 On the eve of the third anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion, American troops clashed with gunmen north and west of Baghdad Sunday and insurgents lobbed a mortar round into the holy city of Karbala where a million Shiite pilgrims assembled for a major religious commemoration. Iraqis in the capital expressed unease with the increasing violence, which they said they hoped would have ended by now. "It is a painful anniversary. We were expecting that Iraq would get better," Munthir Rasheed said. "But it is completely in reverse. Iraq has passed through three years which are the worst in its history." Police said eight civilians, including a child, were killed in clashes between U.S. troops and gunmen in Duluiyah, 45 miles north of Baghdad. The town is in the Sunni Arab heartland where the Iraqi army and U.S. soldiers opened an airborne campaign last week to hunt for insurgents. ...
http://abcnews.go.com
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Editor - 10:32:00 03-19-06
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 Bush: Expect More Iraqi Violence |
Bush on Sat braced Americans for more bloodshed in Iraq but said recent civil strife has motivated warring political factions to move quickly to set up a representative government. "Our ambassador to Iraq, Zal Khalilzad, reports that the violence has created a new sense of urgency among these leaders to form a national unity government as quickly as possible," Bush said. "I urge them to continue their work to put aside their differences, to reach out across political, religious and sectarian lines, and to form a government that can confront the terrorist threat and earn the trust and confidence of all Iraqis." Bush's broadcast came in advance of a speech he plans to deliver in Cleveland on Mon, the second in a series of talks marking Sunday's 3-year anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. In the speech, Bush will discuss how the United States is working with various sectors of Iraqi society to defeat terrorists, restore calm and help rebuild homes and communities...
http://www.11alive.com/specials/local/decision2004/decision_article.aspx?storyid=77485
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Editor - 03:22:00 03-19-06
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| Airport Screeners Fail Bomb Test |
Since 9/11 there has been no higher aviation security priority than keeping bombs off airplanes. All checked bags are now screened for bombs. Some carry-ons — and even some passengers — are being sniffed for traces of explosives. But a new investigation by the General Accountability Office shows a gaping vulnerability remains, reports CBS transportation correspondent Bob Orr. The failure was across the board. Sources tell CBS News that 21 airports were tested and in all 21, screeners were unable to find component parts which could be used to make home-made bombs. Between October and January teams of undercover federal investigators walked through various airport checkpoints carrying common household items in their bags. By themselves the materials were not bombs. But they were ingredients which could have been mixed together in an airplane restroom to make an IED, an improvised explosive device. ...
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/03/18/national/main1419391.shtml?CMP=OTC-RSSFeed&source=RSS&attr=U.S._1419391
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Editor - 18:35:00 03-18-06
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| Bombs, bullets meet Shiite pilgrims in Iraq |
The Muslim pilgrims' road to the holy city of Karbala was a highway of bullets and bombs for Shiites on Friday.Drive-by shootings and roadside and bus bombs killed or injured 19 people, ratcheting up the sectarian tensions gripping Iraq.Security forces, including U.S. armored reinforcements, girded for more bloodshed leading up to Monday's Shiite holiday. And north of Baghdad, in the Sunni Triangle, a two-day-old operation involving 1,500 U.S. and Iraqi troops swept through an area near Samarra in search of insurgents.It was in Samarra that the insurgent bombing of a Shiite shrine last month ignited days of violence between Shiite and Sunni Muslims. More than 500 people died....
http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060318/NEWS/603180346/1024/NEWS04
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Editor - 18:02:00 03-18-06
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| FACTBOX-Developments in Iraq, March 18 |
Following are security incidents in Iraq as of 1530 GMT on Saturday.U.S. and Iraqi forces have been battling a Sunni Arab insurgency against the Shi'ite- and Kurdish-led government since U.S. troops toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.A wave of sectarian violence since the bombing of a Shi'ite shrine on Feb. 22 has killed hundreds.Asterisk denotes a new or updated item.* KIRKUK - The U.S. military said in a statement that the head of the Iraqi armed forces was in a convoy struck by a roadside bomb near Kirkuk on Thursday, but escaped injury. In the initial report on Thursday, Iraqi police said General Babakir Zebari, Iraq's chief of staff, was not in the motorcade, although it was comprised of vehicles he normally used. Three Iraqi soldiers were wounded in the attack, the U.S. military said on Saturday....
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/GEO842761.htm
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Editor - 17:36:00 03-18-06
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| Bush Using Straw-Man Arguments in Speeches |
"Some look at the challenges in Iraq and conclude that the war is lost and not worth another dime or another day," President Bush said recently.Another time he said, "Some say that if you're Muslim you can't be free.""There are some really decent people," the president said earlier this year, "who believe that the federal government ought to be the decider of health care ... for all people."Of course, hardly anyone in mainstream political debate has made such assertions.When the president starts a sentence with "some say" or offers up what "some in Washington" believe, as he is doing more often these days, a rhetorical retort almost assuredly follows....
http://my.earthlink.net/article/pol?guid=20060318/441b93d0_3ca6_1552620060318-169792052
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Editor - 17:25:00 03-18-06
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