June 25, 2005

Opposition fighters destroyed at least two oil pipelines yesterday. The os Angeles Times Reported "Saboteurs blew up a crucial pipeline leading from the northern Iraq city of Kirkuk to Turkey. An official at the state-owned oil company said it would take two days to douse the flame and repair the pipeline."
The second, pictured below, was a crude oil pipeline in Yussifiyah. According to Al-Jazeera (quoting government sources), "The pipeline carries crude from the southern fields around Basra to the large refinery and power plant complex in Dura in southern Baghdad."

Operations continued in and around Fallujah, which was "pacified" in Novmember (see this story: http://www.crisispictures.org/?p=94 ) . Marines with the Third Battalion, Fourth Marines, are pictured below attacking suspected opposition fighter houses.

Combat operations continued in and around Baghadad. Pictured below is the al-Jameaa district, west Baghdad where witnesses said US troops shelled a house killing several opposition fighters inside. The military claimed they found weapons inside, an assertion that could not be confirmed independently. (BTW: That doesn’t mean it’s not true. In fact, I have no idea. I’m just using the words "claim" and "confirm independently" and "assertion" to draw attention to the abuse of our language that we see all the the time in the mainstream news media.)

Also pictured are a car bomb attack in Tuz Khuramatu and mosque attack in Baghdad.

YUSSIFIYAH, Iraq: Iraqi fire fighters try to douse flames at a sabotaged oil pipe line in the Yussifiyah area, south of Baghdad, 25 June 2005. Opposition fighters frequently bomb pipe lines across Iraq in a bid to disrupt the flow of oil. (Photo credit should read KARIM SAHIB/AFP/Getty Images)




YUSSIFIYAH, Iraq: A US helicopter flies over heavy smoke of a sabotaged oil pipe line in the Yussifiyah area, south of Baghdad, 25 June 2005. Opposition fighters frequently bomb pipe lines across Iraq in a bid to disrupt the flow of oil(Photo credit should read KARIM SAHIB/AFP/Getty Images)




YUSSIFIYAH, Iraq: Black smoke billows from a sabotaged oil pipe line in the Yussifiyah area, south of Baghdad, 25 June 2005. (Photo credit should read KARIM SAHIB/AFP/Getty Images)




FALLUJAH, IRAQ - JUNE 24: Marines with the Third Battalion, Fourth Marines, prepare to storm a suspected opposition fighter house June 24, 2005 in Fallujah, Iraq. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)




FALLUJAH, IRAQ - JUNE 24: A Marine with the Third Battalion, Fourth Marines, uses a shotgun to blast off a lock while looking for weapons caches June 24, 2005 in Fallujah, Iraq. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)




FALLUJAH, IRAQ - JUNE 24: Marines with the Third Battalion, Fourth Marines, storm a suspected opposition fighter house June 24, 2005 in Fallujah, Iraq. Marines in the 3/4 launched the midnight raid on Fallujah and detained 19 men, (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)




FALLUJAH, IRAQ - JUNE 24: Marines write a number on the nape of the neck of a man they have detained in a sweep June 24, 2005 near Fallujah, Iraq. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)




FALLUJAH, IRAQ - JUNE 24: Detained men sit, bound and blindfolded, under the light of the moon after being detained by Marines of the Third Battalion, Fourth Marines June 24, 2005 near Fallujah, Iraq. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)




FALLUJAH, IRAQ - JUNE 24: A detained man sits bound and blindfolded, after being detained by Marines of the Third Battalion, Fourth Marines June 24, 2005 near Fallujah, Iraq. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)




FALLUJAH, IRAQ - JUNE 24: Detained men sit bound and blindfolded, after being detained by Marines of the Third Battalion, Fourth Marines June 24, 2005 near Fallujah, Iraq. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)




FALLUJAH, IRAQ - JUNE 24: Detained men sit bound and blindfolded, after being detained by Marines of the Third Battalion, Fourth Marines June 24, 2005 near Fallujah, Iraq. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)




FALLUJAH, IRAQ - JUNE 24: A detained man has his bonds adjusted after being detained by Marines of the Third Battalion, Fourth Marines June 24, 2005 near Fallujah, Iraq. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)




FALLUJAH, IRAQ - JUNE 24: Marines of the Third Battalion, Fourth Marines, process a detained man June 24, 2005 near Fallujah, Iraq. Marines in the 3/4 launched the midnight raid in the rural suburbs of Fallujah and detained 19 men, (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)




FALLUJAH, IRAQ - JUNE 24: Marines with the Third Battalion, Fourth Marines, approach a suspected opposition fighter house June 24, 2005 in Fallujah, Iraq. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)




FALLUJAH, IRAQ - JUNE 24: A detained man is brought up to be photographed for processing by the Marines of Third Battalion, Fourth Marines, June 24, 2005 near Fallujah, Iraq. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)




FALLUJAH, IRAQ - JUNE 24: A detained man sits with a number marked on his neck for processing by the Marines June 24, 2005 near Fallujah, Iraq. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)




FALLUJAH, IRAQ - JUNE 24: A detained man waits to be photographed by Marines for processing with the weapons allegedly found with him June 24, 2005 near Fallujah, Iraq. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)




FALLUJAH, IRAQ - JUNE 24: Detained men wait under a starry night after being held by U.S. Marines June 24, 2005 near Fallujah, Iraq. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)




FALLUJAH, IRAQ - JUNE 24: A detained man is photographed by Marines with the weapons allegedly found with him June 24, 2005 near Fallujah, Iraq. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)



FALLUJAH, IRAQ - JUNE 24: Marines look for contraband in a house June 24, 2005 near Fallujah, Iraq. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)




FALLUJAH, IRAQ - JUNE 24: A family woken from sleeping outside talks to U.S. Marines who had suspected the house of being a hostage holding spot June 24, 2005 near Fallujah, Iraq. U.S. Marines in the Third Battalion, Fourth Marines launched the midnight raid in the rural sububs of Fallujah June 24, looking for suspected opposition fighters and detaining 19 men, (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)




BAGHDAD, Iraq: A man walks 23 June 2005 out from a house that was destroyed in overnight clashes between suspected opposition fighters and US troops, in al-Jameaa district, west Baghdad. Witnesses said US troops shelled the house killing several opposition fighters inside. (Photo by d AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)




BAGHDAD, Iraq: Iraqis carry the coffin of one of the bodyguards of Samir al-Baghdadi, a representative of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, at a local hospital in Baghdad, 25 June 2005. Al-Baghdadi and two of his guards were shot dead yesterday as he drove from Dura to Baghdad al-Jadida on the capitals southern.(Photo by Sabah Arar/AFP/Getty Images)




BAGHDAD, Iraq: An Iraqi boy looks 25 June 2005 at damage caused by a car bomb attack few days ago in Karrada area in central Baghdad. The new Iraq is still a place where violence reigns and ethnic and sectarian divisions are growing deeper one year after the handover of sovereignty by the US-led occupation. (Photo by /AFP/Getty Images)




BAGHDAD, Iraq: Iraqis inspect 25 June 2005 of a Muslim Shiite mosque that was destroyed in a car bomb attack few days ago in Karrada area in central Baghdad. (Photo credit should read Sabah Arar/AFP/Getty Images)




TUZ KHURMATU, Iraq: Iraqi soldiers gather around what the remains of a car that exploded in the town of Tuz Khurmatu, 23 June 2005, north of Iraq. One Iraqi man was killed and 10 others wounded in the car bomb that was aimed against a US military convoy. At least 33 people were killed and scores wounded in eight car bombs in Baghdad in less than 24 hours ending a lull that had followed the launch of a major offensive in the capital in late May. (Photo by MARWAN IBRAHIM/AFP/Getty Images)




BAGHDAD, IRAQ: A US soldier member of Delta 1-184 Company frisks an Iraqi man at a checkpoint, southern of Baghdad during a patrol 23 June 2005. A string of car bombings in quick succession killed at least 17 people in a Shiite district of Baghdad on Thursday. (Photo by YURI CORTEZ/AFP/Getty Images)