Dozens Killed In Intense Iraqi Fighting

(CBS/AP)  Intense house-to-house fighting between insurgents and Iraqi police north of Baghdad killed 43 people, including 24 officers, the U.S. military said Friday. U.S. troops later joined the fight, aiding in a counterattack that left 18 insurgents dead, the military said.

An unknown number of "anti-Iraqi forces" ambushed a police unit based in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad on Thursday morning the military said, using its standard term for Sunni insurgents.

Police fought back and U.S. troops nearby were diverted from another mission, assisted by air cover. One Iraqi civilian was also killed, eight insurgents wounded, and 27 others captured, the military said.

The attack marked some of the heaviest fighting in recent days between insurgents and Iraqi security forces, who U.S. commanders have been pressing to take over more responsibility for security, thereby allowing them to begin contemplating U.S. troop withdrawls.

With rising U.S. casualties adding to growing anti-war sentiment, U.S. leaders are eager to show that the Iraqi forces are rising to the challenge by controlling territory and inflicting casualties on their enemies.

Iraq's Interior Ministry, which commands the police, gave a slightly different versions of the clash and said those killed included Khan Bani Saad's police chief, Brig. Abbas Al-Ameri, and his brother.

A ministry spokesman, Brig. Abdel-Karim Khalaf, said forces moved into the area after learning of the presence of insurgents who were behind the ambush on Monday of a convoy of buses carrying police recruits in which at least 15 were killed 25 wounded.

"After we received information that these criminals had a presence... we mobilized our forces and attacked the area," Khalf said. "We cannot tolerate this and that is the reason why we took action yesterday," he said.

Khalf denied police had been surprised and put the death toll among officers at 12, with 19 insurgents killed and 28 captured. He described the enemy fighters as hardcore remnants of Saddam Hussein's former Baathist regime joined by "Takfiri elements" a term for Islamic radicals that include groups such as al Qaeda in Iraq.

The area around Baqouba has seen heavy fighting in recent weeks between armed Shiite and Sunni groups carrying out brutal revenge killings. A Shiite militia went on a rampage in the nearby city of Balad last week, killing scores of Sunnis and forcing others to flee their homes.

In other developments:

The U.S. ambassador and Iraqi prime minister issued a rare joint statement late Friday in which Iraq reaffirmed its commitment to a "good and strong" relationship with the United States. The statement also said that Iraq "made clear the issues that must be resolved with timelines for them to take positive steps forward... ."

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said anybody demanding deadlines for progress in Iraq should "just back off," because it is too difficult to predict when Iraqis will be able to take control of their country. At a Pentagon news conference Thursday, an often-combative Rumsfeld said that while benchmarks for security, political and economic progress are valuable, "it's difficult. We're looking out into the future. No one can predict the future with absolute certainty." He said the goals have no specific deadlines or consequences if they are not met by specific dates. "You're looking for some sort of a guillotine to come falling down if some date isn't met," Rumsfeld told reporters. "That is not what this is about."

Four people were killed and five wounded Friday in an attack on a van carrying Shiites returning from the funeral of a relative in the holy city of Najaf, said a spokesman for the police force in surrounding Diyala province. The gunmen drove up in two cars and sprayed the van with bullets about 13 miles east of Baqouba, said the spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with police security guidelines.

Authorities enforced a vehicle ban in the embattled city of Mosul on Friday following threats from Sunni gunmen who distributed leaflets at mosques on Thursday proclaiming the mixed Sunni-Kurdish city a part of an Islamic state declared earlier this month by an insurgent umbrella group, the Mujahedeen Shura Council. While the insurgent's declaration has been viewed primarily as a propaganda move, fighters aligned with the Shura Council have been suspected in recent deadly attacks in Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad. The city is a battleground between Sunni Arabs relocated there by the former regime and members of the Kurdish minority native to the region.

A U.S. Marine pleaded guilty to charges of assault and conspiracy to obstruct justice in the death of an Iraqi civilian, telling a judge he knew his actions would fuel anti-war sentiment. "Anything like this would present an argument against the war," Pfc. John J. Jodka III said Thursday at his court-martial. The military judge, Lt. Col. David Jones, interrupted him and said, "I'm not interested in political implications." The judge had asked Jodka to say whether he thought his actions reflected badly on the Marine Corps, and Jodka said he believed
they did.

American troop deaths hit their highest monthly total in a year on Thursday with the announcement of five more deaths, a Navy sailor and four Marines. All were killed Wednesday in the volatile Anbar province, west of Baghdad, where Sunni insurgents have inflicted more than one-third of the 2,809 U.S. military deaths since the March, 2003 invasion of Iraq. At least 96 U.S. troops have died so far this month, equaling the level for the whole of October 2005 — a factor in growing calls for U.S. President George W. Bush to change strategy in Iraq.

U.S. forces were continuing to search for a missing soldier, an Iraqi-born linguist abducted while visiting relatives on Monday. Additional checkpoints and troops on the streets has been credited with possibly helping reduce violence since the end of Ramadan.

[radiob-2009]

To heetseeker the majority of attacks that have been taking place recently are from the militias.The overall assessmnet you gave on Iraq is fairly realistic.I have been trying for days to inform people here that the democrats if they take power of both houses will not cut and run.I am an independent who will vote democrat because in my precint it is the better choice of two evils.The democratic party will however place diplomatic presssure and monetary pressure on the Iraqi's.Iraq will never be what we perceive as a democracy.The best we can hope for is stabilty.If the Kurds and the Sunnis could come together they could pressure Al Malki to actually take action against the militias.If we straighten this mess out then we have to go back to Afghanistan which the Taliban/Al Queda is making a powerful resurgence.I just hope that if we do we get smart this time and use reliable intel and nuke those areas.I think that will shut them up.If we had done this after 9/11 I do not beleive we would be in Iraq today.

[heetseeker]

To date, the Democrats have yet to present a coherent alternative on Iraq.

Even Joe Biden... bold though he is to suggest setting tough milestones... his comments are bound in rhetoric that is more harmful than helpful... dictating terms to Iraqi only underlines the fact that it is not a sovereign government.

Guys.. we are no longer in a position to dictate to anyone... perhaps the administration has finally understood this... although, if it does, it has no clue what to do about it.. except to "stay the course."

For Iraq to move forward three things must happen... First, the insurgency must be de-fanged... however, we have been unable to do this so far & are unlikely to anytime soon... it is too disparate, too well financed and seemingly too resolute.

Second, the militias must be disarmed... no-can-do... Al-Maliki will not disarm the shia militias because he relies on their political fathers for patronage... indeed he can no more disarm the mehdi army than Fouad Siniora, prime minister of Lebanon, can disarm Hezboallah.

Third, the administration needs to widen the regional dialogue & talk to Syria & Iran, which it will not do.

We are a hostage to events rather than a shaper of them... the humiliation that will be heaped upon this administration, if it withdraws, will ensure that our troops remain in Iraq, in existing numbers, for the forseeable future.

This is our bed & we will be lying in it for many years to come.

[bluestardad]

Guys you can feel it in the air there is an awakening of the American Electorate and we are the sleeping giant our oppressors have feared all this time. We need to make sure that we take someone to the poles on Election Day. Americans will vote against this administration in so great of numbers that Carl Rove%u2019s election stealing programmers cannot up date the election theft code fast enough to stop the landslide victory.

[tibu987]

I do not believe that "W" ever has had an original thought. He is manipulated by Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rove, and the elder Bush. These people should ashamed.
The military leaders, who, in fear of their jobs and rank, are equally guilty.
This war, this administration, is a tragedy perpetrated onto the American people.
Please vote on November 7th.
Vote out the incumbents, Dems and Repubs.
Vote for term limits when possible.

[heetseeker]

"Back off" is a protest... not an argument... but this administration gave up on intelligent conversation a long time ago... vision has given way to fear-mongering... accountability has given way to deniability... and truthfulness has given way to untruth, mistatements and ommission...

However, it does say a lot about the mentality of the administration... specifically that they have no answers and no clues..

For a public official to make such a statement when 2,800 US troops have lost their lives at an average of nearly 60 per month suggest either indifference or madness... HELLO00... WE ARE PAYING FOR THIS WAR REMEMBER!!! Could a US defence secretary rehearsed such a statement before March 2003?

However, Rummy is nothing if not cunning... he knows that the Iraq war has now conditioned and hardened the American people... so much so that whatever sense of outrage there might be to his comments on the war.... it will be fleeting...

Now anything goes ... no matter how ridiculous or outrageous... if we tolerate this, what will be next?

[mjv2944]

Yes sir Rummy, lets send them another 500 million so that they can steal that too. Hopeless, thats what we have over there, as bluestar dad says, not one hair or drop of blood should be shed for that dung heap. Let them fight it out.

[peterbaldwin-2009]

Chaney is the biggest sicko of all, I guess, emhawks.

Bush asks Chaney to go out and pick a vice-president and he says, "How about me, little boy?" Then Bush asks Chaney who should be Defense Secretary and
Chaney says, "Rummy" (see State of Denial). Chaney just took advantage of Bush's low IQ.

[emhawks]

To peterbaldwin:
I agree! Add Cheney to the list of madmen. In fact, he should go @ the top of the list since he is "the hand behind the throne".
I hope & pray Democrats can win control of @ least the House Nov. 7th. Then we can begin to pressure our Congressmen to begin impeachment proceedings against Bush & Cheney. And hopefully, start to withdraw US troops from Iraq & Afganistan. There have been enough lives wasted in both these wars. Why was the Iraq war started? Follow the money.

[bluestardad]

CALL TO AMERICAN VOTER
STAY FOCUSED AMERICA IT IS ABOUT TO GET TOUGH. WE HAVE A FEW MORE DAYS OF INTENSE ATTACK ADS, SMOKE SCREENS, DIVISION OF ELECTORATE, DECEPTION, MISREPRESENTATION, AND LIES, TO ENDURE BEFORE WE CAN UNCOVER THE ELECTION FRAUD, RECOUNT THE VOTE, AND THROW THESE CRIMINALS OUT OF OFFICE. THEN WE CAN START HEALING AMERICA.

[bluestardad]

"Heck of a Job Rummy, Stay the course, I am the Decider here". you bumbling twit of an administration with the bobblehead military yes men following around behind them like the stooges with their noses stuffed up your backsides.It would be funny if were happening to someone else.