ican, You missed: The deaths brought the number of U.S. fatalities in May to about 50, a pace that threatens to make this month one of the deadliest.
You seem to ignore the simple fact that the killings in Iraq are increasing! Just because the monthly average may have decreased, the total number killed "incrases." Where did you learn your math?
I know you can't see it, but if you bother to add 56,049 and 39,024, the total killed is 95,073.
You're trying to argue that since the monthly average is lower, the total killings don't mean anything. That's the reason why you belong in a looney bin.
Iraq
Pentagon Probes Marine Killings in Iraq
by Linda Wertheimer and Tom Bowman
Weekend Edition - Saturday, May 20, 2006 ยท The Pentagon is investigating allegations that U.S. Marines killed 24 mostly unarmed Iraqi citizens in the mostly Sunni town of Haditha in November 2005. It's clear that an initial report on the incident was a lie.
Related NPR Stories
May 19, 2006
Pentagon Investigates Alleged Massacre in Iraq
May 19, 2006
In Haditha Inquiry, Military Has Broad Access
cicerone imposter wrote:ican, You need to keep up with the current news; Bush and Blair apologized for having screwed up the way they initiated the war in Iraq.
Bush and Blair are minor problems. The primary problem is the threat of the inhuman terrorist malignancy (
itm) to the security of the human race.
Deciding whether Bush and/or Blair are fools and/or frauds is ONE-DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS. Deciding what is the best way over time to solve the primary problem is FOUR-DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS.
If you insist on continuing to focus on the minor problem of Bush and/or Blair, at the very least name one or more individuals and say why you think they would do a better job of solving the primary problem. That at least would be THREE-DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS.
That'd be you by any measure of threat to the human race.
cicerone imposter wrote:ican, You missed:
The deaths brought the number of U.S. fatalities in May to about 50, a pace that threatens to make this month one of the deadliest.
This is more evidence of your ONE-DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS.
The end of my post was (underline added):
[quote="ican711nm"]
The number of non-combatant civilians killed by violence since 01/01/2003, as of:
...
04/30/2006 (1215 days) -- total = 39,024 -- approximate average monthly rate / daily rate = 975.6 / 32.1.
UPDATE from
http://www.iraqbodycount.org/database/
(includes major recent revisions of totals for each month since 1/31/2006)
The total number of non-combatant civilians killed by violence since 01/01/2003, as of 5/18/2006 = 42,288 in 1233 days -- approximate average monthly rate / daily rate = 1042.1 / 34.3.
That is: the total number non-combatant civilians
killed by violence since
01/01/2003, as of:
...
04/30/2006 =
39,024
05/18/2006 =
42,288 [/color]
You seem to ignore the simple fact that the killings in Iraq are increasing!
You seem to distort what I post into that which supports your ONE-DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS.
You're trying to argue that since the monthly average is lower, the total killings don't mean anything. ...
I'm not doing any such thing. The data I provided shows the monthly average up to May 18th to have increased.
At least try TWO-DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS. It's worth the effort to learn how to do that, regardless of how much difficulty you encounter learning how to do it.[/quote]
cicerone imposter wrote:That'd be you by any measure of threat to the human race.
More ONE-DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS.
My opinions and my evidence do not murder civilians, nor do they abet the murder of civilians, nor do they advocate the murder of civilians, nor are they silent witnesses to the murder of civilians.
But your ONE-DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS appears to lead you to tolerate, if not out-right advocate or silently witness, the murder of civilians.
ican, You're a one dimensional threat to the human race - like the terrorists that kill anybody that gets in their way.
ican711nm wrote:I recommend that those seeking to increase the dimensions of their analysis start with the following:
I recommend that those seeking to increase the dimensions of their arses should sit and read Icans posts.
This action will also shrink their brains.
Iranian-backed militias control of much of southern Iraq
Posted on Fri, May. 26, 2006
Iranian-backed militia groups take control of much of southern Iraq
By Tom Lasseter
Knight Ridder Newspapers
BASRA, Iraq
Southern Iraq, long touted as a peaceful region that's likely to be among the first areas returned to Iraqi control, is now dominated by Shiite Muslim warlords and militiamen who are laying the groundwork for an Islamic fundamentalist government, say senior British and Iraqi officials in the area.
The militias appear to be supported by Iranian intelligence or military units that are shipping weapons to the militias in Iraq and providing training for them in Iran.
Some British officials believe the Iranians want to hasten the withdrawal of U.S.-backed coalition forces to pave the way for Iran-friendly clerical rule.
Iranian influence is evident throughout the area. In one government office, an aide approached a Knight Ridder reporter and, mistaking him for an Iranian, said, "Don't be afraid to speak Farsi in Basra. We are a branch of Iran."
"We get an idea that (military training) courses are being run" in Iran, said Lt. Col. David Labouchere, who commands British units in the province of Maysan, north of Basra. "People are training on the other side of the border and then coming back."
British military officials suspect that the missile that was used to shoot down a British helicopter over Basra on May 6 came from Iran. Five British soldiers died.
"We had intelligence suggesting five surface-to-air missile systems being brought over from Iran only seven days before it went down," said Maj. Rob Yuill, a British officer based in Basra.
Yuill said that the information suggested that the missiles were destined for the Mahdi Army, the militia loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Bassem al-Samir, a senior official in the Sadr office in Basra, denied that his organization was involved in the helicopter attack.
Another Sadr official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution from other Sadrists, said that while the Mahdi Army wasn't responsible, "the missile was shot by an Iranian-trained group."
American military officials in Baghdad often point to the relatively low number of attacks against British soldiers in southern Iraq as proof that much of the country is stable.
Last month, however, at least 200 people were killed in Basra, almost all of them by militia violence, according to an Iraqi Defense Ministry official there.
A week with British troops in Maysan and Basra provinces and three additional days of reporting in the city of Basra made it clear that Iraqis here are at the mercy of Shiite militia death squads and Iran-friendly clerics who have imposed an ever-stricter code of de facto Islamic law.
The city of Basra has largely come under the control of Shiite clerics, who have banned alcohol sales. A woman without a headscarf is a rare sight. Record shops have been replaced with stores selling Quranic recordings. It's difficult to purchase chess or backgammon sets; the games are frowned upon by hard-line clerics.
Iraq's top Shiites acknowledge that they want to set up a regional government in the south, but they insist that the provinces involved would remain loyal to the central government in Baghdad. But an Iran-friendly Shiite government in the south could have far-reaching effects on Iraq and the Persian Gulf region and on the strategic position of U.S. military forces in the country.
U.S. forces are dependent on a fragile re-supply line that runs from Kuwait north to Baghdad through southern Iraq. A regional government allied with Iran could pose a risk to that supply line.
Such a government also would further agitate Iraq's Sunni and Kurdish minorities, which could fragment the country, a development that Western analysts fear would destabilize the region.
A Shiite regional government might also greatly enhance Iran's regional influence by giving it a strategic Shiite partner with vast amounts of oil in a Middle East dominated by Sunni-run countries. Neighboring Kuwait's population is about one-third Shiite, and Bahrain and Saudi Arabia's oil-rich Eastern Province are majority Shiite.
Already, there are signs that neighboring Sunni countries are pumping resources to small Sunni factions in Basra to combat Iranian influence, said a senior Iraqi Ministry of Defense official in Basra. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he feared for his life.
"Saudi Arabia is trying to counter the rising power of Iran in Basra by giving money and weapons to fanatical Sunni groups operating there," the official said.
In much the same way that Kurdish leaders and militia units in the north have made control of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk a top priority for their region, Shiites have identified Basra as the economic engine of Iraq's Shiite south. Basra is near Iraq's largest oil fields, with billions of dollars in proven reserves, and is home to the only shipping port in Iraq.
While there are many signs that Iran is backing the Shiite push for control of Basra, it's not clear to what extent the Iranian government is formally involved, said Brig. Gen. James Everard, who commands the British brigade in Basra.
"Do we see weapons technology that has Iranian hallmarks on it? Yes, we do," he said. "Is it freelance work by Iranians or is it official policy? I don't know."
Some British officers also believe that Iran is working through Iraq's Shiite-dominated central government.
Earlier this month, Iraq's Interior Ministry sent a letter ordering Basra's police chief to hire or promote 50 men with direct ties to one of Iraq's largest Shiite militias, the Badr Organization, according to Yuill, who said he'd reviewed the document.
The letter was signed by Bayan Jabr, the then-interior minister, who has deep ties to Badr. The Iranian-backed Badr Organization is the armed wing of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, one of the most powerful Shiite political parties in the country.
Yuill said that Jabr had on several occasions in the past year directed the police chief to stack the ranks of the police with Badr recruits. Jabr was recently named finance minister. A new interior minister has yet to be named.
"My gut feeling is he (Jabr) was trying to improve the Iranian power base, probably with the hope of creating a separate, almost Iranian state in Iraq," Yuill said. "A lot of the people I've talked to in the chain of (Iraqi police) command with militia links are known to have ties to Iranian intelligence."
British officials accuse Iraqi politicians in Basra of using those police as death squads. A British Ministry of Defense political adviser said that the provincial governor uses officers from the police criminal investigations unit as hit men to gun down those who oppose him.
"They're his thugs; they enforce his power," said Al Pennycock, the adviser at the British Army brigade headquarters in Basra. "There are a number of individuals in the police who have been linked to assassinations, to killings, to extortions. It's hard to link it to one overlord, but the governor has very clear links to these elements."
Yuill accused the governor of paying members of the Mahdi Army and Badr, the two major Shiite militias operating here, to carry out killings to support his oil smuggling operations.
The governor declined a Knight Ridder interview request.
British commanders charged with securing far southern Iraq say they hope that the political process will soften the militias. The militias' route could be similar to that of the Irish Republican Army, which many of the British commanders fought against in Northern Ireland.
"At the moment we're just watching the dogfight. The Iraqis are competing for power, and as the local (U.S.-led coalition) commander, I'm very reluctant to interfere," Everard said.
Everard emphasized that his men wouldn't allow bloodshed to engulf the city, but he said that he has little choice but to accept the militias.
"I think there's a perception . . . sometimes that the people of Basra and the militias are separate," Everard said. "Actually, the people of Basra and the militia are the same thing."
Labouchere used similar logic in explaining why he didn't send troops to crack down on militia members in the town of Majar al Kabir, north of Basra, after suspected militiamen from there fired 44 mortar and rocket rounds at his base this month.
"I look at them and say, `Shall I go and clean it up?' And I think I'm just going to piss them off and drive them away from democracy," Labouchere said. "Will I have done good for the people of al Majar? Probably not. I will have just radicalized them."
The fight for control, and the unrest that comes with it, extends well beyond Basra.
In Amarah, a city of 400,000 to the north of Basra, the police are heavily controlled by the Badr Organization, said Maj. Charlie Howard-Higgins, who works with Iraqi security forces in the area.
The Mahdi Army is also a major factor.
The governor of Maysan province is a former Mahdi Army company commander and the provincial council is controlled by politicians loyal to Sadr, said Labouchere, who commands British units in that province.
"If they don't get people to vote the way they want, it's a good possibility you will end up with a bullet in your head or a bomb on a door," Labouchere said. "It's the way things are."
Furat al Shara, the head of the Supreme Council's Basra office, said the way toward peace in southern Iraq is simple: Accept that there will be an Islamist government that will fall short of Iranian theocracy but will be nothing like Western-style democracy.
U.S. and British officials "need to understand that the majority of Iraqi people believe in Islam," al Shara said. "We do not want a secular government."
Al Shara added: "Standing against this current will only cause them problems."
Outside his office, more than a dozen men sat on sofas, with AK-47 rifles piled against the wall next to them.
Two days earlier, a British patrol had driven up to a police station in southern Basra to try to persuade the police there to go on a joint patrol. The police refused.
Standing outside the station, in the heat of the day, Cpl. Patrick Owens shrugged his shoulders.
"It's hard to know who the militia is; it's hard to tell between them and the local police force," Owens said. "The only thing that I've seen get any better here is the weapons they're using against us."
BBB, I read that article in this morning's San Jose Mercury News. Bush apologists can't see what's happening in Iraq, because they have only one goal, one dimension if you will, is to support Bush no matter what.
Bush's one dimension prognostications about bringing democracy to the middle east is falling apart at the seams. They refuse to acknowledge this blunder.
Cice, who is your first choice for whom we should support? Why?
Foreign Military Studies Office
Joint Reserve Intelligence Center
Operation Iraqi Freedom Documents
http://70.169.163.24/
Brought to you by the American Committees on Foreign Relations ACFR NewsGroup No. 713, Monday, May 22, 2006.
Quote:http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2185444,00.html
Judge shot dead after blocking promotion of teacher who wore Muslim headscarf
>From Suna Erdem in Istanbul
A SENIOR judge died yesterday after a lawyer opened fire in Turkey’s highest administrative court. He was apparently protesting against a ruling on the Muslim headscarf, which is barred from many places in the secular country.
The attacker chanted, “Allahu akbar” (God is greatest) and Islamist slogans as he sprayed bullets across the courtroom, wounding five of the six people present before he was arrested by police guards.
It is thought that the attack in the centre of the capital, Ankara, was in protest at a decision not to promote a primary school headmistress who wore a Muslim headscarf on her way to work.
“He came in shouting, ‘I am the soldier of Allah’,” said Tansel Colasan, the court’s deputy chairwoman. “He said he decided to act because of the headscarf ruling.”
An investigation is under way into how Alparslan Arslan, 29, an Islamist lawyer, was able to smuggle the Glock automatic weapon past the X-ray machine at the entrance to the court building.
Those wounded in the Council of State’s second chamber included Mustafa Birden, its chairman. Another victim, Mustafa Ozbilgin, died in hospital from head wounds.
CNN-Turk TV reported that the gunman had been investigated for alleged links to the radical Turkish group Hezbollah. Police searching his car found newspaper cuttings bearing the judges’ pictures, the station added.
The court’s second chamber deals with educational issues, which are often grounds for conflict between Turkey’s Islamists and hardline secularists. Mr Birden had signed a court ruling to bar the promotion of the headmistress. The decision was in line with an extreme interpretation of Turkey’s strong secular rules, which outlaw the wearing of Islamic clothing — particularly the headscarf — in public places, including universities and Parliament.
The decision angered religious conservatives who have been repeatedly disappointed by the failure of the Government of the Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a former Islamist activist, to champion their cause.
In February the Islamist Vakit newspaper published a picture of some of yesterday’s victims under the headline: “Here are those [court] members.” The newspaper is under investigation for inciting attacks against the judges.
The attack has shocked the secularist Establishment. Mr Erdogan’s Government is now on the defensive as the country seeks to join the European Union.
“The existence of the secular republic is officially under threat,” Kemal Anadol, an opposition MP, shouted to the applause of members of his Republican’s People’s Party.
Mr Erdogan, whose most conservative supporters complain that he has sold out in favour of power and close EU ties, condemned the shooting. “Wherever it comes from, such an attack cannot be condoned,” he said. “I condemn it and it will be punished.”
Ahmet Necdet Sezer, the country’s President, said: “This will go down as a black mark in the history of our republic.”
The military, which sees itself as the guardian against any attempt to increase religious influence in the country, also condemned the attack.
About 99 per cent of Turks are Muslims. The country’s secular Establishment, however, which includes the courts and the military, has sought for decades to restrict Islamic influence, which some leaders view as an obstacle to Western-style modernisation.
Mr Erdogan’s wife, Emine, wears a headscarf, and his governing Justice and Development Party has made no secret of its desire to lift a ban on wearing them in government buildings and universities.
The wife of Abdullah Gul, the Foreign Minister, was barred from attending university for wearing one.
There wasn't anybody that ran in 2004 that I chose to vote for; both were losers, and are still losers. It's too bad the way our elections are run in this country, it doesn't attract the more capable of people we have in this country.
There you have it.
ONE-DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS
Bush is bad.
TWO-DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS
Bush is more bad than good.
THREE-DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS
XXX is better than Bush.
FOUR-DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS
We may in time learn who XXX is.
Anybody is better than Bush; even Laura Bush.
OK!
XXX1 = Laura Bush
Is there an XXX2 better than Laura Bush? How about Zel Miller?
I'm looking for someone who will do a good job securing our liberty. One indicator of that is someone who possesses the will and competence to conserve the rule of law.
#2 would be almost anybody except you - or your "ilk."
