News & Views 11/10/07

Photo: A member of an armed group of local citizens passes by as U.S. army soldiers keep watch of detainees in Baghdad's northern neighborhood of Azamiyah, Iraq, Saturday, Nov. 10, 2007. U.S. and Iraqi army soldiers, along with an armed group of local citizens, patrolled the streets of the troubled, predominantly Sunni, neighborhood Saturday, detaining several suspects. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed) [What do you think of the "armed group of local citizens" who wear masks as they round up their fellow citizens? See article below. - dancewater]

REPORTS – LIFE IN IRAQ

Saturday: 1 US Soldier, 52 Iraqis Killed; 35 Iraqis Wounded

Friday: 45 Iraqis Killed, 33 Wounded

Casualties from Mosul blast up to 20

Casualties from the blast that ripped through a bus in western Mosul on Saturday morning reached 20, including four dead and 16 wounded, according to police sources.

Meet Abu Abed: the US's new ally against al-Qaida

Abu Abed, a member of the insurgent Islamic Army, has recently become the commander of the US-sponsored "Ameriya Knights". He is one of the new breed of Sunni warlords who are being paid by the US to fight al-Qaida in Iraq. The Americans call their new allies Concerned Citizens. It is a strategy that has worked well for the Americans, on paper at least. This week, the US military claimed it had forced the extremist group al-Qaida in Mesopotamia out of Baghdad altogether, and cut the number of murders in the city by 80%. Major General Joseph Fil, commander of US forces in Baghdad, said: "The Iraqi people have decided that they've had it up to here with violence." Critics of the plan say they are simply creating powerful new strongmen who run their own prisons and armies, and who eventually will turn on each other.

A senior Sunni sheikh, whose tribe is joining the new alliance with the Americans against al-Qaida, told me in Beirut that it was a simple equation for him. "It's just a way to get arms, and to be a legalised security force to be able to stand against Shia militias and to prevent the Iraqi army and police from entering their areas," he said. "The Americans lost hope with an Iraqi government that is both sectarian and dominated by militias, so they are paying for locals to fight al-Qaida. It will create a series of warlords. "It's like someone who brought cats to fight rats, found himself with too many cats and brought dogs to fight the cats. Now they need elephants."

A former intelligence officer and a pious Sunni, Hajji Abu Abed has the aura of a mafia don. And for Abu Abed, like a don, connections are everything. His office is decorated with pictures of him hugging US officers, including the senior commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, and a Captain Cosper. On Abu Abed's desk stands a glass box containing a black suede cavalry hat and a letter proclaiming him an honorary US cavalryman. In a silver frame is a picture of him with a female interpreter in military uniform. As the Hajji settled into his office, a long line of men formed at the door. From a small purse tucked into his belt he dispensed handfuls of Iraqi dinars to his followers as they filed through. He is the only figure of authority many of them have seen for several years. One old man asked him for an electricity generator; another, carrying a large file, asked him about a US construction contract that he was promised. Two young boys were seated next to him. One had brought him a leather ammunition belt, and the other handed him the keys to a new pick-up truck Abu Abed had ordered. The Americans pay him $400 (£200) a month for each fighter he provides, he said, and he had 600 registered. His men are awed by his courage, his piety and his neurotic rages.

……The Hajji and his men used the same techniques they mastered as insurgents against their former allies. Sitting on a big sofa in his office, he recounted the events. "When we decided to attack we started with assassinations. We killed six [al-Qaida] commanders in the first week of fighting," he said. "We would drive in unmarked cars, shoot a commander dead and then flee. At first, no one knew who was killing them." Soon an open war started. Of the hundreds who pledged to fight al-Qaida, only 13 actually stuck with Abu Abed. These days, almost all his followers claim to have been one of the 13. "When the Americans intervened, we went out with them on missions, leading them to the Qaida fighters," he said. He pulled his pistol out and showed it to me. It was a Glock, supplied by the US to Iraqi security forces. "This belonged to the commander of al-Qaida here," he said. "They called him the White Lion. I killed him and got his gun."

…….Back at Abu Abed's HQ, the men were put into cells. Men in US-supplied blue uniforms were being jailed by men in US-supplied green uniforms. An American officer, Captain Cosper, visited Abu Abed that night. He sat in the office trying to make sense of what was going on. "They [the Concerned Citizens] are not allowed to detain people or conduct raids," he told me. In a nearby room, two blindfolded men were being questioned by Abu Abed's men. An American soldier put his head inside, watched for a few seconds and left. "They won't do anything to them while we're here," he said. When Capt Cosper had gone, the men were beaten up and taken to the cell. Later, one of Abu Abed's men drove up and shouted: "I brought another one." His face was shining with happiness. "Where is he?" asked a captain. "In the boot," replied the gunman. "I found him standing in the street behind Abu Omar's building." "Are you sure you didn't capture Mudhar? I asked him to guard the back." "No, no, I am sure he is one of them," said the fighter. The captain pulled out a shaking man from the boot like a magician pulling out a rabbit. "Ah Mudhar, I am sorry," said the captain. "I told you he is one of us." The fighter kissed Mudhar twice and said he was sorry but Mudhar should try not to look so suspicious in future. Mudhar, still shaky, looked at him. Then, confused and angry, walked away. [Well, no wonder I am confused as to who is fighting whom here. – dancewater]

Employment centers have names of more than 1 million jobless Iraqis

Employment and training centers across the country have to deal with an army of jobless Iraqis whose numbers have recently shot to more than 1.2 million, a statement by the ministry of labor and social affairs said. The massive jobless figure includes only those who have registered with these centers in the hope of finding a job. Ministry officials estimate that the jobless figure maybe twice that number as many unemployed Iraqis simply do not bother to register with these centers. The statement said only 101,890 names in the country’s bloating jobless books were women. The figure also does not include the nearly two million Iraqi refugees almost all of them jobless who have fled to neighboring states.

The Kirkuk Crisis

Juan Cole has a round-up of information on what has happened in Kirkuk in October and so far in November.

The Arrest of Red Crescent Director

AMSI issued a press release condemning the arrest of director of Red Crescent Office in Tarimiya by the American occupation forces. The Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq (AMSI) carried the occupation forces and the present government fully responsible for the crime demanding immediate release of the detained person. The American occupation forces arrested Amer Muhammad Hussein the director of Red Crescent office and his brother from the house in Al Azra village in Tarimiya. The crime occurred when the occupation forces surrounded the house and broke the furniture tampering with the contents of the house. These forces arrested the citizens and brought them to an unknown destination.

Concerns, doubts over possible collapse of Mosul Dam

The controversial issue of the Mosul Dam has come up to the surface again after reports warned of a possible imminent collapse threatening to flood about half a million Iraqis amidst arguments among government and political circles in this regard. Some believe that reports about this dam was sheer media hype that rests on no authentic geological data while others think the stakes were high about the dam collapse now that there were no accurate scientific measures adopted to provide maintenance services. The Washington Post's last week report said that the Iraqi government rejected the findings of a U.S. oversight panel that the dam, near the northern city of Mosul, was on the verge of a collapse that could cause flooding along the Tigris River "all the way to Baghdad." The possible collapse, the U.S. paper said, could unleash four billion cubic meters of water at one shot, which might kill thousands and submerge two of Iraq's largest cities by nearly 20 meters. Riad al-Mufti, the former director for planning and follow-up of the Mosul Dam, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) that he believed there was no clear danger as far as a collapse of the dam was concerned.

Return

I've been back in Baghdad a couple days now after more than a month away. Last month six of our female Iraqi reporters, who have risked their lives during the 4-plus years of this war, were honored for their courage by the International Women's Media Foundation. In New York, Los Angeles and Washington D.C. they told American audiences about the daily dangers of their lives in Iraq both as an Iraqi and as a journalist. Even in the safety of American cities they could not be photographed, could not be revealed for what they are, journalists. It was an honor to watch them be recognized. So often the Iraqi journalists that work in western bureaus here do not get the credit they deserve. They are our guides through the streets of Iraq and our eyes and ears when we cannot travel their ourselves. Now I'm back and things seem to have changed. The streets are quieter. But Iraqis are tentative to except the lull in violence. So many are waiting for the next flare up. Today one official told me that security-wise Baghdad is better but life is not better. Unemployment rates are still high, displacement has tripled since January and children are the biggest victims.

One peaceful Night in Baghdad

Today I made a social visit to my brother who lives few blocks away from our house. His son has a broken hand while he was playing soccer. I went there with my other younger brother who drove us there by his own car taking his only son with having him on my lap, the youngest member of the family, Mohammad, my lovely nephew who is only two years old. Till now the matter is normal, but the point or the focus is of the timing which took place at 7 p.m. lasting for two hours which means that the visit ended at 9 p.m.,and the other great achievement is the visited place which lies in an area located only few meters from al-Janabat area!!!!!

The answer is so simple carrying happiness at the same time. I live in Amil neighborhood and we had been suffered from the sectarian violence for more than one year leaving people suffering from many bad things ; losing lives, properties and businesses which led to have the neighborhood divided into parts , two third for the Shiite and one -third for the Sunni . Also we had some streets which were blocked and others were abandoned due to the snipers who were in their duty of random shooting day and night. After all that, today I went to my brother’s house passing some streets I wouldn’t dare to pass a week ago. I also noticed the two cafes on my way open, with great surprise, one of them is filled with customers. Some were drinking the cold drinks while others would rather drink tea . Those customers are divided into two groups; the first majority groups were playing backgammon and domino while the second minority were chatting with the Hubble- bubble in hands. I was really happy to see this happens having our traditions and habits come back again. I noticed the improvement in the security side two weeks ago when meetings started between the Sheiks of both sides Sunni and Shiite’s to establish peace in Amil neighborhood.

Cluster Bombs in Iraq: The Deadly Footprint

In late April 2003, I was traveling back to the Iraqi capital of Baghdad from the northern city of Mosul where I had been making an assessment of humanitarian needs after the U.S. invasion of Iraq. It was a bright spring day and under ordinary circumstances the drive would have been quite beautiful. The road took us through fertile farmland, vast wheat fields, and semi-arid regions where sheep grazed. But these were not ordinary times. The journey was slowed by massive convoys of the omnipresent U.S. military which had invaded Iraq just a few weeks earlier. We passed melted high wire towers, burnt out tanks, and demolished buildings. The driver skirted bomb craters in the roadway and made long detours to find bridges that had not been bombed. The debris of modern warfare littered the landscape and the destruction seared my heart. My traveling companion that day was a young woman from Denmark who had been a de-miner in Kosovo for several years. Christina’s considerable knowledge of the weapons of war added new layers of understanding to the devastation we were witnessing. Just outside a small town near Beji, Christina gasped and asked the driver to slow down. She pointed out the tell-tale signs of the use of cluster bombs and showed me where to look for the pattern of craters, or “footprint.”

REPORTS – IRAQI MILITIAS, POLITICIANS, POWER BROKERS

23 gunmen killed in clashes near Samarra

"Gunmen from the Islamic Army Organization attacked positions of the al-Qaeda Organization in Iraq in the villages of Banat al-Hassan, al-Mutasem and al-Jalam, south and east of Samarra, on Friday evening and Saturday morning," the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) on condition of anonymity. "According to information available so far, 18 gunmen of al-Qaeda were killed and 16 others arrested by fighters of the Islamic Army Organization," the source said. He did not give any details on whether the security agencies played any role in those clashes or the losses of the Islamic Army Organization. The fate of the 16 gunmen captured by the Army was still unknown, he said. A key member of the Army, Abu al-Jarrah, told VOI "15 fighters of the Army were killed in the operation that was aimed at expelling al-Qaeda fighters from areas south of Samarra." "Al-Qaeda Organization has killed or kidnapped scores of innocent people in the area," Abu al-Jarrah said, adding "the clans played a great role helping us during the battles we entered against al-Qaeda." Armed clashes have been erupting between al-Qaeda and the Islamic Army Organization, most probably a group that broke away from al-Qaeda, to control south of Samarra, 120 km north of Baghdad, away from any intervention by the Iraqi or U.S. forces.

Iraqi leaders urge political reform

Some 40 Sunni, Shia and Kurdish delegates gathered in neighboring Jordan this week to take part in the meeting in order to find the means to bolster national reconciliation in the country. Nassar al-Rubaie, one of the attendants from the anti-US Sadrist bloc led by Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, said on Saturday that participants called for political reforms to take place once a timetable has been set for all foreign forces to leave Iraq. Saleh al-Mutlaq, head of the Iraqi National Dialogue Front, a small Sunni Arab bloc, said the Dead Sea event was part of a "continuous dialogue'' to overcome Iraq's problems. It "prepares the ground for a national comprehensive reconciliation,'' al-Mutlaq said. The four-day meeting, which began Monday in a Dead Sea resort, was held under the auspices of an Italian non-governmental organization, local news reports said.

17,000 sham names getting monthly salaries – anti-corruption board

The Iraqi anti-corruption board revealed there are 17,000 false names receiving monthly salaries from the state institutions, adding that files that had to do with corruption were lost. Moussa Faraj, the board chief, during a press conference on Saturday, attributed the spread of corruption to the large financial appropriations cashed without any control or monitoring, not to mention the "clear weakness in the anti-corruption agencies' performance." "The current strategy at the board is to focus on the basic aspects for citizens, including the poverty under which 60 percent of the Iraqis are groaning," said Faraj, noting "committees will be established to detect causes of poverty in all provinces." Faraj, however, praised some of the Iraqi ministries for dealing with corruption related issues "individually."

Mehdi Army had 'reign of terror'

Iraqi police say the powerful Mehdi Army militia has been involved in killing of hundreds of people in the mainly Shia Muslim province of Karbala. Maj Gen Raid Shaker told a public meeting the militia of radical cleric Moqtada Sadr had brought four years of terror and anarchy causing 670 deaths. His allegations were backed by scores of angry people attending the meeting. Mr Sadr's supporters have rejected the allegations, saying they are victims of a smear to cover up excesses by police. The BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad says such direct and public allegations are unprecedented and may indicate growing confidence on the part of the authorities that they can take on the militia. Mr Sadr suspended the activities of the Mehdi Army for six months in August "in order to rehabilitate it in a way that will safeguard its ideological image". The allegations came out as part of a bitter war of words that is now raging between police chiefs and the Mehdi Army, our correspondent says.

REPORTS – US/UK/OTHERS IN IRAQ

New Law May Spell End To Iraq Contractors

The government of Iraq has notified private security firms their immunity from Iraqi law is about to end, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports.
The title of a letter sent by the interior ministry - and obtained exclusively CBS News - says it all: “Removing the legal immunity.” Until now, security firms like Blackwater have operated under a grant of immunity issued in 2004 by the then-top American in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer. But the draft of a new law says “all immunities … shall be cancelled." That law still must be ratified by the Iraqi parliament, and if and when it is, private security firms would almost certainly pull out of Iraq. “There’s no question it’s a disaster if this got passed,” said Carter Andress, one of an estimated 8,500 private security contractors guarding diplomats, convoys and reconstruction sites for the U.S. He is not willing to let his employees be subject to arrest by an Iraqi police force he believes is riddled with corruption and infiltrated by enemy fighters.

U.S.: 4 released Iranians had Sunni links in Iraq

The United States followed through Friday on its promise to release nine Iranians held in Iraq, including two accused of helping smuggle weapons into Iraq. The release wasn't without surprise, however. One of the captives had been in U.S. custody nearly three years, and at least four were picked up in military actions [by the US – dancewater] directed against Sunni Muslim insurgents and not the Shiite militias that Iran is generally accused of assisting. U.S. officials said they were still holding 11 Iranians, but the Iranian ambassador to Iraq insisted that the number still held was 25, and he demanded that Iraq continue to press for their release. "Since these diplomats were kidnapped by U.S. forces on Iraq's soil while performing their diplomatic duties and they enjoyed diplomatic immunity, the Iraqi government is obliged to do its best to hasten their release from illegal arrest," Ambassador Hassan Kazemi-Qomi said. The nine were surrendered to Iraqi authorities, who then turned them over to Iranian officials.

………………For the first time, the United States provided the names of the Iranians and the details of their capture. Brujerd Chegini and Hamid Reza Asgari Shukuh were arrested, along with three others still in U.S. custody, on Jan. 11 during what the military said was "an intelligence driven" raid of Iranian government offices in Irbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. They were suspected of being members of Iran's elite Quds force, an arm of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which the U.S. military says arms and finances Shiite Muslim militias in Iraq. Seven others were captured in unrelated military operations, some dating back three years, and included at least two who the military said were affiliated with al Qaida in Iraq, a Sunni insurgent group. [So, al Qaida in Iraq is a Sunni insurgent group???? When we hear that former insurgents are now fighting “al Qaeda” are we really seeing a tribal fight????? – dancewater]

Iraq asks Britain to return hundreds of missing artifacts

The government has asked British authorities to hand over to the Iraq Museum 654 priceless archaeological pieces that went missing shortly after U.S. invasion troops landed in Baghdad in 2003. A statement by the Ministry of Archaeology and Tourism said the pieces were among the thousands of artifacts that were looted from the Museum and the British authorities were under obligation to return them. The statement faxed to the newspaper said the artifacts were bought by a Norwegian dealer passed to a British university for evaluation and authenticity. The statement did not name the university but said the scholars there found that the treasures belonged to the Iraq Museum and were among the pieces that went missing. The Norwegian had bought them from a Jordanian national who claimed they had been part of family possessions for decades. The ministry, the statement said, has learned that the British authorities have already started handing over the items to the Norwegian despite complaints by British archeologists that they should be returned to Iraq.

U.S. soldier found not guilty of Iraq murders

U.S. solider has been acquitted of three murder charges after investigations into the unlawful killings of three Iraqis earlier this year, the U.S. military said on Saturday. A U.S. court martial, however, found Staff Sergeant Michael Hensley, a sniper from the 1st Battalion, 501st Airborne, guilty of wrongfully placing an AK-47 rifle beside the body of an Iraqi man. Hensley was one of three U.S. soldiers charged with the killings of three Iraqis in separate incidents during U.S. operations between April 14 and May 11 near the town of Iskandariya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad. The charges stemmed from complaints made by other U.S. soldiers to authorities. Hensley was found not guilty on all three charges of premeditated murder at a court martial on Thursday at Camp Victory, the main U.S. base near Baghdad's international airport, the military said in a statement.

IRAQI REFUGEES

Conditions deteriorate for 2,000 Palestinians stuck at Iraq-Syria border

The UN refugee agency warns that the situation for Palestinians trapped in camps at the Iraq-Syria border is becoming very precarious, with nearly 2,000 people facing deteriorating weather conditions. The population of Al Tanf camp in the no-man's land between Iraq and Syria increased to 437 in recent weeks when Syrian authorities took to the camp an additional 97 Palestinians who had fled from Iraq into Syria during the past year on forged documents. Another camp inside Iraq, Al Waleed, is currently hosting 1,560 Palestinian refugees and the number is expected to increase as new families continue to arrive at the camp. UNHCR estimates some 13,000 Palestinians are still living in Baghdad. UNHCR staff report that 30-40 persons arrive on a weekly basis fleeing ongoing threats and attacks in Baghdad. The conditions in the camp, located in the desert near the border with Syria, are harsh, especially with the approaching winter. "We are increasingly worried about the plight of Palestinian refugees, particularly the women, children and elderly, who remain stuck on the border between Iraq and Syria," said Andrew Harper, head of UNHCR's Iraq Support Unit.

How to Help Iraqi Refugees

ANOTHER Way to help: The Collateral Repair Project

COMMENTARY

Depraving the word "Freedom"

This morning, I came across something that left my head want to explode. In a press conference with the French President, Bush gave one of his biggest lies in the 21st century. I know we are still in the beginning of this century, but I really believe that he is one of the most eloquent liars the world would ever witness. He was asked about Iraq by a reporter and his answer was like this:

Q: Thank you, Mr. President. My question is on Iraq. Mr. President, this morning you talked at length about Afghanistan, Iran, but not Iraq. And I wanted to ask both of you, is France reconciled with the United States, the United States is reconciled with France? So what about Iraq? Can France, for instance, help to get out of the Iraqi quagmire? And President Bush, where do you stand on Iraq and your domestic debate on Iraq? Do you have a timetable for withdrawing troops?
BUSH: I don’t — you know, “quagmire” is an interesting word. If you lived in Iraq and had lived under a tyranny, you’d be saying, God, I love freedom — because that’s what’s happened. And there are killers and radicals and murderers who kill the innocent to stop the advance of freedom. But freedom is happening in Iraq. And we’re making progress.

What "freedom" he was talking about? Invading a country, abusing its people, bringing terrorists to its land and causing massive immigrations and murders is freedom? This man has even depraved the word and made every freedom-lover hates it because of his comments. We hated tyranny, yes. But what came after was worse and cannot be called “freedom.”

Bush's Bishops: Exit Iraq Now

President Bush’s church, long at odds with him on matters of public policy, called on the United States and its partners today to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq immediately. The Bishops of the United Methodist Church approved a resolution calling on Bush, Congress and leaders of the other coalition partners to begin the “immediate safe and full withdrawal” of all troops, declare that there will be no permanent military bases in Iraq, increase support for veterans of all wars and initiate a reconstruction plan to address the humanitarian, social and educational needs of the Iraqi people. The 125 current and retired bishops now meeting in the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina represent more than 11 million Methodists worldwide – including the current occupant of the White House, a member of Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas. In issuing the call, the bishops said their position is based on the denomination’s belief that “war is incompatible with the teachings and examples of Christ,” and on the call of Jesus Christ for “his followers to be peacemakers.” “Every day that the war continues, more soldiers and innocent civilians are killed with no end in sight to the violence, bloodshed and carnage,” the bishops said in their resolution. In a response, the White House said that Bush “believes our moral and strategic imperatives are one.”

Quote of the day: "There is no telling how many wars it will take to secure freedom in the homeland." - George W. Bush(1946- ) 43rd US President: Source: In a speech on August 7, 2002

=
"The war made possible for us the solution of a whole series of problems that could never have been solved in normal times." - Joseph Paul Goebbels (1897-1945) Nazi Propaganda Minister - Source: The Göebbels Diaries, 1942-1943