Author: Gunner

Not much to say to this other than “Yikes!”

About 660 soldiers were found to have contracted the leishmaniasis parasite since US troops launched operations in Iraq in March 2003, said Colonel Naomi Arenson, an expert on the disease at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

The cases found in Iraq are all of cutaneous leishmaniasis, which is seldom lethal, and usually heals over time but can leave significant scarring.

If left untreated, simple skin sores in rare cases can spread to the nose and mouth.

The number of victims is likely to rise in coming weeks, she told AFP on the sidelines of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene’s annual conference.

“This is about the season when we start seeing cases,” she said.

She nevertheless expects the number of new cases to drop as a result of better troop facilities, including air-conditioned barracks sealed to keep out flies, as well as education on the risks of diseases.

Since the parasite causes open sores the main risk is that victims could suffer secondary infections, said Arenson.

Caution was particularly important in the field, where troops often can’t bathe regularly.

She said the parasite’s presence also affects morale, with soldiers worried at “the concept of having parasites in their bodies.”

The most severe cases from Iraq are sent to the Walter Reed hospital, located just outside Washington, for treatment. But US forces have recently set up facilities for basic treatment in Baghdad and Kuwait.

….

Leishmaniasis is spread by infected sand-flies, and is endemic in some tropical and subtropical areas including Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan (news – web sites).

Arenson said fewer than 10 cases have been recorded among US troops in Afghanistan.

So far there have been no reports of US troops in Iraq or Afghanistan being infected with visceral leishmaniasis, which can cause severe damage to some of the body’s internal organs, including the spleen, liver and bone marrow.

On the bright side, I guess, is the fact that this is relatively minor compared to malaria, the “leading cause of casualties among U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War and in the Pacific region during World War II” [source]. Don’t bother to tell that so-called bright side to those suffering this affliction, however. Our troops courageously go into theater willingly knowing they may have to sacrifice; few envision this kind of crap. War is hell, even on the microbial level.

Here’s two little tidbits for y’all, in case you were doubting the efforts of the US and its allies to date.

Arab League head demands weapons free Middle East

Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa called for all Middle East leaders to commit their nations to a WMD- and nuclear-free future.

“Security in the Middle East depends on an agreement among all members of that region to build a zone free of WMD (weapons of mass destruction), nuclear weapons, as well as other types of those destructive weapons,” Mussa said during a visit to Madrid.

“If there is an exception to the rule, the whole work would be useless. All countries should adhere to the NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) and the only country in the region that has not joined is Israel.

“All countries should commit themselves not to develop nuclear weapons. All countries with no exception should be party to this,” Mussa insisted.

“If one country is allowed to have those weapons … it won’t work, because we feel threatened by all WMD coming from whatever direction. We find no reason, no logic, for us to accept that all countries join the NPT with the exception of one,” Mussa said.

“One exception will open the doors for an arms race. If not today, it will be tomorrow,” Mussa concluded, explicitly including North Africa, Iran and Turkey in his vision for a weapons-free region.

This move is assuredly a result of the recent diplomacy by Libya and the subsequent rewards the country has gained. Libya’s move was just as assuredly a response to the demise of Saddam Hussein’s dastardly hold on Iraq.

Much good could come from this call to the Arab League, but it could all be made worthless if a similar move by Israel ever becomes a stipulation.

Al Qaeda ‘To Disintegrate’ in 2 Years – UK Adviser

Al Qaeda will begin to disintegrate within two years as its various factions start to squabble and militants return to their local roots, a senior British parliamentary adviser predicted on Wednesday.

Professor Michael Clarke, a specialist adviser to lawmakers on the House of Commons defense committee, said the consequence would be that the security services would be able to win the “war on terror” as the group’s structure fell apart.

“I think (cracks) are going to start to appear in the next 12 months to two years,” he told Reuters at a security conference in London.

“It’s going to start to fragment and split up,” he said.

Clarke said he envisaged the network breaking down into smaller, disparate cells which would be more easily infiltrated and dealt with, bringing an end to the group’s ability to carry out major attacks along the lines of the Sept. 11 attacks

“Terrorism will go back to being about more local issues. It will be reduced to a level which people can live with,” he said.

Al Qaeda’s pyramid structure — with Osama bin Laden and about 30 associates at its head spreading out to a loose franchise of affiliated networks — would begin to prove a major weakness when it was once a strength, he said.

Groups associated with al Qaeda across the world, such as those in southeast Asia, would start to pursue their local agendas, he added.

Clarke pointed to Iraq, where Baathist supporters of deposed president Saddam Hussein were fighting alongside foreign Jihadists linked to al Qaeda although the groups had nothing in common.

Ultimately the Baathists would go their own way and pyramid would be weakened.

Clarke noted that even association with bin Laden’s network had proved damaging to the cause of other militants such as Chechen separatists.

Clarke, director of the International Policy Institute at London’s King’s College, said this would be fueled further as the “glamour” surrounding bin Laden started to wear off and political in-fighting took hold.

“Whenever you get a general movement, people will vie for prominence and that’s what I think is the next stage,” he said.

He said a major failing of al Qaeda was its complete misunderstanding of western society and the belief it could terrorize governments into achieving their aims.

“They are not going to frighten Western society out of policies, they are not going to bring down the House of Saud, their first real objective, by terrorism,” he said.

“They can cause great inconvenience but they can’t damage them in the way they think they can.”

While I agree with and find hope in much of this assessment, I have a fundamental problem with the following portion:

“Terrorism will go back to being about more local issues. It will be reduced to a level which people can live with,” he said.

The war against Islamist terror is not a war against al Qaeda exclusively, nor has it ever been. For it to be so would be folly. The disintegration of al Qaeda would truly be a great victory, and it may lead to eventual success, but the war against the Islamist bastards ain’t over until the atmosphere that allowed the likes of Osama bin Laden to gather such a following is gone. That will not happen until the world of Islam sees a major cultural shift. That is the hope of President Bush’s shining Arab city on the hill that Iraq could become.

If you care to read what the Islamic world is hearing, apparently resistance in Fallujah is so stout that the US has turned to employing WMDs.

US troops are reportedly using chemical weapons and poisonous gas in its large-scale offensive on the Iraqi resistance bastion of Fallujah, a grim reminder of Saddam Hussein’s alleged gassing of the Kurds in1988 .

“The US occupation troops are gassing resistance fighters and confronting them with internationally-banned chemical weapons,” resistance sources told Al-Quds Press Wednesday, November10 .

The fatal weapons led to the deaths of tens of innocent civilians, whose bodies litter sidewalks and streets, they added.

“They use chemical weapons out of despair and helplessness in the face of the steadfast and fierce resistance put up by Fallujah people, who drove US troops out of several districts, hoisting proudly Iraqi flags on them. Resistance has also managed to destroy and set fire to a large number of US tanks and vehicles.

“The US troops have sprayed chemical and nerve gases on resistance fighters, turning them hysteric in a heartbreaking scene,” an Iraqi doctor, who requested anonymity, told Al-Quds Press.

….

The sources said that the media blackout, the banning of Al-Jazeera satellite channel and subjective embedded journalists played well into the hands of the US military.

“Therefore, US troops opted for using internationally banned weapons to soften the praiseworthy resistance of Fallujah people.

“More and more, the US military edits and censors reports sent by embedded journalists to their respective newspapers and news agencies,” the sources added.

Iraqi Defense Minister Hazem Al-Shaalan had said Tuesday, November9 , would be decisive.

“Al-Shaalan declaration meant nothing but the use of chemical weapons and poisonous gases to down Fallujah fighters,” observers told Al-Quds Press.

The reported gassing stands as a grim reminder of Saddam Hussein’s alleged gassing of the Kurdish community in the northern city of Halbja in 1988 .

While the West insisted that Saddam was the one behind the heinous attack, the ousted president pointed fingers at the then Iranian regime.

Ummmm … okay. I’m going to side with the story that the terrorists are getting their collective Fallujah-asses handed to them. Unfortunately, so many in the Arab world will believe this tripe.

UPDATE: With the news of Arafat’s death, the Arab world will quite possibly bury their own Fallujah propaganda in the coming days with a loving devotion to Palestinian terrorist el numero uno.

It looks like things are progressing as planned, if not better, for the coalition forces in Fallujah.

The top US commander in Iraq, General George Casey, has told US President George W. Bush that his troops are “making very good progress” securing Iraq, as American forces and their Iraqi allies paralysed insurgent forces in Fallujah and cut off their escape routes from the city.

“He said that things are going well in Fallujah,” Mr Bush said on a day when US forces cornered insurgents after a swift advance that seized control of 70 per cent of the militant stronghold.

….

The senior US Marine commander there said Wednesday echoed that message.

“We are comfortable that they are not able to communicate, to work out any coordination,” Lieutenant General John Sattler said of Fallujah’s insurgents. “They are now in small pockets, blind, moving about the city. We will continue to hunt them down and destroy them.”

….

Lt-Gen Sattler, appearing with a senior Iraqi general, declined to discuss the positions and strategy of the American and Iraqi forces still fighting in Fallujah. But he said they have followed their battle plan and left the remaining insurgents with no good options.

“When they attempted to flee from one zone to another they were killed,” Lt-Gen Sattler said. “We feel very comfortable that none of them moved back toward the north or escaped on the flanks.”

Major General Abdul Qader Mohammed Jassem Mohan, speaking through an interpreter, said it was “possible but unlikely” that any insurgents had escaped in the days since the city was sealed off. Asked to describe the fighting tactics of the insurgents, he replied, “They have no tactics.”

The US military and the interim Iraqi government are eager to put an Iraqi face on the Fallujah offensive. In addition to letting the Iraqi general take the lead in responding to reporters’ questions, officials showed a video of Iraqi soldiers in Fallujah hoisting an Iraqi flag and singing the Iraqi national anthem.

Lt-Gen Sattler declined to specify how many US and Iraqi troops had been killed and wounded in the fighting.

“They would be catalogued as light at this time,” he said, adding that to be more specific would provide the insurgents with potentially useful information about the effectiveness of their tactics.

Both Lt-Gen Sattler and the Iraqi general expressed confidence the Fallujah offensive would restore order in that hotbed of Sunni resistance, but they cautioned that much fighting remained.

Along with this progress, evidence of the terrorist atrocities is being uncovered in the wake of the advance.

Iraqi forces fighting alongside US troops in Fallujah yesterday claimed to have found the houses in which civilian hostages were held by militants and beheaded in front of a camera.

Iraqi troops found video disks with recordings of the killings, the black clothes worn by militants in the videos and records of the names of hostages, Major-General Abdel Qadir Jassem said. “We have found hostage slaughterhouses in Fallujah that were used by these people,” said General Jassem, who has just been named military governor of Fallujah by the US-appointed Iraqi Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi.

Although General Jassem said records of prisoners’ names had been found, he could not say whether information had been uncovered about the humanitarian worker, Margaret Hassan,held since 19 October, or the two French journalists Georges Malbrunot and Christian Chesnot, held since 21 August.

General Jassem said that records of “hundreds” of prisoners had been found. At least 28 foreigners are known to be held and 38 are known to have been killed. But Iraqis have been abducted and killed in much higher numbers.

The beheadings of hostages have become the most haunting image of what is unfolding in Iraq. Although most television networks, both Western and Arab, have refused to show the grotesque execution videos, they are widely available on the Internet and thousands of Westerners have watched them.

Since the first video was released, of the American contractor Nick Berg being beheaded with a knife, there has been a steady stream of similar videos. At least 38 foreign hostages have been killed in Iraq. Although some were shot, many have been beheaded on camera, including the British hostage Kenneth Bigley.

It was the beheadings, more than anything else, that forced the Americans’ hand into going into Fallujah. The last aid agencies were leaving and any effort at reconstruction was impossible with contractors facing abuction and murder.

All this evidence does is show how important it is to continually press the evil Islamists until they reach their breaking point.