“How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, ‘n’ how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, ‘n’ how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
— Bob Dylan
By Riverbend
BAGHDAD May 2, 2006 — Looking back at it now, it is properly ironic that our first glimpses of the `fall of Baghdad’ and the occupation of Iraq came to us via Iran – through that Iranian channel “Al Alam”.
… We immediately began hearing about the Iranian revolutionary guard, and how they had formed a militia of Iraqis who had defected to Iran during the Iran-Iraq war. We heard how they were already inside of the country and were helping to loot and burn everything from governmental facilities to museums. The Hakims and Badr made their debut, followed by several other clerics with their personal guard and militias, all seeping in from Iran.
Today they rule the country. Over the duration of three years, and through the use of vicious militias, assassinations and abductions, they’ve managed to install themselves firmly in the Green Zone. We constantly hear our new puppets rant and rave against Syria, against Saudi Arabia, against Turkey, even against the country they have to thank for their rise to power – America… But no one dares to talk about the role Iran is planning in the country.
… A few days ago, we were watching one of several ceremonies they held after naming the new prime minister [Al-Maliki]. Talbani stood in front of various politicians in a large room in the Green Zone and said, rather brazenly, that Iraq would not stand any `tadakhul’ or meddling by neighboring countries because Iraq was a `sovereign country free of foreign influence’. The cousin almost fainted from laughter and E. was wiping his eyes and gasping for air… as Talbani pompously made his statement -all big belly and grins- smiling back at him was a group of American army commanders or generals and to his left was Khalilzad, patting him fondly on the arm and gazing at him like a father looking at his first-born!
RECENT PUBLICATIONS @BOOMAN ::
Fri May 5th, 2006 at 07:52:10 AM PST
Turkey is massing 40,000 troops along its border with Kurdish controlled Iraq. Iran has been shelling Kurdish villages along its border with Iraq. Turkey’s Foreign Minister, has openly declared that his country is cooperating with Iran to prevent incursions by guerillas of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which he claims threaten both Iran and Turkey with terrorist attacks …
Tue Apr 25th, 2006 at 01:06:54 AM PST
However, Turkey has ADDED some 40,000 troops and is up to ¼ million troops on Southern border and region!
By Cihan News Agency
The first hearing in the Semdinli case, which has raised a political and judiciary storm in Turkey, is to take place May 4.
The two arrested NCOs and a PKK informant, who are suspects in the bombing of the bookstore in Semdinli belonging to Seferi Yilmaz who is a former PKK (Kurdish Workers’ arty) convict, will appear before court for the first time tomorrow.
Strict security measures will be implemented around the court on the trial day at the request of the court, in anticipation of possible pro-PKK activities. Yilmaz’s lawyers have demanded that proceedings in the court be recorded audio-visually.
Yilmaz, the owner of the bookstore that was bombed in Semdinli last November, is to be defended by 330 lawyers from different bars across Turkey. However, only three or four of them will be allowed to represent him in court.
According to sources close to the prosecution office, the prosecutors may not attend the hearing in protest at pressures that have been brought to bear on them.
See my earlier diary :: Turk Covert Agents Caught in Terror Act Semdili District in South Turkey
Sun Dec 18th, 2005 at 04:09:55 AM PST
- Sharon was on our side, but had to sit quiet.
- Lord Goldsmith had to be convinced and small nations on the UNSC got an offer they couldn’t refuse.
- WH could have fooled the world, until a DC couple spoke out about yellow cake.
- God is on our side, but remained silent until recent.
- Turkey would not cooperate to open a northern front, the PKK will teach them.
- Terrorists are hard to find, through Baghdad we now see them everywhere!
- AQ insurgents are collected at Guantanamo, to preserve their HR and for their own protection.
- To make it our worthwhile, we must kill plenty of them.
«« click on pic to enlarge The new Crusader was ready in the year 2000 AD.
● Other information worth vigorous cross-posting – Juan Cole on Iran
● Iraqi Ethnic Cleansing: ‘Epidemic’ Creates 100,000+ Refugees ◊ by David Edwards
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
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(The Nation) April 12, 2006 — As the Los Angeles Times reported on Saturday, this much is known to be true: On November 19, after a roadside bomb killed Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas, 15 Iraqi civilians – including seven women and three children – were allegedly shot and killed by a unit of US Marines operating in Haditha, Iraq. Then, this past Friday, a battalion commander and two company commanders from the same unit were relieved of their duties.
US media coverage of the Haditha allegations has been startlingly limited. In addition to the Time investigation, AP reporter Bassem Mroue has followed the case and Knight-Ridder reporter Nancy A. Youssef has written an article as well. That’s it. Much has been written in the UK press and in English-language papers around the world.
● Aug. 3, 2005 – 14 Marines Killed in Haditha
● Iraqi Doctors Beaten and Arrested in Haditha Hospital
● U.S. Forces Destroy Eight Bridges over Euphrates
● Children of Abraham: Death in the Desert ◊ by Gandhi
≈ Cross-posted from Arminius’ diary — Bombshell!
Murtha describes Marine massacre of Iraqi civilians in Haditha ≈
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The Marine Corps originally claimed that a convoy from the Camp Pendleton, Calif.-based Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines …
On Nov. 13, 2004, a corporal with 3/1 was videotaped shooting what appeared to be a wounded insurgent inside a mosque in Fallujah, Iraq, during the major U.S. operation to retake the city from insurgents.
Maj. Gen. Richard F. Natonski, commanding general of the 1st Marine Division, said that a review of the evidence showed the Marine's actions in the shooting were "consistent with the established rules of engagement and the law of armed conflict."Like the Haditha incident, the Fallujah shooting sparked outcries from human-rights groups regarding actions by U.S. forces against Iraqis.
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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) – Taliban insurgents launched a major attack on a town in the southern Afghan province of Helmand and 13 policemen and 40 Taliban were killed in nine hours of fighting.
The Taliban attacked the southern town, Mosa Qala, on Wednesday evening and the fighting went on until early on Thursday, government officials said.
“Thirteen policemen were killed and six were injured. Forty people on the enemy side were killed,” an Interior Ministry official said, citing a statement from spokesman Yousuf Stanizai.
The Taliban have stepped up attacks on foreign and Afghan government forces in recent months. Helmand’s deputy governor, Amir Mohammad Akhundzada, said it was the biggest attack in the province since the end of Taliban rule. Hundreds of Taliban were involved, he said.
Fighting was continuing as security forces battled the insurgents as they withdrew, Akhundzada said, adding there had been some civilian casualties but he did not know how many.
Canadian captain Nichola Kathleen Sarah Goddard, who served with the 1st Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, killed in action. Reuters● Canada Votes 2-year Extension in Afghanistan
● 2004 – Kabul Tense after Bombing of Dyncorps Kills at least Nine
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ROME, Italy (BBC News) May 17 — “We consider the war and occupation in Iraq a grave error that hasn’t solved – but has complicated – the problem of security,” Mr Romano Prodi said in his first speech to Italy’s Senate as prime minister. “It is the intention of this government to propose to parliament the return of our troops from Iraq.”
The previous government of centre-right PM Silvio Berlusconi had decided to withdraw Italy’s 2,600 troops from Iraq by the end of 2006.
Objectives
Prodi added that most importantly, the international community should not be “indulgent to suggestions of fundamentalism of the opposing strain, which preach crusades and indiscriminately advocate clashes of civilisations.”
WASHINGTON D.C. (WaPo) May 17 — Bush’s best friends from the start of the Iraq war in 2003 are dropping off one after the other. The party of Spain’s prime minister, Jose Maria Aznar, was ousted in 2004 by voters upset in part by troop deployments in Iraq. The prime minister of Portugal, who stood next to Bush days before the invasion, resigned months later for another job.
The leaders of Poland and Ukraine, which had sizable units in Iraq, were both replaced in elections by successors who pulled out some or all troops. Japan’s prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, often cited by Bush in stump speeches as one of his best friends abroad, plans to step down in September. And even British Prime Minister Tony Blair, mired in Iraq-related controversies, appears poised to resign next year.
Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic originally had forces in Iraq but withdrew them.
Twenty six countries, including Australia, South Korea, Japan and Britain, remain active in the multi-national force, mostly in relatively small contingents.
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This is via Juan Cole: link
SULAIMANIYA, Iraq, May 17 (Reuters) – The government of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region accused Turkish forces of shelling an area inside northern Iraq on Wednesday.
A Turkish government official dismissed the accusation as “total fabrication.”
Ankara traditionally launches a spring offensive against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas in southeastern Turkey, an area which borders Iraq.
Earlier this month, villagers in Iraq’s Kurdistan accused neighbouring Iran of hitting targets inside Iraq, a charge Tehran denied.
[snip]
“A village … has been bombarded from the Turkish side. There were no casualties, but there was material damage,” Salih told Reuters. “This is the second time in a week villages have been bombarded in the north.”
When Bush starts bombing Iran, all hell is going to break loose. Our soldiers will be sitting ducks. I haven’t seen one word about Iran and Turkey vs Kurdistan in the media. Nor have I seen much about the Taliban resurgence.
Here’s another gem: Osama Bin Laden is no longer involved with operational leadership of al Queda: Mullah Omar, the Taliban leader has taken the reins of al Queda, according to Asia Times. NOW we’ll go after Bin Laden.
Another great diary, Oui.
Thanks Oui. Good information. I am so glad you are back to posting diaries. I learn so much from them.
This is gonna get a lot worse when the summer really starts and they can function int he mountains. I can not find one bit of consulation from what is happening that our press does not report. Can you imagine if we didn’th ave the net to do our research on and to communicate what is happening around the world???!!! Hugs
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KANDAHAR (BBC News) May 19 — A top Taleban leader, Mullah Dadullah, has been captured in Afghanistan, Afghan officials have told the BBC. The senior military commander was said to have been detained by international troops in southern Kandahar province.
Governor Assadullah Khalid told Reuters: “We’ve arrested three high-ranking Taleban, members of their leadership council.” Mullah Dadullah was a member of the Taleban’s 10-man leadership council before the US-led invasion in 2001.
The BBC’s Alastair Leithead in Kabul says Mullah Dadullah is very close to the Taleban leader, Mullah Omar. Mullah Dadullah has survived a number of attacks and lost one leg in battle. He has a reputation for being one of the Taleban’s most brutal commanders.
High-ranking Afghan officials have told the BBC that he was captured in Kandahar and is being held by the coalition forces. There are no details as to how he was caught.
KANDAHAR (CBS News) May 19 — The militant was captured in a joint Afghan-coalition operation in Kandahar province, said Gen. Rehmatullah Raufi, head of the Afghan military’s southern region.
Mullah Dadullah, who lost a leg fighting for the Taliban during its rise to power in the mid-1990s, is one of the hard-line militia’s top commanders, responsible for operations in eastern and southeastern Afghanistan.
Raufi said coalition troops captured the militant in the Panjwayi district of Kandahar province during fighting that led to the deaths of 18 militants and a female Canadian soldier. About 35 militants were detained in that fight.
Raufi said the militant without a leg was seriously wounded and unconscious in a military hospital. He said there was a “good chance” the fighter was Dadullah but that he did not know for sure.
A senior Afghan government official said “we’re pretty sure” Dadullah was in custody, though officials had not confirmed his identity. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the matter publicly, said “a couple of other big fish” may have been caught, but he gave no further details.
Both Dadullah and Taliban leader Mullah Omar are Pashtun, and Dadullah is one of the most trusted followers of Omar.
RISE IN HOSTILITIES IN AFGHANISTAN
What the Taliban wants, ideally, is to fill the void in each village as U.S. forces pull out of southern Afghanistan later this year and hand over operations to ISAF/NATO.
“The Taliban never really went away,” CBS News consultant Jere Van Dyk says. “What happened was the Americans felt, and a lot of observers felt throughout the world, the Taliban were defeated very easily. But, in fact, what they did was move back into the countryside, they took off their black turbans, went and became farmers, and they observed.”
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