Iraq

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Hans Bulvai
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Iraq

Post by Hans Bulvai »

How Maliki and Iran Outsmarted the U.S. on Troop Withdrawal
WASHINGTON, Dec 16, 2011 (IPS) - Defence Secretary Leon Panetta's suggestion that the end of the U.S. troop presence in Iraq is part of a U.S. military success story ignores the fact that the George W. Bush administration and the U.S. military had planned to maintain a semi-permanent military presence in Iraq.

The real story behind the U.S. withdrawal is how a clever strategy of deception and diplomacy adopted by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in cooperation with Iran outmanoeuvered Bush and the U.S. military leadership and got the United States to sign the U.S.-Iraq withdrawal agreement.

A central element of the Maliki-Iran strategy was the common interest that Maliki, Iran and anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr shared in ending the U.S. occupation, despite their differences over other issues.

Maliki needed Sadr's support, which was initially based on Maliki's commitment to obtain a time schedule for U.S. troops' withdrawal from Iraq.

In early June 2006, a draft national reconciliation plan that circulated among Iraqi political groups included agreement on "a time schedule to pull out the troops from Iraq" along with the build-up of Iraqi military forces. But after a quick trip to Baghdad, Bush rejected the idea of a withdrawal timetable.

Maliki's national security adviser Mowaffak Al-Rubaei revealed in a Washington Post op-ed that Maliki wanted foreign troops reduced by more than 30,000 to under 100,000 by the end of 2006 and withdrawal of "most of the remaining troops" by end of the 2007.

When the full text of the reconciliation plan was published Jun. 25, 2006, however, the commitment to a withdrawal timetable was missing.

In June 2007, senior Bush administration officials began leaking to reporters plans for maintaining what The New York Times described as "a near-permanent presence" in Iraq, which would involve control of four major bases.

Maliki immediately sent Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari to Washington to dangle the bait of an agreement on troops before then Vice President Dick Cheney.

As recounted in Linda Robinson's "Tell Me How This Ends", Zebari urged Cheney to begin negotiating the U.S. military presence in order to reduce the odds of an abrupt withdrawal that would play into the hands of the Iranians.

In a meeting with then Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in September 2007, National Security Adviser Rubaie said Maliki wanted a "Status of Forces Agreement" (SOFA) that would allow U.S. forces to remain but would "eliminate the irritants that are apparent violations of Iraqi sovereignty", according Bob Woodward's "The War Within".

Maliki's national security adviser was also seeking to protect the Mahdi Army from U.S. military plans to target it for major attacks. Meeting Bush's coordinator for the Iraq War, Douglas Lute, Rubaie said it was better for Iraqi security forces to take on Sadr's militias than for U.S. Special Forces to do so.

He explained to the Baker-Hamilton Commission that Sadr's use of military force was not a problem for Maliki, because Sadr was still part of the government.

Publicly, the Maliki government continued to assure the Bush administration it could count on a long-term military presence. Asked by NBC's Richard Engel on Jan. 24, 2008 if the agreement would provide long-term U.S. bases in Iraq, Zebari said, "This is an agreement of enduring military support. The soldiers are going to have to stay someplace. They can't stay in the air."

Confident that it was going to get a South Korea-style SOFA, the Bush administration gave the Iraqi government a draft on Mar. 7, 2008 that provided for no limit on the number of U.S. troops or the duration of their presence. Nor did it give Iraq any control over U.S. military operations.

But Maliki had a surprise in store for Washington.

A series of dramatic moves by Maliki and Iran over the next few months showed that there had been an explicit understanding between the two governments to prevent the U.S. military from launching major operations against the Mahdi Army and to reach an agreement with Sadr on ending the Mahdi Army's role in return for assurances that Maliki would demand the complete withdrawal of U.S. forces.

In mid-March 2007, Maliki ignored pressure from a personal visit by Cheney to cooperate in taking down the Mahdi Army and instead abruptly vetoed U.S. military plans for a major operation against the Mahdi Army in Basra. Maliki ordered an Iraqi army assault on the dug-in Sadrist forces.

Predictably, the operation ran into trouble, and within days, Iraqi officials had asked General Suleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard, to intervene and negotiate a ceasefire with Sadr, who agreed, although his troops were far from defeated.

A few weeks later, Maliki again prevented the United States from launching its biggest campaign yet against the Mahdi Army in Sadr City. And again, Suleimani was brought in to work out a deal with Sadr allowing government troops to patrol in the former Mahdi Army stronghold.

There was subtext to Suleimani's interventions. Just as Suleimani was negotiating the Basra ceasefire with Sadr, a website associated with former IRGC Commander Mohsen Rezai said Iran opposed actions by "hard-line clans" that "only weaken the government and people of Iraq and give a pretext to its occupiers".

In the days that followed that agreement, Iranian state news media portrayed the Iraqi crackdown in Basra as being against illegal and "criminal" forces.

The timing of each political diplomatic move by Maliki appears to have been determined in discussions between Maliki and top Iranian officials.

Just two days after returning from a visit to Tehran in June 2008, Maliki complained publicly about U.S. demands for indefinite access to military bases, control of Iraqi airspace and immunity from prosecution for U.S. troops and private contractors.

In July, he revealed that his government was demanding the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops on a timetable.

The Bush administration was in a state of shock. From July to October, it pretended that it could simply refuse to accept the withdrawal demand, while trying vainly to pressure Maliki to back down.

In the end, however, Bush administration officials realised that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, who was then far ahead of Republican John McCain in polls, would accept the same or an even faster timetable for withdrawal. In October, Bush decided to sign the draft agreement pledging withdrawal of all U.S. troops by the end of 2011.

The ambitious plans of the U.S. military to use Iraq to dominate the Middle East militarily and politically had been foiled by the very regime the United States had installed, and the officials behind the U.S. scheme, had been clueless about what was happening until it was too late.
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Re: The Iraq Thread

Post by AzariLoveIran »

Hans Bulvai wrote:.

How Maliki and Iran Outsmarted the U.S. on Troop Withdrawal
WASHINGTON, Dec 16, 2011 (IPS) - Defence Secretary Leon Panetta's suggestion that the end of the U.S. troop presence in Iraq is part of a U.S. military success story ignores the fact that the George W. Bush administration and the U.S. military had planned to maintain a semi-permanent military presence in Iraq.

The real story behind the U.S. withdrawal is how a clever strategy of deception and diplomacy adopted by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in cooperation with Iran outmanoeuvered Bush and the U.S. military leadership and got the United States to sign the U.S.-Iraq withdrawal agreement.

A central element of the Maliki-Iran strategy was the common interest that Maliki, Iran and anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr shared in ending the U.S. occupation, despite their differences over other issues.

Maliki needed Sadr's support, which was initially based on Maliki's commitment to obtain a time schedule for U.S. troops' withdrawal from Iraq.

In early June 2006, a draft national reconciliation plan that circulated among Iraqi political groups included agreement on "a time schedule to pull out the troops from Iraq" along with the build-up of Iraqi military forces. But after a quick trip to Baghdad, Bush rejected the idea of a withdrawal timetable.

Maliki's national security adviser Mowaffak Al-Rubaei revealed in a Washington Post op-ed that Maliki wanted foreign troops reduced by more than 30,000 to under 100,000 by the end of 2006 and withdrawal of "most of the remaining troops" by end of the 2007.

When the full text of the reconciliation plan was published Jun. 25, 2006, however, the commitment to a withdrawal timetable was missing.

In June 2007, senior Bush administration officials began leaking to reporters plans for maintaining what The New York Times described as "a near-permanent presence" in Iraq, which would involve control of four major bases.

Maliki immediately sent Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari to Washington to dangle the bait of an agreement on troops before then Vice President Dick Cheney.

As recounted in Linda Robinson's "Tell Me How This Ends", Zebari urged Cheney to begin negotiating the U.S. military presence in order to reduce the odds of an abrupt withdrawal that would play into the hands of the Iranians.

In a meeting with then Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in September 2007, National Security Adviser Rubaie said Maliki wanted a "Status of Forces Agreement" (SOFA) that would allow U.S. forces to remain but would "eliminate the irritants that are apparent violations of Iraqi sovereignty", according Bob Woodward's "The War Within".

Maliki's national security adviser was also seeking to protect the Mahdi Army from U.S. military plans to target it for major attacks. Meeting Bush's coordinator for the Iraq War, Douglas Lute, Rubaie said it was better for Iraqi security forces to take on Sadr's militias than for U.S. Special Forces to do so.

He explained to the Baker-Hamilton Commission that Sadr's use of military force was not a problem for Maliki, because Sadr was still part of the government.

Publicly, the Maliki government continued to assure the Bush administration it could count on a long-term military presence. Asked by NBC's Richard Engel on Jan. 24, 2008 if the agreement would provide long-term U.S. bases in Iraq, Zebari said, "This is an agreement of enduring military support. The soldiers are going to have to stay someplace. They can't stay in the air."

Confident that it was going to get a South Korea-style SOFA, the Bush administration gave the Iraqi government a draft on Mar. 7, 2008 that provided for no limit on the number of U.S. troops or the duration of their presence. Nor did it give Iraq any control over U.S. military operations.

But Maliki had a surprise in store for Washington.

A series of dramatic moves by Maliki and Iran over the next few months showed that there had been an explicit understanding between the two governments to prevent the U.S. military from launching major operations against the Mahdi Army and to reach an agreement with Sadr on ending the Mahdi Army's role in return for assurances that Maliki would demand the complete withdrawal of U.S. forces.

In mid-March 2007, Maliki ignored pressure from a personal visit by Cheney to cooperate in taking down the Mahdi Army and instead abruptly vetoed U.S. military plans for a major operation against the Mahdi Army in Basra. Maliki ordered an Iraqi army assault on the dug-in Sadrist forces.

Predictably, the operation ran into trouble, and within days, Iraqi officials had asked General Suleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard, to intervene and negotiate a ceasefire with Sadr, who agreed, although his troops were far from defeated.

A few weeks later, Maliki again prevented the United States from launching its biggest campaign yet against the Mahdi Army in Sadr City. And again, Suleimani was brought in to work out a deal with Sadr allowing government troops to patrol in the former Mahdi Army stronghold.

There was subtext to Suleimani's interventions. Just as Suleimani was negotiating the Basra ceasefire with Sadr, a website associated with former IRGC Commander Mohsen Rezai said Iran opposed actions by "hard-line clans" that "only weaken the government and people of Iraq and give a pretext to its occupiers".

In the days that followed that agreement, Iranian state news media portrayed the Iraqi crackdown in Basra as being against illegal and "criminal" forces.

The timing of each political diplomatic move by Maliki appears to have been determined in discussions between Maliki and top Iranian officials.

Just two days after returning from a visit to Tehran in June 2008, Maliki complained publicly about U.S. demands for indefinite access to military bases, control of Iraqi airspace and immunity from prosecution for U.S. troops and private contractors.

In July, he revealed that his government was demanding the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops on a timetable.

The Bush administration was in a state of shock. From July to October, it pretended that it could simply refuse to accept the withdrawal demand, while trying vainly to pressure Maliki to back down.

In the end, however, Bush administration officials realised that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, who was then far ahead of Republican John McCain in polls, would accept the same or an even faster timetable for withdrawal. In October, Bush decided to sign the draft agreement pledging withdrawal of all U.S. troops by the end of 2011.

The ambitious plans of the U.S. military to use Iraq to dominate the Middle East militarily and politically had been foiled by the very regime the United States had installed, and the officials behind the U.S. scheme, had been clueless about what was happening until it was too late.

.
.

America did the right thing

in long run, American military leaving Iraq will be good for America

Iraq must work towards building the country and building the right relation with it's neighbors .. without western interference

Iran, Turkey, Syria are important neighbors that Iraq will live for 1000s of yrs

America did the right thing, crushing Saddam (their own making) and leaving Iraq .. both correct decisions

.
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Re: The Iraq Thread

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May the gods preserve and defend me from self-righteous altruists; I can defend myself from my enemies and my friends.
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Re: The Iraq Thread

Post by Hans Bulvai »

For the forseeable future...yes...
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Re: The Iraq Thread

Post by Ibrahim »

Everyone has been predicting some form of civil war following US withdrawal since about 2007. By this time the US had armed and paid Shia militias to help beat down Zaraqawi and his "al Qaeda in Iraq" goons, then armed and paid Sunni militias to counter the now-beyond-their-control Shia militias, it was pretty much a done deal. Or it was a done deal as soon as the army was disbanded and the anti-Baathist purges back in 2003. Depends which books you believe.

Civil war is a safe bet, and my money is on the Shia since there are more of them and they have a direct pipeline of aid from Iran, with the US impotent to prevent it.
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Re: The Iraq Thread

Post by Hans Bulvai »

Allawi is a Shia.

Maliki acting "like Saddam": Sunni bloc leader
AMMAN (Reuters) - Iraq's Nuri al-Maliki is acting like Saddam Hussein in trying to silence opposition and he risks provoking a new fightback against dictatorship, one of Maliki's predecessors as prime minister said on Tuesday.

Iyad Allawi, who leads the Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc, said the televised confessions Maliki has used to demand the arrest of the country's Sunni Muslim vice president were fabrications.

Speaking to Reuters two days after the final departure of the U.S. forces that ended Saddam's Sunni-dominated rule, Allawi called for international efforts to prevent the Shi'ite premier from provoking renewed sectarian warfare of the kind that killed tens of thousands in the years after Saddam fell in 2003.

"This is terrifying, to bring fabricated confessions," Allawi said shortly before leaving the Jordanian capital Amman to return to Iraq. "It reminds me personally of what Saddam Hussein used to do where he would accuse his political opponents of being terrorists and conspirators."

Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, who has taken refuge in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, denies allegations he ordered bombings and shootings against his opponents. The move against him, on the very day U.S. troops left the country, threatens to upset a balance among Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish factions.

"We fear the return of dictatorship by this authoritarian way of governing. It's the latest in a build-up of atrocities, arrests and intimidation that has been going on a wide scale," said Allawi, who comes from the Shi'ite Muslim majority but who has drawn support heavily from disaffected Sunnis.

REGIONAL SECTARIAN CONFLICT

As prime minister for 10 months under U.S. occupation in 2004 and 2005, Allawi was accused of revealing an authoritarian streak himself. He later led the Iraqiya bloc to first place in last year's parliamentary election but ended up joining a coalition headed by Maliki, who retained the premiership.

He said he would now try to unseat the prime minister in the legislature: "We have to make a move to bring about stability to the country by trying to find a substitute to Maliki through parliament," said Allawi, who repeated allegations that Shi'ite Iran is seeking control in Iraq now that U.S. forces have left.

"Maliki has crossed all red lines and Iraq is now facing a very, very serious and very difficult situation," he said.

"We are watching events unfolding which are aimed at the very heart of democracy and stability.

"The Americans have pulled out without completing the job they should have finished. We have warned them that we don't have a political process which is inclusive of all Iraqis and we don't have a full-blown state in Iraq," Allawi said.

"We want to resolve issues between Iraqis in a peaceful way and we want to bring stability. Iraqis should fill the vacuum, rather than anybody else," Allawi said, in a reference to his view Iran is intent on filling a vacuum left by U.S. troops.

Iraq sits on a sectarian, Sunni-Shi'ite faultline that is generating conflict throughout the region, notably between Iran and Sunni-ruled Arab states like Saudi Arabia. While the overthrow of Saddam in Iraq bolstered Shi'ites, the uprising against Iran's Syrian ally President Bashar al-Assad could lead to power in Damascus shifting toward Syria's Sunni majority.

"The rise of sectarianism is already there," Allawi said.

"We are witnessing the beginning of it and the influences of what is happening in the region is only adding fuel to the fire. My fear is that the Iraqi people will lose faith in the political process and sectarianism will prevail.

"Unless the international community and the region get involved and unless sense prevails, Iraq is heading towards a very big conflict."
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Re: The Iraq Thread

Post by Ibrahim »

http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/i ... 9W20120105
Bombs target Iraqi Shi'ites, kill at least 73

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Bomb attacks in mainly Shi'ite Muslim areas of Iraq killed at least 73 people and wounded scores on Thursday, police and hospital sources said, raising fears of an increase in sectarian strife.

The biggest attack was beside a police checkpoint west of Nassiriya in the south, where a suicide bomber targeting Shi'ite pilgrims killed 44 people and wounded 81, Sajjad al-Asadi, head of the provincial security committee in Nassiriya, told Reuters.

Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki created the worst political crisis in a year on December 19 when he sought the removal of two senior Sunni politicians, a day after the last U.S. troops left Iraq. On December 22, bombs in predominately Shi'ite parts of Iraq's capital killed 72.
So basically what everybody has been predicting since 2006.
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Iraqi crude oil production

Post by Azrael »

Interesting chart here
cultivate a white rose
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Re: The Iraq Thread

Post by Hans Bulvai »

Maverick wrote:
RPM wrote:
Maverick wrote:
Hans Bulvai wrote: Was Saddam bad? Yes. No dispute. Is what is in place better?
What is in place now is definitely better
Hans is an Iraqi. He is speaking from first hand experience.

I am sure if you ask erstwhile Iraqi Baath party members or Sunnis , they would definitely say Iraq was better under Saddam Hussein. If you ask Shiites and Kurds, they would definitely say they are better off now inspite of all the suicide bombings, they have power and more importantly they are free.

If you ask the families of people whose daughters were raped by Saddam's sons and/or Republican guard , they would definitely agree that they are better off with Saddam gone.


Let us be clear here ,US and Western forces did not overthrow a benevolent leader, they over threw a ruthless dictator. Yes George Bush and his neocon buddies lied to world. US shouldn't have been involved in Iraq in first place. But that doesn't mean everything was hunky dory under Saddam
So have you asked them?
Is the raping over with?

And Bush and his Neocon buddies involvement in Iraq goes back to the early 80's when he was a "good guy" to said cabal because he was killing Iranians. How come that is never mentioned? Why was it ok for him to gas the kurds and Iranians? Why was he sold the stuff to do it?
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Re: Iraqi crude oil production

Post by Hans Bulvai »

Azrael wrote:Interesting chart here
Huh??
All this revenue and only 6 hours of electricity a day. But that's ok. Thank God for Free markets.

No surprise there though. Lets ask Iraqis what they think.

http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2012/1 ... ons-index/
From at total of 176 countries, Iraq came in at number 169.
Last edited by Hans Bulvai on Sun Dec 16, 2012 8:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Iraqi crude oil production

Post by Crocus sativus »

Hans Bulvai wrote:.

. . only 6 hours of electricity a day. But that's ok. Thank God for Free markets.

Americans bombed all Iraqi electricity installations, to cripple Iraqi people .. and .. without Iranian Electricity export to Iraq, Iraqi would not have even one hrs of electricity a day .. Iran electricity exports to Iraq increase 50%
The Iranian minister stated that Iran is exporting USD 70-80 million worth of electricity to Iraq on a monthly basis.

[..]

Iraqi Aswat al-Iraq news agency reported in June that a new Iranian electricity supply line had become operational to carry 100 MW of imported electricity from Iran.

The new line is aimed at meeting 550 MW of power demanded by the central Iraqi province of Wasit as it currently only receives less than 150 MW from Iraq’s national grid, and wrestles with frequent power outage.


.
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Re: The Iraq Thread

Post by Hans Bulvai »

Maverick wrote: What is in place now is definitely better
Do we really need to go into who is being executed?

What is worst: Minority oppressing the majority or the majority oppressing the minority?

https://www.amnesty.org/en/news/iraq-ur ... 2012-12-18
...

Iraq has executed at least 129 people in 2012, the highest number since 2005. As in previous years, hundreds were estimated to have been sentenced to death, or had death sentences upheld by the courts.

“Death sentences are being flung out after grossly unfair trials relying on ‘confessions’ obtained under torture,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme’s Deputy Director.

“Instead of carrying out executions, the Iraqi authorities should prioritize fixing its deeply flawed criminal justice system.”

On 16 December, Iraqi vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi and his son-in-law were sentenced to death in absentia for the fifth time in a highly politicized trial by the Central Criminal Court, for possession and use of weapons. They have received four other death sentences on terrorism-related offences.
.
Since the death penalty was reintroduced in Iraq in 2004, the death sentence and executions are being imposed and carried out extensively, after procedures that violate human rights standards.

Many trials of those sentenced to death failed to meet international standards for fair trials, including by using “confessions” obtained under torture or other ill-treatment as evidence against the defendants.

Some Iraqi television stations continue to broadcast self-incriminating testimonies of detainees even before the opening of a trial, undermining the fundamental right of defendants to be considered innocent until proven guilty.

Amnesty International last week urged the Iraqi authorities to quash death sentences against four men sentenced on 3 December in Anbar province, western Iraq, following the broadcast of ‘confessions’ given while reportedly being tortured in pre-trial detention.

...
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Re: The Iraq Thread

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Re: The Iraq Thread

Post by Hans Bulvai »

The Fundamentalist government is at it again in Baghdad.
The old Iraqi flag is being waved along with that other flag we see so much of these days!

http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/6658 ... mate-demos

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/ ... 8O20121228
Thousands of protesters from Iraq's Sunni Muslim minority poured onto the streets after Friday prayers in a show of force against Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, keeping up a week-long blockade of a major highway.

Around 60,000 people blocked the main road through Falluja, 50 km (30 miles) west of the capital, setting fire to the flag of Shi'ite Iran and shouting "out, out Iran! Baghdad stays free" and "Maliki you coward, don't take your advice from Iran".

Many Sunnis, whose community dominated Iraq until the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, accuse Maliki of refusing to share power and of being under the sway of its non-Arab neighbor.

"We will not leave this place until all our demands are fulfilled, including the toppling of the Maliki government," said 31-year-old Omar al-Dahal at a protest in Ramadi, where more than 100,000 protesters blocked the same highway as it leads to neighboring Syria and Jordan.

Activists' demands include an end to the marginalization of Sunnis, the abolition of anti-terrorism laws they say are used to target them, and the release of detainees.

Protests flared last week in Anbar province, the Sunni stronghold in western Iraq where demonstrators have mounted the blockades, after troops loyal to Maliki, who is from the Shi'ite majority, detained bodyguards of his finance minister, a Sunni.

Demonstrations were also held in the northern city of Mosul and in Samarra, where protesters chanted "the people want to bring down the regime", echoing the slogan used in popular revolts that ousted leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen.

The protests are likely to add to concerns the civil war in neighboring Syria, where majority Sunnis are fighting to topple a ruler backed by Shi'ite Iran, will drive Iraq back to the sectarian slaughter of 2005-7.

Militants linked to al Qaeda appear to be joining the ranks of Syrian rebels across the border and regrouping in Anbar, which was almost entirely controlled by militants at the height of Iraq's insurgency.

Security forces did not move to break up the protests, but prevented people from other provinces from heading to Anbar to join the rallies there.

REGIONAL DIMENSION

Speaking at a "reconciliation" conference broadcast on television, Maliki called for dialogue.

"It is not acceptable to express something by blocking roads, inciting sedition and sectarianism, killing, or blowing the trumpet of war and dividing Iraq," he said.

A masked protester who refused to give his name recalled the role of Anbar's tribes, first in fighting U.S. troops before allying with them to drive militants out - turning on fellow Sunni al Qaeda because of its indiscriminate use of violence.

"Just as we terrified the Americans with this mask, and kicked al Qaeda out, we will terrify the government with it," he said.

Highlighting the increasingly regional dimension, protesters in Falluja raised pictures of Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who has lined up against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has sparred increasingly often with Maliki.

In Iraq's Shi'ite south, a small anti-Erdogan protest was held in the holy city of Najaf, 160 km (100 miles) from Baghdad.

Sunni complaints against Maliki grew louder a week ago following the arrest of Finance Minister Rafaie al-Esawi's bodyguards hours after Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd seen as a steadying influence, was flown abroad for medical care.

For many, that was reminiscent of a move to arrest Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi a year ago, just when U.S. troops had withdrawn. Hashemi fled into exile and was subsequently sentenced to death in absentia.

Maliki has sought to divide his rivals and strengthen alliances in Iraq's complex political landscape before provincial elections next year and a parliamentary vote in 2014.

A face-off between the Iraqi army and Kurdish forces over disputed oilfields in the north has been seen as a possible way of rallying Sunni Arab support behind the prime minister.
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Re: The Iraq Thread

Post by Ibrahim »

I think the al-Malaki government is unpopular for more reasons that suggested fundamentalism. There are broad currents of dissatisfaction, probably unified only in their distaste for the present administration but motivated by different interests. Some might think the government too fundamentalist, others not enough, still more despising it as a US puppet regime, etc.
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Re: The Iraq Thread

Post by Hans Bulvai »

Sure. Iraq last year was 7th in the world in oil production yet residents get 4-6 hours of electricity a day.
Corruption is rampant and a very few are ripping the country off by the millions.
Executions target a certain sect after kangaroo trials and torture.
Roads are still no better than what they were 8 years ago. Traffic is hell.
There is still a large diaspora that can't go back. Thousands still internally displaced and the government is not seen as a US puppet government but an Iranian one!
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Re: The Iraq Thread

Post by Ibrahim »

Hans Bulvai wrote:Sure. Iraq last year was 7th in the world in oil production yet residents get 4-6 hours of electricity a day.
Well this one I think we can explain right away. Starting a war for oil? Paranoid hysterics from the pinko Chomsky crowd, I tell you!
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Re: The Iraq Thread

Post by Hans Bulvai »

One of the main demands that the protesters have is the release of women prisoners.
Thousands of them are in jail for the simple crime of being related to Sunni men the Malki government claims they are terrorists.
And Azari talks to me about women's rights and freedoms and riding bicycles.
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Heracleum Persicum
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Re: The Iraq Thread

Post by Heracleum Persicum »

Hans Bulvai wrote:.

One of the main demands that the protesters have is the release of women prisoners.
Thousands of them are in jail for the simple crime of being related to Sunni men the Malki government claims they are terrorists.

And Azari talks to me about women's rights and freedoms and riding bicycles.

.

Hans , in your expert opinion on Iraqi Sunni and Shia affair (and Iran) ,

who is laying those bombs that is every day killing 30-40 innocent woman and children on the streets and market places and Shia pilgrimages in Iraq ? ?

Shias of Iraq too could do same in Qatar and Amman and Jidda


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Heracleum Persicum
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Re: The Iraq Thread

Post by Heracleum Persicum »

.


Iran-Iraq alliance in OIL price

According to 'Financial Times' and the WSJ, reporting several times in 2012, Iran and Iraq are "strengthening their alliance inside Opec", raising concerns among Saudi-led moderate Arab Gulf producers that pricing discipline inside Opec will be disrupted. The backdrop to this concern is simple:
with the EU sovereign debt crisis worsening, critical uncertainty on what exactly the US fiscal cliff means for the US economy, and growing fears for the global economy, deepening divisions within Opec can undermine the organisation's ability to do its claimed job of managing oil export supply and preventing violent price swings.

One thing is sure. Opec meetings now feature strong disagreements over the acceptable price of oil, the real state of the global supply-demand balance, and recent rising tension on who should replace the current secretary general of the organisation. This is General Abdallah el-Badri of Libya, who has presided the Organization since 2007, and on 12 December was given a 1-year extension of his job, from 1 January 2013. More complicated by its details, this extension was decided by Opec oil ministers in their conference organization, who also elected Abdulaziz Hussain, Minister of Oil of Kuwait as conference president for one year, with Dr Abdel Bari Ali Al-Arousi, Minister of Oil and Gas of Libya as Alternating President, for the same 1-year period from 1 January. The president to Dec 31, 2012 was Abdul-Kareem Luaibi Bahedh, Minister of Oil of Iraq.

more @ link


Saudi oil-fields output declining .. Iraq will be the new Saudi + Iran biggest reserve = the new energy powerhouse




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Hans Bulvai
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Re: The Iraq Thread

Post by Hans Bulvai »

Heracleum Persicum wrote:
Hans Bulvai wrote:.

One of the main demands that the protesters have is the release of women prisoners.
Thousands of them are in jail for the simple crime of being related to Sunni men the Malki government claims they are terrorists.

And Azari talks to me about women's rights and freedoms and riding bicycles.

.

Hans , in your expert opinion on Iraqi Sunni and Shia affair (and Iran) ,

who is laying those bombs that is every day killing 30-40 innocent woman and children on the streets and market places and Shia pilgrimages in Iraq ? ?

Shias of Iraq too could do same in Qatar and Amman and Jidda


.
You mean besides the SAS guy in mullah dress? :) ;)
I can't tell you who. I can tell you who isn't. Those guys rotting away in jails because their names are Omars and Othmans are not the ones laying those bombs. Remember it was Shias in the new military dress that were leading the raids with US soldiers on Sunni neighborhoods. But things might change once Asad next door retreats and Syria is fragmented.

Look, if you are alluding to our friends in the peninsula, then yes, I am sure they have their hands dirty but they are not the only ones. Many in that sphere have an interest in a weak fragmented Iraq. The oil is pumping and almost not a single word about the 4 huge US military bases while Iranian weapons shipments fly right over them into the hands of Asad. Just enough weapons mind you from Iran, Saudia and Qatar to keep the spill of blood at a maximum but no decisive win. In my opinion few benefit from the chaos in that region. My opinion also is that Iran does not care about the Arabs, be they Shias or not.

And if the Shias can do that, they would have already or another game is being played to genuflect Habeed the plumber.

AND, I am not an expert just an observer but thank you.
I don't buy supremacy
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The people you say
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Heracleum Persicum
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Re: The Iraq Thread

Post by Heracleum Persicum »

Hans Bulvai wrote:.
Heracleum Persicum wrote:.
Hans Bulvai wrote:.

One of the main demands that the protesters have is the release of women prisoners.
Thousands of them are in jail for the simple crime of being related to Sunni men the Malki government claims they are terrorists.

And Azari talks to me about women's rights and freedoms and riding bicycles.

.

Hans , in your expert opinion on Iraqi Sunni and Shia affair (and Iran) ,

who is laying those bombs that is every day killing 30-40 innocent woman and children on the streets and market places and Shia pilgrimages in Iraq ? ?

Shias of Iraq too could do same in Qatar and Amman and Jidda


.
You mean besides the SAS guy in mullah dress? :) ;)

I can't tell you who. I can tell you who isn't. Those guys rotting away in jails because their names are Omars and Othmans are not the ones laying those bombs. Remember it was Shias in the new military dress that were leading the raids with US soldiers on Sunni neighborhoods. But things might change once Asad next door retreats and Syria is fragmented.

Look, if you are alluding to our friends in the peninsula, then yes, I am sure they have their hands dirty but they are not the only ones. Many in that sphere have an interest in a weak fragmented Iraq. The oil is pumping and almost not a single word about the 4 huge US military bases while Iranian weapons shipments fly right over them into the hands of Asad. Just enough weapons mind you from Iran, Saudia and Qatar to keep the spill of blood at a maximum but no decisive win. In my opinion few benefit from the chaos in that region. My opinion also is that Iran does not care about the Arabs, be they Shias or not.

And if the Shias can do that, they would have already or another game is being played to genuflect Habeed the plumber.

.

Those bombs killing so many Shia civilians in Iraqi Shia neighborhood every day are laid by a "coalition" of powers .. now, it is clear TURKEY is the main player, Qatar, Saudi, (probably) Egypt and Jordan .. they all laying those bombs killing the Shias .. America knows exactly who laying those bombs, but doing nothing as America too in the same boat

Question only is, is this good for Arab emancipation from Colonial shackles, from neo Ottoman and Western Petro Colonial beast .. question is, whether Arabs should side with Iran against colonials to help Arab emancipation and return to old glory days of Arab world, or, with Colonials and their cronies setting back Arab emancipation for another 100 yrs

well, Hans, place your bet .. Rien ne va plus, faites vos jeux …



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Heracleum Persicum
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Re: The Iraq Thread

Post by Heracleum Persicum »

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Re: The Iraq Thread

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http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MID-02-140213.html
...
The future of Iraq is being determined by various forces, and almost none of them are composed of Iraqi nationals with a uniting vision. Caught between bitter sectarianism, extremism, the power-hungry, wealth amassing elites, regional power players, Western interests and a very violent war legacy, the Iraqi people are suffering beyond the ability of sheer political analyses or statistics to capture their anguish. The proud nation of impressive human potential and remarkable economic prospects has been torn to shreds.

UK-based Iraqi writer Hussein Al-alak wrote on the upcoming 10th anniversary of the Iraq invasion with a tribute to the country's "silent victims", the children. According to Iraqi Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, he reported, there is an estimated 4.5 million children who are now orphans, with a "shocking 70%" of them having lost their parents since the 2003 invasion.

"From that total number, around 600,000 children are living on the streets, without either shelter or food to survive," Al-alak wrote. Those living in the few state-run orphanages "are currently lacking in their most essential needs."
...
:(
I don't buy supremacy
Media chief
You menace me
The people you say
'Cause all the crime
Wake up motherfucker
And smell the slime
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Hans Bulvai
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Re: The Iraq Thread

Post by Hans Bulvai »

I don't buy supremacy
Media chief
You menace me
The people you say
'Cause all the crime
Wake up motherfucker
And smell the slime
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