Neo-Cons Move to Preempt Baker Report5 Dec 2006“To have read the neo-conservative press here over the past month, one would think that former Secretary of State James Baker poses the biggest threat to the United States and Israel since Saddam Hussein,” writes Jim Lobe. “As the ur-realist of U.S. Middle East policy who once had the temerity to threaten to withhold U.S. aid guarantees from Israel if former right-wing Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir failed to show up at the 1991 Madrid Conference, Baker has long been seen by neo-conservatives, as well as the Christian Right, as close to the devil himself.”
Professionals Targeted in Iraq5 Dec 2006The call from his mother changed Dr. Harb Zakko’s life. “Someone has been calling me to open the door, saying he has something for you,” his mother said. Soon after, apparently the same person called him at his clinic, asking personal questions. The doctor got the message. He returned home and asked his family to pack. Two days later they drove out of their ethnically mixed Karrada neighbourhood in Baghdad and headed for Arbil in Kurdistan to the north.
The Memo: Rumsfeld’s Last Stand5 Dec 2006Last week, someone slipped New York Times reporters Michael R. Gordon and David S. Cloud the secret memo finished by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld just two days before he “resigned.” It was the last in a flurry of famed Rumsfeldian “snowflakes” that have fluttered down upon the Pentagon these past years. This one, though, was “submitted” to the White House and clearly meant for the President’s eyes. In it, the Secretary of Defense offered a veritable laundry list of possible policy adjustments in Iraq, adding up to what, according to Gordon and Cloud, is both an acknowledgement of failure and “a major course correction.”
Sunnis Fight Off Insurgents5 Dec 2006Sunni leaders in lawless western Iraq have formed a kind of citizen’s militia to combat sustained attacks by insurgent groups linked to al-Qaeda. Dubbed the Anbar Salvation Council, the group seeks to gather diverse tribal groups, political leaders and members of the police and other security forces. Already claiming some success in attacking al-Qaeda-inspired forces, the council is being seized on by the Iraqi and US governments as a possible means to restore some kind of order in the province.
U.S. Unlikely to Sentence Soldiers to Death in Wartime5 Dec 2006The final month of 2006 will be one to remember because of the first two—of perhaps many—U.S. army servicemen will face charges that can carry the death penalty for crimes committed in Iraq. Yet, 2007 may well be the year the U.S. military decides instead to spare their lives and sentence them to life in prison.
Sectarian violence tears Baghdad into two parts5 Dec 2006For decades, Iraq’s six million-strong capital was a city where people mixed freely and did not care whether their neighbour was a Sunni or a Shi’ite Muslim. But now, the years-old peaceful coexistence between members of different religions and sects in Baghdad is threatened with a battle underway between the two major Muslim sects to have their own territory in this war-torn city.
“I cannot stand the beatings any more”5 Dec 2006Iraqi women have been increasingly subjected to violence, rape, death and restriction of movement since a deterioration of security followed the US-led invasion of late 2003, according to the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), an international women’s rights NGO. Despite calls by local NGOs, such as the Organisation of Women’s Freedom in Iraq (OWFI), for better protection of Iraqi women, Iraqi law neither protects women from the authorities nor their own families.
Woman in Iraq Endure Sharp Decline in Freedom4 Dec 2006Once one of the best countries for women’s rights in the Middle East, Iraq has now become a place where women fear for their lives in an increasingly fundamentalist environment. Prior to the U.S.-led invasion and occupation of Iraq, Iraqi women enjoyed rights under the Personal Status Law since Jul. 14, 1958, the day Iraqis overthrew the British-installed monarchy. The end of monarchy brought a regime in which women began to work as professors, doctors and other professionals. They took government and ministerial positions and enjoyed growing rights even through the dictatorial reign of Saddam Hussein and his Ba’ath Party.
Radio station editor killed in Baghdad4 Dec 2006Unidentified gunmen killed Nabil Ibrahim al-Dulaimi, 36, a news editor for the privately-owned station Radio Dijla, shortly after he left his home in Baghdad’s al-Washash neighborhood for work today, sources at the station told the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Iraq for Sale: 100,000 Government Contractors in Iraq4 Dec 2006The Pentagon has released its first ever census of government contractors working in Iraq. The tally, which matches an estimate floating around for some time, is 100,000 Americans, Iraqis and third-party nationals hired by companies with U.S. Government contracts. That number does not include subcontractors, which would likely swell the numbers significantly. A look at the recent Pentagon census and a film that tries to make sense of it all.
How to Stay in Iraq: The Iraq Study Group Rides to the Rescue3 Dec 2006“On Wednesday,” writes Tom Engelhardt, “the Baker committee will hand over to the President its eagerly anticipated ‘consensus’ report, its ‘compromise’ plan that takes the ‘middle road,’ that occupies a piece of inside-the-Beltway ‘middle ground,’ and that will almost certainly be the policy equivalent of a still birth. Whatever satisfaction it briefly offers, it might as well be sent directly to the Baghdad morgue.”
From ‘almost’ to ‘much worse’ than a civil war3 Dec 2006Kofi Annan has called the violence in Iraq ‘much worse’ than a civil war. In the media, the naming debate, with the New York Times David Carr reminding us that to name something is not to invent it.
Iraqi Shi’ites Lose Faith in Their Government3 Dec 2006The noisy demonstration that greeted Iraqi Prime Minister Noori al-Maliki on his visit to Sadr City last week was more than just a protest. It meant that the leader of a Shia-dominated government was being rejected by an angry and influential group of Shias. Maliki’s heavily guarded convoy was pelted with stones and with shoes—a grave insult in Iraq. And this happened in a Shia area. About 60 percent of the 25 million population of Iraq is Shia, and Shia leaders now dominate government.
AIDS in Iraq: “Men here believe they are immune to the disease”30 Nov 2006Iraq has traditionally had one of the lowest incidences of HIV/AIDS in the Middle East. This started to slowly change after the US-led invasion in 2003 brought hundreds of foreigners into the country, opening the doors for the spread of the virus, health workers say. The Baghdad-based AIDS Research Centre said that new cases are appearing monthly and with the current chaos in the public health services, patients might suffer severely with the lack of appropriate medicines.
The Indictment: United States v. George W. Bush et al.30 Nov 2006In part two of former federal prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega’s hypothetical indictment of George W. Bush and his senior advisors, de la Vega presents the indictment itself, providing a welcome antidote to popular bumper sticker indictment’s by presenting a carefully organized list of offenses in what she calls “a one-count proposed indictment: Conspiracy to Defraud the United States in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371.” The series continues tomorrow.
Iraq: The world’s fastest growing refugee crisis30 Nov 2006A recent survey of the region by Refugees International documented the human costs of displacement and the lack of adequate international response. The UN estimates that 2.3 million Iraqis have fled violence in their country; 1.8 million have fled to surrounding countries, mainly Jordan and Syria, while some 500,000 have vacated their homes for safer areas within Iraq. An estimated 40,000 people are leaving Iraq every month for Syria alone, while other countries through out the Middle East, including Egypt, Lebanon, Yemen, Iran and Turkey are also seeing increased flows.
Iraq: A Fraud Worse than Enron29 Nov 2006“I retired two years ago” as a federal prosecutor, writes Elizabeth de la Vega. “So, obviously, I do not now speak for any U.S. Attorney’s Office, nor do I represent the federal government. This should be apparent from the fact that I am proposing a hypothetical indictment of the President and his senior advisors—not a smart move for any federal employee who wishes to remain employed. Obviously, as a private citizen, I cannot simply draft and file an indictment. Instead, in the following pages I intend to present a hypothetical indictment to a hypothetical grand jury. The crime is tricking the nation into war—in legal terms, conspiracy to defraud the United States. And all of you are invited to join the grand jury.” This is part one.
Business Becomes a Big Casualty29 Nov 2006Most Iraqi businesses have collapsed under the weight of U.S.-backed economic laws, the breakdown of security, lack of electricity and fuel, and the shooting inflation. Local studies have found 85 percent unemployment in the industry sector. Many of the 15 percent who remain employed are registered at a few state factories that pay their employees even if they produce nothing. A businessman who once owned a small textile factory that has gone bankrupt said: “The picture of Japan after World War II dominated the minds of businessmen in Iraq after occupation,” he said. “Most of us thought the American invasion of Iraq was bad for many things, but it must be good for business.”
Spying Won’t Deter Us, Peace Groups Say29 Nov 2006A coalition of U.S. peace groups are pressing ahead with plans for what they hope will be a massive march on Washington Jan. 27, even though newly released documents show the antiwar community is under Pentagon surveillance.
World not living up to its responsibility to protect in Darfur, Iraq, Gaza29 Nov 2006Giving an overview of the global humanitarian situation before he steps down at the end of this year, the top United Nations aid official today warned that the world is not living up to its responsibilities to protect people in Sudans strife-torn Darfur region, Iraq, Gaza and other hotspots.
New dam threatens agriculture and marshland28 Nov 2006Alarm bells rang last August at Khalifa Shawkat al-Yass’ house as news spread of the construction of a massive dam on the Tigris River in Turkey. As a farmer depending on the Tigris, fear of losing his livelihood has been a constant worry on his mind ever since. “We call upon the government to find the appropriate solution to protect our livelihood because we have no other sources, just this land and cattle,” said al-Yass, 50, a father of 15 children. The 1,800km-long Tigris flows from eastern Turkey to southern Iraq, where it joins the Euphrates River and eventually empties into the Gulf. The Ilisu Dam will be one of the largest dams in Turkey and is scheduled to be completed by 2013.
Travelers use codes to stay safe28 Nov 2006Travels to, from and within Iraq are using code in emails and phone calls to avoid disclosing travel dates, times and locations. The method is used by the businessman, local and foreign journalists, government employees and NGO workers.
An Iraqi driver, who wanted to remain anonymous for security reasons, says: “Rather than giving the right dates by phone, some of them send us emails with their arrival details but, of course, also in code so that even if the driver is seized and forced to open his emails, they [kidnappers or insurgents] will not get the correct information.”
Electronic Iraq