Iraq Security Meeting

Iran agreed to attend a major regional conference on Iraq set for this week in Egypt. This will be a major break as Iraq seeks support from its neighbors in quelling its violence. The meeting will include both Iran’s foreign ministry and Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, raised the possibility of a rare direct encounter between high-level U.S. and Iranian officials.

The U.S. accuses Iran funding and arming Shiite militias who are responsible for the Iraq’s sectarian violence, and the Shiite-led Iraqi government has struggled to maintain good relations with Iran while not angering the Americans. But the alleged militia links have also prompted the U.S. politicians and analysts to urge the Bush administration to seek Iran’s help to stop the violence in Iraq.

Iraq’s other neighbors, Egypt, Bahrain and representatives of the big five U.N. Security Council members have also agreed to attend to the meeting in Egypt.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/29/ap/world/main2739148.shtml?source=search_story

Criticism on Iraq strategy

Lieutenant Colonel Paul Yingling said the U.S. generals had failed to prepare their troops properly and misled the Congress about the resources needed for the war. He said the U.S. had repeated the mistakes of the Vietnam War.

Lieutenant Colonel Yingling’s remarks come a day after the top U.S. commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus described the Iraq situation as “exceedingly complex and very tough.” and asked the Congress to led more troops into Baghdad. Lt Col Yingling has served two tours in Iraq, said that the military leadership had entirely failed to grasp what would be needed for success in Iraq. “For reasons that are not yet clear, America’s general officer corps underestimated the strength of the enemy,” he wrote in the Armed Forces Journal, “overestimated the capabilities of Iraq’s government and security forces, and failed to provide Congress with an accurate assessment of the security conditions in Iraq.” He urged Congress to take a greater role in monitoring officer’s performance and hold them accountable. He also wrote that “Given the lack of troop strength, not even the most brilliant general could have devised the ways necessary to stabilize post-Saddam Iraq”

Meanwhile, Congress passed a war funding bill setting a timetable for U.S. combat troops withdrawal from Iraq, despite the threat of a veto by President George W. Bush.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6600893.stm

April-The deadliest month

The death toll in Iraq for April has past 100, making it the deadliest month for American forces this year.

Meanwhile, a suicide bomber blew himself up during a Shiite funeral in an area north of Baghdad, killed at least 20 people and left 30 wounded. This occurred four days after a suicide car bomber killed 10 Iraqi soldiers at a checkpoint 50 miles north of Baghdad.

The U.S. troops have been increasingly deployed on the streets of Baghdad and housed with Iraqi troops in joint security operations, which are away from their heavily fortified bases. And because of this, the vulnerability of the U.S. troops to attacks is raising.

Three American soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter were killed by a roadside bomb; a U.S. soldier was slain by small arms fire in the city; a Marine also was killed in Anbar province.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070430/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_070429173982

Clash

American forces clashed with the militiamen loyal to the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr in northern Baghdad on Sunday, April 29.

The militia has remained largely underground since the intensified security plan in Baghdad in mid-February. But the steady increase numbers of corpses recovered from streets in recent weeks and clashes between Mahdi fighters and government forces suggested a possible resurgence of the militia

The return of the militia could complicate the American-led effort to reduce violence in the capital because the militia would split the attention of American and Iraqi forces which already struggling to subdue Sunni Arab insurgency.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/30/world/middleeast/30iraq.html?ref=worldspecial

Spring Break in Iraq?

An exhibition organized this past week by the Iraq’s Tourism Ministry sought to lay the groundwork for one fine day in the future that some intrepid tourists might just consider going to Iraq for vacation.

At exhibition “Spring Fair” which held at a hotel within the concrete blast walls of Baghdad’s Green Zone, visitors were able to see displays of silk rugs, antique pistols, daggers decorated with gems, and some other locally made arts and crafts. And the hallways were lined with photos of Iraqi holy sites.

A tourism ministry spokesman, Abdul Zahra al-Talkami said “If you visit these places, you’ll feel how powerful and important they are. It’s spiritual, like visiting the Vatican” The western countries’ tourism fell to virtually zero after the U.S. invasion in 2003, al-Talkami said, Iraq still receives roughly 350,000 religious tourists and pilgrims a year who come to visits some Islam’s holiest sites, and they are not deterred by the prospect of car bombs and shootings. Maybe years after peace lands on Iraq for there will be spring breaks.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-03-29-spring-fair_N.htm

Crumbling Rebuild Project in Iraq

Inspectors for a federal oversight agency have found that seven out of the eight samples of American-financed rebuilding projects in Iraq that the U.S. declared successes were no longer operating as designed. The U.S. has previously admitted that sometimes under the pressure from federal inspectors, some of the reconstruction projects have been abandoned, delayed or poorly constructed. But this is the first time that inspectors have found projects that officially declared a success, were no longer working properly.

11.8 million dollars has spent on new electrical generators at an airport, but 8.5 million dollars worth were no longer functioning. And a newly built water purification system was not functioning either.

The Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction said that they tried to sample different regions and types of projects, but because many projects were in areas too unsafe to visit, the initial set of eight projects cannot be seen as a true statistical measure of the thousands American rebuilding program.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/29/world/middleeast/29reconstruct.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Another myth?

The story of Jessica Lynch captured by the Iraqis and her rescue by the U.S. special forces became one of the great patriotic moments. But is this just a myth?

According to the article in www.guardian.co.uk, the inside story of the rescue that may not have been as heroic as portrayed. The American media tactics, culminating in the Lynch episode, infuriated the British, who were supposed to be working alongside them in Doha, Qatar. A BBC’s Correspondent program reveals another version of the story. Croup Captain Al Lockwood, a British army spokesman at central command said that there are two different managements of news media and he feels “fortunate to have been part of the UK one.” In the early hours of April 2, 2003 correspondents in Doha were summoned from their beds to Centcom, the military and media nerve centre for the war. The White House’s top figure there, Jim Wilkinson, had stayed up all night and said they are in a situation where there will be a lot of hot news.

It is uncontested that the 19-year-old private, Jessica Lynch was captured by Iraqi soldiers to a local hospital in Nassiriya. The Pentagon claimed that Lynch had stab and bullet wounds, and she had been interrogated. According to the Pentagon, a brave Iraqi lawyer, Mohammed Odeh al-Rehaief risked his life to alert the Americans that Lynch was being held. The message beamed back to viewers within hours of the rescue was Army Rangers and Navy Seals stormed the Nassiriya hospital and made it to Lynch rescued away by helicopter.

Lynch became a cult hero, at least 10 Lynch items have listed in internet auction sites ranging from $5-$200. Trouble is, the doctors say she has no recollection of the whole episode and probably never will. Her memory loss means that “researchers” are called to fill in the gaps. The doctors in Nassiriya say they provided the best treatment they could for Lynch, and she was assigned the only specialist bed in the hospital. The doctor who looked after her during her capture, Dr Harith al-Houssona, said that there was no bullets inside her body and no stab wounds, “only RTA, road traffic accident”. The doctors also said that the day before the special forces stormed into the hospital, the Iraqi military had already fled. The doctors were surprised that the special forces would employ such manpower and helicopters to a hospital that has no resistance at all.

Not only they surprised the hospital staffs, the American forces opened fire on the ambulance which Dr. al-Houssona used to deliver Lynch back to the American Army and almost killed Lynch. They fled back to the hospital just in time.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/JessicaLynch01.jpeg
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,956255,00.html

How many more are there?

The shadowy leader of the Islamic State of Iraq was captured Friday in a raid on the western outskirts of Baghdad. Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the insurgent leader was arrested along with several others in a raid in the town of Abu Ghraib. Al-Baghdadi admitted his identity and so did another “of the terrorists” who confirmed “that the one in our hands is al-Baghdadi, said the spokesman for the Baghdad security operation Qassim al-Moussawi.

This would be a victory for the U.S. military as one more insurgent leader is captured. But surly there are still many work to be done. As one of the leaders goes down, another will soon rise up. Can they all be captured before they can do any harm? Or is there a way of prevent the rise of the next insurgent leader? How many more of them must be capture in order to put an end to it?

http://fe16.news.re3.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070310/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_070309202418;_ylt=Ak6FPtn.xqjRlfhoQH6HNIQUewgF

Most troops,more cost

President Bush’s plan for buildup troops in Baghdad called for sending 21,500 extra U.S. combat troops to Iraq, mainly to Baghdad and the estimated cost was $5.6 billion.

The total number of troops required for the plan is still uncertain, and climbing. When President Bush announced the boost of 21,500 combat troops, the Pentagon said others would be required to go with them in support roles. The initial estimate of 2.400 support troops has doubled and may go higher.

Along side with the climbing number of troops to be sent to Iraq, the cost will rise to an extra $1 billion on top of the original $5.6 billion. The actual cost will be based on how long the troop’s reinforcement is sustained.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/09/iraq/main2552100.shtml
http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/images/2007/03/09/image2552112g.jpg

Death toll is still going up

The death of U.S. troops over in Iraq is keep going up as nine more U.S. soldiers were killed in two bomb attacks on Monday north of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. Six of U.S. troops from Task Force Lighting were killed when a bomb exploded near their vehicle. Another similar roadside bomb killed three more soldiers from the same task force in Diyala province. Although such attacks on American patrols and convoys are a daily occurrence, says the BBC's reporter Jim Muir, but the fatalities that are this high is unusual.

Whether or not the numbers of fatalities results from attacks against American soldiers were unusual, the death toll of U.S. solider had already reached up to 3000, and it does not seem to be stopping any time soon since there is no telling how long the soldiers will be staying in Iraq.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42455000/jpg/_42455553_iraqviolence_ap.jpg

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6421903.stm

U.S troops opened fire on Afghan highway

On March 4, 2007 sixteen Afghan civilians died from U.S. troop's open fire on a highway in KABUL, Afghanistan. The United States military said that the unit came under fire after a suicide bomber detonated his explovise-lader car near their convoy. The unit returned fire, and civilians were killed an injured during the cross-fire battle. Some of the wounded civilians interviewed in the hospital by news agencies said that the only shooting came from the American troops. “They were firing everywhere, and they even opened fire on 14 to 15 vehicales passing on the highway,” said Tur Gul, who was standing on the roadside by a gas station and got shot twice in his right hand. “They opened fire on everybody, the ones inside the vehicles and the ones on foot.” A 15-year-old injured civilian said “When we parked our vehicle, when they passed us, they opened fire on our vehicle. It was a convoy of three American Humvess. All three Humvees were firing around.” The wounded civilians said that the American troops fried indiscriminately on passing cars and pedestrians on the busy main road. A hospital official who asked not to be identified said that all the wounded were suffering from bullet wounds and not shrapnel from the bomb explosion. Among the 16 death in this incident were a woman and two children in their early teens

After the shooting, hundreds of Afghans blocked the road and threw rocks at police officers in protest. Some demonstrators were shouting “Death to America! Death to Karzai!” This shooting will be a setback for American forces to contain insurgent attacks in Afghanistan.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/03/05/world/05afghan-600.jpg
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/05/world/asia/05afghan.html?_r=1&ref=worldspecial&oref=slogin

Is it worth it?

The Iraqi War started in March 20, 2003 with much opposition. The front line soldiers are dying everyday ever since the war started. They had fought in the strange land nearly for 4 years, and the death toll has already got passed three thousand. Who could image what the soldiers had seen in these years? Who could understand their homesick and the pain of a lost friend? The wounds in their bodies can be healed in time, but the wounds in their souls will stay and afflict them for the rest of their lives.

Within those flag-covered coffins, lay the dead sons or daughters and the broken hearts of their mothers. Tears are fallen into the ground with the sorrows of parents over their lost child. Nightmares are repeating every night for the people who have their love ones in the field of battle.

With so many deaths, sorrows, and nightmares is this war really worth it?

http://www.solcomhouse.com/casket08.jpg
http://www.silive.com/news/advance/index.ssf?/base/news/117301232271950.xml&coll=1