Residents carry a coffin during the funeral of an Iraqi soldier who was killed in clashes with Sunni Islamist militants in Baghdad April 25, 2013.
(Photo Credit: Reuters/Wissm al-Okili)
On Thursday, the media's attention was focused squarely on the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria and the potential for a new American military adventure triggered by such claims, not to mention the dedication of a multi-million dollar presidential library designed to burnish the legacy of a unrepentant torturer-in-chief and war criminal. At the ceremony in Dallas, Texas, hardly any mention was made of Iraq, the second country George W. Bush invaded, occupied, dismantled and destroyed, and where continuing bloodshed and corruption is Bush’s real legacy.
The very same day, April 25, 2013, as Bush was fêted by four past and present American presidents, Reuters journalist Suadad al-Salhy reported from Baghdad, "Nearly 50 people were killed in clashes on Thursday in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, sources said, on the third day of the most widespread violence in Iraq since U.S. troops withdrew in December 2011."
The report continued:
More than 100 people have been killed in fighting since Tuesday, when troops stormed a Sunni protest camp, triggering clashes that quickly spread to other Sunni areas in western and northern provinces…
Violence, including bomb attacks that have killed dozens of people at a time, has increased across Iraq this year. Provisional figures from rights group Iraq Body Count indicate about 1,365 people have been killed so far in 2013.
Gunmen attacked Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, on Wednesday night and took control of western parts of the city after using a mosque loudspeaker to rally Sunnis to join the battle.
Military sources said federal police and the army regained control after surrounding a police headquarters occupied by militants, who were holding 17 hostages. The federal police chief said 31 militants had been killed in the fighting.Militants also assaulted a federal police headquarters in Fallujah and a car bomb in Najaf killed three people.
One can only wonder what hors d'oeuvres they were serving in Dallas.
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Originally posted at Muftah.
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another typo, Nima.
ReplyDeletesurely you meant, "as Bush was fetid," rather than "as Bush was fêted "
Ha!
ReplyDelete