Conflicts of Interest

The investigations of reckless shootings by Blackwater should be done by independant investigators and not just by the government agency that hired Blackwater. 

 

Justice in Iraq

 

Questionable offers of immunity to Blackwater guards may hinder a U.S. inquiry into the deaths of 17 Iraqis.

October 31, 2007

Conflicts of interest are bad. Private conflicts of interest that damage the national interest are inexcusable. And the news that State Department investigators -- apparently acting without authority -- promised immunity from prosecution to Blackwater USA contractors being interviewed about their role in the killings of 17 Iraqi civilians is nothing short of scandalous.

The Blackwater case is rightly viewed in Iraq as a test of national sovereignty. Either Iraq is a sovereign state that has the right to see that murders committed on its territory are prosecuted -- no matter who the suspects work for -- or it is an occupied nation subject to "victor's justice."

Washington has promised Baghdad a full and fair investigation of the September shootings, followed by prosecution, if warranted, of the contractors who opened fire. The contractors must be presumed innocent unless proved otherwise. But the appearance of fairness and the objectivity of the U.S. investigation have been badly compromised by the rogue grant of immunity to potential suspects by an arm of the State Department, the Bureau of Diplomatic Security. That bureau appears to have such a close relationship with the politically well-connected Blackwater firm that it should never have been allowed to conduct an investigation in the first place. Now FBI investigators, who were called in to take over from Diplomatic Security two weeks after the shootings, complain that promises of immunity offered to at least four Blackwater employees will make prosecutions more difficult.

continued
 

Power to the (Shia) People

"A grassroots outpouring of sympathy for the victims of September 11 occurred on the streets in only two places in the Muslim world, both within days of the collapse of the twin towers and both among the Shia. The first was in Iran, where tens of thousands snubbed their government to go into the streets of Tehran and hold a candlelight vigil in solidarity with victims of the attacks. The second was in Karachi, where a local party that is closely associated with the city's Shia broke with the public mood in Pakistan to gather thousands to denounce terrorism. What followed September 11 in Afghanistan and Iraq has only strengthened these feelings. The Shia in Afghanistan, between 20 and 25 percent of the population, were brutalized by the Taliban. The constitution adopted in that country in 2003 has broken with tradition to allow a Shia to become president and to recognize Shia law. The Shia have come out from the margins to join the government and take their place in public life. The violent face of Sunni militancy in Iraq underscores the divergent paths that Sunni and Shia politics are taking.

The Shia revival constitutes the most powerful resistance and challenge to Sunni extremism and jihadi activism within the region. Shia revival is an anti-Wahhabi and anti-extremist force. Its objectives re served by change in the regional balance of power and democracy. In turn, democracy will unleash the full extent of the Shia challenge to Sunni extremism. Democracy will bring to power Shia majorities and give greater voice to Shia minorities, whose ideology and politics diverge from the extremist bent of Sunni radicalism."

--Vali Nasr, The Shia Revival

Missed opportunity for peace with Iran

I'm watching an excellent Frontline special on Iran right now.  Frontline interviewed many experts and key people, including Vali Nasr.  The reformists in Iran, led by Mohammed Khatami, wanted to normalize relations with the US.  Dubya basically gave Khatami and the reformists the cold shoulder and rejected a key peace offer in 2005.  Washington apparently saw the reformists as politically weak and unable to deliver.  This may have been Bush's biggest blunder in American relations with Iran. 
Watch the full program here.

The fight for power

Fighting Within Sects Complicates U.S. Iraq Plans

Partition Strategy Falters as Militias Jockey for Influence

By YOCHI J. DREAZEN
October 25, 2007; Page A12
 

BAGHDAD -- While fighting between Iraq's Sunnis and Shiites has begun to ebb, fighting within the sects has increased, as rival groups jockey for power, influence and money.

The trend may complicate efforts to promote a partition of the country along sectarian lines, an idea gaining traction among U.S. lawmakers seeking a politically palatable exit strategy.

Proponents, such as Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden (D., Del.), say they believe that creating ministates populated exclusively by Shiites, Sunnis or Kurds offers the best chance of gradually pacifying Iraq. Late last month, the Senate overwhelmingly endorsed a nonbinding partition plan.

But the internecine strife suggests that dividing the country into three autonomous regions might present new problems, as armed groups within each sectarian community pursue control over their newly created ministates.

"People think that all of the violence in Iraq is Sunni on Shia or Shia on Sunni, but it's not," said Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, who commands the army's Third Infantry Division, in an interview in Iraq last month. "It's guys from the same communities fighting each other for power, money and influence."

Gen. Lynch likens the strife to the fights among organized-crime families. "I tell my guys, the best way they can prepare before they come out here is to watch 'The Sopranos,'" he said, referring to the popular U.S. television mob drama.

U.S. commanders also stress that sectarian violence continues in areas such as in the ethnically mixed neighborhoods of Baghdad and other major cities.

Iraq's overall level of bloodshed has been steadily declining, in part because of the U.S. "surge" policy of sending more U.S. troops into the country. The number of Americans killed in Iraq fell from 84 in August to 63 in September and, according to the Iraqi government, Iraqi civilian fatalities fell by nearly half. Twenty-nine U.S. soldiers had been killed in October, as of yesterday.

Another reason for the drop, U.S. commanders suggested, stems from the evolving nature of the fighting here. They said the conflict was beginning to shift from open warfare between Shiite and Sunni militias -- which often targeted civilians from the other sect -- to battles within the communities themselves. That has resulted in fewer casualties.

Several U.S. commanders based in different parts of Iraq said they saw the internecine violence as a sign that Iraq's major sects were preparing for when, in the near future, they are expected to work out a viable power-sharing arrangement for the country.

The commanders said rival players within each sect were jockeying now to ensure that they are seen as spokesmen for their community in any future negotiations.

"These internal struggles are all about securing your position relative to the other guys," Lt. Col. David Oclander, executive officer of the 82nd Airborne Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team, said last month.

The intrasectarian violence has been particularly acute in Shiite areas of Baghdad and oil-rich southern Iraq, where cleric Muqtada al Sadr's Mahdi Army and Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council leader Abdul-Aziz al Hakim's Badr Corps have been battling over oil, smuggling routes and patronage jobs.

"For a guy like Sadr, the goal is to maneuver and maneuver so that when things begin to shake themselves out, he can say, 'I speak for the Shia,'" said Col. Oclander.

In the past two months, the Shiite governors of Muthanna and Qadariyah provinces, both loyal to Mr. Hakim, were assassinated in attacks attributed to fighters loyal to Mr. Sadr. Gun battles between the two militias left more than 50 dead during a Shiite pilgrimage in Karbala.

Messrs. Sadr and Hakim issued a joint declaration in early October calling for a cease-fire between their groups. But Mr. Sadr has struggled to control his militia in the past, and several U.S. commanders said they were unsure whether the agreement would endure.

The struggle between the competing Shiite factions is posing policy dilemmas for U.S. commanders. They are trying to decide whether to back Mr. Hakim's fighters, who are seen as being relatively more friendly to U.S. interests in the country, or whether it would be too dangerous to intervene.

In Sunni areas, the U.S. is already involved, funneling money and other supplies to Sunni tribal militias that have been battling al Qaeda in Iraq and other Sunni religious militants. Commanders said these alliances have contributed to a steep decline in violence in once-restive parts of Iraq, such as Anbar Province.

U.S. commanders hope to build similar relationships with Shiite tribal leaders. U.S. officers said growing numbers of Shiite sheiks, alarmed by Mr. Sadr's radicalism and the continuing intra-Shiite bloodshed, are beginning to share intelligence tips and discuss more formal alliances with the U.S forces.

Many U.S. commanders remain divided over whether to intervene directly in the infighting between the Mahdi Army and the Badr Corps, given the possibility that such a move could inflame large portions of Iraq's Shiite majority.

In an interview last month, Lt. Col. Peter Andrysiak, then-deputy commander of the 1st Cavalry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team, said the U.S. "can and should" support the Badr Corps in its fight with the Mahdi Army. He argued that Mr. Hakim's militia is broadly supportive of the Iraqi government while Mr. Sadr's forces aren't.

"Badr is reconcilable, and we can win them over. JAM is not," he said, using the military's acronym for the Arabic name of Mr. Sadr's forces, the Jaish al-Mahdi.

Other senior officers disagreed. "It's a dangerous thought process, once you start down that path," Gen. Lynch said.

Islamic Fundamentalism in Europe

It is disturbing how many fundamentalist Muslims live in Europe and how many of them have been smuggled to Iraq to carry out suicide-murder missions.

Passage to Iraq

"Islamists networks in Europe come under scrutiny, with a series of arrests in France and Spain as one-legged Younes Loukili - on trial in Belgium - threatens to spill the beans on how would-be militants are smuggled to Iraq."

Misplaced Anger

It's funny how so many Arabs and leftists expect me to condemn Americans for invading Iraq while my relatives have been imprisoned and murdered by Arabs. 

Salafi ties to Iraq before 2003

"It was during the decade of sanctions, as central power weakened, that the fundamentalism and Salafism associated with the insurgency grew roots in Iraq. The works of the Iraqi exile thinker Muhammad Ahmad al-Rashid on jihad and the Islamic state, which were smuggled from Egypt, gained a following, but more important, the tentacles of fundamentalist and Salafist trends popular elsewhere in the region began to penetrate the country. 

The Muslim Brotherhood, with its strong presence in Jordan and Syria and affiliation with the Wahhabi establishment in Saudi Arabia, established itself in the Sunni regions of western Iraq that border on Jordan and Syria, and is today entrenched in the Iraqi Islamic Party. Firebrand preachers such as the Egyptian Hamid Kashk and the Syrian Mahmoud Qoul Aghassi (also known as Abu Qaqaa) were popular with Iraqi Sunnis even before the war, and copies of their sermons became ubiquitous in Sunni towns afterward. Throughout the decade of anti-Saddam sanctions, Jordanian mosques remained concerned with the plight of ordinary Iraqis and raised funds that were disbursed through mosque networks in Iraq. Also active in Iraq were Islamic activists such as Laith Shubailath of Jordan and extremist Salafist activists – some with close ties to al-Qaeda – such as Muhammad al-Maqdisi, who is a friend and by some accounts one of Zarqawi's mentors. Before the war toppled the Saddam regime, extremists from everywhere would come to the Jordanian-Iraqi border towns to buy weapons smuggled out of Iraq. Trade in weapons created ties that straddled boundaries and gave extremists contacts and allies inside Iraq, and in turn made it possible for the growing insurgency in that country to spread across the region.

Extremist activists had an incentive to move into Iraq. They were losing ground to the more moderate main body of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan and were often hounded by Jordanian or Syrian security forces. Their activism over the decade leading to the Iraq war not only introduced fundamentalist thinking in al-Anbar but also created organizational links that would facilitate the insurgency after the war. In fact, Zarqawi's emergence as a force so soon after the war reveals the extent of involvement of Jordanian Salafis in Iraq. Extremist ties between Jordan and Iraq ran in both directions. The flight of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi exiles and refugees to Jordan and Syria has only expanded the opportunity for building extremist networks that cut across national boundaries. The extremism that was exported to Iraq before and during the war, strengthened and radicalized, spread back into Jordan. The same ties also made developments in Iraq directly relevant to Islamic activism in Syria and Saudi Arabia."

–Vali Nasr, The Shia Revival

Bin Laden urges Iraqi insurgents to unite

Salafi scum should urge their followers not to murder innocent Iraqis.

 

Bin Laden Asks Iraq Insurgents to Unite

Monday October 22, 2007 8:31 PM

By LEE KEATH

Associated Press Writer

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Osama bin Laden called for Iraqi insurgents to unite and avoid divisive ``extremism,'' speaking in an audiotape aired Monday and apparently intended to win over Sunnis opposed to al-Qaida's branch in Iraq.

In the audiotape broadcast on Al-Jazeera television, bin Laden said insurgents should admit ``mistakes'' and that he even advises himself not to be extreme in his leadership.

The tape appeared to be in response to moves by some Sunni Arab tribes in Iraq that have joined U.S. troops in fighting al-Qaida members, as well as other Sunni insurgent groups that - while still attacking Americans - have formed coalitions opposed to al-Qaida.

``Some of you have been lax in one duty, which is to unite your ranks,'' bin Laden said in the audiotape. ``Beware of division ... Muslims are waiting for you to gather under a single banner to champion righteousness. Be keen to oblige with this duty.''

``I advise myself, Muslims in general and brothers in al-Qaida everywhere to avoid extremism among men and groups,'' he said, saying leaders should not build themselves up as the sole authority, and that instead mujahedeen should follow ``what God and his prophet have said.''

Bin Laden used the Arabic word ``ta'assub,'' which in traditional Islamic thought means extremism in allegiance or adherence to a group, to a degree that excludes others - apparently advising flexibility to overcome divisions.

``Everybody can make a mistake, but the best of them are those who admit their mistakes,'' he said. ``Mistakes have been made during holy wars but mujahedeen have to correct their mistakes.''

U.S. counterterrorism authorities were studying the content and authenticity of the audiotape. However, officials often note that no one has faked a bin Laden recording in the past.

Al-Jazeera did not say how it obtained the tape. [probably because Al Jazeera has direct links to Al Qaeda!]

IntelCenter, a a U.S. group that monitors militant messages, said it was bin Laden's third public statement this year, with the previous two on Sept. 8 and Sept. 20.

Is the Iranian regime afraid of a strong independant Arab Shia community?

I wonder if there is any truth to this:

 

'This same regime that approved of hostage-taking in 1979, that attacked Saudi and Kuwaiti shipping in the 1980s, that incited suicide bombings and jihadism in the 1990s and beyond, is now the world's most active state sponsor of terror. As to its next-door neighbor, Iraq, the Iranian government claims to be a friend that supports regional stability. In fact, it is a force for the opposite. As General Petraeus has noted, Iran's Quds Force is trying to set up a "Hezbollah-like force to serve its interests and to fight a proxy war against the Iraqi state and coalition forces in Iraq." At the same time, Iran is "responsible for providing the weapons, the training, the funding and, in some cases, the direction for operations that have indeed killed U.S. soldiers."

Operating largely in the shadows, Iran attempts to hide its hands through the use of militants who target and kill coalition and Iraqi security forces. Iran's real agenda appears to include promoting violence against the coalition. Fearful of a strong, independent, Arab Shia community emerging in Iraq, one that seeks religious guidance not in Qom, Iran, but from traditional sources of Shia authority in Najaf and Karbala, the Iranian regime also aims to keep Iraq in a state of weakness that prevents Baghdad from presenting a threat to Tehran.'

Civilian deaths in combat operations

I find it very difficult to read about the deaths of civilians, especially children.  I do not doubt that most people killed in this raid were combatants, but why do US officials claim that ALL were combatants when it is obvious that children were killed?  Is it even possible to avoid civilian deaths in combat operations?

Iraq says civilians killed in U.S. raid

Wissam Okaili / AFP/Getty Images

AFTER THE RAID: Neighbors examine a car destroyed in a battle in Baghdad's Sadr City district. U.S. officials said forces looking for a Shiite Muslim militant came under fire and fought back, killing 49 combatants. Iraqi authorities said 13 civilians were killed.

American officials dispute the claim, saying all 49 people dead after an assault on Sadr City were combatants.

By Christian Berthelsen, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 22, 2007

BAGHDAD — U.S. forces engaged in an hours-long gun battle with militants during an early-morning raid in the Iraqi capital's Shiite Muslim district of Sadr City on Sunday. American officials said as many as 49 people were killed in the fighting.

The Iraqi government said many of the victims were civilians and protested the action. The American military said that all of those killed were "criminals."
 

A freelance correspondent for The Times said he saw the corpses of a woman and two small children. The wounded included two boys, 8 and 11, who were interviewed in their beds at Imam Ali Hospital by The Times. Another man said his 18-month-old son was killed, as well as a neighbor's son who was the same age.

U.S. officials said the forces did not capture or kill the raid's target, identified as the leader of a kidnapping cell that is part of a Shiite militant movement called the Special Groups -- a splinter group of the Mahdi Army militia no longer following orders from radical cleric Muqtada Sadr. American officials believe the splinter group is trained, funded and supplied by Iran through its Revolutionary Guard forces.

The White House declined to comment on the clash in Sadr City.

The fighting followed recent incidents in which U.S. forces killed 15 civilians in an attack on alleged leaders of the insurgent group Al Qaeda in Iraq, and Western private security contractors shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians, inflaming anti-U.S. sentiment.

In two raids this summer on Sadr City, American soldiers killed more than 50 people.

In parliament Sunday, Iraqi officials discussed the possibility of placing restrictions on U.S. military operations in Iraq when theynegotiate the terms of the United Nations resolution that authorizes the U.S. presence here. The resolution comes up for its annual reauthorization before year's end.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki issued a statement demanding that the U.S. not use such overwhelming force in pursuing targets, and that it further coordinate its efforts with Iraqi forces. He said the government would conduct an investigation of the Sadr City incident.

Iraqi government spokesman Ali Dabbagh, speaking on CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer," said that such attacks were "not creating a good atmosphere."

"We have today, again, one more problem created."

In Najaf, Sheik Salah Ubaidi, a spokesman for Sadr, who has called for near-term rapprochement with the U.S., said: "We denounce these acts. We have no option but to denounce. We have grown tired from the many denouncements we have made."

The Iraqi Interior Ministry, which oversees the Iraqi police force, said 13 civilians were killed and 69 wounded. The U.S. military issued two statements in which the total number of dead grew to 49 from six. Officials did not explain how they arrived at the casualty figures or explain the discrepancy between their total and that of the Iraqi government. A military spokesman said there were no U.S. casualties in the incident.

According to the initial U.S. account, ground forces arrived in Sadr City, a Mahdi Army stronghold, and began clearing buildings where their target was believed to be when they came under fire from machine guns and grenade launchers.

The soldiers called in airstrikes that killed six assailants, American authorities said. While leaving the area, they said, the forces were targeted by a roadside bomb.

In a subsequent account, the U.S. said the ground forces had returned fire in the initial attack, killing an additional 33 people. American officials said ground forces had continued to come under fire as they left the area, and that 10 more combatants were killed in that fighting.

In both accounts, the military said it was "unaware of any innocent civilians being killed as a result of this operation."

Iraqi witnesses gave a mostly similar account: Combatants in the neighborhood began firing on the U.S. troops, and a battle raged for more than two hours across several blocks in the neighborhood, damaging apartment buildings, a bakery, a power generator and several cars. Columns of black smoke rose into the sky.

But the Iraqi witnesses' details about casualties differed widely from those provided by the Americans. "The pilot shot me when I crossed the street to buy bread," 11-year-old Ali Ahmad said from his hospital bed. "I have been hit by shrapnel in my chest."

"I was going to buy eggs for breakfast, then I was hit by a helicopter," said Murtada Naim, an 8-year-old who was also interviewed in his hospital bed. He appeared to have suffered wounds to his chest and hand.

Ismail Mikilf Hassan, 47, said his toddler was killed when a missile hit his house, and that his 19-year-old son, who was in the hospital, had been wounded by shrapnel.

"The missile penetrated the ceiling and hit inside the room," he said. "I have a 1 1/2-year-old baby -- he was killed when his belly was opened. My second son is lying there on the bed and his belly is filled with shrapnel. I do not know if he is going to live or die."

Abu Qassim said his young son also was killed. "This should not happen!" he said. "Are these children from the Mahdi Army?"

Meanwhile, Iraqi police said three people were killed and three injured when a mortar round hit their car as they traveled through east Baghdad on Sunday evening. Police also said they found the bodies of six men, who had been shot to death, in the capital.

Iraqi govt a failure

Ex-top envoy calls Iraqi government a failure

Former ambassador says country 'falling apart,' blames ministers, U.S.  (thanks Datta)

Indiana University

Feisal Amin Istrabadi, a U.S.-born Iraqi, served the last three years as Iraq's deputy ambassador to the United Nations.

EXCLUSIVE

By Aram Roston

Investigative producer

NBC News Investigative Unit

Updated: 2:46 p.m. ET Oct 19, 2007

WASHINGTON - A principal architect of Iraq's interim constitution, who resigned in August as one of the country's top diplomats, has laid out a devastating critique of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the U.S. occupation, telling NBC News that, functionally, "there is no Iraqi government."

The diplomat, Feisal Amin Istrabadi, said in his first interview since stepping down as Iraq's deputy ambassador to the United Nations that "this government has got to go."

When he resigned, Istrabadi, a U.S.-born lawyer who lobbied for the U.S. invasion and was the principal legal drafter of Iraq's interim constitution, said he was leaving because it was time for fresh ideas after having served three years at the United Nations. continued

Maliki is an embarrassment

Shiite Refugees Feel Forsaken in Their Holy City (thanks Maury)

Scott Nelson/World Picture Network, for The New York Times

Girls playing at a refugee camp outside of Najaf, Iraq, under posters of Shiite clerics. Camps like this have swelled as many Iraqis have fled sectarian violence

By ALISSA J. RUBIN

Published: October 19, 2007

NAJAF, Iraq — The men gather somberly at midday on soiled straw mats under a makeshift canvas canopy in a valiant effort to simulate the traditional Arab formal reception room, but here they have no fans to keep the flies from landing, no sweets or tea to offer strangers.

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The Reach of War

Go to Complete Coverage »

Multimedia

Photographs

Najaf's 'Guests'

Enlarge This Image

Scott Nelson/World Picture Network, for The New York Times

A woman and daughter fashioned an oven to bake bread.

They hoped that this city, holy to their Shiite sect, would welcome them and begin to heal their grief. But instead they have found themselves in a refugee camp outside the city, far from jobs and shops, squeezed five to a tent, sleeping on squalid blankets smelling of sweat, and drinking cloudy brown water hauled from a nearby ditch.

Most galling for these Shiite refugees is that they feel abandoned by the government, which is run by fellow Shiites. "When Maliki came to Najaf he didn't even come to see the camp; he didn't even visit his own people," said Issa Mohammed, 47, a dignified man wearing the black checked scarf favored by tribal sheiks, referring to Iraq's prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki .

The scope of sectarian killings in Iraq and the relocation they have caused have yet to be publicly acknowledged by the Iraqi government. But a visit to Najaf, whose refugee population is typical of the southern provinces, lays bare the vast needs of displaced Iraqis and the rough road ahead for the project of national reconciliation.

In Najaf, estimates of the number of the displaced range from 60,000 to more than 400,000. The official number of displaced is 10,000 families, or 60,000 people, since there are six people on average in an Iraqi family, according to the International Organization for Migration, which works with governments worldwide on refugee issues. continued

Talibini defends Sultan Hashim al-Tai

I was not surprised to read that Adnan al Dulaimi wants to see Sultan Hashim al-Tai released, but I was very surprised to see that Jalal Talabini has also defended al-Tai as a patriot.

PS: After reading the article a second time, I realized that Talibani did not defend al-Tai as a 'patriot' (Dulaimi did that) - Talibani called al-Tai an excellent officer who could not disobey orders. There were many of those in Saddam's military, it seems, and for good reason - disobeying Saddam's orders was punishable by death.

Iraq Sunnis urge release of 'patriot' death row general
1 day ago

BAGHDAD (AFP) — Iraq's main Sunni bloc called on Friday for the release of a high-ranking general who served as defence minister under Saddam Hussein and is on death row for his role in a 1988 Kurdish massacre.

The National Concord Front (NCF) said the execution of general Sultan Hashim al-Tai would be "revenge on patriots on behalf of the enemy," in allusion to Shiite Iran.

Sultan Hashim was sentenced to death in June, along with Ali Hassan al-Majid better known as "Chemical Ali", and Hussein Rashid al-Tikrit, the former armed forces deputy chief of operations.

The supreme court upheld the ruling on September 4 and said that all three should hang within 30 days for the slaughter of tens of thousands of Kurds in the so-called Anfal (Spoils) campaign of 1988.

An estimated 182,000 Kurds were killed and 4,000 villages wiped out in the campaign of bombings, mass deportation and gas attacks.

But some leading Iraqis believe that the general was fearfully following Saddam's orders during the atrocities and was a proven patriot due to his previous military service during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

"The Iraqi government must respect Iraqi officers that are known for their patriotism and courage, who defended our homeland and confronted external aggressions," said Adnan al-Dulaimi, a leading figure in the NCF.

"The government has no right to try the men of Iraq as a punishment for defending Iraq and for their participation in the Iran-Iraq war," Dulaimi added.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who is himself a Kurd and saw many of his supporters fall victim to the Anfal campaign, has repeatedly come out in defence of Tai and has said he will refuse to sign any execution order.

The Iraqi government said on Thursday that the executions of Sultan Hashim, Rashid and Majid, which have been delayed for weeks due to Muslim holidays and legal hitches, would happen in the coming days.

"This man does not deserve execution," Talabani said in an interview with Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television. "He was a capable and excellent officer who implemented Saddam Hussein's strict orders. He could not disobey orders."

More Trainers for Afghan Security Forces

Update: The Latest Afghan Poll (thanks Anand)

More Trainers in Pipeline for Afghan Security Forces By Gerry J. Gilmore American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Oct. 19, 2007 – The number of internationally supplied trainers for Afghanistan's soldiers and police is slated to quadruple, as the number and capabilities of those security forces continues to grow, a senior U.S. military officer told Pentagon reporters here yesterday. Afghan Defense Minister Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak speaks during a Pentagon news conference on the ongoing security and training operations in Afghanistan, Oct. 18, 2007. Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Molly A. Burgess, USN    (Click photo for screen-resolution image); high-resolution image available. Plans are to augment the 22 training teams already operating across Afghanistan with another 80 teams, Army Maj. Gen. Robert W. Cone, the commanding general of Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan, told reporters. Boosting the number of qualified instructors that train Afghanistan's soldiers and police is among that country's key security-related needs, Cone said. Several nations provide personnel for the training teams, he said, noting that each team has about 16 people. "My charter, with the leadership of the Ministry of Defense and the Afghan army, is to build a quality force that is capable of defending Afghanistan," said Cone, who has held his current command for about four months. Afghan Minister of Defense Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak accompanied Cone at the news conference. The two leaders are in Washington to confer with senior U.S. government officials. The Afghan National Army has about 50,000 soldiers, Cone said. That force, he added, is slated to increase to 70,000 troops by the end of 2008. Training emphasis will now be shifted from individual instruction to the training of larger units like battalions and brigades, he said. continued

Al Qaeda murders more Muslims

Thanks Anand for sending me this.  You are correct - terrorists are animals!

Suicide Bomb Attack on Bhutto Kills 126

By MATTHEW PENNINGTON and PAISLEY DODDS,

AP

Posted: 2007-10-18 20:59:52

 

KARACHI, Pakistan (Oct. 18) - A suicide bombing in a crowd welcoming former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto killed at least 126 people Thursday night, shattering her celebratory procession through Pakistan's biggest city after eight years in exile.

 

Photo Gallery: A Deadly Homecoming

Aamir Qureshi, AFP / Getty Images

Hours after a tearful Benazir Bhutto marked her return to Pakistan after an eight-year exile, explosions went off near a truck carrying the former prime minister, killing more than 100 people and wounding many more.

 

Two explosions went off near a truck carrying Bhutto, but police and officials of her party said she was not injured and was hurried to her house. An Associated Press photo showed a dazed-looking Bhutto being helped away.

Officials at six hospitals in Karachi reported 126 dead and 248 wounded. It was believed to be the deadliest bomb attack in Pakistan's history.

Bhutto flew home to lead her Pakistan People's Party in January parliamentary elections, drawing cheers from supporters massed in a sea of the party's red, green and black flags. The police chief said 150,000 were in the streets, while other onlookers estimated twice that.

The throngs reflected Bhutto's enduring political clout, but she has made enemies of Islamic militants by taking a pro-U.S. line and negotiating a possible political alliance with Pakistan's military ruler, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf.

An estimated 20,000 security officers had been deployed to protect Bhutto and her cavalcade of motorized rickshaws, colorful buses, cars and motorcycles.

Authorities had urged Bhutto to use a helicopter to reduce the risk of attack amid threats from extremists sympathetic to the Taliban and al-Qaida, but she brushed off the concerns.

"I am not scared. I am thinking of my mission," she had told reporters on the plane from Dubai. "This is a movement for democracy because we are under threat from extremists and militants."

Last month, Bhutto told CNN she realized she was a target. Islamic militants, she said, "don't believe in women governing nations, so they will try to plot against me, but these are risks that must be taken. I'm prepared to take them."
continued

Reconstruction at a crawl except in Anbar

It's interesting (and to me quite sad) that security is now better in Anbar than in Shia areas of the country. 

Reconstruction In Iraq at a Crawl, Auditor Reports

Progress Varies by Area, Official Says

By Karen DeYoung

Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 19, 2007; Page A17

Provincial reconstruction teams, the civilian centerpiece of the Bush administration's strategy in Iraq, are making "incremental" progress in some areas and very little in others, a government auditor told Congress yesterday.

"Improvement . . . is likely to be slow and will require years of steady engagement," Stuart Bowen, the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction , told a House panel.

The teams are designed to help Iraqis build and maintain democratic institutions, provide basic services and create jobs at a local level. There are about two dozen teams spread across Iraq, each staffed with a handful to several dozen U.S. civilian and military subject experts.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has described the teams as the front line in the administration's "bottom up" strategy of developing local governance even as sectarian divides have stymied political reconciliation on the national level. As the number of U.S. military forces in Iraq increased earlier this year, Rice doubled the number of reconstruction teams, boosting their overall cost through this fiscal year to $2 billion.

The need to work on the local level -- as opposed to the massive and largely unsuccessful infrastructure projects that characterized initial U.S. reconstruction efforts -- has been described by Rice as an important "lesson learned" during four years in Iraq.

Bowen agreed, telling the oversight subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee that "if the story of Iraq reconstruction tells anything, teaches any lesson, it is that the U.S. government was not well structured . . . in 2003 to engage in the kind of post-conflict relief and reconstruction operations we have faced."

But a review by the inspector general's office, published yesterday, concluded that the success of the strategy varies widely in different parts of Iraq and in different task areas, including governance, security and rule of law, economic development, administration, and political reconciliation. Overall, it criticized the program for lacking uniform guidelines and measurable objectives.

Bowen also cited the failure of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government to pass a law delineating provincial and local government powers -- one of the "benchmarks" for progress set by Congress -- as a "key obstacle" for the program.

Among the relative successes, the report cited the three reconstruction teams in Anbar province in western Iraq. The changing allegiance of Sunni tribesmen there, from supporting insurgent groups to backing U.S. and Iraqi forces, has sharply lowered the level of violence and allowed team members to travel and work more closely with local officials, the report said.

The opposite is true in other parts of the country, it said. U.S. teams officially assigned to the provinces of Karbala, Najaf and Qadisiyah have been based in another province and unable to travel because of security concerns.

In Baghdad, where most of the new teams are located, some "districts and neighborhoods remain too 'hot' " for political reconciliation or meaningful outreach, the report said. "In areas that included mixed Sunni-Shia populations, we were told [by team members], the departure of U.S. forces would produce open battlegrounds of ethnic cleansing."

Gates better than Rumsfeld

Rumsfeld would have denied any wrong was done.

Gates takes swipe at security contractors in Iraq

Thu Oct 18, 2007 5:03pm EDT

 

By Sue Pleming and Andrew Gray

WASHINGTON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday criticized security contractors in Iraq as Baghdad piled more pressure on the State Department to pull the Blackwater firm out of Iraq after deadly shootings last month.

Gates said the work of security contractors was sometimes at odds with the overall U.S. mission in Iraq and their activities must be better coordinated with U.S.-led forces.

"There have been instances where, to put it mildly, the Iraqis have been offended and not treated properly," Gates told reporters at the Pentagon. "Those kinds of activities work at cross purposes to our larger mission in Iraq."

Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Blackwater should be pulled out of Iraq and held accountable for its conduct in a Sept. 16 shooting incident that killed 17 people and has enraged Iraqis.

"We would like .... Blackwater to leave Iraq, this is at the end their position, this is the State Department position," Dabbagh told reporters at the White House .

"There is an anger, a great anger among the Iraqis against Blackwater. They should be kept accountable, this is what the Iraqi government needs. It is a crime what they did in Baghdad, we have declared it," he added.

But State Department spokesman Tom Casey said no final decision had been taken on Blackwater and the department was awaiting the outcome of several investigations, including a top-level review of security contractors.

"The position of the State Department is that we have an ongoing investigation and a senior level team looking at it. We have not made a decision. They have not yet made their recommendations to the Secretary," he said, referring to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
continued

Will Turkey strike at the PKK?

Turkey's military threat to Iraq: Q&A

18/10/2007

Why is Turkey threatening to launch military strikes into northern Iraq? Because Kurdish guerrillas from the PKK use the mountains of northern Iraq as bases for cross-border raids on Turkey. No one has effective control over northern Iraq and this lawless area provides a convenient haven for the PKK. Its fighters have killed 15 Turkish soldiers and 12 civilians this month alone. Who are the PKK? Founded in 1978, the Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK wants a separate state for the Kurdish population of south-eastern Turkey. It took up arms in 1984, sparking a guerrilla war which has claimed 37,000 lives. Both America and the EU consider the PKK a terrorist organisation. Is Iraq helping Turkey against the PKK? Officially, the Baghdad government proclaims sympathy for Turkey and says that it will deal with any PKK guerrillas on its territory. In fact, the PKK has strong support from Iraq's Kurdish population. Baghdad has no real control over northern Iraq, which is autonomous and run by two factions – the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). Turkey believes that elements of the PUK are allied to the PKK. Turkey accuses the authorities of tolerating the PKK. What are the possible consequences of a Turkish raid? America fears it would create more chaos in Iraq. So far, Iraq's Kurdish region has been the only reasonably stable area of the entire country. There are even efforts to attract tourists and investment. Moreover, it would be a visible symbol of America's failure to stabilise Iraq since toppling Saddam Hussein in 2003. Any Turkish operation would also shatter the authority of the government in Baghdad on which America has pinned its hopes for a democratic Iraq. What is America's position? America has urged Turkey to show restraint and give the Iraqi authorities time to deal with the PKK. Washington does not want Turkey to take any action that might cause more bloodshed in Iraq. Instead, it has tried to promote security co-operation between the neighbours. Last month, Turkey and Iraq signed an agreement under which Baghdad pledged to close down the PKK. But Iraq refused Turkey's request for permission to carry out a cross-border operation. What are the pressures on Turkey's government? Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's prime minister, finds himself under pressure from all sides. America, a close and vital ally, wants him to stay out of northern Iraq. Thanks to the PKK's recent attacks, Turkish public opinion wants strong action. Anti-American feeling has risen sharply in Turkey, making the situation still more difficult. A powerful Congressional committee has inflamed feelings still further by declaring Turkey's mass killing of Armenians during the Ottoman era a "genocide". What might Turkey do? Mr Erdogan could order a large-scale invasion of northern Iraq and occupy a buffer zone to shield against PKK incursions. Although the most effective option, this would also risk chaos in Iraq and American counter-measures. Turkey's army could carry out raids on guerrilla bases, possibly accompanied by air strikes. The danger is that limited strikes would be ineffective but they would minimise international protest.

Is Maliki even relevant anymore?

Reconciliation in Iraq Goes Local
By HAMZA HENDAWI

BAGHDAD (AP) — The helicopter trip was brief. But the journey also crossed something huge and ugly: Iraq's bloody sectarian divisions.

Aboard the 70-mile flight from Baghdad to Ramadi was a top Pentagon envoy and a leader of Iraq's biggest Shiite political party. They were paying a visit to Sunni sheiks who have joined the U.S. battle against extremists.

The meeting Sunday was part of budding contacts between Iraq's rival Muslim groups that has shown promise where the nation's political leadership has stalled: trying to find common ground among Shiites and Sunnis.

The exchanges — which have bypassed the stumbling government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki — are supported by Washington as part its evolving strategies to tap the influence of religious authorities and tribal chiefs.

Although the outreach is in early and cautious stages, it also reinforces questions about al-Maliki's relevance and ability to bridge Iraq's bloody sectarian divisions.

Washington has grown frustrated by al-Maliki's failure to push through "benchmarks" intended to spur reconciliation, including a formula to share Iraq's oil wealth among Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds. At the same time, Sunnis have widely turned their backs on al-Maliki, accusing his government of keeping the security forces and other key institutions in the hands of the Shiite majority.

Even some of al-Maliki's main allies — including Shiite political bosses — have opened their own channels to Sunnis outside the official frameworks.

The U.S. military acknowledges it is urging the grassroots-style reconciliation — an apparent extension of its successes to recruit local fighters against extremist groups such as al-Qaida in Iraq.

But it also insists that the central government still has a vital role.

"It's all happening simultaneously. You've got to approach this from all sides," said Col. Steven Boylan, a spokesman for Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq.

He told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the "bottom-up" contacts would have no chance for momentum "unless the national level was willing to accept it, embrace it and foster it."

One of the most important overtures came Sunday when Ammar al-Hakim — the son and heir apparent of top Shiite politician Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim — paid an unprecedented visit to the mostly Sunni Anbar province for talks with leaders of a U.S.-backed tribal revolt against al-Qaida.

As a sign of Washington's endorsement, Ammar al-Hakim traveled on U.S. military helicopters and a senior U.S. official, Maj. Gen. Michael D. Barbero of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, attended the meeting.

In what could be another landmark visit, the Anbar leaders have said they wanted to travel to the Shiite holy city of Najaf to meet with Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

Last month, Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, a Sunni Arab who is often at odds with al-Maliki, gave the clearest Sunni endorsement of al-Sistani's status as a national leader. Al-Hashemi met the Iranian-born cleric in Najaf to discuss a 25-point blueprint for political reform the vice president announced last month.

Al-Hashemi is an outspoken critic of perceived sectarian bias by the prime minister. He has looked to make his own political bonds.

He's worked on forging closer ties with al-Hakim's Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council and the two main Kurdish parties. His Iraqi Islamic Party, meanwhile, has been distancing itself from militant Sunni groups.

The shift toward the grassroots diplomacy, some experts believe, was first set in motion earlier this year. Washington ignored al-Maliki's protests and began reaching out to Sunni insurgents and tribal leaders to join the fight against al-Qaida in Iraq.

The change of course also helped ease bitterness among Sunni Arabs, who were favored under Saddam Hussein but lost their privileged perch went he was swept away in 2003.

"The new U.S. policy doesn't view the al-Maliki government as its only partner in Iraq," said Mustapha al-Ani, an expert on Iraqi affairs from the Dubai-based Gulf Research Center. "The government is no longer the sponsor of national reconciliation in the eyes of the United States.

Yet al-Maliki is still standing — and even displaying a renewed confidence — because there's no great unifier in the wings who the White House can promote as an alternative.

"Al-Maliki has persuaded the Americans that there is no substitute for him," said senior Shiite lawmaker Reda Jawad Taqi of the Supreme Council.

That means the heat is now off to push the Washington-supported benchmarks and try to spearhead grand schemes for reconciliation.

"The Bush administration is backing away from maximal goals and quietly working toward a workable and doable Iraq," said Vali Nasr, who lectures at Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. "Now we have more manageable goals."

Al-Maliki has tried to fend off U.S. pressure and criticism by arguing that the country is not yet ripe for laws seeking to enforce national unity.

His go-slow pleas have met with some support.

"We ask of the Iraqis 'national reconciliation' and bemoan their inability to offer it in ways we can recognize, but a broad, subtle national accord is settling upon the land," Middle East expert Fouad Ajami wrote in a recent article in the weekly U.S. News and World Report.

"This is not a country at peace, and all its furies have not burned out, but a measure of order has begun to stick on the ground," wrote Ajami of Johns Hopkins University.

Kurds are more pro-American than Canadians

Great article.  This article is too long to post, so read the whole thing here.  Also read The Case for Kurdistan. The British made a huge mistake by not giving the Kurds the country they have always deserved. It is ironic that so many Arabs have fled to Kurdistan.  I heard that Mish'an Jabouri's son lives in Sulaimaniya.  I wonder what percentage of the Kurds believe that the US invasion was right. Do people ask themselves why so many Iraqis still believe the US invasion was right?  Thanks Anand for sending me the link.

		No Friends But the Mountains MICHAEL J. TOTTEN
		Kurdistan is the Other Iraq, the Iraq a surprising number of people in the West have not heard of and know almost nothing about. The media mostly ignore Kurdistan, for the same reason they ignore Kansas and Iowa: It is a sleepy and stable place where hardly anything of note happens. Ethnic Kurds make up around 20 percent of Iraq's population. They, along with Persians, are indigenous to the upper Middle East, having lived there long before Arabs invaded from the south and Turks from the east. A few live in Baghdad and along the Iranian border east of the capital, and a larger number live in the provinces of Nineveh and Kirkuk. The majority, though, live in the northern mountains, high above the dusty plains of Mesopotamia, in the officially recognized and constitutionally sanctioned Kurdish Autonomous Region. There, the war is already over. In fact, the war was hardly fought there at all. The only Kurdish insurgency in Iraq was against Saddam Hussein, and the only Kurdish terrorists in Iraq were those of Ansar al-Islam--which has since changed its name to al-Qaida--who were driven from the border town of Biyara into Iran in 2003. The Kurds have their own capital and parliament in the city of Erbil. They have their own army, the Peshmerga, which in Kurdish means "Those Who Face Death." They have their own police, their own border patrols and checkpoints, and their own immigration and passport control. They have two international airports, with regular flights to and from Europe. They have their own flag, their own diplomats, and their own Department of Foreign Relations. The only things they don't have are a currency of their own and a seat in the United Nations. In all but name, then, Iraqi Kurdistan is an independent nation. Erbil, the largest city in Kurdistan, has suffered three terrorist attacks since coalition forces terminated the Baath regime in 2003. The second-largest city, Suleimaniah, was struck only once. The third-largest city, Dohuk, has never been hit at all. More people have been wounded or killed by terrorists in Spain than in Iraqi Kurdistan since 2003. No one has been kidnapped. Arab nationalism, Islamic radicalism, religious sectarianism, and anti-Americanism are alien ideologies in Kurdistan, rejected root and branch by the Kurds. They have, in fact, forged one of the most aggressively anti-terrorist communities in the world--no small feat, given what is happening just a few miles to the south in Iraq . This conservative Muslim society secures its own cities and territories better than the United States military shores up the Green Zone in Baghdad. Over the past few years, I have traveled and worked in Kurdistan frequently, often staying there for long periods of time, and have always moved about freely, without need of a gun, body armor, or bodyguards. Americans can go there on holiday, if they so desire, and feel just as relaxed as they would in Canada. Even more so, perhaps: The Kurds are friendlier, and more pro-American, than Canadians. Thomas Friedman wrote a few years ago that "after two years of traveling almost exclusively in Western Europe and the Middle East, Poland feels like a geopolitical spa. I visited here for just three days, and got two years of anti-American bruises massaged out of me." I felt much the same in Iraqi Kurdistan. continued

Outsourcing Torture

Outsourcing Torture (thanks Datta)

 

Posted on Oct 15, 2007

AP photo

An Egyptian activist flashes an Arabic banner condemning torture in front of riot troops during a protest in Cairo.

By Chris Hedges

The Bush administration has called for the respect of human rights in Burma, a pretty safe piece of posturing, but it remains silent as Egypt's dictator, Gen. Hosni Mubarak , unleashes the largest crackdown on public opposition in over a decade.  Our moral indignation over the shooting of monks masks the incestuous and growing alliance we have built in the so-called war on terror with some of the world's most venal dictatorships.

Mubarak, who has ruled Egypt for 26 years and is grooming his son, Gamal, to succeed him, can torture and "disappear" dissidents—such as the Egyptian journalist Reda Hilal, who vanished four years ago—without American censure because he does the dirty work for us on those we "disappear." The extraordinary-rendition program, which sees the United States kidnap and detain terrorist suspects in secret prisons around the world, fits neatly with the Egyptian regime's contempt for due process.  Those rounded up by American or Egyptian security agents are never granted legal rights.  The abductors are often hooded or masked.  If the captors are American the suspects are spirited onto a Gulfstream V jet registered to a series of dummy American corporations, such as Bayard Foreign Marketing of Portland, Ore., and whisked to Egypt or perhaps Morocco or Jordan.  When these suspects arrive in Cairo they vanish into black holes as swiftly as dissident Egyptians.  It is the same dirty and seamless process. 

We have nothing to say to Mubarak.  He is us.  The general intelligence directorate in Lazoughli and in Mulhaq al-Mazra prison in Cairo allegedly holds many of our own detained and "disappeared." The more savage the torture techniques of the Mubarak regime the faster the prisoners we smuggle into Egypt from Afghanistan and Iraq are broken down.  The screams of Egyptians, Iraqis, Pakistanis and Afghans mingle in these prison cells to condemn us all.

We know little about what goes on in the black holes the CIA has set up in Egypt.  But snapshots leak out.  Ibn-al Shaykh al-Libi , who was captured by U.S. forces in late 2001, was an al-Qaida camp commander.  He was taken to a prison in Cairo where he was repeatedly tortured by Egyptian officials.  The Egyptian interrogators told the CIA that he had confirmed a relationship between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida.  The tidbit, used by then U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in his United Nations speech, turned out to be false.  Victims usually will say anything to make severe torture stop.  Al-Libi was eventually returned to Afghanistan, although he has again disappeared. 
Mamduh Habib, an Egyptian-born citizen of Australia, was apprehended in October 2001 in Pakistan, where, his family says, he was touring religious schools.  A Pentagon spokesman claimed that Habib spent most of his time in Afghanistan and was "either supporting hostile forces or on the battlefield fighting illegally against the U.S."

Habib was released a few days after The Washington Post published an article on his case.  He said he was first interrogated and brutalized for three weeks in Islamabad.  His interrogators spoke English with American accents.  He was then bustled into a jumpsuit, his eyes were covered with opaque goggles and he was flown on a small jet to Egypt. There he was held and interrogated for six months, according to Joseph Margulies, a lawyer affiliated with the MacArthur Justice Center at the University of Chicago Law School, which is representing Habib,.

Habib claims he was beaten frequently with blunt instruments, including an object that he likened to an "electric prod." He was told that if he did not confess to belonging to al-Qaida he would be anally raped by specially trained dogs.  Habib said he was returned to U.S. custody after his stint in an Egyptian prison and flown to Bagram air base, in Afghanistan, and then to Guantanamo Bay, where he was kept until his release.  continued

World Bank Neglects African Farming

October 15, 2007

World Bank Neglects African Farming, Study Says (thanks Datta)

By CELIA W. DUGGER

The World Bank, financed by rich nations to reduce poverty in poor ones, has long neglected agriculture in impoverished sub-Saharan Africa, where most people depend on the farm economy for their livelihoods, according to a new internal evaluation.

The evaluation was posted late last week on the bank's Web site at a delicate moment.

The bank president, Robert B. Zoellick, after 100 days in office, declared in a recent speech that a Green Revolution for Africa was among his top priorities. On Friday, as ministers from around the world gather for the bank's annual meeting in Washington, it will release its flagship World Development Report, this year devoted to agriculture.

The evaluation of the bank's role in African agriculture was conducted by an internal unit that assesses all of its operations and answers to the bank's board and president, not its management.

In the 1980s and 1990s, when African governments faced severe fiscal crises, the bank pushed for the public sector — often badly managed and inefficient — to pull back from agriculture, incorrectly assuming that market forces would jump-start agricultural growth.

"In most reforming countries, the private sector did not step in to fill the vacuum when the public sector withdrew," the evaluation found.

One result, it said, is that farmers face practical obstacles: exorbitant fertilizer prices and shortages of credit and improved seeds. In recent years, yields for cereal crops in sub-Saharan Africa were less than half of South Asia's and one-third of Latin America's, the evaluation said.

At a time of growing debate about how to combat hunger in Africa, the evaluation team recommended that the bank, the single largest donor for African agriculture, concentrate on helping farmers get the basics they need to grow and market more food: fertilizer, seeds, water, credit, roads.

Two poverty analysts who often disagree — Professors Jeffery D. Sachs of Columbia University and William Easterly of New York University — read the evaluation and found it withering.

Professor Sachs called the evaluation "a blistering, devastating critique." Professor Easterly, a research economist at the bank for more than a decade, likened the evaluation to saying Coca-Cola is bad at making its signature soft drink. "Here's your most important client, Africa, with its most important sector, agriculture, relevant to the most important goal — people feeding their families — and the bank has been caught with two decades of neglect," he said.

The bank's management, in its written reply to the evaluation, differed with some of the analysis and had a more optimistic reading of the agricultural growth data, but said it was already carrying out the evaluation's main recommendation — that the bank should invest more in agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa.

The evaluation noted that the bank's lending for African agriculture, which fell to a low of $123 million in 2000 from $419 million in 1991, had increased to $295 million in 2005 and $685 million in 2006.

Bank managers, in a written reply and an interview on Sunday, said the evaluation team had not given enough recognition to the new directions the bank had taken since African leaders committed in 2003 to increase spending on agriculture.

"We agreed with the general thrust of the evaluation," Obiageli Ezekwesili, vice president for the Africa region at the bank, said in an interview. "What we, of course, want to state is that every evaluation is backward looking."

Looking ahead, she said, the bank is now working with African countries "that have increasingly begun to realize that agriculture has to have pride of place in public expenditures."

More must be done to overcome a dearth of seeds and fertilizers, she said.

While acknowledging the recently increased aid levels, Vinod Thomas, who leads the bank's Independent Evaluation Group, said in the evaluation that the bank's limited financing for agriculture had not been well used. The evaluation group reviewed lending trends for a portfolio of 262 projects over the past 15 years that had agriculture components.

"The lending support from the Bank has been 'sprinkled' across various agricultural activities such as research, extension, credit, seeds and policy reforms in rural space, but with little recognition of the potential synergy among them to effectively contribute to agricultural development," he wrote.

The evaluation also found that the bank, which has a staff of about 10,000, had only 17 technical experts assigned to the department that deals with agriculture and rural development in sub-Saharan Africa last year.

Bank policies in the 1980s and 1990s that pushed African governments to cut or eliminate fertilizer subsidies, decontrol prices and privatize may have improved fiscal discipline but did not accomplish much for food production, the evaluation said.

It had been expected that higher prices for crops would give farmers an incentive to grow more, while competition among private traders reduced the costs of seeds and fertilizer. But those market forces often failed to work as hoped.

"The whole thing was based on the idea that if you take away the government for the poorest of the poor that somehow these markets will solve the problems," Professor Sachs said. "But markets can't step in and won't step in when people have nothing. And if you take away help, you leave them to die."

Professor Easterly said the bank's managers had made elementary mistakes. "It was a simplistic, Economics 101 lesson, that if you raise prices, farmers produce more, which makes sense if farmers have roads, access to credit, good access to fertilizer markets," he said. "But most of the time, farmers were lacking those."

Some agricultural analysts hope the current reconsideration of African agriculture offers a new opportunity.

Carl K. Eicher, a professor emeritus at Michigan State University and an authority on African agriculture, said rich country donors and African governments also shared some responsibility for the continent's farming problems.

"The bank is turning the ship around and it has been for the last couple of years," said Professor Eicher, who has served as a consultant to the bank. "So let's give them a little credit."

Ammar al Hakim visits Anbar

Iraqi Shiite leader visits Sunni province in reconciliatory gesture (thanks Maury)

AP Published: October 15, 2007, 23:03

Baghdad: In a major reconciliatory gesture, a leader from Iraq's largest Shiite party has paid a rare visit to the Sunni Anbar province, delivering a message of unity to tribal shaikhs who have staged a US-backed revolt against Al Qaida militants. The leader of parliament's largest Sunni Arab bloc, Adnan Al Dulaimi, welcomed Ammar Al Hakim's visit to Anbar on Sunday as a "good initiative", saying Shiite-Sunni reconciliation was a goal cherished by his once-dominant Sunni Arab minority. "This is what we hope, and we pray to Allah for," Al Dulaimi, whose three-party alliance has 44 of parliament's 275 seats, said yesterday. "We pray to God to make our Shiite brothers ... give us our due rights and not monopolise power." Al Hakim's visit to Anbar was the latest sign that key Iraqi politicians may be working toward reconciliation independently of Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki's government, which has faced criticism for doing little to bring together Iraq's Shiites, Kurds and Sunnis. Endorsement Sunni Arab Vice-President Tariq Al Hashemi visited Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani, Iraq's top Shiite cleric, last month at Najaf south of Baghdad. The visit amounted to an unprecedented Sunni Arab endorsement of Al Sistani's role as the nation's guardian. Al Hashemi's Iraqi Islamic Party also has been distancing itself from militant Sunni Arab groups and has in recent months forged closer ties with Al Hakim's Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, the country's largest Shiite party, and the two major Kurdish parties. Al Hakim, son and heir apparent of Iraq's top Shiite politician, struck a note of national unity in Anbar. "Iraq does not belong to the Sunnis or the Shiites alone; nor does it belong to the Arabs or the Kurds and Turkomen," Al Hakim told his hosts in the provincial capital Ramadi, about 115km west of Baghdad. "Today, we must stand up and declare that Iraq is for all Iraqis." He stood next to the leader of the Anbar movement, Ahmad Abu Risha. Government seeks nod for incursion The Turkish government has decided to send a motion to Parliament seeking approval for a military operation against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, a government spokesman said yesterday. Cemil Cicek said he hoped Parliament would vote on the motion this week - passage is considered likely - but indicated that the government would still prefer a solution to the conflict that does not involve a cross-border offensive. Local news stations said the vote would be held tomorrow. "Our hope is that there will be no need to use this motion," Cicek said.

Separated by a massacre

My father sent me this. This is how he describes it: "The story of a Palestinian poet who, during the massacres of Sabra and Shatilla in Lebanon during the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, everybody thought she got killed in the massacre. She also thought all her family got killed. As she was recently reading poetry on the Abu Dhabi TV, her neighbours from the Sabra refugee camp days (back in 1982) saw her and recognised her. Since the neighbours also knew that her daughter did not get killed in the massacre but survived and had been living all these years in a refugee camp, they contacted the Abu Dhabi TV station, and the TV station arranged the surprise meeting between the mother and her daughter whom she thought she was dead. You will cry!"

Oil market sensitive to Iraq news

It's amazing how sensitive the oil market is to any negative news from Iraq.  This shows how important Iraqi oil is to the future of the world oil market. 

Oil Rises Over $85 to a Record on Increased Turkey-Iraq Tension

By Mark Shenk

Oct. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose above $85 a barrel for the first time in New York on concern Turkish forces may pursue Kurdish militants in Iraq, curbing shipments as refiners prepare for the peak-demand heating season.

Prices climbed as much as 1.9 percent because Turkey's military may attack Kurdish bases in Iraq, which has the world's third-largest oil reserves. Futures also increased after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said production outside the group will be lower than previously forecast.

``Everything imaginable is going wrong as far as the oil market is concerned,'' said Robert Ebel, chairman of the energy program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. ``Turkey is saber rattling, Iraq isn't calming down, Iran is also saber rattling and supplies are tight.''

continued

True Muslims respect Jews and Christians

As the Quran instructs. Karen Armstrong (former nun of British citizenship) writes in her book Islam: A Short History:

The Quran insists strongly that “there shall be no coercion in matters of faith” and commands Muslims to respect the beliefs of Jews and Christians, whom the Quran calls ‘ahl al-kitab’, a phrase usually translated “People of the Book” but which is more accurately rendered “people of an earlier revelation:”

‘Do not argue with the followers of earlier revelation otherwise than in a most kindly manner – unless it be such of them as are bent on evil-doing – and say: “We believe in that which has been bestowed from on high upon us, as well as that which has been bestowed upon you; for our God and your God is one and the same, and it is unto Him that we [all] surrender ourselves.”’

Jiddu's Last Gift: Pomegranates

Two weeks ago a beloved elder in our extended family passed away. We all called him Jiddu (grandpa). He was 77 years old and he spent the last 27 years of his life in exile. He grew up in Kerbala, where he learned Farsi from the Iranians who lived there. In 1980, after Saddam Hussein took over Iraq, many Iraqi Shia were accused of being Iranian. Thousands of Iraqis were imprisoned, killed, and many were rounded up and dropped off at the Iranian border. Jiddu was one of those Iraqis who was taken to the Iranian border. The group he was with walked across the mine-infested area where some of them were killed by exploding mines. They walked all day into Iran, and after sunset some of them began to think they would die like the others, some of them thought they would be attacked by wild dogs. Finally, in total darkness they climbed to a hilltop, from which they saw lights: it was a camp that had been set up by Iran to receive Iraqi refugees. He stayed in Iran for a few months and then with his cousin's financial help, Jiddu moved to Dubai, where he opened a small grocery store. He struggled in Dubai for 15 years, and in 1995, after his grocery store failed, he moved to California to live with his daughter and son-in-law.

I met Jiddu for the first time when I moved the Bay area a couple of years ago. I learned so much from this great man, a true Muslim. Over the summer we took Jiddu to Sausalito, where we sat down at a Starbucks at the end of the day. My cousin asked Jiddu if he realized that we were buying tea and coffee from Jews (the CEO of Starbucks is Jewish) - I guess she expected him to spit out his tea in disgust. Instead he replied by saying "we're giving our money to Jews? Even better! Jews are the original people of the book!" He went on to explain that Iraq had a great Jewish community for centuries, and that we Muslims should be friendly with Jews as the Quran instructs.

Many people from all backgrounds, maybe half of them Iranian, came to his funeral. Everybody who knew him loved him. I started writing this post a few days after his funeral, but his relatives were afraid that telling his story and posting his photo might put them in danger (Iraqis are still fearful of the old regime), so I decided to post photos of pomegranates from Jiddu's small garden, which he cared for so well. Jiddu's pomegranates have been distributed to his friends and family during this Eid. Eyamek sa3eeda (may your days be happy) in Heaven ya Jiddu.



I just ate this one. It was perfectly sweet and sour:

Iraqi govt wants Blackwater out within 6 months

US, Iraq Negotiate Blackwater Expulsion

By STEVEN R. HURST and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA – 2 hours ago

BAGHDAD (AP) — U.S. and Iraqi officials are negotiating Baghdad's demand that security company Blackwater USA be expelled from the country within six months, and American diplomats appear to be working on how to fill the security gap if the company is phased out.

The talks about Blackwater's future in Iraq flow from recommendations in an Iraqi government report on the incident Sept. 16 when, Iraqi officials determined, Blackwater guards opened fire without provocation in Baghdad's Nisoor Square and killed 17 Iraqi citizens.

The Iraqi investigators issued five recommendations to the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, which has since sent them to the U.S. Embassy as demands for action.

Point No. 2 in the report says:

"The Iraqi government should demand that the United States stops using the services of Blackwater in Iraq within six months and replace it with a new, more disciplined organization that would be answerable to Iraqi laws."

Sami al-Askari, a top aide to al-Maliki, said that point in the Iraqi list of demands was nonnegotiable.

"I believe the government has been clear. There have been attacks on the lives of Iraqi citizens on the part of that company (Blackwater). It must be expelled. The government has given six months for its expulsion and it's left to the U.S. Embassy to determine with Blackwater when to terminate the contract. The American administration must find another company," he told AP.
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U.S. Contractors in Iraq Rely on Third-World Labor

by Guy Raz

October 10, 2007 · If you thought all contractors in Iraq were gun-toting American mercenaries, think again. Only a fraction of the estimated 180,000 contractors working on behalf of the U.S. government are security contractors — and the overwhelming majority aren't even from the U.S.

Consider Salim Khan, a dishwasher at a forward operating base in the volatile Iraqi province of Diyala. For about $1.25 an hour, the Pakistan native will work two years for a Saudi-based food-services firm, Tamimi.

Tamimi is a subcontractor to KBR, which itself was, until recently, a subsidiary of Halliburton, the mega-corporation that has won most of the big money contracts in Iraq.

Across the heavily fortified American bases in Iraq, men and women like Salim Khan cook the food, clean the dishes, chop the vegetables, take out the garbage and clean the latrines.

In military parlance, they're known as "TCNs" or "third country nationals," but they might as well be called third-world nationals. Most of the cheap U.S. labor in Iraq comes from places like India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Philippines and India. The average wage for these workers is about $20 a day; most work 12-hour shifts, seven days a week.

The Pentagon and the State Department, under fire for the use of security contractors, have largely ignored the issue of fair labor practices among its contractors and subcontractors in Iraq and Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently noted contractors "take the place of soldiers" to do other, more pressing work.

Iraq is the first war in history where contractors have played a large role. About a half a million people, including contractors, troops and U.S. government civilians, work on behalf of the Iraq mission. continued