Free Republic

Earlier this week Iranian backed militia killed two US soldiers and a female UK soldier at Taji military base in Iraq. Last night the US responded killing at least 18 militia members in Iraq including Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander General Siamand Mashhadani. The US launched strikes in Iraq against Iranian-backed militias after the militia’s attack earlier in the week killed two US and one UK soldier in Iraq.

Given the breathless coverage (actually only repetition of the same paltry facts) from our one party media about the civilian deaths in Haditha, I am surprised that we have heard nothing about the curious background of one of the first journalists to report the story, Ali Omar Abrahem al-Mashhadani, from the "restive town" of Ramadi. It turns out Mr. al-Mashhadani might not have felt the kindliest intentions towards the US, having been imprisoned for five months mere weeks before his Haditha scoop. Al-Mashhadani was detained because images found on his camera and because of his t"ies to the insurgents," according...

The following are excerpts from the televised confessions of Muayed Al-Nasseri, who commanded Saddam Hussein's "Army of Muhammad" throughout 2004. The confessions were aired by an Iraqi TV channel that operates from the UAE, Al-Fayhaa TV, and were monitored and translated by the MEMRI TV Project. The following are excerpts; to view the clip, visit http://memritv.org/Search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=492: [1] 'The Army of Muhammad was Founded by Saddam Hussein After the Fall of the Regime' Interrogator: "What is your name?" Muayed Al-Nasseri: "Colonel Muayed Yassin 'Aziz 'Abd Al-Razaq Al-Nasseri, commander of the Army of Muhammad, one of the resistance factions in Iraq. The...

Iraq’s Dysfunctional Parliament International observers view the Iraqi Parliament as “immature” or “dysfunctional.” The man on the street in Baghdad calls the elected body “irrelevant.”By John E. Carey Peace and Freedom June 12, 2007The Iraqi Council of Representatives, which meets in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, is currently an elected body of 275 seats filled by elected Parliamentarians or Legislators representing the various regions and factions of Iraq.After Saddam Hussein’s decades-long autocratic rule, this elected body is the first attempt at democracy in the long history of mankind in the Tigris-Euphrates region.Consequently, there is a steep learning curve and no history...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A key al-Qaida in Iraq leader described as the group's "religious emir" was killed in a U.S. airstrike hours before two American soldiers went missing and in the same area, the military said Tuesday. Mansour Suleiman Mansour Khalifi al-Mashhadani, or Sheik Mansour, and two foreign fighters were killed as they tried to flee in a vehicle near the town of Youssifiyah, in the so-called Sunni "Triangle of Death." U.S. coalition forces had been tracking al-Mashhadani for some time, American military spokesman William Caldwell said in announcing his death. He said al-Mashhadani was an Iraqi, 35 to 37...

The US military says it has killed the "right-hand man" of slain Al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Major General William Caldwell says Iraqi Mansur Suleiman al-Mashhadani was killed on Friday by US forces in Yusifiyah, south of Baghdad. "We do know that Sheikh Mansur was a key leader in Al Qaeda in Iraq with excellent religious, military and leadership credentials within that organisation," General Caldwell said. He describes him as Zarqawi's right-hand man and a liaison between Al Qaeda and tribes in the restive area south of Baghdad. The Mashhadani are a major tribe of Sunni Arabs....

US forces had been on the trail of Mansur al-Mashhadani, identified as the top al-Qaeda religious leader in the country, before he was killed in the Yusufiya area just south of Baghdad, said Major General William Caldwell. Mashhadani was one of the top five al-Qaeda in Iraq leaders and close to its mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was also killed by a US air strike on June 7. "He was a right-hand man to Zarqawi," Gen. Caldwell said. US forces had spotted Mashhadani and two other militants in a car in the Yusufiya area south of Baghdad. His vehicle was...

US soldiers' bodies found in Iraq Kristian Menchaca and flags raised at Thomas Tucker's Oregon home Two US soldiers missing in Iraq since Friday have been found dead south of Baghdad, the US military has said.The bodies were found in the Yusifiya area on Monday. An Iraqi defence ministry spokesman said the bodies had shown signs of torture. An insurgent group linked to al-Qaeda in Iraq, which claimed it abducted the men, has now said that it killed them. The missing men have been named as Kristian Menchaca and Thomas Tucker, both from the 101st Airborne Division. Another US...