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=========================================== GRANMA INTERNATIONAL Havana Cuba September 17, 2004 http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2004/septiembre/vier17/39lies.html Washington lying as to number of casualties in Iraq. Baghdad rocked by bombs. Possible civil war NEW YORK, September 16.- The Pentagon is concealing the real figure of soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, affirmed media channels who are claiming that close to 17,000 evacuations for medical reasons do not appear in Defense Department reports, according to PL. The Pentagon has officially announced 1,019 deaths and 7,246 soldiers injured during the war in and occupation of Iraq, but reports from the press and veterans of other conflicts believe that thousands of troops evacuated from combat lines have not been included on the lists of victims. The Pentagon has been accused of lying as to the real number of casualties, including those related to mental health problems suffered whilst on the frontline, especially more than 20 that resulted in suicide. The U.S. press itself is reluctant to cover the subject, particularly concerning those ex-servicemen and women who have already returned to their home towns and cities in the United States. BAGHDAD ROCKED BY BOMB BLASTS Meanwhile, DPA reports that two powerful bombs have exploded in the center of Baghdad, the first behind a restaurant in Saadun Street, a busy thoroughfare in the capital, which left several people dead, according to a spokesperson for the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior in a statement to the Arab television network Al Jazeera. According to witnesses, the resistance attacked a U.S. convoy and set one of the military vehicles alight in Jan Dahri neighborhood, some 35 kilometers west of Baghdad. A reporter from the Al Arabiya network said that three marines were killed yesterday in the province of Al Anbar, to the west of Baghdad. IRAQ IS DIFFICULT TO PACIFY At the same time, PL also reported that, despite the triumphalism of President George W. Bush, the White House is coming to the conclusion that the chances of pacifying Iraq are increasingly remote, according to an article in The New York Times. A classified document presented to the president at the end of July indicates that the U.S. government is becoming increasingly pessimistic over reconciling Iraq, in spite of the formal handing over of sovereignty to the compliant authorities, says The Times. The text, drawn up by the intelligence services, does not even rule out the possibility of a civil war in that country, previously one of the world's major oil exporters. Meanwhile, EFE reports that the British and U.S. embassies confirmed today the kidnapping of one Briton and two U.S. citizens, captured without firing a single shot whilst they were entering their residence in Baghdad. The three hostages, employed by a construction company whose headquarters is in the Middle East, were accosted at dawn by a group of armed men who were hiding in the garden of the house and taken off to an unknown location. Besides this incident, the Swedish foreign minister said that he feared that three Swedish nationals, of whom there has been no news for several days, may also have been kidnapped in Iraq. MORE MONEY FOR IRAQ WAR Today The Washington Post reported that the government of Iraq has asked Congress to increase funds for urgent security needs to the detriment of reconstruction work in that country, cited PL. The George W. Bush administration is planning to use $3.5 billion dollars that had been allocated to water, sewage and electricity infrastructures in order to attend to urgent problems of security, added the daily. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/VL0olB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Peruuta ryhm�n tilaus l�hett�m�ll� s�hk�postia osoitteeseen: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kominform2/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
