Posted by seumasach on July 13, 2008
Any long-term deal on extended presence will wait for next administration
Karen DeYoung
13th July, 2008
U.S. and Iraqi negotiators have abandoned efforts to conclude a comprehensive agreement governing the long-term status of U.S troops in Iraq before the end of the Bush presidency, according to senior U.S. officials, effectively leaving talks over an extended U.S. military presence there to the next administration.
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Posted by smeddum on July 12, 2008
Asian Times
By Gareth Porter
WASHINGTON – Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s demand for a timetable for complete United States military withdrawal from Iraq, confirmed on Tuesday by his National Security Adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie, has signaled the almost certain defeat of the George W Bush administration’s aim of establishing a long-term military presence in the country. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by smeddum on July 11, 2008
Mchael Evans, Defence Editor Times Online
The Ministry of Defence faces a series of huge compensation claims for alleged abuse by troops in Iraq after agreeing a settlement of £2.8 million over the death of a civilian in custody.
Lawyers acting for the father of Baha Musa, a 26-year-old Iraqi hotel receptionist who died after suffering 93 injuries at a detention centre in Basra in 2003, said that the deal would “give confidence” to others to come forward with mistreatment claims. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by seumasach on July 11, 2008
Gareth Porter (IPSNews)
WASHINGTON, Jul 10 (IPS) – Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s demand for a timetable for complete U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq, confirmed Tuesday by his national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie, has signaled the almost certain defeat of the George W. Bush Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by seumasach on July 10, 2008
9th July
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. ground troops in Iraq will be mostly finished with security operations by the middle of 2009, the senior U.S. Army officer in charge of training Iraqi forces said on Wednesday.
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Posted by seumasach on July 10, 2008
“Asked to explain the “contradictory statements” of the Iraqi prime minister and the White House spokesman, he says that the US Administration is afraid of directly announcing a deadline for its withdrawal for two reasons. He adds: “The first reason is because this would affect the morale of the US Army, which is essentially collapsing, desperate, and in a state of confusion and disorder. They believe that the gunmen would step up their activity and would have greater power and morale.” He further notes that during the previous six months there has been a lot of “confusion and contradiction” amongst the parties to the political process, the Iraqi Government, and US leaders.
He adds: “What is being promoted by politicians now is a way to conceal the US defeat in Iraq. This is because they realize that, as soon as they announce this, the political process will collapse, either gradually or suddenly.””
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Doha Al-Jazeera Satellite Channel Television in Arabic at 0501 gmt on 8 July carries the following announcer-read report over video: “White House Spokesman Gordon Johndroe has denied that the security discussions on the presence of the US forces in Iraq between the Iraqi Government and the US Administration aim to set a timetable for withdrawing from Iraq. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki has hinted that negotiating a memorandum of understanding between Iraq and the United States includes setting a timetable for the withdrawal of the US forces, rather than a long-term agreement.”
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Posted by seumasach on July 9, 2008
AlHayat this morning sums up this way
The negotiations between Iraq and the US have reached a ticklish stage with the disagreement having been made public: Baghdad is insisting on a schedule for the withdrawal of the forces, and rejects immunity from Iraqi law [for the US forces]; while Washington says it is not opposed to a temporal framework [probably “timeframe” is the Washingtonese] for the operation (of withdrawal) and it links the operation to circumstances on the ground.
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Posted by seumasach on July 6, 2008
It was always inevitable that the defeat in Iraq would be declared a victory and that the charge would be trumpeted amidst retreat . Now the project initiated by General Fallon can be resumed with Martin McGuinness helping out with a bit of “conflict resolution”. However, constructive reengagement with Iran, Syria and Russia would be indispensable as well as a clipping of the wings of Israel.
Iraqis lead final purge of Al-Qaeda
Marie Colvin in Mosul(Sunday Times)
July 6, 2008
American and Iraqi forces are driving Al-Qaeda in Iraq out of its last redoubt in the north of the country in the culmination of one of the most spectacular victories of the war on terror.
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Posted by seumasach on July 5, 2008
A day conference
Saturday 19 July, London
Justice for Iraq is a call to action – a campaign that demands a complete policy reversal of those countries who have invaded and occupied Iraq since 2003. Ending the military occupation remains the most urgent priority. But Iraq will remain a broken nation without urgent measures aimed at delivering lasting peace and justice for its people and healing some of the wounds caused by this disastrous war.
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Posted by seumasach on July 4, 2008
3rd July, 2008
As if to make it clear how important elections are, the Iraqi government forces, as has been widely reported, yesterday “arrested” the head of the Maysan provincial council, and two other council members, and broke into the home of the provincial governor, “arresting” 30 of his security people. All are members of the Sadr trend. No reasons were given for any of these “arrests”.
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Posted by seumasach on June 26, 2008
THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008
There was elation in the long-war community in April 2007 when it was announced that an association of Sunni religious scholars was being set up to challenge the authority of the Association of Muslim Scholars of Iraq (AMSI), led by Harith al-Dhari, because this was regarded as a repudiation by Sunnis of the resistance-oriented AMSI. Included within the new “mainstream” group was a fatwa-issuing team, and it was headed by one Abdul Malik alSaadi, a highly-regarded Sunni scholar.
This morning we learn that Sheikh alSaadi has issued a fatwa that bars anyone from signing any agreement in any sphere of activity with the occupation until such time as there has been a total withdrawal of their military forces from Iraq. Haq News Agency says the fatwa “absolutely bars the formation of any agreement in any sphere with the occupation, unless after their complete withdrawal from Iraq and their giving back of complete and real sovereignty to the state….And after their withdrawal, this [agreements] will be permitted economically, not with respect to security”. The fatwa is based on Islamic history, the principle being that since the time of the Prophet it has not been permitted for Islamic governments to form agreements with powers that are occupying their territory militarily, but that non-security agreements are permitted with non-Islamic entities otherwise.
There is also this:
“Those who govern Iraq at the present time, although they have lost sovereignty, still most of them are members of Islamic parties, and it is incumbent on them to follow the Islamic word, particularly since it is now clear to them what was the game of the occupation or the waging of war against Iraq under the pretext of weapons of mass destruction, or the toppling of the former regime, which did not do one-hundredth of what the occupation has done to the people of Iraq”.
Which means that the position of the Sunni religious authorities, both AMSI and the “mainstream” is essentially the same as that of the Sadr trend, namely that no agreement is permissible until the foreign forces withdraw from Iraq completely, and full sovereignty is restored to the country.
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In These New Times 