A U.S. soldier with 2nd Platoon, G Company, 3rd Squadron 2nd striker Cavalry Regiment checks a bullet hole in a wall during a patrol in Baghdad, November 10, 2007. (Stefano Rellandini/Reuters) It may be difficult to see the graffiti at this resolution -- look closely. -- C
Reported Security Incidents
Baghdad
Bomb attack in al-Baladiyyat, eastern Baghdad, misses U.S. patrol, kills two people and injures three. This is probably the same attack reported by McClatchy, which had no reports of casualties as of the time of posting.
U.S. patrol opens fire on an Iraqi police checkpoint in Doura, injuring 3 police officers.
Man throws a grenade at a minibus in Mansour, five injured. This may be the same incident reported by AP, but with slightly different details. In western Baghdad, assailants in a speeding car hurled a hand grenade at a minibus traveling to a neighborhood where Shiite militiamen have chased off Sunni families. Three passengers were seriously wounded.
Diwaniya
Twelve missiles fired at Camp Echo. Coalition forces return fire with 6 rockets, killing one Iraqi and wounding six. No further information at this time as to the Iraqi casualties, or whether there were any coalition casualties. Camp Echo houses U.S. and Polish forces.
Iraqi police arrest a Sadrist leader, as part of an ongoing campaign against the Sadr organization. Whether this is to be seen as establishing law and order, or merely a factional conflict, is a matter of perspective, I suppose. Note that Diwaniyah is a predominantly Shiite city and these are Shiite-dominated security forces. -- C
U.S. air strikes on residential neighborhoods, also targeting Mahdi Army, kill one civilian, injure two. This is rather odd given that al-Sadr is reported to currently be in the good graces of the U.S. Perhaps these are elements of the Mahdi Army which are not under his control. See below, Newsweek article on al-Sadr.
al Qasim (south of Hilla)
Body of man found, shot in the head.
Baquba
Gunmen storm the local technical institute, abduct two students, kill one.
Also, according to DPA, a joint U.S.-Iraqi patrol is struck by a bomb, 2 killed, 2 injured. No announcement from U.S. as of now, nationality of the casualties is unspecified.
DPA also reports 3 bodies found in Ghalibiyah area of Baqubah, one identified as a contractor working on reconstruction projects. Which does suggest a political motive - C
Unspecified locations in "northern Iraq"
U.S. says it has detained 200 suspected insurgents in an ongoing operation. No independent information on the operation or these claims, except that DPA reports 73 arrests near Baquba, presumably part of the larger operation.
Diyala
I believe Susan posted this yesterday but it was issued late in the day so it has showed up on many of the roundup reports today and I didn't want people to think I'd missed something. One MND-North soldier killed, three injured and transported to a coalition hospital, in an explosion.
Other News of the Day
340 police officers are fired following investigation of the armed clashes that took place during the pilgrimage commemorating the birth of Imam al-Mahdi three months ago.
VoI reviews Iraqi press reports on the improved security situation in Baghdad. General view seems to be that the political situation has not improved commensurately. Excerpt:
Baghdad, Nov 11, (VOI) – Iraqi press gave prominence in their Sunday issues to the enhanced security situation and the return to normal life in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.
In al-Ittihad, a daily newspaper issued by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), columnist Abdul Hadi Mahdi said that reports about the improvement in Baghdad's security situation are not very satisfying. "There are still some parts in the capital where displaced persons cannot return to their homes for reasons known to security forces which launched the enforcement of the rule of law plan," Mahdi said.
"Final solutions should be worked out to enable displaced families to return to their homes and ensure peace and security for everyone." "Apart from the security situation, efforts should be concentrated on ending the current stagnation in the political process in a way that complies with the constitution," the author said.
snip
Baghdad newspaper, issued by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's al-Wifaq Movement, published an opinion article by Kareem al-Abboudi in which he slammed Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government for its failure to fulfill its promises to the Iraqi people. Describing the current governing system as an "autocracy," the author said that the government has lost its title as a national unity federalism.
In his last-page column 'Final lines' in the independent daily al-Mashriq, Hatim Hassan portrayed the suffering of retirees, who he said have long waited for an increase in their pension payouts, but were shocked by new procedures that stipulated a maximum of 5000 Iraqi dinars (4 U.S. dollars) raise in most pension cases. "Is this the reward for someone who devoted his life to public service?" the author wondered.
al-Maliki wants to execute Ali Hassan al-Majeed ("Chemical Ali") and two others, demands the U.S. hand them over. The U.S. maintains that proper procedures have not been followed for them to transfer custody. This is actually a dispute between al-Maliki on the one hand, and Jalal Talabani and Tareq al-Hashemi over the limits of al-Maliki's authority. Another small, but telling indication of the stalled political process.
Missy Ryan reports for Reuters on slow reconstruction efforts in the south of Iraq. Excerpt:
DHI QAR PROVINCE, Iraq (Reuters) - Local leaders in southern Iraq pleaded for greater reconstruction assistance this weekend even as U.S. and Iraqi officials touted tentative improvements since 2003 in rebuilding a country crippled by war.
Senior members of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government, Washington's ambassador to Iraq and other officials flew on Saturday to a dusty military base in Dhi Qar, a poor southern province where shepherds hustle animals across cracked plains and the horizon is dotted by Bedouin tents.
Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih told visiting dignitaries, local tribal leaders and other officials that a sharp drop in violence in recent months had laid the groundwork for renewing Iraq's decrepit infrastructure and ailing economy. "We are in a new era in our history ... where we are going to build a peaceful country," he said.
Yet in Dhi Qar, complained Governor Aziz Kazem Alwan, 300 villages remain without electricity. He clamored for more help from the central government and donor countries to improve irrigation for local farms, replace mud-built schools, pave roads and provide better health care. "All our farmers and sheikhs (tribal leaders) are waiting for these projects," he said.
The United States has poured more than $525 million since 2003 into rebuilding Dhi Qar, Ambassador Ryan Crocker said. An Italian-led team is now driving foreign reconstruction efforts in Dhi Qar, part of Iraq's more stable Shi'ite south. Still, guaranteeing security is seen as crucial to capitalizing on investments in the province's schools, water and energy infrastructure.
Across Iraq, reconstruction data paints a mixed picture more than four years after the invasion to topple Saddam Hussein. Despite billions of dollars being spent, peak electricity output in June 2007 remained 6 percent below pre-war levels. Oil production this summer was 23 percent lower than before the war.
Newsweek's Rod Nordland reports that Muqtada al-Sadr is studying to gain the clerical rank of Hojatolislam, is making nice with the occupation. I have no way of evaluating the accuracy of any of this, but for what it's worth --
It wasn't so long ago that U.S. commanders considered Moqtada al-Sadr to be the greatest threat to stability in Iraq. Now the Shiite firebrand's stock among the Americans may be rising. Since declaring a ceasefire for his Mahdi Army militia last August, Sadr has effectively disappeared from public life, designating five trusted aides to speak on his behalf. NEWSWEEK has learned that some of those deputies have been secretly meeting with Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, to discuss cooperation on improving security, according to two sources who declined to be identified because of the subject's sensitivity. The general's spokesman, Col. Steven Boylan, qualified that assertion, explaining that while Petraeus has not met with Sadr, "the command has indeed had direct engagements with some of his people within the [Sadr] organization … to assist with reconciliation efforts." Boylan also says the military "applauded" Sadr's ceasefire.
U.S. commanders say that the Mahdi Army's quiescence is a significant factor behind the recent drop in attacks in Baghdad—by a third compared with six months ago, according to one estimate. And they say they now share a common enemy: rogue Mahdi Army units, known as "special groups" and allegedly funded by Iran, who have declared they will not obey the ceasefire. Sadr loyalists have formed an elite unit called the "golden battalion" to go after these rebels; the Americans are hoping to encourage the more moderate leaders to distance the Mahdi Army even further from its "irreconcilable" wing. "Those elements, such as the special-group, extremist elements, have in fact dishonored Sadr's pledge of honor," says Boylan.
While U.S. forces have brokered local agreements between Sunni sheiks and Mahdi Army commanders in Baghdad, Sadr himself is staying above the fray. (A Sadr deputy, Sheik Salah al-Ubaidy, denies that any Sadrist officials have met with the Americans.) U.S. commanders think the 36-year-old cleric has temporarily relocated to Iran. But a source in the Shiite holy city of Najaf who also asked to remain anonymous says Sadr's gone underground there. He claims that Sadr is cracking the books, hoping to elevate himself to the level of hojat olIslam—one step below ayatollah. Some in the Shiite howza, the clerical elite that surrounds Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, scoff at the attempt. "His mentality does not allow him to reach higher levels of study," says one high-ranking howza scholar. But Sadr's instructors are thought to be followers of his assassinated father, Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr, and they might be inclined toward grade inflation. In any event, U.S. commanders are just glad most of Sadr's gunmen are laying as low as Sadr is.
IRIN reports on struggles to aid displaced Iraqis. excerpt:
BAGHDAD, 11 November 2007 (IRIN) - As violence continues to force an average of 60,000 Iraqis from their homes every month, according to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), aid agencies are warning that limited access to the displaced is causing a deterioration of their living conditions, and with cold winter months upon them, the situation is likely to get even worse.
“We expect the situation to worsen. Winter is approaching and many displaced families are still without blankets and heaters. Children don’t have enough clothes to protect themselves,” Mayada Marouf, spokeswoman for non-governmental organization Keeping Children Alive (KCA), said.
The major problems facing aid agencies working to support internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Iraq is determining exactly how many IDPs there are, where they are, and then how to safely reach them.
UNHCR estimates that more than more than 4.4 million Iraqis have been forced to flee their homes. Many fled before the US-led war on Iraq began in 2003; and as many have fled since sectarian violence escalated following an attack in February 2006. The UN agency says that some 2.2 million Iraqis are internally displaced, while more than 2.2 million have fled to neighbouring states, particularly Syria (about 1.2 million) and Jordan (up to 750,000).
Anti-war veterans barred from Veterans Day parade. And here is IVAW on this gross violation of First Amendment rights. This just makes my blood boil. -- C
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