CNN Breaking: Intense fighting in several Iraqi cities

[Cooley Hurd]

Intense fighting in several Iraqi cities

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. forces have been engaged in intense fighting after insurgents launched simultaneous attacks in several Iraqi cities, including Fallujah and Baqubah.

U.S. troops faced fierce resistance when they tried to enter an eastern industrial section of Fallujah around 8 a.m. (0400 GMT) Thursday.

Details of causalities were not immediately available.

The Associated Press reported witnesses hearing multiple explosions in the city, which lies in the restive Sunni triangle region -- loyal to the old Baathist regime of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
</snip>

Update - CNNI is reporting explosions in several Iraqi cities - many casualties...

Cripes! Sounds like a coordinated offensive on the part of the "insurgents"...:scared:

[wtmusic]

1. Whoops! Time to go home now!

The Iraqis have things firmly in hand...good luck guys.

:eyes:

[monobrau]

2. Still "bringing it on", I guess

-NT

[markses]

3. I just stepped outside to have a cigarette

And as I was standing in the lamplight I suddenly thought, "What if there's a mini-coordinated offensive in Iraq?" I just got a chill out there, something in the ether, some minor shock wave. then I come in to see this. And less than a week to go before the "turnover." I knew things were bad when I heard CBS news speculating today that "Zarqawi's" constant car bombings may be angering the Iraqis, "turning them against the terrorists." Now, my wife rightly (and wryly) noted that to turn away, they would have to have previously been turned towards, and this is passing strange, given what we've heard for lo these many months. Worse still, I heard the exact same phrasing immediately after the UN and Red Cross bombings of last summer. And here we are, another summer (get down, sound of the funky drummer), and the same sad, wishful rhetoric. And that chill in the air, something in the ether....

[Kimber Scott]

4. My daughter-in-law is in Mosul.

I hope this doesn't get any worse.

[Zhade]

8. She's in our thoughts, KS.

Here's hoping she'll remain safe!

[Mari333]

10. Hugs to you I hope my husband doesnt read this

(((((you, and your daughter in law))))))))))
My stepson is in Abu Ghraib..I hope and pray hes behind a concrete wall and he wants to come home..they all do..they should all be home...every one of them..HOME!!!!
http://www.bringthemhomenow.com

[watercolors]

39. I hope they all get home soon

Our grandson was due to leave yesterday, he called home to say they were delayed because of heavy fighying. He had hopes of getting on a flight out later in the day. We are still waiting for word that he is out of the mess. He said it is very bad, and is so happy to be heading home. Our worst fears are that he might be going to Afganistan in a few months. When will it end? My daughter and family have been so sick with worry, it has been hard to function daily!

My prayers go out to all who have loved ones in harms way.

[FlemingsGhost]

5. A sure sign we're losing our already tenuous grip

It was only a matter of time, really. Thank god, we're sending 20,000 more troops into the meat grinder.

[NEOBuckeye]

6. "Six more months" -- Paul Wolfowitz

This bastard and the rest of the neocons should be tried, convicted and sentenced to fight in Iraq -- sans bullets and body armor for six months. Only, of course, to be extended for six more months if they somehow manage to survive.

And then, six more months after that...

[Pachamama]

7. And another 87 Billion $$$ and Another 87 Billion $$$ and another 900

...soldiers dead (or was that 600?) hmmm....900, 600 soldiers, whatever... (sarcasm re. Wolfie's disregard for the actual running tally on US Soldiers dead)....

[Mari333]

11. and the jobs keep disappearing!!

I spoke with a woman in a small town yesterday at a gas station..she looked at me and we started speaking about the high unemployment rate
"Im gonna vote that idiot out of the White House!" she said
I high fived her.
Man, all the people I meet in the heartland here HATE him
Thats good.
Now, lets impeach the bastard and his friends and get our kids home.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

28. They'll say anything right before an election, won't they?

[Bhaisahab]

9. UPDATE: 22 killed, incl 2 US soldiers

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Insurgents launched a series of apparently coordinated attacks on police stations in Sunni Muslim-dominated areas of Iraq (news - web sites) on Thursday, killing at least 22 people, including two U.S. soldiers, officials said.

The attacks began at dawn on the police stations in Ramadi and Baqouba. Later, explosions hit police stations in the northern city of Mosul. One of them could have been caused by a suicide bomber, a police officer said on condition of anonymity.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&e=2&u=/ap/20040624/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

[Mari333]

12. God help the families .

Of the soldiers, and of the Iraqi people.
Impeach Bush, lets get our kids out of there and lets throw all of those bastards OUT of DC and out of our lives.
I am tired of waiting for JUSTICE to be served on all of them.

[Pachamama]

13. I hope more families like yours Mari who are families of Military feel the

same way....We need to vote out these people who are destroying our country, the world and killing our children....

And they call themselves "Pro-life"....

:grr:

[otravez]

14. there is more

in faluja an pache heloco has been shot down the same day but cnn did not mention it

[Pachamama]

16. The carnage doesn't end...and we only get bits of info - Btw- Welcome!

Welcome to the DU Otravez....

Always nice to have Newbies join the Freethinking world of the DU!

:hi: :toast:

[Pachamama]

40. You were right when you mentioned the helicopter...only this morning is

...CNN and the news mentioning it...

Wow...so your a newbie who's got inside info...I like it....

I'm so sorry if you have a friend or family member there....and if its you, GET THE HECK OUT OF IRAQ, NOW! It's going to be like the taking of Saigon soon....

[PurityOfEssence]

15. CNN claiming the insurgents "in control" of certain cities

It's all fog of war; who's to say what's really going on? They also say that the Coalition disputes this characterization.

Boy is "Iraqi Policeman" the worst job in the world or what?

That poor country. Nothing like an elective war from an unelected warmonger.

Going to bed.

[Pachamama]

17. Worst Job in World= I)Iraqi Policeman 2)Iraqi Soldier 3)Iraqi Politician

and ofcourse our SOLDIERS!!! (That list isn't in order - they all suck)...I'm going to bed now too...I'm sure the carnage will just be worse when I wake up and I hopefully have the strength to handle it...

:cry:

[leftchick]

22. you ain't kidding... so sad...

The bodies of two policemen lie dead on the floor close to a police station in Baquba, 60 kms northeast of Baghdad. The US military dropped four 500-pound (220 kilogramme) bombs on houses in this northeastern Iraqi city as heavy fighting claimed the lives of 17 Iraqis and two US soldiers, military and hospital officials said.(AFP/Ali Yussef)

[hightime]

42. You forgot Iraqi doctors and professors.

Iraqi university professor killed


Monday 14 June 2004, 9:08 Makka Time, 6:08 GMT


Sabri al-Bayati, a professor of telecommunications, was killed on Sunday in the Bab al-Athamiya area in central Baghdad, our correspondent said.

Many academics and intellectuals have been killed since US occupation tanks rolled into Baghdad in April 2003.

More than one year after the US-led war about 2000 professors and academics have fled.

Academics now fear that a deliberate brain drain is being executed through assassinations.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C7C48B45-DA37-4AF8-86FE-55B921FE789D.htm

Iraqi doctors forced into exile
IRAQ's top surgeons, neurologists and other doctors are fleeing Baghdad, bullied into exile by a growing gang of kidnappers seeking hefty ransoms from the country's affluent elite.

"The kidnapping of doctors has risen over the past few months, forcing the best practitioners to leave Iraq and settle in neighbouring countries to protect themselves," said health ministry public affairs officer May Yassin.
May Yassin confirmed that some of the country's most qualified specialists had been abducted recently and released in exchange for ransoms ranging between $US1000 ($1400) and $US10,000 ($A14,000). "They were all kidnapped in their offices," she said.

Many of the country's most renowned neurologists, cardiologists, gynaecologists, emergency surgeons and plastic surgeons have been kidnapped in recent months.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,9700132%255E1702,00.html

[Th1onein]

37. Some people don't think brown-skinned people can govern themselves.......

Looks like they can do a lot more than that, doesn't it? These people are going to take back their country and kick our arrogant asses out of there!

[PurityOfEssence]

44. The colossal stupidity of George W. Bush is staggering

For him to have said that once is one thing; that he repeated it at least once that I know of is unbelievable.

[HereSince1628]

18. Now that is more like the Tet offensive...

People have been comparing Iraq to Vietnam for months...now it's my turn. The communist's Tet offensive involved more of less simultaneous attacks on public and government buildings and forces throughout South Vietnam.

As a propaganda tool it certainly carried the message of how large and organized the VC were. It also forever changed my feelings about Lunar New Year.

[leftchick]

19. Reuters: Iraq Attacks, Fighting Kill at Least 66, Ministry Says

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040624/wl_nm/iraq_dc&cid=574&ncid=1480BAGHDAD


(Reuters) - Coordinated attacks and skirmishes in several Iraqi cities Thursday killed at least 66 people and wounded more than 200, Iraq (news - web sites)'s health ministry said.

It said at least 44 people were killed in a series of car bomb blasts in the northern city of Mosul and 216 wounded. Fighting in al-Anbar province, where there were clashes in Falluja and Ramadi, killed at least nine people and wounded 27, and fighting around Baquba killed 13 and wounded 15.

[leftchick]

20. AP: Insurgents Kill Dozens of People in Iraq

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040624/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq&cid=540&ncid=716


<snip>
The large number of attacks, mostly directed at Iraqi security services, was a clear sign of just how powerful the insurgency in Iraq remains — and could be the start of a new push to torpedo the June 30 transfer of sovereignty to an interim transitional government.


The heaviest clashes were reported in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, where two American soldiers were killed and seven wounded, the U.S. 1st Infantry Division said. Attackers also targeted police stations in Ramadi, Mahaweel, and the northern city of Mosul, where car bombs rocked the Iraqi Police Academy, two police stations and the al-Jumhuri hospital.


Khalid Mohammed, an official at the hospital, said dozens of injured were brought there. At least 50 people died and 170 were wounded, he said. A U.S. soldier was also killed and three were wounded in Mosul.


In other attacks, four Iraqi soldiers were killed in an explosion near a checkpoint manned by Iraqi and American soldiers in the southern Baghdad district of Dora. Three U.S. soldiers tended to what appeared to be a wounded American soldier on the road. The soldier's helmet lay nearby. Black smoke and flames shot up from a burning pickup truck.

[DoYouEverWonder]

21. Here's the BBC's version

Insurgents strike at Iraqi cities




Insurgents in Iraq have launched a series of apparently co-ordinated attacks on security forces in five towns and cities.

The worst attacks were in the northern city of Mosul, where at least 40 people died and 60 were hurt in a series of car bombings, Iraqi police said.

<snip>

There are reports of between four and seven bombings in Mosul.

Police in the city said US forces and insurgents were now trading fire in the streets.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3835001.stm

[yellowcanine]

36. Mosul? Is that in the Sunni Triangle? All of this is being attributed to

Saddam loyalists and turra-ists in the Sunni Triangle. After someone is dead how can one tell if he is a Saddam loyalist? Or if a bomb goes off, how is it that we know right away it was set off by a Saddam loyalist and not just someone who is just pissed off at the occupation?

[leftchick]

23. The US Occupiers have dropped 4 500 lb bombs on houses...

in Baquba.... shit!

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/iraq_baquba

US bombs destroy rebel hideout in Iraq after heavy fighting

BAQUBA, Iraq (AFP) - The US military dropped four 500-pound (220 kilogramme) bombs on houses in this northeastern Iraqi city as heavy fighting claimed the lives of 17 Iraqis and two US soldiers, military and hospital officials said.


The laser-guided strike followed dawn clashes with suspected supporters of Al-Qaeda fugitive Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi who also launched simultaneous attacks on the local government headquarters, a police station and the house of the provincial police chief, the US military said.

"A 1st Infantry Division patrol was attacked by anti-Iraqi forces killing two soldiers and wounding seven others in Baquba," a statement said.

"The anti-Iraqi forces attacked the patrol with small arms, multiple improvised explosive devices and rocket-propelled grenades in the vicinity of the Mufrek Traffic Circle."

[JSJ]

24. you've got your damn war, now, mr boooooosh...

...and it's not a one-sided slaughter anymore.

[DeaconBlues]

25. The poll that accompanies this article says that 77% believe

that we should declare martial law in Iraq. That must be part of all that freedom we're bringing to them.

[markses]

26. "Martial Law" - WTF do they call dropping 500 lb bombs on homes?

Due process?

The innovation will be the "law" part. At this point, we have all "martial," no "law." So I suppose from that vantage declaring martial LAW will be an advance! These people are amazing imbeciles.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

31. now THAT would be an occupation

pretty bad sell.

[74dodgedart]

38. Winning hearts and minds, one body at a time

What a friggin' disaster

[Media_Lies_Daily]

27. "...strictly defensive in nature."....

"The 1st Marine Expeditionary Force said its actions in Fallujah were 'strictly defensive in nature.' The United States has attacked militant 'safe house' targets in Fallujah twice this week, killing about 38 people."

"Stricly defensive"???

Does the Marine Corps brass really believe that the American people are stupid enough to believe this crap?

[Nihil]

29. NewSpeak

The Marines were patrolling in the country that they'd invaded (near the
city that they'd been kicked out of) and were attacked, losing two more
poor victims to the oil war.

The "strictly defensive" response was to drop 1 ton of high explosive
on houses.

> Does the Marine Corps brass really believe that the American people
> are stupid enough to believe this crap?

Yes. Unfortunately the <majority of the> American people appear to be
playing along too.

[mainer]

30. White House will just say, "it's a sign we're succeeding."

They always do.

[Cocoa]

41. they're getting desperate!

:party:

[electricmonk]

32. Is this the dead-enders, the..

Saddam loyalists, the terrorists or plain ole insurgents coordinating the attacks. Hard to keeep them straight you know.

[yellowcanine]

33. Aw, they're all just a bunch of freedom-hating turra-ists. It is a sign

that we are winning because they know that if we are successful they will lose. Or something like that.

[Zolok]

34. Softening up the Iraqi "security forces" before

the big push next week...this isn't a classic coup model though.
There seems little secrecy about intents aims and capabilities....more like the warm up to an all out five way civil war.
JESUS we have stumbled into a catastrophe!


www.chimesatmidnight.blogspot.com

[TNOE]

35. Shame is "we" didn't "stumble"

Bush led us KNOWINGLY into this mess.

[lucky777]

43. CNN blaming Zarqawi again!!!

Doesn't it look ridiculous when the world's most powerful army is losing a war to one guy who supposedly lives in a cave and another guy who is dead and missing a leg?

[dArKeR]

45. Anarchy unleashed as handover slouches closer

Baquba - Insurgents unleashed a wave of apparently co-ordinated attacks across four Iraqi cities on Thursday, leaving at least 74 people dead just six days from the handover of power.

The fighting in Baquba, Fallujah, Mosul and Ramadi left three United States soldiers dead in the most serious challenge to the occupation's efforts to restore stability since April, when Shiite Muslim radicals launched an uprising across central and southern Iraq.

The violence started in Baquba at dawn and spread like wildfire across the Sunni belt north and west from the capital, where the occupation has met resistance virtually since last year's invasion.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3&art_id=qw1088086501563B262

[daleo]

46. I heard that the talking point was, "there weren't many insurgents"

On the tv this morning (I was switching around between CNN and CBC Newsworld, but I think it was on the latter station), the journalist was saying that Washington was concerned over the large loss of life and coordinated attacks, but was encouraged by the fact that "only a small number of insurgents seemed to be involved".

WTF? - taking comfort that your enemy is small in number even though they just scored a considerable propaganda and tactical victory? They might as well have taken comfort in the fact that the WTC was attacked by only 9 or 10 terrorists, so it wasn't so bad.

[dArKeR]

47. 89 Die and 318 Hurt in New Iraq Attacks

By HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press Writer

BAQOUBA, Iraq - Insurgents launched coordinated attacks Thursday against police and government buildings across Sunni Muslim areas of Iraq (news - web sites) less than a week before the handover of sovereignty. The strikes killed 89 people including, three American soldiers, and wounded 318 people, Iraqi and U.S. officials said.

Most of the deaths were in Mosul, where 44 people were killed and 216 injured in attacks that included a string of car bombs. Clashes also occurred in Baqouba, Ramadi, Baghdad and other areas.

The extent of the attacks was a clear sign of just how powerful the insurgency remains — and could be the start of a new push to torpedo Wednesday's transfer of sovereignty to an interim transitional government.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040624/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_66