Depends on whom you ask, readers.
"Iraqi casualties decline to record low" by Liz Sly, Los Angeles Times | June 1, 2009
BAGHDAD - Iraqi casualties in May fell by more than half compared with the previous month and were at a record low for the years for which statistics are available, according to figures released yesterday.
Translation: They want us out.
The statistics suggested that insurgents have not been able to sustain the attacks they mounted in April.
Would they and the MSM tell us if they did (only if they want to emphasize we need to stay, right?)
The US military toll, however, was at its highest level since September, with 24 deaths recorded. Yesterday, the military reported the accidental deaths of two US soldiers, one in a vehicle accident and one in a noncombat-related injury in Tikrit, in northern Iraq.
Related: Occupation Iraq: AmeriKa's Greatest Enemy
Hey, what's in a name, 'eh?
We should stay there so we kill more of our own (and Iraqis) for Bush's lies, 'bamer.
The US count included the deaths of five US soldiers who were gunned down at a combat-stress clinic May 11. One of their comrades, Sergeant John M. Russell, has been charged in the shooting. Otherwise, US casualties were in line with previous months.
According to the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior, 165 Iraqis died in violence in May, 134 of them civilians and 31 of them members of the Iraqi security forces. That is down from 355 deaths in April, 290 of them in bombings that mostly targeted civilians. The toll also was lower than the 187 deaths in January, the previous low for the year.
WTF, MSM?
"In all, at least 432 people, including 80 Iranian pilgrims, have been killed in violence so far this month, compared with 335 people in March, 283 in February, and 242 in January"
The independent website icasualties.org, which monitors casualties in Iraq based on news reports, gives a higher figure for May, 182 deaths, but that is still lower than the 187 the website recorded in January - which had been the lowest figure since it began counting Iraqi civilian deaths in March 2005. US military officials have cited the fall in violence in May as evidence that insurgents have lost the ability to sustain prolonged bombing campaigns.
Yeah, IRAQ is GREAT!
Violence levels are sharply down from their peak in November 2006, when, according to the United Nations, 3,462 Iraqis died.
Then WHY are we THERE?
But fears are widespread that violence will increase once US forces complete their scheduled withdrawal....
Gee, that SURE IS TORTURED LOGIC?
WHY wouldn't insurgents WAIT UNTIL WE LEAVE?
CUI BONO, folks!
See related links within for why I no longer believe in "suiciders" or anything else the agenda-pushing, war-promoting, Zionist AmeriKan war press has to report about Muslims, Iraq -- or anything else for that matter!!
--more--"
BAGHDAD - Iraqi security arrested five US contractors on suspicion they played a role in last month's slaying of an American in Baghdad's Green Zone, Iraqi officials said yesterday....
Major General Hussein Ali Kamal, head of the Interior Ministry's intelligence service, said the men had been taken into custody and were being held for questioning in connection with the death of colleague Jim Kitterman inside the sealed-off enclave, home to the Iraqi government and embassies.
"An investigation unit at the Interior Ministry investigated the murder and reached the conclusion that the Americans who worked with [the victim] at the same company are suspected of killing him," Kamal said....
Kitterman, a 60-year-old Texan who owned a construction company, was found dead on May 22 in the Green Zone. He reportedly had been stabbed, blindfolded, bound, and left inside his car.
Then it must have been some "terrorist," huh?
--more--"
Yeah, sure, violence is down:
Slow Saturday Special: Iraqi Surge of Violence
Occupation Iraq: 15 Attacks a Day
Occupation Iraq: MSM Censoring Conflict Again
Slow Saturday Special: "Al-CIA-Duh" Back in Iraq
Are we CLEAR, readers?
"Minibus bombing in Baghdad leaves 9 dead, 24 injured; Attack comes 3 weeks before US deadline" by Sameer N. Yacoub, Associated Press | June 9, 2009
BAGHDAD - A bomb tore through a minibus during morning rush hour yesterday in a mainly Shi'ite area in Baghdad, killing at least nine people and wounding 24, Iraqi officials said. The blast was a grim reminder of the major challenge facing Iraqi forces three weeks ahead of the June 30 deadline for US troops to withdraw from urban areas.
It gets tiresome to see the SAME OLD SHIT in the paper DAY AFTER DAY AFTER DAY AFTER DAY!!!!!!!
The bomb was attached to the minibus in the southern area of Abu Dshir, a Shi'ite enclave in the mainly Sunni neighborhood of Dora, police said.
ISRAEL'S CALLING CARD!!
"A ball of fire rose into the sky. We saw a minibus thrown about five meters into the air, then come down in flames," said Omar Abdul-Ghafar, a university student who was waiting with his friend for another bus. The explosion left a crater at the entrance of the bus station where commuters were gathered to catch rides to different parts of the city.
An Associated Press photographer saw the charred hulk of the minibus and three other burned-out cars. Security forces sealed off the area while ambulances rushed the wounded to the hospital. Police and hospital officials gave the death toll and said 24 people also were wounded. An Interior Ministry official said all those killed had been passengers on the bus while the wounded were bystanders waiting nearby.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information. Both districts have faced brutal sectarian bloodshed in past years but have seen a sharp decline in violence following a Sunni revolt against insurgent groups such as Al Qaeda in Iraq and a Shi'ite militia cease-fire.
US-Iraqi forces also increased their presence and cordoned areas off with concrete walls and checkpoints in the citywide push to quell the violence that pushed the country to the brink of civil war.
And yet.... (stink)!!
With the decline in violence, Iraqi authorities have taken down many of the concrete walls in a bid to restore a sense of normalcy in the capital.
What and GET RID of the FREEDOM BUSH GAVE 'EM?
And are you GETTING the THEME, folks?
But several recent high-profile bombings have raised concerns about the readiness of Iraqi forces to take over their own security.
Translation: WE BETTER STAY!
Abdul-Ghafar, a Sunni resident who fled the violence but returned to the area about six months ago when the situation seemed to improve, said the area was especially crowded because of students planning to take final exams.
The TEMPLATE for these things is SO OBVIOUS these days!
We are NO LONGER FOOLED, s***ters!
His friend was injured in the shoulder and soaked in blood. Lecture notes, cigarette packs, and candy bars were scattered on the ground. "Some children were crying and running aimlessly, looking for their parents," he said. "People were upset with police, and began shouting insults at police and government [officials] for the security violations and for removing the concrete walls and stopping the searching process."
Oh, STINK, STINK, STINK, STINK!!!!!!!!!!
"Car bomb kills 29 in remote Iraqi town; Parked vehicle detonates in crowded market" by Anthony Shadid, Washington Post | June 11, 2009
BAGHDAD - A car bomb tore through a crowded market yesterday in a remote town in a part of southern Iraq that has been relatively peaceful in past months, officials said. At least 29 people were killed, with dozens more wounded, overwhelming the nearby hospital.
I've decided to breath through my mouth for the rest of the post!
The explosives were packed in a parked car that exploded in the market in Batha, a town 20 miles west of the provincial capital of Nasiriyah. Police said the bomb detonated about 8 a.m., at a time the town's commercial area was busy with people....
I see what this is, readers. Don't you?
Bombings, though less frequent, still kill scores of people each month in Iraq. Body parts mingle with vegetables lying in pools of blood. Fires burn afterward. A numb silence that ensues, broken by the moans of the dying who waited for survivors to help them....
If the attack proves to be the work of insurgents, it would again demonstrate their persistent ability to reach anywhere in Iraq, even as security has improved.
And CUI BONO, readers?
Btw, IF is NEVER a GOOD WORD to be used in a NEWS REPORT!
I learned that in college!
IF, COULD BE, MAYBE, STILL, HOWEVER, BUT.... ALL BAD according to the school; however, I sure see enough of them in my newspapers!
Survivors at the hospital said a man in civilian clothes had parked the car, which bore a license plate from the southernmost city of Basra. Unlike most residents, who are usually dressed in traditional clothes, he stood out because he was wearing Western-style clothes, said Aqil Mohammed, a 21-year-old grocer whose store was near the blast....
Maybe the Brits learned: Prop 201 tutorial
Doctors reported being overwhelmed by the influx of casualties, and said the hospital lacked sufficient supplies and staff to treat the wounded.
But we are told how GREAT IRAQ is now and how they are MAKING PROGRESS!!!
The SAME SHIT we been reading for SIX FUCKING YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!
Given the distance of the hospital from the marketplace - a half-hour drive or more - some said that the wounded were dying en route, or losing too much blood to survive. "Four people died in my arms," said Aqeel al-Yaacoubi, a surgeon at the hospital.
Oh, Good Lord, what a HORROR SCENE!!!!!!
Even for southern Iraq, where security pales before the measures taken in fortified places like Baghdad, Batha was especially relaxed and, as a result, more vulnerable. Police said they had received a report that three car bombs had been smuggled into the province recently, but most of the resulting precautions were carried out in Nasiriyah, the capital.
It starts to become a RIDICULOUS PATTERN, doesn't it, readers?
There is ALWAYS a SECURITY BREAKDOWN when "terrorists" strike, huh?
--more--"
BAGHDAD - Iraq's government warned yesterday that more violence is likely as Iraqi security forces gear up for the withdrawal of US forces from urban areas by the end of this month.
That DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!!!! Wouldn't they WAIT until the U.S. has left!
This ONLY HELPS THOSE who WANT US to STAY, folks!
CUI BONO?
Several high-profile bombings have eroded public faith in Iraqi security forces as the Americans face a June 30 deadline to pull back to bases outside the cities. A car bomb exploded near the mainly Shiite city of Nasiriyah on Wednesday, and hospital officials raised the death toll to 35. Nouri al-Maliki called the blast a "political message" and said it was part of a Sunni insurgent campaign to reignite sectarian violence....
Yeah, SURE IT IS, Maliki!
--more--"
Keep reading; he'll come up again later.
"Top Sunni lawmaker killed outside mosque in Baghdad" by Hamid Ahmed, Associated Press | June 13, 2009
BAGHDAD - The head of Iraq's main Sunni parliamentary bloc was killed in a bold daylight attack after delivering a sermon during Friday prayers at a mosque in western Baghdad, raising fears that insurgents are trying to rekindle sectarian violence.
What absolute garbage!
A gunman believed to be as young as 15 shot Harith al-Obeidi as he left the mosque and walked toward his nearby home, police said.
That ties RIGHT IN with the AmeriKan PROPAGANDA PUSH on this very blog!
There were conflicting accounts about what happened next.
Yeah, because you have MSM SHIT on one hand and the TRUTH on the other!
Guards at the scene said the assailant was chased a few hundred yards down the street, then detonated a grenade, killing himself and an undetermined number of pursuers. But an Interior Ministry official said guards killed the attacker after he threw the grenade during a shootout.
Where is that salt shaker?
At least four other people, including a worshipper, were killed and several others were wounded, according to the official, who read details from the police report on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.
"While we were leaving the mosque we heard a gunshot fired, followed by an explosion," said Majid Hameed, a 50-year-old worshipper wounded in the shoulder by shrapnel. "I blame the security forces for allowing gunmen to enter the neighborhood even though all entrances are blocked by checkpoints."
HOW MANY TIMES you gotta SEE IT, 'murkn?
Obeidi, who led the Iraqi Accordance Front, was known as a fierce advocate of prisoners' rights - a divisive issue in relations between the disaffected Sunni Muslim minority and the Shi'ite-led government.
Oh, sure, it was "Al-CIA-Duh" that killed him, yup!
SMELLS like a GOVERNMENT DEATH SQUAD to ME!!!!
He championed their cause to the end, saying in his sermon that "nobody dares to tell the ruler that such imprisonment is wrong."
Except him, and look at what happened.
The brazen shooting followed a spate of high-profile bombings that US and Iraqi officials have warned are part of an effort by insurgents to re-ignite sectarian violence and undermine confidence in the Shi'ite-led government.
Wouldn't they WAIT until we LEFT?
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who warned a day earlier that violence was likely to increase ahead of the parliamentary vote set for the end of January, promised an investigation into the attack.
And sure enough, it did!!!
As for the investigation, see: Occupation Iraq: Government Hit Squad Killed Reporters
Never went anywhere, did it?
Also see: Occupation Iraq: Maliki Shuts Down News Media
"This cowardly crime is a futile attempt to incite sectarian rifts among the Iraqi people and to prove that terrorist organizations are still there after these organizations have received hard punches by our armed forces," he said in a statement read on Iraqi state TV.
Uh-huh!
--more--"
Oh, about that sectarianism: Memory Hole: The Dream Vacation
Memory Hole: The Uniters of Islam
Occupation Iraq: Sectarian Saviors
Are we CLEAR, readers?
Gee, STRANGE how THAT only garners a BRIEF in my lying, Muslim-hating, war-promoting, agenda-pushing, Zionist jewspaper, huh?
"Lawmakers decry slaying of Sunni
BAGHDAD - The government blamed Al Qaeda in Iraq yesterday for the killing of a prominent Sunni lawmaker, as political figures came together across sectarian lines in a show of solidarity against a return to violence. Sunni and Shi'ite lawmakers called the slaying of Harith al-Obeidi, the leader of the largest Sunni bloc in Parliament, an attack against moderation, as they took turns at the podium to call for a united front against terrorism (AP)."
Need I type more?
