Rebels Attack U.S. Base, Hotel in Baghdad . . . second time in 24 hours

. .

Rebels Attack U.S. Base, Hotel in Baghdad

By MICHELLE FAUL, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Guerrillas hit central Baghdad with more than a dozen grenades and mortar shells on Christmas Day, striking at a hotel for the second time in 24 hours and the gates of a U.S. army base. One woman was wounded as she slept in an apartment neighboring the hotel.

The attacks came after insurgents made good on a threatened holiday offensive Wednesday, detonating a series of bombs that killed four U.S. soldiers, six civilians and a suicide bomber.

/snip/

After that attack, U.S. soldiers investigating the area found leaflets warning Iraqis to stay home, Army Lt. Kurt Muniz said. The leaflets also warned U.S. forces to leave the country and Iraqi police to stop working with foreign occupiers.


"I guess they think security's going to be downgraded because of the holiday," said Muniz, 26, of Queens, N.Y. "If they want to bring it, I say bring it on."



Gawwwd - don't these cowboys LEARN ? ? ""If they want to bring it, I say bring it on."

Well, they ARE bringin it on - and they won't stop killing American soldiers as long as there are any American soldiers left in Iraq !!

From kids with guns to donkeys - THEY AIN'T QUITTING !!

I see the corporate owned press has now changed terms for Iraqi's fighting the US occupation.. Were they not called "insurgents" just a couple of weeks ago and now they are rebels..

So which is it???

:eyes:

Saddam is still orchestrating these attacks.

...runs these stories above the fold on the front page. I'm pretty sure the change dates to the capture of Emmanuel Gold--er, Saddam Hussein. I read the Times every day, and it's a recent phenomenon, I know that. Look at today's for instance. Nothing up top, just the line down under "International": "4 G.I.'s and 6 Iraqi Civilians Are Killed in Bomb Attacks."

The only question is, how long can they keep it up? Pretty long, I'd guess. But not long enough to do the Flying Chimp any good if the deaths continue.

Tinfoil notwithstanding, I think the timing of the Saddam capture isn't so hot for Shrimp. The glow is going to fade, and if the deaths continue it's going to be another "Mission Accomplished" by election time.

On t'other hand, I expect the capture of OBL to occur during the GOP convention. I think they're just waiting to play that card. With the recent revelations about Pakistan and nuke proliferation, they've really got Musharef by the nuts. And everyone knows OBL is in Pakistan. I don't think it's dirt simple. But I do think that when BushRoveCheney decide, they're going to lean hard enough on Musharef, so Musharef will lean hard enough on his own Qaeda-riddled intelligence service (whose protection OBL is currently enjoying), and there's a good chance OBL will pop out like a watermelon seed. I think they're picking their timing on that very carefully. It's a Bush landslide if they can make it happen, and no point doing it prematurely--better to wait for the window of maximum electoral effect. We'll still be here bitching and moaning how they planned it all right from 9/11 on. But we might as well be talking about the tooth fairy for all the good it will do.

Oops, sorry for the dark vision on Christmas day. But this looks like a pretty good likelihood to me.

Slip it into International instead of on the front page.

The info seems a rehash of this:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=285343

Although it's getting hard to tell these days if the attacks are new ones or ones from just a few hours ago.

Rebels Hit Foreign Compounds in Baghdad
By MICHELLE FAUL, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Guerrillas fired more than a dozen grenades, rockets and mortar shells in Baghdad on Christmas Day, striking a hotel housing foreigners, the Iranian and Turkish embassies and the gates of a U.S. army base. One woman was wounded as she slept in an apartment near the hotel.

The attacks came after insurgents conducted the deadliest attacks since Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s Dec. 13 capture, detonating a series of bombs Wednesday that killed four U.S. soldiers, six civilians and a suicide bomber.

The insurgents had also struck the Ishtar Sheraton Hotel — popular with Western contractors and foreign journalists — with a mortar shell late Wednesday but caused no injuries.

The same hotel, a 19-story building on the bank of the Tigris River, came under attack Thursday, when a grenade crashed through the atrium. Gunfire erupted immediately after the explosion; witnesses said a security guard fired at men who fired at the hotel as they fled in a pickup truck.

(more)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/afp/20031225/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_us_031225144251&e=1