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President Bush Meets With Iraqi PM
CQ Transcripts Wire
Tuesday, July 25, 2006; 1:24 PM


JULY 25, 2006

SPEAKERS: GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

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NOURI AL-MALIKI, PRIME MINISTER OF IRAQ

[*]

BUSH: Thank you all. Please be seated.

Mr. Prime Minister, welcome to the White House.

I just had a very constructive meeting with the leader of a government that has been chosen by the Iraqi people in free and fair elections.

I appreciate your vision for a free Iraq, and I appreciate your briefing me on a strategy to reduce violence and to rebuild your country.

You have a strong partner in the United States of America, and I'm honored to stand here with you, Mr. Prime Minister.

It's a remarkable, historical moment, as far as I'm concerned, to welcome a freely elected leader of Iraq to the White House.

We discussed a lot of issues. The prime minister's laid out a comprehensive plan. That's what leaders do: They see problems, they address problems, and they lay out a plan to solve the problems.

BUSH: The prime minister understands he's got challenges. And he's identified priorities.

Our priority is to help this government succeed. It's in the national interests of the United States that a unity government, based upon a constitution that is advanced and modern, succeed.

And that's what I told the prime minister. You know, he comes wondering whether or not we're committed. He hears all kinds of stories here in the United States.

And I assured him that this government stands with the Iraqi people.

We're impressed by your courage, Mr. Prime Minister, and we're impressed by the courage of the Iraqi people. And we want to help you.

We talked about security in Baghdad. There's no question to terrorists and extremists are brutal.

BUSH: These are people that just kill innocent people to achieve an objective, which is to destabilize this government.

The prime minister tells me that he and his government are not shaken by these actions. They're concerned about them; they're not shaken by them.

The Iraqi people want to succeed. They want to end this violence.

Our strategy is to remain on the offense, including in Baghdad.

Under the prime minister's leadership, coalition and Iraqi leaders are modifying their operational concept to bring greater security to the Iraqi capital. Coalition and Iraqi forces will secure individual neighborhoods, will ensure the existence of an Iraqi security presence in the neighborhoods, and gradually expand the security presence as Iraqi citizens help them root out those who instigate violence.

This plan will involve embedding more U.S. military police with Iraqi police units to make them more effective.

BUSH: The prime minister advised me that, to support this plan, he and General Casey have agreed to deploy additional American troops and Iraqi security personnel in Baghdad in the coming weeks. These will come from other areas of the country.

Our military commanders tell me that this deployment will better reflect the current conditions on the ground in Iraq.

We also agreed that Iraqi security forces need better tools to do their job. And so we'll work with them to equip them with greater mobility, fire power and protection.

We still face challenges in Baghdad, yet we see progress elsewhere in Iraq. Iraqi security forces are growing in strength and capability, and recently a key province in southern Iraq was transferred to full Iraqi civilian control.

In the midst of all the violence in Baghdad, sometimes success is obscured, and this transfer of a key province is the beginning of other provinces to be transferred to full Iraqi control.

BUSH: It's a sign of progress.

No question it's tough in Baghdad. And no question it's tough in other parts of Iraq. But there are also places where progress is being made. And the prime minister and I talked about that progress.

The prime minister and I agreed to establish a joint committee to achieve Iraqi self-reliance. It's a new partnership. We'll seek to ensure the smoothest and most effective assumption of security responsibility by Iraqi forces.

Prime Minister Maliki was very clear this morning. He said he does not want American troops to leave his country until his government can protect the Iraqi people.

And I assured him that America will not abandon the Iraqi people.

Tomorrow, the prime minister and I will travel to Fort Belvoir in Virginia to visit with American troops and their families so we can thank them for their courage and their sacrifice.

And we in the United States need to recognize the enormous sacrifice of the Iraqi people. The people are suffering hardships.

BUSH: These terrorists and killers are trying to shake the will of the Iraqi people. But despite large casualties, both civilian and military, the Iraqi people continue to stand for public office, enlist in their security forces and, through their actions, demonstrate every day that they want to raise their families and live their lives like other free people around the world.

And I'm impressed by the courage of the Iraqi citizens, Mr. Prime Minister.

Citizens continue to believe in the future of their country and to subscribe to the notion upon which America is also founded: that the freedom of their country is worth fighting for. America's proud to be allied with such people.

It's important the Iraqi people hear of our pride and our determination, Mr. Prime Minister.

We also discussed several new initiatives we're undertaking to create opportunity for the Iraqi people, and one of them is called the Iraqi Leaders Initiative. And starting next summer, 200 high school and university students from all regions of Iraq and all sectors of Iraqi society will come to America to study at local institutions and build personal friendships with the people of our country.

BUSH: This is going to be the largest program of its kind. And it will help build the next generation of leaders for a free and democratic Iraq.

The prime minister and I spent time talking about Lebanon. And we had a frank exchange of views on this situation. I listened closely to the prime minister and I valued a chance to hear his perspective.

I heard him on the seriousness of the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon and the need to do more for the Lebanese people.

I told him that Secretary Rice has announced greater humanitarian measures for Lebanon, to include $30 million in aid.

America is concerned about the women and children who suffer in that country, concerned about the loss of innocent life.

I reminded him and told him that Condi's over there working to establish corridors to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid and essential relief supplies.

BUSH: I told him I support a sustainable cease-fire that will bring about an end to violence. And I talked about the importance of strengthening the Lebanese government and supporting the Lebanese people.

The prime minister and I also discussed his proposal for an international compact for Iraq. The compact would outline Iraq's commitment to specific economic reforms and the international community's commitment to support those reforms.

We expect the international compact will be signed later this year. And I told the prime minister that the United States will work to encourage other countries to support the compact and for other countries that have made pledges to Iraq to make good on their pledges.

In light of the recent violence in the Middle East, some are questioning whether democracy can take root in the region.

BUSH: I believe that the Iraqi people are showing us their answer. They're making enormous sacrifices to secure their freedom.

And they've elected leaders who are making tough decisions.

And, Mr. Prime Minister, you're such a leader, and I welcome you here to the White House. Thanks for coming.

AL-MALIKI (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Thank you very much.

In the name of God, the most merciful, the passionate, I would like to thank President George Bush.

Mr. President, I would like to thank you for your invitation to come here and visit the United States of America. And I would like to thank you for the warm welcome that myself and my delegation received.

And, also, I appreciate very much your interest in the situation in Iraq and the responsible spirit that have dominated our discussions today.

We have discussed with President Bush clearly and frankly all the current challenges and the horizon and the future and ways of cooperation between our two country in order to build a democratic, united, flourishing Iraq that enjoys its full national sovereignty.

We have agreed that building the security and military institutions in Iraq -- in terms of numbers, equipment, firearms, and as quickly as possible -- represents the fundamental base in order to stabilize the country and to have security and defeat terrorism.

AL-MALIKI (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I reaffirmed to the president Iraq's needs to the cooperation from the international community and your cooperation, and I have seen a great deal of understanding for this very vital issue from the president.

I also expressed my appreciation to the role that's been played by the multinational forces and the exerted efforts to support us and to help us in building our security organizations to allow our organizations to fully be in control of the security position and the security circumstances.

I agreed with the president to form a joint committee of experts and technicians in order to achieve the self-sufficiency for the Iraqi forces. This will allow these forces to bear the responsibility of protecting security and confronting terrorism in our country.

And, in this field, we have achieved our first and initial success when our forces assumed the responsibility in the Muthanna governorate. This is a very important step. It will be followed by similar steps in many other governorates in Iraq.

AL-MALIKI (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We are determined to defeat terrorism. And the security plan for Baghdad has entered the second phase, and it's achieving its objectives in hunting the terrorist networks and eliminating it.

I have informed the president about the national reconciliation plan, which I have launched in order to attract more Iraqi forces which have not engaged in the political process yet. This initiative represents, in addition to building the Iraqi armed forces, one of the initiatives that will contribute to choking terrorism and defeating terrorism in Iraq.

On the economic sphere and the reconstruction of Iraq, I have seen support from President Bush to ensure the success of the international impact, which we hope that, through it, we'll be able to have the support the world community in reconstructing Iraq and improving the services that the government is providing to its own Iraqi people.

AL-MALIKI (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We hope that many other countries will participate and contribute in that conference that will be convened in the next few months in order to sign this international compact.

I assured the president of Iraq's readiness to make this conference a success and accept the mutual commitments between Iraq and those who will sign the compact.

The president reaffirmed his administration's commitment to encourage as many countries as possible to support this compact.

I also discussed with the president the issue of Lebanon, in all seriousness, in a way that matches the importance of the size of the destructions that happened to the Lebanese people as a result of the military air and ground attacks.

And I also emphasized the importance of immediate cease-fire and call on the international community to support the Lebanese government and support the Lebanese people to overcome the damage and destruction that happened.

I also expressed to the president about Iraq's desire and Iraq's political leadership's desire to merge into the international community and its institutions and to participate effectively in the various issues on the basis of mutual interest and to be committed to the policy of not interfering or intervening in the domestic policies of other countries.

AL-MALIKI (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I also reaffirm the importance of approaching every issue through peaceful and diplomatic means to deal with the problems that exist in our region.

These chronic problems require a great deal of wisdom and patience and perseverance in order to find the just and successful and fair solution.

Mr. President, I thank you once again for your kind invitation and for your very warm hospitality and generosity.

BUSH: This side, starting with you.

QUESTION: Mr. President, Mr. Prime Minister, why should one expect this new security crackdown of Baghdad to succeed when all previous ones have failed?

And, Mr. President, you've said before that withdrawal of U.S. troops would depend on conditions on the ground. What do conditions on the ground now in Baghdad suggest in terms of whether there can be a significant withdrawal of American forces by the end of the year?

BUSH: I'll start. OK, you start.

(LAUGHTER)

Do you want to start? Go ahead.

AL-MALIKI (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Actually, the circumstances that Baghdad's security plans or other plans related to Basra and other places are different in terms of circumstances from the previous plans.

Today, Iraq has a national unity government that it is basically composed of all elements of the Iraqi people are represented in this government. Iraq has a parliament. It has a constitution to face all these challenges.

So what the Baghdad security plan gains in terms of support, is support from all over the segments of the Iraqi population.

Secondly, by monitoring the reality on the ground, we will be able to ensure the success, especially what happens against the innocent people. The Baghdad security forces was able to eliminate many hotspots of crimes and troubles in Baghdad.

BUSH: One of the things that's important is for -- and one of the reasons why you trust the commanders on the ground is because there needs to be flexibility. And I explained to the prime minister that I'll be making my decisions based upon the recommendations of General Casey.

And obviously the violence in Baghdad is still terrible, and therefore there needs to be more troops.

BUSH: In other words, the commander said, "What more can we do? How best to address conditions on the ground?"

And they have recommended, as a result of working with the prime minister, based upon his recommendation, that we increase the number of U.S. troops in Baghdad alongside of Iraqi troops. And we're going to do that.

The second request that the prime minister made was that he needs more equipment for this troops. And General Dempsey, along with General Casey, have reviewed his request and his ideas. And, you know, I told the prime minister, if this is what these generals recommend, that's what I support.

Conditions change inside a country, and the question is are we going to be facile enough to change with it; will we be nimble enough? Will we be able to deal with the circumstances on the ground? And the answer is, yes, we will.

Mr. Prime Minister, would you like to call on somebody? There you go.

QUESTION: I have two questions. One, President Bush.

The first one: Is there an obvious change that could be made to the security strategy particularly in Baghdad right now?

And the second question for you.

(THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Mr. Prime Minister, you said in a press conference in Baghdad, that your visit to Washington, you will cross the t's and dot the i's, especially regarding the security needs.

QUESTION (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Did you cross the t's and dot the i's in your discussion with President Bush?

BUSH: (inaudible) a lot of time talking about security, and I can understand why. There are people who are willing to destroy innocent life to achieve a political objective.

And the prime minister is deeply concerned about the lives of his fellow citizens. And I appreciate that concern. I would be very worried if a prime minister came to talk about his country and did not mention first and foremost protecting people's lives. That's, after all, the most important responsibility of government.

And he believes, and I believe, that there needs to be more forces inside Baghdad who are willing to hold people to account.

BUSH: In other words, if you find somebody who's kidnapping and murdering, the murderer ought to be held to account. And it ought to be clear in society that that kind of behavior is not tolerated. And that's the attitude of the prime minister.

And my attitude is: We shouldn't try to gauge whether or not someone is justified or not. We ought to be saying that, if you murder, you're responsible for your actions. And I think the Iraqi people appreciate that type of attitude.

And so we're not only talking about adjusting a Baghdad plan, at the prime minister's request, to make it more effective; we're also talking about how to make the Iraqi army more effective.

The truth of the matter is: The Iraqi army is becoming a highly professional force that will help bring confidence to the people inside Iraq that the government has got the capacity to protect them.

AL-MALIKI (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Thank you, Mr. President.

AL-MALIKI (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Actually, successful acts and large (inaudible) and through the serious discussion and the clear and the frank conversation that I had with President George Bush, that we are truly crossing the t's and dotting the i's in terms of enhancing the security and supporting the reconstruction.

Through the discussion, we were able to go through the details of the vision that will cover the future, because we are not talking here about a specific phase of the reconstruction, but we are facing the necessity of continuous work in order to make sure that the entire political experiment will succeed.

I believe, with a great deal of confidence, that I have reaffirmed through this and I became convinced that I have full confidence of victory, and we will be highly capable of defeating terrorism in Iraq.

QUESTION: (inaudible) you had a frank exchange on the Middle East. How can you get Arab nations to apply pressure to stop the fighting in the Middle East if allies like the prime minister won't condemn Hezbollah?

QUESTION: And, Mr. Prime Minister, what exactly is your position on Hezbollah?

BUSH: The terrorists are afraid of democracies. And what you've witnessed in Israel, in my judgment, is the act of a terrorist organization trying to stop the advance of democracy in the region.

I assured the prime minister that I care deeply about the suffering that takes place, that we understand the anguish of leaders in the region who see innocent people losing their life.

I also assured him that Condi Rice's mission is to help get humanitarian aid to the Lebanese people. She's working on not only air corridors, but sea corridors and land corridors, to get aid to the people. And the United States will participate, as will other nations.

I also talked about making sure that we adhere to U.N. Resolution 1559, which basically -- not basically, but strongly urges political parties not to be armed.

A key part of our strategy is to support democracy. And so not only do we support democracy in the Palestinian territory, we also support the Lebanese democracy.

I think the prime minister was pleased to hear my strong support for the Siniora government.

So Condi goes with the following messages: We support the Siniora government. We care about the people. We will help to get aid to the people. And that we want a sustainable cease-fire. We don't want something that's, you know, short term in duration.

BUSH: We want to address the root causes of the violence in the area. And, therefore, our mission and our goal is to have a lasting peace, not a temporary peace, but something that lasts.

And I believe that -- I believe that Iraq, in some ways, faces the same difficulty. And that is, a new democracy's emerging and there are people who are willing to use terrorist techniques to stop it.

It's what the murder is all about. People fear democracy, if your vision is based upon kind of a totalitarian view of the world.

And that's the ultimate challenge facing Iraq and Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. And that is: Will the free world and the neighborhood work in concert to help develop sustainable democracy?

BUSH: And Iraq took a long step along -- big step on that path when they developed a constitution that was ratified by the Iraqi people. And it's a modern constitution. And it's a landmark moment in the history of freedom advancing in the Middle East.

I believe that deep in everybody's soul, Mr. Prime Minister, is the desire to be free. And when 12 million Iraqis went to the polls and said, "I want to be free," it was an amazing moment. I know it seems like a long, long time ago that that happened. But it was a powerful statement about what is possible in terms of achieving peace.

AL-MALIKI (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Thank you.

Here, actually, we're talking about the suffering of a people in a country. And we are not in the process of reviewing one issue or another, or any government position.

AL-MALIKI (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): The important thing here is what we are trying to do is to stop the killing and the destruction. And then we leave the room and the way for the international and diplomatic efforts and international organizations to play the role to be there.

We are not here facing a situation only in Lebanon, but we'll be facing a variety of issues in different countries.

I'm talking here about the approach that should be used in order to stop this process of promoting hatred. There has to be superior decisions coming from above in order to protect these experiments, particularly democratic experiments, that should be protected by those who are trying to oppose it.

QUESTION (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Thank you very much, Mr. Prime Minister.

General Abizaid said that the danger that Iraq is facing is the religious danger. Do you agree with his assessment? And do you see that is there any security plan that can really curb the religious violence?

QUESTION: (inaudible) humanitarian aid to Lebanon, yet there are also reports that your administration are speeding up delivery of laser-guided missiles to Israel and bunker-buster bombs.

QUESTION: And do you see this -- if this is true, do you see it as contradictory? On one hand you're allowing Israel to kill people, and civilians in particular, and on the other hand you're trying to aid the very people that have been suffering and killed as a result?

BUSH: No, I don't see a contradiction in us honoring commitments we made prior to Hezbollah attacks into Israeli territory.

And, like the prime minister, I'm concerned about loss of innocent life. And we will do everything we can to help move equipment -- I mean, food and medicines to help the people who have been displaced and the people who suffer.

AL-MALIKI (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Yes, I do not reduce the risk and the danger of the religious feelings, especially through some of the organizations -- they are trying to promote this hatred. And there are some of the events that are on the basis of religious divide.

But I would like to assure the political, religious leaders and civil societies that the Iraqi parties, politicians, religious leaders, are rising to the responsibility and they are condemning those who are cooperating with Al Qaida and those who are trying to start a civil war.

AL-MALIKI (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): The most important element in the security plan is to curb the religious violence, because we will not allow any Iraqis to use this background. That's one of the main objectives of the security plan.

It is the policy of the government. There is no killing or discrimination against anyone. Everything is by law. And everything is based on the constitution and the law.

The government responsibility is to protect all Iraqis regardless of their ethnic or religious background. It's important to say that we are shedding the lights against those who are calling for sectarian and religious (sic), because we feel that this is a great danger to Iraq.

And, God willing, there will be no civil war in Iraq.

Thank you very much.

END

.ETX

Jul 25, 2006 12:08 ET .EOF

Source: CQ Transcriptions © 2006, Congressional Quarterly Inc., All Rights Reserved



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A SLIPPING LAST CHANCE: IRAQI PRIME MINISTER NOURI AL-MALIKI VISITS WASHINGTON WITH LITTLE TO SHOW FOR HIS NEW GOVERNMENT EDITORIAL (WASHINGTON POST, JULY 25)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...6072400982.html
PAID SUBSCRIPTION

OUR CORNER OF IRAQ - PETER W. GALBRAITH (NEW YORK TIMES, JULY 25): Since the Bush administration cannot unify Iraq or stop the civil war, it should work with the regions that have emerged. Where no purpose is served by a continuing military presence -- in the Shiite south and in Baghdad -- America and its allies should withdraw.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/25/opinion/...agewanted=print

GOOD ACTORS: THE KURDS' CUNNING PLAN - SPENCER ACKERMAN (NEW REPUBLIC, JULY 24): The structural obstacles preventing the birth of an independent Kurdish state are tremendous and may well prove insurmountable.
http://www.tnr.com/docprint.mhtml?i=200607...=ackerman072406

A WIDENING SECTARIAN RIFT PUSHES IRAQ TO THE BRINK OF CIVIL WAR: AL QAEDA IS NOW ACTIVELY PITTING SUNNIS AGAINST SHIITES, FUELING CIVIL VIOLENCE - FAWAZ A. GERGES (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, JULY 25)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0725/p09s01-coop.html

EYE ON IRAQ: THE SHIITE BLOODY SATURDAY - MARTIN SIEFF (UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL, JULY 24/COMMON DREAMS): Bush administration and Pentagon policymakers never dreamed the Sunni insurgency would get as bad as it did. A widespread Shiite militia rising against U.S. forces will be infinitely more dangerous. But no one in Washington appears to realize that either.
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0724-33.htm

THE DREAM OF CREATING A GOVERNMENT COMMITTED TO THE WELFARE AND SECURITY OF ALL IRAQIS IS SLIPPING AWAY, AND IT WILL TAKE MORE THAN ANOTHER GOOD-WILL VISIT TO GET IT BACK EDITORIAL (NEW YORK TIMES, JULY 26)
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/26/opinion/...agewanted=print

REFUGEE CRISIS IN IRAQ RISKS THE SPREAD OF WAR - SARAH KENYON LISCHER (BALTIMORE SUN, JULY 24)
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/o...-oped-headlines

PROGRESS REPORT: MORE GOOD NEWS FROM IRAQ - BILL CRAWFORD (NATIONAL REVIEW, JULY 25): Among them: Iraq Star, the Iraqi version of 'American Idol,' is now in its second season, and Iraqis love it.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YjI0N...zNiMGEzNjNjM2E=

OPERATING QUIETLY, TATTOO ARTISTS MAKE THEIR MARK IN IRAQ: SIGN OF WESTERN INFLUENCE REEMERGES DESPITE CLIMATE OF RELIGIOUS INTIMIDATION - JOSHUA PARTLOW (WASHINGTON POST, JULY 25)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...6072400992.html

U.S. HELPS RECOVER STATUE AND GIVES IT BACK TO IRAQIS - BARRY MEIER AND JAMES GLANZ (NEW YORK TIMES, JULY 26)
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/26/world/mi...agewanted=print

50 PERCENT OF U.S. SAYS IRAQ HAD WMDS - JENNIFER HARPER (WASHINGTON TIMES, JULY 25): Half of Americans now say Iraq had weapons of mass destruction when the United States invaded the country in 2003 -- up from 36 percent last year, a Harris poll finds.
http://washingtontimes.com/national/200607...10410-8309r.htm

BOOKS OF THE TIMES -- 'FIASCO': FROM PLANNING TO WARFARE TO OCCUPATION, HOW IRAQ WENT WRONG - MICHIKO KAKUTANI (NEW YORK TIMES, JULY 25): ?Fiasco? is absolutely essential reading for anyone interested in understanding how the United States came to go to war in Iraq, how a bungled occupation fed a ballooning insurgency and how these events will affect the future of the American military.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/25/books/25...agewanted=print

Saddam plea against being hanged BBC News
Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has told his trial he wants to be shot not hanged if he is condemned to die.Shooting was the appropriate means of execution for a military man like himself, he said. Prosecutors want the death penalty for the ex-president, on trial with seven others for crimes against humanity. The defendants deny the charges. Sources quoted by news agencies later said Saddam Hussein had ended a hunger strike by having lunch at the court. "Saddam ate beef and rice and cola with bread which he brought from hospital," one source told Reuters news agency. The former leader reportedly began the hunger strike on 7 July in protest at the killing of three of his lawyers.A thinner-looking Saddam Hussein told Wednesday's hearing: "I was brought against my will directly from the hospital... The Americans insisted that I come against my will. This is not fair. "Three days ago I was taken to hospital and today I was brought here forcibly from the hospital. I was fed intravenously and by a nasal drip," he said.

Execution
Later he spoke of his preference for facing a firing squad rather than a hangman's noose. "I advise you as an Iraqi, if you were in a circumstance in which you have to issue a death penalty, you have to remember that Saddam is a military man and in this case the verdict should be death by shooting not by hanging," he told the judge. The prosecution has called for the execution of the former president and two others for the deaths of 148 villagers during a crackdown in the village of Dujail after an assassination attempt in 1982. The BBC's Jane Peel in Baghdad says that during Wednesday's hearing, Saddam Hussein showed all his trademark defiance, at times interrupting and arguing with both the judge and a lawyer appointed by the court to act on his behalf.

Lawyer boycott
His defence team has been boycotting the trial to demand tighter security, after the deaths of their three colleagues, and replacement lawyers have been named. Saddam Hussein told the chief judge he rejected the lawyers appointed by the court to defend him. "Your honour, I refuse to appear before this tribunal, but this tribunal can do as it wills," he added. Judge Abdel Rahman responded: "Your lawyers were informed of the hearing and they chose not to come, despite the fact that they have billions of dollars and sit in a neighbouring country, where they incite violence." Most of Saddam Hussein's legal team is based in the Jordanian capital, Amman. The trial, which began in Baghdad last October, is in its closing stages. Prosecutors will be summing up their case after the defence summation procedure comes to an end.

Iraq: Killings continue as U.S. occupation grinds on:

Gunmen dressed in police uniforms kidnapped 17 people, including five women and two children, from an apartment building in central Baghdad, an interior ministry source said.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L26526826.htm


Counting Corpses :

Each refrigerator holds about 25 bodies, and they’re fully stocked; leftover corpses, and even some solitary limbs, pile up nearby. Morgue staff go about their business among swarms of black flies. It’s just another day in Baghdad
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article14212.htm


Bush, Iraq's Maliki clash on Mideast crisis :

The two leaders disagreed on calls for a ceasefire, with Maliki emphasizing "the importance of immediate ceasefire" and Bush sticking by his view that a ceasefire can come only as part of a long-term solution.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060725/pl_af...tconflictusiraq


N.J. Congressmen Boycott Iraqi Leader's Speech :

Democratic Representatives Frank Pallone and Bill Pascrell Junior skipped the session because of al-Maliki's negative remarks about Israel and for not condemning Hezbollah militants.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/.../072602823.html

U.S. Could Face a Showdown With Al-Sadr
By ROBERT H. REID
ASSOCIATED PRESS

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -

Putting more U.S. soldiers in the streets of Baghdad risks a new showdown with a radical anti-American cleric who has modeled his movement after Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas.

Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army has re-emerged as a key force in the majority Shiite community after suffering substantial losses during two uprisings against the U.S. military in 2004. Sunni Arabs believe the militia is responsible for kidnapping and killing thousands of Sunnis since the Feb. 22 bombing of a Shiite shrine.

Al-Sadr's black-clad followers insist they simply protect Shiite communities that have suffered horrific losses at the hands of Sunni insurgents and religious extremists such as al-Qaida in Iraq since the collapse of Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated regime in 2003.

Whatever the truth, there is no way to restore order in Baghdad without dealing with al-Sadr and his followers - believed to be the largest and most active Shiite militia in Iraq.

U.S. officials believe disbanding Shiite and Sunni armed groups is essential to curbing the sectarian violence threatening the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and U.S. plans for removing substantial numbers of troops before U.S. congressional elections in November.

"If you don't do this, you end up with a situation like you have in Lebanon, where the militia becomes a state within a state," the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, Gen. John Abizaid, said in an interview this week with National Public Radio.

"It makes the state impotent to be able to deal with security challenges," he said.

Coalition forces already have begun moving against the Mahdi Army. In the last month, British troops have arrested the Mahdi commander in the southern city of Basra. And American soldiers killed 15 militiamen in a gunfight 40 miles south of the capital last weekend.

U.S. and Iraqi forces have staged at least two major raids this month in Sadr City, the Mahdi Army's Baghdad stronghold.

But American military officials have been careful to avoid identifying al-Sadr and his forces by name. Instead, spokesmen describe engagements with "thugs and criminals."

Their reluctance reflects al-Sadr's stature in Shiite politics, which he has achieved despite strong resistance from other Shiite groups as well as the Americans.

Apart from an estimated 10,000 militiamen, al-Sadr's movement controls 30 of the 275 seats in parliament and holds five Cabinet posts, including health, transportation and agriculture. Al-Sadr's followers are part of the Shiite coalition which includes al-Maliki's Dawa party.

Like Hezbollah in Lebanon, the al-Sadr movement runs social services ranging from caring for widows and orphans to burying unclaimed bodies in Baghdad and other cities.

The parallels with Hezbollah reflect the network of clerical-led Shiite groups throughout the Middle East, which have been gaining strength due to the rise of both Iran and the Shiite community in Iraq.

Al-Maliki's opposition to Israel's attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanon is a sign of the network's influence in a changing Middle East.

The nexus of that network is the Shiite holy city of Najaf, the traditional educational and cultural center of Shiite Islam. Both Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, and Lebanon's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, studied in Najaf.

Fadlallah's teacher and mentor was Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Sadr, father-in-law of Muqtada al-Sadr and a founder of the Dawa party.

The younger al-Sadr has used ties to the Shiite power elite to outmaneuver the Americans over the last three years. The U.S. sought early on in the occupation to sideline al-Sadr, fearing his anti-American views.

U.S. officials believed al-Sadr was behind the April 10, 2003, assassination of cleric Majid al-Khoie, who was slain after returning to Najaf in hopes of winning support for the Americans from Shiite clergy.

A warrant was issued for al-Sadr in the al-Khoie slaying, but he was never arrested. Instead, the warrant was quietly shelved as part of the cease-fire deals the Americans accepted under pressure from Shiite clerics and politicians.

They feared a public backlash if foreign occupiers dealt harshly with the scion of one of the Shiites' most prestigious families.

---

Robert H. Reid is correspondent-at-large for The Associated Press and has reported frequently from Iraq since 2003.

--

--------------------
General Explains Baghdad Buildup
--------------------

Rather than keep troops out of harm's way, he wants more in the streets to ease reconstruction.

By Julian E. Barnes
Times Staff Writer

July 27 2006

CAMP VICTORY, Iraq — For months, American commanders in Iraq have talked of their desire to withdraw most U.S. troops from Baghdad's dangerous streets and pull them back to the relative safety of big, wellguarded bases outside the capital.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...l=la-home-world

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/stor...5976822,00.html

Iraqi PM Calls for More Money and Troops

Thursday July 27, 2006 10:16 AM


AP Photo DCEV104

By ANNE PLUMMER FLAHERTY

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki appealed to Congress Wednesday to press the war in Iraq with money and troops, portraying his country as crucial to the U.S. as a front line in the war on terror and comparing violence there to the Sept. 11 attacks.

Addressing a joint meeting of Congress, al-Maliki said, ``Do not imagine that this problem is solely an Iraqi problem because the terrorist front represents a threat to all free countries and free people of the world.''

Lawmakers in the House chamber gave him a warm welcome, but a number of Democrats stayed away, upset by al-Maliki's stance on another Mideast crisis: He has refused to criticize Hezbollah for its attacks on Israel.

Despite tough rhetoric against terrorism in the Middle East, al-Maliki did not mention the combat between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas that over the past two weeks has killed hundreds, devastated parts of Lebanon and seen rockets bombard northern Israel.

Later in the day, al-Maliki and President Bush ate lunch with military troops at nearby Fort Belvoir in Virginia. Bush praised him there as a man who has ``helped save lives.''

The speech by al-Maliki, who became prime minister two months ago, capped a two-day visit to Washington that included personal talks with Bush at the White House on Tuesday. His address came with sectarian violence in Iraq on the rise, threatening hopes by the Bush administration and lawmakers facing election this year that some U.S. troops might come home soon.

During his address, al-Maliki appealed for more aid from the United States and other nations and sought to solidify Congress' commitment to rebuilding Iraq, though he mentioned no specifics. In earlier meetings at the White House, the Iraqi leader asked for more military equipment and recommended increasing U.S. and Iraqi forces patrolling Baghdad neighborhoods. Bush agreed and said more U.S. forces would be moved into the embattled capital from other parts of Iraq.

Congress has approved nearly $300 billion to try to secure and rebuild the country more than three years after a U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein. Some 127,000 U.S. troops remain in the region.

Without identifying exact amounts, al-Maliki lamented money that has wound up ``in the hands of security contractors and foreign companies that operate with enormous profit margins,'' rather than in the hands of needy Iraqis.

``There needs to be a greater reliance on Iraqis and Iraqi companies with foreign aid and assistance to help us rebuild Iraq,'' he said.

The responsibility to fight terrorism ``lies on the shoulders of every country and every people that respects and cherishes its freedom,'' al-Maliki said. ``The battle of Iraq will decide the fate of this war.''

His words echoed those of Bush, who frequently asserts that Iraq is a central battleground against terrorism elsewhere, including on U.S. shores, and that the country can be a bulwark for the spread of freedom in the Middle East.

Al-Maliki made a direct connection to the 2001 attacks on the U.S., saying, ``Thousands of lives were tragically lost on Sept. 11 when these impostors of Islam reared their ugly head. Thousands more continue to die in Iraq today at the hands of the same terrorists who show complete disregard for human life.''

Al-Maliki's differences with his hosts over the Mideast fighting had threatened to sour his visit. The Bush administration, U.S. ally Israel and the majority of lawmakers insist that Hezbollah, which they consider a terror group, must be disarmed and defeated in southern Lebanon. European and Arab allies want a quick cease-fire to stop mounting civilian deaths in Lebanon.

Sen. John W. Warner, R-Va., chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said the prime minister was under pressure from his constituents and members of the Iraqi Parliament not to come to the United States.

``He was caught right in the middle,'' Warner told reporters. ``But nevertheless, he made a commitment to come'' and honored it.

Democrats sharply criticized the prime minister for painting a what they said was a ``rosy'' picture of Iraq and not condemning Hezbollah.

Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 House Democrat, said not naming Hezbollah as a terrorist organization ``adds ambivalence to his comments.'' Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, D-Fla., called al-Maliki's speech ``disingenuous'' because it did not acknowledge the violence in Iraq.

Republicans said they were not concerned that al-Maliki did not use his speech to talk about Hezbollah.

``He says he denounces terrorism and I take it at his word. Hezbollah, in my opinion, is a terrorist organization,'' said House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.

``The prime minister's address was one of hope and progress,'' said Joe Wilson, R-S.C.

Lawmakers who shunned the speech included Reps. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., and Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Sens. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.

``I didn't attend because I feel strongly the U.S. Congress should not provide a platform for supporters of Hezbollah,'' Lowey said. ``If Mr. Malaki was wise, he might have requested a meeting with us.''

Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., said he had asked al-Maliki directly at a breakfast on Wednesday whether he considered Hezbollah a terrorist group. ``He questioned whether I had the right to ask him that'' Durbin said. Al-Maliki responded in ``only the most general terms that he condemns terrorism in all its forms,'' said Durbin, his party's second-ranking Senate leader.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California attended the speech, along with several other Democrats who had previously questioned whether it was appropriate to let him address the joint meeting because he had not defended Israel.

Al-Maliki was interrupted briefly by a shouting demonstrator wearing a pink T-shirt that read, ``Troops Home Now.'' Medea Benjamin, 54, of San Francisco is cofounder of an anti-war group called CODEPINK. Benjamin was lifted from her seat by officers and carried out of the House visitor's gallery, while al-Maliki paused and grimaced in irritation.

Later, at the Army base, Bush said of al-Maliki: ``He helped lay that foundation for peace. And in honor of his memory and in the memory of others who have gone before him and in honor of the thousands of Iraqis who have died at the hands of terrorists, we will complete the mission.''

Saddam to learn fate in October BBC News
The trial of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein for crimes against humanity has been adjourned until 16 October when a verdict is expected. The ex-president did not appear in court for the final session of his trial on Thursday. Prosecutors want the death penalty for Saddam Hussein and two of the seven other defendants. All deny the charges. On Wednesday, the former leader told the trial he wanted to be shot, not hanged, if he was condemned to die. Shooting was the appropriate means of execution for a military man like himself, he said. He also protested that he had been taken to court against his will. Saddam Hussein is due to stand trial on 21 August to judge his part in the mass killings of Iraqi Kurds in the 1980s during the notorious Anfal campaign.

Criticisms
Two defendants appeared in court on Thursday. Former Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan refused to allow the court-appointed lawyer to represent him. "I do not know who this lawyer is or his name," he said. The other is Awad Hamad al-Bandar, the former chief judge of the court. Chief Judge Raouf Abdel Rahman once again criticised the defence lawyers for staying away from court. Saddam Hussein's defence team has been boycotting the trial to demand tighter security, after the deaths of their three colleagues, and replacement lawyers have been named. "They're sitting abroad now generating fame by issuing political statements on television stations as if this case is a political one. This behaviour will harm you, the defendants. This is a criminal case, not a political one," Mr Rahman said. Most of Saddam Hussein's legal team is based in the Jordanian capital, Amman. His trial began in Baghdad last October.

Twin blasts 'kill 27' in Baghdad BBC News
Two explosions in a central Baghdad district have killed at least 27 people, Iraqi police say.The blasts happened in the commercial district of Karrada, a mostly Shia area. At least 101 people were injured. A car bomb went off near a restaurant popular with Iraqi police. Then several mortars exploded near a petrol station, damaging nearby buildings. The attacks shattered the relative peace which fell on the city on Wednesday, says the BBC's Jane Peel. Many of the injured were said to be in a serious condition. Karrada - a largely peaceful district populated mainly by Shia Muslims - is also home to Sunnis and Christians who mingle together in the local restaurants and coffee shops. It is also well protected with a heavy presence of Iraqi troops and several checkpoints, our correspondent says. Separately, there are reports that gunmen have killed four security guards outside a Sunni mosque in western Baghdad.

US deployment
On Tuesday, President Bush announced that US troops would be deployed to the Iraqi capital to deal with the deteriorating security situation.The deployments would "better reflect the current conditions on the ground", he said at a joint news conference in Washington with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki. The troops would help to secure suburbs where militants operated, he said. An average of more than 100 civilians per day were killed in Iraqi violence in May and June, according to the UN. The security plan was the second announced for Baghdad in the past six weeks. Iraq has experienced an upsurge in sectarian violence in recent months. Last Sunday, at least 34 people were killed in a blast in Sadr City - a mainly Shia area in the capital.

Do or Die Against Iraq's Death Squads

By David Ignatius

Nouri al-Maliki does not strike a commanding pose as Iraq's new prime minister: Slouching, stubble-faced, uneasy before foreign audiences, he looks more like a doughy Mukhabarat officer than the sleek exile politicians who have been making the rounds in Washington over the past decade.

To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...er=emailarticle

U.S. may send 5,000 more troops to Baghdad MSNBC
Homecoming delayed for thousands as military tries to stem Iraq violenceAs many as 5,000 additional U.S. troops with armored vehicles and tanks will be sent into Baghdad under a plan being developed by military commanders to stem escalating violence in the Iraqi capital, defense officials say. The plan by commanders in Iraq, which has not been finalized, could bring the total number of U.S. troops there to 134,000, if all are deployed. It also would call into question whether the Pentagon could significantly reduce troop levels in Iraq by year’s end as commanders had hoped. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Thursday extended the tours of some 3,500 members of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team. The unit, which has been serving in northern Iraq, was scheduled to be leaving now. Instead, most of its 3,900 troops will serve for up to four more months. It was unclear whether the unit would go to Baghdad. Under the plan to bolster Baghdad’s security, U.S. troops would be teamed with Iraqi police and army units and make virtually every operation in the city a joint effort, one military official said. Another said movement of some troops into Baghdad had already begun. At the same time, the Pentagon signaled plans to maintain or possibly increase the current level of about 130,000 troops in Iraq, by announcing that roughly 21,000 Army soldiers and Marines have been told they are scheduled to go to Iraq during the current 2006-2008 rotation.

Soldiers' flights out canceled
All flights out for soldiers currently at the end of their deployment were canceled as of Tuesday, as commanders wrestled how to supply troops for the effort, a third official said. All spoke on condition of anonymity because the plan had not been finalized. President Bush broadly outlined a plan to increase U.S. and Iraqi forces in Baghdad during Tuesday’s visit to Washington by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. But little detail was provided. Officials said it would involve shifting some U.S. forces to the capital from other locations in the country. There were about 30,000 U.S. troops in Baghdad prior to the new plan. On Thursday, Rumsfeld met privately with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to discuss funding needed for troops and the replacement or repair of equipment damaged in combat. House and Senate Republicans are weighing next year’s defense spending bills amid reports that Army units are woefully ill-equipped and need billions of dollars to recover from the war. “There is no question that resetting the force after the heavy usage that’s occurred costs money and will have to be funded in supplementals for a period of time,” said Rumsfeld, who predicted that funds may be needed for up to three years after the war ends. Assembling more troops and armor in Baghdad is aimed at calming sectarian violence that has increased in the capital since mid-June, when al-Maliki launched a broad security crackdown. The plan includes moving about four companies of military police, or about 400 soldiers, to Baghdad, along with the remainder of a reserve force that had been in Kuwait — equaling about another 400 troops.

Experts divided on plan's chances
Defense experts inside and outside the Pentagon have said that diverting U.S. troops to Baghdad could weaken their ability in other parts of the country. And they say the plan reverses an earlier effort to make Americans less visible and put Iraqi forces out front in the fight. Others argued that Baghdad is the central problem at the moment and that Iraqis in the capital will feel safer with the heavier armored presence. While about 3,500 members of the Stryker brigade were still in Iraq on Thursday, about 200 had returned to Alaska and some 200 others were in Kuwait awaiting transportation home. 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

FACING REALITY ON TROOP LEVELS EDITORIAL (WASHINGTON TIMES, JULY 27): If the administration insists on shifting troops and ignores the need to bolster the force, it could be jeopardizing the mission in Iraq.
http://www.washtimes.com/functions/print.p...26-100851-5068r


HEADS IN THE SAND EDITORIAL (BALTIMORE SUN, JULY 26): American blunders in Iraq changed the dynamics in the Middle East and helped to beget Hezbollah's rocket attacks in Israel, however indirectly.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/b...inion-headlines


'WAITING TO GET BLOWN UP: SOME TROOPS IN BAGHDAD EXPRESS FRUSTRATION WITH THE WAR AND THEIR MISSION - JOSHUA PARTLOW (WASHINGTON POST, JULY 27)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...6072601666.html


WHAT YOU DON'T - AND WON'T - KNOW ABOUT IRAQ CASUALTIES MOTHER JONES (JULY 27): How many Americans have really been killed in Iraq? No one knows, because the Army won't release information on private security contractors involved in shooting incidents.
http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/index.html#1749


MORE U.S. TROOPS IN BAGHDAD PRAISED, PANNED - RICK JERVIS (USA TODAY, JULY 27)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/20...aq-troops_x.htm


CIVIL WAR WON'T END UNTIL TROOPS LEAVE IRAQ - PATRICK COCKBURN (SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER, JULY 26)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/278798_iraq26.html


A WHOLE NEW WAR - DAN FROOMKIN (WASHINGTONPOST.COM, JULY 26): President Bush and national security adviser Stephen Hadley yesterday for the first time publicly acknowledged the momentous shift in the role for U.S. troops in Iraq, from fighting terrorists to trying to suppress religious violence.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2600903_pf.html


DO OR DIE AGAINST IRAQ'S DEATH SQUADS - DAVID IGNATIUS (WASHINGTON POST, JULY 28): What would change the equation would be if death squad leaders became afraid that they themselves would be captured or killed. That's the brutal logic of America's war in Iraq as it begins its decisive final chapters.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2701215_pf.html


IRAQI LEADER SPEAKS HALF THE TRUTH: YES, MALIKI'S COUNTRY IS ON THE FRONTLINES OF THE WAR ON TERROR, BUT IT'S ALSO DEGENERATING INTO A SHIITE-SUNNI CIVIL WAR ? EDITORIAL (LOS ANGELES TIMES, JULY 27)
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-...pinion-leftrail

MALIKI: DEAD MAN WALKING - ROBERT DREYFUSS (TOMPAINE.COM, JULY 26):
'God willing,' said Maliki, 'there will be no civil war in Iraq.' Unfortunately, God has other plans for Iraq.
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/07/2...man_walking.php


STUCK IN A QUAGMIRE: THE IRAQI PRIME MINISTER DELIVERS A MESSAGE SOME AMERICANS HAVE NEEDED TO HEAR FOR DECADES NOW JOSEPH LOCONTE NATIONAL REVIEW (JULY 27): The heart of Al-Maliki's message was that Iraq is center stage in the fight against global terrorism.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MTIzZ...DM2NmNkODU5MWQ=


FIXING IRAQ REVIEW & OUTLOOK (WALL STREET JOURNAL, JULY 27): What is truly unrealistic is to think that the U.S. has any choice now but to win in Iraq. The regional mess we'd inevitably have to clean up if we lose could make our current difficulties look like child's play.
http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB1153...6332318582.html
PAID SUBSCRIPTION

IRAQ'S HEZBOLLAH - DAN SENOR (WALL STREET JOURNAL, JULY 27): The vast majority of Iraqis do not share the obsession with Israel that has consumed many in the region.
http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB1153...1747118606.html
PAID SUBSCRIPTION

Iraq: At least 46 killed in ongoing U.S. occupation:

The Iraqi army killed nine "insurgents" and detained another 16 in different parts of Iraq during the last 24 hours, Iraqi army said in a statement.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/RAS835091.htm

===
Dozens killed as more troops head to Baghdad :

It is unlikely, however, that some 10,000 US troops will succeed in restoring civil order, something that 50,000 Iraqi forces in the city have failed to do. Sunni now shoot at police and police commando detachments, regarding them as officially sanctioned "death squads".
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle...icle1201302.ece

===
Iraqi Shiite leader rejects role for US reinforcement:

Iraq's most influential Shiite leaders have rejected the use of US forces to stabilize Iraq's security situation, as the Pentagon announced an increase in troops numbers.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060728/wl_mi...aq_060728125047

===
Iraq's Valley of Peace helps overflowing morgues :

"Most of the bodies were bound by chains so we always have to keep a cutter nearby to cut them. Most bodies were beheaded and they have a lot of holes in the head and face," said cemetery worker Riad Ahmed.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article14247.htm

Do or Die Against Iraq's Death Squads

By David Ignatius

Nouri al-Maliki does not strike a commanding pose as Iraq's new prime minister: Slouching, stubble-faced, uneasy before foreign audiences, he looks more like a doughy Mukhabarat officer than the sleek exile politicians who have been making the rounds in Washington over the past decade.

To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...er=emailarticle

Iraq: Four marines among at least 35 killed as U.S. occupation grinds on:

Police said they found 15 bodies in different parts of the capital, all bearing signs of torture and shot in the head.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/KAM032072.htm


Iraqi MP Warns of Possible Military Coup:

Iraqi Member of Parliament Hadi Al-'Amiri, is warning of a possible military coup against the government of Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki,
http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=5816


Agency hid rising costs of Iraq projects:

The U.S. State Department agency in charge of $1.4 billion in reconstruction money in Iraq used an accounting shell game to hide ballooning cost overruns on its projects in Iraq and knowingly withheld information on schedule delays from Congress, a federal audit released late Friday has found.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nati..._rebuild30.html

SISTANI THREATENS US OVER ISRAELI WAR ON LEBANON- JUAN COLE (INFORMED COMMENT: THOUGHTS ON THE MIDDLE EAST, HISTORY, AND RELIGION, JULY 31): If 16 million Shiites turned on the US because of its wholehearted support for Israel's actions in Lebanon, the US military mission in Iraq could quickly become completely and urgently untenable.
http://www.juancole.com/


BUSH AIMS TO EXPEL TYRANNY - MARC SANDALOW (SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, JULY 30): It is now clear that the toppling of Saddam Hussein did not strengthen the U.S. hand in promoting peace between Arabs and Israelis, and to many observers it has weakened it.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...&type=printable


THE PECULIAR DISAPPEARANCE OF THE WAR IN IRAQ - FRANK RICH (NEW YORK TIMES, JULY 30): The specter of defeat is not the only reason Americans have switched off Iraq. The larger issue is that we don?t know what we -- or, more specifically, 135,000 brave and vulnerable American troops -- are fighting for.
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/07/30/opini...agewanted=print

PAID SUBSCRIPTION

REMEMBER IRAQ? ALAN BOCK (ANTIWAR. COM, JULY 29): There should be a serious discussion, across party lines, as to when the United States should start to cut its losses by reducing the numbers of troops and letting the Iraqis handle the sectarian divisions that have split their country from its inception.
http://www.antiwar.com/bock/?articleid=9438


DISILLUSIONED WITH THE WAR? HERE'S WHY - CARL HIAASEN (MIAMI HERALD, JULY 30 COMMON DREAMS): So far, the president and his team are batting .000 in Baghdad. They haven't been right yet.
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0730-28.htm


OUT OF ONE, MANY - NOAH FELDMAN (NEW YORK TIMES, JULY 30): The most serious intellectual deficit that has plagued the American presence in Iraq -- and a crucial reason for our repeated failure to predict Iraqis' behavior -- has been insufficient awareness of the conflicting perspectives of Iraqis from different backgrounds and communities.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/30/books/re...agewanted=print


IRAQ ISN'T ABOUT US ANYMORE: THE U.S. HAS FEW OPTIONS IN IRAQ - JUDITH S. YAPHE (LOS ANGELES TIMES, JULY 30): It is in the U.S. interest to see Iraq survive as a united country or we will face chronic instability and Iraq-based terrorists coming to our shores.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commen...omment-opinions


NEWS ANALYSIS: IRAN IS BUSH'S TARGET IN LEBANON -- AMERICA AND TEHRAN ARE BATTLING FOR INFLUENCE IN THE MIDEAST, WITH ISRAEL AND HEZBOLLAH DOING THE FIGHTING. IT'S A 'PROXY WAR,' A U.S. OFFICIAL SAYS - DOYLE MCMANUS (LOS ANGELES TIMES, JULY 30): Some U.S. officials acknowledge privately that even if Israel succeeds militarily, turning its campaign into a major advance for democracy in Lebanon and other Arab countries will be easier said than done.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/l...1,5735340.story


DON'T BLAME DEMOCRACY PROMOTION - STEVEN A. COOK (WASHINGTON POST, JULY 29): The current round of violence between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah is not a result of the Bush administration's push for a more open and democratic Arab world; it is a result of not pushing enough.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2801414_pf.html


SPY LESSONS FROM ISRAEL - JIM HOAGLAND (WASHINGTON POST, JULY 30): Reforming intelligence operations to meet the new challenges of the "long war" on terrorism is a vast and difficult task that National Intelligence Director John Negroponte has only recently begun.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2801573_pf.html


NOT-SO-BENIGN NEGLECT ? BOSTON GLOBE (JULY 30): From Baghdad to Beirut and from Gaza to Pyongyang, Bush seems to have inadvertently ushered in a new world disorder. http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial...neglect?mode=PF

RETURNING TO OLD APPROACH, U.S. FACES RISKY PATH AHEAD - ROBIN WRIGHT (WASHINGTON POST, JULY 30): The administration is effectively back endorsing all-out force again, in defiance of allies, as part of its policy of trying to rid the Middle East of militants and radicals, or the "drain the swamp" policy.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2900218_pf.html

Gunmen Kill 23 Iraqis On Highway :

Gunmen killed at least 23 Iraqis Sunday on a highway south of Baghdad, commandeering three minibuses and herding their occupants into nearby palm groves where they were lined up and shot, according to police and a witness.The ambush occurred about 10 miles south of Baghdad, where
http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=bb3f1e01-...c6-ed4b40982223


At least 19 killed as U.S. occupation continues:

Gunmen ordered four policemen and a lawyer out of their car and beheaded them near the northern town of Hawija, 150 miles north of Baghdad, said police Col. Burhan Tayeb.
http://ksdk.com/news/world/us_world_articl...?storyid=101142


Iraqi "Policemen" Abduct 25 Civilians:

Gunmen dressed in Iraqi police uniforms have abducted 25 people in a commercial district in central Baghdad, BBC reported.
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=67365


Key Democrats call for Iraq withdrawal :

Key Democratic leaders in the House and Senate have united to call on President Bush to begin pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq by the end of the year, citing an overtaxed military, billions of dollars spent and ongoing sectarian violence.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14298.htm


"Killing people is like squashing an ant:" former US soldier :

A former US soldier accused of raping and murdering an Iraqi girl compared killing people in Iraq to "squashing an ant," in an interview with a reporter about a month before the attack.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14292.htm


Pentagon Keeping Close Eye on Soldier's Web Posts:

The U.S. Central Command has a team that reads blogs and responds to what it considers inaccuracies about the war.
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7004377192


Number of Iraqi refugees from violence swells:

Raging sectarian violence has pushed up the number of refugees in Iraq by 20,000 in the last 10 days alone, the migration ministry said on Monday.
http://tinyurl.com/qc9wu


Frank Rich : The Peculiar Disappearance of the War in Iraq :

CNN will surely remind us today that it is Day 19 of the Israel-Hezbollah war - now branded as Crisis in the Middle East - but you won't catch anyone saying it's Day 1,229 of the war in Iraq.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14291.htm


Iraqi Cleric Demands Cease-Fire in Lebanon :

`Islamic nations will not forgive the entities that hinder a cease-fire,'' al-Sistani said, in a clear reference to the United States.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/stor...5983670,00.html

Iraq: At least 52 killed in ongoing U.S. occupation:

A roadside bomb went off near a bus carrying Iraqi soldiers, killing 20 of them and wounding 13 near Tikrit
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L01894288.htm


Roadside bomb, gunmen kill 20 Iraqi soldiers in northern Iraq :

A roadside bomb blast followed by a gunmen attack targeted an Iraqi army convoy near the northern Iraqi town of Baiji on Tuesday morning, killing 20 Iraqi soldiers and wounding 13 others, a source in the local U.S. and Iraqi liaison office told Xinhua.
http://tinyurl.com/kmynb


Car bomb kills 14 in Baghdad:

A suicide car bomb ripped through the middle class Baghdad neighbourhood of Karrada, killing 10 soldiers and four civilians, according to defence ministry and hospital sources.
http://tinyurl.com/jgouk


Reed: Iraq is headed toward 'existential crisis':

"If 50,000 troops, including several thousand Americans, cannot end the violence in Baghdad, why are we not committing a significantly larger force?" he said.
http://tinyurl.com/z5wk2


Iraqi official calls for Shia region :

Al-Hakim repeated his claim for a Shia federal region consisting of nine Iraqi governorates stretching from Babylon, 100km south of Baghdad, to Basra at the tip of southern Iraq.
http://tinyurl.com/joylc


U.S. accused of kidnappings in Iraq:

Congress demands that the Pentagon release documents that could show U.S. forces kidnapped family members of terror suspects.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14308.htm

Much Undone In Rebuilding Iraq, Audit Says

By Andy Mosher and Griff Witte

NASIRIYAH, Iraq, Aug. 1 -- A flailing Iraq reconstruction effort that has been dominated for more than three years by U.S. dollars and companies is being transferred to Iraqis, leaving them the challenge of completing a long list of projects left unfinished by the Americans.

To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...er=emailarticle

Iraq civil war warning for Blair BBC News
Civil war is a more likely outcome in Iraq than democracy, Britain's outgoing ambassador in Baghdad has warned Tony Blair in a confidential memo. William Patey, who left the Iraqi capital last week, also predicted the break-up of Iraq along ethnic lines. He did also say that "the position is not hopeless" - but said it would be "messy" for five to 10 years. Mr Blair said the violence was designed to put extremists in charge rather than leaders committed to democracy. "What should our response be? However difficult it is, stay the course, stand up for those people who want democracy, stand up for those people who are fighting sectarianism, stand up for a different vision of the Middle East based on democracy, liberty, the rule of law," he told reporters. The Foreign Office said it did not comment on leaked documents but added that Iraqi security forces were getting more capable every day. BBC correspondent Paul Wood said although the document does not contradict government denials that civil war is imminent, "it is a devastating official assessment of the prospects for a peaceful Iraq, and stands in stark contrast to the public rhetoric". The bleak assessment of the country's future was contained in Mr Patey's final e-cable, or diplomatic telegram, from Baghdad. The distribution list included the UK's prime minister, foreign secretary, defence secretary and House of Commons leader, as well as senior military commanders in both Iraq and the UK. Mr Patey wrote: "The prospect of a low intensity civil war and a de facto division of Iraq is probably more likely at this stage than a successful and substantial transition to a stable democracy. "Even the lowered expectation of President Bush for Iraq - a government that can sustain itself, defend itself and govern itself and is an ally in the war on terror - must remain in doubt." Talking about the Shia militias blamed for many killings, Mr Patey added: "If we are to avoid a descent into civil war and anarchy then preventing the Jaish al-Mahdi (the Mahdi Army) from developing into a state within a state, as Hezbollah has done in Lebanon, will be a priority." The cable says that "the next six months are crucial" - an assessment which is shared by the coalition's military commanders. Senior military sources told the BBC it was "make or break" time in Iraq. The Americans are sending thousands of extra troops to Baghdad, starting next week. The Conservative Party's head of policy, Oliver Letwin, called on ministers to be more honest about the situation. "It's very difficult to offer the constructive support which we want to offer and for the public to understand what's going on if the government doesn't give a very clear and frank account of the assessment," he said.

'Radical rethink'
Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Michael Moore said there needed to be a clear strategy for Iraq, including the engagement of neighbouring countries such as Iran, Syria and Turkey. "Unless we seriously and radically rethink our approach, as the ambassador warns, we will run the serious risk of a descent into civil war," he said. The BBC has also learned, from military sources, that British troops in Basra are planning to dramatically step up operations against Shia gunmen. Mr Patey urges the government to ensure that Iraqi troops are brought into this effort as the British forces "can't confront the militias alone". On Wednesday, President Jalal Talabani said Iraqi police and troops would be taking the security lead throughout the whole country by the end of the year.

Baghdad bomb hits shopping area BBC News
A bombing in the centre of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, has killed at least 10 people and injured 29, police say. An official said the bomb was strapped to a motorbike parked near the near the busy al-Rashid shopping area. Shops were set ablaze by the blast. The attack came as the UK's outgoing ambassador in Iraq, William Patey, warned that civil war was a more likely outcome in Iraq than stable democracy. Iraq is facing a surge of violence with about 100 people being killed daily. Thursday's attack apparently targeted fruit and vegetable vendors and commercial stalls, the news agency AP quoted police Lt Ahmed Mohammed Ali as saying. The agency also quoted a taxi driver as saying he saw the motorcycle explode and hit a vegetable vendor and two stalls run by two brothers. "One sold tea and the other sold cigarettes. I saw a woman burning," said the man, who did not identify himself.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/03/world/mi...059&partner=AOL

U.S. Generals See Growing Threat of Civil War in Iraq

By DAVID STOUT
Published: August 3, 2006
WASHINGTON, Aug. 3 — Two senior American military commanders said today that the wave of sectarian bloodshed in Iraq has heightened the danger that the country will slide into all-out civil war.

Forum: The Middle East “I believe that the sectarian violence is probably as bad as I’ve seen it, in Baghdad in particular, and that if not stopped, it is possible that Iraq could move towards civil war,” Gen. John Abizaid, the commander of United States forces in the Middle East, told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

A similarly sobering assessment was offered by Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who said he can envision the present situation “devolving to a civil war.”

“But that does not have to be a fact,” General Pace added. In the long run, he said, peace in Iraq depends not just on American forces helping the Iraqis secure their own country but on Iraqis of different heritages deciding that they “love their children more than they hate each other.”

General Abizaid, too, said he remained hopeful. “Am I optimistic whether or not Iraqi forces, with our support, with the backing of the Iraqi government, can present the slide to civil war?” he asked rhetorically. “My answer is yes, I’m optimistic that the slide can be prevented.”

But the tone of the hearing, coinciding as it did with the continuing carnage in Iraq and the Israeli conflict with the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, was not one of optimism. Nothing in the testimony of the commanders, or in that of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, pointed to an early withdrawal of United States forces.

“We can persevere in Iraq, or we can withdraw prematurely, until they force us to make a stand nearer home,” said Mr. Rumsfeld, appearing before the panel after sharp criticism of his earlier intention not to go to Capitol Hill. “But make no mistake: they’re not going to give up whether we acquiesce in their immediate demands or not.”

Mr. Rumsfeld said, as he has many times before, that the possibility of pulling out some American troops depended on the judgment of ground commanders. He counseled patience, from the lawmakers and their constituents. “Americans didn’t cross oceans and settle a wilderness and build history’s greatest democracy only to run away from a bunch of murderers and extremists who try to kill everyone that they cannot convert, and to tear down what they could never build,” he said.

General Pace sounded the same theme: “Our enemy knows they cannot defeat us in battle. They do believe, however, that they can wear down our will as a nation.”

But the committee chairman, Senator John W. Warner, Republican of Virginia, signaled that political support for the conflict could be fraying. “I think we have to examine very carefully what Congress authorized the president to do in the context of a situation if we’re faced with all-out civil war and whether we have to come back to the Congress to get further indication of support,” Mr. Warner said.

When General Abizaid was asked about the prospects for reducing American forces in Iraq by the end of the year, he replied, “It’s possible, depending on how things go in Baghdad and how Prime Minister Maliki and his government grab a hold of the security situation.” The general said he was confident that the Iraqis understood that the United States military commitment to Iraq was not open-ended.

In any event, Mr. Rumsfeld said it was difficult to gauge the ideal number of troops the United States and its allies should have in Iraq. Too many troops, and the Iraqis would see them as occupiers, leading to more unrest. To few, and the violence could spiral out of control. “There’s no rulebook,” Mr. Rumsfeld said.

The valor and sacrifice of America’s sons and daughters serving in Iraq was praised by Senator Warner and the committee’s ranking Democrat, Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, along with other panel members.

But the session was full of sharp, and occasionally angry, exchanges. For instance, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Democrat of New York, accused Mr. Rumsfeld of being inconsistent over the months in his assessment of the military situation.

“Senator, I don’t think that’s true,” Mr. Rumsfeld said, declaring that the senator would have “a dickens of a time” documenting her assertion that he had been overly optimistic in the past. But Senator Clinton did not back down, and she said she would introduce evidence of her assertion into the committee record.

And Senator John S. McCain, Republican of Arizona, who is a firm supporter of the campaign in Iraq, voiced concern about the effects of shifting of United States troops into Baghdad, thereby lessening troop strength elsewhere. “What I worry about is, we’re playing a game of whack-a-mole here,” the senator said.

Mr. McCain had pointed exchanges with both generals, who conceded that events had taken them by surprise.

“General Pace,” the senator said, you said there’s a possibility of the situation in Iraq evolving into civil war. Is that correct?”

“I did say that, yes, sir,” the general replied.

“Did you anticipate this situation a year ago?”

“No, sir.”

“Did you, General Abizaid?”

“I believe that a year ago it was clear to see that sectarian tensions were increasing,” General Abizaid said. “That they would be this high, no.”

The general gave a positive evaluation of the 275,000 members of the Iraqi police, border security and military forces who had completed training. “They are much improved, and they continue to improve every month,” he said.

Senator Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat who graduated from West Point and served in the Army for 12 years, said that under Mr. Rumsfeld’s tenure the Army had been stretched beyond its capacity, a situation he called “a stunning indictment of your leadership.”

“It think it’s an inaccurate statement,” Mr. Rumsfeld shot back, going on to say that the situation was more complicated than Mr. Reed had suggested.

Iraq Moving Toward Civil War, Top U.S. Commanders Say

By William Branigin and Mary Jordan

The top U.S. commander in the Middle East told a Senate panel today that the recent wave of sectarian violence in Iraq threatens to push the country toward an all-out civil war.

To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...er=emailarticle

In Ramadi, Steel Nerves Needed for Night Ride

By Ann Scott Tyson

RAMADI, Iraq -- A red sun sinks behind a dusty row of tents at Camp Ramadi, and another shift begins for the dogged crew of soldiers and Marines who nightly scour this city's streets for bombs.

To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...er=emailarticle

At least 38 killed as U.S. occupation grinds on:

The Iraqi army killed 15 "insurgents" in the past 24 hours in different cities of Iraq, the army said on Thursday.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L03898948.htm


Motorcycle bombing kills 12 in Baghdad:

A bomb strapped to a motorcycle exploded in the center of the capital Thursday, killing at least 12 people and injuring 29, police said.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/4092102.html


US Gen. Abizaid says civil war possible in Iraq :

The head of the U.S. Central Command on Thursday said sectarian violence in Baghdad was as bad as he has ever seen and could lead to a civil war.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060803/ts_nm/...lwar_abizaid_dc


Report: British diplomat warns of Iraq civil war:

A confidential report from Britain’s outgoing ambassador to Iraq warned the country is sliding toward civil war and is likely to divide eventually along ethnic lines, according to a news report Thursday.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14344.htm


US probe suggests coverup in Iraqi shootings:

Military investigators believe that there is enough evidence to suggest that members of a Marine Corps unit deliberately gunned down 24 civilians in the Iraqi town of Haditha last year, and that their commanders tried to cover it up
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14347.htm


US troops accused of killing Iraqi detainees refuse to testify:

Four US soldiers accused of killing three Iraqi prisoners refused to give evidence as a military hearing heard that one of the captives' brains were blown out as he lay injured.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14345.htm


Iraq war’s hidden toll: civilians killed accidentally by U.S. troops :

Americans have scant idea of how often such episodes occur. The Pentagon releases no figures on Iraqi civilians killed by U.S. fire. Each of these unsung civilian deaths creates enmity toward U.S. troops from the friends, family and tribe of the dead.
http://www.kurdmedia.com/articles.asp?id=12833


US troops fire on Sadr supporters: police:

U.S. troops opened fire on a convoy carrying supporters of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr at a checkpoint south of Baghdad on Thursday, wounding at least 16 people, Iraqi police said.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2269689


Iraq's Shia in 'million man march':

Shias from southern and central Iraq have begun travelling to Baghdad in answer to Muqtada al-Sadr's call for a "million man march" in support of Lebanon's Hezbollah.
http://tinyurl.com/nw5mr

At least 29 killed as U.S. occupation grinds on:

Ten people, including three policemen, killed when a suicide car bomber drove into a crowd of spectators at a football match
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/BUL423733.htm


Another 24 killed by car bombs in Mosul:

Insurgents detonated a series of car bombs in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul today, killing at least 24 people, including a senior policeman.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2299300,00.html


Roadside bomb kills couple en route to maternity hospital:

In the early hours of the morning, a roadside bomb killed a pregnant Iraqi woman and her husband as they raced to hospital to deliver her child.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060804/wl_mi..._afp/iraqunrest


U.S. soldiers describe comrades killing blindfolded Iraqi men:

Two American soldiers Thursday described in gruesome detail how their comrades allegedly killed three blindfolded Iraqi detainees, one of whom was covered in brain matter and another who spit blood during his dying moments.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14363.htm


6 Marines Charged in Iraq torture case:

It details incidents where Marines are accused of extracting information from suspected insurgents, or "high-value individuals." - "The charges are going to be about the nature and method with which these Marines obtained information," Casas said. "It will probably be that they used physical force."
http://tinyurl.com/mz3ms


US troops 'war criminals' says prosecutor:

A MILITARY prosecutor branded four US soldiers who have been accused of murdering Iraqi prisoners "war criminals" on Friday and demanded they face a court martial.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14364.htm


Baghdad Burning: Iraqi Girl Blog

Summer of Goodbyes...

In the last month we’ve had two different families staying with us in our house, after having to leave their neighborhoods due to death threats and attacks. It’s not just Sunnis- it’s Shia, Arabs, Kurds- most of the middle-class areas are being targeted by militias.
http://tinyurl.com/gfvvx


Iraqi protesters march in support of Hezbollah:

Hundreds of thousands of Shias marched through the streets of Baghdad chanting "Death to Israel" and "Death to America" on Friday in support for Hezbollah.
http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/200...q-protests.html


US forces trying to prevent mass rally in support of Lebanon :

The US occupation forces attempted to prevent Iraqi demonstrators from reaching Baghdad for participation in public protests on Lebanon, scheduled for tomorrow, by opening fire on the bus that was taking them from Najaf to the capital. One demonstrator was killed and 16 injured.
http://www.arabmonitor.info/news/dettaglio...s=15210&lang=en

Baghdad blasts kill at least 19 BBC News
At least 19 people have been killed and scores hurt in a series of blasts in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.Two bombs claimed at least 10 lives and injured 69 people in a busy market in the al-Shurja district. Earlier, a bomb hit a minibus and a taxi in the centre of the city, killing at least nine people. Two other blasts targeted police, wounding three. The attacks come despite increased security in the city, as violence kills dozens every day across the country. Tuesday also saw an armed raid on a bank in the capital. Robbers killed three security guards and two bank officials and escaped with a large quantity of money. The violence came a day after at least 4,000 US troops were deployed on the streets of the capital in an attempt to reduce sectarian killings and kidnappings. Correspondents say the deployment is being seen as an admission that a two-month-old security operation involving 50,000 mostly Iraqi troops around Baghdad had failed to curb the violence.

Iraq: 28 Killed As U.S. Occupation Grinds On: :

Almost 2,000 bodies were taken Baghdad's morgue in July, the highest tally since the bombing of a Shi'ite shrine in February sparked an explosion of sectarian violence. Morgue assistant manager Doctor Abdul Razzaq al-Obaidi said about 90 percent had died violently.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14425.htm

US troops kill four armed men, two Iraqi bystanders killed:

United States military in Iraq said on Tuesday that its warplanes killed four armed men who were trying to plant bombs in the southern suburbs of the Iraqi capital.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14426.htm

3 U.S. Soldiers Killed
http://tinyurl.com/hxeq4


Deployment of extra US troops hit by row with Iraqi PM :

The United States' attempts to control spiralling sectarian violence in Baghdad ran into immediate problems yesterday, as Iraq's Prime Minister sharply criticised American tactics and made a televised apology to the Iraqi people.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14423.htm


Shiites Press for a Partition of Iraq:

Creating federal regions would curb the violence, backers say. Others see it as a grab at oil wealth.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14424.htm


Sixty percent of Americans oppose Iraq war: poll:

Sixty percent of Americans oppose the U.S. war in Iraq and a majority would support a partial withdrawal of troops by year's end, a CNN poll said on Wednesday.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14449.htm

Troops in Iraq 'under-equipped' BBC News
British troops fighting in Iraq are under-equipped and overstretched, a group of MPs has warned. The all-party defence committee said the soldiers needed more helicopters and better-protected patrol vehicles to shield them from roadside bombs. Committee members visited Iraq in June and said they were disturbed by the deficiencies they had seen. Defence Secretary Des Browne insisted that British forces in the country were "stretched, but not overstretched". And he claimed that many of the equipment problems were being dealt with. Committee chairman James Arbuthnot, a Conservative MP, said the troops now faced a "significantly higher threat" in southern Iraq. "We cannot send them on operations without giving them the tools they need to do the job. The MoD must address equipment shortages and capability gaps as a matter of urgency."

'Courage and dedication'
The MPs said their research had raised fundamental questions over whether the armed forces were structured, trained and equipped to fulfil their role. They promised to return to those questions in the future. BBC security and defence correspondent Rob Watson labelled it a "remarkably critical report" from a "usually constrained" committee. Mr Browne said he welcomed the scrutiny, adding: "I am glad the committee recognises the professionalism, courage and dedication of our people in Iraq. "On helicopters, we have a long-term programme to increase operational availability levels - and we continue to explore ways of meeting short-term needs."

'Appalling'
The MPs were particularly concerned with the use of Snatch Land Rovers, which have been deemed "ineffective" against the more sophisticated roadside bombs. Mr Browne ordered an urgent review of them after a number of soldiers were killed. Colonel Bob Stewart, who was a British commander with the UN forces during the civil war in Bosnia, agreed with the committee about the Land Rovers. "It's been appalling that so many of our soldiers have suffered as a result of roadside bombs and these Snatch Land Rovers," he said. "The Land Rovers were not designed for the job they're doing now." Liberal Democrat defence spokesman Nick Harvey said equipment and capability shortages in Iraq could "prove fatal and must be urgently addressed". "The government's reckless decision to cut the size of the Army is having obvious consequences," he said. "With major operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, a reassessment of whether our capabilities are sufficient to meet our commitments is long overdue."

Breakpoint: What went Wrong

By George Friedman (Stratfor)

On May 23, we published a Geopolitical Intelligence Report titled
"Break Point." In that article, we wrote: "It is now nearly Memorial
Day. The violence in Iraq will surge, but by July 4 there either will
be clear signs that the Sunnis are controlling the insurgency -- or
there won't. If they are controlling the insurgency, the United States
will begin withdrawing troops in earnest. If they are not controlling
the insurgency, the United States will begin wthdrawing troops in
earnest. Regardless of whether the [political settlement] holds, the
U.S. war in Iraq is going to end: U.S. troops either will not be
needed, or will not be useful. Thus, we are at a break point -- at
least for the Americans."

In our view, the fundamental question was whether the Sunnis would buy
into the political process in Iraq. We expected a sign, and we got it
in June, when Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed -- in our view, through
intelligence provided by the Sunni leadership. The same night
al-Zarqawi was killed, the Iraqis announced the completion of the
Cabinet: As part of a deal that finalized the three security positions
(defense, interior and national security), the defense ministry went
to a Sunni. The United States followed that move by announcing a
drawdown of U.S. forces from Iraq, starting with two brigades. All
that was needed was a similar signal of buy-in from the Shia --
meaning they would place controls on the Shiite militias that were
attacking Sunnis. The break point seemed very much to favor a
political resolution in Iraq.

It never happened. The Shia, instead of reciprocating the Sunni and
American gestures, went into a deep internal crisis. Shiite groups in
Basra battled over oil fields. They fought in Baghdad. We expected
that the mainstream militias under the Supreme Council for Islamic
Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) would gain control of the dissidents and
then turn to political deal-making. Instead, the internal Shiite
struggle resolved itself in a way we did not expect: Rather than
reciprocating with a meaningful political gesture, the Shia
intensified their attacks on the Sunnis. The Sunnis, clearly expecting
this phase to end, held back -- and then cut loose with their own
retaliations. The result was, rather than a political settlement,
civil war. The break point had broken away from a resolution.

Part of the explanation is undoubtedly to be found in Iraq itself. The
prospect of a centralized government, even if dominated by the
majority Shia, does not seem to have been as attractive to Iraqi Shia
as absolute regional control, which would guarantee them all of the
revenues from the southern oil fields, rather than just most. That is
why SCIRI leader Abdel Aziz al-Hakim has been pushing for the
creation of a federal zone in the south, similar to that established
for the Kurdistan region in the north. The growing closeness between
the United States and some Sunnis undoubtedly left the Shia feeling
uneasy. The Sunnis may have made a down payment by delivering up
al-Zarqawi, but it was far from clear that they would be in a position
to make further payments. The Shia reciprocated partially by offering
an amnesty for militants, but they also linked the dissolution of
sectarian militias to the future role of Baathists in the government,
which they seek to prevent. Clearly, there were factions within the
Shiite community that were pulling in different directions.

But there was also another factor that appears to have been more
decisive: Iran. It is apparent that Iran not only made a decision not
to support a political settlement in Iraq, but a broader decision to
support Hezbollah in its war with Israel. In a larger sense, Iran
decided to simultaneously confront the United States and its ally
Israel on multiple fronts -- and to use that as a means of challenging
Sunnis and, particularly, Sunni Arab states.

The Iranian Logic

This is actually a significant shift in Iran's national strategy. Iran
had been relatively cooperative with the United States between 2001
and 2004 -- supporting the United States in Afghanistan in a variety
of ways and encouraging Washington to depose Saddam Hussein. This
relationship was not without tensions during those years, but it was
far from confrontational. Similarly, Iran had always had tensions with
the Sunni world, but until last year or so, as we can see in Iraq,
these had not been venomous.

Two key things have to be borne in mind to begin to understand this
shift. First, until the emergence of al Qaeda, the Islamic Republic of
Iran had seen itself -- and had been seen by others -- as being the
vanguard of the Islamist renaissance. It was Iran that had confronted
the United States, and it was Iran's creation, Hezbollah, that had
pioneered suicide bombings, hostage-takings and the like in Lebanon
and around the world. But on Sept.11, 2001, al Qaeda -- a Sunni group
-- had surged ahead of Iran as the embodiment of radical Islam.
Indeed, it had left Iran in the role of appearing to be a collaborator
with the United States. Iran had no use for al Qaeda but did not want
to surrender its position to the Sunni entity.

The second factor that must be considered is Iran's goal in Iraq. The
Iranians, who hated Hussein as a result of the eight-year war and
dearly wanted him destroyed, had supported the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
And they had helped the United tates with intelligence prior to the
war. Indeed, it could be argued that Iran had provided exactly the
intelligence that would provoke the U.S.attack in a way most
advantageous to Iran -- by indicating that the occupation of Iraq
would not be as difficult as might be imagined, particularly if the
United States destroyed the Baath Party and all of its institutions.
U.S. leaders were hearing what they wanted to hear anyway, but Iran
made certain they heard this much more clearly.

Iran had a simple goal: to dominate a post-war Iraq. Iran's Shiite
allies in Iraq comprised the majority, the Shia had not resisted the
American invasion and the Iranians had provided appropriate support.
Therefore, they expected that they would inherit Iraq -- at least in
the sense that it would fall into Tehran's sphere of influence. For
their part, the Americans thought they could impose a regime in Iraq
regardless of Iran's wishes, and they had no desire to create an
Iranian surrogate in Baghdad. Therefore, though they may have
encouraged Iranian beliefs, the goal of the Americans was to create a
coalition government that would include all factions. The Shia could
be the dominant group, but they would not hold absolute power -- and,
indeed, the United States manipulated Iraqi Shia to split further.

We had believed that the Iranians would, in the end, accept a neutral
Iraq with a coalition government that guaranteed Iran's interests.
There is a chance that this might be true in the end, but the Iranians
clearly decided to force a final confrontation with the United States.
Tehran used its influence among some Iraqi groups to reject the Sunni
overture symbolized in al-Zarqawi's death and to instead press forward
with attacks against the Sunni community. It goes beyond this,
inasmuch as Iran also has been forging closer ties with some Sunni
groups, who are responding to Iranian money and a sense of the
inevitability of Iran's ascent in the region.

Iran could have had two thoughts on its mind in pressing the sectarian
offensive. The first was that the United States, lacking forces to
contain a civil war, would be forced to withdraw, or at least to
reduce its presence in populated areas, if a civil war broke out. This
would leave the majority Shia in a position to impose their own
government -- and, in fact, place pro-Iranian Shia, who had led the
battle, in a dominant position among the Shiite community.

The second thought could have been that even if U.S. forces did not
withdraw, Iran would be better off with a partitioned Iraq -- in which
the various regions were at war with each other, or at least focused
on each other, and incapable of posing a strategic threat to Iran.
Moreover, if partition meant that Iran dominated the southern part of
Iraq, then the strategic route to the western littoral of the Persian
Gulf would be wide open, with no Arab army in a position to resist the
Iranians. Their dream of dominating the Persian Gulf would still be in
reach, while the security of their western border would be guaranteed.
So, if U.S. forces did not withdraw from Iraq, Iran would still be
able not only to impose a penalty on the Americans but also to pursue
its own strategic interests.

This line of thinking also extends to pressures that Iran now is
exerting against Saudi Arabia, which has again become a key ally of
the United States. For example, a member of the Iranian Majlis
recently called for Muslim states to enact political and economic
sanctions against Saudi Arabia -- which has condemned Hezbollah's
actions in the war against Israel. In the larger scheme, it was
apparent to the Iranians that they could not achieve their goals in
Iraq without directly challenging Saudi interests -- and that meant
mounting a general challenge to Sunnis. A partial challenge would make
no sense: It would create hostility and conflict without a conclusive
outcome. Thus, the Iranians decided to broaden their challenge.

The Significance of Hezbollah

Hezbollah is a Shiite movement that was created by Iran out of its own
needs for a Tehran-controlled, anti-Israel force. Hezbollah was
extremely active through the 1980s and had exercised economic and
political power in Lebanon in the 1990s, as a representative of Shiite
interests. In this, ezbollah had collaborated with Syria -- a
predominantly Sunni try run by a minority Shiite sect, the Alawites --
as well as Iran. Iran and Syria are enormously different countries,
with many different interests. Syria's interest was the domination and
economic exploitation of Lebanon. But when the United States forced
the Syrians out of Lebanon -- following the assassination of former
Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in February 2005 -- any interest Syria
had in restraining Hezbollah disappeared. Meanwhile, as Iran shifted
its strategy, its interest in reactivating Hezbollah -- which had been
somewhat dormant in relation to Israel -- increased.

Hezbollah's interest in being reactivated in this way was less tlear.
Hezbollah's leaders had aged well: Violent and radical in the 1980s,
they had become Lebanese businessmen in the 1990s. They became part of
the establishment. But they still were who they were, and the younger
generation of Hezbollah members was even more radical. Hezbollah
militants had been operating in southern Lebanon for years and,
however relatively restrained they might have been, they clearly had
prepared for conventional war against the Israelis.

With the current conflict, Hezbollah now has achieved an important
milestone: It has fought better and longer than any other Arab army
against Israel. The Egyptians and Syrians launched brilliant attacks
in 1973, but their forces were shattered before the war ended.
Hezbollah has fought and clearly has not been shattered. Whether, in
the end, it wins or loses, Hezbollah will have achieved a massive
improvement of its standing in the Muslim world by slugging it out
with Israel in a conventional war. If, at the end of this war,
Hezbollah remains intact as a fighting force -- regardless of the
outcome of the campaign in southern Lebanon -- its prestige will be
enormous.

Within the region, this outcome would shift focus way from the Sunni
Hamas or secular Fatah to the Shiite Hezbollah. If this happens
simultaneously with the United States losing complete control of the
situation in Iraq, the entire balance of power in the region would be
perceived to have shifted away from the U.S.-Israeli coalition (the
appearance is different from reality, but it is still far from
trivial) -- and the leadership of the Islamist renaissance would have
shifted away from the Sunnis to the Shia, at least in the Middle East.

Outcomes

It is not clear that the Iranians expected all of this to have gone
quite as well as it has. In the early days of the war, when the
Saudis and other Arabs were condemning Hezbollah and it appeared that
Israel was going to launch one of its classic lightning campaigns in
Lebanon, Tehran seemed to back away -- calling for a cease-fire and
indicating it was prepared to negotiate on issues like uranium
enrichment. Then international criticism shifted to Israel, and
Israeli forces seemed bogged down. Iran's rhetoric shifted. Now the
Saudis are back to condemning Hezbollah, and the Iranians appear more
confident than ever. From their point of view, they have achieved
substantial psychological success based on real military achievements.
They have the United States on the defensive in Iraq, and the Israelis
are having to fight hard to make any headway in Lebanon.

The Israelis have few options. They can continue to fight until they
break Hezbollah -- a process that will be long and costly, but can be
achieved. But they then risk Hezbollah shifting to guerrilla war
unless their forces immediately withdraw from Lebanon. Alternatively,
they can negotiate a cease-fire that inevitably would leave at least
part of Hezbollah's forces intact, its prestige and power in Lebanon
enhanced and Iran elevated as a power within the region and the Muslim
world. Because the Israelis are not going anywhere, they have to
choose from a limited menu.

The United States, on the other hand, is facing a situation in Iraq
that has broken decisively against it. However hopeful the situation
might have been the night al-Zarqawi died, the decision by Iran's
allies in Iraq to pursue civil war rather than a coalition government
has put the United States into a militarily untenable position. It
does not have sufficient forces to prevent a civil war. It can
undertake the defense of the Sunnis, but only at the cost of further
polarization with the Shia. The United States' military options are
severely limited, and therefore, withdrawal becomes even more
difficult. The only possibility is a negotiated settlement -- and at
this point, Iran doesn't need to negotiate. Unless Grand Ayatollah Ali
al-Sistani, the top Shiite cleric in Iraq, firmly demands a truce, the
sectarian fighting will continue -- and at the moment, it is not even
clear that al-Sistani could get a truce if he wanted one.

While the United States was focused on the chimera of an Iranian
nuclear bomb -- a possibility that, assuming everything we have heard
is true, remains years away from becoming reality -- Iran has moved to
redefine the region. At the very least, civil war in Lebanon (where
Christians and Sunnis might resist Hezbollah) could match civil war in
Iraq, with the Israelis and Americans trapped in undesirable roles.

The break point has come and gone. The United States now must make an
enormously difficult decision. If it simply withdraws forces from
Iraq, it leaves the Arabian Peninsula open to Iran and loses all
psychological advantage it gained with the invasion of Iraq. If
American forces stay in Iraq, it will be as a purely symbolic gesture,
without any hope for imposing a solution. If this were 2004, the
United States might have the stomach for a massive infusion of forces
-- an attempt to force a favorable resolution. But this is 2006, and
the moment for that has passed. The United States now has no good
choices; its best bet was blown up by Iran. Going to war with Iran is
not an option. In Lebanon, we have just seen the value of air
campaigns pursued in isolation, and the United States does not have a
force capable of occupying and pacifying Iran.

As sometimes happens, obvious conclusions must be drawn.

Blasts kill 62 in Shiite area of Baghdad:

Car bombs and a rocket barrage struck a predominantly Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least 62 people, a municipal official said
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060814/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq


Iraqi health minister alleges wrongful arrests, theft by US occupation troops :

Ali al-Shemri, head of Iraq's Ministry of Health [official website], alleged Sunday that US occupation troops wrongfully detained five members of his personal security force and stole their salaries during an early morning raid of the Health Ministry Building.
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2006...es-wrongful.php

Iraqi Kurdish party office bombed BBC News
Four Iraqis have been killed in a suicide bomb attack on an office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. The PUK is Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's political party. Police officials have warned that the death toll could climb as rescuers search the rubble. More than 30 people were injured in the attack. Mosul is a religiously and ethnically mixed city 390km (240 miles) north Of the capital, Baghdad.

Iraq: At least 34 killed as U.S Occupation grinds on:

Two simultaneous car bombs killed at least 13 people and wounded 43 in Baghdad on Wednesday, police said.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/KAM617880.htm


July deadliest month of U.S. Occupation: At least 3,438 civilians killed :

When the July tally for total civilian deaths is added to Iraqi government numbers for earlier months, the total indicates that at least 17,776 Iraqi civilians died violently in the first seven months of this year, or an average of 2,539 per month.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14568.htm


Karbala locked down after clashes:

Police have locked down the Iraqi holy city of Karbala after a day of violent clashes with militiamen loyal to a local Shiite cleric left at least 18 people dead.
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=137769

Bomb explodes at Baghdad market BBC News
At least seven people have been killed in a car bomb attack at a busy market in Baghdad's Sadr City district as Iraq was hit by another day of violence. A further 26 people were wounded when the bomb exploded in the populous Shia district of the Iraqi capital. Three police officers were wounded in a separate bombing near their patrol in Baghdad's upscale Mansour district, interior ministry officials said. At least six people were killed in a spate of attacks around Baquba. Three of the victims were brothers who owned an agricultural shop while a fourth was a salesman, the AFP news agency reports. In other violence:

• Five bodies were pulled out of the Tigris river near the town of Suwayra, 45km (25 miles) south of the capital
• An Iraqi soldier keeping guard of oil fields was shot dead in Balad, 80km (50 miles) north of Baghdad
• At least 20 people were wounded, and there were reports of casualties, in a mortar attack on a market in Muqdadiya, 90km (55 miles) north-east of Baghdad
• A US soldier was killed in fighting with insurgents in the restive western Anbar province, the US military said.

Crackdown
The blast in Sadr City happened just after noon, killing "seven people when an Opel car was detonated," Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki said. One eyewitness told Reuters television children and women work at the market to earn a living. "Was the car bomb targeting those who are selling tomato and eggplant?" the witness, Jassim, asked. Sadr City is Baghdad's largest Shia neighbourhood and a stronghold of the radical Shia cleric Moqtadr Sadr. It has been repeatedly targeted by Sunni militants, and is now heavily patrolled by Iraqi police as well as members of Moqtadr Sadr's Mehdi army. The Iraqi government and US military have launched a major drive to reclaim parts of Baghdad from the gunmen and the bombers. Thousands of US troops have been drafted in to the capital in recent weeks to tackle the rising sectarian violence.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060817/pl_nm/bush_iraq_dc_4

White House sees "huge challenges" in Iraq
By Steve Holland
Thu Aug 17, 3:32 PM ET

Amid a largely bleak picture in Iraq, President Bush received an update on the security situation from top commanders on Thursday and the White House said "huge challenges" remain.

Bush held talks with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and senior advisers. Participating by video link were top generals George Casey and John Abizaid.

White House spokesman Tony Snow said he suspected there could be some discussion about U.S. troop levels in Iraq but he had no details.

"When you're getting a comprehensive review, one of the questions that's going to come up is, what do we need? The president has always said that that's the first question he asks his commanders, and I suspect that it will arise today," said White House spokesman Tony Snow.

Bush is under election-year pressure to start bringing some troops home this year, but a spasm of violence in Baghdad has forced commanders to move some American forces from other parts of Iraq into the capital.

The New York Times reported on Thursday that the number of daily strikes against American and Iraqi security forces has doubled since January.

But Bush says he will not be governed by public-opinion polls or political considerations in making decisions about Iraq, which he calls a central front in the war on terrorism.

The Times quoted an unnamed military affairs expert who briefed at the White House last month as saying senior administration officials "have acknowledged to me that they are considering alternatives other than democracy" in Iraq.

'JUST NOT TRUE'

Snow opened his daily briefing by saying, "It's just not true."

The Bush administration is insisting that Iraq is not sliding into a civil war despite weeks of sectarian violence that have killed hundreds of Iraqis.

"The administration continues, though, to take a very close and candid look at what's going on. The security situation in some places is uneven. And it's clear that there are huge challenges that await us," Snow said.

A new poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found Americans significantly more pessimistic about the situation in Iraq now than they were two months ago.

In June, after the killing of Iraq's al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, 53 percent of Americans thought the situation was going well in Iraq, while only 41 percent believe so now after weeks of sectarian violence, the poll said.

The survey also said that 52 percent of Americans believe there should be a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops, while 41 percent believe there should not be.

Bush's overall job approval rating was at 37 percent, which is in the danger zone for a president whose party is seeking to retain control of the U.S. Congress in the November election.

Democrats accuse Bush of staying the course with a failed policy in Iraq and say the Iraq war is draining resources from fighting the greater threat to U.S. security, al Qaeda.

"We need a new direction. We need to refocus our attention on destroying the enemy that attacked us five years ago, protecting America, and rebuilding our military," said Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada on Wednesday.



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10 killed as violence hits restive Iraq province :

On Thursday, six people were killed in a string of shootings in and around Baquba.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060818/wl_mi...raqunrestbaquba


At least 7 Killed in another day of violent occupation:

Three men were killed in Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, including one believed to be a member of the Kurdish Peshmerga militia, Colonel Karin Khalef said.
http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticl...oryId=L18816288


First female suicide bomber attack kills at least 7 in Iraq:

At least seven were killed and more than another 20 wounded, including civilians and military personnel, al-Dar said. The US and Iraqi military did not specify the number of casualties inflicted upon their forces in this attack.
http://tinyurl.com/fe65b


Iran shells Iraq's northern frontier :

Scores of Kurds have fled their homes in the northern frontier region after four days of shelling by the Iranian army. Local officials said Turkey had also fired a number of shells into Iraqi territory.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1852843,00.html


Iraqi govt announces two-day vehicle ban in Baghdad:

The Iraqi government announced a two-day vehicle ban in parts of Baghdad starting on Friday night as thousands of Shi'ites converged on the capital to mark the martyrdom of a revered 8th century Imam.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2329297


Tampering With Evidence Is Possible In Haditha, Rape - Murder Case:

It has been known that Marines who carried out the killings made false statements to investigators and that senior officers were criticized for not being more aggressive in investigating the case, in which most or all of the Iraqis who were killed were civilians. But this is the first time details about possible concealment or destruction of evidence have been disclosed.
http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=89c93e84-...69-0a3f8c4d6f27


‘Staying the Course’ In Iraq Would Increase Deficit By $1.3 Trillion Over Next Decade :

A phased withdrawal would save $416 billion on the deficit over the next four years and $1.28 trillion over the next decade. On the other hand, a strategy of “stay the course” will increase the deficit by $313 billion over the next four years and $1.3 trillion over the next decade.
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/08/17/iraq-deficit/


All-night queues as Baghdad runs out of petrol :

Iraq has the third largest oil reserves in the world but yesterday drivers were forming mile-long queues outside petrol stations, knowing that they would spend the night in their cars before they could fill up.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml...8/18/wirq18.xml

Baghdad killings mar pilgrimage BBC News
At least seven people have been killed and more than 50 hurt in Baghdad when gunmen fired on pilgrims making their way to the tomb of Imam Musa Kadhim.Tens of thousands of Shia Muslims are taking part in an annual pilgrimage to the revered religious leader's tomb. Seven pilgrims were shot dead on Saturday while walking to the shrine through a Sunni area of Baghdad. Iraq's prime minister earlier warned that those using mosques to provoke sectarian violence would be prosecuted. Reports suggest that snipers ambushed the procession on Sunday as it made its way towards the shrine, and police returned fire. Iraq's health ministry told the BBC that a total of 15 people had been killed and 217 injured in shooting incidents in different parts of Baghdad on Sunday. The city has seen months of sectarian violence between Shia and Sunni Muslims, fuelling fears of a civil war. Correspondents report that Mehdi Army militiamen, loyal to the radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, have been providing protection for some groups of pilgrims. During last year's pilgrimage, mortars were fired at the mosque housing Imam Musa Kadhim's tomb and rumours spread of possible suicide bombers. In the ensuing stampede, almost 1,000 pilgrims died - the highest death toll on a single day since the 2003 war that toppled Saddam Hussein. Many of the dead were women and children.

Iraq: At least 18 killed as U.S. Occupation grinds on:

Gunmen killed at least 12 civilians in Baquba and nearby towns including two university professors, students and farmers
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/KHA927262.htm


7 Shia pilgrims gunned down in Baghdad:

Seven pilgrims heading to a major Shia religious gathering were shot dead in a Sunni neighbourhood, while a vehicle ban aimed at preventing attacks during two days of ceremonies emptied Baghdad's streets Saturday.
http://www.thedailystar.net/2006/08/20/d608201308123.htm


Iranian Shells Land in Kurdish Villages in Northern Iraq, Killing 2:

Artillery shells fired from Iran have landed in remote northern villages of Iraqi Kurdistan in the past four days and have killed at least two civilians and wounded four others, a senior Kurdish official said Saturday. Dozens of families have fled the region.
http://fairuse.100webcustomers.com/sf/nyt8_20_06.htm


U.S. occupation soldier killed in Iraq:

An American occupation forces soldier was killed in combat Saturday in Anbar province, the stronghold of the Sunni Arab insurgency west of Baghdad, the U.S. military announced
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060819/ap_on_...q_us_casualties


U.S. Officer: Murder Of Iraqi Women And Children Routine:

The Marine officer who commanded the battalion involved in the Haditha killings last November did not consider the deaths of 24 Iraqis, many of them women and children, unusual and did not initiate an inquiry, according to a sworn statement he gave to military investigators in March.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14618.htm


Iraqi Kids Imprisoned, U.S. Official Says:

The U.S.-led coalition is ignoring innocent children being held and sometimes abused in Iraqi juvenile prisons, a State Department official says.
http://tinyurl.com/o2v4m


In a world gone crazy:

Bush: Troops in Iraq Make America Safer:

The president says he is determined to keep U.S. troops in Iraq as he says it is better to fight terrorists abroad than to fight them at home.
http://www.redbolivia.com/noticias/News%20...lish/23961.html


Left-wingers rally behind Prescott to demand Blair quits over Iraq :

Demands for Tony Blair to quit over his support for US President George W Bush in the Middle East are to be taken to Labour's annual conference next month in a direct challenge to his leadership by left-wing Labour campaigners.
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article1220294.ece

No Saddam plea at genocide trial BBC News
Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has refused to enter a plea on the opening day of his trial on charges of genocide and war crimes in Baghdad.Seven defendants are being tried in connection with an anti-Kurdish offensive in 1987-88. About 100,000 people are thought to have died in Operation Anfal. All the defendants, including Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali", were present in the court room in Baghdad's Green Zone. In the absence of a plea, the judge entered a not guilty plea on behalf of Saddam Hussein. Saddam Hussein and seven different defendants have already been tried for the killing of 148 Shias in Dujail in 1982. A verdict on that is due on 16 October. Operation Anfal, or "Spoils of War", targeted Kurdish independence militias. Saddam Hussein believed they were helping his enemy Iran. Survivors say they were targeted with gas, although this new trial does not deal with the Halabja attack in 1988, where 5,000 Kurds are thought to have been gassed to death. A separate tribunal is dealing with that case.

Defiance
The former Iraqi president challenged the legitimacy of the court, as he had done at his previous trial.

• Saddam Hussein: Genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity
• Ali Hassan al-Majid, ex-Baath leader in northern Iraq: Genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity
• Sultan Hashim Ahmed, ex-defence minister: War crimes and crimes against humanity
• Saber Abdul Aziz, ex-intelligence chief: War crimes and crimes against humanity
• Hussein Rashid al-Tikriti, ex-Republican Guard head: War crimes and crimes against humanity
• Taher Muhammad al-Ani, ex-governor of Nineveh province: War crimes and crimes against humanity
• Farhan al-Jibouri, ex-military commander: War crimes and crimes against humanity

He refused initially to give his name, answering chief judge Abdullah al-Amiri's request to identify himself with: "You know my name." "This is the law of the occupation," Saddam Hussein complained, before identifying himself as "president of the republic and commander in chief of the armed forces". Mr Amiri told the former Iraqi president that he was on trial for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, and asked him whether he was innocent or guilty. "That would require volumes of books," Saddam Hussein replied. The anti-Kurdish operation earned Saddam Hussein's cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majid, his nickname. He also faces genocide charges. The other defendants are former Defence Minister Sultan Hashim Ahmed, former intelligence chief Saber Abdul Aziz, former Republican Guard commander Hussein Rashid al-Tikriti, a former Nineveh governor Taher Muhammad al-Ani and former military commander Farhan al-Jibouri. All the defendants face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity and face the death penalty if convicted. The defence is expected to portray the campaign as a legitimate counter-insurgency against Kurdish militias who were accused of helping Iran in the war. The prosecution will argue that it amounted to genocide. The evidence is expected to include government documents and testimony of survivors. Mr Amiri, a Shia, is leading a five-member panel of judges in the same courthouse that saw the Dujail trial. Human rights activists have questioned the fairness of the Iraqi judicial system and said there were "serious shortcomings" in the Dujail case. Three defence lawyers were assassinated and the original chief judge replaced. Prosecutors want the death penalty for Saddam Hussein and two of the seven other defendants in the Dujail case. All denied the charges. The case reconvenes on 16 October. If Saddam Hussein is convicted and given the death penalty he may still appeal, raising the possibility that any execution could be delayed by years.