.
Better find a quality paper to read and not the New York Times! These articles are opinionated pieces with too litle content or adherance to facts on the ground.
Article is an upbeat to an Iranian attack on their nuclear facilities and another excuse to support further separation of the Kurdish minority with the oilfields of Kirkuk and Mosul in the North. Israeli support and presence has been the silent invasion from the start (or even before) the war on the Northern front.
SCIRI leader and hawk Hakim has warned the Sunni Arabs to take part in the Democratic process and refrain from further suicide attacks on Shia population and Holy places. Are these car bombs all executed by the Sunni insurgency?
The Kurdish, Shia blocs and the Election results ::
Seats in parliament New Present
United Iraqi Alliance 129 140
Kurds bloc 52 75
Ayad Allawi 25 40
Sunni bloc - others 69 20
Total seats parliament 275 275
Simple majority 138
Two-thirds majority 183 is needed for constitutional change
Present interim coalition UIA Shia and Kurds have 215 seats.
Besides offering some clarity in the election results, I have covered the military action by the U.S. to separate the Sunni triangle from the Kurds in the North. The oppression of dissenting Shia press and influence, Moqtada Sadr, Southern Iraq and British turmoil in Basra, and the Kurd movement towards a Kurdistan independent state with support from Israel have been repeatedly discussed.
More below the fold …
CONTENTS of this diary
- Election Results
- Countdown to Iran War – A Timeline
- Tal Afar & Euphrates River Valley
- Kurds and Kurdistan
- Reconstruction in Iraq
- Iraq South and Basra
- Addendum
Mariam Karouny
BAGHDAD (The Scotsman) Jan. 13 — The Shiite political bloc currently holding power in Iraq will fall short of retaining its parliamentary majority once final results are published from last month’s election.
With six of 275 seats yet to be allocated, the Islamic Shiite Alliance and its present Kurdish coalition partners were also one seat shy of the two-thirds majority needed to change the constitution, figures provided by sources at the Electoral Commission showed.
The other main grouping, the cross-sectarian secular Iraqi National List led by the former prime minister, Ayad Allawi (below), had 25 seats on the provisional count, 15 fewer than at present.
Final results are expected next week following a review of procedures by international observers responding to complaints of fraud by minority Sunni Arab and secular parties. No major change in the results from the 15 December vote is expected.
Sunni Arab parties have been disappointed by the results, but appear ready to take part in a coalition government.
The United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), which was formed by the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), the Daawa party and followers of nationalist cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, have 129 seats at present, nine short of a majority and 11 fewer than in the interim assembly.
The main Kurdish bloc, which rules with the Shiites, has 52 seats in the count, down from 75 at present; a fluidity in allegiances has made precise calculations of voting strength in the interim assembly difficult.
In the outgoing parliament, the Shiite Alliance and the Kurds were able to combine to produce a two-thirds’ majority of 182 seats, but that may not be possible in the new legislature, depending on the allocation of the final seats under a procedure to favour smaller parties.
The main Sunni Arab bloc, the Iraqi Accordance Front, would receive 42 seats, and another Sunni group, the National Dialogue Front, would have ten or 11 seats.
A diary with a lot more content!
Tue May 10th, 2005 at 09:35:19 AM PST
We may be less than a month away from war with Iran.
Let me rephrase that: We are probably about to start World War Freaking III!
You may consider this particular “framing” of my concern more than a little over the top, but see what you think after reviewing the following sources (assembled with the help of Google – what else?) which roughly establish a timeline of relevant articles, stories and events that have led many observers to conclude that war with Iran is imminent …
Sat Oct 1st, 2005 at 06:18:27 AM PST
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TAL AFAR Oct. 1 — Sadah is a village of about 2,000 people on the banks of the Euphrates River about eight miles from the Syrian border in Iraq’s western province of Anbar. The isolated community has one main road and about 200 houses scattered over a rural area.
“Operation Iron Fist” in the town of Sadah near the Syrian border replaces the Tal Afar campagne named: “Operation Restoring Rights”.
Tal Afar, insurgents escaped before offensive by American Forces.
Additional information —
● Balad 3-car bombs 85 killed & 110 wounded ¶ Tal Afar : Bomber Kills 8 ● Kabul Suicide Kills 12
● U.S. Forces Destroy Eight Bridges over Euphrates
United Nations has a problem of self-interest of six major nations sitting with veto power on the Security Council. The injustice of wars since 1945 has not diminished, although a world conflict has been avoided. We have witnessed injustice in Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Middle East, African and South American strife. Most conflicts were influenced by the Cold War stand-off between the U.S., China and the Soviet Union.
The regional organizations of a continent: Asia, Africa, Middle East and Arab Nations have not been able to root out war or prevent genocide inside a sovereign country. I personally hope these regional organizations draw more power so they can make a difference on their continent. This, from recent conflicts, doesn’t look promising for the near future.
What no one wanted but feared from the beginning of the US invasion of Iraq, unrest in the border region of Kurdish North Iraq and Turkey.
BBC News – April 15, 2005 – Turkish security forces have killed 21 members of the Kurdish paramilitary group, the PKK, in southeast Turkey, officials in the area say.
It is reported to be the biggest clash in the area since the PKK declared a unilateral truce in 1999.
Turkey’s war with the separatist PKK guerrillas in the 1980s and 1990s, left more than 30,000 people dead.
The EU has recently signed an economic partnership with Syria, despite pressure from big brother the US.
- Syrian President Hails Turkish President’s Visit
Turkish Weekly ANKARA Assad said he would discuss with Sezer the role of the United States and European countries, in the region which he said resembled “the colonial era.” “We can reduce the dangers to the minimum only if we act together. The dangers are threatening all of us… They started with Iraq and have now targeted Syria … They are trying to intervene in Turkey’s internal affairs. I believe all countries in the region are under threat. All we can do is to act together…,” the Syrian president added.
[…]
On the issue of Iraq, Assad said he still feared the breakup of the country under the pressure of its feuding ethnic and religious groups. “This could pose a direct threat to Syria and Turkey…If Iraq breaks up, we will pay a very heavy bill. It is difficult even to guess what dangers we may encounter.”
Undoubtedly, an important issue on their agenda will be the Kurds in their respective countries. Syria had great difficilties last year with Kurd uprising.
Mon Sep 26th, 2005 at 10:56:09 AM PST
When the first intifada broke out in Israel, in 1987, the Arabs used rocks, molotov cocktails, hand grenades, and rifles. In that same year the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka began a fifteen-year campaign, which employed suicide bombers.
When the second (al-Asqa) Intifada began, the Palestinians adopted the tactics of the Tamil Tigers. During the most deadly year of the Second Intifada, 2002, there were forty-two separate suicide bombings that killed 228 people.
Added my comment ::
PKK Renegade Faction of Kurds
You made a fine analysis, but I find too many news items of border incursions.
Found a source with excellent summary of Kurdistan history, written for the OSCE ::
1997 – Kurdistan: Conflicts in the OSCE Area
● Turk Covert Agents Caught in Terror Act ¶ Semdili District in South Turkey
NICOSIA Jan 10, 2006 — The Jordan Times commented in its January 9 editorial on a recent local public opinion poll that showed 20 percent of Jordanians still consider Al Qaeda a legitimate resistance movement, saying these results are “deeply troubling and worrisome.”
The country’s only English-language daily said while the poll results showed a significant drop in considering Al Qaeda as a resistance group dropped from 66.8 percent in 2004 to 20 percent in December 2005, and Al Qaeda in Iraq down to 6.2 percent from 72.2 percent last year, it was still worrisome that one-fifth of Jordanians still respect this organization.
● Jordan A Police State plus Prison Torture ¶ Video Iraqi Woman
RELATED READING and MY DIARIES ::
● Two U.S. Allies Leaving Iraq, More May Go ¶ Dutch Focus Uruzgan
● Najaf Reception Allawi – Shoes, Stones & Tomatoes ¶ Chased from Holy city of Najaf
● U.S. Forces Break Up Iraq Torture Ring at Interior Ministry
● Elusive Kill Ratio Larry Johnson – Iraq 160:1 ¶ Vietnam 20:1
● TIMELINE :: Basra Police Station – Jail Break – MoD Lies ¶ IRAN Crusade
Plus »» Informed Comment – by Juan Cole
RELATED ON IRAQ SOUTH & BASRA ::
● Personal & Ugly :: Laser Detonated Roadside Bombs ¶ Plus Diary Links
● Planting False Flags In Basra – SAS Agents
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼▼▼ READ MY DIARY ▼
What an excelent diary, Oui! Thank you so very much. Some of it I have already viewed, but place in its own context, we are headed right for WW3! I think I have known this for sometime now, but not able to admit it….:o( I am very sorry to have to see it with my own eyes. Oh how I grieve for my country! What a sad day it will be wihen we do this to Iran…This will ultimately be our own distruction on heart as we know it. I can feel nothing but numb with all of this. Oh how sad I am this day…Anyhow, thank you for this….hugs…
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Your excellent diary on Alan and Riverbend!
Thank you and (((Hugs))) for support and interest.
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼▼▼ READ MY DIARY ▼
Oh, dear Friend, it is my pleasure. I may be simplistic, but I am not stupid. I know something good when I see it…:o)
Good stuff yet again, Oui. Someone needed to say it.
I too was disappointed by Lang’s piece, as well as BT’s language in the comments.
When o when will people get it that demonizing the “emnemy” is the No. 1 rule in propagandizing the populace?
“Dangerous.” Authoritarian.” “A clear threat.” “Crazies.” On & on sing the parrots. One expects it on the pages of the NY Times, in the studios of NBC & CNN — but it’s discouraging to read it here under some rubric of “reality-based.” Whose reality woulf that be?
Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks & invite you to read my response over there.
In truth, the only way to make an attack on Iran work would be to use “tactical” (cough) nuclear weapons, and even then I doubt the US would successfully eradicate Iran’s nuclear program.
I only hope that Cheney isn’t allowed to carry through with that scheme. My fear is that no one will stop him.
why is it that always, there is that pounding for WAR, no matter what other options are out there to be had? Simply crazy ppl think like this, IMHO.
To get an idea why this is so, I recommend that we all read James Wolcott’s piece today titled Sunday Sermonette.Go to Jameswolcott.com.
I am really scared that it is going to happen! And several of us here share the same fear! I dunno…
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As I have repeatedly signaled the Europeans are backing away from U.S. policy in Iraq and Afghanistan, this can be underlined by the stand of Angela Merkel and other heads of state in the EU.
Today Swiss delegate doing investigation for Council of Europe gets the news headlines:
Swiss senator Dick Marty, carrying out an inquiry into claims the CIA has run illegal secret detention centres in Europe, has said he has no doubt they exist.
Dick Marty accused the US of violating human rights and attacked European nations for their “shocking” passivity in the face of such violations. He is due to give a preliminary report to the Council of Europe on 23 January.
The US has refused to confirm or deny the allegations over secret prisons. It has denied using or condoning torture.
Speaking to journalists in Switzerland, he said he was personally convinced the US had undertaken illegal activities in Europe in transporting and detaining prisoners. However, he acknowledged he had yet to produce concrete proof and said he expected his inquiry to last another 12 months.
“The question is: was the CIA really working in Europe? I believe we can say today, without a doubt, yes.” Washington’s policy “respects neither human rights nor the Geneva Conventions”, Marty said.
He cited as evidence the case of Egyptian cleric and terror suspect Osama Mustafa Hassan, also known as Abu Omar, who was allegedly kidnapped by CIA agents from Milan in 2003 and flown to Egypt for interrogation.
Investigator believes CIA flouted law in Europe
● Council of Europe support for IHRC position
● A Swiss Leak ¶ CIA Secret Prisons Exposed & EU Investigation
● Malawi – Bot – Cheney – EU criticism ¶ An Overview and Update
● Dutch Cabinet Affirms Decision to Support the EU/Nato ISAF Operation with 1,300 troops in Uzurgan province, Afghanistan
Dutch Minister of Defense Henk Kamp (VVD) repeated Angela Merkel‘s stand, Guantanamo Torture Camp should be closed down. This is also one of the discussion points for D’66 to oppose positioning troops in war torn Uzurgan province.
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY
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Q&A by Kathryn Jean Lopez
WASHINGTON D.C. (National Review Online) Jan. 10 — An accomplished career diplomat who had never been to Iraq and didn’t know the language, Ambassador L. Paul “Jerry” Bremer III was tapped by President George W. Bush to serve as presidential envoy to Iraq from May 2003 to June 2004, heading the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad — “eight thousand miles and at least a century removed from home.” As Paul Bremer — who would frequently be dubbed “American viceroy ” — notes in his new book on his time there, My Year in Iraq: The Struggle to Build a Future of Hope (written with Malcolm McConnell), he flew into a liberated but burning Baghdad, where he “would be the only paramount authority figure — other than dictator Saddam Hussein — that most Iraqis had ever known.”
A chronological behind-the-scenes portrait of his and his staff’s year in Iraq, in My Year in Iraq, Bremer details the treacherous, sweltering days, the obstacles (including Pentagon “harassment”), and the historic achievements. In writing about dealing with Washington, he names names: who was a problem; who listened; who never responded. The controversy coming from the book will be over troop levels — Bremer writes about repeated messages to principals in Washington about the “too few resources” he was working with in Iraq.
In addition to little things like the ABCs of democracy and economy building, Bremer recounts other big issues, ones more under the radar. Like the ABCs — how increasing teachers’ salaries was an early priority — “from the equivalent $3 to $150 a month” while purging “textbooks and curricula of Baathist propaganda. This meant printing and distributing over five million books before schools reopened in October,” Bremer writes.
###
Interesting interview in comparison with the NRC Handelsblad interview I translated earlier this week ::
His book “My Year in Iraq: The Struggle to Build a Future of Hope“ a year as governor of Iraq, Paul Bremer disavows Minister of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. “We had important differences of opinion.”
WASHINGTON (NRC Handelsblad) 9 January 2006 —
You work 18-20 hours a day in your first months as civilian administrator in a complete chaos. Rumsfeld makes a visit and tells you: “I think you don’t realize how urgent your task is”.
“I was indeed bewildered – although I kept my anger in check. He didn’t realize how hard we had to work. I think he was frustrated. The moment of his visit was shortly after the second suicide attack. We felt the pressure, everyone did, because we could not bring security to Iraq.”
Busk asks you: can Rumsfeld delegate?
“He is tough, and he intimidates people in his surroundings such, that it’s difficult to get people at the ministry to make decisions. Only Rumsfeld decides. In his case it works.”
Why did the president put forward the question?
“There were stories in the press – he was such a difficult boss.”
You describe how Rumsfeld doesn’t take the reports of looting after the fall of Baghdad seriously. What was the impact?
“Later we made a calculation the cost of looting was $12bn. One of my biggest mistakes. I didn’t urge a firm position to stop looting. I was criticized for the suggestion a shoot to kill policy for looters – I still believe that would have been the right approach. I should have made a stronger case for this policy. The true problem was, of course, we gave the impression we lacked the ability to invoke order and authority.”
At the time, education came to a standstill, when 10,000 teachers who lost their jobs through deba’athification. You consider that decision wise today?
“We wanted regime change, and this meant the Ba’ath party had to be removed from power: ‘deba’athification’. I still believe it to be the right choice. Often it’s forgotten, with our policy we wanted to eliminate the top 1% of Ba’ath-members in high position of government. I wanted the Iraqis to decide: Americans could not distinguish between an ideological Ba’ath-supporter and a teacher who was a Ba’ath member for the sole reason to hold a teaching job.
The mistake was I delegated the implementation to the CPA. It then became part of the muddy domestic-political relationships. We discovered a much larger number then the intended top 1% was removed from office.”
What was the result?
“The biggest problem were the 10,000 teachers who had lost their job. And of course the impression by the Iraqis that deba’athification meant for all Ba’ath party members. This fact led to serious ramifications in the process for reconciliation with the Sunni.”
Did this provoke the uprising of insurgency?
“I don’t think so. Although, I don’t know the answer. I believe the insurgency was to happen anyway. We found a secret document that mentioned Saddam had plans ready. But it is difficult. Our intelligence did not see the uprising coming. Equally they had no knowledge of the poor state of Iraq’s economy.”
Why did you not let the Iraqis administer a larger part of the government?
“I handed the Iraqis as much authority as they could handle. They were just not ready for it. They couldn’t even set up an organization. They didn’t have managers. They were in no position to manage – simply put – a budget.”
Is it a fact the Pentagon was so angry you didn’t want to transfer sovereignty, they developed a plan to hold you responsible for the post-war failure in Iraq?
“That’s what Andy Card told me, chief of staff in the White House.”
Nice city Washington.
“Well, you know how matters are solved here. I understood the danger.”
Iraq's former US administrator, Paul Bremer, shakes hands with the country's interim president, Ghazi al-Yawar, during the handover ceremony as Bremer's deputy, David Richmond, applauds. The Guardian
When the insurgency is on the increase, you told Bush and Cheney at the end of 2003, the Pentagon has no strategy for victory. Was the White House vigilant?
“We didn’t make gains on the ground in military terms. We entered a city, had a firefight, problems seemed solved, and our forces moved out. The same problems started all over. That’s what I explained was going on.”
Half a year later, you told Condoleezza Rice that “the worst” happened: the United States was an “incompetent occupation force”.
“We were unable to secure the country. We had all the disadvantages that belong to, what is labeled, an occupier. When this becomes a fact, at least you have to provide security to the citizens.”
The journalist Packer in his book The Assassins’ Gate portrays you as an isolated man in the secure zone of Baghdad – a long distance from the demoralized population.
“To a certain extent, that is true. Because of safety precautions I wasn’t free to walk the streets of Baghdad. It was frustrating. You are a diplomat and want to observe the country. The other side of this, I did travel throughout all of the country. I met thousands of Iraqis. But my freedom to move about was limited.”
Is terrorism fostered by the war?
“It is clear they entered Iraq – in part likely, because we closed down Afghanistan. Otherwise they would still be there, I think. But ok – what else? Should we not have liberated Iraq? I don’t understand the consequences of such an analysis. Should we have left Saddam in power?
The question illustrates that Europe still have difficulty understanding new terrorism. The Unites States were confronted with muslim extremists, who want to kill us by the thousands. That is totally different terror we experienced in the seventies and eighties. The conclusion is the U.S. cannot sit and wait. We have to preempt before we are attacked.
But Europe didn’t move, and the U.S. refuses to be passive. I wouldn’t call Europe a museum, like Thomas Friedman, that sounds too similar to `Old Europe’ of Rumsfeld. But Europe has problems, no doubt about that. When you are threatened and you don’t see this, then you are floating without any goal in sight.”
NRC Handelsblad – January 9, 2006. Translation Oui.
● My Year in Iraq: The Struggle to Build a Future of Hope
Paul Bremer III
≈ Cross-posted from Jérôme’s diary @ Booman Tribune —
Bremer says he was ‘fall guy’, confirms lack of plan in Iraq ≈
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY
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Excellent Writing Larry Johnson!
Breaking News ::
Chili Moves to the Left ¶ Michelle Bachelet 1st Female President!
So … after Chavez and Venezuela, the Bush cabal got what they deserve:
Lulu Brazil, Socialist in Uruqua, Morales in Bolivia and a self-supporting Argentina freed from the IMF noose.
Only through U.S. and France meddling in Haiti, Bush got himself another country in chaos today.
The signing ceremony was attended
by Spain's defence minister (l)
Spain moved to the left. Another First Woman was elected as president in an African country – Ms Sirleaf in Liberia. Germany moved to the right but Angela Merkel is off to a great start on the international stage, an Islamist with extreme views got elected in Iran and insurgents running wild across the globe.
● Europe on CIA Detainees and Guantanamo
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY
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Talking Basketball with the chimp is always rewarding ::
George 'Slam Dunk' Tenet, Tommy Franks, George W.
Bush and L. Paul Bremer III. Ron Edmonds - AP
Presidential Medals of Failure
Washington Post by Richard Cohen – Dec. 16, 2004
… One by one these images flicked by me, each man wearing the royal-blue velvet ribbon with the ornate medal — one failure after another, each now on the lecture circuit, telling insurance agents and other good people what really happened when they were in office, but withholding such wisdom from the American people until, for even more money, their book deals are negotiated. (Frank’s book, “American Soldier,” was already a bestseller.)
≈ Cross-posted from Steven D’s diary —
Beware! Iran to Have Bomb in a Few Months! ≈
Dems’ Template for Success: Follow Jack Murtha …
LEAVE Iraq to the Iraqis
“But I will not let myself be reduced to silence.”
▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY
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I assumed article meant as a news item for the NATO forces moving into provincial territory deeper into the interior. Apparently I was mistaken!
KHANDAHAR (ABC/AP) Jan 15, 2006 — A suicide car bomb hit a Canadian military convoy in the southern Afghan city, killing two civilians and wounding 13 people. The blast occurred as the convoy was driving near the Canadian base in Kandahar city, a former Taliban stronghold, said Interior Ministry spokesman Dad Mohammed Rasa. He said at least two civilians were killed and 10 were wounded. He said an unspecified number of Canadian troops were also hurt.
U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Jerry O’Hara said three soldiers were wounded in a bomb attack on a U.S.-led coalition convoy, but declined to identify their nationalities. Calls to a spokesman for the Canadian force in Kandahar went unanswered. Canada has about 650 troops in Afghanistan, nearly all in Kandahar.
Shopkeeper Rahim Gul said he saw a sedan vehicle blow up as it was passing the convoy. “The explosion was so big. It destroyed one jeep and blew it totally to the other side of the road,” he said, adding that he saw at least three wounded soldiers.
The blast is the latest in a string of suicide attacks that represent a new and disturbing security threat in Afghanistan. Violence across southern and eastern Afghanistan spiked last year, leaving about 1,600 people dead, the most since U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban in 2001 for hosting Osama bin Laden.
KABUL (The Scotsman) Jan. 13, 2006 — HUNDREDS of foreign Islamic fighters are gathering in Afghanistan ahead of the deployment of 4,000 British troops to the country in the spring.
British intelligence sources have told The Scotsman Islamic radicals sympathetic to al-Qaeda see Afghanistan as their new frontline and are starting to shift the focus of their anti-western campaign from Iraq.
The fighters, including Jordanians, Yemenis, Egyptians and Gulf Arabs, stepped up their campaign two months ago with a series of suicide bombings against NATO peacekeepers, United States troops and Afghan government leaders.
“Attacks in Afghanistan are now running at more than 500 a month – it’s getting as dangerous for westerners as Iraq in some places,” said a British officer involved in planning the NATO peacekeeping mission in the south-west of the country.
DAMADOLA, Pakistan (ABC/AP) Jan 15, 2006 — Pakistani officials on angrily condemned a purported CIA airstrike meant to target al-Qaida’s No. 2 man, saying he wasn’t there and innocent civilians were among at least 17 men, women and children killed in a village near the Afghan border.
Tribesmen stand by their home damaged
by Friday's air raid - Al Jazeera
Thousands of tribesmen staged protests and a mob set fire to the office of a U.S.-backed aid agency as Pakistan’s people and government showed increasing frustration over a recent series of suspected U.S. attacks along the frontier that appear aimed at Islamic militants.
Pakistani Anger and Protests in Karachi
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY
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Many are still at it, some even squatting in lost tunnels, gradually stripping every last movable object from its labyrinth of offices, war rooms, kitchens and living quarters, says John Carter, a British civil engineer working in the compound who acts as an unofficial tour guide in his spare time.
“There are too many entrances and too many people,” he says, as a flashlight plays over the gutted remnants of the TV editing suite where Saddam’s final, defiant broadcasts were probably prepared, safe from American bombs overhead.
“They’ll take the milk out of your coffee. You can’t stop them … Every time I come down here, something has gone.”
Designed by its German builder to withstand an atomic strike on the scale of Hiroshima, the bunker survived the war of 2003 intact.
Yet now the taps are gone from Saddam’s bath, human waste fouls his lavatory, his bed has vanished and so has the carpet from his cramped little bedroom at the gas-proof, radiation-sealed core of the underground complex — think Hitler’s bunker remodeled in the 1970s Swedish pine-laminate contemporary look.
“Looters are still hanging about,” says Carter. “There are people still living in the tunnels.”
A British military officer and foreign journalists stand at a hallway in a bunker in Baghdad. Like its former master, brought low by Iraqis who betrayed him to U.S. troops as he hid below ground, Saddam's nuclear bunker, a short step from the courthouse, is in a sorry state --wrecked not by the American bombs that destroyed the palace above it but by local looters who swarmed in after his fall. REUTERS/Erik de Castro
● U.S. won’t target religious sites, but troops plan to inspect bunkers
“We know for a fact that he’s got bombs, grenades and NBC (nuclear, biological and chemical) stuff under quite a few of his mosques,” said a U.S. intelligence official.”
I Heard … by Eliot Weinberger
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY
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After receiving a warning from Israeli politicians for biased journalism on the IDF Forces in occupied Palestinian territory a few years ago that led to the dismissal of a CNN Editor, CNN has been notified of a ban in Iran for their reporters.
CNN reported a statement from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the IAEA conflict as follows: “Iran reserves the right to possess nuclear weapons”. Just at a time when lack of balanced reporting in the MSM exarcerbates the fear for Iranian nuclear research and possibility of developing a nuclear bomb.
Yesterday and today, CNN broadcasted their apologies to Iranian authorities and the viewers, admitting an error “in translation” of the statement. The Iranian President was correctly quoted as the right to possess nuclear energy. The words nuclear weapons have been retracted by the CNN newsroom and excuses expressed.
TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) — Iran’s government banned CNN journalists from working in the country after a “translation error” broadcast by CNN mistakenly quoted Iran’s president as saying his nation has the right to build nuclear weapons, the state-run news agency said.
CNN was not informed directly by the Iranian government that it was banned from the country. The dispute arises from a moment of simultaneous translation Saturday.
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
slams efforts to stop Iran's nuclear program.
As Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was speaking, an interpreter working for a translation company hired by CNN misquoted him as having said Iran has the right to build nuclear weapons.
In fact, he said Iran has the right to nuclear energy, and that “a nation that has civilization does not need nuclear weapons.” He added, “Our nation does not need them.”
The incorrect translation was aired on CNN later Saturday.
As soon as it was alerted to the error, CNN on Sunday corrected the translation and clarified Ahmadinejad’s remarks. The network also apologized.
In a written statement, CNN said it “apologized on all its platforms which included the translation error, including CNN International, CNNUSA and CNN.com, and also expressed its regrets to the Iranian government and the Iranian ambassador to the U.N.”
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY
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Washington has warned India a landmark deal giving it US nuclear technology may fall through if Delhi does not back a UN motion against Iran.
The deal could “die in Congress” if India does not vote against Iran at a meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog, US Ambassador David Mulford said.
The US is pursuing action against Iran over its apparent nuclear ambitions.
President George Bush will strong-arm
PM Singh over Iran vote.
India says it rejects any attempt to tie its stance on Iran to its deal with the US on acquiring nuclear know-how.
‘Test of credibility’
Washington agreed last year to share advanced civilian nuclear technology with Delhi, lifting sanctions triggered by India’s nuclear tests in 1998.
● UN Security Council Iraq vote bribe
● Pakistan backs $7bn Iran-India pipeline project
“But I will not let myself be reduced to silence.”
▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY
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Favors Talks with EU
MOSCOW/ST. PETERSBURG, January 25 (RIA Novosti) – Iran’s top negotiator at nuclear talks gave a cautious welcome to Russia’s proposal to establish a joint venture to enrich uranium for Iranian nuclear power plants on Russian territory and said Tehran wanted to continue talks with European Union representatives.
Ali Larijani, who is also the Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary, was in Moscow for talks prior to the arrival of a larger delegation, which is due to arrive in the Russian capital on February 13.
[…]
≈ Cross-posted — earlier comment ≈
“But I will not let myself be reduced to silence.”
▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY
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TEHRAN (RFE/RL) Jan. 27, 2006 — Iran has made number of arrests in the aftermath of recent twin bomb attacks in the city of Ahvaz, according to local media reports.
Local media is reporting that 10 suspects have been charged and handed over to the judiciary.
Eight people were killed and 46 were wounded in the 24 January blasts, in an oil-rich area in southwestern Iran populated by many ethnic Arabs.
Emergency response team at the site
of one of the 24 January bombings. epa
The regime immediately blamed the United Kingdom for involvement in the explosions. U.K. officials denied that accusation as being completely without foundation.
The blasts occurred in the capital of oil-rich Khuzestan province, which borders Iraq. Ahmadinejad and his entire Cabinet had been expected to visit Ahvaz on the day of the bombings to address local issues, but the president canceled the visit.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told a news conference Wednesday that the bombs were planted by people “who have taken souvenir pictures with British officials in London, while enjoying the intelligence facilities and the support of the British military commander in Basra,” southern Iraq.
Later, the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz claimed responsibility for the blasts in a statement posted on a Web site. It said the explosions were “revenge for the blood of our martyrs and (signal) our rejection to the terrorist Ahmadinejad’s defiling the land of Ahvaz in his visit.”
“But I will not let myself be reduced to silence.”
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Morning Yahoo News Headline One Can’t Miss ::
WASHINGTON DC (ABC/AP) Jan 28, 2006 — President Bush said that Sen. Hillary Clinton, a potential candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, is “formidable,” but he declined to speculate on which Republicans might run for the White House in 2008.
“This is an unusual year because this is the first time there hasn’t been a kind of natural successor in the party,” Bush said in an interview with “CBS Evening News“. Two wide-open primaries with no sitting vice president running in either primary, so this is I can’t remember a time when it’s been this open.”
SCHIEFFER: Well, let me ask you: If they continue to insist that they’re going to do it in their country, Senator Clinton, for example, who seems closer to your policy on Iraq than to some in her own party, is already saying sanctions now. Do you think sanctions would work against Iran?
PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, first of all, we have already sanctioned Iran. The United States Government has got sanctions in place on Iran. I think probably what she is referring to is whether or not we should refer Iran to the United Nations Security Council. I have said that is certainly a very–a real possibility, and that once we are in the Security Council, of course, that’s one of the options, but we are going to work with our friends and allies to make sure that when we get in the Security Council, we will have an effective response.
President Bush and Bob Schieffer, right, at the White House.
[Yeah, on the right - thanks CBS! - Oui]
SCHIEFFER: But as some would say, that you put sanctions on Iran, it will drive the price of oil sky high and that will hurt everybody’s economy.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, that’s certainly one of the considerations that–that we will take into account as we work with the Perm Five, other members of the Perm Five on the United Nations Security Council.
SCHIEFFER: Let me–let me ask you, everyone in the government says the nuke–the military option can never be taken off the table. Have you actually reviewed plans, if it came to exercising the military option?
PRESIDENT BUSH: I think it’s best I just leave it that all options should be on the table, and the last option is the military option. We have got to work hard to exhaust all diplomacy and that’s what you’re–that’s what the country is seeing happen.
SCHIEFFER: But is that possible? Some people say with our forces stretched thin in Iraq already, we might not be able to launch an attack on anybody.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, I–I–I–I would disagree with that. I think we’ve got plenty of capability, but I–it–it–it–the first option, of course, is to–is to solve this problem diplomatically, and that’s where we are working to do.
SCHIEFFER: Let’s talk about Iraq. You say we’re going to stay there until we get the job done, but last summer it seems to me, Mr. President, that public support for the war began to erode.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Um-hmm.
SCHIEFFER: Why do you think that happened?
PRESIDENT BUSH: I think–I think that people saw death on the TV screens without a sense that we are making progress. That’s why I started giving these speeches. You–you might remember that–obviously you remember Katrina hit.
SCHIEFFER: Yeah.
Hillary Clinton Speech at Princeton on 19 January -- "I believe that we lost critical time in dealing with Iran because the White House chose to downplay the threats and to outsource the negotiations".
SORRY HILLARY – LOOK IN THE MIRROR, WRONG PARTY AND WRONG ELECTION. YOUR STANCE REFLECTS 2004 POLLS, WATCH FOR ELECTION SURPRISE IN 2006 AND 2008! LOOK AT OTHER ELECTIONS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, PEOPLE ARE REVOLTING TO CORRUPTION AND THE ESTABLISHMENT, AND WANT CHANGE: CHANGE, TRUE REPRESENTATION AND LEADERSHIP!
“But I will not let myself be reduced to silence.”
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