Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – July 17, 2003

At home and at the Kushk office, I spent the day studying. Effat, Fati, and Ali were also at Kushk for lunch.

At the border between North and South Korea, a limited clash occurred, but it ended with China's intervention. In Iraq today, there were several operations against the Americans, with casualties. A rocket was also fired at a cargo plane during its landing at Baghdad airport, but it did not hit. U.S. forces, under pressure, also withdrew from the outskirts of Fallujah.

In Najaf, Sheikh Falah La'ez, the distributor of stipends for Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Sistani, was killed by an unknown person. In Baghdad, there were demonstrations opposing the Governing Council in front of its headquarters. The new commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, who is of Lebanese descent named John Abizaid, has officially stated that a guerrilla war against the occupiers has begun in Iraq, and their operations are organized. He predicted that they would face many problems in Iraq. Rumsfeld, the Secretary of Defense, had denied the existence of a guerrilla war in Iraq a few days ago.

I read a report prepared by the Quds Force. It stated that from April 20 to June 23, in Iraq, 205 Americans have been killed and 155 wounded, with details of the location and type of operations. The Americans have also arrested hundreds of Iraqis.

The pressure from Democrats and newspapers against George W. Bush has intensified, and they consider him the cause of America's weakened oversight in the world. George Tenet, the CIA Director, also officially told Congress that he was not aware of the content of Bush's speech before it was delivered, which contradicts Bush's previous statement.

The noise from foreign media against America is also significant, and Tony Blair is in a predicament. He has gone to America, and British media say that he and Bush no longer have a real chance in elections, adding that Blair's chances are better in America than in Britain.

The case of Zahra Kazemi's death in Iran is still in the headlines. Some of the Second of Khordad figures have called for the trial of Mr. Saeed Mortazavi, the Tehran prosecutor. It is still unclear whether she was in the custody of the Ministry of Intelligence or the prosecutor's office at the time of the incident.