Talabani backs 'Iran-Syria plan' BBC News
Violence in Iraq could end "within months" if Iran and Syria joined efforts to stabilise the country, says Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.He told the BBC the move would "be the beginning of the end of terrorism". The suggestion is said to come from a panel of US experts who are reportedly considering calling for a big change in US policy on Iraq. The panel, led by a former US secretary of state, is also said to think that "staying the course" is untenable. However, Mr Talabani said was not worried by reports that James Baker's panel may recommend an early - or phased - withdrawal of coalition troops from Iraq. "I'm sure that no-one will decide to pull out quickly in Iraq," he told the BBC's Jim Muir.

'Alternative approach'
Mr Baker's commission, which is due to report in the next few months, is reportedly considering significant changes.The task force, which was asked by the US Congress to examine the effectiveness of American policy in Iraq, has reportedly been looking at two options, both of which would amount to a reversal of the Bush administration's stance. Mr Baker, who was secretary of state under President George Bush, the current president's father, has so far stressed that the panel has not come to a definitive conclusion. But he has indicated the direction of the panel's thinking in recent television interviews. "Our commission believes that there are alternatives between the stated alternatives, the ones that are out there in the political debate of 'stay the course' and 'cut and run,'" he told ABC News recently. In a separate development British Prime Minister Tony Blair said that British forces will not "walk away" from Iraq or Afghanistan until their job there is done. Referring to Mr Baker's report, Mr Blair said he would be "absolutely astonished" if it set out plans to "get out of Iraq come what may".

Trial dividing Iraq, says Saddam BBC News
Saddam Hussein has accused prosecution witnesses at his trial for genocide against the Kurds of fuelling division and hatred among Iraqis.The ousted president said: "The Zionists are the only ones who will benefit from differences among Iraqis." He was addressing the court after several Kurds testified about atrocities allegedly committed by government forces in 1988. Prosecutors say some 180,000 people died during the Anfal offensive. "We are one people as Iraqis and no-one can doubt that in this place," Saddam Hussein said during Tuesday's court session.He said the testimony by the Kurd prosecution witnesses would "only serve the separation" in Iraq, referring to the growing sectarian and ethnic violence that has already claimed thousands of lives. Saddam Hussein's comments echoed his open letter to Iraqis on Monday in which he blamed foreign forces for sowing divisions among Iraqis. In the letter, the former president also predicted Iraq's "liberation" from US military control.

'Anfalised'
Earlier on Tuesday, several elderly Kurdish peasants gave evidence about the Anfal campaign.Mutalib Mohammed Salman, 78, said he and others from his village in northern Iraq had been rounded up and taken to a prison camp in central Iraq. He said conditions in the prison had been so bad that hundreds of people had died there. Mr Salman also said that his wife and many relatives had disappeared after the offensive. "I demand Saddam tell me about the fate of my relatives, the 33 of my relatives who were 'Anfalised'," he said. Another witness, Omar Hassan Omar, 71, said he had been arrested and sent with thousands of fellow Kurds to a prison camp where hundreds later died. He said his family had disappeared after an attack on his village by Iraqi troops. In another development on Tuesday, the presiding judge agreed to a request by defence counsel to allow their lawyer back in court. The defence lawyers have been boycotting the trial after the sacking of the previous presiding judge for alleged bias towards Saddam Hussein several weeks ago. The trial was later adjourned until Wednesday.

Dujail verdict expected
Saddam Hussein and his six co-defendants insist the Anfal operation was a legitimate measure against separatists. The former Iraqi leader and his cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majid, are charged with genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Anfal campaign. Four others are charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. All seven could face the death penalty. In a separate trial, Saddam Hussein and seven other co-defendants are awaiting a verdict concerning the deaths and torture of Shia Muslims during a crackdown in the village of Dujail in 1980s. A verdict in this trial is expected next month.

Iraq attacks kill 10 US soldiers BBC News
The United States military in Iraq says a marine and nine soldiers have been killed in Iraq, including four in a roadside bombing near Baghdad.The blast struck the soldiers' vehicle as they travelled west of the capital. Three more were killed in the restive Diyala province, north of Baghdad. The three others died in separate attacks. The deaths come as US-led forces in Iraq experience a surge in casualties in insurgency attacks; more than 60 US troops have been killed this month. The BBC's Andrew North in Baghdad says that, with an average of three Americans dying every day, this is one of the highest casualty rates sustained by US troops since January 2005. The US military gave no further details about the deaths in Diyala, apart from saying they occurred during operations in the province.All the fatalities happened on Tuesday. The US military usually announces deaths the following day. One soldier died in northern Baghdad when his patrol was attacked with small-arms fire. Another was killed when his patrol was hit by a roadside bomb. In western Anbar province, a marine died from his wounds after coming under fire, the military said. Commanders say American troops are more exposed to attack at the moment because of stepped-up operations to tackle sectarian violence in Baghdad and elsewhere. The sharp increase in deaths comes as debate intensifies in Washington and Iraq over possibilities of a new strategy for addressing the worsening security situation. On Tuesday, at least two special police commanders were moved from units at the centre of allegations about Shia death squads carrying out sectarian killings of Sunni Muslims. Interior Ministry officials played down the significance of the changes in public, but privately said they were the result of US and Sunni pressure. There have been widespread allegations of the involvement in Iraqi policemen in the sectarian killings carried out by death squads and illegal militia.

THE KILLING FIELDS OF IRAQ - ROBERT SCHEER (TRUTHDIG, OCTOBER 16): The Lancet report authors, being serious scientists, concede that counting the dead in a country turned into a war zone is a difficult enterprise, but even the lowest figure in their estimate, more than 300,000 dead, is shocking enough.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/200601...ng_fields_iraq/

BUSH PLAYS POLITICS WITH IRAQI DEAD - JOHN NICHOLS (MADISON CAPITAL TIMES, WISCONSIN, OCTOBER 17/COMMON DREAMS): From the start of his miserable misadventure, Bush has talked up the wrong threats, imagined the wrong successes and embraced the wrong strategies. Now he tells us that others are wrong about the damage done by his miscalculations.
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1017-23.htm

CHRISTIANS IN THE CROSSFIRE: PRO-WAR EVANGELICALS HAVE MADE EXILES -- AND MARTYRS -- OF IRAQI BELIEVERS - DOUG BANDOW (AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE, OCTOBER 23)
http://www.amconmag.com/2006/2006_10_23/article.html

WHERE HAVE ALL THE DOCTORS GONE?: THE COLLAPSE OF IRAQ'S HEALTH CARE SERVICES - DAVID WILSON (COUNTERPUNCH, OCTOBER 14-15)
http://www.counterpunch.org/wilson10162006.html

THE END OF PRESS FREEDOM IN IRAQ? - JUAN COLE (INFORMED COMMENT: THOUGHTS ON THE MIDDLE EAST, HISTORY, AND RELIGION, OCTOBER 17): al-Sharqiya Television employs 400 reporters, administrators and technicians. Al-Zaman newspaper employs 150 reporters, 160 technicians and administrators in all of its Iraq-based operations. The parliament warned these two media organs against repeating their "unacceptable coverage."
http://www.juancole.com/2006/10/end-of-pre...q-al-zaman.html

IRAQ: UNEMPLOYMENT AND VIOLENCE INCREASE POVERTY - REUTERS (OCTOBER 17)
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/I...f922a039cad.htm

U.S. MAY HAVE WEEKS, NOT MONTHS, TO AVERT CIVIL WAR, ADVISER WARNS - JAMES STERNGOLD (SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, OCTOBER 18): "There's a sense among many people now that things in Iraq are slipping fast and there isn't a lot of time to reverse them," said Larry Diamond, one of a panel of experts advising the Iraq Study Group, which is preparing a range of policy alternatives for President Bush.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...&type=printable

BARNEY AND BAGHDAD - THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN (NEW YORK TIMES, OCTOBER 18): What were seeing in Iraq seems like the jihadist equivalent of the Tet offensive.
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/10/18/opini...agewanted=print
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ETHNIC STRIFE: DIVISIONS DEEPEN IN IRAQ - JSG (SPIEGEL INTERNATIONAL, OCTOBER 16): Iraq's parliament passed a new federalism law last week, paving the way for Shiites to form a powerful, self-ruling province in the south of the country. If the law holds, critics worry the war-torn country could see a spike in intra-ethnic violence.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiege...,442867,00.html

CORDESMAN: IRAQI CIVIL WAR - MARC LYNCH (ABU AARDVARK, OCTOBER 17): In a report released yesterday titled "Is there a civil war in Iraq?", CSIS analyst Anthony Cordesman gives a good sense of the scope of this violence and its political meaning.
http://abuaardvark.typepad.com/abuaardvark...sman_iraqi.html

FUN, FUN, FUN TILL DADDY TOOK THE IRAQ WAR AWAY: BUSH'S IRAQ DISASTER IS TAKING THE GOP DOWN, AND HIS FATHER'S OLD PAL JAMES BAKER IS ABOUT TO TELL HIM WHAT TO DO - GARY KAMIYA (SALON, OCTOBER 17): Left unspoken in Baker's report is the obvious larger point: The U.S. mission has failed, and once we do everything we can to prevent Iraq from descending into a hellish civil war, we should get out.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/kamiya/2006/1...aker/print.html

STOP TRAINING IRAQIS FOR CIVIL WAR - IVAN ELAND (ANTIWAR.COM, OCTOBER 17): A rapid U.S. withdrawal and decentralization of Iraqi governance is the last hope to avoid a full-fledged civil war, because the three groups don't want to live together and are frightened that a strong central government could be used to oppress the group or groups that don't control it.
http://www.antiwar.com/eland/?articleid=9874

TRAINING REGIMEN: PROBLEMS AFFLICT U.S. ARMY PROGRAM TO ADVISE IRAQIS; UNTESTED AMERICANS SHIP OUT TO MENTOR FOREIGN FORCES; MILITARY PLANS CHANGES; A FEW HOURS OF ARABIC LESSONS - GREG JAFFE (WALL STREET JOURNAL, OCTOBER 18)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1161136052...ays_us_page_one
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BRING IRAQI FORCES UP TO SPEED: IF THE U.S. WON'T SEND MORE TROOPS TO STABILIZE THE COUNTRY, IT SHOULD ASSIGN MORE OF ITS BEST OFFICERS TO TRAIN IRAQIS - MAX BOOT (LOS ANGELES TIMES, OCTOBER 18)
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-...inion-rightrail

IRAQ: LEAVE OR BE FORCED OUT - GARETH PORTER (TOMPAINE.COM, OCTOBER 17): Our troops are doing no good to anyone as sitting targets for both sides.
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/10/1..._forced_out.php

BUSH - NOBLE, BUT MISTAKEN - BARY RUBIN (JERUSALEM POST, OCTOBER 17): What Bush should have done regarding Iraq -- and it isn't too late, though he seems determined to compound his errors -- is to set a timetable for withdrawal, without a detailed public commitment but with a clear message to Iraq's government that it must take responsibility for its own defense.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid...ticle%2FPrinter

CHENEY: "GENERAL OVERALL SITUATION" IN IRAQ IS GOING "REMARKABLY WELL" - (HUFFINGTON POST, OCTOBER 17)
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/10/17/cheney-rush/

IRAQ A HELLUVA MESS: BAKER - (DAILY TELEGRAPH, OCTOBER 18): Former US secretary of state James Baker was visibly shocked when he last visited Iraq, and said the country was in a "helluva mess", the BBC reported today.
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/stor...5006506,00.html

IRAQ FOLLOWS VIETNAM MODEL - MOLLY IVINS (TRUTHDIG, OCTOBER 17)
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/200601...amization_iraq/

20 Bodies found in occupied Baghdad : Most of the bodies “were unidentified and some bore torture marks while most were killed with gunshots in different parts of the body,”
http://tinyurl.com/y44pwu

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U.S. military says 11 soldiers killed in Iraq By Ibon Villelabeitia :

Eleven U.S. soldiers were killed on Tuesday, the U.S. military said on Wednesday, in one of the sharpest spikes in attacks on American forces battling soaring sectarian violence and a Sunni Arab insurgency.
http://tinyurl.com/tzz5q

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Study of Iraqi Dead Shocking, But Sound Science :

The Statistical Assessment Service a non-profit, non-partisan media research organization - finds the study estimating 650,000 excess Iraqi casualties since American forces entered the country to be methodologically sound.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15335.htm

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Over 650,000 excesive Iraqi deaths during war and occupation:

The scientific community is in agreement over the statistical methods used to collect the data and the validity of the conclusions drawn by the researchers conducting the study.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15336.htm

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8 courts-martial ordered in rape, murder cases :

4 U.S. soldiers face charges over 14 year old girl's death in Iraqi town of Mahmoudiya
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15320226/

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Gunmen in Iraq's Ramadi announce Sunni emirate:

Dozens of "al Qaeda-linked" gunmen took to the streets of Ramadi on Wednesday in a show of force to announce the city was joining an Islamic state comprising Iraq's mostly Sunni Arab provinces, Islamists and witnesses said.
http://tinyurl.com/y588jn

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Saudi Arabia speaks out against bill to divide Iraq:

"The Cabinet hopes the leaders of Iraq, the wise men and 'ulema' [religious scholars], appreciate that their duty is to stand against attempts at partition under whatever disguise."
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?ed...rticle_id=76261

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English translation of Saddam Hussein Letter:

I know the heart of the freedom fighter and love to his nation, his people after his love to God, I expect you to heal the wounds and not to open new wounds.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15334.htm

===
Iraq orders US to release Shia activist:

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki ordered the release Wednesday of a leading member of radical Shia cleric Moqtada Al Sadr’s political organisation who was detained by US troops, state television said.
http://tinyurl.com/y2g2jo

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Slovakia to pull troops from Iraq in February:

Slovakia was a staunch supporter of the U.S.-led military campaign in Iraq under the centre-right government of Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda. He lost power in a June election and the new leftist administration of Prime Minister Robert Fico has long opposed Slovakia's presence in Iraq.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L1825061.htm

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Simon Jenkins: America has finally taken on the grim reality of Iraq :

America must leave Iraq without preconditions and hope that its neighbours, hated Syria and Iran, can clear up the mess. This advice comes not from some anti-war coalition but from the Iraq study group under the former Republican secretary of state, James Baker
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/st...1924736,00.html

Iraq bomber hits police compound BBC News
A suicide bomber at the wheel of a fuel truck has driven into a police compound in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, killing at least 12 people.Police said civilians bore the brunt of the attack at the Tamam police station. Twenty people were wounded. The authorities imposed a curfew after the early morning blast, which was heard throughout the city. Mosul is an ethnically and religiously mixed city 390km (240 miles) north of the capital, Baghdad. Police in Mosul said officers opened fire on the bomber as he drove the explosives-laden fuel truck towards their compound. He was shot dead, but the fuel ignited and set off the explosives, police said. Many of the casualties were motorists waiting to buy fuel at a nearby petrol station, police said. About 30 vehicles were damaged.

'Surge in violence'
Correspondents say Mosul has witnessed a recent escalation of violence, with Sunni Arab insurgents battling US troops and the Shia-led led government in Baghdad.Meanwhile, police in Baghdad said at least two officers and two passers-by were killed in the south of the city after a double roadside bomb attack on a police patrol. The first blast killed two civilians and wounded 11. A second bomb exploded five minutes later targeting police and rescuers who had arrived at the scene, AP news agency reported, citing police spokesman Maytham Abdul-Razzaq. Two officers were reportedly killed and two others were wounded in the second blast.

Iraq: At least 81 killed as U.S. occupation grinds on:

Six suicide bombers in vehicles, including one in a fuel truck, attacked Iraqi police and U.S. patrols, and insurgents fired mortars and clashed with police, U.S. officials and police said. The violence killed at least 20 people in the city 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IBO932840.htm

===
Another 18 killed in Bomb Attacks:

Eight people have died in a attack on an Iraqi bank in Kirkuk, while earlier in Mosul an explosive-laden truck was blown up near a police station killing at least 10 people.
http://tinyurl.com/yzj3g7

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Shiite militias battle in southern Iraq:

The family of the murdered chief of police intelligence in the southern Maysan province struck back today against his suspected killers, kidnapping the teenage brother of a local militia commander and vowing not to free him unless the culprits are turned over, police said.
http://tinyurl.com/yakgzv

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US army concedes failure in Baghdad:

American and Iraqi efforts to improve security in Baghdad have failed to reduce bloodshed in the increasingly violent Iraqi capital, the senior US military spokesman in Iraq acknowledged on Thursday.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15358.htm

===
Cynicism on Iraq:

A Marine friend just back from Ramadi said to me, "It didn't get any better while I was there, and it's not going to get better." Virtually everyone in Washington, except the people in the White House, knows that is true for all of Iraq.
http://www.upi.com/SecurityTerrorism/view....19-104408-1976r

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Troops will be out of Iraq in 16 months, Blair tells Commons:

Tony Blair set a 16-month limit for keeping British troops in Iraq yesterday as he admitted for the first time that they would be a "provocation" if they stayed too long.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15345.htm

===
Iraq a 'catastrophic blunder':

The war in Iraq has been a "catastrophic blunder" that has substantially increased the terrorist threat to Australia, one of the nation's most distinguished former diplomats said today.
http://tinyurl.com/yk7qtd

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Paul McGeough: Civil war reveals bankrupt Iraq policy:

DEMOCRACY in Iraq is meaningless until an end is brought to the civil war now tearing the country apart.
http://tinyurl.com/yhj98a

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Diplomat lashes out at pro-US stance:

A PROMINENT former diplomat has labelled the war in Iraq a "disaster" and flayed the Howard Government for undermining Australian democracy.
http://tinyurl.com/yh4mqq

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Iraq: What Does "Job Done" Mean?:

The mantra, since the bloody and illegal war in Iraq started, has been: “we will leave Iraq when the job is done.” What exactly does this mean? Why doesn’t anyone ask Mr Bush/Blair what ‘job done’ means?
http://tinyurl.com/ylzj6v

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U.S. building huge military airfield in Iraq:

Following hints U.S. troops may remain in Iraq for years, the United States is reportedly building a massive military base at Arbil, in Kurdish northern Iraq.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15344.htm

===
Riverbend is back: Iraqi girl blog:

The Lancet Study...:

This has been the longest time I have been away from blogging. There were several reasons for my disappearance the major one being the fact that every time I felt the urge to write about Iraq, about the situation, I'd be filled with a certain hopelessness that can't be put into words and that I suspect other Iraqis feel also.
http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/

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U.S. Embassy in Baghdad Built by Trafficked Workers in Squalid Working Conditions:

One longtime supervisor claims that 50 to 60 percent of the laborers regularly complain that First Kuwaiti “treats them like animals,” and routinely reduces their promised pay with confusing and unexplained deductions.
http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=14173

UK may return to Iraq crisis city BBC News
British troops are getting ready to re-enter the southern Iraqi city of Amara, following serious clashes between militias and local police. The Army could return there just two months after it pulled out if the Amara authorities ask for help, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has confirmed. Clashes between police and up to 300 gunmen have been reported. While the MoD described the situation as "calm but tense", Amara's council denied militias had "overrun" the city. The MoD pulled all UK troops out of Amara in August because the security situation was "relatively quiet" there. Iraqi forces took over security in the city - in the Maysan province - and British troops were given other responsibilities in the surrounding area. A spokeswoman for the MoD said it would be keeping a "close watch" on developments in Amara. At least 12 people have died in clashes between gunmen loyal to the radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr and local police. The UK military has been making moves to hand over power to Iraqi forces in Maysan, following transfers of power in Dhi Qar and Muthanna provinces earlier this year. Basra and Maysan are the only two provinces still under British control.

THE UNLEARNED LESSONS OF ABU GHRAIB - CHRISTOPHER GRAVELINE (WASHINGTON POST, OCTOBER 19): Given the administration's rhetoric, there seems little hope for a cure for the systemic problems exposed at Abu Ghraib.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...1801501_pf.html

THE TERRIBLE TOLL IN IRAQ: "WE LITERALLY DO NOT KNOW A SINGLE IRAQI FAMILY THAT HAS NOT SEEN THE VIOLENT DEATH OF A RELATIVE THESE LAST THREE YEARS" - RIVERBEND (SALON, OCTOBER 19): Editor's note: Baghdad Burning, the blog written by a young Iraqi woman named "Riverbend," has given readers around the world an intimate, and devastating, look at the situation in Iraq. Salon occasionally runs postings from her blog.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2006/10/19/riverbend/

DEAD IRAQIS, JUST LIKE JELLY BEANS: 50,000? 500,000? HOW MANY HAVE BEEN KILLED IN OUR MISERABLE WAR? BUSH TRIES TO COUNT - MARK MORFORD (SF GATE, OCTOBER 18)
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file...&type=printable

THE 655,000 FRAUD - REVIEW & OUTLOOK (WALL STREET JOURNAL, OCTOBER 19): The figure of 655,000 Iraqi dead turns out to be an extrapolation based on a very inadequate sampling process.
http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB1161...0936297099.html
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IRAQ AIMS TO LIMIT MORTALITY DATA: HEALTH MINISTRY TOLD NOT TO RELEASE CIVILIAN DEATH TOLL TO U.N. - COLUM LYNCH (WASHINGTON, OCTOBER 20): Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office has instructed the country's health ministry to stop providing mortality figures to the United Nations, jeopardizing a key source of information on the number of civilian war dead in Iraq, according to a U.N. document.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...1901799_pf.html

IRAQ'S VIOLENCE HEADING TOWARD TWO-YEAR HIGH: SEVENTY-TWO US SOLDIERS HAVE BEEN KILLED SO FAR IN OCTOBER - DAN MURPHY AND AWADH AL-TAIEE (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, OCTOBER 20)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1020/p01s04-woiq.html

US ARMY CONCEDES FAILURE IN BAGHDAD- DEMETRI SEVASTOPULO AND STEVE NEGUS (FINANCIAL TIMES, OCTOBER 19): American and Iraqi efforts to improve security in Baghdad have failed to reduce bloodshed in the increasingly violent Iraqi capital, the senior US military spokesman in Iraq acknowledged on Thursday.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/5240e35e-5f99-11db...00779e2340.html

REVIEW: PROPAGANDA PROGRAM IN IRAQ LEGAL - PAULINE JELINEK, ASSOCIATED PRESS (BOSTON GLOBE, OCTOBER 19): A U.S. military propaganda program used in the Iraq war was legal under the rules for psychological operations, a Pentagon investigation has concluded. A classified Defense Department inspector general's report said regulations were followed when the military paid to have favorable stories about coalition forces planted in Iraqi newspapers.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washingt...s_legal?mode=PF

BUSH FACES A BATTERY OF UGLY CHOICES ON WAR - DAVID E. SANGER AND DAVID S. CLOUD (NEW YORK TIMES, OCTOBER 20)
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/20/world/mi...agewanted=print

U.S. BUILDING MILITARY AIRFIELD IN IRAQ - UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL (WASHINGTON TIMES, OCTOBER 18): Following hints U.S. troops may remain in Iraq for years, the United States is reportedly building a massive military base at Arbil, in Kurdish northern Iraq.
http://washtimes.com/upi/20061017-110624-4366r.htm

WHITE HOUSE NIXES PARTITIONING IRAQ - TERENCE HUNT (BALTIMORE SUN, OCTOBER 19)
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationwor...679,print.story


THE END OF MALIKI?: WILL A COUP UNRAVEL IRAQ - ROBERT DREYFUSS (TOMDISPATCH, OCTOBER 19): If a coup happens in Iraq, it will likely signal that the center of gravity inside Baghdad's Green Zone has shifted from the Shiite majority (and its religious parties, such as Al Dawa and the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq) to a more centrist, more pro-Sunni, less sectarian, less religious, and less ideological bloc.
http://tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=130805

GENERAL VIEW OF IRAQ WAR: IT'S A DISASTER - MOLLY IVINS (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, OCTOBER 19)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion...ncommentary-hed

ENDGAME IN IRAQ APPROACHES - JIM LOBE (TOMPAINE.COM, OCTOBER 19): While Bush, true to his self-image as an uncommonly firm leader in the mold of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, is undoubtedly sincere in his determination to press ahead, political circumstances -- not to mention the accelerating slide into an appalling civil war in Iraq -- are clearly conspiring against him.
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/10/1..._approaches.php

THE THIN GREEN LINE: WHAT THE LATEST VIOLENCE REVEALS ABOUT THE FAILED U.S. STRATEGY IN IRAQ - PHILLIP CARTER (SLATE, OCTOBER 19): We must recognize the limitations of our strategy to raise the Iraqi forces -- it is a blueprint for withdrawal, not for victory.
http://www.slate.com/id/2151742/

EYEING THE EXITS FROM IRAQ: THE U.S. SHOULDN'T OFFICIATE A CIVIL WAR - EDITORIAL (LOS ANGELES TIMES, OCTOBER 19): Unless things start changing, even the staunchest neocons in Washington are going to start looking for the exits.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-...pinion-leftrail

PLAN B - ELIOT A. COHEN (WALL STREET JOURNAL, OCTOBER 20): It is folly to think we can win in Iraq the way some of us thought possible in 2003. It would be even greater folly to think that by getting out, learning our lessons, and licking our wounds we can save ourselves from considerable danger, expense, effort and loss in what remains a protracted and global conflict with mortal enemies.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1161306810...days_us_opinion
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IRAQ WAS A WORTHY MISTAKE: WE KNOW NOW THAT INVADING IRAQ WAS THE WRONG DECISION, BUT THAT DOESN'T VINDICATE THE ANTIWAR CROWD - JONAH GOLDBERG (LOS ANGELES TIMES, OCTOBER 19): Finishing the job is better than leaving a mess. And if we can finish the job, the war won't be remembered as a mistake.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-...inion-rightrail

THE BLACK BOX OF TEHRAN - DAVID IGNATIUS (WASHINGTON POST, OCTOBER 20): While the Bush administration wants to draw a clear red line for Tehran, it also appears ready to keep the door open for dialogue. Is America quietly seeking Iranian help as Iraq spins out of control?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...1901270_pf.html

Medics beg for help as Iraqis die needlessly

By Jeremy Laurance

Half of all deaths preventable, say country's medics Reconstruction seen as disaster More than 2,000 doctors and nurses are killed 18,000 more leave the nationEven the most basic treatments are lacking.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15368.htm

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At Least 15 Killed As Shiite Militia Seizes Control of Iraqi City :

The takeover of Amara by the militia, the Mahdi Army, was a broad act of defiance against the authority of the central government, which has been trying to impose order and curb sectarian violence. The incident also raised questions about whether Iraq’s militias can be reined in.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15362.htm

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Three U.S. occupation force soldiers killed in Iraq :

Three U.S. soldiers killed in separate incidents in occupied Iraq during the past 48 hours, the U.S. military said in statements on Friday
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-10/...ent_5229120.htm

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Iraq 'hiding true casualty figures':

THE Iraqi Government has told medical authorities not to reveal to the UN the true extent of civilian casualties in the country's conflict, French newspaper Le Monde said today.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15361.htm

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Patrick Cockburn: Hospitals now a battleground in the bloody civil war :

Iraqi hospitals are dangerous places. Policemen and soldiers carry their wounded comrades into operating theatres and demand immediate treatment, forcing doctors at gunpoint to abandon operations on civilians before they are completed.
http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentat...icle1904932.ece

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The End of Maliki?:

Will a Coup Unravel Iraq
http://www.tomdispatch.com/indexprint.mhtml?pid=130805

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Former Top Bush Administration Official Calls For Withdrawal of U.S. Troops From Iraq:

Richard L. Armitage — who served as deputy secretary of state from 2001-2005 — is advocating a phased withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. From the New Jersey Express-Times:
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/10/20/armita...raq-withdrawal/

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Are You Afraid?:

Watch his haunting observational film that explodes the myth around the claims that the Iraqis are preparing to take control of their own country. Contains some strong language. Flash presentation
http://www.guardian.co.uk/video/page/0,,1927660,00.html

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White House Resists Major Course Change in Iraq:

President Bush will resist election-year pressure for a major shift in strategy in Iraq, the White House said on Friday, despite growing doubts among Americans and anxiety over the war among Republican lawmakers.
http://tinyurl.com/y639nm

===
A Soldier's Duty? The Ehren Watada Story: Video:

On June 22, U.S. Army First Lieutenant Ehren K. Watada became the first commissioned officer to publicly refuse deployment to the unlawful Iraq War and occupation. For the first time since 1965, the military is prosecuting an objector for his opinions. He faces over eight years in prison - over six years for First Amendment speech alone!
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15366

Bush to consult top Iraq generals BBC News
US President George W Bush will hold a video conference with his senior generals in Iraq later on Saturday to discuss the escalating violence there.Mr Bush has said they may focus on changing tactics to combat the unrest, but not the overall military strategy. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Iraqis should take responsibility for security "sooner rather than later". Their comments come amid fears that Mr Bush's Iraq policy could cost his party control of Congress in upcoming polls. Opinion polls suggest two-thirds of Americans think the president's strategy in Iraq has failed. The BBC's Justin Webb in Washington says the figure could translate into catastrophic election losses in mid-term elections next month, which might see the Democrats back in power in Congress and the Bush presidency becoming the lamest of lame ducks.

Phased withdrawal
Leaders of the opposition Democrat Party have sought to put further pressure on Mr Bush by calling for the start of a phased withdrawal of US troops from Iraq by the end of the year. They also want the president to convene an international conference to support what they call a political settlement in Iraq. Amid the mounting domestic pressure for a change of strategy in Iraq, Mr Bush said he planned to hold consultations on tactics with Gen John Abizaid, the top US commander in the Middle East, and Gen George Casey, the leader of the US-led coalition in Iraq. "Our goal hasn't changed, but the tactics are constantly adjusting to an enemy which is brutal and violent," he said. White House spokesman Tony Snow said the meeting was one of a series of regular consultations and had been scheduled "for weeks".

Major test
Concerns about rising violence in Iraq have been further fuelled by clashes between Iraqi police and gunmen loyal to the radical cleric, Moqtada al-Sadr, in the southern town of Amara. Medical sources say 31 people were killed in street battles, and many more were injured. Correspondents say the clashes are a major test of the Iraqi government's ability to tackle sectarian militias. British troops had handed over control of Amara in August to Iraqi security forces, but say they will return if needed. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told the BBC there should be a rethink of tactics in Amara. He said Iraqi and international forces would have to assess whether the city and the surrounding province were ready to be handed over to Iraqi control. But, asked about the clashes, Mr Rumsfeld said that while US troops did from time to time have to step in, it was ultimately up to the Iraqis to control their own security. "The biggest mistake would be to not pass things over to the Iraqis and to create dependency on their part," he said.

'Disheartening'
In another development, the Iraqi president's security adviser said Iraqi forces trying to improve security in Baghdad were under-funded, badly trained and poorly equipped. Wafiq al-Samarra'i said that sometimes the insurgents and death squads had better weapons than the security forces trying to combat them.The comments come a day after the US military said there had been a "disheartening" 22% rise in attacks in Baghdad this month, despite a two-month-old security operation. Launched in June, Operation Together Forward is a joint US and Iraqi security drive in which thousands of extra troops have been deployed in Baghdad. On Wednesday, Mr Bush said the escalation of violence in Iraq "could be" comparable to the 1968 Tet Offensive against US troops, which helped turn public opinion against the Vietnam War. With 73 US soldiers killed so far, October is on course to become the deadliest month for US forces in Iraq for two years.

US 'arrogant and stupid' in Iraq BBC News
A senior US state department official has said that the US has shown "arrogance and stupidity" in Iraq.Alberto Fernandez made the remarks during an interview with Arabic television station al-Jazeera. The state department says Mr Fernandez was quoted incorrectly - but BBC Arabic language experts say Mr Fernandez did indeed use the words. It comes after President George W Bush discussed changing tactics with top US commanders to try to combat the unrest. Mr Fernandez, an Arabic speaker who is director of public diplomacy in the state department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, told Qatar-based al-Jazeera that the world was "witnessing failure in Iraq". "That's not the failure of the United States alone, but it is a disaster for the region," he said."I think there is great room for strong criticism, because without doubt, there was arrogance and stupidity by the United States in Iraq." He also said that the US was now willing to speak to any insurgent group except al-Qaeda in an effort to reduce sectarian bloodshed in Iraq. "We are open to dialogue because we all know that, at the end of the day, the solution to the hell and the killings in Iraq is linked to an effective Iraqi national reconciliation." Winds of change? However, state department spokesman Sean McCormack said: "What he [Alberto Fernandez] says is that it is not an accurate quote." Mr McCormack also denied that the US had been guilty of arrogance or stupidity saying that history would be the judge of US actions in Iraq.A new poll suggests two-thirds of Americans believe the US is losing the war in Iraq, a proportion which analysts says could translate into a drubbing at the polls for Mr Bush's Republican Party in next month's mid-term elections. The BBC's James Westhead in Washington says that while there is no official change in US strategy, change is on everyone's lips. But a report in the New York Times that officials are drawing up a timetable for Iraq's government to improve security has been denied by both White House and state department officials. In an interview with the BBC, British Foreign Office Minister Kim Howells has suggested that the Iraqi security forces could take over much of the work of US-led forces within a year. On Sunday funerals were taking place for 17 people killed in a mortar attack on a market near the capital, Baghdad.

Iraq: At Least 41 Killed As U.S Occupation Grinds On:

Sunni and Shi'ite tribes clashed between Madaen and Suwayra, south of Baghdad, on Saturday, police said. On the Shi'ite side, six people were killed and three wounded, and three Sunnis were also killed
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/PAR230535.htm

===
Bloody battle for Amarah a glimpse of future :

The militia headed by the radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr yesterday took over the southern Iraqi city of Amarah, recently vacated by British forces, after a day of heavy fighting which left dozens killed, almost 100 injured and widespread damage to buildings
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle...icle1916342.ece

===
Three million uprooted Iraqis face "bleak future", UNHCR says:

UNHCR estimates that more than 1.5 million Iraqis are internally displaced in Iraq, including some 800,000 who fled their homes prior to 2003 and 750,000 who have fled since. A further 1.6 million Iraqis are refugees in neighbouring countries, the majority in Syria and Jordan.
http://tinyurl.com/yfup9g

===
U.S. official admits "arrogance" in Iraq:

The United States has shown "arrogance" and "stupidity" in Iraq, a senior U.S. diplomat said in an interview aired on Sunday, after U.S. President George W. Bush said he was flexible on tactics, if not strategy.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15372.htm

===
Iraqi youth want U.S. troops to withdraw :

Majorities of Iraqi youth in Arab regions of the country believe security would improve and violence decrease if the U.S.-led forces left immediately, according to a State Department poll that provides a window into the grim warnings provided to policymakers.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15373.htm

===
Andrew Sullivan: Iraq is no Vietnam – it's far worse than that:

A political solution, the only secure way to achieve peace in Iraq, has slipped across the horizon, as Sunni Arabs, Shi’ite Arabs and Sunni Kurds recoil into the protection of the clan, the tribe and the ethnic or religious family. After each round of violence a cycle of revenge follows.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,29...2415267,00.html

===
Iraq mayhem triggers hunt for exit strategy in US and UK :

Foreign Office urges talks with Syria and Iran, as militia seize city left by British
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1928037,00.html

===
Now we know what we know, why is Blair still in office? :

As more evidence of his role in the Iraq debacle emerges, it beggars belief that the Prime Minister hasn't been impeached
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/st...1928634,00.html

===
Millions Stolen From Iraq's Treasury:

More than half a billion dollars earmarked to fight the insurgency in Iraq was stolen by people the U.S. had entrusted to run the country's Ministry of Defense before the 2005 elections, according to Iraqi investigators.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/19/...in2109200.shtml

We'll hold Iraq nerve, says Blair BBC News
Britain intends "to hold its nerve" in Iraq, Prime Minister Tony Blair has told Iraq's deputy prime minister.No 10 denied that Mr Blair had pressed Barham Salih, during talks in London, for assurances his forces could take over policing south Iraq within a year. Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said there would be no "rash" deadlines, adding that the UK would only leave once the Iraqi government could "cope". The talks came as the Lib Dems called for a Commons debate on pulling out. Sir Menzies Campbell, leader of the UK's third largest party, which opposed the war, said: "Surely Parliament should now be allowed to debate whether we stay or go."

'Difficult challenges'
Earlier on Monday, after meeting Mr Blair in Downing Street, Mr Salih said the UK and US could not "cut and run... and leave the Iraqis to face these difficult challenges on our own". But he added: "We understand this is not an open-ended commitment by the international community." Iraqi forces would assume control of the country province by province, he added.Later, before meeting Mr Salih, Mrs Beckett, told BBC Radio 4's World At One said: "It would be a mistake to set some kind of false deadline. This is going step by step as it is possible and practicable to move forward." Asked what sort of Iraq she envisioned being left behind, she said one that was democratic, which could "cope" and that was "back on its feet". She said it was always "over-optimistic" to expect to create within three years a democracy like Britain's which had taken hundreds of years to develop. Asked her views on whether or not Iraq might fragment, she said: "Everyone has been very keen to keep everyone together but in the longer term... it is not for us to say 'you will do this or you will do that'."

President Bush
Pressed on whether it would be a disaster if Iraq split up, Mrs Beckett replied: "If that is what they want and they feel it is workable that is another matter." The meeting between Mr Blair and Mr Salih came as the Iraqi government said it had imposed a curfew in the southern town of Amara after battles between Shia militias and police in recent days.At the weekend US President George W Bush said military tactics in Iraq would keep changing to deal with insurgents, but the US would not abandon the goal of building a strong democracy. The issue of Iraq, and possible changes in strategy have been increasingly high profile in the US ahead of the elections next month for Congress. Meanwhile a US state department official who said that his country had shown "arrogance and stupidity" in Iraq has apologised for his comments.

'Brutalised'
Alberto Fernandez, who made the remarks to Arabic TV station al-Jazeera, said he had "seriously misspoken". In the UK, shadow foreign secretary William Hague asked the government to give MPs a "frank" assessment of the changing situation. He said a review going on in Washington should be mirrored by a "careful reassessment" in London. Defence Secretary Des Browne and Foreign Office Minister Kim Howells have both suggested recently that local forces should be able to take over within a year or so. Britain has about 7,000 troops stationed in southern Iraq around the second city of Basra.Last week the head of the Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, was quoted in the Daily Mail as saying British troops "exacerbated" Iraq's security problems and should withdraw "some time soon". Major General Richard Shirreff, in charge of UK forces around Basra, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that forces were beginning to "get on the front foot". He added: "There are signs we are beginning to see a tipping point where success breeds success. "We are not there yet. We are beginning to win hearts and minds."

OFFICIAL SORRY FOR 'STUPIDITY' COMMENT - ASSOCIATED PRESS (BOSTON GLOBE, OCTOBER 22): A senior U.S. diplomat apologized Sunday night for saying U.S. policy in Iraq displayed "arrogance" and "stupidity." A day after his remarks in an interview were broadcast by the pan-Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera, Alberto Fernandez issued a written apology through the State Department press office. "Upon reading the transcript of my appearance on Al-Jazeera, I realized that I seriously misspoke by using the phrase 'there has been arrogance and stupidity' by the U.S. in Iraq," said Fernandez, director of public diplomacy in State's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeas...comment?mode=PF

STATE OFFICER REPORTEDLY CRITICIZES US IRAQ POLICY IN AL-JAZEERA INTERVIEW - ECCENTRIC STAR, OCTOBER 22)
http://eccentricstar.typepad.com/public_di..._officer_r.html

A PUBLIC DIPLOMACY OFFICIAL [FERNANDEZ] WHO MAY SOON BE DETAILED TO THE THE TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY - (KIM ANDREW ELLIOTT DISCUSSING INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING AND PUBLIC DIPLOMACY, OCTOBER 22): The Aljazeera interviewer said, "I, of course, appreciate your usual candor Mr. Fernandez." The audience, perhaps, did as well. Note: Mr. Elliott's blog contains other recent items relating to public diplomacy.
http://www.kimandrewelliott.com/

THE FERNANDEZ PROBLEM - MARC LYNCH (ABU AARDVARK, OCTOBER 22): Remarks on al-Jazeera by Alberto Fernandez that America had been "arrogant" and "stupid" in Iraq have already generated enormous controversy. The State Department, and especially Karen Hughes, must back Alberto Fernandez to the hilt in this StupidStorm. The fact is that Fernandez has been single-handedly carrying the American flag on the Arab broadcast media for years.
http://abuaardvark.typepad.com/abuaardvark...ernandez_p.html

"ARROGANCE AND STUPIDITY": THE FALLOUT FROM AN HONEST STATEMENT - (MOUNTAIN RUNNER, OCTOBER 22)
http://www.mountainrunner.us/2006/10/arrogance_and_s.html

IRAQ: A RARE VOICE OF REASON IN D.C. - CHRISTOPHER DICKEY (SHADOWLAND JOURNAL, OCTOBER 22): "I hope Alberto Fernandez isn't in too much trouble. The director of public diplomacy for the State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, Fernandez has been for several years now the only credible voice defending what is an almost entirely discredited policy in the Arab world."
http://christopherdickey.blogspot.com/2006...ason-in-dc.html

AL JAZEERA'S PET STATE DEPARTMENT MOUTHPIECE - (MICHELLE MALKIN BLOG, OCTOBER 22)
http://michellemalkin.com/archives/006172.htm

SEND A MESSAGE -- REMOVE ALBERTO FERNANDEZ FROM PR DUTIES AT STATE DEPARTMENT - SMAGAR (REDSTATE, VA, OCTOBER 22)
http://breakingnews.redstate.com/blogs/sma...tate_department

ALBERTO FERNANDEZ, ANOTHER STATE DEPARTMENT DISASTER IN THE KAREN HUGHES MOLD - BY BEILA RABINOWITZ & WILLIAM A. MAYER (E&P PIPELINENEWS.ORG, OCTOBER 23): In his apparent zeal to develop empathy and kinship among the Islamists he must sometimes deal with, Gonzalez has repeatedly made the mistake of not considering how his associations might be interpreted by them or by others who may well feel that his mere presence might well constitute an official seal of approval.
http://www.pipelinenews.org/index.cfm?page...andez102306.htm

THIS GUY [FERNANDEZ] WORKS FOR US? - (LOOSE GRAVEL, OCTOBER 22): "I think someone needs to be reassigned as ambassador to Antarctica."
http://loosegravel.townhall.com/g/a1142c1c...a0-d21fe1207eb0

A DIFFERENT TACTIC FOR RICE: SPEAKING SOFTLY WITHOUT THE STICK - THOM SHANKER (NEW YORK TIMES, OCTOBER 23): Rice was able to contend that important progress had been made toward a new "nonproliferation regime," whose core would be a vastly enhanced regional system of monitoring and inspecting cargo to and from North Korea. "We could be -- probably will be -- in this regime for a long time," Ms. Rice said. While "it's quite important what happens on Day 1," she said, her public diplomacy tried to manage expectations about what was and was not possible from her first foreign lobbying campaign for the sanctions.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/23/world/as...agewanted=print

PLANTED PROPAGANDA: IT'S A BAD IDEA, WHETHER OR NOT IT VIOLATES REGULATIONS. TOO BAD THE PENTAGON WON'T SAY THAT - EDITORIAL (WASHINGTON POST, OCTOBER 23): The government shouldn't be in the business of covertly peddling propaganda -- especially in a war based on the notion of seeking to export democratic values such as, say, a free press.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2200703_pf.html

WHAT'S REALLY GOING ON IN IRAQ - JOAN VENNOCHI (BOSTON GLOBE, OCTOBER 22): CNN was right to broadcast a tape showing 10 separate sniper attacks in Iraq, even if insurgents supplied it.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial...in_iraq?mode=PF

CENSORING IRAQ: WHY ARE THERE SO FEW REPORTERS WITH AMERICAN TROOPS IN COMBAT? DON'T BLAME THE MEDIA - MICHAEL YON (WEEKLY STANDARD, OCTOBER 30): If our military cannot win the easy media battles with writers who are unashamed to say they want to win the war, there is no chance of winning the hearts and minds of Afghans and Iraqis, and both wars will be lost.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Publ...12/844nigml.asp

POLL FINDS IRAQ YOUTH WANT U.S. TO LEAVE - KATHERINE SHRADER, ASSOCIATED PRESS (YAHOO! NEWS, OCTOBER 22): In this poll, nine out of 10 young Iraqi Arabs said they see the U.S. and allied forces in Iraq as an occupying force. The majority of Iraqi youth in Arab regions -- half in Baghdad and Kirkuk -- also believe the security situation and the violence levels would improve if the U.S. and its allies left immediately. On the contrary, 70 percent of young Iraqi Kurds see the multinational forces as a liberating force.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061022/ap_on_...zazkxBHNlYwN0bQ

NUMBER CRUNCHING: TAKING ANOTHER LOOK AT THE LANCET'S IRAQ STUDY - FRED KAPLAN (SLATE, OCTOBER 20): Here's the key question: Had it been known ahead of time that invading Iraq would result in the deaths of 100,000 Iraqis (or 50,000, or pick your own threshold number), would the president have made -- would Congress have voted to authorize, would any editorial writer or public figure have endorsed -- a decision to go to war?
http://www.slate.com/id/2151926/

THREE MILLION UPROOTED IRAQIS FACE "BLEAK FUTURE, UNHCR SAYS - REUTERS (OCTOBER 22): More than three million Iraqis who have been forced to flee their homes to other areas of Iraq and to neighboring countries are facing what the United Nations' refugee agency (UNHCR) describes as a "very bleak future" after the agency's budget for offices across the region was halved for the coming year.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/I...7a33d29b706.htm

IRAQ: CHRISTIAN MINORITY SEEKS HAVEN FROM VIOLENCE - HEATHER MAHER (RFE/RL, OCTOBER 19)
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/...5bd1346efc.html

INTO THE ABYSS OF BAGHDAD - PATRICK J. MCDONNELL (LOS ANGELES TIMES, OCTOBER 23): Every day the corpses pile up in the capital like discarded furniture -- at curbside, in lots, in waterways and sewer lines; every day the executioners return.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/na...-home-headlines

WHAT HAS INVASION UNLEASHED IN IRAQIS? - ADIL E. SHAMOO (BALTIMORE SUN, OCTOBER 22): The invasion and its aftermath caused such a major trauma to the people of Iraq that now some have become self-destructive.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/o...-oped-headlines

THE REAL 'NEW IRAQ' - COLBERT I. KING (WASHINGTON POST, OCTOBER 21): There is a new Iraq emerging before our eyes. It is an Iraq that torments Christians, that indulges in unrelenting sectarian bloodbaths, that cheers for Hezbollah, that is no more a friend to Israel than is Iran, all despite the lies sold to the White House and Pentagon by self-serving, power-hungry Iraqi expatriates.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2001363_pf.html

THE AMERICAN WAY OF GORE: CASUALTIES OF WAR: DEAD, BURIED AND DISCARDED PIERRE TRISTAM (CANDIDE'S NOTEBOOKS, OCTOBER 21/COMMON DREAMS): Iraqis are decor to the American way of gore, fillers for the new mass graves.
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1021-22.htm

US NEGOTIATING WITH IRAQI INSURGENCY - MARC LYNCH (ABU AARDVARK, OCTOBER 20)
http://abuaardvark.typepad.com/abuaardvark...gotiating_.html

A DIFFERENT WAR: PREVIOUS WARS WERE LESS AMBIGUOUS - CLIFFORD D. MAY (NATIONAL REVIEW, OCTOBER 20): In Iraq American political leaders seem not yet to fully comprehend what they are up against; much less have they begun to respond effectively.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YmMzZ...mYyNWU2YmZiOGM=

THE UGLY TRUTH - DAN FROOMKIN (WASHINGTONPOST.COM, OCTOBER 20): While the president has been talking about adjusting tactics in Iraq lately, he can't accept that his strategy may need changing -- or even his goal. At least not yet.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2000748_pf.html

WAR TORN - PETER BEINART (NEW REPUBLIC, OCTOBER 30): For every day that goes by without an honest debate about Iraq, defeat becomes more certain. The good news is that, in a few weeks, that debate will finally begin.
http://www.tnr.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20061030&s=trb103006

THE GENTEEL REVOLT THAT IS REMAKING US POLICY ON IRAQ: REPUBLICAN VETERANS PUSH FOR END TO INTERVENTIONIST APPROACH - JULIAN BORGER (GUARDIAN, OCTOBER 21): Eight options being considered by US/UK regarding Iraq.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1928058,00.html
SEE ALSO
http://www.juancole.com/2006/10/break-up-o...ns-mideast.html

5 WAYS TO PREVENT IRAQ FROM GETTING EVEN WORSE: STAYING THE COURSE IS NO LONGERAN OPTION. THE BEST SCENARIO FOR THE U.S. TO DO SOME GOODBEFORE IT PULLS OUT - APARISIM GHOSH (TIME, OCTOBER 22): The main question is, How long will it take for military officials in Iraq and policymakers in Washington to concede that the whole enterprise is closer to failure than success?
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout...1549305,00.html

QUESTIONS TO GUIDE AN EXIT POLICY - GEORGE F. WILL (WASHINGTON POST, OCTOBER 22): "Stay the course" is a policy stamped with an expiration date. The president says the war in Iraq will be "just a comma" in history books, but by Nov. 26, the Sunday after Thanksgiving, with the Study Group's recommendations due, the comma will have lasted as long as U.S. involvement in World War II.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2100819_pf.html

BLOWING IN THE WIND - EDITORIAL (NEW YORK TIMES, OCTOBER 22): The way the Bush team is stage-managing the president's supposed change of heart about "staying the course" is unfair to the Americans who have taken him at his word that real progress is being made in Iraq -- a dwindling but still significant number of people, some of whom have sons and daughters serving in the conflict.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/22/opinion/...agewanted=print

CHANGE COURSE IN IRAQ: PRESIDENT BUSH MUST REVISE THE U.S. STRATEGY FOR STABILIZING THE COUNTRY - EDITORIAL (WASHINGTON POST, OCTOBER 22): There remains a chance the government could gain control over the country. As long as that prospect exists, the United States has a moral obligation and a practical interest to remain in Iraq.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2100832_pf.html

GOING IT ALONE LOSES ITS APPEAL - ELIZABETH SULLIVAN (CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER, OCTOBER 22/COMMON DREAMS): U.S. officials and Iraqis must do much more to reach out and coordinate with all in the neighborhood if they want to shore up the possibility of meaningful political compromise in Iraq and counter the religious extremists, warlords, gangsters and beheaders who otherwise threaten to seize control.
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1022-25.htm

HECK OF A JOB, MALIKI! - TOM ENGELHARDT (NATION, OCTOBER 20): What you have, practically speaking, is the worst of both worlds: a government that lacks legitimacy and is incapable, not to say unwilling, to meet the needs of the President and his advisors.
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion?pid=131070

HECK OF A JOB, MALIKI! - SAMI MOUBAYED (ASIA TIMES, OCTOBER 21): It is not surprising that there is a lot of talk about a coup being planned to oust Iraqi PM Maliki.
http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HJ21Ak02.html

IS PRESIDENT FINALLY OPENING HIS MIND TO IRAQ EXIT PLAN? - CLARENCE PAGE (BALTIMORE SUN, OCTOBER 20): Whether in war or in peace, Iraq's future ultimately must be decided by Iraqis. As that happens, the best thing that Americans can do is to declare victory and get out of the way.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/o...-oped-headlines

TAKING ADVANTAGE OF OUR DEFEAT IN IRAQ - WILLIAM ARKIN (WASHINGTONPOST.COM, OCTOBER 20): America will be humbled when we leave Iraq. Let's recognize this is the bitter pill we must swallow now.
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/earlywarnin...our_defeat.html

IRAQ: AN HONEST EXIT - SUZANNE NOSSEL (HUFFINGTON POST, OCTOBER 22): In short, if we pull out it will not be because the mission is accomplished, or because we can rest easily or at all about Iraq's future. Instead, it will be because nothing we try has worked, and because after four years we're not sufficiently convinced that our presence is doing more good than harm.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/suzanne-noss...it_b_32268.html

HISTORY WARNS US TO WITHDRAW: THE TET OFFENSIVE HELPED TO TURN US OPINION AGAINST THE VIETNAM WAR - SAUL DAVID (INDEPENDENT, UK/COMMON DREAMS, OCTOBER 22): The refusal by the President and Tony Blair to admit the failure of their Iraq policy by ordering a speedy withdrawal is entirely consistent with the history of similar foreign interventions.
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1022-24.htm

STARK LESSONS FROM IRAQ - JIM HOAGLAND (WASHINGTON POST, OCTOBER 22): The extent to which U.S. forces were unprepared for insurgency and sectarian warfare in Iraq has become painfully apparent. The lessons they are learning -- which have become prohibitively costly for Americans and Iraqis -- must never again be forgotten.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2001662_pf.html

IF WE HAD KNOWN THEN... - JEFF JACOBY (BOSTON GLOBE, OCTOBER 22): All we can be sure of in Iraq is that the stakes once again are liberty and decency vs. tyranny and terror -- that we are fighting an enemy that feeds on weakness and expects us to lose heart -- and that Americans for generations to come will remember whether we flinched.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial...wn_then?mode=PF

IS IRAQ ANOTHER VIETNAM? IT IS ALREADY LOST - ROBERT FREEMAN (COMMON DREAMS, OCTOBER 22): The War has stripped the U.S. of incalculable moral standing in the world, increasing its enemies, driving away allies, and in the process making the now larger war on terror all the more unwinnable.
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1022-26.htm

TET? NOT YET: VICTORY BY ASSOCIATION - JAMES S. ROBBINS (NATIONAL REVIEW, OCTOBER 20): The most important difference between Tet and any similar (or dissimilar) situation today is that the insurgents in Iraq know what the North Vietnamese did not know, at least at first -- they do not have to actually win a battle to achieve a strategic victory.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MThkM...2Q1YmNiOTBhMTE=

BUSH FINALLY UTTERS THE "V" WORD AS IRAQ "MISSION" DETERIORATES, UNACCOMPLISHED - EDWARD M. GOMEZ (WORLD VIEWS, SF GATE, OCTOBER 19)
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/det...&entry_id=10022

FOREIGN POLICY BLINDNESS - IMMANUEL WALLERSTEIN (TOMPAINE.COM, OCTOBER 19): One can think of times when the rude shock of the kind that a defeat in Iraq would inflict could have the salutary effect of reviving the best in the American tradition -- that of a libertarian, socially-conscious people who would once again welcome, in the words engraved on the Statue of Liberty, "the huddled masses yearning to be free."
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/10/1...y_blindness.php

Iraqi officials 'stole millions' BBC News
A former Iraqi minister has said that officials in the former interim government stole about $800m (£425m) meant for buying military equipment. Former Finance Minister Ali Allawi told the US CBS network that about $1.2bn had been allocated for new weapons. About $400m was spent on outdated equipment and the rest stolen, he said. Mr Allawi said the UK and US had done little to recover the money or catch the suspects, who were "running around the world". "We have not been given any serious, official support from either the United States or the UK or any of the surrounding Arab countries," he said. "The only explanation I can come up with is that too many people in positions of power and authority in the new Iraq have been, in one way or another, found with their hands inside the cookie jar. "And if they are brought to trial, it will cast a very disparaging light on those people who had supported them and brought them to this position of power and authority."

'Pay-offs'
The head of the Iraqi Commission on Public Integrity, Judge Radhi al-Radhi, said he had obtained arrest warrants for a number of officials in October 2005, but almost all the suspects fled the country. None of the officials have been named. But CBS's 60 Minutes programme also played an audio recording of Ziad Cattan, who was in charge of military procurement at the time, apparently talking in Amman, Jordan to an associate about pay-offs to senior Iraqi officials. Mr Cattan denied any wrongdoing and said the recording had been doctored. Iraqi investigators are currently looking into more than 1,000 corruption cases involving more than $7bn.

Iraq: At least 30 kiled as bloody U.S. occupation continues:

The U.S. military said its forces killed five suspected insurgents, including four who were in a building that was destroyed in an airstrike south of Balad.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/PAR320707.htm

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11 US troops killed in Iraq:

Iraq's most violent Ramadan ends in bloodshed as 86 US troops killed in first three weeks of October
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=17966

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US offers amnesty in secret talks:

AMERICAN forces are negotiating an amnesty with Sunni insurgents in Iraq to try to defuse the nascent civil war and pave the way for disarmament of Shia militias
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15380.htm

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US 'cannot stay course' in Iraq :

The US is not winning in Iraq and will not be able to stay the course in the long-term, a US state department insider has said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6075424.stm

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Ike Skelton, who backed Iraq war, now wants U.S. to withdraw:

The spiraling violence is "deeply disturbing," Skelton said in a conference call with reporters, during which he called for the redeployment of U.S. troops out of Iraq.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews...cs/15817001.htm

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Active-Duty Troops Launch Campaign to End U.S. Occupation of Iraq:

For the first time since the U.S. invasion of Iraq, active- duty members of the military are asking Members of Congress to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq and bring American soldiers home.
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=74796

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Iraqi Forced To Drink Urine By British Occupation Forces:

An Iraqi civilian detained by British troops in Iraq told a military court Monday that he was beaten and forced to drink urine by his captors.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15381.htm

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The Exodus: 1.6m Iraqis have fled their country since the war :

Iraq is in flight. Everywhere inside and outside the country, Iraqis who once lived in their own houses cower for safety six or seven to a room in hovels.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle...icle1919327.ece

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UK warned against invasion :

On the day after the September 11 terrorist attacks, senior British intelligence officials told their American counterparts that they would not support retaliatory action against Iraq, a new book claims.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/st...1928874,00.html

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Alleged corrupt arms deals cost Iraq US$800M:

Iraq's former finance minister alleged in a U.S. television report aired Sunday that up to US$800 million meant to equip the Iraqi army had been stolen from the government by former officials through fraudulent arms deals.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2006/10/22/2103532-ap.html

Iraq: At least 10 killed in ongoing occupation:

Two U.S. Marines were killed on Monday due to enemy action while operating in western Anbar province, the U.S. military said on Tuesday.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IBO436696.htm

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US troops kill 4 Iraqi firemen by mistake:

"The people inside the truck exited quickly and Coalition Forces thought they were armed. Coalition Forces engaged what they thought were armed insurgents with small arms fire," it said, adding that all four were killed.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15387.htm

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In vendetta, militias stalk Shiite police :

Militiamen loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr re-emerged yesterday in the southern city of Amarah, hunting down and killing four policemen from a rival militia in a brutal Shiite-on-Shiite settling of scores.
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/10-06...orld-nation.htm

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U.S. Soldier Listed As Missing In Baghdad:

A U.S. military spokesman said Tuesday there had been no word on the fate of a U.S. Army solider reported missing in Baghdad, as troops continued door-to-door searches in the central Karradah district.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/10141679/detail.html

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U.S. Planing Coup against Maliki Government:

Iraqi army officers are reportedly planning to stage a military coup with U.S. help to oust the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15388.htm

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So much for an independent and democratic Iraq!":

Bush tells Maliki government to tackle militias or face penalties :

The White House confirmed yesterday that it had set "benchmarks and milestones" for the Iraqi government to disarm militias and take other concrete steps to stabilise the country.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15392.htm

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Shiite leader calls for southern Iraq autonomy:

The leader of Iraq's largest Shiite bloc has called for the country to be divided into federal zones, to the dismay of minority Sunnis who fear losing out on Iraq's vast oil wealth.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061024/wl_mi...qpoliticsshiite

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Iraq war could be judged a disaster, Beckett admits:

IRAQ could break up into different parts eventually, Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, said yesterday as she acknowledged the limitations to what could be achieved by coalition forces.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2417832,00.html

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U.S. Officials: Iraqi Security Could Be Ready in 12-18 Months:

Top U.S. officials in Iraq today predicted that Iraqi security forces could be largely self-sufficient within 12 to 18 months and said the Iraqi government is building a timetable for disarming militias, quieting insurgents and solving ongoing struggles for economic and political power.
http://tinyurl.com/unpb7

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Iraq: The Real Story: 8 Minute Video:

Watch his haunting observational film that explodes the myth around the claims that the Iraqis are preparing to take control of their own country.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15389.htm

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British hope of handover to Iraqi forces dismissed:

THE Iraqi police force is unlikely to be ready to take responsibility for security if coalition forces begin to withdraw in a year’s time, senior Iraqi police officials and US advisers said yesterday.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2418477,00.html

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Stranger than fiction:

U.S. blames Iran, Syria for Iraq violence:

America's civilian and military leaders in Iraq linked Iran and Syria with al Qaeda on Tuesday as forces trying to tear the country apart and prevent the United States from establishing a stable democracy.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061024/ts_nm/...a_neighbours_dc

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Iraq: The British people have their say. And It's bad news for Blair :

Demands for an urgent Commons debate on pulling British troops out of Iraq were stepped up last night at Westminster after an opinion poll found that 62 per cent of voters support a withdrawal before the country has been made stable.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15390.htm

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Despair of Baghdad turns into a life of shame in Damascus :

Young women fleeing war and poverty fall prey to sex traffickers
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15391.htm

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Saddam Hussein’s “guilty” conviction announcement planned for two days before elections :

“In my experience, everything that comes out of Baghdad is very carefully prepared for American domestic consumption,” he said.
http://tinyurl.com/yfok9r

Iraqi PM vows to tackle militias BBC News
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has pledged to tackle illegal militias, which are widely blamed for the growing sectarian violence in the country.He said his forces would strike hard at anyone who defied the law. But he insisted he was working to his own timetable, not a US-imposed deadline for improving security. Mr Maliki also said there had been a lack of coordination with coalition forces over a raid in Baghdad's Sadr City that resulted in four deaths. Iraqi special forces went into Sadr City, a stronghold of the Mehdi army militia, overnight to try to capture "a top illegal armed group commander" who directed death squads in eastern Baghdad, a US military statement said. Iraqi forces came under fire and called for backup from US aircraft, which used "precision gunfire only to eliminate the enemy threat", the statement said. There has been no indication of whether the suspected militia leader was captured. At least four people were killed and about 20 injured, provoking anger in Sadr City.

Explanation sought
Relatives and the wounded blamed US forces and the Maliki government, Reuters news agency reported."Where is Maliki? Where is his freedom?" one man lying on a stretcher said. Mr Maliki, speaking at a televised news conference, sought to distance himself from the operation, saying he had not been consulted. "We will be seeking a full explanation from the multi-national forces," he said. Mr Maliki pledged to deal with the militias that are blamed for much of the sectarian violence in Iraq. "We will strike hard at anyone who defies the law or transgresses the authority of the state," he said. But he denied that the Iraqi government had accepted a US time-frame for curbing the violence. "I affirm that this government represents the will of the people and no-one has the right to impose a timetable on it," Mr Maliki said.

US expectations
On Tuesday, key figures in the Bush administration outlined a series of measures to try to stabilise Iraq, including a plan to reform Iraqi security ministries. US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said the Iraqi government had agreed to develop a timeline for progress by the end of the year, including action against the militias.Mr Khalilzad said he expected "significant progress" within the next 12 months. He singled out the Mehdi army, saying it must be "brought under control, it has to be decommissioned, demobilised and re-integrated like other militias". The Mehdi army, a militia linked to Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr that holds sway in much of Sadr City, has repeatedly been accused of involvement in death squads carrying out attacks on Sunnis. Correspondents say tackling the Mehdi army and other Shia militias is one of the most difficult problems facing Mr Maliki. His fragile coalition government includes Shia parties that have links to powerful militias.

Contractors Use "Asian Labor Trafficking" to Build the World's Largest Embassy
A US Fortress Rises in Baghdad
By DAVID PHINNEY

Things began looking more sketchier than ever to John Owen as he boarded a nondescript white jet on his way back to Iraq in March 2005 following some R&R in Kuwait city.

Employed by First Kuwaiti Trading & Contracting, the lead builder for the new $592-million US embassy in Baghdad, Owen remembers being surrounded at the airport by about 50 company laborers freshly hired from the Philippines and India. Everyone was holding boarding passes to Dubai -- not to Baghdad.

"I thought there was some sort of mix up and I was getting on the wrong plane," says the 48-year-old Floridian who was working as a general construction foreman on the embassy project.

He buttonholed a First Kuwaiti manager standing near by and asked what was going on. The manager waved his hand, looked around the terminal and whispered to keep quiet.

"'If anyone hears we are going to Baghdad, they won't let us on the plane,'" Owen recalls the manager saying.



'Not Valid for Iraq'

The secrecy struck Owen as a little odd, but he grabbed his luggage and moved on. Everyone filed out to the private jet and flew directly to Baghdad. "I figured that they had visas for Kuwait and not Iraq," Owen offers.

The deception had all the appearances of smuggling workers into Iraq, but Owen didn't know at the time that the Philippines, India, and other countries had banned or restricted their citizens from working in Iraq because of safety concerns and growing opposition to the war. After 2004, many passports were stamped "Not valid for Iraq."

Nor did Owen know that both the US State Department and the Pentagon were quietly investigating contractors such as First Kuwaiti for labor trafficking and worker abuse. In fact, the international news media had accused First Kuwaiti repeatedly of coercing workers to take jobs in battle-torn Iraq once they had been lured to Kuwait with safer offers.

The Kuwait-headquartered, Lebanese-run company has billed several billion dollars on US contracts since the war began in March 2003. Much of its work is performed by cheap labor largely hired from South Asia and the company has an estimated 7,500 foreign laborers in the theater of war.

Now, with a highly secretive contract awarded by the US State Department, First Kuwaiti is in the midst of building the most expensive and heavily fortified US embassy in the world. Scheduled to open in 2007, the sprawling complex near the Tigris River will equal Vatican City in size.

But Owen says that working on the project proved to be one of the worst jobs he has ever had in his 27 years of construction work.

Not one of the five different US embassy sites Owen had worked on around the world previously compared to the mess he describes. Armenia, Bulgaria, Angola, Cameroon and Cambodia all had their share of dictators, violence and economic disruption, but the companies building the embassies were always fair and professional, he says. First Kuwaiti is the exception. Brutal and inhumane, he says "I've never seen a project more fucked up. Every US labor law was broken."

Seven months after signing on with First Kuwaiti in November 2005, he quit.

In the resignation letter last June, Owen told First Kuwaiti and US State Department officials that his managers physically assaulted and beat the construction workers, demonstrated little regard for worker safety, and routinely breached security.

And it was all happening smack in the middle of the US-controlled Green Zone -- right under the nose of the State Department that had quietly awarded the controversial embassy contract in July 2005.

He also complained of poor sanitation, squalid living conditions and medical malpractice in the labor camps where several thousand low-paid migrant workers lived. Those workers, recruited on the global labor market from the Philippines, India, Pakistan and other poor south Asian countries, earned as little as $10 to $30 a day. As with many US-funded contractors, First Kuwaiti prefers importing labor because it views Iraqi workers as a security headache not worth the trouble.

Despite numerous emails and phone calls about such allegations, neither First Kuwaiti general manager Wadih Al Absi nor his lawyer Angela Styles, the former top White House contract policy advisor, have responded. After a year of requests, State Department officials involved with the project also have ignored or rejected opportunities for comment.


Your Passports Please

That same March Owen returned to work in Baghdad, Rory Mayberry would witness similar events after he flew to Kuwait from his home in Myrtle Creek, Oregon.

The gravely voiced, easy-going Army veteran had previously worked in Iraq for Halliburton and the private security company, Danubia. Missing the action and the big paychecks US contractors draw Iraq, he snagged a $10,000 a month job with MSDS consulting Company.

MSDS is a two-person minority-owned consulting company that assists US State Department managers in Washington with procurement programming. Never before had the firm offered medical services or worked in Iraq, but First Kuwaiti hired MSDS on the recommendation of Jim Golden, the State Department contract official overseeing the embassy project. Within days, an agreement worth hundreds of thousands of dollars for medical care was signed.

The 45-year-old Mayberry, a former emergency medical technician in the Army who worked as a funeral director in Oregon, responded to a help wanted ad placed by MSDS. The plan was that he would work as a medic attending to the construction crews on the work site in Baghdad.

Mayberry sensed things weren't right when he boarded a First Kuwaiti flight on March 15 to Baghdad -- a different flight from Owen's.

At the airport in Kuwait City, Mayberry said, he saw a person behind a counter hand First Kuwaiti managers a passenger manifest, an envelope of money and a stack of boarding passes to Dubai. The managers then handed out the boarding passes to Mayberry and 50 or so new First Kuwaiti laborers, mostly Filipinos.

"Everyone was told to tell customs and security that they were flying to Dubai," Mayberry explains. Once the group passed the guards, they went upstairs and waited by the McDonald's for First Kuwaiti staff to unlock a door -- Gate 26 -- that led to an unmarked, white 52-seat jet. It was "an antique piece of shit" Mayberry offers in a casual, blunt manner.

"All the workers had their passports taken away by First Kuwaiti," Mayberry claims, and while he knew the plane was bound for Baghdad, he's not so sure the others were aware of their destination. The Asian laborers began asking questions about why they were flying north and the jet wasn't flying east over the ocean, he says. "I think they thought they were going to work in Dubai."

One former First Kuwaiti supervisor acknowledges that the company holds passports of many workers in Iraq -- a violation of US contracting.

"All of the passports are kept in the offices," said one company insider who requested anonymity in fear of financial and personal retribution. As for distributing Dubai boarding passes for Baghdad flights, "It's because of the travel bans," he explained.

Mayberry believes that migrant workers from the Philippines, India and Nepal are especially vulnerable to employers like First Kuwaiti because their countries have little or no diplomatic presence in Iraq.

"If you don't have your passport or an embassy to go to, what you do to get out of a bad situation?" he asks. "How can they go to the US State Department for help if First Kuwaiti is building their embassy?"


Deadly 'Candy Store' Medicine

Owen had already been working at the embassy site since late November when Mayberry arrived. The two never crossed paths, but both share similar complaints about management of the project and brutal treatment of the laborers that, at times, numbered as many as 2,500. Most are from the Philippines, India, and Pakistan. Others are from Egypt and Turkey.

The number of workers with injuries and ailments stunned Mayberry. He went to work immediately after and stayed busy around the clock for days.

Four days later, First Kuwaiti pulled him off the job after he requested an investigation of two patients who had died before he arrived from what he suspected was medical malpractice. Mayberry also recommended that the health clinics be shut down because of unsanitary conditions and mismanagement.

"There hadn't been any follow up on medical care. People were walking around intoxicated on pain relievers with unwrapped wounds and there were a lot of infections," he recalls. "The idea that there was any hygiene seemed ridiculous. I'm not sure they were even bathing."

In reports made available to the US State Department, the US Army and First Kuwaiti, Mayberry listed dozens of concerns about the clinics, which he found lacking in hot water, disinfectant, hand washing stations, properly supplied ambulances, and communication equipment. Mayberry also complained that workers' medical records were in total disarray or nonexistent, the beds were dirty, and the support staff hired by First Kuwaiti was poorly trained.

The handling of prescription drugs especially bothered him. Many of the drugs that originated from Iraq and Kuwait were unsecured, disorganized and unintelligibly labeled, he said in one memo. He found that the medical staff frequently misdiagnosed patients. Prescription pain killers were being handed out "like a candy store ... and then people were sent back to work."

Mayberry warned that the practice could cause addiction and safety hazards. "Some were on the construction site climbing scaffolding 30 feet off the ground. I told First Kuwaiti that you don't give painkillers to people who are running machinery and working on heavy construction and they said 'that's how we do it.'"

The sloppy handling of drugs may have led to the two deaths, Mayberry speculates. One worker, age 25, died in his room. The second, in his mid-30s, died at the clinic because of heart failure. Both deaths may be "medical homicide," Mayberry says -- because the patients may have been negligently prescribed improper drug treatment.
If the State Department investigated, Mayberry knows nothing of the outcome. Two State Department officials with project oversight responsibilities did not return phone calls or emails inquiring about Mayberry's allegations. The reports may have been ignored, not because of his complaints, but because Mayberry is a terrible speller, a problem compounded by an Arabic translation program loaded on his computer, he says.


Accidents Happen

Owen's account of his seven months on the job paints a similar picture to Mayberry's. Health and safety measures were essentially non-existent, he says. Not once did he witness a safety meeting. Once an Egyptian worker fell and broke his back and was sent home. No one ever heard from him again. "The accident might not have happened if there was a safety program and he had known how to use a safety harness."

Owen also says that managers regularly beat workers and that laborers were issued only one work uniform, making it difficult to go to the laundry. "You could never have it washed. Clothing got really bad -- full of sweat and dirt."

And while he often smuggled water to the work crews, medical care was a different issue. When he urged laborers to get medical treatment for rashes and sores, First Kuwaiti managers accused him of spoiling the laborers and allowing them simply to avoid work, he says.

State Department officials supervising the project are aware of many such events, but apparently do nothing, he said. Once when 17 workers climbed the wall of the construction site to escape, a State Department official helped round them up and put them in "virtual lockdown," Owen said.

Just before he resigned, hundreds of Pakistani workers went on strike in June and beat up a Lebanese manager who they accused of harassing them. Owen estimates that 375 laborers were then sent home.


'Treated Like Animals'

Recent First Kuwaiti employees agree that the accounts shared by Owen and Mayberry are accurate. One longtime supervisor claims that 50 to 60 percent of the laborers regularly protest that First Kuwaiti "treats them like animals," and routinely reduces their promised pay with confusing and unexplained deductions.

Another former First Kuwaiti manager, who declines to be named because of possible adverse consequences, says that Owen's and Mayberry's complaints only begin "to scratch the surface."

But scratching the surface is the only view yet available of what may be the most lasting monument to the US liberation and occupation of Iraq. As of now only a handful of authorized State Department managers and contractors, along with First Kuwaiti workers and contractors, are officially allowed inside the project's walls. No journalist has ever been allowed access to the sprawling 104-acre site with towering construction cranes raising their necks along the skyline.

Even this tight security is a charade, says on former high-level First Kuwaiti manager. First Kuwaiti managers living at the construction site regularly smuggle prostitutes in from the streets of Baghdad outside the Green Zone, he says.

Prostitutes, he explains are viewed as possible spies. "They are a big security risk."

But the exposure that the US occupation forces and First Kuwaiti may fear most could begin with the contractor itself and the conditions workers are forced to endure at this most obvious symbol of the American democracy project in Iraq.

David Phinney is a journalist and broadcaster based in Washington, DC, whose work has appeared in The Los Angeles Times, New York Times and on ABC and PBS. He can be contacted at: phinneydavid@yahoo.com.

This investigation was conducted for CorpWatch.

Bush expresses concern over Iraq BBC News
US President George W Bush has said the recent upsurge in violence in Iraq is a "serious concern", warning that success there is vital in the war on terror."I know many Americans are not satisfied with the situation in Iraq," he said. "I'm not satisfied either". He warned that if Iraq became a failed state, extremists could gain access to oil wealth and launch fresh attacks. His comments come two weeks ahead of crucial mid-term elections, amid public dissatisfaction over policy in Iraq. Speaking at a press conference at the White House, Mr Bush said recent events, including the deaths of 93 US troops and more than 300 Iraqi security personnel, along with acts of "unspeakable violence" against civilians, were of "serious concern" to him. But he warned that if the US was not successful in Iraq, extremists could use it as a base from which to try to establish a "radical empire from Spain to Indonesia". He said the goals in Iraq had not changed, but said the US was "adapting its tactics" to combat the unrest. Mr Bush said that he was "making it clear that America's patience is not unlimited" with regards to Iraqi government efforts to gain control of the security situation, particularly tackling Shia death squads. But he said that at the same time the US authorities would not "put more pressure on the Iraqi government than it can bear". But despite the problems in Iraq, Mr Bush assured Americans that they could have "confidence that we will prevail".

*****
IRAQ: Troubled Oil Begins to Surface
Mohammed A. Salih
ARBIL - Through a steadily worsening security situation and deepening political divisions, a dispute is now erupting between Kurdish leaders and the Baghdad regime over access to oil resources.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=35203

*****
Iraq Government Death Squads Ravaging Baghdad
Ali Al-Fadhily and Dahr Jamail
BAGHDAD - Death squads from the Ministry of Interior posing as Iraqi police are killing more people than ever in the capital, emerging evidence shows.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=35159

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Iraq: More than 26 killed in ongoing U.S. occupation:

U.S. forces killed 12 people they said were insurgents preparing to plant a roadside bomb in the western city of Ram
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/CrisesArti...oryId=IBO552777

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Iraqi leader blasts military raid that killed 5 in Shiite area :

The defiant al-Maliki also slammed the top U.S. military and diplomatic representatives in Iraq for their Tuesday news conference at which they said his government needed to set a timetable to curb violence ravaging the country.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15409870/

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U.S. occupation forces reports the deaths of four service members in Iraq :

The U.S. military on Tuesday announced the deaths of four U.S. service members in fighting in Iraq.
http://tinyurl.com/ycqrn7

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More U.S. Troops May Be Needed In Baghdad :

To increase combat forces further might require calling in some troops on standby in the region or extending the tours of units nearing the end of their 12-month tours in Iraq, which in turn could mean calling up reserves.
http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=b3e0f45d-...67-bc13c11177a3

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Mike Whitney : Charnel House :

Will we destroy the city to liberate it? How many doors will be kicked in? How many buildings will be reduced to rubble? How many innocent people will be dragged off to interrogation-centers and filthy prisons? How many tens of thousands of people will be killed?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15408.htm

===
U.S. official: Britain seeks Iraq pullout in a year:

The official's comments offered the first hint Britain's military may have a timetable for withdrawal in mind. "It's about a year, give or take a few months," the official said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061024/ts_nm/...itain_troops_dc

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Some contracts in Iraq spend over 50% on overhead :

Halliburton unit cited in U.S. report on reconstruction
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...MNGBOLVFER1.DTL

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Chris Floyd: Blood and Gravy II: The Jackal's Feast Goes On :

War profiteering by favored corporate cronies was one of the primary benefits envisaged by the Bush Regime as it drove so relentlessly and deceitfully toward the baseless and unprovoked attack.
http://tinyurl.com/yf4w48

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Heather Wokusch: How the Bush Family Makes a Killing from George's Presidency:

An estimated 655,000 dead Iraqis, over 3,000 dead coalition troops, billions stolen from Iraq's coffers, a country battered by civil war - but Halliburton turned a profit, so the results are very good.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15396.htm

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Missing U.S. soldier kidnapped on family visit:

A U.S. soldier who went missing on Monday was kidnapped by gunmen while visiting a relative's house in Baghdad outside the Green Zone, the U.S. military said on Tuesday.
http://tinyurl.com/ya8vex

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Grass-Roots Group of Troops Petitions Congress for Pullout From Iraq:

More than 100 U.S. service members have signed a rare appeal urging Congress to support the "prompt withdrawal" of all American troops and bases from Iraq, organizers said yesterday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2401154_pf.html

===
US soldier to voice Iraq conflict opposition :

Sergeant Liam Madden - who was against the war even before being sent to Iraq with his unit in late 2004 - is one of more than 100 soldiers on active duty who have organised the petition drive through a website called Appeal for Redress.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1931212,00.html

Bush 'dissatisfied' with Iraq war BBC News
US President George W Bush says he is unhappy with the progress of the war in Iraq, admitting that a recent upsurge in violence is a "serious concern"."I know many Americans are not satisfied with the situation in Iraq," he said. "I'm not satisfied either." But Mr Bush ruled out a fixed timetable for withdrawing US troops, adding that victory there was vital to US security. His comments come two weeks ahead of crucial US mid-term elections, and amid public unease over US policy in Iraq. In what the BBC's Justin Webb in Washington says is an unusual departu