If the report is to be believed, Shia militia killing US troops in Baghdad...

Very recent New York Times headline.

And of course, the more fractured the rest of the country looks, the more incentive there is for the Kurds to say, "Hey, we've got our own shit together, you guys go ahead and fight, we're gonna do our thing." Meanwhile, the ramifications of a free Kurdish province -- much less a free Kurdish state -- on Kurds in Turkey and Syria remains to be seen.

And you look at this and wonder, how did any sane adult person ever think it was going to be easy?

There's a possibility that US cmdrs are using violence as excuse to "take care of unfinished business." Don't be fooled by reports, this is MAINLY agression by US troops, not the other way around.

Marines and gunmen were engaged in heavy battles in the
Dubat neighborhood on the eastern side of Fallujah and in
other part in the center of the city, witnesses said. U.S.
warplanes opened fire on groups of Iraqis in the street.
Rocket-propelled grenade fire set a U.S. Humvee ablaze,
injuring soldiers inside, witnesses said.
Among the dead were 26 people - including 16 children and
up to eight women - killed when warplanes struck four
houses late Tuesday, said Hatem Samir, head of the clinic
at Fallujah Hospital. Others were killed in street battles
before dawn and into the day Wednesday.
Messages from mosque loudspeakers called for «jihad,» or
holy war. Some gunmen in the street were seen carrying
mortars, and some women carried automatic weapons.
Hundreds of U.S. Marines and Iraqi police have surrounded
fallujah, west of Baghdad, since Monday in a largescale
operation aimed at uprooting Sunni Arab guerrillas behind
attacks on Americans.

I have 30th June in my diary as the day everything goes completely tits up.

Al-Jazeera TV's correspondent in Al-Fallujah reported
"fierce battles" in the Iraqi town on 7 April. In a live
broadcast from the town, correspondent Ahmad Mansur said
that there were unconfirmed reports that two US helicopters
had crashed in the area.

Battles had been continuing in several areas of the eastern
side for the last one and a half to two hours, the reporter
said, including Al-Askari quarter, Al-Dubbat quarter, the
industrial quarter and the Nazzal area. Mansur added that
"fierce battles are now taking place in the Julan area in
the northwest of the city".

There were unconfirmed reports of two US helicopters
crashing in the area, Mansur said.

"Eyewitnesses have confirmed to us that two US helicopters
crashed near Al-Anbar school. We are trying to confirm this
report and we sent some people to that place," he said.

US forces were engaged in a "real street fight" with the
"defenders of the city", Mansur commented.

"The US forces combed Al-Dubbat quarter and arrested some
people there. The people defending the city are trying to
repel the US attacks. They are firing rockets. The US forces
withdraw or retreat a little and then return. Dozens of
marines have entered some streets on foot in the industrial
area, the Al-Julan and Nazzal quarters," Mansur reported.

Commenting on the humanitarian situation in the town, Mansur
said there was a shortage of food supplies. People were
sticking together and were "determined to defend the city",
he added.

"The mosques are broadcasting calls of Allahu Akbar (Arabic:
God is Great) in all directions," the correspondent said.

"It is very difficult to move around in the city. Barricades
fill the streets. Smoke is rising from the industrial area
after many shops were hit. Some houses are on fire in the
areas around the industrial quarter," Mansur added.

"The people of Al-Fallujah are appealing to the
international community to intervene to end this siege on
300,000 civilians, mostly women and children," Mansur
reported.

Source: Al-Jazeera TV, Doha, in Arabic 0803 gmt 7 Apr 04

were you at that ?

(apologies - this thread diversion will stop shortly)

Anyway.

(Sorry, maybe humor does not belong on this thread.)

BEIRUT, April 7 (Reuters) - A top aide to the militant Iraqi
cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said on Wednesday that his supporters had
captured a number of soldiers from the U.S.-led coalition during
clashes currently taking place across a large swathe of Iraq.
"Some tribes have captured some occupation forces on the
streets," Qays al-Khazali told a news conference in the Shi'ite
Muslim holy city of Najaf.
He gave no further details. The news conference was
broadcast by Lebanon's al-Manar television station, mouthpiece
of the Hizbollah group.
There was no immediate comment on the report from the
command of U.S.-led forces in Baghdad.

Well over 100 Iraqis have been killed and several hundreds
wounded in fighting that has raged across Iraq in the last
three days, from the central Sunni stronghold of Fallujah to
the Shi'i bastions of Najaf and Basra in the south. In
almost every major city, there have been serious clashes and
there are indications that the occupation has reached a
dangerous turning point. (Passage omitted)

As is often the case, the quarrel between Bremer and Al-Sadr
seems to suit both. Bremer engaged in repeated escalation of
his provocation - banning Al-Sadr's little newspaper,
arresting one of his aides and then announcing Al-Sadr's own
indictment. Al-Sadr responded in kind, with protests,
violent protest and then outright insurrection.

Bremer's aim - with both Fallujah and Al-Sadr - may be to
try to wipe out or neutralize the main centres of resistance
before pulling US troops back for the June 30 "sovereignty
transfer". Al-Sadr, meanwhile, can hope to reverse the
decline in his popularity by becoming the figurehead for
Shi'i resistance.

One of the two has miscalculated and will find himself in
very serious difficulties very soon. Al-Sadr may hope the
fighting will radicalize and unite the Shi'i population
behind him, while cooperation with the Sunni resistance
could exploit the shortage of coalition troops - military
experts have consistently warned that the occupation force
is far too small.

Bremer may expect there will be no great upsurge of Shi'i
support for the militant cleric, who is not widely popular,
that his Al-Mahdi's Army will quickly be destroyed or
captured and that Al-Sadr himself will be arrested - or even
killed -and prevented from engaging in any more inflammatory
activities. He will not have expected any Sunni-Shi'i
cooperation - the US has talked endlessly about the risk of
civil war - nor will he have expected any of his new Iraqi
forces to have defected to Sadr, as has reportedly happened
in some instances.

It is impossible to predict the outcome of this struggle.
The US has overwhelming military superiority but Al-Sadr
hopes to counter that with religious fervour and sheer
numbers. The tactics the US is using - escalation, besieging
cities, using helicopter gunships and tanks against
population areas - are reminiscent of failed Israeli
strategies. However, unlike Israel, the Americans have a
very short time in which to complete the "pacification".

Source: Gulf Times web site, Doha, in English 7 Apr 04

Source: Al-Jazeera TV, Doha, in Arabic 0851 gmt 8 Apr 04

Lieutenant-General Ricardo Sanchez said coalition troops in
the cities -- who include Ukrainian and Spanish soldiers -- were
in their bases on the edge of the towns.

By Aws Al-Sharqy, IOL Correspondent

BAGHDAD, April 7 (IslamOnline.net) – As the Iraqi Governing Council Wednesday, April 7, urged investigations into the American military use of "deliberate" force against civilians, the Iraqi Jurists Association said the arrest warrant against Shiite leader Muqtada Sadr is "illegal and based on a lie".

"The arrest warrant is illegal and incorrect, as the occupation forces issued it in disregard for sovereignty of Iraq's justice system," the Association said in a statement a copy of which was obtained by IslamOnline.net.

A U.S. military spokesman said two days ago the warrant had been issued "in the last several months" by an Iraqi judge investigating last April's murder of a pro-Western Shiite leader one year ago.

"What justice are you talking about? You have dismissed 170 justices of their offices and violated the independence of justice here," read the statement.

Iraqi Minister of Justice Abdel-Rahim Al-Shibly had told national press that he had not been aware of the arrest warrant against Sadr.

Sadr is known for his fiery speeches against U.S. occupation forces, calling for the continuum of resistance operations until ejecting them out of the oil-rich country.

U.S. civil administrator Paul Bremer had called Sadr an "outlaw", drawing counter-accusations from the Shiite leader's aides.

"If he means that Sayed Moqtada is an outlaw according to Sharia (Islamic law) and the laws we know, then Bremer knows nothing about these laws and it is he who violates these laws," said one aid.

"We reject all kinds of occupation and hegemony. Everything is going to be changed," he added.

Sadr said Tuesday, April 6, he ended his sit-in at a mosque in Kufa and traveled to the holy city of An-Najaf to prevent "more bloodshed".

'Unjustified'

In another related development, a number of the IGC members voiced outrage over the use of "unjustified" force against Iraqi civilians during the last four days.

Member Abdel-Karim Al-Mahmadawy threatened to resign if the U.S. occupation forces did not pull out of areas they are sealing off.

"There should be an investigation into force used by occupation forces against unarmed civilians," Mahmadawy said.

At least 52 Iraqi civilians, including women and children, were killed and some 100 others injured overnight in continued American bombardment of densely-populated areas in the besieged town of Fallujah.

The town had been sealed off at dawn Monday and U.S. troops were only letting cars with Fallujah license plates enter or leave the town.

Fallujah residents appealed to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and the international community to intervene and end the crippling U.S. blockade.

The U.S. occupation commanders have vowed a painful response after Iraqis killed four American security contractors in the city on Wednesday, March 31.

An Iraqi mob afterwards dragged their corpses through the streets and hanged two of them from a bridge in scenes that showed the depth of anti-occupation sentiment in the conflictive city.

Occupation forces also "deliberately used force and opened fire on peaceful demonstrators," said another council member, Ragaa Al-Khazey.

Shiite scholars have warned that U.S. troops of acting "irrationally" after up to 52 Iraqi protesters were killed on Sunday, April 4, in the worst confrontations between Iraq’s Shiite majority and the U.S.-led occupation troops sine the start of the invasion one year ago.

The protesters were denouncing the crushing of two fellowmen by a U.S. tank on Saturday, April 3, the arrest of Sadr’s top assistant Sheikh Mostafa Al-Yaqoubi and a ban on Al-Hawza newspaper, Sadr’s mouthpiece.

"We deem those fallen dead at the hands of occupation forces martyrs," said Abdel-Aziz Al-Hakim, the leader of the Supreme

By Aws Al-Sharqy, IOL Correspondent

BAGHDAD, April 7 (IslamOnline.net) – As the Iraqi Governing Council Wednesday, April 7, urged investigations into the American military use of "deliberate" force against civilians, the Iraqi Jurists Association said the arrest warrant against Shiite leader Muqtada Sadr is "illegal and based on a lie".

"The arrest warrant is illegal and incorrect, as the occupation forces issued it in disregard for sovereignty of Iraq's justice system," the Association said in a statement a copy of which was obtained by IslamOnline.net.

A U.S. military spokesman said two days ago the warrant had been issued "in the last several months" by an Iraqi judge investigating last April's murder of a pro-Western Shiite leader one year ago.

"What justice are you talking about? You have dismissed 170 justices of their offices and violated the independence of justice here," read the statement.

Iraqi Minister of Justice Abdel-Rahim Al-Shibly had told national press that he had not been aware of the arrest warrant against Sadr.

Sadr is known for his fiery speeches against U.S. occupation forces, calling for the continuum of resistance operations until ejecting them out of the oil-rich country.

U.S. civil administrator Paul Bremer had called Sadr an "outlaw", drawing counter-accusations from the Shiite leader's aides.

"If he means that Sayed Moqtada is an outlaw according to Sharia (Islamic law) and the laws we know, then Bremer knows nothing about these laws and it is he who violates these laws," said one aid.

"We reject all kinds of occupation and hegemony. Everything is going to be changed," he added.

Sadr said Tuesday, April 6, he ended his sit-in at a mosque in Kufa and traveled to the holy city of An-Najaf to prevent "more bloodshed".

'Unjustified'

In another related development, a number of the IGC members voiced outrage over the use of "unjustified" force against Iraqi civilians during the last four days.

Member Abdel-Karim Al-Mahmadawy threatened to resign if the U.S. occupation forces did not pull out of areas they are sealing off.

"There should be an investigation into force used by occupation forces against unarmed civilians," Mahmadawy said.

At least 52 Iraqi civilians, including women and children, were killed and some 100 others injured overnight in continued American bombardment of densely-populated areas in the besieged town of Fallujah.

The town had been sealed off at dawn Monday and U.S. troops were only letting cars with Fallujah license plates enter or leave the town.

Fallujah residents appealed to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and the international community to intervene and end the crippling U.S. blockade.

The U.S. occupation commanders have vowed a painful response after Iraqis killed four American security contractors in the city on Wednesday, March 31.

An Iraqi mob afterwards dragged their corpses through the streets and hanged two of them from a bridge in scenes that showed the depth of anti-occupation sentiment in the conflictive city.

Occupation forces also "deliberately used force and opened fire on peaceful demonstrators," said another council member, Ragaa Al-Khazey.

Shiite scholars have warned that U.S. troops of acting "irrationally" after up to 52 Iraqi protesters were killed on Sunday, April 4, in the worst confrontations between Iraq’s Shiite majority and the U.S.-led occupation troops sine the start of the invasion one year ago.

The protesters were denouncing the crushing of two fellowmen by a U.S. tank on Saturday, April 3, the arrest of Sadr’s top assistant Sheikh Mostafa Al-Yaqoubi and a ban on Al-Hawza newspaper, Sadr’s mouthpiece.

"We deem those fallen dead at the hands of occupation forces martyrs," said Abdel-Aziz Al-Hakim, the leader of the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI).

Hakim said he had earlier warned against "closing papers and muzzling" people in the country.

The offensive on Fallujah coincided with deadly clashes between Shiites and U.S.-led occupation troops across the country, which killed at least 100 people and injured some 400 others.

'Military Solution'

Also Wednesday, the Islamic scholars association – the highest religious authority in the country, lashed out at the occupation forces.

"They insist on enforcing a military solution as if they are in facing an enemy in battleground not isolated civilians," Harith Al-Dari, the council's secretary general, said in a press conference.

"Occupation forces want to wreck havoc all over Iraq," Dari said.

A member of the council said at the opening of the conference that "Iraqis have waken up and realized conspiracies contrived against them".

"Ordinary people were killed, hospitals were paralyzed and mosques demolished by those criminal atheists," he said.

Rockist Scientist, that's a great blog! Eyeitness accounts of the aid convoy/march; amazing!!

I've been staying up a little later than I should, going from one news-site/blog, whatever to another online. Fortunately, I have off tomorrow.

Nice.

*

It's all the Iranians' fault, obviously. They are stirring up the Shiias in Iraq. We'll have to topple Iran if we want this thing to work.

Muslim American Society

I love this: the Iraqi army can't be trusted to handle security, because they are unwilling to participate in what has turned out (predictably?) to be the slaughter of civilians, and what is, either way, a suppression of an uprising against outside forces occupying Iraq. Should the Iraqi army not be a bit reluctant to kill other Iraqis?

trying to focus on work but it's just impossible isn't it.