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Iraq-Jordan
Car bomb targets US convoy
2004-07-17
A car bomb has exploded near a US convoy in Baghdad, wounding six people, as a senior Sunni cleric threatened a holy war against US forces in Iraq unless they leave. The car bomb, at least the third in as many days, was driven into the rear of the military convoy on Al-Baya'a highway before detonating, the army said. In the western city of Ramadi, senior Sunni cleric Sheikh Akram Ubayed Furaih used Friday prayers to call on worshippers to launch a holy war. "I ask US President (George W.) Bush to withdraw from Iraq or else Ramadi will become a graveyard for US soldiers," said the cleric, who spent three months in a prison after being arrested by the US military. "I call upon my brothers the Shiites and on all other religious groups to embark on a Jihad (holy war) against the US military to force them out of Iraq."
I think he just violated his parole.
Meanwhile, a senior US commander said Iraqi representatives will sit on a board reviewing the status of the estimated 5200 detainees held largely without trial by US-led forces. "We have asked the ministry of justice and the ministry of human rights and the multinational forces in Iraq to sit on a board that reviews the detainee cases for release," deputy commander for detainee operations in Iraq, Major General Geoffrey Miller said at Camp Bucca near the Iraqi border with Kuwait. "We believe it is prudent to have six members from the Iraqi government and three members from the multinational forces," Maj-Gen. Miller said.
Posted by:Dan Darling

#7  The evil "occupiers" are still in Iraq hiding in their bases and using un-trained Iraqi soldiers to defend them.
Posted by: Anonymous1781   2004-07-17 7:50:49 AM  

#6  Ramadi is in the Marine sector. Should the Iraqi government request some assistance, I think Ramadi could be cleansed very quickly.
Posted by: RWV   2004-07-17 8:33:40 PM  

#5  [Off-topic or abusive comments deleted]
Posted by: Anonymous1781 TROLL   2004-07-17 7:50:49 AM  

#4  Excellent point Verlaine.
Posted by: jawa   2004-07-17 7:42:23 AM  

#3  Verlaine: So true. I have noticed Iraq news has slacked off recently, indicating that there's less bad news to report. Also, with Iraqis fighting the insurgents, it's harder to sustain the myth that it's the evil "occupiers" who are prompting the attacks.
Posted by: virginian   2004-07-17 7:16:30 AM  

#2  Oh, and another thing.

Remember how every casualty figure or notice was accompanied for the last year by "since Pres. Bush declared an end to major combat operations"? Not that this was intended to ridicule Bush or anything.

Has anyone seen "since the transfer of sovereignty at the end of June" used this month? I haven't. Even though that's -- obviously -- a much more significant milestone (no, scratch that, it's an actual milestone, whereas Bush's comment was completely immaterial to the situation). But the sovereignty reference has at least two problems. First, of course, it refers to that troublesome transfer of sovereignty, which so far has not been accompanied by chaos or rebel success (no bad news = bad news). Second, some misguided news consumer out there might misinterpret the sovereignty thing as an indication of many inconvenient things, like Iraqis being in a fight against criminals and terrorists and loathsome saddamite wannabes.

"Quick, we need some standard language to insert that, uh, provides some reference point for the uh .... casualties, I mean news, we're hoping -- er, expecting -- but without taking the US side."
Posted by: Verlaine   2004-07-17 2:38:39 AM  

#1  "The car bomb, at least the third in as many days".

Hopefully these little "darkeners" will get more and more stretched as time goes on, and the enemy fails to do much. Last summer, there was confusion due to the media's squeezing every last possible reference to US casualties out of each incident, with individual reports and numbers being used across news cycles. You could hear about 3 killed on Monday, into Tuesday, maybe even Wednesday (if no "fresh" casualties were available) -- so you'd think by mid-week 9 soldiers were killed.

And when stretching to the point of double-counting won't do it, they just make it up. The other day, in a report on the first of the three car bombs mentioned here, I saw a line reminding -- it's almost like they're "reassuring" -- readers that even though there were no new US losses, a "high level of violence" continued across Iraq. Which I rather doubt is an accurate statement -- and if it were true, why didn't they at least list the attacks that had taken place recently?

Of course in the desired and unlikely case that US casualties continue to be low or even drop further, we all know what the coverage will be like then: there won't be any! (that is, unless some interim govt. official jaywalks, or a juicy anti-US quote can be dug up from a wahhabi nutcase imam of no consequence somewhere in Sunnistan)
Posted by: Verlaine   2004-07-17 2:26:43 AM  

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