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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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December 23rd,
2006 - December Proving Deadly for Troops |
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December Proving Deadly for
Troops Associated Press Sat, December 23, 2006 Baghdad, Iraq - Insurgent attacks
killed five more American troops west of the Iraqi capital, the military said
Friday, making December the second deadliest month for U.S. servicemen in
2006. So far this month, 76
American troops have died in Iraq, the same number that were killed in all of
April. With nine days remaining in December, the monthly total of U.S. deaths
could meet or exceed the death toll of 105 in October. As American deaths in the
war pushed closer to 3,000, Iraqis continued to fall victim to sectarian
violence between Shiites and Sunnis. Police recovered 21 more bodies in the
cities of Baghdad, Baqouba and Kut. With 140,000 U.S. troops now in Iraq,
President Bush is considering whether to send thousands more to control the
bloodshed. Defense Secretary Robert
Gates flew back to Washington on Friday to give Bush his advice on
transforming U.S. policy in Iraq after holding three days of talks in the war
zone with military and political leaders. Gates was scheduled to see the
president at the mountain retreat of Camp David, Md., on Saturday. The White House said Bush
would meet with his full National Security Council next Thursday during a
stay at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. That session is designed to whittle
down the options rather than make final decisions, said Dana Perino, a White
House spokeswoman. Before leaving Baghdad,
Gates declined to say whether he plans to recommend a short-term increase in
U.S. troop levels, but said he believes there is “a broad strategic agreement
between the Iraqi military and Iraqi government and our military.” “There is still some work to
be done,” Gates said. “But I do expect to give a report to the president on
what I've learned and my perceptions.” Britain's Defense Secretary Des
Browne acknowledged Friday he may have to increase the size of Britain's
armed forces as a result of commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan - echoing
military expansion plans being considered in Washington. Browne told the Times of
London he could consider increasing the size of the armed forces from 95,560
because current deployments had left too little time for training exercises. “People imagine that the
best form of training is to be in Iraq or Afghanistan, but it's not true,”
Browne was quoted as saying by the newspaper. “While we are deploying troops
in their thousands, we lose the chance to build up their basic skills.” Poland, which has 900
soldiers in Iraq, agreed Friday to extend its mission in Iraq until the end
of 2007. The Poles focus mainly on training Iraqi security forces and are
based in an area south of Baghdad that is calmer than the capital. Also Friday, South Korean
lawmakers endorsed a motion to extend the country's deployment in Iraq for
another year, but cut the number of troops in half. The motion calls on the
South Korean government to withdraw 1,100 troops of its 2,300-strong
contingent in the relatively peaceful, northern city of Irbil by April. The five U.S. deaths
announced Friday took place over two days. One soldier died and another was
wounded Friday when their patrol came under fire west of Baghdad, the
military said. On Thursday, three Marines and one U.S. sailor died from
wounds sustained in combat in western Anbar province. At least 2,964 American
troops have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according
to an Associated Press count. Meanwhile, Shiites from
parliament's largest bloc, the United Iraqi Alliance, met Friday in Najaf
amid efforts to craft a new coalition that would also include and Kurds and
one Sunni party. They had traveled to the holy city to seek approval for the
plan from the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, a revered Shiite cleric who is
said to be alarmed at the bloodshed sweeping swathes of the country. It was unclear whether such
a coalition would be able to govern effectively without the backing of
radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's 30 loyalists in the 275-member parliament,
and his six ministers in the 38-member Cabinet. The builders of the new
coalition are trying to exclude al-Sadr, whose faction has been an integral
part of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government but has been boycotting
the parliament and Cabinet to protest al-Maliki's recent meeting with Bush. Officials close to the
militia leader said he has agreed to end the three-week boycott and allow
supporters to rejoin the government. The anti-American cleric's followers
appear to have decided to go back to parliament to strengthen their
bargaining power - backed up by a militia army - and avoid political isolation. The Sadrist walkout has
prevented the government from passing laws, contributing to a sense of
political crisis alongside a deteriorating security situation. On Friday, a car bomb killed
two people and wounded four in Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, police
said. A roadside bomb struck a police patrol near the national theater in
Baghdad, wounding two policemen. U.S.-led forces launched
raids across the country, killing one militant and capturing several dozen
other suspects, the military said. The operations targeted
foreign fighters and al-Qaida in Iraq, the military said. The suspects were
believed to be responsible for the movement of foreign fighters, car bombs
and other attacks, it said. An al-Qaida in Iraq financier was captured, the
statement said. The purported leader of an
al-Qaida-linked militant group offered U.S. troops a one-month truce to
withdraw from Iraq without being attacked, according to a speech posted on an
Islamic Web site Friday. The leader of the “Islamic
State of Iraq,” Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, also called on former officers in
Saddam Hussein's disbanded army to join his militia, promising to provide
them with a salary and house so long as they could recite Quranic verses. The authenticity of the
audiotape could not be verified but it appeared on a Web site known for
displaying militant groups' statements. The “Islamic State of Iraq” is
believed to be an umbrella group for militant organizations, including al-Qaida
in Iraq. External link: http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/1-12232006-951918.html |