Most Important War News Yet !!!!

[Funkyalligator]

Al-Jazeera suspends correspondents' work in Iraq

Thursday, April 3, 2003 Posted: 4:43 AM EST (0943 GMT)

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DOHA, Qatar (CNN) -- The Arab-language news agency Al-Jazeera reported Wednesday it has suspended the work of all its correspondents in Iraq, after Iraqi officials banned at least one of its employees from reporting.

It said it will continue to broadcast video from some areas of the country.

A statement read by an Al-Jazeera news anchor said: "The Iraqi Information Ministry told Al-Jazeera office in Baghdad its decision to ban Diar al-Omari, Al-Jazeera's Baghdad correspondent, from practicing his journalistic duties."

"The decision also included that Tayseer Allouni should leave Iraq as soon as possible. The ministry did not provide any reasons for that decision. Al-Jazeera network is sorry for this unpredictable and unreasonable decision by the ministry," the statement continued.

"Therefore, the network decided to freeze, until further notice, the work of all of its correspondents in Iraq. However, it will continue to air live and recorded images provided by its offices from Baghdad, Basra, and Mosul."

THIS IS THE BEST NEWS YET FOR THE US, AL-JAZEERA HAS BEEN INFLAMING THE ARAB WORLD WITH THEIR COVERAGE BUT NOW THAT IRAQ HAS SEEN FIT TO PISS THEM OFF PERHAPS THE PRESS COVERAGE WILL BENEFIT THE US NOW!!!!!

[Yomar]

Originally posted by Funkyalligator

THIS IS THE BEST NEWS YET FOR THE US, AL-JAZEERA HAS BEEN INFLAMING THE ARAB WORLD WITH THEIR COVERAGE BUT NOW THAT IRAQ HAS SEEN FIT TO PISS THEM OFF PERHAPS THE PRESS COVERAGE WILL BENEFIT THE US NOW!!!!!

I wouldn't hold my breath, but its nice to see Al-Jazeera isn't strictly propaganda

[FROSTY28]

Here's the most important news I've read --- or at least the most depressing. Pro-war, anti-war, it doesn't matter; how can our elected officials be so unaware?

From this week's Newsweek--

Last Wednesday, CIA officials gave a closed-door briefing on Capitol Hill about the rising tide of anti-Americanism sweeping the Arab world. Particular emphasis was placed on Jordan and Egypt. As agency officials discussed the depth of hatred for U.S. actions, the senators fell silent. There were delicate discussions about the uncertainty, if the war was protracted, of “regime stability.” After the briefing, “there were senators who were ashen-faced,” said one staff member. “They were absolutely depressed.” Much of what the agency briefed would not have been news to any close watcher of the BBC or almost any foreign news broadcast. “But they [the senators] only watch American TV,” said the staffer. Most of the senators had been led to believe that the war would be quick and that the Iraqi populace would be dancing in the streets. It is hard to know the true level of discontent in the Arab world, and whether it can turn into revolution. But an extended and increasingly bloody Iraqi war is a risky way to find out.

[Yomar]

indeed

[Henry]

And then, of course, there's this:

http://usatoday.com/usatonline/20030403/5029084s.htm

At last, smiles greet U.S. troops as they enter holy city in Iraq Scene 'was like the liberation of Paris.' Residents in Najaf are welcoming and aiding Army soldiers, who control 25% of site revered by Shiites.

By Gregg Zoroya

USA TODAY

NAJAF, Iraq -- As American troops moved through this holy city Wednesday, thousands of Iraqis lined the streets and greeted them with smiles, chants and advice about the whereabouts of Iraqi forces.

Unlike other cities in central and southern Iraq where allied troops have faced resistance and where many Iraqis continue to swear allegiance to President Saddam Hussein, residents here welcomed U.S. soldiers by shouting accolades to President Bush.

''It was like the liberation of Paris,'' said Army Lt. Col. Chris Hughes, 42, of Red Oak, Iowa, after returning from a meeting with representatives of the city's leading Islamic cleric. ''It was incredible.''

The reception here was precisely what U.S. war planners had predicted would happen as coalition forces moved through the country, subduing Iraqi army troops and paramilitary fighters, on the way to Baghdad.

Najaf, which has a population of about 560,000, is the biggest Iraqi city U.S. troops have entered and taken some measure of control. For the world's nearly 120 million Shiite Muslims, Najaf is also the third holiest city, behind Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia, and a place that coalition forces approached with care. But the environment turned friendly as the Americans took charge of some neighborhoods.

Beginning Monday, the 101st Airborne (Air Assault) Division, was engaged in fierce fighting around the city with Iraqi paramilitary fighters. By Wednesday, residents were coming out to help U.S. soldiers.

''In the morning before we left, everybody was pretty hyped up and (expected) that we'd come into contact'' with militiamen, said Sgt. Thomas Stegemann, 25, of De Soto, Mo. ''After a couple blocks, the level of alertness kind of slid down. People that we'd pass . . . were clapping and giving us thumbs up. It started getting hot, but when I saw a little kid clapping and an old man saying, 'Good job,' it kept me motivated.''

Army Major Gen. David Petraeus, the division commander, said Najaf citizens are growing more comfortable helping American forces. ''It tells us that the people feel safe enough to come out of their homes,'' he said.

The soldiers here are finding citizens, in small groups for now, more willing to point out to them the locations of paramilitary forces. Residents also warn American soldiers away from minefields and provide information on the whereabouts of local leaders of Saddam's ruling, Sunni-dominated Baath Party.

Najaf is a city where the Shiite population has been persecuted by Saddam's regime, so U.S. Army soldiers paused to pay deference to religious leaders here and to make clear their intention to safeguard a mosque and holy shrine revered by Shiites worldwide.

The city is located about 100 miles south of Baghdad on a high desert plateau overlooking the world's largest Islamic cemetery, where Shiites aspire to bury their dead. Najaf, whose name in Arabic means ''a high land,'' is the burial place of Imam Ali Ibn Abu Talib, the Prophet Mohammed's cousin and son-in-law and the Shiites' most revered saint.

Iraqi forces were firing on coalition troops from inside the Imam Ali Mosque on Tuesday and Wednesday. Coalition forces were instructed not to fire back.

At U.S. Central Command in Doha, Qatar, Marine Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks said: ''This regime is firing from within a mosque, something that has no military value and should be protected by them, but instead it is being protected by us.''

In an act of protocol, Hughes met indirectly -- through emissaries -- with the city's leading religious cleric, Said Ali Al Sistani, who had reportedly been freed by the American incursion from a 15- to 20-year-long house arrest imposed by the Saddam regime.

The cleric was described as being in a bit of shock at the sudden turn of events. ''This guy has pope status with these people,'' said Hughes, who sought the cleric's advice on the best way to safeguard the city's gold-domed mosque with its twin minarets.

''We told them (the clerics) we're here to protect this site, (that) we're not here to destroy anything,'' Capt. Mike Sabatini, duty officer for the 1st Brigade, told Petraeus, the division commander.

[fansince62]

nice post henry!