Bush's newly trained Iraqi police go on killing spree

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.caycompass.com/cgi-bin/CFPnews.cgi?ID=1021029

BAGHDAD (AP) – Shiite militants and police enraged by massive truck bombings in Tal Afar went on a revenge spree against Sunni residents in the northwestern town Wednesday, killing as many as 60 people, officials said.

The gunmen roamed Sunni neighborhoods in the city through the night, shooting at residents and homes, according to police and a local Sunni politician.

Witnesses said relatives of the Shiite victims in the truck bombings broke into the Sunni homes and killed the men inside or dragged them out and shot them in the streets.

Ali al–Talafari, a Sunni member of the local Turkomen Front Party, said the Iraqi army had arrested 18 policemen accused of being involved after they were identified by the Sunni families targeted. But he said the attackers included Shiite militiamen.

He said more than 60 Sunnis had been killed, but a senior hospital official in Tal Afar put the death toll at 45, with four wounded.

[Hubert Flottz]

1. He started out on Frogs!

[maddezmom]

Newsweek: Is This a Strategy For Success? Washington's good news in Iraq isn't quite what it seems

By Rod Nordland
Newsweek International

April 3, 2006 issue - At last, President Bush had news he could use from Iraq. He devoted an entire speech in Cleveland last week to the story of how the town of Tall Afar was wrested from Qaeda control and has become a model for defeating the enemy. Praise came not just from the administration; CBS's "60 Minutes" ran a glowing segment on what had been accomplished under Col. H. R. McMaster and his Third Armored Cavalry. McMaster, author of a celebrated book, "Dereliction of Duty," a critical look at how the U.S. military and its leaders got it wrong in Vietnam, made the rounds of the airwaves about how they're now getting it right in Iraq. Tall Afar, said the president, "is today a free city that gives reason for hope for a free Iraq."


more:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12016224/site/newsweek/

[Arkansas Granny]

9. The News Hour with Jim Lehrer highlighted that speech last

night and had a very good report on Tall Afar last night, featuring Ahmed Hashim, who worked in Tall Afar as a political adviser to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment in 2005, and Greg Jaffe of the Wall Street Journal.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/jan-june07/carnage_03-28.html

<snip>

The situation in the city has more to do with local grievances and identity conflicts between the Sunni Turkmen, and the Shia Turkmen. And it really is not al-Qaida who has infiltrated so much as the fact that what happened in 2003 is the formerly dominant Sunni-Turkmen majority there, that constitute 70 percent of the population, that controlled the police, the municipality, the security services.

They were primarily the teachers, and also there was about 20,000 Turkmen who were veterans of the former Iraqi army. Suddenly, they felt themselves having been thrown out of power.

And this is essentially their revenge on what they see as the empowerment of the Shia minority in the town, which has been helped by central power in Baghdad, which is, of course, now in the hands of the Shia.

[ShortnFiery]

2. Just lovely.

:eyes: :puke: :eyes:

I fear the repercussions to our Country of a just God and weep for all the innocents killed.

Look fellow Americans and coalition of the coerced and bribed: THIS is what we have set up to be created though invasion and occupation of a SOVEREIGN Middle Eastern Country. :wow: :scared: :cry:

[rodeodance]

3. Your headline is much more truthfull than the one in the press

[rodeodance]

4. REC

[cassiepriam]

5. Sounds like he trained them in Bush democracy style: DESTROY DESTROY DESTROY

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

6. This is our achievement

Sunnis blow up some Shiites.
Shiite cops start shooting Sunnis.
Sunni Iraqi army soldiers arrest the cops.

The longer we stay, the longer we delay the inevitable civil/proxy wars, Sunni v Shia, and the invasions by Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Turkey.

We might as well pull out now, let the chaos happen, see if we can establish diplomatic relations with whatever warlord/thug/strongman ends up ruling the place. We might be able to deal with the "new Saddam" like we could have dealt with the "old Saddam" if * hadn't decided to finish what papa started.

[sendero]

7. It's been obvious for at ..

... least 2 years that this is a sectarian civil war and both sides will use any advantage they can gain, including American involvement, to further their goals.

George Bush is an abject failure and all of the generals going along with his ridiculous plans are worse.

[ClayZ]

8. K&R

[woodsprite]

10. Trained by Blackwater, I suppose. n/t