11 US Soldiers, 8 Iraqis Killed, 2 Million Iraqi Widows, 1.5 Million Divorced Women in the New Iraq, According to September 18, 2008 News Reports

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."

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Yaqen.net reported the following news:

- A member of Iraqi special forces was killed in Al-Hillah.

Amsi.org reported the following news:

- Iraqi Ministry of Health announced that the number of Cholera victims in the south and the middle provinces has reached to 107, due to drinking polluted water.

- 11 people were wounded in an attack on US-recruited Sahwa and police forces in Baghdad.

- Iraqi minister of women's affairs, Nawal Al-Samara'i, announced that there are 1.5 Iraqi divorced women, 2 million widows, and 4 million illiterate women in the "New Iraq." She added that there were about 20 female suicide bombers recently, as a result of the desperate conditions of Iraqi families, where many women are suffering the consequences of killing their husbands or children. This motivates them to avenge themselves from the perpetrators.

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News Summary

National - Voices of Iraq
Thursday , 18 /09 /2008 Time 10:35:03
BAGHDAD, Sept. 18 (VOI) –

Following is a summary of news reports posted until 10:00 p.m. Baghdad local time Thursday:
*Politics and Security:

DIALA, Over 700 police recruits have graduated from the training center in the north of Baaquba city, Diala's police chief said on Thursday.

BAGHDAD, About 14 individuals were killed, including seven U.S. soldiers, and 18 other wounded in violence actions that took place across Iraqi provinces through the past 24 hours.

BAGHDAD, Iraqi security forces arrested 48 wanted suspects and defused 16 roadside bombs in Baghdad through the past 24 hours, a military spokesman said.

THI-QAR, Thi-Qar police chief on Thursday said a key death squads commander was killed a failed car bomb blast in Nassiriya.

NINEWA, A road side bomb on Thursday killed two Iraqi soldiers and wounded a third in Ninewa, a military source said.

BAGHDAD, U.S. army on Thursday announced its forces arrested 13 al-Qaeda network suspects during operations conducted in northern Iraq.

AM(I)

News Summary

National - Voices of Iraq
Thursday , 18 /09 /2008 Time 10:35:03
BAGHDAD, Sept. 18 (VOI) –

Following is a summary of news reports posted until 04:00 p.m. Baghdad local time Thursday:

*Politics and Security:

THI-QAR, Two gunmen were killed on Thursday in a car bomb explosion near the city of Nassiriya, the chief of the Thi-Qar police said.

BASRA, An American Chinook helicopter crashed early Thursday as it was landing in west of Basra, killing seven U.S. soldiers, the official spokesman for the Multi-National Force-Iraq said.

KIRKUK, Two civilians were injured on Thursday in a roadside bomb explosion near al-Huwaiyja district, while security forces arrested two gunmen inside the district, the chief of local police said.

BAGHDAD, The U.S. army in Iraq said on Thursday that it arrested one of its soldiers who is suspected in killing two servicemen inside their base in Iskandariyah region in south of Baghdad.

BAGHDAD, Seven civilians were wounded on Thursday in two separate explosions in central and eastern Baghdad, a police source said.

WASSIT, A civilian was killed in a bomb explosion in al-Suwaira district in northern Wassit, a security source said on Thursday.

NINEWA, A civilian was killed and his wife and daughter were injured in an attack by unknown gunmen in Mosul city, a police source said on Thursday.

SH (I)/SR

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11 US Soldiers Killed in Iraq, Including 2 by Roadside Bombing in Hillah, 2 US by a Third in Al-Iskandariya, 7 US in Helicopter Crash in Basra

Yaqen.net reported that two US Soldiers were killed, three were injured when their patrol was attacked by a roadside bomb in Al-Hillah, Babil Province, south of Baghdad.

- The 1920s Brigades released a video showing an attack on a US Hummer vehicle in Al-Rutba, southwest of Baghdad.

- Jihad and Change Front released a video showing hitting a US forces tower with a missile.

- The former Iraqi Army General Command announced the destruction of a US tank carrier on the Biji-Mosul highway.

U.S. soldier arrested for being suspected in killing 2 servicemen

Baghdad - Voices of Iraq
Thursday , 18 /09 /2008 Time 8:54:19
BAGHDAD, Sept. 18 (VOI) –

The U.S. army in Iraq said on Thursday that it arrested one of its soldiers who is suspected of killing two servicemen inside their base in Al-Iskandariyah region in south of Baghdad.

“Staff Sgt. Darris J. Dawson, 24, of Pensacola, Fla., and Sgt. Wesley R. Durbin, 26, of Hurst, Texas were victims of an early morning shooting incident at their patrol base near Al-Iskandariyah, Iraq,” the army said in a statement received by Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI).

“Sergeants Dawson and Durbin were assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga,” it added.

“A U.S. Soldier is in custody in connection with the shooting deaths. He is being held in custody pending review by a military magistrate,” it said.

The incident is under investigation.

SH (P)/SR

7 U.S. soldiers killed in helicopter crash in Basra

Basra - Voices of Iraq
Thursday , 18 /09 /2008 Time 8:54:19
BASRA, Sept. 18 (VOI) -

An American Chinook helicopter crashed early Thursday as it was landing in west of Basra, killing seven U.S. soldiers, the official spokesman for the Multi-National Force-Iraq said.

“The helicopter, carrying seven U.S. soldiers, crashed at dawn in west of Basra, killing them instantly,” Major Bill Yong told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq (VOI).

The spokesman said hostile fire was not suspected.

“The CH-47 Chinook was landing after midnight about 60 miles west of Basra at the time of the crash,” the U.S. statement said.

The chopper was a part of an aerial convoy flying from Kuwait to the U.S. military base at Balad just north of Baghdad. The Chinook, the Army's workhorse, is designed to transport troops and supplies to combat and other regions.
The statement said the incident was under investigation.

Basra, 590 km (340 miles) south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, has an estimated metropolitan population of 2,300,000 in 2008.

SH (S)

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