U.S. TO WITHDRAW IF NEW IRAQI GOVERNMENT ASKS

"Private memos are circulating in Washington, Baghdad and London setting out detailed scenarios for withdrawal of US and British forces from Iraq as early as possible... because a new Iraq government, to be elected next week if the election goes ahead on January 30 as planned, could set a target date for withdrawal... a United Nations resolution declared that US and other forces would have to leave if requested by the Iraqi government..."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1396154,00.html

REAL THREAT OF CIVIL WAR IS FROM U.S. USE OF KURDS

"... The real threat of civil war in Iraq comes not from Sunni-Shia conflict but from the Kurdish- Arab tensions that have been stoked by the U.S. strategy of “Iraqification.” For the past year, the U.S. military has been trying to get Sunnis and Shiites to fight the insurgents along with U.S. troops. But the only Iraqi troops willing to participate in the war in any numbers have been the Kurds... Reliance on the Kurds as auxiliaries to the U.S. occupation is a dangerous strategy... The United States is not playing the role of disinterested trustee in Iraq, allowing Sunnis and Shiites or Arabs and Kurds to work out their differences..."
http://www.fpif.org/commentary/2005/0501civil.html

INCIDENT IN TAL AFAR

"... Chris Hondros a photographer with Getty News was on hand to record these pictures."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/05/middle_east_shooting_in_tal_afar/html/1.stm

DEFENSE MINISTRY CORRUPTION INVESTIGATION

"An American contractor gunned down last month in Iraq had... alerted senior U.S. officials in Washington that he believed Iraqi Defense Ministry officials were part of a kickback scheme involving a multimillion-dollar contract awarded to his company, Wye Oak Technology, to refurbish old Iraqi military equipment. The FBI has launched an investigation..."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-fg-death20jan20,0,2295167.story?coll=la-home-headlines

U.S. BUILDING PERMANENT MILITARY COMMUNCATIONS

"... the Pentagon is building a permanent military communications system that suggests American soldiers will be in Iraq for the foreseeable future. The new network, known as Central Iraq Microwave System, will eventually consist of up to 12 communications towers throughout Iraq and fiber-optic cables connecting Camp Victory, located outside of Baghdad, to other coalition bases in the country...

"... a former CIA officer and founder of the CIA's counterterrorism center, Duane Clarridge... who has spent four months in Iraq in the last year and is the former chief of Arab operations for the CIA's clandestine service, added, "People should get realistic and think in terms of our presence being in Iraq for a generation.."

http://www.nysun.com/article/7680

U.S. HAS BUILT 14 LONG-TERM BASES

"A 20 April 2003 report in The New York Times asserted that "the U.S. is planning a long-term military relationship with the emerging government of Iraq, one that would grant the Pentagon access to military bases and project American influence into the heart of the unsettled region"... American officials have tried to make the point that the US presence in Iraq will not be a permanent or long-term one. US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in a 21 April 2003 press conference said that any suggestion that the United States is planning a permanent military presence in Iraq is "inaccurate and unfortunate."

"(but)... On 23 March 2004 it was reported that "U.S. engineers are focusing on constructing 14 "enduring bases," long-term encampments for the thousands of American troops expected to serve in Iraq..."

Web pages of the bases, with satellite photos:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/iraq-intro.htm

HOTEL JOURNALISM

"... Western reporters in Baghdad are reporting from their hotels rather than the streets of Iraq's towns and cities.. Some are accompanied everywhere by hired and heavily armed Western mercenaries. A few live in local offices, from which their editors refuse them permission to leave...

"The US military couldn't be happier with this situation... They know that if they bomb a house of innocent people, they can claim it was a 'terrorist' base and get away with it. They don't want us roaming around Iraq, and so the 'terrorist' threat is great news for them. They can claim they've shot 600 or 1 000 insurgents and we have no way of checking because we can't go to the cemetery or visit the hospitals - because we don't want to get kidnapped and have our throats cut."

"Thus many reporters are now reduced to telephoning the American military or the Iraqi "interim" government for information from their hotel rooms, receiving "facts" from men and women who are even more isolated from Iraq in the Baghdad Green Zone around Saddam's former palace than are the journalists..."

http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=132&fArticleId=2375983

AMERICANS LOSING CONTROL

"... It seems like the Americans are losing control on everything.. They seem to be shooting everyone in their way. The guard of our school (An old man who has a difficulty hearing, and who has 9 children, and who has managed to work as a driver in his free time) got killed by the Americans with everyone who was in the car with him.. My friend's aunt got killed by the Americans too.. Also, the soldiers are still breaking into the houses of civilians. They entered some neighbors of my friend' houses and then cut all the phone lines in the street..."
--Schoolgirl blogger in Mosul, January 10, 2005
http://astarfrommosul.blogspot.com/

ZARQAWI CAPTURE STATUS

January 16
"... There are a lot of ramous here in Iraq that the Jordanain Abo-Mosab Zarqawi has been arrested probably more than 2 weeks ago in Diyala... It seems to be the announcement of Zarqawi arrest is just a matter of time, possibly in the next few days or weeks?"
--Hammorabi blog
http://hammorabi.blogspot.com/

January 5
"Abu Mus'ab Al Zarqawi, on whom the U.S. put a bounty of US$10 million, has been arrested in the Iraqi city of Baakuba, the Emirate newspaper al-Bayane reported on Tuesday citing Kurdish media.... Al Zarqawi’s arrest was also reported by the Kurdish media, the first to announce Saddam’s seizure. However, no official report on arresting Al Zarqawi, declared by the U.S. occupation authorities as its "target number one" in Iraq has yet emerged..."
http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=6517

January 5
"... there are strong indications from the Kurdish sources about the news of the arrest of Abo-Mosaab Al-Zarqawi in Baqoba. Whether or not this terrorist was arrested and awaiting the DNA analysis we will get it live as soon as we know more.
We have to mention that the same Kurdish sources were the first to announce the arrest of Saddam and his deputy even before the US forces did so."
Hammorabi Blog, 1/4/2005
http://hammorabi.blogspot.com/

BUSH ELECTION RATIFIES IRAQ POLICY

"President Bush said the public's decision to reelect him was a ratification of his approach toward Iraq and that there was no reason to hold any administration officials accountable for mistakes or misjudgments in prewar planning or managing the violent aftermath. "The American people listened to different assessments made about what was taking place in Iraq, and they looked at the two candidates, and chose me."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12450-2005Jan15.html

RUIN OF BABYLON

"Babylon wrecked by war... Troops from the US-led force in Iraq have caused widespread damage and severe contamination to the remains of the ancient city of Babylon...2,600-year-old brick pavement crushed by military vehicles, archaeological fragments scattered across the site, and trenches driven into ancient deposits... Vast amounts of sand and earth, visibly mixed with archaeological fragments, were gouged from the site to fill thousands of sandbags and metal mesh baskets. When this practice was stopped, large quantities of sand and earth were brought in from elsewhere, contaminating the site for future generations of archaeologists... large areas of the site had been covered in gravel brought in from outside, compacted and sometimes chemically treated to provide helipads, car parks and accommodation and storage areas. "The status of future information about these areas will therefore be seriously compromised..."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1391011,00.html

RENDITION

"... hundreds of (foreign detainees) have been arrested in recent weeks in Falluja and other Iraqi cities... one proposal is to have the US build new prisons in Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen... The US policy of lending detainees to other countries' jailers and torturers, known as "rendition", began during the "war on drugs"... It has expanded enormously under the "war on terror". As one CIA officer (said), "the whole idea has become a corruption of renditions. It's not rendering to justice. It's kidnapping."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1390317,00.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A41475-2005Jan1?language=printer

HIDDEN COST

"The Pentagon next month plans to ask Congress for up to $100 billion in supplemental funds to pay for the ongoing combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, bringing the total budgeted so far to well over $200 billion. But (that does) not include the investment that will be necessary to fix... a broken ground force...

"The Army and Marine Corps, and a growing number of National Guard and Reserve units, are burning through trucks and armored vehicles at rates between five and 10 times the peacetime average... As a result, tanks, trucks, aircraft, and other equipment are aging much more quickly than anticipated. By some estimates, up to 40 percent of certain classes of ground equipment will have to be overhauled or replaced... If the war were to end today, the Army would still need at least $20 billion more than budgeted over the next three years just to be at the same level of preparedness as before the war..."

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/01/14/wars_hidden_cost_called_heavy/

TRAFFIC JAM IN BAGHDAD

"... At the al-Hurriya intersection Tuesday morning, four truckloads of Iraqi national guardsmen -- the future saviors of Iraq, according to President Bush -- are passing my car. Their rifles are porcupine quills, pointing at every motorist, every Iraqi on the pavement, the Iraqi army pointing their weapons at their own people. And they are all wearing masks -- black hoods or ski masks or kuffiyas that leave only slits for frightened eyes...

"At Kamal Jumblatt Square beside the Tigris, two American Humvees approach the roundabout. Their machine-gunners are shouting at drivers to keep away from them. A big sign in Arabic on the rear of each vehicle says: "Forbidden. Do not overtake this convoy. Stay 50 meters away from it." The drivers behind obey; they know the meaning of the "deadly force" that Americans have written onto their checkpoint signs...

"But the two Humvees drive into a massive traffic jam, the gunners now screaming at us to move back. When a taxi that does not notice the U.S. troops blocks their path, the American in the lead vehicle hurls a full plastic bottle of water onto its roof and the driver mounts the grass traffic circle. A truck receives the same treatment from the lead Humvee. "Go back," shouts the rear gunner, staring at us through shades. We try desperately to turn into the jam...

"Round the corner, I discover the reason for the jam: Iraqi cops are fighting off hundreds of motorists desperate for petrol, the drivers refusing to queue any longer for the one thing that Iraq possesses in Croeses-like amounts -- petrol..."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/207765_fisk14.html

THE FIVE U.S. GOALS IN FALLUJAH

1. Free Falluja from insurgents to allow its citizens to participate in the elections.
2. Kill or capture the guerrilla leadership, particularly Zarqawi.
3. Damage the insurgency to reduce it to containable levels.
4. Teach Fallujans and the rest of Iraq that harboring the resistance would provoke the full force of the US military.
5. Rebuild a guerrilla-free Falluja as a model for the rest of the country.
Did the attack on Fallujah accomplish these goals?
http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=2124

TURN IT OVER TO THE U.N.

"... The United States never belonged in Iraq. And it does not belong there today. Any hope that it could somehow win in Iraq has long since faded. Bush should therefore set a date for departure in 2005 and stick to it. The United Nations, in the meantime, has the option of putting together a real multinational peacekeeping force. Other Arab or Muslim nations could also contribute to it. Or the Iraqi people themselves will have to solve their own problems. But the United States has no role to play. It will do more harm than good by staying."
http://www.progressive.org/feb05/com0205.htm

TURNING POINTS

"... The deaths of Saddam Hussein’s brutal sons, Uday and Qusay, were supposed to be a turning point.
The capture of Saddam himself was supposed to be a turning point.
The transfer of power at the end of June was supposed to be a turning point.
Rousting Muqtada al-Sadr out of Najaf was supposed to be a turning point.
Taking back Fallujah was supposed to be a turning point. (The U.S. military destroyed Fallujah in order to save it.)
Now we are told that the elections are a turning point.
But the only turning point will be when the U.S. turns around and leaves..."
http://www.progressive.org/feb05/com0205.html

NO DEMOCRATIZATION

"Since September 11, 2001, Western governments have articulated a breathtaking vision of democratic reform in the Arab world... Sadly, the grandiose Western proclamations... simply obscure a stifling global consensus... Western governments - including the Bush administration - seem to agree with Arab rulers on a critical point: in general, the authoritarian stability of the existing Arab order should be maintained..."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GA15Ak04.html

IRAQI TERRORIST GROUP SPREADING TO EUROPE

"... Ansar al-Islam is a radical Islamist group comprising Iraqi Kurds and Arabs who have vowed to establish an independent Islamic state in northern Iraq... Ansar al-Islam's battlefield appears to be expanding. Until recently, this Islamist extremist group was known mainly for its violent attacks inside Iraq. Now indicators suggest that it poses a growing threat to Europe as well...

"... Ansar al-Islam was among the groups that recruited Muslims in Europe to fight in Iraq... Now European governments fear that battle-hardened fighters returning home from Iraq will put their expertise to use on European soil."

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GA15Ak02.html

NATO CONSIDERING NOT SENDING MORE TRAINERS

"... Nato says it is considering scaling down plans for its training mission in Iraq. The alliance's top commander, General James Jones, said the proposed reduction was because Iraq's own forces could now do more training themselves, and Nato did not want to send more instructors than it had to. General Jones said the training mission had not been helped by the refusal of some countries to send troops. About 100 Nato instructors and support staff are currently in Iraq - lower than the target of 300 personnel which was suggested last month."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4174579.stm

IRAQ COULD BECOME TERROR HAVEN

"... Veterans of jihad in Iraq could eventually replace the al-Qaeda hierarchy, the CIA's National Intelligence Council says... The report, Mapping the Global Future, warns of "a new class of terrorists"... the report suggests that terrorists could thrive in Iraq, and go on to "supersede" those who earned their stripes in training camps in Afghanistan... The report's writers consulted more than 1,000 experts on five continents before drawing their conclusions."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4173981.stm

PULLOUT PROPOSED

"... top administration officials are in deliberations about how to proceed in Iraq, where hopes are fading that the elections on Jan. 30 for a national assembly to write a constitution will improve security... Brent Scowcroft said... the continuing insurrection in Iraq meant it was time for a discussion of "whether we get out now"... Rep. Howard Coble, R- N.C., who supported the decision to invade Iraq, also said last week it was time to start pondering a phased withdrawal... Sixteen House Democrats led by Rep. Lynn Woolsey.. called on President Bush on Wednesday to begin the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq..."
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/01/13/MNGGUAPEKM1.DTL

WHAT WAS THE MISTAKE?

"... Republican senators return from Iraq deeply sobered by what they find, and unable to gin up much confidence. Generals have begun to go public with concern about their ability to field a competent force over the long haul... Depending on who is pointing the finger, the mess is Don Rumsfeld's fault for failing to put enough boots on the ground; it is Paul Bremer's fault for disbanding the Iraqi army; it is Colin Powell's fault for not bringing more allies into the coalition; it is George Tenet's fault because the CIA failed to predict the insurgency...

"The fatal mistake was not in the myriad decisions about how the invasion and occupation should be conducted. Such mistakes are inevitable and could be overcome if the larger project had been sound. The fatal mistake was the decision to invade in the first place."

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0113-30.htm

AMERICAN-STYLE DEMOCRACY NOT WANTED

"...The people of Iraq have never wanted Western-style pluralistic democracy or elections. The idea has always been imposed from abroad... When the Arabs hear the term "democracy," they hear a code word for "stable environment for oil"... A post-election Iraq will resemble pre-election Iraq, with a savage insurgency determined to sabotage the government... ... Elections do not make democracies; democracies make elections."
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-refs54112183jan12,0,7427303.story?coll=ny-viewpoints-headlines

ELECTIONS MAY DEEPEN CONFLICT

January 9
"We will have to decide to what extent we want to be involved in what may become a civil war after the elections."
--Henry Kissinger, former secretary of state for President Richard Nixon
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=12403

January 8
"The Iraqi elections, rather than turning out to be a promising turning point, have the great potential for deepening the conflict."
--Brent Scowcroft, former national security adviser for President George H. W. Bush
http://nytimes.com/2005/01/09/international/middleeast/09diplo.html?hp&ex=1105246800&en=e2e068b90b81f157&ei=5094&partner=homepage

SOME AREAS TOO VIOLENT TO VOTE

"... a group in Iraq issued a statement warning that it would deploy “highly trained” snipers around Iraq during the voting process. The statement said that 32 snipers will operate in Wasit, a Shiite province south of Baghdad that includes Kut, Numaniyah and Suwaiyra..."
http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=6758

"Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has admitted... that violence will prevent some parts of Iraq voting... "There are some pockets that will not participate in the election..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4166587.stm

EVEN TANKS VULNERABLE TO BOMBS

"Seven American soldiers were killed last Thursday when their Bradley armored personnel carrier hit a roadside bomb in northwestern Baghdad."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/10/opinion/10herbert.html?oref=login&oref=login

"Two US soldiers were killed and four wounded Monday when a bomb blast ripped through an Abrams tank in southwestern Baghdad..."A patrol reported striking an improvised explosive device, destroying an Abrams tank..." the 1st Cavalry Division said in a statement."
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=12385

FOOD SHORTAGE

"... Large areas of Iraq are on the verge of food shortage... The ongoing violence and pattern of US sanctions against Iran and Syria are conspiring with sky high port prices and delays at border crossings to prevent required foodstuffs from being shipped into Iraq..."
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0107-30.htm

4 PROVINCES TOO INSECURE TO VOTE = 40% OF POPULATION

"... 4 of Iraq's 18 provinces are still not secure enough for citizens to vote, the commander of American ground forces here said... Baghdad is one of the four provinces identified by the commander, Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz, as having insecure areas. The other provinces... were Anbar, which includes Falluja and Ramadi; Nineveh, which contains Mosul; and Salahadin, which includes Tikrit..."
http://nytimes.com/2005/01/07/international/middleeast/07iraq-cnd.html?hp&ex=1105160400&en=eca2e931453717cf&ei=5094&partner=homepage

1. Baghdad, population 3,841,268
2. Anbar, population 820,690
3. Nineveh, population 1,479,430
4. Salahadin, population 726,138
Population of 4 insecure provinces = 6,867,526
Total population of Iraq in 1998 = 16,335,198
http://www.statoids.com/uiq.html

WHITE HOUSE: IRAQIS TO DECIDE IF OK TO HAVE ELECTION.
IRAQI PRESIDENT: U.N. SHOULD DECIDE IF OK TO HAVE ELECTION.

" U.S. hedges on election timing... "For much of the country, the situation is secure enough to move forward on holding elections," (Scott) McClellan insisted yesterday.... But he stressed the politically independent election commission would make the final decision on whether to change the election date....

"Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawar told Reuters the United Nations should look into whether the country should go ahead with the election as scheduled... "Definitely the United Nations... should really stand up for their responsibilities and obligations by saying whether that is possible or not."

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1104879011593

ALLOW DEMOCRACY IN HARMONY WITH ISLAM

"... the pending election in Iraq will be better understood if these events are seen through the historical prism of what happened in Iran some 50 years ago... when, sadly, the United States helped the British overthrow a freely elected constitutional government. The implications of that heinous act have echoed across half a century of Middle East history and present real lessons for the US role in Iraq...

"... it would serve US policymakers well to recollect that government of Iran some 50 years ago. The issues for the people of Iraq have always been sovereignty, legitimacy, occupation and promises unfulfilled. Remembering US actions in Iran, Iraqis desperately need to believe that the United States does not have any long-term designs on their country...

"When the election takes place and majority rule, which may have religious ties, is established, it would be well to remember the Iranian model. That model was a powerful, irrefutable case, proving that democracy in harmony with Islam can work..."

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FL24Ak02.html

FALLUJAH CORPSES STILL BEING FOUND - MOSTLY WOMEN AND CHILDREN

"... Of the 700 corpses 'collected' so far more than 550 have been those of women and children. What male bodies have been uncovered most were elderly... The number of bodies found are only from 9 districts in Fallujah with some 18 others yet to be reached. The number of dead doesn’t include those buried by civilians.... Journalists and TV networks have been turned away at the city's gates unless they carry authorisation from the Iraqi government..."
http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=6512

PROMISES DISAPPEAR IN BLOOD

"The Bush Administration guaranteed the Iraq War would be “quick and easy.” That was two years ago... before 1,300 Americans and 15,000 Iraqis were dead.

"First we were told that when Saddam Hussein was overthrown, the fighting would stop. That was twenty-one months ago. Then, when Saddam Hussein the fugitive was captured, the insurgency would collapse. He was captured over twelve months ago. Then, when authority was transferred to the Iraqi government, the Iraqi military would take over the fighting. That was nearly ten months ago. Then, when Fallujah was occupied, the resistance would be defeated. The city was destroyed over two months ago.

"From defeating the Iraqi military to capturing Saddam Hussein to Iraqi control of the country to destroying a city, each promise has disappeared in fresh pools of American and Iraqi blood..."

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0104-33.htm

ELECTIONS COULD LEAD TO CIVIL WAR

"The head of Iraq's intelligence service Gen Muhammad Shahwani now puts the number of insurgents at 200,000, of which 40,000 are said to be the hard core and the rest active supporters. These figures do not represent an insurgency. They represent a war...
"What happens after the election... if the.. Sunni Islamists and nationalists continue their attacks. If they do, they and the likely winners of the election, parties representing the majority Shia population, could come into conflict. This in turn could lead to a possible civil war..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4145585.stm

IRAQI VIEW OF ELECTIONS

"Sunni Arabs are going to boycott elections. It's not about religion or fatwas or any of that so much as the principle of holding elections while you are under occupation...
"We don't know the candidates. We know the principal heads of the lists but we don't know who exactly will be running. It really is confusing. They aren't making the lists public because they are afraid the candidates will be assassinated...
"Many people sense that this is just the final act of a really bad play. It's the tying of the ribbon on the "democracy parcel" we've been handed. It's being stuck with an occupation government that has been labeled 'legitimate' through elections."
--from Riverbend's Blog "Baghdad Burning", January 02, 2005
http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/