Iraq turning rapidly into another Afghanistan?
Opium fields spread across Iraq as farmers try to make ends meet
Thursday, 17 January 2008
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/
The cultivation of opium poppies whose product is turned into heroin is spreading rapidly across Iraq as farmers find they can no longer make a living through growing traditional crops.
Afghans with experience in planting poppies have been helping farmers switch to producing opium in fertile parts of Diyala province, once famous for its oranges and pomegranates, north- east of Baghdad.
At a heavily guarded farm near the town of Buhriz, south of the provincial capital Baquba, poppies are grown between the orange trees in order to hide them, according to a local source.
The shift by Iraqi farmers to producing opium was first revealed by The Independent last May and is a very recent development. The first poppy fields, funded by drug smugglers who previously supplied Saudi Arabia and the Gulf with heroin from Afghanistan, were close to the city of Diwaniyah in southern Iraq. The growing of poppies has now spread to Diyala, which is one of the places in Iraq where al-Qa'ida is still resisting US and Iraqi government forces. It is also deeply divided between Sunni, Shia and Kurd and the extreme violence means that local security men have little time to deal with the drugs trade. The speed with which farmers are turning to poppies is confirmed by the Iraqi news agency al-Malaf Press, which says that opium is now being produced around the towns of Khalis, Sa'adiya, Dain'ya and south of Baladruz, pointing out that these are all areas where al-Qa'ida is strong.
The agency cites a local agricultural engineer identified as M S al-Azawi as saying that local farmers got no support from the government and could not compete with cheap imports of fruit and vegetables. The price of fertiliser and fuel has also risen sharply. Mr Azawi says: "The cultivation of opium is the likely solution [to these problems]."
Al-Qa'ida is in control of many of the newly established opium farms and has sometimes taken the land of farmers it has killed, said a local source. At Buhriz, American military forces destroyed the opium farm and drove off al-Qa'ida last year but it later returned. "No one can get inside the farm because it is heavily guarded," said the source, adding that the area devoted to opium in Diyala is still smaller than that in southern Iraq around Amara and Majar al-Kabir.
After being harvested, the opium from Diyala is taken to Ramadi in western Iraq. There are still no reports of heroin laboratories being established in Iraq, unlike in Afghanistan.
Iraq has not been a major consumer of drugs but heroin from Afghanistan has been transited from Iran and then taken to Basra from where it is exported to the rich markets of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the Gulf. Under Saddam Hussein, state security in Basra was widely believed to control local drug smuggling through the city.
The growing and smuggling of opium will be difficult to stop in Iraq because much of the country is controlled by criminalised militias. American successes in Iraq over the past year have been largely through encouraging the development of a 70,000-strong Sunni Arab militia, many of whose members are former insurgents linked to protection rackets, kidnapping and crime. Muqtada al-Sadr, the leader of the powerful Shia militia, the Mehdi Army, says that criminals have infiltrated its ranks.
The move of local warlords, both Sunni and Shia, into opium farming is a menacing development in Iraq, where local political leaders are often allied to gangsters. The theft of fuel, smuggling and control of government facilities such as ports means that gangs are often very rich. It is they, rather than impoverished farmers, who have taken the lead in financing and organising opium production in Iraq.
Initial planting in fertile land west and south of Diwaniya around the towns of Ash Shamiyah, al-Ghammas and Shinafiyah were said to have faced problems because of the extreme heat and humidity. Al-Malaf Press says that it has learnt that the experiments with opium poppy-growing in Diyala have been successful.
Although opium has not been grown in many of these areas in Iraq in recent history, some of the earliest written references to opium come from ancient Iraq. It was known to the ancient Sumerians as early as 3400BC as the "Hul Gil" or "joy plant" and there are mentions of it on clay tablets found in excavations at the city of Nippur just east of Diwaniyah.
IRAQ-Current Continuing Conflict
3 years after the innocent people of Falujah suffered a fate almost as bad as Hiroshima and Nagasaki,virutally nothing has changed in the relief of the victims.Read on about this Iraqi city bombed into oblivion.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 74846.html
Return to Fallujah
Three years after the devastating US assault, our correspondent enters besieged Iraqi city left without clean water, electricity and medicine
Patrick Cockburn
Monday, 28 January 2008
Fallujah is more difficult to enter than any city in the world. On the road from Baghdad I counted 27 checkpoints, all manned by well-armed soldiers and police. "The siege is total," says Dr Kamal in Fallujah Hospital as he grimly lists his needs, which include everything from drugs and oxygen to electricity and clean water.
The last time I tried to drive to Fallujah, several years ago, I was caught in the ambush of an American fuel convoy and had to crawl out of the car and lie beside the road with the driver while US soldiers and guerrillas exchanged gunfire. The road is now much safer but nobody is allowed to enter Fallujah who does not come from there and can prove it through elaborate identity documents. The city has been sealed off since November 2004 when United States Marines stormed it in an attack that left much of the city in ruins.
Its streets, with walls pock-marked with bullets and buildings reduced to a heap of concrete slabs, still look as if the fighting had finished only a few weeks ago.
I went to look at the old bridge over the Euphrates from whose steel girders Fallujans had hanged the burnt bodies of two American private security men killed by guerrillas – the incident that sparked the first battle of Fallujah. The single-lane bridge is still there, overlooked by the remains of a bombed or shelled building whose smashed roof overhangs the street and concrete slabs are held in place by rusty iron mesh.
The police chief of Fallujah, Colonel Feisal Ismail Hassan al-Zubai, was trying to show that his city was on the mend.
As we looked at the bridge a small crowd gathered and an elderly man in a brown coat shouted: "We have no electricity, we have no water."
Others confirmed that Fallujah was getting one hour's electricity a day. Colonel Feisal said there was not much he could do about the water or electricity though he did promise a man that a fence of razor wire outside his restaurant would be removed.
Fallujah may be better than it was, but it still has a very long way to go. Hospital doctors confirm that they are receiving few gunshot or bomb blast victims since the Awakening movement drove al-Qa'ida from the city over the past six months, but people still walk warily in the streets as if they expected firing to break out at any minute.
Colonel Feisal, a former officer in Saddam Hussein's Special Forces, cheerfully admits that before he was chief of police, "I was fighting the Americans". His brother Abu Marouf, a former guerrilla commander, controls 13,000 fighters of the anti-al-Qa'ida Awakening movement in and around Fallujah. The colonel stressed that the streets of Fallujah were now wholly safe but his convoy drove at speed and was led by a policeman, his face hidden by a white balaclava, on top of a vehicle holding a machine gun and frantically gesturing oncoming vehicles out of the way.
The police station is large and protected by concrete and earth barriers. Just as we reached the inner courtyard we saw signs that the battle against al-Qa'ida may be over but arrests go on. From another part of the police station there emerged a line of 20 prisoners, each with his eyes covered by a white blindfold, gripping the back of the clothes of the prisoner in front of him. The prisoners reminded me of photographs of men blinded by gas in the First World War stumbling along behind a single man who could see and who, in this case, was a prison guard.
There are new buildings in the main street. I used to eat at a kebab restaurant called Haji Hussein, which was one of the best in Iraq. Then, as the occupation went on, I started attracting a lot of hostile stares. The manager suggested it might be safer if I ate upstairs in an empty room, and soon after it was destroyed by an American bomb. It has now been rebuilt in gaudy colours and seemed to be doing good business.
At one time Fallujah had a population of 600,000, but none of the officials in the city seemed to know how many there are now. Col Feisal is hopeful of investment and took us to a white, new building called the Fallujah Business Development Centre, which had been partly funded by a branch of the US State Department. Tall American soldiers were guarding a business development conference. "It has attracted one American investor so far," said a uniformed American adviser hopefully. "My name is Sarah and I am in psychological operations," said another US officer and proudly showed us around a newly established radio Fallujah.
At the other end of the city we crossed over the iron bridge built in about 1930 and now the only link with the far side of the Euphrates. There is a modern bridge half a mile down river but it has been taken over by the American army and, say locals, used as a vehicle park. On the far side of the bridge, past beds of tall bullrushes where people escaping the city during the sieges of 2004 tried to hide, there is a building eviscerated by bombs on one side of the road. On the other side is the hospital whose officials US commanders used to accuse of systematically exaggerating the number of those killed by American bombing.
When I asked what the hospital lacked Dr Kamal said wearily: "Drugs, fuel, electricity, generators, a water treatment system, oxygen and medical equipment." It was difficult not to think that American assistance might have gone to the hospital rather than the business development centre.
Colonel Feisal said things were getting better but he was mobbed by black-clad women shouting that their children had not been treated.
"Every day 20 children die here," said one. "Seven in this very room."
The doctors said that they were tending their patients as best they could. "The Americans provide us with nothing," said one mother who was cradling a child. "They bring us only destruction."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 74846.html
Return to Fallujah
Three years after the devastating US assault, our correspondent enters besieged Iraqi city left without clean water, electricity and medicine
Patrick Cockburn
Monday, 28 January 2008
Fallujah is more difficult to enter than any city in the world. On the road from Baghdad I counted 27 checkpoints, all manned by well-armed soldiers and police. "The siege is total," says Dr Kamal in Fallujah Hospital as he grimly lists his needs, which include everything from drugs and oxygen to electricity and clean water.
The last time I tried to drive to Fallujah, several years ago, I was caught in the ambush of an American fuel convoy and had to crawl out of the car and lie beside the road with the driver while US soldiers and guerrillas exchanged gunfire. The road is now much safer but nobody is allowed to enter Fallujah who does not come from there and can prove it through elaborate identity documents. The city has been sealed off since November 2004 when United States Marines stormed it in an attack that left much of the city in ruins.
Its streets, with walls pock-marked with bullets and buildings reduced to a heap of concrete slabs, still look as if the fighting had finished only a few weeks ago.
I went to look at the old bridge over the Euphrates from whose steel girders Fallujans had hanged the burnt bodies of two American private security men killed by guerrillas – the incident that sparked the first battle of Fallujah. The single-lane bridge is still there, overlooked by the remains of a bombed or shelled building whose smashed roof overhangs the street and concrete slabs are held in place by rusty iron mesh.
The police chief of Fallujah, Colonel Feisal Ismail Hassan al-Zubai, was trying to show that his city was on the mend.
As we looked at the bridge a small crowd gathered and an elderly man in a brown coat shouted: "We have no electricity, we have no water."
Others confirmed that Fallujah was getting one hour's electricity a day. Colonel Feisal said there was not much he could do about the water or electricity though he did promise a man that a fence of razor wire outside his restaurant would be removed.
Fallujah may be better than it was, but it still has a very long way to go. Hospital doctors confirm that they are receiving few gunshot or bomb blast victims since the Awakening movement drove al-Qa'ida from the city over the past six months, but people still walk warily in the streets as if they expected firing to break out at any minute.
Colonel Feisal, a former officer in Saddam Hussein's Special Forces, cheerfully admits that before he was chief of police, "I was fighting the Americans". His brother Abu Marouf, a former guerrilla commander, controls 13,000 fighters of the anti-al-Qa'ida Awakening movement in and around Fallujah. The colonel stressed that the streets of Fallujah were now wholly safe but his convoy drove at speed and was led by a policeman, his face hidden by a white balaclava, on top of a vehicle holding a machine gun and frantically gesturing oncoming vehicles out of the way.
The police station is large and protected by concrete and earth barriers. Just as we reached the inner courtyard we saw signs that the battle against al-Qa'ida may be over but arrests go on. From another part of the police station there emerged a line of 20 prisoners, each with his eyes covered by a white blindfold, gripping the back of the clothes of the prisoner in front of him. The prisoners reminded me of photographs of men blinded by gas in the First World War stumbling along behind a single man who could see and who, in this case, was a prison guard.
There are new buildings in the main street. I used to eat at a kebab restaurant called Haji Hussein, which was one of the best in Iraq. Then, as the occupation went on, I started attracting a lot of hostile stares. The manager suggested it might be safer if I ate upstairs in an empty room, and soon after it was destroyed by an American bomb. It has now been rebuilt in gaudy colours and seemed to be doing good business.
At one time Fallujah had a population of 600,000, but none of the officials in the city seemed to know how many there are now. Col Feisal is hopeful of investment and took us to a white, new building called the Fallujah Business Development Centre, which had been partly funded by a branch of the US State Department. Tall American soldiers were guarding a business development conference. "It has attracted one American investor so far," said a uniformed American adviser hopefully. "My name is Sarah and I am in psychological operations," said another US officer and proudly showed us around a newly established radio Fallujah.
At the other end of the city we crossed over the iron bridge built in about 1930 and now the only link with the far side of the Euphrates. There is a modern bridge half a mile down river but it has been taken over by the American army and, say locals, used as a vehicle park. On the far side of the bridge, past beds of tall bullrushes where people escaping the city during the sieges of 2004 tried to hide, there is a building eviscerated by bombs on one side of the road. On the other side is the hospital whose officials US commanders used to accuse of systematically exaggerating the number of those killed by American bombing.
When I asked what the hospital lacked Dr Kamal said wearily: "Drugs, fuel, electricity, generators, a water treatment system, oxygen and medical equipment." It was difficult not to think that American assistance might have gone to the hospital rather than the business development centre.
Colonel Feisal said things were getting better but he was mobbed by black-clad women shouting that their children had not been treated.
"Every day 20 children die here," said one. "Seven in this very room."
The doctors said that they were tending their patients as best they could. "The Americans provide us with nothing," said one mother who was cradling a child. "They bring us only destruction."
Iraq,the world's unending tragedy and the US's most disastrous foreign policy debacle in living memory,soon to be matched by Afghanistan.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 76881.html
60 killed as female suicide bombers strike
Friday, 1 February 2008
Two women suicide bombers killed more than 60 people in separate attacks in Baghdad today.
The first came at the main pet market in the city centre where at least 46 people died and dozens were wounded in the deadliest bombing to strike the capital since the US "surge" of extra troops flooded into central Iraq last spring.
About 20 minutes later, a second woman struck another bird market in a predominantly Shiite area in south-eastern Baghdad. That blast killed as many as 18 people and wounded 25, police said.
The attacks shortly before the weekly Islamic call to prayer resounded across the capital were the latest in a series of violent incidents that have been chipping away at Iraqi confidence in the permanence of recent security gains.
The first blast occurred about 10.20 am when the woman detonated explosives hidden under her traditional black robe at the central al-Ghazl market. The pet bazaar had recently re-emerged as a popular shopping venue as Baghdad security improved and a ban on driving was lifted.
Police initially said the bomb was hidden in a box of birds but later realised it was a suicide attack after finding the woman's head.
At least four other suicide bombings have been staged by women since November, all in the volatile Diyala province north-east of the capital.
The most recent was on January 16 when a woman blew herself up as Shiites were preparing for a ceremony marking the holiday of Ashoura in a Shiite village near the Diyala provincial capital of Baqouba.
Involving women in fighting violates religious taboos in Iraq, but the US military has warned al Qaida in Iraq is recruiting women and youths to stage suicide attacks as the insurgents become increasingly desperate to thwart stepped up security measures.
Women in Iraq often wear a black Islamic robe known as an abaya that can be used to hide explosives, and it can be easier for them to avoid thorough searches at checkpoints because of Islamic sensitivities about their treatment.
The US military has been unable to stop the suicide bombings despite a steep drop in violence in the past six months, but the number of casualties has been lower than many attacks last year that saw death tolls topping 100.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 76881.html
60 killed as female suicide bombers strike
Friday, 1 February 2008
Two women suicide bombers killed more than 60 people in separate attacks in Baghdad today.
The first came at the main pet market in the city centre where at least 46 people died and dozens were wounded in the deadliest bombing to strike the capital since the US "surge" of extra troops flooded into central Iraq last spring.
About 20 minutes later, a second woman struck another bird market in a predominantly Shiite area in south-eastern Baghdad. That blast killed as many as 18 people and wounded 25, police said.
The attacks shortly before the weekly Islamic call to prayer resounded across the capital were the latest in a series of violent incidents that have been chipping away at Iraqi confidence in the permanence of recent security gains.
The first blast occurred about 10.20 am when the woman detonated explosives hidden under her traditional black robe at the central al-Ghazl market. The pet bazaar had recently re-emerged as a popular shopping venue as Baghdad security improved and a ban on driving was lifted.
Police initially said the bomb was hidden in a box of birds but later realised it was a suicide attack after finding the woman's head.
At least four other suicide bombings have been staged by women since November, all in the volatile Diyala province north-east of the capital.
The most recent was on January 16 when a woman blew herself up as Shiites were preparing for a ceremony marking the holiday of Ashoura in a Shiite village near the Diyala provincial capital of Baqouba.
Involving women in fighting violates religious taboos in Iraq, but the US military has warned al Qaida in Iraq is recruiting women and youths to stage suicide attacks as the insurgents become increasingly desperate to thwart stepped up security measures.
Women in Iraq often wear a black Islamic robe known as an abaya that can be used to hide explosives, and it can be easier for them to avoid thorough searches at checkpoints because of Islamic sensitivities about their treatment.
The US military has been unable to stop the suicide bombings despite a steep drop in violence in the past six months, but the number of casualties has been lower than many attacks last year that saw death tolls topping 100.
poor women...
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast ... index.html
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Two mentally disabled women were strapped with explosives Friday and sent into busy Baghdad markets, where they were blown up by remote control, a top Iraqi government official said.
The bombs killed at least 98 people and wounded more than 200 at two popular pet markets on the holiest day of the week for Muslims, authorities said.
In both bombings, the attackers were mentally disabled women whose explosive belts were remotely detonated, Gen. Qasim Atta, spokesman for Baghdad's security plan, told state television.
An aide to Atta said that people referred to the bomber at central Baghdad's al-Ghazl market as the "crazy woman" and that the bomber at a second market had an unspecified birth disability.
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast ... index.html
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Two mentally disabled women were strapped with explosives Friday and sent into busy Baghdad markets, where they were blown up by remote control, a top Iraqi government official said.
The bombs killed at least 98 people and wounded more than 200 at two popular pet markets on the holiest day of the week for Muslims, authorities said.
In both bombings, the attackers were mentally disabled women whose explosive belts were remotely detonated, Gen. Qasim Atta, spokesman for Baghdad's security plan, told state television.
An aide to Atta said that people referred to the bomber at central Baghdad's al-Ghazl market as the "crazy woman" and that the bomber at a second market had an unspecified birth disability.
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US slams Qaeda as Baghdad bombs toll rises to 98
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Baghdad: A US general in Iraq slammed Al-Qaeda today over what he called its "twisted ideology" after two suicide bombings by mentally impaired women in separate pet market attacks killed at least 98 people.
Major General Jeffery Hammond, commander of US forces in Baghdad, told a news conference that Al-Qaeda in Iraq was using "its twisted ideology to spread fear in the hearts of people."
He spoke as Iraqi security officials said the toll from the two bomb attacks had risen to 98 dead and 208 wounded, from 64 killed and 107 wounded reported yesterday. The blasts were the deadliest in Baghdad since last August 1, when three car bombs killed more than 80 people.
The second explosion a short time later rocked a pet market in the Baghdad Al-Jadida neighbourhood, which was also crowded. Hammond said both bombers were women and closely resembled each other, adding: "There are indications they were mentally handicapped." "They were used by Al-Qaeda because they were less likely to know what was happening," Hammond said. "They were less likely to be searched."
A top Iraqi official said yesterday the explosives had been strapped to two mentally impaired women and then triggered by remote control in co-ordinated blasts. "Both women were mentally impaired. They were wearing belts containing 15 kilogrammes of explosives," Major General Qasim Ata, spokesman for the Baghdad security plan, told reporters yesterday.
Veteran journalist Johnathan Steele of the Guardian is launching a new book on "DEFEAT-Why they lost Iraq".It should be a great read when it comes out.
http://blogs.independent.co.uk/independ ... on-re.html
Diplomatic Licence: John Simpson returns for a bunfight
By Anne Penketh
Just in case you were worried, John Simpson managed to escape from Zimbabwe and has showed up at a book launch in London minus his baseball cap, which he seems to believe provided essential disguise from Robert Mugabe's hitmen.
The BBC World Affairs editor was the main speaker introducing Jonathan Steele of The Guardian who is publishing a new book, Defeat - Why They Lost Iraq. Jonathan said the publishers were so concerned about whether John Simpson would make it to the party that they were considering having a whip-round to get him out of jail, if need be.
Book launches are usually an excellent source of gossip. However, this one was full of very serious people holding very serious conversations about what to do about Iraq. And many of them still want a parliamentary inquiry into why we went to war in the first place. Sir Menzies Campbell was there, as was Tony Benn. Jonathan wants an immediate withdrawal by foreign forces from Iraq. Iraq expert Toby Dodge was saying the opposite, arguing that an immediate pullout would only cause more violence. I said that surely an open-ended occupation would only fuel more trouble and I suspect that Independent readers have their own views on the matter.
http://blogs.independent.co.uk/independ ... on-re.html
Diplomatic Licence: John Simpson returns for a bunfight
By Anne Penketh
Just in case you were worried, John Simpson managed to escape from Zimbabwe and has showed up at a book launch in London minus his baseball cap, which he seems to believe provided essential disguise from Robert Mugabe's hitmen.
The BBC World Affairs editor was the main speaker introducing Jonathan Steele of The Guardian who is publishing a new book, Defeat - Why They Lost Iraq. Jonathan said the publishers were so concerned about whether John Simpson would make it to the party that they were considering having a whip-round to get him out of jail, if need be.
Book launches are usually an excellent source of gossip. However, this one was full of very serious people holding very serious conversations about what to do about Iraq. And many of them still want a parliamentary inquiry into why we went to war in the first place. Sir Menzies Campbell was there, as was Tony Benn. Jonathan wants an immediate withdrawal by foreign forces from Iraq. Iraq expert Toby Dodge was saying the opposite, arguing that an immediate pullout would only cause more violence. I said that surely an open-ended occupation would only fuel more trouble and I suspect that Independent readers have their own views on the matter.
That Prince Andrew has personally rebuked the US overits Iraq policies,is evidence enough of the total disgust which the entire British establishment has with the Bush administration over this tragic war.That royalty,wwhich never comments upon political mattershas sought to do so,is a message to the world that the conduct of war in Iraq is disapproved by the palace as well as the British people.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... rew105.xml
Prince Andrew rebukes America over Iraq
By Toby Helm, Public Policy Editor
Last Updated: 2:02am GMT 05/02/2008
The Duke of York has launched an unprecedented attack on President George W Bush's White House administration for failing to listen more to the advice of the British Government over the Iraq war.
The Duke's criticism of Washington represents an extraordinary departure from normal protocol, which determines that members of the Royal Family refrain from public comment on sensitive international and political issues.
The Duke of York expressed his regret that the US failed to heed British advice over post-war Iraq
In a rare newspaper interview, with the International Herald Tribune, the Duke expresses his strong personal regret that the US failed to heed British advice over the post-war strategy for Iraq, with disastrous consequences.
On the eve of a 10-day mission to America in his role as British trade envoy, he told the newspaper that there were "occasions when people in the UK would wish that those in responsible positions in the US might listen and learn from our experiences".
He said that because of Britain's imperial history, it had experience of many of the foreign policy challenges now facing the US.
"If you are looking at colonialism, if you are looking at operations on an international scale, if you are looking at understanding each other's culture, understanding how to operate in a military insurgency campaign - we have been through them all," Prince Andrew said.
"We've won some, lost some, drawn some. The fact is there is quite a lot of experience over here which is valid and should be listened to."
The aftermath of the Iraq conflict fuelled a "healthy scepticism" towards what is said in Washington, and a feeling of "why didn't anyone listen to what was said and the advice that was given".
British opinion had been sought, he said, before adding: "It's not as if we had been forcing that across the Atlantic."
The Duke, who saw active service when as a Navy officer he flew helicopters during the Falklands conflict 26 years ago, still takes a keen interest in military affairs.
It is understood his criticisms of the US refer specifically to the British advice - rejected during the conflict itself - about how to conduct the post-war strategy for rebuilding Iraqi institutions and placing the country on the road to democracy.
Geoff Hoon, the defence secretary at the time of the conflict, disclosed in an interview with The Daily Telegraph in December 2006 that he and Tony Blair "lost the argument" with the Americans before fighting ceased.
Mr Hoon said he and Mr Blair urged Washington not to dismantle the Iraqi army or purge all members of Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party from senior positions. But they were overruled.
In May 2003, Paul Bremer, the US administrator in Iraq, issued two orders: one outlawing the Ba'ath Party and the other dissolving Iraq's 500,000-strong military and intelligence services. Those decisions are now seen by many as the causes of a vacuum that allowed Iraqi insurgents to launch their terrorist offensive against the occupying forces.
Mr Hoon said he was not in "any doubt" that things should have been done differently.
Recalling his days in the Navy, the Duke said: "I was the glamorous one dressed in a uniform who flew his helicopter and I was there to defend, to be an instrument of Her Majesty's Government whenever and wherever they so chose. And I thought it was frightfully glamorous."
Prince Andrew, who suffered a lengthy spell in the public spotlight over claims of “playboyâ€
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... rew105.xml
Prince Andrew rebukes America over Iraq
By Toby Helm, Public Policy Editor
Last Updated: 2:02am GMT 05/02/2008
The Duke of York has launched an unprecedented attack on President George W Bush's White House administration for failing to listen more to the advice of the British Government over the Iraq war.
The Duke's criticism of Washington represents an extraordinary departure from normal protocol, which determines that members of the Royal Family refrain from public comment on sensitive international and political issues.
The Duke of York expressed his regret that the US failed to heed British advice over post-war Iraq
In a rare newspaper interview, with the International Herald Tribune, the Duke expresses his strong personal regret that the US failed to heed British advice over the post-war strategy for Iraq, with disastrous consequences.
On the eve of a 10-day mission to America in his role as British trade envoy, he told the newspaper that there were "occasions when people in the UK would wish that those in responsible positions in the US might listen and learn from our experiences".
He said that because of Britain's imperial history, it had experience of many of the foreign policy challenges now facing the US.
"If you are looking at colonialism, if you are looking at operations on an international scale, if you are looking at understanding each other's culture, understanding how to operate in a military insurgency campaign - we have been through them all," Prince Andrew said.
"We've won some, lost some, drawn some. The fact is there is quite a lot of experience over here which is valid and should be listened to."
The aftermath of the Iraq conflict fuelled a "healthy scepticism" towards what is said in Washington, and a feeling of "why didn't anyone listen to what was said and the advice that was given".
British opinion had been sought, he said, before adding: "It's not as if we had been forcing that across the Atlantic."
The Duke, who saw active service when as a Navy officer he flew helicopters during the Falklands conflict 26 years ago, still takes a keen interest in military affairs.
It is understood his criticisms of the US refer specifically to the British advice - rejected during the conflict itself - about how to conduct the post-war strategy for rebuilding Iraqi institutions and placing the country on the road to democracy.
Geoff Hoon, the defence secretary at the time of the conflict, disclosed in an interview with The Daily Telegraph in December 2006 that he and Tony Blair "lost the argument" with the Americans before fighting ceased.
Mr Hoon said he and Mr Blair urged Washington not to dismantle the Iraqi army or purge all members of Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party from senior positions. But they were overruled.
In May 2003, Paul Bremer, the US administrator in Iraq, issued two orders: one outlawing the Ba'ath Party and the other dissolving Iraq's 500,000-strong military and intelligence services. Those decisions are now seen by many as the causes of a vacuum that allowed Iraqi insurgents to launch their terrorist offensive against the occupying forces.
Mr Hoon said he was not in "any doubt" that things should have been done differently.
Recalling his days in the Navy, the Duke said: "I was the glamorous one dressed in a uniform who flew his helicopter and I was there to defend, to be an instrument of Her Majesty's Government whenever and wherever they so chose. And I thought it was frightfully glamorous."
Prince Andrew, who suffered a lengthy spell in the public spotlight over claims of “playboyâ€
Philip the UK elite are quite upset with the neo-cons for making a mess out of their inheritance from the British after WWII. The changes in American politics since WWII have brought about a new agglomeration of forces that are not UK inspired. That is the problem that UK elite face. The US conservatives used to lookup to UK Conservatives like Thatcher etc. and the US liberals to the UK Labour party types. The neo-cons are their own folks and that is causing this spate of criticism.
There is a dichotomy in the British establishment between those who see themselves best tied to Uncle Sam's bootlaces,the "Anglo-Saxon Atlanticists" and those who prefer a more independent and European identity.Both establishment factions,however do want Britain to remain a powerful "post-Imperialist" (my coined label) international entity,with a healthy nuclear deterrent.Some would like more European nations to share the "expeditionary" expenditure,such as is being experienced in Iraq and Afghanistan.The feeling on the street is even more savage and revolutionary.Current PN Gordon Brown cannot properly divorce himself from Blair's tragic policies,because he was Blair's number two for ages.
The current unhappiness with the US is as the Duke made out,is the US's refusal to see beyond its nose and take good advice from experts.The US has been a poor colonial power and knows precious little about the rest of the globe ,the billions of the human race who are not Americans and do not follow US culture.Neither is it willing to understand these differences,as is being highlighted in the two ongoing wars in the Islamic world.It lumps all Muslim nations and their peoples into one large "terrorist stew",refusing to understand that as it is with so-called Christian states,there are significant differences and conflicts between them,just as it is in the Middle East.The Irish feud for centuries between Catholics and Protestants in the UK alone,impacting upon the US Irish community, should've been an eye-opener for the US policy makers.
Britain's "post-imperialist" international policy priorities however cannot be entirely underwritten by the US economy and come at the expense of the British public,as its services for the common man especially health and public transport have deteriorated abysmally.Outbursts against the US and blindly following the "war on terror",have now come in from every section of British opinion,the politicos,civil servants,diplomats,military top brass and now even the palace,though as the link shows,is upset at the Duke's open criticism and timing of it.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... uke106.xml
Prince Andrew angers Palace with US attack
By Andrew Pierce
Last Updated: 2:44am GMT 06/02/2008
The Duke of York has angered the Queen and senior politicians with his extraordinary attack on the White House on the eve of his trade mission to the United States.
Downing Street and the Foreign Office were also dismayed by the timing of his comments so close to the Super Tuesday primaries.
The Duke of York is about to embark on a 10-day mission to the US as British trade envoy
The duke's criticism, in a newspaper interview, of President Bush's post-war strategy for Iraq demolished the protocol that members of the Royal Family refrain from public comment on sensitive international and political issues.
In the interview, timed to mark the start of his 10-day mission to the US in his role as a British trade envoy, he said that there were "occasions when people in the UK would wish that those in responsible positions in the US might listen and learn from our experiences".
The aftermath of the Iraq conflict fuelled a "healthy scepticism" towards what is said in Washington, and a feeling of "why didn't anyone listen to what was said and the advice that was given?"
The remarks caused astonishment in Whitehall. The Prime Minister's official spokesman declined to be drawn but both Downing Street and the Foreign Office were irritated.
A senior Whitehall source said: "The remarks are not just unhelpful but the timing could not be much worse as the Super Tuesday primaries unfold.
"If Iraq had been a big issue in those elections his remarks could have been turned into a major diplomatic incident. He of all people should know that."
The Queen, who always studiously avoids politically sensitive subjects, was unhappy at the controversy, according to royal sources. One said: "Of course he should not have strayed into that area."
Sir Menzies Campbell, the former Liberal Democrat leader who is a member of the Commons foreign affairs select committee, said: "These are stormy waters. Prince Andrew would be well advised to steer clear of them. I imagine that the Foreign Office and Number 10 are not best pleased by his intervention."
Mike Gapes, the chairman of the same committee, said: "Members of the Royal Family should not get involved in politically controversial matters. I was very surprised by what he said. I do not know who his advisers are, but he needs new ones."
A White House spokesman declined to comment on the comments by the duke, who served in the Royal Navy for 22 years and was a helicopter pilot during the Falklands conflict.
He described that experience as one that changed him "out of all recognition".
Buckingham Palace confirmed the published quotes in the International Herald Tribune were accurate. "The remarks he made were not meant as a rebuke or an attack," said a spokesman.
The duke was referring indirectly to the criticism made by senior British military figures that the US did not heed advice about the decision to ban Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party and the dismantling of the Iraqi military.
The duke said that because of its imperial history, Britain had experienced much of what the US was going through in Iraq.
"If you are looking at colonialism,... at operations on an international scale,... at understanding each other's culture, understanding how to operate in a military insurgency campaign - we have been through them all," he was quoted as saying.
The current unhappiness with the US is as the Duke made out,is the US's refusal to see beyond its nose and take good advice from experts.The US has been a poor colonial power and knows precious little about the rest of the globe ,the billions of the human race who are not Americans and do not follow US culture.Neither is it willing to understand these differences,as is being highlighted in the two ongoing wars in the Islamic world.It lumps all Muslim nations and their peoples into one large "terrorist stew",refusing to understand that as it is with so-called Christian states,there are significant differences and conflicts between them,just as it is in the Middle East.The Irish feud for centuries between Catholics and Protestants in the UK alone,impacting upon the US Irish community, should've been an eye-opener for the US policy makers.
Britain's "post-imperialist" international policy priorities however cannot be entirely underwritten by the US economy and come at the expense of the British public,as its services for the common man especially health and public transport have deteriorated abysmally.Outbursts against the US and blindly following the "war on terror",have now come in from every section of British opinion,the politicos,civil servants,diplomats,military top brass and now even the palace,though as the link shows,is upset at the Duke's open criticism and timing of it.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... uke106.xml
Prince Andrew angers Palace with US attack
By Andrew Pierce
Last Updated: 2:44am GMT 06/02/2008
The Duke of York has angered the Queen and senior politicians with his extraordinary attack on the White House on the eve of his trade mission to the United States.
Downing Street and the Foreign Office were also dismayed by the timing of his comments so close to the Super Tuesday primaries.
The Duke of York is about to embark on a 10-day mission to the US as British trade envoy
The duke's criticism, in a newspaper interview, of President Bush's post-war strategy for Iraq demolished the protocol that members of the Royal Family refrain from public comment on sensitive international and political issues.
In the interview, timed to mark the start of his 10-day mission to the US in his role as a British trade envoy, he said that there were "occasions when people in the UK would wish that those in responsible positions in the US might listen and learn from our experiences".
The aftermath of the Iraq conflict fuelled a "healthy scepticism" towards what is said in Washington, and a feeling of "why didn't anyone listen to what was said and the advice that was given?"
The remarks caused astonishment in Whitehall. The Prime Minister's official spokesman declined to be drawn but both Downing Street and the Foreign Office were irritated.
A senior Whitehall source said: "The remarks are not just unhelpful but the timing could not be much worse as the Super Tuesday primaries unfold.
"If Iraq had been a big issue in those elections his remarks could have been turned into a major diplomatic incident. He of all people should know that."
The Queen, who always studiously avoids politically sensitive subjects, was unhappy at the controversy, according to royal sources. One said: "Of course he should not have strayed into that area."
Sir Menzies Campbell, the former Liberal Democrat leader who is a member of the Commons foreign affairs select committee, said: "These are stormy waters. Prince Andrew would be well advised to steer clear of them. I imagine that the Foreign Office and Number 10 are not best pleased by his intervention."
Mike Gapes, the chairman of the same committee, said: "Members of the Royal Family should not get involved in politically controversial matters. I was very surprised by what he said. I do not know who his advisers are, but he needs new ones."
A White House spokesman declined to comment on the comments by the duke, who served in the Royal Navy for 22 years and was a helicopter pilot during the Falklands conflict.
He described that experience as one that changed him "out of all recognition".
Buckingham Palace confirmed the published quotes in the International Herald Tribune were accurate. "The remarks he made were not meant as a rebuke or an attack," said a spokesman.
The duke was referring indirectly to the criticism made by senior British military figures that the US did not heed advice about the decision to ban Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party and the dismantling of the Iraqi military.
The duke said that because of its imperial history, Britain had experienced much of what the US was going through in Iraq.
"If you are looking at colonialism,... at operations on an international scale,... at understanding each other's culture, understanding how to operate in a military insurgency campaign - we have been through them all," he was quoted as saying.
On the contrary the matters have become so bad, for the Anglo-Saxon project that W.S. Churchill launched, that the Prince had to speak. The Whitehall fuddy duddy "Yes Prime Minister" types seem to not understand the damage.
Philip the real dichotomy is between the ruling elite and the working class newly prosperous folks who want to be themsleves and leave the dominance stuff to the Yanks.
I once flew with a younger Uk software developer who did not join the military as it needed old family connections to move up. He was quite successful and had his own company of 25 UK software developers who moved between the coasts as needed. He is the new working class newly prosperous type.
Philip the real dichotomy is between the ruling elite and the working class newly prosperous folks who want to be themsleves and leave the dominance stuff to the Yanks.
I once flew with a younger Uk software developer who did not join the military as it needed old family connections to move up. He was quite successful and had his own company of 25 UK software developers who moved between the coasts as needed. He is the new working class newly prosperous type.
Ramana,you're right about the younger upwardly mobile non-elitist types.I met a young Iraqi/Afghan veteran,who has "dropped out".Why fight America'swar,is a common refrain?
Meanwhile,more trouble for the poor Iraqis from this report!
Shia call on Mehdi Army to take up arms again in Iraq
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east
A man takes part in a ceremony celebrating the establishment of Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army
Patrick Cockburn in Baghdad
Thursday, 7 February 2008
In the alleys of the ancient district of al-Salaikh in Baghdad, a Shia family fought a fierce gun battle with Sunni militiamen who tried to stop them reoccupying their house from which they had been forced to flee months earlier.
The Shia family got the worst of the fighting and, after suffering seven dead, sent a desperate message asking for help to the Mehdi Army, the powerful Shia militia of the Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr that once would have rushed to defend them. On this occasion, however, the local Mehdi Army commander turned them down, saying: "We can do nothing because we are under orders not to break the ceasefire."
It is this six-month ceasefire, declared on 29 August last year by Mr Sadr, which American commanders say is responsible for cutting much of the violence in Iraq. But the ceasefire will expire in the next few weeks and political and military leaders loyal to Mr Sadr are advising him not to renew it.
They complain that state security organs, in effect controlled by their Shia rivals in the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI), are using the truce to attack them, particularly in and around the southern city of Diwaniya from which 300 Sadrist families have been expelled. The Sadrists also complain that US troops and the Iraqi army are targeting Mehdi Army leaders and al-Qa'ida has once again started bombing Shia civilians as they did last Friday when two bird markets in Shia districts were attacked, killing 99 people.
Salah al-Ubaidi, the spokesman for Mr Sadr, said a committee of Sadrist legislators said: "They don't want the ceasefire to remain. They want it lifted because of oppressive acts by security forces in Diwaniya".
Mohammed, the head of a Sadrist district office in Baghdad, said that in Diwaniya the security forces "have started arresting the wives and daughters of our men who have fled. There is low morale there as we do not help them because of the ceasefire".
The Sadrist movement is the only real mass movement in Iraq and is the voice of the poor Shia, who make up much of the Iraqi population. It was created by Mr Sadr's revered father, Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr – assassinated with two of his sons on the orders of Saddam Hussein in 1999 – and revived by Muqtada in 2003.
Mr Sadr surprised his followers by calling a total ceasefire in August last year after clashes with ISCI-backed security forces in Kerbala. He said he wanted to purge his movement of criminal gangs and anti-Sunni death squads. "Muqtada wanted the Mehdi Army to have a good reputation," said Mohammed. "We vet people now in a way we didn't before. Police come to us and say, 'this criminal says he works for you' and sometimes we say 'yes' and sometimes 'no'."
The Sadrist ability to enforce the ceasefire is impressive given the movement's previous reputation for being so decentralised that it was out of control. "Sadr's followers are strong, patient and stick to their work," said Mohammed. "But we are militarily weak because of the freeze on action."
This claim of weakness is a little exaggerated. The Sadrists probably still control about half of Baghdad and 80 per cent of Shia areas. Often they can get what they want because nobody wants them as an enemy. When 12 Mehdi Army men with weapons, and without papers giving them the right to carry them, were arrested by Interior Ministry officials in Palestine Street, the local Sadrist leader Sheikh Abbas Rubaie called the ministry and said: "Release them by six or you know what we will do." Minutes later they were back on the streets.
Nobody knows what Mr Sadr will decide. One Sadrist said: "Even people close to Muqtada do not know what is happening in his mind." Safar, with close links to the Mehdi Army, said its leaders "informed the marji'iyyah [the senior Shia clerics] to tell [the Prime Minister] Nouri al-Maliki that if his government does not stop arresting their leaders they will end the ceasefire".
One person who believes the truce will continue is the Iraqi politician Ahmad Chalabi, who has always had good relations with Mr Sadr. He said: "Muqtada and the Sadrists have benefited from the ceasefire. Despite what people say, it has done them good because it makes them look reasonable – something they badly needed."
Though they have closed their military offices, the Sadrists have a dense network of social and cultural activities and often provide the only assistance for poor families. Their help wins them strong support because a recent report by aid agencies said 43 per cent of Iraqis live in "absolute poverty".
The Iraqi government claimed at the end of last year that many of the 2.2 million Iraqis who have fled abroad are returning because of improved security. But a report by the UN High Commission for Refugees says that, on Iraq's border with Syria, where 1.5 million Iraqis live, only 700 Iraqis travel to Iraq every day and 1,200 go to Syria.
Meanwhile,more trouble for the poor Iraqis from this report!
Shia call on Mehdi Army to take up arms again in Iraq
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east
A man takes part in a ceremony celebrating the establishment of Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army
Patrick Cockburn in Baghdad
Thursday, 7 February 2008
In the alleys of the ancient district of al-Salaikh in Baghdad, a Shia family fought a fierce gun battle with Sunni militiamen who tried to stop them reoccupying their house from which they had been forced to flee months earlier.
The Shia family got the worst of the fighting and, after suffering seven dead, sent a desperate message asking for help to the Mehdi Army, the powerful Shia militia of the Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr that once would have rushed to defend them. On this occasion, however, the local Mehdi Army commander turned them down, saying: "We can do nothing because we are under orders not to break the ceasefire."
It is this six-month ceasefire, declared on 29 August last year by Mr Sadr, which American commanders say is responsible for cutting much of the violence in Iraq. But the ceasefire will expire in the next few weeks and political and military leaders loyal to Mr Sadr are advising him not to renew it.
They complain that state security organs, in effect controlled by their Shia rivals in the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI), are using the truce to attack them, particularly in and around the southern city of Diwaniya from which 300 Sadrist families have been expelled. The Sadrists also complain that US troops and the Iraqi army are targeting Mehdi Army leaders and al-Qa'ida has once again started bombing Shia civilians as they did last Friday when two bird markets in Shia districts were attacked, killing 99 people.
Salah al-Ubaidi, the spokesman for Mr Sadr, said a committee of Sadrist legislators said: "They don't want the ceasefire to remain. They want it lifted because of oppressive acts by security forces in Diwaniya".
Mohammed, the head of a Sadrist district office in Baghdad, said that in Diwaniya the security forces "have started arresting the wives and daughters of our men who have fled. There is low morale there as we do not help them because of the ceasefire".
The Sadrist movement is the only real mass movement in Iraq and is the voice of the poor Shia, who make up much of the Iraqi population. It was created by Mr Sadr's revered father, Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr – assassinated with two of his sons on the orders of Saddam Hussein in 1999 – and revived by Muqtada in 2003.
Mr Sadr surprised his followers by calling a total ceasefire in August last year after clashes with ISCI-backed security forces in Kerbala. He said he wanted to purge his movement of criminal gangs and anti-Sunni death squads. "Muqtada wanted the Mehdi Army to have a good reputation," said Mohammed. "We vet people now in a way we didn't before. Police come to us and say, 'this criminal says he works for you' and sometimes we say 'yes' and sometimes 'no'."
The Sadrist ability to enforce the ceasefire is impressive given the movement's previous reputation for being so decentralised that it was out of control. "Sadr's followers are strong, patient and stick to their work," said Mohammed. "But we are militarily weak because of the freeze on action."
This claim of weakness is a little exaggerated. The Sadrists probably still control about half of Baghdad and 80 per cent of Shia areas. Often they can get what they want because nobody wants them as an enemy. When 12 Mehdi Army men with weapons, and without papers giving them the right to carry them, were arrested by Interior Ministry officials in Palestine Street, the local Sadrist leader Sheikh Abbas Rubaie called the ministry and said: "Release them by six or you know what we will do." Minutes later they were back on the streets.
Nobody knows what Mr Sadr will decide. One Sadrist said: "Even people close to Muqtada do not know what is happening in his mind." Safar, with close links to the Mehdi Army, said its leaders "informed the marji'iyyah [the senior Shia clerics] to tell [the Prime Minister] Nouri al-Maliki that if his government does not stop arresting their leaders they will end the ceasefire".
One person who believes the truce will continue is the Iraqi politician Ahmad Chalabi, who has always had good relations with Mr Sadr. He said: "Muqtada and the Sadrists have benefited from the ceasefire. Despite what people say, it has done them good because it makes them look reasonable – something they badly needed."
Though they have closed their military offices, the Sadrists have a dense network of social and cultural activities and often provide the only assistance for poor families. Their help wins them strong support because a recent report by aid agencies said 43 per cent of Iraqis live in "absolute poverty".
The Iraqi government claimed at the end of last year that many of the 2.2 million Iraqis who have fled abroad are returning because of improved security. But a report by the UN High Commission for Refugees says that, on Iraq's border with Syria, where 1.5 million Iraqis live, only 700 Iraqis travel to Iraq every day and 1,200 go to Syria.
-
Rudranathh
- BRFite
- Posts: 223
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Iraqi PM raises controversial new flag
5 Feb 2008, 2007 hrs IST,AFP
BAGHDAD: Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki raised Iraq's new national flag over his office for the first time on Tuesday, at a ceremony he hoped would encourage others to accept its use.
Iraq's parliament approved the banner last month after a fierce debate over replacing the previous one, which some see as tarnished by its association with Saddam Hussein's former regime but others revere as a national symbol.
Maliki's office said ministers and senior officials attended the formal flag-raising ceremony "as a vanguard for raising the Iraqi flag in all departments of the Iraqi state".
Maliki told his guests that the new flag would "wipe clean the past of crimes and human rights violations committed under the previous flag".
"We support the choice of the new flag. Its colours embody the historic background that all Iraqis share. This flag is now one of the national symbols that aim to promote unity and brotherhood," he said.
The new standard retains its predecessor's horizontal red, white and black stripes but drops the three green stars, which were once a symbol of Arab unity but came to be associated with the slogans of Saddam's Baath party.
This is the second time the design of the flag has been changed since Saddam was overthrown by a US-led invasion.
Earlier, the design of the slogan "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greater) was changed, as the earlier script was said to be in Saddam's own handwriting. The new banner retains the Islamic slogan, but in a stylised green font.
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Rudranathh
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50 bodies found in mass grave northwest of Baghdad
6 Feb 2008, 0229 hrs IST,AP
BAGHDAD: About 50 dead bodies were discovered Tuesday in a mass grave northwest of Baghdad, Iraqi officials said.
US-backed Sunni tribesmen found the grave while patrolling the village of Jazeerah, 25 kilometers (15 miles) west of Samarra near Lake Tharthar, said Col. Mazin Younis Hussein, commander of the Samarra support force, a group of local men working with US forces.
Some of the bodies were severely decomposed, suggesting they had been buried months ago, while other victims appeared to have been killed recently, said Samarra police Lt. Muthanna Shakir, who visited the site Tuesday and saw the bodies.
The US military in northern Iraq said it had no information about the discovery of a mass grave in the area.
As many as 200 bodies have been unearthed in recent months from mass graves around Lake Tharthar. Al-Qaida in Iraq controlled the area, as well as huge swaths of Iraq's western deserts, until being ousted early this year in an uprising by local tribes.
Unkil spreads "democracy bug", and in return it got a "mysterious bug".
Check it out: http://www.iraqinfections.org/
Check it out: http://www.iraqinfections.org/
Blair went to war on a lie, law lords told
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po ... 81015.html
Brown under pressure to set up Iraq inquiry
Yasmin Alib
Nigel Morris, Home Affairs Correspondent
Tuesday, 12 February 2008
The mothers of two teenage soldiers killed in Iraq accused Tony Blair's government of going to war "on a lie" as they took their fight for a public inquiry into the conflict to the House of Lords.
Beverly Clarke and Rose Gentle argue that ministers breached their duty to Britain's armed forces by failing to ensure the invasion was lawful.
Trooper David Clarke, from Littleworth, Staffordshire, was killed by "friendly fire" near Basra in 2003, while Fusilier Gordon Gentle, from Glasgow, died in a roadside bomb attack in Basra in 2004. Both were 19.
The law lords yesterday began considering the mothers' argument that servicemen and women have the right not to have their lives jeopardised in illegal conflicts.
Rabinder Singh QC, who is representing the women, told the court: "That duty is owed to soldiers who are under the unique compulsory control of the state and have to obey orders. They have to put their lives in harm's way if necessary because their country demands it."
Mr Singh said the overwhelming body of legal advice received by the Government was that the invasion would not be lawful without a second UN Security Council resolution. "These mothers ... have come to court with reluctance. They are proud of their sons, who died with honour serving their country," he said.
Mrs Clarke and Mrs Gentle base their argument on the legal advice prepared by Lord Goldsmith, the former attorney general, in the run-up to the war. They say 13 pages of "equivocal" advice were reduced to one page of unequivocal advice that military action would be legal in just 10 days.
The women are challenging a Court of Appeal ruling that said the Government was not obliged to order an independent inquiry under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects the "right to life".
Mrs Gentle said: "I think Tony Blair sent our boys to war on a lie. He just agreed with George Bush right away." Peter Brierley, whose son, L/Cpl Shaun Brierley, was killed in 2006, said: "This was not defending his country. The country was not under any threat of attack."
Lord Bingham, sitting with eight other law lords, said they were mindful of "the human loss which underlies these proceedings".
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po ... 81015.html
Brown under pressure to set up Iraq inquiry
Yasmin Alib
Nigel Morris, Home Affairs Correspondent
Tuesday, 12 February 2008
The mothers of two teenage soldiers killed in Iraq accused Tony Blair's government of going to war "on a lie" as they took their fight for a public inquiry into the conflict to the House of Lords.
Beverly Clarke and Rose Gentle argue that ministers breached their duty to Britain's armed forces by failing to ensure the invasion was lawful.
Trooper David Clarke, from Littleworth, Staffordshire, was killed by "friendly fire" near Basra in 2003, while Fusilier Gordon Gentle, from Glasgow, died in a roadside bomb attack in Basra in 2004. Both were 19.
The law lords yesterday began considering the mothers' argument that servicemen and women have the right not to have their lives jeopardised in illegal conflicts.
Rabinder Singh QC, who is representing the women, told the court: "That duty is owed to soldiers who are under the unique compulsory control of the state and have to obey orders. They have to put their lives in harm's way if necessary because their country demands it."
Mr Singh said the overwhelming body of legal advice received by the Government was that the invasion would not be lawful without a second UN Security Council resolution. "These mothers ... have come to court with reluctance. They are proud of their sons, who died with honour serving their country," he said.
Mrs Clarke and Mrs Gentle base their argument on the legal advice prepared by Lord Goldsmith, the former attorney general, in the run-up to the war. They say 13 pages of "equivocal" advice were reduced to one page of unequivocal advice that military action would be legal in just 10 days.
The women are challenging a Court of Appeal ruling that said the Government was not obliged to order an independent inquiry under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects the "right to life".
Mrs Gentle said: "I think Tony Blair sent our boys to war on a lie. He just agreed with George Bush right away." Peter Brierley, whose son, L/Cpl Shaun Brierley, was killed in 2006, said: "This was not defending his country. The country was not under any threat of attack."
Lord Bingham, sitting with eight other law lords, said they were mindful of "the human loss which underlies these proceedings".
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enqyoobOLD
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No story following this news headline: the link just goes to the site that lists Coalition dead.
Consider that number TWENTY-NINE THOUSAND. "Wounded" enough to be reported here, indicates pretty serious wounds.
Now consider the number who have returned with severe mental problems. You can see why the people in Berkeley may be the most patriotic of Americans - someone has to stand up and call this what it is.
Nearly 29,000 U.S. troops have been wounded in Iraq; more than 3,900 killed, the Pentagon says
Consider that number TWENTY-NINE THOUSAND. "Wounded" enough to be reported here, indicates pretty serious wounds.
Now consider the number who have returned with severe mental problems. You can see why the people in Berkeley may be the most patriotic of Americans - someone has to stand up and call this what it is.
The truth will out! So it is with the US's "torture flights".This is only the beginning of the expoae of the US's despicable anti-human behaviour.That the UK has apologised,even if belatedly,is avery healthy sign of disapproval of the former Blair regimes' winkign at the US's torture policy of detainees.
Official apology after CIA 'torture' jets used UK base
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po ... 85596.html
Reuters
David Miliband told MPs that two CIA flights landed at the RAF air base on Diego Garcia (above)
Colin Brown, Deputy Political Editor
Friday, 22 February 2008
A British territory in the Indian Ocean was used for American "torture" flights, despite categorical denials of Britain's involvement from both Tony Blair and Jack Straw, the Government admitted yesterday.
The Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, had to make a humiliating apology to the Commons after it emerged that the US failed to tell British officials that two CIA rendition flights carrying suspected terrorists landed on the island of Diego Garcia in 2002. Six years on, one of the suspects is still being held by the US at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The other has been released.
Mr Miliband denied there was a deliberate cover-up and said he believed the US had acted "in good faith". However, Gordon Brown, attending an EU summit in Brussels, expressed his "disappointment" and said Washington's failure to disclose the flights earlier was "a very serious issue".
"The US has expressed regret that it did not admit at the time to these renditions through Diego Garcia," he added. "We have to assure ourselves these procedures will never happen again."
America has used rendition flights to interrogate terror suspects – in particular since the attacks of 11 September 2001. The two flights which have now come to light, following an audit by officials in Washington, stopped to refuel on Diego Garcia on their way to Guantanamo Bay.
Mr Miliband said he was "very sorry indeed" to have to correct previous statements made by the then Prime Minister Mr Blair and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw that rendition flights had not used British bases. He said the Diego Garcia cases had not come to light earlier because of an error in a previous US records search. "The House and the Government will share deep disappointment at this news and about its late emergence," he added. "That disappointment is shared by our US allies. They recognise the absolute imperative for the Government to provide accurate information to Parliament."
Mr Miliband said each case involved a single detainee – neither of them British – who did not leave the aircraft while it was on the ground. He told MPs that neither suspect was subject to torture by "water-boarding". Nevertheless, he said he had told officials to draw up a list of all flights about which concerns had been expressed regarding the use of UK territory.
In future, he added, Britain would approve CIA rendition flights through British bases only if the Government was satisfied they complied with British laws and the UK's international obligations, including those under the UN Convention Against Torture.
Human rights activists voiced concern that the two cases which had been identified might only be the "tip of the iceberg". Kate Allen, of Amnesty International UK, said: "It is not enough for the Government simply to accept US assurances on correct behaviour in the war on terror. We should retain our own integrity and act accordingly."
As recently as January 2007, Mr Blair assured the Intelligence and Security Committee he was satisfied that the US had at no time since 9/11 rendered an individual though the UK or its overseas territories.
Official apology after CIA 'torture' jets used UK base
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po ... 85596.html
Reuters
David Miliband told MPs that two CIA flights landed at the RAF air base on Diego Garcia (above)
Colin Brown, Deputy Political Editor
Friday, 22 February 2008
A British territory in the Indian Ocean was used for American "torture" flights, despite categorical denials of Britain's involvement from both Tony Blair and Jack Straw, the Government admitted yesterday.
The Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, had to make a humiliating apology to the Commons after it emerged that the US failed to tell British officials that two CIA rendition flights carrying suspected terrorists landed on the island of Diego Garcia in 2002. Six years on, one of the suspects is still being held by the US at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The other has been released.
Mr Miliband denied there was a deliberate cover-up and said he believed the US had acted "in good faith". However, Gordon Brown, attending an EU summit in Brussels, expressed his "disappointment" and said Washington's failure to disclose the flights earlier was "a very serious issue".
"The US has expressed regret that it did not admit at the time to these renditions through Diego Garcia," he added. "We have to assure ourselves these procedures will never happen again."
America has used rendition flights to interrogate terror suspects – in particular since the attacks of 11 September 2001. The two flights which have now come to light, following an audit by officials in Washington, stopped to refuel on Diego Garcia on their way to Guantanamo Bay.
Mr Miliband said he was "very sorry indeed" to have to correct previous statements made by the then Prime Minister Mr Blair and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw that rendition flights had not used British bases. He said the Diego Garcia cases had not come to light earlier because of an error in a previous US records search. "The House and the Government will share deep disappointment at this news and about its late emergence," he added. "That disappointment is shared by our US allies. They recognise the absolute imperative for the Government to provide accurate information to Parliament."
Mr Miliband said each case involved a single detainee – neither of them British – who did not leave the aircraft while it was on the ground. He told MPs that neither suspect was subject to torture by "water-boarding". Nevertheless, he said he had told officials to draw up a list of all flights about which concerns had been expressed regarding the use of UK territory.
In future, he added, Britain would approve CIA rendition flights through British bases only if the Government was satisfied they complied with British laws and the UK's international obligations, including those under the UN Convention Against Torture.
Human rights activists voiced concern that the two cases which had been identified might only be the "tip of the iceberg". Kate Allen, of Amnesty International UK, said: "It is not enough for the Government simply to accept US assurances on correct behaviour in the war on terror. We should retain our own integrity and act accordingly."
As recently as January 2007, Mr Blair assured the Intelligence and Security Committee he was satisfied that the US had at no time since 9/11 rendered an individual though the UK or its overseas territories.
Philip, I am in tune with you over most of your posting, sorry to say but I have to go against you on this one. The people beig transported wouldn't give it a thought to slit the throats of people like you & me and they deserve everything that they get.Philip wrote:The truth will out! So it is with the US's "torture flights".This is only the beginning of the expoae of the US's despicable anti-human behaviour.That the UK has apologised,even if belatedly,is avery healthy sign of disapproval of the former Blair regimes' winkign at the US's torture policy of detainees.
Official apology after CIA 'torture' jets used UK base
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po ... 85596.html
I would like to see some form of oversight into these flights but I don't want them stopped. The target people are the worst of the worst. The reason I want oversight is to prevent innocents being caught up in it!!!
Raj,I too want the guilty to be punished,but found guilty in an open courtroom,where transparency rules and everyone can see their guilt or innocence.The US's policy of setting up secret concentration camps worldwide and not giving the captured detainees the ghost of a fair trial,that too refusing to give them a chance under US laws,is a fascist chracteristic reminiscent of Nazism.That the UK govt. has apologised is sufficient indication that Britain is against such inhuman behaviour and that it goes against the civilised world.The evil doctrine of post-imperialism that Bush has shamed and disgraced the US with,as seen at Gitmo,Abu Ghraib,Fallujah,etc.,is deserving of war crimes trials.By all means capture the suspected terrorists,but put them on trial in open court.If it could be done to Milosevic and Saddam,even these show trials exposed the actions of these late lamented (by some) dictators.
PS: Massive Turkish offensive in Iraq against the Kurds.It also dispalys Turkish independence of action,giving Bush the bums rap.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... key122.xml
Turkey launches PKK offensive in northern Iraq
By Megan Levy and agencies
Last Updated: 11:39am GMT 22/02/2008
Thousands of Turkish troops have crossed the border into northern Iraq in a bid to track down Kurdish separatist rebels, the military has said.
Turkish tanks move near the southeastern Turkish town of Silopi
The incursion by up to 10,000 troops follows eight hours of air and artillery strikes in an offensive to hunt down members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
In a statement on its website, the Turkish Army said troops would "return home as soon as possible after achieving their planned objective of incapacitating members of the terror organization and destroying their infrastructure."
Turkey's government has come under increased public pressure to act after PKK attacks from bases in northern Iraq killed scores of Turkish troops.
In October, Turkey's parliament gave a one-year authorisation for cross-border operations against the PKK, which Ankara considers to be a terrorist organisation.
Forces have been built up at the border since then with regular air strikes into northern Iraq.
Abdullah Gul, Turkey's president, informed Iraq's President Jalal Talabani about the latest offensive in a telephone call, Mr Gul's office said.
The US military in Iraq called the Turkish incursion "an operation of limited duration to specifically target PKK terrorists in that region."
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Rear Admiral Gregory Smith said: "Turkey has given its assurances it will do everything possible to avoid collateral damage to innocent civilians or Kurdish infrastructure.
"The United States continues to support Turkey's right to defend itself from the terrorist activities of the PKK."
Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari denied a large-scale Turkish raid had been launched but said tension was high and rising in the border region.
The PKK has waged a violent 23-year campaign for self-rule in southeast Turkey in a conflict has claimed more than 37,000 lives.
Turkey says an estimated 4,000 PKK rebels enjoy refuge in northern Iraq and use the region as a springboard for attacks on Turkish territory.
PS: Massive Turkish offensive in Iraq against the Kurds.It also dispalys Turkish independence of action,giving Bush the bums rap.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... key122.xml
Turkey launches PKK offensive in northern Iraq
By Megan Levy and agencies
Last Updated: 11:39am GMT 22/02/2008
Thousands of Turkish troops have crossed the border into northern Iraq in a bid to track down Kurdish separatist rebels, the military has said.
Turkish tanks move near the southeastern Turkish town of Silopi
The incursion by up to 10,000 troops follows eight hours of air and artillery strikes in an offensive to hunt down members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
In a statement on its website, the Turkish Army said troops would "return home as soon as possible after achieving their planned objective of incapacitating members of the terror organization and destroying their infrastructure."
Turkey's government has come under increased public pressure to act after PKK attacks from bases in northern Iraq killed scores of Turkish troops.
In October, Turkey's parliament gave a one-year authorisation for cross-border operations against the PKK, which Ankara considers to be a terrorist organisation.
Forces have been built up at the border since then with regular air strikes into northern Iraq.
Abdullah Gul, Turkey's president, informed Iraq's President Jalal Talabani about the latest offensive in a telephone call, Mr Gul's office said.
The US military in Iraq called the Turkish incursion "an operation of limited duration to specifically target PKK terrorists in that region."
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Rear Admiral Gregory Smith said: "Turkey has given its assurances it will do everything possible to avoid collateral damage to innocent civilians or Kurdish infrastructure.
"The United States continues to support Turkey's right to defend itself from the terrorist activities of the PKK."
Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari denied a large-scale Turkish raid had been launched but said tension was high and rising in the border region.
The PKK has waged a violent 23-year campaign for self-rule in southeast Turkey in a conflict has claimed more than 37,000 lives.
Turkey says an estimated 4,000 PKK rebels enjoy refuge in northern Iraq and use the region as a springboard for attacks on Turkish territory.
The "new invasion of Iraq"!The tragedy keeps going on and on. Here,Turkey is attempting to forestall a unilateral decalaration of independence that might emerge from "Kurdistan",much in the same way as the west has bulldozed its way in Kosovo,illegally,without any UN approval.
The new invasion of Iraq
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 86142.html
Up to 10,000 Turkish troops launch an incursion which threatens to destabilise the country's only peaceful region.
Patrick Cockburn
Saturday, 23 February 2008
A new crisis has exploded in Iraq after Turkish troops, supported by attack planes and Cobra helicopters, yesterday launched a major ground offensive into Iraqi Kurdistan.
The invading Turkish soldiers are in pursuit of Kurdish guerrillas hiding in the mountains. They are seeking to destroy the camps of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) along the border between Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan. "Thousands of troops have crossed the border and thousands more are waiting at the border to join them if necessary," said a Turkish military source.
"There are severe clashes," said Ahmed Danees, the head of foreign relations for the PKK. "Two Turkish soldiers have been killed and eight wounded. There are no PKK casualties." Turkish television said that the number of Turkish troops involved was between 3,000 and 10,000, and they had moved 16 miles inside Iraq.
But the escalating Turkish attacks are destabilising the Kurdish region of Iraq which is the one peaceful part of the country and has visibly benefited from the US invasion.
The Iraqi Kurds are America's closest allies in Iraq and the only Iraqi community to support fully the US occupation. The president of the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government, Massoud Barzani, said recently he felt let down by the failure of the Iraqi government in Baghdad to stop Turkish bombing raids on Iraqi territory.
The incursion is embarrassing for the US, which tried to avert it, because the American military provides intelligence to the Turkish armed forces about the location of the camps of Turkish Kurd fighters. Immediately before the operation began, the Turkish Prime Minister, Tayyip Erdogan, called President George Bush to warn him.
The US and the Iraqi government are eager to play down the extent of the invasion. Rear Admiral Gregory Smith, a US spokesman for Iraq, said: "We understand [it] is an operation of limited duration to specifically target PKK terrorists in that region." The Iraqi Foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, claimed that only a few hundred Turkish troops were in Iraq.
But since last year Turkey has succeeded, by making limited incursions into Kurdistan, in establishing a de facto right to intervene militarily in Kurdistan whenever it feels like it.
Many Iraqi Kurdish leaders are convinced that a hidden aim of the Turkish attack is to undermine the Kurdish region, which enjoys autonomous rights close to statehood. Ankara has always seen the semi-independence of Iraqi Kurdistan, and the Kurds' claim to the oil city of Kirkuk, as providing a dangerous example for Kurds in Turkey who are also demanding autonomy.
Many Turkish companies carrying out construction contracts in the region have already left. And businesses that remain are frightened that Ankara will close Iraqi Kurdistan's lifeline over the Harbour Bridge into Turkey.
During the 1990s the Turkish army carried out repeated attacks in Iraqi Kurdistan with the tacit permission of Saddam Hussein, but this is the first significant offensive since the US invasion of 2003. "A land operation is a whole new level," said the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza, adding that the incursion was "not the greatest news".
The Turkish army is unlikely to do much damage to the PKK, which has some 2,500 fighters hidden in a mountainous area that has few roads, with snow drifts making tracks impassable.
The Turkish ground offensive was preceded by bombing. "We were certain yesterday after this bombing that a military operation would take place and we got ready for it," said Mr Danees, adding that bombing and artillery had destroyed three bridges on the Iraq-Turkish border as well as a PKK cemetery.
Another reason why Turkey has launched its offensive now has as much to do with Turkish internal politics as it does with any threat posed by the PKK. The PKK launched a military struggle on behalf of the Kurdish minority in eastern Turkey in 1984 which lasted until the PKK's leader Abdullah Ocalan was seized in Kenya in 1999 and later put on trial in Turkey. The PKK has been losing support ever since among the Turkish Kurds, but at the end of last year it escalated guerrilla attacks, killing some 40 Turkish soldiers.
Limited though the PKK's military activity has been, the Turkish army has used it to bolster its waning political strength. For its part, the mildly Islamic government of Mr Erdogan is frightened of being outflanked by jingoistic nationalists supporting the military. Mr Erdogan has pointed out that previous Turkish army incursions into Kurdistan in the 1990s all failed to dislodge the PKK.
The area which the Turkish army has entered in Iraqi Kurdistan is mostly desolate, with broken terrain in which bands of guerrillas can take refuge. The PKK says it has left its former bases and broken up into small units. The main bases of the PKK are along Iraq's border with Iran, notably in the Kandil mountains, to the south of where the Turkish troops entered. At this time of year the villagers, many of them herders and shepherds, leave their houses and live in the towns in the plain below the mountains until the snow melts.
PS:The Kurds were earlier betrayed by the US/CIA during Saddam's regime,when they were encouraged to revolt being promised the full support of the CIA/US.However,when they were being exterminated by saddam,help never came and the Kurds then cursed the US vowing never to trust them.This they forgot after GW-2 and Saddam's overthrow.If they believe that the US will allow an indpendent Kurdish state to emerge out of the shambles of Iraq,they could sooner commit harakiri,as the inevitable Turkish invasion has happened.The Iranians too have no love lost for the Kurds and one might very well wonder whether they is an understanding between Turkey and Iran on the issue.
The new invasion of Iraq
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 86142.html
Up to 10,000 Turkish troops launch an incursion which threatens to destabilise the country's only peaceful region.
Patrick Cockburn
Saturday, 23 February 2008
A new crisis has exploded in Iraq after Turkish troops, supported by attack planes and Cobra helicopters, yesterday launched a major ground offensive into Iraqi Kurdistan.
The invading Turkish soldiers are in pursuit of Kurdish guerrillas hiding in the mountains. They are seeking to destroy the camps of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) along the border between Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan. "Thousands of troops have crossed the border and thousands more are waiting at the border to join them if necessary," said a Turkish military source.
"There are severe clashes," said Ahmed Danees, the head of foreign relations for the PKK. "Two Turkish soldiers have been killed and eight wounded. There are no PKK casualties." Turkish television said that the number of Turkish troops involved was between 3,000 and 10,000, and they had moved 16 miles inside Iraq.
But the escalating Turkish attacks are destabilising the Kurdish region of Iraq which is the one peaceful part of the country and has visibly benefited from the US invasion.
The Iraqi Kurds are America's closest allies in Iraq and the only Iraqi community to support fully the US occupation. The president of the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government, Massoud Barzani, said recently he felt let down by the failure of the Iraqi government in Baghdad to stop Turkish bombing raids on Iraqi territory.
The incursion is embarrassing for the US, which tried to avert it, because the American military provides intelligence to the Turkish armed forces about the location of the camps of Turkish Kurd fighters. Immediately before the operation began, the Turkish Prime Minister, Tayyip Erdogan, called President George Bush to warn him.
The US and the Iraqi government are eager to play down the extent of the invasion. Rear Admiral Gregory Smith, a US spokesman for Iraq, said: "We understand [it] is an operation of limited duration to specifically target PKK terrorists in that region." The Iraqi Foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, claimed that only a few hundred Turkish troops were in Iraq.
But since last year Turkey has succeeded, by making limited incursions into Kurdistan, in establishing a de facto right to intervene militarily in Kurdistan whenever it feels like it.
Many Iraqi Kurdish leaders are convinced that a hidden aim of the Turkish attack is to undermine the Kurdish region, which enjoys autonomous rights close to statehood. Ankara has always seen the semi-independence of Iraqi Kurdistan, and the Kurds' claim to the oil city of Kirkuk, as providing a dangerous example for Kurds in Turkey who are also demanding autonomy.
Many Turkish companies carrying out construction contracts in the region have already left. And businesses that remain are frightened that Ankara will close Iraqi Kurdistan's lifeline over the Harbour Bridge into Turkey.
During the 1990s the Turkish army carried out repeated attacks in Iraqi Kurdistan with the tacit permission of Saddam Hussein, but this is the first significant offensive since the US invasion of 2003. "A land operation is a whole new level," said the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza, adding that the incursion was "not the greatest news".
The Turkish army is unlikely to do much damage to the PKK, which has some 2,500 fighters hidden in a mountainous area that has few roads, with snow drifts making tracks impassable.
The Turkish ground offensive was preceded by bombing. "We were certain yesterday after this bombing that a military operation would take place and we got ready for it," said Mr Danees, adding that bombing and artillery had destroyed three bridges on the Iraq-Turkish border as well as a PKK cemetery.
Another reason why Turkey has launched its offensive now has as much to do with Turkish internal politics as it does with any threat posed by the PKK. The PKK launched a military struggle on behalf of the Kurdish minority in eastern Turkey in 1984 which lasted until the PKK's leader Abdullah Ocalan was seized in Kenya in 1999 and later put on trial in Turkey. The PKK has been losing support ever since among the Turkish Kurds, but at the end of last year it escalated guerrilla attacks, killing some 40 Turkish soldiers.
Limited though the PKK's military activity has been, the Turkish army has used it to bolster its waning political strength. For its part, the mildly Islamic government of Mr Erdogan is frightened of being outflanked by jingoistic nationalists supporting the military. Mr Erdogan has pointed out that previous Turkish army incursions into Kurdistan in the 1990s all failed to dislodge the PKK.
The area which the Turkish army has entered in Iraqi Kurdistan is mostly desolate, with broken terrain in which bands of guerrillas can take refuge. The PKK says it has left its former bases and broken up into small units. The main bases of the PKK are along Iraq's border with Iran, notably in the Kandil mountains, to the south of where the Turkish troops entered. At this time of year the villagers, many of them herders and shepherds, leave their houses and live in the towns in the plain below the mountains until the snow melts.
PS:The Kurds were earlier betrayed by the US/CIA during Saddam's regime,when they were encouraged to revolt being promised the full support of the CIA/US.However,when they were being exterminated by saddam,help never came and the Kurds then cursed the US vowing never to trust them.This they forgot after GW-2 and Saddam's overthrow.If they believe that the US will allow an indpendent Kurdish state to emerge out of the shambles of Iraq,they could sooner commit harakiri,as the inevitable Turkish invasion has happened.The Iranians too have no love lost for the Kurds and one might very well wonder whether they is an understanding between Turkey and Iran on the issue.
http://dailybriefing.blogs.fortune.cnn. ... ll-street/
Blackstone is directly borrowing from Hedge Funds.
Blackstone is directly borrowing from Hedge Funds.
The Turkish invasion of Iraq seems to be following the pattern of the coalition of the willing,with more troops being thrown in and a long haul expected.I do not think that the Turks are going to just wade in and wade out.They clearly intend to control the border regions of "Kurdistan" by occupying them until they have eliminated a large number of Kurds and have substantially reduced their military capacity.
Turkey refuses timetable on Iraq incursion Mark Tran, Rosalind Ryan and agencies guardian.co.uk, Wednesday February 27 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/fe ... rkey.gates
Turkey today refused to set a timetable for the withdrawal of troops attacking Kurdish guerrillas in northern Iraq, despite US pressure for a quick end to the fighting.
"Our objective is clear, our mission is clear and there is no timetable until ... those terrorist bases are eliminated," a senior Turkish envoy, Ahmet Davutoglu, said after talks in Baghdad with the Iraqi foreign minister, Hoshiyar Zebari.
Iraq has demanded an immediate end to the incursion that began last Thursday, while Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, said he would tell Turkish leaders the assault must not continue for longer than two weeks, the first time a limit has been imposed on the incursion.
"It's very important that the Turks make this operation as short as possible and then leave, and to be mindful of Iraqi sovereignty," Gates told reporters in Delhi before leaving for a scheduled trip to Ankara.
"I measure quick in terms of days, a week or two, something like that. Not months," he said.
Turkey said its troops had killed 77 Kurdish rebels belonging to the Kurdistan Workers party (PKK) in heavy fighting in northern Iraq since last night, while losing five soldiers. The latest figures bring the total death toll among the rebels to 230 and among soldiers to 24, according to Ankara's estimates.
The PKK is fighting for autonomy in the Kurdish region of south-eastern Turkey, and Ankara has accused them of launching attacks from northern Iraq.
In the past six days, Turkey has increased the number of tanks and armed forces it has sent over the border. Helicopters and F-16 warplanes were seen flying over the border this morning.
Turkish officials said the limited incursion was made with the consent of the US and Iraq and its goal was the elimination of PKK bases in northern Iraq.
The US and the EU regard the PKK as a terrorist group, but many Iraqi Kurds believe Turkish generals are using the presence of the separatists in Iraq as an excuse to destabilise Iraq's autonomous Kurdish area.
US consent to cross-border operations against the PKK and the provision of intelligence to Turkish forces on rebel positions has provoked anger within the Kurdish region of Iraq.
The acting Iraqi prime minister, Barham Saleh, said the operation had "not been conducive to Iraq-Turkey relations" and could have "dire consequences". He said Iraq would repeat demands for an immediate withdrawal of troops from the area.
Printable version Send to a friend Share Clip this Contact us larger | smaller ShareClose Digg reddit Google Bookmarks Yahoo! My Web del.icio.us StumbleUpon Newsvine livejournal Facebook BlinkList EmailClose Recipient's email address Your name Add a note (optional)
PS:How can the US expect Turkey to hand over a "timetable" for withdrawal,something that even the US refuses to adhere too!
Turkey refuses timetable on Iraq incursion Mark Tran, Rosalind Ryan and agencies guardian.co.uk, Wednesday February 27 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/fe ... rkey.gates
Turkey today refused to set a timetable for the withdrawal of troops attacking Kurdish guerrillas in northern Iraq, despite US pressure for a quick end to the fighting.
"Our objective is clear, our mission is clear and there is no timetable until ... those terrorist bases are eliminated," a senior Turkish envoy, Ahmet Davutoglu, said after talks in Baghdad with the Iraqi foreign minister, Hoshiyar Zebari.
Iraq has demanded an immediate end to the incursion that began last Thursday, while Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, said he would tell Turkish leaders the assault must not continue for longer than two weeks, the first time a limit has been imposed on the incursion.
"It's very important that the Turks make this operation as short as possible and then leave, and to be mindful of Iraqi sovereignty," Gates told reporters in Delhi before leaving for a scheduled trip to Ankara.
"I measure quick in terms of days, a week or two, something like that. Not months," he said.
Turkey said its troops had killed 77 Kurdish rebels belonging to the Kurdistan Workers party (PKK) in heavy fighting in northern Iraq since last night, while losing five soldiers. The latest figures bring the total death toll among the rebels to 230 and among soldiers to 24, according to Ankara's estimates.
The PKK is fighting for autonomy in the Kurdish region of south-eastern Turkey, and Ankara has accused them of launching attacks from northern Iraq.
In the past six days, Turkey has increased the number of tanks and armed forces it has sent over the border. Helicopters and F-16 warplanes were seen flying over the border this morning.
Turkish officials said the limited incursion was made with the consent of the US and Iraq and its goal was the elimination of PKK bases in northern Iraq.
The US and the EU regard the PKK as a terrorist group, but many Iraqi Kurds believe Turkish generals are using the presence of the separatists in Iraq as an excuse to destabilise Iraq's autonomous Kurdish area.
US consent to cross-border operations against the PKK and the provision of intelligence to Turkish forces on rebel positions has provoked anger within the Kurdish region of Iraq.
The acting Iraqi prime minister, Barham Saleh, said the operation had "not been conducive to Iraq-Turkey relations" and could have "dire consequences". He said Iraq would repeat demands for an immediate withdrawal of troops from the area.
Printable version Send to a friend Share Clip this Contact us larger | smaller ShareClose Digg reddit Google Bookmarks Yahoo! My Web del.icio.us StumbleUpon Newsvine livejournal Facebook BlinkList EmailClose Recipient's email address Your name Add a note (optional)
PS:How can the US expect Turkey to hand over a "timetable" for withdrawal,something that even the US refuses to adhere too!
The cost of the Iraq War - writes an economist, Nobel Prize winner.
"The THREE TRILLION DOLLAR WAR"
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/commen ... 419840.ece
"The THREE TRILLION DOLLAR WAR"
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/commen ... 419840.ece
Ahmadinejad in Baghdad’s Green Zone
[quote]DEBKAfile Special Report
March 4, 2008, 1:18 PM (GMT+02:00)
During his 2-day visit to Baghdad, March 2-3, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Iraqi hosts did a good job of ignoring the ubiquitous US military presence in Iraq - except for the Iranian president’s ritual anti-American blast. His welcome by Iraqi president, the Kurdish Jalal Talabani, and Shiite prime minister Nouri al-Maliki was played up as a bilateral event. Contact between the visitors’ retinue and the US military was nil.
Yet in Tehran, DEBKAfile’s Iranian sources report, the president’s excursion into US-occupied territory was counted as a step forward in its seven-month old secret Saudi-mediated dialogue with Washington.
This dialogue has advanced in give-and-take steps on a broad set of issues.
The most prominent is Iran’s nuclear program. The third round of UN Security Council sanctions imposed Monday, March 3, banning trade with Iran did not really bother Tehran. The penalties were predicted and anticipated. Iran’s rulers can live with a motion which they see as the Bush administration’s parting shot in the dispute over the uranium enrichment issue. Not surprisingly Israel was not satisfied.
But mostly they are looking ahead to the next US president and their objective is clear: the cementing of the incumbent White House position on the North Korean nuclear weapons status as a convention which its next tenant will apply to Iran. This in rough terms means accepting a Tehran guarantee to freeze its uranium enrichment process, its nuclear bomb program and nuclear-capable ballistic missile project, without demanding their dismantlement.
This outline would be deemed in Tehran a positive basis for a nuclear deal with Washington. Iran’s supreme ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hinted broadly at its acceptability when he chose Feb. 26, the day the New York Philharmonic Orchestra played in Pyongyang, for some pointed nuclear remarks.
What does the Bush administration expect from Tehran?
According to our Washington sources, George W. Bush is keen to hand his successor a relatively stable Iraq where the violence spiral sustains its downward curve. The US president accordingly stopped direct US military action against pro-Iranian Shiite “special groups,â€
[quote]DEBKAfile Special Report
March 4, 2008, 1:18 PM (GMT+02:00)
During his 2-day visit to Baghdad, March 2-3, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Iraqi hosts did a good job of ignoring the ubiquitous US military presence in Iraq - except for the Iranian president’s ritual anti-American blast. His welcome by Iraqi president, the Kurdish Jalal Talabani, and Shiite prime minister Nouri al-Maliki was played up as a bilateral event. Contact between the visitors’ retinue and the US military was nil.
Yet in Tehran, DEBKAfile’s Iranian sources report, the president’s excursion into US-occupied territory was counted as a step forward in its seven-month old secret Saudi-mediated dialogue with Washington.
This dialogue has advanced in give-and-take steps on a broad set of issues.
The most prominent is Iran’s nuclear program. The third round of UN Security Council sanctions imposed Monday, March 3, banning trade with Iran did not really bother Tehran. The penalties were predicted and anticipated. Iran’s rulers can live with a motion which they see as the Bush administration’s parting shot in the dispute over the uranium enrichment issue. Not surprisingly Israel was not satisfied.
But mostly they are looking ahead to the next US president and their objective is clear: the cementing of the incumbent White House position on the North Korean nuclear weapons status as a convention which its next tenant will apply to Iran. This in rough terms means accepting a Tehran guarantee to freeze its uranium enrichment process, its nuclear bomb program and nuclear-capable ballistic missile project, without demanding their dismantlement.
This outline would be deemed in Tehran a positive basis for a nuclear deal with Washington. Iran’s supreme ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hinted broadly at its acceptability when he chose Feb. 26, the day the New York Philharmonic Orchestra played in Pyongyang, for some pointed nuclear remarks.
What does the Bush administration expect from Tehran?
According to our Washington sources, George W. Bush is keen to hand his successor a relatively stable Iraq where the violence spiral sustains its downward curve. The US president accordingly stopped direct US military action against pro-Iranian Shiite “special groups,â€
A stupid country pays for its stupidity......for believing its stupid 'leaders'...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 years on, Iraq war has changed lives By KIMBERLY HEFLING,
Associated Press Writer
Laura Youngblood clutched her husband's photo as she drove alone to the hospital. She'd become pregnant nearly nine months earlier, the day he'd left for training for Iraq. Hours later, after the baby was born, she placed the photo in the bassinet next to the infant he'd named Emma in his last letter home. He would never hold her.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Travis L. Youngblood, 26, had died two months earlier, killed by an improvised explosive device.
Laura Youngblood is just 29 years old, but she insists she will not remarry. Her life is her children, now ages 2 and 7. One day, she says, she'll be buried in the plot with her husband at Arlington National Cemetery.
"I tell people I'm a happily married woman," she says, crying.
Five years after U.S. troops invaded Iraq, there are many tears — though not everyone is crying. For the great majority of Americans, this is a war seen from afar. They turn off the news and forget about what is happening a world away.
Then there's the other war, the one that's a very vivid and present part of some Americans' lives.
It's the war that more than a million U.S. soldiers have fought, leaving nearly 4,000 dead and more than 29,000 wounded in action. The one in which thousands of contractors rushed in to serve and to make a buck — though some paid the ultimate price, as well.
Around military bases across America, vacations are planned around deployment schedules. Mini baby booms occur nine months after troops come home. Support groups for widows and injured soldiers have come together.
At small town National Guard armories, the focus has shifted from one weekend a month to filling out life insurance forms and packing a rucksack for war.
"'How did I end up in this kind of a situation?' There were a lot of guys that said that," says Jeff Myers, 48, a tech sergeant in the Pennsylvania Air National Guard from Pillow, Pa. His lips still discharge shrapnel shreds, the residue of two roadside bombs he survived in 2004; a neurologist monitors the concussions he sustained.
In his job as a gunner guarding Army convoys, he saw men so paralyzed by fear they wouldn't go outside the wire. He saw others die 15 minutes after he was chatting with them.
It's not a matter of whether you will have to deal with things like irritability and nightmares after you get home, he says: "It's how you deal with it when it does happen."
And how you deal with your fellow Americans who experience Iraq from a distance.
Amanda Jordan, whose Marine husband was killed three days into the war, says she doesn't know what bothers her more — the days that go by when no one speaks of the war, or the punditry. At a local diner she frequents with her 11-year-old son near their home in Enfield, Conn., she's contemplated standing up and leaving so he doesn't hear when people say Iraq was unnecessarily invaded.
"This is like my life. You're saying my spouse, my child's father, is dead for no reason," says Jordan, a 39-year-old former paralegal who is studying to be a therapist specializing in grief. "That's a pretty harsh thing to hear all the time."
___
Some can tell you exactly when their lives changed.
For Hazel Hoffman, from outside Grand Rapids, Mich., it was when the phone rang and she learned her son, Josh, was shot by a sniper. He was left a quadriplegic, unable to speak.
"I cried so hard that I had tears of blood. I remember looking down wondering, where is all this blood coming from? And it took a few seconds for me to realize this was coming out of me," says Hoffman, who has lived more than a year in an apartment with her son's girlfriend near his hospital in Richmond, Va.
Suzanne Stack, 48, was soaking in the bathtub in their house at Fort Campbell, Ky., when the doorbell rang. There were two officers at the door.
Afterward, still numb from the news of her husband's death, she walked her kids to the school bus. She sensed that people were looking at her fearfully, as if they were afraid they would be next. Even before the funeral, one spouse told her there was a waiting list for post housing. When would she be moving out?
"One day you're one thing. The next thing you're not. It's really quite a shock," says Stack, of Fredericksburg, Va., who now volunteers as an advocate for widows on Capitol Hill.
Walter Lajuane Williams, 33, of Fremont, Calif., was stoned when his turning point came. He was couch surfing, unemployed and in an abusive relationship after he left the Army, which took him to Iraq and Afghanistan. Even his service was criticized: "I had a person tell me, `How could you kill another person?'"
He went to the nonprofit Swords to Plowshares, looking for help finding work. A caseworker, wise to his drug use, took him aside. "I'm going to tell you candidly how I feel and what I smell," he said. "I'm going to work with you. Don't make me regret it."
Williams now helps other vets find jobs.
"All we need is a chance," Williams says.
___
Recently, an Iraq veteran came to Daniel Fox's office and asked to take a screening exam for post-traumatic stress disorder a second time. He'd lied the first time, he said.
"When I asked him why he wasn't honest, he said because I had just gotten home and everybody's like saying, 'Welcome home hero,'" Fox says. "And how could he tell him that this hero was not doing well?"
Fox, 47, works for the Department of Veterans Affairs as a case manager, assisting Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. For a year, Fox, an Army Reservist, worked as an intensive care nurse at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany; the injured would be airlifted from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Fox and his fellow nurses called themselves the ICU angels on the ICU angels tour. To lighten the mood, they made T-shirts with the slogan. Their bravado just helped mask their intense emotions.
"You had a mom and dad and the new wife with the babies in their arms standing in the door of this patient's room and he's got a gunshot wound to the head," says Fox, of Wichita, Kan. "How do you explain that to them? You can't console them."
"After a while, you go home and you cry about it," he says.
He used to be more macho and unemotional. Today, "I have more sympathy, more compassion," he says.
Lt. Col. Douglas Etter's job was sympathy and compassion. Etter, a minister, was a chaplain with the Pennsylvania National Guard in Al Anbar Province; his battalion lost 13 soldiers and two Marines.
He laid his hands on some of the men and delivered last rites. One morning, after he memorialized two of the dead, he says his stoicism dissolved; jogging by the Euphrates River, he cried.
In blunt newsletters home, he chronicled what the troops were seeing and experiencing, from delivering shoes and school supplies to happy Iraqi children to the story of a dead soldier wrapped in a flag by his fellow soldiers in the middle of a firefight because nothing else was available.
"As excited as we are to go home, many are equally afraid," he wrote in one of his last letters.
When Etter himself returned on leave to Pennsylvania to officiate at the funeral of a close friend, he turned to his wife and said he wanted to go home.
"I said, `OK, get in the car. Let's go home,'" said Jodi Etter. "And you said, 'No, my home in Iraq. I just want to go home.'"
When his tour was over, and he went with his wife to buy furniture for their new house in Lebanon, Pa., he had to remind himself that it was important to her — even if it seemed trivial to him after the war. He drove fast, and bought a BMW so he could do it. One day, Jodi pointed out that he was drinking more.
With time, his life settled down, and he came to feel that his months in Iraq were a time of growth. Now executive director of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Veterans Affairs, Etter says a deployment is like a magnifying glass.
"Personalities that are strong become stronger," he says. "Personalities which are weaker are made to become weaker."
___
Phil Nesmith came away from Iraq with a certain clarity.
It wasn't the money that lured him to Iraq, he insists. He was like most of the U.S. troops he was living with at the time — idealistic about the mission.
He had been an Army paratrooper, but now he was among the first group of government contractors to arrive in Iraq after the invasion in 2003. His task was to help get telecommunications running.
At night, rockets flew into their compound. Sometimes they missed and hit apartments nearby, killing Iraqis. On the ground near where he was sleeping, a young officer shot and killed himself.
Violence did not account for all the stress. While he was there, Nesmith says, his relationship with his girlfriend of three years ended and she got pregnant by another man. "Pretty much every other soldier around me, husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, whatever, had left them or they suspected them cheating on them."
It was hard. "You've left your life and you're wanting to maintain some kind of connection with that, but everything you left behind is continuing on even though your life is kind of suspended while you're there."
As he left Iraq, he crossed paths with a contractor who bragged about what he was going to buy with the money he was going to make in Iraq.
"I was just like, well, `You know, everybody's got their reasons, but I've got to ask you this: You lose both your legs, is that $160,000 going to be worth it?'" he says.
By that point, Nesmith says he knew what he wanted, what was important. He wanted to backpack through Australia, visit Montana, and go to photography school.
He did all three.
He had taken pictures in Iraq. Now he took some of those shots and manipulated them to look like they were taken in the Civil War era. They were shown at Washington, D.C.'s Irvine Contemporary Gallery in Washington, D.C., and priced at $1,500 each.
One photo depicts a single soldier standing alone in the desert. It reminds him of his own plight. "I knew I was on my journey back and when I got there I was going to be alone," Nesmith says. "No one was going to understand what that year was like."
Another photo, his favorite, is of an Iraqi flag flying outside a government utility office. Some Iraqis had just put it up. It was a time of optimism.
But now, he says, "it just seems like a more naive time, when you thought there was so much more that could possibly happen."
___
Before Travis Youngblood left for Iraq, he and his wife watched a TV interview with a pregnant woman whose husband had died in Iraq. Laura Youngblood cried.
"I felt so sorry for her," Youngblood says.
But then, "When my husband died, my first words were, 'I became her.'"
Today in nearly every room of her Florida house, there's a photo of her husband.
"It is hard. I feel bad for my son because he's 7. He doesn't know how to ride a two-wheel bike. His daddy was going to teach him," she says. "I can't do all the boy things that he wants to do."
She put together videos so her daughter will know the father she never met.
"I'm a survivor of the war. I'm a surviving spouse," Youngblood says. "That's the best way I can say it because every day you're surviving."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 years on, Iraq war has changed lives By KIMBERLY HEFLING,
Associated Press Writer
Laura Youngblood clutched her husband's photo as she drove alone to the hospital. She'd become pregnant nearly nine months earlier, the day he'd left for training for Iraq. Hours later, after the baby was born, she placed the photo in the bassinet next to the infant he'd named Emma in his last letter home. He would never hold her.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Travis L. Youngblood, 26, had died two months earlier, killed by an improvised explosive device.
Laura Youngblood is just 29 years old, but she insists she will not remarry. Her life is her children, now ages 2 and 7. One day, she says, she'll be buried in the plot with her husband at Arlington National Cemetery.
"I tell people I'm a happily married woman," she says, crying.
Five years after U.S. troops invaded Iraq, there are many tears — though not everyone is crying. For the great majority of Americans, this is a war seen from afar. They turn off the news and forget about what is happening a world away.
Then there's the other war, the one that's a very vivid and present part of some Americans' lives.
It's the war that more than a million U.S. soldiers have fought, leaving nearly 4,000 dead and more than 29,000 wounded in action. The one in which thousands of contractors rushed in to serve and to make a buck — though some paid the ultimate price, as well.
Around military bases across America, vacations are planned around deployment schedules. Mini baby booms occur nine months after troops come home. Support groups for widows and injured soldiers have come together.
At small town National Guard armories, the focus has shifted from one weekend a month to filling out life insurance forms and packing a rucksack for war.
"'How did I end up in this kind of a situation?' There were a lot of guys that said that," says Jeff Myers, 48, a tech sergeant in the Pennsylvania Air National Guard from Pillow, Pa. His lips still discharge shrapnel shreds, the residue of two roadside bombs he survived in 2004; a neurologist monitors the concussions he sustained.
In his job as a gunner guarding Army convoys, he saw men so paralyzed by fear they wouldn't go outside the wire. He saw others die 15 minutes after he was chatting with them.
It's not a matter of whether you will have to deal with things like irritability and nightmares after you get home, he says: "It's how you deal with it when it does happen."
And how you deal with your fellow Americans who experience Iraq from a distance.
Amanda Jordan, whose Marine husband was killed three days into the war, says she doesn't know what bothers her more — the days that go by when no one speaks of the war, or the punditry. At a local diner she frequents with her 11-year-old son near their home in Enfield, Conn., she's contemplated standing up and leaving so he doesn't hear when people say Iraq was unnecessarily invaded.
"This is like my life. You're saying my spouse, my child's father, is dead for no reason," says Jordan, a 39-year-old former paralegal who is studying to be a therapist specializing in grief. "That's a pretty harsh thing to hear all the time."
___
Some can tell you exactly when their lives changed.
For Hazel Hoffman, from outside Grand Rapids, Mich., it was when the phone rang and she learned her son, Josh, was shot by a sniper. He was left a quadriplegic, unable to speak.
"I cried so hard that I had tears of blood. I remember looking down wondering, where is all this blood coming from? And it took a few seconds for me to realize this was coming out of me," says Hoffman, who has lived more than a year in an apartment with her son's girlfriend near his hospital in Richmond, Va.
Suzanne Stack, 48, was soaking in the bathtub in their house at Fort Campbell, Ky., when the doorbell rang. There were two officers at the door.
Afterward, still numb from the news of her husband's death, she walked her kids to the school bus. She sensed that people were looking at her fearfully, as if they were afraid they would be next. Even before the funeral, one spouse told her there was a waiting list for post housing. When would she be moving out?
"One day you're one thing. The next thing you're not. It's really quite a shock," says Stack, of Fredericksburg, Va., who now volunteers as an advocate for widows on Capitol Hill.
Walter Lajuane Williams, 33, of Fremont, Calif., was stoned when his turning point came. He was couch surfing, unemployed and in an abusive relationship after he left the Army, which took him to Iraq and Afghanistan. Even his service was criticized: "I had a person tell me, `How could you kill another person?'"
He went to the nonprofit Swords to Plowshares, looking for help finding work. A caseworker, wise to his drug use, took him aside. "I'm going to tell you candidly how I feel and what I smell," he said. "I'm going to work with you. Don't make me regret it."
Williams now helps other vets find jobs.
"All we need is a chance," Williams says.
___
Recently, an Iraq veteran came to Daniel Fox's office and asked to take a screening exam for post-traumatic stress disorder a second time. He'd lied the first time, he said.
"When I asked him why he wasn't honest, he said because I had just gotten home and everybody's like saying, 'Welcome home hero,'" Fox says. "And how could he tell him that this hero was not doing well?"
Fox, 47, works for the Department of Veterans Affairs as a case manager, assisting Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. For a year, Fox, an Army Reservist, worked as an intensive care nurse at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany; the injured would be airlifted from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Fox and his fellow nurses called themselves the ICU angels on the ICU angels tour. To lighten the mood, they made T-shirts with the slogan. Their bravado just helped mask their intense emotions.
"You had a mom and dad and the new wife with the babies in their arms standing in the door of this patient's room and he's got a gunshot wound to the head," says Fox, of Wichita, Kan. "How do you explain that to them? You can't console them."
"After a while, you go home and you cry about it," he says.
He used to be more macho and unemotional. Today, "I have more sympathy, more compassion," he says.
Lt. Col. Douglas Etter's job was sympathy and compassion. Etter, a minister, was a chaplain with the Pennsylvania National Guard in Al Anbar Province; his battalion lost 13 soldiers and two Marines.
He laid his hands on some of the men and delivered last rites. One morning, after he memorialized two of the dead, he says his stoicism dissolved; jogging by the Euphrates River, he cried.
In blunt newsletters home, he chronicled what the troops were seeing and experiencing, from delivering shoes and school supplies to happy Iraqi children to the story of a dead soldier wrapped in a flag by his fellow soldiers in the middle of a firefight because nothing else was available.
"As excited as we are to go home, many are equally afraid," he wrote in one of his last letters.
When Etter himself returned on leave to Pennsylvania to officiate at the funeral of a close friend, he turned to his wife and said he wanted to go home.
"I said, `OK, get in the car. Let's go home,'" said Jodi Etter. "And you said, 'No, my home in Iraq. I just want to go home.'"
When his tour was over, and he went with his wife to buy furniture for their new house in Lebanon, Pa., he had to remind himself that it was important to her — even if it seemed trivial to him after the war. He drove fast, and bought a BMW so he could do it. One day, Jodi pointed out that he was drinking more.
With time, his life settled down, and he came to feel that his months in Iraq were a time of growth. Now executive director of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Veterans Affairs, Etter says a deployment is like a magnifying glass.
"Personalities that are strong become stronger," he says. "Personalities which are weaker are made to become weaker."
___
Phil Nesmith came away from Iraq with a certain clarity.
It wasn't the money that lured him to Iraq, he insists. He was like most of the U.S. troops he was living with at the time — idealistic about the mission.
He had been an Army paratrooper, but now he was among the first group of government contractors to arrive in Iraq after the invasion in 2003. His task was to help get telecommunications running.
At night, rockets flew into their compound. Sometimes they missed and hit apartments nearby, killing Iraqis. On the ground near where he was sleeping, a young officer shot and killed himself.
Violence did not account for all the stress. While he was there, Nesmith says, his relationship with his girlfriend of three years ended and she got pregnant by another man. "Pretty much every other soldier around me, husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, whatever, had left them or they suspected them cheating on them."
It was hard. "You've left your life and you're wanting to maintain some kind of connection with that, but everything you left behind is continuing on even though your life is kind of suspended while you're there."
As he left Iraq, he crossed paths with a contractor who bragged about what he was going to buy with the money he was going to make in Iraq.
"I was just like, well, `You know, everybody's got their reasons, but I've got to ask you this: You lose both your legs, is that $160,000 going to be worth it?'" he says.
By that point, Nesmith says he knew what he wanted, what was important. He wanted to backpack through Australia, visit Montana, and go to photography school.
He did all three.
He had taken pictures in Iraq. Now he took some of those shots and manipulated them to look like they were taken in the Civil War era. They were shown at Washington, D.C.'s Irvine Contemporary Gallery in Washington, D.C., and priced at $1,500 each.
One photo depicts a single soldier standing alone in the desert. It reminds him of his own plight. "I knew I was on my journey back and when I got there I was going to be alone," Nesmith says. "No one was going to understand what that year was like."
Another photo, his favorite, is of an Iraqi flag flying outside a government utility office. Some Iraqis had just put it up. It was a time of optimism.
But now, he says, "it just seems like a more naive time, when you thought there was so much more that could possibly happen."
___
Before Travis Youngblood left for Iraq, he and his wife watched a TV interview with a pregnant woman whose husband had died in Iraq. Laura Youngblood cried.
"I felt so sorry for her," Youngblood says.
But then, "When my husband died, my first words were, 'I became her.'"
Today in nearly every room of her Florida house, there's a photo of her husband.
"It is hard. I feel bad for my son because he's 7. He doesn't know how to ride a two-wheel bike. His daddy was going to teach him," she says. "I can't do all the boy things that he wants to do."
She put together videos so her daughter will know the father she never met.
"I'm a survivor of the war. I'm a surviving spouse," Youngblood says. "That's the best way I can say it because every day you're surviving."
More on the Fallon fallout.One version has it that Fallon was effectively pushed out by Cheney,who still wants Iran decimated before Bush's term ends.The Iran attack is still very much on the cards.Watch this space.
http://www.countercurrents.org/martin130308.htm
Admiral Fallon Quits Over
Iran War Report
By Patrick Martin
13 March, 2008
WSWS.org
Admiral William Fallon, head of the United States Central Command, with authority over the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan, submitted his resignation Tuesday after an article in the April issue of Esquire magazine portrayed him as opposing a Bush administration drive to war against Iran.
The resignation was announced by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates while Fallon was on his way to Iraq for discussions with US commanders there. It is only the latest in a series of incidents demonstrating that the military-intelligence apparatus is deeply divided over the evident desire by the White House to find a pretext for a military attack on Iran.
The Pentagon dispute follows the release of a National Intelligence Estimate last December, in which US intelligence agencies undermined previous Bush administration claims that Iran was rapidly developing nuclear weapons. The NIE concluded that any such Iranian program had been suspended in 2003 and not resumed. Earlier this month the administration seemed to put aside this finding, beginning a new escalation of diplomatic pressure on Iran, and pushing a third sanctions resolution through the UN Security Council.
The Esquire article by Thomas Barnett, a former professor at the Naval War College, was written with Fallon’s full cooperation. It described him in the most flattering terms as a “brilliantâ€
http://www.countercurrents.org/martin130308.htm
Admiral Fallon Quits Over
Iran War Report
By Patrick Martin
13 March, 2008
WSWS.org
Admiral William Fallon, head of the United States Central Command, with authority over the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan, submitted his resignation Tuesday after an article in the April issue of Esquire magazine portrayed him as opposing a Bush administration drive to war against Iran.
The resignation was announced by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates while Fallon was on his way to Iraq for discussions with US commanders there. It is only the latest in a series of incidents demonstrating that the military-intelligence apparatus is deeply divided over the evident desire by the White House to find a pretext for a military attack on Iran.
The Pentagon dispute follows the release of a National Intelligence Estimate last December, in which US intelligence agencies undermined previous Bush administration claims that Iran was rapidly developing nuclear weapons. The NIE concluded that any such Iranian program had been suspended in 2003 and not resumed. Earlier this month the administration seemed to put aside this finding, beginning a new escalation of diplomatic pressure on Iran, and pushing a third sanctions resolution through the UN Security Council.
The Esquire article by Thomas Barnett, a former professor at the Naval War College, was written with Fallon’s full cooperation. It described him in the most flattering terms as a “brilliantâ€
Enjoy this piece! NOne so blind as those willing to be misled.The US relied upon a motley bunch of fraudsters to help justify invading Iraq,which was the great "White House"hope of the Bush brigade.The whole idea was to fool the world and carry out their illegal act.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/w ... 549436.ece
From The TimesMarch 14, 2008
A confidence trickster, a need to believe and an intelligence failure
How did Iraq happen? Agent Curveball fooled the US and Britain, report Tim Reid and Michael Evans
On February 5, 2003, Colin Powell, one of the most respected members of President Bush’s war Cabinet, sat in the heart of the UN Security Council, surrounded by the world’s diplomats and in front of a global television audience.
The former US Secretary of State – with George Tenet, the CIA Director, behind him – presented a bone-chill-ing account of Iraqi biological weapons sites. At one point he waved a model vial of anthrax (it was talcum powder) to demonstrate the danger Saddam Hussein posed to the world.
He spoke of “an Iraqi chemical engineer who supervisedâ€
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/w ... 549436.ece
From The TimesMarch 14, 2008
A confidence trickster, a need to believe and an intelligence failure
How did Iraq happen? Agent Curveball fooled the US and Britain, report Tim Reid and Michael Evans
On February 5, 2003, Colin Powell, one of the most respected members of President Bush’s war Cabinet, sat in the heart of the UN Security Council, surrounded by the world’s diplomats and in front of a global television audience.
The former US Secretary of State – with George Tenet, the CIA Director, behind him – presented a bone-chill-ing account of Iraqi biological weapons sites. At one point he waved a model vial of anthrax (it was talcum powder) to demonstrate the danger Saddam Hussein posed to the world.
He spoke of “an Iraqi chemical engineer who supervisedâ€
Amerikhaans are using iraqis to do their dirty work...no wonder amerikhaans deaths due to IED are down...iraqi deaths have sky rocketed...
http://www.liveleak.com/player2.swf?tok ... 1201000704
http://www.liveleak.com/player2.swf?tok ... 1201000704
BBC reconstructing called "Ten Days to War". Re constructs what went on behind the scenes prior to the invasion.
10 episodes: each episode is 10 minutes in length
www.bbc.co.uk/tendaystowar
10 episodes: each episode is 10 minutes in length
www.bbc.co.uk/tendaystowar
-
Karan Dixit
- BRFite
- Posts: 1102
- Joined: 23 Mar 2007 02:43
- Location: Calcutta
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/24/ ... ef=topnewsMilitary officials reported four U.S. soldiers died Sunday in a roadside bombing in Iraq, bringing the American toll in the war to the milestone of 4,000 deaths, including eight Defense Department civilians.
A tragic and grim landmark.4000 and still counting and despite this grim landmark,some US worthy politicos claim that "we might still need to be be in Iraq 100 years from now"! The ability of US politicians and military minds in self-delsuion have no equals.It is only when the inevitable attack on the "green zone" takes place one day,like the Tet offensive and the chaos to flee Baghdad is seen our TV screens will these Americans realsie that the war has been lost.It already has,it has now entered the end phase.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... raq125.xml
Bomb marks 4,000th death for US in Iraq
By Toby Harnden in Washington
Last Updated: 3:19am GMT 25/03/2008
The United States passed the grim milestone of 4,000 military deaths at the weekend after a roadside bombing in Iraq claimed the lives of four soldiers.
Baghdad five years on. A group of US troops share a
prayer prior to travelling through the city
There were no ceremonies to mark what the White House described as a "sober moment" or formal minutes of silence in memory of the fallen in a war that passed the five-year mark last week and remains deeply unpopular.
Iraq Body Count, which collects figures based mainly on press reports, estimates that between 82,349 and 89,867 Iraqi civilians have lost their lives in the conflict.
Some 97 per cent of the US casualties have occurred since President George W Bush declared that "major combat operations" were over on May 1 2003.
A recent CBS poll found that 59 per cent thought the invasion was a mistake while 65 per cent disapproved of Mr Bush's handling of the war. Both Democratic presidential candidates have promised to withdraw troops from Iraq.
An initial drawdown from 158,000 to 140,000 troops following last year's "surge", which successfully brought down levels of violence, is planned to be completed in July. But an increase in attacks by insurgents in recent weeks, combined with a lack of political progress, has heightened concern in the White House.
Robert Gates, the defence secretary, and General David Petraeus, the commander of troops in Iraq, have called for a pause in the troop reductions to consolidate the security gains.
Mr Bush appears likely to accede, despite the misgivings of other generals who fear that US forces are being stretched closer to breaking point. Dana Perino, his spokesman, said: "The president thinks that there's some merit in that recommendation."
She said that Mr Bush was keenly aware of the pain brought by the death toll. "President Bush believes that every life is precious, and he spends time every day thinking about those who've lost their lives on the battlefield. He grieves for the families who have lost loved ones, and he is constantly concerned about their well-being."
"The president has said the hardest thing a commander-in-chief will do is send young men and women into combat, and he's grieved for every lost American life, from the very first several years ago to those lost today,"
The rate of the 4,000 American casualties, which includes eight civilians working for the US military, has slowed markedly since the "surge" of 28,000 troops was completed last June.
Total military deaths reached 1,000 in September 2004, 2,000 in October 2005 and 3,000 in December 2006. Last year was the deadliest with 901 deaths, 51 more than 2004. Nearly 30,000 have been wounded. Some 175 British troops have been killed since 2003.
Mouwaffak al-Rubaie, Iraq's National Security Adviser, said at the weekend that he sympathised with American losses but warned against pulling out US troops before Iraqi forces were are ready to take over the security burden.
"This war is well worth fighting," he told CNN. "This is global terrorism hitting everywhere and they have chosen Iraq to be a battlefield." He added: "The Iraqis have invested three times the blood than the Americans in the way of casualties, in the way of spending their treasure and money.
Vice-President Dick Cheney, visiting Jerusalem, said that the 4,000th American death in Iraq might have a psychological impact on US public opinion.
"You regret every casualty, every loss," he said. "The president is the one that has to make that decision to send young men and women into harm's way. It never gets any easier."
But Mr Cheney was unrepentant about the decision to invade and blamed Iran and Syria for sowing instability in the Middle East.
Tehran and Damascus were blocking progress between Israel and the Palestinians, he said.
"It is clearly a difficult situation, in part, because I think it's true, there's evidence, that Hamas is supported by Iran and Syria and that they're doing everything they can to torpedo the peace process."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... raq125.xml
Bomb marks 4,000th death for US in Iraq
By Toby Harnden in Washington
Last Updated: 3:19am GMT 25/03/2008
The United States passed the grim milestone of 4,000 military deaths at the weekend after a roadside bombing in Iraq claimed the lives of four soldiers.
Baghdad five years on. A group of US troops share a
prayer prior to travelling through the city
There were no ceremonies to mark what the White House described as a "sober moment" or formal minutes of silence in memory of the fallen in a war that passed the five-year mark last week and remains deeply unpopular.
Iraq Body Count, which collects figures based mainly on press reports, estimates that between 82,349 and 89,867 Iraqi civilians have lost their lives in the conflict.
Some 97 per cent of the US casualties have occurred since President George W Bush declared that "major combat operations" were over on May 1 2003.
A recent CBS poll found that 59 per cent thought the invasion was a mistake while 65 per cent disapproved of Mr Bush's handling of the war. Both Democratic presidential candidates have promised to withdraw troops from Iraq.
An initial drawdown from 158,000 to 140,000 troops following last year's "surge", which successfully brought down levels of violence, is planned to be completed in July. But an increase in attacks by insurgents in recent weeks, combined with a lack of political progress, has heightened concern in the White House.
Robert Gates, the defence secretary, and General David Petraeus, the commander of troops in Iraq, have called for a pause in the troop reductions to consolidate the security gains.
Mr Bush appears likely to accede, despite the misgivings of other generals who fear that US forces are being stretched closer to breaking point. Dana Perino, his spokesman, said: "The president thinks that there's some merit in that recommendation."
She said that Mr Bush was keenly aware of the pain brought by the death toll. "President Bush believes that every life is precious, and he spends time every day thinking about those who've lost their lives on the battlefield. He grieves for the families who have lost loved ones, and he is constantly concerned about their well-being."
"The president has said the hardest thing a commander-in-chief will do is send young men and women into combat, and he's grieved for every lost American life, from the very first several years ago to those lost today,"
The rate of the 4,000 American casualties, which includes eight civilians working for the US military, has slowed markedly since the "surge" of 28,000 troops was completed last June.
Total military deaths reached 1,000 in September 2004, 2,000 in October 2005 and 3,000 in December 2006. Last year was the deadliest with 901 deaths, 51 more than 2004. Nearly 30,000 have been wounded. Some 175 British troops have been killed since 2003.
Mouwaffak al-Rubaie, Iraq's National Security Adviser, said at the weekend that he sympathised with American losses but warned against pulling out US troops before Iraqi forces were are ready to take over the security burden.
"This war is well worth fighting," he told CNN. "This is global terrorism hitting everywhere and they have chosen Iraq to be a battlefield." He added: "The Iraqis have invested three times the blood than the Americans in the way of casualties, in the way of spending their treasure and money.
Vice-President Dick Cheney, visiting Jerusalem, said that the 4,000th American death in Iraq might have a psychological impact on US public opinion.
"You regret every casualty, every loss," he said. "The president is the one that has to make that decision to send young men and women into harm's way. It never gets any easier."
But Mr Cheney was unrepentant about the decision to invade and blamed Iran and Syria for sowing instability in the Middle East.
Tehran and Damascus were blocking progress between Israel and the Palestinians, he said.
"It is clearly a difficult situation, in part, because I think it's true, there's evidence, that Hamas is supported by Iran and Syria and that they're doing everything they can to torpedo the peace process."
[quote]
Families paid the price
The U.S. war effort in Iraq is sustained by a hefty burden on the military, with some troops preparing for their fifth tour of duty and the army facing a $200bn-plus rebuilding bill. The army was forced to extend troop deployments from one year to 15 months last April in order to keep the war going.
“Moral waiversâ€
Families paid the price
The U.S. war effort in Iraq is sustained by a hefty burden on the military, with some troops preparing for their fifth tour of duty and the army facing a $200bn-plus rebuilding bill. The army was forced to extend troop deployments from one year to 15 months last April in order to keep the war going.
“Moral waiversâ€
American administrated government in Iraq trying to regain control over Basra
Tuesday 25th March, 2008
At least 25 people were killed in American administrated Iraq on Tuesday in ongoing heavy fighting between the Iraqi forces and militants in the southern city of Basra.
Sources said that the al-Sadr and Mawani hospitals admitted more than 70 of the injured, most of them Iraqi troops and police officers but also civilians and members of Mahdi militia.
Four militants from the Mahdi Army, a militia loyal to radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, were also among the dead.
Intense fighting was reported in Basra, as the Mahdi Army, attacked a number of American administrated Iraqi security checkpoints.
The Voice of Iraq news agency said al-Sadr's office had denied there had been any clashes between the Mahdi Army and Iraqi forces.
According to Voice of Iraq sources, al-Sadr had ordered his militia to hand over Koran copies and olive leaves to the Iraqi soldiers deployed across the Iraqi capital, stressing that there were no clashes between the al-Sadr militia and the Iraqi troops in Al-Sadr city in Baghdad.
The Al-Jazeera news channel quoted an al-Sadr spokesman saying that al-Sadr had threatened a civil disobedience if Iraqi forces did not stop its security operation in the city of Basra.
Meanwhile, American administrated Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki launched a security plan in Basra to maintain security and fight militia and gangs in the city.
Some 50,000 Iraqi troops and police reinforcements are in Basra, supervised by al-Maliki, who is also the general commander of the army, Abdul-Karim Khalaf.
Security forces imposed a blanket curfew in the city from the early hours of Monday, while schools and universities did not open Tuesday and will stay closed for a further three days.
The city's borders have also been closed for the coming three days and citizens ordered to hand all weapons to security forces.
Al-Maliki arrived in Basra Monday to inspect the security situation in Iraq's second largest city where Shia parties, their militias and criminal gangs are all locked in a struggle for power.
Witnesses say several US occupation military aircraft have landed at Basra airport.
The US military reported that five Iraqi rebels were killed overnight by occupying troops near Basra as they prepared a bomb.
Tuesday 25th March, 2008
At least 25 people were killed in American administrated Iraq on Tuesday in ongoing heavy fighting between the Iraqi forces and militants in the southern city of Basra.
Sources said that the al-Sadr and Mawani hospitals admitted more than 70 of the injured, most of them Iraqi troops and police officers but also civilians and members of Mahdi militia.
Four militants from the Mahdi Army, a militia loyal to radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, were also among the dead.
Intense fighting was reported in Basra, as the Mahdi Army, attacked a number of American administrated Iraqi security checkpoints.
The Voice of Iraq news agency said al-Sadr's office had denied there had been any clashes between the Mahdi Army and Iraqi forces.
According to Voice of Iraq sources, al-Sadr had ordered his militia to hand over Koran copies and olive leaves to the Iraqi soldiers deployed across the Iraqi capital, stressing that there were no clashes between the al-Sadr militia and the Iraqi troops in Al-Sadr city in Baghdad.
The Al-Jazeera news channel quoted an al-Sadr spokesman saying that al-Sadr had threatened a civil disobedience if Iraqi forces did not stop its security operation in the city of Basra.
Meanwhile, American administrated Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki launched a security plan in Basra to maintain security and fight militia and gangs in the city.
Some 50,000 Iraqi troops and police reinforcements are in Basra, supervised by al-Maliki, who is also the general commander of the army, Abdul-Karim Khalaf.
Security forces imposed a blanket curfew in the city from the early hours of Monday, while schools and universities did not open Tuesday and will stay closed for a further three days.
The city's borders have also been closed for the coming three days and citizens ordered to hand all weapons to security forces.
Al-Maliki arrived in Basra Monday to inspect the security situation in Iraq's second largest city where Shia parties, their militias and criminal gangs are all locked in a struggle for power.
Witnesses say several US occupation military aircraft have landed at Basra airport.
The US military reported that five Iraqi rebels were killed overnight by occupying troops near Basra as they prepared a bomb.
Now slowly Amirkhans are withdrawing from countrysides into baghdad and into the relative safety of green zone. Now the so called 'iraqi forces' are in the firing line and we can expect an average 25 deaths per day if the current level of conflicts continue. What a mess Unkil has made for itself and for the world. 
The batle for Basra. Maliki the US marionette vs Moqtadar the mullah!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... raq126.xml
Iraq's 'final showdown' with militia men
By Damien McElroy and Thomas Harding
Last Updated: 2:15am GMT 26/03/2008
Iraq is facing the gravest challenge to its fragile security in more than a year as the radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called for nationwide protests after Baghdad launched a major military operation against his supporters in Basra.
Shi’ite Sadrist youngsters carry a poster of Moqtada al-Sadr, the radical cleric, during a rally in the al-Amil neighbourhood of Baghdad
At least 25 people were killed in fighting in the southern city after the Iraqi army raided districts that are home to militiamen loyal to Sadr.
British forces at Basra airport closely tracked the outcome of an operation designed to provoke a "major showdown" with the city's powerful armed factions, including Sadr's Mahdi army.
Major Tom Holloway, a British spokesman, said aerial support and other back-up had been provided to the Iraqi army and police in two notorious insurgent strongholds in Basra, Jumhuriyah and Tamiyah, but there had been no request for intervention on the ground.
"There's a fight going on downtown," he said. "Fighting in built-up areas is tough anywhere but in Basra's slum conditions this is a real test of the Iraqi security forces."
In Baghdad, rockets rained down on the diplomatic Green Zone while fighting was reported in Sadr City, the huge district that is the cleric's stronghold in the capital.
His followers were reported to have spent the day making preparations for a siege. Five districts of the central city of Kut were reported to have fallen to the Mahdi army.
Named Saulat al-Fursan, or Charge of the Knights, the Basra operation marks a major gamble for Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister of Iraq's Shi'ite-led government, who arrived in the city on Monday to oversee its execution.
Extra troops were drafted into the city last week to reinforce the 9,000-strong 14th Infantry Division, which has controlled the city since Britain withdrew from Basra Palace last year.
"This is going to be a major battle which will be the final showdown between the army and the militias to fight over who is to control southern Iraq," a senior defence source told The Daily Telegraph. "This will be the big test for the Iraqi 14th Division but we believe they have the capability to emerge as the winners."
Officials claimed the operation was designed to impose law and order across Basra but Sadr was quick to counter that his followers had been singled out. "We demand that religious and political leaders intervene to stop the attacks on poor people," he said in a statement issued by his supporters.
"We call on all Iraqis to launch protests across all the provinces. If the government does not respect these demands, the second step will be general civil disobedience in Baghdad and the Iraqi provinces."
The Iraqi army cordoned off Basra late on Monday and troops rolled in early yesterday.
Heavy exchanges of artillery and gunfire were reported. "Bullets are coming from everywhere and we can hear rocket explosions," said one Basra resident.
If the Iraqi forces crumble then three British battle groups - each of about 650 men armed with Challenger 2 tanks and Warrior armoured vehicles - are on hand to re-enter the city six months after withdrawing last September.
Sadr has been a thorn in the side of the US-led effort to establish a functioning regime in Iraq since the 2003 invasion. But after sectarian violence by his followers spiralled out of control last year, he unexpectedly declared a ceasefire to purge rogue elements.
The new showdown with Shi'ite radicals comes after a year of progress on the security front, with US forces claiming success in pacifying restive Sunni regions with a "surge" in troop numbers.
Mr Maliki's arrival in Basra drew the prospect of all-out confrontation a step closer. For the third day running rockets fired from Sadr districts of Baghdad hit the Green Zone.
Baghdad has seized an opportunity to address an impasse in Basra widely blamed on Britain.
Hoshyar Zebari, Iraq's foreign minister, reflected widespread official frustration with the British position in Basra when he called on commanders to tackle problems in the city.
"They should not just sit there and do nothing," he said. "There are certain responsibilities, especially at least until the end of this year."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... raq126.xml
Iraq's 'final showdown' with militia men
By Damien McElroy and Thomas Harding
Last Updated: 2:15am GMT 26/03/2008
Iraq is facing the gravest challenge to its fragile security in more than a year as the radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called for nationwide protests after Baghdad launched a major military operation against his supporters in Basra.
Shi’ite Sadrist youngsters carry a poster of Moqtada al-Sadr, the radical cleric, during a rally in the al-Amil neighbourhood of Baghdad
At least 25 people were killed in fighting in the southern city after the Iraqi army raided districts that are home to militiamen loyal to Sadr.
British forces at Basra airport closely tracked the outcome of an operation designed to provoke a "major showdown" with the city's powerful armed factions, including Sadr's Mahdi army.
Major Tom Holloway, a British spokesman, said aerial support and other back-up had been provided to the Iraqi army and police in two notorious insurgent strongholds in Basra, Jumhuriyah and Tamiyah, but there had been no request for intervention on the ground.
"There's a fight going on downtown," he said. "Fighting in built-up areas is tough anywhere but in Basra's slum conditions this is a real test of the Iraqi security forces."
In Baghdad, rockets rained down on the diplomatic Green Zone while fighting was reported in Sadr City, the huge district that is the cleric's stronghold in the capital.
His followers were reported to have spent the day making preparations for a siege. Five districts of the central city of Kut were reported to have fallen to the Mahdi army.
Named Saulat al-Fursan, or Charge of the Knights, the Basra operation marks a major gamble for Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister of Iraq's Shi'ite-led government, who arrived in the city on Monday to oversee its execution.
Extra troops were drafted into the city last week to reinforce the 9,000-strong 14th Infantry Division, which has controlled the city since Britain withdrew from Basra Palace last year.
"This is going to be a major battle which will be the final showdown between the army and the militias to fight over who is to control southern Iraq," a senior defence source told The Daily Telegraph. "This will be the big test for the Iraqi 14th Division but we believe they have the capability to emerge as the winners."
Officials claimed the operation was designed to impose law and order across Basra but Sadr was quick to counter that his followers had been singled out. "We demand that religious and political leaders intervene to stop the attacks on poor people," he said in a statement issued by his supporters.
"We call on all Iraqis to launch protests across all the provinces. If the government does not respect these demands, the second step will be general civil disobedience in Baghdad and the Iraqi provinces."
The Iraqi army cordoned off Basra late on Monday and troops rolled in early yesterday.
Heavy exchanges of artillery and gunfire were reported. "Bullets are coming from everywhere and we can hear rocket explosions," said one Basra resident.
If the Iraqi forces crumble then three British battle groups - each of about 650 men armed with Challenger 2 tanks and Warrior armoured vehicles - are on hand to re-enter the city six months after withdrawing last September.
Sadr has been a thorn in the side of the US-led effort to establish a functioning regime in Iraq since the 2003 invasion. But after sectarian violence by his followers spiralled out of control last year, he unexpectedly declared a ceasefire to purge rogue elements.
The new showdown with Shi'ite radicals comes after a year of progress on the security front, with US forces claiming success in pacifying restive Sunni regions with a "surge" in troop numbers.
Mr Maliki's arrival in Basra drew the prospect of all-out confrontation a step closer. For the third day running rockets fired from Sadr districts of Baghdad hit the Green Zone.
Baghdad has seized an opportunity to address an impasse in Basra widely blamed on Britain.
Hoshyar Zebari, Iraq's foreign minister, reflected widespread official frustration with the British position in Basra when he called on commanders to tackle problems in the city.
"They should not just sit there and do nothing," he said. "There are certain responsibilities, especially at least until the end of this year."