Mounting Protests Turn Deadly Across Iraq

Mounting Protests Turn Deadly Across Iraq
Followers of Cleric Sadr Clash With Soliders in Kufa
By Karl Vick and Sewell Chan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, April 4, 2004; 1:35 PM


KUFA, Iraq, April 4 -- Supporters of a fiery young Shiite Muslim cleric clashed Sunday with a Spanish-led force at a military base in this southern Iraqi town after a week of escalating protests and violence.



At least 14 protesters and four soldiers were killed and more than 100 were injured in the fighting, which witnesses said involved gunfire, mortars and an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter.

Spain's Defense Ministry in Madrid said in a statement that the four soldiers who were killed were from El Salvador, news services reported. Another nine soldiers were injured.

In Baghdad's Sadr City, a mostly Shiite slum in the northeastern part of the city, protests that had started peacefully Sunday also turned violent later in the day, the Reuters news service reported.

more
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49405-2004Apr4.html

Iraq is getting even worse. I'm really worried that there is no way to save the situation.

Published: April 4, 2004

At nightfall today, the Sadr City neighborhood shook with explosions and tank and machine gun fire. Black smoke choked the sky. The streets were lined with armed militiamen, dressed in all black. American tanks surrounded the area. Attack helicopters thundered overhead.

"The occupation is over!" people on the streets yelled. "We are now controlled by Sadr. The Americans should stay out."

Franco Pagetti, an Italian photographer, said he was caught in the crossfire and witnessed several American tanks firing into the streets.

"The tanks were shooting into the pavement, not at the height of the people," Mr. Pagetti said. "It looked like they were trying to clear the streets."

"I ask you not to resort to demonstrations because they have become a losing card and we should seek other ways," he told his followers. "Terrorize your enemy, as we cannot remain silent over its violations."

more
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/04/international/middleeast/04CND-IRAQ.html?ex=1081742400&en=8a4fac93536c39a5&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE

"My belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators," Cheney said on NBC's Meet the Press on March16. "I've talked with a lot of Iraqis in the last several months myself, had them to the White House."
"I imagine they will be welcomed," Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, a key architect of the White House's Iraq strategy, said in an interview on April 3, two weeks into the war, with CB S's 60 Minutes II.

http://afr.com/articles/2003/08/10/1060454082192.html

:puke:

"All Iraqis I come in contact with support the occupation. They HAVE to support the occupation, or they don't come in contact with ME!"

This can only get worse. God help them all.

By Abu Spinoza

The New York Times reported under the headline, "Grisly U.S. Deaths in Iraq," the following: “Enraged mob attacked four American contractors here today, shooting them to death, burning their vehicles, dragging their bodies through the downtown streets and then hanging the charred corpses from a bridge over the Euphrates River.” Mainstream media commentators will no doubt pronounce on the cruelty of the deaths of American civilians in Iraq and blame mysterious “foreign forces” and “terrorists” for these actions.

Whilst an attack on civilians cannot be condoned by anyone, these events pale in comparison to the irrationally enraged, ignorant, imperial power’s own production of “Grisly Iraqi Deaths in Iraq.” The U.S. has attacked and invaded Iraq after years of support for Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Iran until his invasion of Kuwait. The U.S. followed Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait with more than a decade of sanctions, bombing civilians and soldiers to death, burning homes and meticulously destroying infrastructure, and then installing a puppet regime of sycophants and thieves. The U.S. occupiers have imprisoned Iraqi men and women in a style worthy of Saddam Hussein. The U.S. Army inflicts collective punishment on Iraq barb wiring villagers who refuse to cooperate with occupation authorities.


more
http://www.pressaction.com/pablog/archives/001568.html

I feel so sad for everyone over there. All hell is breaking loose.

Sounds like just these cleric following jihadists are trying to stir things up. I fear that if they get too brazen our troops on the ground will have no choice but to stop playing nice.

We're the invaders; did your mommy ever tell you anything about that?

This isn't some noble endeavor that we're reluctantly called to by altruistic love of humanity, this is conquest of the most standard kind.

Somehow people keep making us look like the victims and the heroes in a situation where we're the ones attacking and subjugating a sovereign people whose government never threatened us.

He thinks those 600 dead guys died because they weren't
angry enough yet, you know, like in Arnold movies?

Will you have whiskey with your water
or sugar with your tea ?
What are these crazy questions
that you're askin' of me
this is the wildest party
that there ever could be
oh don't turn on the lights
'cause I don't want to see
Mama told me not to come
Mama told me not to come
Mama said that ain't no way to have fun
open up the window
let some air into this room
I think I'm almost chokin'
on the smell of stale perfume
and the cigarette you're smokin'
s'about to scare me half to death
oh open up the window
let me catch my breath
radio is blastin'
someone's knockin' on the door
our hostess is not lastin'
she's passed out on the floor
I've seen so many things
that I ain't never seen beforwe
I don't know what it is
but I don't wanna see no more.

http://www.ilyric.net/Lyrics/T/Three-Dog-Night/Mama-Told-Me-Not-To-Come.html

Same guy who brought us "Political Science" and "God's Song".

This sound like anyone in the news?

I don't love the mountains
And I don't love the sea
And I don't love Jesus
He never done a thing for me
I ain't pretty like my sister
Or smart like my dad
Or good like my mama

It's Money That I Love
It's Money That I Love

They say that's money
Can't buy love in this world
But it'll get you a half-pound of cocaine
And a sixteen-year old girl
And a great big long limousine
On a hot September night
Now that may not be love
But it is all right

One, two
It's Money That I Love
Wanna kiss you Three, four
It's Money That I Love
Used to worry about the poor

But I don't worry anymore
Used to worry about the black man
Now I don't worry about the black man
Used to worry about the starving children of India
You know what I say about the starving children of India ?
I say, "Oh mama"

It's Money That I Love
It's Money That I Love
It's Money That I Love

60% of the Iraqi population is Shiite Muslim, roughly 10-12 MILLION Iraqis. This is the same religious faction that currently controls Iran, and widely supports a theocratic government based on Islam. If even 10% want the US troops out of there and are willing to fight for that goal, they outnumber our 100,000 troops 10-to-1. You don't need all-out resistance to see devastating violence when you only have 100,000 US troops policing a country of 25 MILLION.

Secondly, do you really believe that only a few Iraqis are participating in the hit-and-run attacks? Think about it. They shoot, fire RPG's, or plant roadside bombs, and then they just disappear into the populace. If the common Iraqi civilian supported the US occupation, why aren't they turning these few jihadists in? Do you think these resistance fighters can live invisibly in society, much less a society as closely-knit as those in Iraqi culture where everyone knows everyone else? They need food, shelter, hiding places, places to store weapons, intelligence reports (from covert resistance fighters in the Iraqi police forces), places to gather and plan their attacks. I would guestimate that, for every "jihadist" carrying out an attack, there are at least 10 ordinary-looking civilians who are assisting them. Those numbers add up VERY quickly to indicate there is a very large grassroots resistance movement afoot.

By later in the day, there were sandbags around the pad because of snipers and to keep people from climbing around the edge to get on the other side.
I think I must have been digging holes in the compound about that time, in case we were going to fight it out.
Wow.
Brings back memories.

8 posts and counting. Hello to everyone.

The only thing worse than the killing that has and has yet to happen, is paying for these things to be done. I believe with that, that we hold more responsibility over all. Something revolutionary has to happen in this country. What about the people that cannot live with this anymore, that is half the country(supposedly, probably more) and most all of the world. I want my taxes to benefit those in need of food, shelter... Sound naive, but why is it?

This is the upside down world where black is white, truth is fiction, and work can set you free.

Welcome to DU. Watch the crap!

Thanks and hello to you. I like the "work can set you free". The machine with 200 million nipples at your discretion. Oh how I wish I were lactose intolerant.

The exteme upper end of society has a certain portion of the sheep hypnotized to and in favvor of thuggery, violence and bigotry.

Thanks and hello. And thanks for the reply. Its amazing to read the history of said hypnotism and see how that machine was built and how it has been utilized since, sometimes called patriotism. A good book title: The History of The United States and Forced Compliance.

Captain Mac

Thanks and hello to you. I wonder how many of those coffins it will take before people realize that war kills everyone in life or in spirit. Today we know that 600 is not enough. The only thing more frightening than war itself has to be realizing you were lied to and put in harms way not for freedom of anyone but for the gain of the few. Nothing on earth should die or have to live that way. Thanks again for the welcome, I appreciate it.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-salvadorans-iraq,0,1400915.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

Two soldiers -- a Salvadoran and an American -- died and nine were injured Sunday in clashes with protesters at the Spanish garrison near the holy city of Najaf, the Spanish Defense Ministry said.

The ministry had earlier reported four Salvadoran soldiers in the Spanish led peacekeeping force had been killed.

The clashes broke out when gunmen who were apparently followers of an anti-U.S. Muslim cleric opened fire on the Spanish garrison, the ministry said in a statement. The protesters were angry over the arrest of an aide to the cleric, the ministry said.

Jose Luis Gutierrez, a Defense Ministry spokesman, told the Associated Press the error was the result of confusing reports from the Spanish base.

pos *, where's he hiding this time? or is he just hard at work preparing for a new round of fund-raisers... :puke:

An Iraqi man armed with a Kalashnikov rifle takes cover after clashes broke out with U.S. forces in the impoverished Baghdad suburb of Al Sadr City April 4, 2004.



Al-Sadr's self-styled militiamen from the al-Mahdi Army, speed away from clashes with coalition forces to take a wounded man to the hospital in Kufa, Iraq (news - web sites), Sunday April 4, 2004. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed





Crowds of protesters, including members of the Mehdi Army, a banned Iraqi militia that supports radical anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, march on a Spanish garrison near Kufa April 4, 2004. At least 19 people were killed and more than 100 wounded in clashes between Spanish-led forces and Iraqi protesters and militiamen near the city of Najaf Sunday, hospital officials said. REUTERS/Ali Abu Shish

SUPPORTERS of an anti-American Shiite Muslim cleric opened fire on the Spanish-led garrison near the holy city of Najaf on Sunday during a huge street protest. Two coalition soldiers - an American and a Salvadoran - and at least 20 Iraqis died, and about 210 people were wounded.

In Baghdad, witnesses said US forces moved into the poor Sadr City neighborhood and fired to disperse followers of the charismatic, young cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr. Helicopter gunships flew overhead. The US military had no immediate comment.

Earlier, the cleric's supporters took over several police stations in Sadr City, a stronghold of the cleric, and television footage showed gunmen driving through the area in police cars they had seized.

Protesters also clashed with Italian and British forces in other cities in a broad, violent challenge to the US-led coalition, which is trying to stabilize Iraq ahead of a June 30 handover of power to Iraqis....


http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,9192803%255E401,00.html

This is the beginning of the end of the US folly.

"Let me make it very clear right now that I am *not* a supporter of Al-Sadr. I do not like clerics who want to turn Iraq into the next Iran or Saudi Arabia or Kuwait… but it makes me really, really angry to see these demonstrations greeted with bullets and tanks by the troops. Why allow demonstrations if you're going to shoot at the people? The demonstrators were unarmed but angry- Al-Sadr's newspaper was shut down recently by Bremer and Co. and his deputy is said to have been detained by the Spaniards down south (although the Spanish troops are denying it). His followers are outraged, and believe me- he has a healthy number of followers. His father was practically revered by some of the Shi'a and he apparently has inherited their respect."

Girl Blog from Iraq...