“[I]t was systematic sectarian cleansing that drove the killing to its most frenzied point, making December 2006 the worst month of the war [in Iraq], according to the reports, with about 3,800 civilians killed, roughly equal to the past seven years of murders in New York City. A total of about 1,300 police officers, insurgents […]
Category: quotes
12/30/2006
“Saddam Hussein, the dictator who led Iraq through three decades of brutality, war and bombast before American forces chased him from his capital city and captured him in a filthy pit near his hometown, was hanged just before dawn Saturday [December 30, 2006] during the morning call to prayer.” – Marc Santora, James Glanz, and […]
12/30/2006
“Before dawn on the morning of Saturday, December 30 [2006], Saddam Hussein was taken to the former headquarters of the Iraqi military intelligence service. As an official read aloud his death sentence, he interrupted, ‘Long live the people, long live jihad, and long live the nation.’ He added, ‘Down with the Persians and the Americans.’ […]
12/30/2006
In Iraq, on December 30, 2006, Saddam Hussein “was hanged in a dank and rancid execution room in the former headquarters of the Istikhbarat, the military intelligence services in the Kadhimain area, a site chosen for its symbolic significance. …The official version of the execution showed a subdued Saddam quietly mounting the gallows. However, a […]
12/30/2006
“The execution [of Saddam Hussein] was carried out on December 30 [2006].” – Andrew Langley, Bush, Blair, and Iraq: Days of Decision, Page 38 […]
12/26/2006
On December 26, 2006, Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE) discussed his thoughts regarding a troop surge in Iraq: ” ‘I totally oppose the surging of additional troops into Baghdad, and I think it is contrary to the overwhelming body of informed opinion, both people inside the [Bush] administration and outside the administration,’ he said.” – Thomas […]
12/26/2006
On December 26, 2006, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Richard Boucher, said “that the Taliban were using regions of Pakistan ‘for sanctuary and for command and control and for regrouping and supply.’ ” – Ahmed Rashid, Descent Into Chaos, Page 370 […]
12/23/2006
On December 23, 2006, “Mullah Akhtar Usmani, former Taliban corps commander, [was] killed in an airstrike in Helmand [Afghanistan].” – Ahmed Rashid, Taliban, Page 269 […]
12/20/2006
During an interview conducted by author Barton Gellman on December 20, 2006, Aaron Friedberg, a Princeton professor of international relations who consulted for Vice President Dick Cheney, commented on Cheney’s formulation of Iraq policy, saying: “part of Cheney’s calculation was to show ‘we were able and willing to strike at someone. That sends a very […]
12/19/2006
On December 19, 2006, “President Bush said for the first time, ‘We’re not winning, we’re not losing in Iraq’–a striking turnaround from his formulation the previous month.” – Thomas E. Ricks, The Gamble, Page 115 […]