Two killed in Baghdad mosque clash; Iraqi troops prepare assault in Mosul

[maddezmom]

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraqi national guardsmen raided a Sunni mosque in Baghdad after Friday prayers, sparking bloody clashes, an AFP correspondent reported, while in the northern city of Mosul US-backed Iraqi commandos were poised to storm rebel strongholds.


Medical sources said two Iraqis were killed and nine wounded in the clashes inside the Abu Hanifa mosque, considered one of the most important Sunni mosques in Iraq (news - web sites) and has already been raided several times by US forces.


"We have received two killed and nine wounded, eight of them in serious condition," said Amin Lamin from Al-Numan hospital.


Some 200 to 300 national guardsmen stormed the mosque after prayers, throwing sound grenades and firing shots in the air, the correspondent said.

more: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20041119/wl_mideast_afp/iraq&cid=1514&ncid=1480

[djbowler]

1. Did anyone just notice that a car bomb went off during FoxNews' live feed?

Just watching Fox N' Friends when they tossed to their correspondent in Iraq and during his report a carbomb exploded to his right. What's ironic is that the Fox N Idiots crew was criticizing President Chirac of France for claiming that the war in Iraq had increased terrorism. You can't make this shit up.

[Roland99]

17. Oh wow! I'd love to see the vidcap of that!!

[maddezmom]

2. updated link: U.S., Iraqi Troops Storm Baghdad Mosque

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi forces, backed by U.S. soldiers, stormed one of the major Sunni Muslim mosques in Baghdad after Friday prayers, opening fire and killing at least three people, witnesses said. Another raid overnight at a hospital allegedly used by insurgents in Mosul led to three arrests, the military said.


About 40 people were arrested at the Abu Hanifa mosque in the capital's northwestern Azamiyah neighborhood, according to the witnesses, who were members of the congregation. Another five people were wounded.


It appeared the raid at Abu Hanifa mosque, long associated with anti-American activity, was part of the crackdown on Sunni clerical militants launched in parallel with military operations against the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.


On Thursday, the Iraqi government warned that Islamic clerics who incite violence will be considered as "participating in terrorism." A number of them already have been arrested, including several members of the Sunni clerical Association of Muslim Scholars which spoke out against the U.S.-led offensive against Fallujah.

more: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041119/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq&cid=540&ncid=1480

[jayfish]

10. That's The Story I Read...

this morning. I love how the posted story from AFP leaves out any mention of US involvement. As if Allawi and his army made this decision and carried it out on their own. :eyes:

Jay

[jmcgowanjm]

3. Psychological double bind

A paradoxical interpersonal RELATIONship involving (1) two
or more individuals in an intense relationship, e.g., in family
life, captivity, love, loyalty, (2) the COMMUNICATION of
a statement that is manifestly contradictory to what it says,
e.g., an order to disobey the order, a punishment that
is assertedly done for love (see PARADOX), and (3) the
inability of the addressee of the statement to step out of
the relationship with the significant other, the inability
to METAcommunicate or to withdraw from the situation.
The effect of a double bind is that the addressee cannot
decide what is real and may develop pathologies
(see PATHOLOGY). (Krippendorff)

http://www.imprint.co.uk/thesaurus/double-bind.htm


The destruction, disorganization, and disintegration of
selected enemy strategic, operational, and tactical systems
will enable rapid, decisive defeat of enemy forces. The
military has used precision-strike to negate enemy
strategic systems, such as electric power grids. In
future campaigns, land forces will have to lead efforts to
defeat opposing operational systems, such
as reconnaissance-strike and distribution of petroleum oils
and lubricants. Land forces will use combinations of
fires, electronic warfare, information operations, and
special forces, supported by air, space, and naval
capabilities. Successful campaigns will require a
moral component to gain support of neutrals, reinforce
the support of friendlies, and break the morale of
opponents.

http://www.leavenworth.army.mil/milrev/English/SepOct02/greer.htm

"Sail on, o ship of state.

Went to see the captain, strangest I could find, Laid
my proposition down, laid it on the line. I won't slave for
beggar's pay, likewise gold and jewels, But I would slave to
learn the way to sink your ship of
fools.
"Ship of Fools" (c) 1973 Ice Nine Music - Words - Robert Hunter / Music - Jerry Garcia

[jmcgowanjm]

4. Per the above post

The assessment, distributed to senior Marine and Army
officers in Iraq (news - web sites), also said that despite
the heavy fighting with coalition forces, the insurgents
would continue to increase in number, carrying out attacks
and fomenting unrest in the area.

One officer said the seven-page classified report -- parts
of which were provided to Thursday's edition of The New
York Times -- was "brutally honest" and appears to contradict
the US government's victorious account of the US-led
fight against insurgents in Fallujah and other parts of
northern Iraq.

Although the resistance crumbled in the face of the offensive,
the report warned, "the enemy will be able to effectively defeat
I MEF's ability to accomplish its primary objectives of
developing an effective Iraqi security force and setting
the conditions for successful Iraqi elections."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20041118/wl_mideast_afp/us_iraq_falluja_report&cid=1514&ncid=1473

[jmcgowanjm]

5. US commanders said they had "broken the back" of the Iraqi insurgency

with their assault on Fallujah.

From your source Maddzemom.
Again from the Yahoo article:

A US marine intelligence report warned that any big
troop withdrawal from Fallujah would strengthen the
insurgency, The New York Times said
Thursday.

So essentially 10K troops will be permanently
tied down in Fallujah.

Again from Yahoo:

"The assault on Fallujah, part of a bid to reclaim key
rebel enclaves across the country ahead of January
elections."

So every enclave reclaimed will need 10k UStroops, 3 more
enclaves-say Ramadi, Latifiyah, and Baquba

That's everything we've got.

Psychological double bind indeed.

[Az_lefty]

9. Thats right. If they ever leave Fallujah the insurgents move right back in

All they did was push them out of town, not out of the country.

[barb162]

16. why do you suppose the Dems aren't running with this story n/t

[Englander]

6. Troops raid Mosul hospital

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1355275,00.html


Iraqi government forces were today continuing their campaign to quell a rebel uprising in Mosul, as reports emerged that two of their soldiers have been beheaded by militants in the city.

Iraqi commandos arrested three people in an overnight raid on a hospital in Mosul, which has become a flashpoint since the massive operation to flush insurgents out of Falluja.

The commandos, backed by US forces, cordoned off the city's al-Zaharawi Hospital after receiving information that insurgents were using it to treat their wounded. They stormed the building overnight and arrested three suspects, according to the US military.




And here's a picture of those "Iraqi" forces....


US soldiers of the Stryker Brigade fire shells as they back up
Iraqi commandos in Mosul. Photograph: Tauseef Mustafa/AFP/Getty Images

[htuttle]

7. When did mortars become 'smart'?

Here they are, firing mortar shells into a city.

Mortar shells are about as far as you can get from 'precision weapons', worse than a hand grenade, I think (since you can usually see what you are blowing up with a hand grenade).

Why mortars? Unable to provide close air support, maybe? (remember those missing SAMs?)

[daleo]

11. In this case, it sounds a bit like a terror weapon

It seems like they are just using them to "back up" the puppet troops, which probably amounts to "showing who's boss".

[PunkPop]

8. Dahr Jamail's IPS report has four killed

and gives more details.

http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/hard_news/archives/hard_news/000125.php#more

November 19, 2004
As U.S. Forces Raided a Mosque
Dahr Jamail

BAGHDAD, Nov 19 (IPS) - An eyewitness commentary to IPS through a U.S. raid on a Baghdad mosque Friday gives a vivid picture of what a 'successful raid' can be like.

U.S. soldiers raided the Abu Hanifa mosque in Baghdad during Friday prayers, killing at least four and wounding up to 20 worshippers.

At 12:30 pm local time, just after Imam Shaikh Muayid al-Adhami concluded his talk, about 50 U.S. soldiers with 20 Iraqi National Guardsmen (ING) entered the mosque, a witness reported.

”Everyone was there for Friday prayers, when five Humvees and several trucks carrying INGs entered,” Abu Talat told IPS on phone from within the mosque while the raid was in progress. ”Everyone starting yelling 'Allahu Akbar' (God is the greatest) because they were frightened. Then the soldiers started shooting the people praying!”

Talat said he was among a crowd of worshippers being held back at gunpoint by U.S. soldiers. Loud chanting of 'Allahu Akbar' could be heard in the background during his call. Women and children were sobbing, he said.

more...

[maddezmom]

12. from the article; Other developments

In other developments:

_ U.S. troops were conducting an offensive in the northern Iraqi town of Hawija after a recent escalation of violence in the Sunni stronghold injured three American soldiers and 10 Iraqi National Guards, the U.S. military said.

_ Iraqi authorities said they arrested 104 suspected insurgents in a raid in Baghdad, including nine who had fled Fallujah.

_ Insurgents struck back in the volatile Sunni area of Haditha, northwest of Fallujah, blowing up the mayor's office and the police command center. Leaflets warned that anyone wearing a police uniform or reporting to a police station "will be killed."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041119/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq&cid=540&ncid=1480

[maddezmom]

13. another Mosque raided today in Qaim.

U.S. troops also stormed a Muslim mosque in Qaim, near the Syrian border, a cleric said, calling it retaliation for opposing the Fallujah offensive. Imam Maudafar Abdul Wahab said his mosque was gathering food and supplies to send to Fallujah, and U.S. troops took about $2,000 meant for repair of his mosque.


Another five people were wounded and 40 arrested at the Abu Hanifa mosque in northwestern Baghdad, said the witnesses, who were members of the congregation.


Witnesses heard explosions coming from inside the mosque, apparently from stun grenades. Inside the office of the imam, books, including a Quran, and a computer were found scattered on the floor, and the furniture was turned upside down.


U.S. troops were seen securing the outer perimeter and sealing it off. Some American soldiers also were seen inside the compound.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=736&e=1&u=/ap/20041119/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

[atreides1]

14. The Facade Is Over

With another four years this administration doesn't even have to pretend to honor international law anymore, and the US military are following orders without question.

Now before the flaming starts, ask yourselves, if US troops are being allowed to do this in Iraq, do any of you seriously think that they won't do it here as well. Remember they will have the same chain of command, and if this is any indicator they will follow orders without
question, even here in the US.

[barb162]

15. good post, but one objection. The facade is not over, it's intact

doesn't make a bit of difference how many stories are out there on the lies and BS. Half the voters have gone along with it and don't seem to care or are stupid.

[Massachusetts]

18. Rome Is Burning (U.S.A.)

'At the very time that Rome burned, he mounted his private stage and, reflecting present disasters in ancient calamities, sang about the destruction of Troy'. - Tacitus
:nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: