Silent but Deadly in Ramadi posted by Richard Seymour

In a drawn out repeat of the Fallujah assault, residents have been fleeing Ramadi city in droves, anticipating a massive US assault. The city has been cordoned off, with aerial assaults being perpetrated with increasing frequency on residential areas. The city has for months suffered from US-led assaults, in which the occupiers have shut off water and electricity in violation of Geneva Conventions (the usual). We've seen similar assaults before in Tal Afar, Haditha and al-Qaim, where civilians have been repeatedly targeted. (In each of these assaults, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his crew were said to be present and - guess what? - Zarqawi's group and some 'foreign fighters' are said to be hanging around in Ramadi).

The fighting has already begun, but a massive assault is expected due to the recent arrival of thousands of US troops.

Somehow this has entirely slipped under the radar of most news outlets: the BBC has not a single mention of it that I can find. It isn't on ITN, and the Guardian mentions it only in passing. The New York Times has nothing, and the Washington Post mentions it only as a footnote to a an alleged 'warning' from Zarqawi's group that they are going to pursue some attacks. One of the top stories from the BBC today is the news that 'al-Qaeda in Iraq' have nominated a new leader, and kindly disseminated his name via a press release: Abu Hamza al-Mujahir. Bush says he will be a target, of course, and one assumes he will therefore prove as mobile and omnipresent as his dead predecessor. A sort of Agent Smith character, he will enter the bodies of civilians at a moment's notice, slip from location to location, person to person, thus providing carte blanche to wipe out everyone, everywhere. Well, she may look like a dead child, but she was an Al-Qaeda leader a minute ago!

Oh, and by the way - want to know why the BBC considers Wayne Rooney's foot more important than CIA torture?