Brokekid.net

(via news.scotsman.com)

AMERICAN special forces have assassinated several senior Iraqi officials in a series of bomb and sniper attacks in Baghdad and other cities, it was revealed yesterday. American government sources say that in the past week of covert operations “more than a handful” of Republican Guard commanders and Baath Party officials have been killed.

The ultimate aim of the undercover squads, according to sources, is to kill Saddam Hussein’s closest associates and even the Iraqi president himself. A source said at least some of the explosions seen and heard in Baghdad were not the result of air strikes, but bombs planted by special forces.

The operations suggest US efforts to destroy the Iraqi government’s leadership are far more extensive than previously known. CIA officials declined to comment, but Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke said: “As we have said before, we have special forces in the north, west and south of the country.” (news.scotsman.com)

List of the countries that the U.S. has bombed
Here’s a list of the countries that the U.S. has bombed since the end of World War II, compiled by historian William Blum:
China 1945-46
Korea 1950-53
China 1950-53
Guatemala 1954
Indonesia 1958
Cuba 1959-60
Guatemala 1960
Congo 1964
Peru 1965
Laos 1964-73
Vietnam 1961-73
Cambodia 1969-70
Guatemala 1967-69
Grenada 1983
Libya 1986
El Salvador 1980s
Nicaragua 1980s
Panama 1989
Iraq 1991-99
Sudan 1998
Afghanistan 1998
Yugoslavia 1999
Afghanistan 2001-

And now for the test:

In how many of these instances did a democratic government, respectful of human rights, occur as a direct result?

Choose one of the following:
(a) 0
(b) zero
(c) none
(d) not a one
(e) a whole number between -1 and +1

(bloggingwithastro.blogspot.com)

(via news.yahoo.com)

CENTRAL IRAQ (AFP) – Iraqi civilians fleeing heavy fighting have stunned and delighted hungry US marines in central Iraq (news – web sites) by giving them food, as guerrilla attacks continue to disrupt coalition supply lines to the rear. Sergeant Kenneth Wilson said Arabic-speaking US troops made contact with two busloads of Iraqis fleeing south along Route Seven towards Rafit, one of the first friendly meetings with local people for the marines around here. “They had slaughtered lambs and chickens and boiled eggs and potatoes for their journey out of the frontlines,” Wilson said.

At one camp, the buses stopped and women passed out food to the troops, who have had to ration their army-issue packets of ready-to-eat meals due to disruptions to supply lines by fierce fighting further south. Civilians have remained largely out of sight since the invasion began 10 days ago. Towns and villages are virtually deserted, prompting speculation that most had shifted to safer ground before the fighting began.

Corpsman Tony Garcia said the food donation was an act of appreciation for the American effort to topple the brutal regime of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein (news – web sites). “They gave us eggs and potatoes to feed our marines and corpsmen. I feel the local population are grateful and they want to see an end to Saddam Hussein,” he said.

“It was a lovely, beautiful gesture.” (Yahoo.com)

(via news.bbc.co.uk)

It’s easy to lose track of the news. So at the end of the week, it’s good to keep an eye on some of those things which shouldn’t go unnoticed. If you spot something you think should be included next week, send it to us using the form at the bottom of the page.

1. People watching the Oscars ceremony who have TiVo boxes – the gadget which allows users to pause live programmes – were particularly keen on three moments of the evening’s events, AdAge magazine reports. Michael Moore’s speech and Adrien Brody’s embrace of Halle Berry were the two most replayed moments of the evening. The most paused moment was when Julia Roberts arrived. Moore’s next film, incidentally, which he says will be about the erosion of civil liberties after 11 September, is to be called Fahrenheit 911. (BBC News)

(via thecouriermail.news.com.au)

A SIX-year-old girl became the first female to receive the RSPCA’s humane award for saving her kitten from a predatory python. Marlie Coleman did not think twice about taking on the scrub python when it wrapped its jaws around her kitten Sooty in their Cairns backyard earlier this year.

The sharp-toothed python let go of the kitten, but attached itself to Marlie’s lip, hanging on until her mother heard the screams and shook it off. Her mother, Shakira, remembers seeing Marlie standing on the barbecue with a snake attached to her face, bleeding and sobbing “Snake trying to eat Sooty”. RSPCA Queensland chief executive officer Mark Townend said Marlie’s only concern on her way to hospital after the attack was for the kitten. (The Courier Mail)

(via smh.com.au)

Near Basra, Iraq: British military interrogators claim captured Iraqi soldiers have told them that al-Qaeda terrorists are fighting on the side of Saddam Hussein’s forces against allied troops near Basra. At least a dozen members of Osama bin Laden’s network are in the town of Az Zubayr where they are coordinating grenade and gun attacks on coalition positions, according to the Iraqi prisoners of war.

It was believed that last night (Thursday) British forces were preparing a military strike on the base where the al-Qaeda unit was understood to be holed up. A senior British military source inside Iraq said: “The information we have received from PoWs today is that an al-Qaeda cell may be operating in Az Zubayr. There are possibly around a dozen of them and that is obviously a matter of concern to us.” (The Scotsman)

(via thesun.co.uk)

A yob who loves smashing shop fronts in his Y-fronts is facing jail for breaking 43 windows in one night, a court heard yesterday. Andrew Roxberry, 30, was naked apart from black underpants when he rampaged with a shovel causing 75,000 worth of damage.

He first threw a wine bottle at the window of a Phones 4 U shop – then picked up a workman’s shovel and attacked another 23 stores. An astonished CCTV operator watched his spree just after midnight on a cold night. (The Sun)

Saddam Hussein donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to a Detroit church and received a key to the city more than two decades ago, soon after he became president of Iraq.

The events contrast sharply with the attack Saddam’s regime is now facing from a U.S.-led coalition, reflecting his changed relationship with the United States since Washington helped Saddam covertly in his 1980-88 war with Iran. Saddam’s bond with Detroit started in 1979, when the Rev. Jacob Yasso of Chaldean Sacred Heart congratulated Saddam on his presidency. In return, Yasso said, his church received $250,000.

“He was very kind person, very generous, very cooperative with the West. Lately, what’s happened, I don’t know,” Yasso, 70, said Wednesday. “Money and power changed the person.” Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment. (AP)

NEW YORK — Federal investigators have arrested an enigmatic Wall Street wiz on insider-trading charges — and incredibly, he claims to be a time-traveler from the year 2256! Sources at the Security and Exchange Commission confirm that 44-year-old Andrew Carlssin offered the bizarre explanation for his uncanny success in the stock market after being led off in handcuffs on January 28. “We don’t believe this guy’s story — he’s either a lunatic or a pathological liar,” says an SEC insider. “But the fact is, with an initial investment of only $800, in two weeks’ time he had a portfolio valued at over $350 million. Every trade he made capitalized on unexpected business developments, which simply can’t be pure luck.

“The only way he could pull it off is with illegal inside information. He’s going to sit in a jail cell on Rikers Island until he agrees to give up his sources.” The past year of nose-diving stock prices has left most investors crying in their beer. So when Carlssin made a flurry of 126 high-risk trades and came out the winner every time, it raised the eyebrows of Wall Street watchdogs. “If a company’s stock rose due to a merger or technological breakthrough that was supposed to be secret, Mr. Carlssin somehow knew about it in advance,” says the SEC source close to the hush-hush, ongoing investigation. (Yahoo.com)