BAGHDAD, Feb. 10, 2008
Series Of Iraq Attacks Mark Bloody Sunday
Bombs Kills Dozens Of Civilians, As Insurgents Battle U.S.-Allied Fighters And Iraqi Forces
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A newly-redesigned Iraqi flag, in which elements reminiscent of the Saddam Hussein regime were removed or altered in order to promote unity within the war-torn country, was raised outside the Kurdish parliament in Irbil, Iraq on Feb. 10, 2008. Meanwhile, more than 1,000 people demonstrated in Baghdad, chanting pro-Sunni and anti-American slogans and unfurling an Iraqi flag dating back to Saddam's rule. (AP Photo/Yahya Ahmed)
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Photo Essay Week In Iraq Photos A daily diary with scenes of the latest attacks and snapshots from the effort to rebuild a nation.
"In November, it was a disaster and al Qaeda was completely in control," Ensign said. "Today it was a situation where I could walk down the street and interact with children and local merchants. I felt no danger whatsoever to my life."
Ensign said the vast majority of Iraq, including Baghdad, can report similar progress.
The senators' visit came a day after four American troops were killed in roadside bombings in Baghdad.
Ensign attributed the changes to greater cooperation from local sheiks, improved Iraqi security forces and more armed volunteers who help American troops patrol streets.
"Overall, I come away with much more optimism about what's happening in Iraq, although there are still major challenges ahead," he said. "While still significant, al Qaeda is in little pockets and separated from each other."
The senators were scheduled to spend the weekend in Iraq and visit Afghanistan on Monday before returning to Washington.
Ensign said he's also more optimistic because of political progress in Iraq that is "not widely reported in America."
"The Iraqi people are rejecting the insurgency and al Qaeda and the civil war that it looked like last year," he said. "They're tired of it and they want economic prosperity."
Al Qaeda Diaries And Memos
The military revealed two documents discovered by American troops in November: a 39-page memo written by a mid- to high-level al Qaeda official with knowledge of the group's operations in Iraq's western Anbar province, and a 16-page diary written by another group leader north of Baghdad.
In the Anbar document, the author describes an al Qaeda in crisis, with citizens growing weary of militants' presence and foreign fighters too eager to participate in suicide missions rather than continuing to fight, said Rear Adm. Gregory Smith, a U.S. military spokesman.
"We lost cities and afterward, villages ... We find ourselves in a wasteland desert," Smith quoted the document as saying.
The memo cites militants' increasing difficulty in moving around and transporting weapons and suicide belts because of better equipped Iraqi police and more watchful citizens, Smith said.
The author of the diary seized near Balad wrote that he was once in charge of 600 fighters, but only 20 were left "after the tribes changed course"- a reference to how many Sunni tribesmen have switched sides to fight alongside the Americans, Smith said.
The switch by the Sunni tribes, whose resulting U.S.-backed groups are often referred to as awakening councils, has been credited with helping reduce violence across the country.
The councils were key to helping push al Qaeda out of Anbar province, once one of the country's most violent. The terror group's top leaders are now based somewhere in northern Iraq, Smith said, having moved out of Anbar and into Diyala province last year.
The U.S. military described both documents, but allowed reporters to see just four pages from them, citing security reasons.
The documents tell "narrow but compelling stories of the challenges al Qaeda in Iraq is facing," Smith told reporters in Baghdad's heavily guarded Green Zone.
"This does not signal the end of al Qaeda in Iraq, but it is a contemporary account of the challenges posed to terrorists from the people of Iraq," Smith said.
He said the documents are believed to be authentic, Smith said, because they contain details that only al Qaeda in Iraq leaders could know about battlefield movements and tactics.
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Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
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See all 40 CommentsThe surge cannot end...the surge allowed the Regime to keep up appearances in Iraq...the withdrawal of these forces would lead to disaster from a public relations and military perspective.
Troops Home Now!! Down with the Demopublican Regime!
Demolition of WTC7
Cheney running NORAD on 9/11
Lies to invade Iraq
Ashcroft Color Warning System during election run-up
Rumsfeld and torture
Wolfowitz
Halliburton
Renditi
on flights
Bu$h
Gates
Death of Gitmo ''dupes''
Just counting Republicon blessings.
OK, off to work to pay more taxes...
ONLY NOW THE INSURGENTS ARE SUPPLYING THE
"TATS" AMD BUSH, CONDI & COMPANY ARE
SUPPLYING THEIR . . . . . RESPONSES ?
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Posted by dumbshun at 09:46 PM : Feb 10, 2008
+ report abuse
ROFLMAO So another Kool Aid Drinker!! ROFLMAO How much Kool Aid did you drink Sparky?? ROFLMAO It was LIES you pathetic loser! Yep that''s right the WHOLE thing was a LIE... 935 of them to be exact! ROFLMAO Sieg Heil Bush!!
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Posted by ilikecats1 at 11:54 PM : Feb 10, 2008
+ report abuse
This from a bootlicker who actually BELIEVED "mission accomplished"! ROFLMAO Yep that''s right folks when Bush make his "Landing" on the carrier way back when, this MORON was on here calling anyone who dared caution us about this VERY stupid statement, a Traitor or a "Liberal". ROFLMAO I''d say YOU are the LAST person on planet EARTH anyone should be listening to about Iraq! Now get your hood and sheet ready we''re going to salute the fuhrer and YOU know you want him to hear you! Ready? SIEG HEIL MEIN FUHRER! Good little nazi!! ROFLMAO
---- IGNORE ALL WAR PLANNING AS BUSH & HIS GOP DID & LIE ABOUT IT ---
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/11/washington/11army.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp
Posted by shelley200
Oh? explain why a MAN posts with a WOMANS name ''Shelley'' and oh, you just happened to ''find'' that glorious web site by browsing I guess? all by yourself? and now you are SPAMMING us and this site for your dating service, is that about right?
STOP THE TERROR IN IRAQ, BRING OUR TROOPS BACK.
Hope your night goes well too.
Sorry - but I''m going to state my opinions.
People and things do not upset us, rather we upset ourselves by believing that they can upset us.
I''d like to say, get a grip - but that would just **** you off more.
Are you frustrated ?
Why are you dissing me ?
I don''t care what kind of state it gives them. I"m more interested in stability in the region. Isn''t that what we are looking for ? Liberalme thinks we created the instability, and perhaps he''s right. But only the instability to a dictator.
Me thinks you and liberalme protests too much.
Liberalme - how have you been affected by our Constitution changing ? HAve you personally been affected at all ?
Ignoring oil agreements ? Yeah - guilty as charged. I think we should go to renewable energy - just a quickly as possible. And use shale oil until then.
Think of what would happen if we were to keep all that money in-country ?
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