Iraqi Govt Declares State of Emergency

[kpete]

Iraqi Govt Declares State of Emergency
Jun 23, 6:36 AM (ET)

By SINAN SALAHEDDIN

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The Iraqi government declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew Friday after insurgent gunmen set up roadblocks in central Baghdad and opened fire on U.S. and Iraqi troops just north of the heavily fortified Green Zone.

With just two hours notice, the prime minister ordered everyone off the streets of the capital from 2 p.m. Friday until 6 a.m. Saturday. U.S. and Iraqi forces also were engaged in firefights with insurgents in the dangerous Dora neighborhood in south Baghdad.

As the state of emergency was announced in the capital, a car bomb ripped through a market and nearby gas station in the increasingly volatile southern city of Basra Friday, killing at least five people and wounding 18, including two policemen, police said.

At least 19 other deaths were reported in Baghdad.

more at:
http://www.rawstory.com/showarticle.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fapnews.myway.com%2Farticle%2F20060623%2FD8IDS8UO0.html

[jedicord]

1. That proves it! They ARE in the last throes!

Woot Woot! Any time a government declares a State of Emergency, that means everything is going just great!:sarcasm:

[saltpoint]

2. It was my understanding from listening to Vice President Cheney that

our troops would be showered with roses as they promenaded down the streets of Iraqi cities.

Those "last throes" of insurgency seem to be doozies, don't they?

It might be interesting for someone to ask General Pace if Bush's taunts to "bring it on" are now being realized in Baghdad, or if what will be brought on has yet to be brought on. Also, how's that "smoke-'em-out" phase going in Afghanistan? Bin Laden's a pretty tall guy. You'd think somebody must have seen him since 2001.

[PATRICK]

3. Oh those throes!

Perhaps thanks to the direct challenge by the Bush visit and political nonsense that has become an inefficient, distracted US occupation perhaps they figured it was time for a test. And a demonstration more important than its immediate success.

So who takes down the barricades? More US troops who bleed every time there is a massive operation? Whatever passes as Iraqi forces these days? A clunky combo that the Bush people used to be able to brag about in the pre-fact checking days? Planes that will take out the road and a few city blocks?

The civil war, in progress will escalate. The tactics will escalate, challenging engagement designed to destroy confidence in the Iraqi home growns and get at the Americans as they slowly(regardless of even slower Senate resolutions) try to withdraw behind crusader castle walls. Might I say that historically, a thousand years ago, the French barons, no strangers to chaos in POST Empire france, knew how to do this in more hostile territory with infinitely fewer resources. And they were driven out too. I suppose Bush and his corporate allies could live with the eventual humiliation of some future US bugout so long as they got all the oil and other geopolitical goals in the interim. By then of course there would be nothing left of America to be proud of anymore either. All America would all be transferred into offshore accounts with the functionality of a police state.

Or, as with the Crusades, the looters could go down with their Arabian dreams leaving nations stronger and better for getting free of them and their violent chaos.