Today in The Endless War: News & Views 05/19/07

Photo: A member of the God’s Revenge, a Shia militia with strong ties to Iran, on patrol in Basra. Photograph: Ghaith Abdul-Ahad

REPORTS – LIFE IN IRAQ

Deaths of premature babies increase in Duhuk

Recent statistics on birth and mortality rates in Duhuk, the third province within Iraq's Kurdistan region, showed an increase in death rates, particularly among premature babies. According to official statistics, 1,555 people died in Duhuk during the first four months of 2007, compared to 1,378 during the same period of 2006.
"Concerning premature mortality, deaths of 41 premature babies were registered in January 2006, compared to 52 in January 2007," Surour Sadiq Bahaa Eddin, the director of planning and health education in Duhuk's Health Department, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). Bahaa Eddin attributed the high death rate among premature babies to their need for special care and incubators, which he said are not sufficiently available in Duhuk's hospitals. "Duhuk's main Azadi hospital is in need of 30 incubators and a trained team of nurses. It is not possible to just install the incubators in any health center because they need special care," Bahaa Eddin indicated

Just Do It

Its an irony that the US troops try to improve the social services in the hot spots. This will for sure reflect a bad image about the US trrops more than its now and may increse violence. people may beleive that violence is the only way to get what they want. The US troops approve day after day that they failed in achieving anything positive in this country even the only thing they are proud of (collapsing Saddam regime)became a negative thing because people started to yearn to the old days of the regime they hated and wished to get ride of. they always make comparison and say "at least we had security during Saddam regime " or "at least we had electricity during Saddam regime" or "well, we never had to stay 12 hours in the fuel station to get 40 liters of fuel" Please pull out your troops quickly. dont fix anything. Dont implement any project and dont forget to take your democracy because we dont want the democracy of blood shedding. Just leave. JUST DO IT. - Laith

U.S. troops storm Antiquities Department

U.S. occupation troops forced their way into the offices of the Antiquities Department with its chief denouncing the move as “a violation.” In a statement to Azzaman, Abbas al-Hussaini, said the raid was the second in a week. Earlier a force of four U.S. military vehicles had forced its way into the department’s offices. “This action is a violation of the Iraqi ancient heritage,” Hussaini said. The department offices are adjacent to the Iraq Museum which was looted shortly after U.S. invasion troops entered Baghdad. The department faces an uphill battle to protect Iraqi ancient sites of which there are more than 10,000 archaeologically significant ones in the country. Illegal digging is reported to be taking place at some of the most famous Mesopotamian metropolitans such as Nimrud and Khorsabad in the north and Ur and Borsipa in the south. At least 10,000 pieces of Iraq Museum treasures are still missing following the museum’s plunder and looting as U.S. invasion troops entered Baghdad.

REPORTS – IRAQI MILITIAS, POLITICIANS, POWER BROKERS

“Welcome to Tehran” – How Iran Took Control of Basra

On a recent overcast afternoon in Basra, two new police SUVs drove onto a dusty, rubbish-strewn football pitch where a group of children were playing. The game stopped and the kids looked on. Three men in white dishdashas got out of one of the cars. One, holding a Kalashnikov, stood guard as the other two removed some metal tubes and cables from the back of a vehicle. As the two men fiddled with the wires, the man with the gun waved it at a teenager who wanted to film with his mobile phone. Then, amid cries of "Moqtada, Moqtada" and "Allahu Akbar", there were two thunderous explosions and a pair of Katyusha rockets streaked up into the sky. Their target would be the British base in Saddam Hussein's former palace compound. Their landing place could be anywhere in Basra, and was most likely to be a civilian home. The men got back in their cars and drove away, and the children resumed their match.

………. The people who really control Basra are men such as Sayed Youssif. He is a mid-level militia commander, but his name and that of his militia - God's Revenge - strikes fear anywhere in Basra. Beginning with a small group of gunmen occupying a small public building, the former religious student built up a reputation as a fearless thug, killing former Ba'athists, alcohol sellers and eventually freelancing as a hitman for anyone willing to pay the price. I went to see him in his Basra compound. Gunmen dressed in the uniforms of ministry of interior commandos stood guard outside and a sniper watched from the roof. In the room outside his office, tribal leaders, officials and more gunmen sat, bare footed, waiting for Sayed Youssif to call them. Some wanted him to help their relatives join the army or police. Some had problems with other militias and were seeking his protection. But most were there to pay homage to a powerful man whose help they may one day need. As the official apparatus of state slides into chaos, men such as him have become the main dispensers of justice and patronage. No one in Basra can be appointed to the army, police or any official job without a letter of support from a militia or a political party.

……… At the moment, he explained, he was preoccupied with a power struggle against the Fadhila party, another Shia militia that has controlled the governorship and the oil terminals for most of the past two years. Sayed Youssif and a group of other militias all with strong ties to Iran were trying to displace Fadhila. "I have told all city council members: you have to make a choice, you either vote against the governor or you will die," he told one of his aides. The next day, two bombs exploded outside the homes of city councillors from the Fadhila party.

Competing forces

Several groups vie for power in Basra, Iraq's second largest city

· Mahdi army A loose alliance of Shia militiamen, about half of which are connected to Moqtada al-Sadr's office in the Shia holy city of Najaf. His men control the ports and customs as well as the customs police

· Fadhila party An anti-Iranian Shia militia organisation that controls the oil business in Basra, parts of the security forces and the ports and customs

· Badr brigade The armed wing of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. Before the 2003 invasion it was based in Iran for 20 years

· Tribes There are at least 20 major tribes in the Basra area. Iraqis often feel the strongest allegiance to their tribe, above nationality. At least one influential tribe in the city runs its own smuggling business. They also support politicians in the city

Iraqi Parliament Falling Into Disarray

Voted into office as a symbol of a new, democratic Iraq, the 275-seat legislature is increasingly being viewed as irrelevant and ineffective by many Iraqis for its inability to tackle sectarian violence, soaring crime and a failing economy. The disarray threatens passage of several crucial pieces of U.S.-backed legislation, including a bill for the fair distribution of oil revenues and another to promote national reconciliation - both of which are seen as key to ending sectarian violence in the country. Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, a Sunni Arab Islamist and a former physician jailed by former dictator Saddam Hussein for his political activity, has taken much of the heat for what many see as his outrageous behavior. Last week, al-Mashhadani slapped a fellow Sunni lawmaker in the face and called him "scum" at the end of a raucous session. The sitting had already been cut short when many lawmakers left the chamber to protest the speaker's claim that three-quarters of them were responsible for the sectarian killings and cleansing. Some lawmakers accuse him of running the chamber like a Baghdad coffee shop, where patrons sip tea and coffee through seemingly endless and pointless chatter. Last year, the 59-year-old speaker survived a campaign by Shiite and Kurdish politicians to remove him after he said Iraqis who killed American troops should be celebrated as heroes. He also issued a scathing attack against the defense minister, fellow Sunni Arab Abdul-Qader al-Obeidi, claiming he didn't know what was going on in the country. [Don’t you just love that “fair distribution of oil revenues” bit? Like the bushies who don’t care if the Iraqis live or die NOW care that they don’t cheat one another out of oil revenues!!! - dancewater]

Iraq's interior ministry calls on former staff to return to service

The Iraqi interior ministry will call on all staff from security agencies during the time of the former regime to appear at the ministry's institutions and police stations, "otherwise they will be dealt with in accordance with the terrorism law," an official source said. "The decision to bring back the old security staff includes those who worked in intelligence, public security and special services, except those who have reached the age of retirement," Maj. General Abdul-Kareem Khalaf, the interior ministry's national command center chief, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). "Security staff outside Iraq will have to refer to the country's consulates and interest sections in 90 days, and those inside the country have to refer to the interior ministry in 60 days," added Khalaf. The interior ministry official affirmed that those "who fail to report to the security organizations in the country, during the mentioned period of time, will be considered involved in acts of hostility against the Iraqi people."

$6 million to protect Iraqi deputies from attack

The Iraqi parliament is to sign a $6 million deal with a foreign security firm that will deploy guards to protect the deputies. Adel Barbari of the Parliamentary Defense and Security Committee said the company, which he declined to name would station guards at premises where the deputies meet protect them against violent attacks. Foreign guards of whom there are tens of thousands in Iraq earn huge sums of money with a base annual salary of $150,000. In Iraqi parlance the guards are ‘mercenaries’ and are targeted by Iraqi armed and resistance groups. Their rough behavior and trigger happy character has earned them the wrath of the Iraqi people. Like U.S troops, they are immune from prosecution and standing trial under Iraqi law. Barbari said the foreign guards would supervise “Iraqi security personnel, protect the parliament building and inspect anyone entering and leaving it.”

REPORTS – US/UK/OTHERS IN IRAQ

Kidnap and Torture: New Claims of Army War Crimes in Iraq

The British Army is facing new allegations that it was involved in "forced disappearances", hostage-taking and torture of Iraqi civilians after the fall of the regime of Saddam Hussein. One of the claims is made by the former chairman of the Red Crescent in Basra, who alleges he was beaten unconscious by British soldiers after they accused him of being a senior official in Saddam's Baath party. The family of another Iraqi civilian claims he was arrested and kidnapped by the British in order to secure the surrender of his brother, who was also accused of being a high-ranking member of the party. He was later found shot dead, still handcuffed and wearing a UK prisoner name tag. Both cases are being prepared for hearings in the High Court in which the Government will be accused of war crimes while carrying out the arrest and detention of alleged senior members of the Baath party. Last month, the first British soldier to be convicted of a war crime was jailed for a year and dismissed from the Army after being convicted of mistreating Iraqi civilians, including the hotel worker Baha Mousa, who died of his injuries at the hands of British soldiers. Six other soldiers, including Col Jorge Mendonca, were cleared of all charges.

Iran to build four refineries in southern Iraq

Prime Miniter Nour al-Maliki has given Iran preferential treatment in winning contracts in southern Iraq. The move signals the growing influence Tehran exercises in the country particularly in southern provinces where Iraq’s largest and most prolific oil fields are situated. Maliki is reported to have officially invited Iranian firms to construct four refineries in the area which recently has been the scene of sporadic fighting between Shiite militias – which are generally pro-Tehran – and U.S. and Iraqi troops. The Iranian firms are to make their offers to build these refineries. The Oil Ministry has asked foreign firms to submit their offers to start working on the 10 refineries.

COMMENTARY

Six Questions

1. What’s your assessment of the impact thus far of the “surge”?
It’s going about as expected, changing the distribution of violence a bit but not making much difference in the core strategic issues. It would be easy to just look at the trends in violence, but that’s not really the point. When the administration laid out its plan, it said some of the right things, like that success should not be judged on military outcomes and body counts. Their argument was that the surge would create a secure political space that would allow for political reconciliation. So far, the opposite has happened; there’s been little progress towards reaching a new political compromise and if anything the distance between the sides seems to be growing. On the military side, there have been some interesting developments in Anbar province, like you’ve been reading about in the press lately, but that has little to do with the “surge.”

2. What is going on in Anbar?
There really is a palpable turn there against Al Qaeda, that isn’t just the usual wishful thinking that so often takes the place of real analysis. A lot of people have interpreted this as a sign of American strength, that the Sunni tribes are shifting to the winning side. It’s actually just the opposite, it’s a defensive reaction by Sunnis to Al Qaeda’s increasing strength and aggressiveness. Sunni resentment of Al Qaeda in Iraq really dates to last October, long before the “surge,” when Al Qaeda declared the Islamic State of Iraq. A lot of us thought at the time that they did this for strictly propaganda purposes, but it developed into an aggressive bid for hegemony over the entire insurgency. The Islamic State of Iraq became very aggressive towards other insurgency groups and local Sunnis, intimidating ordinary people, declaring them to be non-Muslims, and using that as a justification for seizing property and killing leaders of other groups. This created a backlash; we’re seeing an open turn against Al Qaeda not just by local tribal sheiks and ordinary people but also by the leaders of the insurgency.

The bad news from Basra

There was no containing the mutual admiration of George Bush and Tony Blair as they stood in the Rose Garden for one last time on Thursday. They were so close, we were informed, they could read each other's minds and finish each other's sentences. Mr Bush rounded on British reporters for tap dancing on his friend's political grave. Cut from the choreographed pas de deux in Washington and over to Basra, where our reporter Ghaith Abdul Ahad spent nine days with militiamen, generals, city officials and intelligence officers. His remarkable report should freeze the smiles on coalition faces. Is it the scene where three men dismount from two new police SUVs, assemble two Katyusha rockets, fire them at a British base in Saddam's former compound in the city and drive off? Or is it the interior ministry general who greets our reporter with the words "Welcome to Tehran" and goes on to explain how 60% of his officers are militiamen, how almost all the policemen in the city are gangsters, how the police are divided between the Fadhila, who control the oil terminals, and Moqtada al Sadr's men, who control the ports?

Video: SPIN - The Art of Selling War

Directed by Josh Rushing, a veteran Marine Corps media spokesman, "SPIN: The Art of Selling War" is an investigative documentary that looks at the standard justification for going to war by the American administrations of past and present.

IRAQI REFUGEES

VIDEO: The Exodus

While the public gaze is fixated on the reasons for and success of the Iraq war, few policy analysts, commentators, and journalists are paying attention to the largest refugee problem in the Middle East since 1948. New America Foundation Fellow Nir Rosen -internationally recognized for his groundbreaking journalism on Iraq since the beginning of the war in April of 2003. Rozen will present his piece titled "The Flight from Iraq" which is the cover story in the forthcoming publication of the New York Times Magazine on Sunday May 13, 2007. The figures are startling - nearly 2 million Iraqis have fled Iraq for neighboring countries and another 1.9 million Iraqis have been internally displaced amounting to roughly 15% of the Iraqi population abandoning their homes. Meanwhile, since 2003, the United States has only allowed in 466 Iraqis. Compounding the damage to Iraq, the greater issue of concern is the destabilizing effects this will have on Iraq's neighbors who have absorbed both the refuges and the political and economic baggage that accompany them. This all leads Rosen to contend that the spillover from the Iraq war has already transformed the Iraq War into a regional conflict. Join us as Nir Rosen relays accounts of the refugee crisis, whose effects are just beginning to be felt and gather attention, and the challenges it poses for the United States and the entire Middle East region. A discussion moderated by American Strategy Program Director Steve Clemons will follow Rosen's presentation.