Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
USA Today
December 12, 2006
Pg. 12
By Associated Press
BAGHDAD — A Marine helicopter made a hard landing Monday in a remote desert area of Anbar province, injuring 18 people. It was the third American aircraft to go down in the insurgent stronghold in two weeks.
The CH-53E Super Stallion, the U.S. military's largest helicopter, was conducting a routine passenger and cargo flight with about 21 people on board when it went down, the U.S. command said. It also said hostile fire did not appear to be the cause.
Of the 18 people injured, nine were treated and returned to duty, the command said. The military did not give the exact location where the hard landing occurred, saying recovery efforts were underway.
In Washington, President Bush met with Tariq al-Hashemi, one of Iraq's two vice presidents. The meeting came amid reports that al-Hashemi, a Sunni Arab, and other partners in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Shiite-led government are trying to form a new parliamentary bloc without supporters of renegade Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Bush met last week with Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, a leading Shiite member of the governing coalition.
Al-Hashemi and al-Hakim have been linked to efforts by al-Maliki's main coalition partners to replace the alliance supporting the government, said Omar Abdul-Sattar of the Iraqi Islamic Party and Hameed Maalah of al-Hakim's Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI).
Al-Sadr's militia, the Mahdi Army, is one of the largest in Iraq. The U.S. military has said militias are now the leading cause of violence in Baghdad.
Abdul-Sattar said that early next year would be a realistic timeline for the new bloc to be formed. The lawmakers have said the proposed bloc would be made up of SCIRI, Iraq's two major Kurdish parties, al-Hashemi's Islamic Party and independents.
White House spokesman Tony Snow said no plans were afoot to replace al-Maliki, whose time in office has been defined by sectarian violence and lack of progress curbing soaring unemployment and crime.
"Last week's meetings with Mr. al-Hakim were designed to bolster the al-Maliki government by putting together a group of moderates — the (al-Hashemi) meeting was designed to do that," Snow said.
Meanwhile, a roadside bomb killed three U.S. soldiers and wounded two others on a late-night patrol north of Baghdad on Sunday, the military said.
The three deaths raised to 46 the number of American troops who have died this month, an average of 4.6 a day. December is on track to be among the deadliest months of the war for U.S. forces.
Iraqi police, meanwhile, reported at least 66 people killed or found dead in the Baghdad area and in northern Iraq. The increasing violence prompted Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari to say government security forces are doing all they can to keep people from being killed or driven from their homes.
December 12, 2006
Pg. 12
By Associated Press
BAGHDAD — A Marine helicopter made a hard landing Monday in a remote desert area of Anbar province, injuring 18 people. It was the third American aircraft to go down in the insurgent stronghold in two weeks.
The CH-53E Super Stallion, the U.S. military's largest helicopter, was conducting a routine passenger and cargo flight with about 21 people on board when it went down, the U.S. command said. It also said hostile fire did not appear to be the cause.
Of the 18 people injured, nine were treated and returned to duty, the command said. The military did not give the exact location where the hard landing occurred, saying recovery efforts were underway.
In Washington, President Bush met with Tariq al-Hashemi, one of Iraq's two vice presidents. The meeting came amid reports that al-Hashemi, a Sunni Arab, and other partners in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Shiite-led government are trying to form a new parliamentary bloc without supporters of renegade Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Bush met last week with Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, a leading Shiite member of the governing coalition.
Al-Hashemi and al-Hakim have been linked to efforts by al-Maliki's main coalition partners to replace the alliance supporting the government, said Omar Abdul-Sattar of the Iraqi Islamic Party and Hameed Maalah of al-Hakim's Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI).
Al-Sadr's militia, the Mahdi Army, is one of the largest in Iraq. The U.S. military has said militias are now the leading cause of violence in Baghdad.
Abdul-Sattar said that early next year would be a realistic timeline for the new bloc to be formed. The lawmakers have said the proposed bloc would be made up of SCIRI, Iraq's two major Kurdish parties, al-Hashemi's Islamic Party and independents.
White House spokesman Tony Snow said no plans were afoot to replace al-Maliki, whose time in office has been defined by sectarian violence and lack of progress curbing soaring unemployment and crime.
"Last week's meetings with Mr. al-Hakim were designed to bolster the al-Maliki government by putting together a group of moderates — the (al-Hashemi) meeting was designed to do that," Snow said.
Meanwhile, a roadside bomb killed three U.S. soldiers and wounded two others on a late-night patrol north of Baghdad on Sunday, the military said.
The three deaths raised to 46 the number of American troops who have died this month, an average of 4.6 a day. December is on track to be among the deadliest months of the war for U.S. forces.
Iraqi police, meanwhile, reported at least 66 people killed or found dead in the Baghdad area and in northern Iraq. The increasing violence prompted Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari to say government security forces are doing all they can to keep people from being killed or driven from their homes.