Post-Election Buzzkill: Why Iraq Is Still A Debacle

[gkilber]

Who in the hell cares what you think anyway.
Who is Arianna ?
Another nobody flappin their lip about things they know absolutely nothing about. :confused:

[rogersnowden]

Arianna fantasizes someone in the White House actually pays attention to her.

The fact that al Qaeda and their ilk are reduced to kidnapping "gi joe" dolls is a pretty good indication Bush is on the right track.

8 million freedom fighters last Sunday are not wrong. They are the future of Iraq, not al Qaeda or their Baathist allies.

[simonlazarus]

Who in the hell cares what you think anyway.
Who is Arianna ?
Another nobody flappin their lip about things they know absolutely nothing about. :confused:

I agree.

She has a big fat mouth, and she lies a lot.

No wonder she is a liberal.

[simonlazarus]

Arianna should act like Dan Rather and Michael Moore and Whoopicushion Goldberg and keep quiet. No one gives a rat shit what they have to say except for comedians who are paid to care.

[excaliburno1]

There is a place in the world for someone who will keep their head up their.....well......somewhere it shouldn't be, and stick with the party line. I hope Arianna, Dean and that nut professor at the Univ of Colorado get out front and become the face of the Democrat party. While most of the hard-core leftists realize that now is not the time to keep up the mantra of "wrong war, wrong place, wrong time", it may be that Arianna sees it as an opportunity to become leader of the kooks. She can continue to spew lunacy and rally those people who hate America, hate Bush, and/or hung-up on some pet issue, more than they care about anything our anybody else no matter what the facts are. If you think about it, for her to keep her invitations to lib parties and such coming, she doesn’t have to have a huge following, a good chunk of the kooks will probobly do......they are the base, the Dems have to have them on-board, right?. Later Arianna will be remembered by the kooks as one who stood with them when others were considering all the facts and realizing that maybe, just maybe, they’d been wrong.

HANG IN THE ARIANNA! There will always be things that can be painted negatively that you can point to and say America was wrong and you were right. The trade-off? Well, that will be that in the course of history you will be shown for what you are. Hopefully you will not have an effect anything of substance and the march of freedom will be unhindered by you childish rants. Good luck to you Arianna.

[shaken_not_stirred_us]

Arianna, you still don't get it after all these years.

And the election didn't change that.

[Dan Marc]

Woman - you are a complete idiot.

[nodoginit]

LOL!! The last two posts stole my thoughts.....sort of...

They need to be combined into:

Ariana, you are a complete idiot.

And the election didn't change that!

[Boomer Chick]

Don't listen to them, Arianna!

You make excellent points! The occupation was based on lies, was not sanctioned or applauded by others in the world, has created more terrorism than it was worth and yes, the Iraqis danced in the street, but only for the hope that their nation would soon be sovereign. And this means = the US leaves. If the US cannot and will not leave, the Iraqis will not have their independence that they so desire. And the chaos will continue.

Don't even think for a moment, you flag-waving Bush clones, that this preliminary vote in Iraq means that Bush's foray into the Middle East is over or accomplished or a victory of sorts. It's just a stopping place in their fractured fairytale dream that somehow our suffering country, with it's sliding dollar, it's indebtedness up to our ears, and it's consuming corporate ways, will even BE ABLE to then strong arm and threaten the main prize.... Iran. It's a feckless dream with no bones in it requiring a draft and miraculous economic recovery that frankly.... will not happen. We're going down, the draft which will only anger people, especially those who voted for Bush, and the neocon cabal will experience scandal beyond the realms of the blow job Clinton era. They're going down! No pun intended!

Get ready, Bush whores, you're going to see some fireworks and it won't be our forces going to Iran, it'll be other countries attacking us. Is this what you want? The neocons have weakened us to the point of breaking and you're applauding some little country whom we destroyed and haven't as yet rebuilt as somehow a wonderful prize! It's a money drain, a life drain, a military drain and just another blunder that never had to be. The saving of Iraq and its sovereignty could have been accomplished with large and unified global effort and not on the backs of US taxpayers and not solely to be fought by our young who died for what? The Iraqis? ... so they could gain their freedom from under Sadam? What about the people being massacred in Darfur? They don't have oil under their ground, do they? So let's just let them die daily. When the US leaves, the troops leave, the bases being constructed while we write are either stripped or given "lock stock and barrel" to the Iraqis, then you know the Iraqi people will get what they want......true sovereignty. Then, the neocons will have cleaned up their mess properly. But I doubt they'll do what's required.

Yeah, continue to think spilling blood is the way to be... continue to act like war is the way to peace.... yeah, just continue and watch our country falter, fall, and fail. We have enemies who used to be our allies. You like that? Our dollar is sliding. You like that? We're losing our civil rights. You like that? We're losing our health care and our insurance payments are skyrocketing. You like that? Our national debt is trillions our trade deficit billions. You like that? We're losing jobs. You like that? We losing our air quality. You like that?

You like war? Why don't you go enlist! Why don't YOU go die for oil and other people's sovereignty? Why not? You love it all so much, why not just die for it? Hmmmmm?

[foot_soldier]

Boomer_Chick wrote:
.....You like war? Why don't you go enlist! Why don't YOU go die for oil and other people's sovereignty? Why not? You love it all so much, why not just die for it?.....

BRAVA !!

[jayreynolds]

Monday, January 31, 2005
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Greetings friends,

What we have witnessed is something amazing. I am an Iraqi and a Baghdadi and should know, and deep down in my heart I knew; yet I must admit that I did not expect all this. The common Iraqi citizen has taken all by surprise, including those of us who are indigenous to this land.

It was expected that relatively secure areas in the South and North were going to see heavy turnout. Yet Baghdad; subjected to a terrorist and intimidation campaign of unprecedented scale and cruelty; Baghdad, deprived of electricity, fuel and lately even water( which is more dangerous than anything else); Baghdad, that lacks security, where the citizens face mortal danger every moment of their daily life; Baghdad, where life has almost ground to a standstill; that citizens of this Baghdad should line up at polling stations braving very real dangers, with mortars raining down and scores of suicide bombers sent out to blow up people, and moreover that many even brought their children: this Baghdad was a revelation even to Baghdadis.

There were amazing scenes; not very likely to seen anywhere else. There were acts of heroism. Abdul Amir Kadhim, saw a man whom he suspected to be a suicide bomber, he threw himself on the man before he could get to the waiting line of people; and sure there was an explosion and this young man gave his life to save the others. Prime Minister Allawi paid tribute to this heroism. At one station there was a suicide attack and several people fell; when people of the neighborhood heard of this, the waiting line suddenly swelled to three times in size; people rushed out of their homes and came running to wait in line; it was their way to express their defiance and anger at this crime. The examples of bravery and courage are too numerous to recount. People took courage from each other, as people came out others watched and did not want to be left out. It was something incredible to watch. Yes this was a historic day, a day to remember until our dying day. With one stroke, in a single day, the silent majority spoke and answered all the pundits and doubters, and those who spoke on their behalf. Yet we have been telling you this all along; we have been telling you ever since this blogging movement started. Do you now see that we were not representing minority views, that we were not some CIA agents trying to make propaganda?

I find it difficult right know to write coherently; I just want to convey to you some of the tremendous feelings overwhelming my soul now.

As for some of the Arab scum and other detractors, they are appearing on TV screens looking like they have just swallowed a cockroach, or perhaps had some awful lizard creeping up their backsides; They fidget, they try hard to find some words, some way to get round this, to belittle, twist to distort facts; but it is not easy, not easy when the entire world, the entire humanity are watching intently this incredible event.

Finally, we heard the speech of President Bush Loud and clear. He, and the American people and their British and other valiant allies have much to do with this event. All I can say is that this man has all the essential traits of character that distinguishes the great men of history; the insistence and utter conviction and the perseverance and steadfastness in the face of all doubters and detractors. This was no ordinary election, and it was not simply to elect a constituent assembly. It was the answer of the people, what they really thought about the liberation, what they really thought of the ideas preached by the president. This was a message by the Iraqi people to the American people and their great president. It was the heart of Iraq answering the heart of America that voted to give the President the mandate to finish the task; it was the answer that the common people of Iraq gave by braving danger and exposing their life and that of their children and families to death, this was their way to make their voice heard.

Well, thank you Mr. President, we heard you; and I am sure you also heard us.

Peace be upon you all and the mercy of Allah and his blessings.
Alaa- The Mesopotamian- Baghdad, Iraq
http://messopotamian.blogspot.com/

[Boomer Chick]

http://207.44.245.159/article7945.htm

"Free" Iraqis Still Waiting for the Wind of Change

"The only decent food we get nowadays is at funerals."

Robert Fisk

02/01/05 "The Independent" -- Baghdad. The gale tore into Baghdad yesterday, stripping the walls of election posters, sending miniature whirlwinds between the shuttered shops of Rashid Street, giving new meaning to the black hoods and masks worn by the policemen at Tahrir Square.

Tahrir--"independence"--is a word which a lot of people voted for on Sunday; not for "democracy" as the Western media would have it, but for freedom; freedom to speak, freedom to vote, freedom from the Americans.

They were in Baghdad, too, yesterday, driving their Humvees through Karada, circling the city in their Apaches and their little bee-like Sioux spotter helicopters.

For days we will have to wait for the election results. A spokesman for the Shia Muslim Iraqi National Alliance is quoted in The New York Times as saying that the Americans and British say his party might have won more than 50 per cent of the vote--the Shia Republic has come of age!--and it's all the talk of Baghdad when the people hear it in Arabic on their own networks from the Gulf. But how could the Americans know now that the INA has won more than half the votes?

At the end of Jumhuriya Street, a squad of cops in plain clothes stands on a pick-up truck, rifles pointing at us, some of them hooded. At midday, it's still supposed to be the curfew.

The houses are boarded up, the shops closed. It's as if, after voting, the Shias are waiting for the political equivalent of a tsunami punishment, the Sunnis merely biding their time.

The shish kebab in my least-favourite Baghdad restaurant tastes like cardboard. No wonder my friend Haidar says that the only decent food we get nowadays is at funerals.

In Nidhal Street, I find a "haj" [pilgrimage] bus trailing our car. It has an Iraqi flag on the front and its destination, Mecca, written in bold black paint across a banner on the front. Held up by the election curfews, the pilgrims were off on their long drive south.

Against this insurgency, this election, the eternal, hopeless optimism of Messrs Bush and Blair, the much more eternal ritual of Muslim faith and prayer goes on.

My Lebanese travel agent was on the haj and I called him from Baghdad to ensure he was safely home--pilgrims have a disturbing habit of being crushed to death--and I realised at once what it must be like for Iraqis, trapped in their country, to make a call abroad.

Only a few days in the claustrophobia of Baghdad and an international call is like an oxygen bottle. Yes, says Ahmed, the weather in Beirut is cold, there is snow on the mountains, my cleaning lady has closed the shutters and he's safe back from the haj.

The television flickers in my room. The ex-CIA man and "interim" Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi,--possibly the next "interim" Prime Minister as well--is telling Iraqis that their vote on Sunday means that "the terrorists have been defeated".

Flak jackets on, I say to myself. Why do these people--the British were the same in Northern Ireland--invite further attack? This is the same Allawi who, from his bunker in the "Green Zone", instructed his vulnerable people to vote two days ago.

More and more, we feel this vast, cosmic distance between real Iraq and the fantasy Iraq of Washington and London. I watch Blair talking nervously, his body language defensive, his eyes spiritual, telling us what a stupendous success the election has been. But he chose to keep the extent of the extent of the RAF Hercules tragedy secret from his people when he spoke on Sunday night. So why the surprise when the Americans and British still keep secret the number of Iraqis who are killed here every day?

Twice in the morning, there are huge explosions which roar over Baghdad. I hear a gun battle near Sadr City. But the local Iraqi radio carries no explanation of this.

At mid-morning, two police cars overtake me, sirens squealing, Kalashnikovs waving out the windows at motorists, the cops mouthing oaths at anyone who blocks their way. No reason again. They are the real world, hooded and unidentifiable. Fast and stirring dust.

Like the wind.

Copyright: The Independent

***

Dahr Jamail : Casualties of Polling:

He writhes in pain, moaning with every other breath. The Iraqi police colonel’s chest is covered in bandages, his legs from the knees down nearly completely hidden from view due to thick bandages holding what is left of his shins together.
http://tinyurl.com/63duy

===

Video: Is The Iraqi Election Valid?:

Juan Cole, Professor of Modern Middle East History at the University of Michigan, discusses the Iraqi elections and the participation of the Shiites and other political factions.
http://207.44.245.159/article7949.htm

===

In case you missed it:

09/04/1967: U.S. Encouraged by Vietnam Vote :

Officials Cite 83% Turnout Despite Vietcong Terror : United States officials were surprised and heartened today at the size of turnout in South Vietnam's presidential election despite a Vietcong terrorist campaign to disrupt the voting. According to reports from Saigon, 83 per cent of the 5.85 million registered voters cast their ballots yesterday. Many of them risked reprisals threatened by the Vietcong.
http://207.44.245.159/article7943.htm

===

Noam Chomsky: The Future of Iraq and the US Occupation:

What I've just read from the business press the last couple of days probably reflects the thinking in Washington and London: "Uh well, okay, we'll let them have a government, but we're not going to pay any attention to what they say." In fact the Pentagon announced at the same time two days ago: we're keeping 120,000 troops there into at least 2007, even if they call for withdrawal tomorrow.
http://207.44.245.159/article7952.htm

===

CIA ordered to turn over prisoner records:

A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the CIA to comply with the Freedom of Information Act and turn over to watchdog groups records concerning the treatment of prisoners in Iraq.
http://207.44.245.159/article7957.htm

===

The Uglier American:

When a country takes upon itself the task of setting things right in a distant place simply because the ruler there tried to "kill my dad," one of George W. Bush's explanations for invading Iraq, then the blood-soaked aftermath can leave no winners.
http://207.44.245.159/article7944.htm

===

[Boomer Chick]

THANK YOU ! :D

for this:

BRAVA !!

A picture is worth a thousand words! or more....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/Laureleye/NYCmarchcoffins.jpg


:mad:

[jayreynolds]

Ordinary Iraqis are fed up with terrorists in their country.
Mohammed writes:
"On the other side, all those who stood against the change will regroup again and launch another campaign to criticize and lessen the significance of this revolution and they will try to find gaps in the process to shake the confidence and the determination of the people.
I also call those who are pessimistic about the situation to make their pessimism balanced if they want to find solutions for the problems they expect to erupt.

Monday, January 31, 2005

The day after.
What happened yesterday was an extremely significant turning point that will leave its marks on the future of the region.
The world stood astounded at the sight of the masses that challenged death yesterday to plant the seed of hope in those boxes and now the enemies of the change cannot deny all that; the people have said their word clear and loud in their purple finger revolution.
Why was the world surprised? And what were the motivations of the people who have never experienced democracy before?

There were so many misconceptions about Iraq and these were the reasons why viewers from outside as well as many Iraqis were surprised. In the past few months, the media have played a big role in reflecting a blurred image about the will and preparations of Iraqis to hold the elections, not to mention exaggerating the size of the "militant groups" and their capabilities.

The world has discovered yesterday-Iraqis are included here-many facts that correct those misconceptions; now it's become clear the weakness of the terror groups and their limited geographical distribution and I think that the low number of attacks we witnessed yesterday wasn't the result of the security measures alone but largely because of the limited areas these groups exist in and this rendered them capable only of launching attacks within their strongholds as the roads between provinces were blocked. Thus I believe that yesterday's attacks have identified the places where the terrorists mainly reside.

The over exaggerated estimations for the strength of terrorists have also contributed to intimidating the people but even with that, the silent majority moved forward led by the natural human desire for freedom and by the belief that elections can make their lives better. The people think of elections as a one day struggle that can prevent suffering on the long term.
The silent majority has realized that elections are good and serve the people's interests; they don't know much about practicing democracy as they never lived under one but it's the common sense of the people who see how democratic nations enjoy stability and prosperity that led them to this conclusion.

Maybe the "fatwas" from the religious leaderships contributed to this too but I don't think "fatwas" were the main reasons behind the excellent turnout. I expect the results to reveal that many Shea't voters didn't vote for the lists favored by the clergy. Even the list of the "united national alliance" which is expected to be among the big winners wouldn't have gotten all this popularity among voters if it had included too many clerics as less than 10% of the candidates in this list are clerics while the rest are technocrats, Sunni, Kurds, Turkmen and people from other religious minorities; without this variety in the list, it would've been resting now at the tail of the choices list.

What happened yesterday reminds me of the fall of Saddam and they way Iraqis expressed their delight on the 9th of April, only that yesterday's carnival was greater, louder and more specific. Are we going to learn the lesson from yesterday?

I am afraid from being trapped in an ecstasy that directs our attention away from making use of the achieved victory; this victory is represented now by the feeling of Iraqis that freedom lovers and democracy supporters are the majority and they're everywhere and that there exists a strong unity among Iraqis against terror threats.

Every person has realized that he's not fighting alone in this battle and that all Iraq, from the very north to the very south is sharing this view even in the cities where security is a big concern, like Diyala, Mosul, and Tikrit; even in Fallujah, the boxes weren't empty.
The majority wasn't silent yesterday and the people's confidence now is at its peak and we should encourage and invest this feeling now and rebuild the bridges between us, I mean the government, the coalition and the people so that we can find the best way to exterminate the terrorists and the criminals who we know now how few and isolated they are.

The joy of victory can make us lose important positions if we allowed it to delay us from making use of the advantage we achieved over the terrorists now.
What we do need now is balanced optimism and a search for new and improved methods to deal with the remaining tasks.

On the other side, all those who stood against the change will regroup again and launch another campaign to criticize and lessen the significance of this revolution and they will try to find gaps in the process to shake the confidence and the determination of the people.
I also call those who are pessimistic about the situation to make their pessimism balanced if they want to find solutions for the problems they expect to erupt.

The reaction of the dictators and the enemies of freedom remains predictable; the neighboring countries and the Arabic media will try to find new weapons to use against the ongoing democratic process and these new weapons could be even more cruel this time.

We here remain assured that we've put our feet on the right track and that the bright future we wish for Iraq has become much closer after the 30th of January but we all have to reevaluate our previous assumption according to the new facts on the ground in order to find the best way we can push the process to further successes.


Mohammed.
http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/

[Hooligan]

Well, it seems you struck a nerve, Arianna. The dogs of war are frothing at the mouth. There's nothing they hate more than a reality check. Congratulations on a great column.

[simonlazarus]

"Don't listen to them, Arianna!"

Yeah, "Arianna," you uptight rich bitch who inherited all her dough from her ex-husband who turned out to like boys. Listen to "Boomer Chick" who is from Doofustan.

"You make excellent points! The occupation was based on lies, was not sanctioned or applauded by others in the world, has created more terrorism than it was worth and yes, the Iraqis danced in the street, but only for the hope that their nation would soon be sovereign. And this means = the US leaves. If the US cannot and will not leave, the Iraqis will not have their independence that they so desire. And the chaos will continue."

Uh, yeah - and you are an idiot. Bush won, you dunce. Kerry lost. Understand? BUSH WON.

"Don't even think for a moment, you flag-waving Bush clones, that this preliminary vote in Iraq means that Bush's foray into the Middle East is over or accomplished or a victory of sorts."

The voice of the American Left's pro-Osama brigade. Ouch.

"It's just a stopping place in their fractured fairytale dream that somehow our suffering country, with it's sliding dollar, it's indebtedness up to our ears, and it's consuming corporate ways, will even BE ABLE to then strong arm and threaten the main prize.... Iran. It's a feckless dream with no bones in it requiring a draft and miraculous economic recovery that frankly.... will not happen. We're going down, the draft which will only anger people, especially those who voted for Bush, and the neocon cabal will experience scandal beyond the realms of the blow job Clinton era. They're going down! No pun intended!"

And here I thought Marxism was dead. Little did I know that the same boobs who marched for the Soviet Union are still marching for it even after the Russians learned better.

"Get ready, Bush whores, you're going to see some fireworks and it won't be our forces going to Iran, it'll be other countries attacking us. Is this what you want?"

I do think you need to go to Canada, and fast, missy. Or, maybe, Cuba or North Korea, because, to be honest, you are running out of socialist lunatic asylums that share your ridiculous ideology.

"The neocons have weakened us to the point of breaking and you're applauding some little country whom we destroyed and haven't as yet rebuilt as somehow a wonderful prize! It's a money drain, a life drain, a military drain and just another blunder that never had to be. The saving of Iraq and its sovereignty could have been accomplished with large and unified global effort and not on the backs of US taxpayers and not solely to be fought by our young who died for what? The Iraqis? ... so they could gain their freedom from under Sadam? What about the people being massacred in Darfur? They don't have oil under their ground, do they? So let's just let them die daily. When the US leaves, the troops leave, the bases being constructed while we write are either stripped or given "lock stock and barrel" to the Iraqis, then you know the Iraqi people will get what they want......true sovereignty. Then, the neocons will have cleaned up their mess properly. But I doubt they'll do what's required."

Blah bla blah blah...what utter Marxist horseshit and drivel. You really do need to stop reading "The Communist Manifesto" and get out some more.

"Yeah, continue to think spilling blood is the way to be... continue to act like war is the way to peace.... yeah, just continue and watch our country falter, fall, and fail. We have enemies who used to be our allies. You like that? Our dollar is sliding. You like that? We're losing our civil rights. You like that? We're losing our health care and our insurance payments are skyrocketing. You like that? Our national debt is trillions our trade deficit billions. You like that? We're losing jobs. You like that? We losing our air quality. You like that?"

And...[gag]...I can't breathe...[gag]...because I am standing...[gag]...next to a liberal who...[gag]...hasn't bathed in years and smells like a cadaver! Could it be "Biker Chick"?

"You like war? Why don't you go enlist! Why don't YOU go die for oil and other people's sovereignty? Why not? You love it all so much, why not just die for it? Hmmmmm?"

I like war a lot. I like to see all the pretty bombs and the pretty grenades, and the bullets...I get a thrill from bullets!

Wanna see my nice shiny surface-to-air missile? I carry it whenever I go to the market, in case I have a Marxist imbecile like yourself get in my way. Then I can wave it around and make people like you run for your life.

[gaiacomm]

Fierce Fighting Rages In Al-Qa’im; Fatimah’s Brother Martyred In Combat
Feb 04, 2005
By Muhammad Abu Nasr, Free Arab Voice; Edited And Published by JUS

In a dispatch posted at 7:50pm Mecca time Thursday night, the Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent in al-Qa’im on the border with Syria reported that a fierce battle between the Iraqi Resistance and US Marines raged from about 10am until 4pm local time Thursday. The last hour of battle was relatively less intense and the fighting ended with the withdrawal of US forces under heavy cover from helicopters and fighter planes. The fighter planes attacked houses of local inhabitants in several parts of the city of al-Qa’im, killing 11 civilian residents, including three women and four children.

A Resistance commander told the correspondent that all Resistance organizations took part in the fighting Thursday. The commander told Mafkarat al-Islam that “the Resistance destroyed three American tanks, killing all the soldiers inside. It destroyed five Humvees, killing a number of the US troops who were driving in those vehicles. And the Resistance also destroyed on American armored vehicle and disabled a second, and took one mercenary serving the US forces prisoner.” The commander said that at that time they were still unsure what nationality the mercenary was, but it was thought probable that he was from some country in North Africa.

Regarding the day’s casualties, the commander said, “More than 31 American soldiers were killed and more than 20 more were wounded. Helicopters evacuated them to one of their bases. On the Resistance side, 14 fighters were martyred and five more were wounded, one of them seriously.”

The correspondent learned from the Resistance commander that the Americans would be attacking al-Qa’im again later tonight (Thursday night) because they suffered heavy losses during the day’s fighting.

The correspondent also reported that US occupation forces disarmed a car bomb that the Resistance had prepared for them in al-Qa’im after a traitor working for the Americans informed them of the bomb. But as they were working to disable the bomb, an explosive device blew up, killing four American soldiers who were on foot. One other US soldier was slightly wounded.

The correspondent reported that a police first lieutenant confirmed the incident of the bombing and the deaths of the four American troops, and added that the Resistance had booby-trapped a house in west al-Qa’im and that also exploded in the faces of the occupation troops at about 8am Thursday. On that occasion the Resistance sent a person to tell the Americans that there were “Arab fighters” in the house. When the US troops stormed into the building, it blew up over them. The policeman told Mafkarat al-Islam that more than 21 US soldiers were killed or wounded in that house bombing.

The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent attended funeral prayers in the local mosque for the Resistance martyrs who were then buried in the Martyrs’ Cemetery in al-Qa’im. One of the martyrs was a man named Khalid, who was the brother of “Fatimah” a woman from around Abu Ghurayb whose famous letter disclosing that she had been gang raped by US jailers was widely reported, as was her death in a Resistance bombardment about a week later. Khalid was able to inflict losses on the US forces before falling a martyr, eyewitnesses told the correspondent.

For his part the Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent in Abu Ghurayb confirmed that Fatimah’s brother Khalid had indeed gone to al-Qa’im to fight the occupation forces there. The correspondent reported that Khalid did not want it said that he fought in Abu Ghurayb and died to avenge his sister. He therefore resolved to go to the farthest most point in al-Anbar Province to fight side-by-side with his brothers in al-Qa’im. This information was supplied to Mafkarat al-Islam by one of the martyr Khalid’s relatives who lives in Abu Ghurayb, 30km west of Baghdad.

(For Fatimah’s letter from Abu Ghurayb prison, see Iraqi Resistance Report, Saturday, 18 December 2004. For the story of the martyrdom of Fatimah and her brother Khalid’s prayer in the Abu Ghurayb mosque, see Iraqi Resistance Report for Friday, 7 January 2005.)

Earlier, in a dispatch posted at 3:05pm Mecca time Thursday, the Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent in the city of al-Qa’im on the border with Syria reported that fierce fighting was at the moment of writing going on in the al-Mu‘allimin and ad-Dubbat neighborhoods in the center of the city between more than 50 Iraqi Resistance fighters and US Marines supported by aircraft, tanks, and armored vehicles.

The combat broke out at about 10am Thursday morning, local time when US forces began storming and searching houses in the area. Resistance forces armed with light and medium weapons, including C5K and RPG7 rockets, as well as surface-to-air SAM7 and SAM9 and Strela anti-aircraft rockets met the Americans in battle.

The correspondent reported that a preliminary casualty count reveals that as of 12 noon local time, two tanks had been set ablaze and one armored vehicle disabled. Four Humvees were destroyed and 19 US troops were killed. Eight Resistance fighters had been martyred, three of them fraternal Arab volunteers.

The correspondent, who was reporting from near the front lines of the fighting, said that US Black Hawk and Cobra helicopters were evacuating dead and wounded Americans. The Resistance had also captured one US soldier, he reported, noting that the fighting was still underway.