Insurgents Kill 26 More Iraqis;
Tentative Deal on Completing Cabinet Is Reported
By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr.
Published: May 7, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 6 - Insurgents killed at least 26 Iraqis and wounded 48 more on Friday when a suicide bomber struck a public market in Suwaira, a town near Baghdad riven by sectarian violence, and another bomber attacked a bus carrying Iraqi policemen in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit.

More than 200 Iraqis, most of them policemen or soldiers, have been killed in the last eight days in one of the most lethal stretches of violence since the invasion two years ago.

In northeast Baghdad, a worker digging with a shovel discovered the corpses of 12 men in their 20's and 30's who had been tortured, shot in the head execution-style and buried at least a week earlier, the Iraqi police said. An Iraqi police captain investigating the crime said the bodies had broken legs and arms and rope burns on their necks.

Amid the continued bloodshed, there were suggestions of a possible significant political breakthrough late Friday: Aides to the nation's top Shiite and Sunni lawmakers said they had reached a tentative agreement on the appointment of a new defense minister.

If the deal were to hold, it would end a drawn-out political logjam that has hurt relations between the Sunnis and Shiites and, in the view of American officials, contributed to increased insurgent violence.

But Iraqi leaders have time and again announced deals for top government posts, only to see their predictions fall apart.

The Shiite and Sunni aides would not identify the would-be defense minister, saying the name would be disclosed soon. While they said Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish leaders had given their approval, Iraq's three-member presidency council and National Assembly must also sign off.

"It's done; we have a conclusion," Ahmad Najati, a spokesman for the highest-ranking Sunni Arab in the new government, Vice President Ghazi al-Yawar, said Friday night. A senior aide to Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Laith Kubba, also said there was a tentative deal.

But Kurdish officials, who could effectively veto the nomination, could not be reached for comment. And a senior Shiite aide cautioned that on high-profile matters like this one, nothing is ever certain until the name is formally announced by the prime minister and approved by the National Assembly. "We've been burned before," the aide said.

Iraqi leaders are eager to get the new cabinet completed so they can devote more attention to the worsening violence.

On Friday, American military officials said that despite the heightened attacks, they have made tremendous progress against the insurgency. In an unusual statement suggesting that terrorists in Iraq were trying to compensate for strategic losses with news media coverage of their attacks, they said at least 20 "trusted lieutenants" or senior aides of the most wanted man in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, had been captured or killed in recent months.

Military officials quoted Mr. Zarqawi's driver, Abu Usama, captured Feb. 20, as describing Mr. Zarqawi's reaction as he believed American forces were closing in. Mr. Zarqawi narrowly escaped capture, the military says, when he leapt from the vehicle Mr. Usama was driving.

"Zarqawi became hysterical," the military statement quotes Mr. Usama as saying. "Zarqawi did not know where he was because he demanded repeatedly, 'Who lives in this area? What sub-tribe is here?' "

The military said: "Zarqawi then quickly grabbed his American-made rifle with one magazine and an unknown amount of U.S. dollars and escaped. Mr. Zarqawi left behind his computer, pistols and more ammunition, which were all seized in the raid. It is believed Zarqawi went back to Haditha and hid with members of local tribes who continue to provide him support and sanctuary."

The Zarqawi aides captured recently include "terror-cell leaders, propaganda chiefs, bomb makers, drivers and other key lieutenants." Degradation of the Zarqawi network helped result in fewer attacks in February and March, the military said.

Iraqi political leaders hope a completed government will bolster the confidence of Iraqi citizens demoralized by the recent spate of attacks. But if the agreement on the defense minister were to fall through, it would deal another setback to efforts by the Shiite and Kurdish leaders who dominate the new administration to form a "unity" government that gives important jobs to members of all Iraq's major religious and ethnic groups, including the Sunni Arabs, who largely boycotted the Jan. 30 elections and are believed to make up most of the insurgency.

The defense post is the most important job allotted to the Sunnis, but Sunni leaders have complained that the Shiite leaders have rejected qualified candidates.

Indeed, by Friday night some Sunni Arab leaders were grumbling about the defense minister selection. One Sunni, Dr. Saleh Mutlak, a member of the National Dialogue Council, identified the defense candidate as Sadoon al-Dulaimi, a member of a powerful tribe in Anbar Province, which includes Falluja and Ramadi.

While he personally did not object to the selection, Dr. Mutlak said he was "not optimistic" about it, saying some Sunni Arab leaders believed Dr. Jaafari was relying too heavily on Sheik Yawar.

"The choosing has mostly been between Ghazi and Jaafari, so it is not the Sunnis' decision anymore," Dr. Mutlak said. "I think tomorrow they will not be happy."

If a final agreement is reached this weekend, it would be a quick turnabout from what had been heated negotiations. The new government, led by Dr. Jaafari, a Shiite, was sworn in Tuesday, but 6 of 35 cabinet positions were still unfilled amid disagreement over which Sunnis would fill some posts.

Shiite aides said other vacant posts had been decided, including the selection of Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum, the son of a prominent Shiite cleric, as oil minister. Dr. Jaafari has not confirmed that selection.

American and some Iraqi officials said they hoped a completed cabinet would allow the new government to turn its attention to tamping down an insurgency that in the weeks after the election seemed to ebb. But since Dr. Jaafari announced the cabinet last week, insurgents have launched dozens of attacks.

On Friday, the blast in Tikrit was caused by a bomber driving an Opel sedan who rammed a bus, killing 10 policemen and wounding 3 policemen and 5 civilians. Later in the day, the Suwaira car bomber killed at least 16 people and wounded 40, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said.

Meanwhile, Arab news channels replayed the grisly find of bodies in northeast Baghdad.

"Usually we find bodies lying in the streets, around two or three a day, but we haven't found such numbers before and buried like that," said Ali Mutashar, a 28-year-old worker, wearing filthy old clothes, as he walked near the grave site. "Nothing in the time we are living would surprise me any more."

Link -
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/07/internat....html?th&emc=th

What I myself, along few other vets in this forum, sees and understands in what is happening in Iraq at this point, is closely related to the fact that those who collaborate with the occupiers of Iraq will be tortured and eventually killed in efforts to lower the number of collaborators with the US coalition and also send a message to other Iraqis that they will also die if they choose to side with the US coalition. This method of in-fighting will increase in Iraq.

This becomes another parallel between Vietnam and Iraq. Not only will the new Iraqi forces face possible total annihilation against the Iraq resistance/militants such as the ARVN forces faced against the NVA in Vietnam, but the population of Iraq will also suffer when enjoying the fruits of foreign gratuities given to them in trade of their support just as many Vietnamese also suffered because they sometimes supported the US forces in exchange of temporary gratuities.

The war itself, civil war and Iraqi assasinations will all increase in my opinion just as this topic's article touches on.

Below is an example of such suffering by Vietnamese civilians.


http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:NX7xg...th+the+US&hl=en

[Vietcong assassinated 36,725 persons and abducted 58,499 persons between 1957 and 1972]

Very interesting site, thanks. You are right--the violence is increasing in Iraq (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/MAR139734.htm), and it appears the Iraqi security forces may be turning the blame for the increase on our troops rather than the insurgents.


ABC Online

Iraqi police vent anger at US after car bombings. 10/05/2005. ABC News Online

[This is the print version of story http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200505/s1364588.htm]


Last Update: Tuesday, May 10, 2005. 10:27pm (AEST)
Iraqi police vent anger at US after car bombings
Iraqi police hurled insults at US soldiers after two suicide car bomb blasts in Baghdad killed at least seven people and left 19 wounded, including policemen.

"It's all because you're here," a policeman shouted in Arabic at a group of US soldiers after the latest in a bloody wave of attacks that have rocked Baghdad this month.

"Get out of our country and there will be no more explosions," he told the uncomprehending Americans staring at the smouldering wreck of a car bomb.

The explosion wounded three policemen as they stood guard at the entrance to the River Police compound on Abu Nawas street in the centre of the capital.

"We were near the headquarters and all of a sudden a Ford car rushed very fast at the closed gate. One of the guards opened fire and the car stopped, but moments later it exploded," Sergeant Abbas Mohammed told AFP.

"One guard was burnt and is in very critical condition. Two others were caught by the blast," he said.

Another suicide bomber also tried to attack a US army patrol on the central Saadun street but missed and smashed into other vehicles, setting them ablaze.

At least seven civilians were killed and 16 wounded, police and medics said.

"I was driving my bus with many passengers and on the other side of the street a US convoy was passing by," 45-year-old minibus driver Abdullah Jassim Mohammed said.

"All of a sudden there was a big explosion and I saw a man dying in front of me. The US convoy was unharmed," the driver said, who sustained slight head wounds.

"Since Americans invaded our country they have brought nothing but evil."

Posted on Thu, May. 12, 2005

Car bomb kills 17 in Baghdad

Associated Press
http://icasualties.org/oif/
http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/11628153.htm

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A car bomb exploded near a busy local market and cinema in eastern Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 17 people and wounding 65, police said.

The detonation of the parked car also set fire to a nearby apartment and about 15 vehicles parked in the New Baghdad area of the capital, said police 1st Lt. Mazin Saeed.

The bomb, which also destroyed 10 parked cars, killed at least 17 people and wounded 65, said police Lt. Col. Ahmed Aboud. He said the wounded included woman and children.

When police tried to close the area, about 150 angry young men demonstrated against what they regard as poor security in the area, prompting police to fire in the air to disperse them, Aboud said.

A wave of bombs and gunfire killed at least 69 people and wounded 160 Wednesday - pushing the death toll from insurgent violence to more than 400 in less than two weeks.

The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, launched eight centers for public training

http://www.almendhar.com/almendharen/details.aspx?nID=2425

Engineer Laila Abdul Latif Mohamed Al Tamimi, the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, announced that the ministry launched eight centers for public training in the most damaged regions and with the highest ratio of the unemployment in Dhi Qar province for opening the field in front of those who wish training, specially the women in the fields of professions’ acquisition and different crafts.

She said that the opening of these centers comes after the successes that the ministry realized throughout the opening of three centers for training on popular professions in the city of revolution (al-Sadr), al-Shaab, and Ore district. The number of participants in these centers has reached (130 participants, including (49) females. The Minister of Labor confirmed, “We are now working on increasing this number and the ministry pays great attention to the vocational rehabilitation that has (15) centers distributed on (8) provinces, which are (Baghdad, Al Kut, Al Nasseria, Basra, Najaf, Kirkuk, Nainawa and Arbil). They have the specializations of (Electricity, the electron, Air-conditioning, cooling, carpentry, welding, cars, computers and learning English language). We are work on the addition of new professions besides the said professions, so that they include (computers maintenance, the Internet, transportations and sewing). Al Tamimi pointed that the ministry plans to establish 8 centers for vocational training in the provinces of (Al-Sulaimania, Al Diwania, Al Anbar, Salah Eddin, Al Emara, Al Samawa and Diala).

Developed training courses for Ministry of Labor staff

http://www.iraqdirectory.com/files/articles/article437.htm

Baghdad Ministry of labor and social affairs has organized training courses for a number of its staff with the aim to promote their scientific and technical capabilities.

An official source clarified that within its plan to cope with updated scientific technologies, the ministry organized promoting training courses on computer and English language as recent two- months training courses on English language for three main, middle and advanced stages held by the ministry.

Notably, more than 50 participators were graduated successfully. Meanwhile, Shayma' Muhammed in charge of the course indicated to developed efforts exerted by training department.

New health projects in Daiwania district

http://www.iraqdirectory.com/files/articles/article433.htm

The Ministry of Health has initiated the implementation of large number of health projects specialized to rehabilitate hospitals and setting up large number of health clinics in Daiwania province.

The ministry official spokesman said that the health clinic in al-Shafia district have been accomplished, fever section in al-Daiwania Teaching Hospital, besides establishing primary clinic center at al-Hakeem Quarter, whereas implementation reached to 35% with cost reaches to ID256 millions, besides continuing the construction of the typical health clinic in al-Daghara district with an implementation reaches to 65% with constructing two houses for physicians at al-Ghamass Quarter with cost of ID86 millions and with implementation reaches to 65% besides reconstructing two houses for physicians in al-Shafia with cost reaches to ID78 millions with an implementation reaches to 40%, confirming that the corner stone for establishing five typical health centers at al-Jadiada, al-Wahda quarters as well as al-Badeer district had been put.

WRAL.com
Car Bomb Kills Six In Baghdad

POSTED: 5:20 am EDT May 24, 2005
UPDATED: 5:20 am EDT May 24, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq --
http://www.wral.com/apworldnews/4523316/detail.html

A car bomb exploded Tuesday near a Baghdad junior high school for girls, killing six people, officials said, a day after 49 Iraqis died in a string of explosions, suicide attacks and drive-by shootings.


Tuesday's blast occurred near eastern Baghdad's well-known Withaq Square, a Christian neighborhood, destroying at least three cars and damaging several buildings.

The U.S. military announced that a two-day operation involving more than 2,000 Iraqi soldiers and police, their largest-ever joint campaign in the Baghdad area, had rounded up 428 suspected insurgents.

But insurgents continued to wreak havoc in the Iraqi capital despite the crackdown in the Abu Ghraib area targeting militants thought responsible for multiple attacks on the U.S.-detention facility there and the road linking downtown to the international airport.

Residents called police about a suspicious-looking car parked opposite the Dijlah Junior High School for Girls in Alwiyah. As bomb disposal experts approached the vehicle, it exploded and killed six bystanders, said police Capt. Husham Ismael.

Three civilians and one policeman were also injured; none of the school's students were believed to be among the casualties.

"May God seek revenge for those who were killed or injured," an elderly woman screamed outside a hospital were casualties were being brought. "We hope that such killers be killed or perished as they kill our youth. Those killers are against homeland, against Islam."

At least 615 people, including 49 U.S. troops, have been killed since April 28, when Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari announced his new Shiite-dominated government. Washington hopes his government will eventually train police and an army capable of securing Iraq, allowing the withdrawal of coalition troops.

Iraq's National Assembly convened Tuesday and is expected to announce the head of a committee charged with drafting Iraq's new constitution, which must be drawn up by mid-August and put to a referendum by October.

Shiite Muslim cleric Hummam Hammoudi, an aide to the leader of Iraq's largest Shiite Arab party, will most likely head the committee, three lawmakers said Monday.

Amid a wave of sectarian violence, there have been calls for greater Sunni participation in drafting the constitution. Just 17 Sunni Arabs are in the assembly, or parliament, following a decision by many Sunni members not to participate in Jan. 30 elections, either by choice or fear of insurgent reprisals.

At least 20 people were killed in Monday's deadliest attack when two car bombs exploded near the home of Hassan Baktash, a Shiite Muslim with close ties to the Kurdistan Democratic Party, in Tal Afar, 50 miles west of the northern city of Mosul, officials said.

In Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad, a suicide car bomber blew himself up near a Shiite mosque, killing at least 10 people and wounding 30, many of them children, police said.

Sunni Muslims opposed to Iraq's Shiite-dominated government are thought to provide the backbone of the insurgency, and some Sunni extremists are attacking Shiite targets in an effort to provoke a sectarian war.

Eight people were killed and over 80 injured when a car bomb exploded Monday outside a Baghdad restaurant popular with police.

A suicide bomber killed five Iraqis and injured 13 in an attack outside a municipal council office in Tuz Khormato, south of the northern city of Kirkuk, police said.

Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.