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The Iraq Bulletin
In solidarity with the people of Iraq struggling under foreign occupation
News from Iraq this week: July 22 to 28
Iraqi Shiite militia ready to join fight in Lebanon
Radical Shiites in Baghdad Rally for Hezbollah
U.S. troops clash with Shiite militiamen
 
Emergency National Demonstration Saturday 5 August:
Unconditional Ceasefire NOW!
Sign letter to Tony Blair on line
 
Saturday July 22         4 U.S. soldiers accused of murdering suspected insurgents during a raid in Iraq said they were under orders to `kill all military age males.`
Sunday July 23           Iraqi detainees were routinely subjected to beatings, sleep deprivation, stress positions and other forms of abuse by US interrogators, according to a Human Rights Watch report that offers first-hand accounts from three former soldiers.
Monday July 24         The US military plans to maintain US forces in Iraq at current levels even as it concentrates more troops in Baghdad to deal with rising violence.
Tuesday July 25         When Tony Blair called the fighting in Lebanon a catastrophe the response of his Iraqi counterpart was blunt. The Israeli onslaught was, in fact, beyond catastrophe and would only boost extremism in Baghdad, Nouri al-Maliki said on his first official visit to London. He said that the broader effect of the two-week-old war would spur `a great push towards fundamentalism and extremism` in the region.
Wednesday July 26   Residents of Basra began to flee when the fighting became too much. But when they arrived in Mosul, they found even worse conditions.
Thursday July 27       Mortars, rockets and a car bomb blasted Baghdad`s upscale Karradah district Thursday, killing at least 31 people and wounding 153.
Friday July 28            US troops in a relatively quiet Shiite area south of Baghdad have come under increasing attack by groups linked to Shiite.
 
Demonstrate Saturday September 23rd at Labour Party Conference in Manchester
 
Civilians reported killed by military intervention in Iraq since invasion*:
Minimum: 39460
Maximum: 43927
Source: Iraq Body Count
Total number of US soldiers killed in Iraq since invasion = 2571
Total number of US soldiers wounded in Iraq since invasion= 19157
Total number of UK soldiers killed in Iraq since invasion = 114
Total number of soldiers from other nations killed since invasion = 115
Source: Iraq Coalition Casualty Count
 
*This estimate is only of English language media reported deaths. A peer reviewed epidemiological survey (Roberts et al., The Lancet, Vol 364 Issue 9448 pp 1857 1864) estimated that in the 18 months following the invasion 100, 000 excess deaths or more have occurred.  Violence accounted for most of the excess deaths and air strikes from coalition forces accounted for most violent deaths. Criticisms of IBC methodology can be found at medialens
For background to the current war in Iraq: see `Understanding the Us-Iraq Crisis` by Phyllis Benis and `Why Another War? A Backgrounder on the Iraq Crisis` by Sarah Graham-Brown and Chris Toensing.
 
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