Baghdad and Parts of Central Iraq Chaotic

[NNN0LHI]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=716&e=1&u=/ap/20040409/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A U.S. AC-130 gunship raked targets in Fallujah on Friday night after hundreds of women and children fled the besieged city during a pause in the Marine offensive. On the anniversary of the fall of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s regime, Baghdad and parts of central Iraq (news - web sites) were chaotic.


At a square in the capital where Saddam's statue was toppled a year ago, soldiers took down a disturbing new icon: pictures of the radical Shiite cleric whose followers have risen up against coalition forces in the south.


Gunmen running rampant on Baghdad's western edge attacked a fuel convoy, killing a U.S. soldier and an Iraqi driver and causing a fiery explosion that sent up a pall of black smoke. A Baghdad correspondent for Al-Jazeera Arab television said at least nine people were killed.


Another U.S. soldier was killed in an attack on a base elsewhere in the capital, and large groups of insurgents battled U.S. troops in two cities to the north, Baqouba and Muqdadiyah.

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[Bullshot]

1. But ABC Radio News today had some military "expert"

saying that today's intense fighting may mean good news for the U.S.

I think he's sucking up for a job in the Bush Administration, right with the idiots in that administration who are trying to convince us that all of those U.S. jobs going overseas are good for our economy.

George Orwell must have been about 20 years early, the way this administration talks.

[saigon68]

8. intense fighting may mean good news for the U.S.

what kind of a fucking prick would say that?

[Qanisqineq]

2. What a fucking mess

excuse my language

Iraqi civilians are being killed because they get in the way
Insurgents are being killed because they are pissed off at us
American troops are being killed because Dubya sent them there
Coalition troops are being killed because their country wanted to help
Civilians from all over the world are being killed because they wanted to offer aid to the war-torn country

And anyone not killed is going to be emotionally scarred for life
(my husband is definitely a changed person and he got there after the "mission accomplished" and left just one week before this new hell)

And somehow Dubya goes on smiling and waving

[ozymandius]

3. No one should experience what you and your husband have.

I am so glad your husband is away from this hell. My heart is heavy with grief for those soldiers who remain and those who await their return.

[Pale_Rider]

4. Losing control of Baghdad, supply and ...

... communication lines to the south. Things are melting down in Iraq.

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/nation/8390990.htm

The increase in insurgent attacks has created several military problems planners probably thought they had put behind them. One is the straightforward task of ensuring control of the supply lines that lead north from Kuwait to Baghdad and east to the capital from Jordan.

“We absolutely must regain control of Baghdad and open the lines of communication to the south, to Kuwait and down to the sea, or the position will become untenable,” said Barry McCaffrey, a retired four-star general and the commander of the 24th Mechanized Division in the Persian Gulf War in 1991. “We have got to get back the road through Najaf and through Al Kut, and Rick Sanchez has the combat power to do it.”

A far more complicated task is fulfilling Sanchez’s vow to detain al-Sadr and destroy his militia. A senior administration official said the coalition intended to take military action against the Shiite resistance but planned to move deliberately to try to avoid the impression this was a campaign against the Shiites.

[JNelson6563]

5. Rate the story!

It's only at 3.71 now.

Julie

[starroute]

6. Temperatures in Iraq will be up in the 90's by next week

When does the sandstorm season start?

[DoYouEverWonder]

7. It already has

Some days are clear, some days are not.

This is turning into a real nightmare.

[NNN0LHI]

9. Don't worry. Its going to get much worse soon n/t