IRAQ OCCUPATION FOCUS NEWSLETTER No. 101
Iraq Occupation Focushttp://www.iraqoccupationfocus.org.uk/Newsletter No. 101August 4, 2008
This IOF Newsletter is produced as a free service for all those opposed to the occupation. In order to strengthen our campaign, please make sure you sign up to receive the free newsletter automatically – go to: http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/iraqfocus. Please also ask all those who share our opposition to the increasingly brutal US-UK occupation to do likewise.
This IOF Newsletter is produced as a free service for all those opposed to the occupation. In order to strengthen our campaign, please make sure you sign up to receive the free newsletter automatically – go to: http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/iraqfocus. Please also ask all those who share our opposition to the increasingly brutal US-UK occupation to do likewise.
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Military news
Attack on Diyala to start in August, U.S. military says
Azzaman reports (July 28th): U.S. military commanders are liaising with top Iraqi brass on a fresh large-scale offensive to subdue the restive Province of Diyala.
The attack will be the second major military operation in less than six months targeting Diyala. The province of which the city of Baquba is the capital has hardly recovered from the devastation the troops incurred in the previous offensive.
But the U.S. is selling the imminent attack as a purely Iraqi decision. But Iraqi commanders have made it clear to their U.S. counterparts that their troops are not prepared to wage the offensive on their own.
Iraqi forces launch Diyala operation
CNN reports (July 29th): Iraqi security forces backed by the U.S. military launched an operation targeting al Qaeda in Iraq and Shiite militias in the volatile Diyala province, Iraqi commanders said. The operation began in the provincial capital, Baquba, where security forces have imposed a curfew and are encircling the city.
189 people arrested
voices of Iraq reports (August 1st): total of 189 persons were arrested in Diyala, the official spokesman for the Defence Ministry said.
Salahuddin council president: "American forces are killing our people in cold blood"
Arablinks blogs (July 31st): AlHayat reports that the American forces commited another slaughter of members of a complete family Wednesday in Makshifa (10 km south of Samarra), breaking into the house of Jasam Abdullah al-Aisawi and killing his wife, 77 years old, and two of her sons Mohammed Jasam and Ali Jassam, and seriously wounding three others, including a young girl.
Sheikh Rashid Ahmed Asman, president of the Salahuddin Provincial Council, is demanding the opening of a serious enquiry to find out what is behind these killings by American soldiers of our people in cold blood.
McClatchy adds (July 30th): “an early morning raid by U.S. troops monitoring suspected associates of an al Qaida in Iraq leader killed a woman and two men near Samarra.”
Fallujah Braces for Another Assault
Ali al-Fadhily and Dahr Jamail report for IPS (July 23rd): U.S. and Iraqi forces are preparing another siege of Fallujah under the pretext of combating “terror”, residents and officials say. “Ruling powers in the city fighting to gain full control seem willing to use the security collapse to accuse each other of either conspiracy (in lawlessness) or incapability of control,” Sufian Ahmed, a lawyer and human rights activist in Fallujah told IPS.
“They suddenly changed their tone from saying that the city was the safest in Iraq to claiming that al-Qaeda is a serious threat. Fallujah residents know their so-called leaders are using security threats to terrify them for their own political interests.” The city has now been placed under tight curfew.
Iraqi security forces have established new checkpoints around the city and are forbidding movement of people and traffic.
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Military news
Attack on Diyala to start in August, U.S. military says
Azzaman reports (July 28th): U.S. military commanders are liaising with top Iraqi brass on a fresh large-scale offensive to subdue the restive Province of Diyala.
The attack will be the second major military operation in less than six months targeting Diyala. The province of which the city of Baquba is the capital has hardly recovered from the devastation the troops incurred in the previous offensive.
But the U.S. is selling the imminent attack as a purely Iraqi decision. But Iraqi commanders have made it clear to their U.S. counterparts that their troops are not prepared to wage the offensive on their own.
Iraqi forces launch Diyala operation
CNN reports (July 29th): Iraqi security forces backed by the U.S. military launched an operation targeting al Qaeda in Iraq and Shiite militias in the volatile Diyala province, Iraqi commanders said. The operation began in the provincial capital, Baquba, where security forces have imposed a curfew and are encircling the city.
189 people arrested
voices of Iraq reports (August 1st): total of 189 persons were arrested in Diyala, the official spokesman for the Defence Ministry said.
Salahuddin council president: "American forces are killing our people in cold blood"
Arablinks blogs (July 31st): AlHayat reports that the American forces commited another slaughter of members of a complete family Wednesday in Makshifa (10 km south of Samarra), breaking into the house of Jasam Abdullah al-Aisawi and killing his wife, 77 years old, and two of her sons Mohammed Jasam and Ali Jassam, and seriously wounding three others, including a young girl.
Sheikh Rashid Ahmed Asman, president of the Salahuddin Provincial Council, is demanding the opening of a serious enquiry to find out what is behind these killings by American soldiers of our people in cold blood.
McClatchy adds (July 30th): “an early morning raid by U.S. troops monitoring suspected associates of an al Qaida in Iraq leader killed a woman and two men near Samarra.”
Fallujah Braces for Another Assault
Ali al-Fadhily and Dahr Jamail report for IPS (July 23rd): U.S. and Iraqi forces are preparing another siege of Fallujah under the pretext of combating “terror”, residents and officials say. “Ruling powers in the city fighting to gain full control seem willing to use the security collapse to accuse each other of either conspiracy (in lawlessness) or incapability of control,” Sufian Ahmed, a lawyer and human rights activist in Fallujah told IPS.
“They suddenly changed their tone from saying that the city was the safest in Iraq to claiming that al-Qaeda is a serious threat. Fallujah residents know their so-called leaders are using security threats to terrify them for their own political interests.” The city has now been placed under tight curfew.
Iraqi security forces have established new checkpoints around the city and are forbidding movement of people and traffic.
