 Analysis: It has been clear for some time that the U.S. is not in control of events in Iraq. But the latest sectarian bloodshed suggests that even help from Iran and Syria may not be enough to stop the slide into chaos. If this week's announcement that Bush is to meet Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in the capital of neighboring Jordan raised eyebrows, by Friday it was abundantly clear why the meeting couldn't be held in Baghdad the Iraqi capital is under siege. After a day of open sectarian warfare on the streets had claimed more than 200 lives, the city's airport is closed and its residents are forced to remain indoors under a curfew. The latest carnage comes as the focus on Iraq's immediate future shifts outside its borders to U.S. discussions over redefining its strategy, moves by Iran and Syria to stake their own claim to a role in stabilizing Iraq, and perhaps, to competition between the two camps. ...
http://www.time.com
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Editor - 22:49:00 11-24-06
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 More U.S. troops dying in Anbar province |
In the 3 months since thousands of US forces poured into Baghdad to quash escalating violence, far more American troops have died in Iraq's volatile western Anbar province than in the capital city. More than two-thirds of the 245 U.S. casualties between Aug. 7, the start of the Baghdad offensive, & Nov. 7 occurred outside Baghdad which military leaders have called the "center of gravity" of Iraq, & the key to success in the war. Four in 10 deaths over those 3 months have been in Anbar province, a Sunni insurgency stronghold where US Marines have largely taken the lead. Marines, who comprise only about 15 % of the 141,000 U.S. forces currently in Iraq, accounted for nearly 28 % of the fatalities over the 3-month period. The Baghdad assault, dubbed Operation Together Forward, started slowly in June. It escalated in early Aug when about 7,200 additional US troops, including an agile Stryker brigade, were brought into enforce a broad array of checkpoints, curfews & house-to-house searches...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061125/ap_on_re_us/us_iraq_casualties
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Editor - 22:45:00 11-24-06
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| Religous Tearoom Owner Says God's Law Trumps Health Codes |
A fight over what constitutes government oppression and religious freedom is brewing in a cozy tearoom and cinnamon-scented quilt-and-craft shop operated in violation of local health codes. Three members of the small Piecemakers religious sect were convicted this week of multiple misdemeanor counts for refusing to let health inspectors into their kitchen. The group, led by a feisty, 85-year-old, camouflage-clad grandmother, has battled the county for years over a laundry list of code violations, claiming the law of God is greater than the law of man. "God's laws help the people, they comfort the people. These laws bind you so that you can't breathe. They have sucked the substance right out of our country," said Marie Kolasinski, the Piecemakers matriarch. Kolasinski and the two other defendants each face up to a year in jail when they are sentenced Jan. 12. They said they will appeal based on how officials handled the case....
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,231797,00.html
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Editor - 21:38:00 11-24-06
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| Man with toy gun disrupts Miami Herald Cartoonist surrenders to police after two-plus-hour standoff |
A cartoonist carrying a toy gun that looked real surrendered to police at The Miami Herald's building Friday, more than two hours after arriving and demanding to see an editor of the newspaper's Spanish-language sister paper, police said. Jose Varela, 50, carried a knife and a black plastic toy gun that resembled a real semiautomatic weapon, police said. He was charged with three counts of aggravated assault with a firearm. He was being held on $22,500 bond, jail officials said. Varela had problems with El Nuevo Herald, where he worked as a contractor, including its position on Cuban emigres, said Police Chief John Timoney. He had routine access to the building, officials said. A police negotiator talked Varela into surrendering peacefully at about 2:45 p.m., Timoney said. No injuries were reported...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15878330/
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Editor - 21:35:00 11-24-06
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| Iraqi security talks a 'success' |
The Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said an all-party security conference convened after Thursday's wave of bombings had been a success. Mr Talabani said delegates had agreed to increase co-operation and to really participate in the government of national unity. At least 230 people were killed in two days of violence in Baghdad. Mr Talabani postponed a trip to Iran because of a curfew imposed on the capital in response to the violence. He had been due to meet Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for talks on the security situation in Iraq. Mr Talabani said he might go to Tehran on Sunday if Baghdad's airport were reopened. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6182780.stm
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Editor - 21:31:00 11-24-06
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| 11 Injured As Tenn. Stairwell Collapses |
A stairwell at a rental cabin collapsed as more than 30 family members posed for a group picture on Friday afternoon, sending 11 to the hospital, officials said. Some of the people fell as far as 15 feet to the ground, said Capt. Mike Taylor of the Gatlinburg Fire Department. Five people were flown to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, including a 15-month-old infant. Names of the victims were not released. The injuries mostly bumps, bruises and some broken bones were not believed to be life-threatening, Taylor said. Others were treated at the scene. "It definitely could have been worse," Taylor said. ...
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2678386
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Editor - 21:29:00 11-24-06
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