News Grab Bag

In the past few weeks, I’ve been overwhelmed with interesting clippings about events in Iraq. There are so many, I’m not really sure how to include them, beyond creating a general compilation, along with notes about why the link leads to something interesting.

Here goes:

April 19, 2004
-American soldiers killed two employees of the US Pentagon-funded Al Iraqiya television station. (SFGate.com) The article also discusses other recent killings of journalists by US forces.

April 16, 2004
-BBC’s Hostage Timeline. (BBC)

April 15, 2004
-US defends tactics at Falluja: The US siege of the Iraqi city of Falluja in which hundreds of people have died is "humane", the Pentagon's top soldier has told reporters. (BBC)

At least 87 US soldiers have died in action across Iraq this month while five international non-governmental organisations together counted at least 470 Iraqi dead in Falluja alone last week, Reuters news agency reports.

April 14, 2004
-Iraq death toll reaches new high (complete with charts). (BBC)
-Analysis: US 'emulates' Israeli tactics. (BBC) (Unfortunately, the US is seeking tips on how to occupy an unwilling nation from someone who hasn’t been ‘winning hearts and minds’ with their technique.)
-US in stand-off with Iraqi cleric. (BBC) "At least 87 US soldiers have died in action this month while aid agencies counted at least 470 Iraqi dead in the Sunni city of Falluja alone last week, with 243 women and 200 children among them."
-Viewpoint: Iraq worker's dilemma (BBC) is about a Syrian concerned for her brother, an employee of a Saudi company doing business in Iraq, whose roommates were kidnapped and who reports that many things happen in Iraq that never make it to TV. (BBC)

April 13, 2004
-Morley's World Opinion Roundup: "In Coalition Countries, Jitters About Staying in Iraq." (washingtonpost.com). The reports aren’t so positive:

The editors of the Financial Times , a leading voice of the British establishment, replied Monday that the problem is heavy-handed U.S. military tactics that alienate Iraqis. "Over-stretched, US forces are over-reacting and retaliating with heavy armour in a way that turns the innocent as well as the guilty against them," they say. "That is no recipe for political success."

-Foreign workers told to quit Iraq (BBC) after a wave of kidnappings.
-Iraqi officers 'refused to fight.' (BBC)
-West blasted over Iraq treasures. (BBC) More than 8,000 of the most valuable Iraqi cultural treasures are still missing, and the international community is turning a blind eye.
-NPR : Connie Rice Commentary: 10 Things Condi Didn't Say, which deals with the September 11th hearings, but which has implications associated with Iraq. (link to NPR audio file)

April 12, 2004
-Hundreds killed in Iraq, says US. (BBC) "US Brig Gen Mark Kimmitt said about 70 coalition troops had been killed in Iraq since 1 April, while casualties among insurgents were 10 times as high."
-This is an image file: "Bath party: Sgt. [] enjoys his first bath in about a month at a home held by the 1st Marine Regiment on the northwest side of Fallujah, Iraq." (sfgate.com) Can you figure out which part of this text alarmed me? Since when are U.S. forces occupying Iraqi homes?
-Iraqi troops reject Fallujah duty (BBC) "The troops were quoted as saying they had not signed up to fight Iraqis."
-Hundreds killed in Iraq, says US (BBC)
-Scale of Falluja violence emerges (BBC).

A group of five international charities estimated that about 470 people had been killed, while hospital officials put the death toll at about 600.

Reuters television footage from Falluja showed corpses of children, women and old men lying in the street beside body parts no one has had time to collect.

... The group said that at a conservative estimate, about 1,200 had been wounded, according to Reuters, which did not name the aid agencies involved.

April 10, 2004
- Analysis: US gamble on toughness: Iraqis feel the Americans have played into the hands of the extremists by letting themselves be drawn into a war on two fronts, says BBC's John Simpson. (BBC) Unpopular thugs are now popular because of US tactics against them.

April 8, 2004
-Sept. 11 Allegations Lost in Translation By Jefferson Morley (washingtonpost.com) discusses former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds' contentions that "[she] saw papers that show US knew al-Qa'ida would attack cities with aeroplanes," which she revealed in an interview with The Independent (by Andrew Buncombe, 04/02/04, (independent.co.uk) (payment required). The story has gotten significant coverage abroad, but nearly none in the US. The article discusses this issue as a matter of journalistic standards, without holding anyone to any. (If documents exist that prove Edmonds’ contentions, the press needs to demand them. But they don’t and then say that her contentions are unproven. Yet, had she leaked the documents, she’d be in the same situation as a Danish government employee, who leaked documents suggesting that his government knew that no WMDs would be found in Iraq, got fired, and now faces criminal charges. (04/15/04, BBC)

April 4, 2004
-Bush Loyalists Pack Iraq Press Office, by Jim Krane (AP) (Guardian.co.uk). The US coalition's press office is determined to help Bush get reelected, with numerous campaign workers appointed to their positions. "More than half a dozen CPA officials in the press office worked on Bush's 2000 presidential campaign or are related to Bush campaign workers, according to payroll records filed with the Federal Elections Commission." (British press officers are civil/foreign service career types, non-appointed.)