U.S. Casualties In Iraq Hit One-Year High

5 U.S. Troops Die In Ramadi, Bringing October Total To 96; Clashes Between Iraqi Police And Militia Kill 30

(CBS/AP)  Ramadan ended on Sunday for Sunnis and Monday for Shiites. Since then, murders in parts of Baghdad where security forces have established a firm presence have fallen by 10 to 20 percent, said military spokesman Gen. William B. Caldwell.

"We did in fact see a tremendous downturn in the number within our clear areas which we are trying to watch very closely," Caldwell said at a weekly news briefing. "It could be a multitude of things that are bringing down the level of violence."

The fighting around Baqouba, 35 miles from the capital, marks the latest outbreak of bloodshed involving militants believed to be members of the Mahdi army militia loyal to hardline anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Ghassan al-Bawi, police chief of surrounding Diyala province, said those killed included 12 police officers and 18 gunmen.

The clashes followed fighting earlier this week between the Mahdi army and police aligned with a rival Shiite militia, the Badr Brigade, in the southern city of Amarah. At least 31 people were killed, including six police officers who were dragged out of their houses.

Mahdi militiamen have recently moved aggressively into several mixed areas around Baghdad, killing some Sunnis and forcing many others to flee their homes in a form of sectarian cleansing. Militia killings last week in Balad, near Baqouba, forced U.S. troops to return to the area after Iraqi security forces were unable to stem the bloodshed.

In the northern city of Mosul, authorities extended an overnight curfew until 3 p.m. local time on Friday after Sunni gunmen distributed leaflets proclaiming the mixed Sunni-Kurdish area a part of an Islamic state declared earlier this month by an insurgent umbrella group, the Mujahedeen Shura Council.

No insurgent group holds enough power to enforce such a decree, and the announcement of the Islamic state's formation has been viewed primarily as a propaganda ploy aimed at diminishing the U.S.-backed national government.

Arab Sunni insurgents and members of the Kurdish minority have been fighting for the upper hand in Mosul and a recent wave of attacks have killed dozens of civilians. On Thursday, five bullet-riddled bodies, including those of two plainclothes policemen, were found dumped around the city, a spokesman for the Ninevah provincial police said.

October has been especially deadly for Iraqi security forces and civilians, with about 1,000 Iraqis killed in war-related violence this month, including about 300 police and soldiers.

Caldwell said the search for the missing soldier, an Iraqi-born linguist abducted while visiting relatives on Monday, had resulted in a more check points and troops on the street, something that may have contained violence.

U.S. troops have blocked parts of the capital and searched door-to-door and by air with helicopters and drones. The soldier's name has been withheld to protect his family still in Iraq, Caldwell said.

The U.S. military reported Iraqi forces in Hillah south of the capital detained 11 suspected members of a murder and kidnapping cell that had targeted Iraqi and U.S. troops with mortars and roadside bombs. Another Iraqi unit killed a member of similar group in a gunfight during raid in Khalis, the military said.

U.S. commanders have been pushing Iraqi forces to take a leading role in the fight against insurgents, militias and death squads, one of a series of political and security goals Iraqi leaders have targeted in coming months.

In a snapshot of operations against Sunni insurgents, Caldwell said an offensive in the area around Shakariah, southwest of Baghdad — described as a "known terrorist sanctuary" — resulted in Iraqi and U.S. forces uncovering 130 weapons caches containing enough explosives to produce 1,000 roadside bombs.

The forces also drove insurgents from a half-built power plant in the Yusufiyah region that had been used as a staging base for attacks and a site where captives had been held in cages and tortured, he said.

[bluestardad]

observantX well spoken

[observantx]

So Herr Rumsfeld wants me to "Back off"?

Rummy: You clueless dolt! You can take your "Back off" and stick it where the sun doesn't shine. YOU are supposed to be working for ME. And as far as I can see you have totally mucked up the entire job. You are responsible for thousands of needless American deaths and loss of limbs, eyes, and scorched skin because of your total incompetence, lack of coherent planning and arrogance.

I'll back off , maybe, after you do the right thing and resign.

[mjv2944]

I think we are totally leaderless. Dubya, Chaney, Rummy and our legislative branch are completely clueless. We should probably blame ourselves as we elected all of them. We need to get people back in the voting booth and voting for whats right, not what they force feed us in the media.

[bluestardad]

"Heck of a Job Rummy", Stay the Course, He has performed all his jobs to my satisfaction".

[bluestardad]

Rumsfeld%u2019s head and hind end have been interchanged so much he does not know which end is doing the talking.

[peterbaldwin-2009]

I hope people take note of Rumsfeld's assinine comments today, particularly, that the Iraqi troops need more training and more dollars. Unfortunately, a lot of that cash will get funneled back into the insurgency.

[bluestardad]

STEP BACK FROM FEAR!
We in America need to pull back from this Frenzy of Fear that has spellbound us since September 11, 2001. I am not saying to let down our guard or not be prudent with our Law enforcement, Intelligence agencies or Military as their constant job is to protect the American people and they do it well. Rationally speaking it is more likely that a person will be killed in a car accident on the way to get milk than killed by a Terrorist in America. Hispanics coming across our border for work are not the terrorist or the enemy. Unfair trade practices initiated by our government are the cause of our jobs leaving and the demise of the Middle Class in America not some Terrorist plot. Political Parties have been using fear in an attempt to maintain power in this country. Americans do the math you are more likely to do yourself bodily harm than to be harmed by a Terrorist. America is a Land of Opportunity and hopes where people live in Freedom. America is not a land were people will be governed by Fear.

Michael C. Boetjer
Captain U. S. Army
Double Blue Star Father

[radiob-2009]

I had already stated that I was going to vote for the democrat candiate in the Nov.7th. election.Some interesting reading can be found in the latest edition of Time magazine on ways for us to bring our troops home and bring a measure of stability to Iraq.The author is not an ex military commander but he still makes some valid points.Many of which I have already suggested and many more that I have not.Here is the link http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1549305,00.html
I still beleive that we have an obligation to try to salvage what we can.Look at this way if the police(U.S.) broke into your house,destroyed the major infractsture of it and killed some of your family based on false information. Would you not want redress?Would you not feel that you were owed redress?Make no mistake I am not advocating stay the course nor am I defending the premise in which we went to war.I have read far to much before the war and after to justify it.I cannot justify the invasion.There is a credible reality though that if we leave Iraq without some form of stabilty that the region will become worse.Read the entire N.I.E. report that is available.I am neither a hawk nor a pacifist just a realist.Once again I will tell you that if the democratic party sweeps both houses,there is no plan to cut and run.There are options that are being discussed on how to stabilize Iraq and bring our soldiers home.It will not happen overnight but the options and strategies are better than the current policy.

[tibu987]

Not to worry, Bush recently said,
he "understood how tough the Iraq battle is."

"Nuff said............

[patriotic9]

emhawks
I can agree with everything you said except that 9/11 was an inside job.No matter how bad an American may be,he or she won't let so many Americans get killed for his or her financial interest.I know these days some women divorce their husbands for making money on the name of alimony and child support and some hubands kill their wives for making mony on the name of Life Insurance policies but my mind doesnt want to accept that killing of thousands of Americans could be an inside job.You also had said that Bush amn.is capable of anything.I also disagree with that.Majority of Bush admn. people are Neo cons religious bigots who don't wannna use their common sense at all and want to make the US forieng policies on the basis of religious prophecies.I think most of em don't have any idea of Middle East politics or cultures.IGNORANCE and ARROGANCE are the main problems of this admn.

[emhawks]

Many of you have made some excellent points about Bush, Cheney, Halliburton, war profiteering & oil. That's what the Iraq war is all about. The Bush adm. could care less about democracy in Iraq, Saddam Hussein, protecting the American people from terrorists or how many soldiers are being killed / maimed in Afganistan/Iraq.
I think the Bush adm. is capable of anything & I think they have proven this by their actions. I believe if they had wanted to capture bin Laden, they would have done so by now. I also believe that 911 was an inside job & I think history will prove this to be true. The 911 investigation should be re-opened. The Middle East terrorists are murderous fanatics.
The real terrorists are in the White House.

[patriotic9]

rsoxfan1123
Thanks for understanding and appreciating this point.I just raised this point as a lesson for the future.We should think a lot before getting emotional and doing something which our enemy wants us to do.Our enemies look like goat handlers,cave men but actually they are not that dumb.Whereas unfortunately,some of our leaders who wear nice BUSINESS SUITE act so dumb,they screw they whole nation.

[rsoxfan1123]

patriotic9- good point. I thought the same thing myself. by saying "oh no, don't vote for Bush..." he's practicaly guaranteeing we will. bin Laden wanted us running around Iraq.

[patriotic9]

diamtool
"Al Queda and the insurgents love the neo cons"
You are absolutely right about that.If we remember,2 days before the last Presidential Election,Bin Laden had released a video tape in which he was talking against President Bush.It was very obvious when the worst enemy of USA was talking against President Bush,American people were supposed to vote Bush which Bin Laden actually wanted.He played with our psychology and we got trapped,now our whole nation is paying the ultmiate price.

[pendragon679]

For the record: My grandfather left portions of his right leg and hip in France in 1918 and earned a Purple Heart for it. Two of my nephews were marines in Viet Nam, one of them serving two tours. Neither of them talks of this experience to this day. My youngest nehpew was in Air Force Intelligence reading aerial reconaissance photos during the Gulf War. One of my best friends in college left most of his right leg behind during the Tet offensive; he didn't talk much about it. I never served, but I have empathy for all of those who have. The Bushies who misled us into Iraq have no clue what military families go through.

We, the USA, put Saddam Hussein in power in the first place; when he outlived his usefulness to us, King Dubya decided to take him out. Now Saddam's successor, Moqtada al-Sadr, has taken hold and what are we doing to stop him? Nothing. Zip. Nada. The time is long past for us to put this Iraqi misadventure behind us, protect the homeland AT HOME, and let the Middle East take care of its own problems.

Oh, wait, there are huge oil reserves in Iraq. Silly me...what was I thinking?

[rsoxfan1123]

peterbaldwin- yes, Halliburton was indicted for war profiteering during the Viet Nam war. This Texas based have turned HUGE profits in both Iraq and Viet Nam under Johnson and Bush (texas presidents). As a matter of fact, Cheney was CEO of Halliburton.

[peterbaldwin-2009]

Ike warned us about the "military-industrial complex". Maybe this war is about nothing more than feeding that avaracious beast. Haliburtin was around sidling up to the trough during Vietnam, too. The French told us point black after Dien Bien Phu: Stay the f... out of this s...hole!" The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution? Same story - different war.

[rsoxfan1123]

diamtool-excellent points. maybe the goal never was to win this war. maybe the extreme right is not as stupid as they appear, and are aware of these things. Maybe, just maybe, the goal was to get as much profit out of Iraq for as long as possible (which is until Bush gets out of office) for certain groups, esp. halliburton and specific investors and contriburots to this administration.

[osidebear]

I don't know if splitting Iraq into three parts will solve the problem or result in more or less bloodshed. I do think it's a less ridiculous idea than the policy we've got in place now. It's pretty clear that the Kurds want nothing to do with the rest of Iraq, and the sectarian violence between Shia and Sunni speak to the fact that those groups are irreconcilable.

Split them up. If they fight, they fight. What we have now is a failure of monstrous proportions.

[diamtool]

Remember the Great Russian Bear left Afghanistan in 1989 with his tail between his legs after getting bled and beat up for years. The puppet government they propped up lasted a few months. And this was almost on Russia's border. The same thing happened to the Brits in Mesopotamia in 1918-1920. That area is now called Iraq. These were both superpowers of their time.
The right wing nutjobs must have studied bible prophecy and skipped all of their history classes. Now our brave kids are doomed to repeat it.

God Bless our Troops
God forgive George Bush