Saturday, June 9, 2007

Did you hear the one about the...?















These days, I get suspicious when there's a flurry of big "news" stories pushed on us in the media. We are inundated with Paris and the Pope. Foiled terrorist plots turn out to have been blown way out of proportion but were shoved in our faces like rags soaked with chloroform. There is a pattern in the push news versus the pull news, and the timing is always a little conspicuous to me. My reflex reaction nowadays is "Uh oh, what am I missing?"

Here are a few links to check in on Iraq. They morbidly sum up our progress there.

Iraqi Lawmakers Pass Resolution That May Force End to Occupation
"The Iraqi parliament has passed a resolution to stop the renewal of the UN mandate that defines the American occupation of Iraq. If it's not renewed in Dec 2007 then the occupation will legally be defined as armed. ...It is possible, even probable, that the Maliki regime will veto the resolution passed today. The White House's separatist allies in Baghdad have consistently found ways to bypass the assembly...."

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Bush Says We’ll Be in Iraq for 50 Years, But Reporters Don't Bother to Ask Iraqis to Comment
"...we called Iraqi lawmakers from different parties representing the country's different ethnic and sectarian groups, and found that, without exception, just hearing that there were official whispers in Washington about plans for a decades-long U.S. troop presence in their country shocked and awed them, and not in a good way."

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Iraq Refugee Crisis Worsens: 4.2 Million And Rising
"Across Iraq, millions of people are looking for safer places to live, and not finding them. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) reported last week that 4.2 million Iraqis have been forced out of their homes.

There are also ominous signs that the four-month-old US security plan for Baghdad is failing to reduce the level of violence despite an extra 17,000 US troops in the capital."

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Military deaths in Iraq: U.S. = 3,503
"As of Saturday, June 9, 2007, at least 3,503 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes seven military civilians. At least 2,864 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers. The AP count is 12 higher than the Defense Department's tally, last updated Friday at 10 a.m. EDT.

The British military has reported 150 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 20; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, seven; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Latvia, three; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Romania, South Korea, one death each.

The latest deaths reported by the military: A soldier was killed Saturday by small arms fire in Diyala province.

The latest identifications reported by the military:

• Senior Airman William N. Newman, 23, Kingston Springs, Tenn., died Thursday from an explosive south of Balad; assigned to the Explosive Ordinance Disposal Team of the 15th Civil Engineer Squadron, Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii.

• Army Sgt. 1st Class Greg L. Sutton, 38, Spring Lake, N.C., died Wednesday from an explosive in Baghdad; assigned to the 212th Military Transition Team, 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan."
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Iraq Blogs - A first-hand view of Iraq from the online weblogs of soldiers and civilians who are there now.
* Raed In The Middle
Raed Jarrar is Iraq Consultant to the American Friends Service Committee.
* Healing Iraq
Daily news and comments on the situation in post Saddam Iraq by an Iraqi dentist
* HNK's Blog
Weblog of the teen-aged daughter of a doctor and an engineer in Mosul, Iraq
* Baghdad Burning
Girl Blog from Iraq... let's talk war, politics and occupation.
* A Family in Baghdad
mother: Faiza, sons: Raed, Khalid , and Majid writing down their diaries. Father: Azzam is not interested.
* Secrets in Baghdad
Khalid Jarrar blogs from Baghdad about life in Iraq and his recent detention
* Bob Zangas' Journey In Iraq
Weblog of an optimistic Marine working as a civilian in Iraq until he was killed by insurgents disguised as policemen.

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* Iraq.net
* Yahoo's Iraq page

* Some headlines at-a-glance:
-US eyes long-term military presence in Iraq: report (AFP)
-Truck bomb in Iraq kills seven policemen
-Suicide bomber kills 14 Iraqi soldiers (AP)
-Iraq to Turkey: stop shelling north Iraq (AP)
-Iraq group claims journalist assassination: Web
-Officer advises dropping Haditha charges (AP)
-Iran: New doubts on talks with U.S. (AP)
-New White House plan: Keep US troops in Iraq permanently

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