Who's your Baghdaddy?

On My Way Home

2006-09-22T03:24:00.000+05:00

WOW! My tour is over. It seems just like yesterday I was arriving under the cover of darkness at the US Embassy and getting my assigned room and unpacking my gear.
I have once again had the honor of working with some of the finest enlisted and officers from all services of the US Armed Forces. In my military career, I have made many friends but you don't make as good of friends as you do in a war zone. You find out really quickly that you depend each and every day on these folks and many of us have grown quite close. We worked hard and played hard. I truly feel like we have accompolished something while I was here and I wouldn't trade this expeirence for anything in the world.

This is the last time I will see darkness in Iraq, unless it is on TV. It's a happy time because I know within a matter of days I will be with my family again. It is also a sad time because the people here will never be able to enjoy what we take for granted every single day in the states. I'm looking forward to trees, grass, rain and cold weather. I certainly won't miss the sand storms, unbearable heat and living in a room not much bigger than a closet and eating the same thing day after day.

I'm not really sure how many people actually read this blog but I want to say thank you to every person out there who takes a minute or two every day to think about the men and women working to make Iraq a better place to live. We can't do this job without your support.

That's it. I'm outta here!

The Ring of Baghdad.....

2006-09-17T21:11:00.000+05:00

U.S. military and Iraqi security forces have begun a massive effort to seal off Baghdad with a ring of reinforced checkpoints, berms, trenches, barriers and fences in an attempt to clamp down on insurgents, officials said Friday.
A few dozen checkpoints will be placed along key arteries in and out of Baghdad to ensure that people move through "predictable paths" that can be controlled, Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a U.S. military spokesman, said late Friday night. Iraqi forces will man the checkpoints and patrol the terrain, with support from U.S. troops.
"We know there's a flow in and out of the city of those who are responsible for the violence," Johnson said. "The intent is to control Baghdad city."
The plans were announced on a day when officials said 52 bound and tortured corpses were found across Baghdad over a 24-hour period. Baghdad's body count has surged in recent days, despite a month-old push by thousands of U.S. and Iraqi forces to tame some of the capital's roughest neighborhoods.
The construction of a ring around Baghdad would be the most ambitious security endeavor yet for the U.S. military and its Iraqi allies as they try to block militias, death squads and insurgents from funneling in weapons, explosives, funding and recruits from outside the capital.
"The enemy is changing tactics, and we're adapting," President Bush said Friday in Washington. "The enemy moves, and we will help the Iraqis move. And so they're building a berm around the city to make it harder for people to come in with explosive devices, for example. . . . They got a clear-build-and-hold strategy."
The project is underway as sectarian violence is emerging as the biggest challenge to U.S. and Iraqi forces engaged in what some U.S. officials have called the Battle for Baghdad, a confrontation that might strongly influence the future path of Iraq.
"We're trying to knock down sectarian violence and go after those folks, those death squads that have caused this new form of violence, that if left unchecked could lead to civil war," said Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the second-ranking U.S. military officer in Iraq.
The effort to wrap Baghdad in a protective bubble is not a new tactic. In Fallujah, U.S. and Iraqi forces have controlled entry and exit since an assault by U.S. forces in November 2004. In the volatile town of Samarra, where the bombing of a Shiite shrine in February triggered the sectarian violence now ravaging Baghdad, the U.S. military has erected berms around the town. The dirt ridges, a few feet high, serve largely to channel traffic.
Johnson, the U.S. military spokesman, said the Baghdad project has been underway for a few weeks and that building has begun. The plan is to use the natural terrain where possible and reinforce existing barriers, "complementing them with trenches, in other places berms, and other types of fencing."
Such efforts are among the methods that counterinsurgency experts recommend to gain control over population movements. Yet some analysts also say that the United States has never taken what many of them contend is an essential first step: conducting a thorough census, then issuing identity cards and requiring all people to carry them at all times.
It is unclear whether the planned complex of berms, trenches and checkpoints will be effective in Baghdad, a megalopolis of 81 square miles that includes vast stretches of farmland and open terrain. Insurgents and members of private militias might still be able to avoid the checkpoints, and even if they don't, U.S. and Iraqi forces still face the problem of identifying them.
The Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins in October, is likely to increase the flow of people in and out of Baghdad. The Iraqi government, Johnson said, is trying to determine how the plan to seal Baghdad will affect the flow of vehicles in a city already clogged with heavy traffic.
The grisly discoveries of more bodies around the capital illustrated how serious the ongoing sectarian strife has become. According to Iraqi police officials, some of the corpses had disfigured faces. Most were shot in the head. All bore marks of torture. Some were found near a railroad track, others near a bus station. Five were beheaded. All were young men, in civilian clothes, between the ages of 20 and 35.
The bodies were dumped in both Shiite Muslim and Sunni Muslim neighborhoods, east, west and south of the Tigris River, which weaves through the heart of the city. In total, 114 bullet-riddled and tortured corpses have turned up since Tuesday.
Meanwhile, on Friday, five U.S. soldiers were reported killed. Military officials said they included two who were killed Thursday in a suicide bombing that also wounded 30 Americans west of Baghdad. Another American soldier died in combat in Anbar province on Friday, and two more were killed by roadside bombs -- one on Thursday in northwest Baghdad, the other in south Baghdad on Friday.
In the northern city of Mosul, a car bomb that targeted a U.S. patrol killed nine civilians, said Brig. Gen. Saed Jubury, a police spokesman.
In the political arena, a revered Shiite cleric indicated that he would not support a proposal to create a controversial autonomous Shiite region that many Sunnis and some Shiites fear could partition Iraq.
After a meeting with senior Shiite leaders, Ayatollah Mohammad Yaqoubi's office released a statement saying that Yaqoubi stressed "the maintenance of Iraq's unity and expressed his upset over the discord among the political parties and their preference for their factious interests over the public interests of the people."
The statement delivered another blow to efforts by Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, to pass a draft bill that would carve Iraq into a three-part federal system, including a separate Shiite region.
Sunni Arab political parties have accused their Shiite counterparts of trying to break apart Iraq and have threatened to boycott parliament. Both the Kurdish-populated north and the Shiite south are oil-rich, while most Sunni Arabs live around Baghdad or in Iraq's resource-poor western provinces.

Even After US Leave, Abu Ghraib Is Still In The News

2006-09-11T21:04:00.000+05:00

The notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad is at the centre of fresh abuse allegations just a week after it was handed over to Iraqi authorities, with claims that inmates are being tortured by their new captors.
Staff at the jail say the Iraqi authorities have moved dozens of terrorist suspects into Abu Ghraib from the controversial Interior Ministry detention centre in Jadriyah, where United States troops last year discovered 169 prisoners who had been tortured and starved.
An independent witness who went into Abu Ghraib this week told The Sunday Telegraph that screams were coming from the cell blocks housing the terrorist suspects. Prisoners released from the jail this week spoke of routine torture of terrorism suspects and on Wednesday, 27 prisoners were hanged in the first mass execution since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime.
Conditions in the rest of the jail were grim, with an overwhelming stench of excrement, prisoners crammed into cells for all but 20 minutes a day, food rations cut to just rice and water and no air conditioning.
Some of the small number of prisoners who remained in the jail after the Americans left said they had pleaded to go with their departing captors, rather than be left in the hands of Iraqi guards.
"The Americans were better than the Iraqis. They treated us better," said Khalid Alaani, who was held on suspicion of involvement in Sunni terrorism.
Abu Ghraib became synonymous with abuse after shocking pictures were published in 2004 showing prisoners being tortured and humiliated, galvanising opposition to the US presence in Iraq.
The witness gained access to the prison just days after the Americans formally handed over control to the Iraqi authorities on Sept 1.
Inside the 100-yard long cell block the smell of excrement was overpowering. Four to six prisoners shared each of the 12ft by 15ft cells along either side and the walls were smeared with filth. The cell block was patrolled by guards who carried long batons and shouted angrily at the prisoners to stand up.
Access to the part of the prison containing terrorism suspects was denied, but from that block came the sound of screaming. The screaming continued for a long time.
"I am sure someone was being beaten, they were screaming like they were being hit," the witness reported. "I felt scared, I was asking what was happening in the terrorist section.
"I heard shouting, like someone had a hot iron on their body, screams. The officer said they were just screaming by themselves. I was hearing the screams throughout the visit."
The witness said that even in the thieves' section prisoners were being treated badly. "Someone was shouting 'Please help us, we want the human rights officers, we want the Americans to come back'," he said.
Prisoners interviewed in the presence of their jailers said they were frightened for their safety. They complained that chicken and milk had been cut from their rations, leaving them on rice and water. They also complained about the oppressive heat.
Outside the prison, relatives of some of the inmates said they were being tortured by their captors. One woman, who gave her name as Omsaad, said: "My son Saad [who was arrested in Fallujah as a suspected insurgent] said he is being tortured by the Iraqis to confess the name of his leader. I met my son and he told me they were being treated badly by the Iraqis."
Haleem Aleulami, who was released from the jail last week, three weeks after being arrested in Ramadi for carrying a pistol in his car, said the Americans had treated him better when they ran the jail. He claimed that visits from the International Red Cross staff had dried up and accused local human rights workers of being members of Shia groups who turned a blind eye to problems in the jail.
"The people are Iraqis and they are members of the Sciri and al Dawa parties. They have a good relationship with the leaders of the jail and they keep quiet," he said. The guards swore at the ordinary prisoners, he said, but those in the terrorist section were treated more brutally.
"The guards were swearing at us, but in the terrorist section they were beating them. I heard it all the time. Everyone knows what is happening."
And Khalid Alaani, who was also picked up in Ramadi suspected of involvement in Sunni terrorism, said: "We preferred the Americans. We asked to move with them to Baghdad airport because we knew the treatment would be changed because we know what the Iraqis are. When the Americans left everything changed."
Staff at the jail said that the prisoners were allowed out from their cells for only 15 to 20 minutes a day because of the danger from the regular mortar attacks. They are no longer allowed access to the main hall where the Americans had allowed them to watch television and the room is now reserved for the use of officers and guards. Staff explained that the air conditioning in the cell blocks had broken, although it was working in their quarters.
One officer, Capt Ali Abdelzaher, said: "We have a problem with the financing for the food, not like the Americans, and there is a technical problem with the air conditioning."
Capt Abdelzaher also confirmed that a number of inmates had been transferred from the Jadriyah detention centre, along with their guards and interrogators.
Graphic stories of abuse at that previously secret facility emerged after US soldiers found 169 prisoners showing signs of torture last November.
Most of the prisoners held by the Americans at Abu Ghraib were either released in recent months or transferred to a new £32 million detention centre at Camp Cropper near Baghdad International Airport.
Yesterday, the International Red Cross confirmed that its visits to the prison had been suspended since January 2005 on security grounds.

Sobering Talk About Baghdad

2006-09-08T22:32:00.000+05:00

The top U.S. military commander in the Middle East said Wednesday it could take "many more months" to end the sectarian violence in Baghdad and "a matter of years" to train the Iraqi army properly.
Army Gen. John Abizaid's assessment, sobering at times and optimistic at others, came a day after President Bush declared Iraq the "central battlefield" in the war against terrorism during a speech in Washington.
In an interview with local media at MacDill Air Force Base, Abizaid said there are no speedy solutions to the religious fanaticism fueling al-Qaida and other terrorist groups.
"The extremism in the region, it's difficult, it's dangerous, but it's not mainstream. The vast majority of the people in the region don't want it to be mainstream," Abizaid said.
"Our challenge is to figure out how to shape it so that moderate influences can emerge as the primary voice in the region. That's easy to say, but it's hard to do," he said.
Using the phrase "The Long War," Abizaid compared the current global conflict to the lengthy ideological struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union that began after World War II.
"I don't think it's the never-ending war any more than the Cold War turned out to be the never-ending war," he said.
"If you were asking people in the mid-1950s whether or not it was never-ending, they'd look out there and say, 'This is going to be a long problem for us and we're not quite sure how it's going to come out,'" Abizaid said.
As commander of U.S. Central Command, Abizaid oversees a region stretching from Central Asia to the Horn of Africa. He returned Sunday from a three-week trip to the area, where about 215,000 U.S. troops are deployed. More than 140,000 of them are in Iraq.
A boost in Baghdad's forces has reduced civilian deaths and stabilized other areas. But the violence between Muslim factions in Baghdad remains a potentially "fatal" problem if not brought under control, he said.
"We've got to be careful about thinking that this problem in Baghdad is going to be over anytime soon," Abizaid said. "This is going to take a couple of months at least before we know how we're doing."
While calling the levels of violence "high" and "dangerous," Abizaid said the country is not at the brink of civil war.
"As long as Iraq holds together in its government, as long as Iraq holds together in its armed forces, as long the majority of the people … don't want the country to descend into civil war and are working hard to hold it together, then I think we're not there," he said.
Abizaid said Iraqi forces are fighting, but like the government of Iraq they have not matured into a force capable of taking responsibility for their own security.
"Probably we were a bit optimistic in thinking Iraqi forces will be completely ready to take over sectors when the government hasn't gelled yet," Abizaid said. "We're not there yet. It's going to take some time for that to come together."
Discipline among the Iraqi forces has been spotty, he said.
"There are some units like the Iraqi special operations units that are some of the best units anywhere in the Middle East," Abizaid said. "There are other units that disappointed us greatly because they were unable to answer the call … "
Iraqi forces have taken more casualties than U.S. forces, he said.
In a briefing before the interview with Abizaid, Army Maj. Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti said the area of greatest concern to U.S. military commanders in the war on terror is al-Qaida's ability to manipulate information over the Internet.
"They don't have any limits, they don't have any need to be truthful," Scaparrotti said.
In Iraq, Abizaid wants Centcom to be put out of a military job.
"The whole problem in front of us is not to do it all ourselves," Abizaid said. "We have to turn over more and more of the responsibility for fighting the country's battles, for administering the country's resources, to the Iraqis.
"We don't win if we stay there forever," he said. "We don't win if we increase the number of American troops to 500,000. We don't win if we do everything for them."

How to Prepare for a Deployment to Iraq

2006-09-03T23:21:00.000+05:00

It has been a little bit of a news quiet week here other than the usual car bombs, mortars and rockets. Therefore, I decided to post something a little bit funny.
This goes out to everyone who is even entertaining the idea of making a trip or deployment to Iraq.

How to Prepare for a Deployment to Iraq
1. Sleep on a cot in the garage.
2. Replace the garage door with a curtain.
3. Six hours after you go to sleep, have your wife or girlfriend whip open the curtain, shine a flashlight in your eyes and mumble, "Sorry, wrong cot."
4. Renovate your bathroom. Hang a green plastic sheet down from the middle of your bathtub and move the showerhead down to chest level. Keep four inches of soapy cold water on the floor. Stop cleaning the toilet and pee everywhere but in the toilet itself. Leave two to three sheets of toilet paper. Or for best effect, remove it altogether. For a more realistic deployed bathroom experience, stop using your bathroom and use a neighbor's. Choose a neighbor who lives at least a quarter mile away.
5. When you take showers, wear flip-flops and keep the lights off.
6. Every time there is a thunderstorm, go sit in a wobbly rocking chair and dump dirt on your head.
7. Put lube oil in your humidifier instead of water and set it on "HIGH" for that tactical generator smell.
8. Don't watch TV except for movies in the middle of the night. Have your family vote on which movie to watch and then show a different one.
9. Leave a lawnmower running in your living room 24 hours a day for proper noise level.
10. Have the paperboy give you a haircut.
11. Once a week, blow compressed air up through your chimney making sure the wind carries the soot across and on to your neighbor's house. Laugh at him when he curses you.
12. Buy a trash compactor and only use it once a week. Store up garbage in the other side of your bathtub.
13. Wake up every night at midnight and have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on a saltine cracker.
14. Make up your family menu a week ahead of time without looking in your food cabinets or refrigerator. Then serve some kind of meat in an unidentifiable sauce poured over noodles. Do this for every meal.
15. Set your alarm clock to go off at random times during the night. When it goes off, jump out of bed and get to the shower as fast as you can. Simulate there is no hot water by running out into your yard and breaking out the garden hose.
16. Once a month, take every major appliance completely apart and put it back together again. 17. Use 18 scoops of coffee per pot and allow it to sit for five or six hours before drinking.
18. Invite at least 185 people you don't really like because of their strange hygiene habits to come and visit for a couple of months. Exchange clothes with them.
19. Have a fluorescent lamp installed on the bottom of your coffee table and lie under it to read books.
20. Raise the thresholds and lower the top sills of your front and back doors so that you either trip over the threshold or hit your head on the sill every time you pass through one of them.
21. Keep a roll of toilet paper on your night stand and bring it to the bathroom with you. And bring your gun and a flashlight.
22. Go to the bathroom when you just have to pass gas, "just in case." Every time.
23. Announce to your family that they have mail, have them report to you as you stand outside your open garage door after supper and then say, "Sorry, it's for the other Smith."
24. Wash only 15 items of laundry per week. Roll up the semi-wet clean clothes in a ball. Place them in a cloth sack in the corner of the garage where the cat pees. After a week, unroll them and without ironing or removing the mildew, proudly wear them to professional meetings and family gatherings. Pretend you don't know what you look or smell like. Enthusiastically repeat the process for another week.
25. Go to the worst crime-infested place you can find, go heavily armed, wearing a flak jacket and a Kevlar helmet. Set up shop in a tent in a vacant lot. Announce to the residents that you are there to help them.
26. Eat a single M&M every Sunday and convince yourself it's for Malaria.
27. Demand each family member be limited to 10 minutes per week for a morale phone call. Enforce this with your teenage daughter.
28. Shoot a few bullet holes in the walls of your home for proper ambiance.
29. Sandbag the floor of your car to protect from mine blasts and fragmentation.
30. While traveling down roads in your car, stop at each overpass and culvert and inspect them for remotely detonated explosives before proceeding.
31. Fire off 50 cherry bombs simultaneously in your driveway at 3:00 a.m. When startled neighbors appear, tell them all is well, you are just registering mortars. Tell them plastic will make an acceptable substitute for their shattered windows.
32. Drink your milk and sodas warm.
33. Spread gravel throughout your house and yard.
34. Make your children clear their Super Soakers in a clearing barrel you placed outside the front door before they come in.
35. Make your family dig a survivability position with overhead cover in the backyard. Complain that the 4x4s are not 8 inches on center and make them rebuild it.
36. Continuously ask your spouse to allow you to go buy an M-Gator.
37. When your 5-year-old asks for a stick of gum, have him find the exact stick and flavor he wants on the Internet and print out the web page. Type up a Form 9 and staple the web page to the back. Submit the paperwork to your spouse for processing. After two weeks, give your son the gum.
38. Announce to your family that the dog is a vector for disease and shoot it. Throw the dog in a burn pit you dug in your neighbor's back yard.
39. Wait for the coldest/ hottest day of the year and announce to your family that there will be no heat/air conditioning that day so you can perform much needed maintenance on the heater/ air conditioner. Tell them you are doing this so they won't get cold/ hot.
40. Just when you think you're ready to resume a normal life, order yourself to repeat this process for another six months to simulate the next deployment you've been ordered to support.

The "Black Eye" is finally closed.....

2006-08-28T19:16:00.000+05:00

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Abu Ghraib prison, whose name became synonymous with abuse, has been emptied of detainees, a senior Iraqi justice ministry official said Sunday.
"There's not a single prisoner left there," Deputy Justice Minister Busho Ibrahim told The Associated Press.
The facility has been turned over to Iraqi authorities since it was emptied on Aug. 15, he said.
Iraqi authorities have not decided what they will do with the empty facility, Ibrahim said.
The U.S. military said a transfer of nearly 3,000 detainees from Abu Ghraib to other detention facilities run by the military was planned. But it would not comment on the timing of the transfer.
"We are currently in the process of transferring the Abu Ghraib facility back to the Government of Iraq. For operational security reasons we would prefer not to discuss the actual timing of the operation until it is complete," said Lt. Col. Keir-Kevin Curry, spokesman for detainee operations.
He said the transfer "will allow us to consolidate our effort at fewer sites and improve the conditions for both the coalition guards and the detainees."
Ibrahim said that another detention facility, Fort Suse, in the northern Sulaimaniyah area, will also be emptied and handed over to Iraqi authorities on Sept. 22.
Abu Ghraib came to symbolize American mishandling of prisoners captured in Iraq, both during the U.S.-led invasion three years ago and the fight to subdue the largely Sunni Arab insurgency since then.
Widely publicized photographs of prisoner abuse by American military guards and interrogators at the facility prompted intense global criticism of the U.S. war in Iraq and fueled the insurgency. The scandal led to a wide-scale investigation that resulted in convictions and dismissals against U.S. Soldiers.
Abu Ghraib was also a notorious detention center during Saddam Hussein's days, where the former dictator incarcerated his political opponents. Right before the invasion, Saddam released thousands of inmates at the facility, including common criminals, which was seen as a move aimed at spreading chaos after the military attack.
Ibrahim said the detainees at Abu Ghraib were moved to a new $60 million detention facility that has been built as part of Camp Cropper near Baghdad International Airport. Detainees in Fort Suse will be moved to Camp Cropper and Camp Bucca, which is near the southern port of Umm Qasr, he said.
"Abu Ghraib was quite an old place. I used to hear about it since I was 6, I'm now 60," Ibrahim said.
Abu Ghraib, a 280-acre facility, a jumble of top-security buildings and minimum-risk tent cities located along a dusty highway west of the city, has come under repeated attacks from insurgents. In April 2005, a barrage of 28 mortar rounds killed 22 prisoners and injured 91. There were no U.S. deaths in that attack.
U.S. military officials had said they have always had the intention to move detainees from Abu Ghraib because it is in a region susceptible to attacks and was difficult to support logistically.
More than 13,000 detainees are being held at coalition facilities, in Camps Cropper, Bucca, and Fort Suse. Many detainees are awaiting trial, others formal charges.
A committee consisting of U.S. and Iraqi officials from the ministries of human rights, justice and interior has reviewed the cases of more than 30,000 detainees and recommended more than 15,400 for release.

Just When We Thought We Had Them Beat...

2006-08-22T01:52:00.000+05:00

This particular article speaks of the IED perils troops deal with daily. I have had two encounters with this specific IED. One exploded and one unexploded. The results are devastating.

Three factories in Iran are mass-producing the sophisticated roadside bombs used to kill British soldiers over the border in Iraq, it has been claimed.

The lethal bombs are being made by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps at ordnance factory sites in Teheran, according to opponents of the country's theocratic regime.

Designed to penetrate heavy armor, the devices being manufactured in Iran involve the use of "explosively formed projectiles" or EFPs, also known as shaped charges, often triggered by infra-red beams.

The weapons can pierce the armor of British and American tanks and armored personnel carriers and completely destroy armored Land Rovers, which are used by the majority of British troops on operations in Iraq.

The Sunday Telegraph revealed in April that Iranian-made devices employing several EFPs, directed at different angles, were being used in Iraq.

And in June, this newspaper obtained the first picture of one of the Iraqi insurgent weapons - designed to fire an armor-piercing EFP - believed to have been responsible for the deaths of 17 British soldiers.

British Government scientists have already established that the mines are precision-made weapons thought to have been turned on a lathe by craftsmen trained in the manufacture of munitions.

Members of the Washington-based Iran Policy Committee have released the details about the three bomb factories gathered by the exile group, the National Council for Resistance in Iran (NCRI).

Iranians working for the NCRI pinpointed the facilities at three industrial sections called Sattari, Sayad Shirazi and Shiroodi. The factories are in the Lavizan neighborhood in northern Teheran which is controlled by the country's defense ministry. The Sattari Industry specialists in anti-tank mines and operates under the aegis of the IRGC's al-Quds or Jerusalem Force.

Alireza Jafarzadeh, a former spokesman for the NCRI who in 2002 revealed the existence of two Iranian nuclear facilities at Natanz and Arak, said the devices were smuggled to Iraq via Iran's Shalamcheh border region.

"These sites are close to a military site, known as Lavizan 2, that is now being used for Iran's nuclear programme. It shows there is a high level of co-ordination by the Iranian regime, which wants to destabilize Iraq to make way for an Islamic Republic.

"This is not a ragtag workshop in some remote area. These sites are within an area that is one of the most sanitized parts of Teheran which is controlled by the Iranian defense Ministry."

He added that NCRI sources reported the movement of EFP devices from Teheran into Iraq as recently as June and that supplies of the devices, which began last year, had been stepped up in recent months.

The infra-red triggering mechanism for roadside bombs was perfected by Hezbollah, under Iranian tutelage, against Israeli forces in the 1990s. Mr Jafarzadeh said that in recent weeks Iran had facilitated the movement of cash from Shia groups in Iraq to Hezbollah.

Brig James Dutton, then the commander of British forces in southern Iraq, revealed last November that EFPs had led to a marked increase in the lethality of attacks. He said the "technology certainly, and probably the equipment is coming through Iran". He added: "They come in various grades, these EFP improvised explosive devices, from those that could be made in a relatively simple workshop to those that would require a reasonably sophisticated factory."

Last week, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a former IRGC commander and the man believed by Western intelligence agencies to be in charge of Iranian operations in Iraq, was asked in an interview with CBS television why Iran would furnish roadside bombs to Iraqi insurgents.

He ignored the question, instead responding: "We are saddened that the people of Iraq are being killed. I believe that the rulers of the US have to change their mentality. I ask you, sir, what is the American army doing inside Iraq? Why are the Americans killing Iraqis on a daily basis?"

The factory disclosures come amid growing unease among soldiers in Iraq over what they believe is inadequate protection against terrorist booby traps.

There are fears that soldiers' lives are being put at risk by senior officers insisting that troops must conduct patrols in armored Land Rovers even though they provide little or no protection from such insurgent devices.

Pressure continues to mount on the Ministry of defense to introduce a new range of military vehicles that will protect troops from the terrorist bombs in Iraq.

The last two soldiers to be killed by the device were Lieut Tom Mildinhall, 27, and L/Cpl Paul Farrelly, 28, both members of the 1st Queen's Dragoon Guards, who were killed on May 28 in a district north-west of Basra.

The Next Trial

2006-08-22T01:49:00.000+05:00

The next trial for Saddam started today. As you can imagine, he refused to enter a plea as did his cousin; the famous Chemical Ali. The judge automatically entered a "not guilty" plea for them both.

WHEN Saddam Hussein arrives in a Baghdad courtroom tomorrow to face genocide charges over a murderous campaign conducted against Kurds in northern Iraq, the witnesses will be hoping for a fairer hearing than those in his first trial.
Attempts to prove Saddam’s guilt over the killings of 148 men in the Shi’ite village of Dujail in 1982 descended into chaos as three lawyers were murdered and the defence team and chief judge walked out. The former dictator railed repeatedly against judges and witnesses from the dock before boycotting the proceedings and going on hunger strike.
The trial, which began last October, dragged on through a series of adjournments, culminating in a long wait for a verdict that, even now, is not expected before October.
The Kurds who survived Saddam’s persecution nearly 20 years ago, including the gassing of Halabja in which 5,000 people were killed, have been warned that their long wait for justice may result in similar frustration. A human rights group said last week that the court lacks the ability to conduct the trial.
“Based on extensive observations of the tribunal’s conduct of its first trial . . . Human Rights Watch believes that the Iraqi High Tribunal is presently incapable of fairly and effectively trying a genocide case,” the group said in a report.
The charge sheet for the second trial is written in the unemotional language of international law: Saddam and six other Iraqi leaders are accused of genocide and crimes against humanity for their role in the deaths of more than 100,000 Kurds in the 1988 Operation Anfal, Arabic for “spoils of war”.
The language of the survivors of that operation is far more raw. They remember that entire Kurdish villages were erased from the map and that tens of thousands of men were carted off in army trucks, never to be seen again.
The worst nightmares are suffered by those who lived through Saddam’s attack on Halabja in March 1988, when planes fired missiles containing a toxic mixture of mustard gas and nerve agents.
Last week Aras Akram, who is due to testify in the trial, broke down as he described the attack. He was 19 and lived with his father, mother and 11 brothers and sisters. All died from the gas; he survived only because he had been hurt in an initial missile attack and had been taken to a shelter.
“I was injured in the back and bleeding badly. When my mother and my nine-year-old sister found me, my mother started crying. I told her to go back to my uncle’s because I thought I would die and I didn’t want her to see me die.”
He is now married with three children, but the memories are more vivid than his daily life. “At 2am we heard an explosion that was different — light and low — and there was a new smell and our eyes became red.” Ironically, an Iraqi army officer in the shelter may have saved him. “The officer told us they were using chemical weapons and sprayed us with water.”
Akram escaped to Iran, where he was injected with an antidote, and returned to Halabja days later. “At my uncle’s house I saw dead bodies on a truck,” he said. “I saw my sister’s foot sticking out. The driver knew me and tried to make me go away. I said, ‘Please, I want to be sure they are my family’. They were all my family.”
Those who met Saddam at the time say he and his regime felt no remorse. Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish leader and now a member of the Iraqi parliament, took part in talks with Saddam and his cousin Ali Hassan al-Majeed, known as Chemical Ali, that led to an uneasy peace between the government and the Kurds.
“I asked Ali Hassan al- Majeed, ‘Where are the missing 182,000?’ “Chemical Ali said, ‘182,000 — where did you get that number? We didn’t take any more than 100,000’.”
Asked privately by Othman why he had attacked Kurdish villages, al-Majeed is said to have replied: “I was only doing my duty and executing orders.”
Human Rights Watch doubts that such evidence will be heard in an orderly way. “None of the Iraqi judges and lawyers has shown an understanding of international criminal law,” its report said. “The court’s administration has been chaotic and inadequate.”

August 14, 2006

2006-08-14T19:11:00.000+05:00

What, you may ask, is important about this date? Well, as of this date, I have 40 days left on this deployment to Iraq. It was also 124 degrees outside this afternoon. The sun was out. I spent the day in court. I ate two meals and most important of all; I have 40 days left. I can see over the hill and will be looking at the bottom pretty soon.

The people coming to relieve me have a hard road to pave ahead of them. I certainly feel like we started melting the tar for them. The violence in other parts of Iraq have somewhat subsided. Baghdad, of course is another story. While I was in Mosul, the guys and girls of the 172 Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) were looking forward to going home to Alaska and seeing their families after a one year deployment. They packed up and had their going away parties only to be kept in Baghdad as the build up security team and will be here another 2 months after I am gone.

The E-7 selection board has met and made their selections. I looked really hard on the list but couldn't pull my name out. In other words, I will be an E-6 for at least another year. I did, however, apply for a Commission as a Limited duty Officer and should hear the results later in 2007.

August 14, 2006 comes to a close and another business day has gone and another day less we will fight this war. Most of all I have 40 days left.

You know you have been here too long when.....

2006-08-08T14:55:00.000+05:00

· When mortars land near your compound and you roll over in bed and think "still way off, I got another 5 minutes".
· When you start humming with the Arabic song playing on the radio on the shuttle bus.
· You put all your gear on and drive an extra 3 miles to eat at the another MNF-I dining facility to have the exact same food they are serving in your dining facility because you think it tastes better.
· You actually volunteer for convoy security duty because you still haven't seen the country yet.
· You start picturing your wife in traditional Arab dress.
· The PSDs and contractors have more fire power than the military combat units.
· You drink the water from the tap because you want to drop 20 pounds in two weeks.
**· Driving around in SUVs with weapons pointed out the windows and forcing cars off the road seems very normal to you.
· You can put your body armor and helmet on in the dark in under 5 seconds.
· When the organization you work for has changed its name more than 3 times.
· When you can actually talk to people in the United States on a cell phone, yet you can't get people on their cell phone a block away.
· When you actually spend more time writing e-mail about the dog in the compound versus how the fight went the other night.
· Your idea of a fun Thursday night is to go to the Palace pool to watch the State Department folks get drunk, naked and try to pick each other up.
· When you actually get excited to get a package that contains 3 pair of socks, 12 bars of soap and a Victoria Secret Catalog.
** · When you start to enjoy the rocking of the trailer every time the MEDEVAC choppers fly over.
· You see celebratory fire going over the compound at night and think, "wow the colors are so pretty" and want to fire back.
· You’re thinking of buying real estate in the green zone.
· You wake up and think Baghdad; I am still in friggin Baghdad.
· You make the new guy show you his count down timer just to make you feel better about your time you have left in country.
· You're in the Navy and you realize you are in the middle of the desert, the exact opposite of being in the middle of the ocean, where one might normally find the Navy.
** · You're in the Air Force, and you're on the plane home because an Air Force tour is too short to have been a long Iraq tour.
· You plan on removing all trees and grass in your yard when you get home so it will look more natural.
· You forget there are other colors than brown that can be found in places other than power point slides.
**· The temp drops down to 102 degrees and you shiver while reaching for your Gortex jacket.
· You have noticed a change of season, from long, hot and dry to short, cold and wet.
· When you call home and your kids ask "Who is this?"
**· When you go on R&R, you duct tape your child to the roof of your car, hand him a pellet rifle, and assign him a sector of fire for the ride to "The Olive Garden."
**· When you can comfortably shave and brush your teeth using bottled water, but don't mind showering in the "non-potable" local water.
· While on R&R, you look out the window and find Nature, which leads you to wonder who stole your sandbags.
· When some of the contractors wear their DCUs (Desert camouflage uniform) more properly than some of your soldiers.
· When 12 hours is a short work day.
· When, During the BUA(Morning Battle Update Brief), "MND-W asked MNSTC-I for the FRAGO that MNC-I was supposed to publish, but couldn't because MNF-I hadn't weighed in, since they were too inundated with MOD and MOI war-gaming the JCCs within the ISF to square us away!" is a valid comment and generates no questions.
**· When you start using words like G'day mate, Cheers, and Bloody ‘ell as part of your normal vocabulary.
· When you have your opinions printed in the STARS and STRIPES more than 3 times.
** (THE WINNER!!!)· When you step into any office and there are 6 colonels, 12 lieutenant colonels, 15 majors, and 8 captains supervising the work of 1 sergeant.
· When you end every phone conversation with "Out".
· When you're ordered to get an air mission together on short notice because it's a "Hot priority" only to have the Major call back once he is in the air to ask "Does anyone know where I am going?"
· When the weapon buyback program has become so successful that you have issued the same AK-47 to the Iraqi army 3 times.
** · When you can actually tell the difference between the sound of an exploding car and an exploding mortar.
· When on R & R you tell your wife that your weapon status is Red and you’re looking for the clearing barrel.
· When on R&R you go to church and wonder why no one is wearing body armor or carrying a weapon to the service.
· You see an indirect fire attack take out a generator and get angry at the enemy for hitting the one that powers your computer.
· You see an indirect fire attack take out your air conditioner and your vigor to fight is renewed.
**· You yell at the FNG(FRIGGIN NEW GUY) for shouting incoming when the rounds don't impact close enough to hit your hooch with dirt.
· You know that you need to run inside immediately after any win of an Iraqi sports team to keep from being hit by celebratory fire.
**· You never worry about oversleeping because if the morning call to prayers doesn't wake you, the daily 0630 mortar attack will.
· The highlight of your shopping experience at the PX is to see that they got in a new shipment of Schick Tracer razor blades.
· When you send out your laundry and your whites become grayer, your blacks become grayer and your DCU's become grayer - makes it easier to sort loads.
· You get offended by people wearing clean, pressed DCU's.
· You decide that it is a better course of action to pull your blankets over your head than put on your body armor during a mortar attack - the blanket will save you and at least you are comfortable.
· You make a contest out of seeing who can wear their uniform for more days before becoming entirely disgusted with themselves.
· You wonder if the fish served at dinner really was carp caught out of the Tigris or Camp Victory's lake.
· A rocket or a mortar really isn't a big deal until the crater it leaves is big enough to trip over in the dark on the way to the latrine.
· You go to a social gathering and intermittent gun fire or explosions don't even cause a pause in the conversation.

Can Iraq Be Fixed?

2006-07-31T17:16:00.000+05:00

July was supposed to have been, at long last, a good month for the U.S. effort in Iraq. A new unity government was fully formed and at work. The feared terrorist Abu Musab Zarqawi was dead. And U.S. and Iraqi officials had launched a new security plan to stanch the bloodshed in Baghdad. It hasn't quite worked out that way. Rather, Baghdad in July has been wilder and more dangerous than ever, engulfed by a wave of targeted assassinations, reprisal attacks, and mass kidnappings. When Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki visited Washington last week, the air was not celebratory but instead one of crisis. The primary outcome: a decision to increase the number of U.S. troops in Baghdad.

That news is distressing to those Americans already restless to bring troops home and may fuel doubts among some who want to see the job through. The Iraq venture has claimed the lives of more than 2,500 U.S. soldiers and marines and cost upwards of $300 billion. Yet, the political debate in Washington seems strangely divorced from reality. Several Democrats call for a withdrawal timetable, as if victory can simply be scheduled. Republicans, led by the Bush administration, pledge that America will stay until the job is done, without making clear what, exactly, that means or how long it may take. In the end, neither side really faces up to the most fundamental questions: Is there really a way out of Iraq that will not send the country into deeper chaos? Will America be able to leave an Iraqi government behind that can survive and sustain itself? And how many more years will U.S. troops need to be in Iraq to get to that point?

The underlying problem is evident: A speedy withdrawal is the surest way to plunge the nation into a full civil war, but staying longer carries a high cost without necessarily improving the odds of success. "Leaving too soon would have enormous potential downside--that this unity we are trying to build could unravel, that sectarian violence could escalate," Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, tells U.S. News. "That could bring in other powers on opposite sides, therefore expanding the war to places outside of Iraq. Terrorists could take over a region like Anbar and use it as a base to threaten the world." Wayne White, who was the State Department's top intelligence analyst on Iraq, shares those worries, but adds, "What we don't know is what the odds will be one, two, five years from now."

Workload. If the near-term perils are clear, the definition of success is harder to pin down. On one level, it hinges on leaving behind a capable Iraqi government. This entails not only reliable security forces but also a government that can supply those troops and deliver basic services to the Iraqi people. Today, these tasks require deep U.S. involvement--and it will take much longer for Iraqis to pick up the workload than the Bush administration or most political leaders in Washington are willing to admit publicly. "To build something that can outlast us, we're talking about being there at least another five years," says Sen. Joseph Biden, who returned from his seventh trip to Iraq in July. "If we were doing it well and we had a little luck, we could be there in a circumstance where we are not dying but we are spending."

The United States is also wearing out the tools it needs to win. The U.S. military is straining under the burden of keeping 130,000 troops in Iraq, even as commanders in many sectors say they cannot afford reductions. U.S. money is running out, too. The $21 billion in reconstruction aid from Congress is almost all in the process of being spent. And few on Capitol Hill are eager to come up with more, even though Iraq's needs--$100 billion to build a modern infrastructure, according to World Bank estimates--far outstrip its own oil revenues.

When U.S. troops first headed toward Baghdad in the spring of 2003, the Bush administration offered soaring rhetoric about forging a model democracy that would help transform the Middle East. That dream might not be dead yet, but the Bush administration has been gradually defining down success. "The standard is not going to be 'no violence,'" Stephen Hadley, Bush's national security adviser, tells U.S. News. "What you can hope for is an Iraq where there are effective security forces that are controlling and taking responsibility for security throughout Iraq and where the marriage of political leadership and security forces is sufficient to deal with insurgents and terrorists so that it does not interfere with the operations of government." But even this more tempered definition of victory might not be achievable--leading some to say the United States should just back off. "I argue it is easier to work with the reality rather than try to put back together a country that for its entire 80-year history has been a failure," says Peter Galbraith, a former U.S. diplomat who has advised Iraq's Kurdish leaders. He advocates allowing the Kurds to go the final mile to form their own independent state in the north, while tolerating a Shiite Muslim theocracy in the south. But even Galbraith, author of the new book The End of Iraq, concedes there is no easy way to draw the lines. "There is no solution to Baghdad," he says, "other than this awful civil war."

Baghdad, home to nearly a third of Iraq's population, is the key to Iraq. "It's the largest Sunni city, the largest Shiite city, and the largest Kurdish city," says Andrew Krepinevich, at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a Washington think tank. "It's a variation on that old phrase about New York: If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere."

Not all the news in Iraq is bad. The unity government has held together so far and is beginning to tackle some thorny issues. Oil exports have hit a post-invasion high, while electricity in Baghdad is finally on the upswing. The insurgency appears to have been at least temporarily weakened in the wake of Zarqawi's death. Even U.S. casualties dipped in July. In the view of the White House, this leaves sectarian violence as the major obstacle. "If we can get beyond that challenge," says a senior administration official in Washington, "we feel pretty good about the progress we're making on other things."

But the street violence has become so endemic in Baghdad that many experts have been debating whether or not the country is already in a low-level civil war. Regardless of the answer, the sectarian strife has the potential to tear Iraq apart--and is now seen as a bigger danger than the insurgency. The sectarian fighting broke out into the open after the February bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra, but it had been building for many months. Bullet-riddled corpses, and an alarming number of headless bodies, turn up on the capital's streets daily.

Now, the death toll is huge and getting worse each month. Iraqi statistics show that over 14,000 civilians were killed in the first half of this year--in June, it was more than 100 per day, even after the launch of a Baghdad security plan that was supposed to reduce the carnage. The resulting spiral of violence is threatening any remaining trust between Iraq's Sunnis and Shiites. As a consequence, a growing number of Iraqis are fleeing their homes in mixed neighborhoods. The United Nations reports some 150,000 Iraqis have been displaced, which is almost certainly too low an estimate. Quietly, some in Baghdad are beginning to call it ethnic cleansing. "It is both alarming and underreported," says a western diplomat in Baghdad. "It is conceivable that most of Baghdad will become ethnic enclaves--it is getting there pretty quickly."

Behind closed doors, U.S. officials are telling Iraqis that they need to deal urgently with the problem of militias--both those inside the police and those run privately by Shiite leaders. For Maliki, this would mean confronting some of the same Shiite leaders who helped bring him into office. "There is not indefinite time to do this," says a senior U.S. official in Baghdad. "This sectarian killing eats at the fabric of the basic compact between the three communities."

If there is a bright side, it is that for the first time, this pattern of violence is not exacerbated by the presence of U.S. troops. Indeed, U.S. soldiers have been one of the few brakes on the killings. But the lines are getting blurry for U.S. troops, who increasingly find themselves caught in the middle. "There has been a shift in how coalition forces are received in predominantly Shiite areas due to their belief that we now favor the Sunnis because we tried so hard to bring them into the democratic process," says Maj. Mark Cheadle of the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division, responsible for security in Baghdad. "Neither side, in general, seems particularly enthused with our aiding the other sect."

Security Forces. One desperate need, of course, is for capable security forces that reflect Iraq's sectarian makeup. But a graduation day last April at Camp Habbaniyah training center remains a demoralizing and cautionary tale. Some 1,000 newly commissioned Sunni soldiers from the insurgent-ridden Anbar province were parading before the review stands filled with proud U.S. and Iraqi military officials. Suddenly, the highly anticipated ceremony fell apart. The graduates started "taking off their uniforms and throwing them on the ground," recalls Col. Lawrence Nicholson, who commands Marine Regimental Combat Team 5, which trains Iraqi security forces in western Iraq. "It was ugly." They had just learned that they would not be serving, as they expected, in their hometowns because of leadership concerns that locally recruited graduates would be more likely to collaborate with the insurgency.

At the time of the walkout, some military officials downplayed the event--one spokesman called it "a momentary but very brief display of displeasure" involving "a very small number" of graduates. In reality, fully three quarters of the class quit the military in the weeks that followed. "We cannot sustain this level of attrition," says a senior U.S. military official, who estimates that the Iraqi Army needs 20,000 recruits in Anbar province just to make its goal of 6,500 new soldiers.

Nationwide, the Iraqi Army has grown substantially in size--up to 113,000 soldiers. But many of the units are still not fully integrated, and few can operate without U.S. support. The Pentagon has touted the handover in July of Multhanna, one of Iraq's most peaceful provinces, to Iraqi security control. But even Nasier Abadi, deputy chief of staff for the Iraqi armed forces, concedes that not a single Iraqi Army battalion is ready to operate independently.

Coaching. Within the Pentagon, many officials privately agree with the assessment of retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey, who in a widely circulated memo estimated that the United States needs "at least two to five more years of U.S. partnership and combat backup to get the Iraqi Army ready to stand on its own." What's more, he added, the "corruption and lack of capability of the ministries [of defense and interior] will require several years of patient coaching."

It is patient coaching that is meant to come from hundreds of transition teams throughout the country, in which U.S. military trainers are embedded with Iraqi Army and police units--teams that are widely considered to be the linchpin in America's exit strategy in Iraq. But though these vital military transition teams are billed as handpicked, elite units, the forces are too often "cobbled together," according to a defense official who has studied the teams. Indeed, one U.S. military report concluded, "The Army could do better to screen [military transition teams] for proper qualifications in skill."

Marine trainers in Fallujah tend to agree. "We're not really set up to train other people to be policemen," says one marine. The teams often report feeling undertrained and overwhelmed. One senior Pentagon official estimates that, throughout the country, Iraq is short U.S. military training teams "by a factor of four or five." President Bush seemed to acknowledge the shortfall last week, when he called for more U.S. military personnel to be embedded with Iraqi units to make them "more effective." What's more, the transition teams all too often lose institutional memory as U.S. trainers rotate to new assignments. In one team that was training an Iraqi Army battalion, seven of the dozen marines volunteered to extend their seven-month tour to one year in order to build on the progress made with their military counterparts. But their requests were denied, according to their commander. The marines were told they were needed by their home units, which were facing manpower shortages.

In addition to requesting more trainers, U.S. defense officials have for months been privately lobbying for better equipment for the Iraqi Army. "Clearly, we can't withdraw from Iraq unless Iraqi security forces have a clear-cut advantage over the forces they're dealing with," says McCaffrey, who has called for more light armored vehicles, mortars, artillery, and air support capabilities for Iraq's military. But some military officials express grave concern about what would happen to U.S.-provided equipment should Iraqi security further degenerate. "It's the question of the century: How much of our technology to give them, considering the possibility that the country could degenerate into civil war," says one Army Forces Central Command official. "How much ends up six years down the road in Iran? What if we give them all new technology, and they use it against each other? What capabilities should we give them?"

An even bigger problem is the Iraqi police, which a senior Pentagon official estimates is basically three years behind the Army. Training has been spotty, and many units are known to be riddled with militia members. In Baghdad, Shiite death squads are deeply embedded in the Shiite-dominated police force. "When are you going to be able to send the police force into central Baghdad and not have people think they are coming to kill them?" Senator Biden asks. In Sunni areas, insurgent forces have infiltrated the ranks. At the same time, in places like Fallujah, local police face being tarred with a U.S.-collaborator label. Concerns about retaliation are ever present. "If we push them to do an obvious coalition mission," says a U.S. military trainer, "they threaten to quit."

Recruiting has been so frantic over the past two years that many of the current officers have not even been vetted. In recent months, Iraqi and U.S. officials went back and fingerprinted every police officer serving under the Ministry of Interior and began comparing them to past police records. "We have already identified approximately several thousand people currently employed by the Ministry of Interior and the security forces who come under it who have criminal records," says David Everett, a retired U.S. colonel who served as an adviser for the Interior Ministry until last April. Their crimes ranged from petty to violent. "In the very near future," Everett says, "many of them are going to be discharged."

Logistics. Training soldiers is only part of the battle. An army must also be supplied, transported, and, perhaps most important, paid. "It's much easier to teach a bunch of guys how to fight than to give them a logistics system," Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the second-ranking commander in Iraq, tells U.S. News. Supply lines between Iraqi battalions and the Ministries of Interior and Defense remain, in many cases, nonexistent. "The Iraqi Ministry of Defense is nothing but a facade for the American logistical operation," says Kenneth Pollack, a former Iraq analyst for the CIA now at Brookings Institution's Saban Center for Middle East Policy. "If you withdraw American support, they would be completely incapacitated in a week or so." Basics like boots and bottles of water, too, are strictly rationed, when they are supplied at all. "Trying to get something as simple as a tire and a jack from the [Defense Ministry] is a nightmare," according to one U.S. military transition team member. One Iraqi battalion in Fallujah, for example, was allotted three bottles of water per soldier per day--not nearly enough for them to conduct their daily three or four foot patrols, which can run four hours each.

Other logistical failures--like the lack of maintenance regimens or paying soldiers late or not at all--have also handicapped the Iraqi Army. A regular paycheck is a key reason recruits sign up with a force that is already viewed with suspicion. "They don't get paid, and they go home on leave and tell that to all their buddies," says one U.S. marine in the region, where marines with one regiment become so concerned about this trend that they began offering $100 in cash to every Fallujah soldier with a late paycheck.

Police face all kinds of shortfalls. During a daily meeting in their office at the main police station in Fallujah, marines run down complaints from Iraqi police officers: "We try to get them to patrol," says one trainer. "They'll say, 'Well, we can't patrol because we don't have gas.' We want them to go out and fight insurgents. They'll say, 'Well, we can't fight because we don't have bullets.'"

The American military trainers worry, too, about the Iraqis' dependence on them. Lt. Gen Martin Dempsey, in charge of training Iraqi security forces, uses the analogy of the teeter-totter. "On the one side is the ability of our Iraqi counterparts to absorb what they need to, and on the other side is the danger that they will become dependent on us," he tells U.S. News. "My job is to look at every aspect of this mission of training and determine when is the right time to transition control over to the Iraqi side. If I do it too soon, it tips, and if I do it too late, they become so comfortable and dependent--it's literally too difficult to encourage their capacity for them."

Civilian government. Another barrier standing between Washington and withdrawal is the ability--or lack thereof--of Iraq's civilian bureaucracy to function on its own. U.S. advisers serve in all key Iraqi ministries, which also rely on American logistics, support, and guidance to deliver basic services. "It appears here that the ability of the government of Iraq to support any of the functions normally associated with a national government ranges from extremely limited to nonexistent," says a western diplomat in Baghdad. "The key ministries--finance, oil, electricity, justice, water resources, etc.--show no signs of being self-sustaining." His candid rundown: the Ministry of Trade is hobbled by corruption "at all levels," and the Housing Ministry shows no signs of independent activity.

Just as in the military logistics area, U.S. officials have stepped in frequently over the past three years and supplied Iraq's critical needs directly, rather than build up the government's ability to operate. In several recent reports, the U.S. Special Inspector General for Iraq has warned that U.S. efforts to build up Iraqi capabilities to run their own programs, including the state-of-the-art infrastructure projects funded by Washington, have been lacking.

U.S. officials say that they are now more focused on building Iraqi capacity. But SIGIR and others remain concerned that the U.S. effort is still falling short, in part because the civilian effort is understaffed. "They need the same degree of hands-on training and help for their civilian bureaucracy as they need for their military to be stood up," says Senator Biden. "But they don't have anybody to do that."

Politics. There is one saving grace. U.S. officials believe that a majority of Iraqis still want to make their new government work. These days, the White House strategy is centered around a basic premise--harnessing oil revenues as the strongest (and perhaps the only) force holding the country together. In public, Bush has hinted as much: "My advice to them is to use their energy assets as a way to unite the country." Iraqi political leaders, however, have yet to resolve how, exactly, the revenues will be distributed.

The failure to move beyond the rhetoric is part of a larger pattern. While U.S. officials have largely been pleased with Maliki's public statements, they are growing impatient waiting for him to take stronger action. Washington is counting on the Shiite prime minister's national reconciliation plan to help defuse both primary sources of violence in Iraq--the Sunni insurgents and the Shiite militias. "We've moved from a strategy where we thought military force would stop the violence and the political process would follow," says Noah Feldman, a law professor at New York University who served as an adviser in Iraq in 2003. "We now are hoping that the political process will move enough to stop the violence."

On the Shiite side, Maliki has yet to move strongly toward dismantling the militias. He also needs to reach out to the alienated Sunni community. But the central element of the Sunni outreach has also been delayed indefinitely. In a key compromise to encourage Sunni participation in the last election, Shiite leaders promised to hold a conference as soon as the new government was formed to consider amendments to the Constitution, which was drafted almost entirely by Shiite and Kurdish politicians. Sunni leaders are looking for key concessions that could boost their level of influence in the central government. This conference, however, has fallen off the radar screen in Baghdad and will not take place until the fall, meaning it could easily stretch into next year.

It is not clear how long Iraqis will wait. "They haven't polarized to the degree that everybody feels that the only way out is through fighting," says Dana Eyre, a senior fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace who served as a U.S. adviser in Iraq. "It's like Thelma and Louise heading toward the cliff. We can see the edge, but we haven't gone over it yet."

Baghdad Calms As Troops Go Back On Patrol

2006-07-30T15:59:00.000+05:00

HEAVILY armed American troops have returned to some of the most violent areas of Baghdad, patrolling the streets and setting up checkpoints in an attempt to regain control of the city and quell increasing sectarian violence.
Their return sparked fierce criticism from opposition leaders but was welcomed by many ordinary Iraqis desperate for peace after months of murderous violence between rival militias.
US soldiers in tanks and armoured vehicles have moved back into many parts of the capital handed over to the Iraqi police last March after the opening of the country’s new parliament.
Yesterday proved to be one of the most peaceful days in months with no deaths reported in the capital by late afternoon, although two Sunni mosques were raked by gunfire which injured a guard. In contrast, an average of 100 people have been dying in sectarian attacks every day in Baghdad.
The increased American military presence represents the first stage of a plan to send up to 5,000 extra troops to the city, which is beset by car bombs, kidnappings and suicide bombers.
Last week Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, ordered 3,500 soldiers to stay in the country up to four months beyond their scheduled departure.
American officials had tried to place more responsibility for policing Baghdad on Iraqi forces but the policy unravelled as death squads fought for control. The movement of US troops back on to the streets is a tacit acknowledgment that the strategy of Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, has failed.
Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, one of Iraq’s most influential Shi’ite leaders, delivered a fierce attack on the Iraqi government’s policy at a rally in Najaf last week.
He accused the government of “carelessness” and “wrong policies” and said that Iraq’s security forces should be in charge of stabilising the country. He added that the violence was due to “being lax in hunting down terrorists and upholding the wrong policies in dealing with them”.
His remarks, made to a rally of thousands of supporters, seemed intended to destabilise Maliki and whip up opposition to US troops. But on the streets yesterday it was clear that ordinary Baghdad residents welcomed the relative security that the US forces brought with them.
In Jihad, a suburb in the west of Baghdad notorious for clashes between Sunnis and Shi’ites, residents say they feel safer since the American soldiers returned last week. They have set up checkpoints which are moved every few hours for safety and carry out regular patrols in armoured vehicles.
Many of the mainly Sunni residents say they were frightened of the police and have welcomed the return of the US army.
“We used to say we wanted the Americans to leave because we could look after ourselves; now we want the US army back to stop people being killed,” said one.
Another said: “We can see the American convoys again. For the first time in months I feel that it may be safe to leave home.”
A Sunni resident said that they had spoken to the soldiers who had promised to protect them.
Outside Baghdad the violence continued. A car bomb exploded in a residential district of Kirkuk, about 180 miles north of Baghdad, yesterday, killing four people and injuring another 13, police said. It was the fifth car bombing this month in the city, where tensions are rising among Arabs, Kurds and Turkomen for control of the area’s vast oil wealth.

Inside The Mind of Saddam's Chief Insurgent

2006-07-29T15:02:00.000+05:00

Former deputy Deputy President Izzat al-Douri, America's most wanted Iraqi fugitive, tells TIME why the insurgents won't join the political process
By Aparisim Ghosh, Baghdad
Iraq's Ba'athist insurgents have no intention of joining a political process that was "manufactured by and serves the occupying force," the highest-ranking figure from Saddam Hussein's regime still at large has told TIME Magazine. In an exclusive written interview — his first to the Western media — Izzat al-Douri said the Ba'ath Party will continue "to mobilize and bring together the energies of the people for the fight to expel the occupation."
A national reconciliation program aimed at drawing elements of the insurgency into the political process is the cornerstone of the current Iraqi government's efforts to stabilize Iraq. And despite the government's insistence that there will be no amnesty for former regime leaders such as al-Douri because they are accused of crimes against Iraqis, analysts in Baghdad say the reconciliation program can succeed only if the Ba'athists come in from the cold. But while al-Douri signaled a willingness to negotiate, he insisted the Ba'ath Party would first need to see the U.S. announce a timetable for withdrawal of troops, the formal recognition for the insurgency, and the reinstatement of Saddam's army, which was dissolved in 2003.
Al-Douri, the former Vice-President — the "King of Clubs" in the U.S. deck of cards naming the Saddam regime's most wanted figures — is among several Ba'athist leaders believed to be hiding in Syria, under the protection of the regime of President Bashar Assad. He is believed to be in poor health, possibly suffering from stomach cancer. Nonetheless, al-Douri said the Ba'ath Party has been restructured under his leadership as a "revolutionary, struggle-oriented" organization, in which he plays an influential role.
A U.S. official in Baghdad familiar with Sunni politics confirmed that claim: "He's still in charge, still dedicated to a return of Ba'athist dictatorship," said the official. Although U.S. and Iraqi sources say there have been contacts, usually through intermediaries, with the party's leadership, they insist there can be no deal with al-Douri. "The only thing we will discuss with him is his surrender," says the U.S. official.
TIME's questions were sent to al-Douri in May through intermediaries, and it's not exactly clear when his written answers, delivered in Arabic and authenticated by trusted sources, were composed — the fact that they refer in the present tense to the terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi suggest they were written before Zarqawi was killed in June. Al-Douri praises the Qaeda man's "courage, the strength of his faith, and the sacrifices of his fighters," but rebukes Zarqawi's advocacy of mass sectarian killing of innocents.
Asked about the country's new government, al-Douri said he respects those in the political process who oppose the presence of the U.S.-led coalition force — a reference to Sunni politicians who have been outspoken critics of the U.S. military presence — but urged them to quit the process "because they and the agents, traitors, and spies who are with them are incapable of offering anything to the people while under the occupation. "
In a rare admission for a senior Ba'athist, al-Douri said the Saddam regime had blundered in its military strategy at the beginning of the U.S.-led invasion. Rather than allow the Iraqi military to confront the coalition forces in open combat, he believes the leadership "should have husbanded the army's strength and means till the second page had been turned." Still, he claims that Saddam's military bounced back, suggesting that elements of the old army are responsible for 95% of insurgent operations against coalition forces.
Al-Douri also claimed to have sent President Bush a letter, "via a friend in the official Arab circles," after the December 2003 capture of Saddam. In it, al-Douri says he warned Bush that the continued presence of U.S. troops in Iraq would turn the country "into a world center for terrorism and the manufacture and export of terrorism in its many different forms." Al-Douri said he wrote Bush: "I know that you are courageous, and courage calls for a decision to withdraw immediately from Iraq."
The U.S. official in Baghdad was unable to confirm that such a letter had been received by the White House, but didn't rule it out, saying, "there are a variety of channels through which [insurgents] reach out." However, he added, "considering the source, I don't think such a letter would have been given much credence."
Insurgent Ba'athist In His Own Words
TIME: Does the Ba'ath Party still have a role in Iraqi politics?
Izzat al-Douri: If you mean the current political process, the Ba'ath Party rejects it, because it was manufactured by and serves the occupying force and is destructive of our country. The political role of the Ba'ath in the struggle [against the occupation of Iraq] is to mobilize and bring together the energies of the people for the fight to expel the occupation and liberate our country.
TIME: Do you hope to return to Baghdad as a free man?
Al-Douri: I have great hope and supreme confidence that, through the agency of God, and of the mighty people of Iraq and its heroic fighters, I shall return to Baghdad on its liberation from the grip of the occupation.
TIME: How sound is the infrastructure of the Ba'ath Party, and what is your influence over it?
Al-Douri: The Ba'ath Party has undergone an internal shake-up, restructuring its base and leadership on struggle-oriented, faith-based patriotic and nationalist principles. It now has a revolutionary, struggle-oriented identity and has shaken off the dust of the past. I constantly exercise influence on it to remain pure, patriotic and dedicated to struggle.
TIME: What is your opinion of the new Iraqi government? Are there any persons in that government in whom you trust?
Al-Douri: Yes. I respect all individuals who have not been polluted by crimes against the Ba'ath and the Iraqi people, whether they be with the political process or outside of it. I respect even some inside the government — and they are not a few — whose intention is, as they say, to reduce the damage done by the occupation to the citizens and to alleviate their sufferings, or to carry on the struggle for the liberation of Iraq from inside the political process, though this is a form of wishful thinking. My advice to them is to boycott the political process because they and the agents, traitors, and spies who are with them are incapable of offering anything to the people while under the occupation.
TIME: We've heard that there are a number of attempts at negotiation between some Ba'athist organizations and the United States. Are these negotiations carried on with your approval? If so, what progress has been made? If not, under what conditions might negotiation take place, whether with the United States or with the Iraqi government?
Al-Douri: The Ba'ath's position on negotiations, especially with the American and [British] sides, is clear. It rests on principles that cannot be prejudiced or impaired by any individual or party. They are:
1. Recognition of the resistance in all its forms — Islamist, patriotic, and nationalist — any group whose aim is to liberate Iraq from the invasion forces.
2. An announcement of withdrawal of U.S. forces, without restriction or condition.
3. Complete cessation of raids, round-ups, and operations involving killing and destruction.
4. Release of all captives, detainees, and prisoners.
5. Restoration of the [old] army and national security forces.
There have been no negotiations with the Americans, merely attempts by the American side to make contact with the Ba'ath Party and to negotiate with it in order to draw it into the political game. Similar attempts have taken place with other anti-occupation parties. No dialogue will take place — with any party — that is not on the basis of these principles. Any party that does not abide by these principles will fall into the swamp of the political game and that of grand treason. The Ba'ath is ready to negotiate with the Americans on the basis of these principles at any time they choose.
TIME: What is your opinion of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi? Is he working for or against Iraq? [The question was sent in March, three months before al-Zarqawi's death.]
Al-Douri: I participate with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in his belief in faith and the unity of God, but I differ from him fundamentally in the style, method, and path through which he expresses his faith. Our religion is the religion of submission to God, and of peace, security, safety, freedom, self-liberation, truth, justice, progress and coexistence. Those who are recalcitrant or take up arms and stand in the way of Islam's civilizational and humane course — as the American administration, its agents, henchmen, and spies are doing — we are ordered to fight such people by the Koran. In accordance with our faith, we only fight the occupation forces and their treacherous apostate agents who fight us. I harbor great respect and appreciation for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and I rejoice in his courage, the strength of his faith, and the sacrifices of his fighters, [but] I call on him and his fighters to direct their jihadist struggle against the enemy that has invaded the land of Arabdom and Islam. Let none of us be drawn into the occupying enemy's game of igniting hateful sectarianism. I also affirm that any exposure of citizens and their assets [to harm] will inevitably serve the occupation.
TIME: Some of the jihadist groups active now in Iraq claim to be applying the Taliban model of an Islamist state. Would such an outcome be acceptable to you?
Al-Douri: The Iraqi people will never be ruled by sectarianism or by sectarianists. The one who governs Iraq, with all its diverse elements, with all its national groups and sects, must do so on the basis of the freedom, democracy, and human rights that our noble religion guarantees.
TIME: Did Iraq possess weapons of mass destruction? If not, why did the government of Saddam Hussein not make that clear?
Al-Douri: This story about Iraq's possessing weapons of mass destruction is a lie of the American administration and its intelligence services, that they fed the American people and the world with the aim of occupying Iraq.
TIME: Why did the Iraqi army not put up much of a fight against the U.S.-led Coalition forces?
Al-Douri: After its entry into Kuwait, the Iraqi army had been stripped of its strength; the American administration and its allies went to extreme lengths to do it harm and to destroy its structure. Thereafter, it was under tight U.N.-imposed sanctions for 14 years. [At the start of the war] it faced aerial bombardment by the two greatest powers in the world supported by all the world's evil forces. Had it not been for certain strategic and tactical errors, the army's performance would have been better than it actually was. It was one of the greatest mistakes of the Iraqi leadership to accept formal engagement to the end of the road, despite the amazing disparity of forces. Had the leadership husbanded the army's strength and means till the second page had been turned, Iraq would have been liberated and the occupation ended long before today.
It is the Iraqi army that today is in charge of the planning and supervision of more than 95% of patriotic resistance operations against the occupation.
TIME: What do you think of the trial of Saddam Hussein? What do you believe the outcome will be?
Al-Douri: The trial of President Saddam Hussein and his comrades is a farce. The outcome will be what America wants it to be, not that demanded by the law and the judiciary, and not that wanted by the Iraqi government of agents and spies.
TIME: Do you expect a complete withdrawal of American forces from Iraq in the near future?
Al-Douri: I do not work for a conventional withdrawal of America from Iraq but rather for the victory of the resistance — the forced withdrawal of America from Iraq. My hope is that America will withdraw before it collapses so that losses on both sides may be minimized, and so that there will remain an opportunity for the people of Iraq to construct normal, broad, deep, and effective relations with America on the basis of independence, freedom, self-liberation, and the shared legitimate interests of both parties. Iraq, like all countries of the world, cannot do without legitimate mutual relations and joint cooperation with America in all fields of life because of the latter's vast resources, especially in the economic, technological, and developmental spheres. We understand the role and strategic interests of America as a great power. However, such relations must be on the basis of freedom and independence and the right of men to choose the way of life that they want, as well as of lack of interference in the internal affairs of others or of tutelage.
TIME: Have you in the past met any of those who are now in the U.S. government — for example, Donald Rumsfeld, who visited Iraq in the 1980s?
Al-Douri: I did not previously make the acquaintance of any of the American leadership but I had very high hopes of President Bush before his election, which I had hoped for — unlike that of Clinton. I expected that he would make a courageous and chivalrous President of the greatest state in the world and that he would carry in his heart all those values and principles — of freedom, democracy, and human rights — that his country promotes.
But the American administration has committed crimes in Iraq that will never be forgiven; the crimes that are being committed today in Iraq contradict completely all the principles in which the American people believe and which they wish for the world. The occupation troops, and especially the Americans, have committed thousands of massacres in all parts of Iraq, of old men, women, children, and civilians. They have destroyed tens of thousands of buildings, farms, factories, and other real estate.
I wrote to President Bush at the start of the occupation and after the capture of President Saddam Hussein via a friend in the official Arab circles. After painting a clear picture of the course of the killing and destruction, I warned him against the outcome of pursuing this path and of its dangers, for America, for Iraq and finally for the world as a whole. I pointed out to him that America's enemies would come together in Iraq from every place in the world to take revenge on it and that Iraq would be transformed into a world center for terrorism and the manufacture and export of terrorism in its many different forms. Then the mighty people of Iraq would rise up, and America would lose much and regret what it had done. I said, "I know that you are courageous, and courage calls for a decision to withdraw immediately from Iraq." Now everything that I mentioned has been realized.

Saddam In The Hospital

2006-07-23T22:01:00.000+05:00

BAGHDAD (Reuters) -
Saddam Hussein was being fed through a tube on Sunday after 16 days on hunger strike and an Iraqi official said he will not attend court on Monday.
"To avoid a deterioration in his health he was taken to hospital for medical attention and food was given to him through his mouth," chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi told Reuters. "He will not be able to attend the session tomorrow."
A U.S. military spokesman said Saddam was not in critical condition.
"Saddam Hussein continues to maintain his hunger strike and is voluntarily receiving nutrition through a feeding tube. His condition is constantly monitored by medical personnel and is not life-threatening," he said.
Saddam lawyers accuse the U.S. military of force-feeding the ousted leader, whose hunger strike has added to the chaos of his trial, which is approaching its conclusion.
The U.S. military says the 69-year-old ex-president has been drinking sweet coffee and liquid nourishment and receiving psychological counseling to try to persuade him to eat.
Saddam and his co-accused are on trial for the killing of 148 Shi'ite men and teenagers after an attempt on his life in the town of Dujail in 1982.
He is also awaiting trial in August for genocide against the Kurds in the late 1980s under the so-called Anfal campaign.
The Dujail trial, which U.S. and Iraqi officials had hoped would project a new image of democracy in postwar Iraq has been marred by the killing of three defense lawyers.
Saddam and his half-brother and former intelligence chief Barzan al-Tikriti have often launched tirades in the chamber in a trial which saw the resignation of the first chief judge in protest over what he called government interference.
Saddam's chief defense lawyer accused U.S. military authorities of force feeding the toppled president to make him end the hunger strike.
"The U.S. military are force-feeding the president to break his will and end his hunger strike to protest against the trial and its illegality," Khalil Dulaimi told Reuters in Amman.
Dulaimi said he had held a three-hour meeting with Saddam on Saturday to confer on defense tactics in which a decision was taken to boycott Monday's session. He said he had found Saddam in good health, despite a weight loss of several kilograms.
"They have clearly exhausted all means at their disposal to convince him to end the strike and now they are resorting to force ... this is a gross violation of his rights."
Saddam, who was absent as the U.S. backed court heard final arguments in defense of two minor co-accused, said he had boycotted the session to protest against a decision to convict him through unlawful proceedings.
Dulaimi said the defense team would boycott Monday's session in protest at the court's refusal to meet their demands for a fair trial.
"After all our legal demands that represent the minimum for a fair trial have been refused, the defense team decided to continue its complete suspension of its attendance of the trial sessions," he said.

An Unusual Day Here

2006-07-23T01:46:00.000+05:00

Today has been quite an unusual day. According to news reports, it is a tit-for-tat arguent between Shites and Sunnis. It is now 12:45a.m Sunday morning and I was just awakened by the 10th explosion that has rocked the Embassy compound today.

I guess today isn't a day for good news.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Two American soldiers were killed Saturday in Baghdad, seven Shiite construction workers were gunned down and five Sunni civilians were blown up, deepening the capital's security crisis. Shiite politicians called on the prime minister to cancel his visit to Washington to protest Israel' sattacks in Lebanon.
One U.S. soldier died in the second of two roadside bombs that exploded in east Baghdad at mid-morning. An Iraqi civilian was killed by the first blast, police said. Another American soldier died Saturday evening when gunmen attacked his patrol with small arms fire, the military said.
The seven Shiite workers were killed and two were wounded when gunmen opened fire on a construction site near Baghdad International Airport, police said. Later Saturday, a mortar shell killed five civilians at a market in the mostly Sunni neighborhood of Amil in west Baghdad, police said.
The violence appeared to be part of the tit-for-tat reprisal killings by Sunni and Shiite extremists which have led to a dramatic deterioration of security in the Iraqi capital.
Two rockets also blasted the heavily guarded Green Zone, which includes the U.S. and British embassies as well as major Iraqi government offices, but the U.S. military said there were no casualties.
U.S. troops also reported killing 15 gunmen in a three-hour firefight in Musayyib, 40 miles south of Baghdad.
With violence rising, the United States is moving to bolster American troop strength in the Baghdad area, putting on hold plans to draw down on the 127,000-member U.S. military mission in Iraq
The security crisis in Baghdad is expected to figure prominently when Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki meets President Bush at the White House on Tuesday. U.S. officials are expected to push al-Maliki, a Shiite, to move quickly to calm sectarian tensions and abolish Shiite militias blamed for much of the violence.
But the visit comes amid rising anger among Iraqis over Israel's attacks in Lebanon, launched after Shiite Hezbollah militiamen seized two Israeli soldiers.
On Saturday, the Fadhila party, which is part of al-Maliki's Shiite alliance, urged the prime minister to call off his visit.
"Fadhila demands that the prime minister cancel his visit to the U.S. in solidarity with the Lebanese people and over what is going on there, the disasters due to the Zionist aggression amid international silence about these crimes," party official Sheik Sabah al-Saiedi told The Associated Press.
Despite public anger over Lebanon, the Shiite political establishment has too much to lose politically by risking its ties with the Americans over the fate of Hezbollah.
Nevertheless, al-Maliki, a former Shiite activist who spent years in exile in
Syria has condemned Israel's offensive and has complained that the United States and the international community have not done enough to stop it.
Al-Maliki told reporters he would convey that message personally to Bush.
"The hostile acts against Lebanon will have effects on the region and we are not far from what is going on in Lebanon," al-Maliki said. "We will speak with the United Nations and American government to call for a cease-fire quickly."
Al-Maliki spoke following the first meeting of a government committee formed to reconcile Iraq's disparate sectarian and political groups, but differences emerged immediately between top Shiite and Sunni officials over the issue of amnesty for insurgents.
Al-Maliki told reporters that despite his proposal for amnesty for some insurgents, "all those whose hands were tainted with blood should be brought to justice."
But the Sunni speaker of parliament, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, snapped back, saying that "if we punish a person who killed an American soldier, who is an occupier, we should punish the American soldiers who killed an Iraqi who fought against occupation."
Most of the insurgents who have been fighting U.S. forces are Sunnis. The United States and the Iraqi government have sought to reach out to selected insurgent groups in hopes of convincing them to lay down their arms.
In other news Saturday:
• 10 Iraqi soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb struck a convoy in Karmah, west of Fallujah in the insurgent stronghold of Anbar province, police Lt. Ahmed Ali said.
• Three people died and five were injured in a bombing and shooting in the market in Baqouba, where U.S. forces killed five civilians the day before. The U.S. military expressed regret over the civilian deaths and blamed extremists for putting civilians in danger.
• An American soldier died Thursday of a non-combat related injury, the U.S. military reported. He was assigned to the 43rd Military Police Brigade.
• One civilian was killed when masked gunmen attacked Iraqi police in Mosul, and three gunmen died in an a separate firefight with police there.

Marines Help Build, Save School

2006-07-18T20:04:00.000+05:00

Thanks to the work of Marines and Iraqi security forces, 800 elementary-aged girls will now have a school to attend this fall.

Marines from 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment unveiled a brand-new grade school in this city of about 30,000 on the Iraq-Syria border in western al-Anbar province on July 7.

About one week before its ribbon cutting, insurgents planted an improvised explosive device inside the school that would have leveled a good portion of the building, destroying nearly three months of work by Marines and locals, said Gunnery Sgt. Joseph S. Mallicoat, team leader for the civil affairs team here.

"The bomb had the potential of taking down both wings of the building and the school would have been unable to open by September," said Capt. Rick Bernier, commanding officer of Company C - the Marines responsible for providing security alongside Iraqis in this city.

The Marines discovered the bomb and secured the building leaving Iraqi security forces to provide 24-hour security. The bomb was later disarmed.

Local tribal leaders and sheikhs attended the school's grand opening and expressed thanks to the Marines of 3rd Civil Affairs Group, who obtained the necessary manpower to reconstruct the building.

Civil Affairs teams oversee funding for a variety of reconstruction projects in the region which bolster Iraqis' quality of life while improving the economy, said Lt. Col. Larry L. White, the civil military operations center director for the Al Qa'im region.

The team spent nearly two years finding a contractor to complete the project. The school was destroyed in 2003 during heavy fighting between Marines and insurgents, according to Mallicoat, 33, from Vancouver, Wash.

"I want to thank the Coalition forces on behalf of all of the people of Karabilah for finishing the school very fast and for supporting the construction of a fine place," said Mohammed Ahmed Selah, mayor of Karabilah.

The mayor and the Marines agree that the school's neighborhood is relatively safe, although there is still the threat of IEDs, according to Bernier.

"The bomb was a last ditch effort by insurgents to destroy the progress we've made in this area," said Bernier.
Since arriving here four months ago, the Marines have seen a decrease in enemy activity. The Marines have also introduced the city to their new police force and have begun conducting security operations alongside policemen.
The Marines say local Iraqi security forces have made significant progress in the past few months by providing security and conducting several independent operations.

"We are capturing more of the bad guys with a higher level of expertise in IED-making and that leaves a lot of insurgents with minimal experience in making the bombs," said Bernier. "One guy blew himself up last week trying to plant an IED."
Tribal sheikhs expressed pride in the region's new police forces during a visit by al-Anbar provinces' governor to Husaybah last week. Gov. Maamoon Sami Rasheed al-Awani, echoed their sentiments.

"The security in this region has changed for the better," Awani said. "Without the work the Iraqi Army and Iraqi Police are doing here, we would not be able to move forward with construction projects."

The city of Karabilah opened their first police station last month after a three-year hiatus of policemen. More Iraqis are coming forward to join local police forces.

Of the 400 Iraqi males who showed up during a police recruiting drive last week in al-Qa'im, more than 100 were accepted for police boot camp - the largest turnout yet.

First Province Under Total Iraqi Control

2006-07-18T19:35:00.000+05:00

SAMAWAH – Coalition forces handed over responsibility for al-Muthanna province in southern Iraq to the provincial Iraqi government here on Thursday.Coalition officials said the province was ready to handle its own security and governmental responsibilities. It is the first of Iraq’s 18 provinces to achieve this status. More than 1,400 troops from Britain, Australia and Japan will move out of the province by the end of July, said Maj. Gen. Kurt A. Cichowski, Multi-National Force - Iraq deputy chief of staff of strategy, plans and assessments.The more than 600 Japanese troops who worked reconstruction duties in the province are already preparing to go home, while British and Australian forces stationed here are slated to move their operations to other parts of the country beginning next week.Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki attended the event and said the transfer of responsibility was the beginning of a new era for Iraq, one that will “bring joy to all Iraqis.” He promised unwavering government support to the province of more than 500,000.“We promise to give you what you need to fight the terrorists,” he said.Cichowski, who was responsible for many of the efforts leading up to the transfer, and British Maj. Gen. John Cooper, commander of Coalition forces in southeastern Iraq, were also among those present.“We came not as conquerors but as liberators,” said Cooper, who touted al-Muthanna as a peaceful, hardworking province. “Multi-National forces will be available to you if you need help, but I don’t think that will be necessary,” he said to the crowd. Policemen, local tribesman and Soldiers from the 10th Iraqi Army Brigade danced and pumped their fists in celebration of the province’s autonomy. Women and children waved Iraqi flags as a flock of birds were symbolically released.Cichowski said the Iraqi brigade’s 1,800 Soldiers have been accredited with the highest level of training by Coalition forces and that the quality of training was a major factor in turning the province over.He said the competence of policemen in the province was another deciding factor.For the last four months, the local police force has run the Provincial Joint Operations Center here. The center’s role is similar to a 911 call center in the United States, enabling the police to react swiftly to emergencies and tips from citizens.A provincial SWAT team has recently completed its training, adding more security capability to the more than 3,000 policemen already patrolling al-Muthanna.“First one down, 17 to go,” Cichowski said. The criteria for the transfer of provincial authority are; threat, governance, security capabilities and the province’s relationship with the Coalition. Cichowski said al-Muthanna met all of those requirements.“They’re ready,” he said.

Progress Is A Mixed Bag

2006-07-14T16:14:00.000+05:00

FALLUJAH, Iraq -- Clean water should flow to 80 percent of Fallujah's homes this fall, and by summer's end a planned wireless network will provide phone service and Internet access to thousands, a technological leap unimaginable just months ago.

But mounds of rubble litter the city, electricity is available only four hours a day, and an estimated 50,000 people out of a population of about 300,000 still have not returned 18 months after Fallujah was destroyed in an American assault to wrest control from insurgents.

Progress is mixed in Fallujah, the symbol of anti-American resistance until U.S. troops barreled through the city in November 2004 in the most intense urban combat of the Iraq war.

Improvements have come, but slower than expected and on a smaller scale than planned.

City officials are still asking for more money to pay laborers to haul away seemingly endless piles of rubble. Still, U.S. officials say substantial advancements will become apparent this fall to the residents who have returned.

"By the end of the year, that's when we'll see the turnaround," said Maj. Angel Ortiz of San Pedro, Calif., who oversees projects in the area for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. "After all these years of planning, that's when it's going to pay off in their eyes."

Officials are looking forward to the completion of a multimillion-dollar water treatment project they say will deliver clean water to 80 percent of Fallujah's homes.

By the end of September, officials say an $8 million wireless telecommunications project could activate 15,000 phone lines in the city. New, modern handsets will then be handed out to families that once had phones lines.

"This phone service will come with Internet. You can stick an Ethernet cord in the back of the phone and voila," said Lt. Col. Carl Friedrich of Washington. If the project works, it could be extended to other cities in western Iraq.

Overall, $192 million has been allocated to more than 100 complete or ongoing projects in the Fallujah area, Ortiz said. Also expected to be approved are $50 million in projects.

About 90 percent of projects have experienced delays, Ortiz said.

Though more than $30 million has been spent on the city's electricity grid, available wattage may not increase because there aren't enough power plants, said Capt. Richard Donnelly of Atlanta, a Marine who helps manage reconstruction projects.

U.S. officials have proposed at least $30 million more to improve the distribution system, but none of it to build more power plants, meaning power levels will remain stagnant.

Other parts of the city's infrastructure have suffered because of power shortages. Many water pumps in the city rely on electricity to disperse water to homes.

When a generator at one of the city's largest hospitals recently broke down, engineers complained the entire facility was without power for over a day. Even an infants ward was left in the dark.

"The No. 1 need is electricity. All other projects come after this. The electricity that we have now is not enough," said Najim Abdullah, chairman of the Fallujah City Council.

Progress also has been slowed because remnants of the insurgent force still operate in the city, although at a far lower level than the days when gunmen roamed the streets and insurgent commanders ruled.

Iraqi engineers said insurgents target U.S.-funded projects but have largely spared those funded by the Iraqi government.

U.S. commanders also hope other goodwill projects will boost confidence in the new government and U.S. reconstruction program.

Three new clinics were recently completed, and four new schools that can hold about 1,500 children are due to open this fall.

"The city has progressed a lot, but it's still behind the rest of the world," Abdullah said.

Al Sadr

2006-07-10T22:14:00.000+05:00

The very "Insurgent", Al Sadr mentioned in thi article has been recently appointed to a cabinet position within the new Iraqi Government.

Iraqi and U.S. troops arrested a commander of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's militia and clashed with militants in the cleric's eastern Baghdad neighborhood yesterday, an apparent attempt to crack down on militias that have fueled sectarian violence across Iraq.Adnan al-Unaybi, a top Mahdi Army leader, was arrested at his home near the central city of Hillah. Al-Unaybi allegedly engineered two roadside bomb attacks against multinational forces this spring, spied for Iran and smuggled weapons into Iraq, including SA-7 surface-to-air missiles, the U.S. military said.In another morning raid, in Baghdad's impoverished Sadr City neighborhood, Iraqi troops backed by U.S. aircraft killed or wounded 30 to 40 militants in a 43-minute firefight that culminated in the arrest of another insurgent leader. The U.S. military did not name him.The Sadr City slums are controlled by Sadr's Mahdi Army, the cleric's Shiite militia, which mounted two uprisings against U.S. forces in 2004.Militias like Sadr's remain one of the biggest roadblocks to securing Iraq. Shiite militias are believed to be responsible for kidnappings and executions of scores of Sunni Muslims, perpetuating the sectarian conflict that threatens to plunge the country into civil war.Some of those militias have links with the Iraqi government's Interior Ministry. This week, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered a revamping of the country's 160,000-member Facilities Protection Service, which is supposed to secure infrastructure and public institutions but has been linked to kidnappings and assassinations.As part of his sweeping reconciliation plan aimed at restoring peace to Iraq, al-Maliki called for the dissolution of the militias. Their members should be absorbed by Iraq's security forces, the prime minister said, but he has yet to lay out how he will accomplish that.Indicted for the murder of a rival Shiite cleric in 2003, Sadr now wields considerable political influence. At least 30 members of parliament are Sadr loyalists who belong to Iraq's leading Shiite political bloc, the United Iraqi Alliance. He has legions of followers among Sadr City's 2 million residents.The U.S. military said the man captured in the Sadr City raid oversaw several insurgent cells in Baghdad responsible for roadside bomb attacks and car bomb blasts directed at Iraqi and multinational security forces. He is also responsible for the slayings of two Iraqi soldiers, the U.S. military said, and is linked to a "punishment committee" that carried out vigilante acts against perceived enemies."What we're doing is targeting individuals responsible for insurgent activity, regardless of what their affiliation might be," said U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Barry Johnson.A top Sadr aide, Sahib al-Aameri, denounced the Sadr City raid and said it resulted in the deaths of six innocent Iraqis."We strongly condemn what the American forces and a brigade of the non-patriotic Iraqi army did last night," al-Aameri said. "The Iraqi government and the parliament members are responsible for this crime."No shots were fired in the raid that caught al-Unaybi.Meanwhile, sectarian tension continued to run high a day after a suicide car bomber attacked Iranian pilgrims near a Shiite shrine in the holy city of Kufa, killing 12 people.Yesterday, bombs and mortar fire struck four Sunni mosques in and around Baghdad as well as a Shiite mosque in northern Iraq, killing 17 people and injuring more than 50.

U.S., Iraqi Forces Make Town Oasis Of Security In A Desert Of Violence

2006-07-09T18:35:00.000+05:00

While much of the area around the town of Taji, Iraq, is racked with sectarian violence and insurgent attacks on U.S. troops, Tarmiyah is one of the successes.
Soldiers used to call the main road in Tarmiyah “the racetrack.” When patrols came through the Sunni town, north of Baghdad, they gunned their engines and drove as fast as possible, hoping not to be hit by a shower of rocket-propelled grenades.
Tarmiyah was controlled by insurgents who roamed the streets with AK-47s. There were 20 policemen in a town of 45,000 residents.
“Every other night the police station would get shot up, and the (Iraqi police) would huddle up and just hope not to die,” said Army Col. Jim Pasquarette, the brigade commander for the 4th Infantry Division in the area.
In March, the U.S. Army held a recruiting drive for the police force. Fifty-seven men promised they would join. When the day came to ride to the police recruiting center in Baghdad, not a single man showed.
Then, in a three-day span, five Iraqi soldiers were killed in the town.
Pasquarette decided he had had enough. On March 25, hundreds of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers rode into Tarmiyah, backed by tanks and attack helicopters. Instead of the fight that Pasquarette was expecting, the day was relatively quiet.
U.S. soldiers walked through the marketplace and handed out leaflets explaining that they were going to spend $7million on construction projects, including a major water pipeline and a health clinic.
They also blocked the city off completely with a perimeter of triple-stacked bales of concertina wire and told residents that instead of leaving in a week or two – as is often the case after major U.S. operations in small, troubled Sunni towns – the soldiers would be living at a schoolhouse in the middle of town. They said insurgents wouldn't be coming back next week to punish townspeople who cooperated with the Americans.
U.S. officers also promised that Iraqi troops soon would be the ones manning the checkpoints.
Within a week, some 2,000 Iraqis signed up to join the police.
Today, joint U.S.-Iraqi patrols walk through the marketplace without watching their backs. Attacks in the town have dropped to almost nothing, and attacks in the wide swath of land surrounding it have gone down by at least 10percent, military officials said.
How long that will last no one knows.
“It's been a great success, but it's just one 'sig-act' away from failure,” said Pasquarette, using military-speak for significant enemy action. “There's no

Army Officer refuses to deploy...

2006-06-30T19:47:00.000+05:00

Comments to follow.......

TACOMA, Wash. - An Army lieutenant who refuses to deploy to Iraq with his Fort Lewis Stryker brigade said he's prepared to face the consequences, including a possible prison term.
1st Lt. Ehren Watada, who joined the Army in March 2003, said he researched the reasons behind the U.S. involvement in Iraq and concluded the war is illegal and immoral.
"We have violated American law," Watada said. "We can't break laws in order to fight terrorism."
Watada said he would be willing to serve in Afghanistan or elsewhere, but he said he believes intelligence on whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction was manipulated "to fit a policy that was already implemented prior to 9-11," and he cited "mistreatment of the Iraqi people," saying it was "a contradiction to the Army's own Law of Land Warfare."
Army officials said Watada's decision to publicly declare his intent to disobey orders "is a serious matter and could subject him to adverse action."
His unit - the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division - is scheduled to begin leaving later this month for a mission in Iraq.
Watada sent a letter to his command in January, saying he had reservations about the Iraq war and felt he could not participate, his lawyer Eric A. Seitz said. Months later, he resubmitted his request to resign, Seitz said.
The Hawaii native was told last month his request had been denied. The Army said it was because Watada's unit is in a stop-loss category, and he has not fulfilled his service obligation. His commission requires that he serve as an active-duty Army officer for three years ending Dec. 3, his lawyer said.
Watada said he would submit another request to resign but added, "I feel it is inevitable ... I will be charged and I will be punished." He said he could face prison time for failing to deploy.
Peace activists, veterans and clergy have come out in support of Watada, whose commanders barred him from attending a news conference Wednesday because it occurred during his duty hours.
Watada did not apply for conscientious objector status, defined by Army regulations as a "firm, fixed and sincere objection to participation in war in any form or the bearing of arms, because of religious training and belief." He said he objected only to the war in Iraq.
An Army fact sheet dated Sept. 21, 2005, the most recent available, said 87 conscientious objector applications had been approved and 101 denied since January 2003.
"I know that my case has brought a lot of attention and scrutiny on me by my superiors," Watada said. "I'm probably very unpopular, if not the most unpopular person on Fort Lewis. But I know out there are people who believe in what I'm saying."

I don't care who you are. When you swore to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America and obey the orders of the officers appointed over you, you have to have some idea in the back of your head that you may be going to war some day. You have most likely had your college tuition paid for and you and your family have enjoyed the free healthcare and other benefits. Now your Country, your President and the very soldiers you have lead are asking you to give a little back yet you refuse. Not all of us necessarily agree with how things are being done here but we signed a contract and made a verbal commitment. Shame on you Lieutenant Watada. You get the ol Roper and Ebert Thumbs Down!

Bet you won't see this on CNN

2006-06-28T18:13:00.000+05:00

BALAD, Iraq – Soldiers from Logistical Support Area Anaconda in Balad saved the life of an abandoned, near-death baby June 9. Staff Sgt. Donald White, patrol leader 4th Infantry Division, Task Force Band of Brothers, and his team came across a box on the side of the road while on patrol. Initially, he thought it was an improvised explosive device until he heard crying coming from the box. White made sure there were no wires protruding from the box and made sure it was not booby trapped. Then he picked it up. “I ran as fast as I could, snatched the box off the ground and kept on running, thankfully nothing blew up,” White said. White then asked Spc. John Sullivan, healthcare specialist, 3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery, to evaluate the child and assess its medical needs. The skin was literally hanging off the child and we could see it was massively dehydrated and malnourished. Sullivan told me we needed to get the child to a hospital right away and we jumped into the trucks and drove to the hospital as fast as we could, Smith said. In transit to Balad Air Base hospital, Sullivan turned the air conditioning vents in the baby's direction so the air would cool the child. I was nervous because I have never had to professionally treat a sick child before, Sullivan said. “(He) did not cry at all in the vehicle but his eyes rolled in the back of his head and I thought ‘oh my goodness he is starting to die on me.'” By the time the patrol made its way to the Balad Air Base hospital the staff was already waiting for them when the vehicles pulled up. The Air Force medical staff treated the child by putting a feeding tube into him to replenish lost fluids. After a while the baby regained its strength and was in stable enough condition to be released. A civilian liaison with the Iraqi hospital in Balad was called and the child was released to hospital care. White credits the success of the rescue to the members of his patrol, not just himself and Sullivan. In all this mess of arresting people, killing people and getting blown up, finally something good has come out of it, Smith said. Hopefully as a result, God will bless us for the next few months we are here. The baby was reunited with his mother June 19. The mother of the child told Iraqi Police she left the child in her daughter's care. The daughter was carrying the baby on the road near the LSA when she was chased by wild dogs and left the baby so she could run faster, according to reports given to Capt. Lance Awbrey, commander, Battery B, 3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery.

Operation AC

2006-06-28T17:09:00.000+05:00

I certainly don't use this Blog as an advertisment for any compnay or product, but I truly believe one group needs heavy recognition. Many people ask me if there is anything I personally need. The answer is always the same. I have been very fortunate this tour to be stationed at the US Embassy. The State Department has gone to great strides to make the IZ as comfortable living situation as possible. There are, however soldiers, sailors and Marines out there who are not as fortunate as we are.

During OIF I, there was a big need for air conditioners here in country. Here is the story of Operation AC.

Operation AC has raised $2,876,392.00 and has sent 9,400 air conditioners, 14,500 heaters and $1,901,960.35 in Morale, Welfare and Recreation supplies to US troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Not too bad for a soldier's mom and his family and YOU our contributors.
Operation AC has suspended sending air conditioners to our troops as of 9/1/05. We send combat boots, socks and wicking t-shirts now. We send to US forces only. Any donations we receive go directly to the support of US troops serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Horn of Africa fighting the Global War on Terror.
We at Operation AC send our US Troops mostly anything else they ask for or need. We have been at this since June 2003 and we have adapted to the needs of our troops. We send them items they are low on in supply and just are a help to them. Please adopt a soldier or marine serving and help us with our effort.
Our soldiers are humble people and they only ask for what they need like the boots we send, the socks and glove kits, morale raising items and mostly matching them up with an American who cares about what they are doing. Our troops are volunteers and they are still serving in the same place - do not forget them. Many of the ones going back now are from OIF 1 and remember me from when we started. I'm still here and I promised I would not quit till the last one comes home. My son has been back now for a year and he works here with me now that he is out of the Army helping his brothers and sisters still serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is my hope that we make their existence in Iraq during their deployment as safe and as easy on them as possible given the job they are there to do.
After sending over 9,400 air conditioners since we started - we are happy we have made an impact on the situation there. Now we have to adapt to the ever changing need of our troops and the safety of the troops given the items we send. Logistics and Delivery of Air Conditoners is now a danger to our troops. i can not risk the lives of the civilians delivering the air conditioners nor can I put safety of our troops at risk by allowing the chain of custody of these electronic items to be compromised. As Iraqis take control of their own country and our troops begin to scale back, we still need to be there for those who serve and send them what we can to help them during their deployment.

For those of you who wish to adopt a Soldier, Sailor or Marine, this is a great way to do it. This group has gone from simply Air Conditioners to anything a military member in the field could need from uniforms, and boots to MP3 players. If you get chance or want to adopt someone, log into http://www.operationac.com

My personal thanks goes out to all who have supported the troops here and a special thanks to Mrs. Frankie Mayo, President and FounderOperation AC Inc.

Is Baghdad Safe?

2006-06-28T16:23:00.000+05:00

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The U.S. military issued a sober assessment Tuesday of the Baghdad security crackdown, saying violence had decreased slightly but not to "the degree we would like to see" in the two weeks since 75,000 Iraqi and American troops flooded the capital.

The evaluation came as 18 more Iraqis fell victim to sectarian and insurgent violence, including five people whose bodies were found dumped in Baghdad. The U.S. military also announced the deaths of a Marine and three soldiers; three of the deaths were west of the capital in volatile Anbar province, an insurgent stronghold.

Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, spokesman for U.S. forces in Iraq, said the overwhelming security operation launched two weeks ago to rein in violence in Baghdad was moving more slowly than hoped.

"It's going to take some time. We do not see an upward trend. We ... see a slight decrease but not of the degree we would like to see at this point," he said at a news conference in the heavily fortified Green Zone.

However, Caldwell added, "we don't see this as turning into a civil war right now."

U.S. officials hope the willingness of leading Sunni Arabs to withdraw support for the insurgency will help heal the nation.

On Tuesday, an influential Sunni Arab cleric endorsed the Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's 24-point reconciliation plan.

Ahmed Abdul Ghafour al-Samaraie, the head of the Sunni Endowment, the state agency responsible for Sunni mosques and shrines, applauded the provision that calls for the release of all prisoners who have not been charged with crimes.

He called on the government to implement the plan quickly, but emphasized that it should include the disbanding of armed Shiite militias. Minority Sunnis have accused Shiite-led militias — who have infiltrated the police and armed forces — of random detention, torture and killing.

"We bless this initiative," al-Samaraie said. "We see a glimmer of hope in this plan, but at the same time we are noticing that some people are pushing the armed groups to attack some areas in Baghdad, spreading terror and chaos in the city in order to make this plan a failure. ... The government will not be able to enforce the law while those militiamen consider themselves above the law."

Al-Maliki's plan is vague on this issue, saying only that the government should address the "problem of sectarian militias and illegal armed groups through political, economic and security measures." Al-Samaraie urged the government to provide more details about the plan, which parliament will debate.

Al-Samaraie's endorsement came a day after key lawmakers said seven Sunni Arab insurgent groups offered the government a conditional truce. The seven groups do not include al-Qaida or Islamic terror groups. They are mostly made up of former members or backers of Saddam Hussein's government, military or security agencies.

On Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Salam Zikam Ali al-Zubaie said he had met secretly in Jordan with exiled Sunni tribal leaders from Anbar province to win their support for al-Maliki's plan. Al-Zubaie said the meeting took place before al-Maliki unveiled the plan Sunday.

"We have reached positive results so that they can try to persuade members of the honorable resistance to join the political process," al-Zubaie told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. Many Iraqis refer to those who have attacked only foreign troops in Iraq as the "honorable resistance" because they do not target Iraqis.

"There is no dialogue with those who targeted Iraqis," said al-Zubaie, a member of the influential Sunni Arab Zubaa tribe.

He said the tribal leaders called for the release of detainees, an end to military operations in Sunni areas and a halt to detentions.

The Justice Ministry, meanwhile, said 453 more detainees were released from U.S. detention centers across Iraq, part of al-Maliki's plan to free 2,500 by the end of June as a goodwill gesture.

In the first tangible step after al-Maliki's reconciliation plan was announced, the Council of Ministers said it will reinstate the jobs of government employees who were detained and recently released. It said the government will consider their service uninterrupted when considering bonuses, promotions and retirement privileges.

The ministers said they will allow freed students to return to school and take final exams, and that their absence in the 2005-2006 academic year will not be held against them.

Separately, the Iraqi High Tribunal announced that Saddam Hussein and six members of his former regime will be put on trial Aug. 21 for a 1980s campaign that killed an estimated 100,000 Kurds and saw thousands of their villages razed. The trial will be the second for Saddam and top officials of his Baath Party regime. More trials over crimes committed during his 23-year dictatorship are also expected.

An American soldier on a foot patrol south of Baghdad was killed Tuesday in a bombing, and a Marine died Tuesday in fighting in Anbar province west of the capital. The military also announced the deaths of two soldiers killed Monday in Anbar fighting.

In other developments:

• A suicide car bomb struck a busy gas station in the northern city of Kirkuk, killing at least three people and wounding 17.

• A parked car packed with explosives blew up at an open-air market in a Shiite section of Baghdad's predominantly Sunni Dora neighborhood, killing three people and wounding 10, police said.

• A university professor was killed in a drive-by shooting in Baghdad's upscale Mansour neighborhood. The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Studies said it will stage a sit-in at all universities Wednesday to protest kidnappings and violence against its employees.

• Gunmen ambushed a convoy carrying a tribal leader in Dujail, north of Baghdad, killing him and four drivers.

• A tribal chief in the southeastern town of Amarah was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt. Sheik Kadim al-Sebahawi's 22-year-old son died in the attack.

Associated Press writers Jamal Halaby in Amman, Jordan, and Sameer N. Yacoub, Bushra Juhi and Sinan Salaheddin in Baghdad contributed to this report.

We need the help of whom?

2006-06-26T15:19:00.000+05:00

The mentality of Saddam truly amazes me. He doesn't realize there is someone out there right now rope shopping for a special event.

AMMAN, Jordan - Saddam Hussein believes the United States will have to seek his help to quell the bloody insurgency in Iraq and open the way for U.S. forces to withdraw, his chief lawyer said Sunday.

Khalil al-Dulaimi argued in an interview with The Associated Press that the former leader is the key to returning stability to Iraq.

"He's their last resort. They're going to knock at his door eventually," the lawyer said. Saddam is "the only person who can stop the resistance against the U.S. troops."

There is no indication U.S. officials have considered seeking his help. While Saddam's once dominant fellow Sunni Arabs are the backbone of the insurgency, the Shiite Muslim majority and Kurds repressed by his regime would be enflamed by his presence.

The comments from Al-Dulaimi, the head of Saddam's defense team, portrayed a deposed leader who seems to hold out hope he can bargain his way out of trials that threaten him with the death penalty.

Al-Dulaimi said Saddam brought up the topic during a meeting Tuesday, and indicated he would be willing to help the United States — "for the sake of saving both peoples — the Iraqis and Americans."

He quoted Saddam as saying:

"These puppets in the Iraqi government that the Americans brought to power are helpless. They can't protect themselves or the Iraqi people. The Americans will certainly come to me, to Saddam Hussein's legitimate leadership and to the Iraqi Baath Party, to rescue them from their huge quandary."

Although he would not say exactly what Saddam might ask in return for helping, al-Dulaimi said it would not necessarily involve being reinstated as president of Iraq — a nation he ruled brutally and plunged into three devastating wars.

The lawyer suggested, though, that Saddam might be willing to negotiate such help by making the verdict in his trial a bargaining chip.

Saddam and seven of his former officials are on trial in the deaths of 148 people during a crackdown on a Shiite village, and Iraqis widely expect the ousted leader to be sentenced to be hanged. He also is due to begin a second trial that could end with the death penalty.

When Saddam mentioned he expected the Americans to seek his help, al-Dulaimi said he asked the former leader if he would really be willing to help the country who toppled him from power.

Saddam replied that he would, said al-Dulaimi, a Sunni who considers Saddam to remain Iraq's legitimate president.

"We will do that for the sake of preventing more bloodshed, for the liberty of all Iraqis," al-Dulaimi quoted Saddam as saying.

Saddam predicted Iraq would "flourish within five years," saying that was the time that would be needed for reconstruction that would transform the country into the envy of the region, the lawyer said.

He said Saddam also believes he will be given the death penalty in the current trial, which began in October. The prosecution summed up its case last Monday, and defense lawyers are to begin their final arguments July 10, after which the five judges are expected to take several months to reach a verdict.

Al-Dulaimi claimed the outcome of the trial has already been determined.

"The ongoing trial and verdict, which are already decided by Washington, are expected to result in the death penalty," he said.

"The death penalty is political blackmail to pressure President Saddam to help the American forces out of their predicament in Iraq and to rescue it from the mess it created there."

Al-Dulaimi said Washington also should look to Saddam as the only person who can stop the growing influence of Iran and radical Shiite Muslims in the region.

Pointing to Saddam's 1980-88 war with Iran — a conflict in which the United States and others backed Iraq — he said Saddam served as a counterbalance to Iranian power.

The Bush administration should recognize the "hard reality" that the U.S. invasion of Iraq delivered the mostly secular Arab nation into the hands of Shiites strongly sympathetic to their larger Iranian neighbor, the lawyer said.

"Iran is the enemy of Arabs, Islam and the United States, and the only person who can stand in the face of Iran is Saddam Hussein," he said.

What's happening in Baghdad

2006-06-23T19:22:00.000+05:00

It is absolutely amazing how things do a 180 in a matter of days.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Iraqi government declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew Friday after insurgents set up roadblocks in central Baghdad and opened fire on U.S. and Iraqi troops outside the heavily fortified Green Zone.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered everyone off the streets of the capital. U.S. and Iraqi forces also fought gunmen in the volatile Dora neighborhood in south Baghdad.
A car bomb ripped through a market and nearby gas station in the increasingly violent southern city of Basra, killing at least five people and wounding 18, including two policemen, police said.
A bomb also struck a Sunni mosque in Hibhib, northeast of Baghdad, killing 10 worshippers and wounding 15 in the town where Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was slain this month, police said.
At least 19 other deaths were reported in Baghdad.
Throughout the morning, Iraqi and U.S. military forces clashed with attackers armed with rocket-propelled grenades, hand grenades and rifles in busy Haifa Street, which runs into the Green Zone, site of the U.S. and British embassies and the Iraqi government.
Four Iraqi soldiers and three policemen were wounded in the fighting, police Lt. Maitham Abdul Razzaq said.
The region was sealed and Iraqi and U.S. forces conducted house-to-house searches.
The prime minister's office said the curfew would last from 2 p.m. Friday until 6 a.m. Saturday but later shortened to end at 5 p.m. Friday.
The state of emergency includes a ban on carrying weapons and gives Iraqi security forces broader arrest powers, Defense Ministry official Maj. Gen. Abdul-Aziz Mohamed Jassim said.
"The state of emergency and curfew came in the wake of today's clashes to let the army work freely to chase militants and to avoid casualties among civilians," he said. "They will punish all those who have weapons with them and they can shoot them if they feel that they are danger."
Gunmen also attacked a group of worshippers marching from Sadr City, the Shiite slum in eastern Baghdad, to the Buratha mosque on the other side of the city to protest a suicide attack a week ago on the revered Shiite shrine. At least one marcher was killed and four were wounded, Lt. Ahmed Mohammed Ali said.
The U.S. military also said two U.S. Marines were killed during combat in the volatile Anbar province in separate attacks on Wednesday and Thursday, and a soldier died elsewhere in a non-combat incident on Wednesday.Their deaths raise to at least 2,515 members of the U.S. military who have died since the
Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
Al-Maliki has been trying to rein in unrelenting insurgent and sectarian violence. He launched a massive security operation in Baghdad 10 days ago, deploying tens of thousands of troops who flooded the city, snarling traffic with hundreds of checkpoints.
Police said they found the bodies of five men who apparently were victims of a mass kidnapping from a factory on Wednesday. The bodies, which showed signs of torture and had their hands and legs bound, were floating in a canal in northern Baghdad, police Lt. Maitham Abdul-Razzaq said.
A police raid on a farm Thursday freed 17 of the captives
Meanwhile, the U.S. military said it killed four foreign insurgents in a raid north of Fallujah. Two of the dead men had 15-pound bombs strapped to their bodies. The military said an insurgent thought to be an Iraqi also was killed in the raid, which was launched on the basis of information from a suspected arrested in the region in previous days.
Separately, the military said, it detained a senior leader of al-Qaida in Iraq and three other suspected insurgents Monday during raids northeast of Baghdad, near where al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. air raid earlier this month

Baghdad Violence Dips As Government Cracks Down

2006-06-21T21:23:00.000+05:00

BAGHDAD — Government forces that fanned out across Baghdad on Wednesday set up checkpoints, frisked motorists and caused traffic jams on the first day of the largest security operation in Iraq's capital since Saddam Hussein's ouster three years ago.
Violence dipped slightly in the capital. Baghdad was hit by just one car bombing that killed four people and injured six, police Lt. Ali Mitaab said.
Many stores were closed in Azamiyah and Dora, both strongholds of the Sunni Arab insurgency.
Operation Forward Together, involving 75,000 Iraqi army and police forces backed by U.S. troops, began a day after President Bush visited Baghdad to reassure Iraqis of Washington's continued support and a week after the death of terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
It was the first major action by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki since his new government of national unity was sworn in May 20.
Tackling security in Baghdad has been the aim of several past counterinsurgency operations, including one a year ago. That operation, code-named Lightning, failed to have any impact on the almost daily bombings, shootings and killings in Baghdad.
Al-Maliki pledged Wednesday not to negotiate with those who have shed innocent blood, the latest in a series of tough statements he has made since American bombs killed Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq. Al-Maliki, a Shiite Muslim, sought to reassure Sunni Arabs that Operation Forward Together would not indiscriminately target their community, which is the heart of the insurgency.
“We are only going to attack areas that are dens for terrorists,” al-Maliki said.
Launching the operation in a televised news conference, al-Maliki said he was prepared to hold talks with insurgent groups opposed to Iraq's U.S.-backed peace process. He made clear that his offer was conditional and excluded terrorist groups.
As part of a national reconciliation initiative he planned to detail this week, the prime minister also offered amnesty to detainees found not to have been involved in violence.
“There is also a space for dialogue with insurgents who opposed the political process and now want to join the political process after offering guarantees,” al-Maliki said. He did not specify what guarantees he seeks. “On the other hand, we are not going to negotiate with the criminals who have killed the innocent.”
The security crackdown in Baghdad includes a curfew extended by 4½ hours — from 8:30 p.m. until dawn — and a weapons ban.
The government did not say how long the crackdown would last and declined to provide the precise number of checkpoints and troops involved.

Gold AK

2006-06-21T21:08:00.000+05:00

A quick picture from my journey to Mosul. You can see the disappointed look on my face when I found out I couldn't take this gold...That's right, GOLD AK-47 home with me to use for a hunting rifle.

Several of these have been captured around the region. Evidentally they were given as gifts to members of the Baath party by Saddam and his sons.

Family Lashes Out

2006-06-20T18:41:00.000+05:00

As the families of two missing soldiers waited to hear from the U.S. military Tuesday, the uncle of one lashed out at the government, saying it didn't do enough to bring the men home safe.
"Because the U.S. government did not have a plan in place, my nephew has paid for it with his life," Ken MacKenzie, uncle of Army Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, told NBC's "Today" show.
Earlier Tuesday, a senior Iraqi military official announced that the bodies of the two missing soldiers had been found.
U.S. military officials would not confirm the report Tuesday morning. Military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said the military had "an obligation first and foremost to those families who have either lost or have someone missing."
Menchaca's mother, Maria Vasquez, was sobbing when she answered the door of her Brownsville, Texas, home.
Her niece, Felipa Gomez, said the family had been watching television news reports of the Iraqi military announcement about the bodies but were still waiting for U.S. military officials to talk with them.
The report that the soldiers had been found came from Iraqi Maj. Gen. Abdul-Aziz Mohammed, who announced that the bodies of Menchaca, 23, of Houston, and Army Pfc. Thomas Lowell Tucker, 25, of Madras, Ore., had been discovered on a street in Youssifiyah, just south of Baghdad.
The two soldiers had been manning checkpoints when they were attacked Friday. Another soldier with them was killed.
A group that includes al-Qaida in
Iraq claimed Monday it had kidnapped the two soldiers, but it did not name them and the U.S. military was skeptical of the claim. The group posted another statement found on the Internet Tuesday saying it killed them.
"I think the U.S. government was too slow to react to this," MacKenzie said Tuesday. "They should have had a plan in place."
MacKenzie said the government should have offered a $100 million reward and offered to exchange mujahideen detainees for the soldiers' lives. It seized enough money from
Saddam Hussein to afford it, he said.
The military has said more than 8,000 U.S. and Iraqi troops were searching for the missing men.
In Madras, Ore., Tucker's hometown, yellow ribbons adorn the trees and store reader boards offer prayers of hope for his safe return.
Tucker's relatives declined interviews but released the text of a phone message Monday that Tucker recently left on an answering machine, telling his mother to be proud of him.
"I'm defending my country," Tucker says on the recording. "Tell sis and my nephews hello for me, I'm OK, I'm on my way."
The family said in a statement Monday that their son had joined the military because he wanted to "do something positive." They also sent their sympathy to the family of Spc. David J. Babineau, 25, of Springfield, Mass., who was killed in the attack.
Lyndsay Kowaleski, a high school classmate of Tucker's, described "a sense of helplessness" after learning Tucker was missing.
"Our hearts are broken with our friend being in this situation," she said

Bodies of missing US Servicemen found.

2006-06-20T18:37:00.000+05:00

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The bodies of two U.S. soldiers who had been reported kidnapped have been found near the checkpoint where the men disappeared after an attack, a senior Iraqi military official said Tuesday. A U.S. military spokesman in Iraq has refused to confirm or deny reports that remains of missing soldiers were found.

Back Again

2006-06-18T20:22:00.000+05:00

Wow...Where have I been for almost a month? Well, I had a great visit to Mosul where I visited a detention facility and the Mosul Iraqi Police Provincial Police Headquarters.

After that, I went back to the US due to the death of my grandmother and now I am back.

Quite a bit has happened since I have been gone. The President visited folks here at the Embassy and best of all....Zarqawi is dead! I am happy he is dead simply because he was one little piece in a big puzzle of the insurgency. Does that mean thing are better here now? Like a magic trick; POOF; no more attacks? No.... I believe they have slowed down somewhat but they certainly haven't stopped. As a matter of fact, two American soldiers are missing. We all hope for their safe return.

It is a cool 126 degrees at 7:30pm here today. But, it's a dry heat...If you believe that makes a difference.

Stryker Brigade

2006-05-27T14:06:00.000+05:00

BEHOLD.....THE STRYKER COMBAT VEHICLE!

I have just received assignment to the 101st Airborne Division and further farmed to the 172ndSBCT (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) in Mosul, Iraq. First of all, the weather is much better here. Not so much cooler, but not so humid. I was able to ride on top of one of these things for 5 hours in a convoy from Tikrit to Mosul. It is awesome to see a multi million dollar piece of combat machinery operated so professionally by a group of 20 year old guys.

I am still with the Central Criminal Court of Iraq but serving here as a Liaison Officer and Law Enforcement Advisor. There is no better way to show what you know than to teach others and see them in action.

I have no real idea as to how long I will be here, but this is certainly a tour highlight.

Wary Americans Hope New Cabinet Will Help Stabilize Iraq

2006-05-23T21:02:00.000+05:00

Wary Americans Hope New Cabinet Will Help Stabilize Iraq
By John F. Burns

BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 20 — As Iraq's new government was announced Saturday, some senior American military and civilian officials watched from the sidelines, apprehensive that they were witnessing what might be the last chance to save the American enterprise in Iraq from a descent into chaos and civil war.
While others took a less bleak view, the common feeling among a wide range of officers and diplomats interviewed before Saturday's events was that the formation of the first full-term government since the toppling of Saddam Hussein marked a critical juncture for Iraq, and for the American stake in its future.
The 36 men and women appointed to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki's cabinet — in an ominous sign of continuing divisions, three key ministries were left vacant — took over from a transitional government that has been widely viewed as a miserable failure. In his year in office, the departing prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, presided over a rising wave of sectarian violence. Basic government services, especially health and electricity, slipped deeper into the chaos that enveloped Iraq in the wake of the U.S.-led invasion three years ago.
This time, American officials played a muscular role in vetting and negotiating over the new cabinet. Dismayed at what they have described as the Jaafari government's incompetence, American officials reversed the hands-off approach that characterized American policy as Mr. Jaafari formed his cabinet in early 2005.
Then, the policy laid down by John D. Negroponte, President Bush's first ambassador to Iraq, now back in Washington as director of national intelligence, was to respect Iraq's standing as a sovereign state, avoiding heavy-handed American interference in the government's formation to discourage an attitude of dependence among Iraqi leaders.
During these negotiations, diplomatic sensitivities were played down as the envoy who succeeded Mr. Negroponte last summer, Zalmay Khalilzad, acted as a tireless midwife in the birthing of the new government. An Afghan-born scholar who worked on Iraq policy in Washington prior to the invasion, Mr. Khalilzad worked closely with Mr. Maliki, the new prime minister, in reviewing candidates for crucial ministries, and shuttling between rival Iraqi party leaders in an effort to sign them up to the American vision of a national unity government.
How far Mr. Khalilzad succeeded was uncertain as the new ministers were confirmed by Parliament on Saturday. The failure to win the agreement of top Sunni and Shiite party leaders on the interior, defense and national security posts was an embarrassing blow, emphasizing the gulf between Iraq's two main communities on the crucial issues of sectarian bloodletting and the Sunni-led insurgency.
The walkout of key members of the Sunni parliamentary bloc, including hard-liners with links to the insurgency, boded ill for hopes that the new government could draw some elements of the insurgency into talks and an eventual cease-fire.
Every milestone in the American political road map for Iraq has been accompanied by severe political turbulence, and American officials have been forced at each stage to resort to last-minute expedients that kept the momentum going, but only at the cost of setting aside key issues that will have to be resolved if the new Iraqi state is to survive. In effect, the Americans have been forced to agree to punt on a wide range of issues, just as they were when the rival Iraqi parties failed to agree on the security posts on Saturday.
When the interim Constitution was set for signing in the spring of 2004, Shiite holdouts refused to sign at the last minute, leaving live television coverage to focus on an platform empty of signatories. Last summer, deadlock on the permanent Constitution was broken only after Mr. Khalilzad suggested a face-saving formula. The Aug. 15 referendum narrowly approving the document went ahead, but only on condition that the entire document would be put to a four-month review by the new, full-term Parliament that approved Mr. Maliki's cabinet nominees on Saturday.
Most of the main party leaders seemed confident that disagreements over the security posts could be brokered, perhaps within days. But far deeper divisions, potentially destabilizing to the new government, will come into play when the Parliament appoints the Constitutional review committee.
Then, Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds will battle over issues that have divided them from the moment of Mr. Hussein's overthrow, including the role of religion in the new state, favored by Shiite religious parties but resisted by many Sunnis and Kurds, as well as disputes over how decentralized the new state will be and how oil revenues will be distributed.
On Saturday, at least, those concerns receded, if only briefly, as American officials privately hailed the transition of power from Mr. Jaafari to Mr. Maliki. While the two men have similar political pedigrees — both are members of a Shiite religious party, Dawa, which was an early opponent of Mr. Hussein, and both fled Iraq in the early 1980's to escape a murderous purge of Dawa loyalists — American officials who have dealt with both men expect Mr. Maliki to bring to the post a level of competence, decisiveness and straightforwardness they say was painfully lacking in Mr. Jaafari.
One thing that remains unclear is how much independence Mr. Maliki will have from attempts to exercise oversight by Mr. Jaafari, who remains the new prime minister's political superior as Dawa's leader, and who resisted pressures to relinquish the government leadership for weeks until all but his closest loyalists abandoned him.
But American military commanders and diplomats say the first weeks of dealing with Mr. Maliki have been a major improvement. "He's got his own mind, but what I particularly like about him is that if he doesn't agree with you, he'll tell you," one senior American officer said.
Part of the American effort in helping to form the new government has been bent on making sure that the 56-year-old Mr. Maliki has overall authority over the government, something Mr. Jaafari lacked after key members of his ministry were effectively imposed on him by rival political parties.
This time, Mr. Khalilzad and other American diplomats worked to ensure that Mr. Maliki played a central role in choosing ministers, in the expectation they will be loyal to him, as well as to their parties.
Under Mr. Jaafari, cabinet ministers often acted autonomously, using their offices as personal political vehicles, and dispensing multimillion-dollar budgets as though they were private funds. For weeks before the cabinet announcement, American officials were involved in helping Mr. Maliki choose staff for his own office inside the heavily fortified Green Zone compound.
The government record Mr. Maliki inherits is a woeful one. At the Interior Ministry, the departing minister, Bayan Jabr, acknowledged in a recent interview that he had little idea what many of the 230,000 armed men under his control were doing, nor the degree of their involvement in Shiite death squads that have killed hundreds of Sunnis in revenge for Sunni insurgent attacks.
Among those failures has been plunging electricity production, down to little more than 4,000 megawatts, lower than it was when Mr. Hussein was toppled, and a sharp drop from the 5,300 megawatts achieved as the Jaafari government took office, despite a multibillion American investment in generating capacity. American efforts to build the new Iraqi security forces have been hampered by Iraqi ministries' failure to develop supply lines, especially in getting fuel to the Iraqi Army.
Much of the American effort has gone into attempting to ensure that capable ministers take over at what the Americans call the "sovereign ministries" of oil, electricity, finance, justice, foreign affairs, and, crucially, interior and defense. American officials temper their criticism of the Jaafari government with an acknowledgment that the Bush administration, with its early hostility to "nation building" after the 2003 invasion, paid scant attention to the need to help develop governmental competence, and say that the past three years were largely squandered as a result.
In recent months, new efforts have been made to assign American advisers to key ministries, and American commanders have scoured their own ranks for officers with appropriate skills, seconding them to the ministries. But the common view in the American military and civilian hierarchy here is that success or failure of the new government will depend on its own ability to rally 25 million exhausted Iraqis behind it — and against the insurgency — with a level of competence and honesty that has so far been elusive.
One high-ranking American officer put it bluntly. "The crucial question is what they've learned from the experience of the Jaafari government," he said. "So far, the Shia have not demonstrated that they can govern, and they have to demonstrate that now."By John F. Burns
BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 20 — As Iraq's new government was announced Saturday, some senior American military and civilian officials watched from the sidelines, apprehensive that they were witnessing what might be the last chance to save the American enterprise in Iraq from a descent into chaos and civil war.
While others took a less bleak view, the common feeling among a wide range of officers and diplomats interviewed before Saturday's events was that the formation of the first full-term government since the toppling of Saddam Hussein marked a critical juncture for Iraq, and for the American stake in its future.
The 36 men and women appointed to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki's cabinet — in an ominous sign of continuing divisions, three key ministries were left vacant — took over from a transitional government that has been widely viewed as a miserable failure. In his year in office, the departing prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, presided over a rising wave of sectarian violence. Basic government services, especially health and electricity, slipped deeper into the chaos that enveloped Iraq in the wake of the U.S.-led invasion three years ago.
This time, American officials played a muscular role in vetting and negotiating over the new cabinet. Dismayed at what they have described as the Jaafari government's incompetence, American officials reversed the hands-off approach that characterized American policy as Mr. Jaafari formed his cabinet in early 2005.
Then, the policy laid down by John D. Negroponte, President Bush's first ambassador to Iraq, now back in Washington as director of national intelligence, was to respect Iraq's standing as a sovereign state, avoiding heavy-handed American interference in the government's formation to discourage an attitude of dependence among Iraqi leaders.
During these negotiations, diplomatic sensitivities were played down as the envoy who succeeded Mr. Negroponte last summer, Zalmay Khalilzad, acted as a tireless midwife in the birthing of the new government. An Afghan-born scholar who worked on Iraq policy in Washington prior to the invasion, Mr. Khalilzad worked closely with Mr. Maliki, the new prime minister, in reviewing candidates for crucial ministries, and shuttling between rival Iraqi party leaders in an effort to sign them up to the American vision of a national unity government.
How far Mr. Khalilzad succeeded was uncertain as the new ministers were confirmed by Parliament on Saturday. The failure to win the agreement of top Sunni and Shiite party leaders on the interior, defense and national security posts was an embarrassing blow, emphasizing the gulf between Iraq's two main communities on the crucial issues of sectarian bloodletting and the Sunni-led insurgency.
The walkout of key members of the Sunni parliamentary bloc, including hard-liners with links to the insurgency, boded ill for hopes that the new government could draw some elements of the insurgency into talks and an eventual cease-fire.
Every milestone in the American political road map for Iraq has been accompanied by severe political turbulence, and American officials have been forced at each stage to resort to last-minute expedients that kept the momentum going, but only at the cost of setting aside key issues that will have to be resolved if the new Iraqi state is to survive. In effect, the Americans have been forced to agree to punt on a wide range of issues, just as they were when the rival Iraqi parties failed to agree on the security posts on Saturday.
When the interim Constitution was set for signing in the spring of 2004, Shiite holdouts refused to sign at the last minute, leaving live television coverage to focus on an platform empty of signatories. Last summer, deadlock on the permanent Constitution was broken only after Mr. Khalilzad suggested a face-saving formula. The Aug. 15 referendum narrowly approving the document went ahead, but only on condition that the entire document would be put to a four-month review by the new, full-term Parliament that approved Mr. Maliki's cabinet nominees on Saturday.
Most of the main party leaders seemed confident that disagreements over the security posts could be brokered, perhaps within days. But far deeper divisions, potentially destabilizing to the new government, will come into play when the Parliament appoints the Constitutional review committee.
Then, Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds will battle over issues that have divided them from the moment of Mr. Hussein's overthrow, including the role of religion in the new state, favored by Shiite religious parties but resisted by many Sunnis and Kurds, as well as disputes over how decentralized the new state will be and how oil revenues will be distributed.
On Saturday, at least, those concerns receded, if only briefly, as American officials privately hailed the transition of power from Mr. Jaafari to Mr. Maliki. While the two men have similar political pedigrees — both are members of a Shiite religious party, Dawa, which was an early opponent of Mr. Hussein, and both fled Iraq in the early 1980's to escape a murderous purge of Dawa loyalists — American officials who have dealt with both men expect Mr. Maliki to bring to the post a level of competence, decisiveness and straightforwardness they say was painfully lacking in Mr. Jaafari.
One thing that remains unclear is how much independence Mr. Maliki will have from attempts to exercise oversight by Mr. Jaafari, who remains the new prime minister's political superior as Dawa's leader, and who resisted pressures to relinquish the government leadership for weeks until all but his closest loyalists abandoned him.
But American military commanders and diplomats say the first weeks of dealing with Mr. Maliki have been a major improvement. "He's got his own mind, but what I particularly like about him is that if he doesn't agree with you, he'll tell you," one senior American officer said.
Part of the American effort in helping to form the new government has been bent on making sure that the 56-year-old Mr. Maliki has overall authority over the government, something Mr. Jaafari lacked after key members of his ministry were effectively imposed on him by rival political parties.
This time, Mr. Khalilzad and other American diplomats worked to ensure that Mr. Maliki played a central role in choosing ministers, in the expectation they will be loyal to him, as well as to their parties.
Under Mr. Jaafari, cabinet ministers often acted autonomously, using their offices as personal political vehicles, and dispensing multimillion-dollar budgets as though they were private funds. For weeks before the cabinet announcement, American officials were involved in helping Mr. Maliki choose staff for his own office inside the heavily fortified Green Zone compound.
The government record Mr. Maliki inherits is a woeful one. At the Interior Ministry, the departing minister, Bayan Jabr, acknowledged in a recent interview that he had little idea what many of the 230,000 armed men under his control were doing, nor the degree of their involvement in Shiite death squads that have killed hundreds of Sunnis in revenge for Sunni insurgent attacks.
Among those failures has been plunging electricity production, down to little more than 4,000 megawatts, lower than it was when Mr. Hussein was toppled, and a sharp drop from the 5,300 megawatts achieved as the Jaafari government took office, despite a multibillion American investment in generating capacity. American efforts to build the new Iraqi security forces have been hampered by Iraqi ministries' failure to develop supply lines, especially in getting fuel to the Iraqi Army.
Much of the American effort has gone into attempting to ensure that capable ministers take over at what the Americans call the "sovereign ministries" of oil, electricity, finance, justice, foreign affairs, and, crucially, interior and defense. American officials temper their criticism of the Jaafari government with an acknowledgment that the Bush administration, with its early hostility to "nation building" after the 2003 invasion, paid scant attention to the need to help develop governmental competence, and say that the past three years were largely squandered as a result.
In recent months, new efforts have been made to assign American advisers to key ministries, and American commanders have scoured their own ranks for officers with appropriate skills, seconding them to the ministries. But the common view in the American military and civilian hierarchy here is that success or failure of the new government will depend on its own ability to rally 25 million exhausted Iraqis behind it — and against the insurgency — with a level of competence and honesty that has so far been elusive.
One high-ranking American officer put it bluntly. "The crucial question is what they've learned from the experience of the Jaafari government," he said. "So far, the Shia have not demonstrated that they can govern, and they have to demonstrate that now."

What's All The Fuss?

2006-05-20T21:34:00.000+05:00

The lady who wrote this letter is Pam Foster of Pamela > Foster and Associates in Atlanta. She's been in > business since 1980 doing interior design and home > planning. She recently wrote a letter to a family > member serving in Iraq.

WHAT'S ALL THE FUSS?
>
> "Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we?
>
> Was it or was it not started by Islamic people who
> brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001?
> Where people from all over the world, mostly
> Americans, were brutally murdered that day, in
> downtown Manhattan, across the Potomac from our
> nation's capitol and in a field in Pennsylvania?
>
> Did nearly three thousand men, women and children die
> a horrible, burning or crushing death that day, or
> didn't they?
>
> And I'm supposed to care that a copy of the Koran was
> "desecrated" when an overworked American soldier
> kicked it or got it wet? Well, I don't.
> I don't care at all.
>
> I'll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself
> in and repents for incinerating all those innocent
> people on 9/11. I'll care about the Koran when the
> fanatics in the Middle East start caring about the
> Holy Bible, the mere possession of which is a crime in
> Saudi Arabia.
>
> I'll care when Abu Musab al-Zarqawi tells the world he
> is sorry for hacking off
> Nick Berg's head while Berg screamed through his
> gurgling slashed throat.
>
> I'll care when the cowardly so-called "insurgents" in
> Iraq come out and fight like men instead of
> disrespecting their own religion by hiding in mosques.
>
> I'll care when the mindless zealots who blow
> themselves up in search of nirvana care about the
> innocent children within range of their suicide bombs.
>
> I'll care when the American media stops pretending
> that their First Amendment liberties are somehow
> derived from international law instead of the United
> States Constitution's Bill of Rights.
>
> In the meantime, when I hear a story about a brave
> marine roughing up an
> Iraqi terrorist to obtain information, know this: I
> don't care.
>
> When I see a fuzzy photo of a pile of naked Iraqi
> prisoners who have been humiliated in what amounts to
> a college hazing incident, rest assured that I don't
> care.
>
> When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head
> when he is told not to move because he might be
> booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank that I
> don't care.
>
> When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran
> and a prayer mat, and fed "special" food that is paid
> for by my tax dollars, is complaining that his holy
> book is being mishandled," you can absolutely believe
> in your heart of hearts that I don't care.
>
> And oh, by the way, I've noticed that sometimes it's
> spelled "Koran" and other times Quran." Well, Jimmy
> Crack Corn and ---- you guessed it
> ----
> I don't care ! ! ! ! !

CCCI Sentences 14 to Life in Prison.........

2006-05-18T15:58:00.000+05:00

This is where I work and who I work for. I was fortunate enough to be able to sit through this trial.

Story provided by Task Force 134 PAO

The Central Criminal Court of Iraq
convicted 14 security detainees May 3
through May 9 for various crimes including
possessing illegal weapons and joining
terrorist groups.
The trial court found Ammar Fat’hi
Hassan Hussein guilty of violating Article
194 of the Iraqi Penal Code for joining
terrorist groups to endanger innocent
people’s lives and to unsettle the stability
and security of Iraq. They sentenced him to
life imprisonment.
Coalition Forces apprehended him for
being a cell leader in Abu Talha’s Mosul
Terror Cell. Three Iraqis who had been
tried and convicted of crimes related to
their membership in the MTC testified at
the trial against the defendant.
The trial court found Ra’ad Dawood
Salman Al Zobai guilty of violating
Coalition Provisional Authority Order No.
3 for possession of illegal weapons and
sentenced him to 15 years imprisonment.
Coalition Forces apprehended him after
discovering a weapons cache in his home
where they found 1,500 rounds of 7.72
mm ammunition, 50 AK-47 magazines, a
large quantity of soap, soldering irons, an
electronic multimeter test set, and Iraqi
police uniforms and documents.
Coalition Forces searched the yard
surrounding the house and discovered
timers, batteries, blasting caps, thirty feet of
detonation cord, five grenades, five pounds
of C-4 explosive, bags of gunpowder, small
arms ammunition, one artillery round,
one RPK machine gun and three RPG
launchers.
The trial court found Subhi Esmail
Trad, Ahmad Eubayid Sumair, Khudir
Abd Al Hamid Alwan, Auda Kalbush
Mutuk, Saladin Subhi Jubayir, Hussin
Silabi Authman, Rid Yusif Yakuh, Hussein
Karim Muhammad, Sahir Hamadallah
Adab, Abid Ibrahim Muhammad and Yasir
Ismail Ibrihim guilty of violating Coalition
Provisional Authority Order No. 3 for
possession of illegal weapons and sentenced
each of them to life imprisonment.
Coalition Forces apprehended them
after raiding a remote terrorist training camp
and finding two Draganov sniper rifles, 200
armor-piercing rounds, four machine guns,
one RPG launcher, 11 RPG rounds, five
AK-47 rifles with seven loaded magazines,
two 9 mm pistols, hundreds of rounds of
small arms and artillery ammunition, body
armor, night vision goggles, $10,000 in
U.S. currency and four wired cordless
phone base stations.
The trial court found Mohammed
Kamel Mussa guilty of violating Coalition
Provisional Authority Order No. 3 for
possession of illegal weapons and sentenced
him to six years imprisonment. Coalition
Forces apprehended him after finding 60
sticks of PE-4 explosive and two anti-tank
mines inside his residence and buried in
his backyard. The defendant confessed in
writing at the investigative hearing and at
trial to the material facts.
Upon conviction, all defendants are
turned over to the Iraqi Corrections Service
to serve their sentences.
To date, the CCCI has held 1053 trials
of insurgents suspected of anti-Iraqi and
anti-Coalition activities threatening the
security of Iraq and targeting MNF-I. These
proceedings have resulted in 948 individual
convictions with sentences ranging up to
death.

Images

2006-05-15T21:35:00.000+05:00

I know people are just dying to see pictures. I feel like one of those people who have to jump in just to prove I was here.

A couple of the pictures need no explanation but a couple do. Everyone knows of the "Swords" parade grounds.

The next is of me at the Iraqi Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers. One of the Iraqi guards wanted to jump in.

The picture at the bottom really got me when I first saw it. It reminds me of how children are really observant as to what we do. Especially my two boys.

What else is the Military doing here?

2006-05-15T20:21:00.000+05:00

With all of the news of bombings and death here, I thought I would spread the report of something you won't find on CNN.

IPs keep rolling along

Story and photo by Spc. Rodney Foliente
4th Infantry Division

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi police and Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers presented wheelchairs to wounded Iraqi policemen during a ceremony at the Baghdad Police Directorate headquarters April 25.

The wheelchairs were donated by Free Wheelchair Mission, a non-profit organization based in Costa Mesa, Calif., to help support medical needs in Iraq.

Twenty wheelchairs were presented to the policemen, bringing the number of wheelchairs distributed by the organization to Iraqi Security Forces and civilians since 2005 to nearly 615, according to the organization’s count. The distribution was handled by members of the 448th Civil Affairs Battalion.

According to Lt. Col. Ricardo Arispe, deputy chief of the battalion’s public health team, the wheelchair distribution is an important project and works toward providing medical support for the people of Iraq.

Lt. Col Arispe said he worked as a vocational rehabilitation counselor for more than 18 years as a civilian, and recently extended his deployment for another year for the specific purpose of continuing the project.

“Resources (here) are extremely limited,” he explained, but said he hopes the program will expand.

Sadam, a wounded policeman, said he received a bullet wound almost three months ago that broke his femur, which is currently secured together with a collection of metal rods jutting out of the side of his leg. The 25-year-old said he has hobbled on crutches for months and might not be able to walk for another five months.

“The wheelchair will be helpful, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart,” said Sadam through a translator.

According to Free Wheelchair Mission, the Orange County, Calif. based organization started in 2001, and has distributed more than 70,000 wheelchairs worldwide. The wheelchairs are shipped as a kit and put together on site. They are compact, lightweight and often referred to as a “lawn chair wheelchair” since the seat resembles a standard plastic lawn chair mounted on bicycle wheels.

Death of a Congressman......

2006-05-12T22:28:00.000+05:00

I was sorry to read about the Death of Congressman G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery. Being a permanent resident of Mississippi now, I have seen the great things he has done for the military. His biggest legacy will be the Montgomery G.I. Bill.

I had the occasion to follow Congressman Montgomery around Dancing Rabbit Golf course once along with some State Troopers while he played golf with some of the Navy brass. It was a great honor to meet such a military minded man.

The state of Mississippi and those of us serving in the Armed Forces will surely miss him.

Trust....

2006-05-12T15:55:00.000+05:00

I am sure many of you remember me saying when I got home last year, we have no real clue as to who we are fighting. People smiling in the streets at you one day are shooting at you the next. An interesting, short, read came out today and I thought I would share. Many of you know Marines in country with me. Here is the story of a few.

In Iraq, Trust Is A Casualty
Troops struggle to secure Ramadi, where friend and foe may be same
By Todd Pitman, Associated Press
RAMADI, Iraq -- Rocket launchers and radios strapped to their backs, U.S. Marines burst into a dark, lantern-lit villa after nightfall, forcing a quaking Iraqi man and his mother into a corner at gunpoint with hands on their heads.
As troops searched the house with red light beams attached to assault rifles, one soldier asked the frightened pair whether they'd seen any insurgents.
"We've seen nothing," they replied -- words heard often in this conflict-torn city where guerrillas blend easily among civilians.
Fear of insurgents and distrust of outsiders has made residents reluctant to cooperate, complicating efforts to secure a city that has more violence daily than any other part of Iraq.
U.S. troops hope to hand off security to Iraqi forces, but even they are finding it hard to win over residents in Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad.
When troops talk to residents after firefights erupt around them, "generally the answer is that they were sleeping, they were out of town, or they stayed inside," said Marine 1st Lt. Carlos Goetz, 29, from Miami. "They don't see anything, they don't hear anything."
It's often difficult to tell friend from foe.
"We're fighting an enemy that doesn't wear uniforms," said Marine Sgt. Edward Somuk, 30, of New Milford, Conn. "You can see him on the street one day and he's smiling and waving ... and later on that night, that guy could be shooting at you."
Insurgents stake out coalition positions simply by walking past in civilian clothes or watching from a distance. U.S. forces won't shoot unless they can positively determine "hostile intent."
"We're playing a game of cat and mouse," said Iraqi Col. Ali Hassan, whose troops sweep neighborhoods only to find out that insurgents have returned to stage new attacks. "The mouse can get into every hole in the wall, but the cat cannot."
U.S. and Iraqi officers say many residents are hesitant to talk because insurgents visit the same people they do -- threatening and intimidating them.
"They don't think the coalition can protect them from insurgents, and right now they're right," said Iraqi Maj. Jabar Marouf al-Tamini.
American commanders say the United States plans to pour more Iraqi soldiers into Ramadi this year, and authorities have begun to rebuild the lawless city's virtually nonexistent police force.
But residents may be reluctant to talk to foreigners. Tribal loyalties run deep in this tightly knit Sunni Arab city.
Some see the insurgency as legitimate resistance and view U.S. troops as occupiers ultimately responsible for the ongoing violence.
"They don't trust us," al-Tamini said, "so it's almost impossible to get information out of them."

An Iraqi's view..

2006-05-08T22:02:00.000+05:00

1st Iraqi Officer Becomes Ranger
Already finished Captains Career, Airborne School
By Mick Walsh, Staff Writer
He looked like any other U.S. soldier about to complete Ranger training.
Trim. Fit. Young.
His fatigues carried no rank, but then again soldiers in Ranger School, for the 61 days they're testing their mental and physical limits, are neither privates nor captains. They're all treated the same.
They've pushed themselves over the mountains of Dahlonega, through the swamps of the Florida Panhandle and past every hurdle at Fort Benning, from the obstacle courses at Malvesti Field and Camp Darby to the water drop at Victory Pond.
One thing that separated this soldier and his classmates from another group toting rifles in the distance Thursday was the relaxed smile on his face.
He was one day away from graduation.
The others, it was learned, had just begun what most soldiers insist is the toughest nine weeks of their lives.
And, oh yes, his name and his accent also set him apart from the rest.
Capt. Arkan -- for security reasons he gives only his first name -- is a member of the Iraqi army. And he is the first from that force to complete Ranger School.
Most likely, he's also the first one-time enemy soldier to finish the U.S. Army's most elite training program.
"I was in Baghdad on an air defense battery when the invasion of our country began in March 2003," he said. Arkan has studied English since the fifth grade.
Arkan is from a military family -- his dad and six uncles were in the Iraqi Army of Saddam Hussein. He attended the equivalent of the U.S. Military Academy, completed his training in late 1999 and went on active duty that winter.
"Physically," he said as he glanced at Malvesti from a picnic table outside the Ranger Training Brigade headquarters, "my first week of training here was pretty stressful."
Pretty stressful?
"It was difficult to go from a full night of sleep to just one or two hours. And we only had two meals a day. And training all the time." He lost 20 pounds during that first week.
But after that, his training in Iraq kicked in. "It prepared me well for the rest of training -- my first year at the Iraqi military academy was tough, too."
Arkan doesn't have to be reminded that Fort Benning's 3rd Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division was among the first units to reach Baghdad in the spring of 2003.
"I learned that during my first trip here," he said.
After the collapse of Saddam's army, and the dismantling of the Iraqi army's officer corps, then Lt. Arkan returned to his Baghdad home.
"I tried to stay busy helping my father during that time," he said. "Then, in July, I heard that the new Iraqi army was being formed and I signed up."
He became part of an infantry training battalion -- "It was best that Iraqis trained Iraqis," he said -- and even worked with then-Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, the former Fort Benning commander who was charged with rebuilding the Iraqi army in 2004.
"He's a very smart man, very decisive," Arkan said. "He got us moving in the right direction."
Two years ago, Arkan attended the Captains Career course at Fort Benning -- his first trip outside Iraq -- and also graduated from Airborne School.
"I applied for Ranger School then but I wasn't accepted," he said, smiling. Eventually, though, he was tapped for the current class, which is scheduled to graduate today.
A Muslim, Arkan is bound to perform the Salaah, the fixed ritual of the Islamic prayer, five times a day. "That was never a problem in my company," he said.
Arkan, who is single, doesn't know if he'll return to the field or go into training when he returns to his home country next week. "But I'm certain," he said, "this training has made me a better leader."
'Your boys and girls are doing a great job'
As Arkan prepared Thursday to rejoin his platoon, he leaned over the table and said: "If you print anything, tell people that your boys and girls are doing a great job in Iraq. And that your media in this country is doing a bad job."
He explained his position. "I asked a friend who watches CNN, or maybe Fox News, that if TV was showing an infantry platoon getting bombed in Iraq or your Army opening a new hospital in Baghdad, which one would he watch? Of course he said the bombing. And that's what TV shows.
"It doesn't show the good things that are going on. Our economy is much better than it was under Saddam. Our way of life is much better. Our average income is up. And we have thousands of young men wanting to get into our army even though they know they are targets of the insurgents. Those are the stories that should be told."

Ben Stein's column

2006-05-08T15:00:00.000+05:00

This column was sent to me today via email. I found it appropriate to share.

For many years Ben Stein has written a biweekly column called "Monday Night At Morton's." (Morton's is a famous chain of Steakhouses known to be frequented by movie stars and famous people from around the globe.) Now, Ben is terminating the column to move on to other things in his life. Reading his final column is worth a few minutes of your time. Ben Stein's Last Column... ============================================How Can Someone Who Lives in Insane Luxury Be a Star in Today's World?As I begin to write this, I "slug" it, as we writers say, which means I put a heading on top of the document to identify it. This heading is "eonlineFINAL," and it gives me a shiver to write it. I have been doing this column for so long that I cannot even recall when I started. I loved writing this column so much for so long I came to believe it would never end. It worked well for a long time, but gradually, my changing as a person and the world's change have overtaken it. On a small scale, Morton's, while better than ever, no longer attracts as many stars as it used to. It still brings in the rich people in droves and definitely some stars. I saw Samuel L. Jackson there a few days ago, and we had a nice visit, and right before that, I saw and had a splendid talk with Warren Beatty in an elevator, in which we agreed that Splendor in the Grass was a super movie. But Morton's is not the star galaxy it once was, though it probably will be again. Beyond that, a bigger change has happened. I no longer think Hollywood stars are terribly important. They are uniformly pleasant, friendly people, and they treat me better than I deserve to be treated. But a man or woman who makes a huge wage for memorizing lines and reciting them in front of a camera is no longer my idea of a shining star we should all look up to. How can a man or woman who makes an eight-figure wage and lives in insane luxury really be a star in today's world, if by a "star" we mean someone bright and powerful and attractive as a role model? Real stars are not riding around in the backs of limousines or in Porsches or getting trained in yoga or Pilates and eating only raw fruit while they have Vietnamese girls do their nails. They can be interesting, nice people, but they are not heroes to me any longer. A real star is the soldier of the 4th Infantry Division who poked his head into a hole on a farm near Tikrit, Iraq. He could have been met by a bomb or a hail of AK-47 bullets. Instead, he faced an abject Saddam Hussein and the gratitude of all of the decent people of the world. A real star is the U.S. soldier who was sent to disarm a bomb next to a road north of Baghdad. He approached it, and the bomb went off and killed him.A real star, the kind who haunts my memory night and day, is the U.S. soldier in Baghdad who saw a little girl playing with a piece of unexploded ordnance on a street near where he was guarding a station. He pushed her aside and threw himself on it just as it exploded. He left a family desolate in California and a little girl alive in Baghdad. The stars who deserve media attention are not the ones who have lavish weddings on TV but the ones who patrol the streets of Mosul even after two of their buddies were murdered and their bodies battered and stripped for the sin of trying to protect Iraqis from terrorists. We put couples with incomes of $100 million a year on the covers of our magazines. The noncoms and officers who barely scrape by on military pay but stand on guard in Afghanistan and Iraq and on ships and in submarines and near the Arctic Circle are anonymous as they live and die. I am no longer comfortable being a part of the system that has such poor values, and I do not want to perpetuate those values by pretending that who is eating at Morton's is a big subject.There are plenty of other stars in the American firmament...the policemen and women who go off on patrol in South Central and have no idea if they will return alive; the orderlies and paramedics who bring in people who have been in terrible accidents and prepare them for surgery; the teachers and nurses who throw their whole spirits into caring for autistic children; the kind men and women who work in hospices and in cancer wards. Think of each and every fireman who was running up the stairs at the World Trade Center as the towers began to collapse. Now you have my idea of a real hero.I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters. This is my highest and best use as a human. I can put it another way. Years ago, I realized I could never be as great an actor as Olivier or as good a comic as Steve Martin...or Martin Mull or Fred Willard--or as good an economist as Samuelson or Friedman or as good a writer as Fitzgerald. Or even remotely close to any of them. But I could be a devoted father to my son, husband to my wife and, above all, a good son to the parents who had done so much for me. This came to be my main task in life. I did it moderately well with my son, pretty well with my wife and well indeed with my parents (with my sister's help). I cared for and paid attention to them in their declining years. I stayed with my father as he got sick, went into extremis and then into a coma and then entered immortality with my sister and me reading him the Psalms. This was the only point at which my life touched the lives of the soldiers in Iraq or the firefighters in New York. I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters and that it is my duty, in return for the lavish life God has devolved upon me, to help others He has placed in my path. This is my highest and best use as a human. Faith is not believing that God can. It is knowing that God will.By Ben Stein

The wheels of justice go round and round......

2006-05-07T14:25:00.000+05:00

More often than not, they end up right back where they started. I had the chance to sit through a trial today. The Iraqi court system is not quite what you would expect. A country full of terrorists and murderers would lead you to believe the new court system would be harsh on the guilty. In my personal opinion, you have a better chance of committing a crime and getting away with it. Suppose one is arrested. He is taken to jail where he may sit for 6 months. Once he finally makes it to a court room, the defense or prosecuted have no say inside the court room. The judge makes all decisions and questions the witnesses (two of which are required for a conviction) and questions the accused. Attorneys are just there for a show I suppose. If this judge decides the person should be tried, he is them moved to a 3 judge panel trial that will never last more than an hour and you can expect a decision within 30 minutes on a tough case. Sentences rage from 1 year to life which is only 15 years. I guess it's a way to keep the jails from being overcrowded.

The violence is starting to pick up again. A British helicopter was shot down in a relatively quiet area of Iraq. All personnel on board were killed. When British ground forces moved in to recover the down aircraft, they were met with serious resistance from area residents.

As of today, 2,416 US Soldiers have died in Iraq and 224 have died in Afghanistan. Three died Friday afternoon when their vehicle hit a roadside improvised explosive device (IED) a few miles south of Baghdad. I still hope we are making progress. The Pentagon must think so. They just made public, a decision to delay the deployment of the 1st Infantry Division (1 ID). This is being called a reduction in force. Makes you wonder if it is a reduction of total force, or just moving the Army out to make room for the Navy.....

A picture of the Central Criminal Court of Iraq is seen here.

Take Cover! Take Cover! Take Cover!

2006-05-02T20:05:00.000+05:00

Imagine standing in your front yard, enjoying the day and hearing those words followed by a WHOOSH and explosion. That was the scene here in the Embassy compound as 3 rockets impacted the living area in which all of us reside. Great thing is that no one was hurt and the trailer was actually improved with more air circulation. To get the full effect, you would have to get two of the largest speakers you can find, place them in your yard. Next, stand directly between the two and have someone yell, "Take Cover, Take Cover, Take Cover!" after the rockets have come overhead. Now you get the picture.

I now have the firm belief that anyone making it to the airport and getting back to the states does so by sheer luck. You can be as careful as you want. You can hold down a desk for an entire tour and still catch a rocket or mortar in the backside.

Baghdad is actually quiet today. A little rain storm moving in and cooling things down a bit. I assure you; it is a welcomed relief.

Many people wonder how soldiers and sailors live while deployed to Iraq. Some live in tents, some in Hummers, others on the ground. I had my share of that last time. Like the Jeffersons, I am moving on up. I have attached a picture of my LSA (Life Support Area) and the horrible swimming pool we have to endure.

The Heart of the Matter..

2006-05-01T14:28:00.000+05:00

There are many out there who say the United States doesn't belong here. There are many more who believe the United States should be here but for the wrong reasons.

Someone asked me the differences between my last tuor and my current tour. Granted, I am only a very few days into this trip, but already I have seen many differences. The biggest being we in the International Zone (IZ) are being attacked far less than we were exactly one year ago. Exactly one year ago, I couldn't walk out of the Embassy without a bulletproof helmet and vest on.

Do I think we are making a difference here? In my personal opinion we certainly are. Sometimes I think the individual differences aren't so good, but the overall picture looks bright.

Do I see us packing up our rucksacks and sleeping bags in 2 years and heading back home? No.

The number of people coming back here for 2nd 3rd and even 4th tours is growing. I do see this as a benefit in the long run. As those of us who have been here get burned out, the recruiting effort will go out the roof and I see our pay and benefits eventually heading back toward a rise as opposed to the decline we are one again experiencing.

Once I get into the field, I will hopefully have a better perspective. Being stuck in the Embassy, I know how one feels to be cut off from the outside world. In the mean time, I will keep my nose stuck in these "Cold Case" files, trying to locate people and evidence in order to keep the bad guys who are already in jail in their cells.

Who am I?

2006-04-29T03:11:00.000+05:00

I guess some people may be reading this and wondering just who the heck am I. Well, all of you know my name or you wouldn't even be here. I joined the Navy my Senior of high school. I lived on a farm with my grandfather and had no idea what I was going to do after school. I knew I didn't want to go to college right away, as I hated being stuck in a classroom. I always wanted to be outside doing something else. I tried the Air Force and the Army but neither wanted to take me because I was such a trouble maker. As I am leaving the Air Force office somewhat broken hearted, I saw this big fat guy in a black uniform standing outside smoking a cig. He asked me if I wanted to join. Next thing I know, I am getting writtem prmission from my mother and off to boot camp I went.

I got out in 1996 and did some time with various Law Enforcement agencies. I always wanted to be a cop. I guess my 4 years in the Navy institutionalized me because I couldn't stay out too long. The year 2000 rolled around and I needed something more steady than working for the Sheriff who was about to be unelected so back to the Navy I went. I did a few years in the Army Reserves and found out really quick that I didn't want to be in that branch of service.

Well, a few schools, duty stations and years later; here I am. I am an E-6 and for those of you who have dabbled in the finest service in the military, I am a Master At Arms First Class Petty Officer. I am also a Protective Services Specialist, Range Master and Criminal Investigator. I am up for E-7 this year which is a Chief Petty Officer. I have already been approved to be screened by the Selection Board. I am simply at their mercy. Results will be out in August. I got some fingers and toes crossed.

I have a beautiful wife named Aishia and two great boys. Jason who just turned 4 and Jacob who just turned 2. I really miss all of them but Aishia is doing a great job at holding things together. There is no way in the world I could have a military career without her. Military wives have a thankless job. I certainly wouldn't want to do it.

Getting back into the swing of life in Iraq

2006-04-29T02:57:00.000+05:00

I have great work hours while I am here at the Embassy. Go in at 2pm and get off by 10pm. I have all morning to work out in the gym or go on visits around the IZ (International Zone). I woke up this morning and walked around the compound to see if anything has changed. Just a few more potholes around the place. As I decide it is WAY too hot to be walking around, I head back to my trailer. Just as I am about to step on the porch, I heard a woosh and explosion overhead. I guess Joe Rag Towel Head in his multi colored man dress snuck a mortar round in on us. No one was hurt and no damage other than the guy next to me diving into the rocks. New guys...Jeez... There is a way you can tell if it is on it's way to you or if it is going somewhere else. Of course I won't share that secret here, but it works. The guy in the rocks knows the method now.

You have to wonder what would make someone want to tear up their own country and kill their own people. I can't imagine being so fanatical about religion it driving me to kill someone because they have a slightly different belief. I was raised in the Episcopal church. When the Baptist missionaries or the Jehovia's Witnesses come knocking on my door when I am sitting down at the dinner table, I may want to kick them in the pants but not kill them. We all know they are fanatical about some beliefs. (I wonder if you can dance at Samford) I just can't imagine taking the life of a father or mother or child just because they do not share my beliefs. Maybe I should go home, blow it up, burn my yard and tear up my cars so the tax collector will stay away.

The beginning.....

2006-04-29T00:21:00.000+05:00

Well, I received notice I was coming back to Iraq in January of this year. Happy about it? Does a horse drink wine? But, it's the job I took an oath and swore to do. So, here I am dressed up in those new high speed US Army funny looking combo green and grey uniforms sitting back in a place I hoped I wouldn't have to come back to so quickly. I am proud to see the achievements that have taken place since I left. Of course you wouldn't know about the good by watching the Communist News Network (CNN). If it isn't bad news, it isn't a story.

I am getting off track. So I show up at Ft Jackson, SC for basic combat training on March 25th. Combat training? Who the hell needs that? I've been there, done that and have a couple of t-shirts and a combat action ribbon to prove it. None the less, Big Navy thought they should create a training program for all sailors deploying from their parent commands. Ok, the first day at Ft jackson I stepped on a rock and busted my ankle pretty bad. I won't go into the whole medical explanation, but it hurt like....well, it just hurt. I completed my first four days of training on crutches. Does that make me tough? Nope, rather stupid but who wants to go home and come back just in time to sing Jingle Bells with Mohammad Ahkbar in his towel and man dress.

I make it through training and get to Kuwait only to find out I have MORE damn trianing. This time we are doing advanced convoy training. Great stuff....I loved it, but once again..Been there and done that. Even got a Humvee Driver's License to prove that one.
I spent four days desert of Kuwait, eating those great tasting MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat) and sleeping on the roof of mu Hummer. Yep....The rats can't climb on the roof. No showers either. The only thing I can say about 32 people bunched together for 4 days without a shower is EWWW!

Well, I finally made it to Baghdad and I am getting settled down in my home for the next 6 months. Anyone know where I can buy coat hangers over here?

Man, I can't believe I am back again!

2006-04-29T00:14:00.000+05:00

After being here at the US Embassy in Baghdad only 3 days, I should start off with a disclaimer. This disclaimer shall cover any and all posts from this day forward. Everyone is my witness.

Ok, here goes.....

The views expressed in this blog are just that; Simply views. These are only the views and opinions of me and do not necessarily reflect the view or opinion of The President of the United States of America, The Department of Defense, The Department of the Army, The Department of the Navy, Detainee Operations TF 134, The Central Criminal Court of Iraq or any of it's employees.