 Kenneth Pollack and Michael E. O’Hanlon have an editorial over at The New York Times discussing how the Iraqi government has banned 500 Sunni politicians from running for office. This is a very disappointing move. Reconciliation was going well, Iraq’s democratic foundations were taking hold, and the future seemed bright despite the frustrating deadlocks that define democracy, especially a new one in a bad neighborhood. They are banned because they had ties to the Baath Party, but they have mostly transformed into Sunni representatives that favor nationalism. To ban them is to ban a lot of the Sunni leadership.
Among those banned are Defense Minister al-Obeidi and Saleh al-Mutlaq. The authors note that al-Obeidi used to be a Baathist but was actually imprisoned and tortured by Saddam’s government. They warn that “It is just this kind of seemingly small problem that could unravel the entire political fabric of Iraq.” The Iraqis need to fix this, and fix it fast. World Threats
 The Assad regime of Syria is permitting Al-Qaeda to establish a network in the northeastern part of the country from which it can wage war in Iraq. This has been documented on WorldThreats.com for quite awhile, but this report adds several new details, including that the network is growing. “There is an entire Al Qaida infrastructure in eastern Syria that includes induction, training, financing and logistics,” an official said. “The Syrian regime knows about this and allows this to continue.” The report says the Syrian government received “tens of millions of dollars in bribes” to allow Al-Qaeda to operate and that the regime has been promised that it won’t be targeted in return for their safe harbor.
There has been debate about whether “Al-Qaeda in Iraq” is really related to the same “Al-Qaeda” that operates under Bin Laden’s leadership and carried out the 9/11 attacks, but this report makes clear that the operatives in Syria come straight from Bin Laden’s ranks. Issa Al-Masri, a high-level Al-Qaeda operative, left Pakistan for Syria in June, and even operates from Damascus, where he coordinates the flow of money and weapons into Iraq.
Also working from Damascus under the protection of Syrian intelligence are two former senior members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party, Sattam Farhan and Mohammed Younis Al-Ahmed. According to the report, the Baath remanants and Al-Qaeda are actively working together from Syria to carry out attacks on the elected Iraqi government. World Threats 
 BAGHDAD -- Turning on their TVs during a long holiday weekend, Iraqis were greeted by a familiar if unexpected face from their brutal past: Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi dictator is lauded on a mysterious satellite channel that began broadcasting across the Arab world on Friday, the Islamic calendar's anniversary of his execution three years ago and the first day of Eid al-Adha. No one seems to know who is bankrolling the so-called Saddam Channel, but the Iraqi government suspects it's Ba'athists, whose party he once led. A man in Damascus, Syria, named Mohammed Jarboua claims to be its chairman.
The channel, he said, "didn't receive a penny from the Ba'athists" and is for Iraqis and other Arabs who "long for his rule." NYPost
 BAGHDAD: Iraqi authorities broadcasted on Sunday a video showing three of Saddam Hussein's Baath party members confessing to have planned massive truck blasts that killed and wounded more than 600 people in central Baghdad last month. Qassim Atta, spokesman of Baghdad Operation Command, told reporters at a press conference aired by the official channel of Iraqia that the three confessed their role in committing the deadly bombings. Former police officer, Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed Hassan Aiyed admitted to plotting Oct. 25 attacks at the Justice Ministry and Baghdad Provincial Council. "I received a call on Oct. 12 from Abdul Sattar Mahdi Najem (a senior Baath party member in Iraq) telling me that we have orders from the party leadership to prepare for a major bombing in Baghdad near the provincial council and the Justice ministry," he said. The video also showed two other Baath party members named Abdul Sattar Mahdi Najem and Ammar Abdul Aziz Mahdi were also telling details about their role in the attacks and how they passed checkpoints until they reached their targets in central the capital. On Oct. 25, also known as "Bloody Sunday", two suicide truck bombings rocked Baghdad's Salhiyah neighborhood, targeting the Justice Ministry and the Baghdad Provincial Council. The attacks killed some 155 people and wounding more than 500 others. The twin bombings were the deadliest since suicide truck bomb attacks on Aug. 19 which targeted two Iraqi ministries killed and wounded some 1,300 Iraqis. Observers here see the attacks on the ministries were actually targeting nerve centers of the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Therefore, the attacks were targeting Maliki's re-election efforts which are based on improved security. Instability and security deterioration are expected to escalate and continue until the national January polls. Xinhua
 BAGHDAD — A man being questioned in connection with this week's deadly double bombings in Iraq's capital was able to seize a gun and kill an investigative officer during an interrogation, before being shot himself, the government said Saturday. The man, who was not identified, snatched a gun from a guard and wounded the guard, then killed the investigative officer during the interrogation in the officer's Interior Ministry office, the ministry said in a Web site statement Saturday. The incident occurred while the man was being questioned about the Sunday attacks in downtown Baghdad that killed 155 people, the worst in Iraq in two years, the ministry said. The government statement did not say when the shootings occurred, but said the man also was wounded and later died at a hospital. A man who identified himself as the cousin of the slain investigative officer told The Associated Press that the shooting happened Thursday but that he knew few details. He said he did not want to be identified, fearing retribution for speaking publicly about the issue. Al Qaeda's umbrella group in Iraq has claimed responsibility for Sunday's bombings. Iraq's prime minister blamed the bloodshed on Baathists, who are supporters of former dictator Saddam Hussein, and on Al Qaeda. The bombings raised the specter of possible new sectarian tensions in Iraq. Sunni Iraqis sometimes feel government ministries, including Interior, are too quick to blame them for attacks carried out by extremists. The blasts in the heart of the capital infuriated Iraqis, who question how the bombers could have driven their deadly cargo undetected through the multiple checkpoints that dot Baghdad. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government, facing a January election, has been under intense pressure to show that the Iraqi military and police are able to handle security as U.S. troops slowly withdraw. Source: FoxNews
 Walid Sukariyya is a member of the Lebanese Parliament and a prominent member of Hezbollah. In an interview, he has stated unequivocally that Syria has been actively helping regional terrorist groups. The West has known about support for Hezbollah, but its passive support for al Qaeda may be most troubling: Since, for obvious reasons, Syria cannot [conduct] a confrontation through direct resistance, it has opened [its] border with Iraq to all the resistance fighters of Al-Qaeda, even though it does not share their ideology. [As for Hizbullah, Syria] supports it because it is the only resistance [force] that is present in Lebanon, in the area closest to Israel…” In addition, Sukariyya has stated that without Hezbollah, the Syrian capital would fall within hours of a prospective Israeli attack. In addition, he claims that rockets fired at Israel during its 2006 war with Hezbollah were Syrian. Syria, still run by the Ba’ath Party, is a pariah state, even by Middle East standards.
Its alliance with Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah and cooperation with al Qaeda have made it a worthy inheritor of Iraq’s former aggressive stance.
Bashar Assad believes that he can play both games: be friendly enough with the US to gain respect from the Obama Administration, while expansionist enough to support attacks against Israel and Iraq.
Iraq has been tougher on Assad, and considering memories of the Ba’ath National Socialist Party’s rule of Iraq, it is easy to see why. Prime Minister Maliki appears unwilling to take Syrian aggression, causing an increase of regional tensions. On the other side of Iraq, Iran is supporting attacks, as well. Source: World Threats 
 The death toll from twin car bombings in Baghdad climbed to 160, with hundreds more wounded in the deadliest attack in the capital in more than two years, the Interior Ministry said Monday. At least 540 people were wounded in Sunday's attacks. One of the bombs exploded outside Baghdad's governorate building, the other outside the justice ministry. The bombs detonated in quick succession about 10:30 a.m., officials said. Among the wounded were three American security contractors, the U.S. Embassy said, declining to provide further details. The area struck is close to the heavily guarded "green zone," which houses the embassy. The blasts sparked questions about Iraq's security and national elections planned for January. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who visited the scene shortly after the explosions, said holding the elections as scheduled would send a strong message to the attackers. "The cowardly attack ... should not affect the determination of the Iraqi people from continuing their battle against the deposed regime and the gangs of criminal Baath party, and the terrorist al Qaeda organization,'" al-Maliki said in a statement. U.S. President Barack Obama called the attacks an attempt to derail progress in Iraq, and pledged to work closely with the country as it prepares for elections. Obama spoke with the prime minister and President Jalal Talabani to express his condolences and reiterate U.S. support. In August, more than 100 people were killed in a series of bombings that led to tightened security in Baghdad. Blast walls were installed across the city and checkpoints added. Two years earlier, three truck bombings had killed hundreds in Qahtaniya, in northern Iraq. Sunday's attacks were the deadliest on Iraqi civilians since the blasts in August 2007. A day before the explosions Sunday, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, visited Iraq for the first time. During her trip, she made a condolence stop at the Foreign Ministry, one of six sites attacked this August. Iraqis are supposed to go to the polls January 16, but parliament has not passed key election legislation, putting the balloting in limbo. The president, prime minister and other top officials are scheduled to meet Monday to discuss the elections law and security concerns. Source: CNN
 TWIN suicide car-bombs blasted the Justice Ministry and the provincial offices in central Baghdad yesterday, killing at least 136 people and sparking turmoil in the embattled Iraqi capital. More than 700 people were wounded in the worst attack of the year. The blasts occurred within minutes of each other from about 10.30am (6.30pm AEDT) and left streets littered with charred bodies. The blasts, which the government said were carried out by al-Qa'ida and supporters of Saddam Hussein's banned Baath Party, destroyed dozens of cars and shattered water pipes, spewing dirty water into the streets. Authorities closed off roads leading to the bomb sites as fire trucks and ambulances struggled through thick traffic to reach the blazing buildings. A truck bomb detonated in a car park near the ministries of justice and labour, while a car bomb exploded opposite the Baghdad provincial government offices in Salhiyeh. At least 136 people were killed and more than 700 were injured, according to a tally from four hospitals in central Baghdad, al-Karama, Ibn Nafis, Medical City and Yarmuk. Shortly after the attacks, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki visited the site of the Saliyeh bombing, where he spoke to officials and security officers. "Why are they doing this to us?" shouted a man who gave his name only as Mohammed, sitting near the ravaged provincial buildings, his clothes covered in blood. "It's because of the election - they want to defy the government," he said, referring to January's planned general elections. Thick smoke billowed over the stricken area and flames could be seen coming from two buildings whose windows had been shattered by the force of the blasts. Rescue workers in Salhiyeh said they had to cover dead bodies in blankets before picking them up because they were too hot to touch. Firemen, meanwhile, were using their trucks' ladders to reach the upper floors of the ministries, fearing that many dead and wounded could be trapped. Several helicopters were flying over the area and dozens of humvees were lining the streets around the bomb sites. The explosions were a grim reminder of deadly blasts that shook the ministries of foreign affairs and finance on August 19, in which about 100 people were killed. The twin bombings came as Iraqi political leaders were to meet to try to end a deadlock over a stalled election law amid growing concerns that the country's January 16 election will have to be delayed. The meeting was scheduled to take place at 3.30pm. Lieutenant General Ali Ghaidan Majeed, commander of Iraqi ground forces, warned in an interview on Saturday that the coming months could see an upswing in violence in the lead-up to the January polls. He said security would probably only stabilise by the middle of next year after a transfer of power to a new government. "I am concerned that between now ... and July 2010, basically throughout the election and after with the transfer from the old government to the new government, maybe you will see terrorist activities increase," he said. Attacks have fallen dramatically compared to a year ago - violent deaths in September were the lowest since May - but are high by international standards. However, insurgents are still able to mount attacks, especially in Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul, which kill dozens. Source: The Australian
 The suspects are said to be members of former
President Saddam Hussein's Baath Party The Iraqi government, seeking the handover of two suspects in last week's bombings, has recalled its ambassador to Damascus. Hours later, Syria's state-run news agency SANA reported that Damascus had decided to summon its ambassador from Iraq. On Tuesday, the Iraqi Council of Ministers demanded that Syria hand over two men suspected of involvement in the attacks on Iraqi government buildings that killed at least 95 people. The two suspects are Mohammed Younis al-Ahmed, a senior Baath member living in Syria, and Sattam Farhan, another Syrian-based Baathist leader. The council said the Iraqi authorities believe the two played "direct roles in the execution of the terror attack," Ali al-Dabbagh, a government spokesman, said in a statement. The Council of Ministers also demanded that Syria "hand over all those wanted [by the judiciary] for committing crimes of murder and destruction against the Iraqi people". Read more here ... Source: Al Jazeera (English)
August 23 BAGHDAD — Attackers paid $10,000 to get a bomb-laden truck past checkpoints and next to the Iraqi Finance Ministry in last week's attacks, one of the suspected masterminds said in a confession broadcast Sunday. Seeking to fend off widespread criticism over security lapses, the Iraqi military released what it said was the confession of a Sunni man it identified as the planner of one of the two suicide truck bombings targeting government buildings in Baghdad. Iraqi lawmakers and other senior officials have traded blame and called for investigations into how the bombers were able to get the explosives-packed trucks so close to government institutions in the heart of the capital. Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, the chief military spokesman for Baghdad, said the man was a senior member of Saddam Hussein's ousted Baath Party who had confessed to supervising the attack against the Finance Ministry before his lawyer and the chief prosecutor. Read more here ... Source: AP
 BAGHDAD — At least 39 people were killed and more than 209 were wounded early Monday morning as a series of bomb attacks struck Baghdad and a village near the northern city of Mosul. A pair of truck bombs exploded simultaneously, destroying an entire Shiite village known as Khazna, about ten miles east of Mosul, according to an official in the Ministry of Interior who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with ministry policy. The village is inhabited mainly by Shiite Shabaks, a small Kurdish-speaking minority that lives in northern Iraq. The police in Mosul said 30 homes were destroyed from the two bombs, which were placed in trucks that had been parked overnight in the village. Police officials put the preliminary toll of casualties at 23 dead and 128 wounded. George Kako, a resident and contractor in the nearby town of Bartella, said many people in Khazna were still trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings. He said he had provided an earthmover to help in the rescue effort. “It is a horrifying and disgusting scene,” said Mr. Kako, speaking by telephone from Bartella. “Those who did it are not human.” In Baghdad, two other blasts targeted lines of workers who had gathered to look for jobs as day laborers, one in the El Amal district, the other in Shorta, both of which are Shiite areas. The El Amal blast went off at 6 a.m., killing seven and wounding 46. Half an hour later, the explosion in Shorta killed nine and wounded 35, according to the ministry official. Both explosions were attributed to bombs in cars that had been parked in the areas for a long period of time. A similar string of attacks struck Mosul and Baghdad last Friday, the weekly day of public prayer in Islam. Those bombings killed at least 43 people and wounded hundreds, police officials said, and they came at the end of an important Shiite religious occasion. The attacks on Friday occurred just two days after the Iraqi government said it would lift all blast walls from the main roads in the capital, and the head of Baghdad’s operations command, Maj. Gen. Abud Qanbar, declared that “security is not an issue anymore.” A week earlier, five Shiite mosques in Baghdad had been bombed in coordinated attacks. At least 29 people were killed in those blasts. The sprawling, seething city of Mosul, among the most violent places in Iraq, is home to militants with ties to Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the mostly homegrown insurgent group that is known to have some foreign leadership. The city is also the home of the banned Baath Party, once led by Saddam Hussein, who erected a large palace compound there. It was from Mosul and other towns in Nineveh Province that Saddam recruited many of his senior generals and closest aides. Most American forces have withdrawn from posts within Mosul and are now garrisoned at a base. A fractious power struggle between Sunni Arab and Kurdish political factions has further complicated the security issue in the province, which is home to a number of ethnic and religious groups. Source: New York Times
 Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas talks
during the Fatah party convention in Bethlehem, Saturday By Khaled Abu Toameh Fatah's sixth General Assembly has shown that the 44-year-old faction is still not ready to transform itself from a revolutionary movement into a governing body - one that cares about establishing institutions and infrastructure for the future Palestinian state. Instead, Fatah seems determined more than ever to maintain its status as a "national liberation movement." In light of the conference, many Palestinians are beginning to draw parallels between Fatah and Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party. As far as they are concerned, Fatah remains part of the problem and not part of any solution. The fiery rhetoric of the delegates and the signs and graffiti on the walls of the conference hall in Bethlehem are testimony that Fatah continues to live in the past and not in the present. Moreover, most of the resolutions that were adopted by the 2,000 Fatah delegates appear as if they were taken directly out of the fifth General Assembly that was held in Tunis two decades ago. The conference is about to conclude its meeting by endorsing almost the same political platform that has been accompanying Fatah since its founding. Delegates spent more time talking about the past than the present or future. They chose to blame Israel and Hamas for almost all the miseries that have hit Fatah and the Palestinians in recent years. The delegates spent more time attacking Israel and Hamas than discussing the reasons behind Fatah's defeat in the January 2006 parliamentary election and its expulsion from the Gaza Strip a year later. For some time during the conference, one got the impression that Israel and Hamas were responsible for Fatah's financial corruption and incompetence. Had it not been for the security fence and the construction in settlements, Fatah would be less corrupt. And had it not been for Hamas's violent takeover of the Gaza Strip, Fatah would have succeeded in turning the Palestinian territories into the Middle East's Hong Kong. In short, everyone is to blame for the miseries of the Palestinians and Fatah except for Fatah. Read more here ... Source: JPost
 The S.S.N.P. poster (its swastika is in red at the
top right) prior to its defacement by the author.In newly liberated Lebanon, the signposts on “the Arab street” point in opposite directions. The author’s experiences - he was buoyed by a huge rally for democracy in downtown Beirut, then beaten up by Fascist bullies - show how much this diverse society offers hope but is still threatened by the Syrian dictatorship next door. By Christopher Hitchens As Arab thoroughfares go, Hamra Street in the center of Beirut is probably the most chic of them all. International in flavor, cosmopolitan in character, it boasts the sort of smart little café where a Lebanese sophisticate can pause between water-skiing in the Mediterranean in the morning and snow-skiing in the mountains just above the city in the afternoon. “The Paris of the Middle East” used to be the cliché about Beirut: by that exacting standard, I suppose, Hamra Street would be the Boulevard Saint-Germain. Not at all the sort of place you would expect to find a spinning red swastika on prominent display. Yet, as I strolled in company along Hamra on a sunny Valentine’s Day last February, in search of a trinket for the beloved and perhaps some stout shoes for myself, a swastika was just what I ran into. I recognized it as the logo of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, a Fascist organization (it would be more honest if it called itself “National Socialist”) that yells for a “Greater Syria” comprising all of Lebanon, Israel/Palestine, Cyprus, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, and swaths of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Egypt. It’s one of the suicide - bomber front organizations - the other one being Hezbollah, or “the party of god” - through which Syria’s Ba’thist dictatorship exerts overt and covert influence on Lebanese affairs. Read more ...Source: Vanity FairH/T: FrontPage Magazine
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Kenneth Pollack and Michael E. O’Hanlon have an editorial over at The New York Times discussing how the Iraqi government has banned 500 Sunni politicians from running for office. 
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