*IRAQ: latest news and developments

[Barking_Mad]

Dear God

Overdose soldier's funeral held

In training Jason was told he might have to shoot child suicide bombers A 19-year-old soldier who killed himself because he feared having to shoot child suicide bombers has been buried in Greater Manchester. Jason Chelsea told his parents, after an overdose, that as part of training for Iraq he had been warned he might have to shoot children. The Kings, Lancashire and Border Regiment infantryman was staying at his parents in Wigan when he overdosed. A military inquest is to be held into his death.

Family tribute

His mother, Kerry Chelsea, paid tribute to her son, describing him as a "kind and generous man".

Jason died on 14 August at St James's Hospital in Leeds - four days after taking the overdose. He had been facing the prospect of his first tour of duty in Iraq and had undergone pre-deployment training in preparation.

A Ministry of Defence spokeswoman said: "The Army are greatly saddened by the death of Kingsman Chelsea and the thoughts and sympathies of all the soldiers will be with his family and friends at this very difficult time.

Psychiatric illness

"The tragedy is very recent and there are investigations ongoing and until they are completed we can't comment further."

The MoD did not respond directly to the allegations the soldiers were trained to shoot child suicide bombers.

Earlier this month the MoD released figures showing 1,541 soldiers who served in Iraq are suffering from psychiatric illness.

Last year, 727 cases were recorded, amounting to nearly 10% of the British deployment.

 

[Barking_Mad]

worth a read.....

Bush 'palace' shielded from Iraqi storm

THE plans are a state secret, so just where the Starbucks and Krispy Kreme stores will be is a mystery. But as the concrete hulks of a huge 21-building complex rise from the ashes of Saddam's Baghdad, Washington is sending a clear message to Iraqis: "We're here to stay."

It's being built in the Middle East, but George W's palace, as the locals have dubbed the new US embassy, is designed as a suburb of Washington.

An army of more than 3500 diplomatic and support staff will have their own sports centre, beauty parlour and swimming pool. Each of the six residential blocks will contain more than 600 apartments.

The prime 25-hectare site was a steal — it was a gift from the Iraqi Government. And if the five-metre-thick perimeter walls don't keep the locals at bay, then the built-in surface-to-air missile station should.

Guarded by a dozen gangly cranes, the site in the heart of the Green Zone is floodlit by night and is so removed from Iraqi reality that its entire construction force is foreign.

After almost four years, the Americans still can't turn on the lights for the Iraqis, but that won't be a problem for the embassy staffers. The same with the toilets — they will always flush on command. All services for the biggest embassy in the world will operate independently from the rattletrap utilities of the Iraqi capital.

Scheduled for completion next June, this is the only US reconstruction project in Iraq that is on track. Costing more than $US600 million ($A787 million), the fortress is bigger than the Vatican. It dwarfs the edifices of Saddam's wildest dreams and irritates the hell out of ordinary Iraqis.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Looks like part of the Medhi Army have mutinied Sadr and decided to go their own way.


Fierce battles in south Iraq city

Iraqi troops have fought battles with Shia militiamen in the southern town of Diwaniya, amid an upsurge in violence in which dozens of people have died. At least 19 soldiers were killed and more than 40 people were wounded in Diwaniya. Officials said some 40 gunmen from the Mehdi Army had also died.

[...]

A spokesman for the Diwaniya general hospital said 34 bodies had been brought in, including soldiers and seven civilians and two militiamen. Local leaders are quoted as saying the gunmen in Diwaniya have split from the from the Mehdi Army after rejecting a call from their radical leader to take part in Iraq's political peace process.

Members of the militia have set up their own checkpoints in the town, eyewitnesses said, and the government has sent large numbers of reinforcements.

Aljazeera says

Local leaders said the men from the al-Mahdi Army were operating independently, after rejecting a call from al-Sadr for them to take part in Iraq's peace process.

Abdumunaam Abu Tibikh of the provincial council of Qadisiyah, of which Diwaniya is capital, said: "What is going on is an attempt by the government to get rid of an element which is trying to disturb the security of the town."

Abu Tibikh said fighters in the city had been ordered by al-Sadr to put down their guns and to convert their office into a centre for religious and cultural activities, but that they had refused to do so.

"These elements have triggered riots and carry weapons in the city, which has led the government to deploy army and the police against them," he said.

The head of al-Sadr's office in the city, Abu Assen Naili, confirmed that there had been fighting, but accused the army of attacking three residential neighbourhoods and opening fire on civilians.

Interestingly, Diwaniya according to Wikipedia,

is located on the main rail transport corridor between Baghdad and Basra.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Oops

Note blows lid on Aussie 'Oil for Food' scandal

THE Cole inquiry has been given nine pages of handwritten notes by a senior foreign affairs official that prove beyond doubt the Howard Government was warned two years ago that AWB was caught in the Iraq oil-for-food scandal.

The notes, by veteran DFAT diplomat John Quinn, mention such terms as "AWB Ltd", "service fees", "10 per cent" and "exposure" in the context of the looming investigation into kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's regime.

Mr Quinn penned the notes during meetings on July 22 and 29, 2004, when he was head of the Government's Iraq taskforce.

The taskforce was set up by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade before the 2003 Iraq invasion to collect information on Iraq. It was made up of representatives from the departments of Prime Minister and Cabinet and Defence, the Australian aid agency AusAID and ASIO.

A range of government officials and ministers, up to and including Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, have insisted under oath they either did not see, or felt compelled to ignore, the many warnings that AWB was involved in graft, because the allegations were made by rival wheat-sellers.

Mr Quinn's notes were taken during two meetings with Australian army colonel Mike Kelly, who had been based in Baghdad. Mr Quinn has transcribed the notes for the Cole inquiry.

The notes show that Mr Quinn met Colonel Kelly specifically to discuss corruption in the oil-for-food program.

His typed version confirms he was told: "AWB Ltd - problems."

His notes from July 22, 2004, show he was told there were "25,000 files - damning material" on the kickbacks.

He also notes: "AWB Ltd - exposure - service fees across the board, 10-30 per cent."

 

[Barking_Mad]

From yesterday

Grisly discovery made at Iraqi school

Iraqi police Tuesday found the bodies of 24 people who had apparently been tortured and shot before being dumped in two separate locations in Baghdad, police said.

At least 74 killed in Iraq fuel pipeline fire

"The latest toll for the tragedy is 74 people killed and 94 injured," said Hamid Taathi, head of Diwaniyah's health department Tuesday.

Gunmen kill a bakery worker in Baiji

Gunmen killed a bakery worker and wounded another in the oil refinery city of Baiji, 180 km (112 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

Body found in Balad

Police found the body of a civilian with gunshot wounds to the head and chest in the town of Balad, 80 km (55 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

Clashes between Sunni tribe and Shi'ite militias wound 14

Clashes between a Sunni tribe and Shi'ite militias, wounding 14 people late on Monday in southern Baghdad, the army and an Interior Ministry source said.

Mortar rounds wound 5 civilians in Baghdad

Four mortar rounds landed in two districts in northern Baghdad wounding five people, including two Iraqi soldiers, a source in the Interior Ministry said.

Iraqi soldier killed near Latifiya

An Iraqi soldier was killed and four civilians were wounded when a roadside bomb went off near his patrol in the main road between Mahmudiya and Latifiya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

Gunmen kill 15 in Baquba, four bodies found

Fifteen people were gunned down in several attacks in different areas of Baquba, police said...Four people were found shot dead, handcuffed and blindfolded in a village near Baquba, police said.

 

[Barking_Mad]

U.S. sniper kills family of four in Ramadi – witnesses

An Iraqi family of four people was killed by U.S. sniper fire on Thursday morning in Ramadi..."A man, his wife and two children were walking home in al-Huz neighborhood when a U.S. sniper shot them dead at 11:00 a.m. in al-Ma’ared Street,"

Car bomb kills four police commandos in Baghdad

A car bomb targeting an Iraqi police patrol killed four police commandos and wounded 11 people, including five policemen, Interior Ministry sources said. The bomb in eastern Baghdad'd Mashtal district went off by a petrol station...

Roadside bomb wounds 8 in Baghdad's Mustansiriya District

Eight people were wounded when a roadside bomb struck their minivan in the Mustansiriya District, northern Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.

Bomb explodes at wedding party - 1 killed, 8 wounded

One man was killed and eight others wounded when a bomb exploded at a wedding party in the small town of Jbela, 65 km (39 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

Car bomb kills 1, wounds 15 in Baghdad

A car bomb targeting an Iraqi police patrol killed two civilians and wounded nine in the eastern New Baghdad neighbourhood on Thursday, police said. An Interior Ministry source said the blast killed one person and wounded 15.

Former Iraqi Air Force commander killed

A former Iraqi Air Force commander under toppled leader Saddam Hussein was gunned down in the western city of Ramadi on Thursday, police said. Lieutenant-General Wajeeh Thirar Hneyfish was the commander of the Habbaniya Air Force base...

Body of Iraqi judge found north of Baghdad

Iraqi police found the body of a Tikrit court judge who disappeared four days ago north of the capital Baghdad, a local police source told Xinhua on Thursday.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Dozens killed in Baghdad attacks

At least 43 people have been killed and 112 wounded in a series of rocket and bomb attacks in Baghdad. The blasts occurred in predominantly Christian and Shia areas of the Iraqi capital.

They come one day after a deadly strike in a busy market. The attacks include a car bomb at a popular market, while mortar rounds, a roadside bomb and a bomb in a building have also been reported. The dead and wounded have been taken to four hospitals, local officials said.

The attacks came shortly before the nightly curfew, security officials said.

"Buildings have been flattened," a police officer told the Reuters news agency.

He added a final death toll was unlikely to be known until daylight.

"There are still people trapped," he said.

On Wednesday a bombing at Baghdad's Shurja market killed 24 people and injured 35, police said.

 

[Barking_Mad]

U.S. Seeks Firm to Check Iraq Coverage

WASHINGTON — The U.S. command in Baghdad is seeking bidders for a two-year, $20-million public relations contract that calls for monitoring the tone of Iraq news stories filed by U.S. and foreign media.

Proposals, which are due Wednesday, ask companies to show how they'll "provide continuous monitoring and near-real-time reporting of Iraqi, pan-Arabic, international and U.S. media," according to the solicitation issued last week.

Bidders also will be evaluated on how they will provide analytical reports and customized briefings to the military, "including, but not limited to tone (positive, neutral, negative) and scope of media coverage."

The winner of the contract will probably also be required to develop an Arabic version of the multinational force's website.

Attempts by the Associated Press to contact officials connected to the project via telephone and e-mail were not successful Thursday night.

The program comes during what has appeared to be a White House effort to take the offensive against critics at a time of doubt about the future of Iraq.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice addressed the American Legion's national convention in Salt Lake City on the issue this week, stressing that the Bush administration was countering extremism with hope and democracy.

The military last year was criticized for a public relations effort that included hiring a consulting firm that paid Iraqi newspapers to carry positive news stories about the war.

Pentagon officials have defended the program as a necessary tool in the war on terrorism. Critics have said it contradicts American values of freedom of the press.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Al-Qaida-affiliated group calls Iraq reconciliation "betrayal"

CAIRO, Egypt An al-Qaida-affiliated group Thursday branded the Iraqi government offers of reconciliation as "futile" and called on Sunnis to fight those who "legalized the shedding of Muslim blood."

The statement appeared on a Web site used by the Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella organization of Sunni extremist groups that includes al-Qaida in Iraq. The statement said Sunnis in Iraq were facing aggressive attacks by the government and the Shiite militias and called for resistance.

"The Shiite attacks on the Sunni people have been intensified these days especially in the northern parts of the capital which included mortar shelling and burning of mosques that coincided with the increase of assassination and kidnapping campaigns," the statement said.

"You the Sunni people, you have no other choice but to fight those who .. legalized the shedding of the Muslim blood. The reconciliation efforts are futile with those who adopted lies as a religion and betrayal as worship."

The statement said the attacks targeted the Sunni districts of Baghdad including Azamiyah, Dora, Amiriya and Ghazaliyah. Those areas have been the focus of a U.S.-led crackdown on Sunni and Shiite extremists responsible for the rise in sectarian tension.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Roadside bomb kills three Iraqi policemen in Baghdad

A roadside bomb killed three Iraqi policemen in Baghdad's southern Doura district on Friday, police said

3 policemen seriously wounded by IED in Kirkuk

A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol exploded in central Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, seriously wounding three policemen, local police said.

Former Iraqi intelligence officier killed

A senior Iraqi intelligence officer during Saddam Hussein's rule was found dead with gunshot wounds and hands bound near his home north of Baghdad a day after he was kidnapped, police said, the second former senior Saddam officer to be killed

Gunmen kill policeman in Numaniyah

Gunmen shot and killed a policeman in Numaniyah, a town near Kut, after breaking into his house last night.

Policeman gunned down in Ramadi

A policeman was gunned down in a drive-by shooting in Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad

More bodies found after Baghdad attacks

Rescue crews pulled bodies from the rubble of bombed buildings today, the day after a barrage of co-ordinated attacks across eastern Baghdad neighbourhoods killed at least 64 people and wounded more than 280 within half an hour, police said.

Bomb hits oil pipeline south of Baghdad

A bomb targeting an oil pipeline south of Baghdad exploded Friday, sparking a fire and cutting supply to a major electricity station, but causing no casualties, police said.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Kurdish Leader Bans Iraqi Flag

the leader of Iraq's northern autonomous Kurdish region, today issued an order not to fly the Iraqi national flag.Barzani's office said that public offices in Kurdistan flying the Iraqi flag "should lower it and hoist only the Kurdistan flag."

 

[Barking_Mad]

Pentagon: Conditions exist for civil war in Iraq

WASHINGTON - Conditions that could lead to a civil war exist in Iraq, reflecting the “most complex” security challenges since the U.S. invasion in 2003, the Pentagon said Friday.

The “core conflict” has changed into one pitting Sunni Muslims against Shiites, with the Sunni Arab insurgency overshadowed, it said in a quarterly report to Congress on U.S. efforts to stabilize the country.

The Pentagon said illegal militias have become more entrenched, especially in Baghdad neighborhoods where they are seen as providers of security as well as basic social services.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Iraqis burn books to protest 'culture-killing' curfew

Several of Iraq's leading booksellers and writers have burnt a pyre of books to denounce a curfew which they said has turned the centre of Baghdad's intellectual life into "a street of ghosts".

 

[slaar]

14 Pakistani and Indian pilgrims pulled off a bus, tortured and executed.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5308016.stm

Iraq's pretty fucked up really.

 

[laptop]

US troops could face execution

Army Staff Sgt Raymond Girouard, Spc William Hunsaker, Pfc Corey Claggett and Spc Juston Graber have admitted the killings in Tikrit in May.

They said they acted in self-defence, after the detainees tried to escape.

...
According to the charge sheet, Army Staff Sgt Girouard, Spc Hunsaker and Pfc Claggett are also alleged to have separately told another soldier that they would kill him if he testified against them

BBC

This one is going to get stupid, I am sure of it.

 

[ZAMB]

I doubt it, if they aren't looking for the death penalty for this one, why would they try to apply it to others for the same crime?

No Death Penalty for Marine
Associated Press | August 31, 2006
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - The government will not seek the death penalty against a Marine Corps private who is among eight service members charged with murder and other crimes in the shooting of an Iraqi civilian, a military prosecutor said Wednesday.

Lt. Col. John Baker announced the prosecution's position during a hearing for Pfc. John J. Jodka III, 20. A Camp Pendleton spokesman said the prosecutor's statement applied only to Jodka, not the six other Marines and one Navy corpsman also charged in the case.

The hearing for Jodka and a separate one for another Marine, Cpl. Marshall Magincalda, 23, are part of the process to determine whether the defendants should face courts-martial.

The Marines and corpsman are charged in the shooting of Hashim Ibrahim Awad, 52, in the village of Hamdania. Iraqi witnesses told the military that Marines and a Sailor kidnapped Awad on April 26, bound his feet, dragged him from his home and shot him to death in a roadside hole.

Jodka is accused of firing on Awad. Magincalda is suspected of binding Awad's feet and kidnapping him.

Jodka, in desert fatigues, watched the proceeding calmly. Asked at one point whether he wanted to make a statement, he said firmly, "No, sir."

Lawyers for Jodka argued vehemently that "inflammatory" statements made by the private and other Marines should be kept secret before trial.

Retired Col. Jane Siegel, who represents Jodka, said disclosing the 16 statements about the incident during a highly publicized hearing would hurt jury selection for Jodka's expected court martial.

"To openly discuss contents will completely pollute the local and national jury pool," Siegel said. "Some of it is very inflammatory."

A separate proceeding on Wednesday for Magincalda lasted only 30 minutes.

Investigating officer Col. Robert S. Chester, who is hearing the case, said the defense had asked for the hearing to be closed to the public, fearing publicity might hurt Magincalda's ability to receive a fair trial.

Chester opposed the request, saying the public has a "very compelling right to hear these proceedings."

Chester said he would tell prosecutors by Friday whether he had questions about any of their evidence.

Prosecutor Capt. Nicholas L. Gannon urged Chester to focus on statements by three members of the squad, including an alleged confession by squad leader Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins III.

The hearings held under Article 32 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice are equivalent to civilian preliminary or grand jury hearings.

Both defendants have been held in the Camp Pendleton brig since returning from Iraq.

The Marines have the opportunity to mount a defense, call witnesses or even testify themselves. Their lawyers were expected to challenge use of the defendants' pretrial statements by contending they were subjected to heavy-handed inquiries with threats of the death penalty.

The other defendants, all members of the Camp Pendleton-based 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, are expected to have separate hearings in coming weeks. The charges include kidnapping, murder and conspiracy.

http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,111982,00.html

 

[big footed fred]

I doubt it, if they aren't looking for the death penalty for this one, why would they try to apply it to others for the same crime?

Many things to consider but if he was tied up self defence is a crap way to try to get off.
If it is as it seems then they deserve death.

 

[Barking_Mad]

US Polls show opposition to Iraq war at all-time high

Sixty percent also say terrorism is more likely in US because of Iraq.

A series of polls taken over the last few weeks of August show that support for the war in Iraq among Americans is at an all-time low. Almost two-thirds of Americans in each of three major polls say that they oppose the war, the highest totals since pollsters starting asking Americans the question three years ago. Many of the polls were conducted in advance of the fifth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on Washington and New York.

A new Associated Press/Ipsos poll that surveyed the country, and more specifically residents of Washington and New York, shows that many feel the cost in blood and money in Iraq may already be too high and that Osama bin Laden will never be found. The poll also showed that 60 percent of Americans believe that the war in Iraq has increased the chances of a terrorist attack in the US.

"I think there's a fatigue about the price of doing these activities," said Robert Blendon, a specialist in public opinion at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. "There's also a concern about the competency of how well we're doing them."

Some of the divisions are from political differences. For example, Democrats are twice as likely as Republicans to think the cost of the terror fight may be too high and twice as likely to think Iraq is making terrorism worse. And this comes when the nation has gone five years without an attack � possibly making the terror war seem less urgent to some.

Popular support for the war on terror helped neutralize opposition to the Iraq war for a long time, said political analyst Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute. "Now the negative effect of Iraq is dragging down support for the war on terror," he said.

On the question of which political party can do a better job of protecting the US, both parties lost support since an April poll. But in another sign of trouble for the Bush administration, the AP/Ipsos poll also shows that more Americans believe the Democrats will do a better job than Republicans, 47-40 percent.

A new CNN poll shows that only about one-third of Americans now support the war in Iraq, with 61 percent opposed. Fifty-one percent of Americans see President Bush as a strong leader, although he doesn't do well in other areas of the survey.

Most Americans (54 percent) don't consider him honest, most (54 percent) don't think he shares their values and most (58 percent) say he does not inspire confidence. Bush's stand on the issues is also problematic, with more than half (57 percent) of Americans saying they disagree with him on the issues they care about. That's an indication that issues, not personal characteristics, are keeping his approval rating well below 50 percent ...
Bush dismissed a question about his popularity during a news conference Monday.

 

[snorbury]

Two British soldiers have been killed in a bomb attack near Basra
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5312344.stm

 

[Barking_Mad]

Another British soldier died today of his injuries following being shot on Tuesday

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5326874.stm

 

[Barking_Mad]

Iraq Closes Down Al-Arabiya in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The Iraqi government on Thursday ordered Arabic satellite network Al-Arabiya to shut down its Baghdad operations for one month, state television reported. Al-Arabiya said Iraqi police later arrived at its offices to enforce the order.

The other pan-Arab satellite network, Al-Jazeera, had its office in the capital closed two years ago.

Al-Arabiya, which is based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, at first said its headquarters had not yet been informed of a ban, but later said on live television that police had arrived at its Baghdad offices to close its operations down.

The order apparently was issued by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Cabinet.

``We have not officially been informed about the banning and we do not know the causes. Only the cabinet knows the causes,'' said Jawad Hatab, the Al-Arabiya bureau chief in Baghdad.

In July, al-Maliki warned television stations against broadcasting video that could undermine Iraq's stability.

A statement by al-Maliki's office cited news reports that ``capitalize on the footage of victims of terrorist attacks.'' He called on media outlets to ``respect the dignity of human beings and not to fall in the trap set up by terrorist groups who want to petrify the Iraqi people.''

The statement said TV stations should uphold the code of media ethics, or else the government will take legal action against them.

In November 2003, the U.S.-appointed Governing Council banned Al-Arabiya from reporting from Baghdad after it aired an audio tape said to be from Saddam Hussein, who was still at large at the time. The station was allowed to resume its work shortly afterward.

The Iraqi government closed the Baghdad news office of Al-Jazeera television in August 2004, accusing the station of inciting violence. The office is still closed but the station operates in the Kurdish-ruled area of the north.

At one time or another, Al-Jazeera has had bureaus closed in 18 countries and its signal blocked in 30.

President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld also have criticized the Qatar-based station, accusing it of fueling anti-American sentiment and giving terrorists a podium. Al-Jazeera says it deals with tapes purely on the basis of news value.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Iraq takes over command of armed forces

U.S.-led forces turned over control of Iraq's military command to the Shiite-led government Thursday, a key step toward the eventual withdrawal of foreign troops.

But the ceremony in the heavily fortified Green Zone only transferred authority for one of Iraq's 10 divisions and its small air force and navy, and it remained unclear how quickly Iraqi forces would be prepared to take over security.

A legislative session nearby, meanwhile, degenerated into a shouting match as Sunni Arabs accused the majority Shiites of seeking to carve Iraq into sectarian enclaves.

Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani interrupted a session after a draft bill submitted by the largest Shiite party led to accusations from Sunni Arabs that they were trying to divide Iraq. A live broadcast from parliament was pulled off the air amid acrimonious debate.

Sunni Arab legislator Saleh al-Mutlaq threatened his people "will not stay in a parliament that leads to the division of Iraq" and threatened to boycott any session that sought to approve such legislation.

The concept of federalism is enshrined in the new Iraqi constitution, and the Kurds in the north already have their own autonomous region. However, special legislation and a referendum would be needed to establish a federation comprised of autonomous regions.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Only just spotted this, for some reason it didnt make much of a splash....

Army base stripped bare days after handover

The first British camp to be handed to the Iraqis was looted almost bare within days of the Army's departure. The transfer last month was widely heralded as a signal that Iraq would soon be ready to run itself. A British soldier said that as the last men drove away, they saw pick-up trucks being filled with equipment worth tens of thousands of pounds.

Most items that could be removed were taken, including air conditioning units, water filtration systems, chairs, bedding and kitchen utensils. When the commander of British forces in south-east Iraq, Brig James Everard, discussed the matter with the province's governor he was told that the camp had "largely gone".

Military sources believe much of the looting was done by off-duty Iraqi soldiers and government officials. British officers privately say they blame the governor for much of the looting and believe some of the air conditioning units are now in his private office. The Iraqi and British governments had described the transfer of Camp Smitty on July 30, a base outside the southern city of Samawah, as a key step in handing control of security back to Iraqis.

But the looting casts doubt on official insistence that coalition troops are only withdrawing when local authorities are ready to assume their responsibilities. Camp Smitty is the first deemed ready to run itself and all coalition troops were withdrawn. British officials insisted this was done only after rigorous assessment of the local government and Iraqi security forces.

Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, said it was a step towards "building a stable and democratic future for their country". The Iraqi prime minister, who attended a handover ceremony in Samawah, had called it a "great national day".

The camp, which British troops had shared with an Australian contingent, had been intended for use as an Iraqi army base. A nearby base used by a Japanese contingent was also ransacked, with townspeople from Samawah joining in. Locals said roadside markets appeared in the following days selling computers, electrical kit, air conditioning units and other equipment from both camps.

Camp Smitty, named in honour of a British soldier killed in the first weeks of the Iraq war, was established by the Army in 2003 before being used as a base by the Dutch until they left in March 2005.

Muthanna, a sparsely-populated province bordering Saudi Arabia, is considered one of Iraq's most peaceful.

 

[Barking_Mad]

This story went missing big style - or maybe I just did.......Sistani has declared he no longer will be involved in any political issues in Iraq given his 'failure' to keep the lid on the Shia population who have taken to violence. Nothing on the BBC website about this.

Iraq loses its voice of reason

DAMASCUS - The saddest news coming from Iraq is the decision of the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to cease all political activity and restrict himself to his religious duties in Shi'ite Islam. He said this weekend: "I will not be a political leader anymore. I am only happy to receive questions about religious matters."

If Sistani lives up to his word, this means silencing the loudest - and only - remaining voice of reason and moderation in Iraqi politics. This is the same man who used his paramount influence to silence the guns of two Shi'ite insurgencies in 2004. He then wisely ordered his supporters to vote in last years national elections, claiming that it was a "religious duty" to join the political process and jump-start democratic life in Iraq.

This same wise man, who is a democrat at heart, insisted that women, too, must have their say in politics and that they should vote in elections. If their husbands, brothers or fathers forbade them from voting, then it was their right (as authorized by Sistani) to say no and to head to the ballots without approval (something frowned on among conservative Muslims).

Never supportive of the US occupation of Iraq, he nevertheless decided to cooperate honorably with the Americans (in anticipation of their eventual withdrawal), knowing that violence would not defeat them or make them go away.

Honorable cooperation, to a Gandhian leader like Sistani, was certainly more rewarding - and less costly - than a military insurgency. His political endorsement was all that was needed for any politician to win the parliamentary elections of 2005 and 2006, and he is considered the guiding force behind the broad coalition of religious Shi'ites known as the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) that has been in power for the past two years.

Recently, however, Sistani has been both angry and disappointed at the UIA for failing to bring law, order and security to Iraq. He is appalled by the rising power of Shi'ite militias in the streets of Baghdad.

In July alone, more than 3,000 Iraqis were killed by rival militias from the Sunni and Shi'ite communities. A report released by the Pentagon on Friday showed that the real problem in Iraq is no longer an armed al-Qaeda- and Ba'athist-led insurgency fighting the Americans and the Iraqi government. It is now Iraqi Sunnis fighting against Iraqi Shi'ites - meaning, Iraq is now in civil war.

The Pentagon report noted that the attacks had risen to 792 per week and casualties were almost 150 Iraqis killed per day. Such startling facts are troubling for someone like Sistani, who hates violence and has repeatedly called for it to stop.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Related article here -

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HI08Ak01.html

 

[Barking_Mad]

From Kuna, - Iranian website

Iranian troops capture Iraqi officer, five soldiers

BAGHDAD, Sept 8 (KUNA) -- Iranian border troops have arrested an Iraqi military officer and five soldiers after a gunfire clash in the border region of Diyala, a military source said on Friday.

The clash occurred on Thursday after the Iranian troops opened fire at a joint patrol of Iraqi and American regulars, the source said, adding that the US soldiers did not get involved in the firefight.

The arrestees are members of the Fifth Division of the Iraqi Army, deployed in Dilaya, 60 kilometers northeast of the capital.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Iraqi death toll casts doubt on U.S. claims

BAGHDAD More than 1,500 violent deaths were recorded by the Baghdad morgue in August, a morgue official said Thursday, a drop of around one- fifth in deaths compared with July, the deadliest month for civilians since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

The morgue official, who spoke on the condition that his name not be printed, said 1,535 bodies were processed in August, a 17 percent reduction from July, when the morgue reported receiving 1,855 bodies.

The August total, if accurate, conflicts with a sense among many Baghdad residents that death rates had recently greatly ebbed, and it casts doubt on the effectiveness of a four-week U.S. military operation to reduce violence in several of the city's most dangerous neighborhoods. The morgue figures also undermine recent claims by American military officials that Baghdad's murder rate has plummeted as American-led security operations here have spread over western Baghdad.

On Thursday, for instance, Major General William Caldwell, the military's top spokesman, wrote on a military Web site that since Aug. 7, murders in Baghdad had declined by 52 percent compared with the daily rate in July. But that lower rate did not include dozens, perhaps hundreds, of civilians who died violently in August.

In finding a 52-percent reduction, the military counted only murders of individuals "targeted as a result of sectarian-related violence," including executions, said Lieutenant Colonel Barry Johnson, a spokesman for the American military here. Killings from other violent acts, like car bombings and mortar attacks, were not counted, he said.

The Baghdad morgue's body count is a powerful indicator of the level of security the government and military have brought to the city.

Johnson said he could not comment on the morgue's August death toll or whether it contradicted the military's view that murders have dropped precipitously. But on Wednesday, Caldwell told reporters that "the cycle of retaliatory violence has been slowed in the target areas as we have specifically focused our efforts here within the Baghdad area."

On Aug. 31, Iraq's national security adviser, Mowaffak al-Rubaie, said execution-style killings and sectarian violence had dropped by 45 percent during the previous six weeks. "There's definitely a much better sense of security among the general public," The Associated Press quoted him saying.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Iraq hangs 27 'terrorists'

BAGHDAD - Iraqi authorities hanged 27 convicted "terrorists" on Wednesday, the interior ministry announced.

"Twenty-seven terrorists were hanged today in Baghdad. Most of them were Iraqis," interior ministry spokesman Abdul Karim Khalaf told AFP. He said they were convicted for attacks on Iraqi civilians and sentenced to death, in an execution order signed by an Iraqi vice president.

Iraq in September 2005 hanged three convicted murderers in the first executions since the toppling of former dictator Saddam Hussein. The authorities reinstated the death penalty which was abolished after the US-led invasion of March 2003.

 

[laptop]

Grim days for the gravedigger of Baghdad

FOR 23 years Sheikh Jamal al-Sudani has taken it upon himself to bury the bodies of murdered Iraqis — men, women and children — whose families were too afraid to retrieve them from the mortuary slabs of Baghdad.
...
The strange personal archive maintained by Sudani and his son Khaled at their modest home in the poor Baghdad suburb of Sadr City chronicles each change in the pattern of violence and its devastating impact.

The files created for each month show how the Sunni beheaders held sway when their stronghold of Falluja was stormed by US forces in 2004; how Shi’ite squads armed with electric drills stepped up their activities after an attack on the al-Askari mosque in Samarra last February; and how little difference the killing in June of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, has made to the level of violence.

According to health ministry figures, 3,438 civilians were killed in Iraq in July alone, nearly double the figure for January. A much-heralded security plan for Baghdad, under which US and Iraqi forces aim to secure the city, one area at a time, is cutting the number of murders in some parts of the city but August figures showed the overall toll down by only 17%.
...
Sudani makes no religious distinction between those he helps: “The unclaimed victims have no mothers or fathers to cry for them so my men and I become their loved ones and we mourn them as our own.”

 

[slaar]

Complete Breakdown of Law and Order

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1870023,00.html

Iraq's biggest province has suffered a total breakdown in law and order in which al-Qaida has emerged as the dominant political force, according to descriptions of a classified US military intelligence review reported today.
The report, by the US marine corps colonel Peter Devlin, focuses on the vast, arid region of Anbar in the west, which contains the insurgent-held towns of Fallujah, Ramadi and Haditha.