Weary of five years of occupation by the U.S. military plus 100,000 armed mercenaries and upset at the recent Security Agreement that will allow the American military to remain until 2011 the Iraqi people take to the streets in peaceful protest.
Thousands of followers of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have marched through Baghdad in protest at a pact that would allow U.S. forces to stay in Iraq for three more years.
Video: Reuters covers Iraqi protest of U.S. occupation (there is a brief ad)
When Pfc. Albert Nelson died in Iraq in 2006, the Army told his mother Jean Feggins a retired Philadelphia police officer that he was killed in action. First the Army casualty officer said it may have been friendly fire but later claimed Pfc. Nelson was killed by enemy mortar fire.
Salon online magazine recently came upon a video that suggest he and a second soldier were killed by fire from a U.S. tank. The video is shot from a helmet cam worn by Sergeant First Class Jack Robison who wanted a record of a firefigt in Ramadi. The video shows platoon Sergeant Robison reporting the friendly fire incident over the radio. The sergeant was immediately overruled by an officer who insists his platoon was attacked by enemy mortar fire.
You can hear the platoon sergeant yelling to his troops, “Hey. It doesn’t matter. Doesn’t matter. None of it matters. It was a 120 mortar, got it. It was a 120 mortar, got it. Fucking got it.”
He then responds to a another distraught soldier, “Until we hear different it was a 120 mm mortar. I don’t think it was, but for now that’s the way it is and that’s what happened. Got it?”
The U.S. Army’s main battle tank has a 120 mm main gun.
When one of the soldiers questions the decision made by the officer on the other end of the radio to blame enemy mortar fire for the death of their comrade his platoon sergeant tells him to stay off that topic, “cause it won’t do no good.”
More ethnic cleansing in Iraq over the last 48 hours this time by the Turkish Military. Turkish nationalist say that Kurdish rebels mortared a military outpost in a Turkish valley killing 17 and respond with and air strike inside Iraq.
The attack has caused an outrage in Turkey and a nationalist opposition leader Devlet Bahceli has called on the government to immediately send ground troops acroos the border to chase down the Kurds into Iraq.
The Turkish-Iraqi border lies on a rugged, mountaionous area that is difficult to control not unlike the Tora Bora Mountains bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“The government must immediately show the political determination for a cross-border operation,” Bahceli said in a speech to parliament. “Turkey must set up a security zone to prevent infiltration from the north of Iraq.”
Turkish warplanes were sent into Iraq to bomb 16 suspected Kurdish PKK positions early Tuesday morning. (about 8 hours ago)
The United States is responsible for security in the region but has not been able to stop the fighting between the Kurds and Turks.
The White House would like Turkey to end their offensive quickly and not send ground troops into Iraq but are not willing to withdraw any military aid from Turkey if the do not comply.
Turkish leaders are asking parliament to extend a mandate, which expires next month, to launch further military operations against the PKK in Iraq.
Every want to know what it would be like to be flying from the U.S. to Baghdad, Iraq? Well it depends if you are a civilian VIP aka politicians and their corporate sponsors, perhaps you are a general officer in the Armed Forces, or maybe you’re just a regular American doing the real work of fighting.
Below are some photos you decide who gets which accommodations on their flight to the War Zone.
“Would you like a stale bag of opened peanuts and some moldy canteen water?”
This is one of several modified Airstream trailers installed in a C-130.
TV, VCR, DVD, fresh food and drinks and when you get sleepy after lunch you can retire to one of two beds.
These Airstream capsules are stationed around the world and cost around $18,000 dollars.
The Airstreams were not up to standards for many Air Force generals who felt there was a need for a “comfort capsule.” So far $331,000.00 in counterterrorism funds have been spent for the planning and design of the capsules.
The Washington Post says at least four generals have been involved in discussions about the “design details” associated with this $7.6 million program, including the color of carpeting and leather chairs in the so-called SLICCs and SLIPs.
Handing out cold, hard cash to people on the street as they plead for help. Iraq’s prime minister has been doing just that in recent weeks, doling out Iraqi dinars as an aide trails behind, keeping a tally.
The handouts by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and a handful of other top officials are authorized — as long as each goes no higher than about
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