Clipmarks | Al-maliki Clips

Iraq government to pay Sunni groups

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:50:23 GMT

clipped by: tabsey

The Iraqi government is to take responsibility for paying members of the country's Awakening councils, Sunni groups who had allied with US forces to fight al-Qaeda.

The government of Nuri al-Maliki, which is dominated by Shia religious parties, is to begin paying 54,000 Awakening members from Tuesday.

The Awakening groups have been instrumetal in combating al-Qaeda in Iraq [AFP]

The Awakening groups emerged in 2005 when Sunni tribesmen, who had previously fought the US military and Iraqi government forces, allied with US forces, accepting arms, money and training.

There are about 100,000 Awakening fighters in Iraq and analysts say they are one of the main reasons for the recent marked reduction in violence in the country.

Mowaffak al-Rubaie, Iraq's national security adviser, told the AFP new agency that "the GoI (government of Iraq) will pay the first salary on the 31st October 2008".

The monthly bill of Baghdad's 54,000 Sahwas is around $15 million.

Tags: tax, dollars, at, work

Christians call for representation in Iraq

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 02:55:06 GMT

clipped by: tommy2balmy
clipper's remarks: Iraqi Christians took the streets after Sunday mass in northern Iraq in protest of the measure.

Clip Source: www.metimes.com

MOSUL, Iraq, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- A decision to remove an article from the Iraqi provincial elections law that includes quotas for religious minorities is an act of betrayal, Christians say.

Iraqi lawmakers Sept. 24 passed a version of the provincial elections law without an earlier provision that includes a specified allocation of representation to religious minorities.

The bill requires the approval of a three-member presidential council before taking effect. If it does, says a report in The Assyria Times Monday, religious minorities in Iraq will lose their right for democratic representation in the new Iraqi government.

The Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East sent a letter to the Iraqi government calling for a veto of the decision to eliminate the religious minority quota.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki

said

We hoped Parliament would approve the draft submitted by the cabinet, which included protection of the representation for minorities according to the constitution

Tags: iraq

Maliki Blames Bremer; and the Larger Story

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:07:02 GMT

clipped by: cptenaud
clipper's remarks: continued;

"The Iraqi administration and all government offices are suffering the consequences of Paul Bremer's mistakes," he said.
Following the 2003 war on Iraq, Bremer served as the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority and exercised power over the civil administration.
He is widely criticized over the insurgency in Iraq that has partly resulted from his reportedly unilateral decision to formally dissolve the Iraqi army in May 2003.
The comments by al-Maliki came after Time magazine reported that Bremer had embezzled $9 billion of the oil-rich country's reconstruction budget.

Clip Source: www.vetvoice.com

by: Chris LeJeune

Tue Sep 16

It's election time, and as such it is the time when everyone blames everyone else for everything that has gone wrong. Armey blames Cheney for cajoling him into supporting the war. McCain blames Obama for high gas prices. And Maliki blames Bremer for the suffering in Iraq.

At a gathering of local officials of the Iraqi province of Karbala, al-Maliki added that the Iraqi government continues to suffer from the mistakes made by Bremer, who was appointed by U.S. President George W. Bush as the director of reconstruction and humanitarian assistance for post-invasion Iraq in 2003.

Tags: blame, game

Obama Tried To Stall GI's Iraq Withdrawal

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 14:30:54 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: His latest position is that US combat troops should be out by 2010. Yet his effort to delay an agreement would make that withdrawal deadline impossible to meet.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the Bush administration have a more flexible timetable in mind.

According to Zebari, the envisaged time span is two or three years - departure in 2011 or 2012. That would let Iraq hold its next general election, the third since liberation, and resolve a number of domestic political issues.

Even then, the dates mentioned are only "notional," making the timing and the cadence of withdrawal conditional on realities on the ground as appreciated by both sides.

Iraqi leaders are divided over the US election. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani (whose party is a member of the Socialist International) sees Obama as "a man of the Left" - who, once elected, might change his opposition to Iraq's liberation.

Clip Source: www.nypost.com

WHILE campaigning in public for a speedy withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, Sen. Barack Obama has tried in private to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement on a draw-down of the American military presence.

According to Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Obama made his demand for delay a key theme of his discussions with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad in July.

Obama insisted that Congress should be involved in negotiations on the status of US troops - and that it was in the interests of both sides not to have an agreement negotiated by the Bush administration in its "state of weakness and political confusion."

I prefer to have a security agreement that regulates the activities of foreign troops, rather than keeping the matter open." Zebari says.

While in Iraq, Obama also tried to persuade the US commanders, including Gen. David Petraeus, to suggest a "realistic withdrawal date." They declined.

Obama has made many contradictory statements with regard to Iraq.

Tags: us troops in iraq, obama stall military presence, hoshyar zebari, gen. david petraeus, un mandate extension

Iraqi terrorists murder a TV reality show crew

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 04:54:42 GMT

clipped by: tommy2balmy
clipper's remarks: Their names are Musa'ab Mahmoud Al-Azawi - the network's manager in Mosul, -- Ehab Maad, Ahmed Salim, Qaidar Sleiman.

Their bodies were found in the deserted house, each shot in the chest or head or both.

On Sunday, Abdul-Sattar said five suspects were in custody. Two of them were found in possession of a pistol; it was not clear if it had been recently fired, and forensics tests will take three days, he said.

Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, the United States Embassy and the Islamic Party of Iraq issued statements condemning the killings.

Clip Source: www.mcclatchydc.com

Terrorists murder a television crew

The Iraqi TV crew brought the gifts that had come to be the trademark of their reality show: some basic household appliances and a delicious supper to break the Ramadan fast for a family of little means.

They'd done it many times before. But this episode didn't get made. Gunmen seized four of them from their vehicles, hauled them down the street and executed them.

"The people were so happy to see us," said the host, a young woman named Farida Adel.

He told her Mosul was safe and the Sharqiya channel was well liked there.

The crew arrived in Zinjili before noon Saturday

and parked outside the house of the family they were to profile.

A four-wheel drive carrying as many as seven gunmen drove up.

got out and forced the four crewmen who were still outside into their own vehicles

They drove the men 500 yards down the street, took them out of the vehicles and forced them inside the house where they would die.

Tags: iraq, terrorism, war on terror

Israel Wants to Attack Iran, US Military Aid Denied

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 09:05:08 GMT

clipped by: blueridge
clipper's remarks: Israel is impotent without the U.S.. They have always used America in their own war agendas. Note the strategic importance in the big picture of Iraqi air space which this Israeli news article mentions! This is just one reason why Israel and the neocon agenda demanded regime change in Iraq, which clears the way for further wars of aggression in the region by Israel, under a pretense of a "war on terrorism" (which both Obama and McCain will continue).

Note too that while the US has been somewhat restraining Israel, this is mentioned too:

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, in private discussions, even raised the possibility that the U.S. was considering an attack in the transition period between the election in November and the inauguration of the new president in January 2009.

Clip Source: haaretz.com

Israel asks U.S. for arms, air corridor to attack Iran

The security aid package the United States has refused to give Israel for the past few months out of concern that Israel would use it to attack nuclear facilities in Iran included a large number of "bunker-buster" bombs, permission to use an air corridor to Iran, an advanced technological system and refueling planes.

Haaretz reported that the Bush administration had turned down an Israeli request for certain security items that could upgrade Israel's capability to attack Iran.

An attack on Iran would apparently require passage through Iraqi air space. For this to occur, an air corridor would be needed that Israeli fighter jets could cross without being targeted by American planes or anti-aircraft missiles. The Americans also turned down this request. According to one account, to avoid the issue, the Americans told the Israelis to ask Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki for permission

Tags: israel, iran, us military aid to israel, neoconservatives, bush, war

Safer Iraq Attracts Foreign Investors

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 14:27:11 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's crackdown on Shiite militias this Spring led to a thaw in relations with Sunni governments in the Gulf. That has encouraged investors such as Aqeela to turn to Iraq without fear of falling out of favor with their own governments, says Majed Michel, vice president of the Iraqi American Chamber of Commerce.

The projects seek to address long-standing needs in Iraq, such as a severe housing shortage and under-investment in public utilities. Najaf is visited by millions of Shiite tourists a year but infrastructure there is poor.

"This is an extraordinarily undercapitalized society," said Todd Schwartz, an economic counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. "There's no question that Iraq can absorb $74 billion and hundreds of billions more."

There is plenty of money available as well, added Schwartz, in Gulf monarchies awash in petrodollars.

Clip Source: www.usatoday.com

BAGHDAD — Iraq is poised to receive a flood of foreign investment, thanks to improved security. More than $74 billion in projects have been submitted for government approval in just the past five months, according to Iraq's state investment regulator.

The investors include companies from the U.S., Europe, and Gulf Arab states. Their proposals all involve sectors other than oil, including a $13 billion new port for the southern city of Basra, several hotels and thousands of housing units nationwide, says Ahmed Ridha, the chairman of Iraq's National Investment Commission.

The biggest project, submitted by investors from Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, calls for an entirely new city to be built just outside the holy Shiite city of Najaf at a cost of $38 billion.

However, companies say they are eager to plow money into a country that has not received significant foreign investment for decades due to Saddam Hussein's economic mismanagement, U.N. sanctions and war.

Tags: baghdad, basra, najaf, u.s., european, gulf arab states

Arab Newspapers Say Bush "Obsessed" with Eavesdropping

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 05:04:14 GMT

clipped by: mycelium_obscurum

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

Arab press gave prominence in their Sunday issues to a report published by the Washington Post about spying operations allegedly conducted by the White House on Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and several high-ranking Iraqi officials.

A new book entitled The War Within: A Secret White House History, 2006-2008 by Washington Post associate editor Bob Woodward claimed that the current U.S. administration has spied on Maliki's government and used new techniques to track down and kill insurgent leaders

the U.S. troop 'surge' of 2007, in which President Bush sent nearly 30,000 additional U.S. combat forces and support troops to Iraq, was not the primary factor behind the steep drop in violence

'groundbreaking' new covert techniques enabled U.S. military and intelligence officials to locate, target and kill insurgent leaders and key individuals in extremist groups such as al-Qaeda in Iraq

Iraq Reacts to US Spying Allegation

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 22:22:39 GMT

clipped by: Wisco
clipper's remarks: Is there anyone the Bush administration isn't spying on?

This reminds me of the time they spied on diplomats at the UN. These people are seriously and dangerously paranoid. Then, as now, the spying caused more problems than it solved. This is pretty much the definition of a disorder.

Clip Source: www.usatoday.com

The Iraqi government reacted sharply Friday to published allegations that the U.S. spied on Iraq's prime minister, warning that future ties with the United States could be in jeopardy if the report were true.

The allegations appear by a new book, "The War Within: A Secret White House History, 2006-2008," by journalist Bob Woodward, who writes that the United States spied extensively on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, his staff and other government officials.

The report emerged as the two governments are in delicate negotiations over the future of American troops in Iraq. Those talks have already extended past their July 31 deadline and have drawn sharp criticism from Iraqis who want an end to the U.S. presence.

Critics may well use the allegation to step up pressure on the government not to sign a deal or hold out for the most favorable terms.

Tags: news

Iraq seeks answers on US spy claims

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 12:03:34 GMT

clipped by: tabsey

Clip Source: english.aljazeera.net

Iraq is to seek an explanation from American officials over a report asserting the US spied on Iraqi officials, including Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister.

The new book claims the Bush administration spied on al-Maliki [GALLO/GETTY]

The claim comes in a new book by Bob Woodward, a US journalist, the Washington Post newspaper reported on Friday.

"If it is true ... it reflects that there is no trust," Ali al-Dabbagh, an Iraqi government spokesman, said in a statement.

He also said that Iraq would ask the US for an explanation.

Dana Perino, the White House spokeswoman, declined to comment on the claims made in The War Within: A Secret White House History 2006-2008, Woodward's fourth book on the administration of George Bush, the US president.

'Good relationship'

"We have extensive co-operation with Prime Minister Maliki. Our ambassador sees him almost daily," Perino said.

Tags: who, told, them

US spies, not 'surge', reduced Iraq violence: book

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:18:57 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Something to add to the reading list.

Clip Source: www.theage.com.au

THE 2007 troop "surge", in which President George Bush sent nearly 30,000 additional US combat forces to Iraq, was not the primary factor behind the steep drop in violence there, according to a book by Washington Post associate editor Bob Woodward.

Rather, Woodward reports, "groundbreaking" new covert techniques enabled US military and intelligence officials to locate and kill insurgent leaders and key individuals in extremist groups such as al-Qaeda in Iraq.

The War Within: A Secret White House History, 2006-2008 also says the Bush Administration has run an extensive spying operation on Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, his staff and others in the Iraqi Government.

"We know everything he says," says one of multiple sources Woodward cites about the practice in the book, which is scheduled for release on Monday.

The book is Woodward's fourth to examine the inner debates of the Bush Administration and its handling of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Corruption seen as grave threat to Iraqi democracy

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:52:41 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: At first I thought that the Iraquis had been quick learners, but it is a way of survival in countries where incomes are low due to greed

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Corruption is a grave and gathering threat to Iraq's fragile democracy and its strides in curtailing bloodshed, a senior U.S. official in Baghdad said.

Unchecked, corruption "threatens the stability of the democracy, because people won't support a government that is widely viewed as corrupt through and through," Ambassador Lawrence Benedict, anti-corruption coordinator at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, said in an interview this week.

"Senior officials in the Iraqi government have characterized corruption as the second insurgency -- that's pretty strong language in a place like this," Benedict said. "Iraqis view it a serious problem, and we certainly share that view."

Widespread graft is drawing scrutiny as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shi'ite-led government seeks to match success on the battlefield with government reforms and political progress.

After more than five years of war, violence across Iraq has dropped to levels not seen since 2004.

Iraq says U.S. sought troop presence to 2015

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:16:34 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

BAGHDAD - The United States asked Iraq for permission to keep its troops there to 2015, but U.S. and Iraqi negotiators agreed to limit their authorization to 2011, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said.

"It was a U.S. proposal for the date which is 2015, and an Iraqi one which is 2010, then we agreed to make it 2011. Iraq has the right, if necessary, to extend the presence of these troops," Talabani said in a transcript of an interview with al-Hurra television.

The agreement will provide a legal basis for the U.S. troop presence after a United Nations mandate expires at the end of this year.

Growing assertiveness
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said that, while overall negotiations continued, the two sides had accepted the end of 2011 as a deadline for the withdrawal of the approximately 145,000 U.S. troops stationed in Iraq.

They also reflect the political pressures that Maliki faces at home more than five years after the U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein.

Tags: iraq, war, occupation, troops, out

Maliki: No specific deadline, no agreement

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 03:58:12 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Bush spokesman disagrees

Clip Source: www.mcclatchydc.com

Maliki demands 'specifc deadline' for U.S. troop pullout

BAGHDAD — Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki said Monday there would be no security agreement between the United States and Iraq without an unconditional timetable for withdrawal — a direct challenge to the Bush administration, which insists that the timing for troop departure would be based on conditions on the ground.

"No pact or an agreement should be set without being based on full sovereignty, national common interests, and no foreign soldier should remain on Iraqi land, and there should be a specific deadline and it should not be open," Maliki told a meeting of tribal Sheikhs in Baghdad.

Maliki said that the United States and Iraq had agreed

on a fixed date, which is the end of 2011, to end any foreign presence on Iraqi soil

But the White House disputed Maliki's statement

"Any decisions on troops will be based on conditions on the ground in Iraq," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said

Tags: iraq

Iraq to US: All Troops Must Leave

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 19:56:22 GMT

clipped by: DanaGarrett
clipper's remarks: The Iraqi government is making it clear: no prior conditions for a US withdraw, no consideration of "conditions" on the ground, no "residual force" left in Iraq to train the Iraqi troops. All US soldiers must be gone by the end of 2011. Not a single one should remain. They all should just leave.

The Iraqi government has given the only reason that matters for their position: viz., it's their country and they have the right to show us the door.

The US isn't wanted in Iraq. It never has been. It's time to leave. A timetable for withdraw is the compromise the Iraqis are giving us. It's what they want...just like Barack Obama said.

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Monday no security agreement with the United States could be reached unless it included a "specific deadline" for the withdrawal of all American troops from Iraq.

An aide to the prime minister said Monday that Iraq remained adamant that the last American soldier must leave Iraq by the end of 2011 _ regardless of conditions at the time.

"There can be no treaty or agreement except on the basis of Iraq's full sovereignty," al-Maliki told a gathering of tribal sheiks. He said such an agreement must be based on the principle that "no foreign soldier remains in Iraq after a specific deadline, not an open time frame."