 A senior Iraqi official said Iranian soldiers crossed into Iraqi territory on Friday and took up position at a southern oilfield whose ownership is disputed by Iran, but Tehran denied the report. Iraqi Deputy Interior Minister Ahmed Ali al-Khafaji said the incursion was the latest in a series this week at the Fakka oilfield, around 300 kilometers (185 miles) southeast of Baghdad, in Maysan province. "At 3:30 this afternoon, 11 Iranian (soldiers) infiltrated the Iran-Iraq border and took control of the oil well. They raised the Iranian flag, and they are still there until this moment," he told Reuters. Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency later quoted the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) as rejecting the report. "The company denies Iranian soldiers taking control of any oil well inside Iraqi territory," Mehr quoted the NIOC as saying. Oil prices rose after the first reports of an incursion. Khafaji said Baghdad had taken no military action and stressed it would seek a measured, diplomatic response to the situation. "We are awaiting orders from our leader." "This well is located on Iraqi land, 300 meters (yards) inside Iraq. It is disputed between Iran and Iraq. There was an agreement between the two countries' oil ministers to fix this problem diplomatically," he said. An Iraqi security source in Maysan province, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Iranian troops had made their way on Thursday into the Fakka oilfield area, located just on the Iraqi side of the two countries' long desert border, then withdrawn after several hours. The benchmark US light crude oil future moved to a high of $74.69 per barrel at 1414 GMT, up from $73.31 at 1108 GMT before the first reports, and was $73.45 at 1700 GMT. The incident came a few days after the Iraqi Oil Ministry awarded leading global energy firms contracts to operate seven oil fields, in the second tender since the 2003 US invasion. Iraq, whose underperforming oil sector is scarred by years of sanctions and war, predicts a host of development deals in the works will eventually lift output to 12 million barrels per day, putting it nearly on par with global leader Saudi Arabia. It would be a wave of long-awaited investment in Iraq. But as US troops prepare to withdraw by 2012, firms must grapple with violence, political feuds and legal wrangles dogging large-scale investment deals. The government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has been struggling to respond to a spate of attacks, the last of which killed up to 112 last week in Baghdad, aimed at destabilizing the country ahead of March 7 national elections. Ties between Iraq and neighboring Iran, which fought an eight-year war in the 1980s, have improved since a Shiite-led government took over in Baghdad following the ousting of Sunni Arab leader Saddam Hussein in 2003. Yet tensions have flared in inhospitable desert regions like eastern Maysan, just one of many flashpoints of continuing disagreement over shared borders between the majority Shiite Muslim neighbors. The bilateral relationship is all the more delicate given Washington and Tehran's standoff over Iran's nuclear program and the presence of 115,000 US soldiers on Iraqi soil. A source in the Iranian embassy in Baghdad said he had no information about any incursion. "If such a thing had happened, they would have told us," he said, referring to the Iranian government in Tehran. Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani told al-Arabiya, "Iraq will not give up its oil wealth, no matter the reason." Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said ministers would meet this evening and make a statement after discussing the issue. Together with Bazargan and Abu Gharab, Fakka is part of the so-called Maysan Fields, which have an estimated 2.463 billion barrels of reserves. According Iraq's Oil Ministry, oil output in the Fakka area began in the 1970s but was suspended during the Iran-Iraq war. Iraq offered the Maysan oilfield complex to global energy firms in its first postwar development contract auction in June. But a Chinese consortium, the sole group to bid on the fields, declined the Oil Ministry's proposal for fees. YNet 
 BAGHDAD — Al Qaeda's umbrella group in Iraq claimed responsibility Thursday for coordinated Baghdad bombings this week that killed 127 people and wounded more than 500, warning of more strikes to come against the Iraqi government. The group, known as the Islamic State of Iraq, said in a statement posted on the Internet that the attacks in the Iraqi capital targeted the "bastions of evil and dens of apostates." It also warned the group is "determined to uproot the pillars of this government" in Iraq and said "the list of targets has no end." The authenticity of the statement could not be independently verified, but it was posted on a Web site commonly used for militant messaging. The blasts Tuesday were the third major strike against government sites in the Iraqi capital since August, raising serious questions about the abilities of Iraqi security forces ahead of next's year national elections and the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops. Al Qaeda's claim gave renewed emphasis to U.S. military warnings that insurgents would likely continue high-profile attacks in an attempt to destabilize the Iraqi government in advance of the March 7 parliamentary elections. Anger over Tuesday's security breaches forced Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki Thursday to face tough questions from lawmakers in a closed session of parliament, where he deflected blame and accused political discord of jeopardizing Iraq's stability. Lawmakers, who came out of an ongoing special session, told reporters the prime minister cast blame on rival political blocs that he says prevented him from appointing a chief of secret police as well as a lack of cooperation among security forces in Baghdad. They said al-Maliki went so far as to blame a 2003 decision by the United States to disband the Iraqi army. "His defense is not convincing," Sunni lawmaker Adnan al-Jibouri said. Al-Maliki's top security chiefs stayed away from the session, despite calls by lawmakers they appear as well to answer questions. The ministers have previously refused to attend two other sessions called after bombings on Aug. 19 and Oct. 25. More than 250 were killed in those attacks. More at Foxnews
 IRAQI Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has sacked Baghdad's security chief over a string of coordinated car and truck bombings claimed by an al-Qa'ida group that killed 127 people. The Islamic State of Iraq issued a statement on a forum for Muslim extremists saying it carried out Tuesday's bombings at ministries and courthouses that also wounded 450 people, according to US monitoring group SITE. The statement, translated by SITE, threatened more attacks, saying the latest carnage was the “third wave” in an ISI campaign following bloody days on August 19 and October 25 that left more than 100 people dead. “The list of targets will not end, with permission from Allah, until the flag of monotheism is raised once against on the land of Baghdad and the sharia of Allah rules the land and the worshippers,” it said. The group also claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Tikrit, the hometown of executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, that killed a senior anti-terror officer on December 3. A senior policeman, meanwhile, said the explosives used in the attacks were manufactured abroad and that the bombers were backed by groups in Syria or Saudi Arabia. “This material could not have been manufactured in Baghdad, it came from abroad,” explosives unit chief Major General Jihad al-Jaabiri said. “Neighbouring countries helped them. The operation required lots of funding, which came from Syria or Saudi Arabia.” Security was beefed up at checkpoints across Baghdad, although roads were reopened after being shut in the wake of the five coordinated attacks. Mr Maliki, who has been sharply criticised by politicians since the bombings, appealed for unity among Iraqi leaders. “I call (on all politicians)... to avoid using these disasters to create conflicts during the election campaign because if the temple falls, it falls on everyone, and no one will be spared,” he said in a televised address. Yet MPs demanded that Mr Maliki and his ministers answer for any failings that led to the attacks. “MPs are angry, and the people are even more angry,” influential independent Kurdish MP Mahmud Othman said. “We want to know what is going on. What is the security plan? Have they revised the plans since the explosions in August and October? What are the results of their investigations? “Why do these explosions keep happening?” Another spate of deadly attacks rocked the capital yesterday as a roadside bomb in the predominantly Sunni northern Baghdad district of Adhamiyah killed two people and wounded seven, according to an interior ministry official. Also in Adhamiyah, a sniper killed a policeman and a bomb hidden inside a minibus exploded, killing two people and wounding 11. In Mahmudiyah, an ethnically mixed town just south of Baghdad, another bomb concealed inside a minibus killed three people and injured eight. Tuesday morning's bombs all exploded within minutes of each other. One suicide attacker detonated his payload at a finance ministry office, another struck at a tunnel leading to the labour ministry and a third drove a four-wheel-drive car into a courthouse. A fourth in a car struck a police patrol in Dora in south Baghdad, while a car bomb hit interior ministry offices in the city centre. Violence across Iraq dropped dramatically last month, with the fewest deaths in attacks recorded since the 2003 invasion. Official figures showed a total of 122 people were killed in November. Both the Baghdad government and the US military have warned of a rise in attacks in the run-up to the election. The Australian
 Basra was once a stronghold for the Shiite militias backed by Iran. Non-Shiites were persecuted, alcohol was banned, women dressing too Western were attacked, and a mini-theocracy had emerged. Then, al-Maliki took on these militias and the surge happened. Contrast this report with this one. MEMRI’s report is posted in full here: The absence of censorship over the sale of books, magazines, DVDs and CDs in Basra, the second largest city in Iraq, and across Iraq in general, has allowed bookstores to offer their customers all titles. Recently, secular and even pornographic books are selling at a more rapid pace than the religious Shi’a books published in Iran and Beirut, some of which advocate hatred and violence. The book by Sheikh ‘Abbas Abd Al-Nur (Egyptian) titled “My Ordeal with the Koran and Allah’s Ordeal in the Koran” which is banned in Cairo, Damascus and most Arab countries is selling in Basra “like ice cream in the summer.” Freedom is unlimited. The provincial governor has permitted the sale of alcoholic beverages because denying their sale will violate individual freedoms guaranteed under the constitution. Source: Sotiliraq, December 1, 2009 What’s important to notice is that armed extremists weren’t just defeated–their ideology was. This isn’t just a stunning turn-around in terms of security, but of culture and society. Word Threats
 DAMASCUS: Relations between Baghdad and Damascus have fallen to a new low after fresh allegations claiming Syrian complicity in bombings were aired on Iraqi state-run television.The damage to ties between the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al Maliki, and his Syrian counterpart, the president, Bashar al Assad, is now “permanent”, Syrian and Iraqi politicians and analysts have warned. “If Maliki is re-elected as Iraq’s leader, his relations with Syria will never be warm,” said Mohammad Ghrawi, the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq’s (ISCI) chief representative in Syria. “There is always hope that things will improve and that the two countries can function together on an official basis. But they will never be close, personal relations.” On August 18, Mr al Maliki met with Mr Assad in Damascus to conclude a strategic partnership between Syria and Iraq, a deal that promised a new era of co-operation. The following day two huge explosions devastated government buildings in Baghdad, killing more than 100 people and wounding 1,000 others. Almost immediately, Iraqi officials publicly blamed Syria for hosting the insurgents behind the attack. Iraq withdrew its recently appointed ambassador to Damascus, and Syria responded in kind. Baghdad then went even further and called on the United Nations to set up a tribunal to investigate the case. In consequence, the situation was already extremely tense when, on Sunday, Iraqi officials said suspects behind a more recent double suicide bombing originated in Syria.
The blasts on October 25 targeted Iraq’s ministry of justice, killing 160 and wounding more than 500, a death toll that made it the worst single incident in two years. More at the National
 by Ryan Mauro Click here for my latest Pajamas Media article. This is an update on the Iraq-Syria crisis. The Al-Maliki government continues to accuse Syria of helping Al-Qaeda and other terrorists and insurgents carrying out attacks in Iraq.
Their push for a U.N. tribunal to prosecute those in Syria assisting them has caused a steep drop in violence in Iraq, proving how critical outside support is to the survival of non-state actors. Update: France is supporting Iraq’s call for a UN tribunal.
That’s right–France is now tougher than the U.S. on Syria. In related news, the Iraqi Foreign Minister is expressing frustration that the U.S. can’t accept that Baathists and radical Islamic terrorists cooperate on a regularly basis. It is simply incredible to me that the belief that terrorists of different ideological or religious stripes won’t cooperate is still prevalent in the U.S. government. Read MEMRI’s article below: Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zibari has told the London daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat that there is cooperation between the Iraqi Ba’th party and Islamist elements in carrying out the deadly bombings in Iraq, and that the Americans fail to understand such cooperation between a secular political party and religious elements. He said that Syria is turning a blind eye to activity by Iraqi terror elements on its soil, and France is supporting Iraq’s intent to establish an international investigation committee on the bombings in Iraq. Source: Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, London, November 19, 2009 World Threats
 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
 The Iraqi Foreign Minister has told the BBC that the Iraqis have “strong and tangible evidence” that Syria is to blame for last week’s bombing the Justice Ministry and Governate Building in Baghdad, specifically by providing the perpetrators with safe harbor. The Al-Maliki government needs to release some of this evidence publicly, and soon. The opposition, primarily the Sadrists and SCIRI, are really hitting al-Maliki hard for the security lapses, and if they keep blaming Syria without providing proof, it’ll be seen as a political move to shift blame. Source: World Threats
 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
 BAGHDAD Al-Qaeda's umbrella group in Iraq claimed responsibility for the twin suicide bombings in the heart of Baghdad that killed at least 155 people, including 24 children trapped in a bus leaving a day-care center. The al-Qaeda branch, known as the Islamic State of Iraq, said in a statement posted on the Internet late Monday that its "martyrs ... targeted the dens of infidelity." Massive car bombs have been the hallmark of al-Qaeda and Sunni insurgents seeking to overthrow the country's Shiite-dominated government in Iraq. The attack Sunday in the heart of the Iraqi capital struck the Justice Ministry and the Baghdad Provincial Administration. It was Iraq's deadliest attacks in two years and it raised more fears about the country's ability to protect itself as it prepares for January elections and the U.S. military withdrawal. Among the dead were two dozen children, killed on a bus that was leaving a daycare center near the Justice Ministry at the time of the explosions, said an official at the hospital where the bodies were brought. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. The al-Qaeda posting said the group's suicide bombers targeted the "pillars of the Safawi and rejectionist state in the land of caliphate," referring to the Shiite government in Baghdad and its close ally, Iran. "One of these selected targets that were hit this time was the 'Ministry of Injustice and Oppression,' the so-called Ministry of Justice, along with the Baghdad Provincial Council," the militant statement said. The authenticity of the statement, which appeared on a Web site commonly used for militant messaging, could not be independently confirmed. The same group also claimed responsibility for August bombings of two government ministries in Baghdad, when more than 100 people were killed. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki blamed those who want to tarnish his government's efforts to rebuild Iraq into a democratic state for Sunday's "terrorist acts." "There's wicked political will behind these terrorists acts," al-Maliki said in a speech at Baghdad University on Monday. "We are facing big challenges in the reconstruction process, but while we are building, they are destroying," al-Maliki said. Source: Washington Times
 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 car bombs targeting two government buildings including the justice ministry killed at least 30 people and wounded 40 in central Baghdad today, police said, in the bloodiest attack in the capital for months. Violence has fallen in Iraq since US-backed tribal sheikhs helped wrest control from al Qaeda militants and Washington sent extra troops, but attacks are still common in a nation trying to rebuild after decades of conflict, sanctions and strife.
Two strong blasts shook buildings and smoke billowed from the area in central Baghdad near the Tigris river.
The first blast targeted the justice ministry and the second, minutes later, was aimed at the provincial government building, police said.
Another police source said that the bombs were not, as first thought, suicide bombings.
A Reuters witness saw at least 13 bodies, some on the ground and others in burnt-out cars at the site of one of the explosions.
Water flooded the street as firefighters hosed down the cars and removed bodies, a Reuters witness said.
In August, blasts near government ministries killed almost 100 people and wounded hundreds in Iraq's bloodiest day this year. That prompted a rare admission of lapses by Iraqi security forces.
The attacks may undermine confidence in Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki before the parliamentary election next year, and could also deter oil companies and other foreign investors. Source: The Australian
 BAGHDAD — Hundreds took to the streets Saturday throughout Iraq to demand open elections and improved public services, revealing growing discontent among Iraqis with the pace of reconstruction more than six years after the U.S.-led invasion. The protests came as the Iraqi government is struggling to restore infrastructure after years of neglect, corruption and insurgent attacks, as well as rebuild their security forces ahead of a planned American withdrawal in 2011. About 200 demonstrators took to the streets in central Baghdad, chanting: "No water, no electricity in the country of oil and the two rivers," referring to Iraq's ancient name. Protester Najim Abid said he and others were calling on the Iraqi government and international aid organizations to take immediate action to improve conditions for Iraqis. "They must step in and save the Iraqi people who are suffering because of poverty and deprivation," said Abid, 52, a retired government worker. Iraq's economy has been badly hit by low oil prices, which forced the government twice this year to slash its budget from $79 billion to $58.6 billion. Its budget next year is expected to be about $70 billion, still well below its funding needs. Oil accounts for about 95 percent of Iraq's revenues. The lack of clean water and electricity could prove to be an issue in next January's national elections for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has campaigned on the issue of improved security. In recent days, al-Maliki has begun speaking publicly about increasing funding for reconstruction. About 800 people in the southern provinces of Wasit and Basra took to the streets in support of a call by the country's most senior Shiite cleric to hold more open elections. Iraq's parliament has been considering having the Jan. 16 ballots list only the party blocs and not the individual candidates. Last week, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani threatened to boycott the Jan. 16 elections if the voting system includes only the parties and not the names of the candidates. Al-Sistani wants the so-called "open list" system because he believes it will encourage more voter participation.
Source: FoxNews
 Richard Kerbaj Muntazer al-Zaidi has been behind bars ever since he shouted "It is the farewell kiss, you dog", at Mr Bush on December 14 last year, then hurled his size-10s at the man who ordered Iraq be invaded and occupied 6 1/2 years ago. Mr Zaidi's three-year sentence for assault was cut to one year on appeal because he had no criminal record. He was released three months early for good behaviour. The 30-year-old's eldest brother, Uday, claimed yesterday that prison doctors repeatedly injected "unknown substances" into his body, and that he was burnt with cigarettes and had his nose and ribs broken. Uday said hospital specialists in Greece were expecting the reporter's arrival after his visa was recently approved. "We decided as a family for him to go for physical and psychological treatment in Greece," Uday said at his brother's flat in central Baghdad. One of Mr Zaidi's three brothers will accompany him. Uday alleged that his brother, a television journalist, was given injections by prison staff against his will. He said doctors told his brother they were treating him for migraines and stress. Mr Zaidi was imprisoned at an Iraqi military compound at the former al-Muthanna airport in Baghdad. Uday said his brother had been burned with "cigarettes behind his ears, had his ribs and nose broken".
He said the torture was the result of Mr Zaidi's refusal to write and sign a letter of apology to Mr Bush and to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who was standing next to Mr Bush during the incident. The attack made Mr Zaidi a hero across parts of the Arab and Muslim world, where shoe-throwing is considered a very grave insult. Although Mr Bush, who successfully ducked to avoid the speeding footwear, laughed off the attack, the incident caused acute embarrassment to him and Mr Maliki. Mr Zaidi's boss at al-Baghdadia Television has promised the previously little-known reporter a new home as a reward for loyalty and the publicity that his actions generated for the station. There was also talk of plum job offers from bigger Arab networks, lavish gifts such as sports cars from businessmen, guaranteed celebrity status, and reports that many Arab women want his hand in marriage. But Mr Zaidi did not wish to return to journalism, nor enter politics, and planned instead to set up a human rights group, his brother said. "He wants to do something to help the Iraqi people," Uday said. "And he has done more to help Iraqi people with his defiance than any politician has." Source: The Australian
 BAGHDAD — The homicide truck bomber who targeted Iraq's Foreign Ministry in one of the most deadly attacks this year had recently been freed from U.S. custody, an Iraqi investigator said Sunday, raising fresh concerns that former detainees will return to violence. The revelation came as the government added more fodder to its allegations that Syria has been used as a launching pad for violence in Iraq, broadcasting a confession from a man who said he received militant training in the neighboring country. Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has taken the Aug. 19 bombings that devastated the foreign and finance ministries and killed about 100 people personally as they dealt a major blow to confidence in his administration and security forces just two months after most U.S. forces pulled back from urban areas. The attacks have undermined his efforts to portray himself as a champion of security and restore a sense of normalcy in the capital ahead of January's parliamentary elections. A senior Iraqi investigator said the man who carried out the attack against the Foreign Ministry was a former detainee at the U.S. detention camp known as Camp Bucca in southern Iraq. The bomber left his identification card at a checkpoint in order to be allowed to approach the Foreign Ministry and police were able to track down his background from the information, according to the investigator, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the information. Read more here,,, Source: FoxNews
 Many still ask: Was it worth it? If we examine the question from an American, British or Australian perspective, then it would be difficult to present an answer that could convince all critics. For the coalition members this was a war of opportunity, not a war of necessity. Going to war or not was never an issue that could affect the existence of a coalition member, nor was winning or losing. For Iraq and its people however, this war was the beginning of a struggle for rebirth, a very difficult but necessary one, for sure. People of my generation who were born in democracies may take the freedom they enjoy for granted. This is certainly not the case for me or my people. I was born a decade after the murderous Ba'ath Party grabbed power in Baghdad in the sinister coup of July 1968. To us, the war brought an end to that 35-year-long nightmare and the beginning of an era of freedom, thanks to our friends in the coalition. For me and many Iraqis, it was certainly worth it. Life is better today than it was before 2003. That is even though we were on the receiving end of this war in all its phases, from initial invasion through the bloody sectarian violence and terror that paralysed the country for years. Despite the high price in blood, today is brighter than yesterday. Above all, we have hope - something we did not have under Saddam's dictatorship - that tomorrow will be even brighter. I would like to share two snapshots from Iraq that I hope will help you see why I believe Iraq is making solid progress towards liberty, prosperity and the rule of law. Recently, two stories dominated the media in Iraq. The first started when the ministry of trade was bombarded with allegations of rampant corruption. Corruption is a serious problem, but worse than corruption itself is if there is a lack of checks and balances that can stop it. In Iraq this used to happen all the time, but now a wind of change is blowing. Pressure from the press, the public and partners in the Government forced the minister of trade to submit his resignation. Resignation alone was not deemed enough. The minister was arrested on Saturday as he was attempting to flee the country. He will join other corrupt officials in custody awaiting trial. The fascinating thing about this case is that the indicted minister is a member of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Dawa Party. Then there is the case of Kitabat, the prominent Iraqi online journal. Kitabat, founded in 2002 by an Iraqi expatriate, has somewhat served the role of a shadow parliament in which people from across the Iraqi spectrum voice their opinions without censorship. Five months ago, Kitabat published an article in which the author accused the office of Maliki of nepotism and abuse of authority. How did the Prime Minister respond to these, indeed unfounded, accusations? In Saddam's days the case would have been closed with a bullet to the dissident's head. It was common practice to send embassy officials on assassination missions armed with silent pistols or even axes, as was the case in the attempt on former PM Iyad Allawi's life in London in 1978. Instead, Maliki opted to go to a court of law and sue the author and the owner of Kitabat. Maliki's decision came under severe criticism from free press advocates who saw his action as an attempt to restrict freedom of speech. Read the rest here.. Omar Fadhil Al-Nidawi is a security policy specialist from Iraq. He and his brother Mohammed run the weblog Iraq the Model:http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/. Source:The Australian
IRAQ is threatened by a new wave of sectarian violence as members of the "Sons of Iraq" - the Sunni Awakening militias that were paid by the US to fight al-Qa'ida - begin to rejoin the insurgency. If the spike in violence continues, it could affect US President Barack Obama's pledge to withdraw all combat troops from Iraqi cities by the end of June. All US troops are due to leave the country by 2012. A leading member of the Political Council of Iraqi Resistance, which represents six Sunni militant groups, said: "The resistance has now returned to the field and is intensifying its attacks against the enemy. The number of coalition forces killed is on the rise." The increase in attacks by such groups, combined with a spate of bombings blamed on al-Qa'ida, has had a chilling effect on the streets of Iraq. More than 370 Iraqi civilians and military - and 80 Iranian pilgrims - were killed last month, making it the bloodiest month since last September. On Wednesday, five car-bombs exploded in a crowded market in Sadr City, Baghdad, killing 51 people and injuring 76. Three US soldiers were killed on Thursday and two more yesterday when a gunman in Iraqi army uniform opened fire near Mosul. Richard Haass, president of the US Council on Foreign Relations, who returned from a visit to Iraq last week, said: "It is obvious there are still multiple faultlines in society. In my view, Iraq and the US are going to have to adjust the timelines and leave a residual force of tens of thousands beyond 2011." The resistance council recently issued a call to disaffected Sons of Iraq to take up arms against US and Iraqi troops after the Government of Nouri al-Maliki failed to integrate them into the national security forces. Many fighters have abandoned their security posts, allowing militant groups to fill the gap. Abu Omar, the leader of a Sunni Awakening militia in northern Baghdad, said more than 50 out of 175 fighters had quit. The US had been paying nearly 100,000 Sons of Iraq to participate in its security "surge", but handed over responsibility for their welfare to the Iraqi Government last month. Their pay has since dried up. Only 5000 members of the Awakening have been employed by the Iraqi security forces. Ginger Cruz, the US's deputy inspector-general for Iraq reconstruction, said disillusioned Sunnis could join forces with al-Qa'ida as well as resistance groups. "The Sons of Iraq provided a critical turning point for Iraq, so the question now becomes: what will the Iraqi Government do with them?" Ms Cruz said. "In fragile states, you need to take unemployed young men with access to weapons and give them something to do to ensure they don't turn to al-Qa'ida or other groups." Local Sunni leaders have been quitting their posts, disillusioned with the Government. Khalaf Ibrahim recently resigned as leader of Huwaija council, near Kirkuk in northern Iraq. "Our members have become targets for al-Qa'ida and the government security forces at the same time," he said. Mr Haass, a critic of the Iraq war who served in the administrations of George Bush and George W. Bush, said: "Some people are hedging their bets and moving in the direction of 'alternative loyalties'." Mr Obama may now become a hostage to events, Mr Haass fears. "This administration has so much on its plate in terms of foreign policy that the last thing it needs is an Iraq that unravels. If it has to do a bit more than it wanted, that could be a pretty good investment." Source: The Australian
IRAQI security forces have arrested four children who were allegedly part of a group of youngsters being groomed by al-Qai'da to become suicide bombers, an Iraqi army general said. The children, who were detained in a village near the northern city of Kirkuk, were part of a cell known as the "Birds of Paradise" and were being specially trained to avoid detection as they carried out attacks, security officials said.
"Special forces units have arrested an organisation of children consisting of four individuals under the age of 14 who call themselves the 'Birds of Paradise'," said General Abdelamir al-Zaidi, the commander of the Iraqi army division in Kirkuk.
"The group relies on children and is connected to al-Qa'ida. It works to recruit children and young people to carry out suicide attacks and to aid the terrorist groups in detonating roadside bombs."
Al-Qa'ida groups have previously used Iraqi children to carry out attacks on US and Iraqi security forces, even using them in one instance as a cover to sneak a car bomb past a Baghdad checkpoint before detonating the device with the youngsters still inside. Militants have also been accused of using mentally disabled women as suicide bombers.
Other insurgent groups have used children to fire rocket-propelled grenades and set roadside bombs, knowing that they were less likely to be shot at by soldiers.
The newly discovered children's cell appeared to derive its name from the Islamic belief that when children die they become birds of paradise.
Kirkuk, an oil-rich city claimed by the Kurds as part of their semi-autonomous homeland to the north, lies between the two remaining areas where al-Qa'ida is still a prominent force - Baqouba to the south and Mosul to the northwest. Tensions between rival Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen are high in the city, and there are fears that the ethnic fault line could split into a new conflict.
Iraqi security forces arrested several other people in the sweep, the general said. Another officer said that the use of children showed that al-Qa'ida was becoming more desperate as the security forces grew in strength and ability.
"This is a new method and it is the method of someone who is losing the war," he said.
"Their infrastructure is being destroyed and their leaders are being arrested and killed. They are sending a message that, `we are still here, but we have to rely on every method to carry out our terrorist operations'."
Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister, has warned repeatedly in recent weeks of the danger of renewed violence.
"Today we face a new war of subversion, sedition and suspicion," he told a gathering of police officers at the Ministry of Interior this weekend, warning that factions within Iraq were still trying to undermine the fragile status quo after years of bloodshed.
The country has experienced a sudden resurgence in attacks recently, mainly targeting police and army units, and irregular militias working alongside the security forces.
In Fallujah on Monday the young daughter and niece of a police officer were killed by a bomb left outside the family house. A suicide bomber wearing an Iraqi army uniform blew himself up near a contingent of United States troops visiting the mayor of Baqouba, wounding eight Americans and killing three Iraqis.
March 02
THE phantom at the feast as US President Barack Obama declared mission accomplished in Iraq over the weekend was George W. Bush. Mr Obama promised an end to US combat operations in Iraq by August next year, with all forces gone by 2011.
A great deal could go wrong to delay this timetable. The tentative truce between Sunni and Shia Iraqis, and between the Kurds and everyone else, could collapse. The Iranian clerical regime, which hates the idea of people voting in elections where the candidates are not pre-approved for religious orthodoxy, could increase terror attacks across the border.
But there are strong signs Iraq is emerging from six horrible years.
Iraqis voted against religious candidates in last month's provincial elections, with Shia religious parties losing control of five of the seven provinces they previously ran. With Sunni tribal leaders reconciled to the regime, in large part thanks to US money, the risk of domestic terrorism is reduced. And Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's increasingly confident rule appears to enjoy popular support. The elections, considered a referendum on his Government, drew a 50 per cent turnout across most of the country.
And so it seems Mr Bush's war aims may be achieved after all. Saddam Hussein is gone. His wretched regime has been replaced with one that shows signs of becoming the first secular democracy in a Middle East Muslim state. And the American forces are going home.
As Mr Obama told the Iraqi people at the weekend, the US "pursues no claim on your territory or your resources".
There is no denying that ordinary Iraqis paid a high price to be rid of the dictator and for the right to vote in free elections. At least 100,000 people have been killed, the vast majority at the hands of religious terrorists, and Iraq's economy remains the wreck it was under Saddam.
Nor is there any argument that the Americans bear responsibility for much of the mess. Mr Bush's discredited defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, had no plan for what to do after Saddam's army capitulated, and controlling the resulting chaos was beyond him.
But people who argued that the US invasion was all about stealing Iraq's resources and imposing an alien democracy on Iraqis who did not want to govern themselves are proved wrong.
The Americans have done what Mr Bush promised they would.
Everybody who believes democracy is universally understood and that all people have a right to it is in Mr Bush's debt. Source: Editorial from The Australian
Correspondents in Baghdad February 03
IRAQI voters have punished religious-leaning parties blamed for stoking sectarian violence, and rewarded secular parties seen as capable of holding the nation together, important shifts that will be welcomed in Washington and scorned in Tehran.
The biggest Shia party in Iraq once appeared to hold all the political sway: control of the heartland, the backing of influential clerics and a foot in the Government with ambitions to take full control.
But the days of wide-open horizons could be ending for the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, as the signs began to take shape yesterday with hints of the voter mood from provincial elections.
The broad message - built on Iraqi media projections and post-election interviews - was that the eventual results would punish religious-leaning factions such as the Supreme Council that are blamed for stoking sectarian violence, and reward Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and several secular parties.
The early returns show Mr Maliki could be strengthened in his dealings with parliament before national elections to be held by next year.
His Dawa Party drew strong support in Basra and Baghdad, two of Iraq's largest and most politically important provinces, according to political parties and election officials.
The outcome of the provincial polls will not directly affect Iraq's national policies or its balance between Washington's global power and Iran's regional muscle. But Shia political trends are critically important in Iraq, where the majority Shi'ites hold sway after the fall of Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated regime.
"There is a backlash from Iraqis against sectarian and religious politics," said Mustafa al-Ani, an Iraqi political analyst based in Dubai. "The voting gave us an indication of what will happen in the general election."
Although official results from the weekend's provincial elections are still days away, the early outlines are humbling for the Supreme Council. The group had been considered a linchpin in Iraqi politics as a junior partner in the government that had political control in the Shia south.
But forecasts point to widespread losses for the party across the main Shia provinces. The setbacks could include embarrassing stumbles in the key city of Basra and the spiritual centre of Najaf, hailed as the future capital in the Supreme Council's dreams for an autonomous Shia enclave.
The big election winners appear to be allies of Mr Maliki - a vivid lesson in Iraq's fluid politics.
A year ago, Mr Maliki looked to be sinking. Shia militiamen ruled cities such as Basra and parts of Baghdad, and rockets were hitting the protected Green Zone, which includes the US embassy and Iraq's parliament.
Mr Maliki - with apparent little advance co-ordination with the US - struck back. An offensive broke the militia control in Basra and elsewhere in the south, enhancing his reputation.
And many voters appeared happy to reward his political backers with seats on provincial councils, which carry significant clout with authority over local business contracts, jobs and local security forces.
"Al-Maliki ended the militiamen's reign of terror," said Faisal Hamadi, 58, after voting in Basra. "For this he deserves our vote."
The Supreme Council appeared to stagger under the weight of negative baggage.
It was accused of failing to deliver improvements to public services in the south. And its strong ties to Iran began to offend Iraqis' nationalist sentiments.
Its leader, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, spent decades in Iran during Saddam's rule, and was allowed an office-villa in Tehran. After Saddam's fall, the Supreme Council was Iran's main political conduit into Iraq, although it also developed ties with the US.
Iran now could face limits on its influence in the south, with the Supreme Council forced into a coalition or second-tier status - and confront resistance from a stronger Maliki Government seeking to curb Tehran's inroads. Source: The Australian
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Copyright Muslims Against Sharia 2008. All rights reserved.
E-mail: info AT ReformIslam.org
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A senior Iraqi official said Iranian soldiers crossed into Iraqi territory on Friday and took up position at a southern oilfield whose ownership is disputed by Iran, but Tehran denied the report. 
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