15 Police Recruits Killed in Iraq; U.S. Death Toll for October Hits 86

[OhioChick]

By John Ward Anderson and Debbi Wilgoren
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, October 23, 2006; 6:56 AM

BAGHDAD, Oct. 23 -- At least 15 Iraqi police recruits were killed Sunday when two buses taking them to Baghdad were ambushed by insurgents north of the capital, a local police official said. Twenty-five recruits were injured in the attack, and 20 others were kidnapped, he said.

The U.S. military announced the deaths of seven soldiers and a Marine over the weekend, bringing the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq this month to at least 86 -- the fifth-highest total in any single month since the war began. Attacks against U.S. and Iraqi forces in Baghdad have increased more than 40 percent since midsummer, U.S. military officials say. The only higher monthly tolls were 137 in November 2004, 135 in April 2004, 106 in January 2005, and 96 in October, 2005.

Six U.S. soldiers were killed Sunday, in five separate attacks in and around Baghdad, the Defense Department said in e-mailed statements. Iraqi gunman killed two soldiers with small-arms fire west of the capital, and another soldier southwest of Baghdad, the military said. Three other soldiers were killed in explosions caused by three different roadside bombs, one of which left four soldiers injured.

The Marine died Saturday from injuries sustained during fighting in Anbar province, the same day that a soldier was killed and three others were wounded in a clash in Salahuddin province, the military said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/23/AR2006102300186.html

[bluestateguy]

1. It grows by the hour

We've lost more Americans in Iraq than we lost at the WTC on 9/11.

[Warren Stupidity]

2. The Bullshit Media System is Ignoring a crucial fact here.

" Baghdad operation improving security Print E-mail
Thursday, 24 August 2006

U.S. Army Soldiers from Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, conduct an area reconnaissance mission in Baghdad, Aug. 22. Department of Defense photo by Navy Gunner's Mate 1st Class Martin Anton Edgil.
U.S. Army Soldiers from Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, conduct an area reconnaissance mission in Baghdad, Aug. 22. Department of Defense photo by Navy Gunner's Mate 1st Class Martin Anton Edgil.
BAGHDAD — Operation Together Forward, the Iraqi-led operation to reduce violence in Baghdad, is progressing well and improving the security situation around the Iraqi capital, a Joint Staff official said Aug. 23."
http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2360&Itemid=18

This summer we launched Operation Together Forward which was going to use combined Iraqi and US forces to clear insurgents and militias from Baghdad. Operation Together Forward was going to secure Baghdad once and for all and was the last best plan to salvage something like success from the Iraqi Debacle.

The Battle for Baghdad is over and we have lost. What we are watching right now unfold before our eyes is the complete unravelling of US policy in the middle east and a stunning defeat of the neocon military plan to establish Iraq as the forward base of operations for their Pax Americana.

[saigon68]

4. Operation Together Forward,is progressing well and improving the security

</sarcasm>

[saigon68]

3. "BRING EM ON" shouted the AWOL CHIMPANZEE

[nancyr]

5. And all for what????

Sheer insanity.

[rodeodance]

6. US troops (5 more on SUN.) slain as Iraq marks end to bloody Ramadan

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061023/ts_afp/iraq_061023112853;_ylt=ArbZJvCWCuRk_xrD4Xp._RRg.3QA;_ylu=X3oDMTA2ZGZwam4yBHNlYwNmYw--


US troops slain as Iraq marks end to bloody Ramadan

by Dave Clark 19 minutes ago

BAGHDAD (AFP) - The battle for Baghdad claimed five more US lives as Iraqis began to mark the end of the holy Muslim holiday of Ramadan marred by spiralling unrest and the murder of 17 police trainees.


Two civilians and a policeman were killed and 13 wounded in a bomb attack in the centre of the capital as a police patrol passed near a Sunni mosque, the interior ministry said Monday.
......

But while Sunnis began to celebrate the three-day festival of Eid al-Fitr --
Iraq's Shiite majority will follow suit on Tuesday -- doctors battled to save the survivors of a brutal ambush Sunday on a convoy of unarmed police recruits.

The death toll from the attack rose to 17 overnight, medics said, with more than 20 wounded after insurgents raked their buses with automatic fire.

[saigon68]

7. "BRING EM ON" shouted the AWOL CHIMPANZEE

[Hav]

12. .

Oh shit, I had forgotten about that one. While some idiots (safe at home) like that kind of cowboy talk, everyone else probably felt that it was one of the most stupid things he could have done.
He really knows how to energize the extremists..in the US and abroad.

[Warren Stupidity]

8. Battle for Baghdad over: we lost.

Not exactly the October Surprise Rove had in mind. Team Bush (criminal cabal - Washington) is off talking about anything other than Iraq.

Get our soldiers out of there.

[global1]

9. Well Now That Ramadan Is Over We'll Be Able To Test The WH Theory........

that the spike in the death toll of U.S. Troops had to do with Ramadan. If the deaths keep on a happening we'll know that it was just another one of their lame excuses.

[Warren Stupidity]

11. Ramadan plus it is part of the Democratic campaign.

The vile assclowns are making the argument that the rebellion against our occupying army is intended to convince people to vote Democratic. It is the 'bin Laden wants you to vote Democratic' strategy. They have no shame. They are criminals of the worst sort.

[Hav]

10. .

Still going so swimmingly I see. Still on their last throes.
I hope that everybody soon realizes that supporting the troops means the exact opposite than staying the course.

I understand when people argue that it is good that Saddam is gone. But despite that, it is so clear that we fucked up the region that many there probably think that it was better under Saddam.

[rodeodance]

13. Kick for the troops

[0007]

14. Pile 'em tall

Grass Bush

Pile the bodies high in Austerlitz and Waterloo Iraq
Shovel them under and let me work--
I am the grass; bush; I cover all.

And pile them high in Gettyburg Baghdad
And pile them high in Ypres and Vedum Mossoul and Al Fallaujah

Two years, ten years, and passengers ask the conductor:
What place is this?

I am the grass bush.
Let me work.

Carl Sandburg


Support the war - Donate a Son a Daughter
The GOP working for a better America
God Bless America

[bemildred]

15. (5) US troops slain as Iraq marks end to bloody Ramadan

BAGHDAD (AFP) - The battle for Baghdad has claimed five more US troops as Iraqis began to mark the end of the holy Muslim holiday of Ramadan marred by spiralling unrest and the murder of 17 police trainees.

Overnight, the bang and flash of colourful fireworks mingled with the more familiar crack of automatic weapons and the bright glow of decoy flares from American helicopters flying low over the city skyline.

---

American casualties were also mounting. The US military confirmed five more soldiers had been killed on Sunday in and around Baghdad in separate gun and bomb attacks, bringing the number killed this month to 85.

In addition, an American police officer on contract to the military to train Iraqi officers was killed Sunday by a roadside bomb.

AFP

[jpak]

16. Insurgents staged large military parades less than 2 miles from US bases

this weekend in western Iraq.

The US has lost Baghdad AND the countryside.

Bring the troops home now...

[underpants]

17. 86??? Geessh that is really high

Luckily the last person that I know who was there got home last week. He is about done with his enlistment and he was tired of killing after his first tour in Fallujah. Marine- front of the front type stuff.

[MilesColtrane]

18. I wonder how many of these troops actually died when...

that ammo dump was hit.
Some Pentagon or WH smart guy decided it would be better to redistribute the casualties over time.

[Supersedeas]

19. Nothing to see here--feed them more Madonna adoption and Wesley Snipes