1 600 gefallene US-Soldaten im Iraq
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In der irakischen Hauptstadt Bagdad ist heute nach Angaben der Polizei eine Journalistin aus den USA entführt und ihr irakischer Begleiter erschossen worden.
Die Journalistin und ihr für sie als Übersetzer arbeitende Kollege seien auf dem Weg zu einem Treffen mit einem sunnitischen Führer gewesen, teilte die Polizei mit. Im Westen Bagdads sei ihr Fahrzeug von Bewaffneten nahe einer Moschee gestoppt und der Iraker erschossen worden.
Die Frau sei von den Männern verschleppt worden. Unmittelbar nach Bekanntwerden der Tat riegelten nach Angaben von Augenzeugen irakische und US-Soldaten das Gebiet ab.
Rund 50 Geiseln bisher getötet
Seit dem Sturz des Regimes von Staatschef Saddam Hussein im Frühjahr 2003 sind im Irak Tausende Menschen entführt worden, darunter etwa 200 Ausländer. Die Täter wollen häufig ein Lösegeld erpressen.
Zum Teil fordern sie aber auch, dass ausländische Regierungen ihre Zusammenarbeit mit dem Irak einstellen - etwa bei der Entführung der Deutschen Susanne Osthoff vor wenigen Wochen. Einige Geiseln wurden wieder freigelassen, etwa 50 wurden allerdings getötet.
Ein mit einer Bombe präpariertes Fahrzeug sei in dem Moment explodiert, als eine irakische Militärpatrouille an dem Wagen vorbeigefahren sei, teilte die Polizei mit. Weitere Einzelheiten wurden zunächst nicht bekannt.
In den vergangenen Tagen hatte es eine Reihe schwerer Anschläge im Irak gegeben, So waren am Donnerstag in Bagdad sieben US-Soldaten bei der Explosion zweier Bomben getötet worden. In der Stadt Kerbala wurden an dem Tag bei zwei Selbstmordanschlägen rund 120 Iraker getötet und mehr als 200 weitere verwundet.
Eine größere Fläche bei der Ausrüstung zum Körperschutz oder auch ein besserer Schutz um die Schutzflächen herum hätte vielfach fatale Verletzungen mindern können. Zu diesem Schluss kommen Medizin-Experten des US-Militärs, wie es laut Nachrichtenagentur Reuters in einer am Freitag (Ortszeit) bekannt gewordenen Studie heißt.
Für die Studie wurden den Angaben zufolge tödliche Verletzungen von 93 Soldaten untersucht. Bei mindestens 74 von ihnen hätten Bombensplitter oder Kugeln die Soldaten an Schultern, Torso oder anderen Bereichen getroffen, die nicht voll durch Keramik-Platten der Ausrüstung geschützt gewesen seien.
Vorwürfe an Bush
Kritiker haben der Regierung von US-Präsident George W. Bush in der Vergangenheit wiederholt vorgeworfen, den Soldaten nicht das Bestmögliche sowohl beim Körperschutz als auch in Bezug auf gepanzerte Fahrzeuge zur Verfügung gestellt zu haben. Die US-Regierung hat die Vorwürfe indes zurückgewiesen.
Im Irak sind seit Beginn des Krieges bislang etwa 2200 US-Soldaten getötet und etwa 16 000 verwundet worden.
Jack Straw, the British foreign secretary, has reiterated the British prime minister's promise of troop withdrawal from Iraq, saying the pullout could begin within months.
During Straw's trip to Iraq on Saturday, he also urged Iraqis to support the elections.
He said: "In practice, what we hope to see is a gradual phased draw-down of British troops starting, not with Basra, but with one or two of the other provinces in our area."
The phased withdrawal will start "as and when the Iraqis are satisfied that their own forces can cope completely with the responsibility. It's going to be a matter of months."
Around 8000 British troops control four of Iraq's southern provinces - Basra, Nasiriyah, Samawah and Amara.
Straw called on Iraqi politicians to accept the final results of last month's polls, saying true democrats must acknowledge it was just as easy to lose elections as to win them.
Some Sunni Arab and secular politicians say the 15 December parliamentary election was fraudulent and have demanded a re-run, although Iraq's Electoral Commission insists it was largely fair.The United Nations agrees.
Straw said on Saturday: "The Iraqi people showed us that they are going to defy the people of violence and that democracy burns in the souls and hearts of Iraqi people in the same way it does in people across the world."
Preliminary results suggest the Shia United Iraqi Alliance will dominate the new parliament, although it looks unlikely it will have a majority of seats in the new parliament.
Jalal Talabani, Iraq's outgoing president, was re-selected to run for the job, the two largest Kurdish parties announced on Saturday.
The president is to be chosen by the new national parliament.
The president's re-selection was decided by leaders of Talabani's own Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and by those of the rival Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of Massud Barzani.
Talabani (L) predicts a new govern-
ment will be formed in weeks
PUK and KDP leaders also announced they intended to merge their respective administrations within the autonomous region of Kurdistan, bringing all three of their provinces under single rule.
Talabani predicted on Saturday that a new government could be formed within weeks.
Meeting with Straw in Baghdad, Talabani said that Shia, Sunni Arab and Kurdish political groups had agreed in principle on a national unity government that could be formed within a few weeks.
Western diplomats in Baghdad have speculated that a government could be in place by the second half of February.
Talabani said: "In principle we are agreed to have a national unity government. Everyone is expecting to have it as soon as possible, but you know the devil is in the details. For that we hope that we will be able to solve it as soon as possible. I'm expecting some weeks."
Sunni politicians have warned that anger at results they say are forged could prompt more attacks, not just by al-Qaida-linked fighters, bent on wrecking the US-led political process, but also by Sunni groups that backed the vote.
Those warnings have been followed by a spate of bombings across the country that have killed scores of Iraqis, both Shia and Sunnis.
At a news conference, Straw said: "As with any complicated election there are complaints about the elections. There are proper processes for these to be investigated. In democracy, it is important to understand that you can lose elections as well as win them."
He said he and Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Iraq's prime minister, discussed the need for improved co-ordination between Iraqi and US-led security forces.
Al-Jaafari said the government would introduce a new security plan to combat the surge in fighting over the next few days. He gave no details.
Meanwhile, a US woman journalist was kidnapped by armed men in the Iraqi capital on Saturday and her translator killed. She was the latest Westerner to be held in the war-torn country.
Elizabeth Colton, a US embassy spokeswoman, said: "An American journalist is missing. We are investigating."
The journalist was scheduled to
meet Adnan al-Dulaimi (L)
Iraqi security officials said a US woman journalist was abducted by armed men in the Adl district of western Baghdad and that her translator had died.
An Iraqi defence ministry official said the interpreter was able to tell soldiers before he died that the journalist was kidnapped.
Officials said the unnamed reporter was seized on her way to interview prominent Sunni Arab politician Adnan al-Dulaimi.
A guard outside al-Dulaimi's office told AFP he heard gunshots fired a short distance away and rushed to find the body of a slain man.
Al-Dulaimi himself told AFP he had no appointment to meet a Western journalist.
People living in the neighbourhood, which has been cordoned off by US and Iraqi security forces, were frightened and refused to talk to journalists.
Baghdad violence on Saturday left 15 people wounded, including six policemen, when a bomber drove a booby-trapped car at a police commando convoy in Baghdad.
US-Vertreter verhandeln mit Aufständischen
Laut einem Zeitungsbericht gibt es im Irak Verhandlungen zwischen US-Diplomaten und Vertretern von Aufständischengruppen. Die Gespräche sollen irakische Gruppierungen dazu bringen, die legitime Regierung zu akzeptieren und die Terroristen um Qaida-Führer Sarkawi zu jagen.
Bagdad - Die US-Regierung wolle die wachsenden Spannungen zwischen irakischen Aufständischen und radikalislamischen Gruppen um das Terrornetzwerk al-Qaida ausnutzen, berichtet die "New York Times". Besonders im sogenannten sunnitischen Dreieck sollen lokale Sunniten-Führer dazu gebracht werden, gegen die Qaida und ihren lokalen Anführer Mussab al-Sarakawi vorzugehen und sich in den politischen Prozess einbinden zu lassen. Schwierigstes Hindernis auf dem Weg zu einem Waffenstillstand sei bislang die Forderung der Rebellen-Führer nach einem Fahrplan für den Abzug der US-Truppen.
AP
Wütende Proteste nach Terroranschlag in Kerbela: "Sie entehren den Namen des edlen Widerstandes"
Dem Bericht zufolge setzen die US-Vertreter dabei auf zunehmende Animositäten gegenüber den islamistischen Terroristen, weil die bei ihren Anschlägen bereits zahllose Iraker umgebracht haben. Die Gruppierungen im Umkreis von al-Qaida strebten einen muslimischen Gottesstaat im Irak an. Der Kampf der lokalen Sunniten-Gruppen dagegen ziele vor allem darauf, die US-Truppen aus dem Irak zu vertreiben. Diese Gruppen haben zum Teil auch die Wahlen im Dezember durch Waffenruhe oder gar durch aktiven Schutz der Wahllokale unterstützt. Ein Problem ist allerdings, dass die irakischen Aufständischen in Dutzenden verschiedener Gruppierungen organisiert sind.
Allein in den vergangenen zwei Tagen sind mehr als 180 Iraker bei Selbstmordanschlägen ums Leben gekommen. Die "New York Times" zitiert einen angeblichen Aufständischen aus der sogenannten Islamischen Armee mit dem Kampfnamen Abu Omar mit den Worten "wir sind Iraker, und al-Qaida kam von außerhalb unserer Grenzen. Sie entehren den Namen des edlen Widerstandes im Irak."
"Sie würden sich um die Terroristen kümmern"
Ein ungenannter US-Diplomat sagte dem Blatt, man hoffe, dass die sunnitischen Aufständischen sich mit einer künftigen, frei gewählten Regierung anfreunden würden, in der auch sunnitische Vertreter sitzen werden. Im Irak wartet man immer noch auf die endgültigen Ergebnisse der Wahlen am 15. Dezember. "Nach islamischer Doktrin, ebenso wie nach demokratischen Prinzipien, kann es gegen eine legitime Regierung keinen legitimen Widerstand geben", sagte der Diplomat demnach, "wenn wir uns miteinander verständigen könnten, also der Widerstand, wie sie das nennen, und die Koalition, dann würden sie sich um Sarkawi und die Terroristen kümmern."
Der Anführer einer Aufständischengruppe aus dem Ort Jusefija, ein vormaliger Offizier der irakischen Armee, bestätigte der "New York Times" zufolge, dass solche Gespräche mit US-Vertretern stattfinden.
Der Stellvertreter von al-Qaida-Chef Osama Bin Laden, Aiman al-Sawahiri, hatte US-Präsident George W. Bush in einer gestern veröffentlichten Videobotschaft aufgefordert, seine "Niederlage im Irak" zuzugeben. Bush selbst dagegen sprach erst am Donnerstag von "verdammt guten Fortschritten" im Irak. Den größten Erfolgsschub werde es jedoch geben, wenn die Iraker es selbst mit den Feinden aufnehmen können, die ihre Demokratie stoppen wollten, so der US-Präsident.
U.S. troops burst into the Umm al-Qora mosque complex in western Baghdad at 3 a.m., blowing doors off hinges and ransacking offices, an association official who declined to be named told Reuters.
The U.S. military said it was checking the report.
Reuters Television footage showed spent shotgun shells and special explosive charges used to blow out door locks lying on the ground. Many office doors showed signs of forced entry.
In one room, cupboards used to store the shoes of those attending prayers had what appeared to be Christian crosses scrawled on them. Other footage showed papers strewn on office floors and windows smashed.
The Muslim Clerics' Association is an influential group of Sunni scholars who hold sway over many Sunnis, especially in western Anbar province, heartland of the insurgency. Its leaders have called on U.S. forces to withdraw from Iraq and boycotted the December 15 parliamentary election.
"They took Sheikh Unis al-Ugaidi (a member of the association), two employees and two guards," said a source in the office of Sheikh Harith al-Dhari, who heads the association.
"We do not know the reason, but it's obvious, it's due to the Association's attitude toward the occupation," he said.
He said U.S. troops had disarmed about 20 bodyguards stationed in the complex and confiscated their weapons.
About 20 percent of Iraq's population are Sunni Muslims.
All three were killed by small arms fire while conducting combat operations, the statement said
Der Ingenieur sei bereits am Samstag nahe des Gefängnisses Abu Ghraib bei Bagdad freigelassen worden, hieß es in Kreisen des irakischen Innenministeriums und der Polizei am Sonntag. Er sei inzwischen in der Obhut des US-Militärs. Offenbar hätten die Entführer den Mann eigentlich an einen anderen Ort bringen wollen, seien dann aber unvermutet auf einen gemeinsamen Kontrollpunkt des irakischen und des US-Militärs gestoßen. Daraufhin hätten die Täter ihr Opfer aus dem Wagen gestoßen und seien geflüchtet.
Der französische Präsident Jacques Chirac äußerte sich erleichtert zum Ausgang der Entführung. "Der Präsident dankt den Koalitionskräften, durch die die Freilassung möglich wurde. Er spricht all jenen seinen Dank aus, die daran beteiligt waren", teilte Chiracs Büro mit.
Die bislang kaum bekannte Extremistengruppe "Brigade für die Überwachung des Wohls des Iraks" hatte damit gedroht, den Ingenieur Bernard Planche zu töten, sollte Frankreich seine "illegale Präsenz" im Irak nicht beenden. Die französische Regierung hatte indes an die Entführer appelliert, den Mann freizulassen und erklärt, Frankreich habe keine militärische Präsenz im Irak und sich stets für die volle Souveränität des Landes eingesetzt. Planche arbeitete für eine Nicht-Regierungsorganisation im Irak.
Frankreich hat keine Soldaten im Irak und beteiligt sich auch nicht an der Ausbildung irakischer Sicherheitskräfte. Mit Deutschland zusammen war das Land einer der entschiedensten Gegner des Irak-Krieges.
Im Irak sind in den vergangenen drei Monaten mindestens 15 Ausländer entführt worden, darunter auch die Deutsche Susanne Osthoff. Sie war im Dezember nach drei Wochen Geiselnahme unversehrt freigekommen.
The helicopter, which was carrying a crew of four and eight passengers, was flying between bases in the north of the country, according to news releases from the U.S. military.
A search-and-rescue team found the crash site about noon (4 a.m. ET).
The military also announced the deaths of five U.S. Marines in three different Iraqi towns Saturday and Sunday.
Insurgents in Falluja killed three Marines during separate gunbattles Sunday. Falluja is about 35 miles (56 kilometers) west of Baghdad in restive Anbar province.
On Saturday, roadside bombs killed two Marines, one near al-Karma and another near Ferris. Both towns are near Falluja.
Since the war began, 2,198 U.S. service members serving in Iraq have died.
Suicide bomb kills 13
At least 13 people, including six Iraqi police commandos, were wounded when a suicide car bomb exploded Saturday as a police commando patrol was passing by, police said.
The bomb went off in southeast Baghdad's al-Jadida neighborhood, authorities said, about 10:15 a.m. ( 2:15 a.m. ET).
On Friday, military officials revealed that 11 U.S. troops -- eight soldiers and three Marines -- were among about 140 people killed in attacks across Iraq Thursday, the deadliest day in Iraq in nearly four months.
A U.S. soldier and a U.S. Marine were killed in a major suicide bombing targeting an Iraqi police recruitment center in Ramadi, the military said Friday. Both were assigned to 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).
Their deaths bring the number of people killed in the Ramadi attack to at least 82, along with about 70 wounded. (More on what happened)
In addition, two U.S. Marines were killed by small arms fire in separate attacks during combat operations in Falluja, the military said. The Marines were assigned to Regimental Combat Team 8, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).
Also, a roadside bomb killed two Task Force Baghdad soldiers on patrol in the Baghdad area of operations, the military said Friday. That incident was under investigation.
And five other Task Force Baghdad soldiers died in a separate roadside bombing near Baghdad.
The names of the soldiers and Marines were withheld pending notification of relatives. Since the war began, 2,193 U.S. troops have died in Iraq.
Thursday's violence also included a suicide bomb attack in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, where 45 people were killed and 82 wounded, police and hospital officials said. The attacker detonated his explosives near two Shiite shrines, the Imam Hussein and Imam Abbas.
The area has been closed off and police are investigating, said police spokesman Rahman Mishawi.
Karbala, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad, has been relatively free of violence for the past year.
Asked if the attacks were a sign that the December elections had failed to diminish the insurgency in Iraq, Gen. Peter Pace said the opposite was true.
Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that with each of the country's three elections, voter turnout increased, indicating that "the terrorists failed at each of their primary missions of stopping the vote."
"What's clear to me is that each of the elections has been a major blow to al Qaeda," Pace said at a Pentagon news conference Thursday. "I think what you're seeing now is a continuing attempt to disrupt the proper formation of the Iraqi government, and I'm confident they will fail."
Other developments
Iraq security forces have arrested 36 suspected terrorists, including a former senior figure in the Ba'ath party, according to a news release from the Iraqi Council of Ministers said in a statement Sunday.
A homemade bomb damaged a main pipeline carrying oil from the country's largest refinery in Baiji to the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, Kirkuk's police chief said.
A French humanitarian worker who had been held hostage in Iraq for more than a month was freed Saturday during a joint U.S.-Iraqi military operation, the military said. (Full story)
Der Mann, der Juba überlebte
Er schießt nur einmal. Fast immer mit tödlicher Präzision. Und wenn sie ihn hören, ist es schon zu spät. "Juba" haben die amerikanischen Soldaten einen feindlichen Scharfschützen im Irak genannt, der schon mehr als 150 Mal den Tod gebracht haben soll. Stephen Tschiderer überlebte.
Seit ein paar Monaten kursieren im Internet Propagandavideos mit Juabs Taten aus dem Hinterhalt. Sogar ein Trainingsfilm existiert. Als Mitglied der Islamischen Armee des Iraks wird er dort zum Mythos stilisiert.
"Der Scharfschütze von Bagdad" heißt einer dieser Filme. Über 15 Minuten lang zeigt er den heimtückischen Tod im Namen Allahs. Fast im Sekundentakt fallen getroffene GIs. Untermalt wird das Ganze von Gesängen über den Muslim im Krieg.
SNIPER-OPFER: DER MANN DER JUBA ÜBERLEBTE
Doch ob es wirklich immer ein und derselbe Schütze ist, der seine Taten von einem Videofilmer dokumentieren lässt, scheint zweifelhaft. Denn vor ein paar Monaten überlebte der US-Soldat Stephen Tschiderer, 22, einen Anschlag. "Als ich getroffen wurde, dachte ich, ich sei tot", sagt Tschiderer im Interview mit SPIEGEL TV (Sonntag, 22.25 Uhr RTL).
Auch der Anschlag auf ihn ist gefilmt worden. Eine Minute lang sieht und hört man, wie der Scharfschütze und sein Kompagnon sich über das menschliche Ziel in rund hundert Meter Entfernung unterhalten. "Schieß doch!", flüstert der Helfer. "Ich warte, bis er sich gedreht hat", erwidert der Sniper. Dann der Schuss. Wie immer nur einer. Damit der Schütze anhand eines zweiten nicht zu lokalisieren ist. Der getroffene amerikanische Soldat sackt zusammen.
Auf islamischen Propagandaseiten ist die Szene nach dem Schuss zu Ende. Was verschwiegen wird: Tschiderer überlebt. Seine schusssichere Weste rettet ihn. Er und seine Einheit können den Sniper durch Zufall schnell orten und nach einer längeren Verfolgungsjagd stellen und festnehmen. Die Täter saßen in einem silbernen Van, der hinten mit einem Loch versehen war, durch das geschossen werden konnte. Nach mehreren Verhören ist klar: Es war quasi ein Trainingsschießen. Ein neuer Sniper sollte von einem Ausbilder angelernt werden. Doch auch nach der Festnahme gehen die Anschläge weiter. Als inoffiziell letztes Sniper-Opfer gilt Joshua A. Terando, 27. Der Sergeant der National Guard geriet am 10. November 2005 westlich von Bagdad in einen Hinterhalt
They said they were still investigating the cause of the blasts.
A ceremony celebrating the 84th anniversary of the formation of the Iraqi police force was taking place at the police academy next door to the ministry at the time of the blast.
An Iraqi state television correspondent who attended the ceremony said one mortar bomb had hit the parade ground while a suicide bomber had blown himself up at a checkpoint outside the Interior Ministry.
The ministry has been attacked by insurgents on several previous occasions. It has become a symbol of hatred for Sunni Arab insurgents who accuse it of running Shi'ite militia that target the minority Sunni Arab community. The ministry denies such charges.
In November, U.S. troops found a bunker run by the Interior Ministry containing 170 prisoners, most of whom were Sunni Arabs. Many showed signs they had been abused and tortured.
Meanwhile, a French hostage headed home after more than a month in captivity, and Sunni Arab politicians hit out at the U.S. military, accusing them of targeting Muslim clergy and violating a place of worship during a raid in Baghdad.
U.S. officials said they were investigating a helicopter crash on Saturday night in the north of the country. They said it happened in bad weather and confirmed that eight of the 12 killed were military personnel, pushing the U.S. death toll in Iraq over the 2,200 mark.
The two suicide bombers managed to get inside the Interior Ministry compound in east Baghdad, as senior dignitaries, including the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, were at a nearby parade to mark National Police Day.
One was wearing the uniform of an Iraqi police major while the other was dressed as a lieutenant-colonel. Both had high-level security passes which enabled them to get through the main checkpoint to the compound, and would have allowed them to get into the ministry itself.
"We're dying to know how they got hold of these badges to enter the building," one police source told Reuters. "This is a disaster. We can't understand how they managed to get inside without being searched."
Once inside the checkpoint, Interior Ministry guards became suspicious of one of the attackers because of his bulk, and shot at him, detonating his explosive belt. The second bomber then blew himself up, causing more carnage.
Al Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility for the attack, which left 25 people injured.
U.S. military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Barry Johnson, who was at the nearby ceremony, said U.S. ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad was unhurt and the parade continued as planned.
The ministry has been targeted by insurgents before and has become something of a hate symbol for Sunni Arabs, who accuse it of running Shi'ite Muslim militia -- charges the ministry and its controversial minister Bayan Jabor vehemently deny.
Mon Jan 9, 2006 10:14 AM ET
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Sunni Arabs in Iraq branded a U.S. raid on a mosque complex a "sinful assault" and said it would worsen their relations with the U.S. military.
Sunni Arab political parties said the Sunday raid on the Baghdad offices of the influential Muslim Clerics' Association targeted the clergy and violated a place of worship.
The attack appears likely to worsen relations between the U.S. military and Sunni Arabs at a time when Washington is trying to encourage Sunnis to abandon support for a deadly insurgency and embrace the political process.
"It is a direct and intended act against Sunnis. It is an assault. It will only worsen the relations with them (the U.S. military)," Abdul Hadi al Zubeidi, a senior member of the Sunni coalition, the Sunni Gathering, told Reuters.
The U.S. military said it conducted the raid on the offices in the complex of the Umm al-Qora mosque in response to a tip-off of "substantial terrorist activity" there. It says U.S. soldiers behaved respectfully during their search of the premises and the arrests of six people.
The Iraqi Accordance Front, the country's main Sunni Arab coalition, called on its followers to gather at the mosque in Baghdad on Tuesday to protest against the raid.
The raid came on the same day that one of the leaders of the Iraqi Accordance Front, Adnan al-Dulaimi, held talks with President Jalal Talabani on forming a new government encompassing Sunnis, Kurds and the Shi'ite majority.
While the raid appears likely to fuel grievances among the once-dominant Sunni Arab community who feel marginalised under the Shi'ite and Kurdish-led government, it was not immediately clear if it would complicate efforts to form a new government.
Sunni Arab and secular politicians have complained of vote- rigging in the December 15 election, dominated by the main Shi'ite Islamist Alliance. A team of foreign experts are investigating the complaints and final results have still not been announced.
Late on Sunday, the Iraqi Accordance Front issued a statement demanding the release of the six men arrested and called on the U.S. military "to respect the worship places and religious clergy, and never to repeat this in the future".
The Iraqi Islamic Party, part of the main Sunni bloc, described the raid as "an irresponsible act ... against the religious clergy ... and a sharp violation of human rights and a place of worship".
Dr Ali Fadhil works for The Guardian and Britain’s Channel 4. In November, he won the Foreign Press Association young journalist of the year award.
He says that U.S. forces stormed his home in Baghdad while he was asleep with his wife, their three-year-old daughter, Sarah, and seven-month-old son, Adam.
"They fired into the bedroom where we were sleeping, then three soldiers came in. They rolled me on to the floor and tied my hands. When I tried to ask them what they were looking for they just told me to shut up," he said.
According to The Guardian, Dr Fadhil was hooded and taken for questioning. He was freed hours later.
Dr Fadhil is currently working with Guardian Films on an investigation for Channel 4's Dispatches programme into reports that tens of millions of dollars worth of Iraqi funds held by the Americans and British occupation authorities have been misused or misappropriated.
U.S. forces told Dr Fadhil that they were looking for an Iraqi fighter and confiscated video tapes he had shot for the programme, which they didn’t return.
"The timing and nature of this raid is extremely disturbing. It is only a few days since we first approached the U.S. authorities and told them Ali was doing this investigation, and asked them then to grant him an interview about our findings,“ said Callum Macrae, the director of the film.
“We need a convincing assurance from the American authorities that this terrifying experience was not harassment and a crude attempt to discourage Ali's investigation."
Iraqis and human rights groups accuse U.S. occupation forces of violating international laws by engaging in arbitrary arrests, indefinite detention and mistreatment of Iraqi detainees.
Columbia University economist Joseph E. Stiglitz and Harvard lecturer Linda Bilmes included in their study disability payments for the 16,000 wounded U.S. soldiers, about 20 percent of whom suffer serious brain or spinal injuries.
They said U.S. taxpayers will be burdened with costs that linger long after U.S. troops withdraw.
"Even taking a conservative approach, we have been surprised at how large they are," said the study, referring to total war costs. "We can state, with some degree of confidence, that they exceed a trillion dollars."
Before the invasion, then-White House budget director Mitch Daniels predicted Iraq would be "an affordable endeavor" and rejected an estimate by then-White House economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey of total Iraq war costs at $100 billion to $200 billion as "very, very high."
Unforeseen costs include recruiting to replenish a military drained by multiple tours of duty, slower long-term U.S. economic growth and health-care bills for treating long-term mental illness suffered by war veterans.
They said about 30 percent of U.S. troops had developed mental-health problems within three to four months of returning from Iraq as of July 2005, citing Army statistics.
Stiglitz, who won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2001 and has been an outspoken critic of the Bush administration's Iraq policy, and Bilmes based their projections partly on past wars and included the economic cost of higher oil prices, a bigger U.S. budget deficit and greater global insecurity caused by the Iraq war.
They said a portion of the rise in oil prices -- about 20 percent of the $25 a barrel gain in oil prices since the war began -- could be attributed directly to the conflict and that this had already cost the United States about $25 billion.
"Americans are, in a sense, poorer by that amount," they said, describing that estimate as conservative.
The projection of a total cost of $2 trillion assumes U.S. troops stay in Iraq until 2010 but with steadily declining numbers each year. They projected the number of troops there in 2006 at about 136,000. Currently, the United States has 153,000 troops in Iraq.
Marine Corps Lt. Col. Roseann Lynch, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said on Monday that the Iraq war was costing the United States $4.5 billion monthly in military "operating costs" not including procurement of new weapons and equipment.
Lynch said the war in Iraq had cost $173 billion to date.
Another unforeseen cost, the study said, is the loss to the U.S. economy from injured veterans who cannot contribute as productively as they otherwise would and costs related to American civilian contractors and journalists killed in Iraq.
Death benefits to military families and bonuses paid to soldiers to re-enlist and to sign up new recruits are additional long-term costs, it said.
Stiglitz was an adviser to U.S. President Bill Clinton and also served as chief economist at the World Bank.
"2006 will be a time of more testing and sacrifice," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said on Monday. "The terrorists and Saddam loyalists want to continue to try to derail the transition to democracy. They are fighting progress."
A suicide attack inside Iraq's Interior Ministry compound killed 28 people on Monday, which followed one of the bloodiest days in months, when attacks killed 120 people.
In one of the worst weekends for the U.S. military since the 2003 invasion, a U.S. helicopter crashed in Iraq, killing all 12 people on board, and five Marines died in the west of the country.
In a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Bush will talk about building democracy, the importance of strengthening Iraqi security forces and reconstruction efforts, McClellan said.
"And he will talk about how in each of these areas we have learned from experience; we're fixing what's not working and we're adapting as necessary to complete the mission," he said.
There will be more focus on improving the training and capability of the Iraqi police and expanding those forces in 2006, McClellan said.
Bush has refused to set a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, but says American forces can pull out when Iraqi forces take over security.
More than 2,200 Americans and some 30,000 Iraqis have been killed in the Iraq war.
Bush will also call on the international community to fulfill its pledges to Iraq, McClellan said.
"There's been more than $13 billion pledged by the international community. There are a number of countries that have not fulfilled those commitments. And they need to be fulfilled to help the Iraqi people move forward," he said.
Das italienische Fernsehen hat mit einer Videoaufnahme von der Ermordung einer Irak-Geisel die Zuschauer schockiert.
Seit gestern strahlt das TV in den Nachrichtensendungen ein Dokument aus, das die letzten Sekunden vor der Erschießung des Italieners Fabrizio Quattrocchi zeigt. Der Mitarbeiter einer privaten US-Sicherheitsfirma war im April 2004 von seinen Kidnappern als erste westliche Geisel getötet worden.
Das Video zeigt Quattrocchi kniend und von den bewaffneten Entführern umstellt. Als sie die Pistole auf ihn richten, schreit er: "Jetzt zeige ich Euch, wie ein Italiener stirbt." Die schlimmsten Momente des Films wurden jedoch in Italien nicht gezeigt. "Er ist als Held gestorben", kommentierte der italienische Außenminister Gianfranco Fini.
Das Dokument war kurz nach der Ermordung des Italieners dem arabischen Fernsehsender al-Jazeera zugespielt worden. Wann und wie es nach Italien gelangte, ist unklar. Die Staatsanwaltschaft in Rom hatte vor wenigen Tagen die Ausstrahlung im italienischen TV genehmigt.
Bush zeigt sich realistisch
Präsident George W. Bush rechnet in den kommenden Monaten nach eigenen Worten mit weiteren Verlusten im Irak. Das Jahr 2006 sei ein Jahr weiterer Prüfungen und Opfer, sagte der Sprecher des Weißen Hauses, Scott McClellan, in Washington.
Nach einer Umfrage der Nachrichtenagentur AP sank die Zustimmung in der Bevölkerung für Bushs Vorgehen im Irak in der vergangenen Woche auf 39 Prozent. Anfang Dezember hatten sich noch 41 Prozent der Befragten damit zufrieden gezeigt.
In einer Rede vor Veteranen wollte Bush am Dienstag weiter um Sympathie für seine Irak-Politik werben. Bush werde dabei auf die Fortschritte bei der Demokratisierung des Landes, dem Wiederaufbau der Wirtschaft und der Ausbildung der irakischen Streitkräfte verweisen, sagte McClellan. In all diesen Bereichen hätten die USA aus Fehlern gelernt.
sicher eine neue art der bewußtseinserweiterung.....
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Sunni Politician Blames Iraq Violence on Americans
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Harith al-Ubaidi of the Iraqi Accordance Front said Sunnis were "hand in hand" with Shiites against last week's attack in Karbala, south of Baghdad. His remarks were significant because the Iraqi Accordance Front is the main Sunni coalition that is negotiating with Shiites and Kurds over a coalition government.
"We also demand that the occupier get out, because he is the reason behind every crime," al-Ubaidi said. "If the occupier would leave, Iraqis would live as brothers."
He spoke at the Umm al-Qura mosque, Baghdad headquarters of the Association of Muslim Scholars, a Sunni clerical group that is believed to have ties to some insurgent groups.
The sermon was followed by a demonstration against a U.S. raid on the mosque over the weekend. Hundreds of worshippers took part in the protest.
The mosque is in the al-Adel neighborhood, one of Baghdad's roughest and the same area where American journalist Jill Carroll, a 28-year-old freelancer for The Christian Science Monitor, was kidnapped on Saturday.
A U.S. military official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, said the raid was a necessary immediate response to the kidnapping based on a tip provided by an Iraqi citizen. The military said Sunday that six people were detained. No other details were released.
No group has claimed responsibility for abducting Carroll.
At dawn Tuesday, mosques in Iraq ushered in the first day of the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha. There were no reports of violence as of midday Tuesday.
Many Shiites visit the holy city of Najaf during Eid al-Adha, but this year some said the trip was too dangerous.
"In spite of the happiness of Eid, we feel very sad that we are not able to visit the holy shrines and the cemeteries because of the deteriorated security situation," said Khadimiya Abbas, 55, a housewife living in eastern Baghdad.
Two insurgents planting a roadside bomb in Samarra were killed Monday when it detonated prematurely, and in two separate incidents in Samarra, U.S. soldiers killed two gunmen that fired on patrols, the military said Tuesday.
Also Monday, two homicide bombers disguised as police infiltrated the heavily fortified Interior Ministry compound in Baghdad and blew themselves up during celebrations of National Police Day, killing 29 Iraqis.
The attackers died before getting near the U.S. ambassador and senior Iraqi officials at the festivities, but the blasts capped a particularly deadly week for American and Iraqi forces.
At least 498 Iraqis and 54 U.S. forces have been killed in violence since the Dec. 15 parlimentary elections.
An Internet site known for publishing extremist material from Al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi carried a claim of responsibility for Monday's homicide attack, saying it was in revenge for the torture of Sunni Arab prisoners at two detention facilities run by the Shiite-led Interior Ministry.
"The lions of Al Qaeda in Iraq were able to conduct a new raid on the Interior Ministry, taking revenge for Allah's religion and the Sunnis, who are being tortured in the ministry's cellars," the statement said.
The claim, which could not be independently verified, referred to reports that more than 100 abused prisoners were recently found in the jails — bolstering complaints by Sunni Arabs about the treatment of detainees by Interior Ministry forces.
The bombs exploded in quick succession about 1,500 feet from the parade being watched by U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, Interior Minister Bayan Jabr, Defense Minister Sadoun al-Dulaimi and hundreds of others.
None of the officials was hurt and the ceremony was not interrupted, said Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a U.S. military spokesman. He said the explosions "had no impact on the ceremony and did not require anybody to take cover."
The first bomber was shot by the police, but his explosives detonated. A second bomber detonated his explosives.
One bomber was wearing the uniform of an Iraqi police major and the other was dressed as a lieutenant colonel. Both had passes that enabled them to get through checkpoints and into the compound.
At least 29 people were killed and 18 wounded, mostly policemen, said Ala'a Abid Ali, an official at al-Kindi hospital