war: usa vs iraq - update: troop usa berundur dlm 18 bln!!

amazed

22 maut dalam dua letupan bom di Baghdad
BAGHDAD: Polis Iraq mengesahkan seorang pengebom berani mati meletupkan diri di tengah kesesakan orang ramai yang berkumpul menyebabkan 22 terbunuh manakala 42 lagi dilaporkan cedera.

Orang ramai terbabit berkumpul selepas kejadian letupan pertama pada awal pagi ini, di daerah Azamiyah, di tengah ibu negara.

Selepas beberpa minit kemudian, seorang lelaki meletupkan diri dengan memandu kereta ke arah mereka yang berkumpul itu.

Bagaimanapun, setakat ini, polis tidak dapat memastikan jumlah mereka yang terbunuh pada letupan pertama serta kedua, sebaliknya hanya memberi jumlah keseluruhan. - AP

amazed

Tiga lagi bom gegar Baghdad

BAGHDAD: Tiga letupan lagi menggegarkan Baghdad semalam, mengorbankan 19 orang, dua hari sebelum Parlimen mengundi perjanjian mengenai kehadiran tentera Amerika Syarikat bagi menetapkan pengunduran askar asing itu dari bumi Iraq menjelang 2011.

Satu daripada letupan dilakukan pengebom bunuh diri wanita yang meletupkan bom di pintu masuk Zon Hijau, kawasan dikawal ketat di sini, memburukkan lagi suasana keganasan yang menyelubungi ibu kota Iraq ini.

“Dalam serangan pertama, 13 orang terkorban - sembilan daripadanya wanita - apabila sebutir bom di tepi jalan meletup berhampiran sebuah bas membawa kakitangan Kementerian Perdagangan ketika waktu puncak sebelah pagi di timur bandar ini,” kata pegawai perubatan di hospital berdekatan.


Pasukan perubatan berkata, kebanyakan mangsa rentung dalam bas dan lima lagi cedera dalam serangan itu.

“Kurang sejam selepas itu lima lagi terbunuh apabila seorang wanita meletupkan bom di kaki lima menghala ke Zon Hijau, ketika kakitangan Iraq sedang beratur melepasi pemeriksaan keselamatan yang menggunakan pengimbas keluli, mesin X-ray serta pemeriksaan badan,” kata polis.

Seramai 17 lagi cedera dalam serangan waktu sesak yang berlaku di seluruh tengah bandar ini.

“Dalam satu serangan di timur Baghdad, sebutir bom tepi jalan membunuh seorang mangsa dan mencederakan lima lain,” kata polis sambil menambah tiga yang cedera adalah polis berkawal.

Tentera Amerika dan Iraq segera menutup pintu masuk itu dan mengarahkan pemerhati beredar dari tempat kejadian, selain memaksa kakitangan menunggu hingga pemeriksaan selesai.

Seorang pegawai daripada perkhidmatan perisikan Iraq berkata, letupan itu mensasarkan pintu masuk kaki lima pusat pemeriksaan menghala ke ibu pejabat mereka.

“Dua kakitangan perkhidmatan perisikan wanita terbunuh dan enam pengawal cedera dalam serangan pagi ini. Serangan itu mensasarkan pusat pemeriksaan kami,” katanya sambil menambah seorang mangsa adalah wanita hamil. - AFP

amazed

January 25, 2009

U.S. troops kill Iraqi couple, wound daughter



BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. troops shot dead a couple and wounded their eight-year-old daughter during an early morning raid on their house in northern Iraq on Saturday, a senior Iraqi police officer said.

Major-General Turhan Abdul Rahman, deputy chief commander of police in Kirkuk province, said U.S. forces stormed the house of Dhiya Hussein, a former officer in the Iraqi army under Saddam Hussein, in Hawija, 210 km north of Baghdad.

A U.S. military spokesman confirmed that a man and a woman had been killed and a child wounded in the raid, but gave no further details.

The spokesman said the incident took place during a joint operation with Iraqi forces. The Iraqi police general said no Iraqi troops were present at the raid.

Kirkuk is one of the northern provinces where unrest persists despite a reduction in violence in the country. U.S. forces there have yet to hand over responsibility for security to Iraqi troops as they have done in most of Iraq.

sonny~~

2 news - obama wanna withdraw american soldiers from iraq - sunni wanna go to the poll.  cool.  there may be light at the end of the tunnel - hope for iraqis n peace of mind for the world n the us gonna feel less guilty for invading iraq without concrete proof of saddam hussein alleged wmd  

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7855191.stm

from bbc, wednesday - 28 january 2009 -

Over half a million Iraqis are going to the polls in provincial elections, three days before most of the rest of the country will be voting.  The early ballots are for security forces, prisoners and hospital patients.  Stringent security measures are being prepared for the main vote on Saturday.
Thousands of candidates are competing for seats on provincial councils. Sunni factions which boycotted the last polls are taking part this time.

amazed

Friday February 27, 2009FACTBOX - Obama's Iraq troop withdrawal plan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will set a date on Friday for the withdrawal of all U.S combat troops from Iraq, a key turning point in the six-year-old war.

Below are some details of the plan that administration officials say Obama will announce in a speech at Camp Lejeune, a Marine Corps base in North Carolina.

U.S. soldiers stand at attention during a mass reenlistment ceremony in Baghdad July 4, 2008, file photo. (REUTERS/Erik de Castro)

* The U.S. combat mission in Iraq will end on Aug. 31, 2010, but a force of 30,000-50,000 troops will remain to train and equip Iraqi forces and protect provincial reconstruction teams, international projects and diplomatic staff.

* A portion of that force, and officials have not said how large, will conduct counter-terrorism operations both on its own and in conjunction with Iraqi security forces.

* The United States signed a security pact with Iraq that set a Dec. 31, 2011 deadline for all U.S. forces to withdraw. Obama will say that it remains the United States' intent to reduce the number of U.S. troops to "zero" by that date.

* Officials say the 19-month withdrawal timetable was decided on after consultations with U.S. military leaders and the top U.S. general in Iraq, General Raymond Odierno, who wanted to ensure he had enough troops for elections due in December and other key events in 2009 and 2010.

* The pace of the drawdown will be left to commanders on the ground to decide, but officials stressed that the United States' ability to boost forces in Afghanistan, as it wants to do, is linked to the speed of the Iraq troop withdrawal.

*The drawdown is to be accompanied by a ramped-up diplomatic effort that will involve regional players, although officials are not specifically mentioning neighboring Iran. Iraqi leaders will be urged to deal with political issues that have the potential to reignite civil strife.

amazed

Q+A - Questions about Obama's Iraq withdrawal plan

Reuters - Here are some key questions surrounding President Barack Obama's plan to withdraw combat troops from Iraq over the next 18 months, which he announced on Friday at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.


HOW MANY U.S. TROOPS WILL LEAVE AND HOW MANY WILL STAY?

There are currently 142,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. Obama said between 35,000 and 50,000 would remain after Aug. 31, 2010. That means between 92,000 and 107,000 U.S. troops will withdraw over the next 18 months.

HOW QUICKLY WILL THE TROOPS DEPART?

The withdrawal is likely to begin slowly because commanders in Iraq want a large force to remain in place for national elections due this December. It would then accelerate in 2010.

WHAT WILL THE REMAINING TROOPS DO?

The troops will focus on training and supporting Iraqi forces, protecting U.S. diplomats and other civilians, and conducting counter-terrorism operations, officials say.

Although the administration says these forces will not have a "combat mission," a substantial portion will be combat capable. And their tasks, particularly counter-terrorism, raise the prospect they will be involved in some combat.

WHEN WILL THE REMAINING TROOPS LEAVE?

All U.S. forces have to be out of Iraq by the end of 2011 under a security pact agreed between Baghdad and Washington late last year. Obama said he intends to respect that deadline.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, however, suggested the United States should be prepared to maintain a "modest" military presence to assist Iraqi forces beyond 2011 if asked to do so by Iraq's government.

WILL THE WITHDRAWAL LESSEN STRAINS ON U.S. MILITARY?

Not immediately, because the withdrawal is likely to be slow at first and, in the meantime, more U.S. forces will start deploying to Afghanistan. Over time, however, the withdrawal should substantially cut the number of U.S. troops deployed.

WILL IT SAVE MONEY?

Not right away because the costs of removing troops and equipment from Iraq will be substantial. But the Obama administration sees troop cuts in Iraq as one way to reduce the federal deficit and should reap savings over time.

Obama this week estimated he would need $130 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for the next fiscal year, which begins on Oct. 1. The war costs for this fiscal year are estimated at $141.4 billion. But exact comparisons are difficult because Obama has pledged to include more war costs in the Pentagon's regular budget.

amazed

Saturday February 28, 2009
Obama sets Iraq deadline, unveils new strategy
By Ross Colvin and Jeff Mason

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Friday he would pull U.S. combat troops out of Iraq in 18 months as he unveiled a new strategy that stressed diplomacy and engagement with foes like Iran and Syria.




A boy looks at a U.S. soldier o on a road during a patrol in Samarra,
100 km north of Baghdad September 23, 2008, file photo.
(REUTERS/Erik de Castro)

Winding down the Iraq war will allow Obama to boost troop numbers in Afghanistan, which he has declared the central front in the U.S. fight against terrorism. He hopes it will also help him slash a ballooning $1.3 trillion budget deficit.

"We are leaving Iraq to its people, and we have begun the work of ending this war," Obama said, almost six years after U.S.-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein in a vain hunt for weapons of mass destruction.

The 18-month timetable marks a historic juncture in a war that has been enormously costly to the United States and defined the presidency of George W. Bush. It has been a huge drain on the Treasury, cost the lives of 4,250 U.S. soldiers and damaged the United States' standing in the world.

"I have chosen a timeline that will remove our combat brigades over the next 18 months. Let me say this as plainly as I can: by August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end," Obama said to scattered applause from an audience of about 2,000 Marines at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.

Obama said 35,000 to 50,000 troops would stay to train and equip the Iraqi forces, protect civilian reconstruction projects and conduct limited counterterrorism operations.

He stressed he intended to remove all U.S. troops by the end of 2011, in line with a deal signed with Iraq last year, and in a direct address to the Iraqi people said the United States "pursues no claim on your territory or your resources."

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he would favor a modest U.S. military presence in Iraq even after the end of 2011 to assist Iraqi security forces if requested by Baghdad.

"My own view would be that we should be prepared to have some very modest-sized presence for training and helping them with their new equipment and providing perhaps intelligence support," he told reporters.

PURSUING DIPLOMACY

Obama said Washington would pursue a regional diplomatic strategy, help resettle millions of Iraqis displaced by violence, and try to help Iraq's leaders resolve divisive political issues.

"The United States will pursue principled and sustained engagement with all of the nations in the region, and that will include Iran and Syria," he said.

Washington has accused Iran and Syria of meddling in Iraq's internal affairs, a charge they deny. The Bush administration pursued talks with Tehran on stabilizing Iraq but they petered out in the midst of mutual accusations.

Obama said the U.S. troop drawdown sent a "clear signal that Iraq's future is now its own responsibility."

"We cannot sustain indefinitely a commitment that has put a strain on our military, and will cost the American people nearly a trillion dollars," he said.

For many Americans, the Iraq war has been overshadowed by a deep recession that has left many struggling to make ends meet and millions jobless.

Obama's decision to leave a sizable force to bolster stability was welcomed by congressional Republicans, notably former presidential candidate Senator John McCain, while some Democrats were concerned too many troops would remain in Iraq.

"Overall it is a reasonable plan and one that can work and I support it," said McCain, who had argued Obama was naive on national security and criticized his 16-month withdrawal plan.

In an effort to stem rising violence in Afghanistan, Obama ordered 17,000 more troops, including Marines from Camp Lejeune, to Afghanistan last week.

Obama, who accused the Bush administration of becoming distracted by the Iraq war and allowing security to deteriorate in Afghanistan, briefed Bush on his speech on Friday.