Six US soldiers were killed in three separate attacks in Iraq Nov. 5, bringing the number of deaths this year to 852—and making 2007 the deadliest year of the war for US troops. The news comes days after the military announced a steep drop in the rate of US deaths this year. In October, 38 US soldiers were killed in Iraq, the lowest monthly tally since March 2006. November's total, if the current pace continues, would be higher, but still below the war's average of 69 US military deaths per month. Despite the decline, US commanders acknowledged that 2007 would be far deadlier than the second-worst year, 2004, when 849 US soldiers died. (NYT, Nov. 7) The news also comes as Congress has yet again approved war funding—reported by the NY Times Nov. 7 under misleading headline "Military Bill Approved, but Without Iraq Increase." The text reveals far greater wiggle room than the headline would indicate:

From the Iraq Freedom Congress (IFC):

Amid Passionate Revolutionary Chants, Iraq Freedom Congress Concludes First Convention with Great Success
Delegates determined to challenge serious security conditions for success of the first convention
On October 21, 2007 the first Convention of Iraq Freedom Congress was held in the city of Kirkuk, attended by many elected delegates who came from different provinces and cities of Iraq (Basra, Nasiriyah, Shatrah, Diwaniyah, Kut, Hashemite, Suwayrah, Numaniyah, Kifl, Hillah, Alexandria, Baghdad, Samarra, Tikrit, Bejee, Mosul and Kirkuk). The delegates were able to reach the conference hall despite the serious danger they could have faced on their way and the collapse of the security situation, such as booby-trapped cars, bombs and sectarian gangs...

Days after a car bomb in the normally (relatively) peaceful northern city of Kirkuk left eight dead in a Kurdish neighborhood (Reuters, Oct. 28), comes this ominous news from AlJazeera Nov. 6:

Kirkuk's Arabs paid to pack up
It is a volatile city, but one that is vital to Iraq's future, and Kirkuk is now facing its toughest test yet. Just weeks before a scheduled referendum on the city's future, Arab residents are being paid to pack up and leave.

A fascinating story from the New York Times Nov. 5. The Vatican seems to be sending an explicit message here about the need to protect Christians in Muslim lands. But note that the situation for Iraq's Christians has dramatically worsened under the US occupation. And it is very refreshing that Emmanuel III Delly refuses to cast collective guilt on his Muslim neighbors, and explicitly repudiates the logic of sectarian cleansing:

2,000-Year-Old Christian Community in Iraq Gains a Spiritual First in Baghdad
BAGHDAD — There is neither a cross nor a sign on the heavy metal gate to indicate that this is the official residence of one of the country’s most prominent Christians, the first in Iraq in modern times to be elevated to cardinal by the Roman Catholic Church.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due to meet President Bush in Washington Nov. 5 amid signs that the crisis over PKK attacks from across the Iraqi ­border has slightly eased. As Erdogan was en route to the US, the PKK released eight Turkish soldiers it had captured two weeks earlier in the incident that led to overt threats by Turkey to send troops into northern Iraq. Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, in Istanbul for talks that included UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said that "a number of concrete measures" would be implemented to address Turkish demands, including establishing checkpoints, disrupting supply routes, and the closure of any PKK offices in northern Iraq. "I can say that soon you will see these visible measures implemented on the ground in order to show the seriousness of our co-operation with the government of Turkey," Zebari pledged. (FT, Nov. 3)

by Antonia Juhasz, Oil Change International

WORLD WAR 4 REPORT editor Bill Weinberg led another modestly-attended presentation this evening about the Iraq Freedom Congress, this time at a meeting of the New York chapter of the Socialist Party USA. An announcement for the event, which featured a screening of the Japanese-produced video Go Forward Iraq Freedom Congress!, sparked this predictable exchange on the always-reliable NYC Indymedia site:

From AP, Oct. 27:

SAN FRANCISCO - Thousands of people called for a swift end to the war in Iraq as they marched through downtown on Saturday, chanting and carrying signs that read: "Wall Street Gets Rich, Iraqis and GIs Die" or "Drop Tuition Not Bombs."