These are the archives for the week ending 4th March 2005
Guerrilla tactics frustrate US
Walking in from the desert before dawn, the marines entering the ancient city of Hit bristled with armaments. Yet pulling out of the city five days later, every one of those mortars and grenades remained intact. It was much the same story in a recent Marine offensive across Anbar Province, the center of Iraq's insurgency. As part of "River Blitz," Marines took over trouble-spots like Hit, Haditha, Baghdadi, and Ramadi with hardly any shots being fired. But from the upper ranks to the most junior boots on the ground, few believe the relative ease of this operation means the insurgency in Anbar is over. Instead, the militants are fleeing before the marines arrive, only to return when the marines withdraw.
"They're very perceptive, not stupid at all, and they probably saw tanks were moved here. So they left,'' says Lt. Col Stephen Dinauer commander of the 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, which headed up operations in Hit. "It's frustrating, because we can't be everywhere at once."
But while Marines conducted their offensive in Anbar, insurgents struck elsewhere. A suicide car bomb in Hilla, south of Baghdad, killed 125 people - the deadliest single attack since the toppling of Saddam Hussein. Wednesday, unknown gunmen in Baghdad shot and killed a judge involved in the trial of Mr. Hussein.
Christian Science Monitor, 3/3/05
Iraqi parliament delayed
Talks aimed at forging an Iraq coalition government have faltered over Kurdish demands for more land and concerns that the dominant Shiite alliance seeks to establish an Islamic state, delaying the planned first meeting of Iraq's new parliament.
Politicians had hoped to convene the new parliament by Sunday. But Ali Faisal, of the Shiite Political Council, said the date was now "postponed" and that a new date had not been set.
Scotsman, 3/3/05
Rumsfeld to be sued for torture
Two human rights groups in the United States have lodged papers with a federal court suing the US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. The groups allege Mr Rumsfeld authorised techniques in Iraq and Afghanistan amounting to torture, and then failed to stop them.
The suit against Mr Rumsfeld focuses on an order he signed on December 2, 2002 authorising new interrogation techniques. The suit alleges when evidence became overwhelming that prisoners were being tortured, Mr Rumsfeld turned a blind eye.
ABC News, 2/3/05
Afghanistan becoming 'narcostate'
Britain is facing a massive influx of heroin because Afghanistan has produced its largest crop of opium since the overthrow of the Taliban. The huge growth in drug production in Afghanistan and the increased power of the warlords is deeply worrying for the governments that backed the war in Afghanistan and the overthrow of the Taliban.
The production of opium poppies - used to make heroin - rose by 17 per cent in the past year despite a series of international anti-drugs initiatives co-ordinated by Britain. Drug experts from the United Nations warned yesterday that Afghanistan was in danger of becoming a "narco-state" and the level of opium production was "threatening the stability of the country".
Independent, 2/3/05
Human rights abuses admitted
The State Department on Monday detailed an array of human rights abuses last year by the Iraqi government, including torture, rape and illegal detentions by police officers and functionaries of the interim administration that took power in June.
In the Bush administration's bluntest description of human rights transgressions by the U.S.-supported government, the report said the Iraqis "generally respected human rights, but serious problems remained" as the government and U.S.-led foreign forces fought a violent insurgency. It cited "reports of arbitrary deprivation of life, torture, impunity, poor prison conditions - particularly in pretrial detention facilities - and arbitrary arrest and detention."
Houston Chronicle, 28/2/05
Human rights training dropped
Hundreds of new policemen, soldiers and prison guards have been receiving training from the US military in preparation for its departure, but the human rights element of their training has been dropped in favour of tactical warfare techniques. An eight-week training course which used to include classroom discussions about basic tolerance and respect had been trimmed to six weeks.
A US military spokesman did not confirm directly that the human rights element had been dropped from security forces' training, but it was not listed in a recent press release touting the graduation of more than 2,800 former security personnel who have now rejoined the Iraqi army. Soldiers were trained in weapons use, security procedures, patrolling, checkpoints, first aid, and basic field and fighting skills, the release said.
Reuters, 28/2/05
125 killed in blast
A suicide bomber killed 125 people and wounded 130 by detonating a car near police recruits in a crowded market south of Baghdad on Monday, the single bloodiest attack in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein.
The bomber blew the car up next to a line of recruits waiting at a health centre to take an eye test so they could join the Iraqi police in the town of Hilla, 100km south of the capital, witnesses said.
New Zealand Herald,
Bush seeks to sway European Muslim opinion
The Bush administration plans to begin Arab-language satellite-television broadcasts to Europe this year in an escalation of its information war against Islamist extremism.
A US-backed TV channel, al Hurra, expects to transmit 24-hour programming to European Muslim communities regarded as possible breeding grounds of extremism. The planned broadcasts are also meant as competition for the Qata-based channel al-Jazeera, which Bush officials view as anti-American.
Start-up funding for the $3.5m (£1.8m) venture would come from George Bush's £81bn supplemental budget request for military operations in Iraq.
Guardian 28/2/05
Insurgency could last a decade
The insurgency in Iraq is not likely to be put down in a year or even two since history shows such uprisings can last a decade or more, the United States' top military commander said on Friday. Air Force Gen. Richard Myers said that in the past century, insurgencies around the world have lasted anywhere from seven to 12 years, making a quick fix to the problem in Iraq unlikely.
"This is not the kind of business that can be done in one year, two years probably," said Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a speech to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council here.
Boston Globe, 25/2/05
Feirce fighting in Ramadi
It has been a day of scattered violence in Iraq, with at least 10 people reported killed in incidents, mainly in Sunni areas west and north of Baghdad. Reports said three died in a gun battle in Ramadi, as US and Iraqi forces try to clear insurgents from key areas in the so-called Sunni Triangle. People in Ramadi said there was a prolonged exchange of fire.
Ramadi is a largely Sunni town about 70km (45 miles) west of Baghdad and one of the insurgents' most stubborn strongholds. Now it is one of the focal points in a week-old campaign by the Americans and Iraqi government troops to get a grip on the town and its province, Unbar, where just 2% of the population voted in last month's elections.
BBC News, 26/2/05
50 more Brits face charges
Almost 50 British servicemen are facing prosecution for murder, assault and other crimes committed in Iraq, according to secret military documents seen by The Telegraph. The allegations include two cases in which Iraqi civilians were allegedly deliberately drowned by soldiers and an incident that could lead to the first member of the SAS being charged with murder.
The documents, marked "Restricted - Investigations Not For Disclosure. Ministerial Update of Service Police Investigations", show that almost three times as many soldiers face charges than had been admitted by the Ministry of Defence. They disclose that until September 13, 2004, the Royal Military Police had carried out 137 investigations into incidents - including shootings, road accidents, and allegations of corruption, murder and manslaughter - involving troops in Iraq.
Sunday Telegraph, 27/2/05
Jailed Brits were scapegoats
The investigation into the Camp Breadbasket abuse scandal could be reopened following the emergence of new evidence obtained from a number of men who claim they were victims in the case.
The defendants in the court martial claimed that they had been "scapegoated" and that senior officers were mistreating Iraqis in the camp. Statements from the imprisoned soldiers corroborate claims that the abuse was more widespread and that women soldiers were involved. They give a different picture to what happened in May 2003 than was put before the court.
Human rights' lawyer Phil Shiner, who represents a number of men claiming to be the victims of the Camp Breadbasket abuse said: "This was a show trial run ... to a predetermined script based on damage limitation. It shows how the military cannot be allowed to investigate and prosecute themselves. There must be an independent investigation into what really happened. All those responsible should be prosecuted no matter how far up the chain of command."
Guardian, 26/2/05
US casualties continue
Three US soldiers and 13 Iraqis were killed yesterday, when Task Force Baghdad troops were hit by a roadside bomb while on patrol near Tarmiya, the military said. Nine other US soldiers were wounded , five of them ''very seriously''. In addition to the attack on soldiers near Baghdad, a US marine, two members of the Iraqi security forces, seven civilians and four insurgents had been killed since Thursday, security sources said.
The Age, Australia, 26/2/05
US majority wants troops out
A majority of Americans think it is time for the United States to start bringing troops home from Iraq and they have little faith in the war-torn country soon becoming a stable democracy, a nationwide poll reported Friday. Asked about the chances for Iraq being a stable democracy two years from now, 22 percent of Americans questioned by Marist College's Institute for Public Opinion said that was not at all likely while 39 percent said it was not very likely. Just 6 percent of those polled said it was very likely that Iraq would have a stable democracy two years from now.
Twenty-three percent of those polled said it was time to withdraw at least some troops from Iraq while 33 percent said it was time to withdraw all U.S. troops. Twelve percent of Americans said the United States should send more troops to Iraq.
Boston Globe, 25/2/05