CALIFORNIA YANKEE

Fighting Intensifies In 4 Iraqi Cities

As U.S. soldiers advanced into southern Falluja on Friday, violence and fighting flared in Mosul, Baquba and Baghdad. According to CNN, U.S. and Iraqi government forces struck back against insurgents in Mosul on Friday:

The targets were insurgents who carried out attacks on government facilities and Iraqi forces in the northern Iraqi city earlier in the week, said Capt. Angela Bowman of Task Force Olympia.

Iraqi National Guard forces and soldiers from the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, or Stryker Brigade Combat Team launched the offensive Thursday at the request of the governor of Nineveh province, where Mosul is located.

There was also fighting in the Kurdish al-Bakr neighborhood where between Patriotic Union of Kurdistan members and insurgents who tried to take over a PUK building.

Iraqi police fought insurgents in Baquba, northeast of Baghdad.

Two Iraqi police and two Iraqi civilians, both of whom are women, were wounded, a hospital official said. An official from the Baquba hospital adds that both women are in critical condition.

Northeast of Baghdad, insurgents shot down a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter Friday afternoon.

"Four multinational forces were on board the aircraft at the time. Three of them were wounded, but injuries are unknown at this time," the military said in a statement.

In the al-Adamiyah neighborhood in northern Baghdad insurgents attack an Iraqi police station and Iraqi police patrols.

A spokesman for Iraq's interim prime minister said a number of foreign fighters were detained in Falluja fighting:

They include 10 from , one from Egypt, one from Sudan, one from Saudi Arabia and one from Jordan, according to Thair al Nakib.

Sattler said there are 151 detainees. He also said 300 have surrendered at a mosque, believed to be a combination of civilians and insurgents.

The violence across Iraq comes as the imam of the Abu Hanifa mosque in al-Adamiyah called for a jihad against U.S. forces and the interim government during Friday's noon prayers.

Middle East Online reports that thousands of Iraqis listened to Friday sermons marked by anger, frustration at the assault on Fallujah:

Young bearded men handed out statements, leaflets and a newspaper issued by the influential Sunni Committee of Muslim Scholars, which is based at the mosque, all condemning the joint US-Iraqi operation in Fallujah which started on Monday.

The paper's back page carried a collage of photos from the battle in Fallujah under the title "Fallujah will resist".

"America may take over Fallujah, but be certain the wombs of the women of Fallujah and all of Iraq will deliver thousands, tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of heroes," Sheikh Mohammed Bashar al-Faidi told the masses as they screamed "Allahu Akbar! (God is Greatest)" in a show of defiance.

"All of Iraq will turn in the next few days into one Fallujah whether America likes it or not," added the white-turbaned sheikh.

He said the government's contention that it was cleansing Fallujah of terrorists ahead of January elections was a sham, adding that any vote under the presence of US-led forces would be illegitimate and would only cement the position and interests of the United States in Iraq.

"If you accept elections and sell your country to the occupation then you have no one to blame but yourselves," said the sheikh.

The committee has urged Iraqis to boycott the vote and has said that nearly 80 of its clerics have been arrested by US troops for "daring to describe US forces as occers, in their sermons."

Afghanistan TV Networks Ordered Off Air

Afghanistan's TV networks are in trouble over pop videos, Bollywood movies and even Charlton Heston's "The Ten Commandments." According to the Associated Press, an appeal from Afghanistan's top Islamic judge this week prompted the Cabinet to order television networks temporarily off the air.

Saad Mohseni, director of Tolo TV, predicted more restrictions would follow:

He accused officials of trying to silence increasingly sophisticated media coverage of Afghan politics.

"Ministers will come and go. But the free media should be here to stay to serve the nation and its public," he said. "This is a time for people to take a stand."

This was one of my concerns when I posted a year ago that Afghan constitution's balancing of the hard-liners' calls for institutionalized Islamic law against the more secular leanings of its urban people are, unfortunately, weighted towards institutionalized Islamic law.

Iraqis Rush Reinforcements To Mosul

The Associated Press reports that Iraqi government reinforcements were rushed to Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city, to put down a militant uprising:

Police in Mosul largely disappeared from the streets, residents reported, and gangs of armed men brandishing automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade launchers roamed the city, 225 miles north of Baghdad. Responding to the crisis, Iraqi authorities dismissed Mosul's police chief after local officials reported that officers were abandoning their stations to militants without firing a shot.

[. . .]

Gunmen attacked the headquarters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party in an hourlong battle that a party official said left six assailants dead.

Militants also assassinated the head of the city's anti-crime task force, Brig. Gen. Mowaffaq Mohammed Dahham, and set fire to his home.

[. . .]

In addition to firing the Mosul police chief, Iraqi authorities also dispatched four battalions of the Iraqi National Guard from garrisons along the Syrian and ian borders.

Most of the reinforcements are ethnic Kurds who fought alongside American forces during the 2003 invasion - a move which could inflame ethnic rivalries with Mosul's Sunni Arab population. Nevertheless, it appeared Iraqi authorities had no choice given the apparent failure of the city's police force to maintain order.

[. . .]

Mosul area deputy Gov. Khissrou Gouran said gunmen tried to storm a food distribution center in the city's Yarmouk area but were forced back by National Guardsmen and security guards. The gunmen were trying to destroy election registration cards held at the center, Gouran said.

It is disturbing that Mosul wasn't adequately defended.

Vials Labeled Sarin Discovered In Fallujah

Buried in an article about new tactics being used by the insurgents in Fallujah, the Christian Science Monitor reveals that a suitcase filled with vials labeled "Sarin" was discovered in Fallujah:

In the course of locating seven weapons caches in a single block around a mosque in northeast Fallujah, an Iraqi platoon Wednesday found a suitcase full of vials labeled "Sarin," a deadly nerve agent.

While further analysis determined that the find was probably part of a Soviet test kit with samples, its discovery in a room with mortar shells appeared to indicate an intent to weaponize the material.

I don't understand why this hasn't been reported everywhere.

Following the lead of the article, the Christian Science Monitor provides additional information about the insurgents' use of mosques:

Mosques were used by militants when marines first attempted to invade the city last April. They were sometimes targeted by US forces, adding to the international outcry that grew at the time about civilian casualties.

This time, Iraqi nationalists and Islamic militants loyal to the network of Al Qaeda affiliate Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, may have been depending on mosques as staging areas, US officers say.

"Almost every single mosque we've come through has been used for weapons storage and insurgent military training," says Lt. Col. Ramos.

Marines have shot at the speakers of minarets, which are normally used for the Muslim call to prayer, though in recent days they've served as a literal call to arms.

The article also reports on the insurgents' new tactic of using sleeper cells against U.S. and Iraqi government forces:

I posted here about U.S. forces attacking a mosque in Fallujah. If mosques are being used to attack our forces the mosques should be dealt with accordingly.

Instead, marines have found that small groups of unarmed men, claiming to have stayed behind to prevent looting of their house, may in fact be sleeper cells, waiting for orders to link up with prepositioned weapons and attack.

One example Wednesday was a group of four men, found in their house by the LAR Raider Platoon during a search. They said they had recently been caught by the mujahideen, or holy warriors of the resistance, and been tortured.

Later that day and several blocks away, Raider Scouts searching other buildings found four more men. They also said they stayed behind to guards their houses, and that they had been tortured.

But further questioning found that there were no signs of torture - militants in Fallujah typically kill suspected traitors - and that the men's claimed identities did not hold up to investigation.

"It was well rehearsed," said Lt. Michael Aubry from Arlington Heights, Ill. "The first time didn't look suspicious, but the second time ... it did."

"There are sleeper cells all over the place," says Juarez. "They are either going to start coming out of their holes and attack us, or [they] will leave."

The sleeper cells are an interesting and troublesome tactic and the use of mosques is to be condemned as violating the "rules of war," but I can't get over the lack of concern about the Sarin find. Besides the CSM article the only references I can find are to NPR audio reports.

Zarqawi Encourages Fighters In Fallujah

Zarqawi encouraged his fighters in Fallujah and said victory was near in a tape posted on the Internet. According to the Associated Press the tape surfaced Friday on an Internet site known as a clearinghouse for militant Muslim comment and its authenticity could not be confirmed:

"As for you heroes of Islam in Fallujah, praise for your Jihad, praise for your nation, praise for your religion. (Have) one hour's patience, and then you will see the results," the speaker said after identifying himself as al-Zarqawi.

"Rejoice my nation. There is no doubt that God's victory is on the horizon," the speaker said, adding a challenge to "the Americans to show the truth of what goes on the battleground."

[. . .]

The voice on the tape sounded like that on earlier tapes attributed to al-Zarqawi. The statement was peppered with verses from the Quran and poetry, typical of recordings linked to al-Zarqawi.

I take this to be another indication that U.S. and Iraqi government forces are doing well in Fallujah.

Hope For Palestinian State

The Associated Press reports that President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair pledged their support for a fresh attempt to broker peace between the Israelis and Palestinians. The president said it was up to Palestinians to elect a democratic government and Arafat's successors to allow freedoms to take root:

"We'll hold their feet to the fire to make sure that democracy prevails," he said.

President Bush sounded more optimistic than usual about the prospects for a Palestinian state:

"I intend to use the next four years to spend the capital of the United States on such a state," Bush said. "I believe it is in the interests of the world that such a truly free state develop. I know it is in the interest of the Palestinian people."

He said there was a "new opportunity" for resolving the decades-old stalemate and put the onus on the new Palestinian leadership.

The United States is "looking forward to working with Palestinian leaders who are committed to fighting terrorism and committed to democratic reform," Bush said.

President Bush and Prime Minister Blair issued the following joint statement concerning the Middle East peace process:

The United States and the United Kingdom share a vision of freedom, peace, and democracy for the Broader Middle East. That vision must include a just and peaceful resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict, based on two democratic states -- Israel and Palestine -- living side by side in peace and security. Now is the time to seize the opportunity of new circumstances in the region to redouble our efforts to achieve this goal. This will require a series of steps which we look forward to taking with our international partners and the parties.

First, we re-commit to the overarching two-state vision set out by President Bush in his statement of June 24, 2002 and repeated in the Roadmap.

Second, we will support the Palestinians as they choose a new President within the next sixty days and as they embark upon an electoral process that will lead to lasting democratic institutions.

Third, following that, the President and the Prime Minister have agreed to mobilize international support behind a plan to ensure that the Palestinians have the political, economic, and security infrastructure they need to create a viable state. There will be no lasting solution without a Palestinian state that is democratic and free, including free press, free speech, an open political process, and religious tolerance. Such a state will need a credible and unified security structure capable of providing security for the Palestinians and fighting terrorism. There must also be effective economic development and transparent financial structures which provide for the economic and social needs of the Palestinian people. The plan will be developed intensively over the coming period of time in concert with all the relevant partners.

Fourth, we endorse and support the disengagement plan of Prime Minister Sharon from Gaza and stipulated parts of the West Bank as part of this overall plan.

Fifth, these steps lay the basis for more rapid progress on the Roadmap as a reliable guide leading to final status negotiations.

Progress will depend on the Palestinians adopting a new approach which truly renounces terrorism. Anything short of that will result in the continues stalemate.

Taliban Leader Vows To Retake Afghanistan

Reuters reports that Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar has vowed to regain control of Afghanistan.

A message from Omar was sent to newspaper offices in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, the Afghan Islamic Press said:

"America and its puppets should know that we are determined to free and regain the sovereignty of our country."

Omar said Eid was coming at a time when Afghanistan and Islamic values "remain plunged into horror and Crusader vengeance" and Taliban and mujahideen (holy warriors) continued to be imprisoned by the United States in Cuba and Afghanistan.

"America...is trying to impose its puppet administration," the message said. "Moral decadence, desecration of Islamic values and crime are increasing in Afghanistan. Every ploy is being used to mislead women."

Omar must be greatly disappointed that over eight million Afghans defied the Taliban's threats and acts of violence to have their first say in their country's leadership. That is certainly something Omar and his islamofascist Taliban never would have allowed.

Militants Try To Escape Fallujah

The Associated Press reports that three to four dozen militants tried to break out of Fallujah towards the south and east late Thursday but were repelled by U.S. troops.

U.S. troops have cut off all roads and bridges leading out of the city. U.S. forces were also positioned to the west near key bridges, and are using patrol boats to block insugents from crossing the Euphrates River.

Only women, children and the elderly are being allowed to leave Fallujah.

Cleric Arrested After Arms Found In Baghdad Mosque

The Associated Press reports that a hardline Sunni cleric and about two dozen others were arrested after a raid of his Baghdad mosque uncovered weapons caches along with photographs of recent attacks on American troops:

Sheik Mahdi al-Sumaidaei, the head of the Supreme Association for Guidance and Daawa, a conservative Sunni organization, was detained Thursday, along with 25 others, the U.S. military said.

The raid took place at the Um al-Tuboul mosque, a major landmark in western Baghdad, said Iraqi National Guard Col. Mohammed Abdullah said, who said the cleric and 27 others had been detained

The U.S. command said American troops "provided the outer cordon" while the 90-minute raid was carried out by Iraqi troops. Two U.S. soldiers were wounded by snipers during the raid, the military statement said.

Abdullah said they also found TNT explosives, lists with names of Iraqi officers employed in the U.S.-trained Iraqi National Guard, as well as photographs of recent attacks on U.S. soldiers and foreign convoys on the airport road.

The raid followed a tip that weapons were being stored in the prominent mosque, Abdullah said.

Also discovered in the raid were Kalashnikov rifles, one machine gun, four rocket-propelled grenade launchers and ammunition.

Raids on all mosques in Iraq should be conducted regularly. Outside of Fallujah Maj. Gen. Richard Natonski, commander of the 1st Marine Division, said militants have been using mosques as military strong-points:

"In almost ever single mosque in Fallujah, we have found an arms cache," he said. "We have found IED-making (bomb-making) factories. We have found fortifications. We've been shot at by snipers from minarets."

President Bush Honors Fallen American Soldiers

On this Veterans Day, President Bush honored American soldiers laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery and saying:

Veterans Day is set aside to remember every man and woman who has taken up arms to defend our country. We honor every soldier, sailor, airman, Marine and Coastguardsman who gave some of the best years of their lives to the service of the United States and stood ready to give life, itself, on our behalf. Twenty-five million military veterans walk among us, and on this day, our nation thanks them all.

These are the hidden heroes of a peaceful nation: our colleagues and friends, neighbors and family members who answered the call and returned to live in the land they defended.

[. . .]

All who have served in this cause are liberators in the best tradition of America. Their actions have made our nation safer in a world full of new dangers. Their actions have also upheld the ideals of America's founding, which defines us still. Our nation values freedom -- not just for ourselves, but for all. And because Americans are willing to serve and sacrifice for this cause, our nation remains the greatest force for good among all the nations on the Earth.

[. . .]

Our whole nation honors every patriot who placed duty and country before their own lives. They gave us every day that we live in freedom. The security of America depends on our active leadership in the world to oppose emerging threats and to spread freedom that leads to the peace we all want. And our leadership ultimately depends on the commitment and character of the Armed Forces.

America has needed these qualities in every generation, and every generation has stepped forward to provide them. What veterans have given our country is beyond our power to fully repay, yet, today we recognize our debt to their honor. And on this national holiday, our hearts are filled with respect and gratitude for the veterans of the United States of America.

May God bless our veterans and their families, and may God continue to bless our great nation. Thank you.

Thank you veterans!

The President's entire speech is available here.