Glasgow Airport Incident

Apparent car bombing attack at Glasgow Airport. The two drivers appear to have been arrested.

The eyewitness description suggests rank amateurs with no training. They didn't actually get close enough to do much damage, and their behavior suggests that something went very wrong-- what with one of them on fire and trying to get into the trunk.

Larry Johnson points out that Friday's similar incident in London was similarly a SNAFU.

Long may terrorists be clueless screw-ups who can't start fires in cars because they leave the windows rolled up and starve the flames of oxygen, and who scramble around to manually detonate things while on fire themselves.

Just remember what screw-ups these guys are when Alberto Gonzales comes to you with a plea to repeal the Bill of Rights in order to deal with them.
For "cont'd" postings, click here.

Mika: Iraq is More Important

Bravo Mika Brzezinski, the anchor who refused to read a story about the release from jail of socialite Paris Hilton as the lede on her MSNBC news program.

Click in the middle of the video to play.

For "cont'd" postings, click here.

Sunni Bloc Pulls out of Government
US Raids Sadr City, Kills 26
Talabani Slams Arab Neighbors

Early Saturday morning, US forces raided into Shiite Sadr City, presumably challenging Mahdi Army commanders. They killed 26 in the course of the action. The Mahdi Army is loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who calls for a quick US withdrawal from Iraq.

The Iraqi Accord Front, the Sunni fundamentalist bloc with 44 seats in parliament, says that it is withdrawing its 6 cabinet ministers from the national unity government of PM Nuri al-Maliki.

The whole concept of a 'national unity government' as thought up by then US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and Iraqi president Jalal Talabani in spring of 2006 has now more or less fallen apart. The Shiite United Iraqi Alliance has lost two important components, the Islamic Virtue Party (Fadhila) and the Sadr Movement. The former pulled their 15 MPs out of the alliance, the latter pulled its 6 cabinet ministers out of the government. Now the Sunni Arabs appear to be decamping, to protest the arrest of one of their own (on charges of having the sons of a fellow Sunni MP whacked).

The "surge" was intended to 'create political space' for 'reconciliation' between Sunnis and Shiites. Now the only Sunnis who were willing to cooperate with the political process are threatening to pull out of the al-Maliki government. Wouldn't that be going backward? Then what is the 'surge' for?

The killing of 5 US troops in an ambush by Iraq guerrillas was announced on Friday, making the past quarter the deadliest for American soldiers since the war began (see also William Blanchard's comments on this issue at IC yesterday-- scroll down). McClatchy reports other political violence on Friday.

Two years later, the injuries he sustained in Iraq finally killed Sgt. Frank Sandoval.

While the Bush administration keeps hinting around that Iran is at the root of the problems in Iraq, Iraqi president Jalal Talabani is telling it like it is. He blamed Iraq's Arab neighbors for conniving at the destabilization of the country, in part out of anti-Shiite prejudice. Talabani recently visited Iran, which which he has excelent relations.

I guess Talabani didn't get the memo.

Muqtada al-Sadr has postponed his proposed 'million man march' on the largely Sunni Arab city of Samarra north of Baghdad. The USG Open Source Center translated the comments of a Sadrist leader as carried on al-Iraqiya Television:

--At 1107 GMT, Baghdad Al-Iraqiyah Television conducts a live interview by phone with Shaykh Salah al-Ubaydi, spokesman for the Martyr Al-Sadr Office in Holy Al-Najaf, for comment on Muqtada al-Sadr's decision to call off the Samarra march, which was slated to kick off in early July. When asked about the reasons that prompted the cancellation of the Samarra march by Muqtada al-Sadr, Al-Ubaydi says: "Due to the many requests and appeals made to the Martyr Al-Sadr Office, and also due to the government's failure to secure the road to Samarra, Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr decided to call off this visit, which was titled A visit on the Birthday Anniversary of Al-Zahra [the Prophet's daughter], may God's peace be upon her. Meanwhile, the faithful reserve the right to visit the holy mausoleums , particularly in Samarra. The notion that takfiris sought to consolidate is to turn this place into a place that is virtually a no-go place to Iraqis, to Shiites, and to Sunni lovers of Ahl al-Bayt (household of the Prophet Muhammad). They wanted to deny people access to the shrine, and to prevent them from visiting the mausoleums of the two infallible imams in Samarra. The moves that we made-- the call for making the visit, sticking to this call, and then canceling it due to the failure to secure the road leading to Samarra--were meant to consolidate this right and to insist on it." When asked about possible future decisions regarding the Samarra march that could be made by the Al-sadr Office, Al-Ubaydi says: "The decision to make the visit on the birthday anniversary of Al-Zahra has been cancelled. In the future, when, God willing, the appropriate opportunity presents itself, we will take the initiative and be the first to visit Samarra. We affirmed that the visit to Samarra and the call for making the visit should aim to achieve fraternity and accord among Iraqis. Whoever misinterpreted this move as an attempt to revoke the Sunni character of the city, or to strike at Sunni brothers there were engaged in addressing unfounded notions and rumors. What we are trying to do, and what we are reiterating through calling for making the visit, and also through calling it off is that we seek to demonstrate our good faith in all our moves toward all Iraqis, God willing."

Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that Shaykh Ahmad Safi, the representative of Grand Ayatollah Sistani in Karbala, spoke in his Friday sermon of the security operation in Diyala province. He said it was going well, but warned Iraqi troops against withdrawing from dissident neighborhoods and allowing the guerrillas to return, as had been done in the past. He also said his sources in Baquba told him that caches had been found of state-of-the-art weapons as the guerrillas retreated. Where did these come from, he asked. He concluded that surrounding (Sunni Arab) states must be supplying them to the Sunni Arab guerrillas. They came in, he said, across Iraqi borders or through Iraqi air space that the Iraqi military did not control. He demanded a return by the US of Iraqi sovereignty over its own air space and borders, so that this smuggling of sophisticated weapons could be stopped. He also questioned whether the alleged $19 bn. in US military aid to Iraq had actually been spent for the approved purpose, of building the Iraqi military, implying that it had been embezzled or never actually granted. The tone of this representative of Sistani has become increasingly bitter toward the American inability to supply public order and security in Iraq. This is the first time I've heard of a representative of Sistani demanding a return by the Americans of Iraqi sovereignty over its air space.

McClatchy reports expert doubts on the wisdom of putting too many eggs in the basket of tribal sheikhs in Iraq, given their famed independence and loyalty mainly to the tribe. The meeting between the sheikhs and Shiite leaders in the Mansur Hotel on Monday that got bombed came as a surprise to the US military, the sheikhs' supposed ally. All this is not to mention that the tribes have a segmentary political system in which infighting and feuding and kaleidoscopic alliances and break-ups are common.

Editor & Publisher on the increased US by military and Bush spokesmen of the term "al-Qaeda" as a means of describing the guerrilla movement among Sunni Arabs in Iraq.

And that allegation that "al-Qaeda" blew up the minarets of the al-Askariya Shrine in Samarra? Maybe, maybe not. No proof for it. (My own money is on the Baathis.)

Four female ex-employees of Kellog, Brown and Root (KBR),formerly a subsidiary of Halliburton, have filed suit alleging sexual harassment while in Iraq. KBR contests the charges, and Halliburton, which sold KBR after receiving $9 bn. in no-bid government contracts for work in Iraq (which probably saved it from bankruptcy), says that it had nothing to do with Iraq. Thanks for the memories, Halliburton, or should we say, thanks for the amnesia? The former CEO of Halliburton, 1995-2000, is . . . VP Dick Cheney.

Post-Fetal Abortion Ban could shut down Iraq War. Pro-life legislation through age 20.
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Hacking Muqtada

The USG Open Source Center reports on the hacking of the Sadr Movement's website and its hijacking for anti-Shiite polemics. Cyberwar as part of the Iraq War is nothing new, as I noted in this column last February. The sectarian civil war in Iraq is being fought at every level, from poisoned watermelons and dog-bombs, to decapitated bodies, to DOS attacks and hacking web sites.

Iraq: Al-Sadr Website Hacked; Hacker Says Shiite Sites To Face Same 'Fate' Iraq-- OSC Summary Friday, June 29, 2007 When checked on 29 June, Al-Sadr website, www.alsader.com, which used to post statements and news of Muqtada al-Sader, was found to be hacked. The site now has a black background with the following written on the homepage: "Peace be upon you God damn Shiites wherever they may reside or go May they and this site of theirs never rise for as long as I live, God willing This will be the fate of all their sites, God willing." The hacker, who calls himself "Billy", posts a hyperlinked e-mail address as shown in the below snapshot of the homepage. Homepage of hacked Al-Sadr website Under the headline "Shia Scandals", the hacker cites paragraphs from a book by Al-Khomeini.

For "cont'd" postings, click here.

Bomb Defused in London

As I write, London police are using a robot to investigate a parked car near Buckingham Palace. The operation comes hours after a car was discovered packed with explosives and ready to detonate outside a nightclub in Picadilly Circus.

The proper response of Americans to these events? Book a vacation in London immediately and make sure to visit Picadilly Circus.

Whoever planned this operation at the height of the tourist season is trying to hurt the UK economy.

Britain is perfectly safe, in fact the murder rate there, including political violence, is one-fourth that of the US. A ticket to the UK can be found inexpensively and there are reasonable places to stay, and as urban historians have pointed out, London is a giant toy that is endless fun to play with.

In solidarity.
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Bush Turns Iraq into Israel/Palestine;
Gaffe endangers US Troops

Bush said in a speech on Thursday that he hopes Iraq will be like Israel, a democracy that faces terrorist violence but manages to retain its democratic character:

' In Israel, Bush said, "terrorists have taken innocent human life for years in suicide attacks. The difference is that Israel is a functioning democracy and it's not prevented from carrying out its responsibilities. And that's a good indicator of success that we're looking for in Iraq." '

These words may be the stupidest ones ever uttered by a US president. Given their likely impact on the US war effort in the Middle East, they are downright criminal.

The US political elite just doesn't get it. Israel is not popular in the Middle East, and it isn't because Middle Easterners are bigots. It is because Israel is coded as the last European colonial presence in the region, an heir to French Algeria, British Egypt, and Dutch Indonesia-- and because the Israelis pugnaciously continue to try to colonize neighboring bits of territory. (This enmity is not inevitable or eternal; in 2002 the Arab League offered full recognition of Israel in return for its going back to 1967 borders, but the Israeli government turned down the offer.) But for the purposes of this analysis it does not really matter why Israel is unpopular. Let us just stipulate that it is. Why would you associate American Iraq with such an unpopular project, if you were trying to do public diplomacy in the region? Bush had just announced a new push to get the American message out to the Muslim world, the day before.

Let's just take the analogy seriously for a moment. Israel proper is a democracy of sorts, though its 1 million Arab citizens are in a second class position. But it rules over several million stateless Palestinians who lack even the pretence of self-rule. It is hard to characterize a country as a democracy when it has millions of disenfranchised subjects. Bush manages to only think about Jewish Israelis in the above analogy, wiping out millions of other residents of geographical Palestine who don't get to participate in 'democracy' or exercise popular sovereignty.

It is true that the Israelis managed to blunt the terror attacks of Islamic Jihad, the Qassam Brigades, and the al-Aqsa Martyrs brigades over the years after the eruption of the 2nd Intifada. But there are still attacks, including by rocket. The reason for those attacks is that the Palestinians had mostly been driven from their homes and off their land, and were militarily, politically and economically subjected to the Israelis. The Israelis reduced the terror attacks by essentially imprisoning millions of stateless Palestinians in the territories, further restricting their movements, destroying their trade and livelihoods. The Israeli government continues to grab Palestinian land and put more colonists on it, even as we speak.

Israel-Palestine is among the world's hottest trouble spots, and the conflict has poisoned politics throughout the Middle East. It was among the motives for Bin Laden's attack on the US on September 11, so it has spilled over on America, too. A second one of those would be a good thing?

So who would play the Palestinians in Bush's analogy? Obviously, it would be the Sunni Arabs, who apparently are meant to be cordoned off from the rest of Iraqis and put behind massive walls and barbed wire, and deprived of political power. That is not a desirable outcome and is not politically or militarily tenable in the long run.

And, let's just stop and think. Even if it were true that an Israel-Palestine sort of denouement were in Bush's mind for Iraq, was it wise for him to make it public?

That sort of scenario is precisely the propaganda message broadcast by the Jihadi websites in Iraq and the Arab world! They say that the US military occupation of Iraq, in alliance with Shiites, has turned the Sunni Arabs into Palestinians! Bush could not have handed the guerrillas a better rhetorical gift. I do not think it is an exaggeration to say that DVD's of Bush's comments will be spread around as a recruiting tool for jihadis, and that US troops will certainly be killed as a result of this speech. You could say that the US military presence is already pretty unpopular in the Sunni Arab areas. But what of the progress in al-Anbar Province? Will Bush's speech help or hurt Sunni Arabs who want to ally with the US against the foreign Salafi Jihadis? Hurt, obviously.

If Bush had said something like that in 2002, you could have written it off as inexperience and lack of knowledge of the Middle East. But he has been the sitting president for so many years, and has had so much to do with the Middle East that this faux pas is just inexcusable. I don't know the man and can't judge if he is just not very bright. I can confirm that he says things that are not very bright. And, worse, he says things that are guaranteed to put more US troops into the grave in Diyala, Baghdad, Salahuddin and al-Anbar Provinces.

I don't know whether to sob in grief or tear my hair out in frustration. How much longer do we have to suffer?
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20 Decapitated Bodies Found;
Turks Brand US Biggest Threat;
Muqtada calls for a million Man march on Samarra

AP says at least 60 persons died in political violence in Iraq on Thursday. It is being reported that twenty decapitated bodies were found in Salman Pak south of Baghdad, in another macabre instance of sectarian death squad killings. McClatchy reports that 15 bodies were found in the streets of Baghdad on Thursday. In Basra, British forces killed 5 persons in clashes. In Baghdad, roadside bombs and mortar attacks killed more individuals and left dozens wounded.

Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is still insisting on leading a million man march next Thursday to the large Sunni city of Samarra, north of Baghdad (where a major Shiite shrine has twice been bombed). Iraqi politicians have warned that it would be a very dangerous move, and the Iraqi government is urging that it be postponed until the security situation might allow it.

Muqtada issued a statement denying rumors circulating among Sunni Arabs that he wants to lead a mob up to Samarra who would toss Sunni Arab families out of their homes and settle Shiites there, turning it into a Shiite city.

The same al-Hayat article says that some families are beginng to flee Samarra for fear that it will become a sectarian battleground if the march goes forward.

The Sunni Sheikh Abd al-Sattar Abd al-Jabbar, member of the Council of Clergy of Iraq, charged that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps intended to surreptitiously join the million man march into the Sunni heartland and to commit acts of violence during the rally. [This is a wild and inaccurate charge; I don't believe there have been any IRGC fighters h\captured among the 19,000 guerrillas arrested by the US military.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is warning of a "vast and dangerous plot" by the "al-Qaeda" organization, which is preparing to move its activities to neighboring countries, though he did not name them.



The Voice of America reports that many in the Turkish public are worried that their military will make a cross-border incursion into Iraq to chase PKK Kurdish guerrillas holing up in Iraqi Kurdistan. Many doubt that such an incursion would actually resolve the problem of PKK terror attacks inside Turkey. The Turkish military has been shelling PKK positions in and around border villages inside Iraq, producing new refugees. Iraq didn't need more of those.

The VOA article contains the depressing statistic that in recent polls, Turks named the United States as th number one threat to their well-being, after the terrorist group, the PKK:

' In a recent opinion poll measuring what people in Turkey perceive as the country's biggest threat, the United States was first and Iraqi Kurds were second. Leyla Tausanoglu, a political columnist for the independent Cumhuriyet newspaper, says many Turks are skeptical of American plans because of the Iraq war, and are now suspicious of U.S. ties with Iraqi Kurdish leaders.'

Many Turks reason that the US is the military power in Iraq, and if 5,000 PKK guerrillas have safe harbor in Iraqi Kurdistan, it must mean that the US supports the PKK. (In fact, it is on the State Department list of terrorist organizations).

Before W. got into the White House and ruined the world, 56% of Turks had a favorable view of the United States and the country was a firm NATO ally. Last I knew, the favorability rating had fallen to 12%, largely because Turks are afraid Bush's misadventure in Iraq will blow back on them. Now they think the US is a greater threat to them than the major terrorist organization that has menaced them for the past 30 years! It would be like the English public saying the US is a greater threat than the Irish Republican Army, or the French public saying the US is a greater threat than the Algerian Armed Islamic Group (Groupe Islamique Armé).

You just want to weep and tear your hair out at the results of these polls around the world on what people think of the United States. It is as though they have concluded we are madmen bent on messing up their lives. And, well, we did put W. in power at least once. It is like a 4-year-old with ADD having the power to order the Pentagon to do things.

The Sunni Arab bloc in parliament, the Iraqi Accord Front, continues to insist on Mahmud al-Mashhadani as speaker of the Iraqi parliament, while the Shiite and Kurdish parties insist that he has been dismissed from that post. Al-Mashhadani was accused of assaulting other MPs and has a record of making inflammatory comments.
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Death surge: Iraq Coalition Forces Completing their deadliest Quarter:
Guest Editorial

William Blanchard writes:

In early April, 2006, the New York Times ran a front page article in the Sunday paper trumpeting declining casualty rates among the coalition troops in Iraq. March, 2006 had been an unusually quiet month, and the Times published a chart showing 6 consecutive months of declining fatalities. However, it was clear that the so-called trend was bogus. If the chart had shown 7 or more months, the trend would have all but vanished. As it turned out, April was one of the deadliest months of 2006, and the supposed decline was no longer mentioned. Now there is a much clearer trend, heading in the opposite direction. I suspect that lots of people had the same two reactions I had when the President Bush officially announced “the new way forward” (a.k.a. “the surge”) in January. My first reaction was, “it’s too little, too late”; and my second reaction was, “it's going to get a lot more of our soldiers killed.” Even pro-war analysts seemed to admit right out of the gates that the surge’s success was anything but assured. John McCain said if it had been up to him, there would have been more troops in the surge. Sidney Blumenthal reported in February on a group of policy planners meeting at the Pentagon, all of whom believed the surge was destined to fail. At his confirmation hearings, General Petraeus spoke of ominous emails from his friends and colleagues which said, “Congratulations - - I think”. President Bush himself said, while announcing his new strategy, ”The year ahead will demand more patience, sacrifice, and resolve.” Now we can start to see the sacrifices to which the President referred. We are about to complete the deadliest quarter of the Iraq war so far for the coalition troops in Iraq. We have reached 349 coalition fatalities for the past three calendar months, and with a more than a day left in June, the number is bound to go higher (It may be higher by the time you read this). The previous deadliest 3-month period was 11/04-1/05, during which there were 344 coalition fatalities. For the first time, coalition fatalities have been over 100 for three months in a row. We’ve never had two months in a row before with more than 100 fatalities. This will also be the deadliest 4-month period, with 431 coalition fatalities so far vs. 414 during 2/07-5/07 and 412 during 10/04-1/05. It will be the deadliest 5-month period, with 515 dead vs. 500 during 1/07-5/07 and 499 during 9/04-1/05. It will be the 2nd deadliest 6-month period, with 601 dead vs. 615 during 12/06-5/07 vs. 559 during 9/04-2/05. I didn't calculate 7 through 11 months, but it's worth noting that we are about to finish the deadliest 12-month period (calendar months) of the entire war, with 981 coalition fatalities so far. The previous deadliest 12-month period ended last month with 946 fatalities and before that it was 1/04-1/05 with 906 casualties. It will also be the deadliest 3-month period for US troops (vs all coalitition troops) with 324 US soldiers killed since 4/1/07 vs. 316 for 11/04-1/05. And the deadliest 12-month period for US troops (vs all coalitition troops) with 928 US troops killed since 7/1/06 vs 899 for the period ending last month and 837 for the 12-month period through 1/05. One explanation for the rise in troop deaths is simple math. With more troops in harm’s way, there are bound to be more fatalities. However, it’s not clear that we’ve actually had much of a surge at all. According to globalsecurity.org, we are currently at 162,000 troops “in country”, up from 132,000 in January, but just 2 months earlier, in November, 2006 we were at 152,000. And in December, 2005, we were at 160,000. There are other possible explanations. It could be that the new counterinsurgency tactics under General Petraeus leave the troops more vulnerable to attack. It could be that the attacks are just more numerous or more deadly than they have been in the past. Whatever the reason, it is certain that we will have to suffer many more months or years of the slow-motion train wreck which is President Bush’s invasion and occupation of Iraq.

- William Blanchard
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Neocons to Clinton: Launch War on Iraq (1998)

Open Letter to the President February 19, 1998

Dear Mr. President,

Many of us were involved in organizing the Committee for Peace and Security in the Gulf in 1990 to support President Bush's policy of expelling Saddam Hussein from Kuwait. Seven years later, Saddam Hussein is still in power in Baghdad. And despite his defeat in the Gulf War, continuing sanctions, and the determined effort of UN inspectors to fetter out and destroy his weapons of mass destruction, Saddam Hussein has been able to develop biological and chemical munitions. To underscore the threat posed by these deadly devices, the Secretaries of State and Defense have said that these weapons could be used against our own people. And you have said that this issue is about "the challenges of the 21st Century."

Iraq's position is unacceptable. While Iraq is not unique in possessing these weapons, it is the only country which has used them -- not just against its enemies, but its own people as well. We must assume that Saddam is prepared to use them again. This poses a danger to our friends, our allies, and to our nation.

It is clear that this danger cannot be eliminated as long as our objective is simply "containment," and the means of achieving it are limited to sanctions and exhortations. As the crisis of recent weeks has demonstrated, these static policies are bound to erode, opening the way to Saddam's eventual return to a position of power and influence in the region. Only a determined program to change the regime in Baghdad will bring the Iraqi crisis to a satisfactory conclusion.

For years, the United States has tried to remove Saddam by encouraging coups and internal conspiracies. These attempts have all failed. Saddam is more wily, brutal and conspiratorial than any likely conspiracy the United States might mobilize against him. Saddam must be overpowered; he will not be brought down by a coup d'etat. But Saddam has an Achilles' heel: lacking popular support, he rules by terror. The same brutality which makes it unlikely that any coups or conspiracies can succeed, makes him hated by his own people and the rank and file of his military. Iraq today is ripe for a broad-based insurrection. We must exploit this opportunity.

Saddam's long record of treaty violations, deception, and violence shows that diplomacy and arms control will not constrain him. In the absence of a broader strategy, even extensive air strikes would be ineffective in dealing with Saddam and eliminating the threat his regime poses. We believe that the problem is not only the specifics of Saddam's actions, but the continued existence of the regime itself.

What is needed now is a comprehensive political and military strategy for bringing down Saddam and his regime. It will not be easy -- and the course of action we favor is not without its problems and perils. But we believe the vital national interests of our country require the United States to:

Recognize a provisional government of Iraq based on the principles and leaders of the Iraqi National Congress (INC) that is representative of all the peoples of Iraq.

Restore and enhance the safe haven in northern Iraq to allow the provisional government to extend its authority there and establish a zone in southern Iraq from which Saddam's ground forces would also be excluded.

Lift sanctions in liberated areas. Sanctions are instruments of war against Saddam's regime, but they should be quickly lifted on those who have freed themselves from it. Also, the oil resources and products of the liberated areas should help fund the provisional government's insurrection and humanitarian relief for the people of liberated Iraq.

Release frozen Iraqi assets -- which amount to $1.6 billion in the United States and Britain alone -- to the control of the provisional government to fund its insurrection. This could be done gradually and so long as the provisional government continues to promote a democratic Iraq.

Facilitate broadcasts from U.S. transmitters immediately and establish a Radio Free Iraq.

Help expand liberated areas of Iraq by assisting the provisional government's offensive against Saddam Hussein's regime logistically and through other means.

Remove any vestiges of Saddam's claim to "legitimacy" by, among other things, bringing a war crimes indictment against the dictator and his lieutenants and challenging Saddam's credentials to fill the Iraqi seat at the United Nations.

Launch a systematic air campaign against the pillars of his power -- the Republican Guard divisions which prop him up and the military infrastructure that sustains him.

Position U.S. ground force equipment in the region so that, as a last resort, we have the capacity to protect and assist the anti-Saddam forces in the northern and southern parts of Iraq.

Once you make it unambiguously clear that we are serious about eliminating the threat posed by Saddam, and are not just engaged in tactical bombing attacks unrelated to a larger strategy designed to topple the regime, we believe that such countries as Kuwait, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, whose cooperation would be important for the implementation of this strategy, will give us the political and logistical support to succeed.

In the present climate in Washington, some may misunderstand and misinterpret strong American action against Iraq as having ulterior political motives. We believe, on the contrary, that strong American action against Saddam is overwhelmingly in the national interest, that it must be supported, and that it must succeed. Saddam must not become the beneficiary of an American domestic political controversy.

We are confident that were you to launch an initiative along these line, the Congress and the country would see it as a timely and justifiable response to Iraq's continued intransigence. We urge you to provide the leadership necessary to save ourselves and the world from the scourge of Saddam and the weapons of mass destruction that he refuses to relinquish.

Sincerely,

Hon. Stephen Solarz Former Member, Foreign Affairs Committee, U.S. House of Representatives

Hon. Richard Perle Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute; Former Assistant Secretary of Defense Hon. Elliot Abrams President, Ethics Public Policy Center; Former Assistant Secretary of State

Richard V. Allen

Former National Security Advisor Hon. Richard Armitage

President, Armitage Associates, L.C.; Former Assistant Secretary of Defense

Jeffrey T. Bergner

President, Bergner, Bockorny, Clough Brain; Former Staff Director, Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Hon. John Bolton

Senior Vice President, American Enterprise Institute; Former Assistant Secretary of State Stephen Bryen Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Hon. Richard Burt

Chairman, IEP Advisors, Inc.; Former U.S. Ambassador to Germany; Former Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs

Hon. Frank Carlucci

Former Secretary of Defense Hon. Judge William Clark Former National Security Advisor Paula J. Dobriansky

Vice President, Director of Washington Office, Council on Foreign Relations; Former Member, National Security Council

Doug Feith Managing Attorney, Feith Zell P.C.; Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Negotiations Policy Frank Gaffney Director, Center for Security Policy; Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Forces Jeffrey Gedmin

Executive Director, New Atlantic Initiative; Research Fellow, American Enterprise Institute Hon. Fred C. Ikle

Former Undersecretary of Defense Robert Kagan Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Zalmay M. Khalilzad

Director, Strategy and Doctrine, RAND Corporation Sven F. Kraemer Former Director of Arms Control, National Security Council William Kristol Editor, The Weekly Standard Michael Ledeen

Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute; Former Special Advisor to the Secretary of State Bernard Lewis Professor Emeritus of Middle Eastern and Ottoman Studies, Princeton University

R. Admiral Frederick L. Lewis U.S. Navy, Retired Maj. Gen. Jarvis Lynch

U.S. Marine Corps, Retired Hon. Robert C. McFarlane

Former National Security Advisor Joshua Muravchik

Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute Robert A. Pastor

Former Special Assistant to President Carter for Inter-American Affairs

Martin Peretz Editor-in-Chief, The New Republic Roger Robinson Former Senior Director of International Economic Affairs, National Security Council Peter Rodman

Director of National Security Programs, Nixon Center for Peace and Freedom; Former Director, Policy Planning Staff, U.S. Department of State Hon. Peter Rosenblatt

Former Ambassador to the Trust Territories of the Pacific Hon. Donald Rumsfeld

Former Secretary of Defense Gary Schmitt

Executive Director, Project for the New American Century; Former Executive Director, President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board Max Singer President, The Potomac Organization; Former President, The Hudson Institute

Hon. Helmut Sonnenfeldt

Guest Scholar, The Brookings Institution; Former Counsellor, U.S. Department of State Hon. Caspar Weinberger

Former Secretary of Defense Leon Wienseltier

Literary Editor, The New Republic Hon. Paul Wolfowitz

Dean, Johns Hopkins SAIS; Former Undersecretary of Defense David Wurmser

Director, Middle East Program, AEI; Research Fellow, American Enterprise Institute

Dov S. Zakheim Former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Organization affiliations given for identification purposes only. Views reflected in the letter are endorsed by the individual, not the institution.
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Save Small Political Magazines

I just got this from David Corn:

' Postal regulators have accepted a scheme designed in part by lobbyists for the Time Warner media conglomerate. In short, mailing costs for mega-magazines like Time Warner's own Time, People and Sports Illustrated will go up only slightly or decrease. But smaller publications like The Nation will be hit by an enormous rate increase of half a million dollars a year.

For The Nation, $500,000 a year is a lot of money. Believe me, I know. I’ve been working at the magazine for over 20 years. The pay ain’t great. But there are few media outlets that allow their writers and reporters the freedom to go beyond the headlines and take on the powers that be—to ask inconvenient questions and pursue uncomfortable truths.

But starting July 15, 2007, The Nation will face this whopping postal rate hike. Not to be melodramatic, but this rate increase is a threat to democratic discourse. Why should magazines that can afford high-powered lobbyists receive preferential treatment? This rise in mailing costs will make it harder for the magazine to deliver the investigative reporting and independent-minded journalism upon which you depend. (Take my word; I see the editors and publishing people in our New York office freaking out about this postal rate hike and discussing possible cutbacks.)

The magazine is fighting this corporate-driven, unfair and anti-democratic increase as best it can. It has joined forces with conservative publications in an attempt to beat back the rigged rate structure. (Imagine Katrina vanden Heuvel and Rich Lowry, the editor of National Review, working together!) But even if we “win”—which, I’m told, is a long shot—The Nation will still face hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional postage. '

You can help here.

This is the print-world equivalent of the Corporations' plan to destroy net neutrality. It is probably a stalking horse. If they get rid of the little magazines, they will then get rid of us, and theirs will be the only voices that can be heard.
For "cont'd" postings, click here.

Lobe on Neocons and Public Diplomacy
Boston Review on Iran

Veteran journalist and neocon watcher, Jim Lobe points out that as the Neoconservatives have lost direct political power, they have emerged in key positions in public diplomacy-- especially Radio Farda ('Radio Marti' for Iran) and al-Hurra (the US-owned Arabic satellite tv channel that is struggling with viewership).

No one knows more about the Neconservative movement than Jim Lobe; he is worth bookmarking.

Also, check out The Boston Review's current issue, on Iran.

Robert Antonio on the US economic war against Iran.

Justin Raimondo also addresses this economic war.

Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, who was overthrown by the CIA in 1953, was described in the American press with precisely the same adjectives as is Ahmadinejad today.

A recent article on the reaction of Iran's neighbors to its nuclear program is available on the web. Click on "html" to view.

And, on Palestine, see Richard Augustus Norton's canny piece at The Boston Globe.
For "cont'd" postings, click here.

Baya` Bombing kills 2 Dozen
3 British troops killed at Basra
Congressional Study slams Iraqi security agencies

A massive bomb in the Shiite Baya' district of Baghdad killed 25, wounded 40, and destroyed 40 cars on Thursday morning. In the southern port of Basra, guerrillas used a roadside bomb to kill 3 British soldiers and wound a fourth.

Townspeople of Khalis are disputing the US air force version of events, saying that a US airstrike killed civilians rather than guerrillas in the town.

Al-Zaman reports that order has completely broken down in Basra, with militia rule accounting for what little order there is. Basra, Iraq's major port and petroleum exporting city, is key to the health of Iraq overall.

A Congressional study finds that Iraqi security forces are still some ways off from being able to get the job done on their own.

The LAT reports on Gen. Petraeus's strategy of targeting "al-Qaeda,", i.e. the Salafi Jihadis who specialize in spectacular and destabilizing bombings, and who have foreign volunteers in their ranks.

Obviously, there are some discrete set of groups engaged in this destabilization campaign, and the more they can be disrupted, the better.

But, my strong impression is that the guerrillas are getting a lot of support from the Sunni neighborhoods of Baquba, and that it isn't involuntary. And the reason for that is that they are afraid of their new Shiite rulers, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, the Badr Corps and the Mahdi Army. So until there are new elections in Diyala Province in which the majority Sunni Arab population takes part, so that they have a say in the shape of the police force etc., I suspect that killing guerrillas will just make guerrillas of their remaining brothers and cousins. But then, any good counter-insurgency analyst knows that the solutions are ultimately political.

Muqtada al-Sadr is still waiting for approval from the Iraqi government to stage a million-man protest march.
Al-Zaman reports in Arabic that Muqtada says he is willing to call off the march if the government asks him to do so.

Thamer Ghadban, the petroleum professional who advises Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on this issue, says that the draft petroleum bill will be put before parliament in two months! In other words, the June deadline for the 4 'benchmarks' set by Bush won't be met. And two months is, of course, optimistic. Ghadban says that contracts concluded during the Saddam period with Indonesia, India, China and other countries will have to be adjusted in light of the new law.

Iran, lacking refinery capacity and facing international sanctions over its nuclear energy research program, has imposed fuel rationing. The step produced demonstrations and riots in the country. Ahmadinejad, the president, is in the hot seat. He came to power as a populist, promising the masses a better life, but now his game of chicken with the UN security council over the nuclear issue is forcing him to take very unpopular steps. I wouldn't look for his faction of the hardliners to do well in the next municipal and parliamentary elections. He faces the electorate in 2009.

Sawt al-Iraq reports in Arabic that Iraqi President Jalal Talabani is on his way to Switzerland for the conference of the Socialist International. Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan is a socialist party, and is now the major remaining leftist party with seats in the Iraqi parliament. (The parties in attendance will discuss the world's unresolved conflicts.

This Arabic report says that the office of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has angrily denied reports that it had halted an investigation of detained minister of culture, As`ad al-Hashimi. Maliki says that the investigation, as to whether al-Hashimi is implicated in the murder of sons of a parliamentarian, is ongoing. There had been vehement protests from the Iraqi Accord Front, the largest Sunni Arab bloc in parliament, with 44 seats.

Reuters reports political violence on Wednesday in Iraq. Police found 21 bodies in the capital, most of them shot to death. Guerrillas in al-Anbar province killed a US Marine during a clash. Other incidents:

' BAGHDAD - A car bomb killed seven people and wounded 14 in the Shi'ite district of Kadhimiya in Baghdad, police said. . .

BAGHDAD - A car bomb killed at least three people in an attack on police vehicles near a busy market in northern Baghdad, a witness said. Police said there had been an explosion in the Suleikh district and 10 people were wounded. . .

BAGHDAD - A suicide car bomb targeting a police commando checkpoint killed one policeman and wounded three other officers in the al-Jaderiyia district of southern Baghdad, police said. . .

KIRKUK - Four Iraqi policemen were killed in an ambush near the oil city of Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, when gunmen opened fire on their vehicles, police said.

SAMARRA - A roadside bomb killed seven people, including five police commandoes in Samarra, 100 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad, police said, adding that two civilians were killed when security forces opened fire in the aftermath of the blast.

MOSUL - Gunmen killed two members of the Assyrian's [Christian] Beth-Nahrain Association Union in a drive-by shooting in central Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

MOSUL - Five people were killed and three wounded in different attacks by gunmen on Tuesday in Mosul, police said. . .

McClatchy adds further details:

' 2 civilians were killed and 10 were injured by a U.S. military convoy fire in Sadr city today, Iraqi police said. U.S. officials didn’t immediately respond for comment. . .

A truck exploded near Al Shirqat last night. Iraqi security sources told two different versions about the incident and the location. The first account said the truck exploded while it was parked near Al Hugna village and killed 1 and injured 4. A police officer said the truck exploded as gunmen were rigging it as a truck bomb near Al Etha village and at least 10 gunmen were killed, he said. The two villages are close to Al Shirqat and no resident could be reached to verify the two accounts. . .

Three gunmen stormed house of a member of the boarders’ guards in Al Marbad area in Al Zubair. The policeman was killed as he fought back the attackers and killed one of them. '

Matthew Good on the Anbar Option.
For "cont'd" postings, click here.

Cole in Salon on the Surge

My column at Salon.com on Senator Lugar's revolt over the Iraq surge is now available online.

Excerpt:

' June 28, 2007 | Earlier this week Sen. Richard Lugar, the senior Republican from Indiana, dismissed the U.S. "surge" in Iraq as unlikely to succeed. He condemned any illusions about staying the course. "We have overestimated what the military can achieve, we have set goals that are unrealistic, and we have inadequately factored in the broader regional consequences of our actions," Lugar said from the Senate floor.

His alarm has been illustrated by the difficulties the U.S. and Iraqi militaries faced in the recent offensive operation dubbed "Operation Arrowhead Ripper," aimed at subduing Baquba (pop. 300,000), the restive capital of Diyala province, located 31 miles northeast of Baghdad. American generals admitted that 80 percent of the guerrilla leadership there had slipped away, and that the Iraqi army lacked the equipment and training to hold areas taken in difficult hand-to-hand fighting. The U.S. military compounded its public-relations problem by implausibly branding virtually everyone it fought or killed in the Sunni-majority city as "al-Qaida." '

On the surge, see also Tomdispatch on "the Surge"
For "cont'd" postings, click here.

Sunni Minister Arrested for Alleged Hit;
Khamenei Pledges Security Cooperation to Talabani

Iraqi troops sought on Tuesday to arrest a serving cabinet minister in the Iraqi government on charges of having ordered a hit on a sitting parliamentarian! Culture Minister As`ad Kamal al-Hashimi was fingered by two guerrillas in US captivity as the one who ordered them to attempt to kill Mithal al-Alusi and his two sons (he escaped; his sons died). The Sunni Arab Iraqi Accord Front rallied to al-Hashimi's defense, and he denied the charges in a telephone interview on Aljazeera. Al-Hayat reports that al-Hashimi was later arrested by Iraqi security forces while attempting to flee the country.

Al-Sharq al-Awsat reports in Arabic that Adnan Dulaymi's Congress of the Iraqi People, a Sunni fundamentalist party that forms part of the Iraqi Accord Front, issued a statement warning "the government vehemently against the stupidity of playing with fire in continuing the policy of lying so as to marginalize Sunni officials and politicians." It further "threatens to expose the high officials, ministers and members of parliament, even Shiite religious authorities, who are involved in crimes of extermination, including killings, kidnappings, and ethnic cleansings of Sunnis." The party said it had documentary proof of these crimes and would not stand with folded hands as sectarian measures were taken by the government.

Remember that plan floated yesterday to make a "moderate" coalition of Da`wa, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, the Kurdistan Alliance, and the Sunni bloc? I don't think that is very likely at this point.

21 bodies were found in the streets of Baghdad on Tuesday, and there were scattered assassinations and bombings. Reuters adds, "Clashes between insurgents and police left one policemen dead and three wounded in the town of Madaen, just south of Baghdad, police said."

McClatchy on the death of a tribal sheikh who sought an alliance with the United States against the Salafi Jihadis.

Key Republican senators are losing patience with the "surge" and urging an accelerated US exit on Bush. They are calling it "Plan E."

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani is in Tehran for talks with Iranian leaders. Supreme Jurisprudent Ali Khamenei implausibly blamed the US for all Iraq's problems, posing as a guarantor of stability. The Iranian Mehr News Agency reports:

' Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei told Iraqi President Jalal Talabani here on Tuesday that Iran is ready to provide any kind of assistance to the Iraqi government to help it establish security.

“The Americans oppose the development of relations between Iran and Iraq and are trying to disrupt them,” Ayatollah Khamenei added. However, Iran and Iraq should “stand against” this move, he advised.

He said it is absolutely necessary to reinforce unity among the Iraqi people, especially among the country’s political and cultural elites.

The intelligence services of the U.S., the Zionist regime, and certain other countries that are allied with them are the main culprits behind the security problems and crimes in Iraq, the Leader stated. . .

Talabani said Iraq believes the expansion of relations with Iran is a necessity and will pursue the matter very seriously, despite the opposition of the enemies. And Iraq will not halt its efforts to expand relations with Iran under foreign pressure, the Iraqi president added. . . '

Did Talabani just call the Bush administration, which opposes close ties between Iraq and Iran, an "enemy"?

Iraqis used to love fried river fish, but are afraid to eat anything caught in the Tigris nowadays, since there are so many dead bodies floating in the river.
For "cont'd" postings, click here.

16 Bodies found in Baghdad
Anbar Tribal Model Questioned

The 'Anbar Model' of arming Sunni tribespeople to fight religious extremists is being queried by many experts.

Sawt al-Iraq reports in Arabic that the Da`wa Party, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, and the Kurdistan Alliance, have made a new compact, in an attempt to support Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

McClatchy reports on further political violence in Iraq on Monday, beyond the horrific bombings in Baghdad, Hilla and Baiji. Police found 16 corpses in the streets of the capital. Major incidents excerpted below:

'Baghdad:

- Around 10 a.m. a road side bomb exploded in Zafaraniyah neighborhood. 2 civilians were injured. . .

- Around 1 p.m. mortar shells landed in Al Saidiyah neighborhood injuring 3 residents.

Salaheddin:

- Iraqi police source said that seven civilians were killed and 2 were injured near Al Dujail when a U.S. military helicopter opened fire on a mini bus but U.S. military officials denied the incident occurred.

- A road side bomb exploded targeting a police vehicle on the main road near Al Dujail north of Baghdad this morning. 1 policeman killed and 3 were injured. Basra

- Police found the dead body of the assistant of the intelligence head of the 10th Iraqi army division in Basra in Al Fersi area central Basra last night. LC Fares Mohammed was kidnapped yesterday. The kidnappers released his bodyguards and his driver. '

AP reports on the US troops wounded in Iraq:

' More than 800 of them have lost an arm, a leg, fingers or toes. More than 100 are blind. Dozens need tubes and machines to keep them alive. Hundreds are disfigured by burns, and thousands have brain injuries and damaged minds. These are America’s war wounded, a toll that has received less attention than the 3,500 troops killed in Iraq. Depending on how you count them, they number between 35,000 and 53,000. '

Desert tent camps are no fun in 115 degrees F. in the Iraqi summer heat.

The International Crisis Group draws attention to failing security and government institutions in Basra, and worries that the failures in Basra will afflict the whole country.

Jennifer Loewenstein on the triumph of US and Israeli policy in Palestine/ Gaza.

The USG Open Source Center paraphrases items in the Iraqi press for June 25:

' Al-Zaman publishes on page 3 a 400-word report entitled "Tikrit Residents Criticize Prosecution of Former Iraqi Army Commanders Regardless of National Reconciliation Project."

Al-Zaman runs on page 3 a 450-word report entitled "US Forces Hand Over Further Security Responsibilities in Iraqi Governorates; Washington Counts on Military Operations To Begin Withdrawal."

Al-Zaman runs on page 4 a 200-word report on the appointment of Ammar al-Hakim as deputy chairman of the Iraqi Islamic Supreme Council.

Al-Mashriq runs on the front page a 120-word report saying that the Unified Iraqi Coalition blocked some political blocs from increasing the Presidential Council's authority.

Al-Mashriq runs on page 2 a 600-word report citing the Iraqi List demanding to postpone the implementation of article 140 of the constitution about Kirkuk and keep Mahmud al-Mashahdni as Speaker of the Iraqi parliament. The List hopes that a new political block, which includes all parties participating in the political process, will help ameliorate the current situation.

Dar al-Salam on 24 June publishes on the front page a 140-word report entitled "Governmental Forces Arrest 12 Wanted Al-Mahdi Army Elements in Al-Nasiriyah."

Dar al-Salam on 24 June runs on page 4 a 1,300-word report entitled "Children, Victims of Sectarian Violence, Abduction, Extortion; 6,800 Children Killed Since Beginning of This Year."

Ishraqat al-Sadr on 24 June carries on the front page a 400-word report on a statement by Ayatollah Kazim al-Ha'iri accusing the "occupation" of the Samarra bombings to fuel sectarian sedition between Shiite and Sunnis and loot Iraq's resources.

Ishraqat al-Sadr on 24 June carries on the front page a 500-word report citing Shaykh Usamah al-Tamimi, during the Friday sermon in Al-Kazimiyah, urging Muslims to visit the holy shrine in Samarra.

Al-Da'wah on 24 June carries on the front page a 450-word exclusive report entitled: 'Dissolved Ba'th Party: Requests Leaders to Return to Iraq, Join Tribes To Receive Weapons According to US Decision.

Al-Adala runs on page 2 a 140-word report saying that Maysan tribes [in Shiite South Iraq] refused to be armed by US forces'

For "cont'd" postings, click here.

Ahmadinejad: "I am not anti-Semitic"
Palestinians should Decide on Two-State Solution

Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul continue to show themselves among the few in Congress with any integrity and backbone. They declined to go along with a resolution charging Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad with incitement to genocide, given his alleged call for Israel to be 'wiped off the face of the map.'

As most of my readers know, Ahmadinejad did not use that phrase in Persian. He quoted an old saying of Ayatollah Khomeini calling for 'this occupation regime over Jerusalem" to "vanish from the page of time.' Calling for a regime to vanish is not the same as calling for people to be killed. Ahmadinejad has not to my knowledge called for anyone to be killed. (Wampum has more; as does the American Street).

If Ahmadinejad is a genocidal maniac who just wants to kill Jews, then why are there 20,000 Jews in Iran with a member of parliament in Tehran? Couldn't he start at home if that was what he is really about?

I was talking to two otherwise well-informed Israeli historians a couple of weeks ago, and they expressed the conviction that Ahmadinejad had threatened to nuke Israel. I was taken aback. First of all, Iran doesn't have a nuke. Second, there is no proof that Iran even has a nuclear weapons program. Third, Ahmadinejad has denied wanting a bomb. Fourth, Ahmadinejad has never threatened any sort of direct Iranian military action against Israel. In other words, that is a pretty dramatic fear for educated persons to feel, on the basis of . . . nothing.

I renew my call to readers to write protest letters to newspapers and other media every time they hear it alleged that Ahmadinejad (or "Iran"!) has threatened to "wipe Israel off the map." There is no such idiom in Persian and it is not what he said, and the mistranslation gives entirely the wrong impression. Wars can start over bad translations.

It was apparently some Western wire service that mistranslated the phrase as 'wipe Israel off the map', which sounds rather more violent than calling for regime change. Since then, Iranian media working in English have themselves depended on that translation. One of the tricks of Right-Zionist propagandists is to substitute these English texts for Ahmadinejad's own Persian text. (Ethan Bronner at the New York Times tried to pull this, and more recently Michael Rubin at the American Enterprise Institute.) But good scholarship requires that you go to the original Persian text in search of the meaning of a phrase. Bronner and Rubin are guilty disregarding philological scholarship in favor of mere propagandizing.

These propaganda efforts against Iran and Ahmadinejad also depend on declining to enter into evidence anything else he has ever said-- like that it would be wrong to kill Jews! They also ignore that Ahmadinejad is not even the commander in chief of the Iranian armed forces.

Anyone who reads this column knows that I deeply disagree with Ahmadinejad's policies and am not interested in defending him on most things. I profoundly disagree with his characterization of Israel, which is a legitimate United Nations member state, and find his Holocaust denial monstrous. But this quite false charge that he is genocidal is being promoted by Right-Zionists in and out of Congress as a preparatory step to getting up a US war against Iran on false pretences. I don't want to see my country destroyed by being further embroiled in the Middle East for the wrong reasons. If the Israeli hardliners and their American amen corner want a war with Iran, let them fight it themselves and leave young 18 year old Americans alone.

So here are some things Ahmadinezhad has said that make clear his intentions, and which are translated by the United States government Open Source Center. He is hostile to Israel. He'd like to see regime change (apparently via a referendum on the shape of the government ruling over geographical Palestine, in which all "original" residents of any religion would get a vote). Calling for a referendum on the dissolution of a government is not calling for genocide. Ahmadinejad also says he has no objection to a Jewish state in and of itself, he just thinks it should be located in, say, German territory set apart for the purpose, rather than displacing Palestinians from their homes. He may be saying unrealistic things; he is not advocating killing Jews qua Jews, or genocide.

Note that Ahmadinejad below denies being an anti-Semite (why deny it if he supposedly glories in it?); points out that he supports Jewish representation in the Iranian parliament; and compares his call for an end to the Zionist regime ruling over Jerusalem to the Western call for the dissolution of the old Soviet Union. Was Ronald Reagan inciting to genocide when he called for an end of the Soviet regime?

Iran's President Ahmadinezhad Holds New York News Conference 21 Sep News conference by Iran's President Mahmud Ahmadinezhad at UN headquarters in New York -- correspondents' questions in English simultaneously translated into Persian -- live Islamic Republic of Iran News Network Television (IRINN) Friday, September 22, 2006 Regarding the issue of the invasion of Lebanon, you saw that everyone - of all religions, of all faiths - condemned it. Because the nations have awakened. The nations hate aggression. . . Some people think that if they level accusations at Ahmadinezhad - saying: He is a terrorist, he is a murderer, he is anti-Semitic - the issue would be resolved. No. I am not anti-Semitic. Like all other human beings, Jews are respected. And, by the way, there are Muslims and Christians and Jews among the Palestinian people. We say the people of Palestine should choose. We do not say that it should be the Palestinian Muslims. For they lived in peace and harmony in the past. But then Britain came over and, with colonialist goals, took control and then handed it over to the Zionists. And the problem started. Let the people choose and see what will happen. Iranian Television Broadcasts President Ahmadinezhad's Interview With French TV "Exclusive interview" with Mahmoud Ahmadinezhad by David Pujadas of French TV's TF2 Channel on 22 March 2007 -- recorded Vision of the Islamic Republic of Iran Network 1 Sunday, March 25, 2007 (David Pujadas) The fact that Iran's position is disconcerting, one of the reasons is that Your Excellency's statements are to a large extent threatening. For instance, your assertion that Israel should be wiped from the map of the world, all these things have created some concern which has been reflected in the nuclear case too. (Ahmadinezhad) . . . Let me ask you this question: where is the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics now? Was it not wiped off (the map)? How was it wiped off? We have a totally humanitarian solution for Palestine. We have said that all the Palestinians should take part in a free referendum so as to end the 60 year old war. The outcome is clear from now. It is because of the same outcome that America and Britain are refusing to yield. (David Pujadas) Let us clarify everything. Do you really wish to wipe Israel off the face of the earth? Do you have a plan for this job or are you in fact making such a prediction? (Ahmadinezhad) Look, I told you the solution. I think the people of Palestine also have the right to determine their own fate. Let them choose for themselves, the Christians, the Jews and the Muslims. That is, all the Palestinians who belong to that land can participate in the referendum. I think the outcome of such a referendum is already clear. We saw what happened in last year's elections (when they voted for HAMAS). (David Pujadas) If the Palestinians themselves accept that two governments should enjoy peaceful coexistence next to each other, will you be ready to accept their decision? (Ahmadinezhad) Incidentally this is what we are saying. That is, we are saying let the nation of Palestine decide for itself without any imposition. They should be allowed to do so in a free atmosphere. This is the right of the Palestinian people. Let them decide for themselves. Let them decide the shape of their own government. (David Pujadas) Do you mean with Israel as their neighbor? (Ahmadinezhad) Look, let the nation of Palestine decide about its own state. This is the right of the Palestinian people. . . (David Pujadas) A lot is being said about the 60m people who have been killed during World War II, but why should we just discuss the 6m people who have been killed in the Nazi camps for being Jews? (Ahmadinezhad) You well know that we respect everyone. The Jews, Christians, Muslims. They are all free in our country and they have their own representatives in our Majles [Parliament]. You know that according to the Law in Iran, every 150,000 people have one representative in the Majles. But the number of the Jews is not even 20,000 people and they have a representative. We say that the life and belongings of all people should be respected. We condemn all crimes. . . Iran: Presidential Website Reports Ahmadinezhad's Remarks at Holocaust Conference Unattributed report: "The President: Truth-Seeking and Honest Groups Should Be Formed To Investigate the Holocaust" Presidency of the Islamic Republic of Iran WWW-Text Thursday, December 28, 2006 The president stated that due to God's wish and the vigilance of nations the days of the Zionist regime are numbered and added: We want prosperity for all humans and even like to guide our enemies, but some European and American politicians' one-sided and bigoted support for the Zionist regime no longer has a function in the world. Dr Ahmadinezhad stated that, with each day that passes of the Zionist regime's life, the interests and reputation of its supporting powers become more endangered. He added: The sensible and fair solution is to remove this regime the same way it was set up and imposed on the region's countries through planning and imperialistic objectives. This will bring peace to the world, and the region's countries will also forgive the atrocities of the last 60 years. The president also stated that God did not create human beings for war, hatred, and enmity. He said the key for establishment of peace and harmony is justice; justice is achievable through monotheism and believing in God. He emphasized: An international effort must be made to establish peace and to remove the roots of insecurity and injustice, as the international balance is changing rapidly and the future evolutions will certainly be for peace, brotherhood, justice, and worshiping God.

For "cont'd" postings, click here.

Jihadi Groups fighting in Diyala

The USG Open Source Center translates an account of Jihadi groups fighting in Buhriz, a town of Diyala province. The account demonstrates how complex the groups are, that are being lumped together by the press as "al-Qaeda." The Islamic State of Iraq is usually described as a front for 'al-Qaeda,' even though it is unlikely that they have anything to do with Usama Bin Laden. The pro-coalition "Tariq al-Hashimi Brigades" or tribal levies are loyal to the Iraqi vice president (a Sunni Arab) of that name.

'Brother in Diyala' Claims 'Heavy Fighting' in Bahraz [Buhriz] Between Jihadist Groups, 'Occupation' Jihadist Websites -- OSC Summary Wednesday, June 20, 2007 Terrorism: 'Brother in Diyala' Claims 'Heavy Fighting' in Bahraz [Buhriz] Between Jihadist Groups, 'Occupation' On 11 June, a forum participant posted a statement to a jihadist website claiming that groups from The Islamic State of Iraq, Ansar al-Sunnah Group, Al-Mujahidin Army, and the Monotheists Army are engaged in "heavy fighting" with the "occupation" army and Tarik al-Hashemi militias in Al-Sinai neighborhood of the town of Bahraz, but no other details were provided. The statement was allegedly "quoted by a brother in Diyala." A translation of the statement follows: "The State (Islamic of Iraq), Ansar al-Sunnah Group, Al-Mujahidin Army, and the Monotheists Army are fighting side by side in Bahraz [Buhriz]. Praise be to God. "Heavy fighting erupted in the town of Bahraz between the resistance and the occupation and Tarik al-Hashemi militias which are described by the occupation as tribal militias. The heavy fighting is taking place in the Al-Sinai (Industrial) neighborhood of the town of Bahraz. The soldiers of The Islamic State of Iraq are joining Ansar al-Sunnah Group, Al-Mujahidin Army (Al-Jihad and Reformation Front), and the Monotheists Army. The occupation is using military helicopters, tanks, and hundreds of soldiers. "Quoted by a brother in Diyala."

For "cont'd" postings, click here.

Baquba Can't be Held by Iraq Troops: Bednarak

This AP story made me angry. I admire a straight shooter, so I am glad that Brig. Gen. Mick Bednarak admitted to AP that the Iraqi Army is not up to actually holding the neighborhoods in Baquba that US troops recently cleared, in hard fighting, of Salafi Jihadi guerrillas.

So Baquba is a city of like 300,000 northeast of Baghdad, in Diyala Province. Diyala has a 60% Sunni majority, and it had a lot of Baath military bases in the old days. It is now ruled by the (Shiite) Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, which benefits from the province's proximity to Iran. The previous Iraqi military commander had to be fired because he was helping, behind the scenes, Shiite militias.

So the Sunni Arabs in Baquba are done out. They have a Shiite government in their province that they don't want, and they have a Shiite/Kurdish government in Baghdad that sends Shiite troops of the Iraqi Army against them. The Sunni Arab neighborhoods of Baquba have thrown up local militias, and they have made alliances with Baathi and Salafi Jihadi cells.

The US military spent last week trying to 'clear' these Sunni Arab neighborhoods of 'al-Qaeda.' But I doubt they have Bin Laden's telephone number. They are just local guys or foreign volunteers who don't like seeing Sunni Arabs subjected to Shiite ayatollahs and secessionist Kurds.

As US troops fought on Sunday, they discovered that the guerrilla leaders had set mines and then made themselves scarce.

So after 6 days of hard fighting, in which US troops were killed and wounded, what do we have?

A sullen, defiant Sunni Arab urban population.

A guerrilla leadership that slipped away.

An Iraqi army unable actually to hold the 'cleared' neighborhoods, which are likely to throw up more guerrilla leaders and campaigns.

A continued dominance of Sunni Arabs in Diyala by a Shiite government completely unacceptable to them.

A US commitment to upholding the Shiite ("Iraqi") government.

So I am angry because this looks to me like we sent our guys to fight and die for a piece of political quicksand in which the entire endeavor is likely to sink.

It is not right.
For "cont'd" postings, click here.

Pro-US Tribal Sheikhs Attacked at Mansur Hotel
Beiji Police Station Blown UP

The guerrillas are at it again on Monday morning. They detonated a bomb in the lobby of the al-Mansur Hotel during a meeting of tribal sheikhs, killing 12. Presumably these were leaders who had decided to fight the Salafi Jihadis or extremist Sunnis. AFP reports:

' An AFP correspondent said charred bodies of the victims and many of the wounded were lying near the reception desk in the rubble-strewn lobby, and that the ceiling had collapsed on the bodies.

A hotel employee said a group of five or six tribal sheikhs had come into the lobby and ordered tea. As the employee headed back to the kitchen the explosion went off behind him.

One of those killed was Fassal al-Gawud, an ex-governor of the western Sunni province of Anbar, where several tribal sheikhs have recently allied with US and Iraqi forces against Al-Qaeda, according to security officials.

Hussein Shaalan, a Shiite MP from the liberal Iraqi National List of former pro-Western premier Iyad Allawi’s political bloc and a tribal chief from the central city of Diwaniyah, was also killed along with his son and a bodyguard. '

Guerrillas also hit a police station with a fuel truck bomb in the refinery town of Baiji, killing 15 persons. There was other mayhem.

Some of the wave of attacks on Monday may have come in response to the verdict announced yesterday in the trial of "Chemical Ali" (Ali Hasan al-Majid), a high Baath commander and cousin of Saddam who spearheaded the Anfal campaign of using poison gas against the Kurds in the north. This was toward the end of the Iran-Iraq War, when the Kurdish political leadership had allied with Khomeini in its bid to secede from Iraq. The gas campaign was indiscriminate, hitting Kurdish villages far from the Iranian front, and taking on a racial and genocidal aspect.

Many of the deadliest cells operating in Iraq are actually Baathists, not Salafi Jihadis (what the US press and military mostly inaccurately call 'al-Qaeda'). Though many Baathists have little use for Saddam or Chemical Ali, the prospect of further hangings of high Baath commanders by the Shiite Da`wa Party of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and his Shiite allies is intolerable to them.

Then guerrillas detonated a bomb near the governor's mansion in Hilla, the capital of the mixed Babil province south of Baghdad. They killed 8 and wounded 25. Hilla is a largely Shiite city, and Babil is controlled politically by the (Shiite) Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council of Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, who is close to Iran. The northern reaches of Babil province, however, have a lot of Sunnis, who reject the new political situation.

Meanwhile, the Sunni Arab blocs in parliament have announced that they are boycotting the national legislature until former speaker Mahmud al-Mashhadani is reinstated. He was recently dismissed at the insistence of the Shiites and Kurds, allegedly for abusing MPs and for making outrageous statements. It was not widely reported in the Western press, but some of his anger against the Shiite MPs came from the kidnapping by the Mahdi Army of members of his own security guard.
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Al-Maliki Under Onslaught from Security Failures
VP Abdul Mahdi threatens to Resign
Parliament extends Work One Month
Mahdi Army Rallies Roil Najaf

Al-Hayat writing in Arabic says that PM Nuri al-Maliki has been exposed to vehement criticism from his own bloc (the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance) for his inability to provide security, and especially his inability to safeguard Shiite holy sites. He is also criticized for failing to put cabinet ministries to work, which have been vacant for months.

One sign of the tension is that the Shiite vice president, Adil Abdul Mahdi, tendered his resignation early last week, but was prevailed upon by president Jalal Talabani to withdraw it.

Al-Hayat says that the Iraqi parliament managed to muster a bare quorum of 140 members on Saturday, of whom 103 voted to extend the current session of parliament one month, until the end of July. They say they need the time to pass key legislation. The LA Times has more, and evinces optimism that the parliament will pass petroleum and revenue distribution bills.

Al-Hayat says that the Iraqi legislature issued a statement on the knighting by Queen Elizabeth II of author Salman Rushdie: "At a time when we call for a dialogue of religions and civilizations, and work to combat terrorism in all its forms and wherever it exists, we express our amazement and our regret that the Queen of England has honored a person who has insulted Islam and millions of its adherents."

Note to Iraqi parliament: if a religion is true, it cannot be insulted, and if adherents have faith, they will be undeterred by criticism. Only false rites and weak faith need be afraid of novels. Insecurity in a supposed believer is unlovely.

Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that PM Nuri al-Maliki has appointed a security commission for Karbala province, headed by a high-ranking Iraqi officer from the ministry of the interior to increase security in the province. Some 2000 extra police are being dispersed throughout it.

(My guess is that these measures aim to protect the Shiite shrine of Husayn, the prophet's grandson. If the Sunni Arab guerrillas could ever blow it up, there would be hell to pay.)

Governor `Aqil al-Khaz`ali also announced that work had begun on a ditch around the city, starting in the west; it will cost 2 billion Iraqi dinars.

Hadi al-Amiri, the head of the [Shiite] Badr Corps paramilitary of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, visited Karbala on Friday. He said that the Iraqis had battled the Saddam regime for 20 years, and that they are prepared to struggle for that long and more to take Iraq into the phase of progress, stability, democracy, and to forestall the return of dictatorship. He consulted with local officials on the city's security challenges. On Sunday, tribal chieftains will hold a congress in Karbala to discuss the best way to preserve its stability.

In another Shiite holy city south of Baghdad--Najaf-- the Mahdi Army staged street marches for three days last week, ending on Friday. In the wake of these marches, the city saw assassinations and security disturbances.

Turkey alleged that PKK guerrillas rammed a fuel truck into a police station in eastern Anatolia. Turkish troops are already massed at the Iraqi border to deal with PKK fighters who have been given refuge inside Iraqi Kurdistan. Turkish bombardment of border villages has caused hundreds of Kurds to flee deeper into Iraq.
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Sunday Reading

For analysis of the situation in Palestine this past week, few observers are cannier than Helena Cobban at Just World News.

And from the liberal Israeli side, Daniel Levy on 'Plan B.'

True or false? Syria is an economic basket case, with no prospects of moving away from a bloated, inefficient state socialist framework, and is a house of cards ready to fall at any moment? Joshua Landis has some suprising indicators.

Roger Morris on Bob Gates, the CIA, and the politics of counter-revolution at Tomdispatch.com.

Josh Marshall on how all 'insurgents' in Iraq are suddenly being dubbed 'al-Qaeda'. He could have noted that actually they now seem mostly to be 'senior al-Qaeda.'

Glenn Greenwald at Salon.com takes Josh's point and runs with it: on how everyone we fight now is 'al-Qaeda.'

Abu Aardvark on why maybe we shouldn't expect too much from those tribal leaders in al-Anbar province who are allegedly uniting against the Salafi Jihadis there.

Steve Clemons on how Colin Powell and Condi Rice's staff are playing a key behind the scenes role in the push to shut down Gitmo. Steve doesn't mention, but I will, that it is no accident that African-Americans should be especially troubled about keeping people in cages with no formal charges and no right to a lawyer.


Did greed or ambition cause Rudy Giuliani to quit the Iraq Study Commission after he had signed on to it?

Digby revealed.
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7 US Troops Killed on Saturday
Turks March in Istanbul Against PKK

Iraqi guerrillas killed 7 US troops on Saturday.

Reuters reports political violence in Iraq on Saturday. Police found 11 bodies in Baghdad on Friday. Excerpts:

' HILLA - A car bomb killed two people and wounded 18 in the Shi'ite city of Hilla, south of Baghdad, police said. . .

KHALIS - U.S. and Iraqi forces killed 11 . . . gunmen after an attack on an Iraqi army checkpoint near Khalis, 80 km (50 miles) north of Baghdad, on Wednesday, the U.S. military said. Attack helicopters were called in after the gunmen fired on the checkpoint. . .

SAMARRA - Three police commandos and one gunman were killed in clashes in Samarra, 100 km (62 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - Three people were killed and two wounded in a mortar attack in the Bayaa district of southwestern Baghdad, police said.

MUSSAYAB - A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol killed one policeman and wounded two others in Mussayab, about 60 km (40 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

ISKANDARIYA - A roadside bomb killed one policeman and wounded two others when it exploded near a police convoy in Iskandariya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, police said. . .

FALLUJA - A U.S. air strike killed five gunmen who had opened fire on a patrol near Falluja, 50 km (32 miles) west of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.
'

McClatchy rounds up political violence for Friday.

The Turkish military called for popular protests against PKK violence by Kurdish forces based in Iraqi Kurdistan, and the Istanbul public responded with a rally. The protest came as the Turkish government met on the crisis (i.e. the prime minister met with the military chief of staff). I don't think it is a good sign that the Turkish military is bringing out crowds in the streets. There is an election coming up in Turkey, the results of which the military may well not like.
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Iraqi Bill Clarification

The lede below on the Kurdish Baghdad deal on distribution of petroleum receipts contains some inaccuracies, according to Ben Lando of UPI. Apparently the deal is not about the petroleum bill but about distribution of profits. Will link when I can. This is by treo on the side of a mountain in a thunderstorm.

Update: Well, I'm off the mountain and the sun is shining. Here's the clarification:

While Iraqi negotiators have made a major breakthrough on sharing revenue from oil sales, the key issue of exactly how to govern the country's vast reserves is far from settled.

Iraqi negotiators have come to an agreement on divvying up revenues from oil sales, a major, though not final breakthrough on a package of oil laws.

The draft of the revenue sharing law on which there has been a breakthrough is is up at the website of the Kurdistan Regional Government.

Another informed reader writes, "It appears that the KRG has reached an agreement with respect to how much revenue they should receive from the federal government as a “block grant” under the budget, but that has nothing to do with the proposed Petroleum Law.

"The proposed Petroleum Law in circulation and receiving comments sets forth the procedures for the award of oil field development contracts.

"It has one provision referring to the establishment of two funds – an “Oil Revenue Fund” and “Future Fund” – but has nothing more about the two funds and expressly calls for additional legislation to deal with them."

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Kurdistan-Baghdad Oil Deal?
US Strike Kills 11 Civilians
Shiites Rally in Najaf, Criticize US

Reuters is reporting that the Kurds have reached an agreement with other parliamentarians on changes to a draft petroleum bill. These changes do not address, as Reuters incorrectly reports, "the equitable distribution of petroleum receipts." There is nothing in the draft law about such distributions, which according to the constitution would require separate legislation by parliament. The agreement is rather about the rights of regional confederacies such as the Kurdistan Regional Government to sign contracts with foreign companies independently of Baghdad. The [Shiite] Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC), which dominates provincial administrations in the south, is pushing for the formation of a Shiite regional government on the analogy of Kurdistan, which would also have claims on petroleum finds in its area.

The details of the agreement were not released.

Sunni Arab guerrillas hit a city hall with a car bomb in the small town of Sulayman Bek south of Kirkuk on Thursday, killing 18, wounding 75, and raising political tensions in the town.

14 US troops were announced killed Wednesday through Thursday, as the US pursued campaigns in Baghdad and Baquba against Salafi Jihadis.

The Green Zone took heavy mortar fire on Thursday, sending black smoke above the supposedly safe center for government offices and foreign embassies.

A US airstrike in Baquba missed its target and hit a civilian house, killing 11 persons. This sort of thing fuels my suspicion that the current head-on assault is not going to end the guerrilla war, since in the course of fighting current guerrillas one often creates new feuds and new guerrillas.

Shiites in the holy city of Najaf south of Baghdad held a huge rally to protest last week's bombing of the Askariyah Shrine in Samarra. They roundly denounced the Sunni Salafi Jihadis or "al-Qaeda." Ammar al-Hakim, son of Abdul Aziz al-Hakim (leader of SIIC) spoke, slamming the US security push in Baghdad as inadequate and saying “The security situation in Baghdad, Diyala and other areas shows that the security plan needs revision and development in order to achieve greater results. . ." SIIC has its own paramilitary, the Badr Corps, and I take Ammar's criticism to imply that the US should let him unleash Badr on the Salafi Jihadis and they'd be taken care of in short order. Badr has been relatively disciplined, but has been implicated in some death squad activity against ex-Baathists and Salafis.

In his Friday prayer sermon, Shaykh Ahmad al-Safi of Karbala demanded that top Iraqi security officials resign over the bombing of the minarets of the al-Askariyah Shrine last week. He said it was not enough for them to deplore the action, but that rather they must take responsibility. I presume he was targeting the minister of defense and the minister of the interior. He also decried the bombing this week of the mosque of the 2nd Deputy of the 12th Imam in Baghdad, which killed 87. He decried the tendency in the Middle East to praise the groups who do such things as a "resistance" or as fighting a "jihad." What kind of jihad, he asked, involves blowing up Muslim mosques and killing worshippers? Al-Safi is listened to in Iraq in part because he is a representative in a key holy city of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani,the spiritual leader of Iraq's Shiites, and his sermons are thought to represent Sistani's views. I'd say Sistani is probably at this point pretty done out with the al-Maliki government.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has formed, according to this Arabic report, a committee to oversee the arming of tribal groups who are fighting the Salafi Jihadis. He is doing it despite his own concerns that the move will in the long run just create more militias and security problems for the central government. (A lot of the Sunni tribesmen willing to fight "al-Qaeda" are also deeply opposed to al-Maliki).

Al-Maliki's government faces gridlock in parliament in part because of the Sadr Movement, which has 32 seats and forms part of the United Iraqi Alliance, al-Maliki's bloc. The Sadrists have withdrawn from the national unity government and suspended participation in parliament. Al-Maliki also lost the 15 delegates of the Islamic Virtue Party (Fadhila), which is strong in Basra in the south. He is essentially a minority prime minister but can't get much legislation pushed through under these circumstances. He is exploring a new configuration in parliament, joining his Da'wa Party (24 seats), SIIC (30 seats), the Kurdistan Alliance (53 seats), and the [Sunni Arab] Iraqi Islamic Party. The new coalition would have 160 seats in the 275-member parliament and would comfortably be able to pass legislation (if everyone showed up; the last vote was taken in a parliament where only 144 MPs attended, a bare quorum). The problem is that fundamentalist Shiites, fundamentalist Sunnis, and separatist, often socialist Kurds, don't amount to a stable coalition.

Leila Fadel of McClatchy interviews a Mahdi Army commander, who has been on a killing spree against Sunnis and claims to have received training in Iran. He says the Mahdi Army will one day lead a revolution in Iraq similar to that of Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran. He is obviously a braggart, but if a tenth of what he says is true, it is chilling. He also explains why dozens of bodies are still showing up in Baghdad every day, despite the US security push.

20 bodies were found in Baghdad. There was a bombing in Madaen, and a mortar strike on a Shiite neighborhood in south Baghdad.

McClatchy reports:

'Diyala:
Around 2 pm , 6 people were killed and 3 others injured at Barghash village in Balad Rouz (40 km east of Baquba) when clashes took place between gunmen and the residents of the village , Diyala Salvation Council reported . . .

Around Thursday noon, Khalis hospital ( 15 km north of Baquba) has received 3 dead bodies in two different incidents. . .

Around Thursday noon, terrorists bombed a primary school in Qara Taba village ( 79 km north of Baquba) causing great damage to the building . . . '

KARBALA:
Today , Kerbala cemetery had got 130 unknown dead bodies which had been brought from Baghdad morgues as they have been there for more than three months without been identified . Thus th whole number of the unknown dead bodies buried in Kerbala reached ( 3627) .

BASRA:

Basra ( 549 km south of Baghdad) - A British soldier was killed by mortar attacks on the multi forces headquarter in Hakimia neighborhood in the midtown of Basra city yesterday evening , the spokesman of the British forces said.

Fred Kaplan at Slate on how Rudy Giuliani sloughed off when serving on the Baker-Hamilton Commission on Iraq.
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