Video: The reading of the Saddam Hussein verdict
5 Nov 2006
Video footage of the reading of Saddam Hussein’s verdict in an Iraqi courtroom on November 5th, 2006.

Saddam Hussein faces death, but victims’ suffering continues
5 Nov 2006
Family of Hussein’s victims in Dujail, Halbja, and Najaf respond to the Saddam Hussein verdict. “Me and my only son are still suffering respiratory diseases and no-one is paying attention to us,” said Rakan Hamma Ali, who lost his wife and two sons in the Halabja attack. “We don’t care if Saddam is sentenced to death or not, we just want politicians to stop making use of our tragedy for their personal benefit.” Another Iraqi, Hawnaz Askewan Rizgar of Dujail, says: “Saddam has been sentenced to death as a way to pay for his crimes, but it will never take away my suffering of 24 years”

When all else fails…
5 Nov 2006
*Image1:right*Iraqi blogger Riverbend responds to the Saddam Hussein verdict: “It’s not about the man—presidents come and go, governments come and go. It’s the frustration of feeling like the whole country and every single Iraqi inside and outside of Iraq is at the mercy of American politics. It is the rage of feeling like a mere chess piece to be moved back and forth at will. It is the aggravation of having a government so blind and uncaring about their people’s needs that they don’t even feel like it’s necessary to go through the motions or put up an act.”

November Surprise, the Sequel
5 Nov 2006
“Are we really surprised? The Saddam Hussein verdict, scheduled for October 16th and then suddenly delayed last month (supposedly because the Iraqi special tribunal needed more time) to November 5th, the last news cycle before the U.S. midterm election, has now come in and the former dictator (and monster) is guilty. The Bush administration, struggling desperately for face time in the media these last weeks, has one day of Iraqi front-page headlines and lead TV news stories of its dreams in an election season in which the Iraq War has more or less shoved every other issue off center stage.”

Saddam Verdict Could Tear Iraqis Apart
5 Nov 2006
“The death sentence for former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein could deepen a divide that threatens to tear Iraqis apart,” writes Jamail and al-Fadhily. “The signs on the street are dangerous already. Several reports have come in of celebrations in Kurdish and Shia areas, with strong protests in Sunni-dominated cities in central Iraq. Iraq is being ripped apart by sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shias, and many fear that if Saddam Hussein is executed Iraq could slide into civil war.”

Saddam’s verdict is coming…another curfew
3 Nov 2006
Iraqi blogger Fatima writes of a country bracing for what many are expecting to be a death sentence for Saddam Hussein: “A curfew has just been announced in Baghdad for tomorrow, Sunday, as a result of Saddam’s sententencing hearing tomorrow. Grocery stores are busy with people buying ahead just in case the curfew is extended. They’re expecting some trouble, with the Ba’athists causing problems if Saddam is sentenced to death, and the Shi’ites causing problems if he is not.”

Lacking funding, UNHCR staff volunteer to keep Iraq projects running
2 Nov 2006
From a statement by UNHCR spokesperson Ron Redmond: “As part of our preparations for a possible exodus of up to 600,000 refugees in 2002-03, for example, we had originally set a budget of $154 million. Today, we are faced with hundreds of thousands more displaced than we had planned for then, but have a $29 million budget that is only about 60 percent funded. In fact, we have already had to suspend a number of crucial activities – to the extent that some of our staff in the region are volunteering to forego their salaries for the next two months just to keep some of these projects going.”

Report underlines needs of internally displaced persons
2 Nov 2006
In three Iraqi governorates studied, IOM reports that “A majority of displaced persons live in inadequate shelter, cannot meet monthly rental expenses, or are facing pressures and tensions due to overcrowded living conditions with family and friends.”

Friday, November 3
2 Nov 2006
A nod to Juan Cole for highlighting the a story (translated from a Jordanian daily by the U.S. Government Open Source Center) detailing Iraqi Government negotiations with Sunni guerillas in Amman. “It was announced in Amman yesterday,” the article begins, “that the Iraqi national reconciliation conference, which was scheduled to be held on 4 November 2006, has been postponed…the postponement came to allow for more time for dialogue and consultation with the Iraqi political spectrum inside and outside Iraq.”

Taking stock before Election Day
2 Nov 2006
“The media rarely reflects who really exercises power in Iraq. Referring to the Iraqi government really requires an asterisk—they would quickly be overrun were it not for the protection of U.S. troops.” Journalist David Enders, who spent 18 months reporting from Iraq, takes stock of the situation in Iraq, evaluating political shifts in Iraq as he considers Election Day in his own country. “While Iraqis keep a close watch on next week’s election,” he writes, “I plan to vote in it. And I’m not voting for anyone who supported the resolution to go to war.”

Insurgents using children to fight US-led forces
1 Nov 2006
Some children have been recruited by insurgents to fight in Iraq, according to a prominent local NGO. The Iraq Aid Association (IAA) in Baghdad, which works with children suffering psychological trauma as a result of violence, said most child insurgents harbour reasons for revenge. International law protects children from recruitment and participation in conflict. “We have heard of cases of children helping insurgents and this should have been prevented. Insurgents should be careful in putting children in such dangerous situations,” an IAA spokesperson said.

Sgt. Ricky Clousing, peace action-hero
31 Oct 2006
Former federal prosecutor, Elizabeth de la Vega, whose new book, U.S. v. George W. Bush et al., will be published this December, considers a military resister in her own unique way. If you want to look for “profiles in courage” in the age of Bush and Cheney, this is certainly a good place to start. Tom Engelhardt introduces the piece.

U.S. Military Adopts Desperate Tactics
31 Oct 2006
Increased violence is being countered by harsh new measures across the Sunni-dominated al-Anabar province west of Baghdad, residents say. “Thousands have been killed here by the Multi-National Forces (MNF) and Iraqi allies, and the situation is getting worse every day,” a member of the Fallujah city council speaking on condition of anonymity told IPS. “We have no role to play because the Americans always prefer violent solutions that have led from one disaster to another.”

Jordan: Iraqi children are not denied vaccines, gov’t says
31 Oct 2006
The Jordanian government and the United Nations Children’s agency UNICEF on Sunday denied claims that government health centres are refusing to vaccinate Iraqi children whose families are living in Jordan illegally. However, a number of Iraqis contacted by IRIN said that their children were denied vaccinations because they did not have residency permits. “Government-run health centres refuse to vaccinate my children because I do not have a residency permit. I tried with UNICEF but they also turned me down,” said Mohammad Saad, 42, who fled violence in Iraq three years ago.

Wednesday, November 1
31 Oct 2006
The siege of Sadr City is lifted. Baghdad is surrounded. Naming “the mess.”

Complaints Mount at U.S. Fortress in Iraq
30 Oct 2006
In part two of his series on worker abuse at the U.S. embassy site in Baghdad’s Green Zone, David Phinney profiles an American vet hired to serve as medic at the construction site. After flying into Baghdad and settling in at the site, he was busy around the clock dealing with injuries related to poor training and working conditions and he describes an failed escape attempt by some of the workers and a large strike which resulted in an estimated 375 workers being sent home.

Tuesday, October 31
30 Oct 2006
Today we followup on events in Sadr City, look at the story within yesterday’s story of 370,000 small arms supplied to Iraq by the U.S. without any recording of serial numbers. We also look at a new Pentagon PR effort. And two leading activists – one Sunni and one Shi’ite – are assassinated in Iraq.

“Where are you from?”
29 Oct 2006
An Iraqi woman who recently left her life and work in Iraq writes: “It’s the question that I hate most. ‘Middle east,’ please don’t ask more. Sometimes that is it. They assume things like Israel or even India. ‘Where?’...the answer depends on how I feel. ‘Iraq.’ Sometimes I say it. People have different reactions.”

Labor Laws Trampled at New US Embassy
29 Oct 2006
David Phinney profiles a former Green Zone foreman and writes: “Some contractors, many working as sub- contractors to Halliburton/KBR in Iraq,” have been “using deceptive, bait-and-switch hiring practices and charging recruiting fees that indebted low-paid migrant workers for many months or even years to their employers. Contractors were also accused of providing substandard, crowded sleeping quarters, serving poor food, and circumventing Iraqi immigration procedures.” The is part one of Phinney’s report.

Monday, October 30
29 Oct 2006
First, over the weekend, joint U.S. and Iraqi forces effectively laid siege to the neighborhood. Now there has been an explosion in a Sadr City marketplace, killing dozens. In other news, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki insisted in a meeting with the U.S. ambassador to Iraq that he was “not America’s man in Iraq.”

Small arms everywhere in Iraq
29 Oct 2006
“Abu Zaineb, 56, is one of the most well known small arms dealers in Baghdad. He sells guns under the table in his upmarket shop in Mansour, one of the capital’s most prestigious districts. He says the AK-47 Kalashnikov sub-machine gun is the most popular weapon for his customers and costs around US $100. Handguns and assault rifles are also available on the black market. Most of these small arms are smuggled into the country from Iran and Syria, according to the shopkeeper.”

HRW: gov’t protecting death squad members
29 Oct 2006
The Iraqi government must move quickly to prosecute all Ministry of Interior personnel responsible for “death squad” killings in Baghdad and elsewhere, the New-York based NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Saturday. “Evidence suggests that Iraqi security forces are involved in these horrific crimes, and thus far the government has not held them accountable,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, director of HRW’s Middle East division. “The Iraqi government must stop giving protection to security forces responsible for abduction, torture and murder.”

Federalism in Iraq: Shi’ite reservations
26 Oct 2006
Two good pieces today on the potential pitfalls of federalism in Iraq. While much of the reporting on the prospect of partitioning Iraq into three semi-autonomous regions (divided along sectarian and ethnic lines: a Kurdish region in the north, a Sunni region in the center and a Shi’ite region in the south) has focused on Sunni resistance to the idea. Today’s reports focus on Shi’ite reservations.