Archive for the week ending 13th June 2008
Bush regrets warlike tone
U.S. President George Bush says he regrets that the way he spoke ahead of the Iraq invasion made him appear as a "guy really anxious for war."
In an interview published Wednesday in the British daily The Times Mr. Bush said that, in retrospect, he could have used "a different tone, a different rhetoric."
The U.S. president said that such phrases as "dead or alive" and "bring them on" let people think he was "not a man of peace."
Voice of America, 11/6/08
US demanding 58 bases in Iraq...
Iraqi lawmakers say the United States is demanding 58 bases as part of a proposed "status of forces" agreement that will allow U.S. troops to remain in the country indefinitely.
Leading members of the two ruling Shiite parties said in a series of interviews the Iraqi government rejected this proposal along with another U.S. demand that would effectively hand over the power to determine if a hostile act from another country is aggression against Iraq .
Lawmakers said they fear this power would drag Iraq into a war between the United States and Iran .
"The points that were put forth by the Americans were more abominable than the occupation," said Jalal al Din al Saghir , a leading lawmaker from the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq .
"We were occupied by order of the Security Council ," he said, referring to the 2004 Resolution mandating a U.S. military occupation in Iraq at the head of an international coalition. "But now we are being asked to sign for our own occupation. That is why we have absolutely refused all that we have seen so far."
McClatchy Newspapers, 9/6/08
...and are confident they'll get agreement
A top American official expressed confidence Tuesday the U.S. and Iraq will finalize a long-term security pact on time next month despite strong opposition from Iran and a storm of criticism from Iraqi lawmakers who must ratify the deal.
David Satterfield, the State Department's top adviser on Iraq, said both sides were committed to reaching an agreement, which would also provide a legal basis for keeping U.S. troops here after the United Nations mandate expires at the end of the year.
"We're confident it can be achieved, and by the end of July deadline," Satterfield said of the agreement.
The Mercury News, 10/6/08
The largest case of war profiteering in history
A BBC investigation estimates that around $23bn (£11.75bn) may have been lost, stolen or just not properly accounted for in Iraq.
A US gagging order is preventing discussion of the allegations. The order applies to 70 court cases against some of the top US companies. While George Bush remains in the White House, it is unlikely the gagging orders will be lifted.
To date, no major US contractor faces trial for fraud or mismanagement in Iraq.
BBC News, 22/6/08
Afghan war will take at least ten more years
Afghanistan needs at least a decade to be able to handle its own security, President Hamid Karzai said Monday on a visit to peacekeeping troop contributor The Netherlands.
"Afghanistan ... will have a much better administration by 2010," he told journalists after talks with Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende in The Hague.
"But that does not mean that Afghanistan will be entirely on its own feet," Karzai added as international forces struggle with the Taliban militia that has been rejuvenated since being ousted in a US-led invasion in 2001.
"It will take much longer for us to be able to fully defend ourselves and run our affairs. At least another 10 years would be required for the whole of the country."
AFP, 9/6/08
Iraqis want US troops confined to bases
American troops in Iraq would be confined to their bases and private security guards subject to local law if Iraq gets its way in negotiations with the US over the future status of American forces.
According to a senior Iraqi official, the negotiations between the two allies became so fraught recently that President Bush intervened personally to defuse the situation.
Among a litany of sticking-points surrounding the status of forces agreement (SOFA) between the two countries are Iraqi concerns over how many US bases will remain in the country and who will be in control of Iraqi air space.
Other flashpoints include whether private security companies working for US forces will continue to enjoy immunity from Iraqi law and whether US soldiers will maintain the freedom to travel where they want, arrest people and conduct raids without first gaining approval from the Iraqi Government.
The Times, 9/6/08
Blast takes UK Afghan toll to 100
Three British soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan, bringing the number of UK troops killed there to 100 since 2001, the Ministry of Defence said.
The defence secretary expressed his sympathy for the relatives, friends and comrades of the latest casualties. In a tribute to all the British casualties since 2001, Mr Browne said that British troops had "transformed" the heartland of the Taleban from an area of lawless oppression and terrorism to a place of democracy and development.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup paid tribute to 100 "brave and professional servicemen" who had died. He said he reflected on the most recent deaths with "both a sense of deep sadness and pride", saying the military effort was starting to achieve real change.
The BBC's defence correspondent, Paul Adams, says some will question Mr Browne's and Sir Jock's "optimistic" assessments that British troops are helping to turn the tide of the conflict.
"With the country's central government weak and corrupt and Taleban influence still felt in much of the south this war has a long way to go," he said.
BBC News, 9/6/08
Poland to leave Iraq
Poland will withdraw all its troops from Iraq by mid-October, Polish Defense Minister Bogdan Klich said on Saturday.
Poland currently has some 900 military staff in Iraq, and 20 soldiers have died since 2003 when Poland deployed some 2,600 troops to Diwaniyah to back the U.S.-led military operation in the Middle East country.
Recent polls by Poland's research center for public opinions have showed that about 81 percent of the Polish oppose to the country's military presence in Iraq.
China View, 8/6/08
Iraq to sign oil deals before parliamentary approval
Iraq intends to sign Technical Support Agreements (TSAs) with foreign oil majors by the end of June to add an eventual 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) in output capacity, a specialist newsletter quoted the oil minister as saying.
The agreements cover Kirkuk field (Shell), Rumaila (BP), Al-Zubair (ExxonMobil), West Qurna Phase I (Chevron and Total), Missan province development (Shell and BHP Billiton) and the Subba and Luhais fields (Anadarko, Vitol and the UAE's Dome).
The TSAs are a bridging contract designed to fast-track foreign oil involvement in Iraq, while a new hydrocarbons law has yet to be passed by the Iraqi parliament
Economic Times, 8/6/08
Iraq may leave deal to next US president...
The Iraqi government may request an extension of the United Nations security mandate authorizing a U.S. military presence, due to expire in December, amid growing domestic criticism of new bilateral arrangements now being negotiated with the Bush administration, according to senior Iraqi officials.
Iraqis across the political spectrum have objected to Bush administration proposals for unilateral authority over U.S. military operations in Iraq and the detention of Iraqi citizens, immunity for civilian security contractors, and continuing control over Iraqi borders and airspace.
Failure to reach an agreement on the arrangements, which must be approved by the Iraqi parliament, would leave the negotiations over a future U.S.-Iraqi relationship and the role of U.S. forces in the country to the next American president.
Washington Post, 6/6/08
...as Obama backtracks on withdrawal policy
Presumptive Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama has sought to distance himself from his campaign statements on troop withdrawal from Iraq, apparently under pressure from Republican rival John McCain's repeated questioning of his stand.
In an interview to CNN after clinching the Presidential nomination, Obama did not rule out the possibility that conditions on the ground could alter his policy of immediately beginning a troop withdrawal.
Confronted with his statements on withdrawal policy, Obama replied, "Well, you know, I'd never say there's 'nothing' or 'never' or 'no way' in which I'd change my mind".
"Obviously, I'm open to the facts and to reason. And there's no doubt that we've seen significant improvements in security on the ground in Iraq. And our troops, and Gen [David] Petraeus, deserve enormous credit for that," he added.
Sounding more cautious on the issue, the 46-year old Illinois senator said the matter will be looked upon from a "broader perspective".
Press Trust of India, 6/6/08
Marine charged with civilian killings
The government has charged a Camp Pendleton Marine sniper for allegedly killing two civilians and shooting at two others last year in western Iraq.
Sgt. John Winnick II was charged May 19 with two counts of voluntary manslaughter, one count of aggravated assault and one count of failure to obey order or regulations, Camp Pendleton spokesman Mike Alvarez said Friday.
If convicted, Winnick could be imprisoned for 40 years and receive a dishonorable discharge. He is serving at Camp Pendleton and has not been jailed.
San Diego Union-Tribune, 6/6/08
US holding Iraq's foreign reserves hostage
The US is holding hostage some $50bn (£25bn) of Iraq's money in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to pressure the Iraqi government into signing an agreement seen by many Iraqis as prolonging the US occupation indefinitely.
Iraq's foreign reserves are currently protected by a presidential order giving them immunity from judicial attachment but the US side in the talks has suggested that if the UN mandate, under which the money is held, lapses and is not replaced by the new agreement, then Iraq's funds would lose this immunity. The cost to Iraq of this happening would be the immediate loss of $20bn.
The US is able to threaten Iraq with the loss of 40 per cent of its foreign exchange reserves because Iraq's independence is still limited by the legacy of UN sanctions and restrictions imposed on Iraq since Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in the 1990s.
This means that Iraq is still considered a threat to international security and stability under Chapter Seven of the UN charter. The US negotiators say the price of Iraq escaping Chapter Seven is to sign up to a new "strategic alliance" with the United States.
Independent, 6/6/08
Official: Bush lied on Iraq threat
President Bush and top administration officials repeatedly exaggerated what they knew about Iraq's weapons and its ties to terrorist groups as the White House pressed its case for war against Iraq, the Senate intelligence committee said yesterday in a long-awaited report.
"In making the case for war, the administration repeatedly presented intelligence as fact when it was unsubstantiated, contradicted or even nonexistent," Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV, the committee chairman, said at a news conference. "As a result, the American people were led to believe that the threat from Iraq was much greater than actually existed."
Washington Post, 6/6/08
No evidence that Iran is arming Iraqi resistance
In recent months, Gen. David Petraeus charged that Iran has supplied powerful rocket-propelled grenade launchers to Shiite militias in Iraq. But according to the U.S. government's own reports, there is no evidence to support that charge.
In fact, the vast majority of RPGs in the hands of Shiite militants have come from either U.S.-purchased weapons intended for Iraq's new security forces, or from Saddam Hussein's old stockpiles, which the U.S. failed to secure when it took control of the country.
The Bush administration has long sought to create the impression that Iran has been playing a major military role in Iraq by supplying arms to Shiite militias, including the cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's powerful Mahdi army. But to date, U.S. military officials have offered scant or even dubious evidence of Iranian military involvement in Iraq -- and Petraeus' allegation about the RPGs is a clear-cut case of unsubstantiated charges.
In more than two dozen MNF-I news releases on Iraqi Shiite weapons since early 2007, more than 200 RPGs are listed. Not a single one was identified as Iranian-made.
That was not because of a lack of effort by the U.S. military, however, to determine whether captured weapons were of Iranian origin. Lt. Col. Steve Stover, the spokesman for the 4th Infantry Division, which is deployed in and around Baghdad, confirmed that explosives experts examine the findings at each cache site to determine the origin of the weapons. "Normally we say whether they are Iranian-manufactured or not," Stover said in a telephone interview.
Salon, 6/6/08