Violence Spirals in Iraq

April 16th, 2004 - by admin

Citizens for Legitimate Government – 2004-04-16 10:39:01

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British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw Confesses Despair As a Nation Topples Into Hell. (April 10, 2004) — Iraq plunged further into the abyss yesterday as Foreign Secretary Jack Straw admitted: “We didn’t think things would get this bad. The lid is off the pressure cooker.”

Anti-US Outrage Unites a Growing Iraqi Resistance –Moneer Munthir is ready to kill Amerikans. For months, he has been struggling to control an explosion of miserable feelings: humiliation, fear, anger, depression. “But in the last two weeks, these feelings blow up inside me,” said Mr. Munthir, a 35-year-old laborer. “The Americans are attacking Shiite and Sunni at the same time. They have crossed a line. I had to get a gun.”

Army at Breaking Point in Iraq –Tony Blair is to send hundreds more British troops to Iraq in a bid to prevent the south of the country descending into bloodletting and anarchy, Scotland on Sunday can reveal.

Iraqi Rebels Show Latest Victim, a German in a Pool of Blood — A young Iraqi mujahideen fighter poses in triumph by the smouldering wreck, his face obscured by a red and white kaffiyeh scarf, his high-powered sniper’s rifle ready for action. It is only minutes since a white Japanese 4×4 vehicle was forced off the road and its two occupants, both German, killed in a firefight and their bodies dragged from the vehicle when it burst into flames…

Iraqis Threaten to Kill US Hostage –Iraqi kidnappers say in a tape aired on an Arabic television station they will kill a US hostage they are holding unless US forces lift the siege of Fallujah.

Halliburton Worker’s Family on Edge –The family of a kidnapped American civilian gathered Saturday at his rural Mississippi home to await word on his fate from halfway around the world. Iraqi resistance fighters vowed Saturday to kill Thomas E. Hamill, an employee of Halliburton division Kellogg, Brown and Root, unless the U.S. military ends its siege of Fallujah.

Resistance Fighters Kill Halliburton Driver–A least one Halliburton Co. truck driver and a U.S soldier are dead and possibly “several” others unaccounted for Friday after resistance fighters attacked a fuel convoy west of Baghdad. Two U.S. soldiers were known to be missing after the midday assault on the truck convoy, a US military spokesman in Baghdad confirmed.

Halliburton Worker Killed in Iraq –A Halliburton employee from New Mexico has been killed in Iraq. The family of Tim Smith says the Aztec man was killed yesterday while working as a truck driver for the company.

Violence Erupts in Baghdad –Occupation authorities in Iraq faced a new threat last night as the violence that gripped parts of the country last week spread to the capital, Baghdad.

Occupation Troops Suffer More Casualties –US-led occupation forces have suffered more casualties in Iraq with emboldened resistance fighters continuing to mount fierce attacks. Aljazeera’s correspondent in the southern Iraqi province of Maisan reported that “several” British soldiers were killed in an artillery attack on a military base late on Saturday night.

‘What the hell are we doing there and how the hell can we get out?’ — Eric Illsley, the MP for Barnsley Central and a member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, told The Sunday Telegraph: “It looks as though the Americans have just decided to wade in and quell the demonstrations by killing people. There is a growing feeling here of what the hell are we doing in there and how are we going to get out. It is beginning to look as if we have really embroiled ourselves in something here.”

Iraqi Battalion Refuses to ‘Fight Iraqis’ — A battalion of the new Iraqi army refused to go to Fallujah earlier this week to support US Marines battling for control of the city, senior US Army officers here said, disclosing an incident that is casting new doubt on US plans to transfer security matters to Iraqi forces.

Private Army Mercenaries Fight and Die in Iraq, But Who Do They Answer To? –What started with a trickle of special operations veterans freelancing as security consultants for the media and military contractors has grown into what is by some estimates the second-largest army in Iraq.

US Tactics Condemned by British — Senior British commanders have condemned American military tactics in Iraq as heavy-handed and disproportionate.

US Battles Teenagers in Confusing Baghdad Battle — Teenagers fire rocket grenades and automatic rifle bursts at U.S. soldiers in Baghdad. They pause as a motorist quickly rolls down his car window to spit out information on Amerikan positions and drive on.

Iraqi Children Lie Wounded in Falluja Clinic — Wounded children lie in a makeshift hospital in Falluja, bandaged and bloodied from fighting between US forces and Sunni resistance fighters that has raged through the town’s alleyways for days. Hundreds have been killed in the fighting, and attempts at a ceasefire have so far failed to halt the bloodshed. It is difficult for journalists to access Falluja, surrounded by U.S. troops who launched a crackdown on resistance fighters in the town early this week.

TV Crew ‘Targeted by US Fire’ –The correspondent in Fallujah of Qatar-based Arabic satellite channel Al-Jazeera charged today that he and his television crew had been targeted by US fire in the flashpoint Iraqi city. The only television crew to be reporting from inside the besieged town, Aljazeera crew members on Friday complained they had been fired at twice during the day.

Sign of Split within Iraq’s Leaders — Iraq’s Governing Council demanded an immediate ceasefire across the country and a halt to “collective punishment” in a sign of a split between US-picked Iraqi leaders and American dictators over US military operations.

US Soldiers in Iraq Asked to Pray for Bush –They may be the ones facing danger on the battlefield, but US soldiers in Iraq are being asked to pray for George W Bush. Thousands of marines have been given a pamphlet called “A Christian’s Duty,” a mini-prayer book that includes a tear-out section to be mailed to the White House pledging the soldier who sends it in has been praying for Bush.

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