Battle For Diwaniyah Rages On In Iraq

(AP)  U.S. warplanes blasted a militia team firing rocket-propelled grenades Saturday, the second day of heavy fighting in a major offensive to drive Shiite Mahdi Army militiamen out of Diwaniyah, a farm-belt city south of Baghdad.

Maj. Gen. Othman Farhood al-Ghanemi, commander of the Iraqi army's 8th Division, said the U.S.-Iraqi operation to retake Diwaniyah took shape after a three-month crescendo of violence in which at least 58 people were killed or kidnapped.

In violence leading up to the offensive, many women reportedly were killed after the hard-line fundamentalist militiamen accused them of violating their strict interpretation of Islamic morality.

Al-Ghanemi told The Associated Press that militants were armed with rocket-propelled grenades, Katyusha rockets, Strela anti-aircraft rockets and AK-47 assault rifles. Before the offensive, militants attacked Iraqi and U.S.-led coalition forces 17 times with roadside bombs — some of them armor-piercing explosively formed projectiles.

The U.S. military accuses Iran of providing militants with the deadly EFPs.

In Other Developments:

In Baghdad, two U.S. soldiers were killed and seven were wounded in two separate roadside bombs attacks. One attack employed an EFP, which hurl a molten, fist-sized copper slug capable of piercing armored vehicles.

North of the capital, in the increasingly dangerous Diyala provincial capital of Baqouba, police reported finding 21 more bodies dumped in the streets, victims of the intense sectarian warfare. All were shot execution-style and many had been tortured. At least 62 bodies have been found in or near the Baqouba since Tuesday.

A total of 58 people were killed or found dead across Iraq on Saturday in the eighth week of the U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown on the capital and surrounding cities and towns.

Approximately 1,500 Iraqis in the southern Baghdad neighborhood of Abu Dasheer — a Shiite enclave in the Sunni-dominated Dora section — took to the streets Saturday demanding government protection from a rise in sectarian vioelnce. Carrying Iraqi flags and symbolic coffins to remember the victims of attacks, demonstrators chanted, "There is no God but Allah."

The U.S. military announced 14 suspects and a large weapons cache were captured earlier in the week in western Baghdad's Yarmouk neighborhood. It said security operations continued in the area. At least 14 men were detained and explosives, bomb-making materials, handguns and mortars were found.

Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said that government officials from Iraq's neighbors, the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and representatives of the Group of Eight industrialized nations would meet in Egypt early next month. The Egyptian meeting will be held at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik on May 3-4, Zebari said.

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[kaliveotin]

Ignorant americans. stil*fu****1234 seems to be very confused. He (or she) attacks liberals and IRAQs people, but still seems to support the Republican administration. He (or she) seems to be making arguements in support of liberals who are opposed to the war. Still, he (or she) tries to make fun of of those who believe the BUsh administration is evil while making arguements that our involvement in IRAQ is a bad joke and could never have been sucessfull. Liberals don't believe "Brave Iraquies are fending off americans, but its hard to see the masses in Iraquies as supporting americans. He (or she) doesn't seem to have a clue about anything, expressing a mind in complete chaos and without rational understanding. Monkeys are capable of emotional attacks without reason.

P.S. The world is full of rainbows, flowers and marijuana in spite of the very evil Bush administration and individuals like still fuc*** 1234. ( Chaney was one of four in congress who voted against head start. Bushes simplistic zealotry and lack of empathy, Rumsfields fascist arrogance, and OUR attourney generals dishonesty speak for themselves.

[stfu1234]

Wow. There's nothing like hearing ignorant people going of on a soapbox about the "evil" bush administration, "atrocities" committed by US troops, and the brave iraqis fending off the agressive americans. if that's the way you feel then take a trip to iraq and try to sympathize with the iraqis. i'd give it 24 hours before you're spotted and another 48 hours before your head is no longer attached to your shoulders. By the way, they won't give you a clean cut they'll saw your head off with a machette. Then to top it all off you'll be on foxnews and cnn. Bottomline is that the vast majority of you have never set foot in iraq. If you had you would realize that the problem in iraq is the iraqis themselves. We've done everything we can do to help them, yet Iraqi Security Forces remain corrupt and incompetent. It takes a brutal dictator like saddam to control these unshaven filthy neanderthals. This isn't about Jihad or resisting American occupation. 95% of insurgents don't care about either. For them its about money and power. This may come as a shock to the extreme left wing, but the world is not full of flowers, rainbows, and marijuana. Iraqis are violent neanderthals that haven't changed their ways since about 3000 BC. I just ask that you ignorant people would stop spewing feces out of your mouth and accept the fact that you DON'T have the slightest clue what's going on in Iraq. I'm sure this comment will offend some, however I really don't care.

[stfu1234]

Wow. There's nothing like hearing ignorant people going of on a soapbox about the "evil" bush administration, "atrocities" committed by US troops, and the brave iraqis fending off the agressive americans. if that's the way you feel then take a trip to iraq and try to sympathize with the iraqis. i'd give it 24 hours before you're spotted and another 48 hours before your head is no longer attached to your shoulders. By the way, they won't give you a clean cut they'll saw your head off with a machette. Then to top it all off you'll be on foxnews and cnn. Bottomline is that the vast majority of you have never set foot in iraq. If you had you would realize that the problem in iraq is the iraqis themselves. We've done everything we can do to help them, yet Iraqi Security Forces remain corrupt and incompetent. It takes a brutal dictator like saddam to control these unshaven filthy neanderthals. This isn't about Jihad or resisting American occupation. 95% of insurgents don't care about either. For them its about money and power. This may come as a shock to the extreme left wing, but the world is not full of flowers, rainbows, and marijuana. Iraqis are violent neanderthals that haven't changed their ways since about 3000 BC. I just ask that you ignorant people would stop spewing feces out of your mouth and accept the fact that you DON'T have the slightest clue what's going on in Iraq. I'm sure this comment will offend some, however I really don't care.

[firststate]

Since the Shia are the majority in Iraq, they elected a majority Shi'ite government, no surprise to anyone but dicknbush. They assumed that a democratic government would be pro-American; they missed the part where if a majority in Iraq is pro-Iran, the democratic government will be pro-Iran.

The idea of getting rid of Saddam had been Iran's fantasy for years. They fought Iraq through the 80's and only managed a draw, then we did it for them. Dicknbush owed our troops a plan to prevent Iraq from descending into sectarian violence and civil war, as the smart people had warned Duh-bya would happen without enough troops. Then Bremmer disbanded the police and military. Did they expect the honor system to maintain order? Their post-Saddam planning was limited to providing antihistamines for allergic reactions to all the flowers the troops would be given.

If Duh-bya had fought through his "Daddy" issues with a shrink instead of the military, the world would be better. Now, he's got Iraq and like a drunk who's wrestled an alligator until he gets a firm grip on it and realizes he has no idea what to do now that he has it.

[waynabq]

U.S. forces are conducting air strikes on "Shiite Militias"? Now who in the hell is the enemy now? Wasn't Hussein a Sunni and wasn't that the reason Bush installed a Shia majority government?

Bush and his army of idiot followers are spouting off *** like we won't leave until "victory" is achieved over our "enemies".

These freakin' morons don't have a clue who the "enemy" is nor what constitutes "victory". If anything, the presence of U.S. troops may be the root cause of the instability in Iraq. Pretty ironic that this "surge" is actually making the situation worst and not better.

The very government that Bush installed may be the "enemy".

[waynabq]

U.S. forces are conducting air strikes on "Shiite Militias"? Now who in the hell is the enemy now? Wasn't Hussein a Sunni and wasn't that the reason Bush installed a Shia majority government?

Bush and his army of idiot followers are spouting off *** like we won't leave until "victory" is achieved over our "enemies".

These freakin' morons don't have a clue who the "enemy" is nor what constitutes "victory". If anything, the presence of U.S. troops may be the root cause of the instability in Iraq. Pretty ironic that this "surge" is actually making the situation worst and not better.

The very government that Bush installed may be the "enemy".

[waynabq]

Bush supporters are deranged, violent retards. Remember how these morons were so eager to invade Iraq and follow the Chimp into Iraq to "free" Iraq from a "brutal" dictator?

Now these very same Bush supporting morons are all gung-ho to hunt and kill Iraqis who resist the current U.S. occupation. How's that any different from what Saddam the "Brutal Dictator" was doing in an attempt to maintain stability in his country?

In fact, it would be accurate to say Bush's policies are killing a great deal more innocent Iraqis than Saddam ever did or could have imagined.

Some of this blood-thirsty Gomers are advocating "Nuking" the whole place. How sincere do you think these idiots were when they wanted to "Free" the Iraqis from "oppression"? Bush supporters are violent deranged and murderous hypocritical retards.

[feelfree1]

dallison7,

Re: "...and isn't it a shame that our military is caught up in a conflict where we have to take a poll to find out who wants to kill us!!"

Indeed it is.

[dallison7]

Surveys have shown that the majority of Iraqis support attacks against the brutal illegal invaders of their country.

Iraqis have every right to defend themselves against/resist this horrific Bush regime crusade, and they have done a very effective job of it, as we have seen.
Posted by feelfree1

This is true, and isn't it a shame that our military is caught up in a conflict where we have to take a poll to find out who wants to kill us!!

This is the kind of quagmire Bush has gotten us into!!

[feelfree1]

thehobman,

Re: "Im Sick Of The Press All Doom And Gloom"

Somewhere, there is a hole in the sand, missing your head.