Clipmarks | invictus's 'iraq' clips

Iraq: From One Dictator to Another?

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 16:57:34 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks:

"Over a thousand Iraqis got killed and more than that number wounded just for a game of chess between warlords," Mohammad Alwan, a lawyer in Baghdad, told IPS. "All of them call for dissolving militias while they keep militias of their own. Most of those in power in the government are militia leaders."

Clip Source: www.antiwar.com

Following the failed attempt by the U.S.-backed al-Maliki to crack down on the Mahdi Army militia of Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, the situation in Iraq has become much worse. Iraq appears to be splintering more widely under this rule than under Saddam's.

According to statistics compiled by the U.S. military in Baghdad, there has been a sharp increase in attacks against U.S. and Iraqi security forces, from 239 in February to 631 in March. Most of these attacks are believed to have been carried out by the Mahdi Army.

The Mahdi Army is known to have substantial control of the streets of Baghdad, Basra, and many other predominantly Shia areas in southern Iraq.

Many Iraqis feel caught in a crossfire in what they see as a battle for power between the Shia factions.

After five years of occupation and suffering, with no end in sight, many Iraqis have become skeptical of all political and religious leaders.

Tags: iraq, al-maliki, mahdi army, civil war, shia

Bush hails 'major shift' in Iraq

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 00:05:04 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks: Huh, "major shift"? Sounds very intriguing.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

President George W Bush has declared a "major strategic shift" in Iraq following the US troop surge.

He said the US now held the initiative and was looking to deliver a "crippling blow" to al-Qaeda in the country.

US troop levels in Iraq are now due to be reduced by about 20,000 by July, but Mr Bush said after that, the "drawdown" process would be frozen.

Then, he said, senior commander General David Petraeus would have "all the time he needs" to assess the next step.

Gen Petraeus had called for a 45-day "period of consolidation and evaluation" after July, before any more troops left.

Tags: iraq, war, united states, george bush

Fixing Iraq's window

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:12:04 GMT

clipped by: invictus

Clip Source: www.truthdig.com

Tags: iraq, war, cartoons

Iraq denounces Turkish offensive

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 18:18:27 GMT

clipped by: invictus

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Turkey says it is defending itself from rebel attacks

The Iraqi government has denounced a Turkish incursion into northern Iraq in some of the strongest terms heard since the operation began last week.

In a statement, the Iraqi cabinet expressed its "rejection and condemnation" of the operation.

It called on Ankara to withdraw its troops immediately.

Snow was impeding operations, Turkey's military said, as fighting entered a fifth day and was said to be close to a rebel base in the Zap valley.

The Turkish military says it has killed 153 rebels and lost 19 soldiers since the cross-border attack began on Thursday night.

The rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) say they have killed 81 soldiers. Neither report can be independently verified.

Clashes are also reported to be continuing in the mountainous area of Hakurk.

Tags: turkey, iraq, kurds, pkk, war

Snow day in the sands of Baghdad

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 20:58:46 GMT

clipped by: invictus

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

BAGHDAD - The flakes melted quickly. But the smiles, wonder and excited story-swapping went on throughout the day: It snowed in Baghdad.

The morning flurry Friday was the first in memory in the heart of the Iraqi capital. Perhaps more significant, however, was the rare ripple of delight through a city snarled by army checkpoints, divided by concrete walls and ravaged by sectarian killings.

"For the first time in my life I saw a snow-rain like this falling in Baghdad," said Mohammed Abdul-Hussein, a 63-year-old retiree from the New Baghdad area.

"When I was young, I heard from my father that such rain had fallen in the early '40s on the outskirts of northern Baghdad," Abdul-Hussein said, referring to snow as a type of rain. "But snow falling in Baghdad in such a magnificent scene was beyond my imagination."

Tags: iraq, baghdad, snow, weather

Iraq's Kurdish leader snubs Rice

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 23:16:31 GMT

clipped by: invictus

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Turkish troops have been massed on the Iraqi border

The head of Iraq's Kurdish regional government has refused to meet the US secretary of state because of the US position on Turkish cross-border raids.

Massoud Barzani had been scheduled to meet Condoleezza Rice in Baghdad, but withdrew "as a sign of protest" after several villages were bombed on Sunday.

The air strikes on alleged positions of PKK separatist rebels were followed by an incursion by 300 troops on Tuesday.

They moved 3km (1.9 miles) over Iraq's border, but later reportedly withdrew.

The UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, has said almost 2,000 people in northern Iraq have fled their homes in recent days as a result of the Turkish operations.

Speaking to reporters in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil, the prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Nechirvan Barzani, said its president had refused to meet Ms Rice because of Washington's tolerance of the recent Turkish raids.

Tags: iraq, turkey, kurds, pkk, united states, war, condoleezza rice, middle east

Iraq complains about Turkey bombing

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 20:27:34 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks: No opposing voices here. Cheerful Turkish media behaves like "the voice of the military".

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Iraq's parliament on Monday condemned the bombing of suspected Kurdish rebel bases by Turkish jets — an attack that seemed to carry tacit U.S. approval — and denounced the raid as an outrageous violation of Iraqi sovereignty.

As many as 50 Turkish fighter jets were involved in the airstrikes Sunday in the Qandil mountains of northern Iraq in the biggest attack against Turkish Kurd rebels in years, Turkish media said. An Iraqi official said the planes attacked several villages, killing one woman. The rebels said two civilians and five rebels died.

"We condemn this outrageous attack on Iraq's sovereignty," Iraq's parliament said in a statement.

Turkey said the attack was aimed at rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, and that U.S. intelligence had been used in the bombing. The PKK has battled for autonomy for southeastern Turkey for more than two decades and uses strongholds in northern Iraq for cross-border strikes.

Tags: turkey, iraq, pkk, kurds, militarism, war

Turkey wins Iraq backing on PKK

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 14:20:03 GMT

clipped by: invictus

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Turkey has said it will use military means if diplomacy fails

Turkey and Iraq have agreed to work together to deal with the problem of Kurdish PKK rebels in northern Iraq.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said Ankara would put the emphasis on diplomatic means to solve the crisis.

Mr Babacan rejected any ceasefire with the PKK, saying this was not possible with a "terrorist organisation".

Turkey is coming under intense pressure from the public and military to use force against the PKK, after its parliament approved cross-border raids.

Mr Zebari said his country would actively help Turkey deal with the PKK "menace".

"We agreed that the position we should take is a common position to fight terrorism wherever it is and we will not allow any party or any group, including the PKK to poison our bilateral relations," he said.

A delegation of senior Iraqi government officials is expected to travel to Ankara in the coming days to agree on measures that are being described as practical and concrete

Tags: turkey, iraq, pkk

Turkey sends more troops to Iraq border

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 22:23:32 GMT

clipped by: invictus

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Dozens of Turkish military vehicles streamed toward the Iraqi border with heavy artillery and ammunition Monday after Kurdish guerrillas killed a dozen soldiers and claimed to have captured eight in an intensifying crisis threatening to spill into Iraq.

Arab nations joined the U.S. and Europe in urging Turkey's government not to attack suspected guerrilla bases in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, while Turkish citizens rallied across the country demanding action against the rebels.

Iraq's president claimed the guerrillas would announce a cease-fire. But the rebels denied that, saying a cease-fire they declared in June was still in place.

With tensions worsening, the Turkish foreign minister said his government was pursuing a diplomatic solution to halt rebel operations out of havens in Iraq, but warned that it wanted to see results soon if an escalation in military action was to be avoided.

Tags: turkey, pkk, kurds, northern iraq, war, iraq

Dozens die in Turkey border clash

Sun, 21 Oct 2007 13:50:15 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks: "Dark game" continues: 12 Turkish soldiers and 23 PKK guerillas were killed near the border this morning

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Turkey has stationed thousands of troops on the border with Iraq

Fighting between Turkish soldiers and Kurdish rebels near the border with Iraq has left 12 soldiers and 23 rebels dead, said Turkish military officials.

The army sent reinforcements, including helicopters, to the area after soldiers were ambushed early on Sunday morning.

The clashes come days after Turkey's parliament authorised the army to cross the border into Iraq to pursue rebels.

The vote followed attacks blamed on the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which killed nearly 30 troops and civilians.

Not far from the scene of the fighting, in south-eastern Hakkari province, an explosion from a landmine hit a minibus injuring 10 people, the state news agency Anatolia said.

A statement from the Turkish military said a large group of PKK rebels had crossed the border from Iraq and launched their attack shortly after midnight.

The rebels attacked with heavy weapons, also wounding a number of soldiers, Turkish media reported.

Tags: turkey, iraq, pkk

Turkey, Iraq in 'Kurd rebel deal'

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 23:17:13 GMT

clipped by: invictus

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

PKK has been labelled a terrorist group by Turkey, the US and the EU

Turkey and Iraq have agreed on a deal to allow Turkish forces to cross into Iraq to pursue Kurdish rebels, media reports say.

A security accord would be signed on Thursday, an Iraqi official confirmed.

A deal was hammered out in talks between Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad Bolani and his Turkish counterpart Besir Atalay in the Turkish capital, Ankara.

Iraqi and Turkish officials confirmed the agreement would be signed on Thursday, but would not elaborate on the details.

Tags: turkey, iraq, kurds, pkk, war

Iraq's Cultural Heritage Looted, Pillaged

Fri, 21 Sep 2007 03:37:18 GMT

clipped by: invictus

Clip Source: www.nowpublic.com

Armies of looters have destroyed much of what remains of Mesopotamia's storied past.

2,000-year-old Sumerian cities torn apart and plundered by robbers. The very walls of the mighty Ur of the Chaldees cracking under the strain of massive troop movements, the privatisation of looting as landlords buy up the remaining sites of ancient Mesopotamia to strip them of their artefacts and wealth. The near total destruction of Iraq's historic past - the very cradle of human civilisation - has emerged as one of the most shameful symbols of our disastrous occupation.

Evidence amassed by archaeologists shows that even those Iraqis who trained as archaeological workers in Saddam Hussein's regime are now using their knowledge to join the looters in digging through the ancient cities, destroying thousands of priceless jars, bottles and other artefacts in their search for gold and other treasures.

Tags: archaeology, iraq, occupation, looters, mesopotamia, sumer, science

Remember: Saddam Was Our Man

Sun, 05 Nov 2006 17:49:26 GMT

clipped by: Kore7
clipper's remarks: NY Times OpEd from March 14, 2003.

The United States also sent arms to the new regime, weapons later used against the same Kurdish insurgents the United States had backed against Kassem and then abandoned. Soon, Western corporations like Mobil, Bechtel and British Petroleum were doing business with Baghdad -- for American firms, their first major involvement in Iraq.

This history is known to many in the Middle East and Europe, though few Americans are acquainted with it, much less understand it. Yet these interventions help explain why United States policy is viewed with some cynicism abroad. George W. Bush is not the first American president to seek regime change in Iraq. Mr. Bush and his advisers are following a familiar pattern.

Clip Source: readthese.blogspot.com

March 14, 2003, Friday

A Tyrant 40 Years in the Making

SEATTLE -- On the brink of war, both supporters and critics of United States policy on Iraq agree on the origins, at least, of the haunted relations that have brought us to this pass: America's dealings with Saddam Hussein, justifiable or not, began some two decades ago with its shadowy, expedient support of his regime in the Iraq-Iran war of the 1980's.

Both sides are mistaken. Washington's policy traces an even longer, more shrouded and fateful history. Forty years ago, the Central Intelligence Agency, under President John F. Kennedy, conducted its own regime change in Baghdad, carried out in collaboration with Saddam Hussein.

In 1963 Britain and Israel backed American intervention in Iraq, while other United States allies -- chiefly France and Germany -- resisted. But without significant opposition within the government, Kennedy, like President Bush today, pressed on. In Cairo, Damascus, Tehran and Baghdad, American agents marshaled opponents of the Iraqi regime. Washington set up a base of operations in Kuwait, intercepting Iraqi communications and radioing orders to rebels. The United States armed Kurdish insurgents. The C.I.A.'s ''Health Alteration Committee,'' as it was tactfully called, sent Kassem a monogrammed, poisoned handkerchief, though the potentially lethal gift either failed to work or never reached its victim.

As its instrument the C.I.A. had chosen the authoritarian and anti-Communist Baath Party, in 1963 still a relatively small political faction influential in the Iraqi Army. According to the former Baathist leader Hani Fkaiki, among party members colluding with the C.I.A. in 1962 and 1963 was Saddam Hussein, then a 25-year-old who had fled to Cairo after taking part in a failed assassination of Kassem in 1958.

Tags: saddam, hussein, saddam hussein, history, iraq, coup, cia, usa, washington, britain, israel, kassem, baathist, kurds, busness, foreign policy, arms, regime, dictator, middle east

Will Turkey invade northern Iraq?

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 01:30:28 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks: This has been talked loudly in Turkey since last month and it became a key subject of political parties & leaders, when there are less than two weeks to the early general elections. Many intellectuals, thinkers and columnists expressed their worries that such a "beyond-the-borders" military operation could disrupt the political processes and could even cast doubts on the elections.

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Will Turkey invade northern Iraq?

ISTANBUL, Turkey - Reports that Turkey has massed a huge military force on its border with Iraq bolstered fears that an invasion targeting hideouts of Kurdish rebels could be imminent. But how deeply into Iraq is the Turkish army willing to go, how long would it stay and what kind of fallout could come from allies in Washington and other NATO partners?

All these questions weigh on Turkey's leaders, who have enough on their hands without embarking on a foreign military adventure. Turkey is caught up in an internal rift between the Islamic-rooted government and the military-backed, secular establishment, less than two weeks ahead of July 22 elections that were called early as a way to ease tensions in a polarized society.

Tags: iraq, turkey, military, northern iraq

Saddam's aides executed, Barzan beheaded

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 15:26:04 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks: "The government said Barzan's beheading was accidental." Oh yeah, I'm sure it was. Probably, it was accidentally filmed too. Usual things for an "accidental puppet government".

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Hanging of Saddam's aides filmed

Iraqi officials said Barzan's beheading was an accident

Iraqi government officials have shown journalists video of the hanging of two of Saddam Hussein's aides, during which one of the men was decapitated.

The film shows Barzan Ibrahim - Saddam Hussein's half-brother - and Awad Hamed al-Bandar hanged side-by-side.

Barzan, former intelligence chief, and al-Bandar, former head of Iraq's Revolutionary Court, were convicted over the killing of 148 Shias in 1982.

The government said Barzan's beheading was accidental.

Tags: iraq, saddam hussein, barzan ibrahim, hamed al bandar, execution, beheading