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http://www.kenyanewsnetwork.com/artman/publish/article_2830.shtml

"Iraq: Children deployed in anti-US attacks and kidnappings - another case of 'Lost Innocence'"
Posted By: topi lyambila
Feb 28, 2007, 03:56

ARTICLE SNIPPET: ""My family is very proud of me. Every day I return home telling them what I have done and they kiss me saying that God has reserved a place beside Him for me," Hamza said.

"My father is one of the most important fighters of the militia and he has instructed me in detail on how to be a good soldier in the name of God. One day, I will carry my gun and kill every American who walks over our land," he added."

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "NGOs working in Iraq have confirmed that al-Sadr's militia has been encouraging children and youths to fight the US army or by acting as spies for the militia. Any Shia youth can participate in the attacks by Mahdi´s Army as long as their family agrees.

Al-Sadr's office refused to speak to IRIN about the issue. It only said: "Whatever the [youth's] age is, the important thing is that they have decided on their own to fight the occupiers.""

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Last month, IRIN spoke with children between the ages of seven and 12 who were collaborating with the Sunni insurgency in Iraq, mostly in Anbar province. Some were even being trained by the same groups to become suicide bombers."

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs said that it was taking care of at least 200 children who had been arrested for participating in kidnappings or robberies."

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Saleh Muhammad, a spokesman for the Baghdad-based Children Saving Association (CSA), said that, "Children and youth are seriously denied human rights in Iraq. Hundreds of children are being brainwashed and used as fighters with insurgents and militias."

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Note: The following post is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1790960/posts

Al-Sadr: Baghdad Security Plan Doomed
The Guardian (UK) ^ | 2-25-2007 | Sinan Salaheddin

Posted on 02/25/2007 10:46:50 AM PST by blam

Al-Sadr: Baghdad Security Plan Is Doomed

Sunday February 25, 2007 6:16 PM

By SINAN SALAHEDDIN

Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The leader of Iraq's biggest Shiite militia complained Sunday that bombs ``continue to explode'' in Baghdad and that U.S.-led security crackdown is doomed to fail, issuing a statement the same day a suicide attacker struck outside a college campus, killing at least 41 people.

Many Shiites believe that bombings have continued because the Shiite-led government bowed to American pressure and persuaded the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to take his Mahdi Army fighters off the streets.

Al-Sadr's statement, read to his followers in Sadr City, is likely to add pressure on U.S. and Iraqi forces to show results in the nearly two-week-old crackdown.

``I'm certain, just like all oppressed Iraqis are certain, that no security plan will work and no good will come of any occupier,'' al-Sadr said in the statement. ``Here we are, watching booby trapped cars exploding to harvest thousands of innocent lives from our beloved people in the middle of a security plan that is controlled by an occupier who does as he pleases.''

U.S. and Iraqi leaders have urged the public to be patient, warning that it will take months before the security operation shows results. President Bush has ordered 21,500 more U.S. troops to Baghdad and surrounding areas, although the last units are not due until May.

Al-Sadr urged Iraq's mostly Shiite security forces to ``make your own Iraqi plans independent of the Americans.''

Most of the victims of Sunday's bombing were students at the college, a business studies annex of Mustansiriyah University that was hit by a series of deadly explosions last month. At least 46 people were injured in Sunday's blast.

(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...