Independent Online Edition > Americas : app1: "Soldier's chilling testimony fuels demonstrations against Iraq war | By Andrew Buncombe in Washington | Published: 24 September 2005

A former American soldier who served in Iraq and filed for conscientious objector status has given an extraordinary insight into the war's dehumanising effects ­ an insight that helps explain why the British and American public has turned sharply against the occupation.

On the eve of large anti-war demonstrations in Washington and London, Hart Viges has told how indiscriminate fire from US troops is likely to have killed an untold number of Iraqi civilians. Mr Viges, 29, said he was still haunted by the memories of what he experienced and urged President George Bush to withdraw US troops from Iraq.

"I don't know how many innocents I killed with my mortar rounds," ...
- posted by Editor @ 9:42 PM

Excite News: "Judge Renews Warrant for British Soldiers | Email this Story | Sep 24, 7:31 AM (ET) | By ABBAS FAYADH

BASRA, Iraq (AP) - An Iraqi judge said on Saturday he had renewed arrest warrants for two British soldiers who were rescued from jail early this week by troops using armor to crash through the prison walls.

The violence infuriated local Iraqi police and government officials, and tensions remained high in Basra on Saturday. Rockets were fired at two buildings housing British officials, police said. Most of them missed their mark, and no British officials were hurt. However, two of the rockets hit nearby homes and wounded an Iraqi civilian, police said.

The two British soldiers were arrested by Iraqi authorities on Monday after allegedly shooting two Iraqi policemen who tried to detain them. One of the policemen reportedly was killed. The two British soldiers, operating undercover, were subsequently taken into custody.

A British armored patrol then surrounded the jail where the two were held, setting off a riot in Basra, Iraq's second largest city and the southern hub of the country's oil industry. Angry residents attacked the British armor with firebombs and pelted soldiers with stones as they jumped from the burning vehicles.

Later Monday, British armored vehicles crashed through the prison walls in an operation to rescue the two soldiers. They were subsequently found in a nearby house in the custody of militiamen, Britain said."
- posted by Editor @ 5:34 AM

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Report attacks 'myth' of foreign fighters: "Brian Whitaker and Ewen MacAskill | Friday September 23, 2005 | The Guardian

The US and the Iraqi government have overstated the number of foreign fighters in Iraq, 'feeding the myth' that they are the backbone of the insurgency, an American thinktank says in a new report.

Foreign militants - mainly from Algeria, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia - account for less than 10% of the estimated 30,000 insurgents, according to the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). ...
- posted by Editor @ 5:02 PM

British "Undercover Soldiers" Caught driving Booby Trapped Car: "September 20, 2005 | GlobalResearch.ca

'They refused to say what their mission was.'

The following Reuters report raises some disturbing questions.

Why were undercover British 'soldiers' wearing traditional Arab headscarves firing at Iraqi police?

The incident took place just prior to a major religious event in Basra.

The report suggests that the police thought the British soldiers looked 'suspicious'. What was the nature of their mission?

Occupation forces are supposesd to be collaborating with Iraqi authorities. Why did Britsh Forces have to storm the prison using tanks and armoured vehicles to liberate the British undercover agents?

'British forces used up to 10 tanks ' supported by helicopters ' to smash through the walls of the jail and free the two British servicemen.'

Was there concern that the British 'soldiers' who were being held by the Iraqi National Guard would be obliged to reveal the nature and objective of their undercover mission?

A report of Al Jazeera TV, which preceeded the raid on the prison, suggests that the British undercover soldiers were driving a booby trapped car loaded with ammunition. The Al Jazeera report (see below) also suggests that the riots directed against British military presence were motivated because the British undercover soldiers were planning to explode the booby trapped car in the centre of Basra:"
- posted by Editor @ 7:08 PM