Senator Harry Reid is shameless in his comments today on Iraq delving into civil war… He is also wrong. The minority leader may be pushing the party’s message, but he is not pushing the truth about the situation in Iraq.
From: IRAQ OPERATIONAL UPDATE BRIEFING BRIEFER: MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM CALDWELL, USA, SPOKESMAN, MULTINATIONAL FORCE IRAQ LOCATION: COMBINED PRESS INFORMATION CENTER, BAGHDAD, IRAQ TIME: 9:03 A.M. EDT DATE: THURSDAY, JULY 20, 2006
Iraqi forces are fighting valiantly for their country.
Killed in action in the fight for Baghdad in the last five weeks– 31 national police, 24 local police and 27 Iraqi soldiers.
Iraqi forces are sacrificing for the future of Iraq.
Wounded in action — 114 national police, 103 local police and 227 Iraqi army soldiers.
(US casualty numbers from Iraq Coalition Casualty Count)
Major General William Caldwell emphasized these great sacrifices by the Iraqi forces in his weekly update today in Baghdad:
Let me first begin, on behalf of General Casey, who noted in his joint statement with Ambassador Khalilzad yesterday, that we condemn — as they say, quote:
“…We mourn the loss of every Iraqi life and are determined to help the Iraqi government bring peace to all Iraqis and to restore dignity and security to this great nation…”
While most of this country — if you look across 18 provinces that are out there, 14 of them almost experience zero to none incidents on a daily basis. But there are four provinces where we need to focus our efforts and to continue to put the efforts, utilizing the coalition and Iraqi security forces to reduce the level of violence. And again, specifically, Baghdad is the number one that the prime minister has set as a must-win.
From June 13th through July 19th, Iraqi security forces have suffered casualties in their efforts to bring security here to the Baghdad area.
They have been valiantly involved in this fight. Killed in action — 31 national police, 24 local police and 27 Iraqi soldiers. Wounded in action — 114 national police, 103 local police and 227 Iraqi army soldiers, for a total of 92 killed in action and 444 wounded performing in the line of duty. Clearly, the Iraqi security forces are engaged, they’re committed and they’re given the role to bring security to the Baghdadi citizens.
The AP’s downer version is here if you are interested.
Another evil Al Qaeda thug bites the dust.
The Jordanian Al Qaeda member who led forces who captured and slaughtered US soldiers Pfc. Kristian Menchaca (Left) and Pfc. Thomas Lowell Tucker was killed in fighting in Iraq recently:
Abu Afghani, as shown here, in fact was killed in an operation that was conducted earlier last month. As we know, he’s a Jordanian national, former al Qaeda in Iraq emir of Yusufiya, and was killed during a firefight with coalition forces as they searched for the two missing soldiers that had been down in the Yusufiya area.
Members of his cell were implicated in the June 16th execution of those two soldiers, and al-Afghani may have had a role in this operation. He was a noted foreign fighter, facilitator for al Qaeda in Iraq, who brought foreign fighters into Iraq to take part in terrorist activities.
** And, once again… Iraq’s most prominent Shia cleric, Ali al-Sistani, leads. Today he called for an end to sectarian “hatred and violence”.
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