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Three Rockets Hit Green Zone as Defense Secretary Leon Panetta Visits Baghdad

U.S. vows unilateral action targeting Iranian arms to Iraq militants

Video

New defense secretary visits war zones (NBC “Today,” June 11, 2011) — As rocket strikes pound Baghdad’s Green Zone, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta travels to Iraq on his first visit as the head of the Pentagon. NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski reports. (01:21)

The Associated Press and Reuters via MSNBC.com
July 11, 2011

BAGHDAD — Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Monday that the U.S. is concerned about Iran providing weapons to Iraq militants and will take unilateral action when needed to deal with the threat.

We’re very concerned about Iran and the weapons they’re providing to extremists in Iraq,” he told a small group of soldiers on his first visit to Iraq as Pentagon chief. He is there to meet with Iraqi leaders to discuss the possibility of keeping some U.S. troops in Iraq beyond 2011. …

Underscoring Panetta’s comments, three rockets fired from a mainly Shiite neighborhood hit Baghdad’s Green Zone during his visit, Iraqi police said. No casualties were reported and Panetta was not in the Green Zone at the time of the rocket strikes.

June was the deadliest month for U.S. forces in Iraq since 2008, with 15 killed, according to the U.S. military’s tally.

Most of those deaths were the result of Iranian-made rockets and mortars, Reuters reported.

Admiral Mike Mullen, the top U.S. military officer, last week accused Iran of directly supporting extremist Shiite groups that are killing U.S. troops in Iraq and said any agreement to keep American forces there beyond the end of the year would have to address the problem. …

Full story

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Related reports on this site


Plumes of thick black smoke rise as helicopters patrol over central Baghdad’s Green Zone after a rocket attack on March 27, 2008. (Photo credit: Faleh Kheiber / EPA)

Surge in Iraq Green Zone Attacks (Sept. 29, 2010)

Mortars Hit Baghdad’s Green Zone During Biden Visit (July 4, 2010)

Rocket Strike on Green Zone (May 23, 2009)

Shells Hit Baghdad’s Protected Green Zone (April 21, 2009)

Two Dead in Green Zone Attack (Nov. 29, 2008)

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — July 11, 2010

“Rise of the New Right” — Part 5


“The Rhetoric of the New Right” — The language of the American right has not changed much over the past century. (05:57)

One year ago today, I featured Part 5 of “The Rise of the New Right: A Hardball Documentary with Chris Matthews,” titled “The Rhetoric of the New Right.”

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: Two Years Ago — July 11, 2009

Iraq Violence After U.S. Pullback

Video

Bombs kill dozens in Iraq, Afghanistan (NBC Nightly News, July 9, 2009)
In the worst violence since U.S. combat troops pulled back from urban areas in Iraq, nearly 60 people were killed in Baghdad on Thursday, July 9, 2009; and a truck filled with explosives blew up on an Afghan highway, killing 25 people. (00:37)

Two years ago today, on July 11, 2009, I reported that violence had spiked in Iraq after U.S. combat troops withdrew from urban areas; that British military deaths in Afghanistan had surpassed their casualties in Iraq; and that the U.S. abandoned the Bush administration policy of destroying opium poppies in Afghanistan.





One Response to “Rocket Salvo Greets New U.S. Defense Secretary in Baghdad”
  1. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » Bloody Mayhem Across Iraq Says:

    […] Rocket Salvo Greets New U.S. Defense Secretary in Baghdad (July 11, 2011) […]

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