Iraqi govt declares state of emergency

[DoYouEverWonder]

June 23, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Iraqi government declared a state of emergency in Baghdad Friday, the prime minister's office said, after clashes broke out in a central district.

It also imposed a 2 p.m.-6 a.m. curfew, sending residents of the capital scrambling to get home before it took effect.

The prime minister's office did not immediately give more details about the state of emergency, but it was announced after police said gunmen opened fire on a joint U.S.-Iraqi patrol in the Shwaka district of central Baghdad.

The patrolling forces returned fire and sealed off the area as they clashed with the gunmen, Iraqi army Maj. Ihssan Abdul Hamza said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060623/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_ylt=A0SOwj1Wt5tEB9IAYwOs0NUE


Isn't everything supposed to be great now that we killed Zarqawi and Lord Pissypants went there to celebrate?

[FloridaPat]

1. Now???? Where have they been for 3 years? These guys imported

from other countries?

[MaineDem]

9. Exactly. Why now?

It seems living for 3 years with an occupying army wasn't an emergency situation???

Things are getting worse?

[Chipper Chat]

2. Fox News has all their phones off the hook.

Waiting for "good news" out of Iraq.

[llmart]

3. But..but..but......

I thought everything was hunky dory now? Didn't the coward-in-chief go there himself and show how "safe" it was? Oh, yeah, I forgot he was there for a total of 5 hours and went under the cloak of secrecy followed by a hundred security people, etc. etc.

Can you say "civil war"?

[Laurab]

21. Like Jon Stewart said,

"going to the green zone and saying you were in Iraq is like going to the Olive Garden and saying you went to Italy".

I guess his little photo op didn't straighten things out - maybe he should visit again...

[Paulie]

4. Is this even a good idea?

Only 8 hours a day means more people out and about at the same time. More targets.

Guess they will find out in the next week or two.

[LifeDuringWartime]

12. yeah, strange hours for a curfew

2PM, :wtf:

[Roland99]

5. Again? How many times does that equal now? And what about those 70k troops

Can't they secure Baghdad with 70,000 troops?


:eyes:

[DoYouEverWonder]

6. There are only about 25 million people in the whole country

and geographically it's about the size of Texas, yet for a billion a week we can't do shit. Go figure.

[The_Casual_Observer]

20. 2+ Billion

[Roland99]

47. Well, I went back and did a bit of checking and found this >>>>>>>>>>>

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1497169&mesg_id=1497169

[rodeodance]

7. oh my. things just get worse in the land of PROGRESS>

[DoYouEverWonder]

8. Well that Mission Accomplished photo op

didn't get much milage. What a Flop.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

10. Shame! We have turned the corner. Bush told us so. Why can't you leave it

at that? Why do you piss on our efforts? Why insist on confusing the country with facts, figures, and bad news? Why do you hate America so? Why are you so unpatriotic? Don't you know that we painted three classrooms in Falujah last week? Why can't you report that instead? Forget about the missing books, broken desks, kidnapped students, tortured teachers, oh, and the nagging matter of a bombed out roof - those will be dealt with under the next emergency supplemental funding vote for our blessed Iraqi reconstruction. Those painted walls mean more than an investment in an Haliburton subsidiary. Those painted walls are a symbol of success, of Iraqi demcractic process, of a mature state putting its "ducks" in a row. And like any mature democracy, even within the US controlled Green Zone, knowing when to "duck" can save your life.

Shame on you for reporting only on this incredibly small item of bad news when so many hugs and roses are being delivered each day. Besides, they probably weren't told about our wonderful, world-changing capture of the NUMBER TWO MAN IN AL QAIDA! All we need to do is to tell them that we caught their boss and they will quickly become peace-loving, US-supporting, supporters of the wonderful democratic process that defines Iraqistan.

What you need to do is to join those millions of truly faithful CITIZENS who get on their knees and pray for the health and continued success of our dear leader, Mr. President George Bush. In fact, dear leader thanked each and everyone of us personally while in Europe. Isn't that sweet of him to know just how much strength we give him?

Instead of hating our dear leader so, get on your knees, you unpatriotic sinner, and help our president! This minor curfew is a minor bump in the road to a Democratic Iraqistan. And don't you forget it. Or else.

[BLUEBOY]

11. Turning a corner in "free" Iraq...

Now duck and run like HELL!!
to bad ol' Georgy boy couldn't stay to see the fireworks...

After hearing so much crap last week about the big turn around and how wonderful our little dictator was doing I sure hope this gets just as much play.
:argh:

[Teaser]

13. Iraqi government declares state of emergency in Baghdad

The Iraqi government declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew Friday after insurgents set up roadblocks in central Baghdad and opened fire on U.S. and Iraqi troops outside the heavily fortified Green Zone.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered everyone off the streets of the capital. U.S. and Iraqi forces also fought gunmen in the volatile Dora neighborhood in south Baghdad.

A car bomb ripped through a market and nearby gas station in the increasingly violent southern city of Basra, killing at least five people and wounding 18, including two policemen, police said.

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=nation_world&id=4299225

[global1]

14. See - * Was Right When He Spoke After His Recent Visit .....

things are getting better. (For his cause - to never be able to pull out troops and to have a permanent presence in this shattered country).

[babylonsister]

15. Spin that, */war apologists. nt

[Doctor_J]

16. State of emergency declared in Baghdad

'BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Iraqi government declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew Friday after insurgents set up roadblocks in central Baghdad and opened fire on U.S. and Iraqi troops outside the heavily fortified Green Zone.'

Killing Zarqawi really seems to have made a difference. So did Smirk's photo-op in the Green Zone. I'm glad the Senate voted to stay the course - we can probably expect another couple years of this.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060623/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

[Doctor_J]

17. Oops - teaser beat me by 3 minutes.

Mods - merge?

[mike_c]

18. I suspect this means that Baghdad is now a free fire zone...

...outside the Green Zone (and presumably the airport), at least during curfew hours. That has a certain Mogadishu-like ring to it.

[karlrschneider]

19. I'd think being invaded & occupied qualifies as an emergency.

Yup.
:eyes:

[PATRICK]

22. Another version and

this is AP seven minutes ago. Now the riots, that the BBC said had started after a firefight and little gunfire was heard AFTER the US withdrew to the Green Zone, those looting riots have become scattered armed confrontations against JOINT US-Iraqi forces! These news blurbs themselves are creating chaos.

Would someone like to put together these reports, including the the government denial it ever had declared a state of emergency(one ministry not communicating with the other????). The delay in even getting this story out there in the American media(even those a quarter of a mile down the Baghdad road) seemed contingent on the Pentagon spoon-feeding them what the troop deployments were. Meantime the large scale looting and/or public riots disappeared along with the barricades?

The fog of war-reporting is worse than the chaos itself.

[corporatemedia]

23. CNN Breaking: Wind............. ....................n/t

[npincus]

24. AP: State of Emergency Declared in Baghdad

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060623/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_ylt=AjI9ajBd2IzuGBL9iOTGNxtvaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--


BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Iraqi government declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew Friday after insurgents set up roadblocks in central Baghdad and opened fire on U.S. and Iraqi troops outside the heavily fortified Green Zone.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered everyone off the streets of the capital from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m.

U.S. and Iraqi forces also fought gunmen in the volatile Dora neighborhood in south Baghdad.

Two U.S. soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb struck their vehicle southeast of the capital, the U.S. military said.

[grasswire]

25. huh??

They opened fire on US troops?

[TrogL]

29. somebody set up us the bomb

[GodlessBiker]

26. Off the streets from 2-5 p.m.? How does this help anything?

[corporatemedia]

39. Smaller crowds at the restaurants for the Early Bird Specials??? n/t

[Taverner]

27. Shades of Tet '68

[xchrom]

28. lol -- NOW is it a civil war?

damn -- whoever took the boogey man zarqawi's place is balls out.

[Elidor]

30. Freedom was on the march

But it was kidnapped at a rebel roadblock, tortured extensively, and shot in the head.

[benburch]

31. Progress!!! nt

[Warren Stupidity]

32. Shit has hit fan, suggest everyone duck. nt.

[Terran1212]

33. Now the rebels are setting up the roadblocks..

Are we at Tet yet?

[rock]

34. We have turned a corner in Iraq

just like bush* said.

[onehandle]

35. Major Combat Operations Are Over!

Followed by twenty+ years of Iraqi citizens picking off our soldiers one by one.

Mission Accomplished?

[primavera]

42. And don't forget: "Freedom is on the march!"

Okay, so freedom to resist foreign invaders wasn't quite the rosy scenario the neocons were envisioning, but, you gotta hand it to those Iraqis, they are availing themselves of that freedom we're so proud of!

[Viva_La_Revolution]

36. Riverbend hasn't posted since the 10th

almost 2 weeks ago.

I hope she and her family are ok. :(

http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/

[Jeanette in FL]

40. Hope she is alright too.

I check every day too and there has not been anything.

[Sapere aude]

37. Some forgot to tell Yahoo about the repubs 2006 election strategy

Not bad news about Iraq until after the elections per Ken Melman didn't they get the memo?

[grasswire]

38. that's a grisly report

I urge DUers to read the whole thing. Our men and women are in a horrible place, a hell.

"Al-Maliki has been trying to rein in unrelenting insurgent and sectarian violence. He launched a massive security operation in Baghdad 10 days ago, deploying tens of thousands of troops who flooded the city, snarling traffic with hundreds of checkpoints.

Police said they found the bodies of five men who apparently were victims of a mass kidnapping from a factory on Wednesday. The bodies, which showed signs of torture and had their hands and legs bound, were floating in a canal in northern Baghdad, police Lt. Maitham Abdul-Razzaq said.

A police raid on a farm Thursday freed 17 of the captives

Meanwhile, the U.S. military said it killed four foreign insurgents in a raid north of Fallujah. Two of the dead men had 15-pound bombs strapped to their bodies. The military said an insurgent thought to be an Iraqi also was killed in the raid, which was launched on the basis of information from a suspected arrested in the region in previous days."

[PATRICK]

41. London Times link

gives more story that Shia militia joined in the firefight against the joint US-Iraqi forces that triggered the whole mess. Whether this is good or bad for Bush's plan they will make it good by using what they need(Iranian backed Shia militias killing Americans) to kill any deals making Iraq free or Iran
supporting.

Again, the best details are coming from the British. America seems to depend on the Pentagon which takes its orders from the WH pols.

[mavoix]

43. AP: State of Emergency Declared in Baghdad

How come it's not being reported in the MSM?

[sarcasmo]

45. Mavoix welcome to D/U and good to see you have chose the correct

color pill.

[sarcasmo]

44. Kick and Nom #1 can you say Tet Offensive.

[bluedog]

46. "Maliki doesn't sneeze without our permission,

A senior Pentagon official says the amnesty offer has the tacit approval of the White House and may have been initiated in Washington, not Baghdad. "Maliki doesn't sneeze without our permission," says the official.

http://www.cfr.org/publication/10965/debate_over_granting_amnesty_to_iraqi_insurgents.html