.Photo: Iraqi men march in a demonstration in the Shaab neighborhood in north Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, July 24, 2007. Protesters raged against military operations in the Shiite stronghold of Husseiniyah, where U.S. and Iraqi forces blocked access to the town on the northeast outskirts of Baghdad where Shiite gunmen were dug in for a third day Monday behind earthen barriers. The American military said Saturday that six militants were killed in an airstrike in the area, but Iraqi officials and relatives of the victims claimed that 18 civilians died in the attack and 21 were wounded. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
REPORTS – LIFE IN IRAQ
Wave of Baghdad car bombings kills 17
"It was a horrible scene, suddenly fire spread all over the area. I saw two charred bodies of policemen inside their car and the wounded were lying on the ground, only their hands moving and asking for help," Abu Nour, a 45-year-old supermarket owner, told Reuters. "We were terrified, we could see only fire, destruction and death. I started to hate life," he said. Television pictures showed a line of burning cars in a narrow street leading to the identity card office as residents and shoppers ran for cover.
Patterns of Sectarian Violence in Baghdad
Up to 592 unidentified bodies were found dumped in different parts of Baghdad in the period between June 18 and July 18, 2007, according to figures based on media reports compiled by Iraq Slogger. Most of the bodies found by the police – an average of 20 a day – are bound, blindfolded and shot execution style, victims of sectarian violence carried out by both Sunni and Shi’ite death squads. Many also bear signs of torture or mutilation, according to medical sources in Baghdad. Despite official Iraqi and U.S. statements to the contrary, the reports indicate that the number of unidentified bodies in the capital has risen again to pre-surge levels over the last two months.
Women’s rights activists increasingly targeted by militants
Haifaa Nour, 33-year-old president of the Women’s Freedom Organisation (WFO), one of the few women’s rights organisations in Iraq, said the threatening letters she had recently been receiving would not deter her from her job, even if it cost her her life. However, she acknowledged that for a woman activist the risks of doing humanitarian work were increasing daily. “After the US-led invasion in 2003, women’s rights were well recognised… but unfortunately in the past two years our situation has deteriorated and the targeting of activists and women aid workers has increased, forcing dozens to give up their jobs,” Haifaa said. “I know my life is under threat and I might be killed at any time especially for refusing to wear a veil or other traditional clothes, but if I do so, I will just be abetting the extremists,” she said.
Authorities plan to issue special IDs to Baghdad residents
"Nine security centres will be opened in Baghdad soon to issue these IDs, five on the western side and four on the eastern side, and these centres will be run by the US army, Iraqi security forces and local officials in each neighbourhood," al-Mousawi said. He did not specify when the authorities would issue these new IDs, which would bear a person’s full name and address. However, a former senior army official criticised the plan. "The Iraqi government and US army are skirting around the problem instead of getting to the bottom of it," said retired Brig Fadhil Salman Abdul-Muhaimen, who served nearly 30 years in the former Iraqi army. "Terrorists, militants, insurgents or whatever they call them not only come from outside Baghdad, they are also residents of Baghdad," Abdul-Muhaimen said.
REPORTS – IRAQI MILITIAS, POLITICIANS, POWER BROKERS
After Carnage, US and Iraqi Authorities Compete for Control
It was just another car bomb, this time an old, blue Volkswagen Passat that blew up in a busy shopping district of Baghdad, one of four that killed and maimed Iraqi civilians Monday. But the array of first responders who descended on the smoke-filled scene exemplified how militants aren't the only force that's undermining the plan to restore order to the violent Iraqi capital. After the blast near a busy shrine in the mostly Shiite Muslim area of Karrada, Iraqi firefighters, medical workers, Iraqi police, traffic police, Iraqi soldiers, American troops, members of two powerful Shiite militias and ordinary residents jostled for control. With so many forces picking through the charred, bloody wreckage, no single group emerged as the one in charge, and the already frenzied scene spiraled into pandemonium.
REPORTS – US/UK/OTHERS IN IRAQ
US forced to import bullets from Israel
A government report says that US forces are now using 1.8 billion rounds of small-arms ammunition a year. The total has more than doubled in five years, largely as a result of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as changes in military doctrine.
US ambassador says Iraqi aides will quit unless granted asylum
The United States ambassador in Iraq, Ryan Cocker, has called for all Iraqis working for the US government to be granted refugee status in recognition of the dangers they face.
From Juan Cole’s blog:
Also near Hillah, Sawt al-Iraq reports in Arabic that the US military took into custody the local Badr Corps commander. This Shiite paramilitary, a subsidiary of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, was trained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps but has generally avoided conflict with the US forces. The reason for the raid was not reported.
US “Confronts” Iran As Talks Resume on Iraq
Talks between US and Iranian envoys aimed at countering the deepening security crisis in Iraq began with a heated exchange today, according to an Iraqi official. The US ambassador, Ryan Crocker, confronted his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Kazemi-Qomi, with allegations that Tehran was supporting, arming and training Shia militiamen killing US troops, the official told the Associated Press news agency. He said Mr Kazemi-Qomi rejected the claims, saying the US had no proof. The Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, had opened the meeting with an impassioned appeal for help from the two nations. "We are hoping that you support stability in Iraq, an Iraq that doesn't interfere in the affairs of others nor want anyone to meddle in its own affairs," he said. "It's Iraq's right to call on everyone to stand beside it to counter the scourge of terror and extremism."
New U.S. Embassy Rises In Iraq
Huge, expensive and dogged by controversy, the new U.S. Embassy compound nearing completion here epitomizes to many Iraqis the worst of the U.S. tenure in Iraq. "It's all for them, all of Iraq's resources, water, electricity, security," said Raid Kadhim Kareem, who has watched the buildings go up at a floodlighted site bristling with construction cranes from his post guarding an abandoned home on the other side of the Tigris River. "It's as if it's their country, and we are guests staying here." Despite its brash scale and nearly $600-million cost, the compound designed to accommodate more than 1,000 people is not big enough, and may not be safe enough if a major military pullout leaves the country engulfed in a heightened civil war, U.S. planners now say. Militants have fired shells into the compound in the fortified Green Zone, where more than 85 rocket and mortar strikes have killed at least 16 people since February, according to a United Nations report last month. Five more people died in fierce barrages this month. "Having the 'heavily fortified Green Zone' doesn't matter one iota" when it comes to rocket and mortar attacks, said one senior military officer.
IRAQI REFUGEES
Refugees In Jordan: Real Crisis
Through registering with the UNHCR, the family became eligible for a “salary” of 60 Jordanian Dinar per month. This barely covers rent. A light fixture in the room where they all sleep is broken, but they can’t afford to fix it, nor can they manage a simple plumbing job to repair a faucet that steadily, noisily leaks. They are too terrified to invite a repair man into the home because the daughters are vulnerable and could be exploited. If a man took advantage of them, they would have no recourse for protection because anyone could accuse them of being illegal residents, causing them to be deported back to Iraq. Umm Daoud has already been stung by the humiliation of being so vulnerable. Once, in Amman, a gang stole a sum of money from her. She reported it to the police. In the investigation, someone accused her of being a prostitute and the police department dropped the case. One note of good news gladdened Umm Daoud and her daughters. Daoud, the older son, excels in soccer and recently qualified for an Iraqi team invited to compete in Seoul, South Korea. For Daoud, a victim of torture when he was kidnapped, playing soccer has been part of recovery. He’s in control on the field and the sport has been an important form of therapy. Numerous Iraqis in the “illegal” community pooled money for Daoud’s trip. Toward the end of our visit, Daoud called from Seoul. The family was jubilant, except for little Samil, watching his Tom and Jerry cartoon with his back turned to the family. From where I sat, I could see his face. He showed no emotion whatsoever and never took his eyes off the TV screen. I remembered the playful ten-year old I’d first met, in January of 2007, a little boy whose eyes were alight and animated, who loved climbing onto his father’s lap. The family seems to understand his need to withdraw.
Before leaving, Noah Merrill, who, with his wife, Natalie, has worked hard to design a project called “Direct Aid Initiative,” (see www.electroniciraq.net), suggested that they could help cover some of the family’s medical expenses. He assured Umm Daoud that this would be an act of friendship, not charity. “Of course it’s not charity!” she said, flinging her hands upward in exasperation. “You already have our oil!” She cocked her head slightly, a smile on her face. “You are perhaps living well with our oil,” she said, as we all nodded our heads, “so this is not a charity.” Such humor, as if this whole nightmare of the war and its complications were just brothers and sisters fighting, and she could wryly forgive. The UNHCR has appealed for $121 million dollars to assist Iraqis who’ve been displaced from their homes, 2.2 million of whom are internally displaced inside Iraq and close to two million more who have sought shelter in neighboring countries. UN documents appeal to people’s charitable instincts, but UN workers know full well just how politicized the discussions have become.
How to Help Iraqi Refugees
Quote of the day: It's now official; the U.S. is arming all parties to the civil war in Iraq. – from Zeyad, at Healing Iraq blog.
.Photo: Iraqi men march in a demonstration in the Shaab neighborhood in north 
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