First Incident of Fragging in Iraqi War
FRAG: common term for any grenade
FRAGGING: assassination of an officer by his own troops, usually by means of a grenade
Talk to any Vietnam vet and they'll tell you that this happened more than a few times in Vietnam. Arming people even soldiers is not child's play. If a soldier gets fed up with the command of his unit and he has a weapon the temptation of murdering an officer under the cover of war may be too much for some individuals.
Sunday, March 23, 2003
Saturday, March 22, 2003
Vatican Proposes Intense Praying of Rosary for Peace
From Zenit.org:
The L'Osservatore Romano newspaper highlighted an invitation for believers worldwide to pray the Rosary in the next 24 hours for peace in Iraq.
Today's daily edition of the Vatican newspaper stated that the beginning of military operations in Iraq is "the time to intensify prayer to the Queen of Peace so that she will intercede before her Son, the Prince of Peace."
The proposal comes on the day that Iraqi Catholics and Christians are preparing to consecrate their country to the Blessed Virgin, "Queen of Peace," in St. Joseph's Cathedral, Baghdad.
From Zenit.org:
The L'Osservatore Romano newspaper highlighted an invitation for believers worldwide to pray the Rosary in the next 24 hours for peace in Iraq.
Today's daily edition of the Vatican newspaper stated that the beginning of military operations in Iraq is "the time to intensify prayer to the Queen of Peace so that she will intercede before her Son, the Prince of Peace."
The proposal comes on the day that Iraqi Catholics and Christians are preparing to consecrate their country to the Blessed Virgin, "Queen of Peace," in St. Joseph's Cathedral, Baghdad.
Friday, March 21, 2003
Witnesses Saw Saddam Being Wheeled Away After Attack
From ABCNEWS.com : U.S. Officials: Saddam Seen on Gurney:
U.S. intelligence sources say Saddam Hussein was seen being wheeled out of a Baghdad residential complex on a stretcher Wednesday night (U.S. time) after the complex was struck in "decapitation attacks" by the United States.
Eyewitnesses saw the Iraqi leader being taken from the complex on a "gurney, with an oxygen mask over his face," the officials told ABCNEWS.
Sources say there was clearly a U.S. observer nearby, watching the complex.
Intelligence sources also said there has been a significant lack of communications between Saddam and his military structure since the airstrike.
They are optimistic that Saddam received injuries in the attack, though they are cautious about the extent of possible injuries.
From ABCNEWS.com : U.S. Officials: Saddam Seen on Gurney:
U.S. intelligence sources say Saddam Hussein was seen being wheeled out of a Baghdad residential complex on a stretcher Wednesday night (U.S. time) after the complex was struck in "decapitation attacks" by the United States.
Eyewitnesses saw the Iraqi leader being taken from the complex on a "gurney, with an oxygen mask over his face," the officials told ABCNEWS.
Sources say there was clearly a U.S. observer nearby, watching the complex.
Intelligence sources also said there has been a significant lack of communications between Saddam and his military structure since the airstrike.
They are optimistic that Saddam received injuries in the attack, though they are cautious about the extent of possible injuries.
The Continued Musings of an Iraqi Citizen in Baghdag
From Where is Raed ?:
The most disturbing news today has come from Al-Jazeera, they said that nine B52 bombers have left the airfield in Britain and flying “presumably” towards Iraq, as if they would be doing a spin around the block. Anyway they have 6 hours to get here.
Last night was very quiet in Baghdad. Today in the morning I went out to get bread and groceries. There were no Ba’ath party people stopping us from leaving the area where we live, this apparently happens after the evening prayers. But they are still everywhere. The streets are empty only bakeries are open and some grocery shops charging 4 times the normal prices, while I was buying bread a police car stopped in front of the bakery and asked the baker if they had enough flour and asked when they opened; the baker told me that they have been informed that they must open their shops and they get flour delivered to them daily. Groceries, meat and dairy products are a different story. One dairy product company seems to be still operating, not state owned, and their cars were going around the city distributing butter, cheese and yoghurt to any open markets. Meat is not safe to buy because you wouldn’t know from where and how it got to the shops. Anyway we bought fresh tomatoes and zucchini for 1000 dinar a kilo which would normally be 250. and most amazingly the garbage car came around.
From Where is Raed ?:
The most disturbing news today has come from Al-Jazeera, they said that nine B52 bombers have left the airfield in Britain and flying “presumably” towards Iraq, as if they would be doing a spin around the block. Anyway they have 6 hours to get here.
Last night was very quiet in Baghdad. Today in the morning I went out to get bread and groceries. There were no Ba’ath party people stopping us from leaving the area where we live, this apparently happens after the evening prayers. But they are still everywhere. The streets are empty only bakeries are open and some grocery shops charging 4 times the normal prices, while I was buying bread a police car stopped in front of the bakery and asked the baker if they had enough flour and asked when they opened; the baker told me that they have been informed that they must open their shops and they get flour delivered to them daily. Groceries, meat and dairy products are a different story. One dairy product company seems to be still operating, not state owned, and their cars were going around the city distributing butter, cheese and yoghurt to any open markets. Meat is not safe to buy because you wouldn’t know from where and how it got to the shops. Anyway we bought fresh tomatoes and zucchini for 1000 dinar a kilo which would normally be 250. and most amazingly the garbage car came around.
A Recommendation
It has been interesting to me in my survey of various "Christian" blogs to see the diversity of opinion when it comes to the "Christian's" stance toward war. No doubt the divergence of opinion would exist if the topic were greed, sex, or any of the other areas dealing with the seven deadly sins. Perhaps it is just a matter of how seriously we really take Our Lord Jesus Christ and how much we really believe in God.
When I was reviewing a book on the Algerian Trappist monks who were killed, I was struck by one incident in the early life of the abbot of the monastery. His name was "Christian" and he was serving as a soldier in the French military in North Africa. During his service he befriended a local man who was a devout moslem. At some point during their friendship they discussed prayer and the moslem friend commented to Christian that he was amazed at how "Christians" found it so difficult to pray. "Didn't they believe in God?" the man wondered. Later when Christian came under attack his moslem friend defended him and later was killed for having done so. The experience never left Christian who later became a Trappist monk and in the end gave his life for the love of the Algerians.
The question bears repeating, "Do we believe in God?"
Do we believe that He is all powerful or do we think that it all really depends upon us? Let me recommend a book to anyone who reads this blog. My guess it will upset the majority of people but being upset is not always a bad thing. The book deals with the forces of evil and how they seek to "dominate" in this world both us and others. As much as we seek to dominate others rather accept the dominion of God in our lives we participate in these evil powers. Anyway for those interested the book is by a Walter Wink (he's actually written a series of books on this topic). He is not Catholic but is a Christian and where you might not agree with everything he says I think you will find that it will put the demands of the gospel into focus for you and why we must pray always that "thy kingdom come, thy will be done."
It has been interesting to me in my survey of various "Christian" blogs to see the diversity of opinion when it comes to the "Christian's" stance toward war. No doubt the divergence of opinion would exist if the topic were greed, sex, or any of the other areas dealing with the seven deadly sins. Perhaps it is just a matter of how seriously we really take Our Lord Jesus Christ and how much we really believe in God.
When I was reviewing a book on the Algerian Trappist monks who were killed, I was struck by one incident in the early life of the abbot of the monastery. His name was "Christian" and he was serving as a soldier in the French military in North Africa. During his service he befriended a local man who was a devout moslem. At some point during their friendship they discussed prayer and the moslem friend commented to Christian that he was amazed at how "Christians" found it so difficult to pray. "Didn't they believe in God?" the man wondered. Later when Christian came under attack his moslem friend defended him and later was killed for having done so. The experience never left Christian who later became a Trappist monk and in the end gave his life for the love of the Algerians.
The question bears repeating, "Do we believe in God?"
Do we believe that He is all powerful or do we think that it all really depends upon us? Let me recommend a book to anyone who reads this blog. My guess it will upset the majority of people but being upset is not always a bad thing. The book deals with the forces of evil and how they seek to "dominate" in this world both us and others. As much as we seek to dominate others rather accept the dominion of God in our lives we participate in these evil powers. Anyway for those interested the book is by a Walter Wink (he's actually written a series of books on this topic). He is not Catholic but is a Christian and where you might not agree with everything he says I think you will find that it will put the demands of the gospel into focus for you and why we must pray always that "thy kingdom come, thy will be done."
Thursday, March 20, 2003
Is Saddam Dead?
From CBS News:
In Washington, President Bush huddled with his advisers to decide whether to begin the full-out assault on Iraq. The initial strikes on Baghdad were launched because intelligence detected a chance to kill Saddam. Those strikes were not the massive aerial bombardment planned to open the war.
Intelligence officers, meanwhile, were analyzing a television appearance by a person purported to be Saddam. The appearance came after the bombing, but it was possible the man on camera was not the Iraqi president, but a double.
If you go to the CBS site where they have pictures of Saddam and "Saddam" in the video it is pretty clear it is not the same person.
From CBS News:
In Washington, President Bush huddled with his advisers to decide whether to begin the full-out assault on Iraq. The initial strikes on Baghdad were launched because intelligence detected a chance to kill Saddam. Those strikes were not the massive aerial bombardment planned to open the war.
Intelligence officers, meanwhile, were analyzing a television appearance by a person purported to be Saddam. The appearance came after the bombing, but it was possible the man on camera was not the Iraqi president, but a double.
If you go to the CBS site where they have pictures of Saddam and "Saddam" in the video it is pretty clear it is not the same person.
Administration Phones Vatican
From Zenit News Agency:
"We understand the Holy Father's concern," Powell told the archbishop. "But sometimes issues come before us that cannot be avoided, but because we are peace-loving, we hope they'll go away, and we believe firmly this is one such issue."
From Zenit News Agency:
"We understand the Holy Father's concern," Powell told the archbishop. "But sometimes issues come before us that cannot be avoided, but because we are peace-loving, we hope they'll go away, and we believe firmly this is one such issue."
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