Liberals and Progressives

Great post, Turk, there is reason to be concerned.

I've heard much about those refugees that have been in Syria for some time, the big US news -- Refugees Return, a claim of success -- the surge is working. If one listens to the BBC, NPR, the reality appears to fall out more like this -- many Iraqis returning home due to the fact that Syria is refusing to renew visas, and they have used up their savings, they return fearful, not triumphant.

I am very concerned that the US media has all but forgotten the war, buries the news under the lastest Brittney headlines, or spins it to the point that an informed viewer might become dizzy. Election time is coming, and the one goal is get another Repub. elected.

The refugees are returning to find little support, their homes have been over taken by rival tribes. We can only pray that this blogger made it through safely.

Wish I could talk with her...please let us know if you hear from her.

Correct, Torry. The refugees from Iraq are now refugees from Syria and Jordan. They have run out of places to go.

BTW- the war isn't over although we have been lulled into thinking so.

This is from Friday:

- Around 8.30 a.m., a roadside bomb targeted an American patrol at Shoala high way ( north west Baghdad). No casualties reported.

- Around 3 p.m., a roadside bomb targeted an American patrol at Al-Mawal intersection at Palestine street .No casualties reported ,but damage to one of the vehicles , police said.

- Police found two unidentified dead bodies in the following neighborhoods in Baghdad: One was found in Mahmoudiyah in southern Baghdad ( Karkh bank ) while the second dead body was found in Suleikh in northern Baghdad ( Risafa bank ) .

Najaf

- At 4.30 a.m. of Thursday, a joint forces raided the Rahma neighborhood in Najaf ( 5 km to the north of Najaf city ) with air cover inuring four people and arresting 6 others besides two of the forth injured ones, a member of Sadrists office in Najaf said .While the American army sent us this report “ In an Iraqi Army-led operation, nine suspected militants were detained in Najaf on 3 January. During the operation, ground forces were attacked with small arms fire and a grenade. Ground forces responded in self defense, wounding two, who were treated on site and then transported to a medical facility.

Maysan

- At 7.m., a tanker filled with fuel was exploded at the northern check point of Ammara city ( 390 km south of Baghdad) during its being searched by policemen in that checkpoint .Two policemen were killed and others were injured in that incident

Reuters reports political violence on Thursday:

' DIYALA PROVINCE - Two U.S. soldiers were killed and one injured in a small-arms fire attack in Diyala province, the U.S. military.

* SOUTH OF BAGHDAD - The U.S. military reported one of its soldiers had been killed on Wednesday by a roadside bomb south of Baghdad.

* MOSUL - A rocket propelled grenade struck a police checkpoint killing three policemen and wounding four in Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

* TAL AFAR - Two civilians, including one child, died when U.S. forces returned fire after a roadside bomb struck a convoy that included the police chief of the town of Tal Afar 420 km (260 miles) northwest of Baghdad, Iraqi police Brigadier-General Mohammed al-Wagaa said. The morgue in the town confirmed the deaths of the two civilians. . .

BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb killed two people and wounded five when it exploded in Baghdad's southern outskirt of Zaafaraniya, police said.

BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb wounded four street cleaners in the New Baghdad district of the capital, police said.

BAGHDAD - A Katyusha rocket killed one person and wounded two when it landed on a house in western Baghdad's Shi'ite Washash neighbourhood, police said.

BAGHDAD - The bodies of three people were found in Baghdad on Wednesday, police said.

HAWIJA - Gunmen in a car attacked a checkpoint manned by members of the Awakening council, neighbourhood patrol volunteers fighting with the U.S. and Iraqi forces against al- Qaeda, wounding three of them in the town of Hawija, 180 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

MOSUL - Clashes erupted between gunmen and the police killing one policeman and wounding two on Wednesday in Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said. police detained 16 suspected insurgents after the clashes. '

There is an obligation to not let such stories as these be buried by the coporate, conservative press -- the human toll of this war has been deinied over and over by the news of sucessful 'war machine'!

Two of the American soldiers were actually killed by Iraqis working along side them.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - An Iraqi soldier opened fire on U.S. troops during a joint patrol in the northern city of Mosul on December 26, killing two and wounding three others along with a civilian interpreter, Iraqi and U.S. officials said on Saturday.

The U.S. military said it was not clear why the Iraqi soldier had opened fire, but two Iraqi generals told Reuters the attacker had links to Sunni Arab insurgent groups.

The U.S. military said in a statement the two soldiers were Captain Rowdy Inman and Sergeant Benjamin Portell, both assigned to 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, III Corps, based in Fort Hood, Texas.

"The Iraqi soldier who allegedly opened fire fled the scene but was identified by other Iraqi army personnel and was then apprehended. Two Iraqi army soldiers are now being held in connection with the incident," the military said.

In response to the shooting, the Iraqi army has tightened screening of new recruits in its 2nd Division, which controls the Mosul region, and is carrying out more thorough background checks on serving soldiers, the Iraqi generals said.

U.S. and Iraqi troops have been conducting joint patrols as part of a new U.S. counter-insurgency strategy to curb sectarian violence and improve the capabilities of Iraq's military, which will take over more security responsibilities to allow U.S. forces to begin withdrawing from Iraq.
view link

Thanks Turk for posting info about Riverbend's Blog. Her words are very powerful and well worth reading. I also look forward to hearing about Riverbend and hope for her safety. Since she's taking such a bold step to put out this blog.....with the truth in Iraq.......her life is in constant danger, not to mention the danger every ordinary citizen goes through. Bush has left his mark on so many people in this world, killing/murdering and harming so many people,... from infant to elder... and asking others to do his dirty work for him, what a chicken.***! And hey......what happened to those infants in Iraq.....those baby's "right to life". Guess that shoots BIG holes in the "right to life" campaign. According to his spiritual beliefs, Bush has condemned himself to BURN in the HELL he believes in!