Posted on 07/19/2006 2:41:31 PM PDT by nuconvert
Assailants Kill Mom, 3 Children in Iraq
By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press Writer
Assailants slit the throats of a mother and her three children Wednesday in southern Iraq, where the family had fled to escape threats that they had cooperated with the Americans.
The mother's sister was also slain in the savage attack, which occurred in an apartment in the southern city of Basra, police said. Five other family members were rescued before they bled to death.
Officials said the family had fled Baghdad for Basra after receiving threats because they had cooperated with U.S. forces. The officials gave no further details and spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared reprisals by sectarian militias that have infiltrated Basra's police.
Sunni leaders, meanwhile, said 20 Sunnis who work for a government organization that maintains mosques and shrines of that Muslim sect were abducted in two areas of Baghdad. Sunni officials demanded the Shiite-led security forces do more to stop sectarian kidnappings and killings.
There were conflicting reports whether the employees of the Sunni Endowment were seized late Tuesday or Wednesday. The organization announced it was suspending its work for a week to protest the kidnapping and demanded its employees be freed.
The head of the organization, a major institution among the country's Sunni community, blamed "militias in official uniforms" for the wave of kidnappings. The choice of words suggested he was referring to Shiite militiamen who have infiltrated the defense and interior ministries and who Sunnis blame for killing civilians.
Sheik Ahmed Abdul Ghafour al-Samaraie told reporters there would be no work at the endowment's offices for a week in protest.
"I call upon the president and the prime minister to set up checkpoints in tense areas to prevent the killings," Ghafour al-Samaraie told reporters.
The kidnapping occurred as part of a wave of sectarian violence that escalated after the bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra in February and a July 1 car bombing that killed 66 people in the Shiite district of Sadr City.
In a joint statement Wednesday, America's two top officials in Iraq deplored the surge in sectarian violence and called on the Iraqi people to unite against "the terrorists and death squads."
Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and Gen. George W. Casey also called on Iraq's leaders "to take responsibility and pursue reconciliation not just in words, but through deeds as well."
The statement reflected U.S. disappointment that the national unity government, which took office May 20, has faltered in its attempts to win public trust, calm sectarian tensions and persuade Sunni-led insurgents to lay down their weapons.
Instead, the situation in Iraq has gotten worse.
On Tuesday, the United Nations said nearly 6,000 civilians were slain across Iraq in May and June, a spike in deaths that coincided with rising sectarian attacks across the country.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, accused al-Qaida in Iraq of targeting civilians because it is afraid to face Iraqi security forces. He vowed the attacks would not undermine his efforts toward national reconciliation.
But deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zubaie, a Sunni Arab, blamed U.S. and other coalition forces for much of the violence, saying their troops were responsible for about half the deaths due to "raids, shootings and clashes with insurgents."
"They came to protect the people and democracy and all the problems we have today are because of them. It is a loss for Iraq," al-Zubaie said.
Kurdish legislator Mahmoud Othman said the U.N. report makes clear that if the situation continues, "catastrophe will hit the country."
"The U.N. report is a warning to officials and politicians that the situation is very bad and they have to be careful and solve it, but the government cannot find a solution," Othman said.
At least 30 people were killed Wednesday, including one Iraqi who died when two rockets struck the heavily fortified Green Zone, where the U.S. and British embassies are located. Two Iraqis were wounded in the attack, the U.S. military said.
One Salvadoran soldier died Wednesday and another was wounded in a bombing near Kut, southwest of Baghdad, his country's defense minister said. It was the third fatality among Salvadoran troops since the Central American nation sent forces in 2003.
Sixteen other bodies were found in widely separate parts of the country — apparent victims of sectarian death squads.
In other violence Wednesday, as reported by police:
• Eleven people were killed in bombings in eastern Baghdad and the central Karradah district.
• Three people were killed and nine were wounded when gunmen clashed with police at a market in Aziziyah, 35 miles southeast of Baghdad.
• Gunmen attacked a funeral of a Shiite killed in an attack Monday on a market in Mahmoudiya in which 50 people died. Two people were killed and two wounded in the funeral attack.
• Gunmen assassinated Maj. Gen. Fakhir Abdul-Hussein Ali, legal adviser to the Interior Ministry, as he rode to work.
Barbaric savages.
must have been the Amish extemists {/sarcasm
assailants?
Three months from now they'll be trying to pin this on our troops.
These "insurgents" are barbaric and sadistic savages. But will CNN include this story in its nightly line-up of war attrocities? Somehow, I have some doubts that they will.
"assailants?"
It's AP.
President Bush was right when he said that every person wants to be free. That is a given.
But that isn't the critical question when one is trying to establish a democracy and rule the of law. The critical question is, "Are you willing to respect the desire of your neighbor to be free?"
I wonder how many people in Iraq are willing to answer "Yes" to that question?
Michael Moores minutemen strike again.
Millions
Same thing.
Religion of piece... Your piece....
Yet -- The laws of civilized society must be applied to these assholes..
Western civilization is at risk -- if we don't get down and dirty with these bastards and make the rue the day they attacked civilization..
Semper Fi
Note again: if they will kill their own children or family members, they will not think twice about striking here in the states and killing our children. They do want us dead, and they will attempt to do just that here in our community.
We can not and must not assume it won't happen here, and we must be vigilent to protect ourselves and our neighbors.
They stated they would do what they have done over 30 years ago, and it's painfully clear that they will not stop until they do.
Keep your eyes open wide, and pray to God.
The nature of the enemy, ping.
I'm utterly speechless.
Children.
Barbaric. I think things won't really get any better until Saddam is dead.
Speechless? This is the Status Quo of the Muzzies. We should create a virus that sterilizes Mooselimbs.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.