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Texpat · 29-02-2008, 03:12 PM

Stars and Stripes, Mideast edition
February 29, 2008

In a somewhat unusual move, U.S. troops have responded to a call from an imam in Balad, Iraq, to help fortify his mosque.

Soldiers helped “increase force protection measures” this week at the Balad Shrine Mosque, according to U.S. military officials.

“The idea is to prevent future attacks on the mosque,” a news release issued Thursday read. “The soldiers were the first coalition forces to visit the mosque” after eight months of working with the imam and other local leaders.

In general, U.S. troops have avoided mosques because of religious sensitivities. In some cases, insurgent groups have taken advantage of that to use mosques as weapons storage points or safe havens.

Mosques have also been targets of attacks by both Shiites and Sunnis in sectarian attacks.

The troops dealing with the mosque leader included the 2nd Platoon, 164th Military Police Company, 728th Military Police Battalion, 18th Military Police Brigade. Other troops assigned to Multi-National Division—North also did the work.

The protective measures include some 160 barriers erected around the mosque.

Stars and Stripes: Balad imam asks U.S. to help secure mosque

***

Nicely done Boys!

sabang · 29-02-2008, 05:43 PM

Nice.

chinthee · 10-03-2008, 12:20 PM

Studies: Iraq costs US $12B per month

Quote:

By CHARLES J. HANLEY, AP Special Correspondent Sun Mar 9, 5:02 PM ET

The flow of blood may be ebbing, but the flood of money into the Iraq war is steadily rising, new analyses show. In 2008, its sixth year, the war will cost approximately $12 billion a month, triple the "burn" rate of its earliest years, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz and co-author Linda J. Bilmes report in a new book.

Quote:

Beyond 2008, working with "best-case" and "realistic-moderate" scenarios, they project the Iraq and Afghan wars, including long-term U.S. military occupations of those countries, will cost the U.S. budget between $1.7 trillion and $2.7 trillion — or more — by 2017.

Quote:

Estimating all economic and social costs might push the U.S. war bill up toward $5 trillion by 2017, they say.

Studies: Iraq costs US $12B per month - Yahoo! News

Quite mind-numbing numbers.

Boon Mee · 12-03-2008, 05:14 AM

An Al Qaeda Torture House goes up...heh

YouTube - News- Nowhere for al Qaeda to hide

raycarey · 13-03-2008, 05:22 PM

^ misson accomplished, eh?

Eliminator · 13-03-2008, 10:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raycarey

^ misson accomplished, eh?

Only when we get rid of you and your ilk, hell, I'll be happy to get rid of YOU.

Hootad Binky · 14-03-2008, 02:47 PM

D'oh!

No link between Saddam and Al-Qaeda: Pentagon study

WASHINGTON (AFP) — A detailed Pentagon study confirms there was no direct link between late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and the Al-Qaeda network, debunking a claim President George W. Bush's administration used to justify invading Iraq.

AFP: No link between Saddam and Al-Qaeda: Pentagon study

Boon Mee · 16-03-2008, 05:44 PM

Another one bites the dust...heh

High-Level al-Qaida Figure Is Captured

Way things are going for them al Qaidas, we'll have to add on to the facility over there...

raycarey · 16-03-2008, 09:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

Another one bites the dust

$12 billion/month and boon mee is creaming in his panties about one dead guy the US military says was a member of al qaida.

i don't plan to click through the link provided, but let me guess.....he was the number 3 al qaida leader, right? and if my calculations are correct .....(hold on i don't have my calculator....carry the three....just a sec........) he's the 138th al qaida #3 to be killed in iraq in the last year.

Boon Mee · 16-03-2008, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raycarey

i don't plan to click through the link provided,

'Course not - typical liberal/progressive denial.

BTW - this latest one was not killed but 'captured' - OK?
Giving up all kinds of information I should imagine - possibly with the aid of some of that horrid H2Oboarding!

Work on that bi-polar learning/reading ability will ya ray?

sabang · 16-03-2008, 10:40 PM

Well I just read the link provided, and it seems he was captured in Afghanistan, rather than Iraq.

Meanwhile, in Iraq-

Two blasts in Iraq kill eight U.S. troops

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Two bombings in separate Iraq provinces on Monday killed eight U.S. troops, the U.S. military said.

A roadside bomb killed three U.S. soldiers and an interpreter in Diyala province, which has been a major front in the war during the "surge" of U.S. troops fighting insurgents near the capital.

Earlier in the day, at least five U.S. soldiers on foot patrol were killed and three others wounded in a suicide bombing in Baghdad.

In addition, suicide bombers killed five Iraqis in two bombings in Diyala province Monday morning, including a sheik who helped battle Sunni extremists and his 5-year-old niece.

Two blasts in Iraq kill eight U.S. troops - CNN.com

And another 16 iraqi's killed in a bus bombing-

Roadside blast kills 16 Iraqis

Bomb hits bus traveling from Basra to Nasiriyah

Blast kills 16 Iraqis - Conflict in Iraq - MSNBC.com

Every couple of days you read about some latest bombing, but short term at least, the last week seems to have been worse than usual.

raycarey · 16-03-2008, 10:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sabang

Well I just read the link provided, and it seems he was captured in Afghanistan, rather than Iraq.

5555555555555

Boon Mee · 16-03-2008, 11:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sabang

Well I just read the link provided, and it seems he was captured in Afghanistan, rather than Iraq.

Well, them al Quadas are everywhere and the point is this POS is out of action for the duration...

britmaveric · 16-03-2008, 11:02 PM

No worries Boon, latest AQ lad was held by CIA for sometime before hitting Gitmo. I'm sure heaps of good intel was gained while using effective H2O board techniques.

Boon Mee · 16-03-2008, 11:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by britmaveric

No worries Boon, latest AQ lad was held by CIA for sometime before hitting Gitmo. I'm sure heaps of good intel was gained while using effective H2O board techniques.

That's the spirit, brit!

raycarey · 16-03-2008, 11:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

them al Quadas are everywhere

yep. even under your bed and hiding in your closet....just like those "reds" were 30 years ago.

rube.

chinthee · 17-03-2008, 01:00 AM

A Crude Case For War?

Quote:

It's hard to miss the point of the "Blood for Oil" Web site. It features one poster of an American flag with "Blood for oil?" in white block letters where the stars should be and two dripping red handprints across the stripes. Another shows a photo of President Bush with a thin black line on his upper lip. "Got oil?" the headline asks wryly.

Quote:

Five years after the United States invaded Iraq, plenty of people believe that the war was waged chiefly to secure U.S. petroleum supplies and to make Iraq safe -- and lucrative -- for the U.S. oil industry.

Quote:

Instead of making Iraq an open economy fueled by a thriving oil sector, the war has failed to boost the flow of oil from Iraq's giant well-mapped reservoirs, which oil experts say could rival Saudi Arabia's and produce 6 million barrels a day, if not more. ...

Quote:

"If we went to war for oil, we did it as clumsily as anyone could do. And we spent more on the war than we could ever conceivably have gotten out of Iraq's oil fields even if we had particular control over them," says Anthony Cordesman, an expert on U.S. strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies who rejects the idea that the war was designed on behalf of oil companies.

washingtonpost.com - nation, world, technology and Washington area news and headlines

stroller · 17-03-2008, 05:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chinthee

Instead of making Iraq an open economy fueled by a thriving oil sector, the war has failed to boost the flow of oil from Iraq's giant well-mapped reservoirs...
"If we went to war for oil, we did it as clumsily as anyone could do. And we spent more on the war than we could ever conceivably have gotten out of Iraq's oil fields even if we had particular control over them," says Anthony Cordesman, an expert on U.S. strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies who rejects the idea that the war was designed on behalf of oil companies.

The cost of the 'war' and the resulting instability have been a miscalculation on an epic scale - curious that this failure is now used as 'evidence' that control of oil and economics were not a prime motivation.
The oil industry and gov have a long-term perspective, shipping enough oil out to finance the war within a few years was not part of the plan - this argument is a red herring.

Also, it is the taxpayers who finance the ongoing occupation, not the oil companies and associated industries which are in for longterm financial gain. What's the US decision makers' background and financial portfolio?

Of course oil was not the only reason, but it doesn't take much to add the pieces together...

Boon Mee · 17-03-2008, 07:17 AM

^
Ah..but there's a lot of success lately as evidenced by the referenced article below.

And no, it's not a hard-core, right-wing blogger either...

These Predators are going to clean out the last remain rats nests soon.
Mosul is almost won.

Michael Yon : Online Magazine » Blog Archive » Guitar Heroes

sabang · 17-03-2008, 08:13 AM

While I have to say that article does not infer that AQ is about to be cleaned out soon (rather, on the defensive), it was fascinating reading- thanks.

For Iraq to return to any semblance of stability, AQ has to be cleaned out. We can agree on that.

29-02-2008, 03:12 PM	#441 (permalink)
Texpat ฝรั่งพูดมาก Last Online: 27-10-2009 11:55 PM Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Nong Khai Posts: 12,491	Balad imam asks U.S. to help secure mosque Stars and Stripes, Mideast edition February 29, 2008 In a somewhat unusual move, U.S. troops have responded to a call from an imam in Balad, Iraq, to help fortify his mosque. Soldiers helped “increase force protection measures” this week at the Balad Shrine Mosque, according to U.S. military officials. “The idea is to prevent future attacks on the mosque,” a news release issued Thursday read. “The soldiers were the first coalition forces to visit the mosque” after eight months of working with the imam and other local leaders. In general, U.S. troops have avoided mosques because of religious sensitivities. In some cases, insurgent groups have taken advantage of that to use mosques as weapons storage points or safe havens. Mosques have also been targets of attacks by both Shiites and Sunnis in sectarian attacks. The troops dealing with the mosque leader included the 2nd Platoon, 164th Military Police Company, 728th Military Police Battalion, 18th Military Police Brigade. Other troops assigned to Multi-National Division—North also did the work. The protective measures include some 160 barriers erected around the mosque. Stars and Stripes: Balad imam asks U.S. to help secure mosque *** Nicely done Boys!

14-03-2008, 02:47 PM	#447 (permalink)
Hootad Binky Thailand Expat Last Online: 28-10-2009 02:50 AM Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: West Coast Canada Posts: 2,923	D'oh! No link between Saddam and Al-Qaeda: Pentagon study WASHINGTON (AFP) — A detailed Pentagon study confirms there was no direct link between late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and the Al-Qaeda network, debunking a claim President George W. Bush's administration used to justify invading Iraq. AFP: No link between Saddam and Al-Qaeda: Pentagon study __________________ Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone elses opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation. -Oscar Wilde

16-03-2008, 10:40 PM	#451 (permalink)
sabang Watching the Wheels Last Online: Today 10:04 AM Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: where the streets have no name Posts: 11,570	Well I just read the link provided, and it seems he was captured in Afghanistan, rather than Iraq. Meanwhile, in Iraq- Two blasts in Iraq kill eight U.S. troops BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Two bombings in separate Iraq provinces on Monday killed eight U.S. troops, the U.S. military said. A roadside bomb killed three U.S. soldiers and an interpreter in Diyala province, which has been a major front in the war during the "surge" of U.S. troops fighting insurgents near the capital. Earlier in the day, at least five U.S. soldiers on foot patrol were killed and three others wounded in a suicide bombing in Baghdad. In addition, suicide bombers killed five Iraqis in two bombings in Diyala province Monday morning, including a sheik who helped battle Sunni extremists and his 5-year-old niece. Two blasts in Iraq kill eight U.S. troops - CNN.com And another 16 iraqi's killed in a bus bombing- Roadside blast kills 16 Iraqis Bomb hits bus traveling from Basra to Nasiriyah Blast kills 16 Iraqis - Conflict in Iraq - MSNBC.com Every couple of days you read about some latest bombing, but short term at least, the last week seems to have been worse than usual. __________________ Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.

17-03-2008, 07:17 AM	#459 (permalink)
Boon Mee Thailand Travel Forum Last Online: Today 07:26 AM Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 12,927	^ Ah..but there's a lot of success lately as evidenced by the referenced article below. And no, it's not a hard-core, right-wing blogger either... These Predators are going to clean out the last remain rats nests soon. Mosul is almost won. Michael Yon : Online Magazine » Blog Archive » Guitar Heroes __________________ ผมเป็นคนบ้านนอก

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29-02-2008, 05:43 PM	#442 (permalink)
sabang Watching the Wheels Last Online: Today 10:04 AM Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: where the streets have no name Posts: 11,570	Nice.

13-03-2008, 05:22 PM	#445 (permalink)
raycarey ........ Last Online: Today 12:09 PM Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: deleting posts in issues Posts: 6,675	^ misson accomplished, eh?

16-03-2008, 05:44 PM	#448 (permalink)
Boon Mee Thailand Travel Forum Last Online: Today 07:26 AM Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 12,927	Another one bites the dust...heh High-Level al-Qaida Figure Is Captured Way things are going for them al Qaidas, we'll have to add on to the facility over there...

16-03-2008, 11:02 PM	#454 (permalink)
britmaveric nid aur yw popeth melyn Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Pattaya Posts: 3,916	No worries Boon, latest AQ lad was held by CIA for sometime before hitting Gitmo. I'm sure heaps of good intel was gained while using effective H2O board techniques.

17-03-2008, 08:13 AM	#460 (permalink)
sabang Watching the Wheels Last Online: Today 10:04 AM Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: where the streets have no name Posts: 11,570	While I have to say that article does not infer that AQ is about to be cleaned out soon (rather, on the defensive), it was fascinating reading- thanks. For Iraq to return to any semblance of stability, AQ has to be cleaned out. We can agree on that.

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