US Soldier, 5 Iraqis Killed, Romanians and Bulgarians Withdraw by End of 2008, British Occupation Forces Follow by June 2009, According to November 7, 2008 News Reports

US Soldier, 5 Iraqis Killed, Romanians and Bulgarians Withdraw by End of 2008, British Occupation Forces Follow by June 2009

According to November 7, 2008 News Reports

Editor's Note (Below)

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Yaqen.net reported the following Tuesday news:

- British forces will leave Iraq by June 2009, according to the deputy defense minister, Douglas Alexander.

- Romanian and Bulgarian forces will leave Iraq by the end of 2008, following the Georgian forces with left to participate in the war last month.

British troops to be pulled out of Iraq 'next April at earliest'

London, Nov 7, 2008, IRNA

British troops, which have been in Iraq for more than five years, will be pulled out by next April at the earliest, Sky News said it had learnt Friday.

Some 4,100 British troops remain in Iraq, mostly housed up at Basra airport base.

Their continued deployment passed the sixth anniversary of the March 2003 invasion will mean that Britain will be militarily involved in Iraq for longer than World War II.

In an interview with Sky, International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander did not specify a final withdrawal date but said the UK was "looking ahead to the first half of 2009." "Our focus on the moment is securing the possibility that I've seen today which is for further jobs, further investment, further prosperity," Alexander said.

"We'll continue to work closely with the government of Iraq but we will see a significant drawdown of British troops as a recognition of the progress and success that's been enjoyed here in Basra," he said.

The remaining British troops are currently in the process of handing over Basra Airport and airspace, which it hopes to complete before the end of 2008.

Plans to half the number of troops were shelved last April following a flare-up in violence and reported opposition from the US, which would have been left isolated.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who is expected to make a further announcement on the deployment in December, has already said that there would be a "fundamental change" of mission in the first half of next year.

"Just as last year we moved from combat to 'overwatch', we would expect a further fundamental change of mission in the first months of 2009 as we make the transition to a long term bilateral partnership with Iraq," Brown said in July.

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Civilian killed by gunmen fire in Kut

November 7, 2008 - 06:21:05

WASSIT / Aswat al-Iraq:

A civilian man was killed by unidentified gunmen in western al-Kut city on Friday, a police source in Wassit said.

“Unknown gunmen opened fire on Friday evening at a civilian man who was standing in front of his house in al-Jihad neighborhood, western Kut, killing him instantly,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.

“The killed man is believed to have been a former leading official of the dissolved Baath Party,” he said.

He said the police cordoned off the scene in an attempt to arrest the culprits who escaped before the police arrived.

“The man’s body was removed to the al-Zahraa Hospital morgue in Kut,” he added, not giving more information.

Kut, the capital city of Wassit province, lies 180 km southeast of Baghdad.

AmR (P)

2 killed, 7 wounded in Baghdad bombing

November 7, 2008 - 02:56:57

BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq:

Two people were killed and seven others wounded when a roadside bomb attached to a taxi cab went off at al-Dora neighborhood, southern Baghdad, an Iraqi police source said on Friday.

“Two persons were inside the car,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.

“The bomb went off near an Iraqi army checkpoint,” he added.

He did not give further details.

MH (P)/AmR

2 Baghdad consecutive blasts leave 10 casualties

November 7, 2008 - 01:25:02

BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq:

A civilian was killed and nine others wounded when two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) went off consecutively in the western Baghdad neighborhood of al-Jamea on Friday, an Iraqi police source said.

“An IED went off near a local resident’s house in al-Jamea, killing him and six others,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.

“A second one went off near a police patrol that headed for the site of the earlier blast, wounding three patrolmen,” the source added.

AmR (P)

IED kills, injures 5 Sahwa fighters in Diala

November 7, 2008 - 11:36:29

DIALA / Aswat al-Iraq:

A (US-recruited) Sahwa fighter was killed and four others were wounded in a bomb explosion in north of Baaquba city on Friday, a security source said.

“An improvised explosive device went off in the main street in al-Azeem region in Khalis district, north of Baaquba, targeting Sahwa fighters’ vehicle, killing one and injuring four,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.

“One of the wounded men remains in critical condition,” he added, without giving more details.

SH (S)

U.S. soldier dies in non-combat related incident in Kirkuk

November 7, 2008 - 07:17:19

BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq:

A U.S. soldier died in a non-combat related incident in Kirkuk province, the U.S. army said on Friday.

“A Coalition force Soldier died in a non-combat related incident on Nov. 6 in Kirkuk province,” the army said in a statement received by Aswat al-Iraq.“The incident is still under investigation,” it added.

The death brings the number of U.S. soldiers who have been killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003 to 4,192.

SH (S)

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Editor's Note:

Only God knows how many Iraqis are killed everyday. The following represents part of the reporting but readers are advised that the actual number of deaths should very much exceed what's reported.

Concerning deaths of US soldiers, only those US citizens who die in Iraq are included in the statistics. There are no published statistics about US soldiers who die of their injuries after that. There are no published statistics about the deaths or injuries of the private army soldiers (security contractors), or about those without US citizenship.

It is noteworthy that May 20, 2008 news reports showed that death squads which execute Iraqis on daily basis are no longer hiding themselves. Previously, Sunni leaders pointed to Mahdi Army and Badr militiamen as the perpetrators. Now, death squads are composed of the US-recruited Sahwa fighters and policemen.

On September 6, 2008, news reports mentioned the killing of nine Iraqis who were arrested by Al-Muthanna Brigade of the Iraqi Army stationed in the city of Al-Falloujah. There corpses were found with bullets shot on their heads and chests. This incident is evidence that the sectarian-based Iraqi forces have been functioning also as death squads, which killed Iraqis for suspicion of belonging to resistance organizations, without any legal procedures or trials.

Despite the fact that there are scores of organizations involved in the Iraq war, the Iraqi government officials prefer to refer to them as Alqaeda gunmen for propaganda purposes, as mentioned in the June 4, 2008 news report. For accuracy purposes, the term "Alqaeda gunmen" may be replaced with "Iraqi fighters."

Finally, on daily basis, US-led forces arrest scores of Iraqis in an attempt to pre-empt them from resistance. Tens of thousands of Iraqis are still there in US detention camps and in the prisons of the US-backed Iraqi government. Daily records of these arrests can be obtained from the following three Iraqi sources of news: yaqen.net, amsi.org, and Voices of Iraq.

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