That’s 13 US and “coalition” soldiers killed since Saddam’s capture some ten days ago, and 554 killed in total since this illegal war was launched in March.
Just as news reports are saying there has been the heaviest fighting in Baghdad for months…so much for the crumbling of the resistance?
**
[quote]
A US military vehicle was destroyed by the roadside bomb that went off near Samarra.
[/quote]
**
I see our moderators are busy with the Iraqi resistance.
All these deaths after the White House was reporting "progress" in Iraq...
This is one of part three the rest at the following web site.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22922-2003Dec22.html
For Vietnam Vet Anthony Zinni, Another War on Shaky Territory
By Thomas E. Ricks
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 23, 2003; Page C01
Anthony C. Zinni’s opposition to U.S. policy on Iraq began on the monsoon-ridden afternoon of Nov. 3, 1970. He was lying on a Vietnamese mountainside west of Da Nang, three rounds from an AK-47 assault rifle in his side and back. He could feel his lifeblood seeping into the ground as he slipped in and out of consciousness.
He had plenty of time to think in the following months while recuperating in a military hospital in Hawaii. Among other things, he promised himself that, “If I’m ever in a position to say what I think is right, I will. . . . I don’t care what happens to my career.”
That time has arrived.
Over the past year, the retired Marine Corps general has become one of the most prominent opponents of Bush administration policy on Iraq, which he now fears is drifting toward disaster.
It is one of the more unusual political journeys to come out of the American experience with Iraq. Zinni still talks like an old-school Marine – a big-shouldered, weight-lifting, working-class Philadelphian whose father emigrated from Italy’s Abruzzi region, and who is fond of quoting the wisdom of his fictitious “Uncle Guido, the plumber.” Yet he finds himself in the unaccustomed role of rallying the antiwar camp, attacking the policies of the president and commander in chief whom he had endorsed in the 2000 election.
“Iraq is in serious danger of coming apart because of lack of planning, underestimating the task and buying into a flawed strategy,” he says. “The longer we stubbornly resist admitting the mistakes and not altering our approach, the harder it will be to pull this chestnut out of the fire.”
Three years ago, Zinni completed a tour as chief of the Central Command, the U.S. military headquarters for the Middle East, during which he oversaw enforcement of the two “no-fly” zones in Iraq and also conducted four days of punishing airstrikes against that country in 1998. He even served briefly as a special envoy to the Middle East, mainly as a favor to his old friend and comrade Secretary of State Colin L. Powell.
Zinni long has worried that there are worse outcomes possible in Iraq than having Saddam Hussein in power – such as eliminating him in such a way that Iraq will become a new haven for terrorism in the Middle East.
“I think a weakened, fragmented, chaotic Iraq, which could happen if this isn’t done carefully, is more dangerous in the long run than a contained Saddam is now,” he told reporters in 1998. “I don’t think these questions have been thought through or answered.” It was a warning for which Iraq hawks such as Paul D. Wolfowitz, then an academic and now the No. 2 official at the Pentagon, attacked him in print at the time.
Now, five years later, Zinni fears it is an outcome toward which U.S.-occupied Iraq may be drifting. Nor does he think the capture of Hussein is likely to make much difference, beyond boosting U.S. troop morale and providing closure for his victims. “Since we’ve failed thus far to capitalize” on opportunities in Iraq, he says, “I don’t have confidence we will do it now. I believe the only way it will work now is for the Iraqis themselves to somehow take charge and turn things around. Our policy, strategy, tactics, et cetera, are still screwed up.”
‘Where’s the Threat?’
Anthony Zinni’s passage from obedient general to outspoken opponent began in earnest in the unlikeliest of locations, the national convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He was there in Nashville in August 2002 to receive the group’s Dwight D. Eisenhower Distinguished Service Award, recognition for his 35 years in the Marine Corps.
Vice President Cheney was also there, delivering a speech on foreign policy. Sitting on the stage behind the vice president, Zinni grew increasingly puzzled. He had endorsed Bush and Cheney two years earlier, just after he retired from his last military post, as chief of the U.S. Central Command, which oversees operations in Iraq.
“I think he ran on a moderate ticket, and that’s my leaning – I’m kind of a Lugar-Hagel-Powell guy,” he says, listing three Republicans associated with centrist foreign policy positions.
He was alarmed that day to hear Cheney make the argument for attacking Iraq on grounds that Zinni found questionable at best:
Missing out on the action…
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3708151/
Multiple attacks wreak havoc on Iraqi city
4 coalition soldiers, 6 Iraqi police, 1 civilian killed; over 170 hurt
And more action, hmm Saddy must be directing these attacks..LOL..
Five GIs killed in Iraq insurgency attacks
Japan sends team for biggest deployment since World War II
Friday, December 26, 2003 Posted: 1742 GMT ( 1:42 AM HKT)
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) – Striking several times in a 24-hour period in Iraq’s restive “Sunni Triangle” region, insurgents killed five U.S. soldiers, including three Friday north of Baghdad and two Thursday in a mortar attack.
Re: 5 US soldiers killed since yesterday, as heavy fighting erupts in Baghdad
Since I posted this thread just a few days ago, the number of US and “coalition” soldiers killed since Saddam’s capture has doubled to 26, and 567 in total since this illegal war was launched in March.
Now the attacks seem to have spread to spread to the Shia-majority south with devestating effect.
20 foreign soldiers killed or wounded in Kerbala](http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=4048552)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A35053-2003Dec27?language=printer
** Attacks Force Retreat From Wide-Ranging Plans for Iraq ** 
BAGHDAD, Dec. 27 – The United States has backed away from several of its more ambitious initiatives to transform Iraq’s economy, political
system and security forces as attacks on U.S. troops have escalated and the timetable for ending the civil occupation has accelerated.
http://199.181.132.144/wire/World/ap20031227_311.html
Iraqi Blasts Kill 2 Coalition Troops
Two Coalition Troops Die, Others Injured in Rebel Attacks in Southern Iraqi City of Karbala
The Associated Press
Iraqi Insurgent Attacks Kill 13, Hurt 172
Sat Dec 27, 6:13 PM ET
KARBALA, Iraq - In the biggest rebel attack since Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s capture, suicide bombers and assailants with mortars and grenade launchers blasted coalition military bases and the governor’s office in this southern city Saturday, killing 13 people and wounding at least 172.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0312260174dec26,1,6775433.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Since the Iraq conflict began, 20 GIs have taken their own lives in the theater. Military and outside experts, alarmed by the high number, hope to find out why.
I hear they will have a face saver by mid 2004… 
Another US copter goes down, after being shot at it seems…
One dead in Iraq helicopter crash](BBC NEWS | Middle East | US helicopter shot down in Iraq)
That’s 34 US and “coalition” soldiers killed since Saddam’s capture some nineteen days ago, and 575 killed in total since this illegal war was launched in March.
So much for Iraqi resistance decreasing since getting Saddam?
Saddy must be telepathic
3 U.S. Soldiers Killed in 2 Iraq Attacks
Sat Jan 3,12:02 PM ET
TIKRIT, Iraq - Insurgents hit a U.S. base in central Iraq (news - web sites) with mortar shells, killing one American soldier, and two other soldiers were killed by a homemade bomb while patrolling south of Baghdad, the military said Saturday.
Posted on Fri, Jan. 02, 2004
Pace of attacks on U.S. troops hasn’t slowed since Saddam’s capture
By Tom Lasseter
Knight Ridder Newspapers
BAGHDAD - Saddam Hussein’s capture three weeks ago hasn’t slowed the anti-American insurgency in Iraq, which now seems more entrenched than ever, according to a review of recent attacks and interviews with U.S. and Iraqi officials.
Welcome to 2004 
No kidding. This coming after two more US soldiers being killed in the last couple of days, along with two British soldiers killed in a reported car crash.
SAS men die in Baghdad car crash](BBC NEWS | UK | SAS men die in Baghdad car crash)
That’s 40 US and “coalition” soldiers killed since Saddam’s capture just over three weeks ago, and 581 killed in total since this illegal war was launched in March.