Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – July 4, 2003

At home, I read parts of the deliberations of the Revolutionary Council. At noon, a group of the children came. In the evening, Mehdi and his children came. I was somewhat familiar with Yasin, Mehdi's son. In Iraq, the problems for America and Britain are increasing day by day. U.S. military commanders have admitted that in 45 days, more than 500 operations have been carried out against Americans, and yesterday 10 Americans were killed. Today, they also had several killed and wounded. They claim that these operations are carried out by remnants of the Ba'athists.

They have assigned 25,000 troops to suppress the insurgents. They conduct house-to-house searches with brutality and roughness, which has itself caused further resentment among the Iraqi people and additional clashes. Official polls at the University of Maryland indicate that 52% of Americans are dissatisfied with U.S. policy in Iraq and fear American casualties.

Democratic rivals of George Bush mock his statements from two days ago. Today, Americans killed 11 Iraqis in Baghdad and were forced to release Sheikh Ali Abdul Karim Madani, a Shia cleric they had arrested in Baqubah, in the face of demonstrations by thousands of Iraqis.

The Polish Foreign Minister, Władysław Bartoszewski, has stated that Poland is cooperating with the U.S. in maintaining security in Iraq to gain access to its oil resources. Poland is set to take command of 10,000 troops from countries that have agreed to send forces to Iraq. The UN Special Representative for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, has declared that the conduct of the U.S. and Britain in Iraq violates human rights standards and the duties of an occupying power. In Britain, Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's senior advisor, has admitted that documents regarding Iraq's possession of weapons of mass destruction were manipulated and that a student's thesis from 12 years ago on Iraq's weapons was used.

In Afghanistan today, several Americans were also killed and wounded. The dispute within the EU over Berlusconi's statements in the European Parliament continues, and he is again being called upon to apologize. In France, following the conditional release of MKO leaders, the head of French security stated that this does not mean they are exonerated and that investigations are ongoing, but socialists have strongly criticized the government's handling of their arrest and release.

Today, an explosion at the Friday prayers of Shia Muslims in Quetta, Pakistan, killed 30 and wounded 10.