Gorilla’s Guides

The picture below is from today’s attack on airport workers.

The list below the jump gives the main security developments in Iraq reported on Aswat Al Iraq in Arabic earlier on today. If you scroll down a bit I report on the involvement of SCIRI and Pehmerga death squads in the forthcoming surge. I also report a “new”  method of killing people and start to shout a bit.  As always check out Today In Iraq for comprehensive coverage of western news reporting, analysis, and commentary on the war in Iraq. If you have difficulty with the blogger site. I’m parallel running their new home for them until all the wrinkles are ironed out, the advanced facilities put in and the editors are happy it’s running smoothly. The most recent posting on the new site is Whisker’s “A Perspective of December Deaths” it’s also on their blogger site.

markfromireland

Main Security Develoments:

1. Baqubah: Four civilians killed and three others wounded in two attacks in Baqubah and Al Khalis.
2. Baghdad: At least four Baghdad airport employees were killed and nine others were wounded when their bus was attacked by gunment in western Baghdad.
3. Baghdad: At least six Iraqi pilgrims were wounded on Monday when a locally-made bomb went off inside a bus carrying pilgrims coming from Saudi Arabia after the Hajj, a police source said. The blast occurred on the highway in south of Baghdad.
4. Baghdad: Four killed and five wounded in two separate bombing attacks.
5. Baghdad: The U.S. army announced two further deaths amongs its soldiers.
6. Kirkuk: Three Iraqi contractors were kidnapped in al-Hawijah near Kirkuk.
7. Mosul: The Iraqi police said on Monday a U.S. vehicle patrol was attacked and unknown body was found in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
8. Samarra: Sheikh Naji Hussein al-Jabouri has been kidnapped.

Fallujah: American Base Attacked:

The American base in Fallujah came under both rocket and gunfire attack round about 3 O’Clock this afternoon. No reports of casualties. Source: Aswat al Iraq

Maysan: Police Raids:

Green Zone government police have arrested a gang accused of stealing power transmission cables and a suspected drug dealer.  Source: Aswat al Iraq

Kirkuk:

Aswat al Iraq have published an English translation of this report. There are no significant diffences between the English and Arabic versions. The text below is from the English version:

Three Iraqi contractors kidnapped near Kirkuk
Kirkuk, Jan 8, (VOI) –The Iraqi police said on Monday three Iraqi contractors were kidnapped in al-Hawijah district near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk.
“Unknown gunmen stormed late last night the houses of three Iraqi civilian contractors believed to work with the Multi-National Forces in the past,” a police source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
The source said “the gunmen forced the three contractors at gunpoint out of their homes in al-Hawijah district, 70 km southwest of Kirkuk, to unknown destination.”
The fate of the kidnapped is not known so far, he added.
Kirkuk is 250 km northeast of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

Source: Aswat al Iraq

Samarra: Sheikh Naji Hussein al-Jabouri Kidnapped

Sheikh Naji Hussein al-Jabouri  who is:

1. A prominent leader within the Jabbur tribe.
2. The brother of the provincial governor.

Was forced at gunpoint from his car close to Sammara and taken to an unknown destination. The Sheikh’s fate is unknown.

Source: Aswat al Iraq

Diyala: Baqubah and Al Khalis: 4 killed 3 wounded:

4 civilians have been killed and three wounded in separate gunfire attacks in Baqubah and Khalis. Gunmen opened fire on a car in Baqubah, the market in Khalis was the scene of the other attack. Khalis is 15Km from Baqubah.

Source: Aswat al Iraq

American Army Of Occupation Deaths

The American army of occupation in a statement announced further deaths in combat of it’s soldiers.

1. Three U.S. airmen were killed on Sunday in a car bombing in Baghdad.
2. Two soldiers died in Salah Ad Din.

Source: Aswat al Iraq

Baghdad: 6 Pilgrims Returning From Meccah Attacked And Wounded:

6 pilgris returning from the Hadj were injured in a roadside bombing south of Baghdad

Source: Aswat al Iraq

Baghdad: Bombings

Aswat al Iraq have published an English translation of this report. Other than that the Arabic language reports mentions the time of the first bombing - 8 O’clock in the morning, there are no significant diffences between the English and Arabic versions. The text below is from the English version:

Blasts leave nine casualties in Baghdad
By Adel Fakher
(Adds another blast)
Baghdad. Jan 8, (VOI) –Four people were killed and five others were wounded on Monday when two charges went off in different parts of Baghdad, police sources said.
“An explosive device went off today morning near a market in Zuafaraniyah district, southeast of Baghdad, killing two civilians and wounding four others,” the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
Another police source said “an explosive charge was detonated on Monday morning at a police patrol vehicle in al-Ghadier neighborhood, east of Baghdad, killing two civilians and wounding a policeman.”
In both blasts, the Iraqi security forces cordoned off the area while ambulances rushed the wounded to nearby hospitals.
Earlier, unknown gunmen attacked a bus carrying Baghdad airport employees in west of Iraqi capital killing four of them and wounding nine others according to police primary count.

Source: Aswat al Iraq [English]  Source: Aswat al Iraq [Arabic] 

Baghdad: Airport Workers Attacked 4 Dead 9 Wounded

A bus carrying airport employees was attacked by gunmen in the Jihad district of West Baghdad [ It’s mostly Sunni these days courtesy of the death squads - markfromireland]  Four were dead on arrival at hospital according to Yarmouk hospital the 9 wounded are in various conditions and several are not expected to survive.

Source: Aswat al Iraq and email from Laith to me.

Green Zone Government Deny That Badr Brigade And Peshmerga Will Take Part In Forthcoming Attack On Baghdad

Aswat al Iraq have published an English translation of this report. There are diffences between the English and Arabic versions. The text below is from the English version. The significant difference is that the English version also reports on the “new” ransom > release > bombing method:

Baghdad, Jan 8, (VOI) –The Kurdish local fighters (Peshmerga) will not participate in a new security plan recently branded by the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as an assault on Baghdad to “hunt down all outlaws regardless of their sectarian and political ties,” the spokesman for the defense ministry said on Monday.
“Iraqi army and police forces will carry out the new plan to secure Baghdad with backing by the Multi-National Forces,” Mohammed al-Askari told reporters in his weekly briefing in Baghdad.
The spokesman denied media reports that Peshmerga and the Shiite Badr forces will take part in carrying out Baghdad security plan.
“maneuvering with moving a certain unit within a country is quite normal but it is groundless that elements and organizations not from within the army or police would participate in such a plan,” al-Askari added.
The spokesman who declined to give further details on the plan for sensitivity said “the new scheme is based on lessons learned from previous security measures taken inside the Iraqi capital Baghdad.”
Al-Askari warned against a new trap by gunmen to release a kidnapped person after emplacing explosives to his car for detonation near Iraqi security forces’ checkpoints with remote control.
On Saturday, al-Askari told VOI “the Iraqi government put the final touches on its military plan and it is to enter soon into effect.”

Source: Aswat al Iraq [English Version] Now for the Arabic version:

The green zone government defense ministry have denied that Kurdish Peshmerga and Badr Brigade (the prinicipal organisation for the SCIRI death squads  markfromireland) will participate in the forcthcoming operation in Baghdad at a press meeting today.

The spokesman spoke in generalities citing the need for security but emphatically denied that either of those organisations would participate. The spokesman said that:

“the plan includes wider powers for commanders in the field who will oversee its implementation”

He claimed that occupation forces would “assist” in the planned attacks.

[Unfortunately he then gave the game away - markfromireland]

He went on to say that:

1. “the government is keen on disarming the militias.” 

   and;

2. “this course [of action] is supported by the United States of America.”

[’Nuff Said - markfromireland]

New Bombing Method

At the same press conference the spokesman warned that a new bombing method was being used it works as follows:

1. Force the your victim’s car to stop  [usually at a “fake” interior ministry checkpoint by people “wearing police uniforms” - markfromireland]
2. Bargain with your victim’s family for a ransom.
3. Get paid.
4. Booby trap the victim’s car.
5. Release the victim and his car.
6. Follow him.
7. Let him drive close to his family..
8. Explode the bomb via remote control.

Commentary

You’ll pardon me if I shout.

One of the reasons why I’m relatively good at what I do is because:

1. I have lots of experience with this sort of thing.
2. This experience has honed my ability to think like an evil minded murderous bastard without actually being one.

I predicted and warned about this thirty months ago. Since then I have been getting a small but ever increasing number of reports of just precisely this method being used for the past two years.

And only now does some underling in the American controlled and American funded “defense ministry” the one that’s damn well riddled with American trained, funded, and controlled death squads bother to notice and warn people about it. I hope he got cast iron guarantees about his helicopter seat out of Iraq from his American masters because he’s surely going to need it.

markfromireland

Source: Aswat al Iraq [Arabic]

Some Other Reports on Aswat Al Iraq:

Today is Ghadir Khum the anniverary of the sermon preached by the Prophet at the place of that name as he was returning from his last Hajj before his death. Shi’tes believe that during that sermon the Prophet designated Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (Imam Ali) as his clear successor. The ceremonies passed without major incident. The report is here.  The first female editor of an Iraqi newspaper has taken up her job in Wasit. The repercussions of the hanging of Saddam Hussein continue to reverbrate in Iraqi newspapers the Arabic report on this is here, the English translation published by Aswat Al Iraq is here.

Other Agency Reports:

Selected reports from agencies.

AFP

Calls grow to stay Saddam aides’ hanging

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Pressure was mounting on Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to halt the executions of two of Saddam Hussein’s henchmen amid growing international criticism over the way the ousted dictator was hange

Source: AFP.com

Reuters (Alertnet)

REFILE-Bush to address Americans on Iraq plan Wednesday
08 Jan 2007 17:07:12 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Adds dropped words in 3rd graf) By Steve Holland WASHINGTON, Jan 8 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush set Wednesday for his Iraq speech and was close to final decisions on Monday on a new war …  Full article

UNHCR launches new US$60 million appeal for Iraq operations
08 Jan 2007 16:47:53 GMT
Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees
The UN refugee agency launches a US$60 million appeal to fund its work over the next 12 months for hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced people affected by the conflict in Iraq.  Full article

Saddam and cousin discussed killing thousands-tapes
08 Jan 2007 16:06:12 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Adds comment on provenance of tapes, edits) By Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Saddam Hussein and his cousin “Chemical Ali” discussed killing thousands with chemical weapons …  Full article

U.N. seeks $60 mln to help Iraq refugees, displaced
08 Jan 2007 16:04:41 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Adds more detail) GENEVA, Jan 8 (Reuters) - The U.N. refugee agency appealed on Monday for $60 million to help some half a million Iraqis being driven from their homes in the violence in their …  Full article

FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, Jan 8
08 Jan 2007 15:51:15 GMT
Source: Reuters
Jan 8 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Iraq as of 1535 GMT on Monday: * Indicates new or updated item RAMADI - An official in a tribal council in the western province of Anbar …  Full article

ANALYSIS-Bush crafts Iraq troop plan despite skeptics
08 Jan 2007 15:41:20 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Leaders of the new Democratic-controlled Congress are vowing to fight it. An elite panel on Iraq has shown little enthusiasm for it. And even some …  Full article

Iraq: Halt New Dujail Trial Executions
08 Jan 2007 15:37:14 GMT
Source: Human Rights Watch
(New York, January 8, 2007) � The planned executions of two senior Ba’ath Party officials convicted in the unfair Dujail trial, coming on the heels of widening international criticism of Saddam …  Full article

Bush to address country on Iraq plan Wednesday
08 Jan 2007 15:34:00 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Adds details) WASHINGTON, Jan 8 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush will address Americans on his new Iraq plan on Wednesday at 9 p.m. EST (0200 GMT) from the White House, spokesman Tony Snow …  Full article

Bush to address country on Iraq plan Wednesday
08 Jan 2007 15:27:19 GMT
Source: Reuters
WASHINGTON, Jan 8 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush will address Americans on his new Iraq plan on Wednesday at 9 p.m. EST (0200 GMT) from the White House, spokesman Tony Snow announced. ” …  Full article

Bush to nominate Khalilzad to UN post-White House
08 Jan 2007 14:56:25 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Adds background) WASHINGTON, Jan 8 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush will nominate the U.S. ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad to be the U.S. representative to the United Nations, the White …  Full article

markfromireland