[A-List] Russia: Iraq Security Situation Deteriorating, Coalition Forces Can't Cope With It

[Rick Rozoff <r_rozoff@xxxxxxxxx>]

1) Six US Troops Reported Killed In Iraq
2) Latest Fatalities Bring US Death Toll To Over 800
3) US Convoys Attacked Near Fallujah, Helicopters
Remove Casualties
4) New Abu Ghraib Abuse Photos Shown on American TV
5) Britain: Blair Sending First Contingent Of New
Troops Despite Two-Thirds Public Opposition
6) Russian Plane Lands In Baghdad To Evacuate Citizens
7) Russian Foreign Ministry: Iraqi Security Situation
Deteriorating, Coalition Forces Can't Cope With It
8) Iraq: Japanese Troops Report Explosions Near Base
9) Poll: 88% Of Iraqis See Western Troops As
Occupiers, 7% As Liberators
10) 'America's Credibility In Iraq Hanging By A
Thread'



1)
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-toll27may27,1,6530945.story?coll=la-headlines-world

Associated Press
May 27, 2004


Six American Troops Reported Killed in Iraq


BAGHDAD ? Three Marines were killed in action
Wednesday west of the Iraqi capital, the U.S. military
said.

A statement from the command said the troops died in
Al Anbar province "while conducting security and
stability operations." No further details were
released.

The province includes the cities of Fallouja, Ramadi
and Qaim.

The Pentagon also announced Wednesday that two
soldiers had died Tuesday in a mortar attack at
Iskandariya, south of Baghdad.

And a road accident south of Tikrit killed a third
U.S. soldier and injured two others Tuesday night, the
military said.

As of Wednesday, 796 U.S. troops had died since the
beginning of military operations in Iraq in March
2003, according to the Defense Department. It was
unclear whether the latest deaths were included.
------------------------------------------------------
2)
http://news.newkerala.com/world-news/index.php?action=fullnews&showcomments=1&id=19332

New Kerala (India)
May 27, 2004

Three US troops killed in Iraq

Baghdad - Three US Marines were killed in action in
the restive al-Anbar province west of Baghdad, Xinhua
reports.

The US military said this in a statement Thursday,
without giving details.

Over 800 US troops have died since the invasion of
Iraq in March last year and as per the figures given
by the Pentagon more than 580 have been killed in
action.
------------------------------------------------------
3)
http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/sports/football/nfl/minnesota_vikings/8773104.htm


Associated Press
May 27, 2004

Attack on U.S. Convoy Reported in Iraq


BAGHDAD - Three roadside bombs exploded near an
American convoy south of Fallujah on Thursday,
damaging at least one vehicle, witnesses said.

American troops opened fire after the attack and
sealed off the area, the witnesses said.

One witness, Mohammed Jassim, 28, said he saw two U.S.
helicopters land at the scene and evacuate casualties.

In Ramadi, west of Fallujah, a U.S. patrol was
attacked by rocket-propelled grenade fire early
Thursday, witnesses said. They said two U.S. troops
were wounded.

American troops returned fire after the attack, and
some Iraqis were also hit in the crossfire, the
witnesses said.
------------------------------------------------------
4)
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=35082


Novinite (Bulgaria)
May 27, 2004


New Abu Ghraib Abuse Photos Shown on TV


New photographs said to depict abuse of naked Iraqi
prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison were shown on the NBC
network on Wednesday.

The TV network claims the pictures depict aggressive
interrogation of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib, the
prison that has become an ugly symbol of the US
occupation.

The pictures show three naked Iraqi prisoners clumped
together on the floor during an interrogation and the
use of aggressive tactics against them, NBC "Nightly
News" reported.

One photo shows a man sitting in a chair with his back
to the camera near the prisoners on the floor. NBC
said the man was identified as a civilian interpreter.


Another picture shows a soldier, identified as a
military intelligence officer, standing over the
prisoners after apparently throwing an object at them,
NBC said. In the photo, the object appears to be
suspended just off the floor.

A third photo shows a soldier with his knee pressing
down on the neck of one prisoner, while apparently
questioning another, according to the network's
description.

Seven U.S. soldiers have been charged over the abuse
at Abu Ghraib.
------------------------------------------------------
5)
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=518826§ion=news

Reuters
May 27, 2004

More UK troops off to Iraq
By Katherine Baldwin


-Analysts said the reinforcement, which takes
Britain's military contingent in Iraq and the Gulf to
8,900, was a holding decision that should spare the
government from having to announce a larger despatch
before June 10 local elections.
-A poll this week showed two thirds of voters oppose
sending more soldiers to Iraq and some anti-war
members of Blair's Labour Party criticised Thursday's
announcement.



LONDON - The government says it is sending 370 more
soldiers and extra firepower to the southern zone it
controls in Iraq, a stop-gap that may be followed by a
larger despatch to counter a likely upsurge in
violence.

Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon said the deployment was
not a strategic change in Britain's role in the
U.S.-led occupation but would give its forces extra
protection from militants.

Hoon said talks continued with military partners over
the need for further deployments -- a move that could
prove politically fraught for Prime Minister Tony
Blair if thousands more British troops are sent to
Iraqi hotspots.

"We, with our coalition partners, are considering the
levels and dispositions of forces required in Iraq in
the months ahead," Hoon told parliament on Thursday.

Analysts said the reinforcement, which takes Britain's
military contingent in Iraq and the Gulf to 8,900, was
a holding decision that should spare the government
from having to announce a larger despatch before June
10 local elections.

Spain's pullout from the volatile south-central region
around Najaf has put pressure on London to reinforce.

"Clearly they wouldn't want to make a big announcement
about troops before the elections," said David Denver,
a politics professor at Lancaster University. "They
know it's a hot issue."

Sending more troops to Iraq is a gamble for Blair,
whose public trust and popularity ratings have
plummeted in the wake of the Iraq war and in light of
his close ties with Washington.

A poll this week showed two thirds of voters oppose
sending more soldiers to Iraq and some anti-war
members of Blair's Labour Party criticised Thursday's
announcement.

"The war was illegal, the occupation is illegal, and
now we are compounding this by pouring in more
troops," said Labour parliamentarian Jeremy Corbyn.

Blair's spokesman said any decision on further troops
would be strategic and would not respond to political
pressures.

MORE FIREPOWER

While modest in number, Hoon signalled the
reinforcement would boost Britain's firepower by
replacing light infantry with heavier battalions to
deal with a threat from "violent groups".

Any further deployments would be designed to support
the interim Iraqi government as it takes over the
country and gears up to planned elections early next
year, Hoon said.

"There is likely to be an upsurge of violence," in the
run-up to the handover of sovereignty, he added.

The extra deployment will not see British troops
extend their reach to hotspots such as Najaf, where
U.S. troops and Shi'ite militia have engaged in weeks
of combat.

Britain's troops total is still dwarfed by the
138,000-strong U.S. contingent.

Defence analysts said the size of any further British
deployment may depend on whether other countries agree
to send in soldiers. "I think this is an advance party
for a much bigger contingent," Charles Heyman, senior
defence analyst at Jane's consultancy, told Reuters.

Britain and the United States are wrangling with
allies and each other over a United Nations resolution
to endorse the planned handover of sovereignty on June
30 and set out the terms for the transfer of control
to the Iraqis.

Hoon said Britain hoped the U.N. resolution would help
persuade other countries to send in soldiers.

"We are optimistic that with the new resolution and a
sovereign government in Iraq, that will encourage
other countries to deploy troops," he said.

Britain's force in the Gulf last year of 45,000 troops
was its largest deployment since the Korean War of 50
years ago, as it joined Washington in an invasion to
oust Saddam Hussein and unearth weapons of mass
destruction that have never been found.

Since then, with London pitted against key European
partners over its tight alliance with Washington,
London has lowered its profile to a force about a 20th
the size of Washington's.
------------------------------------------------------
6)
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=873700&PageNum=0

Itar-Tass (Russia)
May 27, 2004


Russian plane lands in Baghdad to evacuate Russian
citizens



MOSCOW - A plane of the Russian Ministry for Emergency
Situations has landed in Baghdad at 1.10 p.m. Moscow
time Thursday to evacuate the first group of Russian
workers of the Interenergoservis company from Iraq.

Around 100 people are expected to go on board,
including two workers who were slightly wounded in
Wednesday's incident. The bodies of two workers -
Vyacheslav Ovsyannikov and Viktor Danykin killed near
Baghdad will be brought to Moscow by the same plane.

The overall number of Interenergoservis workers who
will be evacuated from Iraq by the Russian Ministry
for Emergency Situations is 239, Itar-Tass was told at
the ministry's information department.
------------------------------------------------------
7)
http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20040527143046.shtml

RBC News (Russia)
May 27, 2004

Security deteriorating in Iraq


Moscow - Russian Foreign Ministry's spokesman
Alexander Yakovenko believes that the situation in the
sphere of security is degrading in Iraq. "The
situation in Iraq is very complicated and coalition
forces cannot cope with it," he declared at a news
conference in Moscow today.

Yakovenko stressed that the Russian Foreign Ministry
had recommended several times that Russian citizens
leave Iraq. Currently there are 10 Russian journalists
and several people, who had not registered at the
consulate, as well as InterEnergoServis specialists in
Iraq, Yakovenko specified. He expressed hope that all
InterEnergoServis employees would leave Iraq this
week.
------------------------------------------------------
8)
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000101&sid=aRKc4kqsJB2Y&refer=japan

Bloomberg News
May 27, 2004

Japan's Troops in Iraq Report Explosions Near Base,
Hosoda Says


Japanese troops based in southern Iraq, where they are
distributing aid and helping to rebuild hospitals and
other infrastructure, heard explosions near their
base, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said.

No explosions were reported within the perimeter of
the base, Hosoda said. Japan has about 600 soldiers in
the area.

Mortars have been fired near the camp in two earlier
incidents, with no injuries reported. Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi won lawmakers' approval for the
troop dispatch after he pledged not to send them to a
conflict area.

Dutch troops, who are responsible for security in the
area, have also been attacked. One Dutch soldier was
killed in a grenade attack earlier this month.
------------------------------------------------------
9)
http://www.cpod.ubc.ca/polls/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewItem&itemID=2832

Centre For Public Opinion & Democracy (Canada)
May 27, 2004

Coalition Forces Seen As ?Occupiers? In Iraq


Many Iraqi residents remain wary of coalition troops,
according to a poll by the Iraq Center for Research
and Strategic Studies. 88 per cent of respondents in
seven Iraqi cities consider the soldiers as
"occupiers," while only seven per cent perceive them
as "liberators."

The coalition effort against the regime of Saddam
Hussein was launched in March 2003. United States
president George W. Bush has promised to turn power
over to a sovereign Iraqi administration on Jun. 30.

An interim Basic Law?which guarantees individual
freedoms and the rights of women in Iraq?was signed on
Mar. 9. Parliamentary elections are tentatively
scheduled to take place before January 2005.

This past weekend, Iraqi National Congress leader
Ahmed Chalabi ? once regarded as an important U.S.
ally in the Persian Gulf ? denied allegations that he
leaked sensitive information to Iran.

Polling Data

Do you consider the coalition forces as liberators or
occupiers?
Occupiers
 88%

Liberators
 7%

Source: Iraq Center for Research and Strategic Studies

Methodology: Interviews to 1,640 Iraqi adults in of
Baghdad, Babylon, Diyala, Ramadi, Mousel, Basra and
Sulaimaniya, conducted from Apr. 20 to Apr. 27, 2004.
No margin of error was provided.
------------------------------------------------------
10)
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/world/8754050.htm?1c


Chicago Tribune
May 26, 2004

`America's credibility in Iraq is hanging by a thread'
BY LIZ SLY


-"America's credibility in Iraq is hanging by a thread
of 7 percent."
On the streets of Baghdad, the disillusionment that
set in months ago is turning into a form of loathing,
fueled not only by the recent bad news but also by the
day-to-day indignities and upsets of life under an
occupation.



BAGHDAD - As the mishaps, mistakes and embarrassments
pile up for U.S. forces in Iraq, what little faith
existed in America's ability to resolve the country's
worsening crises has all but vanished for ordinary
Iraqis, with worrisome implications for the hand-over
of sovereignty due in less than six weeks.

The graphic footage of mutilated children killed in
what Iraqis say was a U.S. attack on a wedding party,
the assassination of the Iraqi Governing Council
president and the continued flow of photos depicting
abuse of Iraqi prisoners have shredded America's
already battered credibility in the eyes of many
Iraqis.

According to a new public opinion poll conducted for
the U.S. authority in Baghdad, 88 percent of Iraqis
say they regard the Americans as occupiers, and only 7
percent view them as liberators.

The Iraqis surveyed ranked the departure of U.S.
forces as their third most important priority, behind
security and jobs but ahead of democratization, the
formation of a new government and reconstruction of
the country's infrastructure, said Sadoun al Dulame, a
pollster who heads the Iraq Center for Research and
Strategic Studies. His group took the poll of 1,640
Iraqis, who were questioned in face-to-face interviews
in seven cities two weeks ago, and says there is a
margin of error of 3 percentage points.

Three months ago, before the disclosures of prisoner
abuse and the bloody battle at Fallujah, the presence
of foreign forces ranked behind all those issues.

---

"It means the coalition forces are now seen as part of
the problem, not the solution," al Dulame said.
"America's credibility in Iraq is hanging by a thread
of 7 percent."

On the streets of Baghdad, the disillusionment that
set in months ago is turning into a form of loathing,
fueled not only by the recent bad news but also by the
day-to-day indignities and upsets of life under an
occupation.

For Zeinab Kareem, 33, the reports that U.S.
helicopters had killed 41 people attending a wedding
party in western Iraq were convincing, despite
American denials. Only the day before, Kareem said,
U.S. soldiers had opened fire on her aunt's funeral
procession as it tried to cross U.S. lines into the
besieged city of Najaf. She said three of her
relatives were killed, though U.S. officials could not
confirm that.

U.S. military spokesman Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt on
Saturday showed reporters photographs of military
equipment and "dormitory" style accommodation found at
the site in western Iraq to support the military's
claims that the target of the air strike near the
Syrian border last Wednesday was a base used by
foreign fighters, not a wedding party.

But he did not exclude the possibility that a social
gathering might have been taking place. Six women were
among the dead, but there were no children as several
reports have claimed, he said.

---

But many Iraqis don't believe the U.S. account.

"The Americans lie," Kareem said. "After all of these
things we have seen, I can promise you, if I had a
weapon and I saw an American pass by, I would kill
him."

There is also a growing fear, not only of the crime
that remains the most pressing concern of every Iraqi
but also of the Americans themselves.

"When I see American soldiers ahead of me in the
street, I change my way just to avoid them, because
they have the authority to kill anyone at any time for
no reason and I think maybe I will get killed," said
Mohammed Majeed, 34, a silversmith in Baghdad's
Karadah market.

"It is finished. There is no trust, no confidence,"
said Abu Remon, 42, an optician who would give only
his nickname because he said he feared U.S. reprisals.
"A year ago I would have invited the Americans in for
tea if I saw them. Now if they came to me, I would
spit on them."

With anger against the U.S. intensifying, the chances
that the impending transfer of power to Iraqis will
restore confidence in the future are diminishing. In
an effort to increase the legitimacy of the process in
the eyes of Iraqis and the outside world, the chief
U.S. administrator, Paul Bremer, has entrusted U.N.
special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi with identifying
candidates for an interim government that will assume
authority June 30.

Even so, for moderate Iraqi politicians looking to a
future beyond the American occupation, it has now
become impossible to contemplate a role in a
U.S.-appointed administration, said Wamidh Nadhmi, a
political science professor at Baghdad University.

"America's mistakes are becoming so clear that anyone
who praises America now will be cursed by the people,"
said Nadhmi, who recently formed a coalition of small
parties called the National Assembly for Rejecting the
Occupation.
....






	
		
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