These are the archives for the week ending 14th April 2006
A 'bloody debut' for UK troops in Afghanistan
A spate of terrorist attacks, from the murders of five medical workers in Badghis province in the north to bombings in the opium poppy region of Helmand in the south, is expanding a climate of insecurity across Afghanistan as NATO forces prepare to take over most military duties from the U.S.-led coalition. Over the next several months, more than 6,000 troops from Britain and other NATO countries are slated to take over security in the southern region, and analysts are predicting a bloody debut.
"Transitions are a time of testing, and both sides will have something to prove -- the NATO forces to show they are tough, their opponents to show they won't run," said Joanna Nathan, who heads the Kabul office of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, a nonprofit advocacy and research group. "There will be more troops and more targets. It will be a pretty messy summer."
Washington Post, 13/4/06
Shiites drive wedge between Sunnis and Kurds
As an ongoing political deadlock continues over the formation of a new government, Shi'ite Muslim leaders have launched a new offensive in favor of embattled Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari by trying to drive a wedge between Kurds and Sunni Arabs who have opposed Jaafari winning a full term in office.
Jaafari and his supporters have suggested that Iraq's presidency could be awarded to a Sunni rather than a Kurd, sowing a potential rift between the two groups who, until now, have joined to fight Jaafari. In Iraq's interim government, the Shi'ites had received the prime minister post, Kurds the presidency, and a Sunni has served as speaker of the parliament.
As the political stalemate continued, at least 32 Iraqis and three US soldiers were killed yesterday amid the ongoing insurgency and sectarian violence.
Boston Globe, 13/4/06
Iraq stock market crash
If stock markets are any measure of a nation's confidence, then the numbers at the nascent Iraq Stock Exchange show that faith in the country may be at its lowest ebb. The market index has lost almost two-thirds of its value in the past year, closing these days below 30, from a high of 74 in March 2005.
The exchange is perhaps Iraq's keenest expression of American-style capitalism: scores of investors and traders, some in pinstriped suits, others in ankle-length robes and head scarves, gather every Monday and Wednesday. Guards with Kalashnikov rifles stand outside next to razor wire and concrete blast walls.
The market's free fall is also emblematic of the moribund economy. Though income per capita has risen, some estimates place the unemployment rate at 60 percent. The growth rate was mired at 2.6 percent last year, and the Bush administration's projection of 10 percent growth for 2006 seems overly optimistic, given the continuing sabotage of oil pipelines, which has shut down exports through Turkey.
New York Times, 11/4/06
Children dying in Basra....
A European aid agency has reported a rise in child mortality in the southern Iraqi city of Basra where hospital care is said to be in crisis. Water-borne diseases and scarce medical supplies mean infants born in Basra are subject to abnormally high mortality rates, Saving Children from War said.
Local doctors quoted by SCW said the health situation had deteriorated markedly since the US-led invasion in 2003.
"The mortality of children in Basra has increased by nearly 30% compared to the Saddam Hussein era," said Dr Haydar Salah, a paediatrician at the Basra Children's Hospital. "Children are dying daily, and no one is doing anything to help them."
BBC News, 11/4/06
....but wave pool for Baghdad
Baghdad is to get its first water park and wave machine - thanks to a Scottish company. Murphy's Waves are in talks with the developers of the indoor water park and recreation centre planned for the Iraqi capital. International sales manager Jim Stuart said yesterday: "I am delighted to be involved in this project and it shows that rebuilding in Iraq really is happening.
Daily Record, 11/4/06
US has troops for another war
Asked if the U.S. has the resources to fight the war in Iraq and another major conflict - such as a war in Iran - at the same time, Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said there are about 2 million U.S. service members who are not in the Gulf region now.
"We have sufficient personnel, weapons, equipment, you name it, to handle any adversary that might come along," he said.
Associated Press, 11/4/06
Oh yes he would
Now there are rumours of plans to attack Iran. Most strategic analysts think a bombing campaign would be a disaster. But that doesn't not mean it will not happen: Bush ignored similar warnings, including those of his father, about the risks involved in invading Iraq.
As Joseph Cirincione of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace recently pointed out, the administration seems to be following exactly the same script on Iran that it used on Iraq:
"The vice-president of the United States gives a major speech focused on the threat from an oil-rich nation in the Middle East. The US secretary of state tells Congress that the same nation is our most serous global challenge. The secretary of defence calls that nation the leading supporter of global terrorism. The president blames it for attack s on US troops"
Why might Bush want another war? The man whose presidency is increasingly defined by Iraq may believe that he can redeem himself with a new Mission Accomplished moment. And polls suggest that the Democrats could take one or both houses of Congress this November, acquiring the ability to launch investigations backed by subpoena power. This could blow the lid off multiple Bush administration scandals. Political analysts suggest that an attack on Iran offers Bush a way to head off this danger.
Guardian 11/4/06
Blair's envoy says coalition prisons a 'black hole'
Iraqis arrested by coalition forces have disappeared into a 'black hole' with no records of where they are being held, Tony Blair's personal envoy on human rights has warned. Ann Clwyd said if the scandal of the missing prisoners had been taken more seriously from the start by the US, it could have helped prevent the abuse of detainees in their jails.
The Labour MP said she was 'very unhappy' at the rising numbers still detained - and called on the Iraqi government to publish a report on claims that inmates were tortured by Iraqi jailers. Clwyd, appointed after decades of campaigning against Saddam Hussein's regime, reports directly to the Prime Minister.
Observer, 9/4/06
Guerrilla war
On an eerie, battle-scarred street in this blown-out urban war zone, a mannequin with painted black hair stares silently at U.S. Marines hunkered down in sandbagged observation posts atop buildings a few blocks away. It's the latest insurgent ruse in an evolving war pitting the world's most powerful military against guerrilla fighters using their most effective weapon: ingenuity.
"We kind of laugh at it. We don't know why they do it," Strobridge said. "But I think the idea is, we get used to looking at the mannequin, and then one day there's a real person standing there" — with an AK-47 or a rocket launcher.
Insurgents in Ramadi recently have flown kites over U.S. troops to align mortar-fire, released pigeons to give away U.S. troop movements and staged attacks at fake funeral processions complete with rocket-stuffed coffins, U.S. forces deployed here say.
"They sit there and watch us, observe us for weeks at a time, see how we operate and how we react to things," said Del Gaudio, of Mt. Laurel, N.J. "Then they try to place obstacles in our path."
Associated Press, 9/4/06
Joining the dots
After a nearly 10-year hiatus, census takers finally returned to this small town just west of Baghdad. But these men hardly resembled their predecessors - instead, behind the clipboard at each doorstep was a smiling interpreter and over a dozen heavily armed US Marines.
For the Marines slipping through muddy streets during a steady morning drizzle, their mission was not part of a nationwide survey but instead a local attempt to gain basic information about residents in about 200 homes in a newly assigned neighbourhood. As in most parts of Iraq, the Americans here lack basic information about the population. Nothing resembling a phonebook is available, street addresses are incomprehensible, and purported demographic data is nothing more than anyone's best guess.
"If we know who lives where, we can start connecting the dots," said 2nd Lt. David Samuel of New York, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 1st Regiment. GPS coordinates were taken outside each home, an attempt to make up for a dearth of street signs in most parts of Iraq, including this town. US raids on suspect targets often mistakenly lead to neighbour's homes and sometimes result in full searches of neighbourhood blocks.
Jordan Times, 9/4/06
Saudis to fence off Iraq
Saudi Arabia has invited bids for the construction of a security fence along the entire length of its 900km (560mile) desert border with Iraq in a multimillion-pound project that will attract interest from British defence companies. The barrier is part of a package to secure the Kingdom's 6,500km of borders in an attempt to improve internal security and bolster its defences against external threats.
Saudi Arabia is concerned that the chaos in Iraq could cause an overspill of sectarian violence and terrorism. The kingdom claims to be winning the battle against al-Qaeda's Saudi wing but wants to protect itself against Saudi insurgents returning from Iraq.
The Times, 10/4/06
US magnifies Zarqawi role
The U.S. military is conducting a propaganda campaign to magnify the role of the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, according to internal military documents and officers familiar with the program. The effort has raised his profile in a way that some military intelligence officials believe may have overstated his importance and helped the Bush administration tie the war to the organization responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
For the past two years, U.S. military leaders have been using Iraqi media and other outlets in Baghdad to publicize Zarqawi's role in the insurgency. The documents explicitly list the "U.S. Home Audience" as one of the targets of a broader propaganda campaign.
Some senior intelligence officers believe Zarqawi's role may have been overemphasized by the propaganda campaign, which has included leaflets, radio and television broadcasts, Internet postings and at least one leak to an American journalist. Although Zarqawi and other foreign insurgents in Iraq have conducted deadly bombing attacks, they remain "a very small part of the actual numbers," Col. Derek Harvey, who served as a military intelligence officer in Iraq and then was one of the top officers handling Iraq intelligence issues on the staff of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Washington Post, 10/4/06
An Israeli perspective
It is an Israeli strategic interest that the US neither falter nor be seen to fail. But what advice can we Israelis offer to a friend in need? America has sought to maintain the territorial integrity of Iraq, but that country was an artificial construct of post-World War I British diplomacy - a reality that can no longer be ignored. Iraq is a failed state, and in its agony it is dragging America down with it.
What America and the UN should work for, then, is the establishment of a contact group of nations neighboring Iraq. With the encouragement of those governments the warring parties might be induced to seek a modus vivendi, leading to an agreement that could result in a confederation that embraced Shi'ites, Sunnis and Kurds.
There could be agreed spheres of influence: the Kurds perhaps under a Turkish protectorate, the Shi'ites with a formalized relationship to Teheran. Iran and America are already discussing the future of Iraq, the Sunnis reunited with their Arab kinsmen through a strengthened relationship with Jordan. All of this would be with the backing of the UN, possibly facilitated by placing UN troops from neutral states to keep the peace.
10/4/06, Jerusalem Post
Straw denies Iran plans
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has dismissed reports of a possible US nuclear strike against Iran as "completely nuts". He told the BBC there was no basis for any military action despite suspicions over Iran's nuclear programme.
US press reports say Washington is drawing up plans for attacks on Iran's nuclear sites. One article suggests the possibility of a nuclear strike. Iran has said the reports are no more than a form of "psychological warfare".
BBC News, 9/4/06
Disorder the rule in Iraq
An internal staff report by the U.S. Embassy and military command in Baghdad provides a sobering province-by-province snapshot of Iraq's politics, economy and security, rating the overall stability of six of the 18 provinces "serious" and one "critical." The report is a counterpoint to recent upbeat public statements by top American politicians and military officials.
In 10 pages of briefing slides, the report, titled "Provincial Stability Assessment," underscores the shift in the Iraq war three years after the toppling of Saddam Hussein. Warnings of sectarian and ethnic frictions are raised in many regions, even in those provinces generally described as nonviolent by U.S. officials.
The report also raises alerts about the growing power of Iranian-backed religious Shiite parties, several of which the United States helped put into power, and rival militias in southern Iraq. The authors also point to the Arab-Kurdish fault line in the north as a major concern, with the two ethnicities vying for power in Mosul, where violence is rampant, and Kirkuk, where oil fields are critical for economic growth in Iraq.
San Francisco Chronicle, 9/4/06
Government denies MPs a vote on next war
The government has rebuffed the campaign to give MPs a right to vote on Britain going to war, saying it will support neither a new law nor even a new convention giving parliament war-making powers. Cross-party pressure, some from distinguished former soldiers and law officers, had been building for a new power requiring the executive to seek the consent of MPs in a vote, save in exceptional circumstances.
But Lord Falconer, the lord chancellor and Lord Goldsmith, the attorney general, have rejected the proposition as imposing "an unwise and artificial inflexibility" on troops and government. Lord Falconer said his position reflected the collective view of the government, including the chancellor, Gordon Brown.
Guardian, 8/4/06
US planning to bomb Iran
The administration of President George W. Bush is planning a massive bombing campaign against Iran, including use of bunker-buster nuclear bombs to destroy a key Iranian suspected nuclear weapons facility, The New Yorker magazine has reported in its April 17 issue.
A senior unnamed Pentagon adviser is quoted in the article as saying that "this White House believes that the only way to solve the problem is to change the power structure in Iran, and that means war." The former intelligence officials depicts planning as "enormous," "hectic" and "operational".
One former defense official said the military planning was premised on a belief that "a sustained bombing campaign in Iran will humiliate the religious leadership and lead the public to rise up and overthrow the government".
Yahoo News, 8/4/06
Shiites resist split
The coalition of religious parties, the United Iraqi Alliance, won almost half of the seats in the 275-member parliament in the election on 15 December. They fear the US and Britain are trying to break up the Shia coalition and deny them the fruits of their victory. This is why they have resisted demands from Washington and London for Ibrahim al-Jaafari to stand down as Prime Minister.
Even if a national unity government is formed it will control little outside the Green Zone. The army and police take their orders from leaders of their own communities.
Independent, 8/4/06
Bomb in 'sealed' Fallujah
In violence targeting another heavily guarded city, a suicide car bomb exploded Wednesday night at a U.S. and Iraqi military checkpoint leading into the western city of Fallujah, killing 10 civilians and wounding three Iraqi soldiers.
Since U.S. forces waged a major assault on the city in November 2004 in an attempt to drive out insurgents, Fallujah has been largely sealed off to prevent them from returning. But despite the well-guarded checkpoints on the few access roads into the city, armed groups have maintained a presence there.
Washington Post, 7/4/06
Karbala suspends dealings with occupation
In Karbala, a Shiite holy city north of Najaf, the governor, Akeel al-Khuzai, said he was suspending relations with the American authorities to protest the detention of two people suspected of belonging to the Mahdi Army, Iraqi officials said.
"The governor announced that all dealings in the field of security and construction with the American side are suspended," according to a news release issued by the national government. The Americans suspect that the detainees blew up a Humvee, Karbala officials said.
New York Times, 7/4/06
Mosque attack heralds new US strategy
Last week's attack by US-led Iraqi paramilitary forces on a building that Shi'ite leaders claim was a mosque may have marked the beginning of a new stage of US policy in which Iraqi forces are used to carry out military operations against Shi'ite militia forces - especially those loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr. However, such a strategy risks uniting the Shi'ites against the US military occupation and leading to a showdown that makes that presence politically untenable.
Just before the operation against the mosque complex, which the US military referred to as a "terrorist base", US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad hinted broadly that the United States would soon target the Shi'ite militias for the brunt of its operations.
"The militias haven't been focused on decisively yet," he declared, adding that militias were now killing more Iraqis than the insurgents. Khalilzad further pinpointed the Mahdi Army and its ties to Iran as the primary and most immediate US concern.
Asia Times, 5/4/06
Rice and Straw deepened deadlock
The visit here this week by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her British counterpart, Jack Straw, only served to stiffen the resolve of Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari to retain his post, prolonging a deadlock in the formation of a new government, a top aide to Mr. Jaafari said today. The aide, Haider al-Abadi, said the visit was ill-timed, counterproductive and what he called "naked intervention."
"Pressure from outside is not helping to speed up any solution," he said. "All it's doing is hardening the position of people who are supporting Jaafari." He added, "They shouldn't have come to Baghdad."
His comments were echoed by other leaders across the political spectrum today, including Kurds and Sunni Arabs.
New York Times, 5/4/06
Cameraman freed after year in detention
An Iraqi court on Wednesday threw out terrorism charges against a cameraman for U.S. network CBS who has been held in jail for a year, saying there was no evidence against him. Hussein, a 26-year-old Iraqi, was shot by U.S. troops and arrested exactly a year ago, on April 5, as he filmed clashes in the northern city of Mosul. He was accused of inciting a crowd and of recruiting Iraqis for the anti-U.S. insurgency, but the exact charges were never made public.
The Committee to Protect Journalists has accused the United States of stonewalling investigations into allegations against journalists, often detained for months without charge. The committee ranks the United States as the sixth worst jailer of journalists, along with Burma.
Following the trial Iraqi security forces fired warning shots into the air as journalists tried to speak to cameraman Abdul Ameer Younis Hussein's American lawyer outside the court. The guards told Reuters they fired because journalists refused to turn off their cameras.
Reuters, 5/3/06