AS THE WORLD SQUIRMSâ
Saturday, August 11, 2007
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US death toll in Iraq passes 3500
Thursday: 3 GIs, 2 Britons, 46 Iraqis Killed; 21 Iraqis
Wounded August 9, 2007 Friday: 58 Iraqis Killed, 66 Wounded Labor Dept: 1,001 Contractors Have Died in
Iraq August 9, 2007 DC Notes: Disability claims from Iraq, Afghanistan vets top
176,000
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Central Banks around the World pour
$325 billion into
collapsing Global markets
Action by US Federal Reserve and European
Central Bank
fails to halt
crash in Global share values
BLOODY
AMERICANS: British Military Asks US Forces to Leave Afghan Province Carlotta Gall reports for The New York
Times, "A senior British commander in southern Afghanistan said in
recent weeks that he had asked that American Special Forces leave his area of
operations because the high level of civilian casualties they had caused was
making it difficult to win over local people." By
Carlotta Gall The New
York Times August
9, 1007 (Excerpt) SANGIN,
Afghanistan — A senior British commander in southern
Afghanistan said in recent weeks that he had asked that American Special
Forces leave his area of operations because the high level of civilian casualties
they had caused was making it difficult to win over local people. Other British officers here in Helmand
Province, speaking on condition of anonymity, criticized American Special
Forces for causing most of the civilian deaths and injuries in their area.
They also expressed concerns that the Americans’ extensive use of air power was turning the people against the foreign
presence as British forces were trying to solidify recent gains against the Taliban. An American military spokesman denied that
the request for American forces to leave was ever made, either formally or
otherwise, or that they had caused most of the casualties. But the
episode underlines differences of opinion among NATO and
American military forces in Afghanistan on tactics for fighting Taliban
insurgents, and concerns among soldiers about the consequences of the high
level of civilians being killed in fighting.  Afghan Anti-Terror Meet Hears Calls
to Oust NATO Force by Waheedullah Massoud
AFP
August 10, 2007
A council of Pakistani and Afghan tribal leaders debating
ways to end Al-Qaeda-backed terrorism in the region heard calls for Western forces to be
thrown out of Afghanistan in favour of Islamic troops. Pakistani tribal elder and former MP, Malik Fazel
Manaan Mohmand, told 700 delegates seated in a giant white tent that the
presence of NATO and US-led forces in Afghanistan was a major cause of insecurity. Pakistan had helped Afghanistan battle the invading
Soviets in a jihad, or holy war, but Kabul had now brought in a new foreign
force, he said. "How can I accept that yesterday
jihad against the Russians was a must, and today this is not a jihad?"
he asked. |
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Al-Jazeera August 10,
2007 (Excerpt) The US president has rebuked Iraq's prime minister for speaking
too favourably about Iran. "If the signal [from Nuri al-Maliki] is that Iran is
constructive, I will have to have a heart-to-heart with my friend, the prime
minister. Because I don't believe they are constructive," George Bush
said. But he voiced confidence that he and al-Maliki were on the same
page on Iran as a threat. "I don't think he, in his heart of heart, thinks they're
constructive either."
Al-Maliki
had thanked Iran for its "positive and constructive" work in
"providing security and fighting terrorism in Iraq" on a visit to
Tehran, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency. |
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When
Iraq Finally Collapses The Electoral Wave It
Sets Off In The U.S. Will Be Huge “The
number of Iraqi refuges and murder victims makes other current humanitarian
crises, including Darfur, pale by
comparison.” By Joe Rothstein August 8, 2007 (Excerpt) The Turkish Ottoman Empire had the bad judgment
to back the losing side in World War One. For its losing bet it got itself
dismembered. And out of that redrawing of the map of the Middle East emerged
a nation called "Iraq." |
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Bomb Kills Iraqi Governor, Police Chief AP August 10, 2007 (Excerpt) BAGHDAD - A
powerful roadside bomb on Saturday killed the governor and police chief of a
southern province that has seen fierce internal fighting between Shiite
factions, officials said.  Bush's New War Czar Talks Up Draft CNN August 10, 2007 (Excerpt) WASHINGTON
(AP) -- Frequent tours for U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan have stressed
the all-volunteer force and made it worth considering a return to a military
draft, President Bush's new war adviser said Friday. "I think it makes sense to
certainly consider it," Army Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute said in an interview
with National Public Radio's "All Things Considered." "And I can tell you, this has
always been an option on the table. But ultimately, this is a policy matter
between meeting the demands for the nation's security by one means or
another," said Lute, who is sometimes referred
to as the "Iraq war czar." It was his first interview since he was
confirmed by the Senate in June. |
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Iraq
Roadside Bomb Attacks Hit All-Time High The Independent (London, UK) By Kim Sengupta
Published: 09 August 2007 (Excerpt) Roadside
bomb attacks on American troops in Iraq reached an all-time high last month,
accounting for more than one third of all combat deaths. The increase in the number of casualties
caused by the explosive devices comes at the height of the "surge' of US
forces which, the Pentagon claims, is broadly a success.  US
Military Trying to Prevent 'Surge' in Militant Attacks By
Oren Dorell USA
TODAY August
9, 2007 (Excerpt) BAGHDAD — The U.S. military is ordering airstrikes and taking other
security measures to prevent insurgents from launching a "surge" of
their own before next month's report to Congress on Iraq strategy. Al-Qaeda and other militant groups could try to stage high-profile
attacks that would make it more difficult for Gen. David Petraeus and
Ambassador Ryan Crocker to tell Congress that progress is being made under
the new U.S. war strategy, which began in February. |
The Terror America Wrought
“That
fateful summer, 8:15 a.m. The roar of a B-29 breaks the morning calm. A
parachute opens in the blue sky. Then suddenly, a flash, an enormous
blast—silence—hell on Earth. The eyes of young girls watching the
parachute were melted. Their faces became giant charred blisters.
The skin of people seeking help dangled from their fingernails. ... Others
died when their eyeballs and internal organs burst from their
bodies—Hiroshima was a hell where those who somehow survived envied the
dead.”
By Robert
Scheer
Truthdig.com Posted on Aug 7, 2007
(Excerpt) |