24 Iraqis Killed in War Attacks, Including 15 in Jalawla, US-Iraqi Security Agreement Condemned by Opposition Groups, According to November 16, 2008 News Reports

Editor's Note (Below)

==================================

Yaqen.net reported the following Tuesday news:

- A civilian was killed by a group of gunmen in Kut.

- A US-coalition vehicle was damaged by a roadside bomb in Al-Nasseriya.

- 2 Iraqis were killed by a US helicopter missile in Hitt.

- 2 US soldiers were killed in the Mosul helicopter crash yesterday.

- The US military base in Balad was attacked with rockets today.

Amsi.org reported that the US-backed Maliki government approved the security agreement with the US, which allows the US forces to stay in Iraq for three years after the UN expiration date (in an apparent attempt to pre-empt the Obama pledge to withdraw US forces from Iraq within 16 months).

- Two bodies of Iraqis executed by death squads were found in Baghdad.

INA reported the following news:

- Spokesperson of the Iraqi Islamic Scholars' Association, Dr. Abdul Salam Al-Kubaissi, rejected the Maliki government agreement with US forces, blasting the signatories as part of the US occupation game. He added that the signatories are keen to have US protection for them and their privileges. Earlier, the Association issued a fatwa against the agreement, calling for the total US withdrawal from Iraq.

- Iraqi resistance organizations all condemned the agreement and pledged to continue fighting until the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq.

- In Basra, Iraqis demonstrated against the agreement and condemning those who signed it.

- The Iraqi government sought the blessing of Sistani before signing the agreement. This came during a meeting between Sistani and two representatives from the Maliki party.

- Ahmed Al-Massa'oudi, an Al-Sard Bloc MP, announced that those who signed the agreement today, in fact gave the US a mandate to rule over Iraq.

- The attack on the police checkpoint in Jalawla today resulted in killing 15 people, including seven policemen, and wounding twenty, including six US-recruited Sahwa fighters.

=================================

Policeman killed, civilian wounded in Mosul blasts

November 16, 2008 - 12:47:20

NINEWA / Aswat al-Iraq: A policeman was killed and a civilian was wounded in two improvised explosive device attacks in southern Mosul on Sunday, a police source in Ninewa said.

“An IED blast targeted a police patrol near Dora al-Sawas area, southern Mosul, leaving one patrolman killed,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.

Another IED blast near the tunnel of Wadi Hajar, close to Dora al-Sawas, left one civilian man injured, the source said, adding the charge did not target any security men or vehicles.

Mosul, the capital city of Ninewa province, lies 405 km north of Baghdad.

AmR (P)

Jalawlaa blast casualties up to 21

November 16, 2008 - 12:12:03

DIALA / Aswat al-Iraq:

Sunday’s earlier car bombing attack in Jalawlaa district rose to six deaths and 15 others wounded, according to a Diala police official.

“The death toll rose to six – one policeman and five civilians – while the wounded to 15 – eight policemen, one army soldier and six civilians,” Maj. Ghaleb al-Juburi, the officer in charge of the Diala police command’s media department, told Aswat al-Iraq.

Earlier in the day a security source said five policemen were killed and 14 others injured when a car bomb attack targeted their patrol in central Jalawlaa district.

“A car bomb went off today near the courthouse building in al-Wihda neighborhood, central Jalawlaa, targeting a police patrol,” Amer Rifaat, a member of the Diala Provincial Council’s Security Committee, told Aswat al-Iraq.

Jalawlaa belongs to the district of Khanaqin, (155 km) northeast of Baaquba.

Baaquba, the capital city of Diala, lies 57 km northeast of Baghdad.

AmR (P)

U.S. army deploys offensive Apaches in Iraq next year

November 16, 2008 - 10:58:38

BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: The United States will withdraw about 20 offensive Apache helicopters from South Korea to deploy in Iraq next year, the U.S. newspaper Syracuse quoted a statement by the U.S. army in Seoul.

“The United States has notified South Korea about its plans to move the attack aircraft from South Korea for redeployment in Iraq or Afghanistan,” the paper said.

AmR (P)

IED blast kills 3, wounds 7 in Baghdad

November 16, 2008 - 08:34:01

BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq:

Three people were killed and seven others wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off in northeastern Baghdad on Sunday, an Iraqi police source said.

“An IED went off near a US-recruited sahwa tribal forces’ checkpoint in al-Shaab area, northeastern Baghdad, leaving one civilian man and two sahwa fighters killed and seven others, including five sahwa elements, wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.

The sahwa forces, armed by U.S. forces, were formed by tribes in several cities and provinces of Iraq, namely Anbar, Diala, Salah al-Din and Mosul as well as some areas in the Iraqi capital with the aim of fighting armed organizations in their areas.

AmR (P)

Helicopter crashed because of power cables – U.S. source

November 15, 2008 - 04:41:23

NINEWA / Aswat al-Iraq:

The media advisor for the U.S. army, Al-Meqdada Jebrel, confirmed that a U.S. helicopter crashed on Saturday’s evening in eastern Mosul, explaining that the helicopter went down because it hit power cables.

“It is not yet known whether there were any casualties caused by the incident,” Jebrel told Aswat al-Iraq.

MH (P)/SR

U.S. helicopter down in Mosul

November 15, 2008 - 04:18:18

NINEWA / Aswat al-Iraq: A U.S. helicopter on Saturday evening crashed in a Mosul neighborhood. U.S. forces cordoned off the incident’s area, without knowing the casualties generated by it, said security sources and eyewitnesses from the city.

MH (P)/SR

Security pact incomplete – MP

November 16, 2008 - 04:33:51

BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq:

Lawmaker Maysoon al-Damalojy of the Iraqi list’s secular parliamentary bloc on Sunday said that the Iraqi-U.S. security pact is “incomplete,” because it preserves neither Iraqi funds in foreign banks nor Iraq’s security.

“Iraqi funds will be reachable for any side that seeks compensation,” al-Damalojy told Aswat al-Iraq.

“The United Nations (UN) currently preserves Iraq’s funds in foreign banks, but this issue is not listed in the pact,” she said.

“U.S. commitment in the pact to preserve Iraq’s security and border has been brittle,” she added.

MH (P)/SR

Iraq to ask for canceling Chapter VII, Decree 17 after deal signing – Dabbagh

November 16, 2008 - 12:32:17

BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq:

Iraq will ask the UN Security Council to cancel Chapter VII, which governs the presence of Multi-National Force (MNF) troops in Iraq, and Decree 17 of former U.S. civil administrator Paul Bremer as soon as the security pact is signed, a spokesman for the Iraqi government said on Sunday.

“As far as the protection of Iraq’s funds is concerned, there is a clear item that provides for continued U.S. protection of Iraq’s proceeds from oil exports and having them deposited in a development fund,” Ali al-Dabbagh said in a press conference today.

Iraq is still under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, imposed on it after Iraqi troops invaded neighboring Kuwait in 1991. According to the Chapter, large sums of Iraq’s accounts in world banks were frozen with the aim of paying damages for persons harmed by the invasion of Kuwait.

Bremer’s Decree 17, issued on June 17, 2003, determines the legal framework for the U.S. forces and as well as their foreign missions, staff and contractors.

Earlier on Sunday, Dabbagh said that the Iraqi cabinet approved the status-of-forces agreement (SOFA) with a majority of 27 votes to one.

“The agreement will be referred to the Iraqi parliament today for voting,” Ali al-Dabbagh said in a press conference today.

The Iraqi and U.S. sides have been negotiating a long-term security deal, known as SOFA, during the past months. The pact should determine the legal framework for the U.S. presence in Iraq after the end of this year, when the international mandate granted by the UN Security Council to the U.S. army to intervene in Iraq is due to expire.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, in a meeting on Saturday with Vice Presidents Adel Abdul Mahdi and Tareq al-Hashemi, had discussed the security deal and the proposals offered by both sides over it.

AmR (S)

=================================

Editor's Note:

Only God knows how many Iraqis are killed everyday. The following represents part of the reporting but readers are advised that the actual number of deaths should very much exceed what's reported.

Concerning deaths of US soldiers, only those US citizens who die in Iraq are included in the statistics. There are no published statistics about US soldiers who die of their injuries after that. There are no published statistics about the deaths or injuries of the private army soldiers (security contractors), or about those without US citizenship.

It is noteworthy that May 20, 2008 news reports showed that death squads which execute Iraqis on daily basis are no longer hiding themselves. Previously, Sunni leaders pointed to Mahdi Army and Badr militiamen as the perpetrators. Now, death squads are composed of the US-recruited Sahwa fighters and policemen.

On September 6, 2008, news reports mentioned the killing of nine Iraqis who were arrested by Al-Muthanna Brigade of the Iraqi Army stationed in the city of Al-Falloujah. There corpses were found with bullets shot on their heads and chests. This incident is evidence that the sectarian-based Iraqi forces have been functioning also as death squads, which killed Iraqis for suspicion of belonging to resistance organizations, without any legal procedures or trials.

Despite the fact that there are scores of organizations involved in the Iraq war, the Iraqi government officials prefer to refer to them as Alqaeda gunmen for propaganda purposes, as mentioned in the June 4, 2008 news report. For accuracy purposes, the term "Alqaeda gunmen" may be replaced with "Iraqi fighters."

Finally, on daily basis, US-led forces arrest scores of Iraqis in an attempt to pre-empt them from resistance. Tens of thousands of Iraqis are still there in US detention camps and in the prisons of the US-backed Iraqi government. Daily records of these arrests can be obtained from the following three Iraqi sources of news: yaqen.net, amsi.org, and Voices of Iraq.

Fair Use Notice

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.