Operation Iraqi Freedom/External links: Year Two (April 11 through April 30, 2004)

This article is part of SourceWatch and Congresspedia coverage of the Bush administration's war in Iraq

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Operation Iraqi Freedom

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External articles (has links to sub-articles) Related SourceWatch articles Congressional actions on the Iraq War Daily & current news updates Exit Strategy from Iraq Friedman (Iraq War time unit) Iraq Coalition casualty statistics Iraqi casualties Military and political dissent Selling the war at home Bloggers' Roundtable Freedom's Watch Iraq Communications Desk Vets for Freedom Stay the course return on success Troop surge in Iraq Sen. John McCain and the surge The Petraeus Report Testimony U.S. military readiness Violence in the Middle East

This file covers Operation Iraqi Freedom: Year Two for the period April 11 through April 30, 2004.

• For more Year Two links see:

• Operation Iraqi Freedom: Year Two (March 19, 2004 through April 10, 2004)
• Operation Iraqi Freedom: Year Two (May 2004)
• Operation Iraqi Freedom: Year Two (June 2004)

Also see Task Bar for more links.

Many of the articles which follow are related to the Shiite Muslim uprising in Iraq. Also see Iraqi unified resistance.

April 11-30, 2004

• "One of Those Countries...," Baghdad Burning, April 11, 2004: "Baghdad is calm and relatively quiet if you don't count the frequent explosions."
• Catherine Hours, "Waking up to body bags," The Age (Australia), April 11, 2004: "The taboo against media coverage of US war casualties has broken down." See visually disturbing Photograph published by BartCop and posted by the Democratic Underground, March 12, 2004.
• "Slain soldier's family is bitter," AP, April 11, 2004.
• James Drummond and Peter Spiegel, "Abizaid seeks more combat troops for Iraq," Financial Times, April 12, 2004 (updated April 13, 2004).
• Jay Bookman, "Come Clean, or Risk Repeat of Vietnam," Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 12, 2004.
• "Comparing Iraq and Vietnam," Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin), April 12, 2004.
• James Harding, "US military turns to Saddam's ex-officers," Financial Times, April 13, 2004.
• Gordon Adams, "Quagmire quotient," Baltimore Sun, April 13, 2004.
• Barry Schweid, "Negroponte May Become Baghdad Ambassador," AP, April 13, 2004.
• Robert Burns, "83 U.S. Troops Killed in Iraq in April," AP, April 13, 2004.
• Jennifer Loven, "Bush Says More Troops May Deploy to Iraq," AP, April 14, 2004.
• Philippine President Gloria Arroyo "says Philippines may pull out troops from Iraq," AFP, April 14, 2004.
• Thomas E. Ricks, "Insurgents Display New Sophistication. Campaign Leaves Bridges Heavily Damaged, Hampering Military's Push South," Washington Post, April 14, 2004.
• Christina Asquith, "Refugees tell of rising anger in Fallujah. A fragile, four-day cease-fire still in place as of Tuesday," Christian Science Monitor, April 14, 2004.
• Patrick Cockburn, "A nervous Baghdad battens down the hatches as US patrols bring in the tanks," Independent/UK, April 14, 2004.
• Dave Moniz and Tom Squitieri, "Bush open to more troops, but critics say it may not help," USA Today, April 14, 2004.
• "Foreigners urged to quit Iraq," The Australian, April 14, 2004.
• Patrick J. Buchanan, "Soldier on, escalate or get out?," WorldNetDaily, April 14, 2004.
• Karen Kwiatkowski, "Without Reservation. An Honest Appraisal, and the Way Ahead," Military Week, April 14, 2004.
• Dick Morris, "The third way in Iraq and the war on terror," The Hill, April 14, 2004.
• Jonathan Steele, "Plenty of jostling behind the scenes as Pentagon insists showdown must go on. US says silent majority wants no part of 'thuggery'," Guardian/UK, April 14, 2004.
• Gleb Bryanski, "Iraq Cleric Offers Peace Talks; U.S. Forces Poised," Reuters, April 14, 2004.
• Khaled Yacoub Oweis, "Sadr Envoy Says Expects Solution Soon with U.S.," Reuters, April 14, 2004.
• "Troops gather for showdown with al-Sadr," The Scotsman, April 14, 2004.
• Gleb Bryanski, "Sadr offers talks with US to avoid Najaf bloodbath," The Scotsman, April 15, 2004.
• Juan Cole, "Muqtada Agrees to Dissolve Militia, May go into temporary exile in Iran," juancole.com, April 15, 2004.
• John F. Burns, "Iranians in Iraq to Help in Talks on Rebel Cleric," New York Times, April 15, 2004.
• Sewell Chan, "10 GIs Die in Attacks In Iraq. Spain's New Leader Orders Withdrawal," Washington Post, April 19, 2004. Also see Juan Navarro, "Spain Says Iraq Troops Home in Less Than 6 Weeks," Reuters, and coalition of the willing: beginning of the end for more details.
• "Gov't: U.S. Death Toll in Iraq Tops 700," AP, April 19, 2004: " ... and the number wounded in action has topped 3,600.
• Hal Bernton, "The somber task of honoring the fallen," Seattle Times, April 19, 2004.
• "Honduras rushes to pull out troops," CNN, April 19, 2004. Also see Gustavo Palencia, "Honduras to Pull Its Troops Out of Iraq," Reuters.
• Bill Kaufman, "Calamity George. Bush harbours no worries because God's on his side," Calgary Sun, April 19, 2004.
• Alissa J. Rubin, "Carnage Dims Hopes for Political Way in Iraq," Los Angeles Times, April 19, 2004.
• Tom Englehart, Re "Mike Davis on the Pentagon's urban war planning," Tom Dispatch, April 19, 2004: This is the Iraqi 'quagmire' that they most feared in their still Vietnam-saturated strategic thinking.
• As many as 800 "U.S. Army troops found radioactive," Washington Times, April 19, 2004.
• "99 U.S. soldiers in Iraq killed in April," AP, April 19, 2004.
• "Americans Squirm as U.S. Death Toll in Iraq Surges," Reuters, April 20, 2004: "The death toll in the first three weeks of April has about matched the 109 killed in combat from the March 2003 start of the invasion until President Bush declared an end to 'major combat' operations six weeks later. Bush made that declaration aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln standing in front of a banner stating, 'Mission Accomplished'."
• Phil Kelbie, "British troops 'may have to stay 10 years to keep order'," Independent/UK, April 20, 2004.
• Thom Shanker and David E. Sanger, "Pentagon Drafts Iraq Troop Plan to Meet Violence," New York Times, April 21, 2004.
• Derrick Z. Jackson, "Rumsfeld's 'fungible' facts," Boston Globe, April 21, 2004.
• Robert O. Boostin, "Memorandum: The Real Experts on Iraq. Generals Shinseki, Zinni Speak Out On Iraq Post-War Plans," Center for American Progress, April 21, 2004.
• James Glanz, "Violence in Iraq Forces 2 Big Contractors to Curb Work," New York Times, April 22, 2004.
• Molly Ivins, "Fantasyland of the free. Is Bush in hock to the Saudis? Plus, more reaction on that nutty press conference," Working for Change, April 22, 2004: "According to the RAND Corporation think tank study on peacekeeping, we would need 500,000 troops in Iraq just to provide security. Guess what? We don't have 'em. We're stuck big time. It may not be Vietnam, but it's sure a quagmire."
• "The Case for Leaving Iraq Pronto," Business Week, April 23, 2004.
• Robert Burns, "Number of U.S. Troops Hurt in Iraq Jumps," AP, April 23, 2004: "... 3,864 troops have been wounded in action since the war began in March 2003, an increase of 595 from two weeks earlier. ... U.S. military death toll as of Friday stood at 707.
• Melinda Liu, "Mean Streets. Inside the brutal battle of Sadr City. As a venue for urban warfare, this is as bad as it gets," Newsweek, April 24, 2004.
• Jim Krane, "Four U.S. GIs Die in Iraq Rocket Attack," AP, April 24, 2004.
• Eric Schmitt, "General Says He May Ask for More Troops," New York Times, April 24, 2004.
• "At least 47 dead, 75 hurt in Iraq violence," sify.com, April 25, 2004.
• "Troops likely to move into holy city of Najaf. Shiite leaders warn of backlash; U.S. patrols to begin in Fallujah," AP, April 25, 2004.
• James Sterngold, "Why he quit: Former senior Coalition adviser (Larry Diamond) says Iraq spinning out of control," San Francisco Chronicle, April 25, 2004.
• Brian Knowlton, "U.N. Envoy Warns U.S. 'Tread Carefully' in Iraq," New York Times, April 25, 2004: "The United Nations' special envoy to Iraq (Lakhdar Brahimi) strongly warned the United States today against using military force in Falluja or Najaf, two Iraqi cities where tense standoffs continued through the weekend between American forces and heavily armed resistance groups. ... and said that sending tanks into the holy city of Najaf in the south 'is not the right thing to do.' In such situations, he added, 'there is no military solution.'"
• Karl Vick, "U.S. Shifts Position on Fallujah," Washington Post, April 25, 2004.
• John F. Burns, "Attack on Market and a Roadside Bombing Kill 28 Iraqis," New York Times, April 26, 2004: "At least nine American soldiers and sailors were killed in three separate insurgent attacks, and a marine died of wounds suffered 10 days ago. The deaths brought the total number of American soldiers killed so far in April to 111."
• William Rivers Pitt, "Falluja, Najaf and the First Law of Holes," Truthout, April 26, 2004: "Anyone who believes that April has been the cruelest month of this Iraq war - 111 Americans killed with the total dead now at 718, hundreds upon hundreds of Iraqi civilians killed - should gird themselves for the reality that the worst, the very worst, the unimaginably awful, is still yet to come. ... Anyone who thinks Iraq is a bad situation now should reserve judgment until the end of this week. George W. Bush and his crew have clearly forgotten the First Law of Holes: When you find yourself deep in a hole, stop digging. If this is what Bush meant when he talked about "changing the world" in his recent prime-time press conference, we are all in a great deal of trouble."
• "It's Time To Shelve The Rumsfeld Doctrine. Too few soldiers and no exit plan have led to upheaval in Iraq," Business Week, April 26, 2004 (Edition).
• "UK could send more troops to Iraq," Guardian/UK, April 26, 2004: "Up to 2,000 extra British troops could be sent to Iraq to fill the gaps left by Spain's departing soldiers, it was reported today."
• "1/4 of G.I. Deaths from Armor Lack," according to Newsweek, Defense Tech, April 26, 2004.
• "Iraqis: US using cluster bombs in Fallujah,", AP, April 26, 2004.
• Karl Vick, Rajiv Chandrasekaran and Fred Barbash, "Firefights Erupt in Fallujah, Najaf. Two Soldiers Killed in Baghdad Building Explosion," Washington Post, April 26, 2004.
• Jan Schakowsky, "Schakowsky Reacts to Report Suggesting that the Death of 'One in Four' Soldiers in Iraq Could Have Been Prevented," BuzzFlash, April 27, 2004.
• Karl Vick, "The Lasting Wounds of War. Roadside Bombs Have Devastated Troops and Doctors Who Treat Them," Washington Post, April 27, 2004.
• John F. Burns, "U.S. hits Fallujah mosque. Gunships, tanks battle insurgents," New York Times, April 27, 2004.
• Bassem Mroue, "U.S. Kills Scores of Insurgents in Najaf," AP, April 27, 2004: "... killing 64 gunmen and destroying an anti-aircraft gun belonging to the insurgents, the U.S. military said Tuesday."
• Karl Vick, "More troops suffering severe head wounds. Injuries prove devastating for doctors, too," Washington Post, April 27, 2004.
• Matt Bivens, "When Life is Cheap," The Nation, April 28, 2004.
• Billmon, "Vietnam on Crack," Whiskey Bar, April 28, 2004.
• Sean Aday, "The G-Rated War. The media have covered up the casualties - and we've got the data to prove it," The Gadflyer, April 29, 2004.
• "Abuse Of Iraqi POWs By GIs Probed," CBS News, April 29, 2004.
• Carl Hulse, "An Illustrated Guide to Chickenhawks," New York Times, April 29, 2004: "In a take-no-prisoners display," Senator Frank R. Lautenberg "lashed out at Republicans critical of Mr. Kerry, calling them chickenhawks." Article contains link to lengthy video of Lautenberg's speech in the Senate.
• Richard W. Stevenson and Janet Elder, "Support for War Is Down Sharply, Poll Concludes," New York Times, April 29, 2004.
• "Bush Blasts Abuse Of Iraqi POWs," CBS News/AP, April 30, 2004.
• Deborah Zabarenko, "Iraq Torture Images Vie with Photos of U.S. War Dead," Reuters, April 30, 2004: "Images of naked Iraqi prisoners, piled in a pyramid before grinning U.S. soldiers, shocked the world but they were supplanted in American media on Friday by pictures of military casualties at the end of the war's deadliest month."
• Rajiv Chandrasekaran, "Marines Plan Handoff To Militia in Fallujah. Car Bomb Kills 8 Soldiers in Baghdad Suburb," Washington Post, April 30, 2004.
• Bill Berkowitz, "The Military's Mounting Mental Health Problems," AlterNet, April 30, 2004.
• "A Daily Look at U.S. Iraq Military Deaths," AP, April 30, 2004: "As of Friday, April 30, 732 U.S. service members have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq last year, according to the Department of Defense. Of those, 530 died as a result of hostile action and 202 died of non-hostile causes."
• William Scott Malone, "The General and the Journalists," Media Channel/NavySeals.com, April 30, 2004: "... in a little noted announcement at the end of the program, Dan Rather, amongst other things, the Managing Editor of CBS News, made a statement that was perhaps even more extraordinary:

"Two weeks ago, 60 Minutes II received an appeal from the Defense Department, and eventually from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard Myers, to delay this broadcast -- given the danger and tension on the ground in Iraq. 60 Minutes II decided to honor that request, while pressing for the Defense Department to add its perspective to the incidents at Abu Ghraib prison. This week, with the photos beginning to circulate elsewhere, and with other journalists about to publish their versions of the story, the Defense Department agreed to cooperate in our report. ... In many ways, this part of the story is much more intriguing. It is a tale of 'high-politics' between significant members of the media and significant officials at the Pentagon."