Paint It Black

"Two nights ago SFC Burt, my PSG, knocked on my door.
"You have to go down to the Battalion Commo Shop and register your web site."
It seems there have been problems with OPSEC and blog sites, not mine but others, I know which ones. Families have discovered through those sites, from my own Battalion, that their sons, fathers, husbands have been killed or wounded before official notice could reach them. Now The Man has decided he needs to know who is writing what. All personal sites, blogs, My Space accounts have to be registered like guns in The States. Part of me thinks it's a good idea; I've been a Soldier long enough to understand the need for action like this but I'm also disappointed. Mass punishment doesn’t always work and it is a sign of poor leadership skills. Whatever. It's done and so is This is Your War."
This is Your War

Dammit I knew this was coming but it's fucking hard to believe. Once again, it's the Day the Music Died. I don't know who you are, or what you do, but I only have one thing to say to whoever it is that keeps bothering the Milboggers.
Fuck You.
I know there is nothing that the Milbloggers can do, but there is something we, the public can do. We can demand an explanation from our elected leaders. What are they thinking?? are they as stupid as they look or what. They are cutting off thier own nose to spite thier face. Milbloggs are one of the best new ways that the soldiers use to stay in touch with their families and inform the public at large, so that we know that they are not just murdering babies.
This is only going to increase the soldiers isolation, and morale, it's bad enough to be half way around the world in a dangerous situation, where it's hard to even call home, it's not like the guys are on vacation, and now they have to be completely cut off. So I guess it's the MSM from now on.
So don't complain if you don't like what you hear on the MSM..... you asked for it.

will operation thuderbolt work?

"I really hope so but I have many doubts regarding such measures and their usefulness. First of all I want to say that personally if I had to choose between living in constant danger and living in a police state, I'd chose living in danger without hesitation. It's the reason why we welcomed OIF with knowing very well the risks and hazards of a war like that, as we have been in similar situations before."
Free Iraqi

Outsourcing

"There have been a lot or arguments lately about whether the military is big enough or not, and whether the fighting force here in Iraq should be increased or decreased. I think many of the articles are missing the point though, especially the ones calling for a larger military (leave aside the point that, with decreasing enlistment numbers, dramatically increasing the size of the military would be cost prohibitive). There is no doubt that we need more “fighters,” the security forces and the guys out seeking out the enemy- the Special Forces, Field Artillery guys, Stryker teams and others. But, in my opinion, there is also no doubt that we don’t need more support soldiers. Soldiers like me."
Steven Kiel

Silent Blog

This blog Iraq Today has been silent sense Feb. 2005. And I have been worried with all the violence going on in Mosul that something has happened to Mr. Ibahim Khalil. But I don't have any information. Does anyone out there know anything? If your religious pray that he and his family are all right.

The In T View: Kat Proudly From The Midwest

Following Operation Lightning.

"Yesterday operation lightning began and we noticed an excessive presence of the Iraqi army and police forces on the streets and main squares in Baghdad with an obvious readiness for confronting the terrorists."
ITM

Zarqawi Fate

"The fate of the mass murderer terrorist Abomusab Zarqawi after his injury in Al-Qaim is not yet known.

Iran quickly denied news report by the Sun which is a UK newspaper that Zarqawi has been transferred for treatment to Iran. Most likely he was transferred to Syria which again denied it but Syria denied before the existence of Saddam half brother and after pressure it gave up and handed him to the US forces in Iraq."
Hammorabi

Military cluelessness at the Times of London

"The Times of London notes that the US and UK increased the number of bombs dropped on Iraq in 2002 and thinks that that's evidence that Blair and Bush were deliberately increasing the number of bombs dropped in an effort to provoke the Saddam regime into a cassus belli.

No, the possibility that Saddam was issuing orders to his air defense units to be more aggressive in trying to knock down an American aircraft couldn't possibly have anything to do with it, and doesn't warrant any mention in the story, despite the fact that reports of renewed Iraqi aggressiveness date back well before 9/11, and despite the fact that Saddam had actually shot down an unmanned aircraft."
CounterColumn

For some reason people seem to forget the ten years of war, before the war.

Iraq Diary: 30 April - 9 May 2004.

"Came back to FOB Marez a few days ago and was assigned to 2nd platoon B Co. They really didn't like their old medic. He had the typical pussy medic mentality. First he fired off a flash picture on the objective while Delta and the rest of the platoon were stacked on the wall at 3 a.m. Then they offered him an M-4 and he actually went to the medic platoon sergeant and bitched about being a medic and not having to do that. Not to mention the morphine shot he accidentally hit himself with. Shit, my first order of business was to try to get rid of that 9mm and get a real bullet hose. They seem to like me. I guess having been an 11B has given me some wiggle room."
Candle in the Dark

The Home Stretch

"We are back on our "home" camp from our mission, that was a booming success, and it actually feels great to be back. We got to unwind for a few days and now we are right back in the swing of things. The new LT that we got has created a "super team" out of my team and Bunk's team. They should be really well prepared for what ever comes their way after I leave. A couple of my guys are not thrilled about having to stay, but they are happy about the extra money."
Soldier's Paradise II

A recent e-mail

"I got this e-mail yesterday under the subject of "Honor Our Fallen Soldiers: Investigate Bush's Lies."

You all know how I feel about this. I thought you might enjoy reading an excerpt below and sending an e-mail or three to activist@democrats.com (This e-mail did not come from the official Democratic party site) and telling them whether you feel this was in poor taste or not- specifically the part about not being able to say that those who died did so in the defense of America. There's even a blog at www.democrats.com. Perhaps you might decide to leave a comment on one of their posts. I'll tell you one thing- if I go down, I didn't do it because of a Bush lie.

Happy Memorial Day!"
Steven Kiel

"New Market" Still Kicking

"Operation New Market continues:

UPDATE ON OPERATIONS IN HADITHA

CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, Iraq – Iraqi Security Forces, Marines and Sailors from Regimental Combat Team – 2 continue to operate in and around the city of Haditha today.

Marines from 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines and Iraqi Forces continue to rout out terrorists as part of Operation New Market (Souk Jadeed), successfully disrupting terrorists activity in the vicinity of Haditha. The purpose of this mission is to maintain pressure on terrorists that began with Operation Matador, conducted in western Iraq May 7-14."
The Adventures of Chester

Platoon Memorabilia...

"We have finally coordinated the platoon memorabilia order, so here it is. ALL are welcome to order! The following is a list of items that can be ordered with their respective prices:"
Third Platoon Wolfpack

AWASH

'It's good that we live in a society where we don't have to regularly clean blood off of the stairs. But it sometimes prevents us from imagining that other cultures don't live with the naivete that we do."
Trying to Grok

I thought this last paragraph was so right on for this weekend, this Memorial Day weekend. As a Cuban American these few words speak volumes to me, they remind me of where I come from, and how lucky I am to be here. I could have just as easily been on the other side, where rooms full of blood are the norm. They also remind me that the freedom and liberty that I enjoy everyday come at a price. No freedom is not free, it's not even cheep, it's comes only to the highest bidder. But yet it's not for sale, and no amount of money can buy it for you. Freedom has it's own currency, it's own markets, and you must pay to play.

Judge: Public Has Right to See Abuse Photos

"NEW YORK (AP) - A federal judge has told the government it will have to release additional pictures of detainee abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, civil rights lawyers said.

Judge Alvin Hellerstein, finding the public has a right to see the pictures, told the government Thursday he will sign an order requiring it to release them to the American Civil Liberties Union, the lawyers said."
Netscape-CNN

From Drudge

Visa Card Has Reached Iraq

"Ladies and gentlemen, Visa cards have reached the Iraqi hands. The Daily Star newspaper reported:"
Iraqi in America

Some Gold Star mothers are more equal than others

Update: June 01, 2005
Gold Star Mothers Inc. New Press Release
Thanks you Ms Neuman


Update: May 31, 2005
Schnitt mentioned this story on his show today, so I thought I would include a link here.

Original post:

"Some Gold Star mothers are more equal than others."
Abbas Kadhim

Major K. had something to say on this subject as well.
What a country this is indeed. Where else in the world would you find the likes of Abbas, Madtom, and Major K. standing on the same side of the line. Just goes to show you, if we can do it, anyone can.

Iraqi Bat

"I just remembered that I haven't shown you my latest Iraqi critter! When we were in Al Hatra, one of the temples had bats in it and we got a real close up of an injured one that fell from the air. It was pretty neat! I've never seen a wild bat in person, well at least not within touching distance. It sure is the ugliest thing I've seen so far. I will have a picture of it as soon as I get it from Brandy tomorrow. Until then, use your imagination."
Iraqi bat The Sandman Chronicles

Does anyone out there know anything about this bat?

Fleeing Iraqi Christians on road to Damascus

"DAMASCUS, Syria - When President Bush, a born-again Christian, launched the 2003 war against Iraq, he probably didn't expect one result - that Iraq, once a secular nation, would become especially dangerous for Christians.

Islamic extremists have bombed churches. They have burned liquor stores and killed their Christian owners. They harass Christian women who don't shroud themselves in black.

The president probably didn't expect another result - that Iraqi Christians would find refuge in Syria, a country that he often criticizes but that has a strong record of religious tolerance. In the past two years, Syria has taken in as many as 20,000 Christians fleeing violence and persecution in their native land."
St. Petersburg Times

Memorial Day

Flag 

Thank You

I tried to vote (updated)

"Yesterday I entered a polling station for the very first time in my life. Regardless of what I and others think about this whole issue, I consider what happened yesterday to be historical as far as I am concerned. Little me left work early to go to vote on the constitution changes!"
The Big Pharaoh

I don't know but it is starting to look like the only way that the Egyptians are ever going to get a chance at a free and fair vote, is if the US and its multinational coalition were to invade and occupy Egypt. Sad but looking every day like the truth. Hope you have better luck next time.

A message to every Iraqi: Please talk to this guy!

"This is a message to every Iraqi who lived under Saddam's rule and knows what a murdering tyrant he was: Please set Mostafa Beckry- the owner and Editor in-chief of El-Osboa newspaper- straight once and for all on the actual nature of Saddam Hussein. Please, do it, because the man is killing me with his newspaper articles and editorials, which could be described as nothing less of blatant Saddam-worship."
Rantings of a Sandmonkey

Saddam says he would rather be dead than in custody

"Saddam Hussein has told his lawyer, Khalil al-Duleimi, that he would prefer to be dead instead of having been arrested. The Arab newspaper Al-Quds al-Arab says he expressed his regret that he did not die a martyr at the moment of his arrest. He is said to have told al-Duleimi during their latest meeting: "If I'd had a rifle at that moment I would be dead or would have killed at least one of the Americans, but fate did not give me the chance."."
KBU -Vladimir Poetin

Hope in the Middle East?

"The hard and unavoidable truth is that the Middle East is still dominated by the values of both its tribal past and its despotic present. The history of the Middle East is, in a thumbnail sketch, a series of bloody conflicts between tribes and men who have seized power with the thrust of a sword. Violence is normative. When two tribes are locked in conflict, violent force is more often than not the only honorable manner of arbitration. Following this immemorial pattern, the winner in a bloody contest will, as soon as possible, solidify his position through intimidation and outright murder of anyone who might challenge him."
Iraq Bloggers Central

You know I had to look to make sure this was Jeffrey, He must have taken some prozac, calmed down and then hit the keyboard. Don't take this the wrong way, Jeffrey is recommended daily reading, we here at This Fucking War love Jeffrey's hard-core, combative style, and his quick and witty comeback. But in today's post I think he has risen above the fray to offer some insight into something we all would like to understand a little. The elusive Middle East mindset. Keep up the good work.

Alert: Zarqawi died

"The Jordanian thug Fadhel Nazal Al-Khalayla (Zarqawi) 38 years has died.

He received treatment from Arab doctors who were not very experts and lacking intensive care equipments which he needed for his puncture in the right lung. His wounds infection gets resistance to the antibiotics. He had what is called septicemia which is according to doctors an infection of the blood resulted from infected wound. Zarqawi's systems started to fail including his kidney and liver."

Sam also said

"This news verbal and is yet to be confirmed; so wait and see for now and we will get the details soon when we receive them. If any one got details please put them in comment section."
Hammorabi

Iraq Constitution Series

"I expect we can expect a bit of opinion polling targeting constitutions in the next few weeks/months.

US Steve has already sent a link to a blog he's set up with his notes for constitutional discussion."
Iraq Blog Count

For the last post in the series go here

On the murder of the ex-Tolo TV presenter

"I've posted stories about Tolo TV. For those of you who don't know, Tolo is one of the new cable stations in Afghanistan. It airs news, investigative reports, talk shows, but it's most popular for its music show, Hop, which is hosted by young men and women who play Bollywood, Eastern and Western music videos. Tolo has a very unique format for Afghanistan, especially compared to the stale state-run channel. The mullahs - including the Supreme Court headed by that fanatic chief justice Shinwari - have complained about that Tolo and other stations are "un-Islamic" and air "immoral" material."
About Afghanistan

Thursday

"When I was at Ft. Bragg I posted about what a typical day was like, but it’s been about seven months so I figured I’d give it another go. This was yesterday:"
Seven Kiel

Birds of Iraq: The Masked Shrike

Masked Shrike 

"One of my aspirations as a young birder was to see all three species illustrated on the cover of my Golden Guide to Birds. I've yet to see a Painted Bunting, so that aspiration is still unfulfilled.

LTC BOb doesn't have that problem, as one of the 48 species he's observed in and around Camp Victory, the Masked Shrike, graces the cover of Birds of the Middle East.

Lucky man."
Silfay Hraka

Business as usual

"We are working more closely with the Iraqi Army, and it is good to see. Bridging the culture gap and teaching them the 3 P's is going to be a challenge. There has been an uptick in bombings here recently, and fortunately, no one from my Battalion has been hurt."
Major K.

SSG Terry's Bronze Star for Fallujah

"Peter,
I felt like I was bulletproof the entire time in Iraq. But that's neither here nor there. I was checking out your website and enjoyed your post about the media. Funny thing about the media and soldiers. Try to interview any one of my soldiers and they will shake their heads and slink away. None of us like talking to the media. I always wonder who's side the media is on"
Armor Geddon

and also

"SGT Pritsolas' Bronze Star for Fallujah"

Reform halted in Egypt.

"I have had the feeling for a long time that constitutional referendum over multi-candidate presidential elections in Egypt will not be a real step towards democracy.
I've seen that the media focused on the violence that accompanied the voting process but there was little mention of a more important thing which is the trap hidden behind this referendum which unfortunately made the Egyptian people in general and Egyptian opposition in particular face an unfavorable dilemma; if they reject the amendment, they will lose the chance to have multi-candidate elections and won't be able to end the one-man rule that infested the country for 24 years."
ITM

To use something that's been in the news around here, someone should walk into the presidents office, drop his pants, point to his privates, and ask the important question.
Does anyone here have a pair of THESE?

ELOI AND MORLOCK

"بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Hi,

The great thing about blogging and the Internet is that you do not have to worry about what you say; that it may create a problem here or there, or annoy some Tom, Dick or Harry as you say, or some Zayd or Amr as we say. Of course, this is a double-edged sword, a kind of fight to the death where all is permitted, and where there is no referee to intervene.

A friend has drawn my attention to a very interesting site, this, indeed a very sensitive appreciation of what is going on the ground here; particularly, quite an intelligent and perceptive understanding of the nature of the “insurgents”.
The Mesopotamian

Iraqi comedians parody life's violent jokes

"BAGHDAD: Comedy was never pretty in Iraq. Mukhabarat, or state security police, were in the audience every time Jaseem Sharaf did his slapstick routine with colleague Amer Alomari at the Ishtar theater in Rasheed Street under deposed leader Saddam Hussein."
The Daily Star

From Iraq Files

Interview with a journalist

"I normally decline interviews, but this particular fellow was quite respectful and complimentery when he asked for an interview. Most journalists want to use my real name, which is a show stopper but the fine folks at SomethingCool.ca did not. Yes, Sminklemeyer is something I made up in college. At any rate, here's a link to the recent interview....http://www.somethingcool.ca/secondary113.htm"
In Iraq for 365

Iraqi Perspectives

"Readers have enjoyed having an occasional view of a Baghdad family through Riverbend's blog. People have read about everything from the frustrations with troublesome electricity to observing Ramadan from different angles. But her most recent posting offers a curious insight into her own family."
IraqiPundit

Inch by inch the curtains are being pulled back.

Medya Predicts the future

"another thing !

if you may heared Iran's Fm (Foriegn Minster) had visted Baghdad just after US FM , Dr.Rice.
I had told my friends something is going behind the scences between Iran and USA.

and today I heard this in the news "Iran to Start WTO Entry Talks After U.S. Drops Opposition"

you know , the USA has vetoed Iran to enter to WTO (Wold Trade Organization) , the last 25 times -in the last 25 years- but this year , but this year ....but this year ....yeaaa
USA didnt veto it and let Iran to enter WTO

this is so strange because just yesterday , US Fm -Rice and Iran Fm , Kharazi had a verbal fight , Rice called kharazi "Terrorist" and "Kharazi" called "Rice" a child female who hasnt growned up."
Medya Daily

Public Justice

"Few hours ago the Iraqi civilians in the centre of Baghdad near Haifa Street captured two terrorists before they carry on their crime.

This is not the first time that the Iraqis capture terrorists before the cockroaches commit their filth but this time the people perseverance with postponing justice by the government has finished and they decided to carry out immediate justice.

After capturing the terrorists the brave civilians impose the justice the criminals deserve. They hanged them in the street and made them a lesson and warning for the others. This is probably why the terrorists used a dog (Mujahdeen) today in the north of Baghdad. They booby-trapped the dog with explosive by a strap around it and when an Iraqi police patrol passed; they put the strap off with a remote control which killed the dog only. Eight suspects were immediately arrested in connection with it."
Hammorabi

The First Round

"My rifle came up, about a 60 degree angle. It looked blacker in the overly white sunlight, against the glare coming off the asphalt, shinny after being heated by the sun, cooling in the night only to be reheated by the same sun the next day. Driven upon by countless tires."
This is Your War

The Sad Story Of Moojahdeen, The Terrorist Cow

"Ali Fadhil - Hat Tip Jeff - IBC tells us about the sad story of an Iraqi Police patrol "arresting" and defusing a cow loaded with explosives that was wandering down a highway in the Al-Mashro district of Hilla.

Well, I have more information about this story, because I knew this cow and her family. The heifer's name is Moojahdeen, that wasn't her original name, but she changed it to Moojahdeen after undergoing a transformation during her teenage years.

To explain why she became Moojahdeen"
Iraq Bloggers Central

"I wasn't expecting Danish birders in Iraq, yet I've found the bird pictures of two of them (Henrick Mikkelsen and Flemming Ulrich), taken in 2003 and 2004 in Basrah and Qurnah in Southern Iraq. Qurnah is the headquarters of the Danish military forces in Iraq. I'm assuming both guys are Danish Soldiers. I found 30 pictures of 17 species of Iraqi birds on a Danish Birding Site called Netfugl.dk"
Birding Babylon

News update.

"By the way, this campaign seems to be the same one I read about two days ago and talked about in yesterday's post.
The minister of interior also gave a short briefing on the latest achievements of the operations carried out by the Iraqi forces between May 22 and May 26; he said that 578* suspects were arrested in Abu Ghraib, 4 large caches of weapons found, 118 vehicles prepared for car-bomb attacks were destroyed (between April 15 and May 26*) and 6 million dollars confiscated when a terror cell was arrested in Baghdad"
ITM

Sometimes You are Just Screwed

"Readers occasionally write me complaining that I do not offer any solutions to the problems in Iraq. Let me just step back from the daily train wreck news from the region to complain back that there aren't any short-term, easy solutions to the problems in Iraq.

The US military cannot defeat the Sunni Arab guerrilla movement any time soon for so many reasons that they cannot all be listed."
Juan Cole

'In a memorandum submitted to the Security Council, Iraq has officially asked the Council to extend the duration of the mission of the multinational forces in Iraq "until Iraq fulfills the requirements of the political process which has been agreed on by the Council and until Iraq is capable of securing its borders and protecting its lands and people…"
According to the 1546 resolution of the SC on June 8th 2004 the council would "reconsider the presence of the multinational forces in Iraq 12 months after adopting the resolution...""
ITM

Heavy Strikes

"The nets of the terrorists in Iraq received deadly strikes in the last weeks in spite of the latest car and suicidal bombs which represent the agony of death of the thugs.

Some of the big killers and rapists have been convicted and will be soon facing capital punishment. One of them who killed tens of innocent people confessed that he used to plug off the eyes of his victims with his fingers then cut them with razor before he kills them. They raped several women and young girls (children) before beheading them."
Hammorabi

Students of Basra and Scotland

"I frequently receive e-mails asking about University of Basra students who were beaten by Al-Sadr gangs during a picnic last March. Well, I have some good news for you reported by The Scotsman on May 14th:"
Iraqi in America

Go here for the history on this story

Saddam trial and not pictures which is important

"The number of Iraqis killed by the terrorists since April 2005 increased to at least 550 civilians. On the same time the number of the insurgents captured and their weapons confiscated increased. The largest operation by the Iraqi forces with the support of US forces against the terrorists’ nets carried out in the West of Baghdad yesterday. It resulted in arresting 300 insurgents and the seizure of lot of weapons and explosives. On the same time a suicidal thug attacked a restaurant in Thawra (Shiite) city north Baghdad. Several people killed and at least hundred wounded."
Hammorabi

hammorabi-cow 

Hey, maybe now we can get PETA in the picture. Just look, they are now mistreating cows, PETA should condemn the actions of these terrorist now, I know most people could care less what they do to the Iraqis, but cows, come on, the poor cows are suffering and they need your support. Give what you can to help alleviate the cows suffering in Iraq. Do your part to bring peace and posterity to all the cows in the world.

Iraq Constitution Series

"New Sabah (Arabic) reported that the "constitution writing committee" will be modified to include more members, particularly 20 extra seats (instead of 14 as suggested earlier) will be allocated for Sunni personalities. Also the new entity will carry a new name that is:
"The Dialogue Board for Writing the Constitution""
ITM

For the last post in this seriies go here. If anyone has any new links to bloggers or news on the writing of the Iraqi Constitution, or would like to add your link, or your comments, just drop me a line.

A micro version of Falluja

"There is a fight now in another city in Iraq, Al-Qaim situated near the Iraqi-Syrian border. it seems to me that the story of Falluja being repeated again."
A Citizen of Mosul

This is a bit dated, but there is a lot of news and links in the comments, I am still reading down the list.

sectarian violence

""The head of Iraq's largest Christian community has denounced American evangelical missionaries in his country for what he said were attempts to convert poor Muslims by flashing money and smart cars."

I normally don't link to al-Jazeera. But this story is talked about all over Iraq. Al-Jazeera is as good a source as anything else."
Abbas

Well this is the first I hear about it. but it sounds to me, to just be another attempt by the "resistance" to put a wedge between another sector of the Iraqi population.
I think with all the resent news about the flaring up of sectarian violence in Iraq, that this sort of messages "is" resonating on the ground. All I can say to my Iraqi friends is, hold on, this rollercoaster ride is not over yet. The steepest hills and sharpest curves are yet to come.

Lady Liberty

"While fidel castro keeps making his people sing his song, there are those that express their love for freedom in different ways:"

ladyliberty 

Make sure you give Val's Babalu Blog a look. He's blogging "live" from the Cuba Nostalgia show, and it's the 20 de Mayo weekend. For those that don't know 20 de Mayo is the Cuban independence day, when we celebrate our independence from Spanish Imperialist, and we here in Miami also mourn it's death at the hands of Soviet Imperialist and their puppet dictator.

Why Jacoby is Wrong

"Jeff Jacoby argues that there is something peculiar about the reaction of Muslims to the allegations that the Koran was disrespected at Guantanamo prison by US military interrogators."
Juan Cole

Unfortunately, this stuff is coming straight out of the Republican daily talking points. It's reach and the speed at which it propagates is what interest me.

Did anyone else notice that Sadr started rioting right after the Iranian dropped in for a visit.

Fouad Ajami: How the Middle East Became George W. Country

""George W. Bush has unleashed a tsunami on this region," a shrewd Kuwaiti merchant who knows the way of his world said to me. The man had no patience with the standard refrain that Arab reform had to come from within, that a foreign power cannot alter the age-old ways of the Arabs. "Everything here -- the borders of these states, the oil explorations that remade the life of this world, the political outcomes that favored the elites now in the saddle -- came from the outside. This moment of possibility for the Arabs is no exception." A Jordanian of deep political experience at the highest reaches of Arab political life had no doubt as to why history suddenly broke in Lebanon, and could conceivably change in Syria itself before long. "The people in the streets of Beirut knew that no second Hama is possible; they knew that the rulers were under the gaze of American power, and knew that Bush would not permit a massive crackdown by the men in Damascus." "
HNN

From Iraq Files

The Day After

"That next day we rolled back into the fray for a morning patrol. Team MAYHEM was reserved as the sun rose over the city, a dark orange circle cut into the sky, its edge as sharp as a razor. It floated just over the roof tops casting a dull warm light on another day of war and death. I liked the light, it was soft and inviting. The light is always the best just after the sun has slipped below the horizon but the sky and clouds still reflect its rays. After glow, it reminds me of the long summer days that marked the end and beginning of new school years. Mornings like this are a close second. Gentle soft light that touches your skin like a warm comforting heat. The world was a watercolor painting this morning, the colors of the sky washed together and blurred, the landscape, buildings, the people and animals - even the trash - all sharply defined."
This is Your War

23 Die In Iraq Violence

"Mansoor Moaddel reveals in the Daily Star the results of his opinion polling in Iraq last year. A sociologist at Eastern Michigan University who has been working with the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research, Moaddel is highly qualified to do scientific polling.

Some of the findings he reports:

To the question, "Is Iraq better off without Saddam Hussein?" the 'yes' answers broke down this way:

Sunnis: only 23 percent said "yes."
Shiites: 87 percent said "yes."
Kurds: 95 percent said "yes."

On the question of whether a university education is more important for boys than for girls:

Sunnis: 44 percent disagreed, favoring equality for girls.
Shiites: 50 percent disagreed, favoring equality for girls.
Kurds: 78 percent disagreed, insisting the girls be educated equally.

In other words, the Sunni Arabs in Iraq are nearly twice as patriarchal in their attitudes as Kurds.

The third question is the most important: "Is life in Iraq unpredictable and dangerous?"

Sunnis: 77 percent said "yes."
Shiites: 41 percent said "yes."
Kurds: 17 percent said "yes."

Moaddel argues that when people feel that their lives are not in their control, they are more likely to mount violent political campaigns in response:"
Juan Cole

New super-region formed

"(Al-Ittihad) A spokesman for Karbala provincial council, Ghalib al-Dumy, has announced the creation a Central Iraq Region, the purpose of which is to create a cohesive crossroads between all parts of the country - including links to the Iranian and Saudi borders. The new region encompasses Babylon, Kut, and Karbala provinces (or governorates)."
Christian Iraq

Jarba's Home Attacked, 8 Dead Oil Official Killed

" I.e. they now see him as a quisling. The attack on his home is another sign of growing Sunni-Shiite tensions, such that even Sunnis associating closely with the Shiite-dominated government are being targeted.

Alas, the incident also indicates exactly what would happen to the new political class if the US military just up and left Iraq.

Seif adds, "
Juan Cole

Maybe it's like Khalid's last encounter with the resistance?

Cultural Contrast (1)

"A comment by Gadfly on a previous post "Gratitude" drew my attention to cultural differences between Iraq or Mideast & US or West. Scrutinizing comments on my posts reveals some differences. Emails which I exchange with American pen pals spotlight others."
Ibn Alrafidain

Bad day in my memory

"Hi, friends how are you? Fine? , today I will tell you about misfortune happened in my sister’s primary school a month a go .terrorists attacked the Iraqi and American soldiers and ran away, the soldiers tried to chase them they entered the school to take places on the roof and in the upstairs class rooms, they shoot the terrorists from the school toward the road .the soldiers brought their wounded buddies to the school yard to be first aid.
All the pupils became panicked, many of them were fainted.
The worse thing that happened that they released the children to go home, my sister (seven years old ) didn’t know the way home alone , she went to our nearby friend’s house "
Days of my life

From Aunt Najma's Carnival of the relatives on Iraq Blog Count

Iraqi Constitution Series

"After the formation of the government, a greater task is awaiting the National Assembly which is drfting Iraq's permanent constitution of course.
So we have decided to run a series of updates on this blog (hopefully daily) to keep you informed about all the developments, obstacles and successes related to this important process.
Today will mark the beginning of this series:"
ITM

I am going to add this link to the Iraqi Constitution post, where I am linking all the post I find that talk about the writing of the Iraqi constitution.

One Genocidal Nation, With an Intolerant Message

"The people of Iraq have managed to bring down most of Saddam's portraits and the racist, chauvinistic and vulgar slogans from the surfaces of the land of the two rivers. In Syria, though, the portraits of Hafiz al-Assad, his late son, Basil and the current dictator Dr. Bashar criss-cross the ancient city of Damascus. The slogans, "The Ba'ath is Our Path and al-Assad is Our Leader," or "One Arab Nation With an Eternal Message" among others, like the verses of the Quran are displayed on the entrances of cities, small towns, villages, checkpoints and buildings."
Dear Baghdad

Moved To Another Place

"Besides the fact that I have been very very busy patrolling the streets of Iraq. Our unit also moved to another location, so only now have I got the chance to write in my blog. Not much has been going on, although some Iraqis grew some big balls and were shooting mortars off in a location just a few blocks from us. Their target was a nearby American base. We took off after them, but they got away before we saw them. It was a tough break. Hopefully we will get them next time."
Boots on the Ground

Syrian army joined the fighting in Al-Qaim

"A top source from the Iraqi Ministry of Defense told the Al-Watan Saudi newspaper yesterday that members from the Syrian army have joined the insurgents in Al-Qaiem against the US and Iraqi forces.

Al-Qaiem is on the border with Syria which is used as a cross safe heaven point for the Saudi and other Arab insurgents from Syria."
Hammorabi

Iraq Calls on Neighbors to Stop Insurgency

"BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari called on neighboring countries Thursday to help prevent foreign terrorists from crossing into Iraq as a series of attacks killed at least 13 Iraqis and one American soldier.

Al-Jaafari's appeal came a day after a top U.S. military official said the leaders of Iraq's most notorious terrorist group recently held a secret meeting in neighboring Syria, where they plotted the recent wave of insurgent violence that has killed hundreds of people."
My Way

Sure there going to listen, sure, they are going to give up Iraq, not just to a Shi'i majority, or a powerful Kurdish block, but do you really think that they will consider, even for a second loosing Iraq to Democracy? Really you believe that, well there are bridges and tall buildings I would love to try and sell you.

You want to see how easy it would be to get them to stop all support for the insurgency and back the Iraqi government. Have the government declare itself a dictatorship.

Spirit of America -- Scam or Legit?

Followers of the Iraqi blogosphere were pleased yesterday to find that Ali, our Free Iraqi, decided to discuss the reasons for his separation from the Spirit of America organization. Today, Ali posts a follow-up blog entry on the subject."
Iraq Bloggers Central

And we also have this from Fayrouz

"Now let's move to the subject of the day. You probably already read Ali's post regarding Spirit of America. I commented on the subject. I told about my experience with the organization. Jim Hake, Founder and CEO of SoA, left a comment on Ali's blog too. As I expected when writing the comment, the organization wasn't happy with my comment. I care more about the Iraqi people than anything else. That's why I posted my comment."
Iraqi in America

Update:
Omar responds

We've received some questions from our readers asking about Spirit of America, Friends of democracy and the progress of their partnership.
We know Spirit of America and its people.
They have supported Friends of Democracy (which is an Iraqi nongovernmental organization we have helped with), developed the only specialized Arabic blogging tool that we have written about more than once before and they have done other good things to help the people of Iraq."
ITM

Neurotic Iraqi Wife

Well, I find I have no words for Neurotic Iraqi Wife As she says goodbye to her old life, and prepares to embark on a new journey, and a new life. So I will just quote my favorite book:

"Roads go ever ever on,
Over rock and under tree,
By caves where never sun has shone,
By streams that never find the sea:
Over snow by winter sown,
And through the merry flowers of June,
Over grass and over stone,
And under mountains in the moon.

Roads go ever ever on
Under cloud and under star,
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar,
Eyes that fire and sword have seen
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows green
And trees and hills they long have known."
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien

If your ever lost in the wild, remember these words.
Oh and remember that once you in Iraq, in the war zone, you will be able to finally see my blog. Good luck and good journeys, and good hunting.

The Lies that Led to War

My article is online at Salon.com about the Downing Street memo "The lies that led to war": A leaked British memo, and other documents, make it clear that Bush intended all along to invade Iraq -- and lied about it to the American people. The full gravity of his offense has not yet sunk in.

"May 19, 2005 | When Newsweek's source admitted that he had misidentified the government document in which he had seen an account of Quran desecration at Guantánamo prison, Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita exploded, "People are dead because of what this son of a bitch said. How could he be credible now?"
Juan Cole

I only wish that there was something I could say, but on this specific issue, I tend to agree that Bush Lied. I don't believe that he was misled, or confused, or even that everyone else thought so. That just don't cut it. As I have said before, I believe that there were good reasons to take out saddam, why the administration never used any of them, but instead went with what I have always called "the lowest common denominator" issues is beyond me. I think it was a belief on the part of the administration that the American people were not smart enough to handle the truth, and so they went with their scare tactics. Which I think reflects the mindset if the administration more than saying anything about the American people.

Sunni Leader Blames Shiites for Assassinations

"I'm watching al-Dhari on al-Jazeera, and he is angrily attacking the Badr Corps. He is saying that the same forces that are besieging Palestinian villages and ethnically cleansing the Palestinians [on the West Bank] are now attacking Sunni Arabs in Iraq. That is, he is alleging a secret deal between Shiite leaders and the Israelis, both of whom want to repress the Sunni Arabs. [This is of course a ridiculous conspiracy theory, but it is alarming to hear it publicly articulated by an influential leader.]"

When has that ever stopped anyone

"Rumors have been flying in the Sunni community that Badr has infiltrated the Interior Ministry (home in Iraq of the secret police) and is using its new governmental muscle to ethnically cleanse Sunnis from mixed Baghdad neighborhoods."
Juan Cole

Al-Assad will meet the tribes from Kurdistan

"According Arabicnews.com[1] news reports in Damascus said that the Syrian authorities will shortly announce offering scores of thousands of Kurds the right to have the Syrian nationality.

Meantime, President Bashar al-Assad will be meeting with representatives of Kurdish tribes from the northern parts of Syria, in a step which is the first of its kind at this level."
KBU

Answering readers' questions.

"It's been a while since I started answering readers' questions and I think it's about time for a second round. I realized, as some readers noted, that I cannot answer all the questions so I'll start to limit my answers to the ones I think I can answer and will still try to answer as much as I can. So please keep your questions coming as I look at answering them (and asking them too!) as more important than what I would like to write about sometimes. So here it goes:"
Free Iraqi

'I received a great picture from Mark, an Army contractor up in Mosul. The picture shows a water snake (probably Natrix tesselata) eating a fish in a small pond on his base. Also in the picture is a frog (I'd guess it is a Marsh Frog (Rana ridibunda) ) . (I'm having trouble with my image server so I'll post the picture soon)"

But as if to make up, this post includes:

"(link to an audio of the male toad's advertisement call)."
Birding Babylon

News, comments, suggestions...etc

"Here we can see another aspect of the change in the way some Sunni parties and entities are viewing America's attitude towards Iraq; instead of saying that America wants Iraq to remain in chaos to justify the presence of American troops (like they used to say for a long time), now they began to realize (or admit) that America's and Iraq's interests can be more correlated to each other and that America does want stability in Iraq."
ITM -Mohammed

Life

"Life is a beautiful thing. It’s precious. A gift that many take for granted and just toss aside like a pair of dirty gym socks. I have always cherished life and the blessings that come along with it. Family. Friends. Music. Green grass. The smells from a cool lake breeze. I love every minute, every second of every breath of my life. I used to be adventurous, cunning and always chipper and happy. In high school, I rode bulls and most of my friends were complete opposites of me. In college, I read poetry and drank lattés as I wore my dark rimmed glasses and an out-of-style turtleneck by day; at night, I wore preppy clothes and went to fraternity parties. In my professional life, I dazzled clients with words and then tutored second graders from broken homes. In Iraq, I cared about my soldiers and every mission I was given and the cute little Iraqi kids who handed me flowers or cutely asked "mister, mister, picture, picture.""
In Iraq for 365

More on the effects of PTSD, I keep thinking of Hubby.

Tuesday Reading

"Steven Vincent recently posted an update of his travels in Iraq over at In the Red Zone.

The warriors over at I Should Have Stayed Home... leave us hanging on a ghost story: Ghost Story (part 1). I just love that blog. Be sure to check out the pics of the Iraqi police officer graduation on the main page.

Modern Tribalist looks to be an interesting read.

Chrenkoff plans to watch the new Star Wars film but still has words for George Lucas.

UPDATE: Speaking of Lucas, if you haven't caught Darth Vader's blog, you must go there immediately: The Darth Side: Memoirs of a Monster. Pure unadulterated genius."
The Adventures of Chester

Chester brings a few milblogs I never heard of. Check them out, tell me what you think.

Horseshoes and IEDs

"It was all wrong. We had been on this road to long, up and down, to many times. The quality of the light was wrong. I was breathing shallow. I wanted to scratch my head but I was afraid to take my helmet off. It was to hot inside PROJECT MAYHEM, our new Taz air freshener was overwhelming as the A/C whined and moaned struggling to keep the heat at bay."
This is Your War

12 November: How to Detect Land Mines

"I put my hands to my face. I was fine. I looked at Langford. He had gashed his hand somewhere in the fall but it wasn’t debilitating. Other than that he was ok. I was boiling mad. I couldn’t believe that we got hit with an artillery round. I was slightly confused by the impact though because I figured it should have killed us. I didn’t understand how we survived that."
Armor Geddon

A Day From Hell

"At 9:30 today, I wad awakened by a mobile call from my cousin.. He asked me if anyone was home with me but I couldn't tell since I was too sleepy and didn't know if mom had to go to the college.. He told me to wake HNK up and go downstairs to somewhere safe since a bomb was placed somewhere in front of the house.. That was not weird for me though, few days ago, I was awakened by mom for s similar reason."
A Star from Mosul

Here they go again, one thing you can say about theses terrorist, their consistent, they keep blowing up bombs right next to their most loyal supporters. To tell the truth I like Aunt Najma, she's such an articulate opinionated young person, who would not like her. Unfortunately she has not been able to see past her own life, But who can blame her, it's so much easier for me sitting here, than life is for her right now sitting there.
But she's smart, so I think that there will come the day when we might come to a point where we can see eye to eye. Time will tell.

Real news.. is what we need to stay free.

I got home tonight and was just watching c-span like I always do, and Bill Moyers from PBS came on and spoke at something called the National Conference for Media Reform and enjoyed his talk so much I got up out of bed, walked to my computer and went looking for a transcript of his speech to post here on my blog. I found This one, or you can go here to the Freepress site and watch This MP3 download.
Like everything else I post here, I may not agree with 100% of everything the guy said, I mean he talked for like an hour, He said lots of things.
I think he said some very important things that people of all stripes should hear. Only a truly informed public can deal with the complicities of modern life. Do yourselves all a favor. stay informed.

ME Time.....

""I need some privacy" were words that shocked me to my core. What do you mean, I asked??? I need time, time just for myself he said. But you ARE alone in Iraq, you have all the time in the world there, all the time without ME. No, he answered, Im never alone there, you can never be ALONE there,always surrounded by people by thoughts of survival. At work its colleagues, in the trailer its my mate,in the streets its mortars. I need time, ME time...."
Nuerotic Iraqi Wife

Sound familiar? Poor Hubby, How long has he been in Iraq now?
With just a few breaks now and then, the guy has been on duty, rebuilding Iraq as some kind of Iraqi American civilian, for what I think must be going on two years. And he's not going anywhere soon, She is on her way there too him To start thier married life together.. How long can the guy go till he snaps.
My advise, seek the opinion of a professional.

Hey, I just came across this:

"P.S. - For anyone interested, this is the direct link to the confessions excerpted on MEMRI."
.Lisa, New York

Iraq draws up plan to privatize state-owned firms

"BAGHDAD: Iraq's Industry Ministry plans to partially privatize most of its 46 state-owned companies as part of the government's plan to establish a liberal, free-market economy.

Later this year, the ministry is expected to launch a search for domestic and foreign partners in the private sector to jointly run companies in the petrochemical, cement, sugar, silk and heavy industry sectors."
The Daily Star

Operation Hands Full

"When I first got here I was on night guard duty for a few months and worked alongside some of the Iraqi soldiers. I began to hand things out to them, mostly extra things from care packages. They loved it. They had never received anything from Americans and were excited to receive things. After I got off of guard duty, I continued to hand out items through an Iraqi interpreter and through people who are still on guard duty. It’s been a great way to build goodwill and I’d like to continue and expand on it.

If you’d like to participate, this is how it works:"
Steven Kiel

Now this is something I can recommend to my readers. If you would like to participate, you can do so without giving it a second though. Nothing you send in here will go to the hands of any terrorist, but to the hands of people as opposed to terrorism as we are. So if your interested please click on the link and find out more. Thanks in advance to any that contribute.

"I was supposed to go to the university today because I have very important things to do, but when I woke up I was very lazy and tired and decided to shower and leave a bit late.
after I dressed up and left the house a friend called me from the university:
F: Khalid where are you
me: I am coming I m coming!
F: DON'T!!!
me: whyyy???
F: something exploded in the university now, some people were killed and some were injured, they evacuated the university, DON'T COME.
me: OMG! Where when how why???"
Tell me a Secret

Looks like no one is immune from the threat of terror, even if you support the terrorist. Then again, someone woke up late on the morning of the attack, Khalid did your friends keep you up late? Maybe not, but don't forget to send them more medical supplies, and the general public should donate without fear that the money is going directly to funding terrorist attacks, at this point were they are attacking thier own supporter's directly, even I might donate. Khalid how much should I send in?

The Iraqi Constitution

Update: May 19. 2005
ITM has a new "(hopefully daily)" series on the Drafting of the constitution. Check out his first entry here

Update: Back to Iraq comments on the constitution.

Don't forget Juan Cole from the other day.

We can also add Abbas's, get this, Arab Reform Bulletin, "a Carnegie Endowment publication" as he argues for Iraq's Shi'a leadership. And that reminds me of what Sam said the other day in his interview with Mister Ghost

"MG: Now Sam, should al-Sistani, unelected and not chosen by the Iraqi people to govern them or even represent them, be a force in a modern democratic state?

Sam: No he is not a political force but a spiritual leader and he was so during Saddam regime as spiritual leader so nothing changed now a part from taking his advices and views become public and important for the time being. Once the democratic process established and mechanism for election and constitution set out then Sistani or whoever comes after him will not impose themselves on the politics of the state unless asked to give advice. Indeed he is now not giving his views unless asked to give and he only suggest whether the others will take his suggestion or not. However a man like him is so important in this time like a father in the family."

Until proven wrong, I would tend to take these two at their word.

Original post:

"OK, back to reality. Fellow Iraqi blogger, Akbar - Iraqi Rising, posted his worries regarding the writing of the Iraqi constitution and other political issues. Since I'm worried too, I thought I'd answer his request to discuss the issue on other Iraqi blogs."
Iraqi in America

I am not going to comment too much on the Iraqi constitution till I see something more concrete from the Iraqis themselves, as I really think that Iraqis themselves should work this out. but I don't think that Iraqis are planing to write from a blank sheet, I think that for the most part the TAL will serve as a blueprint to the basic Iraqi constitution, and all they have to add are some election rules, and bingo they have a descent constitution. My two cents.
But you never know maybe the Iraq will surprise us all with a homegrown version. Whatever they do I hope they make one that is in line with the rest of today's constitutional governments, so that it is automatically compatible with the EU, and the US, and the rest of the free world. Let's hope that at this point no one is driven by fear to write a less than free constitution, I mean what are they going to be afraid of, terrorist bombings, they got that now.

postdate: Let's not forget consequences of Failure as we were reminded recently in the Rolling Stone of all places Dr. Cole.

well we've got everyone else so why not al-Qaedas

"DUBAI (Reuters) - Iraq's al Qaeda blasted calls by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for Sunni Muslims in Iraq to participate in drafting a new constitution, saying those who did would be infidels, according to an Internet statement.

"The crusaders' hag (Rice) came to sully the land of the caliphate...and wants the participation of apostates and secularists claiming to be Sunnis," the group led by Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said in the statement posted on Tuesday on a Web site used by Islamists on Tuesday.

"Would anyone draft the constitution other than those who do not believe in God's book...," said the statement dated May 16."

"Asked to confirm that there are no torture tactics being used in interrogating suspected terrorists, Nazif responded: "No, sir." Period? "Yes, period," he replied."
MY Way

Maybe I'm tired.. but did he just say no, followed by yes? Which was it?

Muslim cleric says Australian troops in Iraq make Australians a target

Update: Omar at ITM has the latest news.

""Speaking to the ABC in Baghdad, Sheikh Hilali said he had information that the group holding Douglas Wood in Iraq had extended its deadline for an Australian troop pull-out indefinitely. But the Australian cleric says insurgent leaders who could be crucial to winning Mr Wood's release cannot be contacted because they have been busy fighting US troops in the al-Qaim region of western Iraq."
ABC

Well I hope as soon as he is able to contact his "connections" again, that he share the addresses.

Iraq Used Oil to Pay Russians

"WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former top representatives in Saddam Hussein’s government have told congressional investigators they provided millions of dollars worth of oil allocations to Russian leaders in hopes of ending U.N. penalties against Iraq."
News11

"The attraction of the "foreigners thesis" for Washington is obvious. It allows the Bush administration to sidestep the implication that a substantial proportion of the Iraqi public violently rejects the US presence. And it implicitly ties Iraq to al-Qaeda, which accords with a long-term black psy-ops operation of the administration aimed at making a connection between Iraq and September 11 in the minds of Americans (actually, there is none)."
Juan Cole

"none", I cant agree with that. None would imply that there were no connections, and there are connections. The US was patrolling the SNFZ from a base in the KSA. One of OBL's justifications for 9/11 was the presents of US Troops on the Holy land of KSA. Removing those troops would have meant the dismantling of, or a major modification to our ability to patrol the SNFZ of Iraq.
Now this might not in and of itself be a justification for war, but it is a direct connection between 9/11, OBL, and Iraq.

Rice Make Surprise Visit to Iraq

"Before visiting the capital, Rice's first stop in this war-weary country was in the town of Salahuddin, in Kurdish northern Iraq. There she urged patience for the fragile new government and said Iraqis have made remarkable political progress that can overcome a recent surge of violence.

Rice 

"Rice flew immediately to the mountain stronghold of Kurdish Democratic Party leader Massoud Barzani. She rode in a military helicopter under extremely heavy security.

The one-day trip was Rice's first visit to Iraq as the nation's top diplomat.

Rice was a chief architect of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq as White House national security adviser during President Bush's first term and she accompanied Bush on his own surprise visit to Iraq on Thanksgiving Day 2003."
My Way

Update on "How Jafaari changed the Iraqi Democratic Oath"

"1. Jaafaari brings in his own "oath". "
Kurdo's World

Palestinian terrorists arrested in Baghdad

"The Iraqi Fox Brigade arrested 4 Palestinian terrorists who carried out the explosion of the market in East Baghdad few days ago, which resulted in the death of many Iraqi civilians and damaged the shops and markets there. The terrorists confessed about their crime. They were also involved in previous crimes especially car bobby-trapping. They have been shown and confessed in the TV which stated that the IFB arrested them, 9 hours after the blast."
Hammorabi

At a cross road....

"This past month has seen a major escalation in the conflict and the number of suicide attacks in Iraq. The situation seems to be getting out of control and the political dynamics and repercussions are starting to worry me very much. The general mood that I get from Baghdad is that the majority of the populous are very suspicious with the direction that Prime Minister Ja3fary's Shi3a backed government coalition is taking, and this is having a direct affect in further alienating the Sunni populous and in turn inflaming the conflict further.
Two major issues are at the forefront of this;"
Iraq Rising

The Mystery of the Insurgency

"WASHINGTON — American forces in Iraq have often been accused of being slow to apply hard lessons from Vietnam and elsewhere about how to fight an insurgency. Yet, it seems from the outside, no one has shrugged off the lessons of history more decisively than the insurgents themselves.

The insurgents in Iraq are showing little interest in winning hearts and minds among the majority of Iraqis, in building international legitimacy, or in articulating a governing program or even a unified ideology or cause beyond expelling the Americans. They have put forward no single charismatic leader, developed no alternative government or political wing, displayed no intention of amassing territory to govern now.

Rather than employing the classic rebel tactic of provoking the foreign forces to use clumsy and excessive force and kill civilians, they are cutting out the middleman and killing civilians indiscriminately themselves, in addition to more predictable targets like officials of the new government. Bombings have escalated in the last two weeks, and on Thursday a bomb went off in heavy traffic in Baghdad, killing 21 people."
NYT

From Drudge

Police Arrest 5 in Baghdad Market Bombing

"BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi security forces have captured four Palestinians and an Iraqi responsible for a Baghdad market bombing that killed at least 17 people, a police commander said Friday."
Yahoo

from the suburbs to downtown

"Again, I apologize for the infrequency of my postings lately. As anyone who has been in the military understands all too well, any decent size changes take some time. The Army's meticulous attention to detail, especially under our present circumstances, adds to the necessity of flexibility and more importantly to the commitment to operational security."
Boots in Baghdad

This is a new milblogger, at least he's new to me. Drop by and take a look, and don't forget to see his pictures:
Go to Boots In Baghdad Photographs.

Iraq's insurgency, death with no rules

"Iraq's insurgents decided that Iraq would not be governed by the elected government. After the elections of January 30, they also determined that a government elected under the American occupation would not govern it. But how are they are going to impose their will?"
A Free Writer

"It has been a few weeks since I published anything. Here is my new article in the Arab Reform Bulletin, a Carnegie Endowment publication."
Abbas Kadhim

Notice: The public comment section of this blog is closed until further notice. Please write the author Abbas and ask him to reopen them as soon as it is possible. Thanks

Let Raed Jarrar Rot in Hell for Eternity!

"Raed Jarrar has defended the insurgents/terrorists/resistance since the fall of Baghdad over two years ago. I thought that he would change his mind when he saw how many innocent Iraqi men, women, and children have been ripped apart by waves of suicide bombers. I was wrong.

Raed Jarrar hasn't said ONE WORD about the terrorists. Not ONE WORD of condemnation. Today, while over sixty Iraqis lost their lives to HIS INSURGENT BUDDIES, he talks about a protest in Afghanistan!

Raed's silence about the carnage in Iraq speaks VOLUMES!

I'm telling you, my Iraqi friends, remember where Read Jarrar stood while his buddies slaughtered your citizens.

*

Let's look at the numbers."
Iraq Bloggers Central

To Lose a Loved One

"Today, scores of Iraqi women and men lost loved ones to the terrorists. Are we cursed? Are we unlucky? Why do the terrorists hate the Iraqis this much? I don't know and I'm tired.

To the nations who paid/will pay a ransom to the terrorists, please know you're making Iraq a bigger hell."
Iraqi in America

"Al-Witwity reports about the confiscation of many Iraqi Sumerian artifacts in Diwaniya after arresting a Syrian mukhabarat officer who was trying to smuggle these priceless artifacts out to Syria in cooperation with some local thugs.
Experts estimate the total price of these artistic historic pieces to be around 35 million dollars.
Click here for pictures of the retreived artifacts."
ITM

There can not be a worst insult than to have a peoples heritage stolen and sold. Both the thieves and the merchants that deal in history should be punished to the full extent of the law.

The big cockroach possibly killed!

"Despite the increase in the terrorists attacks in Baghdad the terrorist groups especially of the Jordanian Abomusab Zarqawi suffered sever damages in the last few weeks."
Hammorabi

Well we have been hearing rumors for about a week about the demise of zarqawi, but now that we hear from Sam, I think this puts an end to it, the Fucker is dead. Rot in hell.

Travels In Iraq: Taji

"LTC Bob continues his inspections of Iraqi weapons dumps, traveling this week to the Taji Rocket and Missile Component Factory

Taji, located 30 km North of Baghdad, was the primary location for Iraq's indigenous long-range missile program. Activities included air frame design, construction and modification, and liquid fuel rocket engine development and production. UNSCOM teams destroyed prohibited missiles, support systems, development and construction equipment, and specialized tools and dies.

Iraq was planning to build a 1,000-machine production centrifuge cascade at Taji. Based on performance achieved by the Iraqis with their prototype centrifuge, IAEA estimated the potential output of a 1,000 centrifuge cascade at about ten kilograms of weapons-grade highly enriched uranium annually.

Here are a few pictures from my trip to Taji last week and around Camp Victory today.

More of LTC Bob's travels in Iraq will be posted as they come in."
Silflay Hraka

ANTIWAR SOLDIERS SPEAK OUT

"Three weeks ago, amidst a perfect evening at a quiet local pub, Heretic, hEkle, and Joe Public received a telephone call from a true ally at www.socialistworker.org in regards to a loose ended, recorded phone interview about their time in Iraq.

Some of the questions were difficult to field considering the restrictions on a GI’s freedom of speech, but in the long run the results turned out to be exactly what both Socialist Worker and Fight To Survive had hoped for.

Here’s that interview…

The In T View: Sam From Hammorabi

"Sam from the Hammorabi Blog is the most Elusive, Passionate, and Mysterious of the Iraqi Bloggers to share his thoughts
on his country of Iraq, the Middle East, Terrorism, and Geo-Politics. We really don't know who he truly is, but appreciate his contributions to the Blogosphere, and are
presented with the opportunity to learn more about his views on Blogging,
Iraq, Sistani, Childhood, Islam, Food, Terrorism, Muqti al Sadr, and more in:

The In T View: Sam From Hammorabi

Make a Difference

"Right now, there are people in Cuba taking great risks to themselves and their families because they not only question their totalitarian government but they dare to unite and collaborate for a change to their society. On the 20th of May, Cuba's true Independence Day, these people, these groups will convene an unprecedented meeting in a country where just two individuals gathered together subjects them to dire reprisals from their government. Yet despite all possible forms of mistreatment from the castro regime, despite their very lives being at risk, they are determined to come together and take the first true steps to foster the establishment of a civil society in Cuba.

The government of fidel castro will undoubtedly do everything in its power to hamper the efforts of these brave individuals. There is only one thing that will force fidel castro to permit this desperate act of defiance against his government: the fear of condemnation from the world community.

This is your chance, as a blogger, as a citizen journalist, as a writer or reader, and most importantly as a freedom loving human being to make a difference. Take the press release quoted below and spread it around. Post it on your site, link to it here or at the Assembly's site, send it via emails, read it aloud at the top of your lungs on a street corner.

Let the oppressors know that the world is watching."
Babalu Blog

Kurdish Hospitality

"Almost every week, LT C. and I meet with Col K. and his men from the Presidential Security Detail. I look forward to this meeting every time. They are charged with protecting the Iraqi President, Mr. Talabani. We meet to exchange information, see if we can help each other, and discuss the latest threats against our areas of responsibility. They are the nicest people that you could ever meet."
Major K.

"SO things with my NCOIC and my commander and myself have come to a screaming head, literaly, and I'm going to go to the Division Command Sergeant Major, who is next in my NCO channel. This latest after the 1SG pulled me out of bed at 12 AM to empty a trash can, and we got into a yelling match in front of the entire TOC."
The Irish Yell

Innocent Victims of Insurgents

"Yesterday an car bomb went off in our area. The target was one of the Bradley's patrolling around the area. Unfortunately, this was an indiscriminate attack. 4 innocent bystanders were hurt and another guy was practically vaporized. Somehow Al-Jazeera was in the area before it happened. I wonder how that could have happened? Fucking terrorists are giving tips to these assholes, so they can be on the spot when it happens."
Boots on the Ground

Unstoppable

"Unstoppable. Ok. Another great movie by SPC Camp. I feel the need to explain some parts so feel free to read these notes as you watch."
Armor Geddon

Celebratory Fire

""Gun shots!" Keo called out from the turret. "Behind us! Down the street we just turned off of!"
"Right!" I began to call up to 6 with the report and was immediately stepped on as every other TC began to Transmit at nearly the same moment. I gave up. One of us would get through to the LT."
This is Your War

'Milbloggers' are typing their place in history

"By Mark Memmott, USA TODAY
Imagine some of the soldiers who survived the Battle of Gettysburg stopping the next day to write their dramatic tales — and people around the world instantly reading them. If that battle had been fought today, no imagination would be necessary."
USA Today

Breaking news and untold news.

"Every morning I wake up with an idea for something I want to blog about but an hour or two later "Breaking News" signs start flashing on the TV screen bringing news about a car bomb in Baghdad, a suicide attacker in Tikrit, an IED in Hilla and an assassination in Baquba and I frankly get little bit discouraged and a lot more saddened by these news and I begin to feel that it would be inappropriate to write about some regular stuff when there are people dying and suffering but these situations are happening over and over again and will probably continue to happen in the same frequency for days, weeks or maybe months and I realize that being paralyzed by these terror attacks and the pain they bring is exactly what they terrorists want to see."
ITM

Is Zarqawi dead?

"Don't get excited yet. One Arab language site is reporting that a senior Iraqi commander is claiming that Zarqawi was "seriously wounded, possibly dead" in Operation Matador."
CounterColumn

Great blogger

"This is a link to perhaps the best journalist-type blogger I've ever read. He's in Mosul and is the fellow who took the picture of the soldier holding the wounded child. You have to read Michael Yon's perspective; he's a very passionate writer."
In Iraq for 365

Blackhawks are cool, no matter what country you're in

"Click here for a great story about a Blackhawk helicopter landing outside of an elementary school. It turns out it was on purpose, as a way to thank the kids for supporting the troops when they were overseas. (Visit Iraq Files for more stories like this one.)"
Steven Kiel

"The 55-member committee appointed Tuesday to draft Iraq's permanent constitution has been set up with proportional representation from the party lists that dominate parliament. Thus, the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance has 28 seats on the committee, but the Sunni Arabs at the moment have only one! It appears that there are plans to expand the committee so as to add more Sunnis, and I should hope so. A constitution written by this committee is highly unlikely to be acceptable to the Sunni Arabs. Any three of their provinces can veto the constitution if they don't like it."
Juan Cole

Four suicide attacks kill at least 71

"BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Suicide bombs killed at least 71 people in Iraq on Wednesday, taking to nearly 400 the number of Iraqis killed in guerrilla attacks since a new government was unveiled two weeks ago.

In Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, a suicide car bomber blew up his vehicle among a crowd of mainly Shi'ite migrant laborers from southern Iraq who had gathered to look for work."
MyWay -Drudge

ISLAM......

"One of the hardest thing for any Muslim to do, whether liberal or otherwise, is to openly criticize Islam or the teachings of the prophet. Every Muslim born into the religion finds this very difficult. This is one of the main reasons why we continue to refuse to have an open and frank discussion about the relevance and direction of our religion in the modern world. From the day we are born we are culturally and religiously conditioned to obey, and not to question. We are told that to criticize would mean that we are 'Kafirs' (non believer), and thus would automatically go to hell."
Iraq Rising

Pentagon: Insurgents in Western Iraq Better Trained, More Willing to Fight

"By Al Pessin
Washington

A senior U.S. general says insurgents fighting a coalition offensive in western Iraq appear to be better trained and equipped and more willing to fight, than most insurgent forces seen in the country in the past.

The chief of operations for the U.S. military, Lieutenant General James Conway, says the U.S. forces trying to root out insurgents in the northwestern corner of Al-Anbar Province are engaged in what he calls a “significant battle” against a “willful and capable” insurgency. In this offensive, code named Operation Matador, General Conway says the U.S. military is finding some new developments among the insurgents.

“There are reports that these people are in uniforms, in some cases are wearing protective vests, and there’s some suspicion that their training exceeds that of what we have seen with other engagements further east,” he said.
(more…)"
Christian Iraq

Put My Son’s Name on a Bomb (2)

"Dialogue with Super-Patriotic America

This post is a study of some of the debating tactics of misguided (and misguiding) American super-patriots. It stems from the discussion of my previous post. Amid all the noise of a lively debate, the main points of the debate were lost to most. This post is an outline of that debate without the noise… to illustrate those tactics."
Iraqi Letters

Via Iraq blog Count

The Price of Failure in Iraq

"Bob Dreyfuss writes in Rolling Stone:
If it comes to civil war, the disintegration of Iraq will be extremely bloody. "The breakup of Iraq would be nearly as bad as the breakup of India in 1947," says David Mack, a former U.S. assistant secretary of state with wide experience in the Arab world. "The Kurds can't count on us to come in and save their bacon. Do they think we are going to mount an air bridge on their behalf?" Israel might support the Kurds, but Iran would intervene heavily in support of the Shiites with men, arms and money, while Arab countries would back their fellow Sunnis. "You'd see Jordan, Saudi Arabia, even Egypt intervening with everything they've got -- tanks, heavy weapons, lots of money, even troops," says White, the former State Department official. "If they see the Sunnis getting beaten up by the Shiites, there will be extensive Arab support," agrees a U.S. Army officer. "There will be no holds barred."
Juan Cole

Say what?

"Has this story made the news rounds yet

Iraqi Government removes the word federal from oath

First saw it on Kurdish media last week but was waiting for it to show up on other news outlets just to make sure but so far its only made it to middle east info and Lebanon's daily star. Obviously news like that is not important to the middle east, as say whether birth control is haram or halal or what Sudanese islamists write in their newspapers"
KBU -Dilnareen

Zarqawi's days are numbered

"Top aide for Zarqawi has been captured by the Iraqi forces North of Baghdad. Ghasan Al-Rawi and another two of his top supporters have been arrested 10 days ago."
Hammorabi

Pimp

"I can think of no better word to describe fidel castro. He is a pimp. The man in control while his country whores itself to desperate Johns. The latest John being one Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, who has forked out his usurped wads of cash to be serviced by the Caribbean's very best and only 46 year old brothel.

The Pimp will do anything for oil, you see, while the John just wants to be pleasured and lavished with praise, made out to be a key player on the World's stage.

It's an expensive transaction for both however. As one sells his country's morality and the other uses his counry's future as legal tender.

Go and read this post at Venezuela News and Views, where Daniel has basically risked his well being by translating an editorial by Milagros Socorro that explains my metaphor above."
Babalu Blog

Goodbye Col Hackworth

" Being an Infantryman can be a pretty thankless job at times. Outside our cloistered hallways we are often called "grunts", "bullet catchers", "ground pounders" and other less charitable terms. COL David Hackworth was the epitome of an infantryman and long after he fell out of favor with the US Army he continued to look out for the troops at the pointy end of the spear. He will be missed. Sleep well Hack."
365 an a Wakeup

Want

"What I am living right now - and lets get this straight - this is not a history of C for Charlie Company or my Battalion or of the war in Iraq, which is part of the larger war against terrorism and those that seek our destruction. It's is a personal web site of one man. One Soldier in an army of Soldiers. These are my feelings, my thoughts, my emotions. I won't be sorry for them or revise them. I'm just a man, 31 years old that is still learning about life and a good deal about Death as well. I don't have the answers, I'm looking for them and if you see the bastard with 'em point him out to me because I need to talk to him......I miss my wife and I want to go Home."
This is Your War

Friday prayers and the future elections.

"For the fourth week in a line, the "department of Sunni property" which is an official entity that takes care of Sunni mosques and Sunni heritage has been distributing inquiry forms to the people who attend the Friday prayers as such prayers are usually attended by more people than other week days.
The inquiry (or poll) includes four questions:

1-would you like to have a role in drafting the constitution?
2-would you like to participate in the next round of elections?
3-would you prefer to see a unified committee for the Sunni?
4-Are you with the call for joining the Iraqi army and police?
*You can submit any suggestions you have."
ITM

The Terrorists should be exterminated

"The latest crime of the filthy thugs today was by a suicidal cockroach with a booby-trapped car in a busy fruit market in Sowara South East Baghdad. Until now there are more than 60 dead and more than double wounded.

The latest information indicates that some of the fucking suicidal thugs are not aware of the nature of the operation. The big filthy boars told them that they are going to give them a car to go to meet some one or similar thing. When they arrive into the point that the filthiest cockroaches decided they blow it up either by remote control or by a mobile telephone call to the driver. The driver usually had given some thing to eat or to drink to make him feel happy or depressed."
Hammorabi

The ME sure can be a strange and complicated place. I only hope we make it out of there with some sanity.