Photo: Iraqi Sunni members of the 'Revolutionaries of Adhamiyah' patrol in Baghdad's restive Sunni neighbourhood of Adhamiyah, on Wednesday. (Ali Yussef/Agence France-Presse)
REPORTS – LIFE IN IRAQ
Wednesday: 1 GI, 80 Iraqis Killed, 37 Wounded
Iraq says 2 orphan boys die of cholera
One died Thursday, and the other died Wednesday, said Adel Muhsin, the Health Ministry's inspector-general. Six other children at the orphanage have been diagnosed with cholera, he said. The al-Hanan orphanage became infamous in June, when U.S. and Iraqi soldiers found 24 severely malnourished boys there in a dark room, some tied to beds and too weak to stand once they were unbound. Afterward, Iraqi officials said the boys were transferred to a different building where they were receiving proper care. Muhsin blamed this week's cholera deaths on dirty water stored in a tank on the roof. "The people in the orphanage did not clean the water tank, and they kept filling it with water while neglecting our health experts' recommendations," Muhsin told The Associated Press. "The percentage of the chlorine in the tank was zero when we inspected it." Arrest warrants were issued in June for three employees of the orphanage, but they have gone into hiding.
Baghdad voices: Improved security
I have been working in this hospital for about eight months and the security situation has definitely improved during that time. We used to receive about 10-15 injuries and five to 10 bodies overnight - caused by bombs or bullets. The numbers have dropped to about two or three injuries a night and maybe just one body - or none. This improvement started six to eight weeks ago. I think it's because the American and Iraqi troops have started to attack the Mehdi army. They have been arresting leaders of the Mehdi army and also al-Qaeda. I live in the hospital with other doctors, so nobody kills us. We used not to go outside, now we are free to go outside anywhere we want. I have seen many doctors leave for Sweden, Syria and Malaysia - but we do have enough medical staff, both doctors and nurses. SAADI, DOCTOR, AL-YARMOUK HOSPITAL, BAGHDAD
I live in Khadra district [on the west bank of the Tigris] which used to be mixed, but is mainly Sunni now. Things have changed: There are fewer bombings and more shops are open. But we still see dead bodies in the street, we still hear about militias attacking people and we still cannot walk in the street after dark. Overall though, I think it is better somehow, a little easier. The American and Iraqi troops are challenging the militia - and the Mehdi militia is not active. We heard that US troops are giving $2,500 to people to reopen their shops. About 20 shops opened in Arabiya street last month. Most of the shops on our street are damaged. It's not nice, you feel no life going on. SHIREEN, KHADRA DISTRICT, BAGHDAD
IRAQ: Corruption Adds to Baquba's Problems
Facing violence, unemployment and poverty, the capital city of Iraq's volatile Diyala province now finds itself confronting also corruption. This follows the failed promises of reform, reconstruction and rehabilitation at the beginning of the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Billions of dollars of U.S. and Iraqi funds were set aside for rebuilding Iraq, ruined by four years of occupation, 12 years of sanctions, and 30 years of dictatorship. There is little to show for these vast amounts of aid money. The infrastructure is clearly worse on all measurable levels than it was pre- invasion. Under the Coalition Provisional Authority, more than 7 billion dollars went "missing" in the first year of occupation alone. Now Iraqi authorities are blamed for adding to the corruption. Contractors in Baquba told IPS they believe the governor's office is directly involved in the corruption. "I'm not quite sure about the governor (Ra'ad Hameed al-Mula Jowad al- Tamimi) himself," the owner of a security contracts company, speaking on condition of anonymity, told IPS. "What is certain is that his protection group plays a big role in taking the money using his name."
Gunmen loot 3,500-old Sumerian site
Tall Asmar, the famous ancient Sumerian settlement, has been stripped of its contents and digging implements, the Antiquities Department said in a statement. The site in the restive and violent Diyala Province is Iraq’s most important and significant Sumerian settlement in central Mesopotamia. Known as Eshnunna among Mesopotamian scholars, it has given the Iraq Museum its famous and priceless collection of votive stone and marble sculptures representing tall and bearded figures with huge, staring eyes and long, pleated skirts. “An armed group stormed the archaeological site, handcuffed the guards and stole its possessions,” the department said in a statement. Attacks like these have increased recently amid reports that contraband trade in Iraqi antiquities scratched by illegal diggers from ancient sites was booming.
In Basra, violence is a tenth of what it was before British pullback, general says
Attacks against British and Iraqi forces have plunged by 90 percent in southern Iraq since London withdrew its troops from the main city of Basra, the commander of British forces there said Thursday. The presence of British forces in downtown Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, was the single largest instigator of violence, Maj. Gen. Graham Binns told reporters Thursday on a visit to Baghdad's Green Zone. "We thought, 'If 90 percent of the violence is directed at us, what would happen if we stepped back?'" Binns said. Britain's 5,000 troops moved out of a former Saddam Hussein palace at Basra's heart in early September, setting up a garrison at an airport on the city's edge. Since that pullback, there's been a "remarkable and dramatic drop in attacks," Binns said. "The motivation for attacking us was gone, because we're no longer patrolling the streets," he said.
Violent campaign
The chief of police in the southern Iraqi city of Basra has warned of a campaign of violence against women carried out by religious extremists. It has, Maj-Gen Abdul Jalil Khalaf said, included threats, intimidation and even murder. Some victims were dressed in indecent clothes by their killers or had notices attached to them, he said. Women interviewed by the BBC said they no longer dared venture on to Basra's streets without strict Islamic attire. "There is a terrible repression against women in Basra," Maj-Gen Khalaf told the BBC. "They kill women, leave a piece of paper on her or dress her in indecent clothes so as to justify their horrible crimes." Forty-two women were killed between July and September this year, although the number dropped slightly in October, he said.
Iraqis prepare for fuel shortages ahead of a cold season
Aside from bombings, Iraqis have an extra concern every winter; stocking enough amounts of home heating oil in preparation for the four-month-long cold season, which usually ranges from chilly to frosty across Iraq's cities. Even in the country with the third largest oil reserves in the world, poorer people have trouble finding sufficient energy resources to keep going especially as December approaches. 'In the past years we have lived through incidents and events that could not cross people's mind in a country that floats over crude oil,' said 51-year-old Hassan Hady of the troubles Iraqis face during fuel shortages.
IRAQ: Baghdad’s blast barriers inspire artists
Artists eager to bring hope to residents of the war-ravaged Iraqi capital Baghdad have been painting grey concrete walls, erected to protect commercial and residential areas from car bombings and other attacks, with vibrant murals of proud moments in the country’s history. The city’s blast barriers have provided a blank canvas for colourful paintings, including Sunni and Shia shrines, white doves, scenes from the era of the Babylonian King Hammurabi and the basalt statue of the Lion of Babylon. “We are trying to help Iraqis coexist with these concrete barriers and accept them, as they can't be moved - at least for the time being," said 39-year-old artist Emad al-Najar, who was painting a large desert landscape of camels laden with goods. “These portraits are also intended to bring hope to Iraqis and help them to forget their daily sufferings, albeit momentarily, or help remind them what they’ve been missing from their old days,” he added. The walls, which in some areas stretch for miles around governmental buildings, homes and hotels, have been the subject of intense debate among Iraqis.
Iraq's busy cemeteries pause as violence drops
The "Valley of Peace" cemetery in Iraq's holy Shi'ite city of Najaf is living up to its name, with declining violence claiming fewer lives. Iraq's graveyards have been grim barometers of violence and the sprawling Wadi al-Salam cemetery in Najaf, 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad, is one of the biggest in the world. Until recently, it had also been one of the busiest, with grave-diggers and undertakers working around the clock burying tens of thousands of Iraqis killed in sectarian violence. As Iraqi civilian and U.S. military casualties have declined in the last two months, cemetery officials have also reported sharp falls after a relentlessly high flow of victims in the previous year. In Najaf, one of the most popular places for burial in Iraq because of the city's holy status, business dropped almost tenfold.
Despite turmoil, Iraq to spend $19 billion on projects
Iraqi will spend an unprecedented $19 billion on capital projects across Iraq in 2008, including $900 million in Baghdad, senior Iraqi officials said Wednesday, even as they warned that the fight against insurgencies, gangs and militias was far from over. "We must confront the terrorism and extremism that hampers the building of a country of citizenship and law and that provides opportunity, water, electricity and fuel," Barham Salih, the deputy prime minister, said in a speech to a gathering of senior Iraqi government and local Baghdad officials. But Salih, who is also in charge of economic development for the Baghdad security plan, which began in February, added, "We still have a lot of security challenges." The government reached agreement late Tuesday on a $40 billion budget for 2008, including capital and operating costs, and sent it to the Parliament for review, said Salih, who made the announcement at the gathering. Among those present were the two vice presidents, Adel Abdul-Mehdi and Tariq al-Hashemi; General Aboud Qanbar, the military commander in charge of the security plan; and the United States ambassador, Ryan Crocker. Although the city would get more money than ever for capital projects as well as at least $300 million for its operating budget, it is not clear whether it could spend the capital funds. American development experts say that, at best, only 60 to 65 percent of the $450 million in capital funds allocated for 2007, half as much as for 2008, was actually spent. Spending has been slowed by security problems, a lack of expertise in contracting projects and inexperience in delegating tasks — when a project manager is away, others are often afraid to make decisions, and work stops.
REPORTS – IRAQI MILITIAS, POLITICIANS, POWER BROKERS
Shiite police, Sadr movement at loggerheads in Karbala
In addition to the sectarian violence that has struck Iraq, the city of Karbala has seen growing animosities within the Shiite community. Accusations of abuse of power, murder, and other illegal acts are flying back and forth between supporters of Shiite cleric Moqtada al- Sadr and the mainly Shiite local police force in Karbala, with Sadrists claiming that the police have systematically attacked and tortured civilians, including women and children. According to supporters of the Sadr movement, the 'torture' began after intra-Shiite violence in August, a rare incident involving Shiites shooting at each other. At that time during a Shiite festival, fierce clashes erupted between militants believed to belong to the Mahdi Army - the paramilitary wing of the Sadr movement - and Iraqi security forces, leaving scores of pilgrims dead and hundreds wounded. Following the 'Karbala sedition,' a term coined by Shiite leaders who tried to contain the tension, a level of enmity developed between the police and some Sadr members, according to local observers. Although Moqtada al-Sadr ordered a stop to the activities of his army following the 'Karbala sedition,' dissidents from the group have continued to operate. During the past weeks, firefights between police and Sadr- affiliated militants have also ensued after several Sadrist leaders across Iraq were arrested by joint Iraqi and US forces. Police in the city on the other hand alleged that Sadrists had been carrying out assassinations and other attacks against local police - citing this as a reason for the systematic crackdown on their ranks.
Iraq to blacklist firms which signed oil deals with Kurds
Iraq warned on Thursday that foreign oil companies which signed deals with the autonomous Kurdish regional government will be barred from doing business in the country and from exporting oil. "Any company that has signed contracts without the approval of the federal authority of Iraq will not have any chance of working with the government of Iraq," Oil Minister Hussein Shahristani said.
Talabani criticizes Arabs for not opening missions in Baghdad
In an interview published on Wednesday Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has criticized Arab states’ refusal to open their embassies in Iraq and to forgive Iraq’s debts. Unfortunately Arab countries are not in harmony with us...although we have urged their aid in all conferences,” he told Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram. Many countries, except Arab countries, have opened their embassies in Iraq and have forgiven Iraq’s debts, he said, adding “but we had to pay the Arab states 30 billion dollars in compensation in a time we were in great need for money to launch Iraq’s reconstruction.” The president stated that Iraq expects Arab countries to further support his war-torn homeland.
Iraqi Cabinet Approves Easing of De-Ba'athification
The Iraqi Cabinet has approved and sent to Parliament the latest version of a draft bill easing curbs on former Saddam Hussein supporters holding government jobs, spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement on Wednesday. Dabbagh told The Associated Press that the new version included amendments to some articles which drew objections in previous versions. Relaxation of the curbs on former Baath Party members in government service is a major demand by the country's Sunni Arab minority. The US has been pressing for the Parliament to approve changes in the "de-Baathification" law as part of the campaign toward national reconciliation.
Sadr MP blasts new de-Baathification law
A senior official of Iraq's Sadr movement Thursday blasted a new draft law aimed at integrating former members of Saddam Hussein's regime into government, saying it would reward the ousted dictator's "agents" at the expense of his "victims." Fallah Hassan Chanchal, member of parliament for Sadr City, a sprawling Shiite neighbourhood in northeastern Baghdad, also accused the Iraqi and US governments of wanting to reinstate members of the former regime. "It is a coup against the constitution," Chanchal told AFP in an interview in Sadr City, bastion of the movement of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. "The law recognises the rights of agents of Saddam Hussein, but not of the victims of Saddam Hussein," said Chanchal, who presides over parliament's de-Baathification Commission. Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh announced on Wednesday that Iraq's cabinet has approved a redraft of a law that would allow lower-ranking members of Saddam's Baath party to return to public office.
IAF regrets closure of Muslim Scholars Association headquarters
Leader of the Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF) Adnan al-Duleimi expressed his "deep sorrow" over the government's Sunni Awqaf (endowments) Department's decision to close to the head-office of the Sunni Association of Muslims Scholars (AMS) in western Baghdad and cease its radio broadcast. "We are extremely sorry for what happened on Wednesday afternoon between the Awqaf department and the association," al-Duleimi, who is also the secretary general of the Iraqi People's Congress, said in a statement released on Thursday. Calling on the Awqaf department to retract its decision, al-Duleimi said, "We have to work day and night to heal the rift and unite against out enemies, who are seeking to destroy us and our religious institutions." The head of the Awqaf department, Sheikh Ahmed Abdul Ghafour al-Samarraie said in a news conference on Wednesday that his department closed the association's head-office at Um al-Qura Mosque in western Baghdad and ceased its radio broadcast. "A four-day time limit was given to the association to empty the office. Al-Samarraie attributed the closure to the association's stance on al-Qaeda's operations, noting that the association has justified many of the group's "terrorist attacks."
Interior ministry to search security firms' headquarters
Iraqi interior minister on Thursday assigned a senior officer to search the headquarters of foreign security firms working in Iraq after the recent incidents involving some of these companies. "Minister Jawad al-Bulani assigned Colonel Ahmed Saleh, officer in charge of the files of foreign security firms working in Iraq, to search their headquarters and inspect their work permits and also their weapons," the Head of the National Command Center General Abdul Karim Khalaf told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). "The ministry maintains contacts in the U.S. embassy in Iraq to agree on new mechanism to organize the work of these companies in the country after the deadly incidents, where their personnel killed and injured Iraqi civilians. [Good luck with that one. – dancewater]
Kurdish parliament approves law to ban smoking
The parliament of Iraq's Kurdistan region approved a law to fight smoking in the province, which stipulates importing and exporting cigarettes from well-known international companies and imposes fines on traders and smokers in public places. This came during the session held on Wednesday afternoon, headed by Speaker Adnan al-Mufti, with the presence of Health Minister Zeryan Abdul Rahman to discuss articles of a law aimed at fighting smoking in the province.
"The session dedicated to discuss the smoking law in the province and its health, social, and religious damage," the health minister said during the session attended by the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) correspondent. "The law stipulates importing and exporting cigarettes from only well-known international companies, bans smoking among youths and in public places, and imposes fines on exporting and importing cigarettes," Zeryan Abdul Rahman added. [Hey, does this mean the US troops will have to give up smoking in public? I like this law. – dancewater]
Output from southern field boosted to 50,000 barrels a day
Iraqi engineers have boosted output from the operating oil wells of the giant Nahr Omar oil field to 50,000 barrels from 10,000, a statement by the oil ministry said. The success is a rare story in a country embroiled in violence and infighting among various sectarian and political factions. Nahr Omar is one of Iraq’s major oil fields still awaiting development. Its proven reserves are estimated at more than 4 billion barrels. Oil Minister Hussain Shahristani has expressed his pleasure over “this achievement and said, “The efforts exerted by the workers in the Southern Oil Company are in the service of their country, Iraq.” The field, in the restive Province of Basra, began production with 1,000 barrels a day. With the main reservoirs still untouched, the field has the potential of producing up to 500,000 barrels daily once fully developed.
Defense, oil and trade most corrupted ministries, commission says
The ministries of defense, oil and trade are among the most corrupted institutions in the country, according to the new director of the accountability and transparency commission. Mousa al-Shuwaili said rampant corruption in these ministries was mainly due to the pressure and meddling of influential political factions. Shuwaili stopped short of naming the factions and declined to say whether senior figures, including ministers, were involved. The commission’s former head has escaped to the U.S. where he accused the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of nurturing and encouraging a culture of corruption. Shuwaili said the interior ministry was also mired in corruption but would not say whether his commission would call any officials for questioning or launch lawsuits. He criticized a newly issued law under which defense ministry’s personnel would only face military courts if found guilty. He said the law hindered his commission’s effort to uncover the ministry’s corruption files and hold offenders accountable for wrongdoings.
REPORTS – US/UK/OTHERS IN IRAQ
US Forces Accused of Killing Sunni Allies
Members of a Sunni Muslim group that was formed with American backing to fight Sunni militants charged Wednesday that a lengthy U.S. air and ground attack killed at least seven of its fighters. Mansour abd Salem, one of the leaders of the Sunni Awakening council in Taji, north of Baghdad , charged in a television interview that U.S. forces had "deliberately" killed members of the group in a "hideous" assault. The U.S. military said that the operations targeted armed "associates of senior al Qaida in Iraq leaders," killed 25 suspected terrorists and detained 21 suspects. Meanwhile in Baghdad , the U.S.-backed Iraqi government seized the offices and shut down the radio station of the Association of Muslim Scholars , a major Sunni group that's voiced support for al Qaida. In a television interview, the group's leader, Sheik Harith al Thari , who's now in Jordan , once said that, "We are from al Qaida and al Qaida are from us."
US Policy on Iraq Shi'ites Could Aid Iran: Report
The Bush administration's courtship of the biggest Shi'ite party in Iraq could worsen a dangerous rift between rival Shi'ite groups and ultimately give Iran a greater political role, a think tank said on Wednesday. The Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, or SIIC, a cornerstone of the political alliance behind Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, has enjoyed close relations with Washington since the U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003, unlike the rival Shi'ite movement led by anti-American cleric Moqtada al Sadr. But the International Crisis Group urged the United States to adopt a more evenhanded approach to the majority Shi'ite community, saying in a report that Shi'ite rivalries are likely to have more influence on Iraq's future than the sectarian conflict between Shi'ites and Sunnis. "The U.S. has fully backed (SIIC) in this rivalry. This is a risky gambit," the Belgium-based think tank said. It warned that U.S. reliance on fighters from SIIC's Badr Organization as a counterweight to Sadr's Mehdi Army militia is "bound to backfire, polarizing the Shi'ite community and creating the foundations for endemic intra-Shi'ite strife."
Iraqi forces in full control of Basra: British general
Violence has plummeted in Basra and Iraq's security forces are in full control, a British general said on Thursday, a month before a formal handover of the southern oil city to Iraqi authority. "I'm confident the current level of violence is sufficient for the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) to handle," Major General Graham Binns, head of the coalition forces in south-eastern Iraq, told reporters in Baghdad. He had no doubt, he said, that Iraq would be ready to take over security in the entire southern province of Basra from the British military on schedule in mid-December. "I wouldn't have recommended PIC (Provisional Iraqi Control) if I was not confident," he said, adding however, that the handover was not without risk as violence had not dropped off entirely. "Is there risk? Yes. But you don't make progress unless you take risks," he said. "In May, June and July the brigades that we had in Basra were standing toe to toe with the militias and fighting some of the most intense tactical battles that we've had to fight during the four years that we've been here. "We were taking casualties, they were taking casualties ... 90 percent of the violence was directed at us."
General says Turkey is implementing Iraq operation
A senior Turkish general said on Thursday Turkey was in the process of implementing a cross-border operation against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq. The comment to reporters by General Ilker Basbug, head of the land forces, followed a reaffirmation by the government this week that Turkey was ready to carry out an offensive against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas.
HISTORY
Chevron Pays $30 Million to Settle Allegations of Kickbacks in Oil for Food Program
Chevron Corp. has agreed to pay $30 million to settle charges that it made illegal kickbacks to Iraq for oil purchased in 2001 and 2002 under the United Nation's oil-for-food program. The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday said Chevron agreed to the settlement brought under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act without admitting or denying the allegations. Chevron agreed to remit $25 million in profits and pay a $3 million civil penalty. The company also will pay the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Asset Controls $2 million. Chevron will satisfy its profit obligation by forfeiting $20 million under an agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and paying $5 million under an agreement with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. ''This is the commission's fifth action against a company for participating in the Oil for Food kickback scheme and demonstrates our continuing commitment to combating violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act,'' Linda Chatman Thomsen, director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement, said in a release.
IRAQI REFUGEES
Iraq's displaced struggle to restart their lives
Fadhlelah Daghel lives in a village without a name, unmarked on maps. The dusty settlement of squat mud-brick houses, huddled near an arterial road that cuts through the barren scrublands beyond Baghdad's south-eastern fringe, is a place born out of bloodshed. U.S. troops who patrol the area simply call it "Village 8". Daghel, her husband and six children fled here last year with dozens of other Shi'ite families from a small farming community near Balad Ruz, 60 km (40 miles) to the north, terrified that Sunni militants were preparing to slaughter them. "We were attacked, so many times, by mortar bombs, random shootings. They threatened us, sent messages telling us to leave," said Daghel, 33, as she stood baking flat, round loaves of bread in an earth-built kiln outside her home. "My brother was killed, and then they attacked his funeral and killed one of my cousins, and kidnapped another." Iraq's simmering sectarian tensions exploded into a savage cycle of bloodletting and revenge killings last year after militants blew up a revered Shi'ite shrine in Samarra. Baghdad and the rural hinterlands to its north, east and south used to be a patchwork of mixed Shi'ite and Sunni communities. The violence unravelled the tapestry, setting off a vast internal migration as towns and villages splintered along sectarian lines and mixed communities became battlegrounds. Scores of places like Village 8 have sprung up in Iraq as the displaced seek safe havens and the map of Iraq is redrawn.
IRAQ-SYRIA: First death among Palestinian refugees on border
Almost 2,000 Palestinians who fled violence in Iraq and are stranded at the Iraqi-Syrian border lack medical care, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). One person, identified as a priority in need of treatment, died on 13 November, the agency said. The UNHCR said about 11 children at al-Waleed camp are suffering from leukaemia, spinal injury, skin diseases and intestinal problems. None is able to obtain care inside the country. “There are a disproportionate number of seriously or critically ill among al-Waleed's population,” said Anita Raman, associate reporting officer, UNHCR Iraq Operation. “Cancer, heart conditions and disability [due to health conditions, congenital defects and violence] are relatively common.” On 13 November, UNHCR recorded the first death among the refugees in the Al-Waleed camp. Akram Mohammed Rizq al-Assaf, a Palestinian, died of a heart attack. He had been identified as needing treatment outside Iraq. He is survived by a family of five living in the same camp. “In June, I witnessed children in the camp suffering from heart conditions and severe congenital defects, and recovering from injuries sustained in mortaring of their neighbourhoods,” Raman noted.
How to Help Iraqi Refugees
ANOTHER Way to help: The Collateral Repair Project
Read key facts on improving the political response to the Iraqi refugee crisis.
Read key facts on increasing aid and protection to Iraqi refugees.
Authorities in Lebanon, host of an estimated 50,000 Iraqis, have been systematically arresting and detaining those who are in Lebanon illegally since the May 2007 events in the Palestinian camp of Nahr-el-Bared. The majority of Iraqis living in Lebanon do not have valid residency papers and many had to pay smugglers to enter Lebanon illegally.
COMMENTARY
Double Bluff: The Democrats' Pro-War Anti-War Bill
There has been much throwing about of brains on the Democrat's "bold" new proposal to "end" the onging war crime in Iraq. Anyone who still believes that these Reid-Pelosi Democrats are going to do anything to kill – or even pinch – the militarist goose whose golden eggs of loot and dominion are fattening the bipartisan plutocracy is, to put it mildly, a rock-bottom fool. Arthur Silber does his usual excellent demolition job on this latest bit of bunkum from the "opposition" and the support it has garnered from some of our leading "progressive" lights. Silber takes the radical step of actually reading what the bill actually says, and learns that is the same old non-withdrawal withdrawal plan that we have heard from top Dems for months; i.e., it would keep thousands upon thousands of American troops in Iraq, year after year, operating from permanent bases and engaging in a vast range of military actions, including combat, "force protection," "counter-terrorism operations" and "supporting Iraqi forces."
Waiting for a Shi'ite Civil War
On Sunday Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki hailed a "remarkable" decline in violence, saying the country may have finally moved beyond the Sunni-Shi'a sectarian conflict. While that level of optimism may be premature, the security situation has improved dramatically in recent months. But with sectarian violence waning for the time being, the stage may be set for an escalation of the simmering battle among Shi'ites for control of southern Iraq. In Najaf, the spiritual center of Shi'ite Iraq, public displays of respect and cooperation mask an often violent competition between rival factions. Since shortly after the American invasion The Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC) - known until May 2007 as the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, or SCIRI - has clashed, often violently, with followers of the Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. This summer Sadr announced a "freeze" in the activities of his Mahdi Army militia and the two sides have reached an uneasy truce. But residents in Najaf say the rivalry has simply gone underground. "The relationship between the two sides in the media is the opposite of reality," says a history professor who teaches near Najaf (concerned for his safety, he asked that his full name not be used). "Their relationship on the streets is [very] tense, and can reach the level of an explosion."
RESISTANCE
U.S. deserters lose bid for Canada refugee status
War Protesters Arrested at Washington Port
Directors say war films make up for poor reporting
Both film makers have attacked mainstream media for their coverage of the Iraq war and events leading to it. "There is a very big difference between the Vietnam war, where we saw the pictures, and the Iraq war, where we don't," De Palma told Reuters at the Venice Film Festival, where "Redacted" premiered and where he won the best director award. "I am very angry because I think this is an important issue. I think the fourth estate has let us down terribly." He told reporters: "It's all out there on the Internet, you can find it if you look for it, but it's not in the major media. The media is now really part of the corporate establishment."
Quote of the day: "To ignore evil is to become an accomplice to it." ~ Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), US civil rights leader
Photo: Iraqi Sunni members of the 'Revolutionaries of Adhamiyah' patrol in 
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