killed the owner of an air conditioner
repair shop on his way to work.
AP:Gunmen kill ice cream vendors and butcher in
Baghdad
gunmen killed…three ice cream vendors in the southern
neighborhood of Dora and a butcher and his son in east Baghdad, police said.
Another son was also wounded in the attack on the butcher shop.
AP: Iraqi gunmen ambush minibus carrying Shiites,
kill six men
Gunmen attacked a minibus carrying Shiites northeast of Baghdad,
killing six men and wounding a woman, an official said Saturday. U.S. and Iraqi
troops killed three suspected insurgents, and six people were gunned down in the
Iraqi capital
CNN: Gunmen kill Shiite tribal chief, relatives
Gunmen in three cars killed a Shiite tribal chief and four male
relatives near Balad Ruz as they drove home from a funeral, according to a
Diyala province Joint Coordination Center official.
AP: Seven bodies found
Police reported the discovery of at least seven bodies, mostly
young men who were shot in the head or strangled in Baghdad — the latest
victims, apparently, of sectarian death squads.
Reuters: Iraqi sergeant major killed
South of Baquba, an Iraqi army sergeant major was killed on Friday
after his patrol surprised a group of suspected anti-government fighters trying
to steal a dump truck.
AFP: Turkish driver killed outside
of Baghdad
A Turkish driver was also killed just outside Baghdad late on
Saturday, according to the Anatolia news agency.
AP: Gunmen assassinate Sunni Arab sheik
Gunmen also assassinated a Sunni Arab sheik, Abdul-Minaam Awad, in
his village of Zobaa 40 miles west of Baghdad, a Sunni clerical association
announced.
04/02/06
AP: Police Discover 40 Bodies in and Around
Baghdad
police reported the discovery of nearly 40 bodies in several
neighborhoods of the Iraqi capital…The bodies found in Bagdad were all
handcuffed and had been shot in the head or chest, said police Maj. Falah
al-Mohammedawi.
Reuters: Gunmen kill two civilians in Balad
Rouz
Gunmen killed two civilians and wounded three others, including a
12 year-old girl, when they attacked a family coming from Nahrwan and heading to
Balad Rouz, north of Baghdad, police said.
Reuters: Five civilians killed in Ramadi
Five
civilians, including three children, were killed in clashes between U.S. forces
and insurgents in Ramadi, a hospital source said.
Reuters: Two farmers killed by US forces in
Riyadh
Two
farmers were killed on Saturday by U.S. forces in Riyadh, 40 km southwest of
Kirkuk, police Lieutenant Saddam Aasaf said.
AFP: Policeman killed in Sunni
neighborhood of Khadra
In the Sunni neighborhood of Khadra, a policeman was shot dead by
unknown gunmen, while in the central Mustansiriyah neighborhood the director of
religious tourism at the transport ministry, Walid Sobhi Ahmed, was stopped in
his car and kidnapped.
CENTCOM: THREE MARINES,
ONE SAILOR KILLED IN AL ANBAR PROVINCE
CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq – Three Marines and one Sailor assigned to
2/28 Brigade Combat Team, serving with Multi-National Force West, died from
enemy action while operating in Al Anbar Province April 2.
04/03/06
AP: Gunmen kill Shiite family of four
Iraq Iraqi police say four members of a Shiite family were killed
in southern Baghdad last night. They say gunmen lined up a brother, two sisters
and their uncle against a wall and shot them.
AP: Police captain killed in
Baghdad
Also in the same neighborhood, drive-by shooters killed a police
captain outside his home
AP: Gunmen kill six people in the Southern city of
Basra
Gunmen shot down six people, including a child, in a market area
of the southern city of Basra, police said. The victims of the drive-by shooters
in Basra included a navy officer, two policemen, two workers at an electrical
plant, and a boy.
Reuters: Gunmen kill policeman, wounds two in
Baiji
BAIJI – A policeman was killed and two others wounded when gunmen
attacked their patrol in Baiji, police said.
Reuters: Two Iraqi soldiers killed, three wounded
near Baiji
Two
soldiers were killed and three wounded when gunmen attacked their patrol near
Baiji, 180 km (112 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
KUNA: Iraqi civilian killed, five people injured in
attack on fuel station
An Iraqi was killed and five others including a policeman were
injured in an armed attack on a fuel station in Huwaija west of the Iraqi
northern city of Kirkuk, police said on Monday.
Reuters: Gunmen kill sunni Iman in
Kurkuk
Gunmen killed the Imam of a Sunni mosque in the oil city of
Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
AP: Two truck drivers killed, another kidnapped north
of Nibaie
North of the capital in Nibaie, gunmen killed two truck drivers
and kidnapped another while they were carrying construction materials to the
U.S. military base in Balad, police said.
Reuters: Two bodies found near Latifiya
Police said they found the blindfolded, mutilated bodies of two
unknown people who had been shot dead near Latifiya, 40 km (25 miles) south of
Baghdad.
AP: Two more bodies discovered in
Baghdad
Police discovered two bodies in eastern Baghdad – one in Mashtal
that was handcuffed and shot in the head, another in Baladiyat that was
strangled and covered with bandages.
AFP: Student killed in
Baqubah
in
Baquba, a university student was shot in the middle of the downtown market.
Police speculated that the motive might have been because the student belonged
to a Sunni political party or had a brother working as a translator for
coalition forces.
AP: Three bodies found in
Baghdad (update)
Police also discovered three bodies in eastern Baghdad
neighborhoods. One in Mashtal was handcuffed and shot in the head, another in
Baladiyat was strangled and covered with bandages, and the third was found in
Sadr City, shot in the forehead.
04/04/06
KUNA: British military patrol attacked near
Basra, casualties unknown
A British military patrol was attacked by unknown gunmen armed
with RPG’s and machineguns north of Basra city, said a spokesperson for the
British forces. The source said that the two sides exchanged fire, but did not
touch on any losses on both sides.
AP: Violence in
Baghdad claims judge, two venders, and a
policeman
Assailants gunned down a judge driving in eastern Baghdad. In Dora
gunmen killed an ice cream vendor and a person sitting with him in the vehicle,
police said. A policeman who works at a morgue was also gunned down as he headed
to his Dora home.
MEOnline: Civilian killed at Tikrit checkpoint, truck
driver kidnapped
One civilian was allegedly killed by US forces near a checkpoint,
north of Tikrit, police said. In the same region, but in a separate incident, an
Iraqi truck driver was kidnapped, police added.
MEOnline: Civilian killed in Fatiha, two truck
drivers killed near Dujail
One civilian was killed by a roadside bomb near Fatiha, north of
the oil refining city of Baiji, while two truck drivers from a US base near
Dujail were also shot dead by rebels.
MEOnline: Eighteen bodies found in
Iraq
Of the 18 corpses found since Monday night, 17 were discovered
around Baghdad, while one was found near the Tigris river in the village of
Al-Sherkat, 250 kilometers (157 miles) north of Baghdad.
KUNA: UAE FM condemns killing of two UAE embassy
staffers in Baghdad
UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Ben Zayed Al Nehyan on
Tuesday condemned an attack that targeted a UAE embassy car in Baghdad. Two
Iraqi staffers of the UAE embassy were killed earlier on Tuesday when their car
came under fire in Baghdad.
AP: Four bodies found around
Baghdad–update
Two were found near a highway in western Baghdad’s neighborhood of
Khadra, and another in southwestern Baghdad’s Shurta district, shot in the head.
The other was found floating in a small river south of the capital, police said.
Times Daily: Three more bodies found around
Baghdad
Police discovered three corpses. Two were found near a highway in
western Baghdad’s neighborhood of Khadra, both handcuffed and showing signs of
torture. The other, also handcuffed, was found floating in a small river south
of the capital, police said.
AP: Gunmen kill a policeman in
Basra, another wounded
In southern Iraq, gunmen killed a policeman and wounded another as
the two were driving in the city of Basra, police said.
BOMB
03/31/06
Reuters: Three car bombs explode near
Baghdad market Three successive bombs exploded on Friday near a market in
southern Baghdad, wounding at least six people, police said. Police said three
car bombs exploded and were followed by another blast in the Dora district of
the capital.
KUNA: bomb explodes near an oil pipeline in
Kirkuk a bomb exploded near an oil pipeline in Kirkuk, a source said,
adding that the bomb went off near the village of jedou’a, some five kilometers
south of Kirkuk. (end) sbr.
AP: Pipeline blown up in
Baghdad In the outskirts of Baghdad, insurgents set off explosives
underneath an oil pipeline in the Friday. crews were still fighting to put out
the oil fire in the afternoon. The pipeline runs from Beiji to the Dora district
in southern Baghdad, he said.
04/01/06
Centcom: TWO MND-B
SOLDIERS KILLED IN CENTRAL BAGHDAD
(confirmed)
Two Multi-National Division-Baghdad Soldiers were killed by a
roadside bomb at approximately 9 p.m. April 1 in central Baghdad. The two
Soldiers were conducting a dismounted patrol when the roadside bomb
detonated.
04/02/06
AFP: 2
U.S. soldiers killed by roadside bomb in
central Baghdad
“Two soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb at approximately 9
p.m. (1700 GMT) on April 1 in central Baghdad,” the military said in a
statement.
AP: Insurgents blow up small Shiite mosque in
Baqouba
In Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, unidentified gunmen
planted explosives around the small Guba Shiite mosque and blew it up, police
said. No casualties were reported. Three stores selling music CDs were also
bombed.
Reuters: Bomb in Tikrt music shop kills one
civilian
A
civilian was killed on Saturday when a bomb exploded in front of a music shop in
Tikrit, 175 km north of Baghdad.
Centcom: TWO MND-B
SOLDIERS KILLED IN CENTRAL BAGHDAD
(confirmed)
Two Multi-National Division-Baghdad Soldiers were killed by a
roadside bomb at approximately 9 p.m. April 1 in central Baghdad. The two
Soldiers were conducting a dismounted patrol when the roadside bomb
detonated.
Reuters: Three policemen wounded by roadside bomb in
Baiji
Three policemen were wounded when a roadside bomb hit their patrol
in the oil refinery of Baiji, 180 km north of Baghdad.
KUNA: Four Iraqi soldiers killed in two blasts in
Kirkuk
Four Iraqi soldiers were killed and five others wounded in the
explosion of two bombs in areas located west and southwest of Kirkuk, a police
source said.
04/03/06
Reuters: Car bomb wounds five civilians in central
Baghdad
Five
civilians were wounded when a car bomb exploded near a convoy of SUVs in central
Baghdad, police said. The vehicles are usually used by foreign contractors.
Reuters: Car bomb kills two civilians, wounds six in
northeastern Baghdad
Two
civilians were killed and six wounded when a car bomb targeting a police patrol
exploded in northeastern Baghdad, police said.
AP: Bombings reported in Buhriz
Bombings in Buhriz damaged several buildings, including a barber
shop and grocery store, in a market district of the town, which is a former
Saddam stronghold about 55 kilometres northeast of Baghdad, police said.
AFP: Roadside bomb kills an Iraqi
civilian near Baqubah
Outside Baquba, on the main highway, a man was killed when a
roadside bomb went off, while a man and a woman riding in a taxi were shot at by
gunmen.
Reuters: Car bomb kills at least 10 in
Baghdad
A car bomb killed at least 10 people near a Shi’ite mosque in
Baghdad on Monday, Interior Ministry sources said. The blast in the Shaab
district of Baghdad also wounded at least 30 people, the sources said.
04/04/06
KUNA: Iraqi civilian killed in bomb explosion near
Kirkuk
Kirkuk–A senior security source told KUNA the explosion targeted
a British troops’ vehicle, which resulted in the killing of a civilian. He said
the British vehicle and the killed civilian’s car were also destroyed.
AP: Car bomb kills one, wounds four in
Samarra
a car bomb parked near the home of a city council member in
Samarra exploded as his son was leaving the house about 8 a.m., police said. The
son was not harmed, but one of his security guards was killed, and four other
guards were wounded.
AP: Police: Baghdad
Bomb Kills Woman, 2 Sons
A bomb exploded outside a Baghdad home Tuesday, killing a woman
and two of her sons, ages 9 and 12, police said. The woman’s 13-year-old son was
wounded in the bombing, as were two brothers of the second family, police Lt.
Mazin Saied said.
MEOnline: Two shepherds killed by mine
In the south of the country, in the Sahl area near the border with
Saudi Arabia, two teenage shepherds were killed by an anti-personnel mine.
AP: Car bomb kills ten people, wounding 28 others in
Baghdad
A car bomb exploded Tuesday in an eastern Baghdad lot, killing at
least 10 people and wounding 28 others, police said. The bomb went off in a
large lot in Habibiyah, a poor, mostly Shiite area, police said. Iraqis go there
to sell used cars.
MORTAR/ROCKET
03/31/06
KUNA: Mortar shell falls on multi-national forces
headquarters in Kirkuk A mortar shell fell on Friday on the headquarters of the
multi-national forces in Kirkuk in northern Iraq. An Iraqi police source gave no
details whether the shell caused damage to the building.
AP: Two wounded in rocket attack Army Pfc. Tristan Wyatt, of Washington, D.C., was hit in the right
leg by an armor-piercing rocket, requireing an amputation. It also took the
right leg of Army Sgt. Michael Meinen, of Alexandria, Va. Wyatt required a field
amputation above his knee.
AP: Mortar round slams Baghdad street, kills
three A mortar round slammed into a street in northeastern Baghdad
Friday, killing three bystanders and wounding three others, police said
04/03/06
KUNA: In another development around
Kirkuk
In another development, five Katyusha rockets slammed near an
Iraqi army barracks north of Kirkuk. There were no damages reported. Unknown
gunmen also attacked an Iraqi army vehicle in central Kirkuk, Gader said adding
no further details.
04/04/06
AP: British consulate in
Basra mortared, no casualties
Two mortar rounds exploded near the British consulate in Basra
during a reception, causing no injuries but forcing the party to end early, an
Associated Press reporter at the event said.
KIDNAPPING
04/01/06
Xinhua: Gunmen kidnap Iraqi physician in
Baghdad
Unknown gunmen stormed a private clinic on a main street in
eastern Baghdad on Saturday, kidnapping a physician, a police source said.
“Unidentified armed men rushed into the clinic of Doctor Fadhil al-Jarrah in
Palestine Street…”
04/02/06
AP: Brother of Sunni lawmaker presumed
kidnapped
A prominent Sunni lawmaker in Baghdad, meanwhile, reported that
his brother disappeared last week in a possible kidnapping. Saleh al-Mutlaq said
his brother, Taha, went missing while driving north out of Baghdad to Salahuddin
province.
SURFACE TO AIR
ATTACK
04/01/06
Reuters: US helicopter down near
Baghdad, no word on crew
A U.S. military helicopter went down southwest of Baghdad on
Saturday, the military said in a statement, saying it was unclear if there were
casualties. A militant group said it shot down a helicopter in the same area and
residents..
OIL PIPELINE ATTACKS
04/03/06
Iraq Pipeline Watch
#300
February 24 – An explosion set fire to an oil pipeline south of
Samarra.
Iraq Pipeline Watch
#303
303. March 1 – an oil pipeline was burning in Musayyib, following
a RPG attack. Gunmen shot at firefighters as they rushed to the scene, wounding
two of them. Arriving a short time later, police engaged the insurgents in an
hour-long gunbattle.
Iraq Pipeline Watch
#304
March 2 – guards with Iraq’s oil protection service killed one man
and detained three others as they were trying to plant bombs under a pipeline
west of Kerbala, south of Baghdad.
Iraq Pipeline Watch
#306
March 30 – insurgents blew up a pipeline transporting oil from
Kirkuk to the Bayji refinery, at a point near a village 30 miles southwest of
Kirkuk.
Iraq Pipeline Watch
#309
April 1 – roadside bomb blast near oil pipeline 44 miles (70 km)
south of Basra kills two members of Iraq’s Facility Protection Services (FPS);
no damage to the pipeline.
Iraq Pipeline Watch
#308
March 31 – Blast underneath oil pipeline that runs from Bayji to
Daura.
Iraq Pipeline Watch
#306
March 8 – 9:00am explosion at the Basra headquarters of the
Southern Oil Company damaged the fuel section’s building; unclear if caused by
bomb or mortar.
