Huge Bombing in Baquba
Iranians close border with Iraqi Kurdistan
Iran has closed its border with Iraqi Kurdistan. This move appears to come in part in reaction to the US kidnapping of an Iranian commercial agent, on the grounds that he is a covert operative, from Sulaimaniya (a city in Iraqi Kurdistan). In addition, Kurdish guerrillas of the PEJAK organization have been taking refuge in Iraqi Kurdistan and carrying out terrorist attacks inside Iran, in response to which Iran has shelled Kurdish border villages.
The closure of the border will hurt Kurdistan, which is landlocked and already has bad relations with Turkey and Syria, its other windows on the world.
McClatchy also reports on the Kurds that Iran is seeking.
The LAT reports on Iranian President Ahmadinejad's popularity in the Arab world, which is mostly Sunni. They take him as a symbol of anti-imperialism.
Reuters reports civil war violence for Monday:
' BAQUBA - A suicide bomber killed 26 people including the police chief of the city of Baquba in a mosque compound where local Shi'ite and Sunni Arab leaders were holding reconciliation talks, police said. They said 50 people were wounded in the attack in Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad.
TIKRIT - A U.S. soldier died after being wounded by gunfire in Salahuddin province, the U.S. military said. . .
MOSUL - A suicide truck bomb killed at least six people, including two policemen and a soldier, and wounded 17 in an attack on a checkpoint near a village between Tal Afar and Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
KIRKUK - A bomb in a parked car wounded six people near a police brigadier-general's house in Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
KUT - Gunmen killed one man and wounded another in Kut, 170 km (105 miles) southeast of Baghdad, police said. . .
LATIFIYA - A roadside bomb killed one soldier and wounded three others in Latifiya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.
MOSUL - A roadside bomb killed one person and wounded three west of Mosul, police said.
BAGHDAD - Gunmen killed Jawad al-Daami, a journalist for Baghdadiya television, on Sunday in al-Qadissiya district of southwestern Baghdad, an Iraqi journalists' association said.
KIRKUK - Kirkuk province police chief Jamal Tahir escaped unhurt from a roadside bomb attack on his convoy in the city of Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said. One of his guards was wounded. . .
BAGHDAD - U.S. forces killed one suspected insurgent and arrested four members of an Iranian-backed special groups cell during an operation in eastern Baghdad, the U.S. military said.
KIRKUK - A car bomb targeting a local mayor's convoy killed one of his bodyguards and wounded seven, including three civilians in Kirkuk, police said. . . "
McClatchy has more, including the discovery of 9 bodies in the streets of Baghdad.
Labels: Iraq
posted by Juan Cole @ 9/25/2007 12:39:00 AM
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4 Comments:
Dear Professor Cole
Thanks for the link to LA Times.
Quite frankly I am embarrassed by the UK press coverage of Amadinejad's speech which seems almost universally poorly put together and commented on.
There is a weakness in the logic that says that becasue he says there are no (openly) gay people Iran that his claims regarding the Iranian nuclear program are suspect.
Nobody picks up the point that he can no longer be accused of Holocaust Denial.
Pepe Escobar makes a very good point that the questioning omitted any reference to a number of major issues of importance in Central Asia
Nobody questioned him on his disastrous economic policies, on the competence of his ministers, on an embryonic pact between Iran and Saudi Arabia to prevent another war in the Middle East, on the upcoming, pivotal summit of the Caspian littoral states in Tehran where Ahmadinejad, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Vladimir Putin will discuss what happens next - from technical aspects of Iran's nuclear program to Bush's warmongering impetus. Anyway, Ahmadinejad made it clear: Iran is "ready to negotiate with all countries". The same could not be said about the Bush White House.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon would have liked this UN General Assembly to discuss seriously climate change and the looming water wars. But nobody - not even diplomats - is really paying attention. It's all about Bush against the "new Hitler". Gaza is being collectively punished, and Tony "invade Iraq" Blair bleats platitudes about "peace". About 100,000 brave monks are in the streets of Yangon defying Myanmar's military junta - and the UN is not even listening ("Bring democracy to the Burmese people," anyone?). It's just war, war, war.
The dog that didn't bark
The full text of Mr Amadinejad's speech is available on IRNA in english. I havent had time to sit down and read it yet.
Perhaps after I have read it I might add another comment?
Prof. Cole allow me this, though you still did not discuss it.
If President Lee Bollinger represents u.s. academia and free speech then frankly you can close shop.
Prof. Cole, perhaps you can comment on any linkage between two current events. The current liquidity crunch and the saber-rattling against Iran.
If the economy worsens, is a war with Iran more likely or less likely? I would guess more.
We have all heard the "politically inconvenient" idea that the Iraq war was "largely about oil."
Let’s start as president Ahmadinejad did by talking a little religion. We will see why this is important in a little while. It is also useful to look at the words of another President at the same time in order to give the remarks of the President of Iran some context.
Mathew 7:3 is quite well known and very relevant to yesterday’s events. Let’s use the Douay Version of the text just for fun.
why seest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye; and seest not the beam that is in thy own eye?
After responding to the politically necessary tirade from the University President (he needs to preserve his alumni donations) the President of Iran praised the spirit of enquiry among researchers and then did a major tour through some of major figures shared among the Abrahamic religions to illustrate his point.
The man believes in the scriptures and Angels and the system of morality defined in the Koran and the Hadith.
Unsurprising then that he should react to the ignorance of the questioner who asked about homosexuality by denying that it took place in Iran. Fifty years ago in Ireland gays would be tapped on the shoulder by a police sergeant who would suggest that England was the proper place for that kind of behaviour.
If we read Niki Kiddie on the Khomeini revolution one of the contributory factors was outrageous sexual behaviour in some theatre productions which offended the sensibilities of the locals. The names of Soddom and Gomorrah always suggest the reason why they were destroyed with fire and brimstone. There were protests by clergy in Northern Ireland not long ago when the laws on homosexual behaviour were harmonised with the rest of the UK
However this question reveals an enormous gulf in the understanding of the person who asked the question. Did he really not understand how inappropriate it is to attempt to impose the particular morality of the United States on another country? I expect it will come as a surprise to him that Beef is not a particular favourite of some Indians and that the market for hamburgers is a bit limited south and east of the Mediterranean.
It seems that the intercultural lesson of the offence caused in Saudi Arabia by female US soldiers driving trucks has been lost. Ho Hum it is the 150th anniversary of the Indian mutiny caused in some part by a rumour that the cartridges issued to the troops were greased with pork and beef fat.
Mr Ahmadinejad went on to challenge the taboos that limit areas of enquiry regarding events of the 1940s. He is saying little that is different to the subjects raised by Robert Fisk in his books who remarks on the injustice of the expropriation of property that plunged the unfortunate Palestinians into a life of poverty and misery.
The proposal for a universal referendum of all the Christian, Jewish, Muslim Palestinians on their preferred form of government is something that deserves further analysis.
What adds some real interest to the debate is the message on the eve of Yom Kippur on Shimon Peres blog on Haaretz. He wishes well to all men of goodwill and then asks for support for his idea of a peace corridor that will allow the income of the Palestinians and Jordanians to rise to the level of income per head as the Israelis. As this is a subject that colleagues of David Milliband the UK foreign secretary have also commented on there is coherence in the message.
President Peres points to two major challenges facing mankind
I thus call upon all of us, on the Eve of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, to stand alongside the global community, and all those who seek peace and stability throughout the world - to search for, and find, creative solutions for two of the most significant challenges which the world currently presents us with:
The Terror against the Environment - or in other words, Global Warming- and The Terror against Humanity - that is, the prevention of the safety of mankind, as well as poverty.
I call for all of us to put our heads together and yearn, pray and strive for the safety of every Jewish person, and that of every peace-loving citizen of this globe.
President Ahmadinejad talks about the denial of technology particularly that is necessary to provide carbon free energy to make economies work. This becomes even more important in hot countries as the effectiveness of hydroelectric generation becomes less with a rise in global temperature.
President Peres talks of
The Valley of Peace extends along the border between us, the Hashemite Kingdom and the Palestinians. It may become a haven of cooperation between Israel, Jordan and the Palestinians. All three have already given their agreement. The Arava will be an amazing tourist area. A number of artificial lakes in it are likely to make it alive and attractive. Along its length a water conduit will be built to the Dead Sea to compensate it for the loss of its water. Along the valley industrial parks will be established which will offer many opportunities of work for all the partners. In the Valley of Peace we will see how, for the first time, it will be possible to harness the economy as a bulldozer for peace. A partnership between organized Jordan and modern Israel will help the Palestinians overcome their destitution and establish their country.
President Ahmadinejad also talks about living with the terror of living under the threat of an umbrella of nuclear annihilation and of the environmental cleanup problem associated with depleted uranium in Iraq.
The proposal to allow academics and students from Columbia to come to the 400 universities in Iran is quite the most interesting point of the whole event. It can only be a good thing. Much better than an academic boycott. If they have to fly there it might unblock the supply of aircraft spares.
Just think, in years to come there might be Rhodes Scholars at Oxford, Fulbright Scholars in Georgetown and Ahmadinejad scholars in Teheran.
Credit to Lee Bolinger for inviting Mr Ahmadinejad.
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