Siun

Last week, Maliki and his cronies were blocked by Sadr’s fighters. This week, US forces are taking their place, maintaining a siege force around Sadr City and attempting to defeat Sadr’s Mahdi army with both air strikes and sweeps into this Baghdad nationalist stronghold. Reports of air strikes on Sadr City neighborhoods appear daily in Iraqi sources but get almost no attention here – and the civilian death toll mounts.

The media this morning was full of announcements that Moqtada Al-Sadr had declared a cease fire or asked his troops to stop fighting (and I'm sure George, Dick and McSame cheered that news) but this afternoon they seem to have noticed that Al Sadr’s statement is more “nuanced.”

George Bush is quite happy with his buddy Maliki but Al Sadr may have a few things to say as well.

Basrah Update Midday March 25 2008 -- There is very heavy fighting in the city. The streets are almost empty of civilians and civilian traffic. All our correspondents in the city say there are many columns of smoke in the city and the sounds of explosions and machine gun fire. One local source in the teaching hospital says that many have been wounded.

Or should we say 17 years as Col. Daniel Smith, U.S. Army (Ret.) reminds us this week? However we count this anniversary, we finish a week in which we approach the 4,000 mark for dead American soldiers. How many Iraqis have died during our invasion and subjugation of their country is unknown – dead Iraqis are not counted by our media or our leaders.

Progressive Congressional Challengers open a new national discussion on Iraq - is this our "Contract for America?" Join the discussion here and at ResponsiblePlan.com.

This weekend has seen an extraordinary gathering at the National Labor College - Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan. Just as so many brave soldiers of the Vietnam war raised their voices to tell us of the realities of that war, today brave veterans are giving voice to both their experiences and their opposition of the current occupation and war. WarComesHome.org has a full archive of the testimony.

Yesterday was International Women's Day and it has not been a good year for the women of Iraq. As Dahr Jamail noted this week: "Iraq, where women once had more rights and freedom than most others in the Arab world, has turned deadly for women who dream of education and a professional career. Stronger Women, Stronger Nations: 2008 Iraq Report, a new report from Women to Women, provides the most detailed information on this "deadly" reality. You can download and read the full report here.

"Collective punishment" is the name of the game, in both Gaza and in Iraq. The video clip above provides just a taste of what this looks like from inside Palestinian neighborhoods. Yesterday alone at least 60 Palestinians were reported killed in the latest Israeli attacks on Gaza.

The ONE campaign needs our help to engage the next president on the needs of people in Africa which BushCo has been trying to make the next front in the war for oil. Meanwhile, the air war in Iraq and Afghanistan continues and the NYT tells that story from the viewpoint of US troops in the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan.