VOLUME No: 80 Issue No:3
Washington, D.C. November 18, 2005
Jordanian Bombers Were Iraqi...
The Jordanian authorities announced Sunday that the Amman bombers were Iraqis closely connected with the Iraqi Al-Qaedah. An Iraqi woman who took part in the plot but failed to detonate explained that she did it because three of her brothers had been killed during 'operations' in Iraq. Her husband also took part in the attack, orchestrating the suicide attack in the Radisson SAS Hotel which killed 57 people.
Jordanian officials announced Sunday that the bombings were planned by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian leader of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, currently based in western Iraq, and that the three suicide bombers were identified as Iraqi. The remaining Iraqi woman Sajida Mubarak al-Rishawi, will be entitled to a fair trial in Jordan, authorities say.
Bombings in Shiite Mosques in Iraq kill at least 65...
Friday morning, suicide bombers detonated explosives in the eastern Iraqi town of Khanaqin inside two Shiite mosques during Friday prayers, a time when the mosques were said to be full of worshippers. The two blasts killed at least 65 people and injured several others severely, increasing the potential that the final death toll could exceed 100. A third suicide bomber targeted a nearby bank in Khanaqin, which is a mostly Kurdish and Shiite town near the Iran border. Suicide bomber also attacked the Hamrah Hotel in Baghdad, a hotel popular with international journalists. The dead, of which there are at least six, are believed to be all Iraqis. These attacks add to the death toll of 30 people killed at a Shiite mosque in the town of Musayyib, south of Baghdad, which occurred earlier this month.
More American Marines Die in Iraq...
Wednesday saw the taking of more American lives in Iraq as five marines were killed and 11 wounded in an ambush at a farmhouse. The attacks occurred while hunting for insurgents on the outskirts of this rural town, and was the deadliest day for the Marines since stepping up its aggressiveness along the Euphrates River near the Syrian border earlier this month. The attacks coincided with the call on Thursday by a former U.S. Marine Colonel and democrat, Rep. John Murtha, to withdraw troops from Iraq immediately. Murtha had initially supported the Iraq war but said that US troops are faced with too much insurgency now and have suffered too many losses. The White House countered that a premature witdrawal of US troops from Iraq would plunge the fledgling democracy into chaos and hand the terrorists a victory.
G.O.P. Forces Major Budget Cuts...
Thursday saw the defeat of a major spending bill as Democrats and 22 Republicans teamed together to kill a major health and education spending measure. The 224-to-209 rejection of the $142.5 billion in spending on an array of social programs was a major victory for those republicans advocating more control over federal spending. A further blow to out of control spending was dealt Friday morning as a separate measure forced $50 billion in budget cuts over five years, a measure which was accepted by Republican moderates. The vote was 217 to 215. The struggle on spending underlines a deeper divide in the House and demonstrates the struggles that our policy makers are facing to achieve a balanced budget.
