Resistance not responsible for abduction of aid worker. Will the CIA have her beheaded and offer another grisly video to assure the American people that our enemy is pure evil and that God is on “our side? The best protection we can offer her is to understand what is going on and spread that understanding. Wake up already. It’s 1984. jamie
"She had been living in Iraq for 30 years and she was a humanitarian. The resistance did not kidnap her because this would have left a bad impression of the resistance in the world," said another commander.
-----
"She had been living in Iraq for 30 years and she was a humanitarian. The resistance did not kidnap her because this would have left a bad impression of the resistance in the world," said another commander.
-----
Resistance not responsible for abduction of aid worker. Will the CIA have her beheaded and offer another grisly video to assure the American people that our enemy is pure evil and that God is on “our side? The best protection we can offer her is to understand what is going on and spread that understanding. Wake up already. It’s 1984. jamie
"She had been living in Iraq for 30 years and she was a humanitarian. The resistance did not kidnap her because this would have left a bad impression of the resistance in the world," said another commander.
-----
Rebels 'Execute' 49 Iraqi Troops, Kill U.S. Diplomat
By Faris al-Mahdawi
BAQUBA, Iraq (Reuters) - Rebels ambushed and killed 49 unarmed Iraqi soldiers and, in a separate attack Sunday, killed a U.S. diplomat in a mortar strike near Baghdad airport.
The bodies of 37 Iraqi soldiers shot dead northeast of Baghdad were found Saturday and 12 more corpses discovered on Sunday, police and officials said.
"They were all executed, we found them executed," Interior Ministry spokesman Adnan Abdul-Rahman said.
The attack was another blow to the efforts of the interim government to develop Iraq's fledgling security forces to tackle a raging insurgency that U.S.-led forces have failed to quell. The soldiers, based at Kirkush, 55 miles northeast of Baghdad, had been in civilian clothes, heading for home leave in three minibuses when they were ambushed.
Police said insurgents appeared to have forced them to lie on the road before shooting them. The minibuses were burned.
A senior security official, who asked not to be named, said most of the soldiers had been from the mainly Shi'ite Muslim cities of Basra, Amara and Nassiriya in southern Iraq.
"It appears that they were ambushed by a large, well-organized force with good intelligence," the source said.
Insurgents have frequently targeted Iraqis seen as cooperating with the U.S. military or the interim government.
The headless body of an unidentified man in a business suit was found Sunday with feet tied, floating in the Tigris River near the northern city of Kirkuk, police said.
The body was the fourth to be recovered from the area in the past two months. The other three appeared to have been Iraqis working with U.S. forces, police said.
Iraqi security forces have taken a more visible role in counter-insurgency operations in recent months and the U.S.- backed government sees them as a key weapon in its drive to win back control of all rebel areas before elections in January.
U.S. DIPLOMAT KILLED
A U.S. embassy spokesman said a diplomatic security officer had been killed by "indirect fire" about 5 a.m. on Sunday at Camp Victory, a sprawling U.S. military headquarters near the airport which comes under frequent rebel attack.
"I mourn the loss of one of our own today in Baghdad. Assistant Regional Security Officer Ed Seitz... was a brave American, dedicated to his country," Secretary of State Colin Powell said in a statement.
Seitz was the first American diplomat known to have been killed in Iraq since last year's U.S.-led invasion.
U.S. warplanes pounded targets in Falluja, the toughest guerrilla stronghold, Sunday, killing five people, witnesses said. Hospital officials said the dead were civilians.
The U.S. military said a "precision" strike had destroyed a known enemy command and control post in northern Falluja.
U.S. forces have stepped up air strikes and other attacks in the city west of Baghdad in a campaign they say is aimed at insurgents and foreign fighters led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who has a $25 million U.S. bounty on his head.
Falluja residents say most of the victims of the raids are civilians and deny any knowledge of Zarqawi, who has claimed responsibility for hostage beheadings, suicide bombings and other attacks.
Insurgent commanders in Falluja said they were not holding foreign hostage Margaret Hassan and condemned her kidnapping.
"This woman works for a humanitarian organization. She should not have been kidnapped," said the emir, or commander, of one guerrilla group, who asked not to be named.
Commanders of five separate guerrilla groups interviewed in Falluja said they were not holding Hassan and had seen no evidence that Zarqawi's organization had kidnapped her.
"She had been living in Iraq for 30 years and she was a humanitarian. The resistance did not kidnap her because this would have left a bad impression of the resistance in the world," said another commander.
10/24/04 08:03
Moqtada Sadr Ready to Support Mujahideens in Fallujah
24 October 2004 | 15:12 | FOCUS News Agency
Fallujah. The radical Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr expressed his readiness to support “the Mujahideens in Fallujah”, the Sunnite stronghold north of Baghdad, which is being under U.S. forces’ pressure for the last several weeks, AFP reported.
“I am ready to assist the Mujahideens in Fallujah. I denounce the attacks on Iraqi cities and I am ready to put an end to that”, reads Sadr’s statement, distributed in Baghdad and Najaf.
“The invaders have no mercy, that is why our resistance would continue”, the announcement also reads.
The agency reminds that as of October 14, land and air attacks of the U.S. army on Fallujah became more frequent.
“As he should. Any legitimate/sincere leader of the Iraqi people would.” editor’s note jamie
-----
As of this writing the “official” count of US. GI’s killed in Iraq is 1104. Many believe this figure is far too low.
-----
10/24/04 AP: 7 Iraqi guardsmen die in seperate attacks in Samarra
Seven Iraqi National Guardsmen were killed in two separate attacks by a car bomb and a land mine in and near the central Iraqi city of Samarra.
10/24/04 AP: CIA secretly removes detainees from Iraq
The CIA has secretly moved as many as a dozen unidentified prisoners out of Iraq in the last six months, a possible violation of international treaties
10/24/04 AP: Bomb kills 22 Iraqis, 6 U.S. soldiers wounded in ambush
Suicide bombers struck Iraqi security targets Saturday north and west of Baghdad, killing 22 Iraqis, officials said. Six U.S. soldiers were wounded in an ambush on the road to Baghdad airport -- one of the country's most dangerous routes
10/24/04 AFP: Moqtada Sadr Ready to Support Mujahideens in Fallujah
Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr expressed his readiness to support “the Mujahideens in Fallujah”, the Sunnite stronghold north of Baghdad, which is being under U.S. forces’ pressure for the last several weeks, AFP reported.
10/24/04 Xinhuanet: 2 people killed in clashes in Iraq's Samarra
Two Iraqis were killed and four others wounded in clashes that broke out between US troops and insurgents in Samarra, north of Baghdad, police said on Sunday.
10/24/04 Focus: Two Explosions in Iraqi City of Baqouba, Seven Wounded
Two bombs exploded in the Iraqi city of Baqouba, northeast of Baghdad; seven people are wounded, RIA Novosti reported, referring to police sources.
10/24/04 Focus:Car Bomb Exploded Near Abu Graib Prison in Baghdad
A car bomb exploded near the Abu Graib Prison in Baghdad, RIA Novosti reported. Several cars were damaged as a result of the blast, including U.S. vehicles. The fate of the personnel in the cars is not clear for now.
10/24/04 U.S. diplomat killed in Baghdad mortar attack
Ed Seitz, an agent with the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security, was killed about 5 a.m. at Camp Victory...during a mortar attack
10/24/04 albawaba: Bodies of some 50 Iraqi soldiers killed in ambush found
The bodies of some 50 Iraqi soldiers were found on a road in eastern Iraq, apparently after they were killed in an ambush as they were heading home on leave, Iraqi authorities said Sunday
10/23/04 DoD Identifies Marine Casualty
Lance Cpl. Jonathan E. Gadsden, 21, of Charleston, S.C. died Oct. 22 at the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital, Tampa, Fla., from injuries as a result of enemy action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq on Aug. 21.
10/23/04 U.S. Makes Inroads Vs. Iraq Insurgents
"We don't allow even the slightest sign of open resistance," he said...
10/23/04 AFP: Police chief shot dead in Iraqi Kurdistan
The chief of police in the northern city of Arbil in Iraqi Kurdistan, colonel Taha Ahmad Omar, was shot dead on Saturday as he exited a mosque after dawn prayers, officials said.
10/23/04 AFP: Twin Iraq suicide bombings kill 14, US troops catch top Zarqawi aide
Twin suicide car bombs killed 14 Iraqi police and guards on Saturday, as US troops captured a top aide to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Islamic militant behind a wave of attacks and kidnappings.
10/23/04 Reuters: Iraq militants say behead collaborator: website
An Iraqi militant group said it beheaded an Iraqi man it accused of collaborating with US forces and posted pictures of the killing on the Internet.
10/23/04 AP: Iraqi children caught in the middle of vicious insurgency
For the children of Baghdad, it's a cruel dilemma: Cooped up at home for fear of violence and kidnapping, they can't even go down the street for ice cream, and many are under strict orders to stay away from U.S. soldiers...
10/23/04 AP:update--at least 16 people reported killed by Car Bomb
A suicide car bomber set off an explosion Saturday at a police station near a U.S. Marine base in western Iraq, killing at least 16 policemen and wounding 40 other people, officials said.
10/23/04 dailypress: 145 more soldiers to leave for Middle East
About 145 soldiers from the 567th Transportation Company, 24th Transportation Battalion, 7th Transportation Group, are scheduled to leave for the Middle East today
10/23/04 Reuters: Saboteurs Bomb Iraqi Pipelines to Baghdad
Saboteurs have bombed two oil pipelines transporting crude from north and eastern Iraq to Baghdad's Dora refinery, oil security officials said on Saturday.
10/23/04 nytimes: Part-Time Soldiers, Injured but Not Yet Home
Staff Sgt. Jeffrey A. Elliott returned to this country with a back injury after his unarmored truck hit a roadside bomb in Iraq. Yet 15 months later, he still has not made it home for good
10/23/04 nctimes: Pendleton Marine first Ready Reservist to die after Iraq recall
A Camp Pendleton Marine sergeant killed in Iraq on Wednesday was the first Marine casualty from the Individual Ready Reserve
"She had been living in Iraq for 30 years and she was a humanitarian. The resistance did not kidnap her because this would have left a bad impression of the resistance in the world," said another commander.
-----
Rebels 'Execute' 49 Iraqi Troops, Kill U.S. Diplomat
By Faris al-Mahdawi
BAQUBA, Iraq (Reuters) - Rebels ambushed and killed 49 unarmed Iraqi soldiers and, in a separate attack Sunday, killed a U.S. diplomat in a mortar strike near Baghdad airport.
The bodies of 37 Iraqi soldiers shot dead northeast of Baghdad were found Saturday and 12 more corpses discovered on Sunday, police and officials said.
"They were all executed, we found them executed," Interior Ministry spokesman Adnan Abdul-Rahman said.
The attack was another blow to the efforts of the interim government to develop Iraq's fledgling security forces to tackle a raging insurgency that U.S.-led forces have failed to quell. The soldiers, based at Kirkush, 55 miles northeast of Baghdad, had been in civilian clothes, heading for home leave in three minibuses when they were ambushed.
Police said insurgents appeared to have forced them to lie on the road before shooting them. The minibuses were burned.
A senior security official, who asked not to be named, said most of the soldiers had been from the mainly Shi'ite Muslim cities of Basra, Amara and Nassiriya in southern Iraq.
"It appears that they were ambushed by a large, well-organized force with good intelligence," the source said.
Insurgents have frequently targeted Iraqis seen as cooperating with the U.S. military or the interim government.
The headless body of an unidentified man in a business suit was found Sunday with feet tied, floating in the Tigris River near the northern city of Kirkuk, police said.
The body was the fourth to be recovered from the area in the past two months. The other three appeared to have been Iraqis working with U.S. forces, police said.
Iraqi security forces have taken a more visible role in counter-insurgency operations in recent months and the U.S.- backed government sees them as a key weapon in its drive to win back control of all rebel areas before elections in January.
U.S. DIPLOMAT KILLED
A U.S. embassy spokesman said a diplomatic security officer had been killed by "indirect fire" about 5 a.m. on Sunday at Camp Victory, a sprawling U.S. military headquarters near the airport which comes under frequent rebel attack.
"I mourn the loss of one of our own today in Baghdad. Assistant Regional Security Officer Ed Seitz... was a brave American, dedicated to his country," Secretary of State Colin Powell said in a statement.
Seitz was the first American diplomat known to have been killed in Iraq since last year's U.S.-led invasion.
U.S. warplanes pounded targets in Falluja, the toughest guerrilla stronghold, Sunday, killing five people, witnesses said. Hospital officials said the dead were civilians.
The U.S. military said a "precision" strike had destroyed a known enemy command and control post in northern Falluja.
U.S. forces have stepped up air strikes and other attacks in the city west of Baghdad in a campaign they say is aimed at insurgents and foreign fighters led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who has a $25 million U.S. bounty on his head.
Falluja residents say most of the victims of the raids are civilians and deny any knowledge of Zarqawi, who has claimed responsibility for hostage beheadings, suicide bombings and other attacks.
Insurgent commanders in Falluja said they were not holding foreign hostage Margaret Hassan and condemned her kidnapping.
"This woman works for a humanitarian organization. She should not have been kidnapped," said the emir, or commander, of one guerrilla group, who asked not to be named.
Commanders of five separate guerrilla groups interviewed in Falluja said they were not holding Hassan and had seen no evidence that Zarqawi's organization had kidnapped her.
"She had been living in Iraq for 30 years and she was a humanitarian. The resistance did not kidnap her because this would have left a bad impression of the resistance in the world," said another commander.
10/24/04 08:03
Moqtada Sadr Ready to Support Mujahideens in Fallujah
24 October 2004 | 15:12 | FOCUS News Agency
Fallujah. The radical Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr expressed his readiness to support “the Mujahideens in Fallujah”, the Sunnite stronghold north of Baghdad, which is being under U.S. forces’ pressure for the last several weeks, AFP reported.
“I am ready to assist the Mujahideens in Fallujah. I denounce the attacks on Iraqi cities and I am ready to put an end to that”, reads Sadr’s statement, distributed in Baghdad and Najaf.
“The invaders have no mercy, that is why our resistance would continue”, the announcement also reads.
The agency reminds that as of October 14, land and air attacks of the U.S. army on Fallujah became more frequent.
“As he should. Any legitimate/sincere leader of the Iraqi people would.” editor’s note jamie
-----
As of this writing the “official” count of US. GI’s killed in Iraq is 1104. Many believe this figure is far too low.
-----
10/24/04 AP: 7 Iraqi guardsmen die in seperate attacks in Samarra
Seven Iraqi National Guardsmen were killed in two separate attacks by a car bomb and a land mine in and near the central Iraqi city of Samarra.
10/24/04 AP: CIA secretly removes detainees from Iraq
The CIA has secretly moved as many as a dozen unidentified prisoners out of Iraq in the last six months, a possible violation of international treaties
10/24/04 AP: Bomb kills 22 Iraqis, 6 U.S. soldiers wounded in ambush
Suicide bombers struck Iraqi security targets Saturday north and west of Baghdad, killing 22 Iraqis, officials said. Six U.S. soldiers were wounded in an ambush on the road to Baghdad airport -- one of the country's most dangerous routes
10/24/04 AFP: Moqtada Sadr Ready to Support Mujahideens in Fallujah
Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr expressed his readiness to support “the Mujahideens in Fallujah”, the Sunnite stronghold north of Baghdad, which is being under U.S. forces’ pressure for the last several weeks, AFP reported.
10/24/04 Xinhuanet: 2 people killed in clashes in Iraq's Samarra
Two Iraqis were killed and four others wounded in clashes that broke out between US troops and insurgents in Samarra, north of Baghdad, police said on Sunday.
10/24/04 Focus: Two Explosions in Iraqi City of Baqouba, Seven Wounded
Two bombs exploded in the Iraqi city of Baqouba, northeast of Baghdad; seven people are wounded, RIA Novosti reported, referring to police sources.
10/24/04 Focus:Car Bomb Exploded Near Abu Graib Prison in Baghdad
A car bomb exploded near the Abu Graib Prison in Baghdad, RIA Novosti reported. Several cars were damaged as a result of the blast, including U.S. vehicles. The fate of the personnel in the cars is not clear for now.
10/24/04 U.S. diplomat killed in Baghdad mortar attack
Ed Seitz, an agent with the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security, was killed about 5 a.m. at Camp Victory...during a mortar attack
10/24/04 albawaba: Bodies of some 50 Iraqi soldiers killed in ambush found
The bodies of some 50 Iraqi soldiers were found on a road in eastern Iraq, apparently after they were killed in an ambush as they were heading home on leave, Iraqi authorities said Sunday
10/23/04 DoD Identifies Marine Casualty
Lance Cpl. Jonathan E. Gadsden, 21, of Charleston, S.C. died Oct. 22 at the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital, Tampa, Fla., from injuries as a result of enemy action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq on Aug. 21.
10/23/04 U.S. Makes Inroads Vs. Iraq Insurgents
"We don't allow even the slightest sign of open resistance," he said...
10/23/04 AFP: Police chief shot dead in Iraqi Kurdistan
The chief of police in the northern city of Arbil in Iraqi Kurdistan, colonel Taha Ahmad Omar, was shot dead on Saturday as he exited a mosque after dawn prayers, officials said.
10/23/04 AFP: Twin Iraq suicide bombings kill 14, US troops catch top Zarqawi aide
Twin suicide car bombs killed 14 Iraqi police and guards on Saturday, as US troops captured a top aide to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Islamic militant behind a wave of attacks and kidnappings.
10/23/04 Reuters: Iraq militants say behead collaborator: website
An Iraqi militant group said it beheaded an Iraqi man it accused of collaborating with US forces and posted pictures of the killing on the Internet.
10/23/04 AP: Iraqi children caught in the middle of vicious insurgency
For the children of Baghdad, it's a cruel dilemma: Cooped up at home for fear of violence and kidnapping, they can't even go down the street for ice cream, and many are under strict orders to stay away from U.S. soldiers...
10/23/04 AP:update--at least 16 people reported killed by Car Bomb
A suicide car bomber set off an explosion Saturday at a police station near a U.S. Marine base in western Iraq, killing at least 16 policemen and wounding 40 other people, officials said.
10/23/04 dailypress: 145 more soldiers to leave for Middle East
About 145 soldiers from the 567th Transportation Company, 24th Transportation Battalion, 7th Transportation Group, are scheduled to leave for the Middle East today
10/23/04 Reuters: Saboteurs Bomb Iraqi Pipelines to Baghdad
Saboteurs have bombed two oil pipelines transporting crude from north and eastern Iraq to Baghdad's Dora refinery, oil security officials said on Saturday.
10/23/04 nytimes: Part-Time Soldiers, Injured but Not Yet Home
Staff Sgt. Jeffrey A. Elliott returned to this country with a back injury after his unarmored truck hit a roadside bomb in Iraq. Yet 15 months later, he still has not made it home for good
10/23/04 nctimes: Pendleton Marine first Ready Reservist to die after Iraq recall
A Camp Pendleton Marine sergeant killed in Iraq on Wednesday was the first Marine casualty from the Individual Ready Reserve
