Free the Captives: Witness Against Illegal Detention and Torture

There was no news on Sunday February 12 of Tom Fox and the other CPT peaceworkers held captive in Iraq. In addition to the escalating death toll and specific clashes, today's reports refer to the ongoing struggle for electricity, something Tom mentioned frequently in private eMails as well as his blog.

from the Associated Press: Iraqis Remain Starved of Electricity

For many Iraqis, chronic power problems have become a litmus test of American promises of a better life without Saddam's tyranny.

Iraqis often ask why a superpower that can send thousands of soldiers, tanks and Humvees to fight a war half a world away cannot guarantee that the lights work. [...]

Baghdad, a city of nearly 7 million people, is a city starved for energy. Most streets are not lit at night, when the din of power generators fills the air. Wires connecting neighborhood generators to private homes hang over narrow alleys in poor residential areas. [...]

"Everyone dreamed of a better life after Saddam went. We wanted more electricity and a generally higher standard of living," Mutlaq said. "We are still shocked that none of our dreams came true. Nothing happened and some people even think life under Saddam was better."

The problem of electricity becomes more unbearable in summer, when temperatures soar to 120 for months. That forces many residents to sleep on their rooftops.

A Look at U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq

As of Sunday, Feb. 12, 2006, at least 2,269 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes six military civilians. At least 1,779 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers. [...]

Since May 1, 2003, when President Bush declared that major combat operations in Iraq had ended, 2,130 U.S. military members have died, according to AP's count. That includes at least 1,670 deaths resulting from hostile action, according to the military's numbers.

from: Reuters: Security incidents in Iraq, Feb 12

U.S. and Iraqi forces are battling a Sunni Arab insurgency against the Shi'ite- and Kurdish-led government in Baghdad.

RAMADI - Six insurgents were killed and another wounded on Saturday when U.S forces conducted an air strike in the city of Ramadi, 110 km (68 miles) west of Baghdad, the U.S military said on Sunday.

MUQDADIYA - Clashes between insurgents and Iraqi army soldiers conducting a raid killed one rebel in Muqdadiya, 90 km (50 miles) north east of Baghdad. The army arrested 40 suspected insurgents in the same operation.

BAGHDAD - A 53-year-old male detainee at Abu Ghraib prison died on Saturday as a result of complications from an assault by an unknown number of detainees, the U.S military said in a statement. [ more ]