Aussie Combat Troops Home From Iraq

Woman Suicide Bomber Kills 15 In Diyala Province; Top Shiite Opposes U.S. Bases

(CBS/AP)  Eighty members of Australia's Overwatch Battle Group - the last of that nation's troops serving in combat roles in southern Iraq - returned home yesterday, fulfilling a campaign promise by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to bring home all of Australia's combat troops from that Iraq.

Family and friends cheered the "Diggers" at Brisbane Airport.

About 300 Australian troops remain in Iraq in non-combat roles.

The Aussies were based in southern provinces of al-Muthanna and Dhi Qar, which were the first to transfer control to Iraqi security forces.

U.S. troops now provide backup security for the Iraqis in that region.


Woman Suicide Bomber Kills 15 In Iraq

A woman suicide bomber concealing explosives beneath her black robe struck outside a government complex northeast of Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least 15 people and wounding more than 40, U.S. and Iraqi officials said.

It was the 21st suicide mission carried out by a woman in Iraq this year, the U.S. military said, as al Qaeda and other Sunni militant groups try to regroup from major losses suffered at the hands of U.S. and Iraqi forces.

The blast occurred about 1 p.m. as dozens of people were leaving a walled compound that includes a courthouse and the provincial governor's office in Baqouba, capital of Diyala province and a former al Qaeda in Iraq stronghold 35 miles northeast of Baghdad.

A car bomb across the street from the same compound killed at least 40 people in April.

It appeared that the latest attack was timed to maximize casualties since many people were leaving the compound because the government offices there were to close soon for the day.

A U.S. military statement said the dead included seven Iraqi police and eight civilians. Ten police were among the wounded. Iraqi authorities said 16 people were killed and 42 wounded.

"I was trying to leave the court when the explosion took place," said one witness, who was wounded by shrapnel but refused to give his name because of fears for his own safety.

"I heard some of the injured people saying they saw a woman wearing a black robe blow herself up."

Al Qaeda has been increasingly using women because their black, billowing abaya robes easily conceal explosives. Iraqi police often lack enough policewomen to search women carefully.

The number of female suicide attacks has risen from eight in 2007 to 21 so far this year, according to U.S. military figures. Eight of the attacks were in Diyala province.

Last year, U.S. soldiers regained control of Baqouba, which had been declared the capital of the Islamic State of Iraq, an al Qaeda front organization.

But the terror movement has been trying to regroup in the strategic Diyala province, which extends from the Iranian border to the eastern gates of Baghdad.

To the north, a roadside bomb Sunday apparently targeting a police patrol struck a civilian vehicle instead, killing four people including two women, near Kirkuk, police reported.

A suicide car bomber attacked a police checkpoint Sunday in the northwestern city of Mosul, wounding 14 people, including four policemen, provincial police said.

The violence occurred as U.S. and Iraqi authorities are trying to meet a July target date for completing a security agreement that would allow American troops to remain in the country after the U.N. mandate expires at the end of this year.

Talks bogged down over several key issues, which Iraqi lawmakers said violated the nation's sovereignty. Last week, however, Iraqi authorities said prospects for a deal had brightened after the Americans submitted new, unspecified proposals.

In Lebanon, however, the country's top Shiite cleric called Sunday on Iraqis to reject any deal that would allow the U.S. "to continue its occupation" and hijack the country's sovereignty.

"We specifically warn Iraqis not to submit to American temptation or pressures to sign an agreement with the Americans that will enable them to continue their occupation of Iraq under new slogans," Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah said.

Fadlallah's remarks are significant because he is one of the founders of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Dawa party and serves as the spiritual guide for many key Iraqi Shiite leaders.

Elsewhere Sunday, police said they have arrested six men suspected in the killing of the head of Saddam Hussein's tribe earlier this month.

Sheik Ali al-Nida, the head of Iraq's Albu Nasir tribe, and one of his guards were killed on June 10 when a bomb planted on their car exploded in Tikrit.

Police said three of those arrested were related to the sheik. Another was his longtime personal driver and trusted family employee, who police said accepted money to stick a bomb on the undercarriage of the victim's car.

Last year, al-Nida founded a so-called Awakening Council in Saddam's home village of Ouja, partnering with U.S. forces to fight Sunni militants in the area.

The officer said investigators suspected al Qaeda in Iraq was behind the attack as part of its campaign of violence against Sunni tribal leaders who have joined forces with the Americans.

[neo267-2009]

Terrorists win again. And you''d think the Australians would know better. There will be more Balis to come.

[omaar-101]

Crude Oil Imports (Top 15 Countries)

(Thousand Barrels per Day)

April 2008 Import Highlights: June 13, 2008
Preliminary monthly data on the origins of crude oil imports in April 2008 has been released and it shows that two countries exported more than 1.50 million barrels per day to the United States.



The top five exporting countries accounted for 69 percent of United States crude oil imports in April while the top ten sources accounted for approximately 89 percent of all U.S. crude oil imports.




The top sources of US crude oil imports for April were Canada (1.952 million barrels per day), Saudi Arabia (1.453 million barrels per day), Mexico (1.259 million barrels per day), Nigeria (1.115 million barrels per day), and Venezuela (1.019 million barrels per day).



The rest of the top ten sources, in order, were Iraq (0.679 million barrels per day), Angola (0.579 million barrels per day), Algeria (0.393 million barrels per day), Brazil (0.201 million barrels per day), and Kuwait (0.176 million barrels per day).




Total crude oil imports averaged 9.921 million barrels per day in April.



Canada remained the Largest Exporter of total petroleum in April, exporting 2.476 million barrels per day to the United States, which is a decrease from last month (2.542 thousand barrels per day).



Note: The second largest exporter of total petroleum was Saudi Arabia with 1.462 million barrels per day.

[omaar-101]

America''s..Total Imports of Petroleum Oil (Top 15 Countries)

(Thousand Barrels per Day)

Drill all You want, You can..t produce the Oil these Countries provide, nor will you see a drop in price at the gas pumps. Over 300 Million Americans, The Demand is Too Great and it will take 7-10 years to bring this Oil on shore, by that time, Gas will be 15 $ per gallon an we..ll be riding Horse & Carriage.



Solution: Mass Train Transit North, South, East Mid West & West, like Japan, Oppose to Air Planes.



Note: Also Include Diesel & Electric Cars. Its That or the Horse & Carriage.



CANADA 1,952 1,795 1,902 1,909 1,846

SAUDI ARABIA 1,453 1,535 1,519 1,458 1,358

MEXICO 1,259 1,232 1,230 1,460 1,471

NIGERIA 1,115 1,154 1,105 891 1,089

VENEZUELA 1,019 858 990 1,182 1,070

IRAQ 679 773 693 562 488

ANGOLA 579 384 469 514 556

ALGERIA 393 247 300 530 495

BRAZIL 201 188 182 175 174

KUWAIT 176 199 218 126 187

ECUADOR 160 231 203 159 200

COLOMBIA 149 135 168 79 100

CHAD 133 101 110 80 76

RUSSIA 106 108 77 269 137

LIBYA 85 75 68 45 56

Country Apr-08 Mar-08 YTD 2008 Apr-07 YTD 2007

[omaar-101]

Posted by Neo267: Many National & a Few International Terrorists have Always Won in this Country. Since the establishment of this Government. Especially since George H. Bush Sr & George W. Bush Jr. have been President(s) of the USA, Ask the Bin Laden Family Members, the UAE & the Royal Saudi Arabia own the Bush`s and Us too.
-----------------

I Agree with you (NEO-Nazi-26) the Bush Family has an Over 20 Yr Family & Friends Relationship with The Bin Laden Familiy and the Royal Saudi Arabian Families.

Those that Piloted the (911 Planes) were United Arab Emirates & Saudi Arabian Citizens an Not Iraqi, Iran Nor Afghanistan, yet the Over 4,095 Honr. USA Troops who have been Killed and Injured and the Over 1 Million Iraqi Baby, Children, Women & Men, All Under False Pretenses.

The United Arab Emirates also have a Long Storied History with the Bush & Clinton Families.

It was Bush Jr. that gave FBI Clearence 2 Days after (911) to Gather & Allow the Bin Laden Family Members & Royal saudi`s to a Safe Flight Home, Oppose to Detaining them, until Osama Bin Laden`s capture or Surrender.

Note: If You are a White Male President, All these facts are FORGIVEABLE in your Aryan, Nazi, KKK Mind..Huh

[harpoot]

Fair play to you Australia.

[neo267-2009]

Terrorists win again. When Obama becomes President, they''ll own the US too.

[brianbwb-2009]

At least the Australians, showing more intelligence than us, know when to fold ''em. We have been suckered by Bush and his klan of liars for far too long, we should pull our own soldiers out of Iraq, and start the war crimes trials against Bush and his cabinet.

[merlgrey]

thats not a knife....

[feelfree4u]

What the heck?

First the article says, "Police said...", then it concludes with, "The officer said..."

Whic is it? Doesn''t the unnamed author of this...uh...piece...even know how many unidentified "officer(s)" that they interviewed?

Re: "...investigators suspected al Qaeda in Iraq was behind the attack..."

We know that this can''t be true, because their is no "al-Qaeda-in-Iraq", other than as a Western propaganda campaign, a string of bombings by someone like Blackwater, and a handful of useful dupes.

[feelfree4u]

Re: "We specifically warn Iraqis not to submit to American temptation or pressures to sign an agreement with the Americans that will enable them to continue their occupation of Iraq under new slogans," Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah said."

Sastani made an even stronger statement against this agreement. Obviously, it is DOA.

[ausus-2009]

incog-nito, Europe appears to be prospering because of the subsidies and tariffs the EU imposes. This is unsustainable and eventually will lead to runaway inflation and high unemployment which in many cases is much higher than in the US. When I visited Europe, I was surprised to see the high cost of living and the low standard of living. As to the European military capability, they haven''t been particularly effective in the former Yugoslavia or in Afghanistan.

[incog-nito]

ausus: You got it all wrong, but I have the feeling you stick with your story no matter what. Europe lost the will to fight? FYI: They were fighting EACH OTHER. I''d say it''s good they don''t want to fight each other anymore. It''s good that Germany and France are now close allies, working together to help create an E.U. that will strenghten all of Europe, economically, technologically, and militarily. Meanwhile corporate America is selling the U.S. to the lowest bidder, moving plants and jobs overseas all for a quick buck. Last time I checked the Euro is doing pretty well against the U.S. dollar which will keep declining for the forseeable future.

[ausus-2009]

Early in the 20th Century our government policy was dominated by those who said the US should stay out of overseas affairs and we had World War I. This ideology as again dominant in the US in the 1930s and we had World War II. The US finally decided to get involved and we had no more world wars. If the US withdraws from the world, there will probably not be another World War, just a slow surrender as Europe doesn''t seem to have much of a will to fight.

[incog-nito]

ausus: If you want to use the 1930s, fine. Back then decisions were not made by the people but by corrupt, greedy Europeans goverments that created deep anger and resentment in the Germans, and we know the rest.

Now the American people want out of the Iraq war, waged by a greedy government bent on controlling the resources of the M.E. We don''t want to go back to the 30s, do we?

[incog-nito]

ausus: I love how some people try to use false analogies, just like how Bush tried to link the Iraq war to everything from Vietnam to WWII to all the way to the American Revolution, grasping at whetever straws he could to justify his ever-changing rationale. Given the information they now know, most Americans think the war was wrong, as do most Aussies. That''s the facts.

[patriot12436]

zeeZedzee
Your staement could have been mine word for word.

[patriot12436]

incognito
Wouldn''t do any good. Bush thinks he can do no wrong.

[ausus-2009]

incog-nito,

Like they did in the 1930s and had to face a greater nightmare?

[incog-nito]

ausus: No, 2009 will be the year when America wakes up from its long national nightmare.

[ausus-2009]

Omaar-101,

I don''t know how you can come up with those ridiculous statements, but I assume it is because you haven''t traveled much or read material other than that which supports your narrow point of view.

The countries you mention are in many ways no more socialist than the US. They are mixed economies. The US has Social Security, a socialist concept not found in many other countries. Education in the US is more socialist than in many countries with a higher percentage attending public schools than private schools. Some countries like Singapore that is nominally socialist have virtually no social welfare system. As to Europe not bemoaning socialism, you haven''t been following the gas price strikes and demonstrations lately.