These are the archives for the week ending 21st April 2006
Blair and Straw at odds over Iran
Jack Straw has warned Cabinet colleagues that it would be illegal for Britain to support the United States in military action against Iran. But Tony Blair has backed President George Bush by warning that ruling out military action would send out a "message of weakness" to Iran.
Differences opened up yesterday between Mr Blair and the Foreign Secretary over growing alarm in the US at the refusal of Mr Bush to rule out military action. Mr Straw said on BBC Radio 4 that it was "inconceivable" that Britain would support a military strike against Tehran. Four hours later, Mr Blair refused to go that far when challenged to do so at Prime Minister's questions by the former minister, Michael Meacher.
Mr Blair accused Iran of fostering international terrorism, and said young people were signing up to be suicide bombers directed at US and UK targets. " I do not think this is the time to send a message of weakness," he said.
Independent, 20/4/06
Occupation fails to improve health
The United States has botched efforts to improve public health in Iraq and Afghanistan, missing a chance to gain support in those countries, an independent report released on Wednesday said. U.S. reconstruction efforts in Iraq following the 2003 invasion failed to maintain and improve basic sanitation and provide safe drinking water in heavily populated areas, the RAND Corp. report stated.
U.S. efforts to rebuild the public health and health care systems received too few dollars, and the projects that were carried out did too little to improve the lives of ordinary Iraqis and Afghans, according to the report.
Reuters, 19/4/06
20,000 kidnapped this year alone
Nearly 20,000 people have been kidnapped in Iraq since the beginning of the year alone, according to a report published today on violence in the war-torn country. The survey, which underscores the massive social upheaval caused by rebel activity and increasing sectarian conflict, does not give the number of people killed. However, it says 15,462 people have been wounded.
The 19,548 people kidnapped includes 4959 women and 2350 children, according to the report prepared by a group of 125 non-governmental organisations and made public in the Shi'ite holy city of Karbala.
The high-profile seizure of foreigners in Iraq has numbered a few hundred since the practice began two years ago and is usually aimed at scoring propaganda points against the US-led occupation. In contrast, the thousands of Iraqis being kidnapped are primarily the victims of political rivals and of common criminals seeking ransom.
The Australian, 19/4/06
Basra as bad as the north
An internal US embassy report on security in Iraq concluded that the situation in the southern city of Basra is every bit as bad as it is in cities further north. Once considered a "safe zone", the oil-rich governorate is increasingly dangerous for its citizens and the British troops guarding it. The US report concluded there was "a high level of militia activity including infiltration of local security forces" in the city. "Smuggling and criminal activity continues unabated," it added.
The local council withdrew its co-operation with the British Army after video pictures of soldiers apparently beating locals, taken in 2004, were published last September. The Basra police have not worked with them since, including dropping out of training programmes backed by the Iraqi government in Baghdad.
In order for co-operation to resume, the council is demanding the Army pull out of its bases, reduce city centre patrols and release the 56 or so people it has detained for being a threat to its own security.
None of the demands is likely to be met and the stalemate persists.
BBC News, 18/4/06
Sunni neighbourhoods turn to self defence
Sunni politicians on Tuesday condemned government forces who battled guerillas in a Baghdad neighbourhood, feeding fears that rising sectarian violence and Shia militia activity may be pushing Iraq's Sunni population toward supporting the insurgency.
The prominent Iraqi newspaper al-Zaman claimed that the "people of Adhamiya had foiled a night assault" by a ''death squad'' whose members were disguised as police" and quoted members of the "Adhamiya Defense Committees."
It is significant that the street fighting in Adhamiya has been portrayed, by the Iraqi media and Sunni leaders, as neighbourhood self-defence rather than an insurgent attack on security forces. It could strengthen the insurgents' claim to be fighting for the Sunni population as a whole.
It comes after months of accusations from Sunni leaders that the Shia-dominated government is sanctioning death squad activity, both by the security forces and by independent Shia militias such as the Mahdi Army or Badr Forces. The increasing perception of Sunni neighbourhoods that they are under siege has fed fears Sunnis will turn to insurgent groups to organise local defence forces, and that Baghdad will be partitioned into zones controlled by sectarian militias.
Financial Times, 18/4/06
Bush won't rule out nuclear strike
President Bush refused on Tuesday to rule out nuclear strikes against Iran if diplomacy fails to curb the Islamic Republic's atomic ambitions. Iran, which says its nuclear program is purely peaceful, told world powers it would pursue atomic technology, whatever they decide at a meeting in Moscow later in the day.
Bush said in Washington he would discuss Iran's nuclear activities with China's President Hu Jintao this week and avoided ruling out nuclear retaliation if diplomatic efforts fail. Asked if options included planning for a nuclear strike, Bush replied: "All options are on the table. We want to solve this issue diplomatically and we're working hard to do so."
Reuters, 18/4/06
Curfew prevents medical treatment
Residents of the Iraqi capital are complaining that a recently-imposed government curfew, aimed at deterring ongoing violence, is hampering access to medical care. With a curfew imposed from 11pm until 6am, no resident is allowed to venture outside between these times, while security forces have the right to shoot violators on sight. Anyone requiring medical assistance, therefore, must wait overnight to seek help.
In addition to problems caused by the curfew, Baghdadis have also had to endure frequent power shortages over the past four days. A shortage of potable water in many areas of the capital has also caused hundreds of families to search frantically for clean water. "Day after day, our living conditions are getting worse," said Dina Abdel-Kader, resident of the capital's Sadr district. "We have few hours of power, and water has become a luxury."
Reuters, 17/4/06
Iraq parliament again delayed
A session of Iraq's parliament planned for Monday has been postponed amid continuing deadlock over the PM. MPs were to meet for only the second time since December's election but the acting speaker said leaders needed more time to resolve their differences. Kurdish and Sunni parties are refusing to back the Shia nominee for premier, the incumbent Ibrahim Jaafari. Meanwhile violence shows no sign of abating, with at least 34 people killed across Iraq on Sunday.
BBC News, 17/4/06
Stolen Iraqi funds cannot be recovered
American contractors swindled hundreds of millions of dollars in Iraqi funds, but so far there is no way for Iraq's government to recoup the money, according to US investigators and civil attorneys tracking fraud claims against contractors. Courts in the United States are beginning to force contractors to repay reconstruction funds stolen from the American government. But legal roadblocks have prevented Iraq from recovering funds that were seized from the Iraqi government by the US-led coalition and then paid to contractors who failed to do the work.
As the Coalition Provisional Authority took control just after the fall of Saddam Hussein, it seized Iraq's oil revenues, money found in bank accounts and in Hussein's palaces, and the balance from the UN's oil-for-food program. The coalition ultimately controlled more than $20.7 billion in Iraqi funds.One review of the files relating to 198 separate contracts found that 154 contained no evidence that goods or services promised by contractors were ever received, according to an April 2005 audit by the inspector general.
In some cases, contractors were paid twice for the same job. In others cases, they were paid for work that was never done. A US law that allows citizens to recover money from dishonest contractors protects only the US government, not foreign governments. In addition, an Iraqi law created by the Coalition Provisional Authority days before it ceded sovereignty to Iraq in June 2004 gives American contractors immunity from prosecution in Iraq.
Boston Globe, 16/4/06
Shiite minister denies death squads
Iraqi Interior Minister Bayan Jabr Solagh has rejected charges by Sunni politicians that his ministry was responsible for unlawful killings, saying he was not in charge of security for all of Baghdad.
"How can I be able to solve the security problems when the (interior) ministry controls only one-third of Baghdad?" he asked. "The ministry for defense controls another one-third of Baghdad and the remaining is in the hands of the multinational forces."
Earlier this week the Sunni religious body, the Muslim Scholars Association, backed by top Sunni politician Saleh Mutlak, had accused Shiite-led interior ministry forces of killing 68 Iraqis from Baghdad's Al-Dura neighborhood. They said most of those killed were Sunni Arabs. In response, Solagh had pointed toward members of Facility Protection Service (FPS), a specialized force for protecting ministries, power stations or oil pipelines as those who could be committing such crimes.
"There are 146,000 people in FPS and they wear the uniform of the police and nobody controls them. There are also 35,000 more people working in private security firms and are also very well armed and adding to that are the terrorist groups."
AFP, 15/4/06
US plans 'new liberation of Baghdad'
The American military is planning a "second liberation of Baghdad" to be carried out with the Iraqi army when a new government is installed. Pacifying the lawless capital is regarded as essential to establishing the authority of the incoming government and preparing for a significant withdrawal of American troops.
Helicopters suitable for urban warfare, such as the manoeuvrable AH-6 "Little Birds" used by the marines and special forces and armed with rocket launchers and machineguns, are likely to complement the ground attack. Sunni insurgent strongholds are almost certain to be the first targets, although the Shi'ite militias such as the Mahdi army of Moqtada al-Sadr, the radical cleric, and the Iranian-backed Badr Brigade would need to be contained.
Sunday Times, 16/4/06
US ignoring law when arming Iraqi police
U.S. officials are doling out millions of dollars of arms and ammunition to Iraqi police units without safeguards required to ensure they are complying with American laws that ban taxpayer-financed assistance for foreign security forces engaged in human-rights violations, according to an internal State Department review. The previously undisclosed review shows that officials failed to take steps to comply with the laws over the past two years, amid mounting reports of torture and murder by Shiite-dominated Iraqi security forces.
The review comes at a time when the U.S. military emphasis in Iraq has switched to training and equipping Iraqi forces to replace American troops. Top American officials have declared 2006 the year of the Iraqi police. The Defense Department is expected to spend about $1 billion on training and equipping those police this year in an effort to create a competent, 200,000-strong force under the authority of Iraq's Interior Ministry. U.S. military leaders also said earlier this year that they would assign 2,000 advisers to work with Iraqi police units.
Strict adherence to the laws in Iraq could pose a serious challenge for the Bush administration's exit strategy, which involves training and outfitting enough Iraqi forces to effectively replace American troops.
Chicago Tribune, 15/4/06
Rumsfield attacked over Iraq war
The Pentagon yesterday faced a deepening rift between its civilian and military leadership over the war on Iraq after a fourth retired general called for the defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, to stand down. In the latest in a torrent of criticism centered on the Pentagon chief, major General John Batiste, who led a division in Iraq, said Mr Rumsfeld's authoritarian leadership style had made it more difficult for professional soldiers. "We need leadership up there that respects the military as they expect the military to respect them. And that leadership needs to understand teamwork" he said.
Gen Batiste's comments were especially startling because he is so closely associated with the civilian leadership, having served as an aide to one of the architects of the war, the former deputy Pentagon chief Paul Wolfowitz.
Guardian, 14/4/06
Institutions breaking down as government stalls
Gunmen waving their weapons out the windows of unmarked cars are the most distinct sign of what it's like to live without a government. They've been roaming the streets freely in the four months since Iraqis elected a Parliament. There are other hints, too: The squatters who've taken over an Air Force building. The armed, illegal vendors who've staked out their claims to sidewalks. The prospect of another hot summer with no new power plants to drive air conditioners.
In the wake of stalled government talks, Iraqi institutions have begun to drift, their lack of oversight and leadership seriously hampering efforts to curb militias, improve infrastructure, get rid of the occupation and get on with the work of governing.
The long list of moribund projects has grown, and public officials whose jobs are stymied by the word "interim" have begun to despair. "Summer is coming and we need to get started on many projects," said Raad Haris, a senior official in the Ministry of Electricity. "They cannot be done unless a government is formed."
Jordan Star, 15/4/06
Women's rights more respected under Hussein
According to the findings of a recent survey by local rights NGOs, women were treated better during the Saddam Hussein era - and their rights were more respected - than they are now. According to the survey, women's basic rights under the Hussein regime were guaranteed in the constitution and - more importantly - respected, with women often occupying important government positions.
Now, although their rights are still enshrined in the national constitution, activists complain that, in practice, they have lost almost all of their rights. Women's groups point to the new government, many members of which take a conservative view when it comes to the role of women.
"When we tell the government we need more representation in parliament, they respond by telling us that, if well-qualified women appear one day, they won't be turned down," said Senar Muhammad, president of Baghdad-based NGO Woman Freedom Organisation. "Then they laugh at us."
Reuters, 13/4/06