IRAQ

Truth Dig: Iraqis Finally Unite—Against the U.S.
By Robert Scheer

You have to hand it to Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., for having the chutzpah to cite the fiercely anti-American rally that dominated the anniversary of Iraq’s fourth year of U.S. occupation as evidence that the troop “surge” is working. As opposed to Lieberman, who continues to act as Bush’s overeager lap dog, his masters in the White House knew better than to celebrate at this depressing moment.

After a weekend in which 10 U.S. soldiers were killed—four more were killed on Monday, bringing the total to 45 already in April—and the citizens of once bustling Baghdad cowered in their homes under a U.S.-imposed round-the-clock curfew, President Bush had the good sense for once to say not a word about the glorious “liberation” of Iraq. Instead, as Dana Milbank noted in The Washington Post, the president never mentioned Iraq in a 24-minute speech he gave on the happier subject of illegal immigration, nor did any of his top aides touch on the topic. The White House website ignored Iraq entirely under the heading “LATEST NEWS,” instead featuring Clifford the Big Red Dog’s romp at the South Lawn’s annual Easter egg hunt.

Meanwhile, back in liberated Iraq, the anniversary of Saddam Hussein’s overthrow was marked by only one sign of public response: In the Shiite holy city of Najaf, hundreds of thousands gathered to burn American flags and otherwise denounce the United States. “Yes! Yes! Iraq. No! No! America,” chanted demonstrators organized by cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, reported the BBC. “We were liberated from Saddam. Now we need to be liberated again. Stop the suffering. Americans leave now.”

IRAQ: 650'000 Civilian Deaths - Lancet was right

Guardian: A monstrous war crime

With more than 650,000 civilians dead in Iraq, our government must take responsibility for its lies

Our collective failure has been to take our political leaders at their word. This week the BBC reported that the government's own scientists advised ministers that the Johns Hopkins study on Iraq civilian mortality was accurate and reliable, following a freedom of information request by the reporter Owen Bennett-Jones. This paper was published in the Lancet last October. It estimated that 650,000 Iraqi civilians had died since the American and British led invasion in March 2003.

Iran: US Propaganda Debunked

Asia Times: US's smoking gun on Iran misfires
By Gareth Porter

WASHINGTON - The first major effort by the administration of US President George W Bush to substantiate its case that the Iranian government has been providing weapons to Iraqi Shi'ites who oppose the occupation undermines the administration's political line by showing that it has been unable to find any real evidence of an Iranian government role.

"US intelligence had proof of Iranian government responsibility for the supply of such weapons, the unnamed officials who briefed the media on Sunday admitted that the claim is merely "an inference" rather than based on a trail of evidence. Although it was clearly not the intention, moreover, the briefing revealed for the first time that the Iranians and Iraqis detained by US forces in recent months did not provide any evidence implicating either the Iranian government or the Islamic Revolutionary Guards in the acquisition of armor-piercing explosive devices and other weapons by Iraqi Shi'ite groups."

IRAN: Propaganda Watch

AFP: Iranian bombs have killed 170 Iraq coalition troops: US

AGHDAD (AFP) - Sophisticated Iranian-built bombs smuggled into
Iraq have killed at least 170 US and allied soldiers since June 2004 and wounded 620 more, senior US defence officials have said.

The allegation, made Sunday at a background briefing in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, comes as Washington steps up its criticism of
Iran and will feed a fierce debate over relations with the Islamic republic.

"Iran is involved in supplying explosively formed projectiles or EFPs and other material to Iraqi extremist groups," a senior official from the US-led multinational coalition told journalists.

As the Shiites still do not kill U.S Soldiers en masse, Iran must be delivering his arch foe i.e the Sunni Guerilla Movement with those mean devices...c'mon get real.

IRAQ: Sadr City Showdown?

Channelnewsasia: Tanks, troops deploy in east Baghdad

BAGHDAD : Iraqi and US forces are preparing to launch a massive crackdown in Baghdad to end the sectarian carnage pushing Iraq toward civil war as at least another 30 people died in a surge of violence.

The sustained bloodshed came after nearly 200 people were killed over the weekend, mostly in the war-torn capital.

Iraqi soldiers and National Guard police were deployed on Baghdad's main eastern highway leading to the Shiite bastion of Sadr City, a repeated insurgent target, he said.