45 Dead, 79 Wounded in Wave of Violence;
Bombing in Jalawla' Raises Tensions with Baghdad
Why Iraq still matters to the presidential campaign,according to Mark Brunswick of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Violence erupted throughout central, eastern and northern Iraq on Tuesday, leaving at least 45 dead and some 79 wounded. The major single attack was a suicide bombing that struck at a police recruiting center in the mostly Kurdish town of Jalaula' northeast of Baquba in troubled Diyala Province.
The attack raised suspicions among Kurds because it comes in the wake of disputes between the Kurds of Diyala and the government of Nuri al-Maliki, who has sent Iraqi government troops into Diyala. When the troops entered Khanaqin, a potentially oil-rich city near the Iranian border that is largely Kurdish, there were tensions with the local population and with the Peshmerga Kurdish paramilitary. On Tuesday, residents of Khanaqin staged a demonstration against the presence in their city of government troops.
Jalawla' is near Khanaqin. Al-Hayat writes in Arabic that when Iraqi troops first went into the northern, Kurdish areas of Diyala, they gave the local Peshmerga 24 hours to get out of the region. The Diyala governing council resisted this ultimatum, creating tension with the central government. The Kurdistan Regional Government also disputed the decree, eliciting charges from Baghdad that the KRG was attempting to extend its authority into provinces not in its purview (Diyala is not part of the KRG). Al-Hayat says that the Peshmerga had just returned to Khanaqin and Jalawla' after the withdrawal of federal troops.
Shawn Brimley and Colin Kahl argue against al-Maliki's crackdown on the Sunni Arab Awakening Councils.
Kurdish journalists are in danger in Iraqi Kurdistan. Al-Hayat reports a new poll that shows that half of KRG residents feel that they have little freedom of speech.
Antiwar.com reviews political violence in Iraq on Tuesday.
Labels: Iraq
posted by Juan Cole @ 8/27/2008 01:00:00 AM
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10 Comments:
Not long ago I predicted the Iraqi state would become stronger than the Kurds and eventually overpower them, thus showing their alliance with the US to be ephemeral. We are seeing that in action.
I have given some thought to how the Georgia situation strengthens the hand of Maliki. The US cannot in the same breath vociferously demand Russia withdraw from all of Georgia without subjecting itself to the same, even more legitimate, demand from the Iraqi government. Indeed, the Georgia debacle throws the US position in Iraq into even more unfavorable light for those willing to see.
Here is an interview given by Mr Medvedev with Russia Today that is the source for many different Western "news" items. In it, he makes plain in so many words that Russia is not dependent on the West; rather, it is the West--Europe in particular--that's dependent on Russia, and that Russia has no fear of a new Cold War. In this he is quite correct. And this time it is the US that is close to bankruptcy, not Russia. Every US warship cruising the Euxine is financed by Eurasian countries, which is quite ironic.
68 days to go before we get more of the same, albeit with a few nuances. The Denver police have been busily teaching protesters what the current state of democracy is in the US and just how relevent is the Bill of Rights. I don't even know why we bother with such conventions as nothing of substance has happened at one for decades as they are all 100% staged. Here is a video interview with professor William Catton, the author of Overshoot discussing that work. If you are familiar with his work, you will find the contrast between what he has to say and predict with that of the politicos at either convention enough to wonder who is grounded in reality.
Few people realize that the Iraqi Army is stil part of the MNF (Multi-National Forces) in Iraq and therefore under US command.
It is quite likely that there is a tug of war between the US and the Iraqi government over the presence of Iraqi troops on the seemingly Kurdish-annexed areas.
This will change soon since the US has agreed to relinquish command of the Iraqi forces, but they will still have the "logistics" tool. However, Iraq can very rapidly build its own logistics since all the human and financial resources are in place.
The Kurds are therefore asking for trouble and are 'doing a Georgia' by spoiling for a future fight they are virtually guaranteed to lose in a big way. Turkey will be delighted to contribute air gun-ships to hunt down the Kurdish armor even before Iraq rebulds its airforce.
Shawn Brimley and Colin Kahl argue against al-Maliki's crackdown on the Sunni Arab Awakening Councils.
We really need to be more sceptical about the sources cited by analysts (even your colleagues). Look at the sources of Brimley and Kahl on the supposed crackdown on the Awakening militias:
During our trip, a common theme among U.S. military commanders, intelligence officers, diplomats and Iraqi political leaders we spoke with was the growing hubris of Maliki and his closest advisors..
Scarcely any mention of Iraqis as sources. Only some Awakening people who might lose out if they were attacked.
So who would benefit from this story being spread? Well, the good ol' US, of course. If the Sunnis get angry and split from Maliki on the SOFA issue, then Maliki could be forced to sign.
This is a pure propaganda move for the moment. You should not be taken in by it, Juan.
US asked Iraq for permission to continue occupying Iraq until 2015 but US and Iraqi negotiators agreed to end the US occupation in 2011
2015 ?!?! how did the usa expect to get all of the Iraqi OIL out of the ground by the end of 2015 ??!!
we thought that the usa would seek to occupy Iraq until at least the year 3,000 if not the year 4,000.
there's a LOT of OIL under Iraq. It just ain't gonna get into your gas tank all by its lonesome.
How strong a hold on all of Iraq does Al-Maliki have now. I am thinking the hold is quite strong, surprisingly so to me.
Afghanistan : “the United Nations has announced that it is convinced that a minimum of 90 civilians were killed in Friday’s US airstrike in Herat Province. This number, they reported, included 60 children, and stands as one of the largest incidents of US-inflicted civilian casualties since the 2001 invasion [and subsequent Western occupation of Afghanistan].”
Had this massacre been carried out by "ground troops" rather than "air force personnel", would this distinction have made any difference in the conscience of Americans? why is that, Professor ~ why is modern warfare in three dimensions, or remote control ~ so morally different than ancient, hand-to-hand combat?
iow, How are we ~ as historians ~ to account to future generations how we Westerners, here and now do so casually distinguish between that which is personal and impersonal mass murder? Through the Looking Glass : We went to IRAQ seeking their Weapons of Mass Destruction; only to find, my God! it is ourselves.
Dear Professor Cole
Sending a destroyer to Poti to upstage the Democrats is just plain warmongering.
Well now we are about to see if the waters off Poti have been mined.
Whatever you said to somebody worked. They even used the mines excuse.
Just as well. An Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer going bang would be quite a lot of fireworks.
Anonymous is incorrect.
PM chairs the NOC (National Operations Center)
MoD's JFC (Joint Forces Command) and the MoI report to the NOC.
IGFC (Iraqi Ground Forces Command) reports to the JFC.
The operation combat troops of the IA report to the IGFC. The IGFC also "coordinates" but doesn't control the operation combat components of the Iraqi air force, Iraqi navy, and Iraqi Special Operations Forces.
http://www.longwarjournal.org/multimedia/wiring%20diagram%20senior%20CoC.JPG
Anand's comment is incorrect.
The "reports to" is all bluff. Maliki himself has said repeatedly that he cannot move even a single company of the Iraqi Army.
The Cheif of Staff is a US-controlled Kurd. The logistics and intelligence are fully under American control. The air space is too (VP al-Mahdi was once ordered to hover for hours waiting to land although the airport was clear.)
There are indirect pressures too, applied by anyone from the US embassy to the US president, and anything in-between including visiting members of Congress. The US can and does kill and arrest relatives of Iraqi officials who do not obey.
That is why any presence of US troops is totally unacceptable, and will soon end. Goodbye and godd riddance.
“The "reports to" is all bluff. Maliki himself has said repeatedly that he cannot move even a single company of the Iraqi Army.” This was true back in 2006. This isn’t true anymore. The IA on its own moved more than a division from Diyala, Baghdad, Al Anbar, Babil and Karbala south to Basrah with no notice at the end of March, 2008. The Iraqi Air force has become quite good at flying logistical supplies.
Research on how own how far the Iraqi Supply Command (ISC) {a three star command subordinate to the Iraqi Joint Forces Command} has advanced on your own:
Page 2 of: http://www.longwarjournal.org/multimedia/OOBpage3-JFC.pdf
The ISC is commanded by Iraqi JFC Deputy Chiefs of Staff for logistics and support Lt Gen Abdullah (sp?) {was former IGFC deputy commanding officer under IGFC commanding Lt. Gen Ali Ghaidan.} LTG Abdullah is a highly capable officer.
Within 6 months, 14 divisions will be able to manage their division level logistics on their own. Each of these 14 divisions will have one supply battalion (Base supply units (BSUs) or Location supply commands) and one transportation battalion (motorized transportation regiments or MTRs) {The 9th Iraqi tank armored division will not need an MTR because its transportation are managed by each brigade’s support battalions. So technically there will be 13 MTRs.} Next year, all 16 Iraqi Army divisions will be able to manage their supply and transportation on their own.
The Iraqi Army still needs to form corps level headquarters, corps level support brigades, and corps level quick reaction force combat brigades. All of this is planned for next year.
”The Cheif of Staff is a US-controlled Kurd.”
Iraqi Joint Forces Command (JFC) chief of staff and Iraqi Army chief of staff General (commanding) Babikr Zibari has always obeyed his chain of command: PM Maliki, PM Maliki’s National Operations Center (NOC), and Iraqi Defense Minister Abdul Qadir. Please do not impugn his character, honor, integrity and loyalty. Gen Babikr Zibari is popular and respected among the rank and file Iraqi Army soldiers and the Iraqi people more generally.
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