Free Republic

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Frequent deadly attacks by insurgents sapped morale and raised combat stress in a U.S. Army unit that included soldiers accused of raping and murdering a 14-year-old Iraqi girl, a private testified at a military hearing Tuesday. Pfc. Justin Cross recounted the "mentally draining" living conditions of the unit in the third day of the hearing to determine if five U.S. soldiers will be court-martialed in the March 12 assault near Mahmoudiya. The girl's parents and sister were also slain. "It drives you nuts. You feel like every step you might get blown up. You just hit a...

LONDON – An Iraqi man whose testimony the United States used as a key evidence to build a case for war in Iraq says he is proud that he lied about his country developing mobile biological warfare labs. The Guardian newspaper published an interview Wednesday with Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, who has been identified as the informer called "Curveball," whose claims about weapon labs formed part of then-U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's speech to the U.N. Security Council in 2003, shortly before the war began. The Guardian quoted al-Janabi as saying: "I had the chance to fabricate something to...

A soldier who pleaded guilty to conspiring to rape a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and kill her family described how he was approached by a fellow soldier with the plan to carry out the attack. Spc. James P. Barker, one of four U.S. soldiers accused in the March 12 rape and killings, pleaded guilty Wednesday and agreed to testify against the others. He will avoid the death penalty, said his attorney, David Sheldon. Barker told military judge Lt. Col. Richard Anderson that 21-year-old former Army private Steve Green approached him with a plan to attack the family as they drank whiskey...

'Dr Germ' and 'Mrs Anthrax' released from Iraqi jail 19/12/2005 - 12:48:51 Notorious Saddam-Hussein-era officials have been released from jail in Iraq and some have already left the country, an Iraqi lawyer said today. A legal official in Baghdad said between 24 and 25 top former officials in Saddam Hussein’s government have been freed, including Rihab Taha, known as Dr Germ, and Huda Salih Ammash, known as as Mrs Anthrax. The Iraqi lawyer, Badee Izzat Aref, said some of those released were his clients. “The release was an American-Iraqi decision and in line with an Iraqi government ruling made in...

BAGHDAD, July 16 (KUNA) -- Al-Qaeda's financial advisor Saad Abbas Al-Janabi and a former high-ranking army officer, affiliated with terrorists, were arrested by Iraqi police, said Sunday Iraqi authorities.In a release, the Iraqi government said security forces, during a raid in southern Baghdad, has apprehended Al-Qaeda's financial advisor Saad Abbas Al-Janabi and two of his affiliates. Al-Janabi, added the release, was the financial advisor of Abu Abdul-Aziz, one of Al-Qaeda's leaders, who was arrested on July 10. In Baqoubah, a former high-ranking army officer, affiliated to the terrorists, was arrested while in possession of a letter thought to be sent...

Another university professor murdered Baghdad, Iraq Press, May 11, 2004 – The body of a missing university professor has been found in the outskirts of Baghdad. Dr. Abdulsamia al-Janabi was abducted following a row at Mustansiriya University over the distribution of leaflets and placards in the campus. Janabi was dean of the Science College at the University and one of the country’s top scientists. He wanted to distance his college from the current political wrangling in the country. University campuses in Iraq have turned into arenas for the various political factions to propagate their ideas. Janabi ordered all political placards...

FALLUJAH CLERIC ARRESTED US troops in Iraq have arrested the chief negotiator in the rebel-held town of Fallujah. News of the arrest came as American forces carried out high-intensity attacks on the city, west of the capital Baghdad. The US says the ground and air attacks are part of an ongoing operation and are not the start of moves to recapture the city.  The strikes come a day after the city's leaders suspended peace talks and rejected the Iraqi government's demands to turn over terror mastermind Abu Musab al Zarqawi.  It is thought al Zarqawi, the militant responsible for Ken...

Protests over health chief as cholera hits Basra By Donald Macintyre in Baghdad 08 May 2003 A total of 17 confirmed cases of cholera were reported yesterday by the World Health Organisation in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. The number of confirmed cholera cases pointed to a probable outbreak of the waterborne disease among "several hundreds of people", the World Health Organisation said. The city's water treatment system shut down after US-led air strikes damaged the electric grid, leaving large parts of the city without clean water for several weeks. Meanwhile, doctors in Baghdad angrily confronted the new head...