Iraqi soldiers who desert their units now face execution, according to a decree by the country’s Presidential Council.

The penalties are also applicable to the cadets of military academies in the country.

Turning desertion into an offense punishable by death comes amid mounting criticism from human rights groups that Iraq has become one of the world’s highest users of death penalty.

http://www.azzaman.com/...

It will be up to the judge if the execution is done by hanging or firing squad. They took out beheading which was an option under the previous regime.

The idea that Iraq is going to become a Jeffersonian democracy in most people's lifetime is laughable. Iraqi politics today is where Rome was 100BC with a parliment of the elite families with their own goon squads.

That doesn't mean Iraqi can't be stabilized, as Saddam proved by putting down revolts and insurgencies supported by 80% of Iraqis. Those that say America can't help in stabilizing Iraq are full of it. What it does mean is that America no matter how much it gives can not change the political and social culture of a nation like Iraq.

Democrats Would Make Iraq Timetable in Bill 'Advisory'

Congressional Democratic leaders are moving to make their proposed timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq "advisory" as they seek to reconcile two versions of war spending legislation into a single bill that they plan to pass next week, according to several House members.

The compromise language would keep the deadlines included in the original House bill but make them nonbinding, as the Senate version did, and would allow President Bush to waive troop-readiness standards, lawmakers said. Bush has vowed to veto legislation with timetables in it, calling it a schedule of surrender, but Democrats hope to show that they are being flexible and the president rigid by softening the terms.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/...

I am actually not against this idea. I have been watching the polls and a majority of Americans are on our side on every issue related to the war except I have been watching over time the support for a clear solid deadline for withdrawl has been falling since the beginning of the year.

DUBAI, April 17 (Reuters) - The leader of an al Qaeda-led group in Iraq said on Tuesday he agreed with those who say the country has become a "university of terrorism" in a growing insurgency since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

"From the military point of view, one of the (enemy) devils was right in saying that if Afghanistan was a school of terror, then Iraq is a university of terrorism," the leader of the self-styled Islamic State in Iraq said in a Web audio recording.

"The largest batch of soldiers for jihad in the path of God in the history of Iraq are graduating and they have the highest level of competence in the world," said the speaker, identified as Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, leader of the group set up last year by al Qaeda's Iraq wing and some other Sunni groups.

http://mobile.alertnet.org/...

Three suicide bombers driving chlorine-laden trucks struck in the Sunni insurgent stronghold of Anbar province, killing two policemen and forcing about 350 Iraqi civilians and six U.S. troops to seek treatment for exposure to the gas, the military said Saturday.

The attacks came after back-to-back bombings last month released chlorine gas, prompting the U.S. military to warn that insurgents are adopting new tactics in a campaign to spread panic. That was followed by a similar explosion involving a dump truck south of Fallujah in Amiriyah that killed two policemen and left as many as 100 local citizens showing signs of chlorine exposure, with symptoms ranging from minor skin and lung irritations to vomiting, the military said.

Less than 10 miles away, another suicide bomber detonated a dump truck containing a 200-gallon chlorine tank rigged with explosives at 7:13 p.m., also south of Fallujah in the Albu Issa tribal region, the military said. U.S. forces responded to the attack and found about 250 local civilians, including seven children, suffering from symptoms related to chlorine exposure, according to the statement.

http://www.chron.com/...

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton foresees a "remaining military as well as political mission" in Iraq, and says that if elected president, she would keep a reduced but significant military force there to fight Al Qaeda, deter Iranian aggression, protect the Kurds and possibly support the Iraqi military.

In a half-hour interview on Tuesday in her Senate office, Mrs. Clinton said the scaled-down American military force that she would maintain in Iraq after taking office would stay off the streets in Baghdad and would no longer try to protect Iraqis from sectarian violence — even if it descended into ethnic cleansing.

http://www.nytimes.com/...

Iraqis Fleeing Samarra Say Extremists Control City

A number of families have fled the city of Samarra, north of Baghdad, saying that if the government does not intervene, their city will end up like Kabul during the Taliban era. The fleeing families say that extremists have renamed the city "the Islamic Emirate of Samarra, which is one of the emirates of the Islamic State of Iraq, declared by Al-Qaeda in the Land of Two Rivers last year.

He pointed out that these groups "began arriving in Samarra specifically a year and a half ago. Most of their leaders hold Arab citizenships, including Syrians, Algerians, Egyptians, and Yemenis, along with some Iraqi tribesmen who assist them and offer them facilities.

Muhannad said that large areas of the farms around Samarra have been transformed into camps like those of Al-Qaeda and Taliban in Afghanistan. Arab fighters, who were trained in Afghanistan many years ago, supervise the new camps in Samarra. Other interlocutress agreed with Muhannad that the city of Samarra "is becoming like the Afghan cities of Qandahar and Kabul in the era of Taliban."

http://aawsat.com/...

The Iraqi Prime Minister advised the Mahdi Army leaders to hide in Iran, revealed a leaked letter from the office of the prime minister and posted online by the Kurdish website peyamner on Tuesday.

A letter issued by the office of the Iraqi Prime Minister, al-Maliki, with the coordination of the National Security Advisor, Muwaffaq al-Rabii, advices al-Sadr to hide the leaders of his militants, the Mahdi Army, in the Islamic Republic of Iran, in case they are "arrested or killed by the American forces". Al-Maliki, in his letter states, "The current situation requires to keep the leaders of the Mahdi Army, who are affiliated to the organisation of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, away from the front line."

The Iraqi National Security Advisor, Muwaffaq al-Rabii appears to be part of the operation. The letter is classified as confidential, private and immediate. The letter states the name of 11 leaders of the Mahdi Army who have links with the Islamic Guards and who are advised by the office of the Prime Minister to leave to Iran. The letter is copied to the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad, the leadership of the SCIRI and the office of al-Sadr.

http://www.kurdmedia.com/...

The U.S. general commanding the security crackdown in Baghdad said Friday that he has asked for reinforcements beyond the 17,000 U.S. combat troops already committed to the Iraqi capital as part of President Bush's emergency build-up. Army Maj. Gen. Joseph Fil, commanding general of the 1st Cavalry Division based at Fort Hood, told a Pentagon news conference that he has requested additional forces to provide attack helicopters and combat engineers to bolster efforts to regain control of the capital city of 5 million.

Fil's request, if approved, could boost the U.S. buildup planned for Baghdad by more than 7,500 soldiers — or about a 44 percent increase. "We have requested specific elements — in other words, additional attack helicopters and additional engineers," Fil said, adding that additional logistics troops also would be required.

"We have asked for more (troops) and we believe that they will be given to us over time," Fil said.

http://www.chron.com/...

'Martyrs' In Iraq Mostly Saudis

Before Hadi Qahtani exploded himself into an anonymous fireball, he was young and interested only in "fooling around." Like many Saudis, he was said to have experienced a religious awakening after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the US and dedicated himself to Allah, inspired by "the holy attack that demolished the foolish infidel Americans and caused many young men to awaken from their deep sleep," according to a posting on a jihadist Web site.

Who are the suicide bombers of Iraq? By the radicals' account, they are an internationalist brigade of Arabs, with the largest share in the online lists from Saudi Arabia.

In a paper published in March, Reuven Paz, an Israeli expert on terrorism, analyzed the lists of jihadi dead. He found 154 Arabs killed over the previous six months in Iraq, 61 percent of them from Saudi Arabia. He also found that 70 percent of the suicide bombers named by the Web sites were Saudi. In three cases, Paz found two brothers who carried out suicide attacks. Many of the bombers were married, well educated and in their late twenties, according to postings.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/...

The Mahdi Army, the militia loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, is preparing for war in Sadr City, the vast Baghdad slum.

Announcements on Iraqi TV last night said that the cleric will force every man in Sadr City between 15 and 45 to join his militia.

Sadr supporters believe they will be targeted by U.S. and Iraqi government troops after President Bush unveils his new Iraq strategy Wednesday night. The Mahdi Army is rumored to be distributing grenades to every family in Sadr City, a district already brimming with weapons.

http://www.npr.org/...

A U.S. Air Force gunship has conducted a strike against suspected members of al Qaeda in Somalia, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports exclusively.

The targets included the senior al Qaeda leader in East Africa and an al Qaeda operative wanted for his involvement in the 1998 bombings of two American embassies in Africa, Martin reports. Those terror attacks killed more than 200 people.

The AC-130 gunship is capable of firing thousands of rounds per second, and sources say a lot of bodies were seen on the ground after the strike, but there is as yet, no confirmation of the identities. The gunship flew from its base in Dijibouti down to the southern tip of Somalia, Martin reports, where the al Qaeda operatives had fled after being chased out of the capital of Mogadishu by Ethiopian troops backed by the United States.

http://www.cbsnews.com/...

There are two things that democrats need to push for as well as comment on every time a reporter or talking head asks about Iraq. More then anything else this will show the democrats have a plan and not only that this plan could actually help stop the slaughter in Iraq and in the long run help US security.

Denmark open to moving troops to Baghdad -minister

Denmark is open to moving its 470 soldiers from southern Iraq to Baghdad if the United States requests it, the country's foreign minister said on Saturday.

Facing an upsurge in sectarian violence, U.S. troops working with Iraqi security forces have s far failed to make much impression on the daily bloodshed in the capital.

http://www.alertnet.org/...  

Saddam Hussein's former second in command, now a fugitive with a $10 million bounty on his head, has ordered Baath party bosses still in Iraq to cease attacks, according to government and parliamentary officials who claimed knowledge of the developments.

Four officials in the Iraqi government and parliament, each in a position to hear about largely secret efforts to reach accord with members of the Sunni insurgency, said former Iraqi vice president Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri has ordered Baath party bosses still in Iraq to end attacks within the past two days.

In a major concession to insurgents and the Sunni community Monday, the government agreed to legislation that would reinstate Baathist officials to positions of responsibility. The Baathist officials had been purged from their jobs in the first days of the U.S. occupation.

http://www.wkrc.com/...

Some mid-term elections especially in the second term of presidents you have a massive wave other times you have a moderate wave like 1986.

Given all you have seen from the many different polls and your own gut reaction what past mid-term is this election likely going to look the most like. If you think this year will be very different from any past mid-term you can say that as well.

Iowa candidate asks Kerry to cancel campaign visit

A Democratic Congressional candidate from Iowa is canceling a campaign event later this week with Senator John Kerry.

Brucy Braley says Kerry's recent comments about the Iraq war were inappropriate.

Braley's decision to distance himself from Kerry came as a furor grew from comments Kerry made about the Iraq War during a campaign stop in California on Monday.

http://www.eyewitnessnewstv.com/...

The biggest reason the dems lose is not because they don't have ideas or because they have the wrong message, it is because the American public doesn't think the democratic party has backbone to stand up against the opposition be it terrorists, criminals, or their politically rivals.

The American people want politicans with strength of character.

A US helicopter on Saturday bombed an office of Al-Sadr militia in Suwaira, 45 kilometers south of Baghdad, witnesses said.

Witnesses told Kuwait News Agency that a US helicopter fired four missiles on the militia's office, noting that a number of militiamen were killed and wounded in the bombing, but the presence of Iraqi and US forces made it impossible to figure a death toll.

http://www.kuna.net.kw/Home/Story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=915009

It seems something has come out of Bush's tactical 'strategy session' today.

They think they can avoid US Army operations against Sadr that run the risk of killing Americans so they are going to be dropping lots of 500 pound bombs on his offices just like they did with Zarqawi.

They may be able to kill alot of militiamen from the air power alone can not defeat a militia. Bush doesn't want to send more troops, so he is going to rely on more airpower which will leave lots of Iraqis dead and won't actually get rid of the militias.

Some of the policemen began bleeding from the ears and nose after the meal, said Jassim al-Atwan, an inspector for the Environment Ministry, who was serving as a liaison in the investigation between the Health Ministry and the base, located in the town of Numaniyah.
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"Hundreds of soldiers were poisoned after taking food and water in the iftar," Wasit Gov. Hamad al-Latif told the Associated Press, referring to the meal that breaks the sunrise-to-sunset fast during the Islamic holy month.
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Between 600-700 policemen were affected to varying degrees, and 11 who had the heaviest amount of the food had died, al-Atwan told The Associated Press. Some of the soldiers collapsed as soon as they stood up from them meal, others fell "one after the other" as they headed out to the yard in the base to line up in formation, al-Atwan said.
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http://wcco.com/...

How long are dems going to keep their powder dry? I mean they have been keeping it dry for some time. But, I guess it is important to wait for that big event that will come around one day to use the powder.

But, of course we can't be weak on security, because that would make us look weak. And, we can't look weak, I mean we would have lost the 2002 election if we weren't strong on defense and give the president authorization to use military force on Iraq.

But, one day there will be the perfect storm and an issue that is important enough we can finally use that massive warehouse of power we have stored up on. It might not be for a couple more election cycles though.