INFRASTRUCTURE CONDITIONS DIRE IN IRAQ

"The Red Cross is warning that... the condition of the country's infrastructure remains dire... even the most basic infrastructure in Iraq is not functioning... (and is) particularly concerned about poor water supplies... over 40% of Iraq's civilian population still has no access to clean mains water... the health of millions Iraqis is at risk..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7696641.stm

U.S. SPENT OVER $6 BILLION ON PRIVATE SECURITY COMPANIES

"... auditors think the United States has paid well over $6 billion to private security companies who have been guarding diplomats, troops, Iraqi officials and reconstruction workers in Iraq. The money amounts to about 12 percent of the $50 billion Americans are paying for reconstruction in the country, said Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen."
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/10/30/america/NA-US-Rebuilding-Iraq.php

$125 BILLION TO BE SPENT ON IRAQ INFRASTRUCTURE

"... (Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart) Bowen's quarterly reconstruction report to Congress... included the following other findings:
_More than $125.7 billion has now been committed to rebuilding Iraq's infrastructure and government since U.S.-led forces overthrew the government of President Saddam Hussein five years ago... it includes $50.77 billion in money appropriated by the United States..."
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/10/30/america/NA-US-Rebuilding-Iraq.php

U.S.TO HALT SERVICES WITHOUT ACCORD

The U.S. military has warned Iraq that it will shut down... vital services throughout the country on Jan. 1 if the Iraqi government doesn't agree to a new agreement on the status of U.S. forces or a renewed United Nations mandate for the American mission in Iraq... Army Gen. Ray Odierno... listed “tens” of areas of potential cutoffs... Among the services the U.S. provides are protection of Iraq’s principal borders, of its oil exports and other shipping through the Shatt al Arab into the Persian Gulf and all air traffic control over Iraq... U.S. forces would cease activities that support Iraq’s economy, educational sector and other areas _ "everything"..."

"... said Tariq al Hashimi, the country’s Sunni Muslim vice president. "I didn’t know the Americans are rendering such wide-scale services."

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/world/story/54795.html

FAILED U.S. SEWAGE PLANT FOR FALLUJAH COVERED UP

"A huge American-financed wastewater treatment plant in the desert city of Falluja... was supposed to be the centerpiece of an effort to rebuild Iraq... and bring Western standards of sanitation... the project... has tripled in cost from original plans to $100 million and has fallen about three years behind schedule... The project was so poorly conceived that there is no reliable electricity to run pumps and purification tanks, and no money left to connect homes to the main sewer lines, which now run uselessly beneath Falluja’s streets... the plant may never operate... senior officials at the embassy and the Army Corps knew of the problems for years without taking them to the American ambassador... or including them in any substantial way in the State Department’s so-called 2207 reports, which are supposed to inform Congress of the status of taxpayer-financed projects in Iraq..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/27/world/middleeast/27reconstruct.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=slogin

IRAQ WON'T SIGN U.S. TROOP DEAL

"... Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki won't sign the just-completed agreement on the status of U.S. forces in Iraq... The new accord's demise would be a major setback for the Bush administration, which has been seeking to establish a legal basis for the extended presence of the 151,000 U.S. troops in this country... Instead... Iraq's political leaders are considering seeking an extension of the United Nations mandate for the presence of U.S. troops, which will expire on Dec. 31..."

"Army Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq... (said) "Without (a security agreement), we would potentially have to cease all operations."

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/54757.html

THE EFFECT OF AMERICAN INVASION ON IRAQ

"... The Iraq that has emerged from the American invasion and occupation is now a thoroughly wrecked land, housing a largely dysfunctional society. More than a million Iraqis may have died; millions have fled their homes; many millions of others have been scarred by war, insurgency and counterinsurgency operations, extreme sectarian violence, and soaring levels of common criminality. Education and medical systems have essentially collapsed and, even today, with every kind of violence in decline, Iraq remains one of the most dangerous societies on earth."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JJ25Ak03.html

AMERICA'S LASTING EFFECT ON IRAQ

"... the devastation that is now Iraq is not of a kind that can always be easily explained in a short report, nor for that matter is it any longer easily repaired. In many cities, an American reliance on artillery and air power during the worst days of fighting helped devastate the Iraqi infrastructure. Political and economic changes imposed by the American occupation did damage of another kind, often depriving Iraqis not just of their livelihoods but of the very tools they would now need to launch a major reconstruction effort in their own country.... what was once the most advanced Middle Eastern society -- economically, socially, and technologically -- has become an economic basket case, rivaling the most desperate countries in the world..."
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/174993/michael_schwartz_iraq_in_hell

AMERICANS BRUSH OFF IRAQI WAR DEAD

"... there is solid evidence that close to a half-million people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the Iraq war.... about 10 times higher than the estimates put forth by the Bush administration and Pentagon when asked about civilian casualties. But a much bigger problem than the numerical disparity... is the simple fact that so few even ask..."
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/384390_iraqdead22.html

IRAQ PACT REVEALS U.S. DEBACLE

"The final draft of the U.S.-Iraq Status of Forces agreement on the U.S. military presence represents an even more crushing defeat for the policy of the George W. Bush administration than previously thought... (it) not only imposes unambiguous deadlines for withdrawal of U.S. combat troops by 2011 but makes it extremely unlikely that a U.S. non-combat presence will be allowed to remain in Iraq for training and support purposes beyond the 2011 deadline for withdrawal of all U.S. combat forces... (and) In the absence of an agreement approved by the Iraqi parliament, U.S. troops in Iraq will probably be confined to their bases once the United Nations mandate expires Dec. 31..."
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44394

AL-QAEDA SUPPORTERS ENDORSE McCAIN

"Al-Qaida supporters suggested in a Web site message this week they would welcome a pre-election terror attack on the U.S. as a way to usher in a McCain presidency. The message, posted Monday on the password-protected al-Hesbah Web site, said if al-Qaida wants to exhaust the United States militarily and economically, "impetuous" Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain is the better choice because he is more likely to continue the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."

"This requires presence of an impetuous American leader such as McCain, who pledged to continue the war till the last American soldier," the message said. "Then, al-Qaida will have to support McCain in the coming elections so that he continues the failing march of his predecessor, Bush. If al-Qaida carries out a big operation against American interests," the message said, "this act will be support of McCain because it will push the Americans deliberately to vote for McCain so that he takes revenge for them against al-Qaida. Al-Qaida then will succeed in exhausting America till its last year in it."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/22/al-qaeda-supporters-endor_n_136779.html

RUSSIA SUPPORTS EXTENSION OF U.N. MANDATE FOR OCCUPATION

"Russia will support Iraq’s request to the U.N. Security Council for an extension of the international military presence in that country... Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said... “There are international troops in Iraq in accordance with a U.N. Security Council mandate. If the government of Iraq asks for the mandate of these troops to be extended, Russia will certainly support it... We are confident that it would be wrong to speak about a complete and immediate withdrawal of all foreign troops from Iraq now. It is important to determine the timeframe for the start of such withdrawal, and this is the position of the Iraqi government.”
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=13191941&PageNum=0

IRAQIS MARCH FOR FREEDOM FROM U.S.

"... tens of thousands... protested... in the streets of Baghdad... against the pact to allow US troops to stay in the country beyond 2008... members of the crowd set fire to effigies of George Bush and Condoleezza Rice as well as an American and an Israeli flag. "Yes, yes Iraq! No, no to the occupation!" the protestors chanted.."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article4967683.ece

MASS RALLY AGAINST EXTENDING U.S. OCCUPATION


"Iraqis stage mass anti-US rally... Supporters of Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr have staged a mass demonstration in Baghdad in protest against plans to extend the US mandate in Iraq. An estimated 50,000 protesters chanted slogans such as "Get out occupier!".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7677551.stm

MISSILE ATTACKS ON AIRPORT AND GREEN ZONE

"While Maliki was meeting with President Jalal Talabani this week to place the final touches on a proposed long-term military treaty with the US, missiles were landing on Baghdad International Airport... believed to be ... from Sunni fundamentalists... 24 hours later, another five missiles landed on the Green Zone, where Maliki's office, and the embassies of both the US and Great Britain, are located."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JJ18Ak04.html

BA'ATHISTS PLAN "BATTLE OF BAGHDAD"

"The Ba'athist Supreme Command for Jihad and Liberation (SCJL) has announced that it is preparing to launch the "Battle of Baghdad". The SCJL is a coalition of at least 22 insurgent groups headed by Izzat al-Douri, the leader of the banned Iraqi Ba'ath Party.... the SCJL looks beyond a US withdrawal from Iraq and promises a final showdown with the Iraqi government that will lead to the "liberation" of Iraq and the establishment of a new political system... While the insurgency has relied on guerrilla tactics using small arms in hit-and-run attacks, the SCJL proposes to shift to a more conventional approach with a regular army capable of launching a large-scale attack for a final "liberation" of Baghdad that will rid Iraq of the current regime and political system..."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JJ18Ak01.html

RICE, PETREAUS: VICTORY NOT CERTAIN

"... the new National Intelligence Estimate ... warns that unresolved ethnic and sectarian tensions in Iraq could unleash a new wave of violence, potentially reversing the major security and political gains achieved over the last year... the findings seem to cast doubts on McCain's frequent assertions that the United States is "on a path to victory" in Iraq..."

"Army Gen. David Petraeus, the former top U.S. commander in Iraq, who has called the situation "fragile" and "reversible" and said he will never declare victory there. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice echoed that tone on Monday during a State Department awards ceremony for Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker... (saying) "Ladies and gentlemen, nothing is certain in this life. And success in Iraq is not a sure thing."

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/world/story/53605.html