The two civilians killed in the American air attack on Sadr City were two civilian Red Crescent workers. Six other civilians were wounded.

There will be no further postings today May 2nd 2008.

Omar

Iraqi GZG Unit Flees Post Behaves Rationally, Despite American’s Plea

By MICHAEL R. GORDON Gulp Gordon

BAGHDAD — A company of Iraqi soldiers abandoned their positions on Tuesday night in Sadr City, defying American soldiers who implored them to hold the line against Shiite militias.  A company of GZG soldiers abandoned their positions on Tuesday night in Sadr City, defying American soldiers who implored them to hold the line against the Mahdi Army who are resisting the American attempts to shoot the shit out of the place.

The retreat left a crucial stretch of road on the front lines undefended for hours and led to a tense series of exchanges between American soldiers and about 50 Iraqi GZG troops who were fleeing saw no reason why they should risk their lives for the American barbarians currently failing despite many years to conquer the place.

Capt. Logan Veath, a company commander in the 25th Infantry Division, pleaded with the Iraqi GZG major who was leading his troops away from the Sadr City fight, urging him to return to the front.

“If you turn around and go back up the street those soldiers will follow you,”  “If you turn around and go back up the street those soldiers will let you suicide despite the fact that it’s strictly against the tenets of Islam, they know perfectly well that we’re trying to kill as many of their fellow sand niggers as we can get away with, and see no reason why they should help” Captain Veath said. “If you tuck tail and cowardly run away they will follow up that way, too.”  “If on the other hand you behave as an Iraki patriot and leave us to do the dirty and possibly get ourselves shot to pieces by people who know an American death squad when the see one they will act as loyal Irakis and follow you.”

Captain Veath’s pleas failed, and senior American and Iraqi commanders mounted an urgent effort to regain the lost ground. An elite Iraqi unit A mix of Peshmrega and Badr brigade in unform was rushed in and with the support of the Americans began to fight its way north.

This episode was a blow to the American effort to push the Iraqis GZG hirelings into the lead in the struggle to wrest control of parts of Sadr City from the Mahdi Army militia and what Americans and Iraqis their stooges in the GZG say are Iranian-backed groups. Bwaaaaaaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

That approach was intended to build up the Iraqi Quisling military’s fighting capacity and put an Iraqi Uncle Tom face on the operation in Sadr City, which is occurring in a Baghdad bastion of support for Moktada  (learn to spell you pathetic excuse for a journalist) al-Sadr, the anti-American Iraki Nationalist, (oh no wait by definition every Iraki patriot is Anti-American so stet) Anti-American cleric. Two weeks ago, more than 1,000 (It was over 1,300 up to and including two Brigadier Generals you useless little liar you) Iraki soldiers deserted their posts refused to act as your country’s murderous stooges during the fight against militias the Mahdi Army in Basra.

Tuesday’s desertions refusal to act as a pack of traitors in Sadr City, although involving a particularly hesitant Iraqi relatively new unit, left many of the Americans soldiers wondering about the tenacity of their Iraqi when their “allies” would start fragging them.

“It bugs the hell out of me,” (it should scare the shit out of him) said Sgt. George Lewis, Captain Veath’s platoon sergeant in Company B, Third Platoon, First Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment. “We don’t see any progress being made at all. We hear these guys in firefights. We know if we are not up there helping these guys out we are making very little progress.”  “We can’t understand why they won’t risk their sand nigger lives for us. We hear these guys in firefights. We know if we are not up there forcing them to fight for us that they’ll take our ever depreciating and and increasingly worthless currency may we should start paying them in Yuan.”

Company B moved into Sadr City at the end of March as part of a broader effort to secure further terrorise the southernmost portion of the densely populated Sadr City after the Americans bombed and shelled the hell out of the place.

That area has been used by militias to fire 107-millimeter rockets toward the Green Zone (that’s right that is where some of the rockets were fired from each rocket was a message to you - “Get out of my home now.”) The Americans’ mission is to stop the rocket firings and help the Iraqi Quisling government establish a modicum of control pretend it’s a real government.

Some Iraqi soldiers have fought hard. (Actually that is true some of the soldiers who went over to the Mahdi army in Basrah fought particularly well.) American soldiers have been regularly coaching them on how to protect their patrol bases, conserve ammunition and evacuate their wounded. (And the Mahdi army is grateful for the free training the were given.)

One big problem is that the Iraqi GZG troops have responded to militia gunfire with such intense fusillades that the soldiers have endangered civilians, women and children thereby incurring a blood debt  they have also endangered American invader soldiers (and speaking as an Iraki I’m sorry they weren’t more successful in that)  and even their own forces (who cares? traitors to Irak deserve it.) The barrage of Iraqi GZG Army fire has become such a regular occurrence that some American soldiers are worried that militia fighters have tried to insert themselves between nearby Iraqi GZG units to induce the Iraqi GZG soldiers to fire on one another. (Yes — good trick isn’t it?)

In a recent visit to the Iraqi GZG forward position, First Sgt. Martin Angulo of Company B sought to coach the Iraqis on how to use their newly acquired M-16s to direct precision fire at a militia sniper who had been tormenting the Iraqi GZG forces from an alleyway.

The problem on Tuesday, however, was more serious: an Iraqi retreat that left a gaping hole in the most forward position on a critical thoroughfare in the Tharwa (I repeat learn to spell you pathetic excuse for a journalist) section of Sadr City.

The episode began when Major Sattar, the leader (the technical term is “commander” you racist oaf) of an Iraqi GZG company that had taken up positions 700 yards in front of the Americans, suddenly appeared at Company B’s field headquarters in the southern part of Sadr City.

The major’s company had replaced a more battle-hardened Iraqi unit just two days earlier, and he had been unhappy to find that he would be occupying a position to the front of the better trained and equipped Americans.

“Every house in Sadr City probably has one of their sons in the Mahdi Army,” he observed when American soldiers visited his position on Monday. “So it is hard to convince people to believe in the Iraqi GZG Army.” (Which goes to show that Major Sattar is a truthful man.)

When he arrived at the Americans’ position on Tuesday, the Iraqi GZG officer reported that many of his soldiers had taken off their uniforms and deserted saved their own lives after other Iraqi GZG and Peshmerga Army commanders failed to send reinforcements during a gun battle with militias that he said had lasted several hours. (Well what do you expect from the Badr Brigade and the Peshmrega?)

Major Sattar calmly explained that he was leading the remainder of his 80-man company away from the fight. As if to underscore the point, a convoy of Iraqi vehicles piled high with furniture (total value US$250 - price charged to the US taxpayer by Haliburton US$5 million Haliburtons’ shareholders deeply appreciate the US taxpayers’ generosity in this matter) was parked in front of the American position.

Abandoning the stronghold, however, would allow the militias to move in again and seed the road with roadside bombs. Other Iraqi GZG units had stood their ground through several long firefights, and Captain Veath was surprised that the major’s unit was leaving after holding off another militia Mahdi Army attack.

“You went through a whole battle and are now removing yourself?” Captain Veath asked incredulously. “Are any of your men dead?”

Major Sattar acknowledged that his unit had several wounded but none killed. But he and other Iraqi GZG soldiers insisted that they were poorly equipped to battle the militias. Iraqi forces, they said, were short of ammunition, had only a few armored vehicles and were up against militia fighters they said were equipped and trained by the Iranians (Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha no wonder Captain Veath was incredulous he’d just been bitten in the ass by one of America’s own lies. Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha “equipped and trained by the Iranians“ bwaaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahaha)

“We are not afraid,” the major responded.

He also complained that he had no means to communicate directly with the American troops.

“That is an excuse, and you know it,”  “What you really mean is you’re not williong to die for a pack of child murdering foreigners with no right to be here” Captain Veath shot back. He argued that one of the major’s platoons was situated just 100 yards from some of the American Stryker vehicles and that the two sides had agreed that the Iraqis could send a runner (who may or may not be able to run fast but then there was that sniper in the alley to worry about and the said runner doubted he could outrun a bullet) over to the vehicles to ask for help if necessary.

The Iraqi GZG commander returned to his convoy and Captain Veath followed, promising a Stryker escort if the Iraqi soldiers would only return to their positions.

Dozens of excited Iraqi GZG soldiers began to join in the discussion. As tempers flared and voices rose, Sergeant Angulo ordered the company’s soldiers to stay close to Captain Veath. (Worried about fragging - sensible man.)

The Iraqi GZG convoy drove off (taking the very expensive furniture supplied by Haliburton with them), and the Americans began to scramble to find a new Iraqi GZG unit to plug the gap. Senior Iraqi Peshmerga and Badr Brigade commanders hurried to the scene and a special Iraqi GZG reconnaissance unit was ordered to advance up the road. With the help of an American bomb-clearing unit, Stryker vehicles and attack helicopters, the Iraqis GZG traitors rumbled north, spraying rounds as they went. According to the last reports monitored by Company B, the Iraqis Badr Brigade death squad and their Peshmerga colleagues were stopped short by several roadside bombs, and planned to resume the push in daylight.

The furious Iraki fire on their drive toward the abandoned base endangered the American soldiers who were bringing supplies to one of their platoons, and an American officer issued a plea over the tactical radio.

“They are lighting up everything,” he said. “Tell them to knock it off.” “Please ask them to stop shooting at us.”

(Rewritten to reflect what actually happened from Iraqi Unit Flees Post, Despite American’s Plea - New York Times by Gulp Gordon their “military” corespondent who was too busy wiping his chin to notice.)

Omar

There are reports that the fires caused by the American bombing of the Jameela market are spreading and that there is no water being pumped to the city.

Note: Follow this link to see the postings on Jameelah market (Sadr City) in particular see this posting Jameelah market (Sadr City) Bombing In Context posted on 23rd July 2006, A not very short excerpt:

But what I, or any other westerner, think is irrelevant. What’s relevant is how the vast majority of al-Sadr’s constituency see things. And how they see the situation is:

• Al-Sadr’s movement is led by people who didn’t flee Iraq but who stayed and resisted Saddam.
• Al-Sadr has consistently resisted attempts to split up Iraq.
• Al-Sadr is consistently critical of Iranian efforts to increase their influence in the country.
• Al-Sadr has flown in the face of the price rises in fuel, food, clothing, and the ration reductions imposed by the green zone government at the behest of the American led occupation.
• They see and hear the green zone government talking of dividing up Baghdad.
• They see Nouri al Maliki going to Washington to be feted by the very people whose racist and brutal occupation has unleashed a tide of blood upon their homeland (and are now trying to pin the blame upon them.)
• They see their hero, and his followers:
  • Visiting the wounded in hospital.
    
  • Providing comfort to the afflicted.
  • Seeing to it that the families get some food and money to tide them over.
  • Doing their best to protect them and their homes and children.
• They see that al-Sadr and his followers are doing the things that citizens expect a real government to do in an emergency.

If you lived in Sadr city or the South who would you believe? Would you believe a pack of murderous foreigners and their puppets or would you believe what you see with your own eyes day in day out?

Jameelah is essential for the people of Sadr city if this was an attempt at pacification then it failed miserably and there will be serious repercussions for those who carried out the attack.  There are also reports of fighting in al-Shula. Our correspondents say that reports that Basrah is quiet are a flat out lie.

Analysis: Both my colleague Saba Ali and I were wrong. We simply could not believe that Maliki would be foolhardy enough to expand the attacks on the Sadrists.

We were wrong. We hope that this demon can be put back into its bottle but we doubt it. Throughout the Southern governorates there are a series of inter-tribal raids and skirmishes going on. We do not see that this can be contained.

Omar Khdhayyir, Saba Ali Ihsaan.

Editorial:

Al Qaeda, al-Qaeda, al-qaida, Al Qayda, and so on ad infinitum. The usual garbage trotted out by the usual suspects with the same tired old pack of lies, that everything in Irak is either the work of the omnipresent, damn near omnipotent Alfredo “Just call me ‘Al’ ” Keida. (He’s one of the Keidas, surely you know of them? They’re a fine old samurai family from Osaka who moved to Irak in 1947 and went native … such a pity that ‘Al’ turned out so badly.)

Or if it’s not Al then it’s the work of the Jaish Al Mahdi’s highly trained rogue elements elephants.

We are supposed to believe that within less than an hour of those two horrific bombings that the interior ministry “police” who are very good at extracting, teeth, fingernails,  and toenails, all without the aid of anaesthetics, but not so good at actually being … you know … policemen. Managed to identify the bombers one of whom had her head blown off.

Is it not amazing that there was a photographer present to take a photograph of that? Is it not even more amazing that the photographer was not immediately beaten up and his equipment smashed by the interior ministry police at the scene — that is what they do now to photographers who try to photograph bomb scenes, ever since they passed a “law” banning such photographs as part of “operation impose law.”  

I would like to see some evidence to support these allegations by people who like their American masters have committed one atrocity after another and just like their American masters been caught lying about it repeatedly. In the absence of such evidence I am going to make the entirely reasonable assumption based on past performance that this is yet another pack of lies and a pack of lies moreover so stupid that it is not even meant to deceive.

God, have pity on whichever harmless mentally shattered innocents are picked up in this latest “sweep.” Because nobody other than God will.

Omar Khdhayyir

Update: 

BAGHDAD — Psychiatric case files of two female suicide bombers who killed nearly 100 people in Baghdad this month show that they suffered from depression and schizophrenia but do not contain information indicating they had Down syndrome, American officials said Wednesday

Read in full: Files for Suicide Bombers Show No Down Syndrome - New York Times

BAGHDAD, 20 February 2008 (IRIN) - The Iraqi police are to start rounding up beggars, mentally disabled persons and others living on the streets to prevent them from being used by militant groups in suicide attacks, the Interior Ministry said on 19 February.

“Terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda in Iraq have started exploiting these people to launch suicide attacks as they do not raise suspicions,” ministry spokesman Maj-Gen Abdul-Karim Khalaf said in a statement.

“These terrorist groups are luring those in desperate need of money to help them in their attacks, or exploiting their bad mental condition to use them as suicide bombers,” Khalaf said.

According to Khalaf, the Interior Ministry intends to physically round up these most vulnerable persons and hand them over to the Ministry of Work and Social Affairs, which will be responsible for caring for and rehabilitating them.

The move comes as militants are said to have increased their reliance on desperate women and disabled persons for the carrying out of suicide attacks.

On 1 February two suicide bombers struck in two separate attacks on pet markets in Baghdad, killing at least 99 civilians and wounding up to 200.

Iraqi officials said the suicide bombers were two mentally disabled women with Downs Syndrome. They had 15 kg of explosives strapped to them which was detonated by remote control.

Rehabilitation programmes

Teams from the Ministry of Work and Social Affairs are gearing up to receive these people nationwide and to include them in their rehabilitation programmes.

“The ministry’s rehabilitation directorate is preparing shelters in Baghdad and other provinces in cooperation with the Interior Ministry to end this bad and uncivilised phenomenon,” said Abdullah al-Lami, spokesman of the Ministry of Work and Social Affairs.

“We’ve prepared comprehensive educational and social programmes to be delivered in these shelters in order to turn them [recipients] into active and productive people who can mix properly in society,” al-Lami told IRIN.

These programmes would include religious courses, in cooperation with both Sunni and Shia establishments, he said, adding that no specific time frame had been set for completion of the programmes.

“The militants are changing their tactics and the government must do this, too. It will definitely have a positive impact on the security situation,” said Anbar university security analyst Hussein Sabah al-Dulaimi, referring to the new government move. It would help deny resources to militants, he said.

sm/ar/cb

Theme(s): (IRIN) Conflict
[ENDS]

IRIN Middle East | Middle East | Iraq | IRAQ: Government moves to curb suicide bombings | Conflict | News Item

Rajaa Ali and her daughters Ghaziya, centre, and Hawra, right attend to Rajaa’s baby in their one room new home in Abu D’Sheer, Baghdad, Irak, , Jan. 28, 2008.

The family fled to Abu D’sheer from Abu Ghraib forced out by repeated threats and sectarian violence.

Abu Ghraib has been the subject of much “Awakening Council” activity, or — “Concerned Local Citizens” as the American invaders who pay bribe them not to kill American invader troops, and supply them with weapons them like to call them.

Rajaa and her family are of the Shia branch of Islam. Note the picture of Imam Ali on the wall behind her.

At present according to our sources in the area , “Awakening” fighters are pursuing with renewed vigour the same sectarian agenda in Abu Ghraib that they pursued before the Americans started paying bribing them to stop killing American invader troops.

Today the Americans announced that they planned on inducting 9,000 “Awakening” fighters into the green zone government police. All that that will mean for families like Rajaa’s is that the people terrorising them will be wearing uniforms supplied by the American invaders — who remain intent on dividing Irak and looting what little remains of Rajaa’s family’s future.

Omar Khdhayyir

اختطاف كاهنين تابعين للكنيسة السريانية في الموصل

اختطف في الساعة الخامسة من مساء اليوم كل من الكاهنين بيوس عفاص ومازن ايشوع متوكا في حي الثورة قرب كراج تلعفر ، حيث كانا يتوجهان الى مجلس عزاء لعائلة مسيحية ، ولايزال مصيرهم مجهولا حسب ما اكدته مصادر نركال… ويذكر ان موجة جديدة من اعمال العنف طالت المسيحين في الاسبوع الماضي في بغداد والموصل… فبعد الانفجار الذي حصل في مدينة الحمدانية في الموصل ، تم قتل المعلم فرنسيس اسحق في بغداد السبت 6/10/2007 ، كونه يدرس الانكليزية ، وقتل على انه يعلم لغة المحتل ، كما تم قتل صيدلي شاب في بغداد خلال هذا الاسبوع ، اضافة الى قتل امرأتين ارمنيتين من قبل شركة أمنية استرالية يوم الثلاثاء الماضي 9/10/2007.

اختطاف كاهنين تابعين للكنيسة السريانية في الموصل

Baghdad, Oct 6, (VOI) – Hadja Fawziya, a Sunni Muslim woman from Sadr City, eastern Baghdad, returned to her beloved home after performing the rituals of a visit to the tomb of Imam Ali, the holiest figure for Shiite Muslims, along with other women from the same area.
Not taking a few moments’ rest from the long trip back home, the hadja, or female pilgrim, and her daughters cooked some rice mixed with milk in a large caldron to give out for families living nearby just before the iftar (fast-breaking meal in the holy Muslim month of Ramadan).
One the customs practiced by Muslims in Iraq, cooking rice with milk is always associated with the anniversary of the death of Imam Ali Ibn Abi Taleb, the prophet’s cousin, on the 21^st of the Hegira calendar month of Ramadan each year.
“I always pay this visit to the tomb of Imam Ali to mark the anniversary of his martyrdom. I also vow to cook rice with milk and give out to my neighbors every year. My deceased mother used to do this for tens of years,” Hadja Fawziya, 50, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
Sunnis in predominantly Shiite Sadr City attend Shiite Muslims’ religious rituals through mourning, al-Husseini processions celebrating the day of Ashuraa and the al-Ziyara al-Shaabaniya, or the mid-Shaaban visit, as well as other occasions.
Nizar al-Juburi, a Sunni who lives in Sadr City and attended rituals of a session to mourn Imam Ali as organized by Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr’s office, said Imam Ali was an imam of all Muslims in any place in this world.
“The love of Imam Ali is not exclusive to a certain group or denomination. He was a great man that supported the Prophet Muhammad’s message and left an unforgettable impression in the history of Islam,” said Juburi.
“How shouldn’t we attend the anniversary of the death of the hero of the battles of Hunayn and Badr and the conqueror of the Jews in Khyber?” wondered Juburi, noting “our participation as Sunnis in this mourning session is just a manifestation of our respect and love for Islam and Ahl al-Bayt, or the Prophet Muhammad’s family.”
Falah Hassan Shanshal, a member of the Iraqi parliament from the Sadrist bloc, or Iraqis loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr, said “all sects and religions in the city are cooperative and bonded by fraternal ties. We, as one unified country, reject to have our nation divided on sectarian or ethnic basis, and that what all of the Iraqi people think.”
The endeavors of “those who try to drive a wedge among the groups of the Iraqi people will go down the drain because the unity of Iraqis and Muslims is much stronger than any conspiracies.”
Hussein al-Falluji, a member of parliament from the Sunni Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF), said the next few days will certainly see more coherence among Muslims in Iraq.
“Iraqi Muslims have the same religion, prophet, book and qibla (direction for prayers). Sunnis and Shiites have always been one united force for hundreds of years,” Falluji told VOI.
He pointed out that the problems between Sunnis and Shiites “were just fomented by the foreign occupation forces that are still trying to sow the seeds of sedition among the followers of one faith.”
Dr. Hussein Dabi, a professor of mass communications in the University of al-Sadiq in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, said Sunnis attend Shiite religious rituals not just in Sadr City. “All Iraqi cities, which witness that same coexistence, are in fact a mosaic of denominations, religions and ethnicities,” said Dabi.
Reviewing the composition of all Iraqi tribes, one can easily find out that each tribe has Shiites and Sunnis and sometimes Turkomans with them, he said.
“Shiites and Sunnis are also bonded by marriage in many Iraqi families. In Iraq, many Sunni men are married to Shiite women and many Shiite men are married to Sunni women. The Sunnis’ participation with their Shiite brothers in their religious rituals actually makes perfect sense,” Dabi explained.

Aswat Aliraq

ends

The overpass that has been destroyed is on the west of Mosul. It linked Mosul to the outlying districts of Sinjar and Kaz Izir. It also linked Mosul to Tal Afar.

At present there are several ethnic cleansing campaigns going on in the vicinity of Mosul. The campaigns involving concerted death squad activity and massive bombings (such as the August 14th bombings)  against the Yezhidi and the Turkmen are the two best known, however there are also concerted attempts being made to drive out Christians and Fayli. The area has a mixed population and is scheduled to vote on accession to the Kurdish region in December 2007.  The effect of this bombing is to further isolate the city from its hinterland, to drastically reduce the number of routes available to security forces responding to incidents in  Al-Shikhan, Tal Kaif, Sinjar, and the Qahtaniyah district and to increase the freedom of movement of armed groups operating in the districts west of Mosul and to facilitate the ethnic cleansing campaigns being conducted in the area.

Omar

Freezing the Mahdi Army… a prelude to militia dissolution?

Baghdad - Voices of Iraq*

Friday , 31 /08 /2007  Time 5:04:24

Baghdad, Aug 31, (VOI) – Some Iraqi strategic experts described the decision taken by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to freeze his Mahdi Army for six months as offering “half a solution” to the long-standing problem of armed groups in the country, while others have questioned al-Sadr’s ability to control his militias amidst a volatile atmosphere due to the unstable security situation in the war-torn country.

Al-Sadr announced on Wednesday the freeze of his Mahdi Army militia after recent bloody incidents in the holy city of Karbala, 100 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, during the past few days.
The Iraqi government hailed al-Sadr’s decision and described the step as a “chance” for all militias in Iraq to follow suit.
Faleh Abdul Jabbar, the director of the Beirut-based Strategic Studies Institute, termed the decision as “half a solution” to the problem. “The Mahdi Army is not a regular army and recruitment is voluntary. People [members of the Mahdi Army] have arms at home. Every time the government urges them to hand over their arms, Sadrist leaders respond that they are personal arms,” Abdul Jabbar told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) by phone.
According to him, “The optimal solution is to dissolve all militia groups, not to temporarily freeze them.” Arguing that al-Sadr Movement is part of the Iraqi government, Abdul Jabbar said that it should “either take part in the construction process or call itself a militia group.”
Omar Abdul Sattar, a leading member of the Sunni Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF) earlier announced his front’s support for al-Sadr’s decision and called on other armed groups to do likewise.
Considering the army’s freeze to be a positive and significant decision, an Iraqi political analyst who refused to have his name mentioned wondered, “Will the bloodshed stop now?”
“We know it is not a regular army and not all of its members abide by its leadership’s instructions…,” he noted.
When analyzing the reasons behind al-Sadr’s decision, he said, “The main reason was the Karbala incidents.” Iraqi officials had accused the Mahdi Army militias of involvement in the armed clashes with Iraqi security forces, which was flatly denied by Sadrist leaders.
Meanwhile, Haidar Said, a researcher and writer, questioned the Shiite leader’s ability to control his army. “I am having doubts about the Mahdi Army’s submission to Muqtada al-Sadr,” he said.
Scores of security men and civilians were killed or injured during the rituals of a Shiite pilgrimage called al-Ziyara al-Shaabaniya or the mid-Shaaban visit, to celebrate the birth anniversary of the Messiah-like Imam al-Mahdi, the 12^th holiest figure for Shiite Muslims**.
Hundreds of thousands of Shiite Muslim visitors from inside and outside Iraq converged on the city in processions on foot to perform the rituals of the visit.
The Mahdi Army, otherwise known as the Mahdi Militia, is an Iraqi paramilitary force created by Iraqi Shiite leader al-Sadr in June 2003. The group rose to international prominence on April 4, 2004 when it spearheaded the first major armed confrontation against the U.S-led forces in Iraq from the Shiite community in an uprising that followed the banning of al-Sadr’s newspaper and attempts to arrest him, and lasted until June 6.

Aswat Aliraq

Editor’s notes:

* This is the English version of the article as posted by Aswat Al Iraq.

** This is not very accurate. What I think the writer means is that the majority of Shi’ite Muslims belong to what is called the “Twelver School” of Shia Islam in this school the 12th Imam is “Imam Al Mahdi” who will come at the end of the world to overthrow the rule of evil which will have been established by Djall. The Mahdi will be assisted in this by Isa ibn Maryam (Prophet Jesus (PBUH))  

Omar

الكويت - 27 - 8 (كونا) — اظهرت دراسة دبلوماسية ان اسباب الصراع الطائفي في العراق تتمثل في ثلاثة عوامل هي السعي وراء السلطة والرغبة في تجييش صفوف الطائفة لدعم المشروع السياسي واختلاف الرؤى والعقيدة السياسية بين التيارات العراقية .

وبينت الدراسة التي اعدها السكرتير الثاني في وزارة الخارجية الكويتية الدبلوماسي عزام العصفور ان حالات الصراع في العراق تندرج ضمن خمسة انماط صراع رئيسية هي اهلية طائفية واهلية تغييرية تهدف الى اسقاط نظام الحكم الحالي ومقاومة داخلية ضد الاحتلال وعصابات ارهابية واخيرا المليشيات الموالية للسلطة واجنحة السلطة .

وكانت الدراسة فازت بالمركز الاول في مسابقة أجرتها اخيرا ادارة البحوث والاعلام بالوزارة وكانت بعنوان (الصراع في العراق - مدخل لتفسير الوضع في العراق انطلاقا من الادبيات السياسية للصراع الداخلي واتساقها مع واقع الحالة العراقية) .

وسلطت الدراسة الضوء على مختلف جوانب الصراع في العراق بهدف الوصول الى طبيعته وادبياته الداخلية الذي يعد احد الفروع العلمية الحديثة للعلوم السياسية .

وتطرقت الدراسة الى خصوصية الوضع والتكوين العراقي الداخلي في التاريخ الحديث والمعاصر وملامح البيئة الداخلية العراقية في الوقت الحاضر والاطراف الضالعة في الصراع واسقاطات البيئة الاقليمية والدولية - التي تشهد بدورها متغيرات ونزاعات متعددة - على الوضع في العراق .

وشملت الدراسة اهم مظاهر العنف الدائرة في العراق ودرجة حدتها وأماكن انطلاقها وانتشارها حيث توصلت الى ان نمطية الصراع فيه غير مقصورة على نمط بعينه من انماط الصراع الداخلي وانما تتعدى ذلك لتشكل سلسلة من الصراعات تتنوع وتتشابك بشكل كبير في اكثر من مظهر من مظاهر العنف الداخلي .

وأكدت ان الاسباب الحقيقية وراء الصراع الطائفي في العراق وتطوره لاتكمن بالتنافر السني -الشيعي - الكردي بالمفهوم الطائفي الضيق “وان وجد تاريخيا” وانما وراء ثلاثة عوامل اساسية هي السعي وراء السلطة والرغبة في تجييش صفوف الطائفة لدعم المشروع السياسي واختلاف الرؤى والعقيدة السياسية.

وقالت ان حالة الصراع في العراق تلقي بكم كبير من الهواجس والتخوفات المنطقية في البيئة الداخلية والخارجية للبلاد فعلى الصعيد الداخلي هناك مخاوف من تزايد حدته وانتقاله الى السيناريوهات الاكثر سوءا في حال فشل المساعي الداعية الى احتوائه وحله .

الكويت - واضافت ان هناك مخاوف من الانقسام او الانفصال الجزئي لاحد اقاليم العراق لاسيما
الاقليم الشمالي الذي يتمتع فيه الاكراد بنفوذ واسع ضمن العملية السياسية وهو خارج عن اطار السيادة العراقية على الارض فعليا .

واوضحت ان هناك مخاوف من تزايد نفوذ الاطراف الاثنية الاخرى في السلطة وتهميش دورها في الحياة السياسية في العراق نتيجة تضارب الاجندات الوطنية والسلوك الداخلي والتبعية الخارجية .

وعلى الصعيد الخارجي أوضحت الدراسة ان هناك عدة مخاوف اقليمية ايرانية وسورية من تنفيذ سيناريو العراق مجددا في بلادهم او ضد انظمتهم اضافة الى مخاوف خليجية واردنية من انتقال الصراع الطائفي وتداعياته واسقاطاته على بلدانهم ما يؤثر على الامن العام او النظم السياسية فيها .

واشارت الى ان هناك مخاوف تركية من انفصال اقليم كردستان العراقي او تعاظم استقلاليته وحكمه الذاتي لما يمثله من تهديد كبير لوضعها الداخلي وهو ما تشاركها فيه معظم الدول العربية المتخوفة من انفصال اي جزء من ارض العراق او تقسيم وحدته الوطنية اضافة الى تعاظم اي دور اقليمي لاسيما الدور الايراني على الساحة العراقية .

وقالت ان العراق يعيش حالة مركبة في التوجهات الداعية الى حل وتسوية الصراع تتسم بقصر النظر والبعد عن واقع المسألة العراقية المعقدة وان ” خصت بعض المظاهر التي تشهدها الساحة العراقية الا انها تغفل مظاهر اخرى مهمة وان جهود المصالحة الداخلية التي اطلقتها الحكومة العراقية اخيرا لا تشمل كل اطراف النزاع وبالتالي فان هذه الجهود لا ترقى الى ان تكون حلا شاملا”.

وحذرت من ان العراق مقبل على مرحلة مظلمة من الصراع تقترب بشكل اكبر الى السيناريوهات الاكثر سوءا من ذي قبل اضافة الى ان زيادة تراكماته في ظل هذه الاوضاع ستجر اطرافا داخلية اخرى لم تدخل ساحة الصراع بشكل جدي بعد .

واوضحت ان الاوضاع ستجر كذلك اطرافا اقليمية ودولية لاسيما دول الجوار الاخرى للدخول بقوة في الشان العراقي الداخلي وحيثيات هذا الصراع ولن ينتهي الا بمزيد من التعقيد لحالته .

وخلصت الدراسة الى ان حالة الصراع في العراق تحتاج الى جهود تسوية شاملة وبيئة اقليمية أقل توترا وأكثر هدوءا وضبط نفس كبير تجاه محاولات الجر الى مزيد من التصعيد في الصراع الداخلي او في اشكال التدخل الاقليمي الخارجي في شؤون العراق .

ان حالة الصراع تلك بحاجة الى دور فاعل من قبل المجتمع الدولي والاقليمي والاقطاب الاخرى الفاعلة في هذا المجال .

(النهاية)