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Oct 19th, 2008


Write-In Campaign

Click here or scroll down to Oct. 18, 2008 for the write-in campaign announcement.

Related story from the blog of St. Cloud Times political reporter Lawrence Schumacher

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Digging for the truth in Central Minnesota

Sunday morning, after he had endorsed Barack Obama’s Democratic bid for president on Meet the Press, former Bush Secretary of State Colin Powell gave a press conference in which, among other things, he specifically rebuked U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., for saying she thinks Obama “may hold anti-American views” and suggesting that the media investigate which members of Congress are “pro-America or anti-America.”

“This business of, for example, a congress[wo]man from Minnesota who’s going around saying ‘let’s examine all congressmen to see who’s pro-America and who’s not pro-America.’ We have got to stop this kind of nonsense and pull ourselves together and remember that our great strength is in our unity and our diversity,” he told the press.

Bachmann made the statements on a cable talk show on Friday as a surrogate for the presidential campaign of Republican John McCain.

Bachmann’s DFL- and Independence Party-endorsed challenger, Elwyn Tinklenberg, reported Saturday that his campaign had raised about $450,000 in donations in the 24-hour period following her remarks. …

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Shiite Bloc Holds Off OK to U.S.-Iraq Pact


October 19, 2008

BAGHDAD — Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s ruling Shiite coalition withheld support Sunday for the proposed security pact that would keep U.S. troops here for three more years, dealing a setback to American hopes of a speedy approval of the agreement. …

The 30 lawmakers loyal to anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have already said they will vote against the agreement, and some Sunni lawmakers have spoken out against it too. …

Iraqi politicians fear positions they take on the security pact will determine how they will fare at the ballot box, since many voters are eager to see U.S. troops leave. …

Furthermore, many Shiite politicians have close ties to neighboring Iran, where they lived in exile during Saddam’s rule. Shiite-dominated Iran strongly opposes the agreement. …

Full story

———

Security Developments in Iraq

Following are security developments in Iraq on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 18-19, 2008, as reported by Reuters.

KIRKUK – A roadside bomb in the Bashir neighborhood of the northern city of Kirkuk wounded a man and a woman, police said.

MOSUL – Gunmen killed a civilian in a drive-by shooting in the northern city of Mosul, police said.

MOSUL – A roadside bomb wounded an Iraqi soldier in Mosul after striking his patrol, police said.

BAGHDAD – A roadside bomb targeted a police patrol, wounding five people, including three policemen, in the Ghazaliya district of western Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD – Two people were killed and 10 wounded, including two traffic policemen, when a roadside bomb exploded near a line of cars at a gas station in the Zaafaraniya district of southeastern Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD – A roadside bomb targeted a police patrol, wounding seven people, including three policemen, near a market in the Zaafarainya district of Baghdad, police said.

BALAD – A female suicide bomber blew herself up after being fired upon by Iraqi policemen when she refused to stop at a checkpoint in Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said. Iraqi police said five people were wounded in the incident.

NEAR BALAD – Five Iraqis were killed, including a pregnant woman, in a shootout when gunmen attacked the house of a leader of U.S. backed neighborhood patrols south of Balad, the U.S. military said.

SAMARRA – A mass grave containing 11 bodies was found in the northeast of Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, by Iraqi police with the help of local U.S.-backed security patrols. Five of the corpses were of policemen killed a year ago. Police also found a former prison belonging to Sunni militants, said police Colonel Abdul Khaliq al-Samarraie.

BAGHDAD – Iraqi police arrested a man accused of a bomb attack on U.S.-backed neighborhood patrols in Baghdad’s Doura neighborhood, and found explosives in his possession, said Qasim Moussawi, government spokesman for security in Baghdad.

TUZ KHURMATO – The body of a man was found in Tuz Khurmato, 105 miles north of Baghdad, showing signs of torture and gunshot wounds more than a week after he was kidnapped, police said.

KIRKUK – Three policemen were wounded when a roadside bomb struck their patrol in the southern part of Kirkuk, 155 miles north of Baghdad, police said.

MOSUL – An unidentified body was found in the south of the Mosul, 240 miles north of Baghdad, with a bullet in the head, police said.

MUSSAYAB – Gunmen shot dead the leader of the Sunni “Awakening” movement in the town of Mussayab, 40 miles south of Baghdad, police said.

KIRKUK – A Kurdish security official was killed by a bomb attached to his car south of Kirkuk, 155 miles north of Baghdad, police said.

FALLUJA – A suicide bomber killed a Sunni imam on Friday night, police said.

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Other headlines

Iraq’s Christians “sacrificial lambs” as attacks mount (Reuters, Oct. 19, 2008) — The exodus of close to half of Mosul’s Christians shows the fragility of security gains, especially in areas where cultures, religions and ethnicities collide. It also raises the spectre of violence ahead of provincial elections that could alter the power balance in strategic cities like Mosul. … Full story

Iraqis raise reservations over pact with U.S. (Reuters, Oct. 19, 2008) — A pact that would allow U.S. troops to stay in Iraq for three years failed to secure the support of Iraqi political leaders on Sunday, raising doubts about whether it can survive without new negotiations. … Full story

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AFGHANISTAN UPDATE

Taliban Militants Kill 30 After Stopping Bus


October 19, 2008

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Taliban militants stopped a bus traveling on Afghanistan’s main highway through a dangerous part of the country’s south, seized about 50 people on board and killed around 30 of them, officials said Sunday.

A Taliban spokesman took responsibility for the attack but claimed to have killed 27 Afghan army soldiers. Afghan officials said no soldiers were aboard and all the victims were civilians. …

Officials offered varying death tolls from the attack, which occurred in an area where government forces cannot travel safely without heavy military protection. That may explain why news of Thursday’s killings did not emerge until Sunday. …

The Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman, Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, said 31 people were killed and that six of the dead were beheaded in a separate area from where the other 25 bodies were found. …

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said militants looked at the documents of those traveling on the bus, released all the civilians and killed only soldiers.

Taliban attacks have become increasingly lethal this year, as the militia has gained power and surged throughout southern and eastern Afghanistan. Violence in Afghanistan this year has killed more than 5,100 people — mostly militants — according to an Associated Press count of figures from Afghan and Western officials.

Full story





2 Responses to “Status of Forces Deal Stalled”
  1. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » Porkulus Bachmann Says:

    […] Write-in Campaign: Day 1 […]

  2. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » October 19, 2011 Says:

    […] Gen. Colin Powell’s Stinging Rebuke of Michele Bachmann […]

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