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Iraq

Dad goes on trial as a Jihadi!

2007-05-17

An al-Qaida insurgent who allegedly helped plan hundreds of bombings in the Baghdad area and beheaded two Russian hostages will soon be face trial in an Iraqi court, the U.S. military said Wednesday. Omar Wahdallah Dad, also known as Abu Nur and "the Spider", has been in U.S. custody since December and will be tried under Iraq's anti-terrorism law, U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell told reporters. Abu Nur could receive the death penalty, Caldwell said. Let's certainly hope so! Caldwell said Abu Nur has admitted to a role in 800 to 900 bombings while serving as a senior al-Qaida commander in the Baghdad area. The general said Abu Nur led a network responsible for some of the deadliest attacks in the capital, including one last year in the Shiite slum of Sadr City in which more than 200 people died. He said the Abu Nur admitted responsibility for the June 2006 kidnapping and murder of four Russian diplomats. Abu Nur is accused of personally beheading two of the Russians, the general said. An umbrella organization of seven insurgent groups, including al-Qaida in Iraq, posted a Web video showing the graphic killings of three Russian embassy workers who had been abducted in Iraq. The 90-second video showed two blindfolded men beheaded and the shooting of a third man. In the footage, two men clad in black and wearing black ski masks shout "God is great!" before beheading the first man. Then one militant appears standing over the decapitated body of a second victim in a pool of blood, with the head placed on top of the body.

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Iraq

Attempt to Slaughter Iraqi Schoolgirls Discovered

2007-05-04

American soldiers discovered a girls school being built north of Baghdad had become an explosives-rigged "death trap," the U.S. military said Thursday. The plot at the Huda Girls' school in Tarmiya was a "sophisticated and premeditated attempt to inflict massive casualties on our most innocent victims," military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said. The military suspects the plot was the work of al Qaeda, because of its nature and sophistication, Caldwell said in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. The plot was uncovered Saturday, when troopers in the Salaheddin province found detonating wire across the street from the school. They picked up the wire and followed its trail, which led to the school. Once inside, they found an explosive-filled propane tank buried beneath the floor. There were artillery shells built into the ceiling and floor, and another propane tank was found, the military said. The wire was concealed with mortar and concrete, and the propane tanks had been covered with brick and hidden underneath the floor, according to a military statement. Soldiers were able to clear the building. "It was truly just an incredibly ugly, dirty kind of vicious killing that would have gone on here," Caldwell said. Iraqi contractors were responsible for building the school, which was intended to bring in hundreds of girls. "Given the care and work put into emplacing this IED, it is likely it had been planned for a long time" and it is thought that "the IED was not intended to be set off until the building was occupied," the military said. Authorities intend to question the Iraqis involved in the school's construction.

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Iraq

Iraq to Take Control of Armed Forces

2006-09-07

Iraq takes control Thursday of its armed forces command, a major step in its painful path toward independence and an essential move before international troops can eventually withdraw. "This is such a huge, significant event that's about to occur tomorrow," said U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell. "If you go back and you map out significant events that have occurred in this government's formation in taking control of the country, tomorrow is gigantic." But despite the optimism, the bloodshed continues, with at least 33 people killed across the country in car bombs, mortar attacks and drive-by shootings and police finding a total of 29 bodies. The highly anticipated ceremony, which will put the prime minister in direct control of the country's military, comes five days after it was originally scheduled to be held — when the Iraqi government abruptly called it off at the last minute. Neither side publicly revealed many details of the disagreement, other than to insist that it was more procedural than any dispute over substance. The handover is so important that it was "not something you want to rush into. If there's even a question, if there's even a slightest misunderstanding, you would absolutely want to get that thoroughly resolved and have complete understanding," Caldwell said. The U.S.-led coalition has been training and equipping the Iraqi military, hoping it soon will be in a position to take over securing the entire country and allow foreign troops to return home. But how fast this can be achieved is still unclear. "It's the prime minister's decision how rapidly he wants to move along with assuming control," Caldwell said, adding that in Thursday's ceremony, he would take complete control over the country's small naval and air forces, and the 8th Iraqi Army Division. "They can move as rapidly thereafter as they want. I know, conceptually, they've talked about perhaps two divisions a month," Caldwell said.

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Iraq

$25 million bounty will be honored, Iraqi leader says

2006-06-09

Easy for him to say, it's not his loot... Iraqi Prime Minister Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said today that the $25 million bounty on Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's head will be honored. Why is this coming from Maliki? "We will meet our promise," al-Maliki told al-Arabiya television without elaborating. He's got a hole mouse in his pocket. The United States had put forth the $25 million bounty for information leading to the death or capture of al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq. Al-Zarqawi, a 39-year-old Jordanian-born terrorist, was killed in a U.S. airstrike Wednesday. And a fine ZAP it was, too. Also killed in the airstrike was al-Zarqawi's deputy and spiritual adviser Abu Abdul-Rahman al-Iraqi, who had been key to pinpointing his boss' location, U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said. Intelligence officials identified al-Iraqi with the help of an insider in al-Zarqawi's network and began tracking his movements, watching when he would meet with his boss. Trust nobody. Ever again. Heh. The U.S. also has a $25 million bounty for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. Al-Zarqawi swore allegiance to bin Laden in 2004. And this is the only thing AP can toss in to muddy the water.

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