Baghdad Security Crackdown Begins

Meanwhile, 7 Killed After U.S. Military Helicopter Shot Down Near Capital

(CBS/AP)  At about the same time, four guards at a nearby building housing state television were shot and killed on the rooftop. An official at Iraqiya television said the men were hit by fire from security company personnel escorting foreign visitors to the Justice Ministry just across the street. The television official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

In parts of the city only a few shops were open, a reminder of the fear people have of a repeat of the car and suicide bomb attacks that have hit Baghdad with regularity in recent weeks.

Lines outside petrol stations stretched for more than a mile in the city's worst fuel crisis in months.

Gunfire rang out across the capital and the wail of police and ambulance sirens seemed incessant. The buzz of low flying U.S. helicopters and growl of fighter jets was nonstop above a new crop of posters and billboards speaking of Baghdad's struggle.

"Our streets are deserted and our blood is fair game," declared one that showed an empty street strewn with debris from a bombing.

Another billboard showed a young man weeping because he had not reported suspicious activity to authorities. "I should have done the right thing," he says.

Still another billboard message implored: "Be a hero and report suspicious behavior."

Most taxi drivers were refusing to take passengers headed to areas dominated by the Muslim sect other than their own. Minibus drivers were demanding passengers prove that they lived in the region where they wanted to travel.

The capital's streets became nearly deserted well before nightfall, a surprising sign of genuine fear among a population that has lived through wars for much of the past 25 years. Those with money to spare, residents say, are stocking up on fuel to power generators and on basic foodstuffs like flour, cereals and potatoes.

With electricity only available about two hours a day in much of the city, residents also were buying candles and lanterns. The rickety stands of some outdoor food markets, a favorite target for suicide bombers, stood empty.

"We live hand-to-mouth and don't have money to stock up on anything," said Ibrahim Mohammed, a 78-year-old retired engineer from Azamiya. The predominantly Sunni area in north Baghdad was likely to be high on the list of targets in the Baghdad security plan.

"No one goes to work anymore," Mohammed said.

Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell, the top U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, said Wednesday, that the much-awaited Baghdad security operation was finally under way. "The implementation of the (Iraqi) prime minister's plan has already begun and will be fully implemented at a later date, having all the parts and pieces that he wants," he told a news briefing.

The operation is the third attempt by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his U.S. backers to pacify Baghdad since the Shiite leader came to office in May. The operation, which will involve about 90,000 Iraqi and American troops, was seen by many as a last chance to curb Iraq's sectarian war.

"If this security plan is the same as those we had before, with checkpoints delaying the traffic for hours, then I can tell you now that it will be a failure," said Murtadha Mahdi, a 35-year-old unemployed father of two who lives in Hurriyah, now a predominantly Shiite district in northern of Baghdad that saw some of the worst sectarian fighting late last year.

The current security sweep in Baghdad began nearly a year after the city became the main battlefield of sectarian violence after al Qaeda militants bombed a major Shiite shrine north of Baghdad.

Thousands have since died in the capital, victims of Shiite militiamen or suicide bombings blamed on Sunni militants. Thousands more have been displaced from their homes.

[lars008-2009]

Terrorism Awareness Project to wake up Americans
http://www.terrorismawareness.org/
http://www.terrorismawareness.org/islamic-mein-kampf

fascist nazi islamic muslims
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=nazi+muslim
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=nazi islam
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=fascist islam&btnG=Search
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=fascist muslim
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=nazi muslim&fr=yfp-t-501&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=nazi islam&fr=yfp-t-501&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=fascist islam&fr=yfp-t-501&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8
http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0geuqkyKctFlMAArxtXNyoA?p=fascist muslim&ei=UTF-8&fr=yfp-t-501&x=wrt

[exusmcsgt]

lars008-

I find nothing at either link that states anything about Nazi Muslims.

[lars008-2009]

fascist nazi islamic muslims
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=nazi+muslim

http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=nazi muslim&fr=yfp-t-501&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8

[exusmcsgt]

lars008-

I'm still waiting for the name of a single Nazi Muslim.

[lars008-2009]

Terrorism Awareness Project to wake up Americans and the World
http://www.terrorismawareness.org/

http://www.terrorismawareness.org/islamic-mein-kampf

[exusmcsgt]

Remember last October when Cheney stated that the ecalating violence in Iraq was due to the insurgents wishing to influence our elections?

This today from the Philadelphia enquirer:

WASHINGTON - More American troops were killed in combat in Iraq over the last four months - at least 334 through Jan. 31 - than in any comparable stretch since the war began, an Associated Press analysis of casualty records shows.


Cheney, as usual, was completely off the mark, no pun intended......

[dallison7]

an outside person could even argue that valerie plame outed herself
Posted by lars008

Of course you're right! And the fact is, all of those detainees tortured themselves! You know what else, Saddam really hung himself, those videos were fake!!

[lars008-2009]

so many fascist nazi islamic muslims pretending to be american liberals........

[lars008-2009]

radiob

an outside person could even argue that valerie plame outed herself by sending her husband to africa instead of a cia agent, hmmmmmm maybe it was their partisan politics driving their decisions..... joe wilson has disgraced himself and his wife.....

[firststate]

feelfree1
SOLD!

[feelfree1]

firststate,

Baker is a huge part of the problem. He will surely roast in hell with the rest of them.

I would suggest that this is a good starting point:

www.ipetitions.com/petition/OutNow

Please consider adding your support to this effort.

Good evening.

[firststate]

Allergies, the pollen from carrying 363 tons worth of flowers finally overcame the Claritan.

The ISG is a reasonable starting point. Rational discussion from its points would probably be more effective than "I don't wanna and you can't make me." Baker has know him his entire life, he should have known that the report needed to be illustrated. "My Pet Goat" kept him spellbound.

[feelfree1]

More hearts and minds, I see.

The Iraqi in the photo must have either ran out of flowers, or stopped dancing.

[feelfree1]

firststate,

Good points, but I don't give our Resident quite as much credit for our current situation. I think that he does what he is told to do.

Unfortunately most of our Congress is complicit in many of the worst deeds of the Bush regime. Because of this, I think that they will have a very hard time offering any real alternatives to our present course.

I hope the Democrats prove me wrong, but I am not holding my breath. I think that we must all demand accountability from our officials, by way of angry torch-bearing mob, if necessary.

Nighty, night.

[firststate]

feelfree1
You've hit upon the real problem with dumbya's communication monitoring and extraordinary renditions programs. Namely, suspected by whom and upon what basis are they considered suspected terrorists? Is the criteria for suspicion that your trustworthy administration says so? These are some of the very questions the white house didn't want to have to answer and suddenly discover that they could work within the FISA after all. They finally admitted that starting to monitor instantly didn't impose unnecessary delay after all. Congress needs to keep digging anyway. Dumbya and dickey don't have sterling reputations for total honesty and they might be going at their under the table spying on American's some slightly different way. There's an unconfirmed report that dickey accidentally told the truth recently, breaking his record of slightly over 6 years of abstinence.

[feelfree1]

Re: "But before the U.S. could announce the cause of the crash, a jihadi Web site linked to al Qaeda was already declaring victory, reports chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan."

What web site? Who "linked" this alleged web site to al Qaeda, and what basis did they use for the "link"?

Ms. Logan is a breathless propaganda tool of the pro-Corporate butchers. One of her primary functions appears to be as a hype agent for the 'alQaeda in Iraq' fables.

She accomplishes this by revealing what has been "linked" to what, and what is "believed", by mysterious unnamed officials.

She's embedded, all right.

[jdweymouth]

RE: "Stay away from that GOP Slime News,,, You are better off believing in the National Enquirer."

j-whitman: You call conservatives fascists? What do you call that bit above? Communism? Yeah, maybe...

[jdweymouth]

condumism: Not so. As a matter of fact, many
Nazis hate Bush because he supports Israel.

[radiob-2009]

lars008 The fact of the matter is that no one will ever 100% know who outed Plane, suspicion looms around the white house as the source. Libby will take the fall and America will never know. Just like Liventko accept not as deadly.It truly is "Apathy for the devil and it's at fever pitch"

[lars008-2009]

radiob

righttttttttttttttttttt
you have a secret under cover wife you love and want to protect and you are going to put pay to put her in who's who with here covert name valerie plame as your wife, not as valerie wilson, wife of joe wilson..... duhhhhhhhhh.....