Monday, March 27, 2006
Iraqi RhetIraq: Governor of Baghdad
Who: Governor of Baghdad
Source: Le Figaro via Truthout.org
Quotes: From article titled, "The Shiites in Power Accuse the US of "Organized Crime""
The bloody raid conducted Sunday in north Baghdad against Shiites assembled in a mosque in the country's capital continues to elicit reactions. Shiite leaders, who suggest there were around twenty deaths, denounce an American bungle. The Unified Iraqi Alliance, the Shiite coalition in power, describes that operation as a "massacre" and demands that the American government cede responsibility for the maintenance of order to the Iraqi government.
For his part, the Governor of Baghdad announced his intention of suspending all cooperation with American forces until an independent investigation is opened to determine what really happened. "We have decided today to cease all political and logistical cooperation with American forces," declared Hussein al Tahan, adding that the United States embassy and the Iraqi Defense Ministry should be associated with the investigation, but not the American military.
Giving an account of the operation that elicited such intense reactions, including an indignant one from Jawad al-Maliki, an intimate of Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari, the American Army denied all responsibility. According to the United States, the operation was planned and executed by Iraqi Special Forces. The role of American Special Forces was limited to "advising Iraqi forces," an American Army communiqué emphasized.
Source: Le Figaro via Truthout.org
Quotes: From article titled, "The Shiites in Power Accuse the US of "Organized Crime""
The bloody raid conducted Sunday in north Baghdad against Shiites assembled in a mosque in the country's capital continues to elicit reactions. Shiite leaders, who suggest there were around twenty deaths, denounce an American bungle. The Unified Iraqi Alliance, the Shiite coalition in power, describes that operation as a "massacre" and demands that the American government cede responsibility for the maintenance of order to the Iraqi government.
For his part, the Governor of Baghdad announced his intention of suspending all cooperation with American forces until an independent investigation is opened to determine what really happened. "We have decided today to cease all political and logistical cooperation with American forces," declared Hussein al Tahan, adding that the United States embassy and the Iraqi Defense Ministry should be associated with the investigation, but not the American military.
Giving an account of the operation that elicited such intense reactions, including an indignant one from Jawad al-Maliki, an intimate of Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari, the American Army denied all responsibility. According to the United States, the operation was planned and executed by Iraqi Special Forces. The role of American Special Forces was limited to "advising Iraqi forces," an American Army communiqué emphasized.
