These are the archives for the week ending 10th February 2006
Iraq's public services in chaos
Virtually every measure of the performance of Iraq's oil, electricity, water and sewerage sectors has fallen below preinvasion values even though $16 billion of American taxpayer money has already been disbursed in the Iraq reconstruction program, several government witnesses said at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Wednesday.
Of seven measures of public services performance presented at the committee hearing by the inspector general's office, only one was above preinvasion values. Those that had slumped below those values were electrical generation capacity, hours of power available in a day in Baghdad, oil and heating oil production and the numbers of Iraqis with drinkable water and sewage service. Only the hours of power available to Iraqis outside Baghdad had increased over prewar values.
New York Times, 9/2/06
US considers bombing Iran an option....
It is the option of last resort with consequences too hideous to contemplate. And yet, with diplomacy nearly exhausted, the use of military force to destroy Iran's nuclear programme is being actively considered by those grappling with one of the world's most pressing security problems.
For five years the West has used every diplomatic device at its disposal to entice Iran into complying with strict conditions that would prevent its nuclear programme being diverted to produce an atomic bomb. Those efforts, however, are now faltering. US leaders are openly discussing the looming conflict. A recent poll showed that 57 per cent of Americans favoured military intervention to stop Iran building a bomb.
Experts agree that America has the military capability to destroy Iran's dozen known atomic sites. US forces virtually surround Iran with military air bases to the west in Afghanistan, to the east in Iraq, Turkey and Qatar and the south in Oman and Diego Garcia. The US Navy also has a carrier group in the Gulf, armed with attack aircraft and Tomahawk cruise missiles. B2 stealth bombers flying from mainland America could also be used.
Times, 7/2/06
....and Blair toes the line
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Tuesday he could not rule out the possibility of taking military action against Iran over its nuclear programs. During questioning by a committee of senior parliamentarians, Blair said that while military action was "not on the agenda," he could "never say never."
There had been a shift in the public mood in favor of taking decisive action against Iran, he continued. "We are getting to a situation where some parts of public opinion are indeed asking what are you going to do, instead of seeking assurances that we're not going to do anything."
United Press International, 7/2/06
Torture of Guantanamo protesters
United States military authorities have taken tougher measures to force-feed detainees engaged in hunger strikes at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, after concluding that some were determined to commit suicide to protest their indefinite confinement, military officials have said. In recent weeks, the officials said, guards have begun strapping recalcitrant detainees into "restraint chairs," sometimes for hours a day, to feed them through tubes and prevent them from deliberately vomiting afterward. Detainees who refuse to eat have also been placed in isolation for extended periods in what the officials said was an effort to keep them from being encouraged by other hunger strikers.
Lawyers who have visited clients in recent weeks said other measures used to dissuade the hunger strikers included placing them in uncomfortably cold air-conditioned isolation cells, depriving them of "comfort items" like blankets and books and sometimes using riot-control soldiers to compel the prisoners to sit still while long plastic tubes were threaded down their nasal passages and into their stomachs.
New York Times, 9/2/06
US meeting resistance
U.S. officials have met figures from some Sunni Arab insurgent groups but have so far not received any commitment for them to lay down their arms, Western diplomats in Baghdad and neighboring Jordan said Wednesday. The meetings, described as being in the initial stage, have not included members of al-Qaida in Iraq or like-minded religious extremists, the diplomats said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.
A Western diplomat in Baghdad who is familiar with the dialogue said the U.S. was reaching out to "Sunni Arab nationalists" and "some Islamists from the Shiite and Sunni sides," many of whom have grievances about jobs and reconstruction money. The United States is promoting efforts to form a national unity government in which Iraq's Shiite and Kurdish leaders would offer Sunni Arab figures key positions to try to curb the insurgency.
Talks on a new government are due to begin in earnest after formal certification this week of the results of the Dec. 15 parliament elections. Shiite religious parties won 128 of the 275 seats - but not enough to govern without partners. Sunni Arabs have insisted that the Shiites give up control of the police in the new government because of alleged human rights abuses by the Shiite-run security services.
Yahoo News, 8/2/06
Growing numbers fear Iran
Americans' fears about Iran have grown sharply over the last few months as efforts by the United States and Europe to slow Tehran's nuclear program have been firmly rejected, a poll found.
More people in this country now rate Iran as the biggest threat to the U.S., 27 percent, than say that about any other country, including North Korea, China and Iraq, according to the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.
As recently as October, Iraq and China were seen as the biggest threats, closely followed by North Korea.
``The threat from Iran has really penetrated, with two of three saying Iran's nuclear program represents a major threat,'' said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center.
Two-thirds or more of those polled said they think that if Iran develops nuclear weapons, it is likely to attack Israel, Europe or the United States. Even more, 82 percent, say it's likely that a nuclear-armed Iran would provide nuclear weapons to terrorists.
Guardian Unlimited 7/2/06
US cancel Afghanistan debt
The United States will cancel all the debt owed to it by Afghanistan. "The United States intends to cancel all of the debt owed to it by Afghanistan, which amounts to approximately 108 million dollars" said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.
In addition, Russia and Germany, Afghanistan's other creditors, also intend to provide 100 percent cancellation, McCormack said.
"The solution of the debt problem through the Paris Club process will strongly contribute to the development of Afghanistan's trade, investment and other economic ties with its major creditors - and with the rest of the world," adding that the United States also calls on other bilateral creditors of Afghanistan to provide the same 100 percent debt relief.
The U.S. announcement came after an international donors' conference for Afghanistan that ended last week in London with pledges totaling 10.5 billion dollars to rebuild Afghanistan over the next five years.
Xinhua 7/2/06
Rumsfeld condemns Iraqi corruption
Continued corruption in Iraq could damage efforts to create a democracy there, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Tuesday, adding that it is up to the Iraqis to seize control and take more responsibility for their country.
"It's true that violence, corruption and criminality continue to pose challenges in Iraq" and are "so corrosive of democracy," he told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "It's critically important that it be attacked and that the new leadership in that country be measured against their commitment to attack corruption," he added.
Rumsfeld provided no specific examples. But there have been recent allegations that some revenue from Iraq's slowly rebuilding oil industry have been siphoned to help finance the insurgency there. Rumsfeld added that "our awareness of corruption is increasing," because coalition officials are doing more to investigate those problems within the government.
ABC news 7/2/06
US cuts schools and health to fund war
Domestic priorities like federal aid to schools and health research are squeezed under President Bush's proposed budget for next year, but funding for the Pentagon, the war in Iraq and anti-terrorism efforts get impressive increases.
Yahoo News, 6/2/06
US defence industry against the war
A surprising group of protesters is starting to voice concerns about the high level of spending on the U.S. occupation of Iraq: the defense industry. While many companies benefit from supplying vehicles and guns to U.S. troops in Iraq, some defense firms and industry experts are concerned that money spent on Iraq is taking away from more lucrative, longer-term multibillion-dollar programs.
"We're spending $6 billion to $7 billion a month in Iraq -- that's not efficient spending of defense money," said Frank Lanza, chief executive of defense company L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. If high Iraq costs persist, large programs like the Army's Future Combat Systems modernization plan, led by Boeing Co., and Lockheed Martin Corp.'s state-of-the-art Joint Strike Fighter jet, are likely to be scaled back or stretched out, industry analysts said.
Despite such concern, most big defense programs have been largely unscathed by budget pressures so far. The 2007 defense budget, unveiled on Monday, hit the top end of industry forecasts and did not contain any unexpected cancellations.
Reuters, 6/2/06
Basra airport closed
Iraq's transport minister has called for the closure of southern Iraq's Basra International Airport, a move the British military said Monday threatens the economic recovery of this southern city. The dispute has led to the cancellation of three flights that were due to land Monday in Basra, 550 kilometres southeast of Baghdad, and adds to increasing tensions between local Shiite leaders and British forces based in the region.
Transport Minister Salam al-Maliki, a top Shiite legislator, told reporters that the airport's closure has been ordered due to "complex" problems with British forces providing security at Basra airport. Al-Maliki claimed British security measures were delaying airport employees being able to enter the airport by up to four hours. "They claim they are security measures but there is a deliberate effort to delay the operation of the airport and create a problem for the ministry," al-Maliki said.
He did not say when he ordered the airport closed, but strike action by employees began Sunday, according to the British military.
Associated Press, 6/2/06
Basra police protest
Dozens of policemen from the southern Iraqi city of Basra have protested in front of the British and US consulates in the city demanding the release of colleagues detained by British forces. The protesting policemen said the arrests of their colleagues were done in a "arbitrary manner".
The British military had arrested these policemen as part of a broader operation to do with corruption in the police. The policemen, from the serious crimes squad, were suspected of involvement "in a number of murders in the northern parts of Basra, which were either politically or financially motivated," Major Peter Cripps told AFP after the arrests last month. A total of 137 policemen in Basra have been sacked over the past two months.
Relations between British forces and Basra authorities have deteriorated since September, when police-linked Shiite militiamen arrested two British soldiers, working undercover, near a police station. That set off a riot in which some troops were attacked and injured.
AFP, 6/2/06
Iraq fuel costs to rise tenfold
Iraq will gradually increase state-controlled domestic fuel prices tenfold in 2006 to meet International Monetary Fund demands, an Iraq official said on Monday. The move is likely to spark public protests. Iraq already increased prices by 200 percent in December, igniting protests and creating a rift between the oil ministry and the government over external political pressure.
"The price of gasoline will gradually increase in 2006 to reach about 600 dinars per liter," said the Iraq official. A liter of ordinary gasoline before the rise in December cost 20 dinars.
Yahoo News, 6/2/06
Venezuela Expands Heating Oil Subsidies
Venezuela is expanding its program of subsidizing home heating oil for the poor into Vermont, the latest jab by President Hugo Chavez against President Bush, who calls Chavez a threat to democracy in Latin America.
Venezuela will provide 2.4 million gallons of heating oil at a 40% discount to households that qualify for state home heat assistance. Another 108,000 gallons will be given to homeless shelters.
LA Times 4/2/06
US-Venezuela ties tested
Venezuela and the United States have taken relations beyond heated rhetoric by expelling diplomats in a new test to fraying ties between Washington and a world oil power.
Flush with petroleum cash and with Cuba as his key ally, Chavez has positioned himself at the center of regional opposition to U.S. President Bush by promoting his socialist revolution as the antidote to U.S. influence.
The Venezuelan leader expelled a U.S. naval attache for espionage and warned he would throw out the full U.S. military mission if authorities caught its officers spying on his government. Washington responded by expelling a Venezuelan official, the ambassador's chief-of-staff.
Ties between the United States and the world's No. 5 oil exporter have deteriorated steadily since Chavez came to office seven years ago, promising sweeping reforms for the poor. While Venezuela still supplies about 15 percent of U.S. crude imports, Chavez has steadily moved to break his country's traditional economic reliance on the United States by seeking out trade and energy deals with Iran, China and Russia.
He has presented himself as flag-bearer for a resurging left wing in South America and supported causes from U.S. peace activist Cindy Sheehan to Peruvian nationalist Ollanta Humala and Iran in its dispute over its nuclear energy program. Chavez's foreign policies have irked Washington, which has described the former army commander as a negative influence in South America. U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld recently compared Chavez to Adolf Hitler and other U.S. officials warned about his growing ties to Iran and North Korea.
Reuters 3/2/06
Britain to stay in Iraq permanently
Britain is laying secret plans to maintain a permanent military presence in Iraq. Ministers and military officials are in negotiations with their American counterparts over the British contribution to the long-term effort to maintain peace and stability in post-Saddam Iraq once the country is handed over to its newly elected government.
The Americans, who have yet to formally admit to concrete plans for long-term military bases in Iraq once the new government has been established, are expected to maintain at least one, much larger, facility near Baghdad. Critics claim the negotiations are part of a long-term plan to maintain US control over Iraq and its oil reserves, and to establish a valuable permanent presence in the Middle East.
One senior British defence source confirmed that negotiations with the Americans are ongoing, and that the MoD is actively considering the option of withdrawing to a "non-urban location", which could be termed as a base or a "training facility" with space for hundreds of troops.
Scotland on Sunday, 5/2/06
Afghanistan in ruins
Five years after the Taliban were deposed by a US-led military alliance, Afghanistan remains entrenched in poverty. Intense frustration with the government, particularly among refugees who returned amid promises of change, is growing. Such is the demand among ordinary Afghans to leave that this weekend the Interior Ministry has run out of the basic materials to make passports.
According to human rights watchdogs, the huge increase in economic migrants exposes the shortcomings of Western-led reconstruction, estimated to have cost $8bn (£4.5bn) so far, failures which are disturbingly apparent in the overflowing slums of the capital, Kabul. Hundreds of thousands may have returned from Pakistan and Iran, swelling the city's population to more than two million, but with local unemployment running at 70 per cent there is simply no future for them.
A United Nations report concluded last year that Afghanistan remains one of the world's least developed countries, ranking 173rd out of 178 countries surveyed. For every 1,000 babies born in Afghanistan, 142 die before their first birthday. An Afghan woman dies in pregnancy every half-hour. Overall life expectancy is estimated at just under 42 years. Three-quarters of adults are illiterate and few girls go to school.
But no problem haunts the country more than its displaced peoples - the UN estimates four million Afghans are refugees in Pakistan and Iran, and another two million are uprooted in their own country. The total, a fifth of the population, represents the largest refugee crisis in the world.
Observer, 5/2/06
Sunnis seized by police then found dead
The bullet-riddled bodies of 14 Sunni Arab men purportedly seized by police a week ago were found dumped in Baghdad. It appears to be the latest bout of Sunni-Shiite sectarian violence in the capital, a top Sunni group said on Saturday.
The Association of Muslim Scholars said Interior Ministry forces detained the men a week ago they were while praying at the Sunni Arab Al-Aqsa Mosque in Shula, northwestern Baghdad, and their bodies were found by relatives late on Friday in the same area.
Hindustan Times, India, 4/2/06
4 out of 180 clinics actually built
The centerpiece of a $786 million plan to modernize Iraq's health care system has stalled amid spiraling costs and insurgent threats, jeopardizing one of the country's most ambitious reconstruction projects. Initial plans called for completing 180 medical clinics by December 2005, but only four are finished, said Ammar al-Saffar, Iraq's deputy health minister. None has opened.
2/2/06
US creating sectarian factions
Stubborn sectarian rifts are hampering the development of an Iraqi security force destined eventually to take over from American troops, the top US intelligence official said. John Negroponte, director of national intelligence, also said discontent among Iraq's Sunni Muslim minority was the "primary enabler" of the country's insurgency and would likely remain high at least through this year.
US officials say they have trained and equipped some 227,000 Iraqi troops as part of a force to work alongside and later replace the 138,000-strong American contingent trying to tame the insurgency. But analysts have expressed concern the Iraqis had yet to create any significant multi-ethnic units and were splitting the armed forces into sectarian factions that could end up fighting one another.
Yahoo News, 2/2/06
Bush and Blair discussed using spyplane to provoke war
Channel 4 News tonight reveals extraordinary details of George Bush and Tony Blair's pre-war meeting in January 2003 at which they discussed plans to begin military action on March 10th 2003, irrespective of whether the United Nations had passed a new resolution authorising the use of force. Channel 4 News has seen minutes from that meeting, which took place in the White House on 31 January 2003. The two leaders discussed the possibility of securing further UN support, but President Bush made it clear that he had already decided to go to war.
President Bush said that: "The US would put its full weight behind efforts to get another resolution and would 'twist arms' and 'even threaten'. But he had to say that if ultimately we failed, military action would follow anyway.''
Prime Minister Blair responded that he was: "solidly with the President and ready to do whatever it took to disarm Saddam." But Mr Blair said that: "a second Security Council resolution would provide an insurance policy against the unexpected, and international cover, including with the Arabs."
There was concern that insufficient evidence had been unearthed by the UN inspection team, led by Dr Hans Blix. Other options were considered. President Bush said: "The US was thinking of flying U2 reconnaissance aircraft with fighter cover over Iraq, painted in UN colours. If Saddam fired on them, he would be in breach." He went on: "It was also possible that a defector could be brought out who would give a public presentation about Saddam's WMD, and there was also a small possibility that Saddam would be assassinated."
Channel 4 News, 2/2/06
Another $120 billion for war
The Bush administration said Thursday it will ask Congress for $120 billion more for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. If approved by Congress, the war money would push spending related to the wars toward a staggering half-trillion dollars.
Associated Press, 2/2/06