January 15th 2007 News Round-Up
Please note we will not be posting any translations/summaries from Arabic tonight. I am headlining with a piece of good news “Spain orders U.S. soldier arrests for Couso death” - he won’t be the last American in Iraq who finds out that he can never leave America again without fear of arrest for killing civilians.
Erdla
Spain orders U.S. soldier arrests for Couso death
MADRID (Reuters) - Spain has issued an international arrest warrant for three U.S. soldiers after reopening a murder investigation into the killing of Spanish television cameraman Jose Couso in Iraq, court officials said on Tuesday.
Judge Santiago Pedraz also asked prosecutors to determine whether the soldiers’ assets in the United States could be frozen against any future compensation claims, officials said.
Couso, a cameraman for Spain’s Telecinco television station, was killed when a U.S. tank fired a shell at the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad on April 8, 2003.
Reuters cameraman Taras Protsyuk was also killed and three other Reuters employees were seriously injured.
Spain’s Supreme Court reopened the Couso case in December after an earlier court ruled that Spain had no jurisdiction to try the soldiers, halting Pedraz’s first attempt to order their arrest.
The United States has acknowledged the tank fired at the Palestine Hotel but has cleared Sergeant Thomas Gibson, Captain Philip Wolford and Lieutenant-Colonel Philip De Camp of blame.
Source: Spain orders U.S. soldier arrests for Couso death | News One | Reuters.com
Aswat Al Iraq (English)
Blast near Baghdad university claims 35 casualties - Aswat al Iraq:
Blast near Baghdad university claims 35 casualties
By Adel Fakher
Baghdad, Jan 16, (VOI) – At least ten college students were killed and 25 others wounded on Tuesday afternoon when a car bomb was detonated near the second largest university campus in Baghdad, a police source said.
“A car bomb was detonated today afternoon near al- Mustansiriyah university in east of Baghdad, killing ten college students and wounding 25,” the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
The source added “the blast occurred at the rush hour as college students were leaving the university campus.”
Over 8,000 students daily attend colleges at al-Mustansiriyah university, a second largest in Baghdad.
Casualty toll in Mustansiriyah car bombing climbs to 23 dead, 58 wounded - Aswat al Iraq:
Casualty toll in Mustansiriyah car bombing climbs to 23 dead, 58 wounded
By Adel Fakher
(Raises toll, plea for blood donations)
Baghdad, Jan 16, (VOI) – The casualty toll in a car bomb explosion near al- Mustansiriyah University in Baghdad on Tuesday climbed to 23 killed and 58 wounded, a security source said.
“Most of the casualties are students in Mustansiriyah University,” the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
The explosive-rigged car “was parked near al-Mustansiriyah square and was detonated by remote control at about 3:00 p.m. today,” he said.
The initial toll was ten dead and 25 wounded.
Meanwhile, a university source said the higher education ministry informed the university it has appealed to people to donate blood to help save the lives of the wounded who were rushed to the nearby al-Kindi and Ibn al-Nafees hospitals.
Over 8,000 students daily attend classes at al-Mustansiriyah University, the second largest in Baghdad.
UN Secretary General condemns execution of Tikriti and Bandar : Aswat al Iraq:
UN Secretary General condemns execution of Tikriti and Bandar
Baghdad, Jan 16, (VOI) – The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki- Moon on Tuesday condemned the hanging of Iraqi former President Saddam Hussein’s tope aides Barzan al-Tikriti and Awwad al-Bandar.
Ban expressed his regret for the hangings which were carried out despite his personal plea that the two co-defendants not be executed, a UN statement said.
Tikriti, Iraqi former President Saddam Hussein’s half-brother and former head of intelligence, and Bandar, former revolutionary court chief judge, who were hanged to death on Monday for involvement in the killing of 148 civilians in the village of Dujail after a failed attempt to kill Saddam.
Many international organizations have appealed to the Iraqi government not to carry out the death sentences against Tikriti and Bandar after the execution of Saddam in December 30.
On Monday, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour also voiced regret over the executions.
Arbour said she also held concerns over the fairness and impartiality of the trial that led to the death sentences imposed on Bandar and Tikriti.
“The imposition of the death penalty after a trial and appeal proceedings that do not respect the principles of due process amounts to a violation of the right to life,” she said in a statement posted on the Commission’s website.
The High Commissioner added that while she is opposed to capital punishment under all circumstances, in this case it also means it is “more difficult to have a complete judicial accounting of other, equally horrendous, crimes committed in Iraq.”
Earlier this month, citing concerns about the impartiality of the trial, Ms. Arbour issued a direct appeal to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani asking that the two co-defendants not be executed. That call was endorsed at the time by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s spokesperson, who today joined Ms. Arbour in voicing regret at the executions.
Sadrist bloc decides to return to government, parliament - Aswat al Iraq:
Sadrist bloc decides to return to government, parliament -lawmaker
Baghdad, Jan 16, (VOI) – The Sadrist bloc decided to announce its return to the Iraqi parliament and government, a parliamentarian said on Tuesday.
“The Sadrist bloc intends to announce today its return to the government and parliament after a consultative meeting was held today with the Unified Iraqi Coalition,” lawmaker Nassar al-Rubaie, of Sadrist bloc, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) over the phone.
Last week, , a source close to the Premier’s office said the Sadrists decided to end their suspension and return to the government and parliament after a meeting with the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose parliamentary bloc garnered 30 seats, had suspended the Sadrists’ membership in parliament and government in protest against a meeting Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had with U.S. President George W. Bush in the Jordanian capital Amman late in November, and failure to hammer out a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq.
Government funded al-Sabah newspaper guard killed in Baghdad: Aswat al Iraq:
Government funded al-Sabah newspaper guard killed in Baghdad
By Adel Fakher
Baghdad, Jan 16, (VOI) – An Iraqi guard working for the government funded al-Sabah newspaper was found dead over the top roof of its building in north of Baghdad, a source at the Iraqi media network said on Tuesday.
“A guard was found dead after a night duty over the newspaper building roof in al-Waziriyah neighborhood, north of Baghdad,” the source, asked not to be named, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
The source added “the cause of the killing was not clear but he might be killed with a sniper’s bullet.”
“The investigations are under way to discover the cause of the death,” the source added.
On Sunday, a worker in Al-Sabah newspaper and a driver who were kidnapped on Saturday were found dead with their heads cut off in northwestern Baghdad.
The two were kidnapped in al-Sulaigh district after leaving the paper on Saturday evening. They were stopped at a fake checkpoint and taken to an unknown destination.
The bodies of kidnapped workers were found on Sunday morning dumped near al-Numan hospital in Baghdad’s northwestern district of al-Aazamiya.
Meanwhile, the source said Al-Sabah correspondent in the western Anbar province was killed on Saturday in an explosion.
Al-Sabah is an official newspaper that was established two months after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Car bomb blast leaves four dead, 12 wounded in Sadr city: Aswat al Iraq:
Car bomb blast leaves four dead, 12 wounded in Sadr city
By Adel Fakher
Baghdad, Jan 16, (VOI) – At least four Iraqis were killed and 12 others wounded on Tuesday when a bomb left inside a minibus went off in the Shiite Sadr city, a police source said.
“A bomb left inside a minibus went off today afternoon on a road in Sadr city, east of Baghdad,” the source, who asked not to be named, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
The source added “the blast claimed four lives and wounded 12 others.”
The wounded were rushed to a nearby hospital, the source added.
13 killed, 70 wounded in two explosions in Baghdad: Aswat al Iraq:
13 killed, 70 wounded in two explosions in Baghdad
By Adel Fakher
Baghdad, Jan 16, (VOI) – The Iraqi police said on Tuesday 13 people were killed and 70 others were wounded in a double explosion in central Baghdad.
“At least 13 civilians were killed and 70 others wounded when a double explosion occurred today at noon near a crowded road connecting two mosques in central Baghdad,” the source, who asked not to be named, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
The source added “an explosive charge was detonated first and followed by the blast of an explosives-rigged motorcycle in the area.”
The double blast damaged some commercial shops nearby and set two civilian cars and ten motorcycles ablaze, the source added.
“The Iraqi security sources immediately cordoned off the area while ambulances rushed the wounded to nearby hospitals,” the source said.
Four people wounded in Diala blast
By Assem Taha
Baaquba, Jan 16, (VOI) – At least four Iraqi people, including one policeman, were wounded on Tuesday when an explosive charge went off at an Iraqi police officer’s motorcade in Baaquba, a police source said.
“An explosive charge went off today morning targeting a police force commander’s motorcade in Baaquba, 57 km northeast of Baghdad,” the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
The source said “the commander survived the attack unharmed.”
“The blast resulted in wounding four people, including a policeman,” the source added.
The wounded were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment, the source added.
Security forces seal off parts of Baghdad: Aswat al Iraq:
Security forces seal off parts of Baghdad
By Adel Fakher
Baghdad, Jan 16, (VOI) – U.S. and Iraqi combined forces sealed off on Tuesday morning some Sunni neighborhoods in east of Baghdad, an eyewitness said.
“U.S. and Iraqi combined forces sealed off today morning the Sunni neighborhoods of al-Sulaigh, al-Adhamiyah and al-Qahira in east of Baghdad,” an eyewitness told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
The source said “the forces launched an intensive search campaign into the three neighborhoods that lie next to each other.”
The cause behind the closure of these neighborhoods was still unknown, the eyewitness added.
Meanwhile, residents of the southern Baghdad’s district of al-Dura held a meeting with the commander of the Iraqi army brigade that took over responsibility for the area, an eyewitness told VOI.
The commander told al-Dura residents “our role is to enhance security and to serve the people of the district.”
The district clerics and sheikhs asked the commander to secure the area and reopen a major market in the district after it had been closed before, the eyewitness added.
Other Agencies Reports and Picture of The Day
Selected summary reports and storys.
Kuwait News Agency
Arab League chief opposes partitioning of Iraq
POL-LEAGUE-IRAQ-MOUSSA
Arab League chief opposes partitioning of IraqCAIRO, Jan 16 (KUNA) — Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa here Tuesday rejected the idea of “partitioning of Iraq” as a “red line” that Arab countries cannot accept.
Moussa was speaking to several Arab ambassadors here, saying that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was informed of Arab objection to the idea of partitioning Iraq during her visit to Egypt on Monday.
Such an issue would be discussed by the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Egypt and Jordan and the US secretary of state during a meeting in Kuwait on Tuesday, he said.
Moussa called on the international community to buttress and shore up an Arab initiative aiming to create national reconciliation in Iraq, expressing Arab support for citizenship in Iraq as a key item of dealing among the Iraqi people.
He emphasized that the Iraqi people should be allowed to control their natural resources to use them in reconstructions, cautioning against the perils of militias in Iraq. He, further, called for introducing constitutional amendments in Iraq, which could reassure the Iraqi people.
“All these constitute basic elements of the Arab position on Iraq,” he said, noting that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed understanding of such elements.
He added that during the meeting of the eight Arab foreign ministers and the US secretary of state in Kuwait on Tuesday, this issue would be the bone of wide-scale discussions.
Meanwhile, the Arab League chief emphasized that a settlement to the Palestinian issue as per Arab foundations and constants and international legitimacy is the main aspect for tackling several tensions in the Middle East region, reiterating a call for a new international conference on the Middle East peace process at an early date.
Moussa added that Rice would be back to the region within a few weeks’ time to meet with the Palestinian and Israeli sides on an independent Palestinian state.
Asked why a planned meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora was delayed for the second time on Tuesday, Moussa said Siniora told him by phone that he could not meet him as he was in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and had appointments in the Arab Gulf region.
But, he said he might meet with Siniora either in Cairo, Beirut or a European capital soon. (end) mfm.mt
Source: Kuna site|Story page|Arab League chief opposes partitioning of Iraq …1/16/2007
McClatchy: LATEST IRAQ HEADLINES
Roundup of violence in Iraq - 16 January 2007 - 1/16/2007 12:38 PM EST
By MOHAMMED AL AWSY, McClatchy Newspapers
The daily Iraq violence report is compiled by McClatchy Newspapers Special Correspondent Mohammed al Awsy in Baghdad from police, military and medical reports. This is not a comprehensive list of all violence in Iraq, much of which goes unreported. It’s posted without editing as transmitted to McClatchy’s Washington Bureau.
Execution of Saddam accomplices goes awry - 1/15/2007 07:53 PM EST
By LEILA FADEL, McClatchy Newspapers
Two weeks after hooting Shiite Muslim guards marred the execution of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi government’s effort to execute two former officials of his regime with more dignity went awry on Monday when one of the men was decapitated by the noose.
Residents say snipers are firing at random on Haifa Street - 1/15/2007 07:07 PM EST
By NANCY A. YOUSSEF and ZAINEB OBEID, McClatchy Newspapers
The two top U.S. officials in Iraq voiced confidence that Iraq’s Shiite Muslim-led government would show no favoritism in its efforts to secure the city, even as some Sunni residents complained that Shiite Iraqi security forces and government-backed militias were preventing them from evacuating wounded and going for food.
Reuters (Alertnet)
Four U.S. soldiers killed by bomb in northern Iraq
16 Jan 2007 17:50:49 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Adds quote, background) BAGHDAD, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Four U.S. soldiers were killed by a bomb in northern Iraq on Monday, the military said in a statement on Tuesday. “Four Task Force … Full article
Four U.S. soldiers killed by bomb in northern Iraq
16 Jan 2007 17:44:35 GMT
Source: Reuters
BAGHDAD, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Four U.S. soldiers were killed by a bomb on Monday in the northern Iraqi province centred on the city of Mosul, the military said in a statement on Tuesday … Full article
INTERVIEW-US Sen. Cochran sees tough Iraq funding fight
16 Jan 2007 17:37:37 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Richard Cowan WASHINGTON, Jan 16 (Reuters) - The former chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee said he opposes efforts to limit President George W. Bush’s U.S. troop buildup in Iraq, but … Full article
Baghdad bombs kill 100, UN says 34,000 died in ‘06
16 Jan 2007 17:34:46 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Updates toll, adds deputy speaker, White House, edits) By Claudia Parsons BAGHDAD, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Bombers killed 65 people, many of them young women students, at a Baghdad university on … Full article
UK police in Turkey to probe Iraq death of Bigley
16 Jan 2007 17:30:29 GMT
Source: Reuters
LONDON, Jan 16 (Reuters) - British police have travelled to Turkey as part of their investigation into the murder of Kenneth Bigley, a British engineer abducted and beheaded in Iraq in 2004, the … Full article
US, Jordan, Syria Must Open Doors to Iraq Refugees
16 Jan 2007 17:25:41 GMT
Source: Human Rights Watch
(Washington, DC, January 16, 2007) � With the Senate Judiciary Committee holding hearings today on the plight of Iraqi refugees, Human Rights Watch called upon the Bush administration to share the … Full article
Saudi backs U.S. plan, says success depends on Baghdad
16 Jan 2007 17:23:12 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Adds Kuwait meeting, changes dateline from RIYADH) By Haitham Haddadin KUWAIT, Jan 16 (Reuters) - The United States won Saudi backing on Tuesday for a U.S. plan to stabilise Iraq, but Washington’ … Full article
Former UN oil-for-food head charged with bribery
16 Jan 2007 17:16:32 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Adds detail throughout) NEW YORK, Jan 16 (Reuters) - A former executive director of the U.N. oil-for-food program for Iraq and a brother-in-law of a former U.N. secretary-general have been charged … Full article
Fmr UN oil-for-food exec on bribery, fraud charges
16 Jan 2007 16:33:37 GMT
Source: Reuters
NEW YORK, Jan 16 (Reuters) - The former executive director of the U.N. oil-for-food program, Benon Sevan, has been charged with bribery and conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with the … Full article
EU has the troops for 2007 challenges-top soldier
16 Jan 2007 16:15:52 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Mark John BRUSSELS, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Several European armies are being stretched to the limit by peacekeeping demands across the world but the European Union still has the troops to grow as a … Full article
AFP
BAGHDAD (AFP) - More than 34,000 Iraqis died violent deaths in 2006, often after being tortured, the UN said, as gunmen massacred shoppers at a Baghdad market and bombs ripped into university students.
In one of the bloodiest days in the war-ravaged country this year, at least 58 people were killed Tuesday in a string of attacks, mostly in Baghdad where Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki vowed to crack down on outlaws under a tough new security plan.
Pointing to raging sectarian violence that has rocked Baghdad as the main cause of civilian deaths, the United Nations said in a report at least 34,452 Iraqis died in 2006, an average of 94 deaths per day.
Another 36,685 people were wounded in attacks around the country.
Source: AFP.com | read in full
60 killed in Baghdad university bombings
16/01/2007 16h31
Iraqi army soldiers rush to site of a car bomb explosion in Baghdad
©AFP - Wisam Sami
BAGHDAD (AFP) - A suicide bomber and a car bomb attack outside Baghdad’s Mustansiriyah University have killed at least 60 students and staff and wounded another 110.
The suicide bomber and the booby-trapped car exploded Tuesday at the university entrance, ripping through students and employees as they headed home towards the end of the day.
The blasts came soon after the United Nations released a report which said that more than 34,000 Iraqis had died in violence last year and that teachers and students had often been among the targets.
Link to AFP.com | Agence France-Presse, a global news agency
Sunni Arabs pay respects to Saddam’s henchmen
16/01/2007 16h25
TIKRIT, Iraq (AFP) - Sunni Arabs have paid their respects to former henchmen of Saddam Hussein, who were convicted of crimes against humanity and buried near the former Iraqi leader’s own grave after a gruesome hanging.
People of all ages knelt to kiss Iraqi flags spread over the freshly dug graves of Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and Awad Ahmed Bandar, executed a day earlier for the murders of 148 Shiite civilians following an assassination attempt against Saddam in 1982.
The controversy stirred up by Saddam’s botched execution for the same massacre was fueled further when the latest hangings went awry, with Barzan’s head ripped from his body as he plunged from the Baghdad gallows.
But mourners were much more peaceful than when Saddam was buried on December 31, with little of the popular outpouring expressed for a man seen as a brutal dictator in other parts of the world.
Sheikh Ali al-Nada of the Bayjat clan, to which Saddam and his half-brother Barzan belonged, received condolences in a tent along with cousins of the deceased in Awja, on the outskirts of the city of Tikrit.
Also present was Badr Awad al-Bandar, son of Awad Ahmed Bandar, the executed former head of Iraq’s disbanded Revolutionary Court whose last request was to be buried near Saddam.
Barzan was chief of the feared Mukhabarat intelligence agency, and both were convicted along with Saddam for the killing of the Shiite civilians from the town of Dujail, north of Baghdad.
The simple dirt graves were marked only by small headstones and Iraqi flags bordered by green palm branches, before which stood young Sunni Arab men, some carrying assault rifles and plastic cards bearing pictures of Saddam.
Sunni Arabs carry the bodies of Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and Awad Ahmed Bandar
©AFP - Dia Hamid
Many flashed V-signs at the news cameras but there was no commemorative shooting in the air and offices and shops remained open amid a mood of sorrowful tranquility around Tikrit, hometown of Saddam and many of his top aides.
Barzan and Bandar were buried late Monday in the grounds that surround Saddam’s own grave, set among flowers and Iraqi flags in the floor of a light pink marble hall built during his regime for public condolences.
The government showed a video of Monday’s hanging to select journalists to allay possible charges that the condemned men had been mistreated, with Barzan’s body seen falling in an orange blur after the trap door swung open.
Officials did not plan to release the images publicly however, hoping to avoid the kind of outcry that accompanied bootleg images of Saddam’s hanging that circulated on the Internet.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who works within an administration that backs the death penalty and Iraq’s sovereign right to choose its own form of punishment, said Monday that the hangings could have been handled better.
Speaking in the Egyptian city of Luxor, Rice told a press conference: “We were disappointed there was not greater dignity given to the accused under these circumstances.”
Describing the executions, senior Iraqi official Basam Ridha told AFP the two men were “trembling with fear when they were taken to the gallows”, in contrast to what many considered the dignity shown by Saddam in his final moments.
“Barzan’s body fell through the rope while his head flew off a few feet (a metre) away.”
UN Human Rights Commissioner Louise Arbour reiterated her principled opposition to capital punishment and added: “In this particular case, not only is the penalty irremediable, it may also make it more difficult to have a complete judicial accounting of other, equally horrendous, crimes committed in Iraq.”
Link to AFP.com | Agence France-Presse, a global news agency
Canberra Times (Australia)
US gropes in the dark as Iraqis work their own agenda
Nicholas Stuart
THE PAST two months have witnessed two dramatic changes to the growing carnage in Iraq. The first was ushered in by the devastating defeat suffered by Bush’s Republicans in the November congressional elections. Suddenly, the entire nature of the American commitment to the Middle East was thrown into doubt.
At one stroke, it had become evident that Washington’s commitment to “stay the course” was worthless.
The United States no longer speaks with a single voice on Iraq. For the two remaining years of the Bush presidency, sectional interests will dominate Washington’s agenda.
The White House today represents simply one of the myriad competing agendas at work in America. The Democrats are another.
Here, the picture is further muddied by competition between the (already elected) House Speaker and the rival candidates (declared or undeclared) for next year’s presidential election.
Then there is the military. The generals have tossed off the shackles imposed by that extraordinary micro-manager, Donald Rumsfeld. But this doesn’t mean they are free to fight the “war” the way they might wish to. The political agenda still dictates what they are free to do, and circumscribes the options available. The unspoken political limitation is the vital need to minimise casualties; for both troops and civilians. This means that the one massive advantage the Americans possess overwhelming firepower can’t readily be used.
The elimination of this technical advantage effectively means that they must target the insurgency at a tactical level with small units of individual soldiers. Hence the requirement for a “surge” of forces that would allow the American forces to finally dominate the battlefield and its vital ground, the capital, Baghdad.
But to really achieve this would require a dramatic surge of up to 50,000 soldiers for at least a year. This is only going to happen in somebody’s fantasy. Short of conscription, the troops just aren’t available.
On September 11, 2001, the US Army consisted of 482,000 troops. New plans call for an increase to 512,000, yet even with this expansion, former commander Colin Powell already claims the “active army is broken”. The President prefers to use the word “stressed”.
Whatever the terminology, the point is that soldiers are now being asked to do a job for which they are neither trained nor capable. They have continued attempting the impossible for years, and it’s a mistake to think they’ll accomplish anything because of a small augmentation to their strength.
Already, there are about 150,000 soldiers in Middle East. That’s just more than half the US force deployed outside the American continent. For a “surge” to be meaningful it has to consist of well over eight brigades, or at least 50,000 troops.
Instead, the plan is to swell the numbers by barely 20,000, because that’s the maximum that Congress will accept just five brigades. So, yet again, although there will now be more forces in place to combat the insurgency, there will still not be enough. The military understands that its deployment is just being used to buy time.
America is like a blind man; disparately scrabbling around for a key to find a way out of the locked room that is Iraq. The problem is the original war aim, creation of a viable democracy in that country. That’s now as far away as ever.
As a result, the objective has changed; it’s now simply to get out as cleanly as possible. In order to do this, Washington will now accept the price dictated by Baghdad.
Originally, the price for departure was unacceptable. Today, that looks like a bargain. Giving control of the country back to a single ethnic group. The politicians in the Oval Office will now accept the “best price” of the Baghdad marketplace, simply in order to get away.
While all this has been taking place in Washington, the second shift is on the ground, and particularly in Baghdad itself. As it became obvious that America will leave, the nature of the violence has altered. Originally, the chaos was caused by the utter breakdown of any form of law and order.
Gangs, often little better than criminals, used the absence of government as a means of shoving themselves into positions of power.
Now, however, a significant change is taking place, because there is a new vision for the future of the country.
A future that doesn’t include America, or democracy (at least in the sense that it is understood in the West), but one in which the “new” Iraq will be run, again, by Iraqis.
This means a resurgence of the old ethnic and sectarian divisions that were banished under Saddam. The Kurdish north of the country is all but separate. This is a problem for later. In the south, and where our troops have been deployed, the population is basically Shi’ite. This is the majority religious group in the country, just as it is in neighbouring Iran.
The great fear was that the shared religious outlook might be enough to get the two countries to unite. This is the nightmare scenario for America (and Israel). But, fortunately, it doesn’t look as if this is likely any more.
The Government of Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad appears to be concentrated on preserving what little power it has. The Mahdi army which is taking an increasingly dominant role in the fighting is loyal to the Iraqi cleric Moqtadr al-Sadr.
He seems to be ambivalent about the Ayatollahs of Tehran. Although a simple reading of the Koran proposes a single Islamic state, it may be that the realities in the region mean that the time is not yet right for such a literal translation.
This is a godsend to the Americans, because it means they can depart with “honour”. Well, depart, anyway. And get out while still leaving a separate Iraq even if it is under Shi’ite rule.
As the dominant group effectively moves to purge both the Sunnis and former members of Saddam’s Ba’ath Party, ethnic tensions are diminishing. That’s because the minorities are disappearing. They’re either leaving the country (if they can), or simply not coming home one day (if they’re less fortunate).
This process has gone too far to be arrested. Suddenly, the future of Iraq is becoming clear. The forces on the ground have something to fight for. Consequently there has been a change in the nature of the violence. It is taking on a more final and aggressive edge, as the war aims for different groups are becoming clearer. The only continuing danger inside Iraq is that Iran might suddenly attempt to seize its opportunity to intervene; particularly if it sees Iraq spinning out of its orbit.
But the advantages for the White House of the current developments are significant they offer a way out before the presidential elections. And if the Democrats obstruct their planning? Well, so much the better. The Republicans can claim it was their opponents that lost the war, by not sending the reinforcements.
A new state is beginning to emerge from the rubble left after the invasion. Unfortunately, it is nothing like the earlier promises of a democratic nation that became part of our original reason for joining in with the invasion.
Source: canberra times
The World from Berlin: Botched Hanging ‘Brutal, Amateurish, Undignified’ - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News
Botched Hanging ‘Brutal, Amateurish, Undignified’
The accidental decapitation of Saddam’s half-brother Barzan during his hanging on Monday drew international criticism and threatened to worsen sectarian divisions in Iraq. German commentators call the hanging “gruesome.”
The world doesn’t often witness a series of executions like the one of Saddam Hussein at the end of December and of his henchmen Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, the once feared intelligence chief, and former judge Awad Hamed al-Bandar on Monday.
First in a series of embarrassing mistakes was the unauthorized filming of the dictator’s hanging by mobile phone. Shaky footage found its way onto the Internet and showed Saddam being verbally abused during the hanging. Then followed the inadvertent decaptitation of his half-brother Barzan on Monday.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice criticized the bothched hanging, saying: “We were disappointed there was not greater dignity given to the accused under these circumstances. I hope that those who are responsible for the way that came out will be indeed punished.”
British Prime Minister Tony Blair also called the circumstances of Saddam’s hanging “unacceptable.” He had “always made clear our opposition to the death penalty, including after it was imposed on Saddam Hussein. That has remained a consistent part of our message,” said his spokesman.
Center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes: “The Iraqi government carried out the death sentence in such an amateurish way that that the brutal, undignified spectacle even shocked the Shiite enemies of the old regime.
“The gallows in its modern form is a death machine that has been developed over centuries and in contrast with other methods is intended to permit a rapid, dignified — some say more “humane” — death. But what happened in Baghdad show there is no such thing as a dignified death and definitely no humane one.
“The Iraqi government described al-Tikriti’s decapitation as ‘God’s will.’ In truth it was only the incompetence of people who think they’re carrying out God’s will.”
Conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine writes: “Both were anything but innocent but the new Iraqi government, had it commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment, could have signalled that the imagined ‘new Iraq’ at least wanted to start ridding itself of the gruesome rituals that have long been a fact of life between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers.
“It’s uncertain whether anything approaching an acceptable judicial system will develop in the foreseeable future.”
– David Crossland, 2:30 p.m. CET
Full Iraq coverage | Iraq | Guardian Unlimited
Many killed in Baghdad blasts
January 16: Two bombs explode near a university in eastern Baghdad, killing 60 people, police say.
Executions
Decapitation during execution of Saddam’s henchmen
January 16: The execution of two of Saddam Hussein’s henchmen and co-defendants tried for mass murder yesterday generated Sunni fury and international criticism when one of the condemned men was accidentally decapitated on the gallows.
Comment and debate
Iraqis will never accept this sellout to the oil corporations
January 16, Kamil Mahdi: The US-controlled Iraqi government is preparing to remove the country’s most precious resource from national control.
An unthinkable plan
January 15, Dilip Hiro: President Bush won’t get far in creating bad blood between Iranians and the Shia and Kurdish Iraqis.
13.01.07, leader: Keeping the flag flying
12.01.07, Simon Tisdall: President’s back-up plan: blame Iran
Obituaries
Awad Hamid al-Bandar
January 16: Loyalist judge with nothing left to live for.
Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti
January 16: Saddam’s half-brother with an inside track on the regime’s secrets.
Iraq and Iran
Bush admits past mistakes as row with Tehran grows
January 15: Iran demands release of five men held in Kurdistan.
Insurgent TV station
Insurgent TV channel turns into Iraq’s newest cult hit
January 15: Welcome to al-Zawraa TV, a 24-hour satellite station that lionises Iraq’s insurgency to the drumbeat of Saddam-era martial music. It is a crude and dizzying mix of images and videos harvested from jihadi websites - and a cult hit.
UK military deaths
Two more UK soldiers killed
January 15: Details emerged yesterday about the deaths of two British soldiers killed on Saturday in Afghanistan and Iraq.
New Bush strategy
After the surge … what next?
January 14: President Bush, under fire for sending 20,000 extra troops into Iraq, is now ready to target Iran for the chaos in Baghdad and beyond.
13.01.07: Bush battles to shore up support for plan
13.01.07: President grasps at duo’s promise of victory in Iraq
12.01.07: Isolated Bush faces rebellion over Iraq
12.01.07: So will the plan work?
12.01.07: Insecurity dilutes impact of cash
Middle East reaction
‘America is no longer in the driving seat’
January 12: Iran and Syria both angrily denounced the US plan to send more troops to Iraq, complaining it would only prolong the ‘occupation’ and extend insecurity in the country and the wider Middle East.
Source: Full Iraq coverage | Iraq | Guardian Unlimited
Erdla
Indexed under: Aswat Al Iraq - News, Baghdad, Baqubah, Jaish al-Mahdi, Mahdi, Mahdi Army, Militia
So, the US actually ‘acknowledges’ this shelling, eh?
Well now, isn’t that blooming big of ‘em — seeing that so many of us (all around the world), witnessed this man’s murder, with our eyes, on our own television screens.