These are the archives for the week ending 31st August 2007
Mahdi army suspends operations
Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr on Wednesday ordered his Mahdi Army militia to halt hostilities for six months to restore its credibility in the eyes of Iraqis shaken by a deadly outbreak of Shiite-on-Shiite violence.
The unexpected move by the fiery anti-U.S. Muslim leader, coupled with a vow to cease attacks on American forces in Iraq, may also have been aimed at elevating his standing among his countrymen and their neighbors by attempting to demonstrate that he has the power to make peace or destroy it.
Los Angeles Times, 30/8/07
More Iraqis forced to flee homes
Latest figures from the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, show the number of Iraqis fleeing their homes is rising. The latest figure is 60,000 per month, compared to a previous level of 50,000, a UNHCR spokeswoman said.
The body estimates 4.2m Iraqis have been displaced since the 2003 invasion. Of those, two million have gone abroad. Syria estimates more than 1.4m Iraqis are now within its borders.
Jordan says as many as 750,000 are on its territory. Both countries have complained about the burden the refugees are placing on their health and education systems.
BBC News, 29/8/07
Bush blames "Islamic extremism"
Speaking here before the American Legion's annual convention, Mr. Bush said competing brands of Islamic extremism - the Sunni model exemplified by Al Qaeda and a Shiite version that he said was abetted by Iran - were vying for dominance in Iraq.
That, he said, made it imperative for the United States not to fail in establishing a pro-American government there.
"I want our citizens to consider what would happen if these forces of radicalism are allowed to drive us out of the Middle East," he said in a speech interrupted several times by applause. "The region would be dramatically transformed in a way that would imperil the civilized world."
New York Times, 29/8/07
Another $50 billion for US war machine
President Bush plans to ask Congress next month for up to $50 billion in additional funding for the war in Iraq, a White House official said yesterday, a move that appears to reflect increasing administration confidence that it can fend off congressional calls for a rapid drawdown of U.S. forces.
The request -- which would come on top of about $460 billion in the fiscal 2008 defense budget and $147 billion in a pending supplemental bill to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq -- is expected to be announced after congressional hearings scheduled for mid-September featuring the two top U.S. officials in Iraq.
Army Gen. David H. Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker will assess the state of the war and the effect of the new strategy the U.S. military has pursued this year.
Washington Post, 29/8/07
UK faces "generation of conflict"
Britain's armed forces must prepare for a "generation of conflict", the head of the Army has said.
General Sir Richard Dannatt also warned of the threat from a "strident Islamist shadow" over the world and the need for "some form of success" in Iraq to combat it.
He said the Army was facing a global "conflict of values and ideas".
BBC News, 28/8/07
Brown denies early British withdrawal...
Gordon Brown started the new political season on Monday by signalling that the UK government is not seeking an early exit from Iraq and will continue to meet its obligations to the country.
Despite a wave of speculation in recent weeks that military pressures on the ground could prompt a sudden exit by UK troops from Iraq, the prime minister said the military "continue to have an important job to do" and "clear obligations to discharge".
Financial Times, 27/8/07
...but deal leaves Basra to militias...
The last contingent of British soldiers based in the center of this southern city will leave by Friday, says a senior Iraqi security official, adding that a deal has been struck with leaders of Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army to ensure their safe departure.
As they pull back to a base outside Basra, the British will leave a vital provincial capital in the throes of a turf battle between Shiite factions - one that Mr. Sadr's militia appears to be winning.
"By the end of August, there will be no presence for British forces at the palace or at the joint coordination center. Both will be in the hands of the Iraqi government," says the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the matter.
"I think it's best if they leave, because they did nothing to stop the militias, which were formed in the womb of their occupation."
Ahead of the pullout, an agreement between British and Iraqi authorities resulted in the transfer of more than two dozen Mahdi Army prisoners from British to Iraqi custody, according to the security official. They were then released by an Iraqi court in an attempt to pacify the militias during the highly symbolic handover of the palaces to Iraqis, he said. The British did not comment on any arrangements.
Christian Science Monitor, 28/8/07
...as Mahdi army take over British base
Shiite militiamen from the Mahdi Army took over the police joint command centre in Basra yesterday as UK soldiers withdrew from the facility and handed control to Iraqi police. Police left the building when the militiamen, loyal to anti-US cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, arrived, witnesses said.
Last night, the MoD disputed the reports, saying it had been in contact with the Iraqi general in charge of security in Basra, who said the Mahdi Army was not there.
But witnesses said the Mahdi Army emptied the building in early evening - taking generators, computers, furniture and cars - and remained there.
The British Army had maintained a small number of soldiers at the command centre to help train Iraqi police. However, the British withdrew on Saturday night "in the framework of the plan for the handover" to Iraqi control of British positions in the city, said UK spokesman Major Matthew Bird.
Scotsman, 27/8/07
Bush hails Iraq compromise...
US President George W Bush has welcomed a reconciliation agreement among Iraqi leaders, but warned that much work remained to quell sectarian violence.
He was speaking a day after the deal among Iraqi Shia, Sunni and Kurdish politicians was announced by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki.
"These leaders... recognise the true and meaningful reconciliation that needs to take place," Mr Bush said.
BBC News, 27/8/07
...but Sunnis are sceptical
Iraq's Sunni politicians have expressed doubt that the US-backed prime minister will deliver on goals set down in an agreement hammered out by the country's top leaders over the weekend.
Under intense US pressure, Nuri al-Maliki and four other senior leaders declared on Sunday that they had reached a consensus on a number of issues.
These included freeing detainees held without charge, easing the ban on former Saddam Hussein supporters in government posts, regulating the oil industry and holding provincial elections. No details were released, and most measures require parliamentary approval.
Some key Sunni figures on Monday dismissed the agreement as a stalling tactic by al-Maliki to ease pressure from Washington.
"Our position is that this meeting represents a new phase of procrastination and does not honestly aim at solving the problems quickly," Khalaf al-Ilyan, a leader of the Sunni bloc, the Iraqi Accordance Front, said.
"I think that no real or practical solution will come out of this."
Al Jazeera, 28/8/07
Allawi to return to Iraq
Iraq's former interim prime minister accused Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of fomenting sectarian violence plaguing the war-ravaged nation.
Ayad Allawi said he will soon return to Baghdad to "reverse the course in Iraq." Speaking from Amman, Jordan, Allawi said that al-Maliki leads a government loyal to Iran and Shiite interests.Allawi accused the prime minister of "supporting militias to take the rule of law in their hands."
Allawi also said he would like to see the United States begin to withdraw troops immediately, but realizes the process could take more than two years.
"I would play my role in Iraq in whatever capacity is required to change Iraq into an unsectarian country, to a peaceful country, to a democratic country," Allawi said.
However, Allawi's ties to a powerful Washington-based GOP lobbying firm raised eyebrows just as President Bush has reaffirmed his support for al-Maliki.
CNN 27/8/07
Record breaking opium crop
Afghanistan's poppy harvest is expected to top all records this year as the country spirals deeper into a vicious circle of drugs, corruption and insecurity.
A United Nations report due on Monday will announce that Afghanistan is now producing nearly 95 percent of the world's opium, up from 92 percent in 2006, officials and diplomats say.
This marks the sixth straight year of rises since U.S.-led and Afghan forces toppled the Taliban in 2001 - despite hundreds of millions of dollars pumped into programs to halt cultivation, processing and trafficking of the drug.
"It is a very bad situation definitely, and the government has not been able to deal with it in the right way, otherwise it should have at least been stabilized or contained," said Christina Oguz, the head of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Afghanistan."The same goes for the international community."
Afghanistan is locked in a vicious circle in which drug money corrupts government and helps fund the Taliban insurgency. That weakens state control over parts of the country, which in turn leads to more insecurity and more drug production.
The scale of the problem is huge. Opium and the heroin made from it are estimated to be worth some $3 billion to the Afghan economy, about a third of its gross domestic product.
Washington Post 27/8/07
British retreat descends into chaos
Shia militia loyal to the firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have scuppered an attempt by British forces to hand over the Basra joint police command centre to Iraqi police.
Iraqi police reportedly left when the Shia fighters arrived and began emptying the facility. According to witnesses, they made off with generators, computers, furniture and even cars, saying it was war booty - and were still in the centre yesterday evening.
The embarrassing episode, which comes as the British in Basra are preparing to move their remaining soldiers to the city airport as part of a planned withdrawal, once again highlights the strength of the militia in the city. It further undermines Britain's hopes of a smooth transfer and gives the impression of a rout.
Mr Sadr boasted in an interview with The Independent last week that the British had "given up" and were retreating because of the Iraqi resistance.
The British military disputed the reports about the Shia militiamen turning up yesterday, saying they had been in contact with the Iraqi general in charge of security in Basra, who denied that Mr Sadr's Mehdi Army was there.
Independent 27/8/07
Iraqi Prime Minister answers back
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki lashed out at U.S. politicians who have called on him to step down and accused U.S. forces of committing "big mistakes" in killing and detaining civilians in the hunt for insurgents.
It was the second outburst from the embattled leader in recent days as he has come under fire from an array of allies and adversaries who accuse him of failing to unite his Cabinet and put key laws and programs in place.
Al-Maliki trained his angriest words on presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York and fellow Democrat Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan. "There are American officials who consider Iraq as if it were one of their villages, for example Hillary Clinton and Carl Levin," he said. "They should come to their senses."
Al-Maliki, a Shiite, blasted his critics after meeting with Vice President Adel Abdul Mehdi, Sunni leader and Vice President Tariq Hashimi, and the country's top two Kurdish leaders, President Jalal Talabani and Mahmoud Barzani, leader of autonomous Kurdistan.
The five held talks on how to salvage the unity government following the pullout from the Cabinet of Sunni Arab members, as well as independents and some Shiites.
The leaders issued a statement saying they had found common ground on some of the main issues that have divided them, including constitutional revisions to allow regional power structures to emerge, reintegration of ousted members of Saddam Hussein's Baathist party and laws regulating oil, gas and water resources.
Those issues are among 18 benchmarks the U.S. government has identified to measure Iraqi progress toward self-sufficiency.
However, the leaders provided few details and made clear after their Sunday meeting that much work remained to be done in getting such legislation through the fractured Parliament.
The Seattle Times 27/8/07
Europe likely to cut military role in Afghanistan
The United States is worried about weakening Italian and German military commitments in Afghanistan as casualties increase in the fight to stem the bloody Taliban insurgency, officials said.
Debate is raging in Italy and Germany, and to a lesser extent the Netherlands and Denmark, on whether they should remain in the International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF), already grappling with a shortage of troops in the face of one of the most intense military engagements in decades.
"There is a good prospect that we are going to lose some" contributions from certain countries, a US administration official said, as European nations face upcoming votes at home on their reconstruction, military and training commitments in Afghanistan.
The Times of India 6/8/07
Bush pleads for patience
President George W. Bush, faced with growing calls to start withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, pleaded with Americans on Saturday for patience and cited progress in the past two months.
"The success of the past couple of months have shown that conditions on the ground can change -and they are changing," he said in his weekly radio address.
"We cannot expect the new strategy we are carrying out to bring success overnight."
Bush is facing mounting pressure from Democrats and a senior Republican lawmaker to begin pulling U.S. forces out of Iraq to show the government there that the American commitment is not open-ended.
Reuters 26/8/07
Iraqi death toll nearly doubles
This year's U.S. troop buildup has succeeded in bringing violence in Baghdad down from peak levels, but the death toll from sectarian attacks around the country is running nearly double the pace from a year ago.
Some of the recent bloodshed appears the result of militant fighters drifting into parts of northern Iraq, where they have fled after U.S.-led offensives.
Baghdad, however, still accounts for slightly more than half of all war-related killings - the same percentage as a year ago, according to figures compiled by The Associated Press.
The tallies and trends offer a sobering snapshot after an additional 30,000 U.S. troops began campaigns in February to regain control of the Baghdad area. It also highlights one of the major themes expected in next month's Iraq progress report to Congress: some military headway, but extremist factions are far from broken.
In street-level terms, it means life for average Iraqis appears to be even more perilous and unpredictable.
The figures are considered a minimum based on AP reporting. The actual numbers are likely higher, as many killings go unreported or uncounted. Insurgent deaths are not a part of the Iraqi count.
Brig. Gen. Richard Sherlock, deputy director for operational planning for the Pentagon's Joint Chiefs of Staff, said violence in Iraq "has continued to decline and is at the lowest level since June 2006."
He offered no statistics to back his claim, but in a briefing with reporters at the Pentagon on Friday he warned insurgents might try intensify attacks in Iraq to coincide with three milestones: the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks in the U.S., the beginning of Ramadan and the report to Congress.
Forbes 26/8/07
Killer was following training
A military legal officer has recommended dismissal of all charges against a Marine accused in the killings of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha, Iraq, nearly two years ago.
Lance Cpl. Stephen B. Tatum, 26, is charged with two counts of unpremeditated murder and four counts of negligent homicide on allegations that he unlawfully killed three adults and three children. He also is accused of assaulting two other children.
The investigator, Lt. Col. Paul Ware, heard more than eight days of testimony last month and reviewed thousands of pages of evidence.
Ware said he believed Tatum was following orders when he threw a grenade and opened fire into a living room where a family had taken refuge, and when he fired at targets in the bedroom of an adjacent house that later turned out to be women and children.
"The desire to explain this tragedy as a criminal act and not the result of training and fighting an enemy that hides among innocents is great," Ware said in his report.
"Lance Cpl. Tatum shot and killed people . . . but the reason he did so was because of his training and the circumstances he was placed in, not to exact revenge and commit murder."
San Diego Union Tribune, 24/8/07
50% increase in interned Iraqis
The number of detainees held by the American-led military coalition in Iraq has swelled by 50 percent under the troop increase ordered by President George W. Bush, with the inmate population growing from 16,000 in February to 24,500 today, according to American military officers in Iraq.
About 800 juveniles are held in the American internment facilities. Over all, the average length of detention is about a year. The statistics show that 3,334 detainees have been released thus far in 2007.
Few reliable numbers exist for those detained by the Iraqi government, according to John Sifton, a researcher with Human Rights Watch, an advocacy organization. The American military in Iraq will not provide numbers for detainees held by the government of Iraq.
He said that human rights organizations "have concerns about a 50 percent increase in detainees because it is 50 percent more people at risk of having been arbitrarily detained or, worse, of being handed over to Iraqi officers who might subject them to torture."
International Herald Tribune, 24/8/07
Maliki government 'precarious' says US intelligence
With just weeks to go before US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and military commander General David Petraeus are to report to Congress on progress in Iraq, US intelligence agencies released a grim forecast of more violence and stalemate.
"Levels of insurgent and sectarian violence will remain high, and the Iraqi government will continue to struggle to achieve national-level political reconciliation and improved governance," the National Intelligence Estimate found.
The report said there had been "measurable but uneven improvements" in Iraqi security since January under the troop increase, but that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government would become more precarious over the next six to 12 months.
In a sign of the political deadlock, the secularist bloc of former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi announced that its ministers, who had been boycotting Cabinet meetings, would quit the government altogether.
Daily Star, Lebanon, 25/8/07
Militias control electricity grid
Armed groups increasingly control the antiquated switching stations that channel electricity around Iraq, the electricity minister said Wednesday. That is dividing the national grid into fiefs that, he said, often refuse to share electricity generated locally with Baghdad and other power-starved areas in the center of Iraq.
The development adds to existing electricity problems in Baghdad, which has been struggling to provide power for more than a few hours a day because insurgents regularly blow up the towers that carry power lines into the city.
The government lost the ability to control the grid centrally after the American-led invasion in 2003, when looters destroyed electrical dispatch centers, the minister, Karim Wahid, said in a news briefing attended also by United States military officials.
The briefing had been intended, in part, to highlight successes in the American-financed reconstruction program here.
New York Times, 23/8/07
Lobbying to undermine Maliki
A powerhouse Republican lobbying firm with close ties to the White House has begun a public campaign to undermine the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. This comes as President Bush is publicly taking great pains to reiterate his support for the embattled Iraqi leader.
A senior Bush administration official told CNN the White House is aware of the lobbying campaign by Barbour Griffith & Rogers because the firm is "blasting e-mails all over town" criticizing al-Maliki and promoting the firm's client, former interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, as an alternative to al-Maliki
But the senior administration official insisted that White House officials have "absolutely no involvement" in the campaign to remove al-Maliki, nor have they given it their blessing.
The lobbying firm boasts the services of two onetime foreign policy hands of President Bush: Ambassador Robert Blackwill, the former deputy national security adviser who was Bush's envoy to Iraq and helped form Allawi's interim government in 2004, and Philip Zelikow, former counselor to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
CNN, 23/8/07
UK focus shifts to Afghanistan
The Prime Minister has been at pains to emphasize his commitment to warm relations with the White House, but his popularity in Britain has been boosted by a widespread perception that he's shifted away from the backslapping chumminess of the Blair era.
He's now preparing to fight an election, possibly even as early as this fall, to turn that popularity into a fresh political mandate. That means, says Dr. Toby Dodge, an Iraq expert at Queen Mary College, University of London, he'll be "trying to draw a thick black line under the Blair legacy. Of course, the big stinking fish of the Blair legacy is Iraq."
The British public isn't alone in wanting an end to British involvement there. Armed Forces chief Dannatt is lobbying for a withdrawal in public and private, says Dodge: "He's saying Afghanistan is most important and I won't have my army broken over the knee of Iraq."
With an army of fewer than 100,000, the U.K. doesn't have the manpower to maintain a significant presence in Iraq and continue ramping up operations in Afghanistan. The government may not yet have figured out exactly how to extricate British troops from Iraq but that calculation is becoming ever more urgent as efforts to fight the Taliban intensify.
Time, 24/8/07